No comments about Imogen Stuart: Sculptor.

1 comments about Diana, Princess of Wales: How Sexual Politics Shook the Monarchy (Diana Princess of Wales).

1. I'm not quite sure why I decided to purchase this book; ...I thought this would provide a different look at an exhaustively covered subject.

   First, I would not recommend this book to a "casual fan" of Diana. There is some deep reading here, it's not a book that can be skimmed and understood. You have to *read* it. ...

   Ms. Campbell seems to pull much of her book from other sources, with extensive quoting being quite a bit of what you are reading. She then takes these quotes and excerpts and adds her interpretations and opinions. Sometimes these were spot on, other times I felt that she was stretching a bit to prove her point. I also feel that the title is somewhat misleading; the book wasn't entirely what I expected. The author's repetitive claims of Diana being "penetrated" by the media's cameras, the world's eyes get rather boring and made for some eye-rolling on my part. There is no doubt that the media were invasive to Diana, but I also believe she played them at times--it was a give and take. Maybe if I were a "feminist" I would be more inclined to agree with this observation.

   There is some fascinating history in regards to past Princes of Wales, their behaviours and relationships, in particular that of George IV and Princess Caroline of Brunswick. Ms. Campbell points out amazing similarities between Caroline and Diana, and for that alone this book is worth delving into. Although I am reasonably well-versed in the recent past and current happenings of the House of Windsor, what I read was news to me, and sheds some light on the Royal Family, Prince Charles, and a marriage that was, unfortunately, doomed from the start.

No comments about Thomas Denton: A Perambulation of Cumberland, 1687-8, including descriptions of Westmorland, the Isle of Man and Ireland: (Cumbria Record Office MS D/Lons/L12/4/2/2) ... (Publications of the Surtees Society).

5 comments about The Leper King and his Heirs: Baldwin IV and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.

1. Baldwin IV, king of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem is largely - and unfairly - unknown in the west today. But, as Bernard Hamilton details in The Leper King and his Heirs, he deserves so much better. For a start, he accomplished so much more than his famous Crusading near contemporary Richard the Lionheart, and under infinitely more trying conditions.

   Not only was his childhood troubled - his father Amalric had been forced to disown his mother Agnes when Baldwin was two years old before the aristocracy would accept him as king, and Baldwin was only 13 when Amalric died and he took the throne - he contracted leprosy at a young age (Baldwin's symptoms are discussed in a useful appendix by Piers Mitchell).

   The disease could not be hidden; "It grew more serious each day, specially injuring his hands and feet and his face, so that his subjects were distressed whenever they looked at him," William of Tyre, chief contemporary chronicler of the day, relates.

   A lesser person would have quickly broken under such circumstances. But Baldwin was animated by both a bold spirit and a tremendous sense of duty, of his obligation to his people. One of the most human touches is William of Tyre's depiction of Baldwin as "a good looking child for his age" who grew up "full of hope" and "more skilled than men who were older than himself in controlling horses and in riding them at a gallop," (p 43). Baldwin had taught himself this skill, vital to a knight, despite already losing feeling in his right hand. And he continued to ride at the head of his men into battle when there was no way he could have remounted had he been unhorsed. Determination and courage were to be the hallmarks of his all too brief career.

   For Baldwin was by any measure a successful king - considering his circumstances and limited resources, a great one. Though his people were massively outnumbered and surrounded on three sides, this boy, who took the throne in 1164 and died aged not quite 24 in 1185, for 11 years frustrated the ambition of Saladin, the greatest warrior of the age, to forge unity among the Arab people and drive the Christians from the Holy Places.

   Despite being significantly outnumbered, he defeated Saladin in two major battles, Mont Gisard in 1177 and Le Forbelet in 1182, and forced him to raise the siege of Beirut in 1182 and the major fortress of Kerak twice, in 1183 and 1184. On the latter occasions he was blind and so debilitated he had to be slung in a litter between two horses.

   Hamilton also helps untangle the intricate web of domestic and international relations in which Jerusalem, the center of the world for three faiths, was ensnared. Baldwin had to balance the conflicting jealousies and agendas of his own nobility, always maneuvering to secure their positions first in the event of a regency, then at the succession; the knightly orders that were within his kingdom but not of it; the neighboring Crusader states; the attitude of the Papacy; the interests of Byzantium; and the distant and fickle responses of the western European powers. And overshadowing all this was ever-present menace of the Islamic counterattack that could come anytime, anyplace. Given this ever-precarious situation, Baldwin perhaps emerges with even greater credit for his diplomacy than for his skills with the sword. Certainly, he made no fatal mistakes and left the kingdom in no weaker condition than he found it.

