5 comments about England's Mistress: The Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton.

1. I have read several historical biographies and never has one taken me by the heartstrings as much as this one. I remember over 30 years ago seeing the magnificent painting by Romney of Emma in Straw Hat at the Huntington Art Museum and wondering at this lovely woman. At that time all I ever could find on her to read was about her flamboyant lifestyle as a mistress and dying a shameful death in debt and alcoholic. This book in all it's wonderful research has proven those past books entirely short sighted. I'm certainly relieved Kate Williams has set this womans life to rights and we can finally see what a truly soft hearted, lovely woman she was, just born before her time.



2. I must say at once that I'm very impressed with Kate William's writing. She writes in a modern style but with no discordant notes to take away from the period to which she is transporting the reader. Emma was born to an impoverished family in England in 1765. After a hard battle just to survive as a child, she spent a short stint as a domestic before following her natural bent as a theatrical, eventually ending for a short period, as a "woman of ill-fame". She then was taken up by dissolute aristocrat, Charles Greville, who used her casually and tried to pass her off to one of his relatives when she became pregnant. Luckily for Emma, the relative was Sir William Hamilton, a rich diplomat in his late sixties who lived in Naples and who, recognising her theatrical talents, honed her dancing and singing skills with excellent teachers so that she soon became a favourite at the Court of the King and Queen of Naples. Hamilton married her after a few years, much to the chagrin of his family who resented the potential loss of his fortune. Their marriage was a happy one, even though he was unable to give her a much wanted child, as she nursed him devotedly through bouts of ill health and generally made his life happy and contented. In 1793, the renowned Admiral of the British fleet, Horatio Nelson, sailed into the harbour at Naples and the rest is history. They fell passionately in love to such an extent that even Sir William bowed to the inevitable and, rather than lose Emma, agreed to live in a menage a trois and accept parentage of their daughter, Horatia. After Nelson's death, Emma's so-called friends who had been only too willing to accept her hospitality and generosity, now totally shunned her, leaving poor Emma ill, penniless and alone, to die in great pain in Calais. Like another reviewer, Michael Schuyler, this book left me feeling melancholic and very bitter towards grasping predators who use and abuse the famous and perhaps naive.



3. I saw the film "That Hamilton Woman" as a teenager, and was curious about the real Emma. After reading mixed reviews about previous biographical works on Emma, I decided to wait it out, and I'm glad that I did. This book is wonderful, and I think that many people of all ages and backgrounds can identify with Emma's plight. I agree with the previous review that mentions some of the maybes, what ifs, and other uncertainties that are discussed in the book, particularly with Emma's early life. That said, I think that the author tried to put Emma's life in a context, giving the reader a picture of what typical life was for someone in her circumstances. Many of the specifics of Emma's early life are long buried, it's nice to have a glimpse of what life in Hawarden was like for a working class family, etc.
   
   This book is a wonderful read; I found myself fretting over her ordeals, because the book is written in a way that really connects with the reader. If you like historical biographies, you'll probably enjoy this one. I consumed both Marie Antoinette and Georgiana very quickly, and this one was no different!



4. I was looking forward to reading a life of Lady Hamilton. The work was relatively well done; I did have some problems with statements made in the opening chapters.
   
   `Henry probably had to'. "... and like most men in Ness he drank and probably beat his wife." "It is possible that Henry killed himself in a fit of drunken despair."
   
   Why speculate? No one knows how Henry died or what type of man he was so why engage in this conjecture? It takes away from the work.



5. There are several excellent reviews above. I shall not endeavor to repeat them. I just finished the book this morning, and I came away from it kind of melancholic. What a sad death for someone who had given so much to her country. She died an agonizing slow death at age 49 in France, of all places, ignored by the government, ignored by many of her so-called friends, and brutally ignored by Nelson's family. Nelson himself comes off not quite as heroic as his reputation would suggest and one obviously seeking glory and fame and Emma, for that matter, all for himself. His brother ignored the terms of his will and Emma as well, leaving her destitute, but with the facade of living well. Even her husband, Sir Hamilton, though he comes across as stoic and remarkably accepting of "the situation" between Emma and Nelson, lays the groundwork for her financial demise by claiming credit for the intelligence she provided to the British government. Everyone, it seems, was at her doorstep with their hands out, yet no one helped her when she needed it. I think she had some of her own issues. She wasn't terribly organized and was somewhat self-indulgent, but this was part of her overall charitable nature: She just couldn't say no, to herself or others. I've come away with a lot of respect for Emma Hamilton, and not much for anyone else who knew her, and even less respect for the press, which acted then as they do today, with no responsibility for what they say. An excellent read, (and good writing by Williams as well) even if it leaves you feeling a little bleak toward the end.

4 comments about Mrs. Keppel and Her Daughter.

1. Alice, Mrs.George Keppel, known in Court circles as "Little Mrs.George", was the mistress of Edward the 7th for many years, until his death. It's a well known story that Queen Alexandra sent for her to attend the death bed of her husband, but what I hadn't known before is that Edward had sent Alice a letter, years before, expressing his wish that she might be allowed to say goodbye in the event of his approaching death. She'd kept this letter which she sent to the Queen, virtually forcing her to accede to his wishes. With this same determination and strength, she proved herself to be the perfect mistress for Edward, always ready and willing to satisfy his appetites and, at the same time, using his influence to acquire enormous wealth and social prestige. At that time in the beginning of the 20th century, the position of Royal Mistress was still held to be a position of social esteem, providing, and this was a BIG proviso, that the affair was handled with absolute privacy and tact, and with no hint of scandal. Alice's daughter, Violet, whose parentage was uncertain, was another matter. In her teenage and early years, she conducted a violently passionate love affair with Vita Sackville-West which lasted for some years until her possessiveness proved too much for Vita. This book will be fascinating for history buffs as it gives a wonderful insight into the morals and mores of Edwardian times, which Violet found to be hypocritical but which allowed people who were often married for convenience and to propagate family lines, to live their lives with a semblance of normality. Violet was a supremely self absorbed woman and, like many of her class at that time, idle and self indulgent through a lack of purpose, except her own pleasure. I found it to be a marvellous read.



