No comments about Thackeray (Large Print Edition).

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1 comments about In This We Are Native.

1. Sorry I didn't get the native thing. Ms. Smith is a Chicago transplant who likes to travel. I expected a personal Montana history. It's a readable memoir and travelogue loosely related to environmental issues, but it didn't hold together for me.

No comments about Great Aunt Lizzie (Reminiscence).

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5 comments about Camp.

1. This book provided insights about others' camping experiences. Thus I could compare it with my own camping experiences (mostly at BSA camps). It takes alot of courage to handle the rigors of camping, in my opinion.



2. Although the sleep-away camp that I went to was rather different than the one Michael Eisner attended and lovingly described in this book (the rustic Keewaydin located in Vermont), nevertheless, I definitely related to Eisner's remarks on how summer camp can simultaneously foster in children independence, interdependence and constructive competition. I liked the way the book jumped around from generation to generation, to show how the benefits of the camp experience are timeless. His ode to the camp owner (forever known to campers and staff as "Waboos") is quite touching, especially his depiction of present day, close to 90 year old, Waboos, who's almost blind. My enjoyment of the book was certainly enhanced because one of my favorite activities as a camper was canoeing, which is a cornerstone of Keewaydin. I'm very curious as to how the two boys known as Q and Pepe, who were able to attend the camp as a result of a charity that the author finacially supports, are doing these days.
   
   "Camp" is a charming little book, especially for someone like me who was also, to some extent, shaped by summer camp.



3. Eisner's descriptions of his experiences as a camper really hit home for me, I would recommend this book heartily. Coincidentally I also was a Beaverbod (attended Camp Beaverbrook) run by Amee and Niha and Mr Mahnke's Brother. The experience described in Eisner's book is much more "East Coast" than my own experience but still rings true if you ever went to summer camp. His descriptions of the aging Camp Director and the emotions he evokes are great. Good read!



4. Eisner's book is a wonderful reflection of his experiences over many summers at a prominent northeastern "sleepaway camp." Being a northern Californian, I was not exposed to this particular genre of camp experience, but my brothers and I were fortunate to attend a wonderfully similar enclave three hours north of us called Camp Beaverbrook, which featured most of the same experiences (save for the wonderful natural lakes) that Mr. Eisner recounts. Our camp directors, "Amee and Niha" (Bob and Marion Brown from Orinda, California) built the place by hand and created a wonderful place for young people ("Beaverbods," we called them) to grow up and learn to live with others. Mrs. Brown even wrote her own reflective book called "Past Tents," which is unfortunately out of print. If you enjoyed Mr. Eisner's book, you should also see the movie "Indian Summer," which never ceases to bring a tear to my eyes.



5. I went to camp too. Camp Hawthorne in Raymond, Maine. This book is the best and a worthwhile read for any parent with a kid at camp or any parent considering sending their kid to camp. It's likely even better for kids like me who went to camp because no matter what experience Eisner describes, the same memories come rushing back in all their fun and splendor. One of my camp friends always used to say he was going to write a book about camp called "Camp Camp." (A generic book he had in mind.) He always said no one would believe what great fun and experiences we had. He never wrote the book but I am extremely happy that Michael Eisner has. It is no samll wonder he has been so successful (say what you might about his last few difficult years - those years were difficult for anyone in business.) He actually came through them in good shape and there's a reason he did. Nothing is as tough as that first canoe trip that you lead. If you forget any one of a number of items it can turn three days into ten. Kudos to Eisner for writing about camp in all its splendor, honoring those who gave kids like us the time of our lives, and carrying on the tradition through generosity usually reserved for only the finest of America's institutions. He's got his heart and him money in the right place!

3 comments about Royal Service.

1. I recently found this book - in hardback - as I was going through some boxes of royal junk and miscellany. Upon re-reading it I had not realised how inconsequential it was - but I suppose Mr. Barry had to cash in on his job experiences in order to maintain the lifestyle to which he was not born and in which he got very comfortable, indeed.

