5 comments about Anastasia: The Lost Princess.

1. I borrowed this book from the local library. There is just no way Anna Anderson was NOT Anastasia!
   
   As far as so-called DNA evidence and some of her relatives saying she was impostor--well, money talks!



2. This book is one of the worst I've read about Anna Anderson. Unlike others, I don't believe she was a deliberate imposter-I think she truly believed she was the Grand Duchess.
   
   However, it's not Lovell's belief in her that bothers me-it's his outlandish following of every fantasy the poor woman had. He only fed into her delusions, and the book only made her story less credible. Lovell took advantage of a vulnerable, mentally ill woman, which I find absolutely disgusting.
   
   While Anderson has found to be an imposter, her story is pretty fascinating, and terribly sad. If you really wish for a good book on her account, I suggest Peter Kurth's instead.



3. I was a bit hesitant in deciding whether or not Anna Anderson was really Anastasiaor just another impostor. Yes, there was the DNA evidence, but I have always been a faith person and everything I'd read so far suggested she knew the things that only Anastasia would.
   
   After reading this book, however, I'm convinced that Anna Anderson was NOT Anastasia. Thank God. Her behavior was so embarrassing for her to be a Grand Duchess. I'm sure Anastasia was not a perfect saint, but I'm still sorry that her name has been marred by this delusional lady.



4. This book is both an indepth study into the Imperial Family as it is Anna Anderson. Lovell is of course like all authors baised, but he does a good job presenting evidence for Anna Anderson being Anastasia.
   
   This book came out before the DNA tests, and actually raises some questions that have not been answered by the DNA tests.
   
   Additionally the Fifth Daughter story, is only a theory, one which even Lovell did not claim was true or false, but rather bizarre.
   
   If your looking for a bibliography of other Romanov books to read on the subject, this book has it. It will also give you information that you never knew before.
   
   Additionally Lovell is Anna Anderson's official biographer.
   
   A Must read.



5. I found this book to be totally biased. Even before DNA the case that Anna Anderson was Anastasia was extremely weak. In the Dalldorf Asylum Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden said that she was neither Tatiana nor Anastasia. This is a big clue. She never said she was Anastasia. The idea that she was a member of the Imperial Family was placed in her head by a fellow patient at Dalldorf, Clara Peuthert.
   
   Anderson met her Aunt Princess Irene of Prussia under an assumed name. Neither recognized the other. Also Grand Duchess Olga did not recognize Anderson. Olga Alexandrovna would never be so callous as to reject her niece. Pierre Gilliard also said that she could not be Anastasia. Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone once shared a bath with Anastasia and said that the claimant wasn't Anastasia.
   
   Anderson disappeared on 12 August 1922 and reappeared on 15 August 1922. These were the same days on which Franziska Schanzkowska reappeared.
   
   Anastasia knew four languages: Russian, English, French and German. Anna Anderson only knew one: German. She never could speak Russian.
   
   The Author resorts to slander to criticize the claimant's opponents. Lovell claims that a prostitute identified Anna Anderson as Schanzkowska. Where is the proof? Who was the prostitute? No other books refer to a prostitute. Slanderous statements such as this do not belong in print.
   
   The suggestion that Nicholas and Alexandra had a fifth daughter is beneath contempt. This claim destroys Lowell's credibility for good. This claim is an affront to the memory of the Russian Royal family. Not even the most naïve, desperate or gullible conspiracy theorist could fall for this.
   
   The author seems to record everything uttered by Anna Anderson Manahan during her years of senility no matter how outlandish or farfetched.
   
   Substantial sections of the book bear little relation to reality, for example the King Kong rape story. Whilst watching a showing of the King Kong, Manahan leaves the theatre and then confides in Lovell that the entire family except Alexei were raped in front of each other. The King Kong story is extemely disturbing and despicable, and shows how gullible the author is. It is obvious that Anna Anderson Manahan herself sees how devoted Lovell is towards her and is deliberately making up stories for him.
   
   The author also misidentifies a photo that is really that of Anastasia's sister Marie's ear not Anastasia's ear.
   
   Lovell mocks the claimant's opponents and believes every single word of Anna's. There was nothing regal at all about Anderson's mannerisms or behaviour. There is no balance in this book.

No comments about Diana, A Cultural History: Gender, Race, Nation and the People's Princess.

