No comments about Brendan Behan.

2 comments about The Six Wives of Henry VIII (Women in History).

1. Antonia Fraser's book focuses on the six queens as individuals, one chapter about each queen. They are very different personalities and no doubt there was quite a bit of jalousy between them. Anne Boleyn (2 - The Most Happy?) may seem the most colourful and famous of the six, but this book shows that both Catherine of Aragon (1, Arthur's Dearest Spouse), Jane Seymor (3 - Entirely Beloved), Anna of Cleves (4 - An Unendurable Bargain), Katherine Howard (5 - Old Man's Jewel) and Catherine Parr (6 - Obedient to Husbands) were all every bit as interesting.
   
   I felt very symphatetic to these ladies. Maybe in particular Anna of Cleves, whose marriage to the King was never consummated and finally nullified. After 6 months as Queen, the docile lady Anna submit to the King's will and spent over 17 years as a "good Sister", never to return to her native Germany. Her burial place is, however, magnificent, her fine tomb to be found in Westminster Abbey.
   
   The book also explains a lot about the King's relationship with his queens as a young man, when he was a strapping attractive youth, not only the old, sick and fat man who is usually pictured/painted in history books. It would not have been difficult for a young woman to fall in love with, as the book says, "this fine figure of a man, with his tall blond good looks".
   
   The reason for the many marriages and their unfortunate/cruel outcome, was Henry VIII's desperate attempt to get at least one male heir to the throne. His marriages failed in ensuring this succession, and therein lay the unique fate of his six queens and the religious and political developments in England during Henry's reign.
   
   There was, of course, Edward, Prince of Wales, his son by Jane Seymor. But Edward was not strong and died at an early age. In the end, his daughter by Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth, became Queen Elizabeth I of England, but in quite a different connection and not as a succesor to her father.
   
   I enjoyed Antonia Fraser's book immensely and learned numerous new facts about both the King himself and his six interesting queens.
   
   This is a book which is not a tedious history lesson, marred by too many dates and facts. Apart from an interest in six unique women and a very special time in English history, one does not need any particular qualifications to read and enjoy this book. And at the same time, learn!



2. There are dozens of books on the bookshop shelves about Henry and his willing and not so willing wives. So why pick this one up and buy it. Two simple words, the authoress. Antonia Fraser has written many excellent historical works, most of which have become best sellers. Why? Because she is the best there is at it.
   
   Her eye for detail brings all of her books to life and takes the reader into a magical world. This is not one of those boring historical tomes that sit on the shelf gathering dust from one year to the next.
   
   This book takes the viewpoint of the women in the life of the then monarch of England, Henry VIII, not a very nice man, one would think from the information most of us have about him. But did the women in his life think of him in the same way. Was he funny? Did he make them laugh. Anne Boleyn, I am sure did not find him very funny when she was on the scaffold, but something must have attracted her to him. Was he charming? To have wooed so many women I am sure he was.
   
   Anne Boleyn was the second wife of Henry and bearing in mind what happened to her, the four wives who followed her must have been either very brave, or very foolish. Although in those days I know that women of rank did much as they were told, either by their parents or by there advisers. I use the term lightly.
   
   This book gives you the answer to many questions you may have wondered about and much more besides. It is more than a work of historical fact. it is an excellent and interesting read.

1 comments about The Eyes of Another Race: Roger Casement's Congo Report and 1903 Diary.

1. Roger Casement's Congo Report (1903)
   
   "The people have not easily accommodated themselves to the altered condition of life brought about by European government in their midst...Complaints as to the manner of exacting service are . . frequent . . . If the local official has to go on a sudden journey men are summoned on the instant to paddle his canoe, and a refusal entails imprisonment or a beating. If the Government plantation or the kitchen garden require weeding, a soldier will be sent to call in the women from some of the neighboring towns. . .; to the women suddenly forced to leave their household tasks and to tramp off, hoe in hand, baby on back, with possibly a hungry and angry husband at home, the task is not a welcome one."
   
   Roger Casement's Congo report, 1903
   
   Roger Casement was Britain's Consul-General in the Congo when he received orders to investigate reports of mistreatment of Congolese Natives by agents of Belgian King Leopold II.
   
