5 comments about The Book of Margery Kempe (Norton Critical Editions).

1. Margery Kempe lived from about 1373~1440s, and she really LIVED. In this book, accorded by many to be the first autobiography in English, a scribe records the tale of her life, but most specifically the aspects of it that relate to her spirituality. She was outspoken, controversial, courageous, annoying, devout, and eccentric and all of these aspects shine through into the book, even through the cloudy filter of a male religious scribe who may have 'polished' her words to make her sound more orthodox.

   Margery began life as the daughter of the mayor of Lynn in England, and made a well-suited marriage. After the birth of her first child, she went mad due to some pent-up guilt and an unsympathetic confessor, and during this madness was spoken to by Jesus. This moment changed her life, and snapped her out of the madness. She continued with her worldly ways with failed attempts at entrepenurism and her delight in the physical side of marital relations... but after aobut 20 years she felt the pull of God and decided she needed to devote herself entirely to him.

   Margery went about a long process of procuring chastity from her husband and set off on pilgrimages world wide. She was known for her loud, uncontrollable weeping fits that occured at random and caused many to claim she was a heretic. However, she stood trial before the Archbishops of England, on multiple occasions, and was never once convicted of heresy, and in fact often impressed the higher church officials with her knowledge of doctrine and the Bible. She went through many struggles in her life, but her deity was always there communicating with her or helping her through the cruelty of others, assuring her that all her pain on earth would only increase her joy in heaven.

   Some reader bewares: Margery was hated for a *reason*, you can see this in so many of the encounters that she has, it is so easy to imagine how nagging and annoying having a prim, preaching, all-knowing person along with you on a long voyage all day long would be; or how alarming it would be to have some woman in hysterical fits day after day in the middle of your church when you were trying to pray. Margery comes across as arrogant in some ways - but if you had the unshakable knowledge that your deity loved you and you were going straight to heaven, wouldn't you be a tad uppity too? She was humble though, for example she spent weeks living in a hovel serving a beggar woman while in Rome, and she returned home to nurse her dying husband when he had a fall.

   If you are interested in medieval studies, in women's history or feminism, in mysticism or religious history, this is a must-read for both its historical significance and its entertainment value. Its being taught at college campuses across the country now, so its gaining in recognition. Don't skip the introduction because its extremly informative, but the chapters can be read out of order because they are only loosely chronological and very short. In her time people either loved or hated Margery Kempe, and the same holds true today, so pick up the book and see which side you're on!




2. Another book I read for class. I knew a little about Margery Kempe beforehand, like she had 14 children. I didn't know that the first autobiography ever written in English was so boring. I felt like Margery repeated herself, over and over. I wanted more details about her life- about her husband, her children, and her pilgrimages. I don't think I would pick this up unless you are specifically interested in early Christianity writings.



3. At first, I rather enjoyed this book - Margery Kempe is quite kooky. But reading more and more, Margery just became annoying, especially with all her weeping. Is it any wonder that no one wanted to travel with her? Or that she was arrested so often? Did she really think her activities would win people to God? Or am I just guilty of being another one of her persecutors?



4. I read this for my Later Middle Ages history course, and I must admit that I didn't care for it. The book as other reviewers have said, is written over 20 years in hindsight, and Margery herself must have been an insufferable person whether her experience was true or not. It seemed to me that she brought most of her suffering upon herself and later justified it with her visions...but whether I agree with her experience is really not the point.
   
   As the first known English autobiography, and as an insight to one of the forms that faith took in the Middle Ages (not to mention being from the female perspective) this book is invaluable. But had it not been for class I wouldn't have suffered through the 50 pages of weeping and rambling that I did (we didn't even have to read the whole thing!). Though she was a pilgrim to many holy sites, she notates almost nothing of her external experiences in Jeruselam and Rome - so I don't think that it would be particularly useful to those interested in general history.



5. The reason why this book is so inspirational is because Margery is very honest throughout about how difficult she finds her spiritual path and her commitment to God, combining this with marriage, children and the persecution and ridicule she faces on her pilgrimages. It is a very rewarding read because of this and one of my favourite books.

5 comments about The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara.

1. Simply one of the most insightful books I have ever read. Thank you Mr. Kertzer for illuminating this fascinating event in our history.



2. A Jewish family's illiterate Catholic housekeeper sprinkles well-water over an infant child and furtively mumbles the baptismal sacrament. When the Inquisitor learns of the deed, he orders the kidnapping of the then six-year-old Jewish boy. This foul deed is almost certainly sanctioned by the highest levels of the Catholic hierarchy. The police forcibly remove the child from his family's Bologna home and swiftly transport him to the Church's House of Catechumens in Rome for reeducation. Despite all protests from the boy's family and the Jewish community and in the face of a destabilizing international uproar, the Holy Father refuses to yield. By holy grace, the boy has been miraculously saved and the Church keeps him, inculcates him in the Catholic Christian religion, and assiduously converts the boy.
   
