No comments about Charles, Prince of Wales: A Birthday Souvenir Album.

5 comments about Twilight of Splendor: The Court of Victoria During Her Diamond Jubilee Year.

1. king explores the rather tempetuous relationship queen victoria had with her childern and grandchildern,their relationship with each other.who just happen to be many of europe's royal houses.



2. I don't think I've ever criticized a book for too much detail, but I do need to in this case. The book is obviously very well-researched, but sometimes it absolutely overwhelms the reader with details. A tour of a circa-1897 room, for example, provides the author with an opportunity to describe nearly every item in the room, how long it had been there, when it had last been moved, and who liked which items more than the others. Sometimes it was just too *much*, and I felt I was drowning in detail. In addition, every time the author cited an amount of money circa-1897, he provided a currency exchange in dollars and pounds in 2007 figures, down to the last dollar! I think it would have been enough to say that a diamond necklace would cost $22 million today, and not necessarily have to say that it would cost $22,316,812. The obsessive detail on that was a bit overwhelming.
   
   There were also a couple places where the author had favorite terms or words he liked, and used over and over. Lace wasn't just lace - it was always "Honiton lace". A member of the public who wrote something was *always* referred to as a "wag".
   
   Overall, while it was an interesting look into the Diamond Jubilee year of Queen Victoria, there was just *too* much detail. The minutiae of the book detracted from the splendor and grandeur of her celebration.



3. just got the book on her daughter the last princess.i hope it is as good as this one was.



4. Queen Victoria is the longest reigning monarch in English history. She ascended the throne in 1837 dying on January 22, 1901. During those sixty plus years she saw the Western World transform itself from an agricultural to an industrial economy. Though she preferred candles she saw electricity come into general use. Victoria stoold 4ft 10. high.She was proclaimed as Empress of India in 1877. Victoria lent her name to an age and a vanished nineteenth century world explored in depth by historian Greg King in "Twilight of Splendor." King is most noted for his earlier work on the court of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.He focuses on her life and that of her empire in 1897 as her jubilee year on the throne was celebrated by millions of her obedient subjects.
   In this 300 page book the author examines Victoria and her family. She was raised as the daughter of the Duchess of Kent who was early widowed. She and her mother did not get along well. Victoria spoke with a German and Scotch accent. She became queen when her sailor uncle William IV died in 1837. She was plain and intelligent. Victoria came to rely on such Prime Ministers as her beloved Lord Melbourne and later Disraeli.
   She was honest and witty. She lacked a good formal education though she could read foreign languages and the occasional novel. Victoria had a fierce temper and a tart tongue. Victoria was very obese and had no fashion sense. Her tastes in art and literature were middle-brow.
   Victoria married Albert of Saxe-Cothburg. The happy couple were parents of nine children prior to Albert's death in 1861. Victoria worshipped Albert sleeping each night next to a picture of him taped to the headboard of her bed. Albert's room and possessions remained as they had left them when he died. She was buried next to him at Frogmore. The Royal Albert Hall was built in his memory. When Albert died Victoria refused to wear anything but black for the rest of her long life.
   Victoria had rocky moments with her large brood of children. She did not get along well with the Prince of Wales who lived a womanizing, dissolute playboy life. He became King in 1901. Victoria was closest to her eldest daughter Vicki who became the mother of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Several of her children married crowned heads of Europe. She was truly the grandmother of monarchy.
   In addition to telling the story of Victoria's family we learn from Greg King about the architecture of her palaces of Buckingham, Osborne on the Isle of Wight, Balmoral in Scotland and Windsor Palace. Victoria hated London living in Buckingham and prefered Windsor or her other castles. She was waited on hand and foot by hundreds of servants in a well organized royal househod. King goes into detail on what she ate along with her guests. He tells us what attendance at balls and social events was like in her day. Victoria was no snob enjoying friendships with an Indian servant and the Scottish gilly John Brown. She did not like the British aristocracy and practiced middle class morals. She enjoyed painting and wrote two books on her life in the Highlands at Balmoral. All of her life she kept a detailed diary of her life and times.
   Victoria was no intellectual but a good person who gave millions to chairty and led England with dignity and honor. When she died in 1901 over one-fourth of the world was ruled by Great Britain.
   King's book is well-researched and gives us a good insight into the private and public life of one of England's greatest rulers. He does fail to discuss the poverty of many of Victoria's subjects though he does briefly cover the conflict with the Boers in South Africa and Irish unrest.



5. One of my favorite authors on the subject of royalty continues to be Greg King. He has focused most of his work on Tsarist Russia, but now with Twilight of Splendor he has taken a look at one of the most pivotal years of Great Britain's Queen Victoria -- a monarch who set her mark on an entire century, and whose presence still lingers today.
   
