4 comments about Raider.

1. I had the honor of being Team Leader of A-402/A-403 for a short period while Galen Kittleson was Team Sergeant and about to leave Vietnam. He was a very steadying force in our unit and greatly admired for his dedicated service and exploits in WW II, the Korean War, and in the Vietnam War. He was also a very gentle and compassionate man. The book's a must read for all soldiers and anyone wanting insight into a real hero, superb gentleman, family man, and all-round great person. However I didn't particularly care for the author's constant use of "Little Sergeant" as an aka for Galen; though only 5'8" he was built like a refrigerator and no one in our unit considered him "little." De Oppresso Liber



2. I served with CSM Kittleson in 1973, on Okinawa, in 1st SFG. He was a father figure to me and kept me, a young soldier in line.... if you enjoy reading exciting and educational books I suggest reading this one.



3. Galen Kettleson is the most courages person that has inspired many people though out his life. Reading this book has given me a much higher respect for this man. Kettleson has been a friend of my family for close to thirty years, on May 4th 2006, Galen passed away. We have lost a true American Hero. ALAMO ALL THE WAY



4. Galen Kittleson's uncanny ability to see the enemy first and valor under fire behind enemy lines are legend. I just finished his biography and am thankful for his service to his country. Through Charles Sasser's words the persona of Kittleson is clear and his humility is reminiscent of medal of honor recipients.

   I gained insight into the horrific conditions of our prisoners of WWII (especially Baatan) and Viet Nam (Son Tay and Hanoi Hilton) and the bravery of men like Galen Kittleson who dared try to return them home. De Opresso Liber. Thank you Command Sargeant Major Kittleson. You are the epitome of a Special Forces Quiet Professional.

1 comments about Alice Keppel & Agnes Keyser: Edward VII's Last Loves.

1. This is a good biographical overview of Mrs. Keppel. I found the information in the book about Agnes Keyser to be skimpy and somewhat lacking in clarity. The info on Mrs. Keyser is placed in this book almost as an afterthought, to give the book a new angle. If you are looking for general information on Edward and Mrs. Keppel this is the book for you. If you want an in depth biography, use another source. An ok read if you want to kill a couple of afternoons.

No comments about Prince of Europe: The Life of Charles-Joseph de Ligne.

No comments about Queen Mother.

5 comments about Diana: In Pursuit of Love.

1. This book talks alot about Diana's pursuit of love and emotional difficulties. She was a very young women when Prince Charles began courting her and she lived what all women her age would believe a fairy tale existance. She was the lucky one who got her prince or so she thought. But along with the Prince came Camilla. Charles took her youth and dignity and anyone in her position would be struggling with the same emotional problems that afflicted Diana. I think the Charles has finally gotten his precious Camilla and on that journey has made a joke of the monarchy. I feel the next King of England should be Prince William, son of Diana.



2. This was not the worst book I've ever read, but it certainly was not the best. I felt the author digressed too much throughout the first two-thirds of the book -- which made me lose interest at times. Plus, there really wasn't anything new in this part of the book that hasn't already been published. I felt the author was merely stating facts from other books and tabloids. I also felt he used this book to promote other books he wrote. He kept bragging on and on about all his other books. But when Paul Burrell's book was brought up, well, he wrote about it in a negative manner. Not only did I find that unprofessional, but I read his book and felt it was much better than this book. Anyhow, the last third of this book was much better. The digressing ended and the topics became interesting. No more bashing. No more self-promoting. Instead, facts and theories into Princess Diana's final days were quite interesting. If it wasn't for this part of the book, I would have said I wasted my time. Lastly, the best part of the book was the epilogue. It was emotionally touching.



3. This book has all the old stuff everyone already knew. Morton must be lacking of money that's why he is trying to make some out of the poor princess. Please do not waste your money on this book. Please do not waste your time and money



4. I own and have read practically every book ever written about Princess Diana, including all of Andrew Morton's books about her. This one was well-researched and written, and he obviously cares a great deal about his subject matter. However, I feel that he strays from the title the overall intent of this book: Diana in Pursuit of LOVE. He re-hashes many old details, and therefore much of this book's content is superfluous and simply makes it TOO LONG WINDED. I knew all of those old details! It took me forever and a day to get through it, which is not usually the case. My other complaint is Morton's obviously personal vendetta towards Paul Burrell. I happened to love Burrell's book "A Royal Duty" and do completely believe his account on life with the princess. Morton obviously has a personal bone to pick with Burrell, yet Morton was the only one who chose to use his book to air their problems publicly. Otherwise, I'm glad that Morton is keeping Diana "alive" by writing about her; I just hope that his future novels, if any, are shorter and stick to the main subject.



