1 comments about Henry Ossawa Tanner: A Spiritual Biography (Lives & Legacies).

1. One of the most stunning moments in my art-watching career came many years ago in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, when I suddenly came upon Henry Tanner's painting "The Annunciation." I remained transfixed for many minutes. It remains my favorite religious painting of the last couple of centuries. I soon learned that the artist was the first African-American to make it to the artistic top, the stratospheric heights of French Salon shows and membership in the American National Academy of Design. Tanner was almost forgotten for a long time, but there is a flock of webpages and internet resources on him now, as well as this wonderful biography.
   Marcus Bruce has written a brief book that lays out Tanner's lifecourse, centering on the religious and spiritual side, which was, in fact, Tanner's true focus. (Tanner, a minister's son, remained deeply religious all his life.) This book is not only clear and authoritative; it has some of the most insightful art criticism that I have seen. Bruce is far from the "in the right corner we see a dog" school of art writing. He describes the paintings in relation to Tanner's spiritual quest, and Tanner's vision of the world and humanity. His account of my beloved "Annunciation" is a real masterpiece.
   My only complaint with this book (besides sloppy editing--there are too many typos) is that it is too short and does not have color pictures! I hope, even pray, that Dr. Bruce will go on to do a full-scale, large-format art book about Henry Tanner, with the major works in full color. Tanner certainly deserves it--he still has not received the recognition he deserves--and Bruce is the man to do it.

3 comments about WINSTON CHURCHILL - SOLDIER: The Military Life of a Gentleman at War.

1. This book is a labor of love and it shows. In an overture to his political career, Winston Churchill was graduated from Great Britain's royal military academy in 1894, aged twenty, and served as a professional officer (and part-time war correspondent) t for the next six years. He saw action on India's northwest frontier, in Cuba as an observer with the Spanish army during the Cuban insurrection of 1895, in what was then Anglo-Egyptian Sudan in 1898, and in the Boer War in 1899-1900. Then in 1915, after losing his post as a Cabinet Minister, a middle-aged Churchill returned to duty on the Western Front for a year. He thus saw colonial war in Africa and Asia in the late days of the British Empire, when it was considered something of a moderately dangerous sport for gentleman cavalry officers, and in his own middle age when it had become an industrial-scale slaughter in the mud of the trenches of Flanders. Russell tells the story with thoroughgoing attention to detail based on exhaustive research--including visits to the scenes he describes--skipping nothing, from details of uniforms and daily patterns of army life, to tactics and moment-by-moment experiences in battle. No one interested in military history should miss this book.
   
   But the general reader, too, will find it fascinating because the central figure, never lost sight of, is young Winston Churchill--ambitious, outspoken (sometimes to his disadantage,) eloquent, completely loyal to class and country, and absolutely without fear on the battlefields where he narrowly missed death several times. Likewise gifted with a sense of the sweep of history that he later poured into many books. Everyone should make the acquaintance of this genuine and colorful giant in his formative years to learn why he became a great wartime leader. Those of us, like this reviewer, old enough to remember that deep voice using the mightiest resources of the English language to rally Britain and the free world against the Axis even in the darkest moments of World War II will be especially thrilled. Those younger should make his refreshing acquaintance in this age of cookie-cutter politicians.



2. 
   I've read many books about Winston Churchill and this by far is the worst! It almost seems as if Churchill was punished for serving in the military.
   
   I wish the book would have discussed what I believe motivated Winston Churchill for military acceptance, an example; his childhood in boarding school: He was rarely visited by his mother, Lady Randolph, whom he wrote many letters begging her to either come or let his father permit him to come home and stay. I believe his father wanted Winston at home and to be part of his life, unfortunately back then (the late 1800's) a mother always seemed to get her way concerning the children, no matter how wrong she was.
   
   Another note, Churchill participated in what has been described as the last significant British cavalry charge at the Battle of Omdurman. He also served as a war correspondent for the Morning Post. What's terrific is that Sir Winston Churchill wrote and served in the military at the same time! I wonder if that was ever used against him when he ran for office??
   
