No comments about Edward and Alexandra: Their Private and Public Lives.

5 comments about Sisterhood of Spies: The Women of the OSS.

1. Wow! a blockbuster. Women have been used and perused for years. It is good to see that someone acknowledges that.



2. I love the premise of this book, and I admit that I learned a lot from reading it. It reveals a part of OSS history that is not often explored in detail. The contributions of women to the wartime efforts of the OSS are impressive.
   
   I did not find the book easy going, though. There is no narrative. It's a string of anecdotes, often told backwards or sideways. The author skips around from telling us where the woman was from to telling us where she lived after she retired, then throws in a bit about what she did in the war, then skips to her husband's story, then back to the war, then maybe back to her early schooling. The reader is left dangling when important bits of the wartime history are simply omitted. Some stories are told in a way that only a WWII OSS enthusiast could make any sense out of them.
   
   I wish it had been better. These women are fast disappearing, and their stories need to be told in a better, more compelling way.



3. This book was an easy read, with all the background into the beginnings of the OSS. I was amazed to find out what a large role women played in the OSS, was shocked actually. Some of the stories are pretty gripping knowing what kind of danger the people were in. If you love to find out little known history this book is for you.



4. This wonderful books reveals a side to the spy wtory that is at best undertold. The women who cracked codes, recruited contacts and worked undercover are an important part of our history. Their secret, hidden but heroric actions shows the skill and bravery with shich they undertook they assignments. Great reading and important lessons.



5. Well written, with both serious and funny anecdotes about WWII. It's nice to see women's contributions so well documented. Brings home the fact that the war could not have been won without the help of the "invisible women" behind the scenes who filed the papers, answered the phones, typed up reports, etc. Not to mention the women who were spying behind enemy lines and thinking up propaganda strategies. It reminds us that women also willingly died for our country during WWII. For anyone who wants to learn more about the intelligent and courageous women of the O.S.S., I highly recommend this book.

4 comments about A King's Story - The Memoirs of the Duke of Windsor.

1. This is a very good story, and well told, even if ghost written.
   
   Oddly, it casts the Duke of Windsor in a poor light, and indicates why, quite apart from the marriage question, he was a bad King. Who can read without wincing his account of how he abruptly cut short the presentations of debutantes to him at Buckingham Palace because it started to rain? This was the high point of perfectly harmless society ladies' lives, and he not only walked out in the middle, but caustically observes that he cannot understand why anyone was upset.
   
   And then there is the peculiar passage where he says that he worked out that it would take nearly a month for bodies like the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and others, to present their loyal addresses, so he insisted on them all being done in one day, in one batch, because he could not be bothered to respond to all of them individually. Yet this was his job as a constitutional monarch!
   
   A welcome feature of the book is that it stops at the moment of abdication. Although this means that he doesn't have to explain his conduct during the lead up to the war, and during the war (which is, however, documented in the Duchess of Windsor's memoirs), it does focus the book almost entirely on his upbringing as a Prince, and on the abdication, which are the most interesting things about him.
   
   Well worth reading.



2. It is quite a sad testament to our times that there are very few true gentlemen left these days. Civility is indeed going the way of the do-do bird, and the days of gents like David Nivens, Cary Grant, Cole Porter, Sean Connery and the good Duke here, are slowly fading into obscurity. That need not be the case and, hopefully, there are few out there who still feel as do I, that it need not completely die. Perhaps if more read the memoirs here, they will become inspired and such a dream can become realized.
   
   The memoirs themselves are quite extraordinary and give one fantastic insight into this legendary gentleman and family. Reading other reviews that quibble over "selective" memory of the Duke, I can only surmise that these come from the very same individuals who grab the latest issues of "In Touch" and whatever other gossip periodicals they can grasp, only to "learn" the inside dirt on various celebs and noteworthy individuals. If that's what you are truly after in the first place, then this is definitely not for you and you should just stick to reading the by-lines or scanning the photos of the tabloids. Otherwise, if you'd like to get a peek into a life of grandeur and civility, and perhaps some tips on how to bring a modicum of dignity to your own, then this is for you.
   
   Enjoy.



