5 comments about Son of Oscar Wilde.

1. I love this book.
   
   When I read it, I feel as if his son is in my living room telling me stories of the old days. It is written very honestly and colloquial, so that you can really go through it. And yet, the Europe at the early part of the century - it is different. This is a chance to read something and feel like the author is with you and telling you about himself and his family. Very sad in parts, but vivid, and at no time written to be a victim's story. Very good.



2. the Empire painted WIlde a degenerate, a scapegoat sacrificed for its own corruption and sins. THis book, written by his surviving son, with emendations and commentary and suggestions by his grandson, reveals the true Wilde, who early loved his sons and whose greatest loss in his pillorying by the EMpire was his family. Wilde is not the painted savant fruit he is pictured, but a true family man, a true nationalist Irishman (to know Wilde, know his mother), and a truly gentle genius.
   
   TO read this book is hear again the epic tale of sons in search of their lost father. In this case Telemachus never again sees Odysseus, and the aching yearning between father and son oozes gently from these pages like an embarrased fatal wound.
   
   THe greatest artistic work, and the most grecian tragic, as Wilde predicted, became his own life. TO understand WIlde, please read this book. What wonders of literature this talented son might have produced, besides his remarkable translations from the French, etc., had this gifted family remained intact, and even at home with Lady Wilde in Dublin. Perhaps Wilde's second son would never have died for the EMpire at war. But such musings lead to the despairing madness which ultimately tempted Oscar upon his early deathbed.
   
   Essential for any and all student and reader of Mr. Wilde. A universal legend of filial affection in its own right, as cross generational as any Garcia MArquez work. BEautifully written.



3. Vyvan Holland was just a child when his beloved father Oscar Wilde "disappeared" from his life in 1895. SON OF OSCAR WILDE is a remarkable story told by Wilde's youngest son. Holland makes no effort to answer burning questions about the demise of his father--one of the greatest figures of moden English literature. He never defends or condemns his father's actions. He cherishes the memory of a loving father. The Wilde family crisis changed Holland's life forever. Holland never saw his father or had contact with him after 1895. He was in his late teens before he was told the actual truth about his father. He had been so carefully protected from the truth by his mother's family that he assumed his father had been a bigamist or criminal. It was a relief to learn the reason his father had been imprisoned. Holland wrote his autography more than 50 years after the death of his father. He tells his story as he lived it. In 1895, Wilde was sentenced to two years of hard labor in prison for his homosexuality. The court confiscated his home and his property leaving his family broken-hearted. Even Holland's precious toys were sold at auction for pennies. The scandal was so great that his wife and 2 sons left for exile in Europe. Their surnames were changed and they lived in fear of the identity of their father being discovered. His mother died not long afterward during exile leaving the sons in the care of a guardian. Alone and lost and ashamed, the brothers were sent off to separate boarding schools. The brothers rarely saw each other again. Their mother's family made every effort to erase the memory of Oscar Wilde from their lives. Wilde died in 1900 never being able to make contact with his sons. Holland's writing can be dry at times and he often jumps forward and back in time but overall he has an incredible story to tell. Most people know the basic story of Wilde's demise. A brilliant literary mind went silent and Wilde could never write again after release from prison. The truth about Wilde's suffering wife and sons is finally told in this book. Although the family was forced into exile, their mother did not abandon Wilde and kept in contact with him until her tragic death. She knew his suffering but did not consent to allowing contact with the son. Only years later, did Holland learn of Wilde's great writings. So great was the scandal, that Wilde's books were basically banned in England. Several lives were ruined in a scandal that would be nothing more than jiucy fodder for the tabloids today. SON OF OSCAR WILDE gives some rare insight into a story that had never been fully told.



4. As an Oscar Wilde fanatic (I have read literally everything ever written by/about him) I was drawn to this book because of the new perspective about him that was offered: that of his child. Not only is it interesting to read about his Vyvyan's memories about him, but the biography is written in such a vivid way that one can actually feel the pain Oscar's son goes through when his father is sentenced to prison and when he dies. This is a must read for an Oscar Wilde fan interested in gaining a new perspective on the legendary writer...it is the closest one will ever be to understanding what it was like being in his family.



