No comments about Fighting Techniques of the Napoleonic Age 1792 - 1815: Equipment, Combat Skills, and Tactics.

3 comments about Vienna 1814: How the Conquerors of Napoleon Made Love, War, and Peace at the Congress of Vienna.

1. Author David King has written a new book about a subject often dismissed as little more than the antecedent to Napoleon's 100 days campaign. Most books written on this topic were written years ago and with a predictable bent. Mr. King's book is both an objective and easily readable book on this subject. He writes in modern English and intersperses interesting historical anecdotes with the nuts-and- bolts diplomatic maneuvers of the nations through their diplomatic representatives.
   
   On the 200th anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar, it was disappointing to find a number of the books written on that subject merely used material readily available from secondary sources. So, with regard to historical accuracy, I was impressed with Mr. King's diligence shown through the use of original source materials.
   
   Mr. King travelled throughout Europe, and actually spoke with the librarians and archivists in the nations which participated in the Congress. His list of notes and sources is nearly 100 pages in length. This produces a picture of the Congress which is developed not just from the official records and notes of the participants, but from the equally important inhabitants of the salons and the shadows. Mr. King makes copious use of the surreptitious communication between the Duchess Sagan and Prince Metternich (discovered in 1949) and the notes of one of Metternich's assistants. Most notable however, are previously unpublished accounts of the police spy network set up by the Austrian Emperor Francis.
   
   All of this information could make a narrative of the Congress over-laden with minutiae and prone to drone on and on with endless details of interest only to those wishing to serve in the diplomatic corps. Here, Mr. King diverges from the common narrative and interjects humor and contemporary observations that lighten the mood and facilitate the absorption of the salient facts. It is not often one can laugh out loud while reading about the Congress of Vienna, but Mr. King described the personal dressing regime of Talleyrand in a manner that was truly hilarious. He related descriptions of the participants and their personal idiosyncrasies (Metternich confused "haughtiness for dignity"), and he provides some insights that really add to the already established portraits of the participants. Nonetheless, this is a serious work. He is exacting in his detail and uses established historical facts to refute some popularly held assumptions.
   
   Many authors have overlooked the rank duplicity and avarice of the participants of the Congress. Historians are too often eager to heap praise on the first world body to gather in the name of peace; to give credit for the intent. Mr. King does not let the Congress participants off so easily. He allows the reader to form the impression that the aims of members of the Congress were no different than those of the Emperor. They divided up the continent as they saw fit. Instead of the use of armies, they "negotiated" but were never reticent about the threat of military force (i.e. Saxony and Poland). Europe was back to the ways of the Aristocrats; dividing peasant populations for the maximum benefit of the sovereigns.
   
   At about 350 pages the book is an enjoyable read and provides satisfying detail in its vivid portrait of the days and nights of the Congress of Vienna. The members of which, danced, ate, and made love, but never actually managed to officially convene.



2. I knew I was in trouble when I began to count (while wincing) the number of cliches in the first few pages. In King's Bert-and-Ernie prose, carriages "rumble", dangers "lurked", highwaymen are "cutthroat" and things of the rococo style (we're in 1814 after all) are "ornate". And to groan out loud, the armies of Europe----ready ?----"march" across the land. Those howlers that creative writing teachers warned their students against never relent in this relentlessly amateurish history of the 1814 Congress of Vienna.
   
   When students of history have nothing revelatory for the record, at least they can tell their story in a refreshing way that makes good use of those who've researched, written and published before them. Claire Tomalin's wonderful biography of Hardy comes to mind, a worthwhile read even if you had read any of the previous books about Hardy's life. Her fresh perspective, and considerable gifts in telling it, are why it was so well received among both general readers and Hardy scholars. This book on the 1814 Congress has neither nothing new to tell (King basically selects chunks from Hilde Spiel's book from 1968), nor an interesting interpretation of the events. Although the author would have you believe that the sexual antics of the movers & shakers were as important as any official legislation that the heads of states agreed upon.
   
   The publisher of this book by David King, Harmony/Random House, is attempting to push the book as almost a "sex lives of the (then) rich & famous". If you are OK with that, you're still going to have to wade through all those cliches. I have no idea why the publisher didn't intervene with even a little bit of editing. The writing is so awkward I kept shaking my head in disbelief.
   