3 comments about Queen Victoria's Descendants.

1. If you are wondering where Victoria's descendants are, this is the book for you. It is in two parts. The first part focuses on the families with many pictures from the author's own collection. The second part focuses on the genealogical information. The format is lucid and newcomers should have no trouble following the family lines. I highly recommend this book. It is a great addition to anyone's royal or historical library.



2. If all you want is names and dates, then _Burke's Guide to the Royal Family_ is a better, more detailed source. But if you want more juice, the slightly gossipy chapters of this book -- one chapter per family group -- are informative and well-illustrated, and filled with odd tidbits . . . such as the fact that Queen Margarethe of Denmark is an artist who has designed her country's Christmas seals and also illustrated an edition of _The Lord of the Rings._



3. Queen Victoria's Descendants lists every known descendant of the queen as of the date of writing. It's a good starting point for those interested in royal history and a valuable reference work for historians and royal genealogists, but it's also an eye-opener for those who think Victoria's descendants are all rich, idle jet-setters.

   I strongly recommend this book.

No comments about Prince A. M. Kurbsky's History of Ivan IV.

4 comments about Mrs. Keppel and Her Daughter.

1. Alice, Mrs.George Keppel, known in Court circles as "Little Mrs.George", was the mistress of Edward the 7th for many years, until his death. It's a well known story that Queen Alexandra sent for her to attend the death bed of her husband, but what I hadn't known before is that Edward had sent Alice a letter, years before, expressing his wish that she might be allowed to say goodbye in the event of his approaching death. She'd kept this letter which she sent to the Queen, virtually forcing her to accede to his wishes. With this same determination and strength, she proved herself to be the perfect mistress for Edward, always ready and willing to satisfy his appetites and, at the same time, using his influence to acquire enormous wealth and social prestige. At that time in the beginning of the 20th century, the position of Royal Mistress was still held to be a position of social esteem, providing, and this was a BIG proviso, that the affair was handled with absolute privacy and tact, and with no hint of scandal. Alice's daughter, Violet, whose parentage was uncertain, was another matter. In her teenage and early years, she conducted a violently passionate love affair with Vita Sackville-West which lasted for some years until her possessiveness proved too much for Vita. This book will be fascinating for history buffs as it gives a wonderful insight into the morals and mores of Edwardian times, which Violet found to be hypocritical but which allowed people who were often married for convenience and to propagate family lines, to live their lives with a semblance of normality. Violet was a supremely self absorbed woman and, like many of her class at that time, idle and self indulgent through a lack of purpose, except her own pleasure. I found it to be a marvellous read.



2. This is a terrific read. I couldn't put the book down. It doesn't have Violet Keppel Trefusis in the title but it is essentially about her and this is why I bought the book here on Amazon. It is the first book I read beyond Vita Sackville-West's own memoire of her relationship with Violet; this was published in Nigel Nicolson's 'Portrait of a Marriage' in 1973 - shortly after Violet's death in 1972. Like 'Portrait of a Marriage', the book only really comes (startlingly) alive when we get to the affair with Vita that was cut short to avoid public scandal. Violet was ostracised by English high society and would move to Paris in an unhappy marriage with Denys Trefusis to rebuild her life. The affair with Vita is the book's tour de force. The book draws from a wide range of references and Souhami's own valuable research which gives new insights. It includes excellent portraits of the main actors, Violet's extraordinary childhood, the hypocritical Edwardian values and conventions - exemplified by the pragmatic Alice Keppel- that Violet found so offensive. And, Violet and Vita's powerful, beloved, trust fund controlling mothers - Alice Keppel and Victoria Sackville.
   
   The book firmly sides with Violet and balances the negativity of the Nicolson view of Violet as a dangerous and even evil seductress. Souhami makes Violet's tragedy painfully palpable. Vita on the other hand is not treated sympathetically. There are two sides to every story and this is Souhami's defense of Violet.
   
   Souhami rushes through Violet's later life (in Paris and Florence) offering selected vignettes of Violet as a troubled, perhaps deluded woman who was 'unaware of the figure she cut'. She says 'Her messiness, her chaos, her constant painting of her face, seemed to signal inner distress.' How far Violet might have been damaged by the consequences of her relationship with Vita, her isolation and alienation (she was different in many ways and could not 'fit in'), and her sometimes violent marriage with Denys is unknown. Souhami provides no analysis but she provides information; readers have to make their own judgement.
   
