5 comments about A-Train: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman.

1. I had the opportunity to read this book. From the moment of the first word to the very last word, the book draws you in to read more. The graphic descriptions can take you to the other side of the world and stand next to the author on his travels. You know what it was like be black during the "Jim Crow" days on the trains in the south. Granted that my 25 years never saw the ugly side of America, his visual imagery is just so vivid that I seriously think they should dump "Scarlett Letter" and place this book on the reading lists of High School Students.



2. Charles Dryden's book forces people to see the trials and tribulations encountered by black servicemen and women during WWII. I was shocked to read about the different encounters with 'Jim Crow' that Dryden and his peers waded through during their service years. A must for anybody curious about WWII, the Tuskegee Airmen or about the fight for civil rights in America.



3. I meet Col. Dryden when he gave a talk about his experiences and his book. I then read the book a felt a tremendous respect for the author and all the Tuskeegee Airmen. Col. Dryden tells his personal story in a way that made me feel as though I was there with him the whole time. The challanges of blacks in America in his story left a powerful impact on me, the courage the author displayed is an insperation. A-Train is very well written and reads easily. It is an powerful story that left me feeling inadequate and ashamed to be white. I had the oportunity to meet Col. Dryden again and sought him out just to shake his hand again, knowing him from his book, it was hard to hide my emotions.



4. Every young African American boy should read this book. It is an inspiration.



5. I initially bought this book expecting it to be similar to the other slew of WWII books out there ( The ME-109 dove at me out of the sun with guns blazing...). Instead I got an honest account of a man who wanted to fly for his country and be treated with the same respect as any other pilot. Dryden's memories and descriptions of his voyage through training to be a pilot as well as the segregated and de-segregated Air Force are interesting and honest. Dryden't narrative is not the heart-pounding, can't-put-the-book down type but rather the story of a man who, faced with tremendous adversity from his own society and country, persevered. There is no bitterness in Dryden's story, and I put the book down tremendously impressed by his belief in himself, in his religion and his friend. It's a good book

5 comments about Chronicle of a Pharaoh: The Intimate Life of Amenhotep III.

1. Non-fiction biography with great color photographs on every single page; the book is worth it just for those. It is a well written biography of the father of Akenahaten. It is interesting to learn that he was dabbling in an interest in the "Aten" god cult prior to his son Akhenaten's obsession with it later on when he became sole ruler.
   I recently went to a museum show of objects sent from the British museum, interestingly the majority were objects found in the pages of this book! Unbelievable to see them in real life!! A great experience.



2. A very nice hard-cover book with wonderful full color plates and a wealth of information concerning his intimate life, not overly concentrating on his building projects but more on his personal life.



3. First of all, the design of the book is exquisite; it's a pleasure to leaf through this book, full of colorful high-quality illustrations. After reading it, however, I found the content a bit disappointing, most of it was re-hashing of the fairly well-known facts, although with a few interesting tidbits sprinkled throughout. This book would be great for someone with a passing interest in Ancient Egypt, it gives a good general overview of what life might have been like during the New Kingdom.



4. Chronicle of a Pharaoh is a readable in-depth look at pharaoh Amenhotep III, one of the three greatest kings of ancient Egypt. The layout is superb as it chronicles his life with a year-by-year format. Contains a generous amount of personal minutae, reinforced with pictures and plates on almost every page. Outstanding in all respects, this one is a keeper.



5. I agree with the first reviewer--it's amazing that Joann Fletcher has pieced together so much about Amenhotep and presents it in a way that conveys an actual life. The little details, like the name of his family cat, make this book tons of fun. An all-around beautiful book.

1 comments about Royal Sisters: Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret.

1. I adored this book! It was a gripping read, and I could not put it down! It was such a page turner that I lost many nights sleep just to finish this truly ADDICTING novel. Run, dont't walk, to your nearest bookstore and pick this treasure up as quick as you possibly can!

No comments about In Triumph's Wake: Royal Mothers, Tragic Daughters, and the Price They Paid for Glory.

1 comments about The Man Who Had Been King: The American Exile of Napoleon's Brother Joseph.

1. This is a first-rate biography that is an excellent follow-on to Stroud's book about Napoleon's nephew, Charles-Lucien Bonaparte (The Emperor of Nature). Stroud has been a biographer of natural historians (another was of Thomas Say, the first American naturalist), but this sojourn into the American exile of Napoleon's older brother Joseph, an aristocrat and former king of Naples and Spain, proves a good fit for her.
   