5. For more than 20 years Oscar Wilde has been one of my favourite author, perhaps the favourite author. Because the life was taken away from him he could not wrote all the plays, poems and stories I want so much to read, so I have read his works over and over again. Each time I find something new/something to enjoy; partly it is his wonderful point of view, partly his good sense of humour. For a long time I have been aware of his downfall, but don't know what exactly happened until recently. I also knew that he was married and that he and his wife had two sons, and sometimes I revolved in my mind: What happened to them? Where did they go? So when I found the book Son of Oscar Wilde at Amazon.com I bought it immediately. This is a beautiful book by man who knew and loved his father, but suddenly his father was no longer taken place in his life. Why? It took him more than ten years to let himself to try to find the answer. In this book he tells the world how. Everybody who like Wilde's works, love an honesty, are interested in the Victorian time or want to try to understand the consequences of hate should do themselves the favour to read Son of Oscar Wilde. Vyvyan Holland wrote: ..."my father's character was his great humanity, his love of life and of his fellow-men, his sympathy with suffering. He was the kindest and gentles of men, an he hated to see anyone suffer." After reading Son of Oscar Wilde I do believe this is also the description of his son. Vyvyan Holland died in the year 1968 so I will not get the opportunity to thank him for his book, nor can I thank his father for all the good times he have gave me, but both, father and son, deserved my thanks.

5 comments about Hitler's Vienna: A Dictator's Apprenticeship.

1. All the nonsense concerning Hitler's early years can be laid to rest thanks to the invaluable service of Brigitte Hamann.
   
   Charting Hitler's youth in the provinces and formative years in Vienna up until the age of 24, Hitler emerges as a product of his social group (men's hostel disenchantment, the need to feel superior in a sea of immigrants), but already displays his vitriolic strain in uncontrolled, irrational outbursts brought on by his anxiety for a dominant German culture; a German culture he would ultimately bring to ruin.
   
   The exclusion of Austria from the Reich created by Bismarck in 1871 spread a sense of insecurity among Germans living in an ethnically diverse city such as Vienna. Throughout the Austro-Hungarian empire, the German Austrians, although still out in front in terms of numbers (in 1910, almost 10 million with Czech's at 6.5) were nevertheless swamped by Slavs in total (Slovaks, Poles, Ruthenians, Slovenians, Serbo-Croats) and were just another piece of the ethnic pie; interestingly, Hitler was anti-Slav before he was anti-Semitic.
   
   Hamann explores the complex social texture to this environment in a comprehensive fashion, introduces us to many confused `theoreticians of race and explainers of the world' along with political role models such as Karl Lueger, anti-Semitic major of Vienna between 1897-1910; the reproduction of contemporary newspaper cartoons and illustrations are informative statements in themselves, particularly as these newspapers, in all likelihood, were read by Hitler. Many of the motifs to Nazi ideology that were superimposed on Germany after its collapse from the First World War and consequent economic shock waves, can largely be traced back to Vienna's pressure cooker mould out of which Hitler stepped.
   
   Hamann successfully shows how late imperial Vienna, undermined by ethnic tensions, exerted a big influence on the formation of Hitler's outlook:
   
   `The simultaneous search of various peoples for their own identity was particularly explosive in the Dual Monarchy's huge melting pot. The more a people nourished its own image as a people, the stranger the other peoples appeared to be.'
   
   Highly recommended!



2. Adolf Hitler remains one of the most despised of all dictators. His hatred and anti-Semitism and destruction of over six million European Jews as well as Poles, Slavics, Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses are well documented. But in order to see how monsters like Hitler and Stalin came to be, we must understand their backgrounds, environments, and upbringings. In this well-researched and detailed book by Brigitte Hamann, you will find it richingly informative and shocking at times as well. We get to know what life was life in Hitler's Vienna which he despised and his close, loving relationship with Klara Hitler, his beloved mother. We learn about his relatives, ancestry which he tried desperately to destroy or change to alter his own public image to his people. The racism between Aryans and non-Aryans were well documented before World War II in Austria. This book is an invaluable tool in understanding how Hitler came to be this monster.
   