   King takes one year in the Queen's life, and explores her daily life, starting first with an outline of her childhood, and marriage to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and then to some of the momentous events of the years 1896-1897, when she became Britain's longest reigning monarch, and the festivities surrounding her Diamond Jubilee year to celebrate sixty years on the throne. By this time Victoria was not just a queen, but also Empress of India, and the British Empire was indeed a land where the sun never set. Colonies and possessions sent emissaries and gifts, all building towards a grand festival in London to mark the occansion.
   
   But King goes beyond a mere listing of Queen Victoria's children and grandchildren -- he explores the rather tempetuous relationships that she had with them, especially her daughters. Neither were her sons spared the maternal disapproval either -- her eldest son Bertie, the Prince of Wales, she blamed for his father's death and his social life brought further displeasure. He in turn, took out his frustrations at not having any sort of decision-making in political roles in hard living, mostly involving smoking, chasing women and sport. Nor was Bertie the only fast living Royal -- daughter Louise was notorious for her acid tongue and mischief making, and Helena developed a near crippling addiction to opium.
   
   The most interesting section was an exploration of the various courtiers that surrounded the Queen. There was an enormous army of servants, from those who laboured in the royal kitchens, footmen who carried messages and opened doors, housemaids who swept and scrubbed and tidied, all the way up to the aristocratic men that oversaw their work. While these men would never be confidants or friends, they would form close bonds of trust with the Queen, working with her for years, until ill-health or death remove them from the office. Much more shadowy were the servants that worked more closely with the Queen, most notorious being a Scotsman by the name of John Brown, of whom it was said that the queen had actually married him, and after his death, two Indian servants who were arrogant scoundrels.
   
   The Queen's court of servants, family and attendants moved in a predictible round of seasons and holidays. Springtime and most of summer were spent at the castle complex at Windsor, autumn in the Scottish highlands at Balmoral, and winter at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. Buckingham Palace was a place that the Queen loathed to stay in, and it was only during the most formal of events that the queen would stay at the Palace for even a night. In addition, the Queen and her household would holiday on the French Riviera every two months in springtime, an activity that continued from 1890 to nearly the very end of her long life. Pilgrimages would be made to her beloved husband's tomb every year on the anniversary of his death.
   
   And sometimes, relatives would visit from the far reaches of the world to visit. One of the more momentous occansions was when one of Victoria's favorite granddaughters visited during the autumn of 1897. Alix and her siblings had been raised mostly by the Queen after the death of their mother, Alice, and Alix had been wooed and won by Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia. Now Alix was Empress, and with her husband and child went to visit as the new couple toured Europe after their coronation. Another momentous occansion that is covered is the grand costumed affair at the height of the London season at Devonshire House. Royalty and aristocracy mingled, as much to show off their wealth, and to be seen and see. Several ladies managed to arrive as the same characters from history, accompanied by much glaring. Other little snippets included the rituals of garden parties and presentations, Christmas celebrations, and finally the Diamond Jubilee itself.
   
   I have to say that this was a real eyeopener of a book. All too often authors skip over the people who kept the various castles and palaces running and livable. King also adds in plenty of gossipy details, little touches that help to make these stiff figures from formal portraits come alive as well. While King's narrative does get repetitous what with the same descriptive passages being used over and over, the story does move along crisply, with quite a bit of detail being given. There are several inserts of black and white photos and etchings as well. Along with the bibliography and footnotes, there is an appendix that list the various members of the Queen's hosuehold during the final years of her life.
   
   For anyone interested in the details of how royals lived in the nineteenth century, this is a splendid read. I discovered that the royalty of the time were imprisoned as much as they ruled from a golden, rather spendid, cage. Days were carefully measured and plotted out, and oridinary people and the journalists were just as curious about them as they are now in the twenty-first century. While the reading does get a bit dull in spots, it's still enjoyable, and there's quite a bit of humor here and there to liven things up.
   
   Recommended.

5 comments about Bloody Mary.

1. This book takes far too many liberties, and uses documents that are as biased towards mary's favor as any, most of which seem to come from Chapuys, who, although chronicled the happenings of the court well, always wrote to favor mary, and demonize Anne and Elizabeth. It seems there is a focus on the harshness of her teenage years (which were unquestionably harsh), in order to justify her malice as queen. Even then, the author tries to paint things in a light far more positive than they were. I was really looking forward to a book about mary, and was incredibly disheartened to have chosen one that seemed more historical fiction than fact. She described Mary as being an exceptional beauty as an 18 year old girl, and yet I have read nothing but the opposite. She writes for us to dislike anyone who is not splendid to mary (saying that george moved into her house like he planned to stay. Well duh, it's his new house, of course he is going to move in, it doesn't mean he was an evil individual for doing so.), and to treat mary like a perfect individual.
   
   Now, I know in a Mary Tudor Bio, there will be facts and information that may be skewed here or there, but this book was ridiculous. It will not paint an accurate portrait of the personalities, flaws, and graces of mary and the people around her.
   
   Highly recommended for Mary Tudor fans. Not so much for someone looking for cold hard facts without the stain of obvious bias.



