No comments about Life and Times of Queen Elizabeth I (Naxos Audio).

No comments about Herbert Howells (Border Lines (Bridgend, Wales).).

5 comments about Last Days of Glory: The Death of Queen Victoria.

1. Can a book about someone's death be entertaining? You bet, if the subject is Queen Victoria and it deals with the pomp and circumstance of her death. Extraordinary research, well-written. Very human, including royal family conflicts and imperfections. If you like the Victorian period, by all means, read this book.



2. 
   I like a book that is focused and keeps its tone throughout. With content like this I'm sure it took discipline to weed out the many stories of people and events that brought the world to this date. For instance, just enough is devoted to the Kaiser and John Brown is appropriately dealt with in the appendix. The tone stays the same through the final days, to the funeral preparations and then the funeral ritual itself.
   
   It had been so long since a monarch's death, that no one could remember the protocol. There were big issues and smaller decisions. How to inform the populace? How long should a mourning period last? (Various aspects of the economy had to be considered.) Would Edward hire the Queen's personal staff? Hymns had to be chosen, and a favorite had to yield to the politically correct one of the time. So many outpourings from at home and abroad. Special request floral designs. Visiting dignitaries. What to call the Princess of Wales before installation? QV left very detailed instructions, but soon to be installed King Edward now had the veto.
   
   Rennell gives us all the above and more. He sticks with his topic and brings together all the pertinent material. Very good job.



3. Basically this book is just an overview of the last three weeks of Queen Victoria's life, and not very interestingly written either, being rather simplistic and jumping back & forth in style.
   
   For a much more comprehensive and fascinating view of Queen Victoria's last days, I recommend "Ask Sir James" by Michaela Reid, which is a biography of Ms. Reid's grandfather, Sir James Reid, Queen Victoria's doctor. Despite its being a book not strictly about Queen Victoria, "Ask Sir James" is really chock full of interesting information and tidbits of personal history regarding the last 20-odd years of the Queen's life, her personality and her health, and is a much better and more interesting book than "Last Days of Glory". Don't waste your money on Rennell's book; go to the source it's based on!



4. A surprisingly entertaining book. Surprisingly because Rennell writes quite a dry book, not sensationalising the story of Victoria's death, or attempting to get too personal. Rather, he takes the reader through Victoria's last days, her death and the funeral, relating aspects from the point of view of those close to Victoria and the press. He never directly writes political analysis, but rather hints at it, only occasionally drawing parallels with the modern British monarchy. By taking one small episode - lasting only a year really - Rennell manages to explore various facets of Victorian life and it's legacy.

   The most striking point in this book is the fact that no-one seemed prepared for Queen Victoria's death, which is amazing considering the woman was in her eighties! But it also entertainingly covers the small facts - the internal squabbles within the large and extended royal family; the fact the Queen was a bit of a glutton until her final illness; the boy who flicked a match and set fire to a man's hat while the public watched the funeral procession move through London. Rennell manages to steer a course between the academic and the `dumbing down' sometimes prevalent in modern day `popular history'. Rather, he just sticks to the facts and supposes his readers are intelligent enough to understand and interpret them.




5. When I first saw that this book was published, I was skeptical that enough information could be gathered about Queen Victoria's death to make for interesting reading. Was I wrong! The Last Days of Glory: The Death of Queen Victoria by Tony Rennell contains not just lots of interesting information, but also all the high drama required of a good Victorian novel. The cast of characters is unbelievable. They include: 1. a robust queen whose rapidly failing health is kept from her public until the last minute 2. a reluctant heir who would rather go fox hunting and spend time with his mistresses than attend his mother's deathbed or assume the throne 3. a passel of children and grandchildren who hover about and argue with each other 4. an obnoxious, arrogant and overbearing grandson (Kaiser William II) trying to make nice with his British cousins (who all loathe him) while trying to muscle his way into the death scene 5. a personal doctor who is second guessed at every opportunity, is never allowed to physically examine the queen and who serves as a spy to the Kaiser 6. a bishop who tries to interject too much "churchiness" into the death scene and is finally asked to leave 7. a head dresser who has promised the queen to sneak a large number of objects and mementos into the queen's coffin (without her family's knowledge) including several from the queen's devoted Scottish servant, John Brown (also rumored to be her secret husband) 8. a large number of heads of state who scheme and plot and politic against each other at the funeral, even though most of them are related to each other 9. an Empire of British subjects who have never known another sovereign and 10. a large group of faithful but bumbling government officials who have no clue how to bury the old monarch or install the new one because they haven't had to worry about such things for over 63 years.