   Hamilton makes no great departures in his work, but goes some way towards rehabilitating Reynald of Chatillon from his characteristic depiction as loose cannon psychopath. Following Michael Lyons and David Jackson's Saladin: The Politics of Holy War, he also demythologizes the Crusader's nemesis, emphasizing the traditional argument that the Christian state unnecessarily provoked Saladin into war is flawed: The great leader of the Muslim world had been working towards the cleansing Jihad his entire career.

   This is a book as much about an era as an individual, and at times, Baldwin as a personality tends to disappear inside it. Even considering the limitations of the sources, one wishes there was more representing his perspective in his voice. But we are limited to a heartfelt letter he wrote to Louis VII of France, humbly recognizing his limitations and offering to hand the kingdom over to a candidate as noble, and more healthy, than he: "To be deprived of one's limbs is of little help to one in carrying out the work of government... It is not fitting that a hand so weak as mine should hold power when fear of Arab aggression daily presses upon the Holy City and when my sickness increases the enemy's daring." (p 140).

   It was fortunate for the Kingdom of Jerusalem that this offer was refused. It is significant that just two years after Baldwin's death Saladin won his great victory at Hattin, fatally wounding the Crusader presence in the Middle East and setting in motion the chain of events that would culminate in their expulsion in 1291.

   "Few rulers have remained executive heads of state when handicapped by such severe physical disabilities or sacrificed themselves more totally to the needs of their people," (p 210) Hamilton concludes. Baldwin's accomplishments would seem to be the stuff of myth, but he was quite real, a testament to human courage and endurance, and Hamilton does a fine job of putting his life and times in perspective.




2. I greatly enjoyed this book! The reign of Baldwin IV, the Leper King has been long, long overdue for a good, historical revision! The usual story: Saladin/Raymond of Tripoli good guys, everybody-else bad guys (particularly Agnes de Courtenay, the king's mother, portrayed as a cross between "Vampirella" and Marilyn Monroe), with the poor Leper King in the middle (usually portrayed as a cross between The Little Lame Prince and Count Dracula) has always been too simplistic---I thought so, even before reading this book. Hamilton gives you all the details, all the facts, and even an appendix discussing Baldwin's illness from a medical point of view. Get this book!



3. Bernard Hamilitons scholarship is unsurpassed. The book does long overdue justice to the Leper King, and goes some way to correcting the demonisation of Reynald of Chatillon. Clearly exposes the widely beleived myth that if the Crusaders would of come in line with the thinking of Raymond of Tripoli, Saladin would of lived peacefully coexsisting with the crusaders.
   
   The book is full of detailed accounts of the most intresting events of the selected period: Reynalds raid on Arabia, the details of Balwins disease, Ramond of Tripoli's ambitions, etc..
   
   A much more credible account of the Leper Kings reign, backed up by endless foot notes and evidence, that bravely disputes the widely held, 'Steven Runicman' view on the period.



4. This was a very informative book. However, contrary to what the title would lead you to believe, the Leper King and His Heirs provides very little actual material about King Baldwin IV. However, the events that occured after his death are covered in great detail and I would still recommend this title for anyone doing academic research on the Crusades (or who just enjoy reading about historical events). Well written and very detailed.



5. A remarkable book, fine product of a thorough political and military research analysis. It has answered a lot of my past questions regarding the chaotic period (1174-1186)hence the period before the cataclysmic crusader defeat at Hattin.
   I suggested it for all those readers who are looking for a different or an alternative approach regarding the behaviors of famous crusaders like Raymond of Tripoli or the infamous Reynald of Kerak, based on comparative scientific historical data which pour new light to a supposedly known story.Not for readers without basical knowledge of the crusaders era.

No comments about Churchill (Lives).

2 comments about Daughters of Ireland: The Rebellious Kingsborough Sisters and the Making of a Modern Nation.

