5 comments about Five Women of the English Reformation.

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



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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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




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



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

5 comments about 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.

No comments about Winston Churchill (Very Interesting People S.).

1 comments about Catherine Parr: Henry VIII's Last Love.

1. It was dangerous to be married to Henry VIII. His first wife was cast away and died prematurely; the second was beheaded; the third died in childbed. When Henry was casting about Europe for his next wife, Christina of Denmark is supposed to have quipped, "If I had two heads, one should be at the King of England's disposal." Fortunately for his fourth wife, she was merely divorced (and outlived Henry); but the fifth was beheaded; and the sixth too had a brush with the king's deadly wrath. Only by her wits did Catherine Parr survive.
   
   In the first biography of Catherine Parr (1512-1548) in a quarter century (since Anthony Martienssen's), Susan James approaches her subject as more than just the sixth queen of Henry VIII (which is the context of books like Antonia Fraser's, Alison Weir's, and David Starkey's). The present book is a new, slightly shortened edition of the 1999 biography Kateryn Parr: The Making of a Queen. The footnotes of the earlier book have been relegated to the end, and gone is the last section on Catherine's brother William Parr after her death, as are the appendices, including the love letters of Catherine and Thomas Seymour and a discussion of the painting previously thought to be of Lady Jane Grey. What remains is a lively (if abruptly ended) account of Catherine Parr's life, rich in detail about her before, during, and after her reign as queen.
   
   It is a Victorian misconception that Henry married Catherine for her nursing abilities--but she was well-versed in the medical arts of that period. She also had a humanist education normally given to noble boys at the time, since she was tutored in the same group as her brother, her sister, and their cousins, all under the keen eye of their mother Maud Parr. (Maud had been widowed young and took advantage of the independence this allowed; she was also a lady-in-waiting to Katherine of Aragon, who, ironically, was probably Catherine's godmother.)
   
   Rather, Henry became genuinely attracted to Catherine when she was still married to Lord Latimer (her dying second husband) and in the service of the princess Mary. No doubt it helped Henry with his competitive spirit that Sir Thomas Seymour was also courting the soon-to-be widowed Catherine. And it was perhaps key that Catherine (unlike Anne of Cleves) didn't offend Henry's sensitive nose: "she carried with her small jewelled boxes of lozenges flavoured with liquorice or clove or cinnamon for sweet breath."
   
   The notion of Catherine as Henry's nurse gives the impression--wrongly--that she was secure in her position. She certainly found her niche in the royal family, making peace between its warring members and restoring her stepdaughters Mary and Elizabeth to the line of succession (she'd had practice with her Latimer stepchildren, and this part of the traditional view is correct). And she made a good and competent regent when Henry was making war in France--almost too good, though, because her conservative enemies (including Bishop Gardiner and Thomas Wriothesley) began to conspire against her. Ever since the break with Rome, Henry had been growing steadily more conservative in his religious views, although he tolerated Catherine's progressive beliefs and her choice of his younger children's tutors (enthusiastic reformers). She'd had to keep her beliefs secret during her previous marriage, especially when she was a hostage in the 1536 Pilgrimage of Grace protesting Henry's dissolution of the monasteries. But now as queen, she felt the freedom to read forbidden books and argue with the king--tendencies that the conservatives exploited in their efforts to overthrow the queen.
   
   When the conservatives contrived to have Catherine arrested, she had her forbidden books destroyed and then took to her bed, sick. She was probably more sick with fear than anything, but the ploy brought Henry to her, and she expressed her fear of his displeasure and eagerness to make amends. The next day when she was permitted to visit him, Henry baited her for another argument, but she demurred, saying that she had only argued with him to distract him from his health troubles and to learn from him. This savvy appeal to his self-concern and vanity had the intended effect, and Henry received her back into favor--and into his bed. Wriothesley and the guards were not informed, and when they came to arrest the queen, Henry publicly humiliated them. The conservatives thus fell from power, and into their place came the reformers, including Edward Seymour and John Dudley, who would wield power during Edward VI's reign.
   
   Catherine, too, had influence with the new king, until she alienated him by her ill-advised affair and hasty marriage with Sir Thomas Seymour. It was, finally, a marriage for love long frustrated--but it was fateful all around. Catherine herself died in childbirth (and the child appears to not have survived infancy); Thomas Seymour went to the block; and her stepdaughter Elizabeth suffered a blow to her reputation and nearly lost her life.
   
