No comments about The Greatness of Louis Xiv, (College).

No comments about Henry I: King of England and Duke of Normandy.

No comments about Henry VIII and the English Monasteries: An attempt to illustrate the history of their suppression. Volume 2.

No comments about Henry VIII (Very Interesting People).

4 comments about Iron Jaw: A Skipper Tells His Story, Charles N. Bamforth 1895-1975.

1. An enjoyable and informative book. The narrative gives insight into the many aspects of being a sea captain far beyond the mere steering of a ship.



2. As the Skipper's granddaughter, I dutifully picked up this book... and then found myself turning pages late into the night!

   Throughout the book, Captain Bamforth's voice comes through as authentically human and intensely engaged in the world around him, revealing an honest naivete, an unflappable work ethic, a remarkable sense of satisfaction in the rich details of his travels, and the challenges that his chosen life at sea imposed on his family and home life.

   Some have said that my grandfather's stories are the stuff of legend. Keeping his crew alive for six days after his ship was torpedoed in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean certainly falls in that category. At the same time, I think what's fascinating is the day-to-day perseverance of a very ordinary man, grappling with and embracing his understanding of right and wrong, of loyalty and betrayal, of life and peril in the 20th century. It is this testament of a hard-working man that, through its sincerity, becomes extraordinary and perhaps legendary.




3. I wish everyone would get their own copy. I gave up waiting for those who borrowed mine to part with it so I bought a second copy that I will NOT loan out. It is a must for my library of favorites.

   Suzanne Seller




4. "Iron Jay" is classic American stuff; a great reading experience and absolutely absorbing from a social/historical perspective. Truly a working man's autobiography, the story sustains a tension that makes it intriguingly essential reading. Captain Bamforth's spirit is extraordinary -- chaotic and poetically tender in one quick flash. At one point you're in love with the man, idealist and poet; the next moment he looms up at you in patriarchal horror.

1 comments about Lost Voices of the Edwardians.

1. This is a rather interesting look at Edwardian England. The author specializes in reviewing archives on particular topics and then compiling selected extracts of these recollections under general headings. I had never quite before seen this technique, and it allows the reader to hear directly from those who lived the experiences under discussion. In this book, the topics include Childhood, Work, Home, Daily Life, Travel, Politics and Military to name some examples. One is struck repeatedly by the extreme poverty that is manifested in these recollections--particularly of children who struggled to get enough to eat or to find a pair of shoes. This was clearly a difficult period for those on the bottom on the totem pole. The book contains a number of contemporary photos which, when added to the written recollections, affords the reader a pretty effective insight into what was going on. However, this approach does have some problems. For example, a disproportionate percentage of the recollections are from lower and working class individuals--and the same individuals' comments appear under a number of topics (each comment identifies the individual making it). So, one wonders how representative these views are of Edwardians generally, or whether they are skewed due to (for some reason) the archives containing more comments from these folks than others more fortunate than they. Nonetheless, a valuable contemporary document of Edwardian England that adds to our understanding and often tugs at the reader's heartstrings.

No comments about Memoirs of the Reign of King George III: The Yale Edition of Horace Walpole`s Memoirs (4 Volumes) (The Yale Edition of Horace Walpole`s Cor).

3 comments about Royal Subjects.

1. Based on the annotated information in the journals he's kept for years, Theo Aronsono has written a light and interesting book on the English Royals. As he's interviewed many of them for his other books, this is a chronoligical walk through his memories (from 1979 to the present). It's fascinating. I ordered this book after I heard an interview with him on the radio. It arrived yesterday, and I read it in its entirety last night. If you're interested in the Windsors, this is a slice of life from a man who doesn't pull any punches. And yet he still remains a gentleman. I really enjoyed it.



2. Theo Aronson is a well known biographer of European royalty past and present. Royal Subjects is a description in diary form of twenty years or so of contacts with British Royals both well known (The Queen Mother, Prince Charles) and almost unknown (Colonel Sir Henry and the Lady May Abel Smith). Aronson clearly enjoyed meeting these people and likes most of them quite a bit, but he is not blind to their character flaws and is on the whole refreshingly unidolatrous. (Not to say he isn't loyal, as he obviously has little truck with republican sentiment)

   Royal Subjects will appeal to you even if you are not a royal aficionado because Aronson very humorously describes the day to day sillinesses he puts up, from inane phone calls and letters to being interviewed by people who have obviously not read his books. Most appealingly of all, Aronson never takes himself or his subjects too seriously, even when he has to deal with prostate cancer. He has had a full life which he has enjoyed immensely, and you will enjoy this glimpse of part of it, too.




3. After hearing Theo Aronson talk about the pending publication of his latest book on a radio show, I hastened to order it. It sounded like it would be a lively insider's account of less-known incidents and anecdotes about the British Royal Family. Instead it turned out to be a thinly-disguised autobiography of Mr. Aronson with very few interesting stories and some very hissy jabs at the Windsor family. Perhaps his other biographies may be more interesting, but this one was very disappointing.

5 comments about The Wicked Queen: The Origins of the Myth of Marie-Antoinette.

1. This book was a disappointment. I ...was very interested. I am a 'fan' of Marie Antoinette and have been fascinated with her life since reading Castelot's biography of her.

