No comments about The Courtship of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett.

2 comments about The Kings & Queens of England (Revealing History).

1. I really enjoy reading about the different monarchs throughout time. Ormrod's book has made it so easy to read about and learn more about these kings and queens who have shapped the world. "The Kings and Queens of England" is the perfect introduction to all of the different houses and all of the different monarchs. The way in which this book was written allows the reader to either read the book completely or look up particular intrests. He has made it so easy and fairly enjoyable.
   
   I very much recomend this book to anyone who has a historical intrest in the royal families because this is very well written and filled with loads of information that I have not heard any where else.



2. It would be easier to remember the kings and queens of England if they didn't all have the same names. A Chudley and an Irma in there would have helped a lot. Tired of trying to remember which Henry is which, I checked this book out of the library and then bought one so I would have a handy reference. It gives a synopsis of them all consecutively beginning with several I didn't even know about. It is forthright and not necessarily kind. I'm enjoying it.

No comments about Bend'or: Duke of Westminster : A Personal Memoir.

1 comments about The Arctic Fox.

1. Leopold McClintock is one of many British Naval explorers of the Victorian era, a period which seems to becoming increasingly popular with historians. In exploration terms, Fergus Fleming started the recent trend with his book "Barrow's Boys", which for me popularized Arctic and Antarctic exploration of the Victorian era. The Arctic Fox is another excellent addition to the growing library of historical accounts of the pioneers of Arctic and Antarctic exploration. The author, David Murphy, is an Irish historian with an interest in British Naval and Polar explorers, and thus it is only fitting that he write this biography of McClintock, an Irishman. To do so he draws upon British Naval Reports of expeditions in which McClintock was a participant. He also uses McClintock's own writings, which include expedition reports, and letters to Lady Franklin. Contemporary sources are also referred to.
   
   The Arctic Fox is not a particularly lengthy book, numbering fewer than 200 pages, so readers will quickly run through this book in a couple of solid afternoon reading sessions. The brevity of the book is also partly explained by the fact that McClintock's claim to fame stemmed largely from (as the subtitle of the book suggests) being "The discoverer of the fate of Franklin". Prior to this, he had not enjoyed quite the same profile as other British Naval officers serving on expeditions to the North, such as Ross (leader of the first expedition to try and find Franklin in 1848, and under whom McClintock served), Back, and Parry.
   
   The main focus of the book is on those expeditions mounted by the British admiralty and later by Lady Franklin to try and find survivors or determine the fate of Franklin's ill-fated expedition. In fact, the subtitle of the book is a little misleading, as it was John Rae who really determined the probable nature of the demise of Franklin's expedition, much to the displeasure of Lady Franklin. McClintock merely confirmed the suspicions of Rae by finding human remains in 1859, which Rae had failed to do. There is more discussion of this in the final chapter of The Arctic Fox. McClintock certainly made the most of his opportunity in the public eye following the successful expedition, writing numerous accounts of his exploits, with the British public clamoring for Arctic heroes. However, the book does discuss McClintock's life, both his younger years, and touches briefly on his post arctic career.
   
   Although there are no glossy pictorial plates, there are numerous black and white illustrations throughout the book. The Arctic Fox is an easy read, and I would recommend it to anyone who had enjoyed "Barrow's Boys".

2 comments about St. Margaret Queen of Scotland.

1. This book was first published in 1993, in time for the 900th anniversary celebrations of Margaret's death. Herein lies one of the major problems with this book as it accepts the official line of the organisers of the anniversary celebrations and does not seek to question some of the more mythical aspects of Margaret's life.

   The book is easy to read but unfortunately trots out the traditional stereotypes about Margaret's life without providing much analysis of the small yet available body of chronicle evidence. Many of the current debates, particularly those dealing with the true extent of her pious works as Queen of Scotland, are largely glossed over and sometimes the author seems to be caught up in the cult of personality that continues to surround Margaret.

   Wilson and Selby provide a useful starting point for those who want to know more about this elusive figure, however I would advise caution about accepting some of the myths about Margaret's family origins, birthplace and life which constitutes the proliferation of legends which are now being called into question by some notable academics.




2. Having read another reviewer's dismissive opinion of this book, I was prepared to be underwhelmed. Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised by this book, although my previous understanding was admittedly based on pamphlets and short hagiographic summaries.
   
