No comments about The Two Princes of Calabar: An Eighteenth-Century Atlantic Odyssey.

5 comments about Zigzag: The Incredible Wartime Exploits of Double Agent Eddie Chapman.

1. This biography was entertaining and informative.
   
   Anyone desiring to know more about the secret war of deception waged against Nazi Germany will find this book worthy of their time.
   
   Eddie's his good luck, audacity, and courage will also appeal to readers whose primary interest is in just learning more about this guy.



2. Perhaps my one-sentence summary is a tad harsh. But this book could really use a good editor. The general style is fine - nothing wrong with colloquial turns-of-phrase dominating such books, to my mind. And it does, in places, flow well and the overall style does at times complement the story itself.
   
   But Booth's prose is peppered with errors and slips. His sentences often read as if they have been written quickly and only reviewed in a cursory manner. Booth often falls into the trap of replacing colloquial with cliche, can be repetitive - whether with word shadows or with events - and occasionally uses phrases whose meaning is the exact opposite of what he's trying to convey. For example, when asserting that one of Chapman's British interrogators was perhaps warming to him slightly, he writes "He soon became aware that his tormentor was unbending slightly." Forgive me if I'm wrong here, but "unbending" is another word for inflexible or stubborn, no?
   
   And for what it's worth his use of, and translation from, German is at times atrocious - though that probably marks me out for the pedant I am!
   
   Beyond that, the only big flaw is that Booth is too willing to give Chapman and his wife the benefit of the doubt - when a wife who has been continuously cheated on says it wasn't the man's fault that women came after him, that's not grounds for dismissing Chapman's reputation as a Lothario. It's more like someone trying to deceive herself.
   
   BUT, it is a cracking story, and Booth has researched the subject well - though I tend to agree that Chapman's actual effectiveness is somewhat overblown. So despite the flaws, I still enjoyed it - I like the subject matter, and the structure Booth puts into the story works well. The writing, though, drops it to a two star from three or even possibly four stars.



3. A fascinating read that had me turning pages deep into the night. And, the most amazing thing is that it's a true story! Good reading for anyone with a Walter Mitty complex or who just enjoys a good yarn.



4. I just wanted to say that I read this after trying to read "Agent Zigzag" and finding it rather impenetrable, for what it's worth, this one seemed much better written.
   
   It's funny, too.



5. The book is a great read and that's hard to find. The big thing about Eddie Chapman's story is it shows one of the millions or billions of instances in which a potentially solid fate sours when confronted with downturns, constrained opportunity, hormones, etc. Today,
   such a de-railed character ends up with our growing population behind walls and barbed wire at Marion, Sing-Sing, or Leavenworth. Chapman's cleverness and sheer luck of circumstance let him turn his lemon of a livelihood into lemonade (a kind of career-skill, eh?). The portrayal of his Nazi handlers and their treatment of him has a twinge of Hogan's Heroes. Pick up the book. I am anxious read further to get others' take on the Eddie Chapman story....

5 comments about A Likely Story: One Summer with Lillian Hellman.

1. This book is a waste of paper and ink. The author describes the summer she was 17, when she sent a letter to Lillian Hellman asking to work for her "in any capacity" at her house in Martha's Vineyard. The author accepts a position as a housekeeper/cook, knowing she hates the duties involved in such work (and, in the case of cooking, doesn't have the ability), and then spends most of the rest of the book complaining that Hellman (her boss, after all) treats her like a servant. Welcome to reality, kid. Not only that, but Hellman often insists on being right. Again, had Mahoney ever worked before? Her eventual epiphany that she had, in fact, willingly entered into an agreement which involved being treated like a servant comes way too late for this reader. She comes across as whiny, self-absorbed, lacking in any knowledge of reality, and seems to have gained no perspective in the intervening years. In addition, Mahoney would be much better off writing poetry, as her prose too often turns to the lyrical, deviating from her "story" (such as it is). Would this even have gotten published if a famous figure wasn't in it?



2. A Likely Story, is about a seventeen year old girl, who's hopes and dreams are to spend a summer of fun & friendship with Lillian Hellman, in hopes that greatness would rub off on her.

   Rosemary was 17 when she wrote to Lillian Hellman, asking for a part-time summer job. To her surprise, Lillian hired her as a part-time live-in housekeeper, which became more than part-time. When Rosemary applied for the job, employment was the farthest thing from her mind. Rosemary was really only thinking of herself. What she really planned was to read, write, and becoming great friends with Lillian Hellman. But, Lillian had other ideas for Rosemary. And what Rosemary got was something else indeed.