   The boy kidnapped in the name of religion? Edgardo Mortara. The Holy Father in question? Pope Pius IX. The year? 1858. That's right 1858, not 1458, not 1658, but smack dab in the middle of 19th century Europe.
   
   Historian David Kertzer tells the complete tale in his excellent work, `The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara.' As Kertzer relates in the epilogue he learned to his surprise that there was no reliable work on this topic. Kertzer sets out to remedy this gap and succeeds by examining the episode in fine detail. Using detailed court and police investigation records, Kertzer explores numerous evidentiary questions such as whether the baptism took place at all, whether the proper conditions for a valid lay baptism existed, who put the girl up to it, and how did the Inquisition find out about it?
   
   The story is told against the background of the movement to unify Italy under secular rule. And here is yet another surprise for the uninitiated reader, including this one: until 1861 the Pope was still the temporal ruler of a wide swath of the Italian peninsula (this rule continued on a lesser scale to 1870). The treatment of young Edgardo was one of the factors that helped build support across Italy and internationally for the Risorgimento or Italian reunification.
   
   The episode also hastened Pius IX's evolution, shall we say, to reactionary beliefs. Pius IX not only made papal infallibility part of Church dogma, but he also issued his infamous Syllabus of Errors in 1864, a broad attack on rationalism, science, and religious freedom - really a frontal assault on the Enlightenment and most other signs of progress in the previous three centuries. If Kertzer's book does nothing more than direct his reader's attention to this astonishing document, he has succeeded in the historian's task.
   
   Kertzer examines the trial of the Inquisitor in detail and the formidable difficulties facing the prosecution. For example, what crime did the Inquisitor commit when his acts were legal at the time he committed them? Would the new government prove willing to violate the fundamental principle that the accused must have had notice of the illegality of his acts?
   
   As for Edgardo, he remained with the Church fathers until he reached his majority and by then his conversion had firmly taken hold. He went on to become a famed proselytizer for Catholicism especially among the Jewish peoples. This role may help explain why this story has remained untold: it embarrassed Jews and Catholics alike.
   
   Some readers may find the detail devoted to the investigations and trials to be excessive, but bear in mind that Kertzer is writing the seminal history of Edgardo's kidnapping. A fascinating tale full of surprises, very highly recommended.



3. Douglas Wood has already summarized and evaluated this book, justly praising its historical worth. I'd like to add a note about its shock value; in a moment of history when anti-semitism seems to be a joke in some people's minds, surely this is a book that might make the pain and folly of bigotry "real" in terms of a single family, and therefore accessible to readers who can't empathize with mass tragedy.
   It's also quite a thrilling book to read, by the way, a better detective story by far than Dan Brown could manufacture.



4. We are accustomed to viewing excellent documentaries on the TV and the big screen. It is nice to find a literary documentary just as enjoyable. The mid 19th century was an incredible time for change. Europe was adjusting to the post Napoleonic ideals of political and religious freedom. The United States was fighting against the secular immorality of slavery. Prussia was building a military machine to dominate Europe. Italy was struggling with a unification which would require shedding the medieval yoke of the Catholic Church. In the midst of these changes a 6 year old Jewish boy , Edgardo Mortara, is kidnapped within the Papal States under orders of the Inquisition. The charge is that the boy has been secretly baptized. The baptism cannot be undone and therefore the boy cannot continue to live with his Jewish parents. Governments from around the world protest the kidnapping and Pope Pius IX responds with traditional dogma. This is a wonderful researched narrative which brings together themes which will be of interest to Christians, Jews and any reader curious about the changing role of the Roman Catholic Church in this period of European history.
   
   The excellent DVD, "Secret Files of the Inquisition", (available from Amazon and Netflix) dramatizes part of this story and includes commentary by the author, David Kertzer.



5. Interesting, detailed story. Typical Kertzer. A must read for students of Italian, Church and/or Jewish history.

5 comments about The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd.

1. The true story of Captain Kidd is first of all a totally believeable work of nonfiction. The historical era of life at sea and the blurred and flawed objectives between the East India Trading Company, the Royal Navy and the privateer at sea as well as life within the pirate world is amazing. Equally amazing is the world of the legal system in the English colonies in America and back in London. The power politics alone is worth the price of admission.
   In this case fact is much stranger and makes a far more harrowing story than fiction.



2. I was unable to put it down. You will love this "Pirate Book". A word of warning, when you begin reading make sure you don't have anything planned for a while because it is VERY hard to stop once you start!