   As I read the book, I digest the information slowly because there is so that I don't know. The author is really detailed in explaining and citing information. There are about 40 pages of citations at the end. There is a lot of information to know about like life in Vienna before World War I. The politics around Vienna is quite fascinating and disturbing as the small political groups. By reading this book, you will begin to understand the world of which a monster was raised in. We learn about his family relations, his time in hostels, his friendships, his art and love for architecture, his close relationship with his mother, the author pulls no punches or leaves anything out about Hitler's early life. He was somebody who rised from the shadows and became a monster in his own right. What fascinated me the most about this book was the separtist groups in Vienna, who would have thought that other ethnic groups like Czechs, Poles, Slavics, and even Germans posed a threat against Austrian way of life. Hitler's Austrian background and the feeling of his own inferiority and the class differences help the readers understand how he began to think including the prejudice and deep hatred that he felt for the non-Aryans and non-Germans. I didn't know anything about the prejudices and friction and problems amongst the groups in Vienna then. I have never been to Vienna but I still think of it as the ultimate classical place to spend New Year's Eve. The more I read, the more I understand the circumstances around Hitler's Vienna and you always wonder might have been if Hitler became a successful artist or if his mother had not died. Oh what might have been so different that millions of lives wouldn't have been lost that is what we can't lose sight of is that millions of innocent lives, children, women, and men died because of this one man's obsession.



3. Though this book is better in the original German (it loses something in the translation), Hamann is a diligent researcher who has unearthed some new facts about Hitler's period in Vienna. She uses primary sources and archive material without merely rehashing what other biographies have written in the past. The Franz Jetzinger book from the 50's is still the standard, definitive version of Hitler's Vienna years, but Hamann does a nice job and weaves in some new material. She also adroitly dismisses some claims from other German authors who have inaccurately written about Hitler's relationship with early roommate, August (Gustl) Kubizek. Thankfully, Hamann doesn't indulge in psychoanalyzing Hitler, which is sort of a deranged cottage industry amongst more recent Hitler biographers.

   One small criticism is that Hamann veers away from Hitler too frequently. There is a plethora of material about Vienna's political climate in the 1910's, its mayor, the origin of anti-Semitism in the city and other ancillary details. Though all of this is relevant to Hitler, one wishes she would have stayed a bit more on topic. Still, the book is interesting, informative and devoid of errors. If you want to learn more about the young Hitler, this is an acceptable choice.




4. Brigitte Hamann has done a remarkable thing with this book. By examining Vienna during Hitler's formative years, she has unlocked a lot of mystery surrounding the great man himself. While it is true that she uncovered discrepancies in Hitler's description of those years in Mein Kampf, her real contribution is in helping the reader to understand what Hitler was talking about, and why he said the things he said.

   Particularly useful is Hamann's analysis of the prominent politicians of the day. She first described these leaders and their political ups and downs. Then, with the testimony of the witnesses who knew Hitler during those years, she deftly draws a picture of the formative influences that helped shape the mature dictator. Hitler was obsessed with politics and he learned what worked and what did not work during those early years in Vienna. Many of his later policies first saw the light of day in the Vienna of his youth. There is a chilling passage about the problem of gypsy pickpockets expected for the 60 Anniversary Parade in honor of Emperor Franz Joseph, in 1908. One solution, seriously presented in Parliament at the time, was to tattoo a number on the forearm of every gypsy.

   Hamann also provides an in-depth analysis of the Austro-Hungarian attempt at a multi-ethnic parliamentarism, the chaos and the inefficiency that it brought, and the consequent neglect for the common people. The Pan-German movement, which clearly influenced the young Hitler is clearly explained in considerable detail. At times while reading this book, I had to pause and remind myself that the period under review presaged the rise of Adolf Hitler to power by some 20 years!

   Out of the murk emerges Hitler as a young man obsessed by politics, hot tempered, forceful in argument, with poor work habits, odd hours, and a penchant for talk. Hamann's decision to look at the politics that helped him to formulate his world view is brilliant history. This fascinating book is very worthy of your attention.




5. I really liked this book as it offered some new facts as opposed to regurgitating the same points already in circulation about Hitler and his youth. Hamann is a great historian of our time, and those of you fluent in German would be well advised to get ahold of this book in the original.