   This book is about the innocence's of a 17 year-old girl, her touch with reality and her painful coming of age. At times it's heart breaking to read, other times it is uproariously funny. Rosemary Mahoney makes you feel as if you are her, in her shoes, living her experiences, and feeling her emotions.

   It's a good read for those times when you don't want to concentrate on a story line or try to solve a plot. Everything you need is right there for you. I hope you like it. I did.

   Pam Stone back to the top




3. If you're interested in Mahoney herself, this must be good-read. You will understand some part of her own life and character. However, the relationship between Mahoney and Hellman was too little to describe well about LH.

   If you like to know more about Lillian Hellman, I'd recommend you to read "Lilly: Reminiscences of Lillian Hellman" written by Peter Feibleman.




4. If you're looking for yet another biography of Lillian Hellman, this is not the book for you. LH is really the backdrop for the real story of Ms. Mahoney as a girl, and her relations with her mother (a drinker)and her family. In fact, the book is BEST when Ms. Hellman is off the stage and the author lets us peek in to her family life with mom, and the 7 (8?) children, all in pursuit of lunacy to a more or lesser degree. If you enjoy finely crafted writing, you'll love the long, lush (inadvertant pun noted) lyrical passages. Apparently, Ms. Mahoney has never met a metaphor she didn't like and the reader is all the richer for that. I suspect the author could make poetry out of the telephone book if she put her formidable talents to it. Someone else in these pages said that "A Likely Story" probably would not have been published if it had not been "about" a famous person. Sadly, that's true; which is a shame because the more interesting and likeable story is the one about the Mahoneys themselves.



5. No one, not even a famous tartar like Lillian Hellman, deserves to have their privacy and dignity stripped away like this, for no greater crime than hiring someone as a housekeeper and then (horror!) expecting them to keep house. Ms Mahoney is a talented writer, which makes her lack of a moral and emotional center all the more troubling.

2 comments about Churchill and Chartwell: The Untold Story.

1. Mr. Buczacki provides a nice, well-written history of the various houses and gardens directly associated with the long life of Winston Churchill. In doing so, the author also reveals important elements of the non-political side of this most remarkable man.
   
   Many general histories of Churchill speak in passing of the domestic trials imposed after the purchase of the family's most important home, Chartwell. Reading this book gives one a keen understanding of what Mrs. Churchill endured as Chartwell and its grounds were slowly, slowly brought into good shape.
   
   If you have a friend who is interested in English landscaping and gardens, this is a book to consider. If that friend also is an admirer of Sir Winston, then it is a must purchase.



2. a great book one of the must have for any churchill library . great anecdotes good pictures .recommended by the churchill society

5 comments about Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and the American Revolution.

1. This is the finest book I have read about the Revolution. Ferling is the best at making pure history great. He doesn't engage in phsycho stuff unless he has to. He is very sophisticated and somewhat difficult in the sense his vocabulary is amazing.

   He admires washington. He presents the great soilder with a few faults. He makes a god out of Adams and a Demon out of Jefferson.

   Great book!!!




2. As an avid reader of the American Revolution, I had heard great things about this book. Unfortunately, it was terribly disappointing. Ferling spends too much time raising Adams to god-like status, in an apparent attempt to continue his sole rehabilitation of Adams' place in our history (see Ferling's other writings). In short, it's a shame that an author that is a history professor spends so much time in the present analyzing what Washington or Jefferson should have done instead of telling us what they did keeping in mind the time period and atmosphere of the late 18th century. If you are looking for a critical analysis of our Founding Fathers, this book is for you. However, if you are looking for, heaven forbid, a book about history, skip this one.



3. This brief (300 pages) history of the American Revolution, as seen through the actions of Adams, Jefferson, and Washington, is a thoroughly enjoyable, pool side type of read. Granted, it is a superficial history of the Revolution, but provides an interesting perspective of the motivations, interactions, and rather different personalities of the three founding fathers. Mr. Ferling's work does seem to be at times rather colored in favor of Washington and Adams, which might be expected, as he has written biographies of our first and second presidents. He makes some rather interesting comments about Jefferson's personality; comments which come close to a psychoanalysis of our third president. Overall, if you are searching for a history of the revolution, this work is not for you. If you are ready for a relaxing narrative of the revolution, and the actions of these three individuals, you will not be disappointed.



