5 comments about In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing the Second World War.

1. Much has been said and written about Churchill, and not least by the man himself. That, Churchills writing of his own history and legacy, is the subject of David Reynolds book "In Command of History". It is an expertly written story that we don't get to hear that often. How Churchills selective memory made him a greater leader and prophet in his memoirs than he'd been in reality, how money was very important in his decision about how and when to write his memoirs, and how Churchill so expertly merged political ambition with writing history.
   
   Reynolds goes into tiny detail in this volume, which gives his conclusions more authenticity and 'weight', but also tends to make it a tiny bit slow or sluggish. Maybe a couple of generalisations would've been preferable here and there.
   
   Also this level of detail really only comes to its full right if the reader already has a good basic understanding of the second world war and has read Churhills six volume memoirs.If the reader is familiar with these two things, then I my opinion, this volume is not only of great interest, it is essential.
   
   I give it 5 stars because it really is a new layer to be added to the Churchillian myth and the second world war and anyone interested in these subjects will find it most delightful. It dosen't serve as a stand alone work on Churchill and/or the war, but then again, a monograph of Churchills war memoirs cannot be taken out its rightful context and understood on its own.



2. John P. Bernat writes the following amazingly ignorant statement: "The first theme is that some complex financial machinations were done in order for Churchill to avoid payment of 90%+ in income taxes on the book's royalties. It's funny to read this; the ultra-patriotic Churchill puts Al Lay to shame with his capitalistic self-interest."
   
   How about human self-interest? The creativity by which Churchill was able to reduce (not avoid) such punitive taxation is one of the fascinating parts of this superb work of history by David Reynolds. Why would anyone in his right mind labor for thousands of hours only to have the government confiscate all but less than 10% of the value of his labor? If Churchill had wanted to avoid all tax he could have done what many wealthy Britons did (particularly some famous artists and entertainers) and leave Britain for a more tax-friendly environment; Churchill was more than willing to pay "his fair share" of taxes, but not that ridiculous rate. Indeed, Churchill quite understandably said he would not have written these invaluable volumes if all he would receive was "one shilling per pound." Mr. Bernat needs to read "Atlas Shrugged" or "The Fountainhead."
   
   (Or perhaps he should read a critical history of Britain during the post-war period, when the taxation and nationalization policies of Labor precluded the economic recovery that occurred in other countries--until Margaret Thatcher turned the country around and made it the economic powerhouse it is today. Indeed, even the Labor Party in Britain today has largely adopted Thatcher's free-market, moderate tax policies.)



3. This is a brilliant book! It is extremely well researched and written and tells a powerful and interesting story.
   
   "In Command of History" is the history of a series of books - Winston Churchill's monumental and authoritative "The Second World War", his six-volume narrative of Great Britain in World War II. "In Command of History" is also many other things, including a book about World War II, the Cold War,and Churchill himself.
   
   Perhaps the underlying theme of this book is that histories and memoirs written by politicians are not to be totally trusted for their aim is not historical accuracy, but rather to enhance the own political and military reputations and to vindicate their leadership.
   
   Author David Reynolds writes about Churchill with an honesty and insight that is refreshing, covering every aspect of the British leader and his work. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this book was the ability of Churchill to use classified documents that would not be available to historians for many years to come. Equally interesting are the many documents that were available but not used because they would have cast the author in an unfavorable light.
   
   Certainly one of the most contentious issues that Reynold addresses is Churchill's resistance to Operation Overlord, the Allied Cross Channel invasion of the France. After the war the British leader expended a great deal of energy to show that he supported the invasion, but Reynolds research reveals this is not totally true. Also of interest to this reader was Churchill's decision to plan for an attack on Soviet Russia in 1945, "Operation Unthinkable."
   
   As might be expected "The Second World War" highlights Churchill and Great Britain's many important contributions to the Allied victory in Europe.
   
   Despite Churchill's many shortcomings, Reynolds makes it clear the British leader remains one of the greatest political figures of World War II and history. "In death, as in life," writes the author, "Winston Churchill continues to glow. He remains in command of history."



4. Winston Churchill liked to say that history would be kind to him, as he intended to write it. In Command of History tells the story of how he did this. David Reynolds, a Cambridge professor, has made a close examination of how Churchill wrote The Second World War. In doing so, he shows how Churchill used the books to place his own war-time actions in the best possible light and to further his future political agenda. Reynolds has thus produced a fascinating story of Churchill the writer, Churchill the politician and Churchill the statesman. It is an absorbing account that illuminates an undiscovered corner of the Great Man's career.
   
