5 comments about Who's Afraid of Leonard Woolf?: A Case for the Sanity of Virginia Woolf.

1. As Irene Coats, the author of Who's Afraid of Leonard Woolf, states, Quentin Bell's authorized biography of Virginia Woolf presents Leonard Woolf as Virginia's loving, attentive, self-sacrificing husband. However, even as I read and enjoyed Bell's book, I came away feeling that there was something sinister about Leonard, as if he had some hidden agenda. Therefore, when I came across Coats' book, I was extremely intrigued, but having read it I am instead extremely disappointed.

   Rather than presenting, or at least attempting to present, a balanced, lucid, objective case that Leonard was not the saint he appeared, her book is an unremitting demonizing of Leonard Woolf. Coats has presented the known events and existing letters by interpreting all as proof of Leonard's malicious intent and devious manipulation. I find this an extremist viewpoint that works against good biographical writing.

   In addition, the book comes with the most appalling index: a name index where each name is followed by lines and lines AND LINES of undifferentiated locators making it totally useless to the reader. This is definitely an example of no index being better than a bad one.




2. I am a graduate student who has spent the last four months learning everything I can for a class project about Leonard -- which is QUITE A LOT. Two books in particular have fairly good, reasonably balanced accounts of Leonard Woolf: Virginia Woolf by Hermione Lee and A Marriage of True Minds by George Spater and Ian Parsons. Please read those carefully researched, scholarly, interesting, and vivid books to find out more about both Virginia Woolf's illnesses and Leonard Woolf's responses/contributions/whatever to her health. The relationship between the two was complex and deserves to be written about intelligently and carefully.



3. Over the years, many readers have been cynical about the despair and rage expressed in Virginia Woolf's feminist works, such as "A Room of One's Own". After all, wasn't Virginia a wealthy upper middle-class woman who never worked a day in her life? Wasn't she petted and cared for by an adoring husband? Didn't she have a beautiful home (which is now a tourist spot?)and a circle of stimulating and enlightened intellectual friends? "What the heck did she have to complain about?", those overloaded with children and dreary jobs have often wondered bitterly.

   Well, according to Coates, the answer is - quite a bit. Coates gives us an entirely new view of Virginia's life and marriage, one which seems straight out of a Victorian Gothic novel by Wilkie Collins or Sheridan LeFanu. Virginia is seen as the heroine entrapped by a cruel husband, who presents to the outside world the face of kindness and care, while viciously tyrannizing and silencing his wife, who can appeal for help only in carefully coded letters and diaries. Coates presents Virginia Stephens as an isolated and sheltered young girl, manipulated cleverly into marriage to an ambitious and greedy man. Leonard Woolf gained access to her social set as a college friend of her adored brother, who died young. Woolf is here portrayed as a man willing to stop at nothing to get ahead, a Jew who abandoned and rejected his own religion and family to strive for upward mobility in the English middle class. His marriage to Virginia was pushed by her sister Vanessa, who wanted her younger sibling off her hands, and by Leonard's friends, who wanted him to marry a rich wife as a way of remaining in England, rather than return to a civil service job in Ceylon. Virginia allowed her initial resistance to be worn down, with disastrous results - having married the rich Gentile wife he wanted, Leonard then despised and exploited her. (But he might not have been happy with any woman - most of his Cambridge friends were gay, and while Leonard considered himself heterosexual, he obviously shared many of their views on women - Coates quotes a letter to Lytton Strachey in which Woolf describes male sexuality as "noble" and female as "vile".) Their early married life was a disaster, and Coates goes so far as to suggest that Virginia's first suicide attempt was, in fact, attempted murder. Her husband insisted she see a doctor of his choosing, who told her that she was too disturbed to become a mother (Leonard detested children). He then left her distraught, with an open box of sleeping pills beside her, and gave himself the alibi of a visit to her sister Vanessa. As he had hoped, she took an overdose, and was saved only through the unexpected visit of a woman friend, who promptly summoned help from a medical student living in the building. The long-term result was the total destruction of Virginia's independent existence. Leonard refused to let her see her family physician (who considered her perfectly healthy and capable of motherhood) only allowing her to consult his tame specialists. To have had her certified as a lunatic would have deprived Leonard of money or of a divorce, so he chose to have her declared incompetent - giving him, as her guardian, total control of her money, and preventing her from applying for a divorce, while he could still divorce her. He now had what he wanted, total control, and any protests against her sexual and financial exploitation could be seen as the ravings of a madwoman. And sadly, there is no suggestion anywhere in the book that Virginia ever tried to seek outside legal, medical, or spiritual advice.