2. For the most part I enjoyed this book very much although it is quitelong. But there is much that I learned about tha Tudors and Mary in parti-cular. The only problem I had was that Elizabeth was completely ignoredduring the last section of the book when Mary becomes Queen. Some of the most dramatic events in her life occurred between herand Elizabeth just before her death. Also I beleive that Philip had alot of input with regard to Elizabeth. None of this is brought out in thisbook. Otherwise I enjoyed it and am glad that an in depth biography isnow available of this lamentable woman



3. Many people blame Mary for burning Protestants. The Spanish Inquisition was much worse. I mean, MUCH worse than what Mary did. Religion was a matter of life and death in the 16th century. Mary was abandoned by her father in pursuit of a male child. Mary's life was in serious danger for not recognizing his acts. I believe she relied on her ministers more than was nessesary. Mary did not have the heart of a saint when Elizabeth was born. Anne Bolyen was crying out for Mary's execution when she didn't recognize Elizabeth as princess.



4. Mary Tudor was the daughter of the infamous Henry VIII and his Spanish wife Katharine of Aragon (the daughter of Ferdinand and the indomitable bellicose Isabella of Spain.)
   Mary was a Roman Catholic who succeeded to the throne following the early death of her young half-brother Edward VI
   the son of Henry and Jane Seymour.Mary was religious, smart,
   tough and infertile! She wed Phillip II of Spain arousing hatred in England against her wedlock to a Roman Catholic Spaniard. Only a year after Mary's death in 1587 the Spanish Armada sailed against England and their new queen Eliabeth I. She was Mary's
   half-sister the daughter of the bewitiching and beheaded Anne
   Boleyn.
   Mary was a good woman who lived in perilous times. During Henry's affair and wedlock to Anne Boleyn her life was in danger.
   She and her mother Katherine were exiled from court; the cynosure of several plots against Henry and the hope of Catholicism in Great Britain.
   Mary's reign was short and bloody. During her monarchy hundreds of Protestants died at the stake or were beheaded for their beliefs. Mary was incapable of producing a child and heir to the throne. Her half-sister Elizabeth and Mary had a lifelong rivalry with Elizabeth emerging as the stronger and more successful of the siblings. During Eliabethan rule religious toleration was advanced.
   Erickson is an expert on Tudor England and she writes like a
   novelist making the convoluted tale of plots, murder, executions, dynastic jousting and descriptions of 16th century
   England and European politics palatable for modern readers.
   Erickson illuminates a dark,violent, cruel and frightening time when thosands died for their beliefs in fire, dungeon and
   by sword.
   This is a well researched, well written and well illustrated book on Mary Tudor England's first real reigning queen. The book is very detailed and is long. If you stick with it to the end you wil never forget the sad tale of Mary and the sad age in which she lived and ruled.



5. I found this book extremely interesting and absorbing to the point where I did not want to put it down. I would recommend it to anyone who, like me, wanted to find out what the foundations were of Mary Tudor's policies and also what she was really like as a person. The detail is so great that one learns even what her voice sounded like. It is as though Mary were alive again and not a figure from the 16th century. As some other reviewers have noted here somewhat critically, the book spends a lot of time discussing Mary's life before her accession to the throne. To me, this is to its' credit as an understanding of the forces, personalities and occurrences in Mary's early life are ESSENTIAL to answering questions about Mary's policies and actions as queen. I enjoyed Carolly's writing style. She is able to convey the complex interweaving of people and events in Mary's time in a manner that is easy to understand and follow along. Highly recommended, as is "Great Harry" also written by Carolly which I am reading now.

2 comments about The Duff Cooper Diaries.

1. A great book for those interested in the public and private life of a key political player for HMG during the first half of the last century. Nicely edited by the diarist's son.
   
   Duff Cooper was a WW I war hero, writer, member of the House of Commons, who resigned from the British cabinet over policy related to Hitler. He was a handler for the difficult General de Gaulle during WW II, then ambassador to France. While doing all this, he greatly enjoyed pretty women (often married) and very fine living. It is fitting that he ultimately died aboard ship on a New Year's Day.
   
   An incredible role of bit players appear in these diaries: to name a few, the killer of Rasputin, Will Rogers, Cole Porter, Greta Garbo, and Evelyn Waugh.
   
   Aside from the high society social history of the time, serious readers will learn more on important events and people, such as Churchill, the rise of Hitler, the handling of Palestine, De Gaulle and early post-war France, and the seeds of what is now the European Union.



