5 comments about Princesses: The Six Daughters of George III.

1. After THE UNRULY QUEEN I was already an admirer of this author but now I am in awe of her. Knowing the mountain of original sources Fraser used I find her selections, editing and writing of the overall narrative simply wonderful. It is a very complicated landscape The Princesses lived in and yet the author has succeeded in not only turning up the volume on each Princess as an individual, but portrays the dynamics of that huge family within one of the most turbulent periods of modern history. Also, explanations of the manners and mores of the times are seamlessly interwoven, which in turn nicely contrasts public propriety with the daily private reality. I have a large George III library and this is a valuable addition to it.



2. I have seen occasional references to the children of George III, apart from George IV and William IV, usually in biographies of Queen Victoria, but this is the first in-depth treatment that I have read of his daughters. They usually don't even rank a mention in the oft-told tale of the race to provide an heir to the throne after the death of Princess Charlotte (George IV's daughter) since, due to the rules of primogeniture and their father's reluctance to allow them to marry before middle age, they didn't even have a shot at it.
   
   Continuing in the family tradition of writing absorbing biographies of figures in English history, Flora Fraser provides a sympathetic, if sometimes a bit too minutely detailed, picture of these six very different sisters: Charlotte, Princess Royal (known as Royal), always conscious of her rank and position, as she could hardly fail to be with such a nickname; Augusta, the family correspondent; Elizabeth, artistic and charitable; Mary, the beauty of the family, who survived all her siblings and lived well into Victoria's reign; Sophia, who "disgraced" herself by bearing an illegitimate son; and Amelia, the headstrong youngest child who was passionately in love with a man whom she could not marry. These are only thumbnail descriptions and do not do justice to Fraser's portrayal of the loving and occasionally acrimonious relationship that the princesses had with each other, their brothers, and their parents.
   
   We often read about the political repercussions of George III's mental disability and the deterioration of the relationship between the Regent and his parents, but I found Fraser's description of the effect that it had on the Queen and their daughters to be particularly moving. However, three of them did find happiness in marriage, if not children, late in life, and with the others, were able to build satisfying lives around nieces and nephews, as well as artistic, intellectual and charitable pursuits. We can only speculate on what they might have done with their lives had more opportunities been open to them.



3. In my opinion this is one of those books that it is well researched,well organized and the story is pretty much well told.But at the end of the day i asked myself why i bought this book, because when i finished reading the book i realized that the lives of these ladies wasnt interesting at all.I mean the thing is that, basically, nothing happened to this ladies.They were completely separated from the outside world and they really didnt had that much to contribute or much to get involved with the world.The narrative is not bad because the author makes a great effort in trying to make the story interesting.The problem is that the story is boring and dull.The author also just takes too many pages to tell a story that doesnt need that many pages.I've could have done without a least 100 to a 150 pages.The only parts that were interesting were the ones that talked about the English etiquette in Court.I got to learn a lot about what's the etiquette when someone died and the proper order in which to enter a room or signed a document.Again good effort by the author but there's no story to tell



4. This was a very detailed and indept biography of the six daughters of George III. Charlotte, Augusta, Elizabeth, Mary, Sophia, and Amelia they were not allowed to marry an unusual step at the time since most kings marry off their daughters for alliences George III decided not to marry his daughters off after witnessing one of his own sister's plight in marriage. Yet that didn't deter them from flirting, illegally marrying or in Sophia's case even giving birth to an illigmate child creating scandles of their own. It was interesting reading about their interests and charities and living with their parents through middle age. Two sisters did end up marrying after well into middle age. A very good bio.