   For anyone wanting to read about this interesting event in world history, you might want to start with Hilde Spiel's Congress of Vienna, and take a close look at it's bibliography and the notes about the sources, which are equally fascinating. Most bibliographies are simply lists, of course. But the accompanying notes about why some sources were considered more reliable than others were as enlightening as the book itself.



3. I have never written a review before, but felt compelled to do it this time. This is partly because I want to let everyone know how much I really enjoyed this book, and partly becuase I wanted to refute the previous review which I feel wasn't only insulting but also plain wrong. First of all, if the reviewer knew anything about early 19th century travel, he wouldn't be surprised to see dangers and highwaymen on the roads. He was even surprised to find rococo in 1814!? Well, he doesn't realize that styles sometimes flourish after their heyday, and everything doesn't fit into nice little brackets.
   
   King's new book on the Congress of Vienna is outstanding. The author not only writes well, but he uses many sources not found in other histories - diplomats, minor powers, assistants, socialites, an unpublished memoir from one of Metternich's assistant's. Even Jacob Grimm, who is absent from all other accounts on the subject, shows up here.
   
   By the way, the Hilde Spiel book that is mentioned in the other review isn't actually a history, but a collection of short excerpts from various well-known memoirs. I have the book myself. Spiel's notes and bibliography are 7 pages; King's are over 90, full of works in many foreign languages, at least six that I counted.
   
   In short, Vienna 1814 is a well-researched, excellent read and I can highly recommend it.

5 comments about Black Powder War (Temeraire, Book 3).

1. So far all of this series has been excellent and I cannot wait to read the next one.



2. I read this on a trip to Orlando and was only torn from it by the theme parks, but any time sitting was spent reading it. It pulled through and added the excitement that book 2 lacked. can't wait to read the 4th, and I hope Naomi continues the series.



3. 
   The third in the "Temeraire" series gives Captain Lawrence and Temeraire an uncertain new mission. In order to accomplish this they must travel from the orient into the deadly territories further west, into the depths of the European continent. Novik continues her alternate history thread to great effect, pulling the characters into darker waters with a guide they don't entirely trust.
   
   As with the previous instalments, the writing is beautifully fluid and expertly constructed. Whatever niggles her narrative had at the start of her career have now been entirely ironed out, leaving the narrative and dialogue very smooth and easy to digest. This novel is not quite as fast-paced as the first two, and the excitement of the title and blurb is a little misleading. This is a much more sedate story but with fine character development and cleverly placed action sequences to keep the story going. Wonderfully paced, but not action-packed - still well worth a read if you enjoyed the earlier books.



4. After making a better success of their previous adventure Throne of Jade than they had any right to expect and having survived a mysterious shipboard fire that has crippled their transport (saved from total destruction only by Temeraire's clever invention of the dragon bucket brigade), he and Laurence are surprised by mysterious and urgent orders to proceed to Istanbul (arguably a mistake because the British should still be calling it Constantinople at this time) "without the loss of a Moment" to pick up 3 dragon eggs, purchased from the Ottoman Empire and return them to England.
   
   With months of repairs required to restore HMS Allegiance to action and an even longer potential sea voyage from having to sail all the way around India and Africa, Laurence decides to go overland, mostly along the old Silk Road. With a chip-on-the-shoulder guide of questionable trustworthiness and a tagalong band of feral dragons enticed by Temeraire's tales of food aplenty, Laurence, Temeraire, and crew fight starvation, thirst, avalanche, and other assorted foes on the high road to Istanbul, hurried on by the disturbing news that their mortal enemy from the previous adventure, the albino Celestial Lien, is preceding them on their way.
   
   Arrival in Instanbul provides no relief as their contact is dead, the payment is missing, the deal is off, and they gradually realize that they are being held prisoner. Desperate measures allow them to leap from this frying pan right into the fire of the Franco-Prussian Campaign of 1806.
   