2. This is a terrific read. I couldn't put the book down. It doesn't have Violet Keppel Trefusis in the title but it is essentially about her and this is why I bought the book here on Amazon. It is the first book I read beyond Vita Sackville-West's own memoire of her relationship with Violet; this was published in Nigel Nicolson's 'Portrait of a Marriage' in 1973 - shortly after Violet's death in 1972. Like 'Portrait of a Marriage', the book only really comes (startlingly) alive when we get to the affair with Vita that was cut short to avoid public scandal. Violet was ostracised by English high society and would move to Paris in an unhappy marriage with Denys Trefusis to rebuild her life. The affair with Vita is the book's tour de force. The book draws from a wide range of references and Souhami's own valuable research which gives new insights. It includes excellent portraits of the main actors, Violet's extraordinary childhood, the hypocritical Edwardian values and conventions - exemplified by the pragmatic Alice Keppel- that Violet found so offensive. And, Violet and Vita's powerful, beloved, trust fund controlling mothers - Alice Keppel and Victoria Sackville.
   
   The book firmly sides with Violet and balances the negativity of the Nicolson view of Violet as a dangerous and even evil seductress. Souhami makes Violet's tragedy painfully palpable. Vita on the other hand is not treated sympathetically. There are two sides to every story and this is Souhami's defense of Violet.
   
   Souhami rushes through Violet's later life (in Paris and Florence) offering selected vignettes of Violet as a troubled, perhaps deluded woman who was 'unaware of the figure she cut'. She says 'Her messiness, her chaos, her constant painting of her face, seemed to signal inner distress.' How far Violet might have been damaged by the consequences of her relationship with Vita, her isolation and alienation (she was different in many ways and could not 'fit in'), and her sometimes violent marriage with Denys is unknown. Souhami provides no analysis but she provides information; readers have to make their own judgement.
   
   After the near public disaster of her failed relationship with Vita, it couldn't have been easy to 'be' Violet; her armoured bombastic,'camp' public personality purposely hid too much of the sensitivity of her true self. She would never put herself at emotional risk again. What was left was a too colourful, too strident, too clever (very well read and multi-lingual but not, being born in 1894, University educated), self-indulgent take me or leave me woman; she drew strong reactions. She regained the love of her mother. She lived in the sensation of the moment because it was too painful to look back. She played at romance but would never totally commit herself again. She was a talented writer but never fulfilled her potential. She was generous, witty, mischievous and fun-loving. She was fantastical and wrapped herself up in half truths. She was happiest, away from the strictures and demands of Parisian and Florentine high society, in the enclosed freedom of her tower at St. Loup with her intimate friends. Vita visited and felt very much that she was in a 'spiritual home'.
   
   Despite the different sadnesses that haunt this book, Souhami also has a good eye for comedy and the absurd and I laughed out loud on a few occasions. When I finished the book, I missed Violet and went on to find out more about her - some of which I reflect here. This is a compliment to Souhami as well as to Violet who I admire despite her flaws. Violet had a great sense of humour and an infectious joie de vivre, she was before her time and classless in many ways. Self analytical, she acknowledged her flaws and failures. She had a keen, sometimes scornful, ironic eye and a keen, sometimes scornful, sense of the irony of her own life. Vita would describe Violet as dangerous but worthy to her son Ben just before he was about to meet her; even Vita could be tongue tied when describing her! Some of the other reviews here are critical of Violet; I find her fascinating in a good way.
   
   This is the best record of Violet's life. I would recommend that it be read alongside 'Violet to Vita' (her letters) and her memoire 'Don't Look Around' from which the reader can judge for themselves the big gap between her early private and later public persona. 'Violet Trefusis' by Philippe Jullian and John Phillips, the Eve section of Vita Sackville-West's 'Challenge' and Violet's novels 'Broderie Anglaise' and 'Hunt the Slipper' are also valuable references. All are available on Amazon USA and UK at good prices.
   



3. Most of us are commoner, middle class and heterosexual. We don't give thought to other worlds until something strange happens--the murder of Versace or the death of Princess Diana. This book lifts up the rug on these two worlds and allows us to glimpse at something quite alien from our own. Beneath the upper crust of society there is a social dictum that allows the rich and the well-connected to be "doing it and excusing it" as long as it's done with discretion. Behind the facade of certain marriages are gay people in hiding--arranged marriages of convenience. It is a social hypocrisy that didn't start with the Edwardian era but it certainly continues through today. Billed as a double bio, this book is more the biography of Violet Trefusis, lesbian daughter of Alice Keppel, King Edward VII's mistress and the great-grandmother of Camilla Parker-Bowles. But to tell the story of Violet, one must understand Alice and the Edwardian social set. This story is a tour through strange worlds indeed, richly told with text from the letters and published works of the main characters. This is biography that gives you the pathos of real people. Diana Souhami tries to balance the scales by telling the story of the famous lesbian affair between Vita Sackville-West and Violet Trefusis from Violet's point of view. One feels sorry for Violet but also annoyed. How long does it take for Violet to accept that Vita isn't willing to commit to their relationship? Violet, the victim, is a self-deceiving at best, dense at worst. Violet hasn't inherited her mother's ability to make the best of whatever social situation she's in. That's the ultimate tragedy of it. The hypocrisy of society will be with us forever. Only the strong learn to use it to their advantage. It's a lesson we all learn, whatever our place in this world.



4. After having read this book, I can't stop thinking about it and pondering what makes us happy in life. The people in this story, constrained by the morals of their time, sought happiness through influence, fame, wealth, and sexual relationships with varying success. Today, although our society is more open and free, achieving happiness is still a challenging business. As I read about Violet Trefusis' unhappy life, I wondered how different it would have been had Vita Sackville-West eloped with her. What if their times had been more accepting of openly homosexual relationships. What if Violet had been able to live within the lie of her marriage. If this story had played out today, could it have ended with happiness for Violet. Are things so different for us today.

   Souhami's version of the affair between Violet and Vita leaves one feeling angry and annoyed at Vita. If Vita had been honest about their relationship, Violet may have learned to accept her life without the possiblity of a long term relationship with Vita. Violet may have healed emotionally and been able to get back on track in life. Instead, Souhamis portrays Violet as a victim and her life damaged by her unrequited passion for Vita. Vita held out false hopes to Violet by waffling and lying to Violet about their relationship, while actually having no intention of ever leaving her marriage. Vita was not very honest and if she had been a man, she would have been called a cad.

