No comments about Pope John XXIII.

No comments about John Coltrane: Anthology.

5 comments about The Virgin Queen: Elizabeth I, Genius Of The Golden Age.

1. I've been a fan of Hibbert's historical works for many years and this is a solid one-volume introduction to a woman whose fascinating life almost seems made for the movies (as it frequently has been). However, specialists in Elizabeth should be aware this is definitely an introduction and does not go into the depth that authors like Alison Plowden bring to their multiple volumes. And I did find - having read a great many books on Elizabeth - that there was an indefinable quality to Hibbert's work that became slightly irksome. In the early 20th century and before, it was standard convention to write about Elizabeth's prevarication, her changes of mood and occasional bad temper, and the despair of her (all male) counselors, as a typical example of an emotional women who happened to be queen. I've even read volumes which imply that Elizabeth's reputation is largely due to her male council keeping her feminine weaknesses under control. Only in the past decades has that slightly condescending tone been dropped and Elizabeth seen for the statesman she was (albeit, still a difficult woman!) I detected the slightest hint of that condescension in Hibbert's book, particularly in his later chapters dealing with Elizabeth's agonies in deciding how to deal with Mary Queen of Scots. For that reason only, I rate it a "4" and not a "5." With that slight caveat, an excellent introduction overall.



2. This is a biography of Elizabeth I, The Virgin Queen. And that's exactly what it is. Queen Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry the VIII is a legend, which Mr. Hibbert attempts to address. Often, this is a dry and, at times, tedious read. However, the details of Elizabeth's physical appearance, politics, and idiosyncracies are extremely interesting. The author details life with Elizabeth and her court, including both of the Queen Marys, Robert Dudley, Sirs Walter Raleigh and William Cecil and others.

   The time line is obscure - Mr. Hibbert jumps around quite a bit and it can be confusing to the reader that isn't paying exacting attention. I wouldn't recommend it to a casual reader looking for a lot of melodrama and action. But, all in all, this is a good read for those who are interested in Elizabeth I.




3. This book is a good general introduction to Queen Elizabeth. Hibbert always paints a portrait of his subject, rather than discussing every detail of the person's life. Since most biographers write too much, we should all be grateful to Hibbert. He does a great job of describing Queen Elizabeth's decisionmaking process, her interactions with her advisors, and her reluctance to marry. He also explains the religious issues that surrounded the time briefly yet thoughtfully.



4. The name "Elizabethan" invokes a vision of an era of sumptuous dress, religious strife, European conflict, and the flourishing of the dramatic arts. The Virgin Queen is a study of the ruler for whom the time is named, and her rule, which lasted for an almost-unprecedented 45 years.
   
   Hibbert takes a primarily episodic approach to Elizabeth's life, from her birth as the unwanted daughter of Henry VIII and his second, ill-fated wife, Ann Boleyn. When Henry finally produces a legitimate male heir, Elizabeth is reduced from "princess" to "lady." After her unpopular, Catholic half-sister Mary ascends to the throne and she is vaguely implicated in some plots against the new queen, Elizabeth is imprisoned despite her seeming subservience and her pleas of innocence, devotion, and loyalty.
   
   Raised away from the court by hired nobility and taught by Cambridge scholars, Elizabeth appears to be both demure and autocratic. The important point is "appears," because, while Elizabeth in her correspondence is deferential and in her appearance demure, her peers invariably see her as withdrawn, haughty, and "proud and disdainful"-traits that "much blemished the handsomeness and beauty of her person" (Sir William Sidney). Mary, not unjustifiably paranoid, does not believe in Elizabeth's humility, honesty, or loyalty. Hibbert's portrayal of Elizabeth, who craves the adoration of peers, councilors, and subjects alike, seems to support Mary's assessment.
   
   Elizabeth proves to be arrogant and autocratic, allowing no one to question either her or her rights as ruler. She is keenly aware of the importance of having the support of the populace, which she enjoys in contrast to the despised "Bloody Mary." She ignores the advice of privy council, however, when it suits her, occasionally to the detriment of her popularity.
   