4. anyone new to the early history of the republic should consider reading this book. while it is quite brief, ferling does a decent job of telling the tale of the revolution through the eyes of the first three presidents. at times he is heavy handed with jefferson, but any student of the american revolution should know that jefferson's greatest contributions came after independence was secured. the reverence for the declaration of independence came long after it was written; its impact at the time is highly debatable. ferling spends a great deal of time trying to pull adams from the depths of obscurity-his bias is evident-but does make a compelling argument that adams is worthy of the praise. it should be noted that this book ends, for all intents and purposes, and the end of the war, and is merely an assessment of the contributions that washington, adams, and jefferson made during the revolution, and is not an evaluation of their presidencies. nevertheless, it is worthy of your time.



5. this is a historical work on the american revolution that revolves principally around the figures of washington, jefferson, and john adams. it a book the casual reader can delight in, filled with lively prose and a narrative thrust missing so much in other historical works. a highly recommended read for anyone interested in the american revolution.

5 comments about Toussaint Louverture: A Biography.

1. Madison Smarrt Bell writes a incredible Book on a True Leader who was bold and Revolutionary in how he commanded. this Book on this Man is long voerdue. Toussaint Louverture lead the Greatest slave Revolt. Toussaint is a Towering Figure in the History of Defending yourself and this Book is a Must read for all generations now and in the future.



2. The French Revolution, as all great revolutions, had effects on world politics and the struggle of other peoples whom awoken to political life in the afterglow of that event. The fight for freedom in French Santo Domingo (now Haiti, the name that I will use to avoid confusion hereafter) led by Toussaint to a point just short of independence is a prime example of that effect. Without the revolution in the metropolis it is very unlikely that at that time the struggle in Haiti could have been successful. The history of the times was replete with unsuccessful slave rebellions. Why it was successful in Haiti and how that success was accomplished, mainly under the leadership of Toussaint in its decisive phases, is the subject of Mr. Bell's book. Mr. Bell's scholarship and necessary updating of Toussaint's story compares very favorably with that of the eccentric Marxist, later Pan-Africanist, historian C.L.R. James.
   
   The freedom struggle in Haiti, a tropical island well suited to intensive agricultural development for the new international market in those goods necessary for the embryonic industrial system, was above all the struggle for the abolition of slavery. The fight against that servile condition that even many revolutionaries, white and black, and former revolutionaries of the time broke their teeth on. Today that freedom struggle, successful in its way in the Haiti of the early 19th century, remains a shining example of the only really successful fight against slavery by the slaves. So it pays to pay particular attention to the fight.
   
   The forces which pushed the French Revolution forward in the metropolis had their its own set of priorities, among them the fight to move the population from a condition of subjugation to a monarch to citizens of a democracy. I have noted elsewhere how important that changed social status was to the historical and psychological development of modern humankind. Nevertheless that same psychology applies to the struggle in Haiti although even more so under conditions of chattel slavery. Thus, the events in French had their reflection in the colonies particularly in Haiti. One can observe in France the changes in attitude and policy from the early revolutionary days when all classes were good fellows and true through the rise of the leftist Robespierre regime based on the plebian masses, its eventually overthrow and establishment of the Directory and then the various manifestations of the regimes of Napoleon. That regime and its treacherous colonial policy attempting was a very far drop down hill from the early heady days when even moderate revolutionaries were in both places prepared to go quite far to eliminate slavery in Haiti.
   
   There is something of a truism in the statement that great revolutions throw up personalities fit for the times. Certainly revolutions shake up the traditional order of things and let some who might have stayed dormant rise to the occasion. That is the case with Toussaint. For most of his life he was a middle level functionary on his master's estate respected by not slated for greatness. Early on, as the struggle against slavery heated up among the black slaves he exhibited the military, social, political diplomatic and other skills that would eventual thrust him into the leadership of the liberation struggle, This is really saying something special about the man because in the context of that Haitian revolution with the initial disputes between British Spanish and French interests and then the conflicting interests on the island itself between white, black and mulatto would have driven a lesser man around the bend. That it did not do so and that in his errors that which at times were grievous, especially around his seemingly obsessive commitment to maintain the French connection, does not take away from the grandeur of the experience. A cursory look at the latter developments on the island and the seemingly never ending series of tin pot despots who in their turn devastated the island only brings out Toussaint's fascinating role, warts and all, in the earlier liberation struggle in broader relief.



3. After finishing another great work from Bell, I felt like there could never be enough written about this overlooked and distingushed figurehead named Toussaint. Bell chooses a subject which is quite frankly haitian, but who is more importantly american and borne of the spirit of enlightenment. This book unveils the complexities that surround this great leader who was free, propertied, owned slaves and was a devout catholic who was belived to also practice voodoo by the time the revolution started. A worthy read for those not only interested in haiti but also how leaders emerge...