   Susan James has written an excellent scholarly biography of Catherine, illuminating her motives and passions and highlighting her influence on the future Elizabeth I (who shared with Catherine a particular "restraint in the face of religious excess"). Catherine Parr comes across as a formidable woman, a match for Henry VIII, and a role model for her stepdaughters.

No comments about Finding God in the Story of Amazing Grace.

3 comments about Clinging to the Wreckage.

1. This is the first of two autobiographies by John Mortimer. If you'd like to see where Rumpoles come from, this is how you find out. Amusing in many places, serious in others, possibly a bit more revealing than the author intended.



2. CLINGING TO THE WRECKAGE is the first of John Mortimer's three-part autobiography (to date--as of 2001 he is 83 years of age and going strong). Mortimer is known to BBC/PBS fans as the multi-talened writer who developed the screenplays for the TV series BRIDESHEAD REVISITED based on Evelyn Waugh's book of the same name; creator of Rumpole, Queen's Counsel (QC) for the underdog; and author of many novels including the Titmuss trilogy, and SUMMER'S LEASE. In WRECKAGE, John tells of his childhood and young adulthood.

   Mortimer grew up the son of a British barrister/counselor and his wife a former artist. Against his will he was sent off to boarding school at an early age. However, Mortimer's father lost his eyesight owing to a retinal detachment that could not be repaired. As a result the family source of income was placed in jeopardy and young John and his mother became his father's eyes helping him prepare his legal briefs.

   Mortimer says he fell in love with the theater at an early age. His family made pilgrimages to Stratford-on-Avon to see the great Royal Shakespeare company perform the bard's works. There he was able to see Lawrence Olivier, John Gielgud, and other fabulous actors of the period. These theater experiences coupled with his work on his father's briefs, led to his own career as a QC, and planted a love of the English language and the theater in the young John which led to his subsequent success in the theater, on television, and in his many books.

   The book also covers his first marriage to Penelope, with whom he formed a family of six childen which included her four daughters from a previous marriage.

   Whether or not you have been lucky enough to enjoy the witty dialogue of Rumpole--including his verbal exchanges with wife Hilda (SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED), the clever plot twists of the Titmuss series, or the wonderful and inspirational BRIDESHEAD REVISITED, you will love this book if you love Brit Wit. Mortimer is incredibly human and very funny.




3. As always Mortimor has shown brilliance in the world of literature. I was surprized to have found this book without a customer review. I thoroughly enjoy it and highly recommend it for readers of biography. Comparable with Robert Graves "Goodbye to All That".

5 comments about The Queen: A Biography of Elizabeth II.

1. The Queen is an engima, she is very hard to understand indepth, she was raised to have that stiff British upper lip. This book is hella long, but very interesting, it gives some insight into this extraordinary woman. She may be fabulously wealthy and she may be given millions of pounds each year by her country, but she earns it, she takes her duty very seriously and nobody doubts that she loves Britian and her subjects. To an American, like me, the monarchy seems so anachronistic, I mean the idea of somebody being inherantly better than somebody else simply because of their blood line, it so alien to me, but if I did have to chose a monarch, I'd chose Elizabeth Windsor....as for one of the other reviews statement that the Queen squandered her power, early in her reign, is just plain wrong, she and her advisors understood what the British public would accept, she saved the monarchy, Christ, she is the most famous monarch in the world by far, she is one of the most famous faces on the globe and Helen Mirron is about to win a academy award protraying her, she is respected the world over..That is squardering her crown?



2. Her Majesty's immediate family, her mother, also Queen Elizabeth, later the Queen Mum, her father, King George VI, and her sister Margaret, were considered the "family of families" by the British public throughout King George VI's reign, particularly during the War years of 1939-1945. When Ben Pimlott wrote this book in 1996 the year of Her Majesty's 70th birthday, the Royal family's reputation was beseiged during a time when (British, I assume, anti-monarchical) republicanism was at its height and on the rise. However, during the first decades of Queen Elizabeth II's lengthy reign, the publics' feelings on the monarchy were unquestionably favorable which you'll understand by reading the book. Millions the world over watched Her Majesty's wedding, (when she was still a Princess), and later her coronation; for many people, it was the first time they had ever watched television. So Ben Pimlott writes in his Preface that his book "is a book about the Queen in people's heads, as well as at Buckingham Palace".
   
