5 comments about The Life of Thomas More.

1. I enjoyed this book, but I do think that as a narrative history it is perhaps slightly flawed. The main strength (and problem) I have with this book is that the character study is so dominant that is completely ignores the larger historical picture that More lived within and, at times the dominant philosophy, that may have allowed a deeper understanding of More.
   
   The gnawing problem I have with this book is the main currents that More struggled against and the ideas he fought for are little outlined. The church that he so selflessly defended is little described beyond its social context in which More was raised. The central point of More was that the sublimation of the time honoured traditions (though admittedly flawed) could not be merely circumvented by mans personal appeal to God. Direct dialougue with God allowed a virtual pandora's box of interpretation and clash of beliefs that could only lead to mass bloodshed --- and he was right! This belief is left unexplored and the historical events, such as the peasants revolt in Germany that More abhored and used in his polemical tracts against Luther (a thoroughly scatologically unsavoury character) is not described. In addition Charles V sack of Rome and its influence on the relations with Henry VII are not considered relevant.
   
   So I feel dissatified because I am not getting a wide historical narrative. Although I understand the texture of the stones that he worshipped upon and the feel of the robes he wore, I have little feeling of the times that surrounded him. For the first-time reader of More, this may appear disconcerting.
   
   I realise that my critique cuts another way: if Ackroyd did write the larger historical narrative I wanted, he may have digressed into the narrative historical self-abuse of the 1000 page biography (only acceptable in the most exceptional of circumstances).
   
   I also get no sense of a building dennoument in the encounter with Henry. There is a annoying blase telling of the story with some bright moments -- the book gets better as one goes through it -- it is dense and quite frankly, a little boring in the beginning.
   
   ALso the Olde Englysh translations do detract from the flow of the narrative. Although it is easily understood ones reading flow slows from 700 words per minute, to 50 words per minute in the old English translations. He should revise it from the 16th Century vernacular to modern spelling.
   
   In final analysis I feel that I really did not understand the man. I feel that I need to get a hold of a better biography of the man. So if Ackroyd succeeded in doing this, then it was worth the read.



2. Gosh, golly gee, crikey - the superlatives could go on all day. This is a superb, densely textured biography. Ackroyd revels in the complex psychology and sociology of his subject, e.g., his devotion to duty, his father fixation, etc. He also places Thomas More firmly in the London of his time and in his historical moment - the Reformation - especially through More's own writings.
   
   It has been remarked that the chapters amount to a series of vignettes. That's true, and the amount of knowledge retailed in each glimpse of More and his world is staggering.
   
   To give but a few examples:
   Chap. 3 - St. Anthony's Pigs: we follow young More through the streets of Tudor London to his school and get insight into the Renaissance education system.
   
   Ch 4 - Cough Not, Nor Spit: Thomas' early career as a page to Archbishop (of Canterbury) Morton, Henry VII's notorious "enforcer". This relationship illuminates More's later dealings with Cardinal Wolsey.
   
   Ch 8 - We Talk Of Letters: sketches of Grocyn, Linacre, Lily, Colet, More - the "London humanists", or More's intellectual circle.
   
   And so on. The book continues in the same fascinating vein. It is a hard slog to read, and I'm sorry that Peter Ackroyd did not give a glossary of A) Latin and Greek expressions, and B) even some of his more obscure English words. I also regret that there's no map to illustrate Ackroyd's loving depiction of the London where More learned, lived, worked and suffered.
   
   More's story is well known and often told. Ackroyd has given a fully-rounded portrayal of the man, his background, career, family and friends.
   
   What a pleasure to read.



3. The moment I finished Peter Ackroyd's "Life of Thomas More," my strongest impulse was to close it, open it up to the first page again, and start -- immediately -- reading it all over again, word by word, page by page.
   
   I hung on every word of this text. I wanted to understand Thomas More.
   
   I wanted to understand a man whose misogyny was obvious in his many derogatory statements about women. For example, when asked why he liked short women, he said that it was best to choose the lesser of evils.
   
   When a mature man, More married a mere girl and got her pregnant so many times in such rapid succession that she lived only a few short years after marrying him.
   
   More married his second wife, as the saying goes, while still in mourning clothes for his first. He mocked that second wife, Dame Alice, publicly. He wrote texts that associated women exclusively with sex and disgusting bodily functions like vomiting and diarrhea.
   
   And, yet, More was exceptional for his time in educating his beloved daughter, the one great passion of his life, Margaret More Roper.
   
   More persecuted his countrymen who deviated from the Catholic faith, and published vile condemnations of Luther, and eventually, knowingly, and humbly, sacrificed his own life to his own interpretation of that faith.
   
   More rose, through obediance, flattery, and dogged labor, from relatively humble circumstances to being Henry the VIII's chancellor, and a wealthy man, and then tossed away his considerable worldly goods and power to die an ignominious death.
   
   You want to understand a man who could encompass so many passionate apparent contradictions.
   
   And, so, I hung on every word of Ackroyd's detailed and yet economical text.
   
   My attention was amply rewarded. Ackroyd marshalls the kind of authentic, telling details of the Medieval life that More lived that can make an era, and its inhabitants, come alive. Even so, Ackroyd is never wordy. When he has said enough, he simply stops.
   
   Along the way, Ackroyd brings to light the life and impact of a woman he says has been nearly forgotten: Elizabeth Barton, a seeress and nun in Kent. Barton spoke against Henry VIII's divorce of his wife, Catherine of Aragon.
   
   Her voice was considered so important that Henry himself visited her.
   