   I plan on re-reading A Portrait of a Marriage to see if Vita can change my mind. But my first reading of that book several years ago left me unconvinced and Souhamis has written an interesting and convincing portrait of Violet as the victim.

   I highly recommend this book. This is a story about human relationships - husband/wife, mother/daughter, lover/loved, not just the lesbian relationship between Violet and Vita. It is about how these people were able to resolve (or not) the many issues in their lives and the kind of happiness they achieved.

5 comments about The Titanic's Last Hero: Story About John Harper.

1. Rarely does this world ever see a selfless hero like John Harper. He is truly an inspiration to us all. The only reason I didn't give this book five stars is because the second half gets very repetitive. John Harper himself gets five stars.



2. I went to see the movie TITANIC, but regretted it. I didn't like all the sexuality that was portrayed in it, and when I heard about Moody Adams' book, The Titanic's Last Hero, I knew that I had to get it. I wanted to see how a person could be there to help change lives, instead of just having only the pleasures of life. John Harper was such a spiritual man, and he led many people to the saving grace of Jesus Christ even before going on that ill-fated journey on the Titanic. The narratives of people saved with the promise of going to their heavenly kingdom when the Titanic went down, that's a better story to remember and to think about.



3. Tells the story of John Harper, a Scottish pastor who spent his last hours on the Titanic, witnessing to others even as the ship sank.



4. If you want to get to know about a real person that sailed on the Titanic, this book is for you. It is about an extraordinary Baptist minister, Rev. John Harper, who deeply touched so many who considered it a privileged to have known him. The book contains memories of fellow ministers, personal friends, and testimonies of individuals whose lives where changed forever under his ministry.

   You will read about Rev. Harper's last moments in his losing battle for life in the icy Atlantic, and the effect on the last person struggling in the water with him that survived. You will also be painted a vivid picture of his informative years by his brother and the story about his wife, lost six years earlier. This book also contains a gripping message delivered the Sunday after the sinking, to his grieving church in England, by his Associate Pastor. There is also a message from Rev. Harper himself.

   Don't miss this book, it will make you think, touch your very soul, and could change your life too. This book is great to read again and again, as you will get something new out of it every time.

   There is also another book ("Titanic" by Leo Marriott) that contains a photograph of a hand written letter written by John Harper to a friend, nine days before he sailed, about how he came to take the Titanic.




5. If you are looking for a book as fast paced as the movie, you will be disappointed. This is a collection of memories of people close to John Harper. What the book will give you is a deep look into a man who faced near death by drowning three times before his death due to the Titanic's sinking. It inspired me to look at my own faith more critically. It presents the flip side of all those passengers who so lacked compassion that they put their own needs ahead of others who were dying in the water.

1 comments about The Diary of Virginia Woolf, Vol. 3: 1925-30.

1. Of all of Virginia's diaries (there are five volumes), volumes 3 and 4 are perhaps the most interesting, if only because they span the period in which she wrote her classics such as Orlando, To The Lighthouse, and The Waves (which itself literally spans the period between Vol 3 and Vol 4.)

   If you read the collected Diaries and Woman Of Letters by Phyllis Rose, you will gain a vital series of insights into the life and thoughts of this most haunting of female writers.

   Whenever I think of Virginia, I always think of the lines from "Vincent" by Don Maclean...

   This world was never meant
   for one as beautiful as you...

   If you have never read any Virginia Woolf, I would respectfully suggest you rent a copy of Sally Potter's Orlando. While Sally takes artistic license with the novel, she has created a very sympathetic work of Art.

   This diary above all gives you many insights into her thought processes and her writing career, including her reactions to the publication of her works and their reception by the public and the sub-species known as Critics.

   Recommended.

5 comments about Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley.

1. Lawrence Sutin gives a thorough look into the life of Aleister Crowley, who was dubbed "the wickedest man alive." Mr. Sutin portrays Crowley with an honest, and open mind, giving the reader a complete and very real idea of who this man was.
   Crowley was an interesting man to read about. He was an apiring poet, a very skilled chess player and mountain climber. He published many books on "magick", as he called it. Magick was what he was most well remembered for, dedicating most of his life to this calling. His first introduction to magick was through the "Order of the Golden Dawn," an organization who's members at the time included many contemporary poets and artists.
   Crowley would eventually break away from the Golden Dawn, and start his own philosophy of sorts called "Thelema," (the greek word for "will") which is still being practiced and studied to this day.
   Crowley studied buddhism and tantra, incorporating them into "Thelema, along with what he learned from the Golden Dawn. His use of drugs was well known, and documented in his book, "Diary of a Drug Fiend." He used some drugs for spiritual purposes, but later fell deep into opium addiction.
   All in all, Crowley's life was filled with accomplishments more so than failures. It's a shame that he got more recognition in death, than in life. His books sell much more today than they ever did in his day. At least he left a legacy behind. A legacy that will "endure to the end," much like his magick name, "Perdurabo."



2. It's fascinating, and detailed as far as his rituals and philosophy. But the "Confessions" are much more fun. Also, he covers Crowley in Mexico very briefly, whereas AC has much to say about it in his book. Still, I liked it.



3. headbangers this is the reason why you all bang your head in the name of the devil this is the reason you fornicate and do drugs. you wanna proper introduction to magic, the occult, prophecy, drugs, satan, promiscous sex, and demons you should check it out but be warned you'll never be the same after you explore the dark truths bad things have been known to happwen and changes in your morals are sure to follow.



4. This book is certainly not for those who are merely curious or casually interested in Crowley. Let's be frank, Sutin's biography is not light reading by any means. He gives us nearly 500 pages of details; no fluff, no sensationalism, and very little speculation beyond that which is evident by actual facts. Because of this, Do What Thou Wilt will surely disappoint those who prefer to think that Crowley was a Satan-worshipping black magician, those who place him on a pedestal as a perfected spiritual master and those who are looking for juicy tales of sex, drugs, and blasphemy. But anyone who has read Crowley's autobiographical Confessions of Aleister Crowley should read Do What Thou Wilt to balance out Crowley's own one-sided version of his life. Also, those who are already familiar with Crowley's contributions to the study and practice of the occult and who are hungry for a thorough, detail-oriented study of his life would appreciate this book. At any rate, I would not recommend this as a Crowley bio for beginners.
   