   I do think it is hilarious that the author proposes that King Malcolm's first wife, Ingibiorg, must have been an undocumented daughter of King Malcolm's dead rival Thorfinn of Orkney (who co-ruled Scotland with MacBeth), rather than exploring the possibility that she was the widow of his rival (and, if so, much older than Malcolm). The author doesn't speculate on what could have provoked Margaret to argue for such a sweeping change to marital customs (banning levirate and other 'inheritance' marriages) - cited as one of the five great works for which she deserved to be sainted. I think waiting two years for an elderly wife to die, or worse, nursing an aged first wife after marrying Malcolm, could have provided such passion. I admit, it could have been the then-almost commonplace practice of murdering relatives to obtain property through marriage to widows, without reference to any interesting factoids about Malcolm's first marriage.
   
   Unless you are thoroughly steeped in cutting edge research into Saint Margaret's life, I think you would find this an interesting and informative book.

2 comments about Joyce: Selected Letters.

1. This book contains a suite of new letters to Joyce's wife Nora and another to his benefactress Harriet Weaver, which have been abridged or excluded from previous editions. The explicit nature of these love letters makes them unlike anything you have read before. This book delivers the full Joyce - unabridged and uncensored.



2. Unbelieveable. There is no doubting that James Joyce was one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. His contribution to modern literature is still being felt 60 years after his death. And, yet, his letters, which are as close as we will ever get to knowing what he was thinking while composing his great works, are no longer available in print?

   Thank God I purchased this book years ago! Richard Ellmann had done a tremendous job of sorting and compiling Joyce's letters in a way that shows us Joyce's thinking as he put together "Dubliners", "Exiles", "Stephen Hero", "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man", "Ulysses", and "Finnegan's Wake". While some (back when the book first came out) questioned the extremely private/sexual communications that Ellmann included, no one doubted the importance of all the other selected letters. This is a remarkable look into the mind of a great writer, and I hope some publisher will pick it up and reprint it. In the meanwhile, try to get a used copy through Amazon.

1 comments about The Double Life of Doctor Lopez: Spies, Shakespeare and the Plot to Poison Elizabeth I.

1. From its Joycean opening to its meticulous and affable investigation of the life of Lopez, this book is simply gripping. It's rare to find a writer with so obvious a love of language and such a firm grip on the Elizabethan mileau. If this era is of the slightest interest to you, this book is an essential addition to any self-respecting library.

No comments about King John: New Interpretations.

1 comments about C. S. Lewis at the Bbc: Messages of Hope in the Darkness of War.

1. As a lifelong and devoted student of Lewis -- and one who has read, re-read, written about, and lectured on Mere Christianity -- I was startled and deeply gratified to learn that the master conceived his touchstone idea, composed the masterpiece that conveys it, and perfected his popular, lean, direct apologetic style under what can only be regarded as the tutelage of the BBC. The late Justin Phillips (who died before completing his book: the manuscript was edited and brought to publication by his daughter Laura Treneer) first provides a genuinely riveting war-time context as only a lifelong BBC-man could. He then captures, with ample narrative skill and astonishingly adroit quotations from correspondence, the "Beeb's" persistence and scalpel-like judgment, as well as CSL's reservations, vexations, achievement, and finally his overwhelming success. Along the way the reader gets a concrete feel for Lewis's travel, work-habits, friendships and homelife which, though not entirely new, are utterly fresh (for example, the contributions of Jill Freud . . . ) And as a bonus we are treated to a chapter on Dorothy L. Sayers and the BBC: The corporation was sorely overmatched! From now on, Richard Baxter + CSL = Mere Christianity must become Baxter + Lewis X the BBC = Mere Christianity and a good deal of the master's pellucid style.

1 comments about Lancaster to Berlin.

1. This book was lent to me by an RAF ex-navigator who agreed with its author completely. The author was, and maybe still is, a successful attorney in Vancouver BC who flew Lancasters to Berlin in WWII. He knew the US Air Force was trying very hard with their daylight bombing raids to minimize civilian casualties while hitting legitimate military and industrial targets. His war, however, consisted of carpet-bombing German cities and he holds that against his leadership. "Bomber" Harris wanted to kill cities, and he did.