   After the near public disaster of her failed relationship with Vita, it couldn't have been easy to 'be' Violet; her armoured bombastic,'camp' public personality purposely hid too much of the sensitivity of her true self. She would never put herself at emotional risk again. What was left was a too colourful, too strident, too clever (very well read and multi-lingual but not, being born in 1894, University educated), self-indulgent take me or leave me woman; she drew strong reactions. She regained the love of her mother. She lived in the sensation of the moment because it was too painful to look back. She played at romance but would never totally commit herself again. She was a talented writer but never fulfilled her potential. She was generous, witty, mischievous and fun-loving. She was fantastical and wrapped herself up in half truths. She was happiest, away from the strictures and demands of Parisian and Florentine high society, in the enclosed freedom of her tower at St. Loup with her intimate friends. Vita visited and felt very much that she was in a 'spiritual home'.
   
   Despite the different sadnesses that haunt this book, Souhami also has a good eye for comedy and the absurd and I laughed out loud on a few occasions. When I finished the book, I missed Violet and went on to find out more about her - some of which I reflect here. This is a compliment to Souhami as well as to Violet who I admire despite her flaws. Violet had a great sense of humour and an infectious joie de vivre, she was before her time and classless in many ways. Self analytical, she acknowledged her flaws and failures. She had a keen, sometimes scornful, ironic eye and a keen, sometimes scornful, sense of the irony of her own life. Vita would describe Violet as dangerous but worthy to her son Ben just before he was about to meet her; even Vita could be tongue tied when describing her! Some of the other reviews here are critical of Violet; I find her fascinating in a good way.
   
   This is the best record of Violet's life. I would recommend that it be read alongside 'Violet to Vita' (her letters) and her memoire 'Don't Look Around' from which the reader can judge for themselves the big gap between her early private and later public persona. 'Violet Trefusis' by Philippe Jullian and John Phillips, the Eve section of Vita Sackville-West's 'Challenge' and Violet's novels 'Broderie Anglaise' and 'Hunt the Slipper' are also valuable references. All are available on Amazon USA and UK at good prices.
   



3. Most of us are commoner, middle class and heterosexual. We don't give thought to other worlds until something strange happens--the murder of Versace or the death of Princess Diana. This book lifts up the rug on these two worlds and allows us to glimpse at something quite alien from our own. Beneath the upper crust of society there is a social dictum that allows the rich and the well-connected to be "doing it and excusing it" as long as it's done with discretion. Behind the facade of certain marriages are gay people in hiding--arranged marriages of convenience. It is a social hypocrisy that didn't start with the Edwardian era but it certainly continues through today. Billed as a double bio, this book is more the biography of Violet Trefusis, lesbian daughter of Alice Keppel, King Edward VII's mistress and the great-grandmother of Camilla Parker-Bowles. But to tell the story of Violet, one must understand Alice and the Edwardian social set. This story is a tour through strange worlds indeed, richly told with text from the letters and published works of the main characters. This is biography that gives you the pathos of real people. Diana Souhami tries to balance the scales by telling the story of the famous lesbian affair between Vita Sackville-West and Violet Trefusis from Violet's point of view. One feels sorry for Violet but also annoyed. How long does it take for Violet to accept that Vita isn't willing to commit to their relationship? Violet, the victim, is a self-deceiving at best, dense at worst. Violet hasn't inherited her mother's ability to make the best of whatever social situation she's in. That's the ultimate tragedy of it. The hypocrisy of society will be with us forever. Only the strong learn to use it to their advantage. It's a lesson we all learn, whatever our place in this world.



4. After having read this book, I can't stop thinking about it and pondering what makes us happy in life. The people in this story, constrained by the morals of their time, sought happiness through influence, fame, wealth, and sexual relationships with varying success. Today, although our society is more open and free, achieving happiness is still a challenging business. As I read about Violet Trefusis' unhappy life, I wondered how different it would have been had Vita Sackville-West eloped with her. What if their times had been more accepting of openly homosexual relationships. What if Violet had been able to live within the lie of her marriage. If this story had played out today, could it have ended with happiness for Violet. Are things so different for us today.