   Sutin gives us a carefully researched book. He makes no claims without verifiable sources. Unlike any other bio (or auto-bio) I have encountered concerning Crowley, Sutin seems to have no agenda beyond telling us the story of his subjects life as well as can be gathered from the source material available (which he seems to have studied well). He also does a fine job of carefully and fairly pointing out inconsistencies and differing accounts from different sources (or sometimes from different works by Crowley himself). This is refreshing, as most writers on Crowley seem to want to condemn, apologize or praise Crowley.
   
   Sutin displays considerable insight when he makes his case for the subconscious motives behind Crowley's strong need to promulgate his new creed and religion, Thelema, how he sought all his life to transcend his deeply ingrained puritan sense of sin and guilt with regards to sex, and a few other aspects of his life. But Sutin does this with a cool, detached, non-judgmental and elegantly minimalist fashion. He tastefully points out a few connections between what must have been strong psychological imprints in Crowley's childhood and strong tendencies in his adult life and then lets readers think these out for themselves.
   
   Sutin makes it exhaustively clear that Crowley could often be petty, cruel, dishonest, egotistical to the point of megalomania, bigoted, sexist, boastful, obscene, conniving, and - in the latter half of his life - hopelessly addicted to cocaine and heroin and dependent on the generosity or gullibility others for money. Since Crowley himself downplayed these traits and because his auto-bio Confessions was written about halfway through his life, I again strongly suggest that one does not read Confessions without reading Do What Thou Wilt. Having reiterated that, I also suggest that one does not read Do What Thou Wilt without reading Crowley's Confessions, Isreal Regardies's Eye in the Triangle, or some other book that explains Crowley's magical practice, philosophy and Thelema because - and this is the main fault of Do What Thou Wilt - Sutin gives us almost no understanding of this.
   
   Because his magical philosophy and Thelema was central to his life, Sutin's book tells us only about half of what one needs to know in order to get a good understanding of Crowley. It is somewhat like telling the story of Einstein without telling us about the physics that occupied his genius or his revolutionary discoveries. Beyond a sentence here and there, the only passage in which Sutin does Crowley's life work justice is short enough to quote here. While mentioning that the famous occultist Dion Fortune acknowledged Crowley's great work, Sutin says that, "Fortune is correct in her judgment of Crowley's `contribution to occult literature.' Magick is a watershed in the history of that literature - the first work to strip the subject of its gothic trappings and bring it fully into the modern world. Its arguments are ruthlessly practical - assuming, of courses, that the reader will allow that there is such a thing as the `Great Work' that is attainable by human consciousness. There is, indeed, a religious belief at the heart of the book: a conviction that the life of fulfillment of the inmost spirit - the Will - is the highest form of life. Scoff at this and you not only scoff at Magick but at religion itself. Grant it as a nondenominational goal and Magick may have something to teach you. After all, the definition of `Magick' offered in the Introduction is catholic enough: `MAGICK is the Science and Art of Causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.' "
   
   Oddly, this passage displays one of the few places where Sutin directly gives us his own opinion when he could have discussed this more objectively in terms of the impact that this work had on students of the occult. Still, Sutin barely gives us an understanding of Crowley's work and how he is almost undeniably the single most important writer on occultism. Let's face it, if Crowley was merely a promising Cambridge chess champion, a minor poet and a man who came close to being the first to reach the peak of the world's third highest mountain (which would have made him placed him in the position of being the climber to have reached the highest peak ever before climbed) he would likely have been merely a footnote in the history of mountaineering and Sutin would almost surely not have written a book about him.
   
   But, to be fair, Sutin has given me what I was seeking when I bought this book; a more objective view of Crowley's life and (more importantly for me) details on his experimentation with drugs. Although, Sutin gives us very little understanding of what Crowley experienced with these substances (as he does with Crowley's experiences with magical and mystical practices) he does tell us what substances he experimented with, when, and in combination with what magical and mystical practices.
   
   Sutin gives us no real sense of Crowley's role as a pioneer in the re-emergence of psychedelics Western civilization. The short passage by Suster quoted above gives us a greater sense of Crowley's place in this re-emergence than Sutin does in his entire book. But then again, Suster does not tell us the details that Sutin does. Also, Sutin adequately shows us (through evidence, not opinion) Crowley's struggle over whether the use of consciousness-altering substances are legitimate or counterfeit aids in the exploration of the mind and spirit. He also shows us how in one account of a given event Crowley frankly admits the use of a particular drug in addition to a particular magical operation to gain entry into a particular "plane" or state of mind whereas in another account of the same event Crowley omits the fact that he used a drug without which the result would likely not have occurred at all.
   
   Sutin also gives us what little there is to know regarding the legend that Crowley turned Aldous Huxley on to mescaline, resulting in Huxley's monumentally influential Doors of Perception. Sutin shows us how although it is possible that this could be so, there really is no evidence that this is the case. Crowley was experienced with peyote years before Huxley, the two men met once through a mutual acquaintance and that is about all we know for sure beyond the fact that if Crowley had turned Huxley on to peyote, both men would very likely have written about it at length. As Sutin shows in his book, Crowley merely noted in his diary that, "Huxley improves on acquaintance."
   
   Over the course of the book, we see that Crowley devolved from a young man with seemingly boundless enthusiasm to find truth and to gain new ground in consciousness, to build a sound body of knowledge Crowley called Scientific Illuminism ("The method of science, the aim of religion") with determination and perseverance (mirrored in his considerable achievements in the field of mountaineering and rugged hiking across thousands of miles in various parts of the world) to a derailed and self-deluded older man who spent the later half of his life preoccupied with sex and self-promotion and hampered by hard drug addiction and by poverty all the while attempting and failing to establish his new religion and to gain a large body of disciples. But then again, many of Crowley's best works were written during this period - perhaps this was a time when he was able to reflect upon and write about what he discovered earlier in life - and Sutin barely gives us any sense of this.
   
