5 comments about Five Women of the English Reformation.

1. Dean Zahl is an intriguing and interesting preacher and author. I read the book as I am deeply interested in the Reformation - particularly in the United Kingdom. I was most impressed with his chapter on Lady Jane Grey who certainly should be the role model and main subject of the five. I believe he should have downplayed the role of Anne Boleyn because of the great sorrow her marriage to Henry VIII caused to his wife of 20+ years. I am of course referring to Katherine of Aragon. Henry and Cranmer's treatment of the Queen was cruel and should not be defended in any modern Protestant forum. Indeed in Britain in Peterborough Cathedral her grave (desecrated by Protestants) was restored and now befittingly says "Katherine The Queen". I otherwise enjoyed the book but wish he had not remained silent on this issue when proclaiming Anne's virtues. A modern parallel might be considered in the relationship of Edward VII and Alexandra - Alexandra a devout Protestant endured Edward's numerous affairs. Katherine endured the same with Anne. I have read all of his books and consider him a scholar on Anglicanism. A little more compassion for Katherine would have made me rate the book higher.



2. I don't have the book in front of me anymore, so I can't pull quotes from it, but I remember thinking as I read this book that the author didn't really understand what the Reformation was about. At one point, he says in effect "God's love responds to man's faith". The Reformers clearly taught that man's faith responds to God's love and His calling. I know that the book wasn't about in depth theology, but statments like the above made it hard to take the rest of the book seriously.



3. "There was a king of Yvetot, " wrote the French poet Pierre-Jean de
   Beranger, "little known to history." Pick any period of history of which
   you are especially fond, and you will feel strongly that some figure you
   deem important is too "little known."

   Consider the era of the English Reformation. It is a time of tumultous
   change. A king shifts his faith, leaders are burned at the stake, people
   flee the country, many monasteries are destroyed, and the king's successors

   shift back and forth in the middle of the sixteenth century with astonishing
   rapidity. Read any work on this time and the authors TEND to focus on the
   politics, the leaders, the church, the liturgy and the men. When a woman is
   mentioned at all, the one bright light that gets nearly all the attention is
   Elizabeth I (1533-1603).

   Nearly all the other women are less noticed, and when they are focused on
   little is said about the role THEOLOGY plays in their lives and ministries.
   In a highly provocative and little noticed book, "When Life and Beliefs
   Collide : How Knowing God Makes a Difference" (Zondervan, 2001), Carolyn
   James writes: "As I have met with hundreds of women, I have encountered a
   wide spectrum of negative attitudes towards theology, from casual
   indifference to open hostility, and all points in between. Here and there,
   a few women may find theology fascinating, may even devote a lot of time to
   study it, but they are exceptional and, in the opinion of some, a little
   peculiar. Beyond these rare exceptions, most women cannot be bothered."

   Well, in the period of the English Reformation women COULD be bothered,
   indeed fascinated, by theology, as Paul Zahl's "Five Women of the English
   Reformation" (Eerdmans, 2001) shows. Dr. Zahl picks Anne Boleyn
   (1507-1536), Anne Askew (1521-1546), Katherine Parr (1514-1548), Jane Grey
   (1537-1554), and Catherine Willoughby (1520-1580) for his examination. "All
   of these woman thought theologically," he writes. "They were lay
   theologians. They read theological books, most especially the Bible, and
   anything to which they could gain access from the continental Protestant
   Reformers. They talked theology. Their inner circles were
   twenty-four-hours-a-day Bible studies. They saw everything that happened
   through two lenses: the lens of the providence of God and the lens of the
   furtherance of the Reformed religion."

   For Dr. Zahl, the "Reformed religion" comes to England in three successive
   parts. "The first phase of Reformation theology was justification by grace
   through faith rediscovered. The second phase was the implications of
   justification by faith for the Mass, the Mass being the central action and
   transaction of medieval Catholicism. The third phase of the English
   Reformation was the focus on election and predestination."

   Phase one concerns Anne Boleyn, "who died meekly but gave away nothing." So
   completely was she erased from the official record "it became as if she had
   never lived." For Zahl, however, she left the indelible mark of her faith.
   "As queen, Anne understood her providential mission to be.to bring the
   Reformation to England and employ every single instance of patronage and
   influence to that end." What is the human predicament? "The human person is
   caught up in himself and herself until set free to love by a prior exterior
   love." That prior love is the love above all loves, and the heart of Anne's
   faith, "the forgiving love of Christ Jesus, without which all human
   endeavors of love are doomed to be scripted and need projected."