   Souhami's version of the affair between Violet and Vita leaves one feeling angry and annoyed at Vita. If Vita had been honest about their relationship, Violet may have learned to accept her life without the possiblity of a long term relationship with Vita. Violet may have healed emotionally and been able to get back on track in life. Instead, Souhamis portrays Violet as a victim and her life damaged by her unrequited passion for Vita. Vita held out false hopes to Violet by waffling and lying to Violet about their relationship, while actually having no intention of ever leaving her marriage. Vita was not very honest and if she had been a man, she would have been called a cad.

   I plan on re-reading A Portrait of a Marriage to see if Vita can change my mind. But my first reading of that book several years ago left me unconvinced and Souhamis has written an interesting and convincing portrait of Violet as the victim.

   I highly recommend this book. This is a story about human relationships - husband/wife, mother/daughter, lover/loved, not just the lesbian relationship between Violet and Vita. It is about how these people were able to resolve (or not) the many issues in their lives and the kind of happiness they achieved.

4 comments about Uncrowned King.

1. After seeing the A&E production of "Victoria and Albert," I was curious to know more about the lives of the said characters (I'm also a history major so that helps, too). I was browsing through my university's library to find this book on Prince Albert and I read it. I just finished reading it today and wow, this is a stellar book. It's so comprehensive that my mind almost exploded while reading it. There were some minor details that could've been left out, hence the four star rating. I plan to read more about Victoria and Albert in the future. So take my advice. Treat yourself to this wonderful book and put it in your personal library. I'll be sure to buy this book when I have the chance.



2. I questioned myself before i picked up this book in the library; brought up as a good Englishman, i already knew all i wanted or needed about the Prince Consort, and was unimpressed with it, nor did i care to learn any more. Now i see i was quite correct in my questioning, and i'm afraid i may have to change my long-held, and therefore cherished, beliefs about him. Darn intellectual honesty, anyway! Weintraub's Albert was a responsible, educated, thinking man, thrust into a situation both wonderful and intolerable (his marriage and lack of acceptance in England, respectively). Weintraub shows him as having enjoyed the one side and, through hard work and dedication, partially overcome the other. One is left to wonder, as Weintraub indeed does, what would the monarchy be today had Albert lived as long as Victoria. Surely there would be some differences. On the basis of this book, it is not fair to say (as a previous reviewer did) that Albert laid the foundation for the pax Britannica; he did, however, through his fecundity, insight into both politics and industry, and though a great deal of hard work, aid the shaping of Europe through the First World War. As i look back now, it is hard for me exactly to define just why i have disliked His Royal Highness; i suspect it has to do with his rather poor treatment of his eldest son, the Prince of Wales, which Weintraub does not gloss over, but implies was deserved; also the wreck Victoria made of her life after he died, which really can't be laid at his door; also, though i am probably of the last generation to instinctively feel nothng good can come from Germany, the man was a German (though not a Prussion, at least). Two hundred plus years of racial dislike are hard to overcome. I would not say that i have yet overcome them; Weintraub has helped me see with a clearer vision, though.



3. At a time when marriages of royals were political matches, and not romantic ones, this is a story of an insignificant German prince who is married to the very young, Queen of England. Victoria and Albert actually fall in love with each other. Unfortunately, physicians at the time did not know when human females ovulated, which resulted in the many children of Victoria and Albert. However, her numerous pregnancies allowed Albert to become a more integral part in the monarchy. He became King in all but name as Victoria retired to the "sidelines." His diligent, untiring work set the stage for the great Victorian Era and the Pax Britannia.



4. This book is a balanced account of Prince Albert's life - both in his public role as prince consort and as a husband and father. Albert often had to be content to work "behind the scenes" in order to accomplish his goals, and the author provides the details of both his success and his failures.

   It is a very enjoyable book. If you liked the author's earlier biography of Queen Victoria, you will like this book too.

5 comments about Counting My Chickens . . .: And Other Home Thoughts.

1. The Dorothy Sayers mystery novel fans out there will understand me-- the Duchess of Devonshire reminded me so much of Lord Peter Wimsey's mother, it was amazing. :) She is charming and utterly unconcerned about political correctness. This is a oollection of stories and thoughts from a woman raised in an earlier time. Lots of gems, well worth reading.