   In summary, Sutin's book is valuable in that it provides a good detailed and well researched biography of Crowley's mundane life but it tells us far too little about Crowley's spiritual, creative and intellectual pursuits. I would only recommend this book to those who are already well acquainted with Crowley's work and who are ready to tackle a long, dry, detailed biography on his all-too-human side.



5. I approached this book with little knowledge of the occult or of Aleister Crowley. I had previously read The Book of the Law, and was intrigued enough by its poetry, radical ideas, and mysterious conception that I wished to know more of the author.
   
   Lawrence Sutin does a splendid job at delving beyond the myths and legends of Crowley's life to reveal his humanity, with all accompanying flaws and strengths. He also presents Crowley's various beliefs and philosophies in an astute and evenhanded manner. Mr. Sutin is neither an apologist nor an ardent opponent of the Beast, but a thorough and incisive biographer who balances the varied aspects of Crowley's life.
   
   Sutin's writing style is fluid and articulate, and his subject is so fascinating that the reader can't help but be propelled through the book. I was continually compelled to discover what happened next, and left wanting to read more when the story was over.
   
   This isn't simply a book for occultists or Crowley devotees, but for anyone interested in cultural history. Love him or hate him, Crowley's continued influence and impact on Western society is undeniable.

5 comments about Yale English Monarchs - Richard I (The English Monarchs Series).

1. Gillingham does it again. John Gillingham, again,provides us with another superb account of a remarkable ruler of England.



2. I was sceptical getting started on this biography. Certainly, the early parts were fact-laden, slightly uninteresting and slow going.
   
   I am very glad I did not give up.
   
   This is one of the few strictly historical books that restores one's faith in objective research and non-agenda, non-ego driven truth finding.
   
   One might wish for a bit more of a picture of Richard's persona, but from the remove of nearly a millenium, this would be fudging anyway. The facts that there are are clearly and neatly laid out regarding all of Richard's attributes, and some of the modern fadist mythologies (so many of which have their underpinnings in a given academic's desire or need for attention) are dealt with fairly and thoroughly.
   
   Example: Richard was not a homosexual, as "The Lion in Winter" would have a viewer believe. The evidence against it is clear and plenary. It isn't that one doesn't wish him to be, it's just that this notion has its roots in a modern attempt to overlay ancient male and political bonding customs with a template of modern behaviours and modern conclusions which would stem from modern interpretations of those behaviors.
   
   All in all, Richard emerges from the historical record as a great warrior King, who was grossly treated following his exertions during the Crusades, and was forced to try to reclaim the lands that Phillip of France stole while Richard was away. He was therefore forced to stay away from Britain, because the Angevin and Acquitainian and Norman parts of his empire were on the continent. He did not stay away from Britain by choice or by neglect (another myth debunked), but because he was forced to by the duties of his Kingship. Also, Britain WAS part of continental Europe as well in those days. (Or vice versa, if you happen to be English.)



3. A great introduction to those curious about this legendary monarch. Gillingham pulls off a bit of a hat trick here. While he does have strong opinions of surrounding figures, particularly Philip and John, he lets the facts speak for themselves about Richard and does not argue one particular point of view. With one exception, his sexuality. This also one of the few times where I found the primary historians, both Arab and Norman, becoming "characters" and their presence is missed when they die or no longer are around the King. The very difficult task of giving all of the counts of Normandy, the Vexin, and the Aquitaine distinctiveness is handled incredibly well. In the hands of a less skilled author this would have been very dry reading and frustratingly convoluted. Also, bit of a heads up to the future reader: This is Gillingham's second book on Richard the Lionheart and he has written numerous articles and essays on the monarch. He has no problem using himself as a reference and he flat out lifts an entire chapter from his previous work and places it in this one. I found this shrewdly entertaining. It does benefit this volume and since the older version is no longer in print, no harm done. After reading this you come away better informed, entertained and with a desire to pick up another book on this era and this king. I can't think of much better praise than that. An essential work for a medieval library.



4. This is the most balanced royal biography I've read to date. Gillingham begins by tracing Richard's reputation through the ages, beginning at it's peak in the 12th and 13th centuries, when he was considered one of the great leaders of his time to it's nadir in the 1950's when academics began to consider him a "Bad son and a bad king..." who spent far more time on the continent than he ever did in England, leaving it in terrible financial straits when he went off to fight in the crusades, and began to conjecture about his sexual preference. Gillingham explores and discounts these and other myths about Richard and his reign simply by letting the historical record speak for itself and allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions, rather than stating his own opinions as facts and then selectively using the historical record to back them up. He also isn't afraid to admit that he can't be sure of something when the historical evidence is either too thin or simply obscured by the mists of time, which is refreshing. The author is among the first to rely heavily on contemporary Muslim sources in constructing his portrait of Richard, because he believes they are less biased in their evaluation of Richard's character than a European chronicler might be. These sources are, for the most part, complimentary, and add great perspective and depth to the reader's understanding of Richard as a warrior. Gillingham strikes the perfect balance between academic research and popular history, making the book very readable. Whether you're interested in Richard himself, or merely seeking an introduction into reading further about his fascinating family dynamics, or the crusades, this is the book to read!



5. Richard the Lionheart's life and personality may be the stuff of legend, but they are hidden by the mists of time -- or rather the paucity of relevant documents. Gillingham does a brilliant job of breathing as much life as possible into rather arid fragments without stepping beyond what is warranted by the evidence. For his understanding of the king, he draws as much on contempory Arab sources as European ones, arguing convincingly that the Arab writers may have had fewer axes to grind in talking of Richard. Gillingham goes so far as to place his evaluation of Richard's character at the point where the evidence ends -- following his captivity in Germany -- rather than at the end of the book. Instead the book ends with a well reasoned argument that it was John (and John alone) who lost Normandy whereas Richard was winning the war against Philip Agustus of France. Gillingham also points out that, had Richard lived to complete that struggle, the empire of Henry II might still have disappeared with his death.

   Inevitably, some of the work is frustratingly dry -- especially for the process of Richard's development into a strong ruler and military genius against the background of one of history's most disfunctional families. But that dryness arises from the lack of evidence, not from immersion in trivia at the expense of substance.