   Add to this story a lost effigy for the burial sarcophagus and over 100 daily newspapers scrapping for every little tidbit of information, and you have a saga most fiction writers could only dream about. To make the story even more interesting, we learn about the changes in the Empire and the world during the course of Victoria's reign. Telegrams have revolutionized communication, telephones are in their infancy, and no one really believes that the new horseless carraiges will become popular because they're too expensive. Queen Victoria's death takes place at the dawn of a new millennium, so the end of the 19th Century and the end of the Victorian Era occur together. Also, the British Empire will never again be as great or as grand as it was during Victoria's reign. It all makes for fascinating reading.

   The only flaw I could find in The Last Dayas of Glory involved a historical fact. The Russian Tsar and Tsarina, Nicholas and Alexandra (Victoria's favorite granddaughter) got married after Nicholas became tsar and not before. But other than this minor error, I find no fault here. Tony Rennell's book is a nice surprise and well worth reading.

3 comments about WINSTON CHURCHILL - SOLDIER: The Military Life of a Gentleman at War.

1. In the popular--especially American--mind, the career of Winston Churchill begins in 1940, but in fact he had many careers, and in all of them, he demonstrated courage and a prodigious amount of energy. In Winston Churchill: Soldier, Douglas S. Russell focuses on Churchill's early life as a gentleman and lieutenant in the service of Victorian England. It was, by any standard, an impressive service and Russell takes us through all the key events, illuminating them with informative and entertaining prose.
   
   In a five-year period, Churchill saw combat in four countries, won several decorations including the Spanish Order of Military Merit, became fabulously famous as an escaped prisoner of war, wrote five books, and gained a seat in Parliament. He was not yet twenty-six.
   
   It is an intimidating task to relate the events of such a life, and it is made more challenging by knowing who your subject was to become. Russell's achievement is admirable. He begins with Churchill's childhood--it is well to remember that the future Prime Minister was born forty years before the First World War--and takes us through his days at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst before going on to his service in the 4th Hussars and combat on an international stage. (It is difficult for an American to picture Churchill fighting in Cuba.)
   
   Russell succeeds in showing the best traits of a biographer in this volume. He is engaged with his subject and yet he retains a scholarly distance. It is not easy to maintain such balance with someone who looms as large in our minds as Churchill.
   
   --David Lang at Advance Book Reviews



2. 
   I've read many books about Winston Churchill and this by far is the worst! It almost seems as if Churchill was punished for serving in the military.
   
   I wish the book would have discussed what I believe motivated Winston Churchill for military acceptance, an example; his childhood in boarding school: He was rarely visited by his mother, Lady Randolph, whom he wrote many letters begging her to either come or let his father permit him to come home and stay. I believe his father wanted Winston at home and to be part of his life, unfortunately back then (the late 1800's) a mother always seemed to get her way concerning the children, no matter how wrong she was.
   
   Another note, Churchill participated in what has been described as the last significant British cavalry charge at the Battle of Omdurman. He also served as a war correspondent for the Morning Post. What's terrific is that Sir Winston Churchill wrote and served in the military at the same time! I wonder if that was ever used against him when he ran for office??
   
   Back to the book, Winston Churchill was a great leader and hero, but it is not conveyed to me in this book. It seems the author did not take into account or see all sides of the picture concerning Churchill's military life, especially the truthful people who took the time to show up and support Winston in his endeavors.
   
   To me, the book was vacant, dreadful, and very one-sided. I'm sorry to say that I would never recommend this book to anyone, not even my worst enemy.
   
   Two great books to read regarding Winston Churchill's military life are "Concerning Winston Spencer Churchill," written by Sir George Arthur and "Winston Churchill: The Era and the Man," written by Virginia Cowles.
   
