2 comments about American Heretic: Theodore Parker and Transcendentalism.

1. Transcendentalism has never been easy to define, all the more so because its two most well-known adherents, Emerson and Thoreau, were highly poetic souls who had much better uses for their rhetoric than in crafting creeds or clear-cut manifestoes. It is a pleasure then to read Grodzins' biography of Theodore Parker, in whose life and work we can see more clearly the philosophical and personal dramas that played themselves out within the Unitarian Church in regard to its Transcendentalist sympathizers - in particular, the attempts of one Transcendentalist to define his views against the charges of Deism. Religion is a key concern for Transcendentalism, though in Emerson and Thoreau there is no sense that organized religion can play a key role in the individual's enlightenment. Parker remained in the Church as he struggled to know and preach Truth, and gained a large following. Our understanding of Transcendentalism is eminently richer for our appreciation of his struggle.



2. Grodzins has written an astonishingly thorough and readable biography of an important but neglected 19th Century American. Parker is one of the most influential Americans of the mid-1800s, a brilliant scholar and powerful preacher who became a crucial figure in our religious and political history.

   The book is destined to become the standard biography of Parker for generations. Anyone interested in American political thought and the evolution of American religious doctrine will find this book invaluable. Any New Englander will find this a treasure trove of well-written stories.

3 comments about Charles Goodnight, Cowman and Plainsman.

1. 
   
   My first indication this book existed was a chapter, entitled The Making of a Scout, that Ole Hosstail (Joe Austell Small) ran in TRUE WEST magazine back around August, 1966.
   
   Charles Goodnight was many things in the Texas Panhandle, pioneer, ranchman, Indian fighter, homesteader, leader and all around man 'with the bark on. One of the outstanding things he did, among all his other activities, was his work with the Bison (buffalo) saving a herd but also in achieving the 'cattalo' a cross between range cattle and the bison.
   
   This book was already 20 some years old when it crossed my trail, and though I have a good hardcover copy, it is a second printing. But no matter which copy one may have, it is definately a prime source of information and no small classic in its own right.
   
   In September, 2007, the University of Oklahoma will publish a newer biography of Charles Goodnight by William T. Hagan. Though having much fewer pages it will no doubt be worth having on a reader's western shelf as well.
   
   No matter what your western reading interest concerning the west, Charles Goodnight is almost a must read.
   
   Semper Fi.



2. This book is not only about Charles Goodnight, but it is an excellent source on the history of the Panhandle, especially the settlement of the Palo Duro Canyon. You'll learn about the land, the wildlife, and the men who came to tame them both. It's an excellent biography, and should be required reading for anyone who lives within a hundred mile radius of the Palo Duro canyon.



3. Being a shirtail relative of Charles Goodnight, Ihave been anxious to learn more of him. My mother was a Goodnight, but not a direct descendant. More like a great-great niece. Would like to here from anyone who may be related. The book is very informative. I have an early copy from about the 1940's.

5 comments about The Kennedys: An American Drama.

1. I was pretty disappointed. I have read a lot on individual Kennedys, and was looking for something to tie them all together. This book is very surface level, and practically ignores the women in the family. I know it is more interesting to cover the successful politicians (all male at the time of first publishing in 1984) and the drug abusers (apparently also all male, but still not sure), but a word or two about some of the other Kennedys would have been nice. For example, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who founded the special olympics, gets only passing mention. All in all an interesting read, but mostly because the family (faults and successes) is so compelling, not because of the writing.



2. Heard the taped version of THE KENNEDYS: AN AMERICAN
   DREAM by Peter Collier and David Horowitz.
   
   This was a controversial NEW YORK TIMES bestseller when
   it was published in 1984, and I can see why . . . it tells the
   story of a dysfunctional family over three generations, centering
   around the elder Joseph Kenney and his wife Rose Fitzgerald . . . it then
   moves on to tell how his sons Jack and Bobby moved into the
   limelight via their careers in elected politics . . . and the book
   concludes with an account of Teddy's troubles, as well as those
   of the younger Kennedy children.
   
   Along the way there was adultery, drug usage (particularly by
   Jack during his presidency), alcoholism, and a variety of characters
   who mostly come across as not very lovable . . . perhaps only Lem
   Billings, JFK's best friend and subsequent family advisor, comes
   across in any sort of favorable light.
   
