No comments about Memorials of the Civil War: Comprising the Correspondence of the Fairfax Family with the Most Distinguished Personages Engaged in That Memorable Contest. Volume 1.

No comments about Vet in a Spin.

No comments about The Voyage of the Cap Pilar.

No comments about British Stars and Stardom: From Alma Taylor to Sean Connery.

2 comments about The Star Factory.

1. I was led to this book via Partickane's list of contemporary Irish literature on .... Partially a memoir, partially a meditation on language and history, and not quite like anything I have ever read before. Carson's prose style is lyrical, melodic and absolutely engaging without being in the least showy.



2. As unlikely as the link may seem, Cairan Carson is to Belfast and traditional Irish music what Nathanial Mackey is to California and jazz.

   Carson's memoire of life as an adolescent in Belfast is ripe ground for etymological meanderings in an out of English and Irish. He dally's with Catholic dogma and sources whose only connective thread is his passing interest in them.

   The Star Factory is an internal play of language, image and memory that gives spunk to the genre and good craic to the reader.

5 comments about Farewell in Splendor: The Passing of Queen Victoria and Her Age.

1. no one ever thought queen victoria could ever die.she regein for 62 years ,over a country who became the worlds most powerful superpower.this book is about how her family and servants deathbed watch of the end of a era.inside fight between kasiar and edward soon to be king .the doctor who tooking care of his queen for 20 years.



2. If anyone ever perfected the art of mourning, it was Queen Victoria. Plunging the court into black on the death of the Prince Consort, the Queen maintained full mourning until her own death forty years later.
   This book brings to life the final days and subsequent funeral of the monarch who ruled longer than any other in English history. We see Victoria, old and failing, clinging to life. The doctors trying to balance Victoria's last wishes with those of her family. The family frictions as the clan gathers: the Prince, who had waited so long for the throne; the princesses about to lose precedence; Kaiser Wilhelm, a reigning emperor who loved his grandmama but was resented by aunts, uncles and cousins. And the people, waiting outside the palace gates for the next bulletin on the Queen's health. Victoria reigned for 64 years; many were born and grew to old age in her reign. The passing of the Queen was an epic event - literally the end of an era.
   
   A fascinating behind the scenes look at the staging of a state funeral - a funeral for a woman who had devoted much of her life to funereal trappings. The Queen was dead; God save the King



3. I liked the book. I thought it had a lot of information well presented but also found it to be less than perfect.

   "Farewell in Splendor" is an interesting and readable account of the last week in the life of Queen Victoria and her funeral. When an old woman has nine children and forty grandchildren, it is easy to see that there is bound to be confusion and differences of opinion about her care. However when that woman is also the Empress of the largest empire on earth. The difficulties seem to multiply for each of her subjects. This is the case in 1901 as Victoria, the doyen of Royalty, finally fades after a record breaking sixty-four years on the throne.

   Jerrold M. Packard has written two books on the subject of Victoria and her family. I found that much of the background material in this book was a reprieve of "Victoria's Daughters". Since any book about the death of Victoria is bound to have a limited audience, much of the background material seemed to be out of place in a book devoted mostly to a three-week period. I think that people willing to read about Victoria's death might already know something about her life.
   
   From the book, I get have a strong impression that Packard simply does not like Queen Victoria and saw her only as a mean and selfish old woman. I'll grant you that in many ways she was, but in this book so many of her more endearing traits are omitted. It draws a rather one-sided picture of Victoria and not the most flattering side. I think that a little more balance would have served this book well.

   I like that fact that the book was easily readable and had many interesting facts to present. His parenthetical remarks really added to the book and helped it rise above being a rehash of newspaper accounts and old. Letters. However, I also found that on occasion there was too much trying to show how much better the late 20th century was from the 19th. His interjection of the modern mind-set into the Edwardian/Victorian eras was a more of hindrance than help.

   I did enjopy the book and think is a solid additon to the world of victoria Liturature but I would not reccommend it as a starter book.




4. The focus of this book is the death and funeral of Queen Victoria. The topic is well-researched, and Jerrold Packard does an excellent job of suitably setting the scene. As he describes the days leading up to the legendary queen's death, he artfully illuminates the cast of supporting characters. Thanks to Victoria's prolificate offspring, this includes most of the European nobility. Packard also examines Victoria's daily life, both personal and public. Furthermore, the significance of the great monarch's passing is put into context by his succinct analysis of the political situation in England and abroad. All in all, a very interesting and well-written book that will whet your appetite for more information about this fascinating era.



5. Farewell to Splendor is a fascinating look into the private life of the British royal family in the week surrounding the death of Queen Victoria. I found myself spellbound by the atmosphere Packard describes and by the events he relates.

   It's too bad, then, that Packard's research is less than sterling, and his work filled with modern stereotypes and assumptions irrelevant to Victorian times.

   For instance, Packard writes that Victoria herself was an unpleasant, unamusable person, when in fact the Queen was a normal woman who liked nothing more than a good joke. (She said "We are not amused", but only because her target was telling dirty jokes in the presence of children.)

   There are other minor errors in fact, by themselves unimportant perhaps but it does make me wonder: if there are so many minor errors, how many major errors are there?

   I was also distracted by Packard's many references to Victoria's fitness level and his wonderment at her reaching an advanced age without being physically fit. Methinks Mr. Packard has been brainwashed by the health and fitness detachment of the Politically Correct Police. People who live long do so for many reasons. Fitness is only one piece of the puzzle, and compared to genetics it may not even be that big a piece. It's also irrelevant on a cultural level. Virtually nobody at the time exercised; to point out that Victoria was out of shape is roughly similar to pointing out that Elizabeth II couldn't fight the Romans because she doesn't paint her face blue as did Boadicea.

No comments about The Outcast's Outcast: Lord Longford.

1 comments about A Ragged Schooling: Growing Up in the Classic Slum.

1. 
   Personal account by Robert Roberts (a son of a shopkeeper within a large family) of his early years, growing up in a run-down area in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, covering the period from 1905 to about 1921.
   
   Interesting, informative, well-written, entertaining; an enjoyable read. Worth reading.
   
   9 out of 10

No comments about Man of War, Man of Peace: The Unauthorised Biography of Gerry Adams.

1 comments about Memories and Adventures: Library Edition.

1. First of all let me give you a product description as not much is provided with the item.The book is about 415 pages,a big,black leather covered one.It doesn't have a cover photogaph and looks like the library editions of the victoria era novels.As it is a reprint of the 1924 edition it does not contain the last chapter "up to date",which doyle added later to the revised edition of 1930.But as it was an "addition",i don't think it matters much ,and had any organic link to the original edition.The book is expensive,but it looks so gorgeous that it is almost an event,and therefore a collector's item.
   Doyle lived a life of many adventures and this book chronicles all of them.Although it hesitates sometimes as it goes back it is still a fascinating account of the great man's life, in his own words.It gives us the magical charm of being able to know about sherlock holmes from the mouth of his own creator.The various adventures of doyles life are described with the usual storyteller's skill.The humourous prose of doyle makes it an unforgettable experience.
   Every autobiography is in a way or other biased.The reader can read Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyleby daniel stashower,the best biography in my opinion,for a more modern approach.