5. The six daughters of King George III have been overlooked by biographers for too many years. Therefore I had high hopes for Princesses. Unfortunately it was one of the most difficult biographies I have ever read. Flora Fraser painstakingly read and researched hundreds of existing letters written by the princesses as well as others involved in their lives, and it seems she made use of each and every one of them - to the point of annoyance. To borrow a line from Shakespeare, Fraser needs to be told "More matter with less art". The writing is dense, arty, and agonisingly slow to read, and too many pages are spent rehashing insignificant details. These pages would have gone to better use going into more depth about the personalities, characters, and personal relationships of the women. For all that, the subject of the princesses' lives is piquant, moving, joyful, and tragic. But is it worth such headache and laborious reading?

3 comments about Paul Dirac: The Man and his Work.

1. After missing the first collection of essays on this brilliant recluse published soon after his death, I picked up the present version as soon as I was able. It did not disappoint.

   The book is a collection of four lectures given in the subject's honor in 1995 on the tenth anniversary of his death. The final lecture and the latter part of the third are highly mathematical and technical and clearly intended for a professional audience.

   But for me, the first lecture by Abraham Pais is worth the purchase price alone. Pais was not only a contemporary physicist, but also a close friend and as close to a confidant as was possible with such a reticent man.

   Through Pais' eyes, we see a mathematician turned physicist who was very different from the man to whom Dirac is most frequently compared, Albert Einstein. Einstein was a physicist first, mathematician second. Dirac was exactly the opposite. Einstein became a social and political critic, Dirac never strayed far from his study. The two were similar in that both viewed mathematical beauty as primary and both hated the modern remake of quantum mechanics (after the initial theory) for very similar reasons. This last point was interesting as Dirac was the first one to combine all his contemporaries' work on this improved quantum physics into a formal mathematical structure. His resulting equation, called naturally the Dirac equation, is classic Dirac, short and sweet. It combined Einsteinian relativity with the new quantum theory and Dirac considered the result to govern most of physics and all of chemistry. Stephen Hawking, the renowned theoretical physicist, says in his introductory memorial address to the book, "If Dirac had patented the equation ... he would have become one of the richest men in the world. Every television set or computer would have paid him royalties." For this work, Dirac shared the 1933 Nobel Prize with German physicist Erwin Schroedinger. One unexpected consequence of this work was a mathematical conclusion that defined a "negative energy" matter (aka antimatter) solution. Simply put, he had discovered a universe noone had imagined. To this day, we see the effects of this discovery from medical necessities (PET scan imaging-Positron Emission Tomography) to science fiction (Star Trek).

   The quotations and anecdotes Pais chooses are well placed and often very funny. They are also supported by the images of Dirac portrayed in the sketch on the cover and in the few photographs scattered through the first two lectures. They reveal his character well. He saw mathematical and physical realities so clearly that he simply could not understand why others did not see them as well. The photo of him "listening" to future Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman in Maurice Jacob's section is one of the most amusing of the collection.

   In the second lecture, Jacob shows the path of discovery and effect on latter day experimental physics of antimatter. He goes too long in spots but is generally fine.




2. We were ourselves participating in the inauguration of the Paul Dirac memorial in Westminster Abbey. Especially the speeches of Stephan Hawking and Abraham Pais were very touching as they did not only touch Dirac's work but also his personality and life. He was a very complex person and a great physicist. This book reflects that more than others about him.



3. A man Stephen Hawking calls 'probably the greatest British theoretical physicist since Newton,' has got to be a pretty bright man. Paul Dirac wrote the definitive equasion that joined the Theory of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. Like Einstein before him, his equasion is very simple to express, very complex in its overall impact. It explains things like how television sets or computers work.
   
   This book is not exactly a biography, but more a tribute to him. It is a series of four talks given about Dirac eleven years after his death, upon the dedication of a plack to him in Westminster Abby.
   
   Abraham Pais describes Dirac's character and his approach to his work.
   
   Maurice Jacob explains not only how and why Dirac was led to introduce the concept of antimatter, but also its central role in modern particle physics and cosmology.
   
   David Olive gives an account of Dirac's work on magnetic monopoles and shows how it has had a profound influence in the development of fundamental physics down to the present day.
   