3. I was listening (while commuting) to the book-on-tape of Pirate
   Hunter, by Zacks. Good, informative and entertaining - I generally agree with the many positive reviews so will not repeat here.
   But the reader, when quoting letters and other source documents,
   seems to oddly mispronounce period terms.
   Especially, renfaire and quaint-resort-community convention aside,
   the character that looks something like the Y in "Ye" is a standard
   printing and handwriting character called the Thorn, standing in
   for "Th" so "Ye olde shope" should be pronounced "The olde shope".
   Since the word "the" is used a lot, ye abuse most foul grated
   painfully upon ye ear.
   (If I may be so bold, Zacks is not totally off the hook for this one: transcriptions should not use the 'y' character for the thorn. either they should use "th" or the thorn (which may also look like a p with a flag - it's not like modern word processors or printers can't handle it). There is enough real quaintness and incomprehension when we deal with the 17th C. without adding a completely bogus layer)
   And other examples; but mostly I just did not like the reading overall. So, I recommend the book if not the tape/cd
   version.
   -Rick



4. The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd is a great book! There is a "pirate boat" named the Capt Kidd nearby where I live... I love to go on sunset sails dressed in my piratical garb! Too much fun!



5. Overwritten pseudo-history that purports to prove that Caption Kidd was a privateer with royal and business-leader credentials and not a rogue pirate.
   
   Zacks buries sections of what might have been a decent 250-page book in 410 pages full of unprovable assertions and God-like first-person statements, which calls into question all of his supposed historical statements.

5 comments about Great Tales from English History: The Truth About King Arthur, Lady Godiva, Richard the Lionheart, and More.

1. Robert Lacey has done something that many writers have failed to do (unfortunately) - he has written history in a fun, accessible, easy to grasp manner. After all, as Lacey points out in his introduction, the "history" and "story" come from the same Latin root word. Essentially, history should be the simple story of how things happened, to the best of the teller's knowledge.
   
   Lacey's power as a storyteller is highlighted here in spades. He narrates his audiobook as well so there is the added bonus of hearing the author add nuance to the reading - essentially reading it the way he meant it to be heard.
   
   The stories are short and entertaining. Only a couple of times in 5 hours and 45 minutes of listening did I find my attention wandering. This is a terrificly fun experience for any history lover. Full of interesting tidbits but not lacking in the larger themes or commentaries.
   
   I am going to look for volumes 2 & 3 and hopefully he has written or is writing his volumes on Scotland and Ireland as well.
   
   Bravo!
   
   I give this one an enthusiastic A+.



2. The first of three volumes, this narrative presents the history of the British Isles in a way that reminds one of how folktales must have once been told. The tales begin with Cheddar Man and end with the story of Wat Tyler, spanning the years of 7150 BC to 1381.
   
   Lacey intersperses stories of famous royals with little known people, which makes this a truly unique book. I really like learning stories that explain various parts of the English culture.
   
   I highly recommend this series!



3. A few days ago I finished Great Tales From English History by Robert Lacey. When I first saw this book I knew it had potential; to me, presentation has a lot to do with my overall love for a book and this one is beautiful. After checking it out from my library when I worked there, I found Mr. Lacey's writing to be exciting, interesting, and informative. A few weeks ago I set to reading the whole thing and I'm glad I did. The book presents short stories about moments from English history that you may or may not have heard of.
   
   From the introduction: "Brief though each chapter is, Great Tales seeks to create a coherant, chronological picture of our island story, while following the guiding principle that all men and women have heroism inside them - along with generous and fascinating measures of incompetence, apathy, evil and lust." The book is also beautifully illustrated by Fred van Deelen and Mr. Lacey has included fantastic end notes and bibliographies that you can investigate if you find a particular subject interesting. If you have any interest in English history, pick this one up at your local library and you'll probably find yourself reading the short chapters in just a few minutes each. You'll not be dissapointed! (And if you finish this and want more, try Great Tales vol. 2 and Great Tales vol. 3).



4. I agree with what another reviewer wrote -- this book is a wonderful read for those who know nothing about the subject, as well as for those who are history buffs. Incredibly accessible and wonderfully written, each little chapter is centered around a particular event or person, describing it in detail and with humor before moving on to the next. Great writer, great book.



5. Lacey's "Great Tales From English History" is a great and entertaining series, but I want to emphasize that the Kindle download edition is volume 3 of the series, not the volume 1 that the description and most of the reviews reference. It's still a wonderful book, just know which one you're getting.

5 comments about The Coldest War: A Memoir of Korea.

1. I found this book to a fine novel of the Korean War.Written from the perspective of a young Marine Lt.It had grit and also some light moments.I recommend it.