   For her trouble, Barton and her priestly followers were tortured to death.
   
   As I read, I could not help but reflect: in our own age of "celebrity," we know too many details about non-entities we don't care about at all -- the Britney Spears and Paris Hiltons enjoying their fifteen minutes of fame. We can view film footage of their most intimate moments on the internet; hear their every thought in televised interviews.
   
   Thomas More lived five hundred years ago. We can't ask him to reconcile for us his hateful diatribes against women and his love of Margaret, his ant-like accumulation of worldly goods and his sacrifice for his beliefs.
   
   The records just don't exist.
   
   And, yet ... even though the More in these pages has to remain something of a cypher, even though More, as was the norm in his time, wrote with extreme caution in ambiguous, tradition-bound, unspontaneous and sometimes flowery prose, I felt I had an encounter, through Ackroyd's book, with a remarkable human being. I was in tears throughout the final passages leading up to More's death.
   
   A final word: I am a fan of "A Man for all Seasons." Again and again, reviewers pit Ackroyd's book against the Robert Bolt play and subsequent movie.
   
   One does not necessarily cancel out the other...both the film and this book work, for me, from what I know about More, as explorations of his life and impact, and his famous final choice.
   
   I never saw Paul Scofield's More as a Thoreau-like figure, as some reviewers have said; he was not depicted as living in a house in the woods, after all, and he did base his decision on adherence to a greater principle than personal conscience, i.e., the law, just as Ackroyd's More does.
   
   So, yes, do see the movie, and do read this book.



4. Thomas More lived an exemplary life during hard times. His faith in the Catholic Church was put to the test by his king, and though he failed his king and paid the price on the scaffold, he served his God and was rewarded with martyrdom and sainthood. Peter Ackroyd's book is a brilliant and dramatic telling of More's life.
   
   Thomas More was born in London in 1478. He was educated at Oxford where upon his father's insistence he studied law. But he was also interested in theology and thought for a while of becoming a monk. Famously he wore a hair shirt his entire life. Instead of taking vows, however, he took a wife and had four children. He made sure his daughters received as rigorous an education as his sons. (His wife died in 1511 and he married Alice Middleton and adopted her daughter.)
   
   The law was More's lifelong profession where he represented various groups in the courts and helped settle trade disputes abroad. He wrote a history of King Richard III, wherein he portrayed Richard as a cruel, even criminal, ruler. In 1516, he published his most famous book, UTOPIA, which described an ideal community governed totally by reason. When Cardinal Wolsey failed to secure an annulment of Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, he was replaced by More as lord chancellor. He worked diligently in this position and became a friend to the king. But troubles were already visible in the horizon.
   
   When Henry, through the Act of Supremacy, declared himself the head of the Church of England, More was in opposition to him: he refused to take an oath of allegiance to Henry that would deny papal supremacy of the church. He was tried, found guilty, and beheaded five days later.
   
   Ackroyd is especially good in relating the dramatic events during these last few years in More's life. He narrates this with the power and skill of a novelist; indeed, it's almost impossible to put the book down during the last 100 pages. Anyone in want of moral uplift need only read these last pages for complete satisfaction. More went to the scaffold bravely, even telling the executioner to stay calm and aim true. He joked after stumbling on the scaffold steps and received help: "When I come down again let me shift for myself as well as I can." Then "he died the King's good servant but God's first," which is his life in a nutshell. Ackroyd writes with authority and tremendous style, but it's the drama that he infuses in his account that truly sets this book apart. Highly recommended.



5. Sir Thomas More was a Londoner from birth. He was born in 1478 in the last flowering of the late Middle Ages Roman Catholic world of that distant day. More was a brilliant student who studied at Oxford and at the law courts of Lincoln Inn. More rose high and became Lord Chancellor of England under Henry VIII. All was well with Sir Thomas as he served King and Country as lawyer, judge, diplomat, Steward of Oxford and Cambridge, pious Christian layperson and author. His book "Utopia" has become a deserved classic of satire.
   More was a humanist who was friendly with great men such as Erasmus who often visited him in his estate in Sussex. More was twice married to Jane Colt who died at 22 and the widow Alice Middleton who was witty, wealth and wise. More had a quick wit, deep love of God and strong belief in the
   beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church. More had several children by his first wife. His daughter Margaret was considered to be the smartest woman in England being proficient in Latin, Greek and the classics. All of his children loved him. More indulged in scatological jokes; had countless pets and viewed life as a grand drama with him as an actor upon the stage of affairs.
   On becoming Lord Chancellor after the fall of Cardinal Wolsey he was zealous in the persecution and burning of reformers and Protestant. More opposed the English translation of the Bible by William Tyndale. He could be cruel and was a bitter enemy of anyone who opposed the Church. Like most people of the age he was superstitious believing firmly in ghosts, omens in dreams and the literal interpretation of the Bible. More called for reform in the existing church but believed everyone should obey the Pope in Rome as a father is obeyed in the well ordered home. He would not brook breaking away from Roman Catholicism.
   More was beheaded in July 1535 and his property was attained due to his refusal to subscribe to the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. More believed Henry's marriage to his first wife Catherine of Aragon was valid. He believed that by marrying Anne the King of England was not in obedience to God's law. More believed the church should be governed from Rome rather than be ruled by the King of England. He hated Martin Luther condemning him to hell. More was inimical to the Protestant Reformation. His faith was in the old church which had governed Western religion for a millenium.
   My feelings towards More are mixed. I do not like his persecution of heretics but one most concede that he was a product of the cruel times in which he lived. I do admire his courage in dying rather than sacrifice his belief in what is right to do as God gave him the light to discern that right. More has been sainted by the Roman Catholic Church.
   Peter Ackroyd is the author of this 400 pages book making it much shorter than the definite biography of Sir Thomas by Richard Marius. Ackroyd portrays More warts and all giving a balanced view of the controversial man's life and times. More and his contemporaries are often quoted using the English of the period. This may prove annoying to many readers who prefer to read about him in a standard English format. This is a fine biography by one of England's best biographers.