1 comments about The Moravian Mission Diaries Of David Zeisberger: 1772-1781 (Max Kade German-American Research Institute).

1. This book is a rich source for Native American and Moravian history. The 1772-1781 diaries remain largely untapped by American scholars because they have not been available in English translation. Publication of this modern scholarly edition, therefore, will have a major impact on the field of early American history. This edition contains a cornucopia of ethnographic and historical information about the Delawares and neighboring tribes in the upper Ohio Valley during the Revolutionary era. The editors have done an excellent job of identifying and expanding the knowledge of many of the important figures from this period. This volume will be welcomed by any scholar interested in the early history of Ohio or western Pennsylvania-a most valuable addition to the collections of published primary materials on these subjects.

4 comments about Forgotten Voices of the Great War (Forgotten Voices/the Great War).

1. These are first hand accounts of men and women that lived through the first world war. It is all there--loyalty to your fellow soldiers, cowardice, indifferent heroism, terror, and the feeling of apartheid from home and family. The most striking rememberances I took from the book were the white feather incidents--where white feathers were given to soldiers out of uniform on leave in England by young women as a goad to get to the trenches.



2. This is the first book I've ever read in one day; 'I rest my case'.
   
   My most lingering memory is the story of the soldier who was shot for 'losing his way' and not showing up for a battle. When offered brandy by the narrator before meeting his maker, he said he'd 'never drunk spirits and wasn't going to start now'. Not such a coward, after all.



3. This book is full of fascinating wartime anecdotes given by the soldiers fighting it and the citizens involved in it. The staff of the UK's Imperial War Museum sifted through mountains of archives and picked out the very best to use in the book. Through the use of their own personal letters/interviews, the book follows the history of particular, mostly British, individuals during the war. It loosely follows the major battles of the Western Front and Gallipoli and even the Home Front.

   Most of the letters vary in length between one paragraph and one page and are packed with the kind of realistic details that typical narrative histories of the World War I skip over. For example, in Gallipoli (p. 118) one soldier writes, "One of the biggest curses was flies. Millions and millions of flies. ... Immediately you bared any part of your body you were smothered." Short of actually being there, these kind of first person participant narratives deliver the essence of the war - harsh, demanding, brutal, comedic, and ocassionally surreal. The straightforward writing styles and unusual content make this book a true pleasure to read.

   I have read over 40 books about the Great War, and this book is one of the best for personal narratives about the war. It's multi-person perspective delivers a well-balanced, insightful picture of the war at ground level (free of any hidden agenda). This book would perfectly complement a broad narrative history of World War I.




4. Max Arthur's new book covering the Great War is quite unique in that its content is nearly all first-hand accounts from people who experienced the horror of the Great War. The author has utilized a number of tape recorded interviews conducted by the Imperial War Museum in 1972. Many of the tapes from the Imperial War Museum Sound Archive had been forgotten and left unheard for years.

   Now Max Arthur has put together many of these unheard voices from the Great War to produce this spellbinding and captivating book. I must admit that I was reluctant to buy this book as I was worried that a book full of short accounts would be too disjointed and really not detailed enough to satisfy my interest. I can honestly say that I truly enjoyed reading this book.

   Each chapter of the book was a year of the Great War and was commenced by an introduction by the author offering a brief run down on the major events of that year. Then we heard from the men and women who participated in these events, from both sides of no-man's land. The author has concentrated mainly on the Western Front and Gallipoli and has tried to run the oral segments in chronological order.

   I was really taken by these segments and I found it hard to stop reading. The accounts from these soldiers and civilians alike were at times humorous, strikingly direct, horrifying and on many occasions quite sad. I was really taken in by these accounts and I don't think that any World War One library would be complete without this title sitting on the shelf. I can honestly say that I learnt quite a few things from this book and I would place it along side such works offered by Lyn MacDonald. Well done to the author and the Imperial War Museum for allowing these veterans, many now long dead, the last word on their experiences in the Great War. This is a great book, you won't be disappointed.

2 comments about Great O'Neill.