   He needed a really good editor and/or proofreader because there are some real howlers in his text: "Duke of Argyle" for "Duke of Argyll", "Castle of May" for "Castle of Mey" (the late Queen Mother's northern Scottish residence), "the Earl of Spencer" for "the Earl Spencer", "Lord and Lady Spencer" for "the Earl and Countess of Spencer", "Lord Snowden" for "Lord Snowdon", and he keeps referring to some entity called the "Gold Coast" - I believe he means the "Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire) in Africa. This is not the complete list of his inadequacies as a royal diarist and passable writer.

   That being said, there is one telling photograph that is unattributed showing The Queen and her family on the Royal Yacht Britannia. In it, Her Majesty is wearing SLACKS! There was a recent controversy that when The Queen exited the hospital after surgery on her leg that said that this was only the second time she had been photographed in such garb. Apparently, all the pompous pundits forgot about THIS photograph. It made for good cocktail chatter for about two weeks and friends were amazed that I could dredge up proof of the factual errors of ALL of the newspapers and scandal rags.

   I feel the reviews by the two other readers were gushing and over-the-top - the book is only a tarted-up diary with some very occasional and all too infrequent insights. But the photos are interesting and of some archival use. Mr. Barry later succumbed to AIDS.

   Timothy Wingate, Canada




2. There is an old saying that goes 'No man is a hero to his valet'. That may
   or may not be the case, however Stephen Barry's innocuous memoir was written
   to reveal as little of the un-heroic side of the Prince of Wales as possible.
   The book suffers for the discretion of the author and In light of the
   revelations to come after this book was written, it does so needlessly.

   Serving Charles as his valet from 1970 to 1982, Barry was in a unique
   position to observe Royalty close-up. He makes the most of the opportunity
   and is willing to let a few (and only a few) tid-bits out of the bag. Did
   you know that the Prince is obsessed with making sure that his favorite brand
   of honey accompanies him wherever he travels? Or that the Prince prefers a
   sweater to central heating (A trait he shares with Queen Victoria)? These
   and many other startling revelations await the reader of "Royal Service: My
   Twelve Years as Valet to Prince Charles" Not surprisingly, one topic that

   permeates the book is Charles' desire for privacy. This was a desire that was
   often unheeded by the many people around him. Knowing this, one wonders why
   the book was written at all.

   Both the author and the Prince were born in 1948, thus after a few years
   training, as a footman Barry is the right man of the right age in the right
   place to become the valet to Charles. This relationship persists until
   shortly after his wedding to Diana. That proved to be a period during which
   many of the long-term servants of the household go on to new duties.
   Strongly and repeatedly denying any sort of a fight between himself and the
   Princess, Barry writes "Understandably she would not wish to have around
   herself and her husband those who had known him at earlier times when there
   were other girl friends".

   Primarily, the book is organized along topical lines. Travel with the
   Prince, Holidays with the Prince, the Prince and the other members of the
   family, The many girl friends of the Prince, and so on. There is also some
   material organized in a chronological fashion about the duties that Barry
   held in the palace prior to his work for Charles.

   Barry is the first to point out the dichotomy of the situation that he was
   in. He often saw more of his royal master that Charles' family or friends.
   And yet it was always from the perspective of the master/servant
   relationship. After all, "However kind and friendly they are, in the end
   they are Royal".

   Barry is quick to play up this relationship (going so far to point out that
   at least one portrait of the Prince is Charles' head and Barry's body wearing
   garter robes). However he often gives short shrift to the many other members
   of the team who worked with the Prince. While the Policemen who serve
   Charles often are mentioned in anecdotes it is only on occasion that we hear
   about the junior valet who also works with Barry to tend to the Prince. In
   fact the assistant is never mentioned by name!

   While the book hints at many things in the intimate female relationships the
   Prince has had Barry is quick to mention that Charles always handled his love
   interests with such discretion that Barry never found the Prince in bed with
   anyone! This comes after he repeatedly states how it was his duty to awaken
   Charles each morning at 7:50. This may or may not be so but in any event it
   belies the closeness that Barry seems to have felt.