3. The greatest love story of our century is an understatement.
   A King's Story is well known to be ghost written for the Duke and even with constant prodding, he suffered from selective memory.
   He seems to forget all his previous "friendships", those familiar with the saga will know this means the married women in his life before Wallis. A great addition to royal book collection, but if you are looking for the facts, hunt them down in Donaldson book. Companion book is the Duchess Heart has it's reasons. Maybe they should have gotten together so the facts in each book matched.



4. The Duke of Windsor wrote this book in the 1950s while living in Paris. Reading it you begin to get some sense that for all his faults here was an individual of extraordinary personal charm. It was certainly a singular life. Here was a boy who was led to believe he would inherit the throne of the greatest empire on earth but who ends up as a sad fixture on the international cocktail party circuit in the arms of an ageing American divorcee of uncertain past. What happened! The anecdotal style of this simply written book is very enjoyable to read. The passing of the certainties of the Victorian age, the Edwardian twilight, World War I, the thrill of all things new and American in the 20s and 30s: the would be Edward VIII is a uniquely placed witness. History increasingly casts the Duke and his bride as ridiculous even sinister figures. This book helps you to remember that they were human too, falliable, and at the mercy of political and world historical forces beyond their control.

4 comments about Queen Victoria.

1. this book is a good little read with a overview of the life of queen victoria.



2. Actually, I probably shouldn't review this book as I am more familiar with the approximately 600 page biography of Queen Victoria that the Countess of Longford published in 1965. It is excellent. I only mention this as one reviewer was disappointed by the length of this version. Those seeking a far more in-depth account by the same author should search for QUEEN VICTORIA-BORN TO SUCCEED.



3. I enjoyed reading this book. It gave a good overview of Queen Victoria's life. The information was complete and pertinent.
   
   I also found it to be a very quick read.



4. I was expecting a bigger book, so I was surprised when this whimpy little paperback arrived. It reads more like a textbook, but is full of great information. Highly recommend if you are looking for a fact filled biography.

3 comments about Frances: The Remarkable Story of Princess Diana's Mother.

1. I enjoyed this book and thought it was well written. It was the first book to tell the life of Princess Diana's Mother, and was especially interesting since the author had interviewed Diana's mother.



2. I thought this biography told me a great deal about a person I knew very little about (except basically gossipy bits from other "Diana" books). It is well-written, sympathetic to the subject, yet fair. You learn that Frances was the warm-hearted child of a reserved mother & affectionate father; just a very nice girl, who unfortunately ended up making the mistake of marrying the wrong man (Earl Spencer) and basically has had to pay for that mistake, her whole life. Some of the mistakes of her own upbringing were repeated with her children, to the greater detriment of her two younger children, but one could argue she had no choice, having lost custody of them thanks to her mother & Earl Spencer's machinations, and the mores of the time. It's good to read "her side", after hearing so much garbage about how she left Diana's father and the reasons why. Also, Paul Burrell's book portrays her SO badly (and I believe most unfairly). Frances deserves the chance to tell her version of events & in Max Riddington she's found the means to do so -- Well done, very interesting, and a must-read for those who want to hear ALL sides of the story of Diana, Princess of Wales.



3. I can't recall ever coming across another book on the late Princess of Wales' mother, but this rehashes all the familiar stories of her famous divorce & lost custody battle, and tries to explain her tenuous relationship with her children. While a sympathetic character, she has always seemed somewhat mysterious and I can't say this has cleared much up in that regard. I'm unsure why she agreed to cooperate with this effort, unless she knew it was to be written anyway and thought she'd try and get her part right. She seems a lonely and isolated figure, partly by her own design, but nonetheless seems to have not had such a nice life after her first marriage. Her second marriage seems to have been ruined by her daughter's fame. I consider myself a bit of an expert on the POW, and unfortunately this book didn't tell me much I didn't know already.

3 comments about Henry V (English Monarchs).

1. As mentioned in a previous review, Mr. Allmand's narrative is not strictly chronological. Roughly the first half of the book is the chronology of Henry V's life (yes - Henry dies half way through the book), while the remainder touches on various aspects of royal life and a description of the late 14th and 15th centuries (for example, the second half of the book discusses Henry's military establishment, his relationship with his family, court life, and the Lollard movement).
   
   Personally, I did not care for the bifurcated structure. I believe Allmand could have incorporated the themes from the second half of the book into his chronological life of Henry in a seamless manner. As written, the book is disjointed and can be difficult to follow in some places.
   