   The second phase of the Reformation involves another Anne. "Anne Askew's
   primary target was biblical teaching concerning the eucharist, and more
   precisely the idea of transubstantiation. Anne was burned for denying
   transubstantiation. Her denial of it was aggressive. In fact she mocked
   the concept!"

   Zahl believes Anne Askew rejected transubstantiation for two reasons.
   "First, it is irrational to say that God can be contained within any object
   of any kind..`God will not be eaten with teeth': This is the Enlightenment
   or critical, deconstructing side of Protestantism in early form." Anne's
   second reason Zahl calls an "evangelical" one, namely the notion that Christ
   's atoning death occurred once for all. "To conceive of the Eucharist as a
   sacrifice of repetition, by which the benefits of Christ's death are
   presented new and actual each time on the altar, was to denigrate the `one,
   full perfect sacrifice'" of which Cranmer wrote.

   The final phase of the Reformation concerns Catherine Willoughby, the
   duchess of Suffolk in 1533, who lived the longest of the five women treated
   by Dr. Zahl. She addresses primarily the subjects of divine will,
   providence, and election. When she loses her sons Charles and Henry to
   death, she seeks to understand it as a "mercy. She means that by taking
   away from her, her very most cherished prerogative-her children and her
   attachment to them-God has intentionally forced her to rely solely on Him."
   Zahl confesses this is "counterintuitive" yet sees it as the inevitable
   outflow of Luther's theology. "If grace alone saves, then God alone is the
   willing actor in all human events.Contemporary people make heavy weather of
   this. Our ancestors generally accepted it."

   So here is vintage Zahl: compact, pithy, and theologically oh so rich.
   Appropriately, there is a chapter of reflection by Mary Zahl which concludes
   with the best call of the book: "Study the Bible.be courageous.See God as.
   [your] only authority.Be grateful that .[we are] not being asked to die for"
   our faith.

   For all the talk about theology, however, this theologian was most struck by
   all the suffering these women went through, the physical agony, the
   emotional trauma of becoming convenient victims in other's schemes, and the
   lives cut so terribly short (Willoughby excepted). "What I think we can say
   regarding the steel of our heroes' convictions is that in each case their
   new convictions were made firmer by means of affliction, loss and
   harassment." Indeed. "Shall I fall in desperation?" Katherine Parr asks.
   "Nay, I will call upon Christ, the Light of the world. The Fountain of
   life, the relief of all careful consciences, the Peacemaker between God and
   man, and the only health and comfort of all repentant sinners."

   Oh how they suffered, but they suffered for and with Christ. May God grant
   us similar rich and deep devotion to him in our generation.

   --The Rev. Dr. Kendall S. Harmon (ksharmon@mindspring.com) serves as Theologian in Residence at St.
   Paul's Episcopal Church in Summerville, South Carolina




4. Biographical historians would do well to emulate this book. This is history enthusiastically--never dully--told. Paul Zahl spins his true tales with zest, wit and total commitment to the subject: five women who dared to think and tell what they knew to be the truth. It's a difficult book to put aside, simply because the author is obviously time-travelling: you feel he was actually there, witnessing the remarkable times in which his subjects lived. Zahl brings each woman to life and makes the reader wish for more. Mary Zahl adds an epilogue that injects just the right amount of support for Paul Zahl's courage to write about women who are bigger than life--from a male perspective. Well done!



5. Biographical historians would do well to emulate this book. This is history enthusiastically--never dully--told. Paul Zahl spins his true tales with zest, wit and total commitment to the subject: five women who dared to think and tell what they knew to be the truth. It's a difficult book to put aside, simply because the author is obviously time-travelling: you feel he was actually there, witnessing the remarkable times in which his subjects lived. Zahl brings each woman to life and makes the reader wish for more. Mary Zahl adds an epilogue that injects just the right amount of support for Paul Zahl's courage to write about women who are bigger than life--from a male perspective. Well done!

5 comments about Henry V as Warlord (Classic Military History).

1. Henry V was one of the most ferocious of England's kings. Through sheer force of will alone he was able to quell his English nobility into following him, and then turn to the French and do the same to them.
   