   Hibbert does not explain why or how Elizabeth, kept out of the way during the reigns of her half-brother and half-sister, became so popular. This points to one of the flaws of Hibbert's episodic approach; recounting Elizabeth's life in terms of "Subjects and Suitors" (although not all of them), "Papists and Puritans," "The Queen in her Privy Chamber," "Traitors and Rebels" (again, not all of them), and so forth, veils or distorts much of the historical context of Elizabeth's development and reign. Within one chapter, she may be young at one point and in late middle age at another. With England's changing allegiances and relationships with France and Spain, it is difficult to track what is happening at a given time and why. Elizabeth's most noted accomplishment, England's defeat of the Spanish armada, is covered briefly and superficially, almost as an aside, leaving the reader with the impression that it was happenstance that no one, including Elizabeth or the privy council, had much to do with; it just happened, with little explanation.
   
   The tale of Elizabeth's suitors can be equally confusing. Hibbert describes her negotiations with Henry, Duke of Anjou (later Henry III of France), when he was 20 and, "in fact, twenty years younger than herself." A few pages later, Hibbert discusses her negotiations with his younger brother Francis when Francis is "not yet nineteen" and she is 39, yet it appears that the talks with the older brother occurred first, which would make sense. Even more confusing, the negotiations with younger brother Francis continued until she was 45 (they would be the last hopes of getting her married).
   
   Elizabeth's treatment of religious conflict is glossed over. While Mary is noted for her brutal repression of Protestants, Elizabeth, at least in this biography, is a conservative Protestant who fears and loathes radicals of any kind, Protestant or Catholic. During her reign, repression is focused primarily on the rebellious poor; she is less interested in punishing the wealthy nobility than in grabbing their riches.
   
   As portrayed by Hibbert, Elizabeth is a parsimonious, greedy, emotionally needy woman who wishes to rule absolutely but who cannot make a necessary, definitive decision, such as signing the death warrant for her conniving cousin, Mary Stuart. The privy council, led by Lord Burghley, the Earl of Leicester, and others, devote much of their efforts to manipulating this indecisive autocrat into decisions they want and to making sure that she cannot renege on them-an ironic situation for the woman who says to Burghley's son, "Little man, little man, the word must is not to be used to princes."
   
   There are several weaknesses in addition to the episodic structure. For example, the queen herself is not quoted often enough in key areas, yet Hibbert devotes one-third of a page to Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem speculating about how she might have felt during her confinement in the Tower of London.
   
   Most notably, however, the book's subtitle is never explained-neither why the era is "golden" nor why the queen was the "genius" of it. While the biography makes it clear that Elizabeth had a strong personality, as did her parents, the nation's successes seem to have been the work of the privy council under the leadership of Lord Burghley and of adventurers like Sir Walter Ralegh. Elizabeth is not shown even to have played a role in, for example, nurturing the famed playwrights of the time, such as Shakespeare, Marlow, and Beaumont. The subtitle implies that Elizabeth's brilliance inspired a benign, cultured age, while the text shows a woman so cold and petty that, when her best friend and seeming lover Leicester dies, she worries only about controlling his estates and monies, and so indecisive that her own privy councilors avoid working with her whenever possible. The age itself is brutal, with the crowd "disgusted by the spectacle" of a drawing and quartering performed, against tradition, while the victims are still alive.
   
   At best, The Virgin Queen is a brief, superficial biography that leaves the reader hungry for more-more about Burghley, Leicester, Mary Stuart, and others, but not about Elizabeth herself, who somehow becomes a supporting player in her own biography.



5. Hibbert provides a factual and rivetting narrative on the life of Queen Elizabeth I, one of England's greatest rulers, and the last of England's Tudor rulers, with emphasis on her personal life, character and personality, and particular quirks.
   
   The prologue summarizes the reign of Elizabeth,especially relating to Elizabeth's mother Anne Boleyn right up to Boleyn's execution.
   
   She was brought up in various households, at different times, including that of her younger half-brother Prince, Edward the son of Jane Seymour and after King Henry's death, the household of Henry's last wife Catherine Parr.
   She was heard, in later life, only to refer to her mother twice. While she proudly referred to herself as the daughter of Henry VIII, she was never ashamed to be a Boleyn and kept a ring that contained a miniature of Anne Boleyn. she also, on occasion used her mother's symbol, the falcon, a bird of pray in which the female bird is larger than the male of the species.
   