   Overall, this is a good read, but not great.



2. As brilliantly portrayed by Mr. Allmand, Henry V personifies not only the fearsome and powerful character of a dark ages monarch, but also that one of a business-sound and strategy-aware leader. Whereas Shakespeare stresses Henry's prowess as a soldier and a hero, Allmand throws in unbeknownst traits: goal-oriented business planner, egalitarian political strategist, tireless academician, merciless warrior and fearing christian. Even though Mr. Allmand's prose teems with passive verbs and endless sentences, sometimes puzzling and even confusing the reader, his book is one of its kind.



3. Prof. Allmand's biography of Henry V is the first coherent work on the subject for our generation. It is also the best bio on Henry V in the past 60-70 years. Allmand gives a fairly bare-bones analysis of King Henry V's brilliant but short life, and then expands in later chapters on several themes such as the royal family, law + order, and the like. Allmand's work is scholarly but does not drown the reader in details. Is a good read and moves along in a coherent manner. If you are looking to learn more about the man Shakespeare called "the Mirror of all Christian Kings" Allmand's deft work is a good place to start and a valuable resource.

5 comments about Henry VIII.

1. Sometimes appearances can be deceiving. When I first received this book and saw how HUGE it was (and in small print, yet), I thought I was in for a long, tedious and boring read. In other words, the kind of book that you start but it becomes harder and harder to keep reading until you finally give up way before the ending.
   
   To my surprise, this book engrossed my attention from day one and became impossible to put down. Jasper Ridley has done a masterful job of giving us a very detailed biography of one of the most memorable kings in history. Unlike so many other books about Henry, Ridley refuses to monopolize the subject matter with sensationalistic details revolving around Henry's wives. Instead, he concentrates on the much more important religious, political and social aspects of his reign.
   
   I think this book captures the true essence of Henry VIII--a tyrant, selfish, arrogant, and demanding. A person who in almost every instance was able to manipulate people into doing his dirty work for him. An individual who could play tennis with a subject he considered a "friend", such as Thomas More, and then easily have this bosom companion executed without nary a shred of remorse whenever it would serve Henry's advantage to do so. One of Henry's most popular practices was to sail the Thames surrounded by women and fawning courtiers while a former close advisor, friend etc. was being executed. This king was a master of disguise, making it appear that he had little or nothing to do with distasteful events and absenting himself from the controversy at hand.
   
   The author mentions early on that, in effect, while gazing at the famous Holbein portrait of Henry VIII in all his glory, people were mesmerized by the majesty as portrayed in the painting. What they did not notice were the hard, unfeeling and pig-like eyes that were barely visible in the already bloated face. If the eyes indeed are the "windows of the soul", Henry was a very cruel individual indeed.
   
   Although his reign was extremely productive in many ways, such as his interest in solidifying England as a naval power, the most striking aspect is, of course, the religious break with Rome. Here too, Henry waffles back and forth as the winds blow. To say this was an achievement is merely subjective; it began a period of intense religious misunderstandings which resulted in the deaths of untold innocent people who refused to accept this or that form of religious belief and worship. As such, I cannot classify Henry's break with Rome as a positive issue. I am not religious, and therefore perhaps not qualified to judge this. But the results of this action are being felt well into modern times. It is a subjective issue as to whether this extreme action on his part set his country and Europe on the right course.
   
   As initially stated, do not be put off by the size of this book. It will engage your attention and provide a picture of Henry (essentially minus the much touted wife leaping) that probably comes closest to what this famous monarch was actually like.



2. Yet again, J Ridley takes the reader on a remarkable journey, guiding you through the maze of factual background without ever letting your hand go. His mastery of the English language and notable training as a barrister make him the best narrator of the century.



3. Ridley is brilliant as ever. In his masterly style, he portrays both historic detail and periodic insight in such manner that the reader is captivated from the first page onwards. The ongoing battle with Lady Antonia Frazer's biography is a delight (especially when historical inaccuracies in her biography are condemned to footnotes). A book one cannot put down for a single moment.



