5 comments about Under a Cruel Star: A Life in Prague 1941-1968.

1. I read this about 6 years ago when it was assigned in one of my undergrad classes. There are enough online reviews for you to read about the plot and like. Rather I want to tell you how her voice has stuck with me. I think of her ability to see the slivering when everything is just gray, and her amazing capacity to keep going. Whenever I think I can't go on, this death/or lost/ or series of unfortunate events as shattered the very last of my will I remember her words. I highly recommend it. I regally give this as a gift, I know I'm not just giving someone a powerful story, but really I'm giving someone a packet of extra strength for when they need it most in life.



2. This is a well-written, quick read. Heda's 27 years of suffering - first at the hands of the Nazis & then under the communist regime in Czechoslovakia - is heart rending. It's a book that should be part of high school curriculums to raise awareness of what too many people had to endure in the middle of the last century. It would be much more effective than relying on a history textbook that deals only with the 'facts.'



3. I would recommend this book to anyone. Even if you think you don't like reading about history, you'll like this book. In fact, it is books like these that are the reason I love history so much, and why I'm majoring in it. It isn't about the politics or the wars or whatever else (although those are certainly important), it is the story of a woman trying to survive through a hell most of us cannot even imagine has existed on this earth, especially not in the last 50 years. Peoples' lives are what connect us to the past, and what make it relevant to the future. It gives a little meaning and heart behind all the dates and events that you have to memorize in class...make them more personal. And furthermore, you will be inspired by this woman. Her strength and character is admirable, to say the very least. Actually, I don't think even a fictional writer could invent a heroine more honorable than this one.
   
   So please, read it. stories like these deserve to be shared.



4. it is a great book use in my world civ class, and highly recommmand by my professor and TAs.



5. Clive James, in "Cultural Amnsia' - his magesterial review of literature and totalitarianism - said: "Given thirty seconds to recommend a single book that might start a serious young student on the hard road to understanding of the political tragedies of the twentieth century, I would choose this one". It tells a remarkable personal tale of a Jewish girl in Prague caught up by the Nazis and going to Auschwitz, then her escape and return to her beloved Prague, and subsequent worse sufferings under the communist government in the 1950s and 1960s. Her husband was a high ranking government official but later was put on a show trial and killed.
   
   "Under a Cruel Star" (also called "Prague Farewell" in some editions) is not as bleak as the story sounds. It is a slim volume of hope and understanding, written elegantly by a woman who later in life worked as a translator from English and finished her working life in the Harvard Law School library.

5 comments about American Jennie: The Remarkable Life of Lady Randolph Churchill.

1. to me jennie churchill was a selfish ,pleasure seeking woman who only cared about herself.she couldn't wait to get nannies taking care her sons are puting them in abusive boarding schools.she as a wife was a marriage were she couldn't stay faithful or not keeping her husband in debit.to me why winston feeling of love for her i just don't get.his nanny was more a mother to him than jennie.



2. American Jennie in the US, and Jennie Churchill in the UK - the mother of Winston Churchill - the title says it all. Anne Sebba has created a character who had to triumph in two countries. The method is simplistic, almost from a 1950s children's comic. The goodie is Jennie nee Jerome, from an American, and therefore liberated background. The baddie is her husband, Lord Randolph Churchill, from an English, aristocratic background. His supposedly becoming infected with syphilis early on in the marriage increases his badness. It gets worse when his career as a Conservative politician develops and he spends long hours in the House of Commons. Beautiful, well-dressed, extravagant, piano-playing Jennie is justified in taking a lover and triumphs as the heroine.
   
   Jennie is promoted as the engineer of Winston's success as a politician and world leader during the Second World War. Yet she died in 1921, when he was still in disgrace over the failed attempt to capture Gallipoli in 1915, which plan he had masterminded. It would be another 20 years before Winston, by then in his mid-60s, would become British Wartime Prime Minister. One would have thought that his wife, Clementine nee Hozier (Clemmie), who he married in 1908, would have warranted more credit by Anne Sebba for her role in his success.
   