   One suspects Stroud was drawn to Joseph's story in part because he made his large estate in southern New Jersey into a vast private nature reserve, in which he enriched the natural stock by introducing species from his much-missed Europe, including hares and Osage orange trees. Stroud throws in amusing
   anecdotes about encounters with wildlife: Charles-Lucien, newly arrived from Italy, once gleefully leaps off his horse to grab a beautiful black-and-white creature scurrying along the ground -- only to get sprayed by a skunk.
   
   But Stroud doesn't dwell on the natural history but rather on the rich aristocratic life of Joseph in America, who built one of the country's finest art collections at the time. Stroud makes it clear that the degree to which Joseph influenced the advancement of high European culture in this country, which today reveals itself in great private and public art and library collections, magnificent gardens, and grand estates, was significant. His library, for one, had more volumes than the Library of Congress.
   
   Joseph, a sensitive sophisticate who seems to be the polar opposite of his willful, deeply egotistical younger brother, comes across as a highly likable fellow who is at once an expatriate playboy and a partisan utterly committed to restoring a Bonaparte to the throne of France. His exile in America, which lasts 17 years, makes for a good story, and Stroud tells it with verve, intelligence, and an easygoing yet authoritative style that should appeal to both lay and scholarly readers. I particularly enjoyed her sense of humor: there's one scene of Joseph confronting Napoleon in the bathtub about the Louisiana Purchase that should not be missed.

3 comments about Queen Victoria's Grandchildren.

1. This book provides a wonderful history of the grandchildren of Queen Victoria. As well as being detailed and interesting, this book is also rich in photos of the royal family. Through this book, the reader can gain clear insights into this fascinating family and their unique personalities and how their intermarriage linked all of the houses of Europe together. A helpful family tree is also included, and I liked the format of this book, the way it was divided into sections.



2. This book provides a wonderful history of the grandchildren of Queen Victoria. As well as being detailed and interesting, this book is also rich in photos of the royal family. Through this book, the reader can gain clear insights into this fascinating family and their unique personalities and how their intermarriage linked all of the houses of Europe together. A helpful family tree is also included, and I liked the format of this book, the way it was divided into sections.



3. "Queen Victoria's Grandchildren" is not particularly long-- about 130 pages-- but it is large-format (about 8 1/2 by 11 inches). It is a photographic tribute to Queen Victoria's grandchildren. It has been divided into sections, one section for each of the grandchildren. These vary in length from one page to five pages. Except for two grandchildren who died in very young infancy, at least one photograph-- usually more-- is included with each section. I've read a lot of books on Queen Victoria and her various offspring, and many of the photos are new even to me. There is a slight bias, of course, to the more-photographed grandchildren. (A lot of photographs of King George V, Queen Marie of Rumania, and Empress Alexandra of Russia, etc.) But two or three pictures are included of all of them, including the ever-elusive ones who died in childhood (except for the two babies). I especially enjoyed finding a picture of the ever-elusive Prince Frederick (Frittie) of Hesse.

   The text serves more as a synopsis of the person's life to provide background for the pictures; there are no real analyses or insights. The writing is usually very simplistic, but get this book for the pictures.

5 comments about The Queen: A Biography of Elizabeth II.

1. The Queen is an engima, she is very hard to understand indepth, she was raised to have that stiff British upper lip. This book is hella long, but very interesting, it gives some insight into this extraordinary woman. She may be fabulously wealthy and she may be given millions of pounds each year by her country, but she earns it, she takes her duty very seriously and nobody doubts that she loves Britian and her subjects. To an American, like me, the monarchy seems so anachronistic, I mean the idea of somebody being inherantly better than somebody else simply because of their blood line, it so alien to me, but if I did have to chose a monarch, I'd chose Elizabeth Windsor....as for one of the other reviews statement that the Queen squandered her power, early in her reign, is just plain wrong, she and her advisors understood what the British public would accept, she saved the monarchy, Christ, she is the most famous monarch in the world by far, she is one of the most famous faces on the globe and Helen Mirron is about to win a academy award protraying her, she is respected the world over..That is squardering her crown?