1. It's almost Jane Austen territory - two Protestant Irish aristocratic sisters, neglected by their wealthy dysfunctional parents, get a new governess: and she's none other than Mary Wollstonecraft! Even though the great radical author spent only a year with the family, it was enough to inject revolutionary ideas and plant seeds that bore fruit far in the future. The action doesn't end when she departs, the clangorous melodrama of "interesting times" merely opens there. The sisters, Margaret and Mary Kingsborough, set off on careers that will have you fastening your seatbelt. Margaret marries a stupid aristocrat, yet promotes and helps to foment the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Mary elopes with her married cousin, an action that seems almost tame compared to the rest of the storm and thunder of this narrative, which climaxes with a failed rebellion, and ends with pigs dining where the wealthy Kingboroughs once lived. Historian Janet Todd, in marshalling a vast amount of complex 18th century Irish history, gives a crash course in a bloody, tragic and overlooked era, and does it with beguiling skill and insight. Recommended to anyone who'd like to learn about this slice of Irish history: if the revolution is complex, don't worry, the murders, pursuits, dalliances and intrigues will keep you awake!



2. This is indeed an intersting book with plenty of information and details, but don't expect it to be just about the Kingsborough sisters. Todd does an excellent job of illuminating the situation in Ireland at the end of the 18 century - and the place of the Irish elite in the rebellion that would arise prior to the Act of Union that created Great Britian. This book is not about the lives of Margaret and Mary King as the title implies, but rather looks at their lives at the same time as much of this is happening. It is true that Margaret participates in the rebellion at a certain level and it is her life that is the most intersting part of the book. I wish that Todd had focused soley on her and made her the center of the book and had all the other information relate to her. Mary King is mentioned and plays an important part of her family's life - but there is no depth to her character - not like we see with Margaret. And the author appears to have made some mistakes about the dates concernong Mary's life and death (she states that Caroline King left her daughter money in her will in 1825, but Mary had died by 1819 according to the author).
   I liked this book but I wish that the author had given more thought to the books structure.

No comments about The Travels of Dean Mahomet: An Eighteenth-Century Journey through India.

No comments about Robert Emmet and the Rebellion of 1798.

No comments about The Early Stewart Kings: Robert II and Robert III 1371-1406 (Stewart Dynasty in Scotland series).

5 comments about The General: Irish Mob Boss.

1. I have seen the movie and i think it's great but reading the book was totally different. In the book you get to see the two sides of the notorious Martin Cahill. Some people thought he was the modern robbinhood, and others a dangerous criminal. Paul Williams brilliantly gives you the inside story in it's true form, excellent book.



2. Paul Williams writes about the life of Martin "the General" Cahill in a way that almost makes Cahill lovable, a late-20th century Robin Hood almost, yet is able to balance this image (that Cahill himself tried to propagate) with the fact that he was a career criminal, even to the point that he would report regularly to receive the dole while making millions illegally. Williams writes of what is known that Cahill did, what Cahill was accused of doing, what Cahill said that he did and was, and what Dubliners said that he did and was. Williams was a reporter throughout the career of the General, and so presents a journalistic tale of Martin Cahill's life that is really a captivating read.



3. Martin Cahill, a/k/a "The General," was perhaps Ireland's most notorious gangster, a genius criminal who stole millions (in artwork, jewelry and cash) right out from under the noses of the Garda S?och?na(Irish Police.)
   
   Paul Williams, quite adeptly, tells the humorous but ultimately tragic tale of a remorseless thief with a penchant for rather unorthodox sexual activity (he lived and fathered children with both his wife and her sister.) Like the best (or worst) gangsters and criminals memorialized in books and movies, The General's daring, outrageous behavior and wit made him a charming and sometimes even sympathetic subject. But, Williams walks the line between glorifying Cahill and showing him for what he really was, a thief whose sins caught up with him.



4. The General was a great read. It did Martin Cahill justice which is the only time he probably got any. Williams showed us the Cahill that only those close to him saw. A real eye opener. Thank you, Mr. Williams.



5. i highly recommend the book.the author gives us a rare insight into not only his most succesful hiests($-wise).he describes cahill lesser known crimes also which provides the motive & method,being that the most enjoyable aspect is not the climax of a hiest but it's the PROCESS from start(PLANNING)to the finish (GETTING AWAY & UNPENATRABLE ALIBI).cahill is unconventualable in all aspects of his life,marriage,lifestyle,work(M.O.),etc. which keeps the law from anticipating his next move.the police incomptency is what made cahill a CRIMINAL MASTERMIND.funny,intriuing,inciteful are just a few descriptions that make the book enjoyable.