   Ms. Novik has provided another exciting entry in this increasingly interesting series; compared to these cascading crises, the outward journey seems a cakewalk! Temeraire continues to display the genius that makes Celestials royal advisors back in China; he'll be Lien's equal yet, just wait and see. Two new dragon characters, Arkady the wily feral leader and Izkierka the ferocious hatchling, and the deliberately infuriating mixed-heritage Tharkay make for a lot of fun and no little trouble. I particularly enjoyed the draconic explanation for the success of the French offensive (I'm embarrassed to admit that it reads more plausibly than the historical truth!) and the high tragedy and low comedy of the interruption of their retreat by a dragon hatching! The only nit I care to pick is to ask just what the Hell is the title Black Powder War supposed to mean? Titles don't seem to be Ms. Novik's strong suit as she admits that the cliched but IMHO still the best His Majesty's Dragon was imposed upon her.
   
   I excitedly look forward to reading the rest:
   Empire of Ivory and Victory of Eagles.



5. I mostly liked the first book in the series, it was a unique setting for a Fantasy novel, and had some very likeable characters. The second book didn't have many of the characters I liked as Lawrence and Temeraire were stuck on a slow boat to China for most of the book and they left the others behind. It took a long time to get to the crux of the tale, which disappointed me somewhat, but I lived in hope it would get better. It did, but only at the last minute, and not in an especially satisfying way.
   
   And so we get to book 3, and I have to say I didn't like this one at all. It was even slower than book 2, they wandered through the wilderness with a bunch of additional characters I didn't care one whit about. There are so many people on the Dragon crew I can't keep track of any of them - they're sometimes referred to by their last name, sometimes their first name, so I often got confused as to who each one was. This was particularly bad when one of them ended up in trouble, or dead, because I honestly didn't care about them anymore.
   
   The plot, such as it was, didn't really have any strong thread through it more than "Let's get back home; why are you delaying me from getting home; I don't trust you, you shady character you; I am so very very angry at anything that is not strict 17th Century protocol; Oh, there's a war going on too, you nasty Napoleon!". Which isn't a plot so much as a series of unrelated incidents.
   
   So I found it considerably less than satisfying, and really rather a mess. I won't be reading any more books in this series.

5 comments about Hornblower : Beat to Quarters.

1. This book (often collected with "Ship of the Line" and "Beat to Quarters" as "Captain Horatio Hornblower" is the best "boy's" adventure book ever, the gold standard by which all others are measured. It inspired, among others, O'Brien's Aubrey, Cornwell's Sharpe, Kent's Bolitho, and Weber's Harrington. It works perfectly as a sea story and romance, as the middle class Hornblower, Captain of the Lydia, meets and falls in love with Lady Barbara, the sister to the Duke of Wellington. Along the way he battles enemies of superior force, overcoming them as well as his own inferiority complex. Historical detail is superb and this book, as well as the series as a whole, is a superb introduction to the Napoleonic period, particularly class society in Britain. Forester passed away before he could write to Trafalgar, but Hornblower and the Atropos has a lovely description of Lord Nelson's funeral that I remember vividly 39 years later and used as a guide on a recent trip to London last month.



2. C. S. Forester, Beat to Quarters.
   Patrick O'Brian, Master and Commander
   I've begun reading C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower novels for the fourth or fifth time and I'm enjoying them almost as much as the first time through. Last year, I read about half of Patrick O'Brian's stunning Aubrey-Maturin sea novels for a second time: they didn't lose a thing in the rereading, they're so good. Both authors knew their subject matter thoroughly -naval battle in the age of sail, the sea campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars. Both succeeded admirably in conveying the nature and feel of life at sea in crowded, sometimes ungainly, often elegant wooden sailing vessels that in the heat of battle often became floating coffins for the men who inhabited them. Self-doubting Hornblower and his loyal lieutenant Bush, ebullient Jack Aubrey and his surgeon-spy friend Stephen Maturin are men we easily come to admire, full-fleshed characters. The love stories which form a second melody in many of the books in both series are engrossing; you root for the course of true love, for Hornblower's indomitable Lady Barbara and Jack's virginal and stubbornly maternal Sophie.
   
   There are differences. O'Brian is the more consistently superior writer and you laugh more when you read his books. Forester has the annoying habit of telling the reader about changes (largely naval practices) that occur later than the events described rather than, as does O'Brian, simply letting the details of the narration build up a sense of past times in the reader's mind. But Foresterr doesn't indulge himself often and it's a very minor irritation in a splendid narrative that spreads across how eleven novels.
   
