5 comments about Queen Victoria's Gene (Pocket Biographies).

1. queen victoria was the grandmother of europe who brought hemophilla to many european royal houses that ended in great tragic.



2. I think I read this book for different reasons (and got different things out of it) than most of the previous reviewers. One of the first instances of "genetic genealogy" was the investigation into the roots of the hemophilia that plagued the czarevich Alexei of Russia, the only son of Nicholas II, who probably wouldn't have lived long enough to become czar even if the Bolsheviks hadn't liquidated the imperial family. But Victoria's son, Leopold, also died of complications of the disease, and it made its way into the Spanish royal family, as well. Where did the defective gene Victoria carried come from? There are only two medical possibilities: Either she was the victim of a random mutation -- one chance in about 50,000 -- or her father was hemophiliac. And since her father, Edward, Duke of Kent, did *not* have the disease, that would mean Victoria was illegitimate, the offspring of a hemophiliac lover of the Duchess of Kent. The duchess certainly *did* have a lover, and it's also possible, from all the evidence, that the duke was sterile. In which case, the throne should rightfully have gone to King William III's next closest relative, . . . and who would that have been? This is quite a fascinating detective story, investigating in considerable depth the private lives of the Coburgs, and it leaves one to wonder how the 19th century in Britain might have been different if Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and subsequently king of Hanover (a very distasteful individual by all accounts, and a very unpopular ruler), had become king of Great Britain. (His eldest living descendant in the male line today is Ernest Augustus, Prince of Hanover and present husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco.)



3. This book was very interesting. It is a story of Genes. It tells the story about Queen Victoria and her family. Two of her daughters, Alice (As well as two daughters and a son), and Beatrice (as well as two sons and a daughter) were carriers of a disease called hemophilia and her son Leopold (As well as a daughter) had the disorder. One might wonder what the mystery is about it. Well it is this, where did the three children get the disorder? Because the daughters were carriers of it they could not have gotten it from there father Albert, so it must have been Victoria. One problem is that supposedly comes from one the most well documented families off all time (The family can trace there lineage to Adam and Eve) that leaves three posiblities-1. That she is not the Granddaughter of King George III 2. Her mother (Victoria of Sax-Coburg) was a carrier-which turned out to be false or 3. There was a spontaneous combustion of the egg or sperm that made Victoria. The authors get into all three of these hypotheses in order to try to understand just how Victoria got the gene for hemophilia. The authors also delve into the lives of the people who had hemophilia and tells about some of the pretenders to the thrones descendent from Queen Victoria and how with the knowledge of the gene people have figured out they are fakes.



4. It's too bad so many reviewers and editors chose to focus on the small part of this book which questions Queen Victoria's legitimacy, because that's not really what this book is about. It's far more about how the interbreeding of British and other European royalty had profound consequences for world history. The bulk of the book traces the competitive sexual politics prior to Victoria's birth, and the way inbreeding among royalty contributed to the spread of the hemophilia gene, causing major world upheaval (in particular, to the fall of the Russian tsar). Much has been written of the privileges of 19th century royalty, but this book brings into sharper focus the way these royals' private behavior had public consequences. An interesting treatise on an aspect of history that is often overlooked: that many European wars were family conflicts extended to a grand scale.



5. This book is really partly a discussion on how Victoria passed on a gene for Haemophilia and its immense influence on later European politics, but also hugely influential, and not included in the title, were the overweening ambitions of Leopold in the scheme of European Royalty.

   Following his marriage to The heir to the English throne, Princess Charlotte, in 1817 I had thought he had faded out of existence, he was hardly a major player, so to speak, in the scheme of things then. I had forgotten his connection with Queen Victoria's mother, and it was again Leopold's influence which made Prince Albert, Victoria's husband - and then he really got workin on Europe for his relatives - even Brazil and Mexico got Leopold dynastic ambitions during their brief flirtations with the monarchy.