   And what of Winston's younger brother John (Jack) Churchill? Ignored by Winston in his writings, as though he didn't exist he died in 1947 in relative obscurity. Anne Sebba has written Jack out of her biography in a single line. He was the illegitimate son of 7th Viscount (`Star') Falmouth. In other words he wasn't really a Churchill so neither Jennie nor Winston could be expected to take any responsibility for him. Winston and Jack are as alike as two peas in a pod, both Churchillian, both grandsons of the 7th Duke of Marlborough. Jack's two other children were John (Johnny) a well-known artist, and Clarissa, Countess of Avon, wife of the former Prime Minister, Sir Anthony Eden. Now in her 88th year, Clarissa has just written a very interesting book Memoir, published by Weidenfeld & Nicholson. Clarissa and her two siblings were in no doubt that their grandfather was Lord Randolph Churchill, even though Anne Sebba paints him as a mad syphilitic. What rot!
   
   I have it on good authority that one of the major copyright owners of the Churchill papers is so disgusted with Mrs Sebba's book that they have withdrawn permission of copyright. From the point of view of an historian, a true biography of Jennie, Lady Randolph Churchill, has still to be written. In fact, Elizabeth Kehoe's book, Fortunes Daughters, the story of the three Jerome sisters, Clara, Jennie, and Leonie, is a far better read having been more carefully researched. Also, while not perfect, look at Dark Lady, the biography of Jennie Churchill by Charles Higham, for a more balanced and historically accurate portrayal.



3. Great new book on a wonderful and timeless life. We own and have read the two volumn work by Martin on Jennie, but this is a fresh and well researched look at the times and people who shaped her son Winston's life. If this work interests the reader there is in Jennie's own hand her book, The Reminiscences of Lady Randolph Churchill. While not in print, it can be found on the used books websites.



4. American Jennie by Anne Sebba is the story of the incredible life of Lady Randolph Churchill. American Jennie Jerome fell in love with Brit Randolph Churchill in a whirlwind courtship. After overcoming parental objections on both sides of the match, the couple wed and quickly produced son Winston. But the romance faded soon, and both engaged in affairs. They pulled together to get Randolph into the House of Commons, but for most of the rest of their lives, they lived apart. Sebba digs through newspaper accounts, family records, diaries, and letters to produce this well put together biography of an unusual woman. Jennie was well known for her beauty and her indiscretions in a time when women were still considered a husband's property. She produced a literary magazine, helped get both her husband and son seats in the House, traveled extensively, and cared for her husband at the end of his life. Randolph, who suffered from syphilis, was a difficult man, capricious even before the disease attacked his mind. Sebba tries to defend and protect Jennie where possible, but even in the best of lights, Jennie was an atrocious mother who ignored her children. In the end, the picture that emerges of Jennie is of a woman determined to live life on her own terms. She produced children, but that didn't make her a mother. She was married, but was a better wife to her lovers. She lived very much in the moment, always in debt and buying Worth gowns. Sebba does her best to make Jennie likeable, and to an extent, she succeeds. Jennie would be a wonderful addition to a dinner party, but not someone you could count on as a friend. A couple of complaints: there are not nearly enough photos of Jennie. For such a famous woman, I'm sure there are many more out there that would have shown her recognized beauty to better advantage. Also, Jennie and her sisters spoke French, so they peppered their letters to each other with French phrases. Sebba also throws several in her writing. I don't know French, so I often felt a bit left out. Sebba easily could have included translations in brackets, because the meaning was usually not easily gleaned from the rest of the passage.



5. When I say this is not a flattering portrait, it is only because, at the end of the day, I don't think Jennie Churchill was a particularly good person. She was a bad mother--even by the standards of the day; she was an unfaithful wife; she was a spendthrift; and she was, in my opinion, rather clueless as to the real world.
   
   Any portrait of Jennie could not be flattering; she's famous for being infamous.
   
   Now, beyond the topic of the "real" Jennie, my major criticism is that this book is not well written. It's just not an easy read. The thoughts seem scattered and not in depth, the deeper nuances of Jennie's character and motivations were not explored, and overall, the book does not flow.
   
   I think the subject of this book is not to make Jennie look good. It's to shed insight on why she was the way she was. In that manner, I think by the somewhat disorganized storytelling, this book misses the mark.

5 comments about Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs.

1. 
   I think one reason I liked it was that Johnny Did Not Glamorize or Glorify anything. He writes about himself in a natural, almost maybe "humble" way, which anyone can appreciate in a writer's story.
   