4. Jasper Ridley's bio of Henry VIII, if nothing else, suggests to me that executioners must have had a steady employment during early 16th-century England. In Ridley's biography, England's formative king is essentially a psychopath, and the country became Protestant, not because of any doctrinal attachment to the Reformation, but as a consequence of political machinations and goals on Henry's part. This, in fact, is one of the book's great strengths; Ridley is rare among biographers in his thorough attention to and excellent summary of the thicket of political events surrounding Tudor England, and this book does an excellent job of explaining these intricacies. Especially fascinating was the depiction of the conflict between Henry and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Henry would have probably gotten the papal annulment that he wanted to dissolve his marriage to Katharine of Aragon, if only Charles had not effectively controlled the pope and been such a bitter enemy of Henry's; then Henry would have found no need to break from the Catholic Church, and history would be entirely different! For a Renaissance monarch, Henry seems more to resemble one of the 20th century's bloodthirsty dictators in this book. While the depiction initially surprised me, Ridley backs up his claims with such excellent documentation and use of primary sources (which I was able to check), that he definitely has a point! A fascinating bio.



5. Ridley paints a picture of a King who is as ruthless a tyrant as any 20th Century dictator. Henry VIII is shown as a ruler who forced his ministers to do his bidding and then executed them to satisfy public opinion, once his policies began to loose popular support. He would stop at nothing to get what he wanted, including breaking with the Pope in Rome and reforming the Church in England with him as the head, when the Pope refused to grant him an annulment from his wife, who could not give him a male heir. Thereafter, Henry played Protestant and Catholic factions against each other, so that he could remain in complete control as an arbiter; alternatively burning influential Protestants as heretics and Catholics who refused to recognize him as Supreme head of the Church of England as traitors. Ridley's picture shows us a king who would stop at absolutely nothing to get what he wanted, including turning society and 1000 years of religion completely upside down! A fascinating look at the Stalin of the 1500s!

5 comments about Elizabeth Woodville: Mother of the Princes in the Tower.

1. While I applaud the author for taking on a seldom written about subject, he took a complex and compelling woman and made her dull, which is the worst crime of all! His book is a tad sexist in places and, to me at least, seems to be biased in a "women can't be bad" type of way. This bias slants his interpretations.
   
   Also, at least as far as I could see the sourcing in this book seemed weak and the conclusions in this book were far too much based on the author's own value system.
   
   I think the assumption that nobles in this period had the same values and motives as we have today is likely false. Assuming that no mother would sacrifice her sons for her ambition (or knowingly associate with anyone that did kill them), leads this author to make conclusions that seem to me to based on his assumptions about motivations more than his analysis of data. From what I've read, it seems inconclusive what her motivations were. Allison Weir certainly thinks this one is a "bady" as they say - not that her analysis is definitive, but it is a counter-argument.
   
   However, the author should be applauded for researching a difficult and little researched subject with likely limited primary and secondary source material to use.



2. A complex book about a complex woman in complex times. I knew little about Elizabeth Woodville until I discovered this book but after digesting the detailed material within, you are completely briefed on the person, the extended family, the politics and the times. The tragedy of her children, the ruthlessness of power around her etc, can only mean you conclude the book with great sympathy for Woodville. I commend this book despite the rather dull prose (at times)



3. I've always been looking for a book on Elizabeth Woodville. History hasn't been too kind to her yet she was the mother of the princes in the tower. She went from being a widow with two children among the English class to being Queen of England. Its so rare for that to happen. You can understand the secrecy surrounding the marriage in the beginning because the other nobles weren't thrilled to say the least and most likely tried to find ways to keep the marriage from happening unfortunately that would later be used to declare her marriage invalid. How horrible it must have been to lose her husband, have her marriage invalid and lose her two sons. At least she got to live long enough to see her daughter become queen.



4. My primary interest in history--or at least that period in which I did my MA--has always been in the ancient near east. Over the past four or five years, however, I have been branching out more. Of late in particular I have been filling in what I learned of English history in a survey course I took years ago. I've read some on Richard III, on Edward I, II, III, and IV and on Edward the Black Prince. I've followed up on King Harold and his "difference of opinion" with William of Normandy, etc.

   In reading some of these works, I find that I've learned only tangentially anything about the women of these episodes. When I came upon a reference to David Baldwin's book on Elizabeth Woodville Mother of the Princes in the Tower, my curiosity was immediately aroused, and I decided to find out something more about one of these women in the background, to see what part they actually played in the drama of their times.