2. Duff Cooper's name is associated with two main tempestuous events.
   
   He played a remarkable role during the Egyptian crises of the early 1920s. Saad Zaghlul - prominent Egyptian Lawyer and Prime Minister - demanded at the head of Wafd Party, independence for Egypt but the British arrested him to weaken the nationalist movement.
   Britain's action sparked civil unrest degenerating to debauchery and unrestrained violence. About 1000 Egyptians were killed in one month when the British decided to deport Zaghlul to Malta.
   That was what Egyptians call the 1919 First Revolution.
   Cooper interfered with the British authorities in London and was able to convince his government to back down; Saad Zaghlul was released and returned to Egypt.
   The Wafd `Delegation' arrived in Paris and presented its case, at Versailles' Peace Conference - post WWI - for immediate independence.
   What Cooper succeeded in preserving as authentic support for Zaghlul, was ruined when the United States - the Champion of Wilson's 14 points - ended up backing Great Britain, and the British Protectorate over Egypt continued for thirty five more years.
   
   
   Cooper was adamantly against Munich agreement signed in 1938 with Adolph Hitler. He was a staunch critic of Neville Chamberlain policy of `appeasement' and played active role that led to Chamberlain's downfall. This appears quite interesting considering Cooper's great admiration of `Talleyrand' - known as widely controversial and equivocal in European history -. Chamberlain was not naïve, he was another Talleyrand but his cohorts never noticed.
   In 1943, under Winston Churchill, Cooper was appointed Britain's liaison to the Free French.
   By 1944 he became Ambassador to France.
   The city of `love and romanticism' flourished intimate relationships with wives of foreign diplomats. His wife, Lady Diana Cooper, had fostered intimate relationship with the American Ambassador in Paris. Cooper was no exception; he too had `special' relationship with the wife of `an' American diplomat and it is said they had illegitimate son.
   
   While the soldiers were fighting, the diplomats were flirting. (better not to use another word !!!!)

5 comments about Cromwell.

1. This was a concise and thoroughly researched book on Oliver Cromwell. I have only one complaint - Antonia Fraser eludes to illustrations that are not present in the book. Either a cost cutting decision or gross incompetence on behalf of the publisher, it is a major distraction. If deciding to purchase this softcover edition, keep that fact in mind.



2. Fraser's book is best at trying to place Cromwell in his time. It is pointless to upbraid her for writing a book about someone who could be an unpleasant, violent and designing character - Europe was full of even more violent generals and religous fanatics at the time
   
   By carefully following his career and the people around him she shows how he rose from mediocrity to high office AND was a brilliant general even though he started as at the age of 40
   
   I thought it was well written and a good introduction to a complex character in a complex time



3. Growing up an Irish Catholic American, I grew up hating Oliver Cromwell without really knowing why (an influence of my Irish grandmother). Fraser's biography of this brilliant and driven soldier is thoroughly researched and surprisingly sympathetic. She gives a great insight into what drove this man as well as giving a broad look at the political, cultural, and religious influences behind the brutal English Civil War. Cromwell was a brilliant general whose strategic and tactical genious beat the King's trained forces. His genius, unfortunately, did not extend to the political sphere. This is a great account of a flawed individual.



4. Most of my review will echo the discontents expressed by my fellow reviewers, but I hope I can provide an original analysis. If you are deliberating on whether to read this book, do not delve into the lengthy journey without prior knowledge of Cromwell. A more terse and concise biography is more suitable for the beginner. Antonia Fraser knows this time period intimately, and she would probably be incapable to produce a more superficial work on such a massive figure in English history. Although there is a small amount of side information and exposition about the historical events surrounding Cromwell (e.g., The English Civil War), the reader gets the feeling that the author assumes that we know much of the pertinent information already. This causes the novice reader on Cromwell to tend to find herself lost during some of the key events in his life. With some prior knowledge of the time period, this confusion could be avoided.
   
   Antonia Fraser is an erudite writer with stylistic flair, but is also painfully verbose. The sentences are often long and protracted, often with frequent use of the characteristic British punctuation, the semicolon. The result is a biography that is over a hundred pages too long. This is especially true when one considers that this biography is purely a narrative, and there is little writing that delves into the theoretical and political ideas that motivated Cromwell. This may be because Cromwell was motivated by fanatical and zealous devotion to his religion. When one is so enthralled by an unsubstantiated, uncouth dogma, there is little room to ponder questions when an inept but clear answer is to be found. Cromwell was not a theoretician, but a pragmatic man. This is interesting because most of his language and actions are littered with references to the metaphysical, however crude and obtuse those references and underlying thoughts are.
   
   Fraser paints Cromwell as an avuncular, charming man whose religious ethics seeped into his daily actions. While this may be true when applied to his personal life, it is impossible to reconcile this image with the man who sanctioned and even performed atrocities during his invasion of Ireland. The motivation for Fraser's subtle attempt at vindicating Cromwell can only be speculated on, but perhaps she is so enamored with English history that it became nature for her to fall in love with one of its heroes. Whatever the motivation, the bias is there, and needs to be acknowledged.
   
   For those that merely want to get a sense of who Cromwell was and the time period he lived in, a shorter biography will suffice. Try and pick one without the verbosity and slight sycophancy of Fraser.