   The first chapter is really an introduction of Leopold but it is mainly in this first part that the genetics of Queen Victoria are examined. Where did the gene for Haemophilia arise and why, after generations of pophyria in the royal family (traced back for hundreds of years) was there a sudden stop to this,and rise to a completely new genetic disease. I don't know that the authors really made their point. I thought the discussion was interesting but the conclusions were a bit tenuous. In the end there was no possible candidate for the male haemophiliac who could have been Victoria's father. It is all very well discussion all the possibilities of how a gene might transfer from generation to generation but it would have been more convincing if they could have really put up some candidates - or at least one viable candidate anyway.

   The influence of the gene on later generations of European royalty was quite profound and I thought that was presented well by the book. I really enjoyed the chapter by chapter presentation of the gene's movements through other royal families in Europe as well as its still possible presence in the lesser branches of the Spanish Royal family. Each royal family or incident is presented as a single chapter and the ramifications are simply discussed. Certainly the guiding hand of Leopold on each succeeding generation is still very comprehensive.

   I wish the authors had used more, or better Family trees though. There were an awful lot of names and relationships to follow and not all were even represented in a family tree at all. Also finding the family trees to refer back to them was pretty awkward at times as they were scattered through the book.

   I don't know that this is really an academic book for those that are interested in royal watching. It doesn't present itself as well as it might. The conclusions are often very vague - if there are conclusions at all. However as a start point for a slightly different look at the influence of Victoria, and Leopold on European royalty it is definitely worth dipping in to. I probably would have given it 3 and a half stars rather than 3 given the choice, but it isn't a brilliant book - just interesting.

1 comments about Cape Clear, Island Magic: A Photographic, Historical, and Dramatic Account of Clear Island.

1. That is what this place is like & that is how the author captures the atmosphere of this beautiful place.

1 comments about Hazel: A Life of Lady Lavery, 1880-1935.

1. Ms. McCoole does a wonderful job in accurately portraying the life of Hazel Lavery. She has gone to great lengths to uncover the truth about her relationships with historical figures, one being the Irish icon Michael Collins. What many people may not realize is that Hazel was a painter herself before she met her famous husband, John Lavery. Hazel's story from the suburbs of Chicago to the face on the Irish pound note is a truly enjoyable read.

No comments about Fixing Tradition: Joseph W. Yoder, Amish American (C. Henry Smith Series, V. 4).

2 comments about Beloved Emma: The Life of Emma, Lady Hamilton.

1. The author takes a fastinating life and makes it into tedious reading. If you like dull endless detail, this is the book for you. I couldn't even finish and I am an avid reader!



2. I discovered Emma, Lady Hamilton, whose great beauty and drive helped her rise to the highest ranks of Napoleonic England, thanks to Susan Sontag's The Volcano Lover. Since then, I have seen her pictures in the Tate, and read about the period, Nelson and Josiah Wedgewood to learn more about her. This is, however, the book that gave me the context for understanding who she was and how she got there, and how she ended up penniless and alone. As only makes sense, given Ms Fraser's distinguished family of strong women, Beloved Emma is a fabulous portrait of an incredibly strong woman who overcame phenomenal odds, and succeeded so completely against her era's odds that even she could not sustain her success. Worth reading and, now that there is a paperback edition, rereading!

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

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

1 comments about We Are at War: The Diaries of Five Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times.

1. Continuing the thread begun in Hidden Lives, Simon Garfield offers selections from the Mass-Observation Project diaries of five people caught up in the preparations and then the beginning of the infamous Blitz. The uncertainty, the anger, the fear; it's all here and it leaps off of the pages in a way that keeps you turning them.
   
   Sometimes the diarists are not particularly likeable - you encounter racism and defeatist attitudes at certain points. But that is something that makes this volume particularly interesting. Knowing that these pages are going to be read by others, the diarists are still painfully honest in their fears and their prejudices. Very enlightening, and highly recommended, especially as a companion volume to Hidden Lives.

5 comments about Mary Renault: A Biography (A Harvest Book).