   Reynolds shows that Churchill tried, and largely succeeded, in framing how history would view World War II. Indeed, by calling his history "The Second World War," he confirmed the name we would give to the conflict (recall that what we now know as "World War I" was originally called "The Great War.") Churchill "wrote" his account mostly while he was the leader of the Conservative opposition in the post-war Labor government of Clement Atlee. Churchill structured his six volume work, written between 1946 and 1954, and released in seriatim, to emphasize the elements of the conflict that he deemed most significant and in which he played the central role. Thus, Volume 1, "The Gathering Storm," was written to drive home the lesson of the failure of appeasement. "The Finest Hour" emphasizes the bravery of the British people at their darkest hour, when they turned to Churchill as Prime Minister in May 1940. By contrast, there is astonishing little about what in retrospect was the main field of combat: The Eastern Front, pitting Russia against Germany.
   
   Reynolds shows that Churchill also had a distinct agenda:
   
   * He painted himself as the chief opponent of appeasement. Reynolds notes, however, that Churchill was hard on Hitler's Germany but softer on Mussolini's Italy (Anthony Eden saw through Mussolini and resigned from Chamberlain's Cabinet because of appeasement towards Italy, not Germany.)
   
   * In Britain's "Finest Hour," he sought to perpetuate the myth of a British government united against any peace with Hitler. He deliberate falsified his account of Cabinet meetings in which Foreign Minister Lord Halifax sought to open negotiations with Hitler, the story of which has only emerged over time (most notably in John Lukacs' Five Days in London: May 1940.)
   
   * He emphasized Britain's close cooperation with America, in part because when he was writing Britain needed America's financial and military support after the war. In doing so, he underplayed friction within the military high command, especially between Gen. Eisenhower and Field Marshall Montgomery. He blunted his opposition to Operation Overlord, the Normandy invasion, by selective editing of published documents and misleading innuendo. He feared bloodshed on the order of World War I and only reluctantly faced up to the need for a cross-channel invasion.
   
   * He tried to appear far-sighted in his fears of a Soviet-dominated post-war Europe. Certainly he was better than Roosevelt in this regard, but he was willing to do deals with Stalin where he could, as when he and Stalin divided up Eastern Europe on a scrap of paper in October 1944.
   
   * He emphasized the importance of the war time conferences, such as Cairo and Tehran, because he liked "Big Man Diplomacy" (what we now call summitry). During the Cold War, he believed that he could reach a rapprochement with the Russians in part by the force of his personality.
   
   Reynolds shows how Churchill shaped his history to make it serve both his historical and political purposes. His historical purposes were to magnify his role in events (not hard to do,) and to look omniscient on strategic issues (a much more difficult task) while furthering his political purposes (to return to power in Britain and retain his influence with America.) He won the cooperation of the British government doing this (a central role being played by the Cabinet Secretary, Norman Brook,) as gradually the government saw Churchill's memoirs become Britain's "official history" of WWII.
   
   Did Churchill, at advanced age and as leader of the Conservative Party or Prime Minister, actually write the book? Churchill was, after all, a professional writer. He had written a monumental history of World War I (Arthur Balfour is said to have remarked, "Winston has written a great book about himself and called it The World Crisis.") Churchill had his war-time memos and letters bound monthly. These provided the "backbone" of his history. Churchill employed a team of writer/editors, including academics and former military officers, to put these into shape, research ancillary topics, and in many cases to write first drafts of chapters. The "Syndicate" was enormously productive, accomplishing this task faster than any single writer could hope to do it. (Reynolds notes that Eden had no such assistance and that his memoirs, appearing years later, were a mere historical footnote.) Still, Churchill gave the book his close editing attention and wrote crucial sections on his war time meetings with Roosevelt, Stalin and DeGaulle. One of the Syndicate was later asked about authorship of the series. He replied that a master chef is not expected to chop the lettuce. Churchill won the Nobel Prize for Literature; he was disappointed, he wanted the Nobel Prize for Peace.
   
   Did Churchill get it right?
   
   Revisionists (e.g., Charmley) argue that Churchill sold out Britain to the U.S. and that Britain should have arrested its decline through a negotiated peace with Germany. Can one really take this argument seriously? Hitler was a monster and any negotiated peace with him would have been a monstrosity. I believe Churchill's history lesson against appeasement has stood the test of time. No effort has been successful, in my view, to restore the tattered reputations of the Prime Ministers who preceded him, Baldwin and Chamberlain. No sensible historian has ever explained how a negotiated peace with Hitler would have been in Britain's, let alone Western Civilization's, interests.
   
