1 comments about Admiral Sir Henry Morgan: King Of The Buccaneers.

1. Welshman Henry Morgan began as a naval officer, but made his reputation as a fierce pirate - a reputation challenged in the first libel lawsuit brought into protect a book about him published in 1684 claiming he was a terror of the high seas. In fact, he'd been commissioned to help the British navy fighting enemies of the crown and proved his worth as a military strategist on the high seas, and Welsh history expert Terry Breverton provides this full account of Morgan's myths and realities in his lively biography ADMIRAL SIR HENRY MORGAN: KING OF THE BUCCANEERS. Chapters review his leadership, his heroic struggles, and his ability to plan attacks which would ensure British supremacy abroad. An unusual, lively read.

4 comments about Diana Her New Life.

1. I love Andrew Morton's writing style. This is such a touching story. Highly recommended.



2. but just as good. This book is an update on Diana since her separation from Charles in 1992 and what the future could hold for Diana as a single woman.

   Unfortunately, only a year after her divorce, we got the answer, and it wasn't good.




3. Without question, this is a book sympathetic to Diana's side, and justifiably so. The grey-suited eunuchs of Buckingham Palace have never done the monarchy a favor by meddling in the marriages of the royal family. Morton tells the tale of Diana, her remarkable courage and resourcefulness, and her feelings of alienation, in the face of a smear campaign that would have shriveled us lesser mortals. Diana is a flawed, but nevertheless feeling, human being who did not deserve the ill treatment she received at the hands of her prince and his minions. This is an interesting book to read in light of what's happened since the book's publication in 1994. One can believe that Diana's death may not have been an accident.



4. I loved this book, I felt as if I was there writing the book as it happened,rather than reading the book years after it happened.

5 comments about The Friendly Jane Austen: A Well-Mannered Introduction to a Lady of Sense and Sensibility.

1. I just happened upon this little gem at my local bookstore and after thumbing through the pages for about a minute, I knew I had to have it. The layout of the book is superb as it highlights each of Miss Austen's novels and gives facts, fun lists and quotations in a light-hearted yet interesting manner. There is something for the long-time fan as well as anyone new to the novels. A must-have for any Jane Austen fan and a fantastic resource for any book club reviewing a Jane Austen novel. Well done.



2. Of all the references I have seen so far, this is the most complete as far as covering all of Jane Austen's personal life, the last 200 years of how other famous people saw her, a clear discussion of each of her novels, and how the many adaptations have had an impact in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This book is must reading for oldtime fans of Jane and a great and full introduction for first time readers. Who can resist being a fan after reading this fine book? It deserves to be kept handy all the time.



3. This fine little book is a great encyclopedia of Jane Austen, her life, all her works, impact on other writers, and on other forms of entertainment over the two centuries her works have been amongst us. I find it is frequently used as a resource for discussion. Those new to Jane Austen will get an excellent start in becoming a fan. The writing is lively, well illustrated and easily translated to the 21st century investigator.



4. The Friendly Jane Austen: A Well-Mannered Introduction to a Lady of Sense & Sensibility is a wonderful resource for the die-hard Austen fan as well as Austen newbies. Ms. Tyler takes each book in turn, gives a synopsis of the plot and places it in historical context and in the context of Austen's life. She then explains those details that might be abstract to those not familiar with Regency culture, such as entailed property, the importance of walking and the attitude toward marriage, making the reader comfortable with the novel. She includes illustrations, interviews, quizzes and delightful bits on the side such as "10 Surefire Ways to be Vulgar", a table of average income and "Sense and Sensibility: A Checklist". In addition, she finishes the book lists of movie versions, book spin-offs and sequels and shows Austen's role (her "legacy") in our century.
   
   An Austen fan from way back, I found this a truly delightful book. Ms. Tyler is humorous as well as informative and her enthusiasm for Austen is apparent. This is a must-have for Austen fans, no question about it; the resources provided in The Friendly Jane Austen further the enjoyment of reading Austen's novels. It is also an excellent book for those that have just started reading Austen. With this book by your side, you can't fail to see just how wonderful Jane Austen was, and still is.