   
   His childhood is revealed and detailed wonderfully, and what an Interesting Childhood he had ! His "rat catching" stories,childhood thoughts, preoccupations and feelings are refreshing to read and learn about.
   
   The photos are intriguing and very "for real". Don't expect professional, glossy ,Glam photos. He's displayed the "REAL"
   
   
   Great book for people looking beyond The Sex Pistols, behind the stage persona and interested in john Lydon for himself.
   
   I love this book and writing style because it captures him authentically and genuinely.
   
   You needn't be a "Sex Pistols" fan to enjoy this unexpected biography.
   
   Highly recommended for any readers !



2. I must say that I thought it was just a biography of the Sex Pistols, when it actually is an autobiography of Johnny Rotten, but it's great anyway. It's not only John's point of view about the band and all the controversies involved, but also the point of view of other people close to the band. It's quite easy to read, as John makes an amazing use of the words -everything he tells seems to be amusing!
   
   It isn't wll-written, in the sense that John has written everything that would come to his mind, but I find it more real like that. I guess you'll agree.
   
   To sum up, highly recommended ;)



3. There is only one John Lydon. This is a great read. Gives the story behind the media interpretation of the story. This is a great read.



4. The book is so good, that i' couldn't belive it. It's really enjoyable to read it, so go for it. Buy the f**king thing.



5. Punk Royalty King John Lydon/Johnny Rotten's no bollocks account of the fast and furious rise and fall of THE 70's punk group The Sex Pistols. From their beginnings at Malcolm MacLaren's leather shop on King's Road in London to their final concert in San Francisco ... John Lydon/Johnny Rotten ... says it like it is ... and you don't get the feeling you have been cheated.

5 comments about The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family Politics at the Court of Henry VIII (Canto).

1. I enjoyed this book very much, lovely to read a biography of Anne by someone that's as biased toward her as I am. The speculation that her downfall was caused by miscarrying a deformed child is interesting, & believable, but is not backed up by the sources. The chapters on Anne's childhood & family are fascinating, & the author has a deep understanding of the period which she convincingly portrays. She also points out that some of what we've always been told is fact comes largely from the the very unreliable Spanish Ambassador, & isn't stated elsewhere. It's refreshing to have an author tell us that there's a lot about the people & the times we don't know.it's a reminder that history is what's written down, opinions rather than facts. Buy this book, it'll make you think as well as informing you.



2. Retha Warnicke is an expert on family relations in early modern society. This brings a unique perspective to the already interesting life of Anne Boleyn. By understanding not only court politics but the gender roles of time, she effectively introduces new and exciting ideas in the history of the Tudor period.
   
   It seems Warnicke would be the first to admit that she does not have a "smoking gun", no deformed fetus was ever recovered, no secret diary detailing the events ever found. However, she bases her conclusions off logical reasoning and a knowledge of the superstitions of the time. Though this book was not written as a popular history, it is readable and very informative, though you might want to do a little bit of research on the Tudors before you pick it up.
   
   I happened to like this book very much, but if you are old school and do not like to be challenged in set beliefs then do not pick this book up. Her ideas are thought provoking, scholarly and make the reader re-evaluate what they might have learned growing up. She presents a different perspective on Anne Boleyn than any other historian before and that is what makes this book scintillating and readable, even if you do not agree with everything (or anything) she writes.



3. I'm still reading this book, but so far it's an excellent review of how family politics came in to play with the Boleyn family putting up Anne as a possible match for Henry VIII. The book just doesn't do a very good job of explaining who's who in the courts of that time, but if you've read any other books about the court of Henry VIII, it's not too bad



4. This book is full of errors and unsubstantiated presumptions. To start with, although it has now been conclusively proven by many historians that Anne Boleyn was the younger Boleyn girl(Eric Ives,Alison Weir, Antonia Fraser, David Starkey to mention a few)Warnicke insists she was the elder daughter.
   She also insists that Anne was born in 1507 when we now know for certain that Anne was born in 1501. The narrative is slow and laborious. I always try to be objective with any book I read but simply could not take this one seriously when it is so full of errors. The historical fiction author Philippa Gregory based her story 'The Other Boleyn Girl' on this book but it really is hard to decide which work is the bigger piece of fiction!