   Churchill succeeded in making the Mediterranean a major theatre of operations and in trying to use Italy as a springboard to operations in the Balkans and Eastern Europe. Certainly his efforts in this direction are problematic. General Marshall was right in insisting on a direct cross-channel invasion at Normandy. Churchill's history, as previously noted, creates a bit of a mirage here, and doesn't tell the full story of the Anglo-American disharmony over planning Overlord.
   
   Lastly, by emphasizing operations on the Western Front, Churchill fails to credit the Russians. Far more divisions were employed by Hitler against Russia than against the British, Canadians and Americans. Stalingrad gets only a few paragraphs and other major battles, such as Kursk, receive only a summary treatment. A fairer view of the European theatre of operations would give much more weight to the Eastern front than Churchill chose to.
   
   Reynolds is a sparkling writer (he refers to Churchill's "iron whim") and this is a first-rate book. Churchill fans, of whom I am one, will devour it, but those not familiar with the broad outlines of the war (or Churchill) may find the going tougher. At the end, Churchill appears to be much more calculating, deliberate and even devious than the popular image. (He refused to put word to paper until his tax advisers figured out how to avoid Britain's then-ruinous income tax.) But he pulled off a marvelous feat. He not only won the war (or at least, prevented it from being lost,) but won the minds of future readers by shaping our view of the war. Our admiration grows.



5. This is an intereting book, full of things I did not know about Churchill and his long history of WWII.
   
   I admire Churchill, and always will. Reynolds' book proves he was human.
   
   There are many aspects of the Churchill WWII history I had not realized. Among them are:
   
   1) He did not write it all himself. Many sections were written by others.
   
   2) He could have been accused of plagarism by Samuel Elliot Morrison. Sections dealing with the war in the Pacific came straight from Morrison, and Morrison was nice enough to ask for an attribution. He could have made things ugly.
   
   3)Churchill used the books to burnish his image. Parts of letters and memos were deleated in writing the history. Churchill did not want the truth to emerge.
   
   4) Churchill used the history to blame others for mistakes he made. This is not a real surprise, and part of it went back to earlier disagreements.
   
   5) Lord Mountbatten was not the wonderful military leader the image makers created. In fact, he was behind the Dieppe fiasco, and his later leadership was of little relevance. But damn, he did look good in that white uniform, and those royal connections hardly hurt.
   
   6) Churchill used the books to help him regain political office. Hardly against the law for a politician.
   
   I did not come away from Reynolds' book thinking more of Churchill. But I don't think less of him. He was human, and was faced with a task which would boggle the average mind. Few people could have achieved the things he did. He was remarkable.
   
   I still think of his leadership, and his ability to inspire the British to hang on, fight on, and "never surrender." When one considers his overall achievement, his petty faults, and personal foibles don't matter all that much. God knows FDR had them as well. All leaders have them. Churchill's are easy to understand.
   
   At any rate, Reynolds wrote a book which is worth the time and effort. There are some hidden gems of information (Churchill felt that when life ended, it would be like "black velvet," or sinking into non-existence). There are facts about the war that are new, and interesting. Its a good book, and serves a purpose for fans of Churchill, or those interested in the writing of a huge history.

5 comments about A Criminal and An Irishman: The Inside Story of the Boston Mob - IRA Connection.

1. A Criminal and an Irishman is a terrific read, particularly for anyone interested in American connections to the defiance of British rule and oppression in Northern Ireland. Highly informative and entertaining, the novel also provides a great deal of excitement in its recounting of its anti-hero's adventures as a criminal and a gun runner for Irish freedom fighters. Pleasantly, it avoids glorifying crime, yet it does provide insight into why Pat Nee made the choices he did, as both a criminal and an Irishman. Further, it provides facts too often ignored in the US press about Britain's continuing atrocities against Nationalists and Catholics in Northern Ireland. Anyone who wants to know the truth about what goes on in that enemy-occupied country would do well to read this book.



2. This is the best book in its class. Nee is everything that Mac, Weeks, Shea aren't. He is truthful and honest. Nee's story puts it all into perspective and negates all the other fiction. Nee's story is the one that you want to hear about. Recounting the events of his life, that he remembers. The South Boston gang war chapter is outstanding, and the valhalla chapter is almost a "how to smuggle" for those of you interested. Nee's story is both moving and compelling, with his sentiment towards his brother and his belief in the IRA as opressed people. Nee's image of Whitey Bulger is outstanding. This is a definite good read. buy it.