   Virginia's only escape came through writing, and through her one love affair, with Vita Sackville-West, a strong, independent woman. Vita balanced not only an "open" marriage, but a whirl of children, travel, gardens, and dogs. Through her relationship with Vita, Virginia realized bitterly how constricted her own life had become. Their homes had been bought with her money, but chosen and organized by Leonard - she hated their country house, which he had remodeled to his own taste, giving himself a huge studio, while she was relegated to a hut in the garden. Her money had paid for their business, the Hogarth Press, which gave Leonard editorial control of all her books, and for a car, which she wasn't allowed to drive. In the Woolf family, even the gardens and dogs belonged to Leonard - when Vita gave her a spaniel puppy, Leonard promptly annexed it as his own. It was this bitterness and rage that finally burned through in "A Room of One's Own", which was first given as a lecture, with Vita at her side.

   But the affair did not last - they remained friends, but Vita sought other lovers - and Virginia was once more trapped without support, and her husband's increasing hostility and disrespect. She was offered speaking engagements and American lecture tours, but Leonard insisted she turn them all down. He was furiously jealous of the increased sales of her work. As WWII began, daily life grew harder and harder - Leonard interfered with the servants, forcing Virginia to do the cooking and cleaning herself, and refusing to let her visit friends. Finally, in despair, she killed herself - or did she? Coates thinks that Leonard deliberately drove her to it - at the very least knowing that she was suicidal and not helping her - and at the worst, she hints that he may actually have killed her. If so, he got away with it, and his punishment was this - to always be known as "Virginia's husband".

   This is sure to be a controversial book. But is it accurate? This reviewer, who is not particularly expert on - or enthusiastic about - Bloomsbury, finds it to ring psychologically true. The ambitious poor man who marries a rich wife and then despises her is all too familiar. The legal position of both women and the mentally ill was such at the time that the trap set for Virginia was almost inescapable. And this account well explains the bitterness and despair in her works, in a way that pictures of her as a cosseted and loved wife fail to do.




4. At last a reputable competent biographer is going to address the life of Leonard Woolf. Glendinning's bios of Anthony Trollope and Vita Sackville-West are rational and well written and thoroughly researched.



5. I almost threw this book away after reading the first few pages. Author Coates is completely off her rocker. She tries to argue that Leonard Woolf was responsible for his wife's supposed madness. Her argument falls apart in the first few pages when Coates notes that Virginia Woolf had two nervous breakdowns (with hallucinations) even before she met Leonard. But it's worth a look for those who have a shelf or two full of Virginia Woolf biographies, diaries, novels, and critical essays. But wow, what a nut (the author, that is).

2 comments about Harry Morgan's Way: The Biography of Sir Henry Morgan 1635-1684.

1. Henry Morgan was born in Wales sometime around 1635. The exact time and place of his birth are unknown. Some think he might have been born in Penkarne near Monmouth, others say Llanrhymny near Glamorgan. It is certain that was related to the Morgans of Tredegar, as they are mentioned in his will. Although the names of his parents are unknown, The Morgans were by then a distinguished army family. Henry was related to Sir Thomas Morgan, who forty years before Henry's birth had helped Queen Elizabeth help the Dutch fight the Spanish. In 1594 The Queen's Own Royal East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) were commanded by Colonel Thomas Morgan. They fought off a Spanish attempt to capture a fortress at Bergen-op-Zoom in the Netherlands, and Thomas Morgan received a knighthood for this service.

   In 1642, when Henry was seven years old, the British Civil War broke out. We know that various uncles and other assorted relatives fought on both sides, Royalist and Roundhead. Henry is surrounded by wars and soldiers until and during the decade-long Civil War. Cromwell eventually rules Britain, and decides to try and do something about Spanish hegemony in the New World.

   By this time, the English had finally managed to establish colonies on two small islands in the Caribbean, Barbados and St. Kitts. Spain considered the British colonies on these tiny islands to be illegal. The Catholic Pope had helped Spain and Portugal divide between themselves the entire New World: Portugal got Brazil and Spain got the rest. The two British colonies were but pinpricks to the gigantic Spanish Empire in the New World, but Spain was determined to harass the British colonists in the Caribbean. Spain claimed and/or ruled the islands of Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, the Spanish Main- most of the New World where Europeans had settled. Spain was in the New World to extract gold and silver from mines in Peru and Mexico, and wasn't there for planting tobacco and sugar like the British. The Spanish ships carrying all that gold and silver back to Spain had proved very tempting to pirates and privateers.