   My main criticism of THE KENNEDYS had to do with the last
   part . . . many of the younger Kennedys were portrayed in a negative
   fashion and though they may have had their difficulties while in
   school, several settled down and went on to careers in public
   service . . . consequently, I could have done without some
   of the dirt that seems to have been found.
   
   Yet that is probably what gives this book its appeal, so I'd
   recommend it if you want both the good and the bad about the
   Kennedy family . . . in addition, the narration by Joseph
   Campanella was outstanding and added to my enjoyment
   of listening to this tale about a dynasty that had to face
   so much tragedy over the years.



3. I read this book in 1984 and found it quite relevant and enlightening at the time. I am glad that the third generation has gotten itself together and are doing good things.
   
   I have also notice that any books written after Jackie's death have a wealth of information! President Kennedy is a real person (not some far off statesman). Jackie's plus and minuses are explored and she becomes human too! The way she raised Caroline and John was amazing and they seemed to have avoided any of the pitfalls of their other cousins. Except the most devastating one of course and that was will always be a great tragedy of a young life unfinished.
   
   Another excellent book written at the same time is Doris Goodwin's: The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys: An American Saga. John B. Davis, Jackie's first cousin has written serveral books on Jackie, Kennedy's and the Mafia. You will not be disappointed.



4. Well written and engaging, the book surveys three generations of Kennedys over four sections, beginning with how Joseph Patrick Kennedy shaped his family and gave his sons a calling (Architect of Their Lives) then moves on to how his sons Jack and Bobby developed their public careers following Joe, Jr.'s death in WWII (The Stand In) then moving to the peak Kennedy years of Jack's Presidency and Bobby's campaign (Brothers Within). The drama ends as both a sad farce describing Teddy's troubles and as a tragedy invading the lives of the lost generation of Kennedy children (The Lost Boys).
   
   The book centers, as did the family, around the elder Joseph Kennedy and his wife, the queenly Rose Fitzgerald. JPK's generosity and his sincerity surprise the reader given his raw ambition, his selfishness, his manipulation of people, his womanizing, and his incompetence as a diplomat. All this was equaled only by his talent as a business man and in the end surpassed by his devotion as a father. On the other hand, Rose comes off rather dry and unappealing, which is a little difficult to believe given that she had nine children.
   
   A disturbing revelation of the book was how high on drugs (usually prescribed) Jack was during his presidency. His awful health mandated pain killers and other drug therapies to allow him to function, but at the same time must have affected his judgment and his ability to work. Given the confrontational character of the Kennedys, one shudders to think of how badly the Cuban crisis could have turned out.
   
   I have two strong criticism of the book. First, not enough space is given to JPK's most important contribution to the United States: he created and established the Securities and Exchange Commission, which gave the USA for decades a virtual monopoly on fair and transparent financial markets. (President Roosevelt apparently responded to critics of this appointment that "it takes a crook to catch a crook".)
   
   Second, in the interest of protecting privacy, the material on the last Kennedy generation should have been left out. The book was published in 1984 when the lost Kennedys were still in their teens and twenties. The authors needlessly (though with sympathy) sensationalized sad stories, at too early a time in those lives to pass any sort of critical judgment.
   
   The most interesting discovery for me was Lem Billings. He basically followed all three generations: best friend to Jack Kennedy, reassuring JPK that his son had someone supporting him outside the family, and surrogate father to some of the young Kennedys after Bobby's assassination until his death in the early 80s. A short book on Billings would be welcome.



5. One of the first things you will see are family-trees at the beginning of every part, where you can see all the members of the family, their children and their birth- and deathdates. Unfortunately for the Kennedy family many died prematurely, as is well recognized.
   
   Most Kennedy books will be focused on John F and his brother Robert F who were both shot. But in this book they still play main parts, but not the only ones. The book starts when the Kennedy's, and Fitzgeralds, came to America and how they quickly rose in first Boston and later American society, even though they had one big disadvantage; they were Irish.
   
   JFK's grandfather Honey Fitz became mayor of Boston by using the Irish vote. Joe Kennedy Sr. started out selling newspapers but was soon a movie producer, even having an alleged affair with movie star Gloria Swanson, something his sons would later copy with Marylin Monroe of course.
   