   Seward does a great job in using the contemporary sources of the time to illustate who the man really was, all the meanwhile not falling prey to the trappings of the propoganda of the time. His illustration of the man's short life is invaluable to anyone reading French or English history, but especially for anyone who is looking for information on the Hundred Years War.
   
   A must read for history buffs.



2. ... Desmond Seward's book does much to clear the myth about Henry V from the theater and movie images but as the title of the book suggested, Henry V was a warlord and a pretty good as that. I enjoyed reading this book, clearly written, neatly on focus as Seward does not spread himself too thin and kept his eye on the military aspect of Henry V's career. That was his purpose for the book, wasn't it? The book revealed that Henry was a gifted commander, brutal as any but no more then any for the time period. he waged an aggressive war and took advantages of his enemies. That don't make him a bad man in my book, not during that period of history. Henry V's only sin, it seem was that he simply died too soon and left a son too young. Overall, a very good book, author's effort to show the "real" Henry V was a success but Henry's accomplishments were real enough that Shakespeare wanted to make him a national hero!



3. Henry V was one of the most evil kings to occupy the English throne. Shakespeare's play about him glorified him because he conquered so much territory in France. Even though he only occupied the English thorne for 9 years, he caused 600 years of political damage between France and England. His motto was, "I'm the scourge of God and I'm here to punish men for their sins."

   Normandy, one of the best grain producing regions of France was practically raised to the ground. It was devastated along with other northern regions of France. The English murdered, raped, pillaged, and committed almost every kind of evil to France during this period of medieval history.

   After his victory at Agincourt in 1415, Henry V invaded France while it was in a civil war. At the Treaty of Troyes, he dictated his own terms for the future of France. Charles VI, "the mad king of France", didn't have a say in the treaty because he was insane. Henry took advantage of this. In the treaty, it stated that Henry would marry Charles'daughter and if Charles VI died, Henry would become both king of England and France.

   When the Hundred years war was dormant, Henry rekindled it for another 50 years. His only reason was to declare that he was the true heir to the French throne. During those 50 years the English committed so many atrosities to France, they paled in comparison to what the Saracens did to the Crusaders. This is the main reason the French mistrust and dislike the English to this day.




4. Those who admire Shakespeare's Henry V and Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation, and who are curious about the real King Henry, will find this book to be a good read: fluently and clearly written, neither too short nor too long. Henry was a sort of monster; he was also a great man. The human race naturally admires such men, and for that reason one should not fault Shakespeare for creating a great national hero out of a ruthless military genius. What is remarkable is that so much of the real Harry comes through in the play. Even so, the disasters of war inflicted on the French are appalling to read about in this book. The Nazi occupation was mild in comparison. The French are notorious for their aversion to English speakers. Is the reason, as Desmond Seward says, the memory of this quintessential English hero?



5. Shakespeare's Henry V forms the basis for most people's impression of this monarch. This remarkably effective piece of propaganda presents Henry as an inexperienced and brave young man with a number of attractive features. In this fine book, Desmond Seward presents a realistic picture of Henry V that is quite different from the Henry in Shakespeare. While Henry came to the throne at a young age, he was already an experienced commander and administrator. His skills had been developed in the rather vicious politics of contemporary England and by the leading role he played in subduing rebellion in Wales. Based on a careful reading of sources and his extensive knowledge of Medieval Europe, Seward presents Henry as an unusually capable and ruthless leader bent on consolidating royal authority in England and conquering France. Seward's well justified analysis of Henry's motivations are based on Henry's insecurity over his claim to the throne, which had been usurped by his father. Seward infers that the undoubtedly pious Henry regarded his attempt to conquer France as a trial by God over the issue of the legitimacy of his crown. Henry's successes then were sanction of his efforts to conquer France and his right to occupy the throne of England. This book provides fine narrative of Henry's life as a soldier and campaigner. Seward's descriptions of Medieval warfare and politics are excellent. He addresses well why a small and relatively sparsely populated country like England could do so well in combat against the French. Seward addresses also the question of why the English presence proved to evanescent. My only complaint with this book is that it did not cover other aspects of Henry's life. This is not entirely fair as Seward aimed at covering Henry's life as a attempted conquerer and he achieves his aims easily. This is not an attempt at a comprehensive biography. Seward's intelligent treatment of these aspects of Henry's life makes me wish he had attempted a broader book.