   At the time of her mother's execution Princess Elizabeth was two years and eight months old. She was a pretty child far more closely resembling her father than her mother, with her red hair as opposed to her mother's darker colouring.
   She was soon stripped of her title of princess and declared illegitimate.
   Elizabeth who was an incredibly bright child, did not notice that her mother was gone but she did notice the change of her name. She apparently said to her governess. "how haps it governor, yesterday my Lady Princess, today but my Lady Elizabeth?"
   
   Elizabeth must have grown up under great trauma , her mother executed when she was three years old, on her father's orders, all but rejected by her father and declared 'illegitimate.'
   
   Elizabeth was well educated by her governess Kat Ashley, she was an accomplished poet and writer, she was taught several languages, spent several hours a day reading history and could play several musical instruments. She was said by her tutor to have read more Greek every day than many church prebendaries did in a whole week.
   
   At the age of 14, living in the household of the Queen Dowager Catherin Parr, Elizabeth was seduced by the Lord Admiral Sir Thomas Seymour, and the author describes something of the sexual games and romps between Elizabeth and Sir Thomas, sometimes involving Elizabeth's governess Kat Ashley. Elizabeth was only a child and certainly could not be held responsible for her involvement in this fling.
   
   She chose a moderate path being a sincere and devout believer but rejecting both the fanatic Roman Catholicism of her sister Mary and the severe Puritanism of some fierce church reformers.
   AS monarch she was to preside over an England with greater religious tolerance than it had ever enjoyed before, with both Protestants and Catholics as her chief office bearers.
   
   After the accession to her tyrannical older sister Mary, , who had hundreds of Protestants burned to death, hence earning her name 'Bloody Mary' Elizabeth, who was then nineteen, came under suspicion of involvement in treasonable plots and kept in a state of and was closely watched.
   She was for a time imprisoned in the tower of London where she wrote "Much suspected by me
   Nothing proved can be,
   Quoth Elizabeth, prisoner"
   Queen Mary's death, in 1558, was surely a great relief for both Elizabeth and the Protestants of England.
   She succeeded to the throne of an impoverished divided country, menaced b both France and Spain, and with the able assistance of William Cecil (later Lord Burghley), she overcame all her difficulties including a religious settlement, fending off England's enemies and building up England's strength including it's navy. The book describes life in Elizabeth's court, and how she gained the love and adherence of her people. Elizabeth was the greatest and the best loved of all the English monarchs. The author describes how Elizabeth was intelligent, self-willed, brave and astute, but as regards her to her marriage and her foreign and religious policies she avoided decisions as long as possible.
   
   The author describes Elizabeth's refusal to sign the warrant for the execution of her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots. To the privy council she asked "Can I put to death the bird that to escape the pursuit of the hawk has fled to my feet for protection. Honour and conscience forbid."
   
   Mary's constant plotting made the decision inevitable and Elizabeth was practically forced by the council finally to sign Elizabeth's execution warrant, but with great anguish and remorse.
   
   Much is described here of the Queen's court favourites who she lavished attention on, such as Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex, but she never allowed them to influence the nation's affairs, for she kept her own council trusting no one entirely except perhaps Lord Cecil.
   The author expertly describes how she rallied the nation to England's defence during the invasion by the Spanish Armada in 1588.
   Who can forget her rousing speech to the people of England defending her country's sovereignty:
   "I have...they shall be duly paid to you."Let tyrants fear, I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects; and therefore I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust. I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. I know already, for your forwardness you have deserved rewards and crowns; and We do assure you in the word of a prince, they shall be duly paid you. In the mean time, my lieutenant general2 shall be in my stead, than whom never prince commanded a more noble or worthy subject; not doubting but by your obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and your valour in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victory over those enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people"
   t is aforeshadow of Churchill's speech we he told Britain that "We will defend our island whatever the cost may be." Churchill: A Life
   Another great women leading a nation besieged by bloodthirsty enemies intent on her destruction was Golda Meir My Life
   The book richly and beautifuly details, how above all how Elizabeth possessed a dazzling personality that won men's devotion. She expressed this to herself when she said to her last parliament, as the author recounts, "This I count the chief glory of my crown , that I have resigned with your loves".
   
   
   It as a very smooth read that remains interesting throughout and brings colour and excitement to a very exciting time in England's history.
   
   
   
   

5 comments about The Secret of the Villa Mimosa.