1. I have loved Mary Renault's historical novels about the ancient world since I was a pre-teen and read them today decades later. I was intrigued to see this biography on Amazon and ordered it....must say it was a bittersweet experience to find that a writer I have admired I cannot think of with the same level of admiration...
   
   Sweetman's biography was insightful and gave the knowledge to flesh out what was only a vague skeleton of what I knew about Renault. Her early life was sad and corrosive and could have destroyed someone without her inner drive to be a writer...the fact that she was a lesbian was neither here nor there to me except that it too was a factor in her development as a person and writer...
   
   What was certainly dismaying to me was her apparently inability or lack of desire to be very perceptive about the South Africa where she made her home for decades...Sweetman's explanation for her choices regarding which professional groups to belong to and her method of protest regarding the government's policy regarding the races might be truthful--that she had a distinct aversion to overt conflict and confrontation because of her parents' hostile marriage and the continual criticism her mother gave Renault from her birth onward. But for someone to be so alive and connect to the ancient world of Greece and so oblivious to the ancient worth of South Africa and its tribal cultures, is just a terrible and wasted irony.
   If Renault had chosen to become involved and write with the same skill about African values and ancient culture that she chose to enliven her historical novels of ancient Greece, I imagine she could have been a significant factor in a struggle that is still taking place.
   
   Sweetman attempts to deflect the bigoted and racist views that have perhaps attached themselves to Renault's lack of antipathy to the South African government, but to me it seems that she has a double standard of behavior--as most people do--and that she holds her characters to a higher standard than herself. While she could be very charitable and stauch supporter of those she genuinely cared about, her small inner circle was small for a reason. She did not go out of her way to develop or support a native South African voice and seemed to related everything through the eyes of her own European point of view....While she could enjoy the relatively rustic life style of Greece in the 40s, she never made the same attempt to get to know the people of South Africa in their own locals---not always because the govt prevented it either...
   
   I was just disappointed to find her less than I hoped...although I don't imagine it will prevent me from enjoying her novels as much as I always have...



2. Just couldn't get into this book, especially written as it is by someone who knew Renault. No one admires the author more than I, and books like THE CHARIOTEER, THE LAST OF THE WINE and THE PERSIAN BOY have been for me jewels in the crown of life. So I looked forward to this biography as a tantalising mystery finally about to be solved--Renault unmasked at last! No, sorry, it just didn't happen for me. Sweetman seems fixated on Renault's sexuality, which I don't discount or revile from, but which to me is not the essence of her books, the thing that makes them great. So what is it that makes them great? Her intelligence! Renault is the most intelligent author I've ever read; intelligence seems to stream out everywhere, along with tastefullness and a wonderful compassion for humanity. And style! What a fabulous stylist! I can read and re-read her books endlessly just for the style, not to mention the insight, the fabulous observation of detail. These are the qualities I wanted to find out about. Who was this woman? How did she become such a great person and a great author? Well, I don't know because Sweetman's biography doesn't tell me. We get the facts, yes, especially about her lesbian relationship, and we discover some of her activities while writing the books, most notably a trip to Greece. But we discover almost nothing about her general opinions, her tastes, all those things one asks about in order to uncover a person. For instance I would have liked to know her opinion of some of the fine historical films emerging at the time she was writing her historical novels, most notably Ben-Hur and Spartacus. We hear that she quite liked Quo Vadis, but little information is given. And what music did she listen to (only the Caesar Franck sonata is mentioned)? What did she like to eat? There are a million questions, few of which Sweetman answers. And I miss any decent literary criticism. At one point Sweetman remarks that a certain editor seemed insensible of Renault's literary excellence, but then so does Sweetman himself given how few words he expends on it. How for instance did Renault develop such a brilliantly unique style? I remember first reading THE LAST OF THE WINE (at 16) and being fascinated by a style unlike anything I'd ever encountered, a way of contructing sentences that seemed at once earthy and punchy and the height of elegance and sophistication. How did she come to this?
   Well, no good ranting, I suppose. The book isn't bad, it just seems like a golden opportunity wasted. Obviously the definitive Renault biography has yet to be written--but I suspect it never will be simply because Renault didn't wish to be uncovered. Apparently Sweetman interviewed her in '82. I've never seen the interview, but I suspect she said very little of a personal nature. I suspect she made a point of throughout her life of saying little of a personal nature.