   Time has not been good to this book. It abounds with many unintended
   ironies. Barry himself did not live to see all of them come to public light
   but here is a sample of some from the book:
   "People always seemed to die when we were at Balmoral. This complicated
   things for me, getting the Prince's wardrobe together"
   On Camilla --
   "For many years before he married, the gossip was that the Prince of Wales
   was strongly influenced in his choice of girl friends by two married women -
   Lady Tryon .... And Mrs. Camilla Parker Bowels, the wife of a cavalry officer.
   ....
   The Prince is simply not the type of man to dally with married women."
   "Mrs. Camilla Parker Bowles, is a hunting friend....and the friendship ... seems
   to have survived the marriage"
   On Diana -
   "she was a friendly and open young woman. The crew of the Britannia fell in
   love with her to a man"
   "She liked giggling and she loved eating sweets. She always got into the car
   with her Yorkie bars or bags of toffees. 'Have one Stephen,' she'd say. 'Go
   on.'
   'You'll get fat,' I used to warn her. But she undoubtedly burned up all those
   calories contending wit the pressures that were building up. "
   "The camera flashing in her face, the constant pestering finally got through.
   She burst into tears. ......
   The prince came back as soon as he could and comforted her, but it was easy
   to see that he was worried. Was she going to fail to cope with all that being
   Royal demands, right at the last minute, five days before the wedding? ... But
   the young lady is very resilient and she soon perked up again"




3. . . .by the former valet of the Prince of Wales. This is not a tattle-tale tell-all -- instead it is, especially for Americans, an intimate and heartwarming look into the mystique of the British Royal Family. Barry is discreet and complimentary throughout, while relating amusing anecdotes about the Royals as he moves through their lives as one of the principal servants to Prince Charles.

   An enjoyable read.

5 comments about A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America.

1. This is a well-written and actually funny book. The energy and joie de vivre of Franklin drove this book. You learn that Paris during the American Revolution was chaotic. Everyone was spying on everyone else. Its a miracle that Franklin got the financial support he needed. Paris loved Franklin and you can see why. I loved this book. In fact i gave my copy to a friend and had to buy a replacement.



2. A Great Imporovisation is the third leg of a triangle that has long been incomplete. Though several books on Ben Franklin's stay in Paris have been written, none see through the Parisian lens the way Schiff does. None have her flair for physical context and dipolomatic nuance that reflects in their style. Schiff's treatment of this important and even weighty subject may not please the most exacting historians, but it's the way history should be written. Dreary is as dreary does, and none of that will be found here.



3. Despite enjoying a lot of books from this genre, I found this book to be almost unreadable. The author is too intent on bowling you over with her writing to write clear and interesting prose.
   
   Here's an example:
   "The slippery stew which was a Paris thoroughfare accounted for the city's most singular danger. No man who had the means walked through the filth of the streets, and no man who had the means hired a driver with any respect for the individual who did."
   
   I think I understand what this means, but I'm not even sure I do. In any case, I think it is an arrogant exaggeration to make a statement like this. I guess she knew about every man in Paris.
   
   For what it is worth, I am in a book group and there seemed to be universal dislike of this book for similar reasons. I didn't attend, however, because I could not force myself to read past page 80.



4. This is a wonderful biography of Founding Father, diplomat, and inventor Benjamin Franklin!
   
   Author Stacy Schiff is a talented researcher and author who writes with a great deal of passion and humor. Her life of Franklin is filled with many, many interesting stories and individuals.
   
   Schiff emphasizes the important role played by the French in the American Revolution. They financed Washington and the Continental Army and sent no less than two fleets, some 50,000 French soldiers, tens of thousands of muskets, thousands of cannon and barrels of gunpower, tens of thousands of uniforms, and millions in hard currency to support American independence.
   
   Had it not been for French support, the war, which lasted seven years, would have ended quickly and with a British victory. But that same French involvement caused the French King to overextend his country financially, contributing to his downfall and the French revolution that followed.
   
   Franklin, who was lionized by the French when he arrived in Paris to assume his duties as the Ambassador to France, was instrumental in soliciting military and financial support for the war. Without him there would have been no French involvement and without the French no American independence.
   