   Ben Pimlott was "absolutely a patriot", his wife declared to the press following his death at age 58, almost a year ago, (he died on April 10, 2004, the day before Easter), after a short travail with leukemia. "He wanted, and believed, that the world and Britain could be a better place and that Goldsmiths could be a better place, and that poor people ought to have a brilliant university." Stumbling on his obituaries, I've become enamored with his life's work, (although short), and impressed with how well he was thought of; so many people were saddened by his passing. He was Warden of Goldsmiths University of London at the time. He had attended Oxford University when Bill Clinton was then a student there for one year. Professor Ken O Morgan wrote of him in an obituary that "he was one of the most important historians ever of the British left". Poor Brit, he was born on the fourth of July!
   
   Ben Pimlott wrote two other biographies before The Queen, one about Hugh Dalton, another Labour leader who was Chancellor during WWII and also son of Queen Victoria's chaplain, and Harold Wilson, who was prime minister and also of the Labour party. He also edited and made available to the public Hugh Dalton's private diaries. He was somewhat apprehensive about writing this book, anticipating criticism from his colleagues.
   
   Her Majesty invited Ben Pimlott over to Windsor Castle while he was writing this book, but interestingly, the book's contents were not discussed; he was merely invited over, I assume, for tea and a nice chat. In writing this book, he interviewed several former prime ministers, Princess Margaret, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Runcie. He used The diaries of Jock Colville, Queen Elizabeth's and Churchill's private secretary for source material. The Telegraph noted that he wrote this book to "examine constitutional issues such as the royal prerogative, her relationships with her prime ministers and her role as Head of the Commonwealth. These were matters which had tended to become obscured by the scandals and the gossip which were increasingly the preoccupation of some sections of the media." In 2002, he gave a lecture on the monarchy at St. Paul's Cathedral. This past January at Goldsmiths, the Ben Pimlott building was dedicated.
   
   I write all the above about Ben Pimlott to suggest that this is the definitive biography of Her Majesty, the queen. It is a rather lengthy one about a rather lengthy reign. Ben Pimlott's treatment of her life is extremely thorough; the many chapters' headings are years. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Her Majesty's childhood; I also knew precious little about the majority of her life. She was one of King George V's favorite grandchildren. She did not have the typical childhood friends when she was little. She had her sister Margaret, of course, but of other childhood friends, she had mostly visitors. She and her sister were babysat on occasion of the U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain's, dubbed the "evil envoy" by the public, visit to her father the King by Rose Kennedy, the ambassador's wife. She was closest in age to Ted and Jean of this Kennedy clan. Other Americans became enamored with her, most notably Harry Truman. No telling how many hands she has shaken or people she has met the world over. My mother tells me that everyone has often commented that she is more beautiful in person, more beautiful than the best photos or portraits of her. A British aquaintance of mine who has met the Queen told me that "she's only 5 feet tall, you know", yet he is more than 6 feet tall, as Pimlott was, which accounts for his inaccuracy; she is actually 5'4".
   
   I had hoped to learn more about how the Sovereign's power has been diminished by, I assume, Parliament, and to understand more just how different America's structure of government is from the British system, but, again, that is subject material for other books. I had come to the conclusion in the 90's that the Queen should be taxed like everyone else, makes sense to Americans, yet King George V had always urged the Windsor family not to give in to these parliamentary demands, demands that, in the 90's had reached such a pitch and fervor, that the monarch, finally, acquiesced which Pimlott reveals. Another biographer of royalist sentiments is Kenneth Rose who wrote a book on King George V who Pimlott mentions now and then. When I read in Rose's book the chapter on Constitutional Monarchy, I was so shocked that I couldn't finish the chapter or the book, (it was actually a difficult, but substantive, chapter to read). Didn't we Americans get rid of the king to get the Constitution? How can there be a king and a constitution at the same time??? Anyway, the one thing that enamours me to the queen is that she studied constitutional issues, long before she ever ascended the throne. What a smart monarch! (I'm afraid I'm fast becoming a royalist, how unamerican of me!) Anyway, CHEERS, and GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!