3. This is a solidly wriiten book on criminal activity in Boston and arms smuggling to Ireland. The author pulls no punches about what he did and offers no apologies to the lifestyle he choose. You can either love or hate him but he seems to be a respectable guy from this book. The co-authors do a pretty good job putting his voice into a readable manner.



4. I had high hopes for this one, in light of the pros working with Nee. It just seemed to degenerate into a political polemic, however, about half way through; almost like two mini-books with stange pacing by the editor. Without trying to, I found myself mentally substituting "Al Qaeda" for IRA, trying unsuccessfully to differentiate in my mind why these guys were substantially different from middle eastern "freedom fighters". Left unexamined was the tragic way his family started him on his path in life, making him a really angry guy in general. Despite service in the USMC, he doesn't refer to himself as an American throughout most of the book. I really wish I could have liked this one more but I know plenty of guys like Nee who made better life choices.



5. You don't have to approve of the lifestyle choices of this thug to enjoy what is a great story. This is not really a morality tale per se although from the writer's warped perspective there is the redeeming aspect of the the whole in that Nee's passion was supporting the IRA terrorists by buying and shipping a huge magnitude of firearms for the "soldiers" to use to fight for their freedom. ( Great pains are taken to keep the arms dry so they are outfitted with plastic bags that the IRA soldiers store in the bogs ) A million dollars worth are shipped "free of charge" by the Boston irish patriots-I won't spoil all the fun for you readers. Whitey is only a supporting player in this particular shenanigans , but he does get artfully dissed which is a small pleasure... The bottom line is that all that honor and bravery aside,
   there was no small amount of criminal shake downs, thefts, and all sorts of nefarious doings that supported the criminals self and family , but then again- he never said he was a "good guy" !

1 comments about People: The Royals: Their Lives, Loves, and Secrets.

1. The contents, photos, stories, and glimpses of history, sorrow, celebration and transformation are beautifully portrayed in this full color high resolution magazine.
   
   [Side Note: I bought this when it first came out, and the front cover is different than the picture shown, but the title is the same.]
   
   The areas covered are: "A Century of Style - From Princess Diana's star power to Queen Rania's modern take on tradition, royals have shaped the world of fashion."
   
   "Jewels" - Just an incredible close up look at the jeweled crowns, jewelry worn, from brooches to bracelets, this is really a depiction that any jewelry lover would be glad to see.
   
   "Weddings" - from Lisa Halaby & King Hussein of Jordan, to Princess DIANA and Prince Charles, Letizia Ortiz & Felipe of Spain, Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah of Brunei & Sarah Salleh (the photo of the custom made gold Rolls Royce is quite a Kodak moment! Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III of Monaco adorn the pages as well as a beautiful look back in time to 1947 when Princess Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten. And there's more!
   
   "Behind the Palace Walls" - This takes you inside the castles with rare, true behind-the-scenes photos that are quite amazing.
   
   "Scandals" - There are plenty of them, and they are told in an unbiased manner.
   
   "At Play" - Ski holidays, yachting, polo matches, fun in the water - it shows the more regular human side to the royals.
   
   "The Next Generation" - this is a rare and especially splendid look inside the lives of the grown children: Exceptional photos of Prince's William and Harry, in-the-moment action shots (sports & hugs) along with their girlfriends. Princess Caroline's beautiful young adult children, Charlotte, Andrea, and Pierre - truly magnificent.
   
   The Editors of PEOPLE really did one OUTSTANDING job. This is a magazine/book that I will always treasure. Their collector editions are so well put together. I'm looking forward to receiving the new one Diana: Her Story, as Told Through the Pages of People when it comes out this July. Get this issue now, while you still can!

5 comments about To the Scaffold: The Life of Marie Antoinette.

1. I really enjoyed this book I bought it several years ago and it was my first introduction into the life of Marie. I have read it a couple of times now and I still just enjoy it.



2. I am always suspicious of biography that reads like it was historical fiction. Erickson's To the Scaffold is one of this breed. It reads well, particularly at the beginning, but I deeply disliked her narrating details as fact that could really only have been inferred from letters. A certain amount of that can be excused as atmosphere building. I am not too upset when she describes a historical person at a certain moment as pink with health, for instance. However, when she treats certain more controversial aspects of a historical figure as though it were fact instead of a disputed opinion, I get significantly more irritated (for instance, the supposed affair of Marie Antoinette). The way that Erickson uses detail and the unobtrusiveness of the historical sources lends her an unfair feeling of narrative omniscience.
   