   What's the difference between a pirate and a "privateer"? The distinction was important. Spain was always at war with one or another of the other European powers. Sometimes they were at war with the French, sometimes the English, sometimes the Dutch. It was quite expensive for countries at war with Spain to outfit navies. So any ship that asked would be granted a commission to fight the Spanish Dons, and became legal pirates. If captured by the enemy, instead of being hanged as pirates, they were instead prisoners of war. Sometimes these POW's were put in dungeons, sometimes they became slaves.

   Oliver Cromwell sent out ships and soldiers to wrest Central America and the Caribbean from the Spanish, the young Henry Morgan among them. They arrive in Barbados at the end of January in 1655. After a series of mishaps on the island of Hispaniola (now the Dominican Republic) the British manage to win Jamaica in May. Jamaica is the perfect island from which to raid the rich Spanish cities that ring that Caribbean, and that's just what Henry Morgan and his buccaneers (the book explains what a "buccaneer" is) do. The best part of this book are the descriptions of the daring raids which Morgan makes on the Spanish Main, culminating in the looting and burning of Panama in 1671. Morgan and the buccaneers pillage their way around the Caribbean legally and with the sanction of the British, as they are the Jamaican navy.

   Dudley Pope was an accomplished novelist, author of the "Ramage" series. The Ramage novels are historical fiction, the action taking place on sailing ships in the warm Caribbean seas. Pope has an impeccable command of Jamaican history, combined with the writing skills of a novelist. The reader will find himself wondering about the larger historical picture back in Europe, and some of this is gone into. I very much enjoyed reading this book- it's as much a history of the early British settlement of Jamaica as it is a biography of Harry Morgan. One couldn't find a more stirring history than Pope's biography of Morgan, and I'm glad to see it back in print.




2. Sir Henry Morgan left behind a huge legend, but not much else - no artifacts of his life remain, no heir carried on his name - even his grave was lost when Port Royal was obliterated by earthquake and swallowed by the sea shortly after his death. Today, most know him better as myth than history, or worse, as nothing more than a cartoon caricature used to sell rum. In `Harry Morgan's Way', navel historian and novelist Dudley Pope cuts through the myths and reconstructs for us the history of this bold and fascinating man.
   
   It would be impossible to understand Morgan without some basic knowledge of the history of European conquest and conflict in the West Indies, the pivotal part that Jamaica played in that conflict, or the history and significance of the buccaneers to that conflict. Pope realized this; `Harry Morgan's Way' is as much an early history of Jamaica and the West Indies buccaneers as it is a biography of Morgan. Henry Morgan doesn't even enter the action of the book until chapter seven. Pope used his initial chapters to explain how Spain came to be in conflict with the English, Dutch, and French in the West Indies, and to tell the fascinating story of how the unique buccaneer culture developed. We learn that buccaneer has a very specific meaning, and is not an interchangeable synonym for pirate, and discover the fine legal and ethical points that separated privateers from pirates as well. All of this is absolutely necessary background to understanding a man who was not only the undisputed leader of the buccaneers of the West Indies, but was knighted by his king and made lieutenant governor of Jamaica.
   
   Morgan was a bold man of action, equal to the great Sir Francis Drake in stature, and a history of his exploits makes for fascinating reading. Pope is at his best when describing Morgan's major raids (for he was more soldier than sailor, ships being little more than the transport that moved his troops for land battles) against Granada, Portobelo, Maracaibo, and Panama. Much of his life was spent in the intrigue and battles of Jamaican politics as well, and though these can be interesting, Pope does not show the same deft touch when writing of them, and sometimes my interest waned under the brunt of their detail. Still, all told `Harry Morgan's Way' is a riveting read - exciting, informative, well written, and recommended.
   
   Theo Logos

No comments about Queen Victoria - The Story of Her Life and Reign.

2 comments about George I (The English Monarchs Series).

1. The author's writing style is easy to follow, without being simplistic and her grasp of the historical issues of the period is excellent.

   She presents a great deal of information about the women involved in the history of George, which is unusual for a historian of the Hanovers.

   The book is approachable without an in-depth knowledge of the German principalities (though this obviously helps).

   Solidly recommended.