1. This book definitely is not a thriller, but is a good story that will keep you reading, sometimes it goes out of the main story and the way that Phyl met Brad the first time is one in a million. This is a very easy book to read so you will read it very fast, and as many books, the end is like Cinderella but that doesn't mean that the book or the story aren't good.



2. I enjoyed the book. I don't remember reading any of her books before, so was pleased that it kept me entertained till the end. I would probably give it a three and a half star rating as the story line was a little too coincidental and Cinderella like, but I enjoyed it. Dr. Phil Forster sees on t.v. that an unidentified woman has been found in a ravine. At first they think the woman is dead but she is still barely alive and she is rushed to the hospital. Phyl is drawn to her and soon is treating the young woman who, when she finally comes to, has amnesia. Franco Mahoney, a likeable homicide cop is assigned to the case and he is trying to identify the woman, but is not having much luck. It looks like a homicide attempt. Through the course of the story Bea French (made up name for victim) ends up going to France while working for a rich lady as a companion of sorts. Bea can speak French that much she knows and she remembers a house but doesn't know where it is until by chance she runs across it and discovers another murder years before was committed in that very house. The story keeps your interest til the end. Not a spectacular mystery but still a decent one. I would read more of her books.



3. From a writer who delivers great novel after great novel, comes one that truly has everything. The suspense and mystery are first-rate as clues to a decades old murder are revealed. An amnesiac searching for her past, two orphans looking for their future, a handsome stranger, a dedicated psychiatrist, and an elderly eccentric are some of the characters you will take to heart. But it is homicide cop Franco Mahoney who is my personal favorite as he combines the best of Irish charm and affability with his innately Italian love of opera and gourmet cuisine.

   Set in San Francisco, Paris, and Hawaii, this story follows the key characters as their lives overlap in a well-plotted, page-turning story. Accident victim Bea French finds a true friend in psychiatrist Phyl Forster who has forgotten what a personal life is. Naturally, Franco Mahoney hopes to give her one, until a handsome stranger with an erotic obsession whisks her off to his private island. Can the good guy win the girl? Will ancestors long dead be avenged? Will Bea's memory return, and at what price? Will a cat named Coco and a dog named Poochie save the day? This is one you won't want to put down and one that leaves you wanting more from these characters and this writer.




4. Elizabeth Adler's "Secret of the Villa Mimosa" tries to combine romance with a thriller, and it works as neither. Dr. Phyl Forster is drawn to a "Jane Doe" who has amnesia. She is named "Bea French" by the doctor, mainly because she could speak French fluently. Then, Phyl tries to restore the woman's memory, while keeping detective Franco Mahoney at bay. We know instantly that these two will become close, as both try to discover who almost killed "Bea." Then, Bea gets a job with a rich French socialite, and start having her memory jogged in France, while Phyl has a chance meeting with Brad Kane, a rich Hawaiian with a terrible secret. The thriller unfolds as the reader is keyed into the connections between the Kane family and Bea, and the reader starts to feel that things would have added up quicker if Bea and Phyl had talked more in the second half of the book.



5. This was my first Elizabeth Adler book and found the storyline different and interesting. There were several villianous people going into the past and difficult to read of the character of Bea's father and such an abusive childhood. There were a few too many abusive situations in the book and found I just had to skim some of them. Another thing I don't think I had found in a book by any of my favorite authors was for the main character to have a love affair with the villian. She was a Psychiatrist and she couldn't figure out he was psychotic?? His first jealous rage would have had me running to the nearest exit. Of course Detective Mahoney was my favorite character and again Ms Adler ended the book and leaving you guessing whether he and the heroine end up together. Actually I wasn't sure who the main characters were. The villian plays such a large role, it sort of makes him a main character. I would have liked Mahoney to have played a bigger part in the book but it just seemed there were too many main characters. It was still a good read tying all the characters from the past and present together.

5 comments about Mankiller: A Chief and Her People (Audi O Literature Presents).