5. I read this book several years ago but returned to it to refresh my memory after being referred to it as a source for Philippa Gregory's The Last Boleyn Girl. While some of Wernicke's assertions are speculative and her writing is a bit dry (especially if you're used to some of the more novelistic writing in popular history these days), she makes a lot of good points, corrects some incorrect assumptions that have been repeated ad nauseam, and generally emphasizes how much we DON'T know.
   
   While there is no definitive evidence for her theory that Anne miscarried a deformed fetus in 1536, it certainly has plausibility and explains a lot of the mystery surrounding Henry's rejection of her and her precipitous downfall. On the other hand, Wernicke makes a good argument that there is virtually NO evidence that George Boleyn's wife was a principal witness against him in the accusations that he had committed incest with his sister, yet as far as I can remember this has been repeated as undoubted fact in just about every book on Anne I have ever read, fiction or nonfiction.
   
   As other reviewers have said, while this book is definitely worth reading, it should NOT be the first biography of Anne that someone newly interested in her or her period picks up.

4 comments about Blood-Dark Track: A Family History.

1. I simply could not put this book down. Much more than an entertaining portrait of early 20th century life in some remote places, this is a highly informative social and political history and a compelling reflection on nationalism, patriotism and the fears, violence and intrigues which sometimes accompany them. Mr. O'Neill obviously has talents for both research and scene-painting, and his writing is both literate and engaging. After 340 pages, I was sorry to put the book away. But I feel wiser now that I have made the journey with Mr. O'Neill.



2. "Blood Dark Track" provides a fascinating background into the history of both Ireland and Turkey during the first half of the Twentieth Century. These two very disparate regions actually have more in common than we would initially suppose: neutrality during WWII, an antipathy to British Imperialism, persecution of religious minorities, and layers upon layers of history underlying bloody Twentieth Century history.

   These areas also combine in the persona of the author, Joseph O'Neill, who has provided an intriguing personal narrative of his own family. His father's side, Catholic, poor, and Republican from Cork; his mother's, Catholic, bourgeois, and apolitical from Mersin (a coastal city near Syria). Their meeting is as fortuitous as it was unlikely.

   The author deftly melds the pieces into a coherent whole, despite geographic, cultural, and temporal distances. Because of the personal connection of the author to events, people, and places, it reads more like a novel than a history.

   Informing the story is the author's discovery of his grandfathers, both as family and as characters in two distinct, though subtly parallel, historical contexts. I was surprised to find the story so gripping that I finished it in three days.




3. This is one of the finest books published in many years. On the surface the book tells the stories of O'Neill's grandfathers. Both stories are of interest, both touch on historical events of interest; but it is the softness and absolute intelligence of O'Neill's voice that makes this book a classic. In relating the experiences of his grandfathers, O'Neill takes us through his own intellectual struggle as he attempts to apply the rational tools of the barrister/philosopher to the world of strong ethnic identities that haunted him from the world of his grandparents. If this were not enough, O'Neill treats us to a rather fine sense of humor -- again, never obvious but always there and always effective.



4. O'Neill's "split" background led to an interesting life and a fascinating family history. Great read. Would like to get my hands on his other books. Picked up this book in February and missed his book signing in Dublin by hours. Would really like to know how long it took him to intricately research the book.

   must read for Irish history buffs, Turkish history buffs, or WWII.

5 comments about The Story of Chicago May.

1. I first heard of Irish writer Nuala O'Faolain when I picked up one of her books in the WH Smith at Heathrow as I ran to catch a flight back to the States. Sometimes we are drawn to certain authors in mysterious ways, as if the moments were meant to be. Thereafter, I was led to her two memoirs, breathtaking in their candor about moving through stages of life as a young Irish girl, a writer, and mature woman coming to terms with her past.
   
   Knowing this writer's work, I didn't expect "The Story of Chicago May" to be a traditional biography, and it most certainly was not. May Duignan, born in post-famine Ireland, nicked her family's savings and ran away to America. There, she achieved legendary status as "Chicago May," working as a thief, outlaw, showgirl and prostitute.
   