3. It is well-written, and easy to read. I especially appreciated the episodes and explanations of the circumstances, political movements, and her struggles which inspired Mary Renault to write each story. Now I understand how each story was created, and what was on her mind when she wrote them.
   When I first read her , which is a remarkable book, one of her best, I couldn't understand why she didn't take more pages to write about Alkibiades and the defeat of the Athenian fleet. This is the kind of scene she normally takes time and writes in great, vivid details. It seemed so odd and out of her character that she just skimmed through it (although it still came out all right). I had to read it twice to understand what exactly happened, and even after I understood, I wasn't satisfied.
   Well, the mystery was solved now that I know that the publishing company had forced her to eliminate so many pages, she had to cut out one-third of the book. That particular scene was the one that suffered. I don't blame her if she never forgave the publishing company. We the readers have been deprived a great deal.

   I was also tickled to read that she had to let her secretary go because the secretary wanted to improve her grammar!

   Her relationships with her parents, friends and her agents, editors, correspondents, and especially with her companion Julie are heart-warming. This biography brought her person alive and vivid, and now I can look at her works from another dimention.




4. Mary Renault, with her delicate handling of alternative sexual interests, touched a chord in a lot of people, whatever their orientation. This is the story about how little Molly Challans (with her love of cowboys and books) because the best selling author of historical novels set in both Bronze age and Classical Greece, Mary Renault.

   One might almost have predicted the loveless marriage that produced her. Her mother's least attractive qualities seem to resonate in the character of Olympias (Alexander the Great's mother)in her later series (written after her mother's death and final betrayal). The absent or ineffective fathers in her books reflect her other father's physical and emotional distance from his family.

   And around her momentous events of the 20th century occur-- World War I and II, the rise of the Nationalist Party in South Africa, the liberalization of sexual mores in Britain and the United States, and the struggle against appartheid.

   This linear story is probably where the reader should go who wants to know more concrete facts about Mary Renault's life (she pronounced it Ren-olt not like the car). The author at times dips into analysis but doesn't linger there. His main informant seems to have been Mary's lifelong companion, Julia and at times the book seems to be as much about Julia as Mary-- he notes at one point that a friend referred to them as M & J rather than separately.

   I'm still waiting for the definitve evaluation of Renault's novels but until it arrives this book is well worth reading if at times a little on the thin side.




5. I've long been an admirer of Renault's novels; her muscular prose, idealistic philosphies, model heroes, and her affection for gay male characters have struck a very resonant chord in me. After reading Sweetman's biography, I am now very much an admirer of Renault herself: intelligent, talented, courageous and strong. Once she wrote to a friend, speaking about feminists and women in general [she had a lifelong distaste for women, a point on which I now find myself differing]: "..the truth obviously is that [they] do seem to have, as men, some extra reserve of neural strength, some capacity for sustained intensity and inner drive, which women do not possess. I will believe otherwise when given evidence," rather selling herself short, I think, by not recognizing that very intensity and drive in herself.

   Highly recommended for any fan of Renault's.

No comments about The Forgotten Prime Minister: The 14th Earl of Derby Volume I: Ascent, 1799-1851.

5 comments about Lennon in America: 1971-1980 Based on the Lost Lennon Diaries.

