5 comments about Elizabeth I: The Shrewdness of Virtue.

1. This is postitively the best book that I have ever read on the wonderfully shrewd and amazingly intelligent Elizabeth I. I have read literally hundreds of biographies on the legendary Queen but none have echoed my own thoughts and opinions on the matter as well as this one. After spending two years researching this area of history and all of its characters, I actually learned hundreds of new facts from Ridley's book. The facet of this work that I enjoyed the most was Ridley's examinations of lesser characters. People know that Elizabeth allied herself with the Dutch Protestants in their religious wars against Spain but Ridley actually researches and presents to the reader the specifics; the personalities of the people involved, the events that shaped them and the Queen's own personal opinions. Anyone who is passionately addicted to this fascinating period should definitely read this book.



2. Ridley provides an excellent overview of Elizabeth's reign, but he spends precious little time with the Queen and her court. I recommend reading this book in tandem with Alison Weir's "The Life of Elizabeth I." Together they provide a fuller picture of the Queen and her times than either book does individually.



3. Having just finished Anne Somersets more definitive bio on Elizabeth I have to agree with previous reviewers that the author seems to have it in for his subject. Does he even like her?. He portrays her more as vindictive, vascillating, procrastinating,vain and downright bloodthirsty. Most notably in her relations with the english puritans, the protestant rebels in the Netherlands and especially her close relatives. The latter being her treatment of Katherine Grey, sister of the beheaded Jane for whom there was no love lost. He does not give her any credit for being a woman in a mans world and having the guts and wisdom to choose some very bright men as ministers and councillors and not yes-men at that. Walshingham and William Cecil openly disagreed with her on many issues but at no time did she contemplate dismissing them. He also appears to be saying that Elizabeth's foreign policy was based on the divine right of princes to rule their own kingdoms, and that rebels against their rightful lords be they protestant or catholic deserve to be severely punished hence her sympathetic correspondence with Philip of Spain. Ridley also has a penchant for drawing out in unnecessary detail execution and torture scenes. When the assassin of William of Orange is submitted to all kinds of horrific torture before his eventual execution, smiling the whole time the reader finds himself squirming uncomfortably. Despite the authors elegant prose I prefer the Sommerset or even Antonia Fraser biographies. They may not deify the woman but at least they dont vilify her.



4. Jasper Ridley's biography of Elizabeth is well-written and coherent, broken into chapters that examine pivotal events during the reign in foreign and domestic policy. Ridley's work differs from most Elizabethan biographies in its focus on political and military aspects rather than personal studies of the queen. While at times the text drags, for the most part it is crisp and solid reading, and paints a fascinating picture. What makes the book stand out, however, is the quality of its documentation and use of primary sources, and its tremendous value as a research tool. Mr. Ridley has made assiduous use of archived state papers and contemporary commentaries that depict events as they were actually experienced and grasped by the people in the 16th and early 17th centuries. A student partaking in research on this period or studying the European Renaissance in general would benefit tremendously from a consultation of the bibliography, since the author essentially gives an index of the calendars of state publications that detail various decisions and military planning of the late 1500s. Furthermore, Mr. Ridley is careful to delve deeply into foreign sources as well; he makes extensive use of the archives in Simancas, Spain, as well as archival resources in Italy, to furnish shades of detail often overlooked. The overall result is that Mr. Ridley's biography has an unparalleled "real-time" feel to it. And, the author covers territory that too often is neglected in Elizabethan biographies, especially in regard to military affairs that are difficult to research elsewhere. He examines the English defeat and expulsion from Le Havre in France that resulted in the permanent loss of Calais in 1563; the long Anglo-Spanish war of the 1590s that crippled the finances of both countries, and (with Spanish victories at sea) frustrated English attempts at colonization in the Western Hemisphere while preserving Spain's foothold; and also at the bitter Anglo-Irish guerrilla war of the century's last decade, which devastated the Irish countryside and drained England's resources to the limit. For a detailed biography, Jasper Ridley's biography (along with that of Anne Somerset) is top-notch, and as a research tool it is of inestimable help.



5. What a refreshingly well-written, concise and historically well-researched book! Ridley is a master of the historic biography, and every book I have read so far (having started off with his account of Henry VIII) is a riveting read and impossible to put away.

   May Royal Tunbridge Wells continue to serve as an inspiration to this gifted writer and connaisseur of the depth of the English language.

No comments about Spurgeon & Son.

3 comments about Oliver Cromwell (Reputations Series).