   Then came the biggest move in Joe Kennedy's life; he became Ambassador in England under Roosevelt, with whom he had a somewhat strained relationship. He would ever since be referred to as the Ambassador, even in his own family.
   
   Collier and Horowitz make it clear that the Ambassador is the most important member of the Kennedy family and that every child's actions are in some way related to him. The story is sometimes a little TV-movie sentimental, but whould would you do if you lose 4 children when you are still alive. The oldest son Joe dies in a WWII plane crash, his oldest daughter marries but loses her noble husband soon and dies herself in a plane crash a few months later.
   
   And of course there are the deaths of JFK and RFK.
   
   It's certainly not a hagiography telling how great the Kennedy's were. Old Joe Kennedy is sometimes shown as a towering figure who completely dominated his family's life until his stroke. JFK got his last rites twice and was often very sick with pain in his back and Addisson's desease. His medication is mentioned in the book and also are his numorous flings with women in the White House, his own house, even Airforce One. RFK seems to have been the most moral person and I believe the authors feel that way too. They explain his religion, his fight against organized crime and Jimmy Hoffa and also his meetings with minorities all over the world. He seemed to have had the Kennedy promise even more than his brother Jack or later Ted.
   
   The last part of the book is devoted to the next generation who cannot seem to deal with their heritage and often get into trouble, it seems as if everyone in the family is doing drugs, the last Kennedy death in the old edition, even loses his life because of it.
   
   It's a gripping story that sometimes reads like a novel. I think it gave a balanced story of the family with the good but also the bad, which made them even more human. It's a lot clearer now why the family was so loved and hated at the same time.
   
   A must-read for Kennedy-admirer and Kennedy-hater alike.

No comments about Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, Written by Himself.

5 comments about From A Name to A Number: A Holocaust Survivor's Autobiography.

1. Mr. Wiener's clear and honest account of his experiences makes this terrible time in our history come alive. We are not reading dull facts or a collection of statistics; we are reading the words of a living person who lived and suffered through these terrible times. Mr. Wiener's grasp of English is commendable and he communicates with clarity and great discriptive language. I would recommend his book to anyone who wishes to learn more about what really happened to many innocent people in Hitler's Germany.



2. When I learned that my friend, Alter, had written his life story I was both anxious and hesitant to read it, as I knew it would contain tales of horrific injustices that had been done to such a sweet and gentle man who I had come to know decades after the Holocaust. Some of these stories had been told to me over a delicious vegetarian dinner at Alters home in Oregon with his wife, Esther, and many were new upon reading this book.
   
   As both a friend of Alters and a Jewish woman myself, this book is a treasure that I will keep with me always. His story is so important not only because it tells of the horrors of the Holocaust that should never be forgotten, but also because it describes what happened after these prisoners were freed and suddenly found themselves alone, homeless and without any resources to start a new life. Ive read several books about survivors, but none have so eloquently and with such great detail described the plight of those who were liberated - the fear, the loneliness and lack of support. It is heartbreaking and a very sad eye-opener to realize that very few citizens of the world came forward to help these people heal and start over.
   
   Please read this book and tell your friends about it. Contact your local library, as we have done, and ask them to add it to their collection so that patrons now and in the future will be able to read it. Not only will readers learn many painful truths of the Holocaust, but also about the strength of the human spirit, survival, kindness and forgiveness.
   
   We love and miss you, Alter!
   Lisa and Marc
   Lafayette, CO



3. Reading Alter Wieners account of the Holocaust gives me faith that good can and will prevail over evil. As a teenager, Alter, experiences what no human should ever have to endure at the hands of the Nazi's. Yet, Alters' horrific experiences in the Holocaust do not extinguish his faith, beliefs and ability to love. Alters' message and words are a testament to his indomitable spirit. He is able to maintain his core guiding principles after facing the ultimate test, a complete assault on his dignity and self worth. Alters' perspective and message about what is truly important for the well being of future generations is as vital today, as it was yesterday and will be tomorrow. If Alters' perspicacity could be internalized, the ongoing atrocities of mankind would be well on their way towards extinction.