   Sir Michael Atiyah explains the widespread significance of the Dirac equation in mathematics, its roots in algebra and its implications for geometry and topology.

5 comments about Fulgencio Batista: Volume 1, From Revolutionary to Strongman.

1. EXCELLENT BOOK ,VERY WELL DOCUMENTED BOOK ON A VERY INTERESTING YEARS OF CUBAN HISTORY, THAT SOMETIMES IS DIFFICULT TO FIND.MANY INTERESTING FACTS
   ABOUT BATISTA'S CHILDHOOD AND RISE TO POWER, I BELIEVE THE CONFLICTS OF THOSE TIMES CREATED THE CONDITIONS FOR CASTRO'S FUTURE RAISE TO POWER IN 1959, GUITERAS PERSONALITY RESEMBLES VERY MUCH CASTRO PERSONALITY AS WELL, AN EXCELLENT BOOK BY ALL MEANS.I WILL RATED A VERY WELL DESERVED 5 STARS



2. This two part biography of Batista attempts to paint the dictator in a new light. The author is very proBatista but does raise some interesting and new perspectives on the man. This first book is about Batista's early years up through the point where he is elected president. It does an excellent job of showing US influences on internal Cuban politics. The various presidents that were Batista's puppets show the level of corruption that runs not only through Cuba but throughout all of Latin America. The narrative account does a great job of shedding light on how Cuba looked in the precastro years and in this case shows how transformative the years before Batista really were. It was a time where Cuba was finding its national image and forming itself as a nation. The book is very well written and provides an interesting account on Cuba during this time period. In short highly recommend.



3. Frank Argote-Freyre has set himself above other experts on Cuba with the publication of his first volume on Fulgencio Batista. I have never before read an account of any person, or any era, that was better. Talk about disciplined and documented academic research, or talk about lively, easily-read prose, or talk about honest, unbiased analysis, and you have to put Argote-Freyre in the top tier of biographers. As for analysts of Cuba's sad experience, Argote-Freyre has no peer.



4. What is a fascinating story of the rise of a poor sugar cane cutter to the presidency of Cuba at age 39 is diluted buy the continuous repetition of the same events over and over again. The book should had been told in one half of the pages used and it should had included volume two.



5. I do not know if this review will ever be published by Amazon. In my opinion this book is very good. Fulgencio Batista was one of the best presidents of the republic of free Cuba. During his regime backwardness, poverty, and ignorance was not prevalent. Law and order was enforced to the max, and that was to control the malcontents who were out to destroy democracy in a booming Island with a bright future. Batista made only one mistake, and that was that he became complacent, and the left wing immediately took advantage of the situation to lie and deprive the Cuban people of their freedom, by installing a senile ideology that has turned around the country approximately 200 years back in time, making it one of the most impoverished countries in the world. It's humiliating to see how a country so rich in everything has been destroyed by a communist system that never worked any were else! We need more Batistas to bring back Cuba to reality, democracy and normality in the Island again. I'm sorry to disappoint all the left wing sympathizers out there. But, we Cubans had it made before the current sorry government took over in January 01, 1959. With the current Government, Cuba has nothing to offer to the world, except ignorance, pestilence, famine, and backwardness, what a shame. And who needs that! Buy the book, I highly recommend it! I'm looking forward to the second part.

No comments about Jacques Vaché and the Roots of Surrealism: Including Vache's War Letters and other Writings.

5 comments about Samuel Johnson.

1. I read this book over 20 years ago. It was my introduction to Samuel Johnson. The book inspired my deep devotion to Johnsonia. The subject, I now know, is fascinating; for over two centuries biographies of Johnson have never been out of print. But this book caught my attention and fixed it. It is a moving portrait of a person like all of us except with greater disabilities and greater strength and, after years of struggle, greater triumphs.

   I urge anyone with an interest in English literature or 18th century England or in the heights to which a honest and brave man can reach to make the effort to read this book. It is, at the very least, a good read. It may also make ytou a better person.