2 comments about King Charles II.

1. antonia fraser does full justice to the topic so that you come away with a new clear and unbiased picture of a very approachable english king she uses exelant language and has a skill to keep her reader interested this book is well worth the read antonia frazer does an amazing job as usual



2. This is what popular historical writing is all about - a readable, knowledgeable, enjoyable book. Fraser provides a superb introduction to the varied life and dramatic times of king Charles II. Her background information is clear and reliably accurate, she provides a great deal of insight into the person of this most personable of kings, and her bibliography is a launching place for further explorations. One could only wish to be able to submit a list of suggestions for new books...

5 comments about Byron: Child of Passion, Fool of Fame.

1. "Mad, bad, and dangerous to know" is often quoted about Byron. He was all this. Eisler has painted his portrait with intimate detail in this well-researched biography. It is not a quick read, but well worth plunging in and immersing onesself in the poet, his times, his charm, his glaring faults and his decadence. A child of his turbulent times, Byron was handsome, selfish, cavalier and dissolute. His many amours with boys, women and men reveal a narcissistic personality with an intense neediness for love, but an inability to be fulfilled by it. Readers will find a wealth of detail and a comprehensive biography in this book. A good addition to anyone's library.



2. Found this today at our annual library sale for $1 but discover in reading the reviews here that perhaps even that was not a good deal! I will see when I start reading it.



3. Please do not buy this book. As an academic whose specialty area is Lord Byron, I urge you to avoid this sensationalist and poorly written work at all costs. It is, aside from anything else, full of small mistakes regarding dates, etc. If you are looking for a reliable recent biography of Byron, buy the Fiona Macarthy book before you buy this one. If you are willing to spend more and hunt more, and don't mind a book that, because of the time when it was written, scants the issue of Byron's complex sexual tastes, the undoubted go-to bio is Leslie Marchand's three volume work from 1957. Old, but still the best.



4. This is a very comprehensive and controversial biography about the great poet Lord Byron, who gave us some of the most wonderful lyric and narrative poems in the English language. This bio does at times linger a lot on his rather daring and adventurous sex-life, and perhaps less on his work and the significance of it, but this tome is an intriguing read. Yes, the author re-produces rumor and innuendo, but let us not forget that rumors sometimes turn out to be true. This is not a smear on Byron, but an elucidating portrait that tells us much more about the man he was, and how he lived, loved, and fought. I enjoyed learning more about the private man and his troubled childhood, his brilliance and celebrity, his dangerous liaisons, including sodomy, orgies, and incest with his half-sister, Augusta. This is a man whose sins and scandals live on along with his clear and uniquely beautiful poetry.

   David Rehak
   (...)




5. The fascination with or against Byron is a natural response... but why the good Benita would have spent ten years on a subject she is so cool about is a puzzle.
   
   There is no new information in the Eisler book except a retelling of other's tales and the settling of certainty on any malignant gossip ever piled on Byron to extinguish him as a political contender.
   
   There are many well- written books on Byron with better love of accuracy.
   The Marchand biography is a good reference but within three volume it fails to capture the essence of a man and leaves us with a mere shadow. Anything written by Malcolm Elwin, John Chapman, Ashley Hay, Drinkwater, Thomas Moore, Doris Langley Moore is a better read than Eisler and the general biographers of the 1990's and the 21st century. Lady Longford's Byron is better written than the more recent dishes.
   
   And in the end do you want to know a man? Know then his feelings and views first-hand: read his poetry. Discover his charm for yourself, unabridged.

3 comments about Henry VIII: The Mask of Royalty.

1. If you love the Tudors, and you already have your basic facts down, you'll really enjoy this orignial look at Henry VIII. Profesor Smith allows a look at Henry VIII as a person, revealing a personality that may have belonged to this great King. Definately worth the read.



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3. More than four centuries after his death, Henry VIII remains one of the most fascinating monarchs in English history. As a result, numerous biographies have been written about him - and his equally famous six wives. But only Lacey Baldwin Smith's biography does justice to both subject and reader. He avoids the easy trap of portraying Henry as a misogynistic tyrant who twisted religion and politics in the pursuit of personal gratification. Such a treatment, sadly popular in current biographies, is an insult to any student of history. Instead, Smith brings Henry alive in the context of the turbulent sixteenth-century; he is seen as both man and king, troubled soul and tyrannical monarch. When you have finished this brilliant and learned work, you will have a new and profound understanding of Reformation England - and its contradictory leader.