4. Found this book to be fasinating. A book for the generations to follow to read and remember. Nice to have facts and reality not written to have the sex card played and embollished with untrue romance to sell books.
   All survivors need to document the real story so we NEVER forget.
   Linda



5. Alter Wiener's book is a fresh look at a subject that must be repeated again and again, for every generation. The details of the brutal and nearly unthinkable atrocities he suffered during the Holocaust--delivered in matter-of-fact tone that make the scenes even more chilling--comprise only a third of the book. The rest is a collection of family memories, instructive questions and answers about Nazis and the war, and responses of the people he's touched and changed with his story. The epilogue is a succinct and fascinating list, a summation of Mr. Wiener's brave young life during the Holocaust, and the sorrows that followed.
   From a Name to a Number reads like a conversation, and feels like paging through a scrapbook of images both hopeful and horrifying. It brings new light to a story that must never fade.

5 comments about The Man Who Stayed Behind.

1. Lots of people have derided Rittenberg in this space, most seemingly because of Rittenberg's religious-level belief in communism in his earlier years. Read this book not as a defense of communism (it isn't, at all), but as an intensely personal journal of one life, lived at the core of the PRC, from 1946 to the late 1970s. Rittenberg, now in his mid 80s, gives a unique perspective on the early leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, and the vision, plus the folly, that intertwined with the early years. Whether one believes that he earned his 15+ years of imprisonment or not, no feeling human can fail to empathize with those, including him, who were jailed by the regime.
   In recent years, the PRC has admitted that the Cultural Revolution was a mistake, and therefore these years have seen a flurry of what's called 'scar literature' in China. Rittenberg's work cover much more than just his years in jail during the Revolution--it provides a remarkably close-up look at the emergent PRC in its first 25 years. Read it without fail if you seek to understand the roots of China today.



2. Few books written about Communist China are pleasant to read because of the experiences related, this is certainly one of them. Mr. Rittenberg's quixotic adventure in China was tragic-comic to an unbelievable proportion but still his undying idealism commands one's respect.
   
   I have googled and read his speeches about China on internet and I think he is one of the wiser guys in matters of China. He knows China inside out.



3. Sidney Rittenberg is a truly amazing character, and you must read his story to believe it. It's also one of the most insightful and thorough evaluations of Maoism and the Cultural Revolution, written by someone who believed firmly in those ideals at the time, but came to reexamine and question them as he saw their darker sides. This book is highly recommended for anyone even remotely interested in China, Chinese history, Communism, or just a really well-written autobiography of someone with an extraordinary life.



4. Sydney Rittenberg was one of a tiny handful of misguided utopia seekers who escaped from America to the Workers' Paradise, Mao's China. Rittenberg spends decades of his life in China championing a supposedly idealistic movement that was rife with intrigue from its inception. I cite Mao's "Let a 100 Flowers Bloom" campaign as one of many examples. It was a call for a dialog with the country's intellectuals. After getting them to air their true feelings he launched his "Uprooting Poisonous Weeds" campaign in which those who's views didn't spout the official party line were sent to the laogai, the Chinese gulag. I won't get into Mao's manufactured famine (read The Hungry Ghosts and Scarlet Memorial) or the Cultural Revolution. He was imprisoned twice for a period of 16 years. He didn't commit any criminal offense he was simply an international pawn for the Communist Party. What is so frustrating about this autobiography is that he never wavers in his so called "faith". For whatever reasons he just can't contemplate the reality that the intensity of his obsequiousness and fanaticism or political correctness (we got that term from the communists) is irrelevant to the Chinese. Perhaps that realization would have totally destroyed his persona. At the end he decides that the Communist Party has deviated from its "pure and humble" origins and moves back to the capitalist United States where his wife makes a windfall from an import deal. The United States is hardly perfect but I think it speaks to our generosity that after Rittenberg's dream of a totalitarian utopia failed, after he spent decades denouncing the "yellow dog imperialists" he was allowed to return along with his Chinese wife and Chinese born adult children.
   