2. I read a Hard back copy from the local library and could not believe it. I loved this bio. I have read many other biographies and books on the Stuart and Hanover Dynasties of Britain but most were from Charles II and the pretenders and George III through Victoria. George I seems to be remembered as the British King who really didn't care; He took his time accepting the throne, refused to learn English, ran away to Hanover every chance he got and only wanted English money proven by the South Sea Bubble scandal. This book gives us more. A lot more. It shows the who and why, it dispels the stories I have listed above and gives us the man, flesh, blood and emotions. He becomes a real and more understood human than just an uncaring figure from history. I highly recommend this book. It is a great read. I didn't want to put it down. It flows easy and gives enough detail and background to keep you moving through history and his life without bogging you down. All those, Jacobites included :) who do not know George I outside of the usual should read this book. I can't say enough about it.

No comments about Henry VIII (Seminar Studies in History).

5 comments about The Churchill Factors: Creating Your Finest Hour.

1. I'm a great admirer of Winston Churchill. This book is not another biography. Rather, I found a clear, understandable explanation of Churchill's leadership formula. This book showed me how to use the Churchill Factors in my life. The goal setting chapters were the best I have found on the subject. I also liked the author's encouragement concerning taking risks and overcoming obstacles.



2. I am a high school senior who had to write a report on a famous leader. I selected Winston Churchill. I didn't really know much about him but found exactly what I needed in this book. I ordered it online and it arrived three days later! The book told me how I can become a leader. I could identify with some of the problems Churchill had during his life. His life was full of problems but he was still able to be successful. I think this book will help me when I go on to college next year. I already have some new ideas I want to try out at work. I would really recommend this book to others.



3. The Churchill Factors: Creating Your Finest Hour was very easy to understand. The message was simple, clear, and practical. Too many self-help books are mumbo-jumbo consultant hype about approaches that never really work. I found this book was honest and extremely usable. Everyone will be able to identify with at least one of the styles in the book. There are several chapters for each one. By applying the Action This Day questions at the end of the chapters helped me to overcome some of the obstacles I deal with at work and at home. I definitely was surprised that this was more than the usual leadership book about a famous person. The Churchill Factors made it easy for me to see why Winston Churchill was such a multi-faceted personality. Everyone would benefit from using his methodology. It's worked for me!



4. Churchill was, without question, a fine man and example for us to follow. Learning more about Churchill, what made him great, and how he influenced history is a worthy endeavor.

   Being motivated and inspired to pursue higher objectives in life, to really make a difference in the world is also a worthy endeavor. Emulating features of Churchill's life to craft your own success is also worthwhile.

   As I began this book, I found myself reading sections to my wife. Good stuff here! The author's own words as well as the quotes from Churchill and other luminaries were getting my attention. I began to understand why several of my friends are such devoted students of Churchill and his influence. The first 37 pages were great.

   Then Chapter 5 hit me like a bucket of ice water. I discovered to my astonishment that the author is also a distributor of behavioral style learning materials produced by Inscape Publishing. Most of the balance of the book is a description of the four principal behavioral styles and how various aspects of Churchill's attributes relate to the styles. I was tempted to toss the book away as a blatant commercial for Inscape products. There was nothing on the cover of the book, in the introduction, or in the title that suggested that this was the kind of book I discovered . . . unless you look closely at the category on the back cover and note that the words "SELF HELP" follow "BUSINESS."

   The four behavioral styles of drivers, influencers, supporters, and conceptualizers were each presented with some explanation. Churchill's traits were related to each, apparently to validate for persons with each style that they, too, can be like Churchill. I felt some were rather force-fit. As a disclosure, I have used Inscape instruments and behavioral style knowledge for two decades and am a former national contract trainer for the company; I am quite familiar with the products and their philosophies.

   At the end of the book is a blatant promotion for a wide range of Inscape products. For those readers who are interested in learning more about behavioral styles, it's helpful to have this catalog available. For those who were really interested in what made Churchill great-from an author touted as a Churchill expert, it's offensive.

   I almost rated this book with three stars instead of four (out of five), but there is some good content. Kryske does relate some strong material, particularly in the forepart of the book before he got into the behavioral styles. The book is heavily seasoned with quotes (as call-outs); there's a quote from someone on almost every page. Many of the quotes are from Churchill, but also cited are other historical figures and present-day motivational speakers.




5. I have followed Larry Kryske's career for many years. As a motivational speaker he has reached thousands with the leadership principles of Sir Winston S. Churchill in a lively and practical way. In one conference that I attended some years ago, Mr. Kryske shared the same platform with a world-renowned historian on the life of Churchill. The "renowned historian" gave a written, and read, presentation on some aspect of Churchill, which droned on for over an hour. The audience was visibly bored and fidgity. Then afterwards, Larry got up and gave a 45-minute presentation on the "Churchill Factors" employing humor while at the same time, fleshing out his presentation with an oil painting demonstration! To say the least, the audience was mesmerized and completely engaged with his presentation. Larry is also a talented artist!
   