   What I find remarkable is how the writer weaves in her own process of discovery and personal experience in researching and writing the book. This approach won't work for all readers. Some prefer the conventional biography, but others will find this book refreshing. No matter how a writer strives for objectivity, biography writing will never truly elude the subjectivity of the writer's own experience. O'Faolain did it her way, though she painstakingly researched her elusive subject. She literally traced the steps of May through city after city on two different continents.
   
   Years of May's life were spent in prisons on both sides of the Atlantic, but she managed to survive a life on the edge. Exhausted and sick at heart, she later met police reformer August Vollmer, who convinced her to write her autobiography as a way toward the light. O'Faolain refuses to sugarcoat the "Queen of Crook's" struggle to make ends meet, her experiences in and out of prison, or her poor choices in men, several notorious crooks in their own right.
   
   "Hope kept me up," May wrote in her last, desperate note to Vollner before her death as "a tired old prostitute" in an unmarked grave in Philadelphia. But the book is not about a character who tried to save her own soul, whatever that may be interpreted to be. It ends with just as many questions about the seeming lack of meaning in May's life, yet assures us that even such a life as hers is worth examining: "Out there, people are waiting in the dark. Shine the beam of attention out there. The dark recoils."



2. Nuala O'Faolain does a remarkable job of humanizing a woman who otherwise would've remained just another fallen woman. This book is a captivating tale of survival, as well as a wonderful source of history. Anyone interested in what it was like to literally survive in the U.S. at the turn of the 20th century will enjoy this tale. O'Faolain has a gentle, hypnotic writing style that really works here to evoke empathy for a woman who would otherwise be regarded as a common prostitute and petty thief. I loved it.



3. Like some of the previous reviewers, I was annoyed and bewildered after the initial reading of this book. Not because it wasn't well-written. It is. But the intermingling of the author's experiences and what she perceives May Duignan-Churchill to have felt/experienced was disorienting because I thought I was buying a biography of Chicago May. Most historical biographies are devoid of personal observations unless the author happened to be there along with his / her subject, which certainly wasn't true in Nuala O'Faolain's case.
   
   It didn't take me long, however, to appreciate "The Story of Chicago May" for the unique literary effort that it is. O'Faolain is using May Duignan's story to depict one woman's struggle for independence AND show how similar struggles go on today despite increased earning power and educational opportunity. The author is an accomplished memoirist, and in this book she uses her brilliant capacity for insight to help make sense out of a cheerfully unrepentant female crook's career.
   
   By the end of the second reading, I loved the book. That said, I understand why other readers who expected a no-nonsense historical biography, packed with facts and no fancy, were disappointed.



4. I agree with the previous reviewer that this book is "unfocused, disjointed, unstructured, incoherent, and rambling." It was difficult reading and difficult to keep up with what is fact and what is the author's interjections.
   Also, I did not care for the personal family information from Ms. O'Faolain. In my opinion, it only added to the adjectives mentioned above and to the book's boring length that could have been more interesting if it were not so lenghtly.



5. The biography was much as described in other reviews, where an interesting person was described both through the historical facts found and personal experiences of the author. I enjoyed O'Faolain's strategy and the story of May's life.

5 comments about Irish Thunder: The Hard Life and Times of Micky Ward.

1. Not being a huge fan of boxing I wasn't sure what to expect. This book is about so much more than boxing! Irish Thunder really shows the dedication and hard work that Micky Ward used to overcome his surroundings. Just when you thought it was his turn to succeed he had to overcome another obsticle. It really is the Rudy of the boxing world. Great read now I can't wait to read the author's other book Destiny Derailed.



2. Irish Thunder: The Hard Life and Times of Micky Ward is a great biography of the blue collar boxer from Lowell, MA. Bob Halloran does an excellent job chronicling Micky's career and the trials and tribulations he faced to get there. Right from the beginning, Bob illustrates the vision of Lowell, a once proud boxing town that had become a haven for decadence and despair. Although Micky would fall not victim to the drugs that had claimed many before him, the obstacles presented to him were constant whether it was injured hands, his family, bad management, big fights falling through, or his own self confidence. The fact that Micky persevered to become a popular and well respected boxer personifies his character. Halloran gives you a rundown of his fights throughout the book and his vivid recollections of Micky's wars with Arturo Gatti, Emanuel Burton, Reggie Green, and others make you feel like you're watching the fight as it happens. However, what really keeps the reader glued to this book is the behind the scenes drama. And as it often goes with money, the more there is to be made, the more drama comes with it. Most of the fight facts and recaps are accurate with the only obvious mistake being that Pernell Whitaker won a decision over Oscar De La Hoya, when in fact it was the other way around. All told, this is a well written biography and I would recommend this to any boxing fan.