   I was more impressed with Army Private James George Veneris, the man who stayed behind until the end. Veneris was one of 21 POWs during the Korean War, between America and China, who chose not to be repatriated. Eventually all but Veneris returned to the US in disgrace. I realize that a lot of Americans would consider Veneris a traitor, but at least he stayed true to his principles to the end. I was quite intrigued by the adaptability of this man and what motivated him to sever all aspects of his former life. I spent the academic year of 1999/2000 in China and had many difficulties adjusting, even with access to the Internet, English TV, and Hong Kong nearby. I wanted to write his biography. Unfortunately, he died a few years ago. In the process of searching for Virginia Pasley's book, 21 Stayed: The story of the American GI's who chose Communist China: who they were and why they stayed, I came across Rittenberg's book.
   
   The book is worth reading for the fact that Rittenberg had a unique experience during an interesting period of history. I would also recommend Jan Wong's Red China Blues. Wong is a Canadian born Chinese who was a college student during the Cultural Revolution. She decided that revolution was the way to paradise and was allowed to go to China to participate in the process. She became an ardent fanatic, but it only took a few years for her to wise up.



5. Anyone who has made seeking truth his or her quest should read this book. With a painful honesty, Rittenberg accounts a sincere believer's failed efforts in pursuing idealism. He does not shun away from the truth that idealism and stupidity were often twins in human history. In fact, "faith" can make one blind and an involuntarily contributor to harm. It took the author a lifetime - including 16 years in the prisons of the system he believed in - to realize this simple truth. An ordinary person might have woken up a lot earlier, but not a believer. Is this faith or stupidity? The reader should draw his or her own conclusion. Nonetheless, what I really want to say is: although his effort in pursing ideals has failed, his life experience is not a waste; we can all learn from his lessons. In this sense he is still a hero, or in classic Chinese terms, a "hero by failure". To the reviewer below who called Rittenberg a "coward" with the "integrity of a worm" I want to ask, could you do better than him in those circumstances - in the bombing and in the prisons? That is a very pointed question.
   
   Rittenberg's Chinese name Li Dunbai has been known to me since my childhood during the Cultural Revolution in China, though I never knew him personally, and still don't know him now. In this book it is his candid and thorough accounts of the personal experiences of the familiar history that grab me, from the opening page to the last. Unlike some other bestseller memoirs on the same period of China, such as "Wild Swans," which emphasize the virtue while downplaying the deficits of the protagonists, Rittenberg hides nothing about his own personal weakness and mistakes. Anyone who has gone through the same period knows that we were all participants, no matter how noble or gaudy our motives were, no matter you admit it or not. To deny this and dress up as a pure victim or even a hero is truly a shame. Only by facing our mistakes and failures honestly we can help ourselves.

2 comments about Barefoot Pirate: The Tall Ships and Tales of Windjammer.

1. Barefoot Pirate will have a huge appeal to anybody (including me) that has ever sailed on one of the Windjammer fleet's vessels. It details Mike Burke's (the founders) career and gives the history of each of the sailing vessels in the fleet. As a prior windjammer reading the book, it took me far away from my normal office job- even though I have not sailed Flying Cloud for over 30 years! I still have vivid memories to this day.
   On the down side, the book is understandably biased and does not give a full
   accounts of the safety and financial issues that have dogged the business, and the quality of the photographs in the book are not nearly what we expect in modern printing. Many are grainy and many others lack detail.
   As I write this (March 2008) the future of the entire fleet is uncertain, and books like this may ultimately be the final historical repository for the Windjammer fleet of sailing vessels.



2. I have been doing windjammer cruises for over 20 years. The book shows what happens behind the scenes and how windjammers got there start. But it's more a book about a very interesting man.

5 comments about Edward VI: The Lost King of England.

1. Chris Skidmore's biography of the Tudor boy-king, Edward VI, takes a lively and well-researched look at the court politics that surrounded Edward's six-year regency. While viciously infighting to increase their own power, titles, and wealth, Edward's ruling council also managed to set the course of Protestant reform in England, and to prepare the young king to assume power in his own right (cut short by Edward's death from tuberculosis in 1553, at the age of 15).
   
   Edward was an intelligent and able boy, keenly Protestant in religion, and inheriting the Tudor temper and love of ostentation; in other words, he was a lot like Elizabeth. Skidmore argues convincingly that Edward was, at the time of his death, already assuming power; thus, for example, Edward's notorious "Devise for the Succession," that disinherited both Mary and Elizabeth in favor of Lady Jane Grey, was the product of Edward's own wishes, only reluctantly supported by his council (who lost their heads over it anyway, once Mary came to power).
   