   Unfortunately, like many of America's founding fathers, Franklin's greatest enemies were other Americans - small minded men, like John Adams - and especially the Continental Congress. He died without proper recognition of his important role in Paris.



5. In my British ignorance, I had led myself to believe that there was only one version of the life of Benjamin Franklin - that of the unique and unparalleled polymath and all-American hero, born in the British Empire but buried at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the great republic that he helped to create.
   
   But Stacy Schiff's extremely readable and obviously well-researched book that covers the period of Dr. Franklin's life when he was an envoy of the second Continental Congress to the Court of King Louis XVI of France also covers the controversy that surrounded this amateur ambassador, stirred most particularly by the brothers Arthur Lee and William Lee of Virginia and John Adams of Massachusetts, later to be the second President of The United States. The former seem to have been motivated by Southern superciliousness and arrogance, 'qualities' battered out of their kind in the later 'War for Southern Independence' by the descendants of the likes of the latter, possessors of their own special sort of sanctimonious superiority complexes.
   
   I can forgive the Lee family for almost anything, for one of my all-time American heroes is General Robert Edward Lee, but it is clear that his older relatives, Arthur and William, disgraced themselves, Virginia and their infant nation by their constant sniping at the one man who was winning over French opinion and, more importantly, attracting French cash and much, much more, for General Washington's army. As to Adams, his distaste for the venerable Dr. Franklin is sufficiently well-documented not to be doubted. The motive for this distaste can reasonably be attributed in part to his narrow and God-fearing New England background, especially when contrasted with Franklin's leading and learned role in enlightening America. The one was old Massachusetts, through and through, whilst the other early 'escaped' to Philadelphia.
   
   I don't suppose it suited some of his critics that Benjamin Franklin was a 'liberal,' not only in his personal and family life but also in his general tolerance of others and his enjoyment of the female attractions of the French Court and of Paris. Of course, they might just have been jealous of the old boy, who, well into his seventies, was getting away with what a twenty-year-old might not have dared to attempt.
   
   Not all were detractors of the good doctor: I was delighted to read - and will remember - the marvellous quote (which I hope is not apocryphal) of the Virginian who was to become the third President of The United States. Mr Jefferson, upon arriving at Versailles in May, 1785, is said to have been asked: "Is it you, Sir, who replaces Dr. Franklin?," to which another of my all-time American heroes replied: "No one can replace him, Sir; I am only his successor."
   
   But, for me, the most surprising portion of this book is its thorough cataloguing of the ingratitude of America and Americans towards Franklin and towards France, without whose financial sacrifices and physical support in the shape of armies and navies, the War of Independence was more likely to have gone the way of innumerable other local revolts. In the absence of French help and of the efforts of Franklin, King George III and his successors would likely have remained the supreme governors, based in London, of all of the squabbling colonies.
   
   Indeed, it seems that it was not until 1917 that the American Government realised - even if it did then - that a deep debt of gratitude was owed to France. By then, of course, Dr. Franklin and King Louis XVI were long dead, but the damage of unpaid debts had been done. France, her treasury depleted by the equivalent of the many billions of dollars spent in the name of America, was riven asunder by her own dreadful revolution that has coloured the judgements of world statesmen and French politics ever since. I well remember, back in the 1960s, when my wife and I first took our young children to visit the areas of northern France that had been fought over so many times in two great wars. We stopped off in a small and attractive village to buy a newspaper and all that was available was "L'Humanité," the Communist party's organ. Some sections of the left-leaning French peasantry still contrast sharply with my right-facing fellow peasants of rural England, a reflection of our different histories.
   
   By my British lights, perhaps Dr. Franklin should have done that which his contemporary critics claimed he was doing - fail. But succeed he did, and America and Americans, at least, can and should be grateful for that, to him and, of course, to France, as well as to her eminent foreign minister at the time of Franklin's vital assignment, the half-forgotten Comte de Vergennes.
   
   On balance, I believe that Benjamin Franklin deserves his place on the face of the $100 bill, and Stacy Schiff's first-rate and five-star book deserves to be read; and not only read, but marked, learned, and inwardly digested.

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