3. ...lots of interesting, to-be-expected historical facts, dates, names, places, political intrigue, etc. (this is NOT a short book), but numerous anecdotes turned what could otherwise have been a dry historical narrative into a really enjoyable read---everyday life stories, palace gossip, and comical happenings of the Family Royal---examples: Queen Mary used to refer to granddaughter QE2 as "the little bambino"...and, though the death of Edward VIII was in no way a laughing matter, the description of how the Palace treated Wallis was really a scream.



4. This book goes into extreme depth of the life of the fifth longest reigning monarch in British history, Queen Elizabeth II. What she is like, what she must do as her position as the Queen, and what she stands for are a few of the questions that are answered in this biography by Ben Pimlott. Reading the book was an interesting and enjoyable experience that helps to understand the stresses of living life as a monarch.



5. With the Constitutionally-mandated reduction in the sovereign's power in the past hundred years, it's easy to see the Queen of England as a figurehead. A mascot, if you will, whose only powers are to be advised and to consent. A study of Ben Pimlott's nearly seven hundred pages will teach you why this has happened, particularly in the last nearly fifty years.

   The Queen: A Biography of Elizabeth II is something of an oddity in today's world--a study of the political power the monarch still holds and how that power has been wielded (or not) during the current reign. It's fascinating, and in a world filled with tawdry junk bios about the private lives of the Royal Family, this factual reference book is a gem.

   It's true the Queen commands less politically than any of her predecessors, but that's more her own fault than anyone else's. She appears to have CHOSEN, for some reason known only to her, to reign but not rule. Even her father, George VI, that most dutiful of monarchs, often made important decisions in critical situations---and no one questioned him because he was the King. His daughter has spent her reign, since 1952, playing it safe, never pushing the Constitutional line between Sovereign and Government. Because the line's never been pushed by the Queen, the Government has encroached ever more obviously onto what was once unquestionably the Monarch's territory.

   It would be difficult for the Queen to push back now; she's already given up too much. It will be nearly impossible for the next monarch (most likely Prince Charles) to recover lost ground; he will most likely be only a ceremonial king, in the manner of the Danes and Swedes. Elizabeth II has allowed herself, her decendants, and the British monarchy itself to become Constitutionally hemmed in, and it's doubtful they'll ever cut their way out.

   Pimlott explains all of this with several examples of laws passed since 1952, each limiting the sovereign's power a bit more. The Queen has, for whatever reason, not refused her signature to any of these laws though, technically, she still has that right.

   Elizabeth II: A Biography is well-written and exhaustively referenced. The many photographs included aren't the ones that always show up in biographies about the Royal Family; there are several I've never seen before. There are no anonymous sources to question; everyone is either well-known, or he/she is explained to the reader. This may be a better book for English readers than for Americans, since several of the matters discussed pertain only to the English, and Americans may be bored by the minutiae of individual British case law.

   Final decision: A tad dry, but the best examination of Elizabeth II's reign I've seen.

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

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



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



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

5 comments about Diana: A Tribute to the People's Princess.

1. This book has been in my collection since its publication and has been read many times. It's still difficult to believe that this beautiful, young princess is no longer on her earthly sojourn but has moved on to a much better place.

   The forward is written by The Reverend Tony Lloyd who is The Executive Director of The Leprosy Mission. The following quote is taken from the foreward on page 11: "Leprosy may not be mentally and physically damaging, but it is often erroneously seen as a curse from the gods, and the 'victims' then become outcasts. Since Diana herself was the frequent victim of pain and anguish, she had a special empathy for those who suffered in the same way. It is not a coincidence that five of her six remaining charities are associated with stigma.

   "She was charismatic, witty, and, above all, a womain of extraordinary compassion. This was demonstrated both in the limelight and, more often, when there were no cameras or reporters present." So many times, one tends not to read the preface or the forward of a book and, often, valuable information can be gleaned from these. I, for one, feel that the last sentence of the above quote is crucial since there are still may people who think that Diana did everything in full view of cameras.

   If one collects books on Diana, this book is a must. There is not any new material, there are several pictures not seen before; however, as with all books, it is presented in a different format and style. One is taken through Diana's life as a toddler, as a small girl, as a teenager, as an adult, and lastly, through her funeral service and to her final resting place on the small oval island at Althrop - her ancestral home.

   Following are three quotations of Diana's: "I shall get married when I am sure that I am in love, so that we will never be divorced," said by Diana as a small girl - page 15. On page 30, "I thought I was the luckiest girl in the world when I looked at Charles through my veil. I had tremendous hope in my heart." On page 72, "I think the biggest disease this world suffers from in this day and age is the disease of people feeling unloved, and I know that I can give love for a minute, for half an hour; for a day, for a month, but I can give. I'm very happy to do that and I want to do that."