1. This is a profound book full of fascinating historical data on one of the most complex characters of ancient Irish history. Much of what the author writes is of necessity speculation but he also has researched into the history of the O'Neills & the old gaelic Chieftain order. The result is a facinating drama from the pages of ancient Irish history presented in a most dramatic & colourful manner. Personally I believe here is a story that could transfer the world of cinema & rival & surpass Braveheart in its epic scale & mesmerising characters. There is firstly the young O'Neill born into the most eminent of all Irish families, suddenly orphaned & at risk from his own people. Forced to flee he is taken in by the English & raised to be their pawn. In time he grows to manhood, returns to his people & claims all that is his. At first he has the support of the English as they pit Irish against Irish but eventually he outgrows them & becomes instead the most dangerous foe the Elizabethan armies have ever encountered. He scores victory after vistory over the English, culminating with his destruction of their great army at The Battle of the Yellow Ford. Unfortunately for O'Neill English resources far outweigh his as he well knows & a single defeat will spell his ruin. This comes inevitably at the battle of Kinsale & then all are left to mourn not just the passing of the Ancient Gael & its great Lords but the entrenchment of the English in Ireland which resulted in such pleasures as the Penal Times, 1798, The Great Famine, the War of Independence & today's Troubles in Northern Ireland. All can be traced back to that single defeat at Kinsale. I rate this book as by far the most significant work that O'Faolain ever wrote & believe it should be compulsory for all Irish History students. One curious aside is the comparison between this period of Irish history & the Indian wars in the USA. Certain characters have an uncanny resemblance, Sitting Bull & Hugh O'Neill; Crazy Horse & Hugh O'Donnell; Mountjoy & Sherman(?). Also the desperate struggle to maintain an ancient way of life & the realisation on the part of the indigenous peoples that theirs was a hopeless battle & that eventually a single defeat would bring their end. Yet these people believed strongly enough in their culture to fight for it & as an Irishman I am proud that O'Neill & O'Donnell fought their great foes rather than going quietly into the night. A great book.



2. I read this book because I am an O'Neill and wanted to learn more about my heritage. What I came away with is a better understanding of the history of the conflict between Ireland and England, that Ireland was in fact England's first colony and that a man named Hugh O'Neill nearly ended England's world colonization before it began. Enlightening also is the view into 16th century European culture and politics. This book is a pleasure to read for it's colorful descriptions of characters and settings as well as it's glimspe into historical events that are not often described.

5 comments about A Summer Bright and Terrible: Winston Churchill, Lord Dowding, Radar, and the Impossible Triumph of the Battle of Britain.

1. This book gave me a new slant on a subject that I thought I knew. I didn't appreciate the Air Marshall until I read what he accomplished in saving England from Hitler.



2. Anyone searching for a decent history of the Battle of Britain, a biography of Lord Dowding, insight into the development of radar OR the role of Winston Churchill in any of these will have to look elsewhere. In this poorly edited atrociously written volume the author manages to take fascinating material and reduce it to a sort of peculiar tabloid scandal sheet. It is painfully unclear what Fisher's intent is in writing this book, at one point it seems like he is trying to ressurect the reputation of an "unsung hero" but at the next he is doing his best to make fun of the very person that he has built up. The style of the book borders on the peculiar -there are no notes or citation, just a somewhat sparse "bibliography" yet we get large sections in quotation marks & whole mental dialogs that occur in the heads of the protagonists, who "chortle" and sneer at each other on every third page -don't get me wrong here, Fisher has written a very "post-modern" book, there really are no heroes, just different levels of fools, knaves and villains, all of whom steal from each other, cut each other out of the credit, thwart each other's ambitions, and generally behave like a nasty set of academics at a faculty meeting from hell. As an example of the egregious errors in this text, for some reason Fisher seems obsessed with tanks -even though he conspicuously ignores Churchill's role in their initial development. Again and again he talks about tanks "winning" the First World War & "breaking the back" of the German armies. This is odd, given that the tank arrives in the First War in September of 1916 -half-way through- and had little if any impact on the situation on the Western Front. Strangely, the role of the Royal Navy's blockade in "breaking the back" of Germany's will to fight seems to have escaped Fisher's notice... Fisher's cultural biases are also very much to the fore: at one point the English pilots spend their time between missions either throwing up or suffering from diarrhea. Their American counterparts in the meantime "chat". Fisher regularly allows his purple prose to wander into this sort of silliness & one is constantly wonderingif things really were as terrible (and silly) as he says how on earth did the Germans not win? In all seriousness, this is a very stupid and above all "little" book that simply isn't worthy of the subject. It is not just that readers will be mislead by Fisher's poor use of the material it is more that they are likely to not bother to pursue the many important themes that ctually emerged in the run-up to the Battle of Britain because they are so turned off by the shallowness of the schloarship exhibited here. One reads this book for the same reason one slows at car wrecks, out of a morbid interest in calamity.