   Back to the book, Winston Churchill was a great leader and hero, but it is not conveyed to me in this book. It seems the author did not take into account or see all sides of the picture concerning Churchill's military life, especially the truthful people who took the time to show up and support Winston in his endeavors.
   
   To me, the book was vacant, dreadful, and very one-sided. I'm sorry to say that I would never recommend this book to anyone, not even my worst enemy.
   
   Two great books to read regarding Winston Churchill's military life are "Concerning Winston Spencer Churchill," written by Sir George Arthur and "Winston Churchill: The Era and the Man," written by Virginia Cowles.
   
   I hope my review enlightened you and made you think.



3. In the popular--especially American--mind, the career of Winston Churchill begins in 1940, but in fact he had many careers, and in all of them, he demonstrated courage and a prodigious amount of energy. In Winston Churchill: Soldier, Douglas S. Russell focuses on Churchill's early life as a gentleman and lieutenant in the service of Victorian England. It was, by any standard, an impressive service and Russell takes us through all the key events, illuminating them with informative and entertaining prose.
   
   In a five-year period, Churchill saw combat in four countries, won several decorations including the Spanish Order of Military Merit, became fabulously famous as an escaped prisoner of war, wrote five books, and gained a seat in Parliament. He was not yet twenty-six.
   
   It is an intimidating task to relate the events of such a life, and it is made more challenging by knowing who your subject was to become. Russell's achievement is admirable. He begins with Churchill's childhood--it is well to remember that the future Prime Minister was born forty years before the First World War--and takes us through his days at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst before going on to his service in the 4th Hussars and combat on an international stage. (It is difficult for an American to picture Churchill fighting in Cuba.)
   
   Russell succeeds in showing the best traits of a biographer in this volume. He is engaged with his subject and yet he retains a scholarly distance. It is not easy to maintain such balance with someone who looms as large in our minds as Churchill.
   
   --David Lang at Advance Book Reviews

5 comments about Last Days of Glory: The Death of Queen Victoria.

1. When I first saw that this book was published, I was skeptical that enough information could be gathered about Queen Victoria's death to make for interesting reading. Was I wrong! The Last Days of Glory: The Death of Queen Victoria by Tony Rennell contains not just lots of interesting information, but also all the high drama required of a good Victorian novel. The cast of characters is unbelievable. They include: 1. a robust queen whose rapidly failing health is kept from her public until the last minute 2. a reluctant heir who would rather go fox hunting and spend time with his mistresses than attend his mother's deathbed or assume the throne 3. a passel of children and grandchildren who hover about and argue with each other 4. an obnoxious, arrogant and overbearing grandson (Kaiser William II) trying to make nice with his British cousins (who all loathe him) while trying to muscle his way into the death scene 5. a personal doctor who is second guessed at every opportunity, is never allowed to physically examine the queen and who serves as a spy to the Kaiser 6. a bishop who tries to interject too much "churchiness" into the death scene and is finally asked to leave 7. a head dresser who has promised the queen to sneak a large number of objects and mementos into the queen's coffin (without her family's knowledge) including several from the queen's devoted Scottish servant, John Brown (also rumored to be her secret husband) 8. a large number of heads of state who scheme and plot and politic against each other at the funeral, even though most of them are related to each other 9. an Empire of British subjects who have never known another sovereign and 10. a large group of faithful but bumbling government officials who have no clue how to bury the old monarch or install the new one because they haven't had to worry about such things for over 63 years.

   Add to this story a lost effigy for the burial sarcophagus and over 100 daily newspapers scrapping for every little tidbit of information, and you have a saga most fiction writers could only dream about. To make the story even more interesting, we learn about the changes in the Empire and the world during the course of Victoria's reign. Telegrams have revolutionized communication, telephones are in their infancy, and no one really believes that the new horseless carraiges will become popular because they're too expensive. Queen Victoria's death takes place at the dawn of a new millennium, so the end of the 19th Century and the end of the Victorian Era occur together. Also, the British Empire will never again be as great or as grand as it was during Victoria's reign. It all makes for fascinating reading.