2. Her Majesty's immediate family, her mother, also Queen Elizabeth, later the Queen Mum, her father, King George VI, and her sister Margaret, were considered the "family of families" by the British public throughout King George VI's reign, particularly during the War years of 1939-1945. When Ben Pimlott wrote this book in 1996 the year of Her Majesty's 70th birthday, the Royal family's reputation was beseiged during a time when (British, I assume, anti-monarchical) republicanism was at its height and on the rise. However, during the first decades of Queen Elizabeth II's lengthy reign, the publics' feelings on the monarchy were unquestionably favorable which you'll understand by reading the book. Millions the world over watched Her Majesty's wedding, (when she was still a Princess), and later her coronation; for many people, it was the first time they had ever watched television. So Ben Pimlott writes in his Preface that his book "is a book about the Queen in people's heads, as well as at Buckingham Palace".
   
   Ben Pimlott was "absolutely a patriot", his wife declared to the press following his death at age 58, almost a year ago, (he died on April 10, 2004, the day before Easter), after a short travail with leukemia. "He wanted, and believed, that the world and Britain could be a better place and that Goldsmiths could be a better place, and that poor people ought to have a brilliant university." Stumbling on his obituaries, I've become enamored with his life's work, (although short), and impressed with how well he was thought of; so many people were saddened by his passing. He was Warden of Goldsmiths University of London at the time. He had attended Oxford University when Bill Clinton was then a student there for one year. Professor Ken O Morgan wrote of him in an obituary that "he was one of the most important historians ever of the British left". Poor Brit, he was born on the fourth of July!
   
   Ben Pimlott wrote two other biographies before The Queen, one about Hugh Dalton, another Labour leader who was Chancellor during WWII and also son of Queen Victoria's chaplain, and Harold Wilson, who was prime minister and also of the Labour party. He also edited and made available to the public Hugh Dalton's private diaries. He was somewhat apprehensive about writing this book, anticipating criticism from his colleagues.
   
   Her Majesty invited Ben Pimlott over to Windsor Castle while he was writing this book, but interestingly, the book's contents were not discussed; he was merely invited over, I assume, for tea and a nice chat. In writing this book, he interviewed several former prime ministers, Princess Margaret, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Runcie. He used The diaries of Jock Colville, Queen Elizabeth's and Churchill's private secretary for source material. The Telegraph noted that he wrote this book to "examine constitutional issues such as the royal prerogative, her relationships with her prime ministers and her role as Head of the Commonwealth. These were matters which had tended to become obscured by the scandals and the gossip which were increasingly the preoccupation of some sections of the media." In 2002, he gave a lecture on the monarchy at St. Paul's Cathedral. This past January at Goldsmiths, the Ben Pimlott building was dedicated.
   
   I write all the above about Ben Pimlott to suggest that this is the definitive biography of Her Majesty, the queen. It is a rather lengthy one about a rather lengthy reign. Ben Pimlott's treatment of her life is extremely thorough; the many chapters' headings are years. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Her Majesty's childhood; I also knew precious little about the majority of her life. She was one of King George V's favorite grandchildren. She did not have the typical childhood friends when she was little. She had her sister Margaret, of course, but of other childhood friends, she had mostly visitors. She and her sister were babysat on occasion of the U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain's, dubbed the "evil envoy" by the public, visit to her father the King by Rose Kennedy, the ambassador's wife. She was closest in age to Ted and Jean of this Kennedy clan. Other Americans became enamored with her, most notably Harry Truman. No telling how many hands she has shaken or people she has met the world over. My mother tells me that everyone has often commented that she is more beautiful in person, more beautiful than the best photos or portraits of her. A British aquaintance of mine who has met the Queen told me that "she's only 5 feet tall, you know", yet he is more than 6 feet tall, as Pimlott was, which accounts for his inaccuracy; she is actually 5'4".
   
   I had hoped to learn more about how the Sovereign's power has been diminished by, I assume, Parliament, and to understand more just how different America's structure of government is from the British system, but, again, that is subject material for other books. I had come to the conclusion in the 90's that the Queen should be taxed like everyone else, makes sense to Americans, yet King George V had always urged the Windsor family not to give in to these parliamentary demands, demands that, in the 90's had reached such a pitch and fervor, that the monarch, finally, acquiesced which Pimlott reveals. Another biographer of royalist sentiments is Kenneth Rose who wrote a book on King George V who Pimlott mentions now and then. When I read in Rose's book the chapter on Constitutional Monarchy, I was so shocked that I couldn't finish the chapter or the book, (it was actually a difficult, but substantive, chapter to read). Didn't we Americans get rid of the king to get the Constitution? How can there be a king and a constitution at the same time??? Anyway, the one thing that enamours me to the queen is that she studied constitutional issues, long before she ever ascended the throne. What a smart monarch! (I'm afraid I'm fast becoming a royalist, how unamerican of me!) Anyway, CHEERS, and GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!