5 comments about Easter Rising: An Irish American Coming Up from Under.

1. I read and highly enjoyed MacDonald's previous autobiographical book, "All Souls", and was interested in his latest book. I was not disappointed. Whereas "All Souls" has more of a focus on the author's family and the events of the 70s and 80s, "Easter Rising" is about specifically how MacDonald was able to pull himself out of the cycle of poverty. Here are some of my own observations.
   
   I found MacDonald's journey into punk music fascinating. After his schizophrenic brother Davey committed suicide, he was looking for a way out of his own world. In punk music, he saw the musicians looking to destroy their world and create something new, and he immediately identified with them, wanting to destroy his own world that suicide and violence had ruined. In addition, I thought it interesting that he learned more about politics and history from the lyrics of punk music than through his classes at Bostin Latin.
   
   MacDonald's journeys to Ireland proved to be cathartic. When he was 19, he traveled to London and Paris and ran out of money. He called his grandfather for money, but he would only give it to him if he promised to visit Ireland and some of his relatives. He hates Ireland at first, but then grew to love it. When he saw his biological father, George Fox, at his funeral, he relates that since his father lived outside of South Boston, he was hoping that he had a connection to the outside world. That's ultimately what he found in his relatives in Ireland.
   
   His journey from the mindset of "South Boston is the whole world" to wanting to get out of there is quite emotional. After the death of Davey, then many other of his family members, he wanted to escape. At first, he would venture into downtown Boston, then New York, then finally out of the country. Growing out of the tribal mindset of his hometown was an important part of his development.
   
   In conclusion, "Easter Rising" is a must-have for anyone who enjoys autobiography and American history. It gives a more intimate portrait of the author than "All Souls" did. One needn't necessarily read "All Souls" before "Easter Rising," but it's helpful. Finally, it's a moving story of personal growth that has a wider appeal than to people from Boston.



2. What's an old guy,72,reading a book abot an bunch of young people growing up in Southie,South Boston,in the 70's and 80's;in an area wracked with drugs,violence and with little else of interest than rock music? I remember the days when School Busing as a form of Intregation was creating great upheaval in America and much of the news about difficulties seemed to come our of South Boston. I had never read much about Southie;so thought that it might be of interest as I have read much about the struggles of ethnic groups making their way in America.Most cities have had ,and still do,their areas where people ended up ,who lived outside the "mainstream",and had to do whatever it took ,just to survive...but survive they did!
   I must admit,I found the book a little outside my interest in music , performers ,songs and band names;but it still held my interest and I found it better and better as I continued.By the time I finished,I felt it was one of the better books that I had ever read on the life,struggle and success of someone who overcame obstacles and an enviroment that to someone like myself would find totally discouraging. What a training ground,and anyone who managed to survive had to be remarkably strong. It shows that for anyone to survive and succeed,inner strengths,family ,determination,and taking on responsibility for oneself are the roads to success and not the reliance on government programs and social agencies.
   When you see what the author did to make a success out of what he had to start with ;anyone else who finds themselves in similar enviroment should ask themselves; "So,What's my problem?
   I found the author to be a great new,for me, addition to my list of favorite "Irish" writers and I have now put him in the company of my favorites; the McCourts,Roddy Doyle,Brendan Behan,Liam O'Flaherty,Toby Harnden,Brendan O'Carroll,Morgan Llywelyn,Pete Hamill,and many others.
   Particularly,when the author arrives in Ireland,and he gets to meet the locals and observe the Irish culture;it seems that great gift of writing really blossoms.The way he can write about people,and especially how he can bring that wonderful mother to life in his writing shows,without any doubt, that he is a "gifted Irish Writer" .That seems to be a skill one has to be born with and it has been a fundamental ingredient of Irish culture sice the beginning;where communication was done by storytelling as opposed to writing.
   How's this for observing and writing for which the Irish are so good at?
   
   "And when she came back to the silence of Danny's grave,she carried on in a great mood about what a beautiful spot it was.Then she did what she'd told Buddy she would do,pulling the accordian onto one raised knee and breaking into "Danny Boy".
   This opened every water faucet that had been closed so tightly that evening.Hannah,Mikey,and Catherine stood frozen,staring at the gravestone with hands folded,their tears falling in steady streams.I was terrified,the way I always was when Ma opened people's faucets.I wasn't sure if Ma was being appropriate,since I didn't know Danny's family at all well. Buddy had requested the playing,but I figured Ma ould do it when we were at he grave alone. Ma's red hair flew in all directions with the wind,exposing gray streaks at her temples,which I was seeing for the first time.She struggled to hold up the heavy accordian while standing,raising one thigh to prop it,and was soon balancing the whole spectacle on one foot. It was just past twilight,the sky was a deep dark blue,and the white stone of the religious statues shone out against the the backdrop of evening. Saint Patrick leading the snakes out of Ireland,the three children of Fatima kneeling in front of a serene Mary,Jesus' crucified body floating above us,his wooden cross invisible in the night.
   Ma wailed the verses and settled down to a lullaby for the last line,
   "I simply sleep in peace until you come to me."
   We stood quietly for a few moments. I wasn't sure we'd be welcomed back at the Riordan's that night. Catherine broke the long,uncomfortable silence by soaking us all in a parting spray of holy water.Then she doused the grave.And we all went back to the cars in what seemed like a sudden descent of pitch darkness."
   I can't wait to read more from this wonderful author.Keep it up Michael,you're really gifted.