2. The author recounts his time in Korea where he served as a Marine rifle platoon leader during the "Forgotten War". A very intriguing narrative about a war which claimed in 3 years almost as many American lives as the Vietnam war did in ten years.



3. I first read, "The Coldest War" when I was in the military myself.
   
   My training and duty seemed hard and long to me, but compared to what the guys in the Korean War went through, it was a cake walk.
   
   This book reads smoothly, transitioning from his training to his war time in Korea. There are several pictures of his family, himself at home and in battle, letting you really get a feel for what your reading.
   
   Good book..



4. This book was just ok. What bothers me is that Brady gives intricate details of his life during the war, but that was almost 40 YEARS before the book was written. How could anyone remember the mundane details of life 40 years prior? It just strikes me as unrealistic.



5. I have read many books on the Korean war and I found this one the most difficult to read. Many grammatical errors and sentences with entire words missing.
   
   I appreciate the authors effort but feel this work should have been finely tuned by a qualified editor before publishing.

5 comments about Divine Invasions: A Life of Philip K. Dick.

1. Phil Dick was a difficult person. Sutin's book takes great pains to point out Dick's flaws as a human being but also his strong qualities as a person and writer. Dick was amazingly prolific because he had to be to survive. During his most prolific period he wrote novels that could be both unsatisfactory but with piercing, brilliant themes. At his best Dick tackled a number of questions that had profound personal meaning (the issue of identity, how we define human, the subjective nature of our sense of reality)but were universal enough to communicate to other artists. Dick like the best genre writers struggled to be accepted as a mainstream writer. The irony is that he is more influential than ever 25 years after his death having reached an entire generation of writers (including Jonathan Lethem, K.T. Jeter among others)and achieved financial success because of the films made from his short stories and novels (the best "Minority Report", "A Scanner Darkly", "Blade Runner" and a foreign film of "Confessions of a Crap Artist"--the worst "Paycheck", "Next" of which are at least moderately entertaining).
   
   Sutin documents Dick's personal life interweaving the themes from his novels and how the two were related throughout his life. Dick was a surviving twin. His sister Jane died in infancy and Dick's unstable family life and his own bouts of depression with mental instability. A mercurical writer and individual when he was at the top of his game, Dick later believed that he had been visited by some essence of God and struggled to fit this visitation into some sort of rational perspective. Sutin treats Dick's statements mattter of factly without passing judgement but does relate comments both from Dick's friends and doctors in discussing how this impacted his art and personal life.
   
   Well written, Sutin interviews family, friends, former friends (Dick and Harlan Ellison had a major falling out in the 70's as did Dick and Stanislaw Lem), Dick's therapists, former lovers, wives, enemies and uses Dick's journals to get at the heart of the author himself providing a well rounded, often disturbing picture of this talented artist. Evidently Dick was not an easy person to love but those that cared for him recognized his profound importance as a writer. Sutin also goes through Dick's novels and short story collections ranking them (from 1-10 in quality and importance)and providing fans an idea of his best and worst works.
   
   DIVINE INVASIONS does need to be updated since Dick continues to be critically reappraised and recognized for his importance as a writer outside of the science fiction/fantasy genre. It would also allow Sutin to examine the films made from Dick's novels comparing the themes in both. Still, this is a thoughtful, comprehensive and intelligent biography. Phil Dick deserved nothing less.
   
   A Scanner DarklyConfessions of a Crap ArtistValisFlow My Tears, the Policeman SaidThe Transmigration of Timothy ArcherBest of Philip K DickDr. BloodmoneyPhilip K. Dick: Four Novels of the 1960s: The Man in the High Castle / The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch / Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? / Ubik



2. Philip K Dick (PKD) was one of the most prolific and seminal science fiction writers of the sixties and seventies. Though like many writers, respect didn't come until just before and after his death (in 1982), those who spent a lot of those decades reading and writing SF, knew and respected his work. He is also the mentor of many of todays SF writers who take on SF from an internal point of view. But PKD was the first to explore the two questions of PsychSF-What is Reality? What is God?.
   
   Through four decades of writing he never gave up his quest to write the 'big' mainstream novel. Why? More for the recognition of his place in the pantheon of American writers, but for sure for the money and notoriery (which go hand in hand). Here was a many of great talent who wanted to be Nora Robb or James Patterson. PKD felt that mainstream acceptance would allow him the ability to write what he wanted, not just what he thought would sell. Dick began as a 'hack' pulp writer in the fifties and never lost that edge or need to prove his worth in the 'normal' world.
   
   He was immensely popular in both Japan and France (but then they also love Jerry Lewis and Woody Allen) where his novels were considered classics of man's struggle against "THE SYSTEM". They were also seen as strongly socialistic and anti-fascist in nature. His 'breakthought' book "The Man in the High Castle" is his most popular and moving of the genre.
   