2. This biography has everything: meticulous scholarship, incisive literary criticism, and a prose style that recalls the days when professors could actually write a beautiful sentence.

   The weaknesses are very few. At times Bate's analysis can "sprawl," as he once put it, especially when he tries to apply Freud while discussing Johnson's "self-demand" (an intriguing concept that never really explains Johnson's indolence satisfactorily). Also, Bate tends to defend the Thrales even when they come off poorly, which is surprisingly often. Finally, a bit more on Johnson's relationship with Edmund Burke would have been welcome, for these two geniuses were all too aware of each other's greatness.

   But these are only minor quibbles. Altogether an inspiring achievement, and a testament to the heights that only the humanities reach.




3. Samuel Johnson was a brilliant critic, perhaps the greatest English writer after Shakespeare, a fascinating eccentric, and a genuinely heroic man. The great merit of Mr. Bate's biography is that he succeeds in the magical illusion of bringing Johnson alive again, giving us a vivid sense of what it might have been like to know him.
   
   The highest praise for this book is the regret you will feel when the pages end and Johnson's great figure bows out. The biography is that rare item, a genuinely inspiring book.



4. I always wondered how anyone dare write a biography of Samuel Johnson since Boswell's Johnson is arguably the single greatest volume in all biographical literature. I now understand a bit better how this can be done , thanks to W.Jackson Bate.
   Boswell presented Johnson as he knew him and heard him. He was a living witness who both worshipped the great man, and knew how to draw him out. Boswell is presented Johnson as he appears to contemporaries, in a way Johnson 'live'.
   Walter Jackson Bate is doing something different. He is taking all the accumulated knowledge of Johnson, and using whatever techniques modern psychological and literary approaches give for understanding the human personality.
   He is telling the story in a more detailed , systematic way and in a way which aims at a kind of deeper comprehension.
   What he does is provide insights into the life and character of one of the most fascinating and loveable characters of all English Literature.
   Physically huge and powerful, and yet tremendously vulnerable emotionally, a person at once strictly critical in his evaluations of others and of literature, and yet suddenly surprisingly kind in care for friends and misfortunates, Johnson is many paradoxes. But what fascinates above all is his tremendous genius, his great mental and linguistic power in presenting an understanding of Literature as vital to Life.
   He is certainly one of English Literature greatest 'characters' and 'creators' as this work makes abundantly clear.



5. I found this in out annual library sale for $1. I look forward to reading it based on the reviews here on Amazon. I suspect he is the famous Dr. Johnson that was said to disprove Berkeley by kicking a rock? Yes.

5 comments about Baby Driver: A Story About Myself.

1. Alright, this book was RIDICULOUS! Jan, the main character, was a mess... the complete cliche of needy messed up women with dependency and self-esteem issues. I admit, her father was a bum, her mother was a bit spacy, but it was just redundent- one dumb decision after another. SHe was clearly selfish and clueless, I felt the need to slap her into reality several times during the course of my read. Spiraling into one disasterous episode of drug abuse, sex, and stupid relationships after another; her life never changed, it remained in a constant state of scandal. Worst of all was that she did nothing to better her situations no matter how much help she was offered. I was very unimpressed and annoyed. I expected better! Gosh...Jan made me mad... were she still alive I would right her a letter to inform her of how idiotic she was. The only good part of the whole entire book was when she was living in mexico. However, in some sick way it was rather enjoyable. It reminded me of the tommy lee and pamela anderson porn, so stupid that you laugh at them and feel so glad your life is much less pathetic. I recommend it if you ever want to feel better about your own life.