3. This would be one of the more enjoyable boxing books that I have read. The author is top-notch and writes a story that is engrossing and very readable.
   
   One can feel the pressures that Ward was put under in his life in and out of the ring and his toughness and determination to succeed shines throughout the book.



4. Great book. It kept my attention. Recognizing and knowing some of the characters and living in the Greater Lowell area made it a very interesting book.



5. Other than Jack Kerouac and a few other Lowell greats I'm probably missing, Micky Ward is Lowell's pride. The book is an excellent read only because Micky's life-story is so remarkable and inspiring, other than that Bob Halloran's writing style is bleak.
   
   Micky Ward grew up when Lowell was tougher than it is today--UMass Lowell has brought so much money into the city it's been on the up-and-up since 1992--where his half-brother/trainer is a crack addict, his dad did hard time for defrauding old ladies in his roofing business and yet Micky even steered clear of marijuana while staying on his sworn path of becoming a champion boxer. Throughout his boxing career, he maintained a modest career paving roads for the city of Lowell and to my knowledge is still doing it to this day, he's only 42.
   
   Micky Ward is an honest man and a working class hero, and that's why so many people love him--"The Warrior's Code" the album by the Dropkick Murphys is about Micky Ward and "The Fighter" is a movie about him starring Mark Wahlberg and Brad Pitt to be released in 2009.
   
   This book is highly recommended, and will hopefully inspire you to hit the gym and work as hard as Micky did.

5 comments about Little Chapel on the River: A Pub, a Town and the Search for What Matters Most.

1. This is a book to treasure for its warm and friendly tale of how a place and its people can become a home, of how what matters most in life is warm and loving friendship, the caring concern that true friends offer one another, unconditionally. It also demonstrates, unknowingly, that our search for what matters most is more a matter of unexpected discovery, typically surprising us when we're searching the least.
   
   Wendy writes well, with sensitivity and savvy discernment. She focuses on a special place, Guinan's pub in Garrison, and she shares enough historical background to fill in between the gaps of what she learns firsthand. Overall, it's a thoughtful and heartfelt book that pulls a reader ever closer to the Hudson Valley.
   
   I often felt jealous of the author and her friends at the pub, wanting my own place where "everyone knows [my] name," as another quotes from "Cheers," wanting my place at the Guinan's. If I weren't so far away, and if gas prices weren't so ugly, I'd have planned a visit to Guinan's and be on my way by now. I'd like to sit a spell, share a few beers and few stories with the author. I would consider the time sacred, for that's what she's done for the pub and its people, memorializing their time time together at "the little chapel on the river."
   
   Three cheers to Gwendol! What a fine tribute! I'm buying a round for everyone. Drink and be glad for all that's good in life ... and all that we can do to help one another. It's the unsolicited gestures that count, always.



2. Probably the most "quiet" post-9/11 book I've seen, this is a touching tale of a woman's senses being awakened and values shifted by being immersed in completely new surroundings. More than a fish-out-of-water tale, it's a thoughtful exploration of the way a tragedy can prompt you to re-think the course your life is taking. But even without the 9/11 connotations, it's a rich, rewarding read. Highly recommended.



3. I enjoyed this book very much. The author did a beautiful job describing the area and I felt like I knew the patrons and Jim by the time I finished the book. A very nice read!



4. I couldn't think of a better title to my review, then to sum it up with my feelings after reading this book. THANK YOU Wendy for sharing your experiences at Guinan's with us. For introducing us to the wonderful cast of characters - human, animal, logistical. Your writing placed me right at a stool at the "chapel", or on a wind swept hill overlooking the Hudson. Thank you for forever memorializing this place and time and people. Grand job!