   I suppose that there is a case to be made that this sort of text opens accessibility to those who would not normally read historical books. In my view, this is more a kind of dramatization than a real biography. It was satisfying enough to read for entertainment, but I found it wanting as historical text.



3. I generally enjoy good historical fiction but found this one dull and devoid of insight.



4. Marie Antoinette (1755-1793) was the daughter of the formidable queen Marie Theresa of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. In the eighteenth century
   nubile daughers were wed to fellow royals in distant lands. Antoinette was wed to the Dauphin Louis when she was only 14. The Austrian girl was now French having to get used to the rich and frivolous lifestyle of court life at Versailles.
   Her husband (the future Louis XVI) was a strange man. He was obese, loved to work on locks, hunt game and had no interest in sex. Due to a penis problem eventually corrected by his doctors the marriage was not consummated until seven years of wedded life had passed. Marie eventually had several children.
   Marie was fair and beautiful. She was no intellectual and indulged her delight in fancy gowns, jewelry and games. Marie even took a lover the Count Alex Fersten of Sweden who have served on the American side during the Revolutionary War. Fersten was devoted to Marie even as the monarchy collapsed in 1789.
   Marie and her family were taken prisoner following the storming of the Bastille beginning the French Revolution in 1789. Her husband Louis XVI was executed in January 1793 while Marie herself was exdcuted in October of that year.
   Erickson is a prolific author of royal biographies including those of Ann Boleyn,Elizabeth and Mary Tudor, Queen Victoria, Alexandria of Russia and Queen Victoria of Britain. She holds a Ph.D in history; writes with
   a novelist ability to tell a good story and has done her research.
   This is a popular biography dealing more with the social history of the age rather than politics. It is one of her best. I have a long shelf of Erickson books which I can recommend the person interested in good historical biography.



5. I never thought of Carolly Erickson as a first rate biographer, even though her "Bloody Mary" some years ago met with some critical acclaim. However, since her pulp novel "Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette" hit the shelves, I have lost all confidence in her as a historian. I read "To the Scaffold" and at first found it charming, with the loveliness of the young queen brought to life but then it descends into the same old cliche. The beautiful queen with the fat, indifferent husband who takes a lover out of boredom - this does not match with the information we are given about Marie-Antoinette in her letters to her mother and in the memoirs of those who knew her. Erickson chose sensationalism over facts. Anything to make a buck....

5 comments about The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of The Oxford English Dictionary.

1. There is a certain "Did you know..." factor about the "new" genre of creative nonfiction: we read it for both the informative componenet, and the fact that quite a bit of history is, well, interesting. Did you know, for example, that the main contributor to the Oxford English Dictionary was insane?
   
   Dr. W.C. Minor was an American soldier in the Civil War, who later moved to England, where he wound up shooting a man. He was placed in an asylum (not the greatest of places in those days), where he was given a few more perks than the other inmates, simply because he was non-violent (despite the reason for his incarceration) and intelligent. One day, he happened to come across an advertisement: Professor James Murray, along with an elite group of gentlemen, was creating the single-greatest compilation of the English language ever conceived. Minor, with nothing but time on his hands, decided to pitch in. Over ten-thousand words later, Minor was the single-greatest contributor to the single-greatest dictionary ever created.
   
   It is a compelling, surprising story, told in Winchester's usual novel-meets-nonfiction style. While I enjoy a good piece of creative nonfiction, I find myself time and time again returning to Winchester's work not necessarily because of the topic, but because I enjoy his style so much. (It just so happens he chooses interesting topics to write upon.) The "P.S." section of this book, as with the others, doesn't offer too much, though there is an intriguing little section: Winchester's favorite words from the OED. Still, you'll purchase "The Professor and the Madman" for the story itself--and it's a doozy. True, too. Funny, how facts can sometimes be more interesting--and harder to believe--than fiction.



2. Simon Winchester has come up with a nifty little tale of the making of the OED. It's a fun little gem from history, and worth the read. My only complaints are: the book would have been more interesting if he had included some pictures, and the tale itself is pretty small. The publisher makes up for this by using large type, double spaced, with wide paragraph separation. But it's still a footnote in history, and you can't hide that fact.



3. This book was simply marvelous, if you are into the story of the origins of the Oxford English Dictionary, this is a book that captures the makings and includes the story of two gentlemen who's lives inevitably come together in bizzare but wonderful order of circumstances, if you Love words and their origins, you will be astounded by this book!