   Like most people interested in English history, I know the Shakespeare Richard III and the story of the little princes in the tower. Having read some of the history of the period, I realized too that the queen was not well liked by many of the more influential and established nobility of her husband's realm. These individuals tended to depict her as a small town upstart who capitalized on her personal beauty to better all of the members of her family at the expense of the "legitimate" nobility. This set the stage for a very shaky government; one tested more than once by the disaffected, and created the drama of the Tower and of Richard III. Baldwin gets at the character of Elizabeth by looking at the extant documents of the time and by analyzing how the woman fit into the on going politics of her husband's reign rather than by following the contemporary accounts circulated by the woman's detractors.

   I was particularly fascinated by the degree to which each phase of English history links naturally with its predecessor and its successor--not that this is particularly surprising perhaps. Some of the histories of other countries have far more discrete hiatuses between phases. This flow is particularly noticeable when it is viewed from the perspective of Elizabeth Woodville and her family. The royal genetics of the period was definitely convoluted. It was amazing how interrelated were not only the branches of the royal family with one another but with some of the nobility as well. (Looking at other genealogies reveals the degree to which the nobility of most of Europe were interrelated.) That "six degrees of separation" thing was definitely in operation here and pushed to the limit. It left the possibility of Elizabeth's either mending the rift between the houses of Lancaster and York, which is what the author theorizes was the intention of Edward IV, or exacerbating it. It also left a lot of people with a potential claim on the throne and with incentive to cause trouble--which is how the rift began in the first place. The chain continues into the future through the connection of the Tudors with the ultimate patriarch, Edward III. Elizabeth, her daughter--mother of Henry VIII--and her two sons help complete that link. Fascinating.

   FOR THOSE WRITING PAPERS IN HISTORY, HISTRIOGRAPHY, SOCIOLOGY, POLITICAL SCIENCES, WOMENS' STUDIES: One might look at how documents like accounts can be used to clarify lifestyles (clothing, expenses for servants, etc), status, power structures, etc or to write a biography such as this one. One might write a paper on the use of power by women in history, on how women acquire power within a society or at what the study of women and other "background" figures reveal about events during a particular episode in time. One might compare less favorable studies of Elizabeth Woodville with this one to determine to what extent the author's assessment of her reign is accurate. One might look at the story of the princes in the tower as it is told in Shakespeare--or Josephine Tey's novel Daughter of Time--and as it is presented in Baldwin's biography of Elizabeth to determine who might actually have committed the murders.

   A fun biography of an interesting woman




5. Readers with an interest in the Wars of the Roses will find this book about Elizabeth Woodville, Edward IV's Queen, and the mother of the "Princes in the Tower", perfectly readable, but not extremely compelling. This may be due to the relative scarcity of reliable, original source information about her. (I think much of the contemporary information about her is speculation about how she, a widow from the gentry class with two children, managed to attract and win the King, suggesting that witchcraft was involved.) My sense is the book may go a little far in "white-washing" her historical reputation as grasping, selfish, proud and haughty. I just don't think the sketchy information the author was able to marshall was convincing enough to really establish what kind of person Elizabeth actually was, one way or other.

   Also, regarding the earlier reviewer's suggestion that Elizabeth's negative reputation owes to the Tudors "looking back in anger", it might pay to remember that Henry VIII's grandmother was, in fact, Elizabeth Woodville (his mother's mother), so I'm not certain how much her historical reputation is a result of this. I think it actually owes a lot more to her contemporary Yorkist rivals, who were threatened by her very unexpected emergence onto the scene and potential power she could wield as the King's wife, than to the later Tudors, a dynasty Elizabeth's own daughter founded when she married Henry Tudor.

2 comments about Gustavus Adolphus.

1. When I first took this book out of the Amazon.com box, my first thought was, "What have I gotten myself into?" It was a massive tome, covering a century of European warfare in considerable detail. Not only was it huge in size and scope, but I was worried about the prose, given the age of the text.