   I hope my review enlightened you and made you think.



3. This book is a labor of love and it shows. In an overture to his political career, Winston Churchill was graduated from Great Britain's royal military academy in 1894, aged twenty, and served as a professional officer (and part-time war correspondent) t for the next six years. He saw action on India's northwest frontier, in Cuba as an observer with the Spanish army during the Cuban insurrection of 1895, in what was then Anglo-Egyptian Sudan in 1898, and in the Boer War in 1899-1900. Then in 1915, after losing his post as a Cabinet Minister, a middle-aged Churchill returned to duty on the Western Front for a year. He thus saw colonial war in Africa and Asia in the late days of the British Empire, when it was considered something of a moderately dangerous sport for gentleman cavalry officers, and in his own middle age when it had become an industrial-scale slaughter in the mud of the trenches of Flanders. Russell tells the story with thoroughgoing attention to detail based on exhaustive research--including visits to the scenes he describes--skipping nothing, from details of uniforms and daily patterns of army life, to tactics and moment-by-moment experiences in battle. No one interested in military history should miss this book.
   
   But the general reader, too, will find it fascinating because the central figure, never lost sight of, is young Winston Churchill--ambitious, outspoken (sometimes to his disadantage,) eloquent, completely loyal to class and country, and absolutely without fear on the battlefields where he narrowly missed death several times. Likewise gifted with a sense of the sweep of history that he later poured into many books. Everyone should make the acquaintance of this genuine and colorful giant in his formative years to learn why he became a great wartime leader. Those of us, like this reviewer, old enough to remember that deep voice using the mightiest resources of the English language to rally Britain and the free world against the Axis even in the darkest moments of World War II will be especially thrilled. Those younger should make his refreshing acquaintance in this age of cookie-cutter politicians.

5 comments about The Love There That's Sleeping: The Art And Spirituality of George Harrison.

1. This book is like a sunrise in George Harrison literature and the Beatle Literati are quite pleased with this one. It is a brilliant look at how spirituality and art married well and how George Harrison's work showed this to be a match made in heaven.
   
   This author celebrates George's art, core values, beliefs, religious views as how each had an affect on the art he created. I am glad to see more information provided in re George's view of Catholicism in adult life, indeed, a beautiful statue of Mother Mary graced his home at Friar Park. While this author suggests that George abandoned it and viewed the church as being corrupt, I don't quite get the sense that George jettisoned Catholicism out of his core values for good. While as a young man, George explained his disillusionment with people using church as a place to showcase new clothes and his questions about Jesus being God's only child, he still retains some seeds of Catholicism in the beliefs he would later embrace.
   
   While he does take a bit of a poke at Catholicism in "Vatican Blues," where he questions the morality of church officials, I don't get the sense that he is critizing the faith, per se. Again, in this song, one hears a young George lamenting about how the priests in his boyhood neighborhood would knock on doors, requesting money and use it to build pubs as well as churches. It is the actions of people that George has criticized, not the faith itself.
   
   In "Rising Sun," one gets the sense that George has reached a point of acceptance. In a somewhat ironic twist, my church (which is a Catholic church) uses a lot of George's songs for our prayer meetings and discussions. There are parishioners who have said that George's music helped them appreciate and recognize their own spirituality. It was George himself who said that our search for God cannot wait; he was making an inclusive statement and not one confined by any one religion or ideology.
   
   Allison is truly a scholar and is brilliant in outlining George's view of life, death, religion and the beliefs of others with dignity and grace. It is always a treat to find genuinely good books about my favorite Beatles, the Messrs. Harrison & McCartney, but to find one of this caliber is a bonus treat.



2. This book is a study and a celebration of George Harrison's life, religion, and music, and will be a joy to read for any Beatle's fan or devotee.
   Allison follows George's spiritual journey beginning with his childhood experiences of Roman Catholicism to Harrison's eventual discovery of his love of Hinduism. With knowledge and insight that only a scholar of his caliber could possibly offer, Allison does a grand job of sorting out the turmoil of George's feelings about this world and the afterlife with class and candor.
   And not only is this book an insightful read on so many levels, it is also full of delight and entertainment for those who perhaps don't know very much about George's music or want to know a little something about Hinduism and his beliefs in general. Also, "The Love There That's Sleeping" will hold enchantment for those who just plain love classic rock.
   