2. Jan Kerouac only saw her father twice or maybe three times in her life. Of all the things Jack Kerouc was, he wasn't a father to Jan at all. His direct inpact on her life beyond his name was minimal.
   I'm not sure what makes this story more compelling than other memoirs of people who abused themselves and were abused by others. There seems to be a voyeuristc appeal to reading a story like this. It is interesting but you somehow you feel a tad perverted while reading it.
   The annoying part of the book is her transparently flagrent use of adjectives to try and cop the flavor of her father's writing style. Her use of "mad" (I lost count) especially tripped me up and reminded me- I've read "Kerouac" and this is no "Kerouac".



3. The only reason I bought this book was because I thought it would be a nice edition to my beloved beat library. I figured it would be a mediocre attempt by a famous authors daughter to cash in on her fathers name. Wow was I ever wrong! Jan had an exceptional gift for writing descriptive narratives as we follow her adventures from the run-down tenements in NYC to eventually Washington. Each chapter switches between her childhood recollections to her adult life until the book comes full circle in the end and the two time periods connect. Brilliant. I often found myself thinking about the book during the day and couldn't wait to read more. It's an easy uncomplicated read for those who may have been tripped up by dad's spontaneous prose.
   
   My only wish was that Jan embellished more on her thought process and feelings during her adventures. Often she just reports on the incidents without expounding what she thought/felt during that time or what compelled her to do what she did. But who knows, maybe she didn't know either and was just kinda living life.



4. Jan Kerouac, Jack Kerouac's only child grew up in a chaotic, nomadic childhood that swept her from the poverty-stricken tenements of Lower East Side New York to blissful shores of a tiny Mexican village. Intelligent, articulate and restlest, Kerouac was already unconsciously emulating her famous father's boozy itinerant lifestyle when she began dropping acid at the age of 12. By fifteen, pregnant by an ex-boyfriend and on the run from juvenile authorities intent upon locking her up, Jan Kerouac set out on a remarkable journey of self-discovery that she chronicles in this beautiful, absorbing memoir. This 10-year odyssey meanders from New York City to Sante Fe with side rips to Mexico, Guatemala, Columbia and Peru. Along the way, Jan introduces the reader to a motley assortment of characters including philosophical junkies, a vengeful witch, a matter of fact part time hooker and her schizophrenic Argentinean lvoer, Miguel, who hears murderous voices in his head urging him to kill her. Although this was Kerouac's first book, she was already a mesmerizing storyteller fearlessly exposing her flaws, bad choices and mistakes while somehow maintaining her dignity and sense of humor in the worst situations including a stint as a prostitute. Jan is also a very sensual writer whose lyrical prose vividly evokes the sights, sounds and smells of her settings. "After a spell, one of our favorite creatures came out to intertain us. The Fred Astaire spider, we called him. He was a brilliant orandge with a large pad on the end of each foot -- they loooked like actual shoes. Right into the pool of lamplight on the floor he would leap take a sort of bow, putting four of his legs together on one side and then lean over. Then the spider would do the most frenzied, intricate footwork, twisting, hopping, kicking with just one leg, then another." "Baby Driver" captures perfectly the drug infused, delirious beauty of a time when finding yourself meant hitting the road to seek adventure and experience life at its most intense and chaotic.



5. It is exceedingly rare when the child of a famous writer who tries to be a writer too doesn't embarrass him or herself in the process. Jan is one of those rare exceptions where she actually has the talent to match her last name. I have read this book many times. It is most excellent.

5 comments about Unbridled Cowboy.

1. Arguably, this is one of the finest personal reminiscences of life in the American West. Few memoirs exhibit such breadth--legitimate breadth, that is to say. The writer was a ranch hand, a railroader, a Texas Ranger, an adventurer, and a hobo. He lived through one of the most fascinating periods of American history, including the close of the frontier, the rise of the labor movement, the development of America's transcontinental railroads, and the depths of the Great Depression. He saw the Mexican Revolution from within. The credibility of his observations lie in the wealth of details he provides. His observations on Mexican "exchange rates" during the Revolution are priceless. The point is that these memoirs read with conviction; the writer does not apologize for the truth. He apologizes for some of his actions, and regrets many of them, especially his vendetta against the Mexican cowboys. Simply, the primary contribution of this manuscript is to remind us of the Real West--of human nature in a raw and often dangerous land. The fictional writer that comes to mind is Larry McMurtry. The style is wonderful for someone who claims never to have made it past fifth grade. The word choice is excellent, the descriptions riveting, and written with nouns and verbs. It is as if the author read Strunk and White.
   --Alfred Runte, author of Allies of the Earth: Railroads and the Soul of Preservation