   Fifty pages into the book, I could not put it down. This is quite simply an extraordinary military classic. T.A. Dodge is an exceptional military historian. Unlike many of those who ply that trade, Dodge was a veteran officer and possessed of exceptional military judgement. This is no chairborne commando, but an insightful and experienced soldier whose wealth of practical military experience brings the reality of 17th Century warfare alive.

   Any understanding of military history from 1618-1815 (yes, that's 1815, even though the book stops in 1712) will be deficient without this book. Dodge tells the critical story of how armies evolved from relatively disorganized and short-term field armies to vast, professional military establishments controlled by the monarchs of Europe. The evolution of the modern state cannot be fully understood if one does not appreciate this facet of the military revolution of the 1600s. Dodge is equally adept at bringing the battlefield tactics of the time to life, and illustrating their development. He skillfully guides the reader along the path of military evolution which ultimately sets the stage for Frederick the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte.

   The caveats of this book are that it is long on text and short on maps. The lack of maps makes following the course of marches and counter-marches somewhat difficult. Furthermore, a basic knowledge of the geopolitics of the time is helpful.

   For anyone with the fortitude, this book will bestow upon them a deeper understanding of a seminal period in European history.




2. I read this because I really enjoyed Dodge's military biography of Hannibal, but this book, possibly due to the period covered, was episodic, and without knowledge of European political history during the reign of Louis XIV, hard to follow. The first section, covering Adolfus's campaign in the Thirty Year's War, was quite entertaining, mainly because his efforts were dramatic, innovative, and successful against overwhelming odds. However, once into the military exploits of Conde, Turenne, Cromwell, Eugene, and Marlborough, the narrative becomes rather monotonous, describing one siege after another, one uneventful campaigning season after another. (This, too, no doubt reflects the time: the whole period of the post-Adolfus Thirty Year's War and the War of the Spanish Succession was one vast war of attrition.) Dodge does describe the important battles quite well, and offers incisive assessments of the character and abilities of the period's leading military figures. The book is long (about 850 pages), and long on military facts and figures. Dodge, a veteran of the American Civil War, writes in a rather formal and technical style, adding to the difficulties in wading through the text. I would give the book an "A" for information, but a "C-" for readability. If the subject matter really interests you, I'd say give it a try. If not, pass.

5 comments about Diana: The Portrait.

1. First of all I saw this book at the library of Hansabanka Latvia . I decided - I want this book. When I ordered it in Amazon I thought it is not this book because price was about less than $ 15. When I received Diana's album The Portrait I saw - it is book I need !



2. I bought this book as a gift for my 97 year old mother (still mentally alert and an avid reader) and had it delivered to her house. She complained that the print was peach colored and very light and she couldn't read it, but that the pictures were beautiful. Assuming that I had received a bad copy I went to a Barns and Noble store, purchased a second copy, and sent it to her.
   
   Upon inspecting the second copy, prior to sending it, I quickly discovered what the problem was. The font size in this book is very tiny; so small I have to struggle to see it and I have intraocular lens implants and read a couple of books a week. I solved the problem by including a big magnifying glass in the book shipment.
   
   The bottom line is; the print in this book is just too small for older eyes. Otherwise, it's a beautiful book.



3. This is a well organize book. The photos are excellent. I have seem most of the photos, but not all. This book is well put together. As I turn the pages, I remember the outfits and events. This would make an excellent gift for a Diana fan.



4. I have this book and let me tell you, this books has the most beautiful and stunning photographs of the Princess Diana I have ever seen. I am so glad that my birthday is 2 weeks after hers (july 1st) mine is July 13th!!!! I just love looking at the photos, especially with her 2 sons William and Harry. This is a book I will treasure forver of our beloved princess. What a remarkable women. I suggest for those who haven,t read or seen the amazing photographs in here should.



5. I love Princess Diana. I love Diana so much that I went to Althorp to pay my respects to her. This book, Diana: A Portrait brought back those memories. The book is filled with photos of Diana throughout her life, not just when she was a princess. Many of the photos come straight from items that are on display at the exhibit at Althorp, such as her school uniform and report cards. I feel that the book is a companion to that visit I made. If you get the opportunity to go to Althorp, by all means do go. If you can not get to Althorp, this book brings the Althorp exhibit and feeling to you. The photos are beautiful as is the text about Diana's life. The price tag is steep, but this book is a must for a Diana fan. As the exhibit says: The work continues.