5. This was a truly fun book. It was written with a sense of fun about Jane Austen. Synopsis of the novels and characters are interspersed with interviews from actors who've had roles in movie adaptations of Jane Austen's novels, famous writers' thoughts on the impact of Jane Austen in their own writings, silly quizzes that will have you nodding your head or guessing out loud and even lists of the most obnoxious characters.

No comments about James Tissot: Victorian Life/Modern Love.

1 comments about The Expeditions of John Charles Fremont: Volume 2. The Bear Flag Revolt and the Court-Martial.

1. This is an essential book for the student of Western exploration. The editors put together three hefty volumes about the expeditions of John Charles Fremont of which this is the second.
   
   Volume one includes Fremont's official reports of his first two expeditions to Wyoming's South Pass in 1842 and to California and Oregon in 1843-1844; Volume two details his participation in the war with Mexico, including his court martial; and in volume three he writes of his later and less successful expeditions. In their day these accounts were best sellers and they made Fremont a national hero which led to him being the candidate for President of the new Republican party in 1856. Today, Fremont seems forgotten except by specialists -- and mostly scorned by them (Bernard de Voto called him "Childe Harold") -- and the fame of his mountain man guide, Kit Carson, as an American hero has eclipsed that of Fremont
   
   The heart of this book is Fremont's accounts of his expeditions. He recorded the progress of his expeditions daily in the form of a diary and he was no novice at colorful writing. Possibly his wife Jessie Benton Fremont improved upon his prose before the accounts were published. Nor was he modest, but he gave credit where credit was due to his men, mostly French voyageurs, and especially Carson whose rise to prominence was due to Fremont. Fremont's writing is very readable to this day. Along with his dairy he also collected scientific and meteorological information which may be of interest to specialists. Fremont blotted his copybook with a number of egotistical fiascos but on his first two expeditions he was an appealing young man.
   
   Supplementing Fremont's diary are a large number of letters, vouchers, and other documents related to Fremont's career and the expeditions. You can learn for example that Fremont paid his French voyageurs as little as 62 1/2 cents per day wages, but Kit Carson earned $100 per month, a hefty salary in those days for an illiterate mountain man -- and Carson was worth it. The editors provide copious notes to amplify and clarify the text. They produced a top notch multi-volume book of scholarship that's also fun to read.
   
   Smallchief

1 comments about The Reign of Mary Tudor.

1. I am slowly but surely making my way through this book. I did so want a book about Queen Mary, and I will continue the search. It was a complicated time and this is a complicated book. My heart went out to Queen Mary.
   
   The most frustrating part of the book is losing so much information because there are pages and pages of footnotes that were in Latin, French, and Spanish. I do understand this book was written in the 1800, but those footnotes have peeked my interest.

5 comments about A Moment of War: A Memoir of the Spanish Civil War.

1. This is a thin book, but it conveys a message. That message is that war is not what it seems to be. Lee tried to enlist in the International Brigades in Spain, but on two different times was thrown in prison. Once because the peasants saw him with a violen, and the other because he had a Spanish Morocco stamp in his passport. Both times, he was almost shot for these offenses. When he did manage to join, he was not posted to the front. Finally, he is sent to the front and deserted by his friends. He manages to kill a Nationalist Moor in his time at the front, and becomes catonic. The Republicans realize he is useless as a soldier and send him home. Once again, he is thrown in prison in Barcelona. From there he comes home, more wiser than before.
   
   One does not doubt Lee's bravery or idealism. What he points out is the baseness of war on the Republican side. People being shot because of suspected sympathies. Franco's use of civilian bombing to kill innocents.
   Both sides invented new lows for fighting. Lee became disillisioned with war. This is the story of idealism being dashed by the realities.



2. Laurie Lee was one of the finest English stylists of the 20th century, and his three slim books of memoirs are a joy to read. A joy and a danger, because it is doubtful whether they are mostly memoir or mostly invention.
   