3. ...lots of interesting, to-be-expected historical facts, dates, names, places, political intrigue, etc. (this is NOT a short book), but numerous anecdotes turned what could otherwise have been a dry historical narrative into a really enjoyable read---everyday life stories, palace gossip, and comical happenings of the Family Royal---examples: Queen Mary used to refer to granddaughter QE2 as "the little bambino"...and, though the death of Edward VIII was in no way a laughing matter, the description of how the Palace treated Wallis was really a scream.



4. This book goes into extreme depth of the life of the fifth longest reigning monarch in British history, Queen Elizabeth II. What she is like, what she must do as her position as the Queen, and what she stands for are a few of the questions that are answered in this biography by Ben Pimlott. Reading the book was an interesting and enjoyable experience that helps to understand the stresses of living life as a monarch.



5. With the Constitutionally-mandated reduction in the sovereign's power in the past hundred years, it's easy to see the Queen of England as a figurehead. A mascot, if you will, whose only powers are to be advised and to consent. A study of Ben Pimlott's nearly seven hundred pages will teach you why this has happened, particularly in the last nearly fifty years.

   The Queen: A Biography of Elizabeth II is something of an oddity in today's world--a study of the political power the monarch still holds and how that power has been wielded (or not) during the current reign. It's fascinating, and in a world filled with tawdry junk bios about the private lives of the Royal Family, this factual reference book is a gem.

   It's true the Queen commands less politically than any of her predecessors, but that's more her own fault than anyone else's. She appears to have CHOSEN, for some reason known only to her, to reign but not rule. Even her father, George VI, that most dutiful of monarchs, often made important decisions in critical situations---and no one questioned him because he was the King. His daughter has spent her reign, since 1952, playing it safe, never pushing the Constitutional line between Sovereign and Government. Because the line's never been pushed by the Queen, the Government has encroached ever more obviously onto what was once unquestionably the Monarch's territory.

   It would be difficult for the Queen to push back now; she's already given up too much. It will be nearly impossible for the next monarch (most likely Prince Charles) to recover lost ground; he will most likely be only a ceremonial king, in the manner of the Danes and Swedes. Elizabeth II has allowed herself, her decendants, and the British monarchy itself to become Constitutionally hemmed in, and it's doubtful they'll ever cut their way out.

   Pimlott explains all of this with several examples of laws passed since 1952, each limiting the sovereign's power a bit more. The Queen has, for whatever reason, not refused her signature to any of these laws though, technically, she still has that right.

   Elizabeth II: A Biography is well-written and exhaustively referenced. The many photographs included aren't the ones that always show up in biographies about the Royal Family; there are several I've never seen before. There are no anonymous sources to question; everyone is either well-known, or he/she is explained to the reader. This may be a better book for English readers than for Americans, since several of the matters discussed pertain only to the English, and Americans may be bored by the minutiae of individual British case law.

   Final decision: A tad dry, but the best examination of Elizabeth II's reign I've seen.

5 comments about A Royal Affair: George III and His Scandalous Siblings.

1. This is the first book I've read by Ms. Tillyard, but it won't be the last. She is an outstanding writer, and the tale she tells here is both novel and worthwhile. Despite having read a good deal about George III and his reign, including Christopher Hibbert's terrific biography, I nonetheless was relatively clueless about his troublesome siblings, especially the precocious and infinitely ambitious Caroline Matilda. Good story very well told.



2. 
   The book is at it's best when it develops the characters, be they the pricipals, their spouses, tutors, ambassadors, in-laws. Tillyard's description of the parental situation and upbringing of George III is an excellent prelude to his responses to his family's challenges.
   
   George III was true believer in the monarchial system. For him, it was an unchallenged law of nature: his brothers and sisters were his diplomatic pawns. Other generations of siblings had been more compliant. Other monarchs didn't face such a free press or such a powerful parliament. George, by his temperment and training, would and could never understand that the world had fundamentally changed.
   