4. Perhaps no where is that more in evidence, than in this story, the story of a man, Dr. Minor, confined to an insane asylum, becoming one of the leading contributors to the Oxford English Dictionary.
   
   His story, the story of Dr. Murray, editor of the OED, how they got together and how the dictionary was compiled and edited makes for fascinating, marvelous reading. An intriguing, fascinating story well told, well written. Surprises, twists and concerns every few pages.
   
   The book does deserve criticism for its sometimes long and laborous detail about putting the dictionary together, but as a story, the story of the two men, Murray and Minor, it is a worthwhile and fascinating read.
   
   Winchester tells the story well, with an eye for detail, then and now, and with an empathetic if not sympathetic perspective for the humanity and the odd twists and turns involved. Good read. Buy it. Read it.



5. It is an understatement to say that the main character of this book had an unfortunate life. Driven by madness, this man lost his career as a surgeon after committing murder. The story could have ended there, but Dr. W.C. Minor ended up making a major contribution to the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Although the story of Minor is sad, in a way this contribution offers some redemption. A story about the creation of a dictionary could very easily become dull and that was my expectation, but the author, Simon Winchester, brought the subject to life through the characters he writes about. His descriptions of the actual process of constructing the dictionary were weak, but fortunately this was not the main point of the story and so did not detract from it. Winchester has a talent for bringing this type of story to life as he demonstrated in The Map That Changed The World, a story about geologist William Smith. I am confident enough now in Winchester's ability that I look forward to reading his other book about the OED, The Meaning Of Everything. Overall, I enjoyed The Professor And The Madman and would recommend it to those readers who have a fondness for the English language.

1 comments about Winston Churchill: Soldier, Statesman, Artist.

1. Winston Churchill: Soldier, Statesman, Artist, is an outstanding, and easy to read book for young adults. It is very detailed and not hard to follow along. It basically describes the entire life of Winston Churchill starting even before he was born. It is an amazing book, yet does get dry at points.

5 comments about U2 by U2.

1. This is a great book to own if you are a U2 fan, and would like to know more about the members; their history, their past, present, and future...
   
   Fair warning! This book is the hardcover version, and it's very heavy & bulky... I bought this book to take on the bus with me to read, but there's NO WAY I'm gonna try to haul this giant heavy book with me!!!
   
   But other than that, excellent book!



2. As a certified U2-phile, it was pre-ordained that I would own and read this book as I have done with much of the other biographical work in book and magazine form. This tops the lot.
   
   Repeatedly asking any person to share the details of their lives can result in tedium for the subject, the asker, and the reader. In fact, I have for the most part given up reading more than one interview from a certain period of time (tour, album release, etc.) as all of the questions seem to be the same, and all of the answers likewise. Even with Bono who seems determined to reinvent the U2 epic with each word that leaves his mouth can mire in a rut of propaganda as various interviewers vary only tone and inflection on the same questions in hopes of mining a previously unheard gem.
   
   This book seems to find new ground by simply allowing the band to find its own points of emphasis. As the members of U2 retrace the careers from a mature point of view, the stories actually become grander and more engaging. Either they have become so much more adept at political messaging and spot-on branding, or they have relaxed and become more human. Rather than reading like the typical fan-zine pop fiction that seeks to feed the mythology through the trite and true tools of music journalism which boil the characters down to one dimension, the book and pictures read like a complete memoir. Rather than focusing only on the radio-worn greatest hits of U2 history, the reader is treated to a rich catalog of human experience.
   
   It might have been the perspective of mature distance from their youth. Perhaps, they have been up with the sun and back. Whatever the reason, at last we are finally able to see them as the four youngsters from Dublin who made it work and turned into the world's greatest rock band while staying human.



3. I am a U2 fan, but by no means am obsessed (trust me, I have friends who do fit that description). This book has become one of my favorites to just flip open and read and enjoy. Its passages are simultaneously humorous and sagacious. That is saying nothing of the artful layout, design and photography of the volume. You won't be disappointed.



4. My husband and I are big U2 fans. We both are really enjoying this book. It has an intimate feel to it. The pictures are great, too. It makes a nice coffee table book, too.



5. For any U2 fan, this is the real thing.
   From their early years up until 2005, the band share every single moment, plus a collection of pictures that complement very nicely the entire book.
   100% recomended.

1 comments about The Lady Penelope: The Lost Tale of Love and Politics in the Court of Elizabeth I.