   As his got older and his life evolved or devolved (depending on your per- spective) his novels became more and more his musing on 'Reality'. Anyone who has read "A Scanner Darkly" will see how he always tried to analyze a thought down to it's infinite reality. Any idea you could have could be the flip side of another, and even those would be the flip side of some other question. Think of two yin-yangs painted on mirrors facing each other, giving the feeling of an infinity of images and you have PKD's insight into life and reality.
   
   Was PKD crazy or schizophrenic? Well he was a man who had lots of demons not to mention gods but he saw life in his own reality (don't we all) and refused to have it pushed aside by others. His five marriages all ended in divorce and he had three children (two daughters and one son) by three of them. But his writings and musings have been left to us all to ponder as we wait for our next rebirth.



3. I have mixed feelings about this book. Sutin gives the impression that he interviewed me extensively, but he actually used quotes from other interviews and never met me, although I did briefly answer three of his questions by letter. Furthermore, I must disagree with most of his conclusions. Since I spent ten years with Phil, and those were the last ten years of his life, I believe that I know more about him than a biographer who never met him and simply read about him.



4. I happened upon the writing of Philip K. Dick many years before the Blade Runner fame. I was profoundly impressed by the raw paranoia, the questioning of what is real, and the real tension generated in the gut upon being drawn into the worlds of his characters. At the time I had no idea these characters were dramatizing philosophical and spiritual issues inspired by Gnosticism; and that the author who created these dramatizations was living out this investigation into the nature of reality in a radically intense way. Although I found this biography to be quite interesting, I'm glad it wasn't available in those days to "explain" the books. That was left to my imagination, and gave me much to ponder. However, for anyone who would like to know more about the background of Dick's unique writings, Sutin has written a remarkably detailed account of the life of an author who was so obscure during most of his career. The chaotic nature of Philip K. Dick's life is not much of a surprise; it could almost have been inferred from the kind of books he wrote. I found the most interesting parts of the biography to be the accounts of Dick's mystical experiences and the description of the "Exegesis", his lengthy record of his personal attempts to divine the nature of reality. Sutin did a believable job of showing how the novels and stories evolved out of Philip Dick's personal psychological condition. This biography will probably not impress those who have never been Philip K. Dick enthusiasts, but for those who have, it should be quite worthwhile.



5. Divine Invasions presents a detailed account of the life of sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick, but left me unsatisfied. A disproportionate amount of space is given to Dick's religious "visions" of the early 70's. These visions occurred long after he had written his best books and stories and seem largely irrelevant in a biography about a writer. Sutin wants to make the case for Dick as a religious visionary, but it's a shaky case.
   
   Instead the text shows Dick as a needy, emotional, moody, paranoid man, often too afraid to leave the house or even eat in front of others, often physically abusive to his many spouses, often neglectful of his family, often strung out on amphetamines for days on end, all in service to his work, for which, for most of his life, he didn't make enough money to survive on. I'm not sure he's someone I would have liked to have known in life. His life story at times felt painfully sad, especially during the early 1970's when he wasn't writing, doing massive amounts of drugs, and suicidal. But once his "visions" began, I got bored, read the final 90 pages in a single, quick sitting, and put the book aside.
   
   As other reviewers have said, if you are a fan of Dick's work and want to find out more about his life, this book has all the facts. I was not a great fan before I read this, and after finishing I'm still not convinced. Compared with another great writer of the 1960's, Kurt Vonnegut, Dick's writings leave me wanting. Dick's major theme, "What is real?" doesn't resonate with me. I'm far less concerned with the question, "What is real?", then with, "How do I deal with this?" Most people struggle with the meaning of life, how to create a project to deal with life, not, is this life real? Dick's question is a valid one, just not for me.

5 comments about Daniel Boone: The Life and Legend of an American Pioneer (An Owl Book).

1. Well written and detailed book on America's back woodsman who seemed a precursor to the Mountain Man. Hailing from Pennsylvania, the author tracks Boone's introduction and love of hunting from his early years through his family's move to North carolina to Kentucky finishing his mature years in Missouri due to his constant thirst for better hunting and less people. Fascinating account of Boone's unique relationship with the Indians and cool head. His ability to sustain himself like a native and stay in the wilds alone or with small bands. The author not only does well detailing how Boone led parties into Kentucky and creating settlements but also verifies several exploits such as his saving the lives of his daughter and her friend who were kidnapped by Indians by using his knowledge of the geography of the land and the trails that the Indians used.
   