   The story of Caroline Mathilde is both sad and exciting. Tucked away in Denmark at age 16, what was she to do? George's condescending letter and attitude provide no preparation for a normal monarchial role, let alone the one she's thrust into. It would only be human for her to seek companionship, mentorship and comfort.
   
   The princes, according to George, must also scarifice their lives for dynastic marriages. Having more say in their future, they respond in quite predictable ways. Their choices are complicated by not only their brother the King, but a society that has largely bought into the monrachial system.
   
   I held back a star, because many times details interferred with the flow
   (I think biographers who work with original material, are often disposed to include something in order to document/preserve it whether or not it is interesting to the reader or germain to the larger story) and that the US Revolution is treated separately and briefly at the end.



3. Stella Tillyard's latest effort brings to mind her magnificent earlier work Aristocrats. In A Royal Affair she moves from the nobility to the Royal Family itself, and has produced another fine, scholarly work which has more drama and interest than any novel.
   
   George III and his siblings were the children of Frederick, Prince of Wales and his wife Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. Frederick was despised by his parents King George II and Queen Caroline for no very good reason except that he was the next generation in line to the throne. Despite a lonely upbringing devoid of love and affection he appears here to have been a caring and fairly decent husband and father until his untimely death in 1751.
   
   Losing their father at an early age had an enormous impact on Fred's children. Raised in somewhat straitened and isolated circumstances by a mother who had few maternal feelings, they grew up with various quirks and personality problems which made their lives painful but fascinating to read about. George III, as the oldest son, tried to take on a paternal role even before he became King. His siblings not unnaturally rebelled at this and showed it in a variety of ways. His three brothers Edward Duke of York, Henry Duke of Cumberland, and William Duke of Gloucester caroused and whored their way around London, shocking society and the literate public and infuriating their older brother, who had become oppressively staid and inflexible in dealing with sins of the flesh. The two daughters who lived to adulthood made unhappy political marriages, especially the youngest Caroline Mathilda, who was married off at the age of 15 to the King of Denmark, a 16 year old who was already displaying signs of what today would be diagnosed as schizophrenia.
   
   Tillyard tells the stories of these royal siblings compassionately and well. As she does so she also provides some fascinating discussions of such varied subjects as Enlightenment philosophy and how it led to the development of a literate English public and a national press inclined to investigate and criticize the conduct of royalty, nobility, and politicians alike; the well-developed espionage networks in northern Europe and the Baltic; power politics between and within Britain, Denmark, Germany, and France; and, most importantly, the similarities between George III's troubles with his family and his problems with the American colonists.
   
   If after reading A Royal Affair you are eager for more about the House of Hanover, I recommend Tillyard's earlier work Aristocrats; Christopher Hibbert's George III: A Personal History; and Flora Fraser's Princesses and The Unruly Queen.



4. After reading Stella Tillyard's previous work, Aristocrats about the four Lennox sisters and their romances, I was hooked on this author's wit and style. Most of all it was her ability to look down deep into the hearts of her subjects and help the reader understand why someone would do what they did. Now Tillyard takes on another British family in A Royal Affair.
   
   This time, it's none other than the Hannoverian kings, who first took the British throne in 1714 after the death of Queen Anne. Having a tenuous descent from the Stuarts, they took to the English in a way, happy to have control of a growing empire, and a well-established military and navy, but perhaps not quite comfortable yet with a government that shared power with Parliment and where the monarch was an example and figurehead, and expected to defer as needed to the actual government. Compared to other monarchies in Europe, where the King's word was absolute, it was a very new system to adjust to. Sons who did not become the monarch would be expected to take on leadership roles in the army and navy, and daughters would become bargaining points in arranging treaties and making marriages with other royalties, leaving the homes they had known and doing as best they could in foreign lands.
   
   Unfortunately for King George II, he loathed his eldest son, Frederick, Prince of Wales, and the relationship was anything but good. Harried, and accused of trying to commit treason, Frederick turned to his wife, a German born princess for love and comfort, and their growing brood of children. There would eventually be eight children, the eldest son, George, would become George III, most famous for losing the American colonies and his madness. Two of the daughters, Augusta and Caroline Matilda, would survive childhood and marry into European dynasties. The other sons grew up without the seriousness of their elder brother, and all of the siblings would cause anguish for their brother and king, who after the deaths of their father and grandfather, viewed himself as both a brother and parent.
   