   Also, who knows what's wrong with the moron below who didn't realize this book could be purchased in paperback for $12.95. By no stretch of the word is this book a "rip-off."



3. Allison brings his considerable skills as an exegete of religious texts to Harrisonology. The results are stunning. See the blurbs below from the dust jacket.
   
   "What have we here? A delightfully revealing analysis of George Harrison's songs by a world-class, religious scholar. An obvious labor of love, this book is as lively and as enlightening as its subject matter warrants. Fans of the former Beatle are certain to learn things about his songs that no ordinary rock historian could teach them -- and students of religion and culture will find a compelling introduction to a pop-icon whose imaginative work merits serious attention. It is enough to catch more than a glimpse of that elusive inner light Harrison himself hoped we would see." --Mark Allan Powell, Professor of New Testament (Trinity Lutheran Seminary) and author of The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music.
   
   "A sensitive, thorough and fair-minded appraisal of the issues and beliefs central to George Harrison's life and art presented with great clarity. I welcome this addition to the newly formed genre of Beatles' theology!" - Steve Turner, author of The Gospel according to the Beatles
   
   "For more than forty years fans have celebrated George Harrison's music, enjoying its poetry, sharp wit, and virtuosity. But as much as his songs delight, they also puzzle those not familiar with the Hindu inspirations behind them. Harrison enthusiast Dale C. Allison comes to the rescue with The Love There That's Sleeping, an accessible introduction to the religious and philosophical worldview that informs so many Harrisongs. Allison is well known for his careful analyses of religious texts and in this book he brings his considerable skills to the religious poetry of George Harrison, helping us appreciate Nelson Wilbury's art on yet another level." --Michael J. Gilmour, author of Tangled Up in the Bible: Bob Dylan and Scripture



4. I just want to thank the author for this work on the spirituality of George Harrison's music. He was always my favorite Beatle and I came to love his solo music because of its spiritual expression. I have a very personal spiritual life myself, and very much enjoy the insights in this book regarding his lyrics and experiences. It is by far the most interesting work I've read about him aside from George's own words.



5. When will Beatles fans realize they are being ripped off. This book is a real bust.

1 comments about Henry Ossawa Tanner: A Spiritual Biography (Lives & Legacies).

1. One of the most stunning moments in my art-watching career came many years ago in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, when I suddenly came upon Henry Tanner's painting "The Annunciation." I remained transfixed for many minutes. It remains my favorite religious painting of the last couple of centuries. I soon learned that the artist was the first African-American to make it to the artistic top, the stratospheric heights of French Salon shows and membership in the American National Academy of Design. Tanner was almost forgotten for a long time, but there is a flock of webpages and internet resources on him now, as well as this wonderful biography.
   Marcus Bruce has written a brief book that lays out Tanner's lifecourse, centering on the religious and spiritual side, which was, in fact, Tanner's true focus. (Tanner, a minister's son, remained deeply religious all his life.) This book is not only clear and authoritative; it has some of the most insightful art criticism that I have seen. Bruce is far from the "in the right corner we see a dog" school of art writing. He describes the paintings in relation to Tanner's spiritual quest, and Tanner's vision of the world and humanity. His account of my beloved "Annunciation" is a real masterpiece.
   My only complaint with this book (besides sloppy editing--there are too many typos) is that it is too short and does not have color pictures! I hope, even pray, that Dr. Bruce will go on to do a full-scale, large-format art book about Henry Tanner, with the major works in full color. Tanner certainly deserves it--he still has not received the recognition he deserves--and Bruce is the man to do it.

2 comments about William: HRH Prince William of Wales.

1. Don't get this book for the actual bio...there isn't anything in there you couldn't find (with a little patience) on the net. But the pictures are gorgeous; and William is really easy on the eyes lol...