5. Cromwell is perhaps the single most controversial figure in English history. Only John and Richard III have attracted as much venom as he has, and there are still people alive today who hate him -- see some of the other reviews here for at least one example. Naturally the truth is complicated, and Fraser lays out a good deal of detail in support of her case, which is that Cromwell was much maligned, and was on the whole a good and religious man trying hard to do what he thought was right.

   I had no prior belief about Cromwell, but I have to say Fraser convinced me rather of the opposite -- that he was a religious fanatic, brilliant but limited, who was neither a great ruler nor personally very admirable. Her apologies for some of his worst sins, such as the terrible events in Ireland, are outlandish.

   On the plus side, this is a thorough and detailed book, with enough information to allow a reader to make up their own mind. Fraser does at least keep the facts separate from her opinions. The book is excellent on Cromwell himself; it's pretty good on details of the Civil Wars, though it doesn't go to the level that an exclusively military history might. However, it's surprisingly weak on the overall political background. To truly understand Cromwell you need to know what came before and after. I would have liked to see more about the religious state of the country, and why it got that way, and also about the Revolution of only thirty years after his death. But in concentrating on Cromwell the man (at perhaps too great a length), Fraser has skimped on the surrounding politics.

   Overall, I'd recommend this only if you're deeply interested in knowing a lot about Cromwell's life, or if you already know the political and religious framework of the years 1640-1660. If you know both, this is a fine book (allowing for Fraser's open bias) but it's no place to start.

   One other note: the paperback edition (which is what I have) does not have any of the photographs or other plates that are apparently in the hardback -- Fraser makes occasional reference to "the plate opposite page 709" and so on, so I would bear that in mind in choosing between the two editions.

5 comments about The Diary of Samuel Pepys (Modern Library Classics).

1. Very entertaining and enlightening. Pepys gives us a glimpse of what life was like in that period before the "Glorious Revolution" in England which was so important in the developement of democracy in England and the United States. Pepys was on the wrong side of that revolution - a loyalist to King Charles II, although he was never convicted of treason. Good thing, since there seemed to be a lot of beheadings, etc. in that era. Occasionally, it is not absolutely clear what Pepys is talking about, and sometimes the vocabulary is not easily understood,as language and customs have changed, but that is to be expected.



2. When I started reading the diary, I expected it to be extremely boring and very old fashioned (seeing how it was written in the 1600's) - how wrong I was!!!
   Samuel Pepys (pronounced 'peeps') is a human, funny, moody man who has his ups and downs like the rest of us. His narrative during the plague records his concern about neighbors, and his real sorrow when people he knows succumb to it. He also records his experiences during the great fire of London in 1666 and his first mention of it strikes me as entirely human - he says that his maids wake him as they have heard of the fire and as it is not near his doorstep he simply goes back to bed as he's tired. He has arguments with his wife, and has cast a lusty eye upon the kings mistress for years! He also has, what I call 'mini affairs' where he kisses and fondles women quite regularly, (including his own maids) and seems to have no guilt about this whatsoever. Most mornings he 'drinks' his breakfast and at one point is outraged that his new wig is teeming with nits! An historical and very human read. Makes me realise that after 450 years we are all no different at all........



3. It is kind of hard to match up these reviews of the Pepys' Diary with specific volumes, probably due to the nature of ISBN numbers. However, this review is about Volume 10, the Companion to the 10 vol. set of paperbacks (complete edition) by the University of California Press. IT IS a valuable book indeed, being 1700 entries, alphabetically arranged, on the details about the people and places mentioned in the Diary. It has 626 numbered pages and genealogical tables and maps.



4. There are on the Amazon site two excellent, informative reviews of the Pepys' diaries. They say far more than my own contribution.
   I have read in and out of the Pepys' diary more than once. I did this in part because I have read many times that they are the ' best diaries' ever written. Without contending with that I found that they were not for me the most interesting. This probably shows more about my own shortcomings than it does about the work of Pepys.
   Pepys' work is filled with description of the life of the time. It is rich in perception of the great city of London in Restoration times. It is filled with personal anecdote, gossip including that relating to his prodigious sexual appetite and activity. It is a busy, businesslike work. And it tells more about a world outside than a world in.
   In the diaries I most love there is the quest of the soul to deeply understand itself and its relation to other people, and God. I find that the flurry of activity in the life of Pepys does not lead to this kind of reflectiveness. And thus for me the 'diary' is not a highly significant work personally.