   "The Churchill Factors" is an anthology of a lifetime of personal study and public presentations at conferences and other venues. Mr. Kryske is a recognized leading authority on the life of Churchill, but far beyond that, Larry has a rare gift of sifting through massive material in order to provide the listener -- here the reader -- with a life-changing study of practical wisdom. I keep a copy of his book handy both at work, and at home at the kitchen table, and make time to read a page here, and a page there, then contemplate the basic message to apply to my life.
   
   "The Churchill Factors" has practical information for everyone, young and old, no matter what job you do in life, no matter what position you hold. The message is clear: you are on this planet for a purpose, and your finest hour is yet to come!

1 comments about David Douglas: Explorer and Botanist.

1. The adventures of an ardent plant lover/collector during the 1820s and 1830s. David Douglas documented, collected, and returned to England over 200 new species of plants commonly found in contemporary gardens. The Douglas fir, arguably the most significant timber source of the 20th century, is named for him. He walked more than 10,000 miles during his travels across North America enduring many hardships while experiencing an unexplored wilderness. His interaction with native peoples demonstrated his inate skill as a diplomat.
   His wonder at the marvels of nature will resonate with any plant lover.

2 comments about Becoming Winston Churchill: The Untold Story of Young Winston and his American Mentor.

1. for people really interested in the only mentor churchill ever had this book is a must have



2. I have been a student of Sir Winston Churchill my entire life. Long enough to consider myself a Churchill historian and serious collector of any and all items related to his life. My personal Churchill library is extensive and I am indeed proud to know Michael McMenamin, author of "Becoming Winston Churchill" and to add his book to my library! Michael has done an outstanding job sharing with us the important influence that Mr. Bourke Cockran had on Winston as he formed his personal and political beliefs early in his life. He obviously was regarded a close personal friend, mentor and perhaps even as a respected father figure. I recommend this book highly! Donald E. Jakeway

2 comments about Prince William: Born to Be King.

1. The author promises to let the reader know: " Why William was know as 'Billy the Basher,' How he coped with his parents' troubled marriage, What he does for fun and excitement, Why his former nanny is now his closest friend, and How he feels about being popular with girls all over the world." Richard Buskin does accomplished these things. However, if one has kept up with the Royal Family, then, one know everything in the book and much more. Princes William possesses many more nicknames than just 'Billy the Basher.'

   Despite this, the book is well-written which one can not say about many of the books written about Prince William. This book can be appreciated by adults and not just gushing teenagers who are crazy over Prince William. It's easy reading and can be easily read in an hour.

   Richard Buskin has written several books about the Royal Family - Diana in particular.

   Prince William has had to grow up rapidly considering the events which have taken place in his life. As everyone knows, the world is on the verge of a new millennium, and for William, the twenty-first century king, it appears to be there for the taking. There are many picture of Prince William from infancy to the present; however, there are no new ones.

   Since the death of his mother, the late Diana, Princess of Wales, Prince William has grown into a mature young man, and whatever the future holds, the eyes of the world will certainly be on Prince William.

   This is a paperback book which contains 159 pages and measures 4x63/4 inches.




2. I live in England but, do you know, I've never followed the activities of the royal family. It's not always something special when you've grown up with it all your life, and they've done much to let themselves down in the past 20 years, the poor souls. So I've never followed Prince William and, really, know nothing about him. That is, I didn't until I read this book. I was at O'Hare airport in Chicago, flying back to England, when I saw it in at the bookstall. Something made me take it off the shelf - I've no idea to this day why - and it caught my interest as I flicked idly through the pages. I immediately liked the writing style - it's very descriptive, but not too much: it's artfully done. Why, for just a few bucks I got to learn more, much more than I ever thought I'd want to know about William. But I enjoyed it! It's quite a rollercoaster story, and an amusing though pretty accurate insight into British life and culture, written by one who should know - The author biography says that Mr Buskin "is a British journalist". It shows. (It also says that another of his books, about Princess Diana, was a New York Times bestseller. That must be one heck of a book - I'm already looking out for a copy.) I think Buskin must be a pretty savvy guy, and he certainly writes a witty line reminiscent of the British Carry On films. For example, I think he had tongue firmly in cheek when he wrote: "And so the stage was set: His naughtiness was about to evolve into Dreamboat Willy."

No comments about Margaret Pole, 1473-1541.