2. The only redeeming quality about this book is that it's filled with pictures. However, they aren't necessarily GOOD pictures. Most of them you've probably seen a million times before. As evidenced on the front cover, a lot of the pictures are in black and white (or brown and white) and sometimes with added elements of color in them

   If your looking for a sensational expose' about the prince's life then this book is NOT for you. Peter Archer pretty much plays it safe and sticks to verfiable facts. However, if you just want a straight biography about the prince without a lot of the fluff that other books often give then I suggest you buy this book at the cheapest price you can find.

5 comments about At Home with Beatrix Potter: The Creator of Peter Rabbit.

1. This book was a real pleasure to read very slowly. It is a room by room description of Beatrix Potter's Hill Top farm house and includes the gardens. Beatrix started journaling about what she loved in a home from the time she was nine years old and this house is the cummulation of a life long interest in interior and exterior design theory. She fit in with the whole Arts and Crafts movement of the time. The house was deliberatly her largest artistic creation, she didn't actually live there very much. Again, it is a beautiful book and has many fasinating details about Beatrix Potter, her family and her times.



2. A gorgeous collection of photos and information
   about one of my most favorite children story writers.



3. What a beautiful book. Clear, inviting photos, and interesting information. A book you will enjoy reading and sharing.



4. Being the big fan of Beatrox Potter, the woman and not just the author I was overjoyed to get this as a gift recently and the book is a treat for the eyes. While it has pages and pages of stunning photographs as well as her own water colours, it is the text and complete history of her farms that is awesome.

   That and reading and seeing photographs of her as well as her farms and reading why she bought each property and the breeds of sheep she raised was of special interest to me. I loved seeing the inside of her farms, although I had seen the inside of a few, via the National Land Trust to whom she left her properties.

   I loved the photographs of Beatrix and how she was so eccentric, kind yet firm and a woman ahead of her time. And it was nice to read that she was a true homestead style woman who had the waste not want not mentality, as well as a deep appreciation for quality and hated to see old bridges torn down for modern ones, although she was quick to make sure the stones and plants, wood and other things being discarded by some, didn't end up in some dump area but were recycled into new walls and buildings and plantings on her property.

   This is a book a cottage gardener, keeper of sheep. painters, stone masons and anyone who loves working with their hands will love. As well as sincere environmentalists and organic gardeners and farmers.




5. AT HOME WITH BEATRIX POTTER is a delight to the eye and the spirit for those who love this children's author and her "little books." It is written by Susan Denyer of Britain's National Trust. (Potter's property was left to the National Trust.) The focus of the book is Hilltop Farm, the first farm Beatrix Potter acquired. Although she lived across the road in Castle Cottage, Potter often used Hilltop for its library, guestroom, and workplaces. She also used it to display her "treasures." This book reveals her love of nature, the English Lake District, and of old things--carved dressers, chests, spinning wheels are a few of the "gems" portrayed. Two-page color spreads convey the beauty of the Lake Area, where Potter became a major landowner, sheepfarmer, and a happily married woman. It is wonderful to see the original places, buildings, and objects that she incorporated into her books (examples are shown side by side). The book's layout, photographs, and design are first-rate. Reading this book reminded me of THE PRIVATE WORLD OF TASHA TUDOR and its wonderful photographs by Richard Brown. Like Tudor, Potter drew what she knew and preferred country to city life. (Tudor also was a working farmer in New Hampshire.) Finally, this book presents information about Beatrix Potter and the things and people she loved in an informative and respectful way. This book is not a biography, and Denyer avoids the biographer's temptation to "sum up" or "explain" Beatrix Potter. Rather, we draw our own conclusions after being exposed to the things Potter loved. The select bibliography at the book's end provides a list of works on and by Potter (her journals and letters have been published) that is very helpful to those who want to know more about this author. This is a book to treasure.

5 comments about Ringo Starr (Beatles).

1. Reading this was like running down to the cellar to change a fuse in your bare feet during a thunder and lightening storm, with the floor covered in broken glass and thumbtacks.
   
   If you buy this book, buy a dictionary along with it. This author took a simple and easy read subject and turned it into pain-filled bother. The information, I think, is there. You'll need to crawl up sharp rocks on the hottest day of the year with no water, to get to it though.