5. Wow, I feel like I missed the boat (or the train as it may be) on this one. I see all the posts from back in 2005 and wondered why I hadn't seen this book before. Now in August of 2007 I just finished reading this book (for the second time). What a superb tale, timely, well written and very touching. I live not far from Garrison and feel compelled to stop in at Guinans and have a beer.
   
   Thank you Wendy Bounds for telling this story. I am going to look for more tales from Ms. Bounds. Hope to see some soon.
   
   Must read for any one looking for a great story.

5 comments about Richard the Third.

1. This is a very readable biography of Richard III. While more recent research may have overtaken some of Mr Kendall's conclusions it by no means diminishes his scholarship.
   
   Richard III's life has been the subject of many works of historical fiction. Additionally, he appears in the works of Shakespeare, is dissected by Sir Thomas More and others writing during Tudor times. Variously lionized and demonized, he is considered by many to be either the tragic hero slain in battle at Bosworth Field or the murderer of the princes in the Tower of London.
   
   To see Richard solely as either a villain or a victim is to ignore the realities of the period in which he lived and the circumstances whereby he came to the throne.
   
   I recommend this biography to those who want to know more about the life and reign of Richard III or are seeking some historical background to some of the works of historical fiction in which he features.
   
   Jennifer Cameron-Smith



2. Paul Murray Kendall writes an objective biography of Richard III from his childhood to his death on Bosworth Field in 1485. He examines contemporary accounts with an emphasis on the reports of Dominic Mancini, who wrote from his own observations. He reviews pro-Richardian or revisionist theories as well as traditionalist viewpoints in an attempt to provide an objective narrative about the king's life.
   
   The book starts with the earliest known information (at about age 10) and continues through Edward IV's reign and into Richard's, ending with his death in 1485. Separate appendices deal with the disappearance of the princes Edward and Richard and Richard's character.
   
   In a nutshell, the author characterizes Richard III as a loyal, honorable, talented (military skills) leader as well as a devoted and religious family man. These strengths, however, were offset by inflexibility - a mind that saw black and white, but nothing in between - and political naivete.
   
   Kendall's analysis of the available information concerning the disappearance of the princes is objective and sensible. His conclusion: Richard probably knew what happened to them. If he sanctioned their deaths, he did so because that's what rulers did to deposed kings in medieval times. The times were cruel and Richard was a man of his times.
   
   Equally objective is Kendall's assessment of Richard's character.
   
   The book is an excellent introduction to the life of a fascinating man as well as the times in which he lived. Highly recommended. FYI, this edition is a reprint of the original work published in 1955.



3. It seems that you can find two camps comcerning Richard III - people who think that he was truly the deforemed monster portrayed by Shakespeare or those who think that he ought to be canonized. Paul Murray Kendall did an excellent job of rendering a portrait of King Richard III that does not revolve around the typical Tudor propoganda and at the same time doesn't clamour for sainthood to be bestowed upon him. Anyone who is looking for a relatively unbiased view of this misunderstood monarch should definitely look into this excellent source!



4. This book is one of the few that succeeds in revising the historical profile of king Richard by giving him the place he deserves. For centuries Tudor historians, particularly More and Vergil (using all the heavy artillery of political propaganda on behalf of their masters the Tudor kings) had drawn a caricature of king Richard, making him a monster, the incarnation of evil, not to speak of Shakespeare's play, as brilliant as false. This book proves that king Richard was a wise ruler, an excellent warrior (he decisively contributes to the final Yorkist victory over the Lancastrians in the battles of Barnet and Tewksbury in 1471), loyal to his brother king Edward IV, tender to his wife, loved by the people (specially by Northerners, by the people of York, where he was almost adored, while Henry VII and Henry VIII, the first Tudor kings, were much hated, which explains the constant rebellions of Yorkshire under Tudor rule) The tragedy of king Richard III has nothing to do with Shakespearean plot; it is very unlikely that he ordered the death of Edward IV's sons (the book provides an interesting appendix on the matter) and, of course, he had no body deformity. His tragedy was both personal and political: a man who saw the death of his beloved wife, son and brothers, a king who tried to rule for the people against the barons and paid a terrible price, the price of being betrayed at Bosworth field in 1485; a ruler who tried to take control of the political turmoil, hopelessly, as he found himself trapped in the turmoil, overwhelmed and finally swept away. However, he set the foundations of modern Britain, creating a strong State by undermining the territorial rebellious powers of the old feudal peerage, which were the cancer that had consumed the nation since the Beauforts had made a puppet of Henry VI, the last Lancastrian king, and which degenerated into the open enmity between the dukes of Somerset and York and the subsequent civil strife. Apart from reading a fascinating period of the History of England, this book made me seriously think of how easy it is to falsify History. Richard III is somebody who definitely deserved rehabilitation. Well done, Paul!