1. Cromwell is an amazingly enigmatic figure in spite of an incredibly public career. He was revered and feared by the people around him to the point where they could not know him the way they knew each other - from the time he assumed the leadership of the English Revolution, he became an object of awe, a force of nature, a figure so much larger than life that he seemed above even the most extraordinary of his peers. This book goes a long way toward helping the reader understand Cromwell the man riding the crest of English history.



2. I have always been interested in European history, particuarly English History. I bought this book with the hopes of learning objectively (or at least as objective as a person can be) about a truly forceful and powerful man. For better or for worse, Cromwell was certainly a tranformative individual in the course of human history.
   
   I was disappointed in a big way. The author spends a lot of time trying to absolve Olvier Cromwell of any guilt, claiming that what's publicly known about Cromwell is simply the "Public" story.
   
   So what was the great unveiling of knowledge that will exhonerate Oliver Cromwell? According to the author, well, he was a religious man after all. Somehow in the authors mind (and many other unfortunatly) being religious presupposes ethics, honesty and integrity - all in the name of God to massacre people. Are we to write-off all the misdeeds he did to his fellow man because he was religious? If anything, religion has been used against man as a weapon for cruelty, torture, subjegation and killings. According to the author the argument boils down to this: Cromwell was a religious man, like our illustrious president, Dubya, Who feels it necessary to translate the word of God for us plebians, and feels justified to act according to the messages he received. Its these dangerous justifications that have caused a great deal of danger to this planet. It makes you wonder how the Religious Right will one day interpret this invasion of Iraq.



3. Oliver Cromwell will forever remain an engimatic figure as he was both a reluctant leader and a military dictator at the same time. Davis' look into his lifely is incredibly fraught with attempts to justify his actions as being for the overall "good" despite how much "evil" he committed. While I do not believe that this is a book to "condone the war in Iraq" as one reviewer put it, it is extremely biased and any researcher using it must be careful not to take everything Davis' says to heart. As my favorite English professor used to say, "Take everything written with a grain of salt." What is a fact is that Mr. Davis is an extremely well versed historian and expert on Oliver Cromwell. It can also be a difficult read if you have no interest in the time period, the man and feel no love toward Cromwell. Otherwise, it is something every European historian should own.

No comments about Under Gemini: A Memoir.

5 comments about Diana, Princess of Wales: A Tribute.

1. A beautifully produced book by someone who knew her from "Shy Di" to mother, single woman and finally the concerned woman who cared about charities, from landmines to AIDS. Gorgeous photographs of her throughtout her brief glorious life. Not exploitive, but joyful.



2. This is a beautifully put together book about our Princess. It was produced by someone who she knew and let in her world to photograph the pictures that meant the most to her. The commentary is very well done and shows a loving tribute to someone who deserves to be remembered as probably the best example of goodness in human beings. A book well worth buying and owning. A must for everyone who loved and admired Diana, Princess of Wales.



3. I am sure Diana,Prncess of Wales did what she did because it came from her heart. Being a doctor I am hesitant to touch people with aids or leprosy or homeless people. She bridged the impossible and was Christ-like to the least of our brethren. I was in London during the funeral when we started the St Therese Centennial Pilgrimage with 40 co-American pilgrims mostly priests or nuns or holy men and women. We were touched by her life and this book said all the things I wanted to express and much more. My life will never be the same and I will be be a better doctor and individual in my service to my patients and family because of DIANA,Princess of Wales. God bless her and her sons. May she rest in PEACE! Dr. Elizabeth Tioleco-Cheng USA



4. I had the pleasure of looking through all the Diana photo books in Amazon's warehouse in Seattle. Since they do have the best selection, I am confident that this and the O'mara Diana book offer the finest quality photos of any available. Many of the others contain photos with poor lighting or low resolution.



5. This is a warm and loving tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales. All facets of Diana's life are covered from the time she first blinked into the camera as teenager through her funeral services on September 6, 1997.

   The photographer for this book has photographed the Royal Family for twenty-five years and has traveled in over a hundred countries throughout the world with them. The text was written by Tom Corby who has been associated with the Royal Family for about fifteen years. I possess a couple of his books.

   These two - Granham and Corby - have assembled a beautiful book which is filled with beautiful and outstanding pictures. All of the pictures are in color. Corby wrote the text to acompany the pictures. This is a great book which any collector of books on the Royal Family should have in his collection. Also, it is great for one who like to read about and look at gorgeous pictures of the late, Diana, Princess of Wales.

   This is a hardcover boook which contains 96 pages and measure 91/2x12 inches

1 comments about Free-Born John: A Biography of John Lilburne.

1. John Lilburne, a brilliant pamphleteer and a passionately courageous political agitator, was the most prominent leader of the paleo-libertarian "Leveller" movement during the English Civil War of the seventeenth century.