2. It is my pleasure to recommend "Unbridled Cowboy". As a person whose Texas Grandparents lived in the times and places of Joe Fussell, I can verify the reality of his experiences. I have heard family stories of East Texas in the 1880's up to the 1930's that explain the character and independence of these proud people.
   I feel confident that if you read this book you will come away with a first person account of how the West was changing from the last frontier to modern times. Many local heroes go unnoticed. Here's your chance to walk and ride in the boots of a real cowboy, Texas Ranger, jack of all trades. Joe Fussell was a wanderer who couldn't stay put for long in any one place or trade. He did a remarkable job of self education and examination, making the best of what he had. His writing is clear and descriptive. Joe Fussell a man sure of his principals who paid his way and did unto others what they do unto you. We don't have any like him to know any more so buy this book as the next best thing.



3. Unbridled Cowboy, the autobiography of Joe Fussell, is well written and brings the reader a vivid and realistic portrait of the man and his life. His story telling ability paints a vivid and sometimes raw reality. He brings to life a period of American and western history from a personal point of view that was fraught with change and upheaval.
   
   While reading I found myself sitting next to Joe and hearing him telling me his life story. The ease with which he wrote of his life makes this book an enjoyable journey with a fascinating man.



4. Here's the skinny. I've read thousands of books over the years. I keep a few; the rest I give away to friends or the library. This book is a keeper. Why? I will read this book many times and still be astonished by the history, this amazing man Joe Fussell, and how far this once great country of ours has deteriorated in a century.
   The first thought that entered my mind on finishing this book was, "I wish there was more." The second thought was that a man like Joe Fussell would have made an incredible president. In TR's time, when a young man chose to ditch public school at age 14 because he had "itchy feet", he didn't get Ritalin stuffed down his throat--he left home to make his own way. Fussell was a man so full of common sense, intelligence and integrity that the USA would have been privileged to have someone of his ilk as their leader. But alas, with no "education" except life, he was destined to become a laborer. And labor he did.
   The chapter on Fussell's adventures in Mexico as a youth are more riveting than anything Hollywood will ever turn out. His depiction of his railroad career reads like you were switching cars alongside him. Fussell is a storyteller akin to Twain. I am still amazed he avoided jail, but then it was a century ago. Different times--a wonderful time in our country. Get this book. Its a keeper.
   Norman Woodworth, DVM



5. Unbridled Cowboy is the autobiography of author Joseph B. Fussell, a free spirit who sought his own destiny in the wild American Southwest during the late 1800s. At the young age of fourteen, Joe Fussell took to the rails to escape the school and harsh authority that chafed him. He became a roving cowpuncher in Texas territory, rustling cattle, tilling land, working in stables, and hitting the road whenever wanderlust stirred. Unbridled Cowboy is filled cover to cover with riveting true tales of undercover work as a Texas Ranger, life on the railroads, and rough justice. A captivating true life narrative of the wild west.

3 comments about A Circle of Sisters: Alice Kipling, Georgiana Burne Jones, Agnes Poynter, and Louisa Baldwin.

