5 comments about Diana : Story of a Princess.

1. 
   She was born into a wealthy aristocratic family, grew up in a privileged society, and at the young age of 20, married the Prince of Wales. Her magnetic personality and good looks attracted much attention from the media. She became an instant celebrity and a massive target for tabloid gossip. A few controversies surrounded her, but after her death in 1997, she became a public icon to many people.
   
   But what makes the story of Diana Spencer so special? Is it her rebellious attitude towards the "establishment"? Her committed volunteer work for various charities? Her tragic death in Paris? My answer is: all of the above... and then some. Yet, as the authors point out, Princess Diana played a significant role in society. Aside from being a pretty face who lived lavishly, she was also an admirable spokesperson for humanity, a philanthropist, and a loving mother to her children. At a time when most people (from all levels of society) feared having any contact with AIDS patients, Diana openly embraced them for the world to see, showing what compassion is all about. Such simple gestures had a profound impact on society, as many people began changing their opinions on AIDS patients.
   
   Diana's frequent visits to hospitals and shelter homes combined with her amicable personality easily made her a fan favorite. Her involvement with the Red Cross, and especially her efforts in bringing awareness about landmines, proved to be a huge success. However, Diana - just like everyone else - had her flaws; she had her good days and bad days. During bad days, according to the authors, she was insecure, emotionally unstable, sometimes manipulative, and often a jealous wife. The latter, was mostly due to her husband's affair with his "friend" Camilla Parker Bowles. Speaking of Charles, he too receives a fair amount of attention in this book. Diana's rollercoaster marriage to the prince is closely examined. The authors also write about Diana's own relationships and affairs with other men, most notably, her relationship with Dodi Al-Fayed.
   
   While it would be all too easy to for the authors to choose sides, they seem to be fairly neutral throughout the book. They stick to the facts and minimize any personal feelings they may have for Diana. Their treatment of the paparazzi also seems well balanced. They write about how reporters constantly chased the Princess and invaded her privacy by snapping pictures of her. However, they do not "bash" the media. As a matter of fact, many reporters are quoted in this book. The authors also explain how the media cold-heartedly "used" Diana to their advantage, and how Diana herself "used" the media to her advantage. It was an odd relationship. They also write about the paparazzi's role in her fatal car crash: are they to be blamed for it? Did they cross the line? What really happened on that night in Paris? This book will give you some answers.
   
   This is an insightful book, well-researched and balanced. If you want to know who Princess Diana was, this book will do just fine. I recommend it.



2. As autobiographies go this was a rather interesting effort. I must say the authors treated all sides fairly when addressing the various complex issued that made up this woman's world.
   
   This book opens with her childhood and stops on various parts of her life which helped to create the woman she later became. With care and compassion the life of this woman is explained--giving insight to a world few enter or understand. Not every situation puts Diana in a glowing position which is fair as she was at time tempestuous, sassy, sad, and manipulative. In any event this is an entertaining read regarding one of the world's most beloved people. This is truly a book worth reading.



3. I've read lots about Princess Diana. This book like so many others paints Diana as a shrew and Charles as a victim. What no one seems to care about is that Charles entered his marriage with a girlfriend on his arm. Camilla did not appear "sometime after the marriage broke down".
   Too many times before the wedding and on the honeymoon Charles failed to reassure Diana regarding his real relationship with Camilla.
   He never gave Camilla up.
   That alone accounts for 99% of the problems that faced the Wales.
   Another sour point in the book is the Tiggy situation. I thought royal nannies stayed in the background. But not Tiggy. Tiggy was everywhere to be seen. Most books support Tiggy as "great" and Diana is horrible. I'm confused as to the Christmas Party where Diana sidles up to Tiggy and whispers "sorry to here about the baby".
   Everyone(and I mean everyone in the whole room heard the whispered comment. That seems strange to me. Also I've had people "hit me between the eyes" with an off-the-wall statement like that. And all I say is "beg pardon".
   I don't have to be helped from the room nor consult a lawyer.
   Seems way over played to me.
   The authors seem to dismiss Diana's good deeds as play acting for good press.
   If you are a Diana fan. Look elsewhere for a book to read about the princess.



4. I have never read any of the Diana biographies ~~ but I happened to see a copy of this book on the clearance rack at a bookstore and thought, why not? I was mesmerized from the first page.
   