1. In "Mankiller: A Chief and Her People," author and former Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Wilma Mankiller recounts her experiences growing up on reservations, government relocation, and her activism in Indian affairs.
   This book is well written and offers, if nothing else, of a peek into the mid 20th century Native American and reservation experience.
   There is no doubt that those of us with Native American heritage, particularly Cherokees, have ancestors who have been dealt less than a fair hand throughout the history of the United States. But I find it unfortunate when such potentially powerful leaders of social movements seeking to rise above past adversities, place generalized blame on the "white" community at-large for current problems. It is regrettable that Mankiller, who is herself half-white, can wholly reject one part of her heritage while fully embracing the other.
   Mankiller speaks with contempt of the "white lady" do-gooders, who tried to reach out to her as a reservation bound child. This is precisely the type of racial bitterness that keeps many fellow modern Native Americans "victims," feeling helpless and reservation bound.
   Cherokee heritage has a long history of acceptance and assimilation, not necessarily just into white culture either. Other cultures (even Europeans) were long accepted into early tribal clans.
   While we must never forget the reprehensible Trail Of Tears or any other federally sanctioned forced relocation of any tribe or peoples. There comes a time however, when all persecuted cultures must move foreword, as the tribe most certainly has. We must begin to embrace the long acknowledged civility and citizenship of the Cherokee people and stop seeking modern scapegoats for our moments of misery.
   Having said this, I commend Mankiller for achievements in both American and Cherokee societies. To have witnessed the transitions of Native American culture at the height and hub of the American Civil Rights Movement grants Mankiller the prerogative to share her story and her perspectives in this book.
   REVIEW EVERY BOOK YOU READ, AUTHORS DESERVE READER'S OPINIONS!



2. I read this one in four days ~~ it helped that we had some downtime while camping in a small state park. It is a wonderful memoir about a strong woman who, in spite of physical obstacles, managed to lead the second largest Indian Tribe in America. It is not just a memoir about a strong woman, it is also a history of a strong Indian tribe. It is an absolutely wonderful book and one that every serious reader of history should read.
   
   I picked this book up two years ago while traveling in Cherokee, NC, and never found the time to read it till recently, when I knew that we would be outside and camping again. (It seems that I do my best reading when we're traveling ...) I found the subject title fascinating and when I did finally get to the book, I found it even more fascinating and curious. This is a woman in every sense of the word. Wilma Mankiller is a heroine that every woman should look up to ~~ young and old.
   
   Wilma Mankiller grew up in poverty-stricken Oklahoma and while she was still young, her family relocated to California as part of the Native American relocation program that was offered just after WWII. She grew up in California, married young and had two daughters. She became involved with the civil rights movement and at the same time, she has never lost sense of her own heritage. After her marriage fell apart, she moved back home to Oklahoma, went onto working for the Cherokee National Tribe doing various things and eventually became the first Woman Chief. Intermixed with her personal tale are ancient stories from the Cherokee history ~~ of the times before they left their homelands, about the Trail of Tears, and so on. It's history mixed in with personal story-telling and it's a wonderful way to read this book.
   
   Unlike some reviewers, I did not find Mankiller bashing the whites for all their problems ~~ she was very diplomatic in telling the readers about the history ~~ but the history has shown that when the white settlers came to America, they did break treaties and their promises, and there's reason why the Native Americans don't trust them ~~ the government of US and its citizens have not given them reason to. But on the same breath, Mankiller mentions that her tribe has a hard time with change ~~ she doesn't sit there and bemoaned the loss of their ancient lands, she gets out and work on solving the problems that her tribe is facing. She admits that change has occurred and she's very realistic about fixing the problems. I cannot but help admire her for that.
   
   This is an excellent book ~~ it's guaranteed to be a thought-provoker in conversations and discourses ~~ at least it has for my husband and me. It is such an interesting tale about a woman who never learned the words, I can't. She never gave up the fight for her people. This book is just a small testimony to that fight.
   
   8-13-07



3. This book was horrendous. She is an ultra-sensitive cry baby who can't move on with her life. Aside from her life which literally has almost no accomplishments, the history of the Cherokees is just as boring. She rambles on and on about treaties and agreements that were broken by the united states and won't shutup about it the whole book. We get it, america ripped the native americans off. big deal. that's history, might makes right, and many nations in history faired worse off than the indians. countries have attacked each other for land for years, at least we allowed them to continue to exist. then, somehow she compares the trail of tears to the holocaust, which is just ridiculous. theres a difference between a walk that they chose to take by not previously cooperating, and a genocide of 6 millions jews through torture and starvation.
   