   Above all, "Edward VI" explains the complex politics of the time in a very clear and interesting way; it is a model of expository writing. Extensive quotes from contemporary letters, diaries, and poems immerse the reader in this fascinating world. The book also includes a quite helpful set of capsule biographies, geneological tables, notes, bibliography, and index. Most people who are interested in Tudor England will probably want to have this book in their personal library.



2. Packed between the glamorous, Hollywood friendly administrations of Henry and Elizabeth, Edward (and Mary) get little attention/glory. This first time author succeeds in explaining why Edward's reign is significant.
   
   The book is more of a history of the reign than a biography. While it speaks to Edward's youth, education, governing, etc., there is much more text devoted to other key players and the politics of the time.
   
   I don't understand this recent fad of book jackets for historical biography using cut off portraits. Here are some examples from my recent reading ... you can see many more in bookstores and libraries. Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burrand John Donne: The Reformed Soul: A Biography and The Pirate Queen: Queen Elizabeth I, Her Pirate Adventurers, and the Dawn of Empire. Female subjects sometimes have only the bodice and a piece of their chin: Catherine the Great: Love, Sex, and Power and Elizabeth & Leicester: Power, Passion, Politics.



3. Edward VI, son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour became King of England in 1547, aged 9, and died in 1553 aged 16. Edward's reign is often viewed as almost incidental in the Tudor dynasty: most of his regnal period was influenced by self-serving advisers.
   
   Edward was not merely a cipher. His role in the work of government was limited, but not non-existent. Henry VIII had originally intended that England be governed by a council of regency during Edward's minority. As a consequence of the struggle for power, as Henry was dying, Edward Seymour emerged as Lord Protector. In a court riven by factionalism, Seymour dominated until he himself was forced out and subsequently executed, by John Dudley (later the Duke of Northumberland). While it is difficult to catch significant glimpses of the boy behind the king, Mr Skidmore does provide images that show that Edward was not always sickly, and had considerable promise both academically and athletically. There is also evidence that Edward's influence on the religious change taking place was quite profound. Henry VIII's reformation was driven purely by expedience and was institutionally based. Edward, by contrast, was influenced by reformers and the 1552 Prayer Book marked a shift from doctrinal conservatism to a Church of England which was more fundamentally protestant.
   
   I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in knowing more about the short reign of Edward VI, the reasons why he named Lady Jane Grey as his successor and the development of the Church of England. Edward's reign cannot be looked at in isolation: far too many of the dominant political figures featured in the previous reign. However, reading Mr Skidmore's book sheds new light on a significant period of English history.
   
   Jennifer Cameron-Smith



4. This book ia a wonderful read for those with a true interest in Tudor history. I found it to be facinating, extremely well researched and rich in detail. I gained a wealth of knowledge of not only Edward VI but of those figures that surrounded him that were key during his brief but none the less important reign. I look forward to any further works by Chris Skidmore.



5. Edward VI is still a lost king despite this author's attempts to reveal an undiscovered chapter of this little explored time in Tudor history. The entire book only carries 2 real chapters on Edward: most of this book is about Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland and their travails. Their machinations are the defining background to Edward's reign, but the book should be titled about them rather than Edward. This is a poor history of an intriguing figure.

3 comments about Five Gold Rings: A Royal Wedding Souvenir Album from Queen Victoria to Queen Elizabeth II (Royalty).

1. A wonderful book that takes you back in time for 5 royal marriages. I had a splendid time reading and looking at the photos. I have been watching the "Royals" all my life. I remember the day Elizabeth and Phillip were married, and this little book just made those memories much more clearer than ever before! A "must" for "royal watchers"!!



2. There's something irrepressible about a wedding of royalty. Even the most jaded of us is capable of maybe an 'awww' or two as we get to see a bit of a fairy tale come to life. There is pomp everywhere, from the fabulous gown and jewels that the bride is wearing, the wedding cakes and favours, to public displays of the wedding gifts.
   
   This handsome little souvenir album is to commemorate an upcoming wedding anniversary -- that of England's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, who will have been married for sixty years, in November 2007. It is also a look at how Royal weddings have changed and evolved from fairly private ceremonies that were witnessed by close family members and courtiers, to now what is a spectacle watched by millions on the television and launching a flurry of books, magazines and various souvenirs from the pleasant to the grossly tacky.
   