   I was 11 when Princess Diana exploded on the scene. I watched the wedding that day ~~ and sighed over the fairytale of it all. I was 27 when she died ~~ and watched her funeral. So maybe I wasn't as keen on Diana as some of the others were, but she was an icon of my youth.
   
   This book is a fair book describing her life before she married Charles and after her divorce. It showed a side to their marriage that brought understanding on their marriage (she was too young, I thought to be married into the Royal family, who I feel is removed from the realities of their country) and how it disintegrated into the public mess that I remember reading about in college. The authors took pains not to point fingers at either one of them in the blame for their marriage's failure ~~ they reminded us that their marriage is just like any other marriage ~~ set out with high hopes and expectations, only neither was equipped to deal with the other or how to fix their problems.
   
   Then reading about how Diana manipulated the media to her advantage as well as to the advantages of her causes ~~ shows a savvy business woman who does understand the consquences of good media coverages. It was an interesting read on that account.
   
   To paint Diana in a black and white picture is not fair to her because this woman, according to the authors, was a paradox. She showed many facets of her personality that kept her interesting to all that knew her, whether they liked her or not. She was portrayed as a caring mother, a compassionate charity worker, a high-strung wife, and so on. In my opinion, she's a refreshing change from the stiff-lipped royalty in England. This book shows her growing up in the 16 years of limelight and it's a fascinating read.
   
   2-1-05



5. Tireless humanitarian and inspirationally anti-establishment figure? Or beautiful but shallow woman who loved nothing more than a good photo-op and seeing her soap-operaish life grab headlines? Most of us lean heavily toward one of the above perspectives of Princess Diana. Unfortunately, it seems that books dealing with the late princess also tend to be written in this black-and-white way.

   Yet in "Diana: Story of a Princess," authors Craig and Clayton offer material that paints a refreshingly different portrait of Diana. It certainly isn't black-and-white; instead, it emphasizes the complex and elusive character of this eternally puzzling person.

   The biography begins with Diana's childhood, and although it may initially seem a slightly dry chronicle of Spencer family history and aristocratic titles, it quickly beomces much more compelling. It is obvious that the authors have put a tremendous amount of research into the book-this research translates into well-detailed account of every pivotal moment in her life. "Diana, Story of a Princess" is, if nothing else, a complete "life portrait" that Diana fans won't want to be without.

   In my mind, however, this bio is much more than a simple chronicle of events because of the widely varying views and accounts presented about the princess. Everyone knows how Diana was a victim of the Charles-Camilla relationship, but does anyone know the disadvantages Charles faced as he entered the marriage? We all have heard of what a selfless charity worker Diana was, but did we ever know of her supposedly "darker" side during this sort of work? This book explores both "sides" of these issues and others. Through facts, first-person accounts, and their own intelligent, interesting, and balanced commentary, the authors attempt not to trash Diana or transform her into a saint, but simply to raise and explore questions about her true character.

   Overall, this biography is certainly a success. It manages to be generally informative and intriguing-while avoiding the pitfalls of being too one-sided or sensational.

5 comments about In Her Sister's Shadow: An Intimate Biography of Lee Radziwill.

1. I found this book interesting if somewhat depressing. However, I still liked it. I feel that Lee Radziwell could have done so much more with her life. This was an objective study of a truly wasted life.



2. In terms of writing, this book is full of run-on sentences and obscure phrases such as "ran her homes like a seventeen-jewel Swiss clock." If one focused on the subject, one would find a bitter and disillusioned woman, whom I think is really more beautiful and more stylish than the late Jacqueline Onassis was. Sadly, someone who has gone from one professional disaster to another, as Lee Radziwill has, is not worth writing about. Here is a woman who never learned her lesson - that success comes with hard work. Diana DuBois shows that perhaps Lee was too conscious of who Jackie was that she could not pull herself together, even for her own ambitions' sake. One more catastrophe, as shown by the book, is Lee's relationship with her children, that her maternal love "came in spurts." Now, even in that regard, she does not measure up to her sister. I think, I would not have known who she was if she had not been Jackie's sister in the first place...but that does not mean she was not capable of carving a separate niche for herself. Lee Radziwill, as depicted in the book, is a portrait of what a woman envies (for being beautiful and stylish and elegant) and what a any human being would not want to be (still lost in the middle age)



3. If Lee Radziwell is ever referred to, it is usually in minor passages in Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis biographies; a minor character in the overblown legend of the Kennedy dynasty. Yet "In Her Sister's Shadow" offers a new view of Lee Radziwell and the parallels to her more famous sister.