5. Once again Andrew Morton provides readers with a highly personal look at a very human princess. From her temperamental faults to her unfulfilled hunger for affection, he gives a frank and accurate portrait of the world's most admired - and missed - woman. The world is a poorer place without Diana, and may she rest in peace. The fact that Diana herself never knew how very much she WAS loved is yet another tragedy of her untimely death

5 comments about Louis XIV.

1. It's amazing to me when an author takes a potentially fascinating person, and writes in a way that is both confusing and somewhat boring. As a history teacher with a degree in European history I found many of the chapters hard to follow. There is rarely any explanantion or foundation of the people being described. The author seems to assume the reader has inside knowlege of the titles and social structure of the French court and French language. Overall I found the book to be disjointed and hard to follow. It is the type of book that made me feel as though I should read another biography of Louis XIV to understand this obne.



2. Academic reviewers have been a bit sniffy about this book. It's true that Dunlop scatters quotations throughout the book without a footnote to be seen. He also makes some careless errors of fact. For example on p.432 he claims that Lully was composing music in 1710, when he had been dead for 23 years.

   However, readers who are not worried about its lack of scholarly rigour should find this a very enjoyable book. Dunlop has a delightfully easy going style and an eye for the enlivening anecdote. It would be hard to write a dull book about such an extraordinary monarch as Louis XIV and Dunlop's biography is not a bad place to make his acquaintance.

   Those who want to meet Louis face to face, as it were, should seek out Lucy Norton's three volume edition of Saint Simon's Versailles memoirs.




3. My purpose in reading this book was very simple: i wanted to have an idea on one of the most famous kings in french history and i wasnt dissapointed. The author makes an interesting accounting of Louis XIV.It covers important areas like major constructions ordered by Louis and his political struggles with other european nations. It is interesting the way the author explains Louis relationship with some of his family members like his oldest son and his oldest grand son, the King of Spain,Philip V.On the other hand, Mr Dunlop uses way too many french words and sentences.This is annoying because you are left trying to make sense out of what was said and it's relation with the rest of the paragraph.Also, the author dedicates too much pages to Louis desire for architecture and construction.He gaves too many details that are not that necesary when you are talking about a very prominenet and influential king as Louis XIV.In short, it is a very good book for someone who is beginning to get interested in the matter.



4. I once read that Louis XIV would hold court with his advisors and other notables while receiving his daily enema, making him sort of a public "enema of the people." Maybe that's what was wrong with the French monarchy. The author seems to agree with me that Louis did have his problems, not the least of which is the eponymous condition, Dunlap's disease (note the similarity to our author's name), which Louis had also. Asked once whether he was gaining weight, Louis replied, "It done lapped over my belt." And the rest, as they say, is history...



5. I found this to be a very well thought out, and well-written, biography. In the space of less than 500 pages we are given a very complete picture of a remarkable man, a man who came to the throne as a child and was king from 1643 until his death in 1715. The author is admirably even-handed. Louis' faults are not ignored: In his youth and up until middle-age he was an inveterate womanizer. When he was through with a mistress, she was carted off to a convent. (There was a joke making the rounds at the time that the quickest way to salvation for a woman was via the King's bed!) Louis also had an inordinate fondness for war and glory. Besides the obvious cost in lives for soldiers of all the countries involved in these conflicts, France was bankrupted. This did not stop Louis from building and renovating- Versailles; Marly; Fontainebleau, etc. One of the many strengths of this book is that Mr. Dunlop can rightfully criticize this irresponsible behavior and profligate spending; then, he can turn right around and describe the architectural splendor, the beautiful gardens and fountains, etc. For, as Montesquieu asked: "Who could have told that the King established the greatness of France by building Versailles and Marly?" Another glaring "negative" in the rule of The Sun King was his persecution of the Huguenots, via his 1685 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. But without making excuses or trying to justify what Louis did, Mr. Dunlop puts this in perspective. To quote the author: "Tolerance enjoys a high moral status in Western civilisation today, but it exists in inverse proportion to a general decline in commitment to any creed or moral code. Total tolerance denies, in effect, the possibility of any objective truth in either religion or ethics. Intolerance, a logical outcome of total commitment or total conviction, is therefore more typical of the seventeenth century because of the often fanatical firmness with which the differing faiths were held." Likewise, regarding Louis' fondness for the ladies, the author shows us both the weakness of Louis in his giving in (often!) to temptation but also shows us the difficulties involved in resisting.... If you are brought up to believe that you are God's anointed, could you refuse the advances of beautiful, intelligent, charming women...some of whom were quite ruthless in the means they used to get a previous mistress out of the way? For bedding the King wasn't only a romantic achivement- the families of these women would "egg them on," hoping to gain political influence at court. Louis was aware that people were trying to use him, and he was always on his guard. This book is a wonderful blend of the political, the philosophical, the religious and the military aspects of Louis' reign....as well as containing much enjoyable material on the architecture and the gardens of the royal residences. The mistresses, the gossip and the hypocrisy and political infighting at court are certainly not neglected! With extensive excerpts from the diaries and letters of Louis, Saint-Simon, Vauban, Mme de Maintenon, etc., we get a beautiful balance of the personal and the public life of The Sun King. This is a very impressive book.