   The author also details well Boone's controversial surrendering of his men to the Indians in exchange for sparing families at Boonesboro that is still somewhat puzzling as many thought him a traitor. Also a bit of a paradox is Boone's love of the hunt, staying away from home sometimes for a year or more while fathering 8 to 10 kids with Rebecca. Also interesting is his relationship with Rebecca who endured his long hunts and disappearances and may have had a child not Boone's that he accepted as the the consequences of his absence. Well worth reading, even covers Boone's warts particularly as a land surveyor, that obviously was not his skill. And unlike Fess Parker and the legend, he never wore a cookskin cap. But the author makes the facts as fascinating as the legend as Boone was in fact a fearless and independent man of the wilderness.



2. This book provided very detailed information regarding Daniel Boone and his relatives. He's a legend worth learning about. You'll be able to separate the myths about him from the truth, according to the best available data.
   Be ready for a long read.



3. Daniel Boone was a long hunter and it brought him to the hunting ground of Kentucky. He hunted the land several times before he brought his family to Boonesborough a fort on the Kentucky River. Faragher shows that Boone was a man of character. He loved the frontier and wanted to be a part of it. Boone wanted to live in peace with the Indians but at times he found them to be his enemy. The people he encouraged to come west began to crowd him and he began to look for a new frontier farther west. The Author was very factual about the man, Daniel Boone. By Ruth Thompson author of "The Bluegrass Dream" and "Natchez Above The River"



4. The style of this work reminded somewhat of McCullough's (writer of a biography of John Adams)in that the writer seeks to understand Boone's motivations within the context of the times he lived in. Unlike Adams however much less in definitely known about Boone and the writer is forced to include many stories and legends that are needed to embelish the biography but also pose the risk of pulling Boone's image and reputation in undesirable or unfair directions. The problem of course is that there are hundreds of legends and hundreds of variations on those legends and the writer must pick and chose how much weight to give the views of his different sources. Overall he has done a good job and the reader is treated to a realistic view of life in Kentucky when buffaloes roamed, the plight of the Indians etc... Recommended



5. 
   Daniel Boone lived from 1734 to 1820.
   
   I knew almost nothing about Boone before reading this biography, and so cannot critique the book on its historical or biographical accuracy. My only complaint is that it is not longer. This seems an excellent book to begin a study of Daniel Boone. It has gotten me curious to read more.
   
   And yes, I am one of those who grew up watching Fess Parker's TV show Daniel Boone.

5 comments about Foreign Correspondence: A Pen Pal's Journey from Down Under to All Over.

1. I read this book in one day - it is beautifully, intelligently written with well developed characters and a true story that reads like fiction. It is a rare gem of literature that provides insight into the dreams of a young girl that many people can identify with - male or female. I have read a lot of books lately, but this was one of the finest books I've come across in a while.



2. Australian born Geraldine Brooks spent many years as a foreign correspondent covering the Middle East. I loved her book, "Nine Parts of Desire" which was about Muslim women, and I have followed her life somewhat as she is often mentioned by her husband, Tony Horwitz, in his books "Confederates in the Attic", "Baghdad Without a Map," and "One for the Road." I find her an excellent reporter and in this memoir, "Foreign Correspondence," she turns the spotlight on herself.

   As a child growing up in a lower middle class neighborhood on a street actually called "Bland Street", she yearned for a larger world. And so she developed pen pals. There was a girl from New Jersey, another one from France, and even one from an upper class neighborhood just a few towns away. And then there were two Israeli boys, one an Arab and one a Jew. As an adult, she found these old letters in her father's basement and, now more than twenty years later, she decided to look up each of these people. What follows is the result of her quest and some wonderful insights into world events from a personal one-on-one perspective. It was fascinating.

   As a teenager in the early seventies she was aware of the new consciousness developing, even reaching her in her protective Catholic school. She had an active imagination and the gift of using words well. It's not surprising that she developed pen pals and that they influenced her life so much. Her gift of words certainly reached me too. I shared her sense of wonder and enthusiasm as she looked forward to each letter. I felt her straining to break the bonds of her loving but restrictive world. I felt her hopes and dreams and frustrations. And then, later, I shared her discoveries as she searched out the people who had meant so much to her early life. She writes with a clear voice, painting a picture with details, taking me on her quest to discover the world and eventually to discover herself. The book is short, a mere 210 pages but she sure does pack a lot into it. It's a wonderful read. Highly recommended.




3. I bought this as an "airplane read" but couldn't put it down. Geraldine Brooks has done us a great favor by not only illuminating the process of finding one's long lost penpals, but also by educating many folks about Australia in the process. It's fascinating to see her perceptions of the world, and particularly America, based on the letters that come in her mailbox each month.

   While I read this one on my own, I have since leant this book to several friends and we've engaged in some interesting discussions about our own penpal experiences, so I recommend it for book clubs.