   This book however, though it has some interesting pamphlets of historical interest, is more like a scrapbook. The writing is poor and has no direction. The pamphlets reproduced in the book are mostly pornographic lyrics and droll poetry of the Queen. The worst of which is Marie Antoinette riding an erected penis as if it were an ostrich.

   If you want to learn about the Queen, her children, or the French Revolution, this is not the book to find it in. If you are very familiar with the Queen's life, this may offer you a little insight as to the people's attitude at the time, but that's it. I read it once, and it has been on the shelf since.

   For a truly amazing book about Marie Antoinette, I suggest 'The Fatal Friendship'.




2. The author should study her history and get the facts!
   This book was a joke. I was rather furious and more than disappointed. Marie Antoinette's name was drug through the mud over 200 years ago based on hearsay and false accusations.

   Isn't it time she is given the credit due her by now?
   Read your facts author!




3. Unfortunately publishers feel that a book on Marie Antoinette will sell every couple years, so like clockwork we see an avalanche of pro royalist, sympathetic, out of context garbage. Most of them repeat the same legends...They base their accounts of the flight to Varennes on Carlyle and talk about her martydom...With the exception of Le Notre not one of her biographers has also done a biography of one of the leaders of the Revolution. Most demonstrate an alarming lack of understanding of basic events such as the the Bread March on Verseilles, September Massacres, the Necklace Affair or even how official Court appointment were made.

   This is the first book in sometime that has put Marie Antoinette back into the context of her time...unfortunately for Royalist Mythology she was commonly referred to as the Austrian .... By her actions she precipitated the Revolution...she was provocative and weak...a flammable combination.

   As for the reader who's sensibilities are offended by the "riding the penis" cartoon...you obviously haven't seen the several thousand cartoons of time that are available...the one you refer to IS tame...you should see the ones where she is dressed like a nun....You should also read the pamphlets sold at the Palais Royale...

   While Hebert did indeed make things up in her indictment, it is hard to get around the fact that she has to shoulder a lot of responsibility for the revolution...

   I recommend this book as one of the best books on Marie Antoinette in last 20 years...it has also prompted me to seek out the author.

   I think the book is well researched, devoid of sentimentality and attempts to place Marie Antoinette back into the context of the tapestry of her times.

   Michael La Vean
   Fellow, International Napoleonic Society




4. I regret I did not read these reviews before I bought this book.
   The digressions were very distracting. I was greatly offended by the
   vulgar language of the phamplets. I had to throw the book out to prevent any one else being offended. At the time I bought this book I bought another that was more informative.



5. I read and reread this and I never could make myself like it. It's pretty bad. But for those not wanting to know that much about the human Antoinette and more interested in her in the metaphysical sense, this is the book for you. It's crap to me right now. But who knows....I might find gold in it a decade down the road. Maybe there's insight I've yet to understand. Hence, I'm not placing it in a garage sale...for now.

1 comments about The Murder of Charles the Good (Records of Western Civilization Series).

1. The events of 1127 surrounding the murder of count Charles the Good of Flanders, provided an opportunity for the forceful assertion of independence by Flemish cities. The author, Galbert of Bruges, provides a vivid event-by-event first hand account as history is unfolding. He chronicles the crisis that directly caused the murder of Charles the Good. An event that was caused in part by the Count's attempt to reduce the powerful Erembald clan to their legal place as serfs along with the interference of the Barons, who initially support the Erembald clan but seized the advantageous position as the instrument of revenge for the Count's murder in order to seize his wealth. They besieged the supporters of the Erembald clan, camped out in Bruges, only with the permission of the Burghers of the city and the entire region whom in the power vacuum that ensued, forcefully asserted their independence and economic interests.
   
   The translator's introduction and notations are immensely revealing and insightful. She (James Bruce in this case is a woman's name) explains the rise of the commercial agglomerations of burghers and their vital need for peace in order to prosper in trade. This lead to the Church's peace and eventually the count's circumvention the Church and proclamation of a Count's peace since he also reaped the benefits of the growing trade in the form of tolls and taxes. The rebellion and murder that ensued is a result of the dislike by the traditional powers, the barons and others and powerful peasant families of the Count's use of 'new-men' in his circle of advisors.
   
   She also elaborates extensively on the key medieval concept of the importance of the oath that helped to maintain the social order. The burgher's assertion of semi-independence introduces a new participant in the exchange of oaths. The burghers gain such power that they draft charters and elect their own counts and, defy the king of France who wanted a share of the ex-count's wealth as well.
   
   This rise of Communes is not just a feature of Flemish society but also occurs in northern France as recorded by the equally interesting and revealing account of Guibert of Nogent (published under the Title - Self and Society in Medieval France). But, Guibert's account of the Rise of the Commune of Laon is nowhere as precise and historical as Galbert's. Not much is known about the author except that he was a notary in Bruges. His bias is very minimally apparent since he does sympathize with and call himself a member of the Burghers of Bruges.
   
   The translation is impeccable, the introduction is immense and revealing, and the footnotes are extremely extensive (sometimes over the top). Galbert of Bruges', The Murder of Charles the Good, is a riveting first-hand account that is fun to read and of great historical importance.