No comments about Moses - A Prophet of Many Religions (Biography).

5 comments about George III's Children.

1. george iii and his queen sons were money spending ,lusty ,selfish men who only give pain and shame to their parents.the sister parents were so selfish not letting them to married have they own family. dsyfucnial family who make i present royal family look healthy.



2. George III and Queen Charlotte had fifteen children in exactly twenty-one years, all but two of whom survived to adulthood. They included George IV, William IV, and a collection of royal dukes (some of whom had large families of illegitimate children) and princesses (most of whom married late or never). Until the middle of the 20th century, the family had a poor collective reputation, largely the product of propaganda by Whig politicians and historians. The publication of previously unseen correspondence and diaries has led to a degree of rehabilitation, but the Hanoverians probably will never rate highly with later generations. This isn't just a collection of brief biographies but an informative study of the interrelationships among the siblings, their extra-familial connections within and outside the court. Van der Kiste has produced a number of mini-dynastic studies of this sort, of which this volume is perhaps the most useful because of the earlier period it covers.



3. It was interesting to read about King George and Queen Charlotte's fifteen children. The author tells us about all fifteen, and portrays some of them, for instance King William, in a more positive way than in the case of other books. Van der Kiste claims that King William was positive for British politics. At the same time, we are told that he was a very good father to his ten children born out of wedlock. And van der Kiste claims that his younger brother, the Duke of Cumberland, was not a murderer. This also contradicts versions I have read before. The author tells us that most of King George's fifteen children had their flaws, but at the same time they had their good sides. In this way I do believe that van der Kiste gives us a more balanced view than many other authors.

   As for the King's many daughters, I must say that I really feel sorry for them. They had to stay with their possessive parents, and none of them were allowed to marry until they were old. They were expected to obey their parents, and seemed to have had rather boring and restricted lives.

   I agree with some of the the critics that it is often confusing to keep track of who is who, as the author keeps switching between their christian names and their titles. When there were so many of them, it is hard to remember what son or daughter had which title. But, all in all, this is quite a good book.




4. Writer John Van der Kiste not only knows his history, but also knows how to present it in a fascinating manner. I was prepared to be bored by the large brood of mad King George, but I couldn't put it down. It was wonderful!



5. If you're looking for detailed biographies of George III's children, this isn't the book, but it's excellent as a resource for basic information regarding the lives. It gets very, very complicated, trying to remember which child is the Duke of whatever, so I had to keep referencing the family tree, but that's not the fault of the author, it's simply a result of the king and queen's fertility.

No comments about Two Years in the Forbidden City - with a new foreword by Graham Earnshaw (Tales of Old China).

1 comments about Prince Charles: Breaking the Cycle: The Prince of Wales and the State of Britain.

1. It is unusual for an author whose field is business and finance to write a book about a member of the British Royal Family; it is also unusual to see a book which focuses on Prince Charles' working life -- primarily his efforts to help disadvantaged young people. Given the constant media fascination with the Prince's private life, one might have feared that the Prince's obituary would have to be published before anyone thought to write such a book. Improving the lot of disadvantaged youth has been one of the Prince's primary causes since the 1970s, when he was a young man himself. The author estimates that the Prince has, through the Prince's Trust and related ventures, helped some 600,000 individuals to date -- including ethnic minorities, the disabled, and even youth with criminal records -- and that he spends over half of his working time in this cause. Morton describes the training courses, volunteer activities, grants, and other programs involved, and gives fascinating case histories. The Prince of Wales described by James Morton is a caring man who hates to see young lives go to waste, and has spent years using his position to do something about it. His position has not necessarily always made the task easy; he has often faced opposition from various sectors of society, and even from members of his own staff, but persisted nevertheless. Morton tells of the Prince's savvy at coaxing well-to-do individuals and successful businesses to give of their wealth and their time to his charities. The resulting picture is a far cry from the clueless cold fish of popular perception; indeed, the author reports that many of those interviewed for the book wondered why the Prince has been so misunderstood. I would heartily recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about what Prince Charles is really like, and to anyone who wishes to see an example of how the monarchy can make a positive impact on modern society.