   The book itself is a delight, with strong narrative supported by a myriad of footnotes which are where they should be -- at the bottom of the pages. All in all, a good story well told with insightful analysis based on the record.

5 comments about Heart of Oak.

1. I bought this book many years ago. I greatly enjoyed it, as it had a veracity to its description of lower-deck life. I re-read it recently, and still enjoyed it.
   
   I suppose I should have realized that it was fiction, as I don't think there ever was an E-class destroyer "HMS Eclectic", and no destroyer of that name sailed with HMS Hood and Prince of Wales to intercept the Bismarck (HMS Electra was in that group and picked up the 3 survivors from HMS Hood), as Jones claims. Nor was there a destroyer of that name that sailed with HMS King George V from Scapa Flow, nor did one join the action later from convoys. Some of the details of the action are also inaccurate, but not badly so for a supposed personal narrative (e.g., 6" secondary armament on KGV, when they were 5.25")
   
   Similarly, while there were four O-class destroyers involved in the sinking of the Scharnhorst, there was no "HMS Obstinate" (Jones' ship), nor was one of that name ever commissioned.
   
   Anthony Dalton's biography of Jones seems to paint him as a very interesting, but less-than-pleasant person. It certainly seems to have nailed any notion of Jones' books being other than substantially fiction. The history of the author does seem to add an extra level of interest to the stories. But that said, the stories are good, the feel for characters is strong, and they are very readable.



2. I needed information re- life on board a British ship during WWII. I found many fascinating details and much accurate information in this book. I found that some of the humor was less funny that announced, but on the whole, I found this book
   very interesting. It was in great part a tale based on personal experience, and
   it held my interest throughout. I'm going to read more by this author...



3. It is a terrific book - and I have enjoyed it for many years. However I recently discovered it is - as Anthony Dalton's new biography of Jones shows - complete fiction - in the sense that Jones was never at any of the events he described. In fact he didn't join the Royal Navy till AFTER World War II.
   
   But that is not to diminish the writing of the tale - Jones imaginings make for a "real" perspective of life in the lower decks of the WWII Royal Navy - and I imagne that in his immediate post-was career in the navy he learned enough to set the scene accurately.
   
   But remember - it is a work of fiction - set on a real historical timeline - but still a good read.



4. Heart of Oak is one the finest war books and sea stories that I have read. I found it hard to put down. Although the intensity of the war and its effects on the men was depressing, I was compelled to keep reading.

   Jones' gives the reader a different and personal perspective--that of the lowly, poor, and teenage sailor; looked down upon by everyone else and facing death, boredom, and discomfort constantly.

   I agree with another reviewer that it is unlikely that Jones witnessed as much as he claimed, and I cannot attest to the accuracy of his descriptions of life aboard His Majesty's Navy, but there is a truthfullness and sincerity in Jones' narative that I find totally convincing.




5. A welshman's soulful and realistic retelling of a matelot's live in Her Majesty's Navy during the dark days of World War II. Tristan Jones recounts his experiences with all the colour and song of a poet; a sea poet - and that he is. The lives of these men carry with you long after reading this book. Put Tristan Jones near the top of my favorite author's list.

5 comments about The Great Melody: A Thematic Biography of Edmund Burke.

1. "The Great Melody" by Conor Cruise O'Brien is not your traditional biography; there is little here concerning Burke's personal and family life. Instead, the work concentrates on Burke's political career and thought and, specifically, how they relate to his Irish heritage. The result is a fascinating look into the mind and personality of a man who suffered from a conflict of emotions over his Irish heritage that included his father's conversion to Protestantism while his mother and wife remained Catholic. Burke himself was torn in different directions his entire life; loyalty to Britain and also his Irish ancestors and friends suffering under the Penal Laws, loyalty to the British constitution, but also a deep feeling for the need of justice for the oppressed people at home and abroad.

   O'Bien's book takes an in-depth look at Burke's career in parliament and as a member of the Whig party through an extensive analysis of his letters, speeches, political relationships, and writings, specifically, as they relate to his struggle on behalf of the American colonists, the struggle of the Irish Catholics, the people of India suffering at the hands of the rapacious East India Co., and the French Revolution.

   The work can be a little dry at times and tends to quote in an overly lengthy manner, but the immense erudition and scholarship and the insightful picture of Burke that emerges more than compensate for this. I do wish, however, that O'Brien had spent more time on "Reflections On The Revolution in France," but he feels that since it is so readily available to the reader there is no need. Finally we see an Edmund Burke as he really was and not the "old reactionary" that is so often depicted. We come to understand that Burke always believed that "the people are the true legislator," that Burke did not want to see Americans in Parliament who were slave holders, that he was a life-long opponent of increased powers for the Crown and the corruption such power entailed, that he was one of the few who consistently fought against injustice toward the American colonials, that he found all authoritaianism abhorrent, and that he opposed commercial monopolies and the abuse of power in all its forms. But, because he opposed the overturning of society and its reengineering on the basis of "metaphysical abstractions," he was often portrayed as a reactionary by later pundits. Lewis Namier and his followers are particularly taken to task by O'Brien for this tendency. In the end we see a Burke who always supported basic human rights, but remained constantly aware that real life circumstances must make social and political change possible if such change is not to lead to chaos and violence. Burke's fear of radicalism based upon abstract theory was real and the destructiveness of the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, and the Nazi bio-racial religion more than sufficiently proves his point. A reading of O'Brien's fine book can only lead the intelligent reader to a renewed respect for a great man, a decent and liberal minded man, and a man of immense vision.