3. Well worth buying since this area has not been properly covered to my knowledge. Disagreeably journalistic style.
   With all due respect to Dowding and none to the Air Ministry, someone should extend the book's scope and write a book on all the cock-ups and how they came into being and were tolerated. Examples: Leigh Mallory insubordination, no camouflage paint on planes, why 1932 jet wasn't developed, formation flying, no deflection shooting practice, insufficient swopping of fatigued/fresh pilots between groups, no calling back of semi-trained pilots who were jettisoned before finishing courses, etc, etc. Most of these errors were obvious before fighting started.
   A Summer Bright and Terrible: Winston Churchill, Lord Dowding, Radar, and the Impossible Triumph of the Battle of Britain



4. A Summer Bright and Terrible: Winston Churchill, Lord Dowding, Radar, and the Impossible Triumph of the Battle of Britain by David E. Fisher is the story of more of the more eccentric military geniuses, High Dowding, the Commander of RAF Fighter Command during The Battle of Britain. I mention eccentric because Dowding's bend-of-mind makes folks like Patton and Montgomery seem dead normal.
   
   In fact, if you combined Patton's belief in reincarnation and the afterlife with Montogomery's stubbornness, you get a pretty good idea of how - under normal circumstances - loopy this man was. Fisher describes a man that openly spoke of discussions with dead fighter pilots and who married a woman whose dead husband recommended to Dowding that he do so. The woman, by the way, had had dreams about a man named Hugh - vastly older than she - who had protected her as a child.
   
   So, was Hugh Dowding a nut case?
   
   It doesn't necessarily matter because this man also was responsible for some of the most innovative developments in aerial combat: multi-gunned monoplane fighters, radar and its associated ground-control infra-structure and the twin-engined radar carrying night fighter. Along the way, he also managed to stand up to Winston Churchill and maintain a cadre of the aforementioned fighters in England when the PM was bound and determined to lose them all in an effort to save France.
   
   And in return for these efforts, he was villified in person and behind his back; left in suspense as to his future for months on end, dis-obeyed by several of his immediate suboridinates and, ultimately, force out of service.
   
   The story is one of the most true examples of doing the right thing, despite and in spite of the potential repercussions. An absolutely excellent work. I only wish that Fisher had footnoted the book. By not not doing so, he hoists himself on his own petard of chastising those who mis-quote or fabricate.



5. I discovered Lord Dowding as the author did through Dowdings book "Lynchgate". The Battle of Britain, whilst not the saviour as most believe put a serious dent in Hitlers War Machine. Britain was to remain free and a "stepping stone" back into Europe.
   
   Without Lord Dowding none of this would have been achieved. Bombing had been shown to be the way of modern warfare and fighters stuck in a time warp could not catch them. Dowding's obstinacy and prescience established a data-linked system of radar, operation rooms and fighters. Without him the World may have been a much different place.
   
   Since owning and reading the book, I have lent it out to various people, some who admit to only occassionally reading! Everyone has been awe stuck by the story. Our debt of gratitude to those who fought the Second World War is aptly enhanced.

2 comments about Yale English Monarchs - William Rufus (The English Monarchs Series).

1. I was impressed with the amount of detail on William Rufus by Frank Barlow. He pieced together a time in English history that seems to be looked over by most historians. Barlow makes a strong analytical approach to dispelling public perception of William Rufus. He makes sure you understand that the remaining documentaton on William Rufus is so fragmented. And that that does remain is from one point of view, the Church which obvouisly does not favor William Rufus. Barlow points out William II was a more capable ruler than most give him credit for and this angle is enough to make this book a must read for those interested in Norman History and the English crown.