1 comments about Ada, the Enchantress of Numbers: A Selection from the Letters of Lord Byron's Daughter and Her Description of the First Computer (The Pickering Masters).

1. A very pleasant biography in an original format, allowing for a good understanding of the main character. Typical american biography, where few details are untold, and where the author remains "transparent". We have to assume that B.A.Toole likes Ada, since she wrote a book about her, but we can't figure out why: was it beause she was Byron's daughter, or because she was Babbage's assistant, or because she lived an interesting life, or because she worked on early computers, or for any other reason... It might be a quality of good biographers, but as a French guy, I like to feel a greater intimacy between the autobiographer and the central character. A small disappointment: the lack of details regarding Ada's program for computing Bernouilli's numbers. Having computed some of those by myself, I know what an advantage it is to have at one's disposal a good algorithm to shorten fastidious calculations. In Toole's book, those numbers are barely mentioned, and the chapter 12, even though revised by an US Army colonel,doesn't explain why the Dept of Defense has chosen the ADA language. This having ben said, I took a great pleasure in reading a book which taught me a lot, even if Toole is too discreet on "an affair" that young Ada had when she was 17 years old with one of her preceptors (the great Turner?). Again the French side in me would have liked more details on that topic... Iconography is nice and all graphics are useful. All in all, a very good book to be read by all those who feel interested by an extraordinary woman who remains too little known by the general public.

5 comments about Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self.

1. What a marvellous treatment of Samuel Pepys Diaries this book is. It deserves all the awards it has won. It is scholarly, historical and thoroughly well written providing a remarkable insight into Pepys daily life as well as de-mystifying all that was censored from us at high school.



2. Claire Tomalin's Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self is quite simply one of the best reads in history, biography or any other genre in a long time. It deservedly carried off the Whitbread Book of the Year in 2002. Pepys lived through the tumultuous changes of the 17th century from Charles I to the Commonwealth and back to Charles II and James II and finally through the Glorious Revolution that brought the Dutch William III to the English crown. That century contained plagues, the great London fire, revolution, counterrevolution, and the emergence of science. Pepys experienced it all and for some 9 years wrote a comprehensive, perceptive, and extremely candid diary.
   
   Tomalin's story rather naturally divides into three parts: pre-diary years, the diary years from 1660-1669, and the post-diary years when Pepys reached his greatest heights and suffered his greatest losses, personal and professional. In the first and last parts Tomalin gives us an excellent if fairly standard biography, but one informed by the incredible detail and honesty of the diary years.
   
   
   When the reader reaches the end of the diary years one feels a sense of deprivation, a sense almost of being cheated. Pepys has drawn the curtain closed and we are no longer privy to the intimate details of Pepys daily activities at court, in the street, in the bedroom. Tomalin's own sense of loss is palpable.
   
   
   Pepys began life as the son of London tailor and managed to reach the highest levels of English government as an advisor to kings by dint of hard work and obsequious obeisance to a number of benefactors, beginning with Edward Montague. An assiduous rump smoocher was he. Along the way he switched from being a supporter of Cromwell and Parliament to backing Charles II and James II. As a high-level naval official he instituted many practices that made the Royal Navy the greatest in the world. Unfortunately for Pepys, Charles II was a wastrel and James II an open Catholic whose religion cost him his crown. His connection to them cost him some time in the Tower of London.
   
   
   There are many diaries, but few that are as perceptive and honest as Pepys' or as fruitful at sweeping in the details of daily life in mid-1600s England. According to Tomalin, Pepys diary gives more detail about the life of young working class girls and women, the maids, cooks, and serving girls, as almost any other source. Pepys also had a strong appetite for women and he did not hesitate to use his position to get what he desired, which he also details in his diary.
   
   
   Pepys' diary and his own achievements show him as a remarkably energetic man with a strongly curious mind. Although not a scientist himself Pepys had a curious mind and also belonged to the Royal Society serving a term as its president. Pepys displays a willingness to work and to fawn as necessary in order to advance. The diary also shows him as a frequent sexual harasser (although his behavior may have been within the norms of the day at least as far as the men were concerned). And while he excelled at his work, he also was not above taking a bit of an "inducement" on the side. We would call these payments bribes, but Pepys seems to have viewed them more like service charges and he seems not to have acted contrary to the navy's best interests. These bribes were usually in pound notes (often sizeable), but he also had a long-running arrangement with a ship's captain for free access to the sexual favors of the captain's wife (Her name: Mrs. Bagwell!).
   