1. Ms. Flanders' previous work, Inside the Victorian Home, was as delightful as it was informative. That's why A Circle of Sisters is such a letdown- its informative alright, if you care about a group of self-absorbed cold-natured odd ducks. (In 30 years, brother Harry received two visits from his loved ones. Sister Edie was disparaged as a failure for remaining unmarried, even as they all expected her to play nurse and nanny as their situations saw fit.)The subjects, including Rudyard Kipling, never quite come alive on the page. This may not be entirely Ms. Flanders' fault--there seems to have been an awful lot of letter burning in this family. (Plus its hard to feel empathy for people who kept their emotional lives so tightly buttoned down.) The writing, addtionally, is not as crisp as Inside the Victorian Home. You'll forget these women soon enough, and be glad you did.
   
   
   That said, her book Inside the Victorian Home is excellent. I highly recommend it.



2. This isn't something that I would recommend to every reader. The title sounds a lot more warm and fuzzy than the sisters were. If you are expecting a heart-warming tale of the days when all families were close and unfailingly took care of one another, this isn't it. One recommendation I would make is to look up the Rudyard Kipling, Stanley Baldwin, Edward Burne-Jones and Edward Poynter in an encyclopedia, the Dictionary of National Biography or on the internet if they are not familiar. I say this not by way of faulting the book, there are too many characters to give each a full treatment, but it helps to have some idea of who these people were.
   
   The book focuses on the daughters of a Methodist minister. Four either married men who became famous or had sons who became famous. Unfortunately, these are generally not terribly charming personalities, so it is no great delight getting to know them unless one is interested in the period or these particular people. But for those with a special interest, I think it will probably be quite interesting. There were also two brothers, one who was rather unsuccessful and one who was quite successful as a Methodist clergyman, but they take a back seat to their sisters both in the book and in the sisters' lives.
   
   The one thing that I would have liked to have seen developed better is successful relations within the extended family. Georgiana Burne-Jones was very close to her nephew Rudyard, but I'm not really certain why. This may be a problem with a lack of sources on this particular point - Flanders can infer from guest books which relatives saw little of each other but more positive information would be necessary for this.
   
   The MacDonald sisters: Alice, Georgiana, Agnes, Louisa and Edith, came from a modest, barely middle-class background. It is quite interesting that three of them married men from equally undistinguished roots, one a man who was perhaps upper middle-class. Despite these seemingly unpromising beginnings, two of the initally undistinguished husbands, Edward Burne-Jones and Edward Poynter (married to Georgiana and Agnes, respectively) became very successful and famous in the field of art. The third husband, Lockwood Kipling, married to Alice, was successful in his field, and their son, Rudyard, would become an international literary success and quite wealthy. The fourth, husband, Alfred Baldwin, married to Louisa, was a model as an industrialist, noted for public service, who went into politics. Their son, Stanley Baldwin, was three time Prime Minister. Many of the less famous members of the family pursued successful careers as writiers, sometimes quite well known in their time. A few were failures as life: either suffering psychological problems, perhaps due to a frustration of their creative potential, or too comfortable as the children of the famous. Judith Flanders attempts to discover how nurture, i.e., being related to the MacDonalds, may have lead to the surprising achievements. I don't think that she really succeeds, not that I believe that we necessarily can ferret out these influences, but she does draw a probing picture of an interesting family. She considers not only the facts, but draws reasonable inferences about the human beings they refer to. She is quite clear about when she is speculating.
   
   Flanders has done an enormous amount of research. There are many notes, a 12-page "Select Bibliography" and an index. There are eight pages of plates, with 45-50 well-selected pictures of the extended family. I particularly want to commend how the notes and index were done. The notes have both the chapter number and chapter running title, making it much easier to match them with the notes in the text. The index has brief explanatory notes in parentheses after the names of less important characters, e.g. (niece of so-and-so), which is often all that is needed, as well as cross-reference to variant names.
   
   Probably not for everybody, but a excellent work for its subjects.



3. I read Ms. Flanders' previous work, "Inside the Victorian Home",(loved it) and therefore I was familiar with Ms. Flanders' writing style. Knowing the author's style helped me to enjoy CIRCLE OF SISTERS much more than if I had not first read Ms. Flanders previous book.
   