4. Well known for his trilogy of historical novels chronicling Haiti's struggle for independence from France (ALL SOUL'S RISING, MASTER Of The CROSSROADS, and THE STONE THAT The BUILDER REFUSED), author Madison Smartt Bell is familiar with the primary and academic sources on the people and events that led that country through its chaotic and bloody triumph to becoming the first black state in the Western Hemisphere. Of those men, the most important of all was Toussaint Louverture.
   
   Madison Smartt Bell's TOUSSAINT LOUVERTURE: A BIOGRAPHY is a necessary addition to a subject only few have dared to take on. As a biography it provides a sober and ubiased account of the former slave and self-taught veterinarian who, at age 50, would also prove himself a brilliant leader and military genius.
   
   Unlike most others who've written about the man, Bell provides much detail on Louverture's early life and ambitions. He presents a Louverture who was shrewd (the man ably manipulated the interests of both the British and the Spaniards) and level-headed, but who was also just and often disgusted by the bloody excesses of the slaves' rebellion.
   
   What makes this such an excellent work is in the way Madison Smartt Bell fleshes out Louverture's world with an indepth look into the various social classes and ethnic groups of Saint Domingue, the role religion and spiritualism played in the daily lives of the slaves and the strong influence of Voudoun on the rebellion--something that, depending on the situation, Louverture would either persecute or encourage. By highlighting the social and ethnic groupings of upper-class white landowners ("grand blancs"), lower-class white laborers and merchants ("petit blancs"), those of mixed race ("gens de coleur"), freed blacks, and the slaves, Bell shows how each one was antogonistic towards all the others and makes a strong point of presenting Haiti's war of independence as something much more complex than a slave uprising.
   
   Highly recommended.



5. Toussaint Louverture who lived from roughly 1744 to 1803 was the preeminent leader of Haitian independence, a model of a rebel, and a paradox of a person. He was a self educated slave who was freed shortly before his uprising in 1791. In 1793 he allied himself with the Spanish against the French but later changed sides and fought alongside revolutionary France, whose Jacobins had freed the slaves in 1793, to help expel the English who Toussaint noted had not freed the slaves of their colonies. By 1799 he was master of the island and was forced to put down a rebellion by mixed-blood freedmen (known variously as `mullatto' or `coloured'). By 1801 he was in charge of the whole island but the next year Napoleon sent an army to wrest it back to France. Toussaint was kidnapped and whisked away to die in France while his former slaves fought on and eventually gained independence in 1804, only the second independent country in the New World and one of only a few independent black countries in the world.
   
   This book is a very readable masterpiece of writing drawing mostly on secondary sources to flesh out the fascinating life of the former slave and rebel leader. The story pays close attention to the class and ethnic destinctions on the island, showing the great degree of animosity between the French, the creoles, the free Gens De Colouer (coloreds) and runaway slaves. This is a fascinating portrait of the New World, the Carribean, a French colony and slave life and rebellion. Toussaint was an ardent Catholic and persecuted Voodou. The last chapter is a lively discussion of the problems Haiti has faced since the time of Toussaint, a story that can also be found in `Why the Cocks fight'.
   
   A riveting and important book.
   
   Seth J. Frantzman

2 comments about My Tainted Blood.

1. This is an extremely well-told story of a most unusual youth -- one Kueter spent hiding his Jewishness from the Nazis and from his neighbors in wartime Germany. In addition to the anxieties of being sent off to a concentration camp, there were the more everyday concerns of hunger, concerns Kueter attended to with a Robin-Hood-like panache. Robin Hood plus Reynard the Fox: those two role models helped the teenaged Kueter outwit the authorities and consistently provide food for an extended family. In addition to tales of derring-do, there are recipes that show that even as a boy, Kueter was already a chef/restaurateur-in-training. An unusual addition to wartime memoirs/Holocaust memoirs. This is a tale not to be missed.



2. The author grew up secretly Jewish in a Europe controlled by the Nazis. Only now, decades later, he writes about how it was for his alter ego (Horst)in this partly autobiographical story. He and his mother did finally make it to the USA after the war but by then he had grown almost to manhood. The story is a partly fictionalized window into his personality and the weird conditions of life during that time of turmoil and great personal danger. In real life, Mr. Kueter became a gourmet chef and for almost 30 years ran a restaurant in Maine specializing in continental cuisine - - an outcome foreshadowed in this tasty novel.

No comments about Find A Way Home.

No comments about Lizzi & Fredl: A Perilous Journey of Love and Faith.

No comments about Street-Fighting Years: An Autobiography of the Sixties.