   The only flaw I could find in The Last Dayas of Glory involved a historical fact. The Russian Tsar and Tsarina, Nicholas and Alexandra (Victoria's favorite granddaughter) got married after Nicholas became tsar and not before. But other than this minor error, I find no fault here. Tony Rennell's book is a nice surprise and well worth reading.




2. A surprisingly entertaining book. Surprisingly because Rennell writes quite a dry book, not sensationalising the story of Victoria's death, or attempting to get too personal. Rather, he takes the reader through Victoria's last days, her death and the funeral, relating aspects from the point of view of those close to Victoria and the press. He never directly writes political analysis, but rather hints at it, only occasionally drawing parallels with the modern British monarchy. By taking one small episode - lasting only a year really - Rennell manages to explore various facets of Victorian life and it's legacy.

   The most striking point in this book is the fact that no-one seemed prepared for Queen Victoria's death, which is amazing considering the woman was in her eighties! But it also entertainingly covers the small facts - the internal squabbles within the large and extended royal family; the fact the Queen was a bit of a glutton until her final illness; the boy who flicked a match and set fire to a man's hat while the public watched the funeral procession move through London. Rennell manages to steer a course between the academic and the `dumbing down' sometimes prevalent in modern day `popular history'. Rather, he just sticks to the facts and supposes his readers are intelligent enough to understand and interpret them.




3. Basically this book is just an overview of the last three weeks of Queen Victoria's life, and not very interestingly written either, being rather simplistic and jumping back & forth in style.
   
   For a much more comprehensive and fascinating view of Queen Victoria's last days, I recommend "Ask Sir James" by Michaela Reid, which is a biography of Ms. Reid's grandfather, Sir James Reid, Queen Victoria's doctor. Despite its being a book not strictly about Queen Victoria, "Ask Sir James" is really chock full of interesting information and tidbits of personal history regarding the last 20-odd years of the Queen's life, her personality and her health, and is a much better and more interesting book than "Last Days of Glory". Don't waste your money on Rennell's book; go to the source it's based on!



4. 
   I like a book that is focused and keeps its tone throughout. With content like this I'm sure it took discipline to weed out the many stories of people and events that brought the world to this date. For instance, just enough is devoted to the Kaiser and John Brown is appropriately dealt with in the appendix. The tone stays the same through the final days, to the funeral preparations and then the funeral ritual itself.
   
   It had been so long since a monarch's death, that no one could remember the protocol. There were big issues and smaller decisions. How to inform the populace? How long should a mourning period last? (Various aspects of the economy had to be considered.) Would Edward hire the Queen's personal staff? Hymns had to be chosen, and a favorite had to yield to the politically correct one of the time. So many outpourings from at home and abroad. Special request floral designs. Visiting dignitaries. What to call the Princess of Wales before installation? QV left very detailed instructions, but soon to be installed King Edward now had the veto.
   
   Rennell gives us all the above and more. He sticks with his topic and brings together all the pertinent material. Very good job.



5. Can a book about someone's death be entertaining? You bet, if the subject is Queen Victoria and it deals with the pomp and circumstance of her death. Extraordinary research, well-written. Very human, including royal family conflicts and imperfections. If you like the Victorian period, by all means, read this book.

No comments about To the Arctic by Canoe 1819-1821: The Journal and Paintings of Robert Hood, Midshipman With Franklin.

No comments about Herbert Howells (Border Lines (Bridgend, Wales).).

No comments about Life and Times of Queen Elizabeth I (Naxos Audio).

1 comments about George Mallory.

1. I have been familiar with both the Robertson biography of Geroge Mallory and its contents since well before its first appearance a generation ago becasue I belong to the Mallory family. With respect and appreciation for all the risk-taking, adventuresomeness and care shown by the 1999 explorers, I think that the Mallory cannot be fully understood without knowing about the family and personal context of George Mallory's life, and this biography, wirtten within the family, provides that larger persepctive.

5 comments about Crossing the Sauer: A Memoir of World War II.