   Casement pursued these reports, and found ample evidence of atrocities, including the mutilation and cutting off of hands of Slaves who didn't pull their weight.
   Casement's reports back to London helped seal the fate of Leopold's empire.
   At the same time, Casement himself was being demonized for the so-called "Black Diaries" which purported to show homosexual propensities.
   After his arrest, Scotland Yard found the diaries in Casement's home and copied them...distributing them to his political enemies in an attempt to discredit his Congo Report.
   As World War I approached, Casement became an ardent proponent of Irish nationalism. He believed that Germany posed a potential answer to the Irish Question, and allied himself with the Axis. That misguided allegiance resulted in his trial and execution for Treason.
   Casement's legacy was the public exposure of the villainy of colonialism; and his tragedy was his personal life; which had little to do with his professionalism and much to do with his reputation.

4 comments about Dubious Mandate : A Memoir of the UN in Bosnia, Summer 1995.

1. Philip Corwin is not a professional apologist, advocacy journalist, propagandist or self-aggrandizing Imperial shill, the kind one would expect writing a book about Bosnia. Corwin, an American in UN service, was the head of UNPROFOR Civil Affairs in Sarajevo during those crucial months of 1995 when the UN became NATO's handmaiden. As a result, he is a disillusioned, embittered witness to Imperial ascendance.

   ...Right from its very title, Dubious Mandate gets to the heart of the matter. As the Bosnian War unravels, so does the UN peacekeeper mission, whose mandate is self-contradictory, ill-defined, and under constant political and military pressure. From his position in Sarajevo, Corwin witnessed the disintegration of the last shreds of UN credibility and impartiality. His journal entries read like a Greek tragedy, with growing awareness of the impending disaster literally rolling in over the hills.

   Arguably the best features of the book are Corwin's "hindsight" notes. Unlike other memoirs, Dubious Mandate

   contains the author's reflections alongside the original writing, clearly marked to avoid confusion. This provides the readers with an insight into how Corwin thought then, and how subsequent events and understandings impacted his earlier opinions. It is exceptionally difficult to write an honest memoir, avoiding the temptation to spruce up the original notes with hindsight. Dubious Mandate has found a way, and it works extraordinarily well.

   Corwin does not mince words. He is not anti- or pro- anyone, often describing the local Balkans leaders as "thugs in suits." But his insistence that there were legitimate concerns among the Serbs (even though their methods were reprehensible) and that the Sarajevo Muslims were far from angels, earns Corwin the undying hatred of the international diplomats, western Press, and, of course, the Izetbegovic regime.

   Read the complete version of this review- and many more- at Balkanalysis.com




2. Ever wondered why the UN "failed" in Bosnia, only to be replaced by NATO? Ever thought about what causes UN missions to fail in some situations (as in Bosnia) and succeed in others (as in East Timor)? From historical evidence it appears that there is no inherent institutional flaw in the UN structure but that the Security Council, by assigning different mandates and rules of engagement, determines the likely outcome of various missions. Who interests does this kind of "peacekeeping" serve?

   This book adds to our understanding of the critical role of outside factors in the partition of Yugoslavia. It sheds some light on the reasons for (intended? ) failiure of UNPROFOR and the subsequent insertion of NATO. It is required reading for anyone trying to understand the Yugoslav mayhem beyond superficiality of mainstream media coverage.




3. It was only because of military intervention in Bosnia that the war finally ended. The fact that war ended had nothing to do with the UN's humanitarian mission, from the start a disgrace and a failure. It is amazing how hard it is to find UN personel willing to admit their policy, prior to military intervention, was disastrous. This year finally, the Secretary General, in a report framed by the massacre of Srebrenica, did admit the UN's total failure.



4. Philip Corwin's captivating memoir reveals the dark secrets of the UN mission in Bosnia during its last days. By mid-1995, the UN had become resigned to playing mercenaries to the Muslim government in Sarajevo, harassed by the cheerleading international press, pushed around by Washington and held hostage by the local gagster-leaders. Corwin describes how the mission degenerated from a supposedly good-faith, impartial peacekeeping effort into an open war against one belligerent. His notes reveal the crippling internal politics of UNPROFOR and the enormous pressure of NATO to come in, guns blazing. Corwin escapes the temptation to moralize and preach to both the world and the Bosnians. Instead, he exposes the malicious incomprehension of the situation on part of the foreign factors, and blasts the thuggery of Bosnian leaders - Serbs, Muslims and Croats alike. Though he does not absolve the Serbs from a shred of responsibility for the horrors of the Bosnian war, by giving them a voice at all he has probably risked vitriolic condemnation by various "Muslim partisans," among whom you will find some familiar names... Corwin's book is not THE ONE BOOK you need to understand the Bosnian tragedy. But between him and general MacKenzie, the UN side of it is told as it was. If you want to know how today's world of mercenary peacekeeping and random bombing came to be, read this book. It is a must.

No comments about Welsh Cowboys and Outlaws (It's Wales).

4 comments about Henry VIII.