   The ambition of these writers is abashing. How did they keep narrative focus through eleven (in Forester's case) and eighteen (O'Brian's) books? How did they succeed -and succeed they truly did--in creating real characters who mature from book to book and communicate their humanity as well as their heroism to readers of a time two hundred years later? These are exceptional books.



3. I don't get it... why is this book so highly rated?
   
   There must be a lot of nostalgic old folks who read these as kids... Or in light of having read the entire series, have decided to have an unusual opinion in order to sound erudite in matters of Hornblower. Or they could know something which I don't; however, let me respectfully submit that Beat to Quarters is pretty mediocre as action/adventure/historical fiction novels of the 1930's go. The characters seem contrived, the archvillian hopelessly cliche, and the storytelling is painfully explicit. Not to say that I didn't enjoy it, because I did -- the pacing is good, and as forced as it may seem, Forester is trying to create interesting, complex characters, which pays off in the later novels. The writing improves tremendously too, so keep with them if you can.
   
   Righto, the summary. Horatio Hornblower is captain of the frigate Lydia, the sole English ship wandering about the Pacific. Horatio is marked by his reserve and and critical powers which he applies as vigorously to himself as that which surrounds him, but despite all this, he is garrulous, and therefore has a habit of saying "Ha... H'm" in conversation to avoid speaking too much. Lieutenant Bush is loyal, but, as we are told, unimaginative, so it's up to Horatio to come of with all the brilliant plans. He has been sent on a mission to aid in an uprising against the Spanish in Central America, but, as the delegate of a morally disinterested third party, he finds that alliances can be slippery things... There's a bit of romance mixed in with all the sea battles, but since Horatio never quite gets clear of trouble, there's not a dull moment throughout the entire 250 odd pages... That's probably all I can say without giving away the rest of the story -- I recommend Beat to Quarters for anyone who wants a light read and is a fan of seafaring stories of the Napoleonic era.
   
   We have to compare O'Brien and Forester, right? From what I've read of both of them, O'Brien is the better writer, but Forester is a lot more readable. Hornblower doesn't feel as historic, which is partly because Forester didn't do his research quite as throughouly, but also because O'Brien succeeds in creating characters which feel genuinely "foreign". Jack and Stephen are not men of our time to be sure, but this also makes them a lot more difficult to relate to.
   
   Well, there's my two cents. :)



4. The entire series of the Hornblower books are a must read. Forester was able to tell stories that had no boring sections, unlike Master and Commander, a book written of the same period and about the same types of life. This was Forester's first book of the series, but I think it is best to start with the first of the eleven books, all paper back and all done by the same publisher with the same type of cover illustrations. I read the entire series many years ago and found a fair number of inconsistencies based largely on the fact things happened in the books covering Horblower's earlier life that were not considered when Forester started the series. Some still remain, such as Hornblower's ability to speak French. As a younger officer he spoke it well. Later, he knows only a few words. Still, the books are so excellent it is best to overlook the inconsistencies.



5. Although Midshipman Hornblower describes the beginning of Horatio Hornblower's naval career, Beat to Quarters was the first Hornblower book that Forester wrote. As a result, it stands well on its own, and doesn't require any background provided by the other books in the series. It is also a much better book than Midshipman Hornblower. For want of a better comparison, Midshipman Hornblower introduces and describes the character, whereas Beat to Quarters truly develops the character.
   
   Additionally, Beat to Quarters is simply a compelling read. Hornblower begins by sailing his ship to the Pacific coast of Central America, where he is to foment a rebellion against Spain. His mission is complicated by the rapidly changing diplomatic situation in Europe, which causes many plot twists. We are also introduced to an interesting lady, whose presence threatens to complicate Horatio's own domestic tranquility. Throughout, Horatio Hornblower is an intriguing character, and this book is worth reading.

5 comments about War and Peace (Penguin Classics, Deluxe Edition).

1. A new translation by Anthony Briggs, introduction by Orlando Figes. I chose this translation based on the strength of the Penguin Classics imprint, the readable size of the print, and the back-cover blurps promising a new and accessible translation. Overall, the translation read very well, although I agree with two negative comments I read on internet blogs about the translation:
   
   1). The decision to give some of the soldiers and peasants stock "Cockney" accents with dropped initial "h" sounds. While I think the translator was trying to impart a feeling of lower-class camaraderie in this decision, it just sounds too anachronistic. Did Russian peasants in 1812 really talk like that?
   