   The book covers Lee Radziwell's three marriages, two children, and multiple careers ranging from an author to an interior decorator to an actress. It also covers the unspoken rivalry between her and Jacqueline Kennedy. Though Lee was often considered the prettier and more interesting of the two, her sister became an internationally beloved figure. Lee's quest for happiness, glamour and fame is the central focus of this biography.

   Upon finishing this book, it is easy to see parallels between Jackie and Lee: both married powerful men, both were reputed to be difficult to get along with, both thrived in glamour and fashionable circles. Yet Lee often seems to be the more interesting of the two, simply because she did not have the "Camelot" myth and the Kennedy aura paving her way. She stumbled and fell more often than Jackie, and her repeated attempts to pick herself up make her a more real and interesting person.

   The writing style is somewhat gossipy, though not as explicit as is usual in Kennedy-related biographies. When love affairs and marriages are referred to, the references are usually tasteful and discreet, except for the description of an obscene art exhibit made by Truman Capone. The photos are excellent, displaying Lee in a variety of places and settings and in the different stages of her life, as well as ones of her children and ex-husbands.

   Overall this is an intriguing read about an interesting woman who has been overshadowed for years by her sister. While readers may not truly like Lee when they are finished, it is difficult not to admire her.




4. lee may not have been as famous as her sister, jackie, but her life in ways was more fascinating than that of her sister. lee took risks, and lived life to its fullest, not really caring what others thought. i hope there are more book about her in the future, and i hope some she write her autobiography. excellent read.



5. As a rabid fan of these sisters I rushed to order this book the minute I heard it was available. I was never so dissapointed in a book. The pictures of Ms. Radziwell are all of the hazy, far off stare variety. Little or nothing of her famous sister. No new information here. I returned the book the same day I received it. Author strives so diligently to protect her privacy that she ends up telling nothing which is of any real interest.

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4 comments about Ambassador from Wall Street: The Story of Thomas W. Lamont, J.P. Morgan's Chief Executive.

1. This is a fresh and thoughtful review of an important period in American history with up-close portraits of some its most fascinating personalities--Charles Lindbergh and Lady Astor among others. LAURA and BILL RILEY



2. The Ambassador From Wall Street is a fasciating tale of one of the great financial leaders of the 20th Century. As a retired New York banker who started work in 1950 and who held some quite responsible positions, I found the book contained messages for bankers that are as true today as they were in the life of Mr. Lamont, particularly on how to avoid undue risk and how to manage the inevitable messes when they occur. The book seems to have been well researched by the arthor, a Grandson of the subject,and takes us through the many economic and financial developments of the first half of the twentieth century. Its scope allows the reader to have a broad view of the financial world, a useful benefit in this age of globalization. I particularly recommend the book to young students of finance. The lessons learned will enhance their careers.



3. Alethea W. Hawley's review offers an excellent summary of a well researched account of the life and impact of Mr. Thomas W. Lamont and his importance to the major economic and political powers of his era and why this account deserves a five star rating.



4. This biography of Thomas W. Lamont, J.P. Morgan's Chief Executive is a thoroughly researched account of the legendary financier during the first half of the twentieth century, when the powerful banking firm was at the pinnacle of international finance. The author, his grandson has written this lively biography based on his independent research and his personal collection of family papers and Thomas Lamont's letters.The reader will become acquainted with the economic and political history of the period, the many crucial world events that were transpiring, as well as a full roster of leaders such as Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Wilson and Hoover, who all sought advice from Lamont. Along with all of the above, the author portrays the luxurious lifestyle of his grandfather, such as commuting from his home to Wall Street by yacht. There are social vignettes such as a house party at Lady Astor's Cliveden, as well as a Lamont soiree during which a Federal judge broke the nose of Walter Lippman's charming wife. The reader is also given glimpses of such luminaries as Charles Lindbergh and H.G. Wells, who were among Thomas Lamont's close friends. John Kenneth Galbraith praised this volume and characterized it as "affectionate and well researched...We are in debt to Edward Lamont for this literate and thoroughly interesting biography." Book List and Publishers Weekly contributed highly enthusiastic reviews, and recommended it for those interested in history, banking and foreign affairs. Written in a brisk and informative style, Lamont interjects his wit at just the right places so as to present a very balanced, straight forward, and informative piece of work.

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