3. So sang Mission of Burma, whose final concert, among so many others in the early 80s, MacDonald attended, as he struggled to break out of his Boston confines. This brisk sequel to "All Souls" (also reviewed by me recently on Amazon) concentrates more on the writer himself, whereas the earlier book explained his family of ten siblings (nine surviving but three to die tragically as young men and a sister in a coma) in South Boston. I found lots that sounded familiar. The tour when he first saw the Clash was the same one I went to, and my first "real" concert too. He conveys the culture clash also, as Mikey Dread's patois reminds Mike of his grandfather's Kerry-accented chatter. He learns about English culture and European ideas through the then small alternative music papers and song lyrics guide him into Camus and Marx. His education, as a dropout from prestigious Boston Latin, takes him into a vividly described underground scene, as the caché of hanging out in clubs and shops leads him into the NYC squats and speed. I'm not sure how or if he manages to attend classes to completion at UMass-- this decision barely gets an aside. Mostly, Mike appears drawn to the same flirtation with the dangers that mark his family and his neighborhood. Finally, the darkness of his own family, after mental illness, bank robbery, and sudden trauma claim his siblings, snaps him back.
   
   However, there's no easy escape from Southie. The narrative tends to jump forward, and without the previous book, you'd have a hard time filling in the gaps. This is my reason for four stars: not that the lacunae are unexplained, but for the skips in the chronology that make it difficult to keep track of what happens when to him over three decades.
   
   Therefore, after Mike's accounts of punk, hanging out, and getting out of the Old Colony before succumbing to it, the story leaps to London, where he sees the sights on the cheap, and then two trips to Ireland. The first is to Donegal, and while the inside dust jacket promises "two healing journeys to Ireland that are unlike anything in Irish American literature," there's only a familiar, if well-observed, story of the strange intimacy many returning Yanks have. The woman who gives you a lift, figures out in her head you're her fourth (or fifth) cousin, then drops you off with a casual farewell as if this proved but an everyday occurrence on a rural back road. The crowds with women who all look like one's grandmother, and the faces that finally mirror your own. The 'green jumper' that all 'big fellas' from America supposedly stand out by as they tramp and gawk among the bemused natives. And, for Mike, the racial undertones that link the Irish to blacks as surely as they have separated them in his hometown.
   
   The coda, as it were, finds himself at thirty-two accompanying his braying Ma as she in her "Irish whisper" plays the accordion to tunes denouncing the Black and Tans and praising the IRA in the streets of London, complains over her headphones about the English, and generally making a spectacle of herself in the manner that readers of "All Souls" will smile at again. Yet, when she sees her father's cottage in Kerry, her son notes her change. Deeper voice, bent back, slower gait. In the ruins of her ancestral house, she finds her mother's cauldron and the shards of what had furnished the cabin. "Standing next to the dusty heap on the floor, I looked at the perfectly preserved picture of the Sacred Family hanging above the fireplace, with a banner that read BLESS THIS HOME. It was the one intact thing in a house that was in ruins. I couldn't take my eyes off it." (241)
   
   As in the first memoir, MacDonald tends to underplay such dramatic moments in favor of unadorned storytelling. I'm not sure if the audience which longs for shamrockery will take to Mike's more sober tales. This narrative moves efficiently, and MacDonald does not call attention to himself or his woe so much as place it in contexts-- of the club scene, of the pub milieu, and of the psychological devastation that takes him in and out of counselling, hospitals and therapy to ease his aching head. These encounters with the academic and then medical establishment do not, as you might expect, pit a rebel hero against an uncaring system in McMurphy vs. The Combine stereotypical countercultural conflict, but Mike learns self-reliance and gradual acceptance of his own power to overcome the demons that attack so many around him.
   
   Somehow, this manages to be one of the few recent books about Irish sold in America that lacks a paean from Frank McCourt, although his brother's quote graced the back hardcover of "All Souls" and may this in paperback. Whereas the first book evidently took time, this one may have been hastened by the four writer's retreats that he acknowledges, and funded by his screenplay for "All Souls" that's been optioned.



4. After reading the author's first book, I prayed for a part two. To my disappointment this is not it!. It's as if an alien had possed the author and decided to re-write "ALL SOULS". Does this mean, the book was bad, no it does not mean that. It means that, the first book was written from such a different mindset (Night and day), has HUGE widespread appeal, and was so perfect (priceless): that somebody must have given this author some bad advice or false encourgement. Furthermore, while there are small parts that have that "wow effect" , the punk rock aspects, I overdosed on and sufficated this volume for me. If you ever read Mary Karr's "CHERRY" then I hope that will kind of enlighten you has to what my babble is trying to do, eventhough that was sort of a part two . In conclusion, while this author has a vast amount of heart, soul and talent and will most likely write more great books. It does not change the fact that I feel "Easter Rising" was a let down.



5. A fantastic "second act" by McDonald...if you happen to read this one first I would suggest All Souls as the follow-up. Both are simply fantastic!

5 comments about Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs.