   2). One character speaks with a lisp that turns Rs into Ws (think Elmer Fudd). Hunh? This decision, again, draws attention to the translation and away from the character. (the internet blogs indicate that in the original Tolstoy identifies the character as having an unspecified speech defect, and Briggs felt this best fit Tolstoy's intent. Elmer Fudd? That I doubt).
   
   On to the book itself. Even in the paperback edition this is a concrete block of a book, 1400 pages (including a few pages of notes, maps, introduction, and biographical essay) and easily a couple of pounds that don't fit easily under the arm. For the first 900 pages Tolstoy's sprawling account of Russian aristocracy in the years 1805 through 1820 (centering on relations with Napoleon and the War of 1812) provides a moving and surprisingly fast moving novel while Tolstoy explicates his theories of free will, history, war, and faith.
   
   Even though I felt that the action in and around the capture (and abandonment) of Moscow at around page 900, which should have been a furious and fascinating centerpiece of the novel, lagged in relation to the rest of it, I still must rate this as a classic. Part of my problem may have been "reader fatigue" in the face of the daunting challenge of reading all those pages. I tackled this book over a two week Christmas holiday, and even given time pleasantly interrupted only by family and holiday gatherings, this represents 100 pages of reading per day for 14 days. You may also suffer reader fatigue, but stick with it; the effort will be rewarded.
   
   At that climactic point when the French reach Moscow around page 900, I found the novel it a lull and dragged about for 300 pages until the pace picked up again in the denouement and a truly elegiac epilogue where Tolstoy shows the remaining key characters in their extended family relationships. This 50-page section is a rich reward for following the relationships, thoughts, and sometimes "appallingly bad decisions" (translator's words in the biographical essay) of these characters we have grown to know intimately.
   
   I was reminded while reading this account of the extended family gathering depicted in the movie "Dan in Real Life" that I have recently seen, where an extended family gathers for a much-anticipated annual holiday gathering, and we enjoy the love, respect, and enjoyment of well-worn relationships earned through years of trust and knowledge. I had the same feeling in both stories that the people genuinely loved each other not just in spite of their (well-known and sometimes mocked) faults, but because of them. A comparative review of these two accounts would make a worthy topic for a college literature class paper.
   
   Tolstoy, like Hugo in Les Miserables which I read and reviewed recently, had in his sights not just a character novel, or a war novel, or even a historical novel of sweeping scope, but a theoretical examination of character, war, history, and those topics I listed earlier, woven into and around the fictional action, which serves as explanation, example, and explication.
   
   Free will - The central theme of the novel is the interplay between free will and determinism. "An inner voice told her that now or never her fate would be decided" (p. 575), a phrase that could be applied to several characters. Tolstoy spends several pages in the Epilogue explaining his theory of free will in a historical essay talking directly to the reader, but it is aptly summarized in the words that Tolstoy gave to one of his main characters: "Do you ever get that feeling that nothing's ever going to happen to you again, nothing at all, and anything good is in the past? And you don't feed bored exactly, but very , very sad?" Another character states the paradox in even more stark terms: "Everything matters, nothing matters" (p. 592).
   
   History - Several times during the novel Tolstoy addresses the "Great men vs. Great events" debate and decides conclusively on the side of Great events, in the process declaring his stance on the Free Will debate. Near dead center of the book (p. 670-671), Tolstoy says: "Every action [great men] perform, which they take to be self-determined and independent, is in a historical sense quite the opposite; it is interconnected with the whole course of history, and predetermined from eternity." This stance, while consistent with his philosophy, is also influenced by Tolstoy's obvious dislike of Napoleon, and his stated desire to counterbalance a strong and growing Napoleon-worship amongst historians and biographers in the 1860's when Tolstoy was writing.
   
   War - Tolstoy's descriptions of war emphasize the realistic and accidental events in battle, not the glorified events of romantic writers. He minimizes the ability of Great Men to influence the outcome of battles and wars, as we have seen, and has high praise for the Russian general Kutuzov who lead the backward movement of the Russian army across the country toward and through Moscow drawing the French Army to its ultimate death at the point of its highest triumph (the capture of Moscow); many contemporaries and subsequent historians had criticized the general for refusing to attack and best the French Army during their march into and out of Russia. "But if there's going to be a war like this one, let there be war," (p. 861) states Tolstoy through a main character.
   