1. I've been reading WWII memoirs for thirty years. In that time I feel I've "seen" it all. Rarely, however, do I come across a book like "Crossing the Sauer," a book that I can't put down until I've read every page. Somewhat short (189 pp.) but chock full of honesty and realism, Felix's story oozes with gut wrenching confession. Too often things get glossed over and former soldiers leave out the juicy details. Mr. Felix, however, has brought his doubts, reluctance and horror at finding himself (trained in the artillery) attached to an infantry unit at the front to the reader's consciousness. It doesn't get any better than this.

   Smooth, free-flowing prose and an eye for detail kept me riveted. I got some great laughs out of Felix's re-telling of some of his buddies' adventures, especially the sexual ones. We know those things went on but, until recently, the WWII generation has been reluctant to let the public in on their not-so-delicate tales of prostitutes and willing females. We want the whole story, not just the horror of war stuff.

   I was a bit frustrated at not knowing the dates and, more importantly, which unit Mr. Felix served with but these are minor complaints. It would seem that he was with the 5th Infantry Division but one reference mentions the 28th Division, not part of Patton's Third Army, to my knowledge. Maybe he kept these things confidential to protect the participants. The officers, especially, come off looking pretty bad. As a former Marine I was appalled at how they treated the enlisted men. Marine officers and NCOs take care of their men first.

   Evidently that wasn't the case in the WWII Army, especially the front line infantry units, full of replacements/draftees and lots of men who really didn't want to be there in the mud, blood and snow. Barely speaking to the lowly privates at best and sacrificing them for their own glory at worst, the higher ranks had no qualms about eating a fresh, hot meal of roasted chicken and baked potatoes under the nose of poor Felix who, while manning the radio, frequently went days without food. Spending up to fifty-two hours on duty without a break, Felix and his fellow "peasants" were at the mercy of the Army's "upper class," condescending, abusive, vainglorious and impervious to the plight of their underlings.

   If you want to know what it was like to be drafted into an infantry unit during the war, pick up a copy of "Crossing the Sauer." I think, like me, you'll appreciate the author's honesty, insight and very literate tale.




2. Crossing The Sauer: A Memoir Of World War II is Charles Reis Felix's staunchly honest and unflinchingly vivid memoir of what it was like to serve in Patton's Army and advancing through the German battlefields of World War II. As memorable, emotional, and brutal as the bloodshed and battles of World War II itself, Crossing The Sauer is a compelling personal testimony and a highly recommended addition to Military History supplemental reading lists and academic reference collections.



3. The novel Crossing the Sauer is a book based on World War II. You read and learn about the different experiences from a soldier in the war. The man that you read about is Charles Reis Felix himself as he tells you what he encounters being in Europe during WWII. He explains about the hardships he has to face, not only physically but mentally as well. Charley is still young and he is confused on what he really wants in life. When he comes across those "you see your life flash before your eyes" moments, during an attack in Europe, he feels that there's so much more he wants to do with his life but feels trapped now that he is in the army and at war. Charley comes to think that being a soldier you either end up dead, then your life obviously is over with. Or specifically WWII, you spent most of your life over in Europe and by the time you return to the United States you've already missed out on several other opportunities. As he has so much going on in his mind he has to be able to fight the physical challenges and learn how to build up strengths and emotions.
   
   One 9r class reading Crossing the Sauer connects to is mostly The Pearl. In Crossing the Sauer, he learns the value of life and that you need to make the most of it. In The Pearl,
   Kino realizes what's important in life, not material things such as what he could get with the pearl. They each have to learn the hard way, Kino and Juana by losing the life of their child, and Charley being in war and seeing that his life could end in almost any minute when they are attacked or at battle.
   
   Personally I did not enjoy the book as well as some other people might have. I liked the topic of WWII but, they go into great detail on war terms that I didn't understand and made me confused. What was good about this book was he talked about different events that had happened to him and to other people in all different countries. They were interesting because you didn't hear much about them and probably wouldn't expect to. I would suggest this book to adults or teenagers. The language and some conversation may not be appropriate for younger children. I'd especially recommend this to anyone that's been part of the army in any because they might be able to relate themselves tot his book.