1. Punk Royalty King John Lydon/Johnny Rotten's no bollocks account of the fast and furious rise and fall of THE 70's punk group The Sex Pistols. From their beginnings at Malcolm MacLaren's leather shop on King's Road in London to their final concert in San Francisco ... John Lydon/Johnny Rotten ... says it like it is ... and you don't get the feeling you have been cheated.



2. The book is so good, that i' couldn't belive it. It's really enjoyable to read it, so go for it. Buy the f**king thing.



3. There is only one John Lydon. This is a great read. Gives the story behind the media interpretation of the story. This is a great read.



4. I must say that I thought it was just a biography of the Sex Pistols, when it actually is an autobiography of Johnny Rotten, but it's great anyway. It's not only John's point of view about the band and all the controversies involved, but also the point of view of other people close to the band. It's quite easy to read, as John makes an amazing use of the words -everything he tells seems to be amusing!
   
   It isn't wll-written, in the sense that John has written everything that would come to his mind, but I find it more real like that. I guess you'll agree.
   
   To sum up, highly recommended ;)



5. 
   I think one reason I liked it was that Johnny Did Not Glamorize or Glorify anything. He writes about himself in a natural, almost maybe "humble" way, which anyone can appreciate in a writer's story.
   
   
   His childhood is revealed and detailed wonderfully, and what an Interesting Childhood he had ! His "rat catching" stories,childhood thoughts, preoccupations and feelings are refreshing to read and learn about.
   
   The photos are intriguing and very "for real". Don't expect professional, glossy ,Glam photos. He's displayed the "REAL"
   
   
   Great book for people looking beyond The Sex Pistols, behind the stage persona and interested in john Lydon for himself.
   
   I love this book and writing style because it captures him authentically and genuinely.
   
   You needn't be a "Sex Pistols" fan to enjoy this unexpected biography.
   
   Highly recommended for any readers !

5 comments about Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland.

1. A wonderful book by Tomie dePaola filled with helpful information about the true story of St. Patrick's life, as well as fun legends attributed to the patron Saint of Ireland. dePaola's bold illustrations lend to the attraction of the book. He mentions at the end of the book his reasons for writing it and his attraction to Saint Patrick. My own eight year old son has a strong devotion to Saint Patrick and this book is among his favorites. I appreciate the clear differentiation between fact and legend in this book and would highly recommend it for any family.



2. Growing up in an Irish Catholic family myself, I had heard a great deal about St. Patrick. When we received this book as a gift I started reading it to my children, and they loved it. There were stories even I hadn't heard about St. Pat! As with his St. Francis book, Tomie DePaola's book holds children's interest throughout the many stories while other books of this length lose children. Kids remember the stories and repeat them because they are told so lovingly and in such a fun way! I now bring this book to their school and read it to all their classrooms every St. Patrick's Day to let children know that there is more to Patrick than green beer!



3. This book is fine if you are Catholic, but I was hoping for something more accessible for non-Catholics. For example, the legend of the shamrock is not very meaningful if you are not already acquainted with the trinity or Jesus or the Holy Spirit, etc. This would definitely not be a book to use to teach anything about the Catholic faith to non-Catholic, non-Christian children, which is what I was hoping to use it for.
   
   I like how dePaola has a section at the end for the legends of St. Patrick, separating these from the biography. I was raised an Irish Catholic and I was hoping to be able to share some of that heritage with my own children through this book, but in the end, all of the miracles and mumbo jumbo are too hard to swallow. My daughter was confused about which parts of the story were "real" and which were "for pretend." I think it was a little too much for her to choke down. I had to try to explain to her what baptism is, but she just stared at me blankly.
   
   The illustrations are quite lovely, and I would recommend this book highly for all Catholic school libraries.



4. I have always enjoyed the picture books of Tomie dePaola. His unique illustration style is immediately recognizable and is reminiscent of religious icons found in Catholic and Orthodox churches.
   
   Not surprisingly, dePaola often tackles Christian themes, making them accessible for younger readers and their parents. Among my all-time favorite children's book is his "The Clown of God," which I have enjoyed reading to children prior to Christmas.
   
   "Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland" is another such book. The simple narrative mainly addresses Patrick's early years as a British boy, captured by the Irish to become a slave shepherd in Ireland. After many years alone in prayer, he escapes, but eventually is called in a dream to return to Ireland to spread the love of God. After religious studies, becoming a missionary and then a bishop, he finally returns to Ireland, setting up churches, but not without opposition from some of the local rulers.
   
   What I appreciate about this version of St. Patrick's story is the dependency on historical fact in the main narrative. The book concludes with six one-page summaries of the better-known legends of Ireland's patron saint, such as driving out the snakes, and his use of the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity. Refreshingly, these legends are briefly, but affectionately, told without judgment. It is left to the reader (or the parent) to decide what to make of them.
   
   The author concludes with a one-page epilogue, lovingly explaining how he was introduced as a young child to St. Patrick by his Irish Catholic grandparents.



5. This is a very lovely presentation of the life of St. Patrick. I used it for a vacation bible school group of 2nd and 3rd graders. They easily understood the story and really loved the pictures.

5 comments about American Jennie: The Remarkable Life of Lady Randolph Churchill.