   While Tillyard touches a bit on the other siblings, it is on the youngest child, Caroline Mathilde that she focuses most of her attention. Only four months old after the early death of her father Frederick, Caroline grew up knowing that she would be married off to some prince or king, and watching her own mother's unhappiness and that of her elder sister, was no doubt a sobering influence on her own prospects. She was pretty and blonde, with the pale blue eyes and full mouth that ran her family, and figure that promised to be plump later on in life. At the age of fifteen she was married by proxy to the young king of Denmark, Christian VII. He was also a cousin, with Great Britain and Denmark having regularly suppling princesses to serve as queen consort in each others countries for a while. An etching survives of Caroline at the time, dressed in ermine and pearls, her eyes brimming and a look of misery on her face; she knew that it was unlikely that she would ever return to England, or see anyone in her family again.
   
   Unfortunately for Caroline, her husband was young and immature, and subject to fits of mania, and a strong sadomasochistic streak. Caroline managed to bear her husband a son and heir, and tried to make the best of a bad situation; she hated formality and ceremonial, and yearned for simplicity and more pastorial life. When a doctor came to consult for the king, Caroline found herself involved in intrigue, and a scandal erupted that rocked Europe.
   
   Struensee was ambitionous, much older than Caroline, and a man that Christian VII trusted. It became a sort of three-sided relationship, with Caroline acting more for the king when he was lost in his fits of violence, and turning ever more to Struensee for advice, which the good doctor was more than happy to give to her. Eventually, the relationship became much more intimate and personal, and when the scandal broke, Caroline had not only given birth to a child who was not the king's, but faced the very real possibility of exile, imprisonment or even execution.
   
   What happens next was a shocker. I was fascinated by this story of royalty gone wrong and especially one that I had never heard of before. It also shed light on George III's relationships with his own children, from the sons who gambled, were spendthrifts and married all sorts of the wrong women, and to his six daughters that he adored, but didn't want to marry. Could it be that his own observations on his sisters' and mother's fates influenced his decisions for his daughters' futures?
   
   Tillyard's writing is excellent, and the stories of these unfortunate royals makes for compelling reading. While the story does get a bit dry in the telling of it, the emotional pitch is high, and I found myself caring if anyone in these stories was going to have a happy ending. It's also a very personal tale of love and politics.
   
   Included in the text are two inserts of colour and black and white depictions of the main characters, and there is a map of Denmark, as well as two genelogical charts showing the links between the English and Danish royal families. Extensive notes, bibliography and index provide an opportunity for future research.



5. Stella Tillyard continues in her singular mode of enlightened gossip from the age of enlightenment that she has employed in previous histories. I was delighted a few years ago by her "Citizen Lord: The Life of Edward Fitzgerald, Irish Revolutionary," which gave a spirited biography of a real-life romantic figure. In "A Royal Affair," the era is a little earlier and the environs a bit more easterly. Once again, Tillyard has done her homework and cites heavily from original sources. Yes, it is gossip on a grand scale. But if it were just that, it would simply be People Magazine transposed by two-hundred and thirty-odd years. Instead, Tillyard brings the zeitgeist of London and Denmark to this readable book; moreover, she links the personal actions of the principals to the intellectual eddies brought forth by the French philosophes Rousseau, Voltaire, etc. Most interesting to me was her consideration of how budding aristocrats were educated. This linkage between grand ideas and real actions of large players on the European stage which welded both childcraft and statecraft renders this a winning book. The final chapter gives an interpretation of how George III's behavior in his family affairs may be mirrored in his actions to his rebelling colonies. I must re-read this section before I am convinced that it is not a tidy, but stretched, bow to wrap around an otherwise fine book.

1 comments about Philippe, Duc D'Orleans: Regent of France.

1. Knowing nothing about this historical personage or his period, I was pleasantly surprised with the intriguing, contradictory character of Philippe, the nephew of Louis XIV, and Regent for King Louis XV. The author relied heavily on primary sources to describe the Regent and his times, particularly on the letters of his mother (the second duchesse d'Orleans, Elizabeth Charlotte) and Saint Simon's writings. Since both famous writers were close to the Regent, there are lively sketches of Philippe. It is a balanced biography; the Regent's controversial personal life is addressed, too. The author establishes the background carefully, describing Louis XIV's overly long reign at its end; the old, rigid court at Versailles, the King's control of the nobility, the "liberal" movement towards Paris, the problems encountered by Louis XIV's grandson as the first Bourbon king of Spain, military and economic problems. Then, the Regency: politics and coup, social issues, and fiscal reforms. The author also presents cultural affairs (the arts) with great sensitivity. There is an excellent genealogy table and "cast of characters" preceding the text; also, a few pages of illustrations. This is an engrossing biography with useful"extras."