2. There is much in O'Brien's book that is interesting, original and insightful. But it suffers from two fatal flaws, one stylistic/structural, one substantive: (1) It is a mess. It is part personal biography, part intellectual biography, part annotated anthology, all mixed together in a confusing and unsatisfactory hodge-podge that may have been deliberate, given Burke's (and therefore O'Brien's) aversion to systems and abstraction. It is as if the author set out with a firm intention to portray Burke a certain way, collected up all the relevant facts, but just couldn't pull it all together in the end. It reads like a work-in-progress, several drafts short of completion and in dire need of a good editor; (2) It seriously overstates its case, and is therefore simply not reliable as an account of Burke's thought. O'Brien's Burke is a pluralist liberal, one of the "good guys" not to be classed among the "reactionaries", as Isaiah Berlin has done. But as Berlin points out--with far too much courtly politeness--in his exchange with O'Brien (reproduced in the appendix), the author has simply turned a blind eye to those aspects of his subject that make him appear illiberal. Most liberals at the time supported the French Revolution, at least in its early phase, and with good reason: it destroyed a confused mass of privilege, injustice and corruption that served the interests of a largely hereditary elite, which Burke vigorously defended. Most liberals since have supported it too. Few (if any) liberals today would hesitate to condemn someone who defended tradition, hereditary privilege and deference to authority as Burke did. To say that Burke was a liberal just doesn't wash. Granted he had SOME liberal tendencies, but he had many other tendencies that liberals have always found repugnant. It is a crude and one-sided portrait. O'Brien subscribes to the old-fashioned Cold War liberalism of Jacob Talmon, who interpreted the struggle between liberal democracy and "totalitarianism" in the 20th Century as a replay of the struggle between liberalism constitutionalism and the Terror. O'Brien's agenda in this book is to accept this dubious and anachronistic framework and to place Burke firmly on the "correct" side in it, with a demonic Rousseau on the other. THE GREAT MELODY was probably out-of-date before O'Brien wrote a word of it, just as much of Burke was when it appeared in the eighteenth century.



3. Everyone knows Edmund Burke's most famous quote: "for evil to triumph, it is only necessary for good men to do nothing". As a former lecturer in political science, I was mainly familiar with Burke as the founder of Anglo-conservatism (infinitely more nuanced and modern than his equivalent in Franco-conservatism, the Count Joseph de Maistre). I had also read an early work, namely "An Enquiry into the nature of the Beautiful and the Sublime", which I thought a brilliant little jewel. But there's much more about Burke than that.

   O'Brien, the great man of Irish diplomacy, shows in this extraordinary book that Burke, whom recently history has shown as a fawning servant to the political leaders of his time (Rockingham and Pitt), was at the heart of the great fight between George III's royal absolutism and the emerging English democracy. Burke was on the right side of virtually all the fights he picked. He advocated equality before the law for the Irish subjects of the king, first tolerance and then freedom for the American colonies, the end of the colonialist abuses of the East India company, and a quarantine on the infectious ideas of the French Revolution. The later one is still a contentious affair. Zhou En Lai famously opined that it was still too early (in the 1970s) to judge the French Revolution. Burke would have had none of that. As early as 1790, in the "benign" initial phase of the revolution, he foresaw the Terror, the execution of the Royal Family, the Consulate and the Empire, and the French banner covering all of the Europe, in the name of "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity".

   O'Brien shows the extraordinary situation of an Irish Protestant (always accused of crypto-Catholicism) having great informal influence on the politics of Great Britain, while holding menial offices or representing various "rotten boroughs" in Parliament (this is no aspersion on Burke's memory- that's how politics was done at the time, and anything that gave Burke a pulpit couldn't have been all bad). The "Great Melody" of the title provides the underlying themes around which O'Brien organizes the public part of Burke's life. Far from tiresome, this is a useful device that provides unity and coherence to Burke's thoughts and actions. O'Brien's attacks on mid-century historiography are perfectly adequate, given that much of what was written as that period was designed to regress Burke into irrelevancy, as a sycophant and a lackey. He never was that. He was a good and a great man, and O'Brien does him justice in his book. Perhaps the only fault that I could find in it is a tendency to assume the reader's prior knowledge of the arcanes of Irish history. But these are quibbles. If you can stomach a history of ideas, full of events and studded with memorable characters, this is the book for you.




4. An excellent biography, highly readable, a bold and ultimately persuasive thesis - that Burke was not only a major political thinker but that he shaped much of the late 18th century. From a fascinating introduction showing how modern scholars had successfully destroyed and obscured Burke's true legacy to its brilliant organizing principle (a line from Yeats), this is a great book. This book should be required reading for every senator, congressman, and presidential candidate - if only to improve the level of discourse by reading Burke's great speeches. Yeats' lines on Burke: "American colonies, Ireland, France, and India/ Harried, and Burke's great melody against it." O'Brien shows how much one great man can do against tyranny, and how little. The book falls short on two counts: one, inadequate bios of Rockingham, Fox, Portland, Pitt the Younger, and his relation to Sam Johnson and Joshua Reynolds. Two, Burke the man does not walk these pages as Johnson does Boswell's book. True, O'Brien has organized the book around Yeats' lines, but the domestic Burke, the friend of Johnson and Reynolds could have been amplified. These are minor faults. This biography is excellent in so many ways that it compares very favorably with Boswell's Johnson and indeed excels it on many fronts.



5. O'Brien does a masterful job of bringing to life a neglected and misunderstood politician and political theorist. Those whose knowledge of Burke is limited to "Reflections" are in for an awakening. By book's end the reader will feel much like I. Berlin (whose correspondence with CCOB is in the appendix) and recant previously held stereotypes of Burke as a reactionary. A thorough detailing of Burke's writings and speeches makes clear that he was far from the two dimensional figure derided in political theory seminars.

   O'Brien makes old political controversies regarding Ireland, India, America and revolutionary France fresh and engaging. An initial puzzle of this book is O'Brien's passionate refutations of the Namierite view of Burke. Yet, Burke continues to be a bogeyman to the academic left for good reason. Burke hated tyranny in any form and virtually alone among his contemporaries recognized that recasting society in the name of an idea promised the worst form of tyranny. Devotees of the French Revolution detest Burke whose credentials as a champion of the oppressed in Ireland, India and America were beyond reproof.

   O'Brien himself, however, was curiously un-Burkean during his political career as it related to the Cold War. Burke correctly recognized that the French Revolution was a proto-totalitarian movement. He saved his most withering scorn for his former allies who viewed the revolution as a net benefit for the French and the world. In contrast, O'Brien in his UN days urged that Ireland follow the "decent" countries such as Sweden and stay above the US-Soviet fray. One wishes that O'Brien, now in his eighties, would have come to grips with his past as a neutral in the struggle between freedom and the successors of the French Revolution.