2. The Duchess has that touch of Mitford wit that can also be seen in Nancy & Jessica's writings. Filled with pithy observations about aspects of life in Britain and history, I was laughing out loud at her recountments of ancestral adventures (brothers sharing one hotel room with a dead body, everyone crying at the birth of another girl) and encounters with the general public ("Saw the duchess in the garden, she looked quite normal."; "That's the Dowager Duchess. It was taken the year she died.")



3. The Duchess of Devonshire is of course the youngest of the 6 Brilliant Mitford sisters born early in the twentieth century, and she is the only surviving one now. This book is really two things, a collection of her various writings and collection of her memories both of friends and of family.
   
   I got this at the same time as I bought her Chatsworth Cookbook, and I have to say I think the other was a better buy - maybe in food I find more relevance, but the anecdotes relating to food and people seemed more real and interesting. I don't think the Duchess is a naturally good writer. When talking about herself I found I was interested - she revealed things like her favourte books (including Beattrix Potters Ginger and Pickles) to her love of chickens and hwo they are looked after. I found the anecdotes about her friends and family less easy to read. It wasn't like she was name dropping - these people really were her friends and family - but I found the writing felt more stilted, more formal and less easy to read. Her various writings for papers have been reprinted in collection here and are of interest for their subject rather than for their eloquence.
   
   There have been better memoirs of the Mitford family, and better writing, but I have never seen a memoir of the latest Ducehss of Devonshire and given her acheivements and interests I think one is long overdue.
   
   Personally while this was 'nice' I would be more inclined to purchase the Chatsworth cookbook which has lots of nice stories in it and seems to flow better - but if you are a hardened Mitrodite then don't walk past this, it is enlightening and I really would like to know more about this youngest mitford's life.



4. Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire, shows to the world the emotional warmth and range of interests which have endeared her to her family and friends for over eighty years. Extolled by James Lees-Milne throughout his life, Debo, the people at Hatchards tell me, is their favorite author when it comes to book-signings. When I bought a copy of this book there the clerk remarked "Ah, the Duchess, bless her." And so she has been, and is, by all.



5. Counting My Chickens is a collection of newspaper and magazine columns by Deborah Freeman-Mitford Cavendish, the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire. "Debo" is the youngest and only surviving Mitford Girl, the fabulous daughters of Lord and Lady Redesdale who scandalized and delighted the British and the world from the 1930s onward.
   
   Although this is a very short book cut into many small, fairly unconnected segments, there is nevertheless much that charms. The celebrated Mitford wit,most clearly displayed by Debo's sisters Nancy and Jessica, is in evidence, particularly in the sections that deal with Debo's childhood and early adult years (she once traveled by train from Scotland with a goat, milking it in first class waiting rooms on the way.)
   
   Also in evidence is the extraordinariness of Debo's life as wife of a Duke and as chatelaine of one of England's great mansions, Chatsworth House. She casually drops names like Harold Macmillan and John Kennedy (both of whom were indirectly related to her husband) and at the same time records some of the merriments and aggravations that come with having your home on display to tourists several months each year. Occasionally Debo will drop a barbed comment or two on the silliness of some politicians and visitors, but for the most part she is soft spoken and accomodating.
   
   Few Duchesses have written or revealed much about their lives, so its nice that one has done so now, at a time when the House of Lords is being democratized and the aristocracy must seem more anachronistic than ever.

1 comments about William and Mary.

1. William and Mary is a fascinating look into two of the most unique of British monarchs. The only joint sovereigns in British history, William and Mary reigned togther from 1689 to 1693, when Mary died and William ruled alone until 1702. Van de Kiste's clear writing style and interesting anecdotes make the history come alive, and a series of carefully selected plates enliven the text. Overall a very good read into what most historians simply gloss over- the feelings and aspects of daily life of the period.

1 comments about The Duke of Alba.

1. A well-researched (and in truth I expected nothing less from this author) biography of the Iron Duke. Kamen does a great job in uncovering the Duke's life, ideas, views on faith, policies, people, behaviour; demonstrates his strengths as a "fabian" tactician and his weaknesses as Governor of the Spanish Netherlands; shows the results of Alba's policies in the Netherlands. Dealing with what the practical man of our times would call "facts and figures", Kamen recreates with great success the political situation in which Alba's ideology is constantly formed throughout his life. In all a must for those who are fascinated by Fernando de Toledo!
   