   Faith--So how can Tolstoy, and his characters, and his readers, deal with the final gloom of determinism? Does nothing really matter? Tolstoy, on page 1241, acknowledges the problem: "Yes. It would be hard to live without faith nowadays . . . ", says a character with a strong religious faith.
   
   "Why is that true?", asks a character who is searching for a reason to live and believe.
   
   And Tolstoy provides the answer, through a character who has come to his spiritual maturity through a hard-fought struggle with his own sins and lack of faith: "Only someone who believes there is a God guiding our lives could stand a loss like hers, and . . . yours."



2. Think history doesn't repeat itself? Then read this outstanding translation of Tolstoy's classic, and particularly in the Epilogue sections, imagine the name "Napoleon" replaced with "Bush" or "Cheney". You'll see what I mean -- it's pretty eerie, in fact.
   
   [...]
   
   This ideal of glory and greatness -- stemming from a belief that one's every action is beyond reproach, and every crime a proud achievement invested with a supernatural significance beyond all understanding -- this ideal, which would prove to be the guiding principle of this man and those around him, is deployed on a massive scale...Whatever he does comes off. The plague doesn't touch him. The callous slaughtering of his prisoners is not held against him...Dizzy with the success of his crimes and ready for his new role, he arrives...without any plan in mind just as the disintegration of the Republican government, which might have brought him down...completes its course...
   
   He has no sort of plan, he is scared of his own shadow, but all parties grab at him and solicit his support.
   
   He alone -- with his ideal of glory and greatness...with his maniacal self-adulation, outrageous criminality and bare-faced duplicity -- he alone can justify what has to be done.
   
   He is needed to fill the place that awaits him, and so it is that, almost independently of his own will, and in spite of his dithering, his failure to plan ahead and his proneness to error, he finds himself drawn into a conspiracy aimed at the seizure of power, and the conspiracy comes off.
   ...
   There is no action, no atrocity, no little bit of trickery he could indulge without it being immediately represented on the lips of those about him as a great deed...Everything conspires to deprive him of the last scintilla of reason, and prepare him for his terrible role.
   ...
   But all of a sudden, instead of the chance contingencies and genius that had ensured such a consistent, uninterrupted run of successes leading him toward his destined goal he is faced with a vast number of chance contingencies working in reverse...and instead of genius we see in him unparalleled stupidity and wickedness.



3. War and peace is a literary challenge that all avid readers should conquer. The Mt Everest of novels, epic in scale, infinite in its implications.
   The sweeping saga of five families and their lives over the course of a decade. A time when Russia was at war with Napoleon. The main characters number to perhaps ten to twelve but the secondary characters number into the hundreds following their escapades and adventures requires the utmost devotion to the literary work; indeed I often found my self rereading pages and sometimes sections in an effort not to miss any of the intricacies.
   The novel explores many human conflicts of the frailty of the spirit to the physical brutality of war among nations.
   Does absence makes the heart grow stronger, young in love Natasha, knows all to well it does not, as is revealed. Characters like Pierre frustrate with their inability to just live their life and be happy. Misunderstood Nicolai Rostov wants to find his courage through events not understanding it must come from within. Prince Andrei needs no one not even God, with his hardened heart after a tragedy.
   The events may be set over two centuries ago but they are still relevant today. This novel is a masterpiece.



4. Here, we have "War and Peace" conveyed to the listener in FOUR HOURS on 10 CDs, about 17-18 tracks per CD. Some folks might see this notable abridgement as their greatest critique of this rendering but I'm okay with it.
   
   If you're unfamiliar with the actual story, here is a brief summary:
   
   In 1805, Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Austria to expand his European empire. Russia, being an ally of Austria, stood with their brethren against the infamous Emperor. Napoleon prevailed and a treaty was ultimately signed at Tilsit.
   
   In 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia, again in an effort to expand his empire. The end result of this tragic war was that Napoleon's army of about 600,000 soldiers was reduced to roughly 60,000 men as the defamed Emperor raced from a devastated Moscow (which he had taken), back across the frozen Russian tundra in his carriage (leaving his troops behind to fend for themselves) for Paris. That encapsulizes the military aspect of this work.
   