   This is a great, but sad tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales. This book contains many beautiful pictures in color and a few in black and white. This book is a must for anyone who collect books on Diana, Princess of Wales.




2. Just when you think that you've read all there is about the late POW, along comes this well-written volume. It wasn't just the same old text with a few changes of words to make you think it was all new. I really found this book refreshing in content. One of the best coverages of the funeral I've read to date! Also pictures that I had not seen previously--and I have an embarrassingly large collection of them! However, while you're waiting for this book at Amazon.com to be released, I purchased mine at Waldenbooks on the clearance table for $2.99. I was shocked to see such a great book at such a steal, it's definatly worth the asking price here!



3. I have a few books about Diana, but this one, A Tribute to the People's Princess, I found to be very excellent. It shows Diana in many pictures in her different roles in life:Princess of Wales, mother, wife and humanitarian. I recommend everyone who wants to learn more about Princess Diana, to read this book, you'll be glad you did.



4. I have many books on Diana and was pleased to see this one come out. It has nice colourful pictures of her and some different poses. Highly recommend it.



5. This is an awsome book on Lady Diana. It has TONS of pictures. I enjoyed it ALOT!!

5 comments about The Greatest Traitor: The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, Ruler of England: 1327--1330.

1. I read this book while on holiday in England. It was the perfect companion. If you enjoy history, especially history that is alive and vibrant, you will like this book.
   Mortimer takes us back 700 years to become engaged with Sir Roger and his world. We come to understand what a familial dynasty and legacy meant to a medieval knight/baron. We come to fully understand the failures of Edward II, and how those failures drove Mortimer and others to do the unthinkable - overthrow their king.
   The scholarship and research that went into this account are top notch and the authors theory (I won't give it away) is quite compelling.
   Great book!



2. This biography offers a far different perspective than one usually finds in studies of the unfortunate Edward II. The son and the father of the brilliant Edwards I and III, Edward II was an ineffective king who seemed to actively repel the support of nobility that would otherwise have been loyal to the crown, while promoting "favourites" on whom he showered power and wealth. Edward's queen, Isabella, and her lover Roger Mortimer launched a successful invasion and defeated Edward's army, deposed and imprisoned Edward, and (the conventional wisdom says) murdered him in a particulary grisly manner. (I have read other speculation that he escaped and lived in exile in France, and I want to believe that, but who knows?) It would be helpful to the reader to have some background knowledge, at least in broad strokes, of the era before beginning. I would recommend having read Alison Weir's biography of Isabella or even some Sharon Kay Penman period fiction before tackling "The Greatest Traitor". That said, this biography is clear, detailed, and provides fairly extensive insight into the era and Roger Mortimer's possible motivations. Mortimer (the author) thankfully does not tell the reader what Mortimer (the subject) thought or felt--rather he provides documentary evidence of where Roger Mortimer was, when his children were born, with whom he was allied, and so forth. He suggests some motivations based upon the evidence and the known events. The book is, in my view, compelling. The Mortimer name has always connoted a somewhat unsavory character for me: Marcher lords exploiting the Welsh, opportunistic, smart and brave but not trustworthy or loyal. This biography does not completely alter that impression, but provides motivations that make Roger Mortimer's actions seem less opportunistic and more responsive to the crises provoked by the Despensers and Edward's failed reign. Perhaps this is biography is not the place to start exploring Edward II's era, but once you've been hooked on the drama of the period, I think it's a must-read.



3. This year's reading has included three of my all-time favorite histories. The Princes in the Tower was lucid and reasoned in its indictment of Richard III, with the kindness to provide sufficient context in the reigns of both Richard's predecessor (Edward IV) and successor (Henry VII). The Hidden History in the Bayeux Tapestry was an engaging recounting of the physical tapestry's own amazing story, and a critical exegesis of the tapestry's tale.
   
   Better than both is Ian Mortimer's The Greatest Traitor: The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, Ruler of England: 1327--1330.
   