   As far as style is concerned, this book is an easy and pleasant read, professional and yet not too..."pompous", something the casual reader might find tiring sometimes. The notes are interesting, and limited as much as possible, while at the same time nothing is omitted. Some extra material is also handy (biographical notes on the closest relatives, family tree, etc).
   
   Enjoy!

2 comments about The Madness of Kings.

1. When I purchased The Madness of Kings by Green, I had hoped for an in-depth look at the symptoms of the apparent mental illnesses of certain royal persons from centuries past, highlighted in this book.
   
   What I was looking for were theories for diagnoses, using contempory knowledge, from the symptoms listed in historical diaries and writings from the timeperiods.
   
   Instead, I was disappointed, because it just seemed to me as though the author was saying "this one was schitzophrenic and that one was schitzophrenic, or maybe he or she was manic depressive, but no one really knows."
   
   Oh please. If one is going to write a book on such a fascinating subject, one should delve in whole heartedly and not be so irritatingly wishy-washy and noncommittal. It seemed that Green gave the same "surface" diagnosis for each individual highlighted.
   
   And if, as Green seems to say, mental illness can be caused by lack of affection in childhood, then most 16th, 17th, and 18th century adults would have suffered mental illness, because in those times, it was not common to show a great deal of attention and affection to children in general.
   
   Modern science points to many organic reasons why the brain is capable of malfunctioning. I would have liked to have seen this area at least somewhat explored in The Madness of Kings, and better explanations given.
   
   Of course one does not expect any diagnosis to be perfect, being as it would be relying on historical documents and not on any examination of a live patient. However, some of the symptoms about royalty from previous centuries are screaming that they could have had organic origins.
   
   The internet Wikipedia mentions just a few physical illnesses that mimic mental illness:
   
   Quote...."If the aetiology or physiology of a mental illness is discovered, it has to be reclassified. When the physiology of Parkinson's disease was discovered - that it was caused by progressive damage to the substantive nigra in the dopaminergic system - it became redefined as a degenerative neurological disease. Likewise many people were initially diagnosed with schizophrenia in the 1920s until it was discovered that their condition was the result of a virus, encephalitis lethargica."....Unquote.
   
   A much better book which deals with the subject of mental illness of past royalty is Purple Secret by Rohl, Warren, and Hunt.
   
   In Purple Secret, the authors explore the fascinating possiblity that many of the kings and queens from past centuries may have suffered from an inherited dysfunctional gene which causes porphyria. Certainly the symptoms seem to fit the diagnosis.
   
   Right or wrong, at least Purple Secret makes a careful and clinical attempt at specific possiblities. Furthermore, in centuries past, when first cousins married, it makes sense to believe that in-breeding merely perpetuated such dysfunctional genes.
   
   All in all, I feel that The Madness of Kings took the easy way out and simply wrote the most obvious, and never took the time to analyze individual symptoms. Instead, it is a book that never gets underneath the surface, never takes any risks, and as a result, is dull and uninformative.



2. I read this book,translated to portuguese, here in Brazil.This book has many informations and is a proof, that history is at least, so absurd as a fiction.
   The health's failures of famous such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy are exposed.Far more exposed are the mental problems of kings and communist tirants.In fact, if you read this book you will see, that history is a hospital and also a hospice.
   This book has some failures:
   1-Has many space to talk, about ancient mad kings.I think that mad communists, such as Mao Tse-Tung are far more importants as killers, than any ancient Rome king.
   2-This book simple forgets, that american presidents such as Woodrow Wilson and Warren Harding were famous eugenicists.This book exposes both as failured peoples, a correct description for both of them.To be an eugenicist was a pround condition at that time.We must remember that famous americans such as Orville and Wilbur Wright(Wright Brothers), Dr. Morris Fishbein(A.M.A.'s president and jew), Margaret Sanger, etc. were famous eugenicists.
   3-This book claims that famous marxists such as Lenin, Stalin and Hitler didn't had syphilis.This is wrong.They were all syphilitic and of course mad tirants.In fact, Lenin was killed by syphilis.The Hitler's doctor was a syphirologist.Stalin such as Mao Tse Tung, had syphilis.
   4-Space dedicated to islamic mad tirants and Mao Tse-Tung, in this book, is very small.
   Even with this failures, this book is easy and fun to read.