5 comments about Her Majesty's Spymaster: Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Walsingham, and the Birth of Modern Espionage.

1. I found the book interesting, but not absorbing. The writer jumps from subject to subject and event to event. The writing is good, but it could be more chronological.



2. This is a popular history of events in the reign of Elizabeth I, focused on the life of Sir Francis Walsingham, a senior member of the privy council who was responsible for a wide array of cloak-and-dagger work. It includes many details of the intricate and treacherous world of spies and double agents of the period, including the intercepted letters that eventually led to the execution of Mary Queen of Scots.
   
   It is sometimes a little light, but it is very readable. It helped me better understand the connections between events such as the St Bartholomew's massacre of the protestant nobility in Paris, the Spanish Armada, the conspiracies around Mary, and the distinctly paranoid atmosphere of Elizabeth's court. It isn't surprising that the protestant leadership of England were highly alarmed after what they had seen happen to their coreligionists in Paris and amidst the various rumoured conspiracies around Mary.
   
   Elizabeth herself is portrayed as continually vacillating. Sometimes by intent, to stall and delay her enemies or to allow events to unfold, but sometimes out of mere habit and apparently sometimes out of alarming genuine indecisiveness.
   
   This is by no means a complete history of Elizabeth I's times. But it sheds some interesting light and reminds us of the long dark history of spies and double-dealing between nations.



3. After buying this book following a positive newspaper review, I was very disappointed. I was expecting a discussion of Francis Walsingham, with some historical background and supporting commentary on Elizabeth I and her times. Instead, the book is a commentary on the times of Elizabeth I and associated historical events that just happens to mention Francis Walsingham. If you're looking for a broad view of the times and events leading up to Walsingham's more well-known exploits, this book may interest you. Even then, the writing is not very compelling, and I struggled to get to the end, finding the author's writing style very dry and uninvolving - I may even go so far as to say this is a boring book. In sum, your money could be better spent elsewhere.



4. If you are looking for an interesting, illuminating book about the Elizabethan "police state," keep looking. This shortish book is light on details and lacks good sourcing. I was hoping, with a biography about someone whose fingers were in every Elizabethan pie, who knew, figuratively and literally, where all the Elizabethan bodies are buried, we'd have a sort of unified field theory of the Age in the offing. Alas, no. Just a little book with little ambition.



5. Mr. Budiansky proposes that Elizabeth's spymaster Francis Walsingham offers us an example for conducting modern espionage. Yet the fact is, Elizabethan England was for all practical purposes a police state. Catholicism was deemed treasonous, and Walsingham's spies combed the countryside for practitioners of the "old religion," i.e., the faith that had been the taproot of English civilization for a thousand years. Catholics were barred from serving in Parliament, attending university, worshipping at Mass, and generally living the life their immediate forebears took for granted. And yet Budiansky holds up this tragedy as a model. Let us look elsewhere for guidance.

5 comments about Edward I (The English Monarchs Series).

1. I absolutely loved this book. Edward I, who of course is my favorite ruler of all time, was fairly covered in this scholarly work. I highly reccomend it to anyone interested in the life of a wonderful king.



2. At times I was very pleased with Prestwich's biography of Edward I. The detail is very precise and complete, leaving you with a very close inspection of Edward I. But this could be one of the reasons I didn't particularly care for this biography. Prestwich went into way to much detail of absolutely every aspect that touched Edward I the slightest in any way. If two kings were going to have a duel or a battle this would be described since Edward wrote a letter of conciliation to the two kings. Furthermore, whole chapters would be devoted to people that worked for Edward I, which meant the chapter was just a continuous list of names.
   
   His descriptive abilities are very dry, leaving the reader uninterested. This biography is a very scholarly, detailed work for someone looking for an exhaustive look at this important English king. This is an amazing task he accomplished, but also casts a negative shadow because it seems that he didn't really know what to write about so he simply wrote about everything. I never thought I would not care for a biography because of too much information but, alas, Prestwich has done it. Unfortunately, biographies need to have more of a structure behind them, more of a game plan.
   
   I would recommend this book to those looking for an exhaustive portrayal of Edward I. Even for those looking for information on Edward I I would recommend, but would advise to not try and read the whole thing, as this may kill your desire to read anything from this book, but instead pick and chose the chapters that interest you. So, to sum it up, a great detailed biography with too much detail. A book meant to reference, not read.
   
   3.5 stars.



3. Along with J.R. Maddicott's biography on Simon de Montfort, I would put this biography as one of the best biographies written for historical figures of this time period. Good thing is, they both compliment each other well.

   Michael Prestwich's work proves to be superbly researched, highly informative and above all for me, very readable. It does help to have some previous reading on the subject since Edward I had a long career from his teen age years and it kept going until he died. The thick book covers all aspects of Edward's long and colorful life in richness of details and facts.

   In this book, you will not see Edward Longshank of that movie, Braveheart, which probably did its outmost to ruined the reputation of this great ruler. In this book, the reader will understand why many regards Edward I as one of England's greatest rulers, easily in the top five, maybe the top three!!

   I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys this subject and had read on this material before. Good background reading would be helpful in getting the most out of this book. Written by a great scholar for other scholars or "scholar want to be".




4. This books is so rich in historical fact and details, drawn from medieval records of that period. For someone wanting more than the superficial, this book supplies it, showing Edward in a scholarly fashion rather than the usual pro or con look. It's very details in what it cost to run Longshanks' kingship, right down the wars against Wales and Scotland.

   Very balanced in presentation and offers us a deep insight into the man who remade England, conquered the Welsh and Irish, fought France and faced the rise of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce.

   Highly recommended.




5. Edward I (Yale English Monarchs) by Michael Prestwich is an extremely well researched, cross-referenced and influential book on the subject of early Plantagenet history. Drawn on the original records of the age (late 13th, early 14th century) is portrays different achievements of the productive reign - Edward a Lawgiver, Edward a Warrior in Scotland and France, Edward a Family Men, Edward a Diplomat, and ... of course Edward loosing his temper. Especially well presented are the accounts of the Household and Exchequer, and a review of Parliamentary activities of Edward. Books somewhat dry tone is justified by extensive reference collection. A great first scholarly introduction to one of the most important reigns in British history.