1. What a piece of garbage! Rarely have I read a book that purported to be "historical" in nature that had so many well-known facts completely wrong. Those who gave this book any more than one star obviously no nothing about the history of The Beatles or of John Lennon. I have read dozens of well-researched books on both subjects, and this is by far the worst of the bunch. I'm not speaking from a like or dislike of Lennon, or even Giuliano's approach (supposedly using Lennon's stolen diary, which I don't believe he used anyway). I'm speaking about his historical inaccuracies. Giuliano has John meeting Paul on June 15, 1956 in his chronology. I don't know where that date came from, but certainly not from the historical record. As all Beatle afficionados know (and Giuliano is supposed to be something of an expert), John met Paul on July 6, 1957. Towards the end of the book, he writes that Paul and Linda visited John and Yoko in John's apartment on March 22, 1978. Many incontrovertible sources will reveal that Paul and Linda were on a boat on the Thames River holding a press conference to discuss the release of their new album, "London Town", eating fish and chips, and having their photographs taken by a slew of photographers from the media on this date. In between, this book is filled with inaccuracy after inaccuracy, unprovable assertions, and flights of fancy. Giuliano even goes so far as to state that Lennon was having dreams of performing fellatio on George Harrison (or was it the other way around?) Where did he get this earth-shattering information? Why, from Lennon himself, who wrote it in his diary. I don't know... I suppose it could be true, but I never heard that "fact" from any other source in the 26 1/2 years that Lennon's been dead. This "biography" is a complete waste of time and money. Guiliano should hang his head in shame for putting photos of himself with Yoko and Sean in the book. He has done the Lennons a great disservice by writing this so-called "historical biography."



2. I bought this book in Chicago when I was travelling around the country. It didn't take long to read and even less time to realize the author was clearly fabricating most of this. I wish I could get my money back. Reads more like an extended National Enquirer article, kept waiting for Aliens to abduct John.



3. I think all anyone needs to know about Geoffrey Guilliano is that this man faked his own death to avoid being chased after all the money he owed.
   And he did it by taking advantage of the 9/11 tragedy where he had messages sent to dubious sources to say he'd been in one of the Twin Towers that day.After which his body was one of many never discovered thus saving any positive sighting of it and an obituary.
   At first he got a heap of sympathy messages on a Beatles website
   until he was rumbled
   Its Reassessment Time here.
   His Harrison book bears the blurb "Guilliano knows more about my life than I do"
   Which is doubtful as Harrison threatened to sue him!
   So he no doubt added that himself
   1 Star is because you can't award lower



4. The author plays fast and loose with basic facts. As others have pointed out, among other things Lennon supposedly had a blow-up with his father at the Magical Mystery Tour premiere in the latest '60s -- which John somehow forgave in 1964. John supposedly had sexual fantasies about Madonna, whose first album came out after John was killed. The author can't even get the spelling of Patti Boyd's name right. This kind of "reporting" calls into question everything in the book. When I read about John's mother's supposed sexual advances to him, the first thing I did was look around for a footnote or other indication of source material, but none was to be found. And of course, the book is unrelentingly vicious to Yoko Ono, but that's to be expected.



5. My review will be brief because I generally agree with the comments made by others who gave this book 1 or 2 stars. The opening chapter (oddly entitled "Prologue") gives you the flavor of what is to come. Clearly the author is on a mission to write the juiciest tabloid version of Lennon's life possible. The first chapter is not a prologue at all, but a description of John's alleged sexual adventures.
   
   There are many things that trouble me about this book. Among others, the author claims to base it in part on tapes made by JOhn and Yoko as well as John's diaries. While some of what he writes rings true, how did he get a hold of these forbidden items? He claims he go the diaries from Harry Nilsson, something Nilsson's web site has contested over and over. How did Harry get these diaries or tapes? Who knows. Clearly the diaries were notes, written in John's notoriously bad handwritting. And abbreviated notes at that. If the author quoted the diaries or tapes verbatim, that would have been much more convincing than interpreting these items. If you have the tapes and diaries in front of you, why not just quote them? Or photocopy pages of the diary and put them in the book for all to see?
   
   As I said, some of it is believable, but parts of it are not, and the author is clearly a man on a nasty mission.