No comments about James II: The Triumph and the Tragedy (English Monarchs. Treasures from the National Archives) (English Monarchs. Treasures from the National Archives).

1 comments about ADMIRAL OF THE BLUE: The Life and Times of Admiral John Child Purvis (1747 - 1825).

1. John Purvis was the first British naval officer to directly confront in battle a young French Artillery captain who later went on to become Napoleon Bonaparte. He proved his ability and bravery in the field of conflict at a very early age and went on to be regarded as a very safe and competent commander.
   
   Purvis served under Admiral John Jervis in the Mediterranean Fleet and so impressed his superior he was promoted to Rear Admiral in May 1804. Ironically, because a number of officers were promoted to that rank at that time, it meant there was no sea-going vacancy for Purvis for the next 2 years - thus he was not present at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805!
   
   On the death of Nelson, Collingwood became Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet and asked that Purvis be appointed his second-in-command. Much later, when Collingwood died, Purvis was, for almost two months, Commander-in-Chief until the arrival of Collingwood's designated successor. Those were a very busy two months during which there was a great storm and much fighting at Cadiz.
   
   On handing over command to Admiral Sir Charles Cotton, Purvis returned home. He had been away for almost 5 years and wrote to the Admiralty for permission to strike his flag (retire). His request was granted and on 13 May 1810, Vice Admiral John Child Purvis was rowed ashore for the very last time.
   
   Once again, we have another excellent book from these publishers which provides the reader with a complete and very well researched account of the professional and private life of one of Nelson's fellow officers. He is one whose name does not readily spring to mind - if only because fate decreed he would not be at Trafalgar. Nevertheless, the story of his career, life and family are as fascinating as any other.
   
   This book is an important contribution for those who are interested in putting together "every" single piece of the huge jigsaw that was the British Navy in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries.
   
   NM

No comments about Secret Memoirs of the Regency: The Minority of Louis XV.

No comments about Mr. Secretary Thurloe: Cromwell's Secretary of State, 1652-1660.

1 comments about Charles Darwin: Evolution by Natural Selection (British Men of Science).

1. I was very lucky to find this little book in a used bookstore. Readers who can't get this book from Amazon.com may have to go to the library instead.

   Sir Gavin De Beer, an eminent embryologist at University College London, was also a Darwinian scholar of distinction. This book strikes a good balance between Darwin's life and Darwin's thought. Though this book is 40 years old, I don't think there is a better treatment of the subject in a book of comparable size. The biographies by Browne, and Desmond and Moore are mandatory of course but this little book has a unique place of its own.

   I end this review with Darwin's philosophy, expressed in some of the most fascinating lines from his personal Notebook and quoted in this book:

   "We can allow satellites, planets, suns, universe, nay whole system of universe to be governed by laws, but the smallest insect we wish to be created at once by special act, provided with its instincts, its place in nature, its range, etc."

   "Why is thought being a secretion of brain more wonderful than gravity a property of matter?"

   "Free will is to mind what chance is to matter; it is our arrogance, our admiration of ourselves."

   "Chance governs the descent of a farthing, free will determines our throwing it up."

   "It may be doubted whether a man intentionally can wag his finger from real caprice, it is chance which way it will be, but yet it is settled by reason."

   "A train of throught action &c. will arise from physical action on the brain."

   The amazing fact is that Darwin was writing when our knowledge of the brain and genetics was still sketchy. Darwin was a prophet of genius.

No comments about The Interface.

No comments about Enrique VIII/ Henry VIII: El Rey Y El Hombre/ The King and the Man.

1 comments about Elizabeth I: The Competition for Representation.

1. Frye's study of Elizabeth's struggle to control her iconography and representation is very powerful. She discusses three major events in the course of Elizabeth's reign, and how merchants, courtiers and poets represented Elizabeth through them: praising her glory and virtue, yet simultaneously taking the critical liberties of a patriarchal society over a woman.

   Frye's third chapter on "Engendered Violence" is especially revealing, whether or not we can fully accept the extremity of such criticism in the character of Britomart in Spenser's Faerie Queene.

   This book is wonderful, a necessary read for anyone interested in the force of gender in the Renaissance.

No comments about The Diary of Samuel Pepys, 1660 N.S..

No comments about Charles Kingsley - His Letters And Memories Of His Life - Volume II.