1. Scarisbrick's book is a scholar's book and remains recognized after over three decades as the definitive work on the subject. It provides the background for other, equally valuable books, such as David Starkey's "Six Wives: The Wives of Henry VIII". This, though, is not to say that Scarisbrick can't be read for pleasure. It can, but you will not find it the brezzy read of a popular history; instead, you will find a wealth of information that will serve you well in future reading on the subject. And it is a very enjoyable read itself. If you are serious about your understanding of this period of English history then Scarisbrick is essential, and I can't imagine a personal library on Henry or Tudor England without a copy.
   
   As another reviewer remarked, this is not the book for an extensive treatment of Henry's wives. For that, I recommend turning to Starkey, and it too is essential for an understanding of this period of the history of Tudor England. What I've said about Scarisbrick's book can also be said about Starkey; although, I don't think it has quite the stature of Scarisbrick's.



2. I read this book right after reading Carolly Erickson's biography of Henry VIII, and on balance this book is better and easier to read. I love that Scarisbrick has modernized the spelling and punctuation of the original documents he quotes. I think the picture of Henry presented is well-balanced, and does not minimize the faults of the subject of the biography. The careful examination of the question of the validity of the marriage of Henry and Catherine of Aragon is the best I have ever read, and partisans on either side of that question will see that there is indeed another side to the view they favor. The examination of the religious views of Henry is detailed and enlightening. I have always had a negative view of Henry VIII and I still have after reading this book, but the book was instructive and enlightening. The footnotes are where they belong (at the bottom of each page) and the bibliography is detailed though of course a bit dated in the 1968 edition I read. After you read this book you will know that you have read a really good biography of this important figure in world history.



3. I did not like this book at all! I have read most everything out there regarding Henry VIII. I found this a very hard go. It was extremely difficult to read. It focus's mostly on Henry's policies and the religous issue and a lot of assumptions as to why Henry acted a certain way. It is very date heavy. He barely mentions his wives except to say married on this date, died on this date. If you are beginner to Henry, this is not the book for you.



4. Prof. Scarisbrick has written the definitive biography of Henry VIII and his times, even though this book is about 30 years old. Scarisbrick brought an interesting view to the subject: as a Roman Catholic he was the first British author granted access to Vatican archives for his research on the subject. The result is a still cogent, absolutely exhaustive book on the subject. Entailing a practically week by week account of Henry VIII's reign is overwhelming but of the upmost help for students of the subject. If you are looking for a light introduction to Henry VIII, this is probably not the place. But if you want *all* the (mind-numbing) details on Henry VIII, look no further than Scarisbrick's brilliant work.

No comments about The Men Who Would Be King: Suitors to Queen Elizabeth I.

No comments about Gerry Faust's Tales from the Notre Dame Sideline.

3 comments about Unforgettable Fire: Past, Present, and Future--The Definitive Biography of U2.

1. This book is a wonderful look at the band known as U2. Named after a spy plane, this story takes you back to the band's humble beginnings in Dublin, Ireland and how a group of four young boys became one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time!!! It shows what incredible hardships each member had to face growing up, and all the obstacles the band has overcome. This books leads up to the band successful breakthrough album The Joshua Tree, and all the sacrifices the band had to endure to make it to that point. It also tells how Bono(Paul Hewson), and The Edge(David Evans) got dubbed their new names. Bono's name actually came from a hearing aid shop in Dublin called Bono Vox, which is latin for "good voice." That moniker seems to fit him perfectly, since he does have a damn good voice!!! Bono ended up giving the edge his name. I can't remember the source for his name, though. I'd better start reading the book again!!!



2. Very detailed biographical information helps you understand where the band members (and others close to the band) come from and how and why they got to where they are now. Unfortunately this book only covers up to the release of Joshua Tree, but its great for information on the real early and formative years of the band. I found that some things were repeated many times throughout the book but at least that made you really remember them well. It was a fun read for a fan who wants to know more.



3. Biographical information on the band members (and just about everyone else connected with them) and a decent amount of pictures (childhood included) make this a good addition to a fan's collection. The author, however, goes off on tangents, discussing subjects barely peripheral to the band

1 comments about Edward, Prince of Wales and Aquitaine: A Biography of the Black Prince.

1. If you're looking for an upbeat, easy-to-read history of Prince Edward, look elsewhere. This is definitely NOT the book for you.
   
   If you are looking for a book that details the life of a great leader, and digs deeply into the machinations behind the events of his times, this is definitely the book to get.
   
   So, point of the review: Armchair historians beware! This is a deep, quite dry history of the Black Prince.