   
   What is truly remarkable is that we know all these things and know them to be true for a certainty only because Pepys wrote them in his diary, a diary that it is generally believed Pepys fully intended to be publicly read some day (he included the six volumes in his library that he bequeathed it to Magdalene College, Cambridge).
   
   
   Highest recommendation.



3. I loved this book. I still love this book. On a recent trip to London I found myself thinking about Pepys around the city, seeing things, going places, meeting people. He is so interesting to himself, and to Tomalin, and now to me! She does a superb job telling the story with no intrusions from her self--it's all Pepys all the time. If you can read, you'll love it!



4. This is another fascinating historical biography that reads more like a novel than a stuffy factual book. Virtually everyone knows the name of Samuel Pepys. Ah yes, he's the man who wrote the diary. This is of course true, but do they actually know anything about the man behind the name of Samuel Pepys. What for instance were his feelings on the politicians of the day. What were his own ambitions and aspirations.
   
   Pepys was a naval administrator and friend and confidant of some of the most famous and powerful people in London . Sex, the plague, music, marital conflict, naval life, public executions and incarcerations in the Tower of London. These are just some of the colourful events in the life of a man famous for his writing of a diary.
   
   The book contains a wealth of interesting material about the life of a man who's name goes before him. Everyone knows his name, but few know of the life of the man himself.



5. This overpraised biography of Pepys tends to underplay his character flaws. Tomalin is over-forgiving of Pepys betrayals of friends and family, of his frequent physical and sexual abuse of women including his own wife. Pepys betrayal of his brother and sister his frequent cruelty to those members of his family who could not serve his social climbing goals make very questionable the heroic image Tomalin provides of him. She surely overrates his greatness as a writer and explorer of the self.
   Pepys is a diarist of tremendous curiosity who is capable of recording his own intimate acts with a certain kind of objective impersonality.
   Since Pepys is famous for his sexual antics I expected this biography would make some effort at real analysis of his character. It does not do this but contents itself but relating and celebrating his exploits. Reading this work we thus know much about what Pepys did without necessarily understanding who he really is.
   Pepys unpleasant side was also revealed in his greatest career year, the Plague Year . While one of every six people in London were falling victim to the Plague Pepys was happily recording his advances in career. A very hard worker, and a masterful
   bureaucrat he nonetheless does not show a broad and humane sympathy for others.
   For those who love English social history , for those who want to know a great deal about Restoration England, for those interested in understanding how bureaucracy works, and how people get on and by in the world, this biography is outstanding. But for those who wish to understand human character in depth, including that of Samuel Pepys this book it seems to me is as lacking as Pepys himself was.

2 comments about Disraeli: A Biography.

1. I found this book to be a solid, scholarly biography of Benjamin Disraeli. The subject is thoroughly researched and presented in great detail. One will certainly come away with great insight into the Prime Minister who Queen Victoria so adored.
   But Weintraub's book is so detailed and his prose can be so very dry in places, that one finds oneself sometimes plodding along.
   I found Christopher Hibbert's biography (Disraeli: The Victorian Dandy Who Became Prime Minister) to be superior. Hibbert's prose is more lively, and one comes away feeling that they have gotten to know "Dizzy" far more intimately.
   Having said that, however, Weintraub's Disraeli is certainly well worth the effort.



2. Dr. Stanley Weintraub's biography of Ben Disraeli is excellent. The scholarship is at the top. The only other biography that I would consider but I have some reservations is the one by Lord Blake the problem with his as compared to Dr. Weintraub's is it is too thick. This one spends plenty of time on his political and publishing career. I thoughly enjoy the biography, and for all those who harken back to a time when are politicans had some flare and style will enjoy this book.

3 comments about In Camera: Francis Bacon: Photography, Film and the Practice of Painting.

1. This book is an essential tool to better understand the process in which Francis Bacon produced his master works. As an artist, this book demystifies the painter while testifying his genius.