2. William Rufus (William the Red), second son of William the Conquer,took over England while his older brother's back was turned and ruled it for little over a decade before being killed in a strange hunting "accident" in the New Forest. That's about all the space he gets in history today, except the claims that he was a homosexual, an atheist, an all-round bad person and the less said the better. While this book takes pains to look at and question these charges,it is not the only subject that the author deals with in William's regin. Despite being a "wild and crazy guy" and running a court that looks like a frat house, William seems also to have been an able adminstor, a good diplomat and a strong enough miltary leader to keep his elder brother out of England and the Saxons quiet. I enjoied this book, one of the few on the subject and a serious study of it's subject. A good source on a rare subject.

1 comments about Mary Queen of Scots: An Illustrated Life.

1. Elizabeth I, queen of England and cousin to Mary of Scotland, once referred to the Scottish queen as a "daughter of debate." It is difficult to imagine a more apt description of this enigmatic and ultimately illusive monarch. Was she a vixen or a victim, a canny politician or a tool for scheming nobles, a devout Catholic or a woman more concerned with pragmatism than piety? In this new and beautifully produced biography, British historian Susan Doran acknowledges the variety of opinions but adds nothing new to the discussion. Given the scope of the book--192 pages, over half of that devoted to illustrations and notes--this is hardly surprising. What Doran does very well, however, is provide an engagingly written introduction to Mary's history.
   
   Doran clearly lays out the basic issues of Scotland's 16th century politics: the conflict between kirk and church, the uneasy relationship with England, and the powerful, contentious nobles who bonded together in ever-shifting alliances. Matters became even more complicated when Mary began to seek a second husband, for any marriage alliance she formed had the potential to upset the balance among Scotland's nobles, and between Scotland and her powerful neighbor to the south.
   
   One of the reasons for Mary's enduring fascination is the unsolved mysteries that haunt her story. Who murdered her second husband, Henry Lord Darnley? Was Mary complicit? Was she involved in an adulterous affair with James Hepburn, the Earl of Bothwell? Was she abducted and raped by Bothwell, or did she marry him willingly? Doran does not address these controversies in detail. She cautiously absolves Mary of Darnley's death, but thinks it likely that Mary had some knowledge of a plot against him.
   
   The author concludes that Mary was significant not because of her achievements--which were admittedly few--but because of her dynastic relationship to the Guises in France and the Tudors in England. In fact, Mary's only enduring legacy was her son, James VI of Scotland and I of England. Yet Mary continues to fascinate, and Doran offers just information to satisfy a reader looking for an approachable overview.
   
   In addition to being a worthwhile introduction, this is a beautiful, high-quality book. The full-sized portraits--over twenty of them--are seldom seen in such rich and vivid color. The illustrations include a number of contemporary sketches, documents, and letters; in fact, there are perhaps a few too many letters--over twenty full page reproductions and ten partial pages. It is interesting to see Mary's handwriting and some of her famous ciphers, but thirty pages out of 192 seems excessive.
   
   Doran's notes for Further Reading, however, are a treasure trove. She mentions several biographies and books on general topics, then suggests books dealing with the issues, events, and people discussed in each chapters. On issues about which historians disagree, she frequently suggests books that give various viewpoints. It is this section, in addition to the well-written overview, that makes this book an exceptionally good starting point.

No comments about Henry VIII (Profiles in Power Series).

2 comments about Joyce Images.

1. What a shame that the publisher let this first rate book go out of print. Perhaps, the market can work if enough folks demand a new printing of the book.



2. OK, so I basically stole the title for this review from Dylan Thomas (another author to read!). At any rate, it seems this oversized book is out of print, although Amazon.com will try to find it for you. If they can't...

   122 pages of fascinating photos, drawings, manuscript revisions, and quotes by Joyce; statues, drawings, photos, and even stamps of Joyce! The prints are excellent, and help you feel like you know the man (and family) just a little bit better. Originally published at $39.95 (a price for Joyce fans only, I think), its new low cost makes it an excellent purchase for all interested in literature and/or photography. I haven't seen the $72 "Images of Joyce," (sold at Amazon) but this well-designed book, showing Joyce at various ages and locations, is well worth looking for.