2. It seems this book was written for the author to show off how many big (and useless) words are in his vocabulary. Although it is filled with some good and valuable information you can't read more than a few pages at a sitting because of the writing style. If you took all of the useless words out the book would be about 75 pages.



3. This book was much harder to read than I expected. The author is British and expects that his readers are all British. Unless you have an intimate knowledge of England, its television shows, its local celebrities and its slang, it is easy to get lost. As an American, I found myself unable to follow a good deal of the book. I understood enough to get the gist, but feel I missed an awful lot of the information because it may as well have been written in a foreign language.



4. As an inveterate Beatles fan, I was naturally drawn to this book. Clayson does an admirable job of following Ringo from his early days in the rough Dingle section of Liverpool to his years as a Beatle and beyond.

   Clayson's use of quoted interviews with people who knew and worked with Ringo is what makes this book so effective. I like the way he portrays Ringo as approachable, as somewhat humble about his stellar success as one quarter of the world's number one band. This is definitely worth reading.




5. Its like this, until there is a better book on Ringo, (the most well known Drummer in the 1960s, and probably R&R) this is the one. And Clayson does it with lots of quotes from Ringo and people who worked with him and knew him. Because Ringo really doesnt want a book written about him, with him getting totaly involved that is. So, if someone wants to write a book about him, I guess he says, "Go ahead, But no interviews" So some of it is Clayson's research, and lot's of quotes as I mentioned.You will learn about Ringo, you'll see a side of him that you may have never read. Is it a great book? not in the true sense, "great", is it a pretty good book? yes. Why not great? well, one reason, because there's no pictures. It makes up for that with things I never knew or heard in other Beatle books.This book is actually more like 3-4 stars, but it does get your attention at times, so I gave it 4. Is this all about the Beatles and Beatlemania? yes and no, its mainly about Ringo. That is after all what your looking for, and you hear his side of the Beatles through quotes, and quotes from some other people, too numerous to mention, put it this way, lots and lots of people. e.g. His ex-wife, other drummers sometimes, George Martin, the other Beatles of course, and many more.Sometimes the book drifts, but not too far. He talks about Pete Best, and Jimmy Nicol, but not too much, just enough probably. And mentions some things about them that you may not have heard.In this book Clayson gives us some quotes picked from various interviews (mainly from 60s-70s) so you can get Ringo's candid opinion's about his Drums, and other Drums, and Ringo's opinion's about a famous drummer or two, Such as Buddy Rich.
   Also we find out what Ringo usually did after tours,
   opinions about his children, his money, the Beatles, how he drank in the early days, and how he stopped, and much more.Is it a fun book with lists, etc.? sort of, at times, but no lists perse. Does it have some info you probably never knew? (sure you've heard some of it before) yes.The index is pretty good too, most Beatle books need an index.Learn some stuff not read often about The worlds famous Rock Drummer.Buy it and Enjoy.

1 comments about Lost Voices of the Edwardians.

1. This is a rather interesting look at Edwardian England. The author specializes in reviewing archives on particular topics and then compiling selected extracts of these recollections under general headings. I had never quite before seen this technique, and it allows the reader to hear directly from those who lived the experiences under discussion. In this book, the topics include Childhood, Work, Home, Daily Life, Travel, Politics and Military to name some examples. One is struck repeatedly by the extreme poverty that is manifested in these recollections--particularly of children who struggled to get enough to eat or to find a pair of shoes. This was clearly a difficult period for those on the bottom on the totem pole. The book contains a number of contemporary photos which, when added to the written recollections, affords the reader a pretty effective insight into what was going on. However, this approach does have some problems. For example, a disproportionate percentage of the recollections are from lower and working class individuals--and the same individuals' comments appear under a number of topics (each comment identifies the individual making it). So, one wonders how representative these views are of Edwardians generally, or whether they are skewed due to (for some reason) the archives containing more comments from these folks than others more fortunate than they. Nonetheless, a valuable contemporary document of Edwardian England that adds to our understanding and often tugs at the reader's heartstrings.