   The five weddings themselves occur in a period of time that spans just over a century, from 1840 to 1947, with the criteria that either the bride or groom would be a monarch of the United Kingdom.
   
   The first wedding is that between Queen Victoria and her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, in 1840. Victoria had been Queen of Great Britain for two years when her wedding was celebrated, and public curiosity was intense as to who she would choose to be her consort. With the rise of new printing techniques, there were now ways that the public could observe, albeit from a distance -- there were special prints and panoramas that were printed to feed the curiosity about the event.
   
   About twenty years later, the next royal wedding occured, this time between Victoria and Albert's eldest son, Bertie, the Prince of Wales and the future Edward VII, and his fiancee, Princess Alexandra of Denmark, 1863. Now there was the art of photography to add to the documents; some of these were hand-tinted to create a nearly painting like quality. The gifts were also more opulent, and this time, were described in a special magazine that supplied all of the details from what the guests were wearing to engravings that showed various aspects of the wedding service itself.
   
   Thirty years later, another wedding occured, this time between Bertie's son, George, Duke of York, and his cousin, Princess Mary of Teck, in 1894. This time, celebrations and public notice were high, with various royalties from around Europe visiting to pay their respects. The gifts were put on public display this time, and admission was charged, with the proceeds going to a charity. The bride's trousseau was described in various ladies magazines in lavish detail and illustrations.
   
   The fourth wedding was that of George VI and Queen Mary's second son, Albert, Duke of York, and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923. No one really expected them to become sovereigns of Great Britain, and so the celebrations were not quite as extravagant as might be expected. But one notable addition was that this was the first royal wedding to be filmed, and soon there would be opportunity for anyone to see it, all for the price of a ticket to the cinema, and sitting through a newsreel.
   
   The fifth wedding was in 1947, with that of two of Queen Victoria's great-great-grandchildren -- Princess Elizabeth, and Prince Philip of Greece. After the dreary years of WWII, and the troubles of rebuilding, London was ready for a celebration. The outpouring from the public was immense, and it seems that all of England took the day off for a holiday. The marriage proved to be one of the most successful in the royal family, and appears to be still quite solid after nearly sixty years.
   
   Each wedding goes into some detail about the clothing, providing pictures and closeups of the brides' gowns, showing some of the intricate sewing and decoration that went into the making. As was traditional, all of the clothing worn were made from British materials and designers. What I found especially beautiful were the samples of lace and embroidery, often with monograms and special designs incorporated into the designs. A very brief history of the couple is also included, talking a little about their childhoods, and what happened after the weddings. At the end of the book, there is also a listing of what music was performed at each wedding, with a few surprises tucked in.
   
   What may surprise you is what you will not find in this book. There isn't any mention of Lady Diana, or of the notorious wedding of Edward VIII and Mrs. Simpson.
   
   For anyone interested in royalty, and how what started as a private celebration soon became an opportunity for public celebration, this is a lovely, well-made and designed book. The photographs and pictures are unusual, many of which I had not seen before, and gave a sense of intimacy.
   
   The author, Jane Roberts, is the Royal Librarian, and has compiled a beautiful little volume on the lore of royal weddings. For anyone interested in the English monarchy, it would be a nice addition to their collection.
   
   Five stars. Recommended.



3. A wonderful display of that special wedding. It was like the Queen was showing these momentos to me herself.

1 comments about Liberty: The Lives and Times of Six Women in Revolutionary France (P.S.).

1. Moore's book (which could also have been called "Equality," although not "Fraternity") may not break new scholarly ground, but it is fairly even handed on the more controversial aspects of the French Revolution and above all it brings to life a number of women who participated in that event and whose hopes for a more equitable life for women were dashed but who, often, continued to believe in the revolution's principles. She tells a number of good stories movingly, with flashes of humor and historically imaginative empathy for all concerned. The women she describes, or most of them (for the women she includes had a range of political views), would have been cheered by the recent Bastille Day celebrations, to say nothing of the mere fact of a woman's candidacy for the French presidency in the recent French election. This is a moving as well as an entertaining book.