   But the more intricate story involves both the activities and the peccadillos of, primarily, three Russian families of nobility: The Rostovs, the Bolkonskys, and the Bezukovs, as well as their associates. The continual thorn of "The Antichrist," Napoleon, really just provides the wallpaper for this story of romance, riches, desolation, love, jealousy, hatred, retribution, joy, naiivety, stupidity, and so much more.
   
   Tolstoy has woven an incredibly intricate web that interconnects these noble families, the wars, and the common Russian people to a degree that would seem nearly incomprehensible to achieve -- but Tolstoy perseveres with superb clarity and with great insight to the human psyche. His characters are timeless and the reader of the complete novel who has any social experience whatever will pretty much immediately connect with them all.
   
   "War and Peace" (the book) is a fictional, lengthy novel, based upon historical fact, here, abridged, dramatized, and performed by talented actors as an audiobook. There is a total of two hours of original new background music spread out over the 10 CDs which greatly enhances this particular media version.
   
   The story is told through numerous professional British actors and actresses, utilizing "General Kutuzov" as a narrator to set up many of the scenes, a shrewd device. The dramatizers did a great job of squeezing in the primary stories, pretty much in their entirety, and thus maintaining the overall ambiance of both the saga and its principals in their entirety. Yes, some necessary artistic license was invoked here and there, such as the "verbal assault on Princess Marya by the rebellious serfs" episode. In the book, this transpires at Bogucharovo after she has fled her home in Bald Hills -- on the audiobook, it takes place at Bald Hills, of course, in the interest of saving time.
   
   Character development is surprisingly good and fairly true to the book descriptions although I thought that the dramatizers were a little hard on Boris Drubetskoy. I also believe that they could have done a bit more with the unique character of Platon Karateyev.
   
   I cannot not, in good conscience, recommend the audiobook version to folks who have yet to read the novel -- it's simply too complex of a story and bulging with numerous characters (the book itself sports over 500 in all!) for most folks to grasp from the audiobook version. The fact that so many people here are addressed by the same titles, (e.g., "prince," "princess," etc.), adds additional confusion to newcomers to the story.
   
   There are a few devisive aspects of this version of "War and Peace". As it's all performed by British actors one should not expect to hear Russian accents. And, even though all concerned did a great job, it's additionally almost impossible to convey a battle scene absent a visual aspect, the book version having the distinct multiple advantages of Tolstoy's superbly colorful written descriptions of these critical episodes; so, you end up hearing a lot of "characters talking to themselves" with cannon fire, rifle fire, and the screams of the dying in the background.
   
   I also found that individual actors, clearly accustomed to the benefit of the visual aspects of their art, were often taking too long to say what needed to be said. It's not so much distracting as it is boring in spots.
   
   But overall, for those people who have previously read "War and Peace," and who still have a good grasp of the essential story, this BBC audiobook version is a very nice way to absorb the story for a second round.
   
   I do have one final thought -- I'M NOT TELLING YOU TO MAKE A "BACK-UP COPY", BUT... the CDs are VERY subject to damage by scratching. Making such copies would likely technically violate copyright laws -- and that's all I'm going to say about THAT!
   
   See my "Listmania Lists" for more Russian stuff and great fiction.



5. There can be no doubt that this is one of the greatest novels of all time. It envelopes you very quickly and leaves you changed, if only for a while. I would only point out two disappointments.
   
   I found Tolstoy's philosophy boring and rather like a wet blanket, especially in the end.
   
   Nearly all of the characters in the story are detestable, selfish human beings. Few learn anything meaningful from this traumatic struggle. The few that do display consistent, redeeming, qualities are generally shafted. Such is life, I understand, but still it disturbed me.

5 comments about His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire, Book 1).

1. This is a debut novel of aerial dragon warfare in an alternate Napoleonic-era Britain. The premise is original: a British naval captain, Laurence, is reassigned to defend the homeland skies with a rare Asian dragon named Temeraire. The author shows much imagination, particularly in her bestiary of various dragons, which have become the deadliest weapons in the war. She writes intelligently, and she has a strong grasp of the historical period. She seems particularly imitative of Jane Austen and Patrick O'Brian.
   