4. "Crossing The Sauer" by Charles Reis Felix.
   Subtitled:" A Memoir Of World War II".
   Burford Books, Short Hills, NJ, 2002.
   
   This is a well written personal memoir, written the way all personal memoirs should be written: little on the preliminary training, more on the actual combat experiences. This book begins with action in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) in December 1994, the month of the Battle of the Bulge. The author, Charles Reis Felix, launches his story by stating that he was being "shipped" across France in the famous (infamous) boxcars known as 40 and 8s. Shipped like cattle! This iconoclastic attitude continues throughout the entire book. He relates how an Army corporal and two PFCs bilk the replacements out of American money by saying it was against regulations to have American money in France. American dollars had to be traded in for French francs. Welcome to France! Non-coms taking advantage of the new people; ("boots" as we called them in the Navy.)
   
   Trained as artillerymen, Charles Reis Felix and his friends are thrown into the turmoil of the ETO just as the Battle of the Bulge was demanding warm bodies. The author and his friends expected to be assigned to the relative safety of behind-the-lines artillery, but, as usual with the Army, the replacement artillerymen were dispatched up front with the infantry ... despite their technical expertise with the 155mm weapon. SNAFU. The author did not identify his outfit by number or name. Personally, I did not check other books to see which outfit was where in the ETO at such and such a time, as I was more interested in the personal experiences of the writer. The author mentions the Army specialized Training Program (ASTP) on page 30.
   
   For a time, Charles Felix escapes actual front line foxholes by volunteering the information that he was able to operate a radio. As a radioman, Felix worked up with certain officers, for whom he has not much good to report. He describes one officer who, with the intention of getting rid of Felix, sends him up to a dangerous front position. All this because the officer had been seen by Felix in an embarrassing position! Then there is the major, (later in the book), who likes to be first into a newly captured German town. The major would prance and dance and strut his stuff in the town square, so the recently surrendered German officials would obsequiously bow down to him. As they rapidly tracked through Germany, the major always wanted to be first into the town so that he could mince about in the part of the conquering American. This all ceased one day when a Hitler Jugend fired a Panzerfaust at the major's jeep. After that, the major was content to sit in his jeep in the middle of the convoy, protected both front and rear. There was one officer, however, who treated enlisted men, and radioman Felix, fairly well. In fact, he tells the author to go upstairs and enjoy some of the food that the officers are gobbling down. Of course, the "good" officer is quickly killed.
   
   As the war winds down, early April 1945, Felix feels sick. An old German woman looks at him and says, "Krank." (p. 183). He WAS sick. Finally, he is diagnosed as having yellow jaundice, sent to the rear, and flown on a C47 to Paris. The war ended for him.
   
   I wonder if he became sick because the U. S, Army had given him an unapproved vaccine against yellow fever. See: "Mapping Epidemics: A Historical Atlas Of Disease" by Brent Hoff, page 34. According to that reference, the unapproved Army vaccine caused thousands upon thousands of cases of yellow jaundice in American troops.



5. if charles bukowski (minus all the alcohol intake) had been in world war II, and had written a memoir about it, you probably would have gotten something like this. a fantastic, unpretentious, totally enjoyable book. i wish this author had written more.

No comments about Life of Charles Dickens: In 2 Volumes (Everyman's Library, 781).

3 comments about FIREBIRDS.

1. Demoulin was a Belgian fighter pilot in RAF druing WW II, flying with the famous 609 Squadron (about this squadron there is a book written by their Intelligence Officer, Frank Ziegler, called "UNDER THE WHITE ROSE"). It's a typiacl tale of a fighter pilot: burning with the desire to fly, losing comrades to accdents and enemy action, shooting down German planes and on and on. Demoulin even became the Squadron's Comanding Officer, adn flew some 250 operational missions.



2. In a good style of writing, the author talks about his exploit in WW II, since escaping from invaded Belgium in 1940 to commanding 609 Squadron (Royal Air Force) in 1944. Great book.



3. This book contains a great narative by a Belgian fighter pilot. The only thing atypical for this kind of biography (first published in 1986 - so a recent one) is that there are no photos at all, what is a shame!