1. I'm at the time in my life that I want to just read for pleasure. I have all the facts that my brain can handle. Expecially facts about the Tudors, since I've been obsessed with them for many years. So I looked forward to getting this book because I thought it was going to be another interesting read. But I quickly got bogged down because this is not the entertaining book I was expecting. For one thing Penelope is only mentioned in her relationships with other people. I was hoping to read about her own life, but there were just tidbits inserted here and there, while there was loads of information about her relatives. She was related to everybody at Court, cousin to Queen Elizabeth, so it was only occasionally that the book got around to her. This book should have been called "Various People Who Penelope was Related To." I was expecting a novel, and got a textbook.

3 comments about Queen Victoria (British History in Perspective).

1. When you think of Queen Victoria, sometimes you visulize a cold and distant monarch. This book looks into to life of a very young queen and how her impact influenced a 3 generations. It will help the reader understand the English family and monarchy. Paced well and very enjoyable. It will be time well spent. Donna Pitcock



2. Written by a Professor Emeritus of History of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Queen Victoria is an engaging expose of both the private and public life of the princess who inherited Britain's throne as a teenager and became the strong guiding figure and symbolic head of the largest empire in the world. Drawing upon past studies and research as well as Victoria's own writings to illuminate her not only as a ruler, but as a human being gripped by concerns ranging from gender roles and religion to political machinations and the state of Ireland. An excellently researched and presented portrayal of one of the strongest and most influential women of history.



3. Queen Victoria has more biographies written about her than any woman born after 1800. This biography takes note of the work done in the past and tries to fill in where the author thinks previous works have been lacking. She is a paradoxical monarch who is largely misunderstood. Becoming Queen in 1837 at the tender age of 18, her 64 year reign would span one of the greatest periods of cultural evolution in history. Europe was also unusually peaceful during this period. A shrewed politian, Victoria was the last British monarch to wield great authority. To help explain the "Victorian" zietgiest, a large portion is devoted to the relationship between Victoria and her Husband, Prince Albert. This book's greatest weakness is it's greatest asset: it is short (many other biographies are published in large volumes). At the expence of the druging details of history, he provides a biography that is both interesting and manageable. In the author's own words, he aims to "whet the readers appitite for more and to alert that same reader to the books and articles in which additional historical nourishment may be found." (p.13) A great book, an easy read; 4.5 out of 5 stars.

5 comments about A Long Way from Tipperary: What a Former Monk Discovered in His Search for the Truth.

1. Once, a Lutheran pastor went up to an author (who's also an ex-monk who spent many hours in monastic choir and Latin chant) and asked, how could one have a personal relationship with God in prayer when all was set and programmed, all was ritual, formal, and liturgical?? This author later wrote in his memoirs,
   
   "I have never, ever, thought that Latin chant opposes personal prayer. It is simply personal prayer as part of a total community at prayer. It helps you to distinguish, in prayer, between human echo and divine response, between your own will set to sound and the divine will that allegedly transcends it. As a simple analogy: Does singing the national anthem communally enlarge or diminish personal and individual patriotism??"
   
   It's amazing how much you can learn from people who've been deemed outcasts, super-deviants and heretics from your community. I suspect there are Christians who wouldn't touch the works of John Dominic Crossan with a 10-foot pole.
   
   But after reading A Long Way From Tipperary: What A Former Irish Monk Discovered In His Search For The Truth, whilst I'm nowhere near agreeing with his views on the historical Jesus, I can identify with his struggles, his doubts, his pain (I can almost weep with him over the loss of his first wife).
   
   I see a man who needs the love of Jesus Christ, yet also one I can learn from tremendously (even N.T. Wright has celebrated Crossan's genius; see the opening remarks in his chapter on Crossan in Jesus & The Victory of God). If nothing else, Crossan's wit-filled prose brings literary delight which one finds rare in evangelical works. For example:
   
   "If, in fact, you want a parent metaphor for God, I think father is much more appropriate than mother. It is the mother who is publicly knowable, visibly provable, and legally certifiable. You do not need faith to know a mother. You need faith to know a father, because he is known only on the mother's word and sometimes not even then.?" (p.37)
   
   
   Whilst evangelicals rightly ought to warn the community of the problems in Crossan's writings, we would do well to humble ourselves and learn from our enemies? (wouldn't we want them to learn from us, too?). Try this sharp observation on the Catholic-Protestant schism:
   
   "It is the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, during which Catholicism and Protestantism forced each other into opposite extremes (faith or works, Bible or tradition, individual or community, real or symbolic, etc. or etc.)in that separation within Christianity, Catholicism lost any internal but loyal opposition, any sternly self-critical voice from within. In that separation, Protestantism lost anything to protest against save itself and has continued to fracture into every increasing diversity.?" (p.72, emphasis mine)
   
   Perhaps we need (or God has allowed? or predestined?? [grin]) writers like Crossan, the quintessential postmodern Biblical scholar, drawing his inspiration from, among others, the work of Jacques Derrida, to shake us into seeing our own problems, to look closer at our sacred cows.
   