5. I've long been a student and a collector of information on the personalities of Restoration England, growing out of a desire to know more about the background in literature classes. The Restoration crowd loved life, and in this volume (and presumably the next) you see how tenuous their lives were -- 5000 a week in the City of London dying of plague, two fleets of 100 ships each at war in a narrow sea, everyone so intent on feathering their nest and getting their next place, and an honest man rarest commodity of all. I love all these diaries. I've learned to ignore a lot of the textural (not text) notes that tell you if there was a blot on the page, or the symbol was not quite clear, but the footnotes are amazing and so is the information. Love Sam; he could have done pretty much as he pleased with me, I fear. But in his daily strolls of 5 miles and more I fear I could never have kept up as he went up and down the town, up and down the river. I've been to London and took the boat tour on the Thames from the houses of Parliament down to Greenwich to see the naval museum and Queen's house -- and he would walk, day or night, from London to Depworth, to Woolwich, to Greenwich (though he'd borrow the boat if he could) and pay attention to all he passed. What a companion!

   Unfortunately for my budget's sake I started buying these in 3s and am now having trouble filling up 1666-1669. I will persevere, though, and anticipate a re-read of all or part probably every summer (while TV takes a dive and there's good light to read by until long into the evening). The only thing I have wished for is more portraits of the people he is speaking of--and the portraits by Huysmans and Lely that he reports having seen fresh painted. However, financially that may not have been doable. Will have to keep searching for a companion Restoration Portraits volume to keep me happy.

   Great reading - do start from the beginning to get into the swing of things. A random paragraph doesn't put you "in the life" like the unrolling panorama does. A better map of London at your elbow (though there is one in the back of each volume) will also increase your pleasure.

5 comments about The Rothschilds (Kodansha Globe Series).

1. This book takes me back to a magical time, when sovereign finance held potentates at bay, and when bankers were literally masters of the universe. In the absence of universal taxation by governments, raising funds for war and peace is the sole, nearly impenetrable domain of the sovereign banker. To say that the historiography of finance capital, or more appropriately, 'haute banque' is much, much better than Lord of the Rings and Rowling's tomes would be an unforgivable travesty.



2. Buried in this detailed narrative are colorful and interesting phrases like "In one day, he reduced the bank's gold reserves by almost 100,000 pounds." This deals with an enraged Nathan Rothschild almost sinking the Bank of England by cashing hundreds of small notes, because the bank would not cash his notes which would be, uh checks. Ok, confused? The whole book is like this. Dramatic stories covering Mayer Rothschild from a German Jewish ghetto creating success and amazing good fortune. Sons and strong family power continue the legacy-financing princes during war, to controlling Brazil. Accounts describing Napoleon to Hitler.
   Counting houses and branches in England, Germany and throughout Europe. You want to read these stories but the script is flawed OR at the extreme height of high intellect. I think the former. I am employed in finance and banking-and I cannot follow the threads!
   And yet there are descripive, powerful passages that keep you turning the pages. The fact that the House of Rothschild is credited to Mayer having sons, as Morton starts off, is a telling statment but he buries you in all these individual accounts as decades roll by and the dynasty becomes mythic. The pictorial section is wonderful and perhaps paints a clearer picture than the text of a book, whose paperback cover claims to be a "Number One Best Seller."



3. I enjoy some of the conspiracy theories involving the Rothschilds. Of course I stop well short of anti-Semitism. Just fun coffee shop conspiracy talk give me a break. I bought this book for a buck at a used book store hoping to find a little more dirt on the famous family. There was some dirt but it is glossed over with phrases like "but he was the black sheep of the family" and "a ruthless but brilliant business maneuver" etc. etc.
   I am usually reading more challenging material so I was surprised how fast a read it was. There is important history here but it is so steeped in blatant flattery and celebrity worship that I felt a little ashamed for having read it - kind of like how one feels after watching Entertainment Tonight. Well that is an exaggeration. There has to be a better history of the Rothschild's out there but if you see this one for a dollar at a used bookstore I won't recommend against picking it up.



4. There are very few families in history that have managed to maintain a tradition of excellence over several generations -- "Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations" is the rule. The two notable exceptions to the rule are the Medici and the Rothschilds.
   
   I purchased this book thinking that the author would provide some insight into how the Rothschilds achieved their long-standing record of success. Unfortunately, Mr. Morton is merely a sycophant, apparently incapable of providing the kind of detailed analysis the question calls for. Instead, he constantly marvels at how this family of rag merchants from Jew Street in Frankfurt ended up hobnobbing with the crowned heads of Europe. That is certainly an accomplishment of sorts, but absent any kind of descriptive analysis, it is little more than fodder for People magazine. Indeed, one can argue that the recent decline in the family's fortunes is due to their emulation of European aristocracy.
   
   A far better book on the same topic is the two-volume set, "The House of Rothschild: Volume 1: Money's Prophets: 1798-1848 and The House of Rothschild: Volume 2: The World's Banker: 1849-1999. After reading Mr. Morton, it is both refreshing and illuminating.



5. This is a very well written history of the Rothschilds. I recommend it for those interested in a strong overview of the family.

5 comments about Nightingales: The Extraordinary Upbringing and Curious Life of Miss Florence Nightingale.