1. American Jennie by Anne Sebba is the story of the incredible life of Lady Randolph Churchill. American Jennie Jerome fell in love with Brit Randolph Churchill in a whirlwind courtship. After overcoming parental objections on both sides of the match, the couple wed and quickly produced son Winston. But the romance faded soon, and both engaged in affairs. They pulled together to get Randolph into the House of Commons, but for most of the rest of their lives, they lived apart. Sebba digs through newspaper accounts, family records, diaries, and letters to produce this well put together biography of an unusual woman. Jennie was well known for her beauty and her indiscretions in a time when women were still considered a husband's property. She produced a literary magazine, helped get both her husband and son seats in the House, traveled extensively, and cared for her husband at the end of his life. Randolph, who suffered from syphilis, was a difficult man, capricious even before the disease attacked his mind. Sebba tries to defend and protect Jennie where possible, but even in the best of lights, Jennie was an atrocious mother who ignored her children. In the end, the picture that emerges of Jennie is of a woman determined to live life on her own terms. She produced children, but that didn't make her a mother. She was married, but was a better wife to her lovers. She lived very much in the moment, always in debt and buying Worth gowns. Sebba does her best to make Jennie likeable, and to an extent, she succeeds. Jennie would be a wonderful addition to a dinner party, but not someone you could count on as a friend. A couple of complaints: there are not nearly enough photos of Jennie. For such a famous woman, I'm sure there are many more out there that would have shown her recognized beauty to better advantage. Also, Jennie and her sisters spoke French, so they peppered their letters to each other with French phrases. Sebba also throws several in her writing. I don't know French, so I often felt a bit left out. Sebba easily could have included translations in brackets, because the meaning was usually not easily gleaned from the rest of the passage.



2. Great new book on a wonderful and timeless life. We own and have read the two volumn work by Martin on Jennie, but this is a fresh and well researched look at the times and people who shaped her son Winston's life. If this work interests the reader there is in Jennie's own hand her book, The Reminiscences of Lady Randolph Churchill. While not in print, it can be found on the used books websites.



3. American Jennie in the US, and Jennie Churchill in the UK - the mother of Winston Churchill - the title says it all. Anne Sebba has created a character who had to triumph in two countries. The method is simplistic, almost from a 1950s children's comic. The goodie is Jennie nee Jerome, from an American, and therefore liberated background. The baddie is her husband, Lord Randolph Churchill, from an English, aristocratic background. His supposedly becoming infected with syphilis early on in the marriage increases his badness. It gets worse when his career as a Conservative politician develops and he spends long hours in the House of Commons. Beautiful, well-dressed, extravagant, piano-playing Jennie is justified in taking a lover and triumphs as the heroine.
   
   Jennie is promoted as the engineer of Winston's success as a politician and world leader during the Second World War. Yet she died in 1921, when he was still in disgrace over the failed attempt to capture Gallipoli in 1915, which plan he had masterminded. It would be another 20 years before Winston, by then in his mid-60s, would become British Wartime Prime Minister. One would have thought that his wife, Clementine nee Hozier (Clemmie), who he married in 1908, would have warranted more credit by Anne Sebba for her role in his success.
   
   And what of Winston's younger brother John (Jack) Churchill? Ignored by Winston in his writings, as though he didn't exist he died in 1947 in relative obscurity. Anne Sebba has written Jack out of her biography in a single line. He was the illegitimate son of 7th Viscount (`Star') Falmouth. In other words he wasn't really a Churchill so neither Jennie nor Winston could be expected to take any responsibility for him. Winston and Jack are as alike as two peas in a pod, both Churchillian, both grandsons of the 7th Duke of Marlborough. Jack's two other children were John (Johnny) a well-known artist, and Clarissa, Countess of Avon, wife of the former Prime Minister, Sir Anthony Eden. Now in her 88th year, Clarissa has just written a very interesting book Memoir, published by Weidenfeld & Nicholson. Clarissa and her two siblings were in no doubt that their grandfather was Lord Randolph Churchill, even though Anne Sebba paints him as a mad syphilitic. What rot!
   
   I have it on good authority that one of the major copyright owners of the Churchill papers is so disgusted with Mrs Sebba's book that they have withdrawn permission of copyright. From the point of view of an historian, a true biography of Jennie, Lady Randolph Churchill, has still to be written. In fact, Elizabeth Kehoe's book, Fortunes Daughters, the story of the three Jerome sisters, Clara, Jennie, and Leonie, is a far better read having been more carefully researched. Also, while not perfect, look at Dark Lady, the biography of Jennie Churchill by Charles Higham, for a more balanced and historically accurate portrayal.



4. to me jennie churchill was a selfish ,pleasure seeking woman who only cared about herself.she couldn't wait to get nannies taking care her sons are puting them in abusive boarding schools.she as a wife was a marriage were she couldn't stay faithful or not keeping her husband in debit.to me why winston feeling of love for her i just don't get.his nanny was more a mother to him than jennie.



5. Very scholarly bio, quotes from letters and written info extensively. Appears to be very close to fact but at times too much like a term paper. Brings a very unique American woman to life.

5 comments about Richard the Third.