   This defect is, perhaps, of small consequence in the first volumes, 'Cider with Rosie' and 'As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning,' since they purport to tell of the private and inner life of a country boy. 'A Moment of War' is another matter.
   
   It pretends to be a history of a small part of the Spanish Civil War, a still-contentious conflict. That the moment never actually passed, or not in a fashion very much the way Lee tells it, muddies an already murky history.
   
   It would have been more honest -- although not in Lee's character -- had he presented his memoirs as Siegfried Sassoon did in 'Tne Memoirs of George Sherston,' as fiction that we are expected to absorb as emotional truth, even if not every event really occurred.
   
   That said, Lee's memoirs are delightful to read -- if read as fiction. 'A Moment of War' is considerably less delightful as to subject, though Lee's sensuous prose remains a joy to anyone who loves language.
   
   'Cider with Rosie' has been, by far, the most popular of the three volumes and probably has the greatest value as a record of a thousand-year way of secluded village life that came to an end when Lee was in his early teens.
   That it was sexy in a quiet way no doubt had something to do with this, as when it was first printed English publishing was still in its Mrs. Grundy phase.
   
   'As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning' is, to my mind, the best of the three and the one volume that is so personal that it doesn't matter how much of it was invented.
   
   Sassoon's 'Memoirs of a Fox-hunting Man,' the first volume of 'Sherston,' is the finest coming of age novel about an English boyhood. 'As I Walked Out' is second best, and a close second.



3. I do not know much else about the author, Larie Lee, but in "A Moment of War" he certainly led a charmed life. Those who have studied the Spanish Civil War know that the level of hatred, distrust, brutality, and revenge was excessive in this conflict. Indeed, they mirrored that of Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia which, not coincidently, exemplify the two main factions in this civil war.

   Right from the beginning the author steps into the middle of this tension. He is held in suspicion by the very side he has come to fight for. The "in and out of favor" status that he holds gives this book an even greater flavor of the conflict he writes of.

   The book is brief, in part because the authors's tenure in Spain was brief. However, through his experiences and observations, we are able to understand much about this microcism of Twentieth Century European politics. It is a memoir written with a poetic style which allows the author to say so much in so few pages. As an account of the Spanish Civil War, it ranks up there with Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia".




4. Down in Stroud we have few famous people to cheer about and most of those are invisible (Princess Anne) or vulgar comers-in, so Laurie Lee always had great celebrity in the whole area. His 'Cider with Rosie' is legendary, while 'As I walked out one Midsummer's Morning' maintains the arcadian magic. Indeed, I thought much of him on my own teenage jaunts round Europe. As louts we would meet him up the Woolpack in Slad and occasionally throw pebbles into his beer. We followed his politics, too. Class differences in the country are even starker than in town. This title was one I had awaited for a long time. I had read Orwell's 'Homage to Catalonia' and expected something as inspiring, but this is definitely the work of an older man, looking back with indulgence and sorrow at his youth. There is no heroism, indeed there is no ideology, and instead we have a sad book, without the charm of 'As I walked out..' or the commitment of 'Homage..' This particular crusader lost his way long before the war was over.. I lost interest in the book long before the end.



5. Laurie Lee's spare, unsentimental memoir of his experience as a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War should take a place, I think, with Orwell's Homage to Catalonia as one of the English language classics of the time. Moved by idealistic sympathy for the Republican cause, Lee begins with his winter's journey by foot across the Pyrenees only to be taken as facist infiltrator and thrown into an underground pit-prison with a soon to executed deserter. Eventually allowed to join the International Brigade, he continues to tell a story of disillusionment: "I imagined a shoulder-to-shoulder brotherhood, a brave camaraderie joined in one purpose, not the fragmentation of national groups scattered around the courtyard talking wanly only to each other. Indeed they seemed to share a mutual air of unease and watchfulness, of distrust and even dislike." Yet A Moment of War is not sour story. Its prose evokes awareness heightened by danger and deprivation. Of a humble bowl of bean soup Lee writes, "Bean soup hot and chunky, with an interesting admixture of tar, but to me a gluttonous reward after almost two weeks of near famine in the cave. I remembered again the concentration of the senses, of smell and flavor, that hunger brings to appetite, and with each steaming spoonful I was also aware of the grime of the unscrubbed table, the rusting metal of the soup plate, the sharp frozen landscape outside, almost the fatness of each bean." Of a chance reencounter with a Spanish girl who smells of "fresh mushrooms and tampled thyme, woodsmoke and burning orange," he recalls the heady, sensual magic of being young, the "rare and magnetic driving patterns of youth, cutting across the humdrum chaos of the multitudes." The real story, however, is one of war told from a soldier's viewpoint, long delays and boredom interspersed with seemingly random episodes of violence, as vivid as any soldier's tale ever written. A Moment of War was a refreshing discovery for this media-burdened, hype-wearied reader. I am now searching for more of Laurie Lee's not well enough known titles