   Lilburne was tossed into prison both under the monarchy of Charles I and by the republican regime of Oliver Cromwell. Lilburne was a fervent defender of freedom of speech, of the press, and of religion. He was also an unyielding supporter of economic freedom and of the rights of private property.

   Pauline Gregg, herself a democratic socialist, found it difficult to comprehend how Lilburne could be both a defender of civil liberties and a proponent of economic freedom, but she nonetheless accurately reports Lilburne's beliefs and libertarian philosophy. In a brief review, it is difficult to convey how vividly Gregg depicts the events Lilburne experienced and the courage and integrity which illuminated Lilburne's life.

   Aside from his political commitments, Lilburne was also, from a mainstream twenty-first-century perspective, a religious fanatic: metaphorically speaking, he was "drunk on God." In terms of understanding the history of natural-rights/libertarian philosophy, this is a crucial fact: historically speaking, the Lockean libertarian philosophy of the American founding was born among passionate evangelical Christians, such as John Lilburne, in seventeenth-century Britain.

   That historical fact is an embarrassment to modern mainstream libertarians. The mainstream modern libertarian movement, whether in the Libertarian Party, in the "Objectivist" movement founded by Ayn Rand, or in various independent think tanks, is firmly anti-religious and is dedicated to an "anything-goes" philosophy that hates government becuase of a hatred of any sort of social or ethical authority which restrains an individual from pursuing his or her own individual whims and desires.

   Free-Born John is a reproach to these modern-day "libertarians." Lilburne would surely have agreed with present-day libertarians about ending the War on Drugs, abolishing the income tax, etc. But Lilburne would have seen liberation from paternalistic government and the reinstatement of natural rights as merely the first step along a path upon which an individual tried to live his life as a creature made in the image of God.

   There is a dissident movement among modern libertarians, the so-called "paleo-libertarians," who take the natural-law, natural-rights perspective of John Lilburne seriously (the paleos are best represented by the Mises Institute and the Center for Libertarian Studies, both of whom offer Websites and a number of books which are available here on amazon.com). Unlike the libertarian mainstream, the "paleos" are not reflexively hostile to religion, hateful of any social authority or traditions, nor focused solely on the satisfaction of egoistic, material desires.

   If you are a "paleo-libertarian," you will love this book. If you are a mainstream libertarian or a non-libertarian, you will find John Lilburne as enigmatic as did Ms. Gregg. But if you make the effort to understand this man's mind and character, you may come to better understand the nature of human liberty and of the human condition.

No comments about John Milton: Life, Work, and Thought.

4 comments about Diana: The Last Days.

1. Those who seek the truth should ignore anything Gregory says about Diana/Dodi. Gregory is associated with Dominic Lawson, editor of the Sunday Telegraph, who has been named in the House of Commons as an agent for British intelligence.



2. As far as Princess Diana books go, this one is as wrongful as you can get ... the reporting is fundamentally flawed. Like the French authorities, Mr Gregory is willing to declare the Earth is flat and more nonsense in the desperate attempt to keep the lid on this cover-up.

   Judging from statements and the relief expressed by some British politicians, the death was needed to save the throne. Diana and Dodi had become a threat to the British establishment. The scenario opening in front of their horrified eyes was of a possible marriage to an Egyptian playboy. It was unthinkable that the heir to the throne and his younger brother should have a Muslim stepfather. It was equally unthinkable that the union might produce an Anglo/Egyptian half-brother for the royal princes.

   British Intelligence, under their rules, was "justified" in wiping these people out for the purposes of the monarchy, protection of the realm, and "national security."




3. I'm really sorry to say this and I hope you don't take offence, but there's only one word in the English language that most precisely describes people like Martyn Gregory: propagandist.



4. This is the book that finally shows the Diana/Dodi murder and conspiracy stories to be what they are - complete figments of the imaginations of Mohamed Fayed and his minions. Mr Gregory had access to Diana's friends and the bodyguards who shared her final vacation with Dodi Fayed, and with their help he sheds the true light on the relationship. Why would anyone want to murder them when the relationship hadn't even lasted for 2 months and gave no indication that it would lead to marriage? And who would choose a car accident to commit murder when it's the most inefficient way of killing, since we have no control over the laws of physics which govern car accidents? I commend the author for having the courage and common sense to write this book, since he, and I, seem to believe that some people would see sinister conspiracy plots in 2 people planning to go grocery shopping together.

No comments about The Stewarts: Kings & Queens of the Scots 1371 - 1625.

No comments about Oliver Cromwell - English Political and Military Leader (Biography).