5. I bought this book to help with my a-level history personal study. Out of all the books i have used, this has been the upmost useful. The quotes, references to sources etc help the reader to bind in all the information from the book into a easily readable story. Full of facts whilst interesting. Having use to the appendix was very useful because i needed information about the 'princes in the tower'.

5 comments about Rome: The Biography of a City.

1. I found the book to be well written and engaging in that typical British anecdotal style that breathes life into historical characters. It offers a detailed account of the sometimes bizarre history of this magnificent city during more than two millennia, all in one book, up until the middle of the 20th century.
   
   However, I felt that the book was quite lacking in providing answers, or even clues to answers, to the Big Questions: the rise and fall of the Republic and the later Empire, and the rise of Christianity. I did miss the context of all these facts that streamed by page after page, and there was no scholarly interpretation from the learned author regarding these inevitable Big Questions.
   
   The latter part of the book gets even better, when the author seems more at ease dealing with the 19th and 20th century. I found the detailed portrait of the rise and fall of the fascist state headed by Mussolini especially riveting. But even there, I wanted a bit more background and historical interpretation.
   
   If you look for a book that introduces you to more than two thousand years of Roman history, and is both educating and reads more like a novel than a thesis, you will not be disappointed. Furthermore, the book includes maps and pictures, to be used during a stay in the Eternal City. But if you want a more intellectual interpretation, there are better books on offer. I decided to buy both.



2. In Self-Reliance, Emerson says, "In history our imagination plays us false. Kingdom and lordship, power and estate are gaudier vocabulary than private John and Edward in a small house and common day's work; but the things of life are the same to both; the sum total of both is the same," (130). This is a good place to begin articulating my discomfort with Hibbert's Rome: The Biography of a City. Halfway through the book one still has not seen any of Emerson's view that history is more than a succession of popes and kings. On the contrary, Hibbert seems to think that history is only that. It is an older book, and so we spare it some of our modern politics, but thus far, I've read nothing of women, nothing even of artists or architects in a city renowned for these, only that this king fought with this pope etc. through the centuries. I thought historians somehow knew better. One possible explanation for Hibbert's lack of attention to the actual soul of Rome is that he casts a broad net, writing so many histories he can hardly have time to do anything like justice to a place. He's written about France, Britain, America, and India, about their revolutions and separate books about their major figures, lending the impression that he may approach theses "biographies" like assembly-line machinery. One last neglect which seems to me not only in bad taste, but odd: Hibbert's Rome has been pretty overt in its dismissal of the Catholic Church. Nothing has been said about its many acts of charity, nor of its social/art educational status in the community, nor about the individual faiths of the saints and pilgrims, whose devotion, in the face of such obvious abuses, I find heartening.



3. With a book that covers over 2,500 years of history, don't expect in-depth coverage here. That's not what this book is about. It provides a very good, bird's-eye view of the city and its history, however, and does a good job of impressing on the reader the incredible continuity of the city's history. I think there's a tendency to concentrate on ancient Rome and then to jump a thousand years to the Renaissance and the Baroque, without focusing on the incredible medieval history of the city. I found the chapters of the book devoted to the medieval period to be some of the more interesting.



4. This is a good book for those interested in learning about general Rome History but not necessarily in reading thick textbooks. If you're interested in learning about specific periods/events (or the Roman Empire as a whole), you might want to look elsewhere. If you're interested in reading about a great city as a whole, this is a solid choice.



5. I planned to visit Rome and was told Mr Hibbert's book was better than any travel guide. I was worried it would be a boring, textbook read. To my surprise, I was absolutely engrossed from cover to cover. The endnotes were a bit too inclusive for my taste, but for a true historian, the information would be captivating. Mr. Hibbert's focus on numerous Vatican events is eye opening.