5 comments about The Last Knight: The Twilight of the Middle Ages and the Birth of the Modern Era.

1. An enjoyable read, using one of the most underrated characters of the middle ages as a lens into the time. While I don't always agree with Cantor's interpretations, he synthesizes the important bits for the lay reader. A very nice read, for those who want to spare many of the details and go straight to the big picture stuff.



2. While the book isn't quite as bad as other reviewers or the Amazon star-rating indicate, it's not what the publisher advertises it to be - a book on chivalry and John of Gaunt. Threads of these themes appear throughout, but the book comprises random thoughts and insights about upper class medieval life, occasionally with comparisons to other centuries in Europe and the U.S. It reads like a series of classroom lectures in introductory medieval history.
   
   To that end, it has more value than earlier reviewers give it. If you are new to medieval history, this book is as good a place to start as any for information on the class structure, political and social attitudes, and economics of the times. It is not, however, an examination - even on an introductory level - of John of Gaunt. The author's attempt to interweave information about this important historical figure fails.



3. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that publishers should be held legally liable merely for publishing poorly written, banal, politically correct, ahistorical drivel like this book. We rightly protect the freedoms of speech and of the press regarless of the intrinsic value of the speech. (Although I do wonder if Profesor Cantor is solely responsible for this garbage. Perhaps it was his awareness that, as his life was nearing its end, he was bequeathing to the reading public this mess, which led him to so pointedly acknowledge how his literary agent and editor had both "been very helpful in shaping the manuscript" ... which coincidentally represents their last payday from the bestselling author).
   
   As I say, that's not why the publisher should be sued. No, my contention that someone should sue the publisher is based on their own baldfaced false advertisement on the book cover.
   
   They claim that "Norman F. Cantor brings to life John of Gaunt..." He does nothing of the sort. In fact John of Gaunt is really nothing more in the book than a foil for the author's social musings on class and sexual mores and a rant about today's "billionaire capitalists."
   
   To really see where Cantor is heading, just go straight to his last chapter, "The End of the Middle Ages." Here he abandons all pretense to historical perspective or even to staying within shouting distance of his supposed topic. The chapter staggers from unfounded assertion to wild speculation to sweeping generalization to confident prediction of the future like a sawdust preacher haranguing a tentful of simpletons. The moderately informed reader will feel both insulted and somewhat embarrased for the author.
   
   Real scholarship of the past 20 years based on examining a wider body of evidence is dismissed as the faddish popularity of medieval catholicism among historians (p.221). But never fear, Cantor assures us "the truth of the older [Protestant/Whig] view cannot be denied and will slowly be reasserted." Hogwash.
   
   Possible examples can be multipled from almost any page of the book but, as brevity is the soul of wit, I fear I may already have gone on too long.
   
   If someone ever gets around to filing that lawsuit, sign me up for the plaintiff's list. I figure they owe me for the purchase price of the book as well as a litle something in compensation for the hours I spent reading it and waiting (in vain) for it to get less worse.



4. John of Gaunt and his brother Edward the Black Prince have intrigued me since I first took an English History course for my MA, so I purchased this book despite the negative reviews. While it contains at least something on each and their relationship, the book is really not very informative. In fact, you might intuit most of what the author says from just a little knowledge of the period, so general are the author's remarks.
   
   The book was written by a popular although somewhat controversial medieval historian, Norman F. Cantor, during his twilight years. His earlier works were lauded as accessible to the reading public and enjoyed considerable commercial popularity, but according to the Wickipedia entry, his original research was scant and often at variance with other historians, receiving mixed reviews in the journals.
   
   This book is almost sad. The professor died in September of 2004 at the age of 75, and the book was published that same year. One presumes that it was an attempt to recreate something of his earlier success with one last book. I have read other books written by professors at the end of their lives and have been far more impressed. It is a nice way of summarizing the knowledge of a lifetime career and leaving a legacy of what was known and contributed by the author up to that time. I have read a couple of books of this type, including The New Catastrophism: The Rare Event in Geological History by Derek Agar and Ancient Israel's Faith and History: An Introduction to the Bible in Context by George Mendenhall, both of which were quite good. Unfortunately The Last Knight does not stand up well to scrutiny.
   