   DONT READ THIS BOOK



4. For anyone interested in Native American History this is an excellent book. The book chronicles the life of the former Cherokee Chief Wilma Mankiller during times of political Native American activism and the fight of not only Cherokee people, but Native Americans as a whole during her lifetime. It is candid about the struggles Native Americans faced due to government programs of relocation and the struggle to make it in the white world while maintaining their Indian heritage and culture. In addition to providing a detailed account of Mankiller's life, the book gives a detailed account of the history of the Cherokee Nation and their struggles with removal, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, oppressive legislation, and issues faced on reservations.



5. To me this is an excellent purchase. I can relate to many of the author's passages from the time she resided in California, memories of same have been brought to mind, in a positive sense.

No comments about Stories Of Survival: Mountaineering & Exploration.

5 comments about Comrades: "Brothers, Fathers, Sons, Pals".

1. This is an easy, one day read about friendships. Not a bad book, but we are so used to the brilliance of Ambrose that we, or me anyway, may have had higher expectations than this book brought. It was a pretty good read, but most of all it made me want to read more of some of the friendships included. I'm an Ambrose fan so am glad to have this effort in my library.



2. This is a very short book, more a collection of short essays than a cohesive treatise on male friendships. The book praises male friendships, using the friendships between Eisenhower and Patton, Custer and his brothers, and Crazy Horse and He Dog as examples. But most of the book deals with the author, his friendships, and his relationships with his father and brothers. These parts of the book are somewhat self-congratulatory yet sad at the same time, because it seems that Ambrose 's relationship with his father was ultimately unsatisfying, though he claims otherwise. For example, the only conversation that the author had with his father about God or faith, apparently, was a brief conversation during a car ride in which they both agreed that there must be a heaven, since Abraham Lincoln would surely have gone to heaven. The author also alludes to, but ultimately skims over, his own alcohol abuse. (If his friendships were so great, as he claims, why did he need to drink so much?) Overall, though, the book was enjoyable and thought provoking.



3. Ambrose's stories of male friendship would be good in any format, but why read what Ambrose wrote when you can hear him read it to you? There is the added benefit of hearing Ambrose's emphasis on a phrase, his light-hearted tone in some areas and, even more important to the emotional punch of some of the stories, hearing his voice break at particularly touching moments (perhaps the most touching was a comment that is highlighted in HBO's 'Band of Brothers'. A veteran of Easy Company is asked by his grandson, "Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?" "No. I served in a company of heroes.")
   
   Ambrose focuused on the friendship he and his brothers share, his friends from college, from work, the friendships of Lewis and Clark, Dwight Eisenhower and his brother Milton, Lewis and Clark, the men of Easy Comapny in 'Band of Brothers', the friendship of men who fought against one another in war but meet again as old men and the friendship between Ambrose and his father. I was surprised that he did not mention the friendship that he shares with his sons since he did the friendship between he shared with his father.
   
   Ambrose comments on the beauty of friendship between old men - no rivalry, nothing but support and love. He notes that he can't wait until he is old and can enjoy such friendships. Sadly, Ambrose died of cancer in 2002 at the age of 66.
   
   I give this one a grade of A-



4. Stephen Ambrose wrote some good, seriously researched history books, but intermittently would publish some short volumes that seemed excerpted from his ambitious ones. They seemed to have been published for gift-giving occasions, like Christmas or birthdays. This short book seems to be one of them. His examination of some 'male bonding' between and among biological and comradely brothers is a bit thin, except perhaps for the chapter about himself and his own "brothers." He may have done it for the money; that's fine. Regardless, this book suffers from a cursory examination of some important relationships (Eisenhower brothers, Lewis & Clark, etc.) Toward the end of his career he told Charlie Rose on the latter's interview show that he was 'going to study war no more' and focus on writing about other aspects of history. Well, Christmas time rolled around and there was yet another retelling of some WWII material. The value in a book with an excellent theme of the nature of male friendship is that it may get some people interested in the subject matter history so it motivates them to read and learn more--which right now in our country would be a definite boon.



5. I happened to read a condensed version of this book in Reader's Digest. Even though it's about men and their relationships, it was interesting to me (a female). I decided to purchase a copy for my sons and my son-in-law because it's an uplifting and encouraging book. There aren't many out there regarding men and their relationships to other men.

5 comments about Almost a Revolution.