   Like Bridgeford's illumination of Eustace II of Boulogne, Ian Mortimer brings light to Roger Mortimer's upbringing and exploits, mitigating his rebellions against Edward II and his domination of Edward III while exposing Mortimer's descent into the same arrogant tyranny that brought down Edward II's favorites Gaveston and Despenser. He also brings compelling documentary evidence to substantiate what chroniclers of the time considered wild rumors. In short, nothing but a gripping tale wrapped in conscientious scholarship.
   
   And you can complain about Mortimer's (and Alison Weir's) assertions that Ed. II lived out his life in Ireland and then Italy all you want. Mortimer makes a compelling case from documentary evidence. So there.



4. I do not see what all the yelling is about. Mortimer's conclusion that Edward II secretly survived some years into his son's reign are not logical. He tells us the Edward II considered himself the absolute monarch of England and Ireland and would share no control of the contry with anyone except his very close favorites. After he lost then regained control of the country he so abused his nobles and gentry (the ruling classes) that they would not turn a hand against him. In regaining control Roger Mortimer fled to France. Eventually Roger hooked up with Edward II's wife who was sent to France, her home, on a diplomatic mission. Eventually Roger and Isabelle returned to England to overthow Edward II and claim the crown for Edward III. This is where I think he argues unconvincingly. Edward II is reported dead, a body purportedly his is buried with full honors in a noticable grave. The author aruges that Edward III was told by his mother and Roger his father was still alive and if he wanted to stay king he had better play along. Edward III gets tired of Roger's increasing abuse of power behind the throne and arranges his judicial murder. He also goes after those who are considered responsible for his father's death, but most get away.
   
   Then comes a letter supposedly reporting that Edward II did survive, being moved to Corfe Castle instead of killed, but killing a sleeping porter on the way out of the castle he was being held in, thoughtfully accounting for the substitute corpse. After being held at Corfe for 1 1/2 or 2 1/2 years, he is taken to Ireland where 9 months later he is apparently released, goes on foot in the guise of a pilgram across England, sailing to Europe, dropping in on the Pope to whom he is admitted on the strenght of having a sovereign to bribe the porter there, eventually joining a hermitage and maybe seeing his son and second grandson some years later.
   
   Excuse me. A man who genuinely believed he was autocrat of England shuffles across the width of it without visiting any of his remaining friends and without trying to reclaim his throne? The Pope sees people because his porter is bribed? And the man who is supposed to have been keeping him, when accused of murdering him, gets away with saying, in effect, "what do you mean? I didn't know he was dead!" To which Edward III does not say: if he is not dead, who did I pay to bury with such honor and such visibility? Nor does Queen Isabelle or any member of the nobility ask any of these questions either. Bottom line: Ian Mortimer's conclusion that Edward II got a way simply does not mesh with the man he spends the greatest part of the book describing.



5. It was with extreme pleasure that I read The Greatest Traitor, life and time of Sir Roger Mortimer written by Ian Mortimer although the author insisted that there is no relationship between himself and his subject. The book proves to be well written and researched although lack of primary sources in many part of Roger Mortimer's life hampered the author's effort. Many of these parts lies with Mortimer's personal life. He did married young and had host of children but there's really nothing in the book that reflects what Mortimer was like, as a father and husband outside of few references. This proves to be the book's only weakness and it may have been out of the author's control to provide.
   
   The author make his case very well that Roger Mortimer was one of England's greatest traitors. Mortimer's actions against his country, his King Edward II, his oath of fealty, his relationship with Queen Isabella and his dominates over Edward III clearly marked him as worst offender of his class. However, the author also tempered that case with the reasoning that many of the things Mortimer did was in self-defense of his lands, honor and life. That Edward II was a bad ruler who ruled terribly. It wasn't until Mortimer and Isabella had total control during the regency of Edward III that they began to act and ruled like tyrants.
   
   This book goes well with Alison Weir's Queen Isabella biography as both of them reflects on the same theory about the fate of Edward II. The Fieschi letter dominate both books that Edward II died peacefully as a religious exile in Italy and not murdered horribly in Berkely Castle as regular history books goes. Weir introduced that theory openly to exonerate Isabella from Edward II's murder and author in this book did the same to exonerate Roger Mortimer as well from that charge.
   
   Overall, very interesting book about an important mediveal English nobleman who effectively ruled England for nearly 3 and half years with his lover, Queen Isabella. While regular history books shows Edward III following his father in rule, anyone reading this book will realized that there's an footnote between the two. Mandatory reading material for anyone interested in this time period and subject matter.