   I guess what I'm eluding to is: Ms. Flander's "interesting" writing style. Her style is almost Edwardian,for lack of a better word. Her style can get rather dull in some parts of this book, but luckily, the various intertwining life-stories help the reader to pick up the pace.
   
   If you want to read an intersting book about what life must have been like during the Victorian Era, and especially for four rather "unusual" sisters (ie: unusual for their time), then a reader may find this book quite fascinating, as I did.
   
   The book starts off with a Geneology Tree showing where each sister, and how their respected mates and relatives, fit into the picture.
   
   Then the book takes you back to grandfather MacDonald's life and how he and his wife rose to the challenges they encountered (eg: loneliness of a minister's wife, low pay, many moves).
   
   Soon, the reader is taken to a description of each of the sisters. By the way, there were actually FIVE MacDonald sisters, but Edith, the youngest, never married and therefore she was only slightly talked about. The main plot actually evolves around the four older sisters,(Georgie, Agnes, Alice and Louisa) because these four "main" sisters ended-up marrying famous men (such as Rudyard Kipling's father) and had more exciting lives than poor Edith , who ended-up being the parents' caretaker and stayed home most of the time.
   
   Each chapter of this book describes a "stage" in the sisters' lives (eg: meeting their mates, marriage, their children, infirmary, strange health issues, old age, death, etc.).
   
   The author does a very nice job with even the slightest details of each sisters` life....Example, from what they wore and ate the day one sister met her future husband (eg: Alice was biting into an onion when first approached by John Lockwood Kipling in KIPLING PARK), to when another sister had to deal with infidelity (ie: Georgie's husband's affair).
   
   The other interesting part of this book is that it describes, in detail, how each of the sisters' children felt and how each turned-out, in the long run! For instance, I think that readers will be quite surprised to learn, how Trix and Rudyard Kipling grew-up and how their personalities changed because of their environments and upbringing.
   
   I don't want to say much more, because that might ruin the story, but I must say that after reading this book I knew more about the MacDonald sisters, the Victorian Era, and the sisters' relatives, than I had ever imagined.

4 comments about ZVI : The Miraculous Story of Triumph Over the Holocaust.

1. A book that will touch your heart and stay with you for the rest of your life. Don't miss this one!



2. This book touched me in ways I had not expected. Zvi survived the atrocities of the holocaust and lived to tell the world what really happened. His life was nearly destroyed by Hitler's evil regime, but God had another plan in mind for the life of little Zvi. This book is a golden triumph!



3. My review is about the first edition of this book which ended with Zvi and his wife Esther having a beautiful daughter named Ruth. I loved this story. I was stunned at how it started, with little Henryk being taken to an orphanage by his mother, never to see her or the rest of his family again. I was moved to tears while I read this book which described how Henryk survived during the war. What he thought was his wits, he later realized was the LORD delivering him from certain death. The God we serve is a very powerful God and this book is a testimony to His greatness. Henryk lost everything except his life, but he met Jesus and the LORD restored him. A very wonderful story.



4. This is an amazing biography of an amazing life retrieved and restored by his encounter with the Jewish & Gentile Messiah, Yeshua ben David/Jesus Christ. Zvi is a holocaust survivor who overcame tremendous obstacles and the bitterness of that trial to become one of the most powerful witnesses for the Lord Yeshua in the Land of Israel.
   You will want to get the outstanding video/DVD {ZVI: THE RETURN} documenting his sojourn to Poland and a rememberance of his life both before and after returning to the Land of Israel in the midst of tremendous turmoil.
   There are few lives that are more inspiring than this one. Highly recommended to both Christians and Jews.
   Pastor Len Hummel
   Clearlight Ministries, Intl.

1 comments about To My Children's Children.

1. If you grew up in the rural outskirts of South Africa, you'll definitely enjoy this one! It is so real, it felt as if I was reading about my life. The way she writes keeps one turning the pages...btw this was my first book to read right to the last page!