1. This book is one of the few that succeeds in revising the historical profile of king Richard by giving him the place he deserves. For centuries Tudor historians, particularly More and Vergil (using all the heavy artillery of political propaganda on behalf of their masters the Tudor kings) had drawn a caricature of king Richard, making him a monster, the incarnation of evil, not to speak of Shakespeare's play, as brilliant as false. This book proves that king Richard was a wise ruler, an excellent warrior (he decisively contributes to the final Yorkist victory over the Lancastrians in the battles of Barnet and Tewksbury in 1471), loyal to his brother king Edward IV, tender to his wife, loved by the people (specially by Northerners, by the people of York, where he was almost adored, while Henry VII and Henry VIII, the first Tudor kings, were much hated, which explains the constant rebellions of Yorkshire under Tudor rule) The tragedy of king Richard III has nothing to do with Shakespearean plot; it is very unlikely that he ordered the death of Edward IV's sons (the book provides an interesting appendix on the matter) and, of course, he had no body deformity. His tragedy was both personal and political: a man who saw the death of his beloved wife, son and brothers, a king who tried to rule for the people against the barons and paid a terrible price, the price of being betrayed at Bosworth field in 1485; a ruler who tried to take control of the political turmoil, hopelessly, as he found himself trapped in the turmoil, overwhelmed and finally swept away. However, he set the foundations of modern Britain, creating a strong State by undermining the territorial rebellious powers of the old feudal peerage, which were the cancer that had consumed the nation since the Beauforts had made a puppet of Henry VI, the last Lancastrian king, and which degenerated into the open enmity between the dukes of Somerset and York and the subsequent civil strife. Apart from reading a fascinating period of the History of England, this book made me seriously think of how easy it is to falsify History. Richard III is somebody who definitely deserved rehabilitation. Well done, Paul!



2. It seems that you can find two camps comcerning Richard III - people who think that he was truly the deforemed monster portrayed by Shakespeare or those who think that he ought to be canonized. Paul Murray Kendall did an excellent job of rendering a portrait of King Richard III that does not revolve around the typical Tudor propoganda and at the same time doesn't clamour for sainthood to be bestowed upon him. Anyone who is looking for a relatively unbiased view of this misunderstood monarch should definitely look into this excellent source!



3. Paul Murray Kendall writes an objective biography of Richard III from his childhood to his death on Bosworth Field in 1485. He examines contemporary accounts with an emphasis on the reports of Dominic Mancini, who wrote from his own observations. He reviews pro-Richardian or revisionist theories as well as traditionalist viewpoints in an attempt to provide an objective narrative about the king's life.
   
   The book starts with the earliest known information (at about age 10) and continues through Edward IV's reign and into Richard's, ending with his death in 1485. Separate appendices deal with the disappearance of the princes Edward and Richard and Richard's character.
   
   In a nutshell, the author characterizes Richard III as a loyal, honorable, talented (military skills) leader as well as a devoted and religious family man. These strengths, however, were offset by inflexibility - a mind that saw black and white, but nothing in between - and political naivete.
   
   Kendall's analysis of the available information concerning the disappearance of the princes is objective and sensible. His conclusion: Richard probably knew what happened to them. If he sanctioned their deaths, he did so because that's what rulers did to deposed kings in medieval times. The times were cruel and Richard was a man of his times.
   
   Equally objective is Kendall's assessment of Richard's character.
   
   The book is an excellent introduction to the life of a fascinating man as well as the times in which he lived. Highly recommended. FYI, this edition is a reprint of the original work published in 1955.



4. This is a very readable biography of Richard III. While more recent research may have overtaken some of Mr Kendall's conclusions it by no means diminishes his scholarship.
   
   Richard III's life has been the subject of many works of historical fiction. Additionally, he appears in the works of Shakespeare, is dissected by Sir Thomas More and others writing during Tudor times. Variously lionized and demonized, he is considered by many to be either the tragic hero slain in battle at Bosworth Field or the murderer of the princes in the Tower of London.
   
   To see Richard solely as either a villain or a victim is to ignore the realities of the period in which he lived and the circumstances whereby he came to the throne.
   
   I recommend this biography to those who want to know more about the life and reign of Richard III or are seeking some historical background to some of the works of historical fiction in which he features.
   
   Jennifer Cameron-Smith



5. In 1955 this old biography of old Richard III was authored by Ohio University Ph.d Paul Murray Kendall. The book is still being published and is, arguably, the best introduction to the life and times of the last Yorkist monarch of England. Anyone interested in Richard III should add this well researched book to his or her shelf.
   Richard III was born in 1452. His father the Duke of Gloucester was executed for treason. Richard grew up amid the confusion and tumult of late fifteenth century British life. He was the brother of Edward IV. His father Edward III had been a great warrior king. When Edward IV died in 1483 Richard usurped the throne from the new 12 year old boy King Edward V. Richard hated Edward IV's greedy and power mad widow Elizabeth Woodville and her family. Edward V and his brother the Duke of York were murdered in the Tower of London. No one has proven conclusively who the murderer was. Many historians speculate that it was Richard III who ordered the murders or perhaps the foul deed was done by his henchman the Duke of Buckingham (who later led an unsuccessful revolt against Richard).
   Richard was involved in the battle of Barnet along with his brother Edward IV which led to the death of the rebellious Warwick. He also particpated in the Battle of Tewksbury in which the mad King Henry VI
   was killed.
   Richard was married to Anne Neville who was weak and died prior to his own bloody death. Richard was popular in the North of England and his Council of the North brough orderly government to this volatile region. Richard particpated in battle against the Scotch keeping the English marches relatively well governed.
   The greatest challenge to Richard's eighteen month reign as King of England came from Henry Tudor. At Bosworth Field in August, 1485 Richard died in battle against Henry. Henry became Henry VII beginning 119 years of Tudor monarchy. Kendall is critical of Henry VII and says he was a tyrant. This is disputed by many historians while others in the academic community support this contention. Richard III was the last English King to die in battle.
   Richard III was no saint. He was a violent man living in a violent age. He died at age 33 and may have become a good king despite his bloody record. Kendall says later Tudor mythology especially in the biographies of Richard III by Sir Thomas Moore and the chronicler Hall have portrayed Richard as a monster who was deformed. This was not true. Neither is the portrait painted of Richard limned by Shakespeare in his history play true to all the facts.
   Kendall writes in a dry academic style with countless names. This is confusing for a lay reader unfamiliar with the history and players of the period. He is to be commended for his research. Most helpful were the battle maps especially of Bosworth Field which the author visited in a successful attempt to paint an accurate portrait of the crucial battle.
   This book is a fine and famous history of Richard III well worth reading.