4. I have read several of Brooks' books (both her non-fiction and fiction) and I was excited to rec'e and read Foreign Correspondance. Unfortunately, I was deeply disappointed.

   The book has an outstanding premise---as a child growing up in Australia during the 1960s, Brooks was eager to experience the outside world. An avid letter writer, she found pen-pals in the U.S., Israel and France. As an adult, Brooks set off to meet and re-discover these people. So far so good. But the book peters out---with the exception of the American pen-pal (to whom she was closest), the characters lack enough detail to be interesting.

   Her meeting with her French pen-pal was especially disappointing. This was a girl who chose to remain in her native village (while Brooks became a world-traveler and global correspondant). I hoped for more insights and more discussion of the contrast and why they chose such radically different paths---despite coming from somewhat similar backgrounds (Brooks saw herself as living in a giant provincial village---the village of Australia). But there was little discussion and the meeting simply sounded painful. Her trip to Israel to meet her non-Jewish Israeli pen-pal would also have benefitted from a deeper discussion about one's choices and opportunities (there was some discussion of this but I wanted to know more).

   Had I not read Brooks' other books, I probably would have thought this was a fairly good book. But I know she can write such a better book!




5. Geraldine Brooks has written a book that I can empathise with. I think of how I might have had that life in Australia had my parents not returned to England in the 1930's. I wanted, and still do, very much to talk to the author and ask her questions as she is such a good writer with a warm personality.

5 comments about All for the Union: The Civil War Diary & Letters of Elisha Hunt Rhodes.

1. If you are interested in more than big names and big battles this book is well worth reading. Elisha Hunt Rhodes shares his experiences from his enlistment as a boy having never been away from home until his mustering out as a man having earned the rank of Col. He writes in an honest straight forward manner about every aspect of daily life. His strong belief in duty, sense of right and wrong and his ever important sense of humor show in everything he writes. He's an optimist that made it through the war with all these attributes intact. Thankfully for us he kept this diary so that we can understand a little more about life during the Civil War.



2. Anyone who is interested in the Civil War has to read this book. All for the Union is the diary of Elisha Hunt Rhodes and covers the four years that he spent in the Union army. Entry by entry, the reader can watch Rhodes go from an enthusiastic young man, to hard, weary soldier. Appalled by the death and destruction early in the book, by the end, laying down to sleep between the dead and dying barely justifies a comment. A wonderful read.



3. Whie the Army of the Potomac suffered the usual soldier hardships we also have to realize these soldiers suffered some very bad generals in comparison to the Army of the Tennessee. We see the participants sense of this in the memoir. It is best placed in the heirarchy of the Civil War memoirs it must be placed beside Sam Watkins's "Co. Aytch." High praoise indeed.



4. We have works on the Civil War written by generals (e.g., the memoirs of Ulysses Grant and James Longstreet) and other officers (E. P. Alexander, Moxley Sorrell). However, equally valuable is the view from the bottom, by the foot soldiers. From the Confederate side, the paradigm example is Sam Watkins, "Company Aytch". From the Union side, Elisha Hunt Rhodes fills the bill. He rose through the ranks, and his diaries and letters provide a first-hand, ground-level view of the war in the east. As the Introduction by one of his descendants notes (Page xv): "He participated in every campaign of the Army of the Potomac from Bull Run to Appomattox with rapid promotions up to the rank of colonel in 1865."
   
   Incidents are described plainly and with an eye from the front. On pages 15 and following, he describes the march to Bull Run, the state of the troops, the weariness experienced on that march. Then, the battle itself and aftermath are described in an economical manner. Here and after, his observations of fellow soldiers and officers is most useful, giving the reader a sense of what he was perceiving.
   
   On pages 106 and following is his description of his regiment's (2nd Rhode Island) and his corps' (VI Corps under General John Sedgwick) march to and role at Gettysburg. While the corps arrived late, its uniting with the rest of the Army of the Potomac was a great morale boost for the Union forces, as this Corps was the largest in the northern army, bringing it to full strength at this bloody conflict.
   
   Then, his description of the bloody battle at the Wilderness, where he took the measure of Grant, after vicious fighting. In his diary on May 7th, 1864, he noted (page 138): "If we were under any other General except Grant I should expect a retreat, but Grant is not that kind of soldier, and we feel that we can trust him." In that phrase, he captures nicely the bulldog tenacity of Grant as a General, and identifying what was different from him compared with other commanders of the Army of the Potomac.
   
   His rendering the campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, where General Phil Sheridan jousted with Jubal Early's forces is is insightful. He speaks of the classic surprise assault on the Union position while Sheridan was off consulting with Washington. The surprise attack rolled up the Union lines for a time, although the VI Corps held pretty well. His description of Sheridan's role is interesting, as his simple coda for this indicates (page 185): "Hurrah for Sheridan!"
   