   I'm not certain to whom I'd even recommend the volume; it is written almost at the level of the middle school student in style and approach, but the material jumps too much from topic to topic, despite the well organized chapter headings: Old Europe, The Great Families, Plantagenet England, Women, Warriors, Spain, The Church, Peasants, Politics, Chaucer, The End of the Middle Ages. They are well chosen topics, but the content is almost random. Each chapter seems to include a hodge-podge of what might easily have been quotes from lecture notes taken out of context but which seemed "too good to leave out." The result is a confusing mix of genealogy and gossipy generalizations.
   
   The author's parenthetical remarks make the book seem coy and dated and probably do more to reveal the author's issues (ie. Ivy league professors, anti-Semitism, etc.) than the period or individuals about whom he writes. Certainly the mention of "illicit sex," "promiscuous sex," and "homosexuality" while it might have been titillating, scandalous, rebellious or even progressive to the young college student in the morally transitional sixties, will seem banal and quaint to a young person today to whom the whole issue is a nonstarter. It reveals the remarkable degree to which Professor Cantor was out of touch with the young at the end of his life.
   
   Part of the problem may well be that the topic, while it is narrowed to the life of John of Gaunt, is really about the age of John of Gaunt. In the absence of any personal letters, the only facts about the man are general ones abstracted from legal and economic documents. To flesh out the book, the author relies upon what is known about other aristocrats of this period; and it's a long period. The author includes information from the reigns of kings as disparate as William of Normandy (1066) to Henry VII (about 1500). That takes in a lot of ground. One must presume that, except perhaps technologically, a lot of change occurred in social behaviors, just as they do now. In fact, even in technology things were changing at a break neck pace compared to the previous 500 years. One might point out that the intrigue, ambition, social interactions and tangled geneology of the time of John of Gaunt were what set up the country for the chaotic period of the War of the Roses which so inspired Shakespeare in his plays Henry IV and Richard III. In short, there is just too much to cover for a book of only 250 pages. More might have been done with a greater degree of focus and better editing.
   
   For those readers who desire a more complete introduction to the Middle Ages and despite the fact that it covers the period immediately preceding John of Gaunt, I would suggest England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings, 1075-1225 (New Oxford History of England) by Robert Bartlett. Although it is a very heavy and serious work, and may lose those interested in only a casual read, it covers the period more thoroughly and its documentation is without parallel. It will certainly set up the reader to more critically evaluate other books on the period for quality and content.
   
   
   The book suggests haste and an attempt to produce "one last book."



5. I bought this book knowing that it was an attempt at "popular history," and therefore I would never try to hold it to academic historical writing standards. However, even as an easy-reading book for entertainment, this work is horrible.
   
   
   1. First of all, this book is extremely repetitive. I imagine the author was paid by the word, because it is not uncommon to see the same piece of information re-introduced to you numerous times in the span of a few pages (let alone the ideas that were revisited in distant parts of the book). For an example, read pages 122-124.
   
   2. Secondly, the writing is very disorganized, despite the topic-centered chapters the author attempted. Mainly when he is repeating himself, the author will slip in "facts" or ideas that may seem to relate to the time period in general, but have no context within the surrounding paragraphs.
   
   3. Lastly, many of Cantor's claims go beyond "speculation" to the realm of "completely unfounded." One appalling example is on page 81, where the author writes, "if John of Gaunt had written to his mistress Catherine Swynford, it may have been along these lines," followed by a made-up letter. This comes 5 lines after Cantor has written that "not one personal letter" has survived from Gaunt. Clearly, this letter then has no basis even in Gaunt's other writing, and it is wholly unnecessary for the sake of the book.
   
   
   This book has been painful and insulting to read. Overall, there was very little substance. I do enjoy popular history very much, when it is done well, but even as a piece of writing, this particular piece of writing fails miserably. I would be mortified to have my name associated with writing this bad; both the writing and the research were at the level of a young high-schooler, in my opinion. In fact, I'm rather afraid that by purchasing this book, I've encouraged the publishing world to turn out more of this.
   
   
   If you want a general overview of the medieval England, I'd try The Making of England to 1399 by Hollister, Stacey and Stacey. It covers everything from King Alfred to Richard II, and is very readable.
   The Making of England to 1399 (History of England, vol. 1)