   And one day Crossan was at a book-signing event, someone came up to him and said, "My pastor told me not to come here tonight because you are even to the left of Marcus Borg.? Crossan replied,
   
   "Give your pastor my best regards and tell him that is the good news. The bad news is that both Borg and me are to the right of Jesus. And worse still, if he will recall Psalm 110, Jesus is to the right of God."



2. Rather disappointed with this book. Bought it at the local Borders and found its prose rushed; was the copyeditor asleep? I found long stretches rather tedious, not enhanced by the author's strong ego, which lacks discernment about what the reader might find engaging and what s/he might not. I appreciate much of Crossan's work, such as In Search of Paul, and this one has many good paragraphs. But the whole work never quite seems to come together.



3. If you want Jesus to be what you need, avoid this book. If you want to learn about the historical Jesus, read Crossan. This book is more accessible than some of this others; but it presumes some familiarity with his other works which should, I think, come first. Then read this one by all means.



4. Before I read this memoir, the only other insight I had of Crossan was from "Excavating Jesus", a book he and Reed collaborated on. Many times I would pause during a particular chapter and ask "Why does Crossan think that?" and I found many of my answers in "A Long Way from Tipperary." This memoir describes how Crossan's upbringining contributed to his analysis of the historical Jesus. It is the genuinity and extreme honesty with which Crossan speaks that makes this memoir truly memorable. I especially liked the parts when Crossan would describe an event in his life and compare it to the life of Jesus and ask how it influenced his conclusions on Jesus- I would have liked to see more of this for it was truly insightful. I also woudl have liked to see more of discussion on his faith in God- he makes the point that he doenst use human logic to prove God's existence yet doenst really seem to describe how he arrived at his conclusion. Overall a great read into a fascinating mind.



5. Book Review
   A Long Way From Tipperary: A Memoir by John Dominic Crossan (2000)

   Dom Crossan, the world's leading expert and best-selling author on the historical Jesus, has written a witty, hearfelt and easy reading (about 200 pages - you can finish it in an afternoon) memoir of his remarkable life. From the Prologue:

   "This book is about a series of transitions, from Ireland to America, from priesthood to marriage, from monastery to university, and from academic scholar to public intellectual. It is especially about the transition from a very traditional Roman Catholic faith...to a self-conscious and self-critical Roman Catholic faith for the next [century]."

   Born in 1934 in County Kildare, Ireland to parents of modest means, he entered a monastery at sixteen and remained in the priesthood for some nineteen years, most of which was spent as a professor in seminary. After leaving the priesthood to get married, Crossan taught at DePaul University for nearly twenty years. His memoir is a charming recollection of the very different worlds along his life's journey - interspersed with reminiscences of how each episode shaped his thinking.

   Crossan, co-founder of the (in)famous Jesus Seminar, has been a public voice proclaiming the need for Christians to revitalize their tradition. Again from the Prologue:

   "After a decade of interviews in newspapers and magazines, discussions on radio and television, lectures in parishes and seminaries, colleges and universities, I now recognize a group...who claim a center of the road between secularism and fundamentalism. They are also dissatisfied, disappointed, or even disgusted with Classical Christianity and their denominational tradition...They do not want to invent or join a new age, but to reclaim and redeem an ancient one. They do not want to settle for a generic-brand religion, but to re-discover their own specific and particular roots. But they know now that these roots must be in a renewed Christianity that has purged itself of rationalism, fundamentalism, and literalism, whether of book, tradition, community, or leader. I did not set out to speak to those people, because I did not know they existed until about 80 percent of my mail told me they did."

   In the final pages of his memoir, he says:

   "In conclusion, this is what I have learned between Ireland and America, monastery and university, priesthood and marriage, scholarship and public discourse. I have learned that God is more radical than we can ever imagine, that a divine utopia on this earth is more subversive than we can ever accept..."

   John Dominic Crossan is a monumental figure in the reformation of the Christian tradition underway in the world today. A man of deep faith, profound intellect, and searing vision, this memoir provides a window into the humble origins and very human journey of a great modern sage. His dry Irish wit is ever present, his writing style is clear and conversational and you finish the book with the feeling that you now "know the man". That's what a memoir is all about.