1. Overall, this very insightful book gives precise information on Florence Nightingale. The author gives incredible information about Nightingale and her immediate and extended family as well as friends. However, the author goes to the extreme several times presenting peripheral information that has nothing to do with Nightingale as in the case of her cousin suitor and spends pages discussing the Crimean War--none of which contributes to the "curious life" of Nightingale who was truly an extraordinary woman, especially given her time. Perhaps the author is trying to estabish certain things, but at times, the reading is tedious as one just wants the author to get on with it.



2. I was looking forward to reading this because of the good reviews I had read about it, but frankly, I couldn't get past about page 50. I will perhaps try to get into it again, but the narrative did not hold my interest and was rather dry & academic in my opinion.



3. I received the book within a few days of the order and it was in perfect condition. Excellent service!



4. What I love about Gillian Gill's biographies is the obvious extensive research of her subject. I had finished reading Gill's second biography on Mary Baker Eddy and was so impressed I knew in the Florence Nightingale biography I would find a well-researched and well-written history of a very complex woman. Gill's subjects are not always easy to understand, but through Gill's research you gain at least a clearer idea of the woman behind the "Lady with the Lamp". A wonderful biography worth reading. I especially enjoyed learning more about Nightingale's family and how important they were in creating Florence Nightingale.



5. I found this read a bit on the dry side and at times almost pedantic. I am glad I read it, but it didn't really keep my attention as I had hoped.

5 comments about The Man Who Made Lists.

1. Couldn't put the book down. Peter Roget's life was fascinating, there were many historical facts intertwined that made the book an even more interesting read.



2. I picked this one out because I loved The Professor and the Madman and thought the story of thesaurus-making might be similarly interesting.
   
   It's not.
   
   In fact, I bailed about 1/3 of the way through. The Man Who Made Lists turns out to be a fairly average biography with lots of amateur psychology and tales of young Roget's early life. His family was prone to depression and madness, his mother was clingy and lived her life through him (Behind every great man is a needy mother?) and etc. Pretty much the usual stuff, and not terribly well told. Oh, the prose is good enough, at least I didn't notice any glaring errors, but the author utterly failed to make me care at all about Roget or his list making.
   
   Pity.



3. Interesting book abut the Peter Roget, the creator of the ubiquitous Thesaurus, but it is a dry read, jumps around. At times the book feels as if it were written by the Peter Roget it describes: emotionally absent the author simply narrates events in Roget's life.
   
   In the hands of a more skilled writer like Eric Larson this would have been a most excellent book. Like other reviewers have said, finishing it was a struggle, which I did out of interest purely in the subject matter.



4. [review of first hardcover edition]
   A good utilitarian biography about a figure in history whose contributions are little thought about today. Roget, who created the Thesaurus at a time when there was nothing close to it and the need was great, also invented the modern slide rule led major scientific societies, and contributed to the natural sciences. A good handling of an unusual man, and well worth the time to learn about the man. My only real complaint is that Kendall seems to apply a 21st century sense of judgement on Roget's relationships (and difficulties therein). This sense may be somewhat due to the lack of cited evidence when such opinions are interjected.
   
   Still, a recommended read for a word maven, list keeper, organizer, or just to fill in a hole in one's knowledge of the movers and shakers of the early days of what became modern science.



5. A good utilitarian biography about a figure in history whose contributions are little thought about today. Roget, who created the Thesaurus at a time when there was nothing close to it and the need was great, also invented the modern slide rule led major scientific societies, and contributed to the natural sciences. A good handling of an unusual man, and well worth the time to learn about the man. My only real complaint is that Kendall seems to apply a 21st century sense of judgement on Roget's relationships (and difficulties therein). This sense may be somewhat due to the lack of cited evidence when such opinions are interjected.
   
   Still, a recommended read for a word maven, list keeper, organizer, or just to fill in a hole in one's knowledge of the movers and shakers of the early days of what became modern science.

5 comments about Anna and the King of Siam.

1. I really liked this book because it was really exciting. I also liked how it taught you about different traditions and religious beliefs. I have never read another book that took place in Siam, so that was really interesting. I liked how when after someone said something in the language that people in Siam speak, they would also print in English what they were saying. Anna the main character's, bravery and courage was great. I admire how she could stand up to a king without being scared.
   
   The story is about a widowed school teacher from England who travels to Siam to teach the king's son and Prince Chuklalonkorn along with his many brothers and sisters. The king's many children are eager to start their lessons, as is Anna, but little did they know that they would become more like friends than like a school teacher and her young pupils. In the beginning Anna and the king are always bickering and disagreeing with each other, but they too, soon become friends.
   
   I think that anyone who is interested in adventure should read this book. This book is for someone who loves to learn new things such as languages, religions and or monks because one of the Ladies in the palace is in love with a monk named Balat. The king also travels to different places for business and sometimes has dinner parties that involve people from different places. If I could be in Anna's place that would be great.
   I think that is a great adventure!