1. Too many history books deal in dry facts. This book tells the story of China and what led up to the Tiananmen Square massacre from the point of view of one young student who was pulled, sometimes against his will, into the thick of the political arena. I found it fascinating!



2. So said one of the student leaders, as quoted by Shen Tong (himself a leader) in "Almost a Revolution." This is a very fluidly written, personal account of the events leading up to the killings of workers & students by Chinese soldiers in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, on June 5 1989. Fortunately, with more recent events in Ukraine, "Soviet" Georgia, Tajikistan, even Lebanon (not forgetting Eastern Europe), we have seen how revolutions gain strength, often like tropical storms that develope into hurricanes with surprising rapidity. Meteorologically, we can explain such happening on the weather front ONCE THEY OCCUR, but we're rarely capable of predicting such developments until they are almost in our faces, so to speak. The event that sparked events in China was the death of Hu Yaobang on April 15th. "Hu Yaobang had become something of a hero since he had been made the scapegoat of the 1986 student movement and ousted as general secretary, and many of us," says the author, "had hoped that he would be brought back someday to lead China on the road to reform." Acknowledgment of his passing by many, however, soon began to be read by the government as a renewed call for reform. Thus began the chain of events that resulted in students' boycotting classes, printing flyers, and finally, camping out in Tiananmen Square. In the author's view, "there was clearly an internal struggle going on between Li Peng [a hardliner] and Zhao Ziyang [a Chinese leader who had declared on May 7th his openness to a dialogue with the students]." Evidence of such was the fact that "starting May 17, the press in China operated without censorship from the goverment for a few days." Mikhail Gorbachev had arrived for a visit 2 days earlier and the Chinese government was seemingly caught off-guard in the headlights of the world's media for a moment while it contemplated how to respond a mass protest in Beijing's central square. The one fault of this book (besides no index) is that the author has nothing to say about this visit by Gorbachev. He mentions the Soviet leader's arrival and departure, but literally nothing otherwise; no impressions or anything how such a visit affected events on the ground in Beijing, or within the corridors of the Chinese government. This was before the collapse of Eastern Europe, mind you, but I find it hard to believe that the issue of Gorbachev (glasnost/reform) wasn't a topic of discussion amongst at least some of the student leaders arrayed around Shen Tong. Back to events: Martial Law was declared on May 20. On May 21 word began to filter out that Zhao Ziyang had been removed as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (though it wasn't announced until May 26th). The crackdown came soon after, but the author wasn't as much a witness & participant to this aspect as he was in all the events leading up to it. He doesn't, consequently, write much about the tanks entering Beijing (or the famous photograph of the solitary man courageously standing his ground before one particular one), or what exactly happened that day---he doesn't even guess at how many Chinese were killed. But, this is nevertheless a remarkable story (that reads quickly & gives much interesting detail of the author's childhood, particularly as it relates to his coming to question things & the role his intellectual father had on his development). Cheers!



3. I just watched the recent Frontline about Tank Man, the man who bravely defied the line of tanks in Beijing, and went to Amazon to find books about the subject. Up came this book, among others, and I remember almost throwing it across the room over ten years ago when I read it. You have a guy who escaped, knew a few people involved, and whose only personal involvement is from the outside. He had no balls, and never dared risk himself. Sure, he knows the figureheads, the history, and can write about what happened as if was there. But he was hiding in his room, making himself out to be a hero. If you want to read a book with the only suspense being whether to finish it or not, then this is the one.



4. This book presents a good inside look at the 1989 democracy movement from the viewpoint of a key student leader. The reader learns about some aspects of the movement that have not been widely publicized, including the trials and tribulations of one of the principal organizers of the movement.
   
   Also, a good documentary film about the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests is Carma Hinton's "The Gate of Heavenly Peace." A condensed version of this film was broadcast on PBS Frontline in 1996.



5. I read this book because I was very interested in the topic and event surrounding Tiananmen. I wanted to get an inside view, and in many ways did from the author. But this was more of a memoir with the democracy build up as a background. The author even talks about his first kiss in his hometown. And when he goes to university the protests are all around him, and he has friends who are putting themselves on the line, and he cares, but basically he is a distant observer. All in all, a thorough disappointment.

No comments about Pound for Pound, A Biography of Sugar Ray Robinson.

No comments about Magic Johnson (The Smart Reader Book and AudioCassette, Level Two).