   And, finally, these lines (page 221): "Glory to God in the highest. Peace on earth, good will to men! Thank God Lee has surrendered and the war will end soon." Thus, his response at Appomattox Court House.
   
   As with Sam Watkins' observations, so, too, with Rhodes'. These observers provide a valuable and insightful perspective on the war from the ground level. Well recommended for those interested in the soldier's view of the Civil War.



5. Just finished reading "All for the Union", and it's well worth the effort. A quicker, light read -but highly interesting and lives up to its buzz.
   
   I won't repeat the very good commentary in previous Amazon book reviews, but I will offer these observations:
   - As this diary is a day-to-day account by a front line Union officer, I'm surprised at how much idle time there was- especially during the winter months (ala Revolutionary War).
   
   - It's amazing that units in the same corps can be so frequently rotated in & out of the front line battle. During the siege of Petersburg, the rotating (and advancing / retreating) was frequent. My thought when reading the book was that the high-level Generals better know what they are doing, as the unit leaders closer to the front probably DON'T have much visibility into "big picture" plans and tactics.
   
   - Glad I never have to rely upon foraging off the land, and eating hard tack and other nasty field provisions. Tough folks, these soldiers. Especially my people, the Irish, who suffered bad injuries when playing horse games on their days off..
   
   Enjoy this very good Civil War book!

5 comments about Bloody Bill Anderson: The Short, Savage Life of a Civil War Guerrilla.

1. Bloody Bill Anderson was a product of savagery in the early days of the Civil War's influence on Kansas and Missouri. The border war there was bloody and brutal. An eye for an eye conflict that escalated beyond anyone's imagination. The region was devastated. The atrocities that men were willing to commit against each other on both sides of the fratricide in that area are horrendous. Rocketing out of that soup came Bloody Bill. He is the prototype of a deadly psychopath. He was sadistic, ruthless and devoid of conscience.
   
   Castel and Goodrich have outdone themselves in taking what little historical data is available to present as thorough an accounting of Bill Anderson's life as you're likely to find. They hone in on two of his most infamous rampages around Centralia, Missouri. You'll believe you were an eyewitness. However, they don't fabricate the stories or engage in fiction. The book is thoroughly researched and very credible in every detail. They could only have exceeded in this endeavor if there were more firsthand historical data to draw from.
   
   Fact is Bloody Bill was a real individual and these events really did transpire. You will be transfixed even as you are horrified.



2. This book reads like a romantic western novel. A description of Anderson: "Dressed entirely in black- hat, velvet shirt, pants, boots- he was lean and sinewy and looked taller sitting in the saddle of his large black horse than his actual height of five ten." (p. 11, hardback edition) It continues like that for another 150 pages or so. The only thing missing is voluptuous maidens.
   Castel's biography of Quantrill doesn't read like this, and Goodrich's "Black Flag" doesn't really have much style at all, as it is mostly quotes from primary sources. I don't know why they felt the need to write this the way they did, but it ruins the story. Both authors have done their work in researching, but the writing leaves much to be desired. A definitive account of Anderson still needs to be written.



3. Thomas Goodrich did an outstanding job of researching his subject. I've read many other accounts of Anderson, but this is the most complete and revealing. It's unfortunate that Stackpole insisted on bringing Castel into the mix, as the two men's writing styles are so different. The end product, though the best work so far on a fascinating man, doesn't equal Goodrich's original work.



4. Great biography of a Western Civil War barbarian. When it came to being ruthless during The American Civil War, Bloody Bill broke all bounderies. Not for the weak of heart!!



5. The authors appear to have done their research, and present the story in mixed third person objectivity and first person period prose. For the casual reader who has an interest in Civil Warfare, or more specifically, the Kansas-Missouri Border War, this is an entertaining book. For the scholar, it must be taken with a grain of salt. The authors have taken literary license to the extreme in their description of scenery, battlefield and camp site conditions, personal conversations, et cetera. Although the essence of news-worthy situations are, more often than not, accurately portrayed in historic newspapers, the use of quotes and eye-witness accounts are often biased and stretch the truth. The authors appear to continue in this vein of sensationalistic reporting. There is no way the authors could know of the detailed conversations that took place between officers, combatants, and/or farmers, and thus, their factual portrayal of these more intimate situations must be questioned. If they had told the story entirely in the third person, this book would be good and much needed reference. As presented, with interjections in the first person literary style, the book lacks a degree of credibility. This is unfortunate, as it is a great story of guerrilla warfare and otherwise well-written. 170 pp., Stackpole Books (1998).