2. "Anna and the King of Siam" is really a great book. Even though a lot of this story is fictional and based on some facts, its still fascinating. The book is very in depth, with a lot of detail. The story does become dull at times, particulary after Tuptim's death, but the book still picks up again. It was interesting to see how many more characters there are, their weren't used in all the movies of this story.

   This book is definetly a great book for anyone interested in finding out more of the story of Anna and the King.




3. I can only adequately describe this book as dull and downright boring. Historically it needs to be taken with a grain of salt, although I accept that some of it is pertinent. As Jodie Foster's character in the recent remake of this saga posits, "England's ways are the ways of the world." Landon, with fervent missionary bent in hand, shouldn't have stayed in Thailand for so long given her contempt for their way of life.

   Ultimately the books so called historical authenticity is the very thing you question. The idea of underground torture chambers or cellars, granted that Bangkok is at best marshy swamp and 6m above sea level, is ludicrous. And we are talking about the area of ratanakosin, one of Bangkok's lowest points vis-a-via the water. Also, did Landon not bother to look at Siamese history prior to her arrival and reposit the politics of the harem against contemporary Siamese history? Was she so blind to the success of Mongkut, and certainly Chulalongkorn, not to question the integrity of what Leonowens (a reinvented woman, if ever there was one) was writing?

   The book just drags on about the role of women (a worthy issue nontheless) and the perfidous Siamese. It doesn't offer any insights into why the Siamese are this way, supposedly, and it smacks of neurotic Christo-centric 19th century morality, which bugs the hell out of most people. I can only reiterate that its ugly moralism and at times, often poor narrative, kill what could have otherwise been an interesting read.

   Save your money and don't get the latest cinematic representation regardless of how well dressed up it might seem.




4. "How old shall you be?"
   "I am 150 years old, your Majesty."
   "In what year shall you be borned?"
   "Seventeen hundred and twelve, your Majesty."
   "How many years should you be married?"
   "Several, your Majesty."
   Pause.
   "How many grandchildren shall you have by now? How many? How many? How many? Ha! You do not answer that so quick. I make better questions than you answers, hmm?" (pages 58-59)
   
   This is Mrs. Anna Leonowens (an English governess's) first introduction to the eccentric 59-year-old King of Siam, King Mongkut, in the 1860s. Margaret Landon's `Anna and the King of Siam' is an intriguing, historical tale based on ancient, Siamese records and the secret diaries, letters, and conversations of Anna in Bangkok that reads like fiction but is amazingly genuine [some parts]. Anna, along with her six-year-old-son Louis, embark on an erratic odyssey through a foreign land of a cryptic culture that will, in a few months, become traditional to them. Yet there are some seemingly barbaric issues to be cleared up. Among them are slavery, the King's concubines in the harem, and the unjust treatment of several subjects. While Anna may have altercations with the King, she comes to revere his intellectual methods of attempting to create Siam a scientific nation in modern times but expresses severe criticism on needless occasions. As a governess, her duties are to instruct the royal children (of which there are more than 67; however, only the eldest participate) and aid the King in composing extraordinary letters to renowned world leaders, such as Abraham Lincoln and Queen Victoria. Prince Chulalongkorn, Anna's most prominent and smartest pupil, is heir to the throne on account of being the eldest; she attempts to steer him onto the positive path of ruling the country justly. Also bestowing color to Anna's experiences, including misadventures, other than irrelevant talks with the King on that of Moses and ethics is a cast of supporting characters: Tuptim (the slave), Lady Thiang (the King's head wife), Lady Son Klin, and countless others. Across Anna's remembrances, a message is conveyed: despite one's differences they must master the skill of understanding the outsiders and point them to salvation, excluding falsehood by supplanting it with truthfulness. 'Anna and the King of Siam' is a fascinating web of Siam's (now Thailand's) superb past filled with rich descriptions for a journey neither the reader or Anna will let sink into oblivion even until the breaking end. --P.J. Persad



5. The history of Anna and the King of Siam is as romantic as the story itself. Author Margaret Landon found what may have been the only copy of Anna' book, The English Governess at the Siamese court while she was a missionary in Thailand. Later, she located the Romance of the Harem in a second-hand bookstore in Chicago. She paid a $1 for the book, which turned out to be a fine investment. Landon combined the two books and added fictional elements to create a skillfully written novel.

   The exotic setting and romantic story so impressed the wives of both Rogers and Hammerstein that they convinced their husbands to write a musical based on the book. And thus we get the musical The King and I, plus several movies, most recently one with Jodie Foster.

   Landon wrote other novels (Never Dies the Dream) based on her missionary experience but never achieved the same greatness as in Anna and the King of Siam. This is a well structured novel, with a lot of drama. The death scene of the Fa-ying is incredibly touching. Anna is believable; sometimes annoyingly persistent, other times selfless and very very brave.

   The actual writins of Anna Leonowens are also available. It's fun to read Landon's book and then the source material she used. You may agree with me that Landon's skill as a novelist took Anna's story and made it unforgettable.