No comments about Eminent Victorians: The Definitive Edition.

No comments about My Just Desire: The Life of Bess Ralegh, Wife to Sir Walter.

5 comments about Boswell's Presumptuous Task: The Making of the Life of Dr. Johnson.

1. This book tells the story of the greatest biographical masterpiece in the English language. In the course of it we learn to appreciate the skill, dedication, persistence and great art of Boswell. This is Sisman's description of Boswell as he wrote the life :
   
   "The story of Boswell's life as he wrote the epic Life of Johnson is itself an epic: in the process Boswell experienced an extraordinary degree of exhilaration and depression, pride, humiliation, confidence, doubt, satisfaction, hurt, loneliness, disillusionment and grief." A man of great ambition, Boswell had little to show for his efforts at the time of Johnson's death. Writing the biography "was his last hope of achieving anything worthwhile."
   
   But Boswell through his great diligence, his careful noting down of the words of his great friend, his artful reshaping of much of what he heard, his willingness to tell not simply of virtues but of faults, his ability to present the whole man, succeeded in giving the world the picture of the Great Cham which attracts and moves us to this day. Gruff, easily made irritable, but capable of incredible kindness, always fierce and fast in his remarks, tremendously knowledgeable, a loyal friend, the master maker of the Dictionary, Johnson is presented by Boswell as a fully rounded character.
   Sisman gives the background to the lives of these two giants of English Literature. He focuses on Boswell's preparation for the work and his ongoing method of execution. He reveals in details the way one great masterpiece of world- literature was made by someone often derided by those of his own time.



2. I've never read the biography written by Mr. Boswell about his friend Dr. Johnson, but having finished this extremely well-written book concerning it, I am willing to give it a try. I've heard of Sam Johnson of course (what literary person has not), but knew really next to nothing about him, except that his biography was written by Boswell. Now this book has revealed in all its detail how that book came to be written, and it has sparked my great interest. That is the highest compliment which a reader can pay to an author, that his work has led the reader to another writing, based solely upon what the reader learned in the first book. Hats off to Mr. Sisman for a job well done!



3. I thought this was an outstanding dual biography of Dr Johnson and James Boswell. I marveled continuously at how carefully and thoughtfully Sisman describes the selvages and biases of the cloth of these two writers' lives without unraveling them. The writing itself is exemplary. Sisman's book, along with Tomalin's biography of Pepys, are among the best biographies in recent memory.



4. What more is there to say. Either you like non-fiction, or you don't. Don't expect to be reading anything other than a magnificent biography, the best I've ever read.



5. Boswell's Presumptious Task (The Making of the Life of Dr. Johson) is an examination of a biographer creating a biography, or, in this case, THE biographer creating THE biography. This book is itself not quite a biography as it concentrates mainly, although not exclusively, on Boswell's life as it pertains to the creation of his book. It is also not a careful examination of the book Boswell wrote itself. Instead, it is a fascinating view of the human interactions, both between subject and author, but also those between the author and his sources before and after Johnson's death, that went into the creating process. The literary masterpiece that came to be the Life of Johnson was born out of the social and cultural mileau both men enjoyed in London and this is well recreated in this book. This is a readable, sometimes funny, sometimes touching book.