1 comments about Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred & Other Contemporary Sources (Penguin Classics).

1. The author of this book (Asser) was a contemporary of King Alfred's and was brought to Wessex (Alfred's kingdom) in the ninth century as part of Alfred's plan to improve education and culture in Anglo-Saxon England. The text is highly readable and gives students an eyewitness account of Alfred's kingship: military successes and failures (esp. fighting the Vikings), advancement of English culture and education, consolidation of the seven kingdoms, and cultivation of Christian kingship in the Early Middle Ages. This kind of book is especially fun for students to read as it shows us "real history," including things such as Alfred's 20-year fight with some sort of intestinal disorder. We see Alfred as a man, not just an aloof, wooden figure that died long ago. This edition also includes maps, geneological charts of the Carolingian (i.e., "French") kings and the English kings up to Alfred, and a 29-page introduction by Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge, which provides excellent background on the period in which Alfred and Asser lived. Also included are excerpts from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which was begun in Alfred's reign, extracts of Alfred's own writings and translations, and miscellaneous primary sources such as letters, books, and documents of the era. These items make good backgrounding for teachers. When this biography is read together with the Arthurian legend, it helps students to compare the real and the ideal kings of the Middle Ages.

5 comments about Naples '44: A World War II Diary of Occupied Italy.

1. Lewis left us with a fascinating account of this small but very human part of WWII. And gathered some very interesting details that otherwise would have been lost forever.



2. When I was younger I knew an Italian-American veteran who spent time in Naples at roughly the time covered by this book. His stories while entertaining always seemed a bit exagerated to me. Now, after reading Norman Lewis' account of those days I owe my long departed friend an apology for having doubted him.
   This is a remarkable account from a gifted observer. Lewis as a British intelligence officer assigned to the Area occupied by American forces immediately following the expulsion of the Germans was in a unique position to observe many aspects of the struggles and adaptations of the locals under these extraordianry conditions. The ingenuity and superstition of the Italian people is displayed from a point of view that is neutral in it's judgements while sparing the reader nothing of the darker side of the stuggle to survive at the same time.
   As somone who has read extensively about WWII I was surprised this one got by me for so long. I stumbled on it while browsing Amazon and highly recommend it to anyone interested in the War ,Italy or just a good entertaining read.



3. Naples 44 is a beautifully crafted account of allied occupation in Naples. Norman Lewis describes, with his usual gentle irony, the unique lifestyle of Neapolitans and how they survive abject poverty.
   He has an eye for the absurd whilst retaining his compassionate love of humanity.



4. Can a foreign military "successfully" occupy another country? Where can we look for historical lessons to our clusterf**k in Iraq. What are our boys reading in West Point? Is there large scale prostitution and venereal disease..Are there markets openly selling stolen U.S. military items.. Where are ordinary Iraqi's getting $ to survive with their economy is shambles? Lots of questions.



5. I group this book with Eric Newby's "Love and War in the Appenines" for unsentimental and direct views of the corrupting power of war that use Italy as examples. Liberation seems such a romantic idea that one can hardly resist it, and yet here we can easily read and understand that true liberation takes a lot more than military objectives and shouting in congress.
   
   Lewis's eye was remarkable in one so young. I hope that both these books have found their way to the library at West Point. It is perhaps too much to ask that they should be read anywhere inside the beltway.

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.

2 comments about Edward VII: The Last Victorian King.

1. He waited in the wings while his illustrious mother ruled on and on. And when his time came to strut across the kingly stage the performance was all too brief. But it was not merely a cameo role that "Bertie" was to play as Edward V11, as this portait by Christopher Hibbert makes clear.

   Hibbert traces Bertie's early life as a backward child who was to become the bane of his parents, Queen Victoria and her worthy, hardworking though somewhat stuffy Consort, Prince Albert. So concerned was Albert about his son that he consulted a phrenologist, who promptly noted the "feeble quality" of Bertie's brain.

   "Poor Bertie, he vexes us so much", wrote Victoria. And the vexation turned into near hysteria a few years later as a result of Bertie's escapades with young ladies definitely not thought worthy to be considered future queens.

   When Victoria's long reign ended in January, 1901, the Ewardian Age began. The new king was 59 years old, portly, and going bald. But he took up his new duties with obvious relish, fully conscious of his vocation, combining hard work with his more agreeable activities of cards, racing, partying and womanizing. Aware of the dangers of war in Europe, he set out to strengthen his country's position on the continent. He had notable success in Paris. At the beginning of the visit an aide noted the subdued response of the crowds when his carriage passed. "The French don't like us", the aid whispered. "Why should they?" replied the King and continued waving. By the end of the visit the King had won the French over and had cemented the Entente Cordiale.

   Hibbert writes that Edward V11 was popular as a monarch because he was a human one, and because, in spite of his racy life, he was never hypocritical or pompous. As Hibbert puts it, "he would rather sit down to a meal with an entertaining acrobat than a tedious duke."

   It's easy to form an analogy between Bertie's relationships with his parents and those between the Prince Regent and his father, George 111. And it's even more tempting to form a similar analogy between the current Prince of Wales and HIS parents, though we will probably have to rely on future historians to put that into perspective.




2. edward 7th was the uncle of kaiser wilhelm and they did not like each other