2. It seems the number of books about British artist Francis Bacon, both biography and art monograph, grows each year, an indication of just how important this innovative and strange painter is in the spectrum of art history. IN CAMERA FRANCIS BACON: PHOTOGRAPHY, FILM AND THE PRACTIVE OF PAINTING is an erudite and fascinating work that opens previously sealed windows into the dark life and immensely controversial creativity of this daring genius.
   
   Bacon, unlike most artists of his time and even of the present, had no problems discussing the fact that he utilized the art of photography in gathering information and inspiration for his huge canvases. Bacon saw the camera as a ready resource of information from which products he then could study, cut and paste, distort and wildly mix as the impetus of his own painted creations. But the extent to which Bacon immersed himself in the images he collected and deposited in the ungainly mess of his studio at 7 Reece Mews is now brought to light by author Martin Harrison.
   
   Harrison not only understands photography's history and impact, he also understands painting. He wisely interviewed Bacon's last lover and inheritor of Bacon's estate until his death, John Edwards, and through Edwards' auspices Harrison gained access to many of the never before seen images that grace this book. Here are sketches, manipulated and notated photographs, photographic images of some of Bacon's destroyed canvases and plates of drawings and paintings not included elsewhere, making this volume of information invaluable to the Bacon devotees, no matter the number of volumes on their library shelves!
   
   Harrison writes with the style of the scholar he is and at times the writing itself is rather dry and academic. But if the reader perseveres these thick passages of documentation, the reward is new knowledge of just how Bacon utilized photos, newsprint snaps, movies, and all manner of the camera's output to gain the spark of brilliance that resulted in his amazing output. The book is on the finest paper and is filled with superb reproductions of the photographic stimuli and the resultant paintings. This is an invaluable volume for the study of Bacon's art. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, January 06



3. "In Camera" is one of the most interesting books on Francis Bacon, one of the greatest painters of the 20th century, ever published for several reasons: First, it takes good advantage of the meanwhile fairly large array of books, catalogs and articles which have been published on Bacon. Second, Harrison had access to materials, mainly photographs that have not been published before. Third, he was able to interview several persons close to Bacon, notably John Edwards, Bacon's last companion. Fourth, and most importantly, the book has a clear thesis that the author is able to present convincingly. It is Harrison's position that Bacon used mainly photographs either taken by photographers by his request or from books and magazines to the effect that they: "triggered decisive turning points in his stylistic development" (from book jacket).
   
   In five chapters Harrison explores different type of media and images and how these affected Bacon's painting: Motion pictures, Interior Design, different artists such as Picasso and Michelangelo, the photography of Eadweard Muybridge, and the photographers that he hired to take photographs for him such as Deakin and Edwards. From the thousands of objects found in Bacon's studio at his death many were photographs from the above mentioned sources, but also taken from magazines and torn from books. Of these many had paint splatters and finger smudges in paint proving that Bacon used these for his paintings. A cut out photo of George Dyer, Bacon's lover from the 60's until his suicide in 1971 was even used as a template for several paintings. For many paintings Harrison shows the painting and the image or photograph that it was based on side by side. For example the Triptych (1991) used a front cover of "The Correspondent Magazine", a Muybridge photograph of mane wrestling, and a photo of Bacon. The book has over 270 excellent illustrations, of which at least 100 I saw for the first time and I own an extensive collection of Bacon books and catalogs.
   
   The fact that Bacon used other images for inspiration does not mean that he merely copied these. One look at Bacon's paintings will prove that this is not the case. It is well-known that Bacon did not use models for his paintings and the images acted as catalysts for Bacon triggering other images, emotions or memories which then manifested themselves in his extraordinary paintings. Bacon was always reluctant to discuss the meaning of his paintings, insisting that they had none. Harrison goes farther than any book since the Sylvester interviews in proving that this is not the case and that the paintings were highly personal. The following two quotes from the end of the book are in my opinion right on the mark:
   
   "..it should be remembered that most of Bacon's paintings were explorations of selfhood". (p.228)
   
   "He conveyed his inner life without compromise, but in code, in his paintings." (p.229)
   
   I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Bacon's art and Bacon the artist and man. The book is well presented, written and organized and the many images are fascinating. Though published by Thames & Hudson, it is printed and bound by Steidl an excellent German printer.
   
   For more information on books about Francis Bacon, please see the listmania list I compiled. Readers are also welcome to email me for more information on Bacon books and web sites.
   
   Review by Walter O. Koenig

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