   And there's the critical flaw. She cannot match Austen, and no one does Napoleonic naval warfare quite like O'Brian. The reader is left seeing the large gap between Novik and the masters, and the gap gets quickly awkward, particularly when the writer cribs from O'Brian, going so far as to steal the prized "never in life" line.
   
   Furthermore, Novik never quite fleshes out her world to the extent of Tolkien, George R.R. Martin, or Susanna Clarke in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. One must wonder: in this alternate history, is the world the same but only with dragons? Are there any other differences? Why are the dragons so docile? I could also never quite understand how exactly the crews remained harnessed to their dragons during aerial combat. One wonders why human crews are even necessary, given that a dragon is not inanimate like a ship.
   
   Still, Laurence and Temeraire are strong characters (unfortunately, the other characters are largely less so), and the plot is entertaining and fluid enough so that I can see why Peter Jackson inquired about buying the movie rights. There are some innovative touches in the novel, such as dragon aircraft carriers and a charming scene where the off-duty dragons take a swim.
   
   Bottom line: His Majesty's Dragon was pretty good, but at the close of the novel, I was not intrigued enough to continue to the next book in the series. I would pass this one up for Susanna Clarke's alternate Napoleonic-era novel of rival magicians: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.



2. I bought this book on a whim because I grew up with McCaffery's Pern books and I love dragons. Then to discover such a superb melding of Napoleonic history with fantasy was an added bonusl! This story has been way beyond my expectations and with every new addition to the series I become more and more addicted. I eagerly anticipate each new addition and pre-order every time!



3. ONE OF THE BEST BOOK OF DRAGONS THAT I HAVE EVER READ, WAY DIFFERENT THAN THE REST ANT WITH A VERY NICE TOUCH OF FANTASY/REALITY IN THE MIX



4. This book is a great read for those lazy summer days. Or if youre taking a long trip and need something for the airplane. An original plot line with believable characters and lovable fire-breathing mythical creatures, how can you lose?
   
   These books are the perfect length to be a nice distraction when you need one yet not so long as to become a distraction.
   
   All in all absolute recommendation.



5. The first book in the "Temeraire" series is a great start. I usually steer clear of dragon fiction, but came across a preview in a book magazine that depicted the scene in which the eponymous dragon is born, amongst a naval crew on a vessel during the Napoleonic war. It was a wonderfully touching and exciting scene and very well written, which prompted me to try the novel out.
   
   Being an alternate history novel, this book could quite easily have fallen flat on its face. The gall, to introduce dragons to the Napoleonic war! Rather than try to fool us into believing this faux-history, "Temeraire" plainly tells us that this DID happen and makes you feel a bit silly for not having remembered it from the school history lessons you hated as a kid. The story itself and the language are far from plain however, the former straightforward but compelling, the latter beautiful and very fluid.
   
   If you hate dragon fiction or fantasy in general, I doubt you'd even be reading this review. If you think there's even a change you might like it, then you should buy it now and give it a read. You really will be surprised.

5 comments about War and Peace (Oxford World's Classics).

1. ...is how my mother, a great reader all her life (86 years, 82 reading) described War and Peace when she saw me with it. And that is exactly what it is. Don't be put off by the length, it's quite possible to pick up and put down. It maintains its power and vividness of scene and character however long you leave it alone. The war scenes are as gripping as the peace scenes, and there is a great deal to learn from Tolstoy, even us, even now. Constance Garnett's translation is a lovely one, into easy English, modern but not too modern. Final suggestion: I got a paperback version first and - it - will - show - the - wear - before you're done, no matter what. I am getting a hardcover to keep around.



2. Unless you are completely stressed out over $10, buy the new Pevear and Volokhonsky's translation. The main reason is that the Oxford version has little analysis. If it had offered a bit more, it would be a good buy but it is mostly just the text. Usually they contain an excellent analysis section, but it is not inclued here, So I give the nod to the newer translation by Pevear and Volokhonsky.
   
   Count Lev Nikolaevich (1828-1910), more widely known abroad as Leo Tolstoy, is recognized as one the greatest novelist in the modern era. War and Peace is a superb piece of literature that most serious readers should read at least once. Many read it twice or more. All of the fiction is excellent and never dull. The non-fiction parts seem a bit strange and the reader can skip those parts. Once the reader gets past the first few pages, the reading is relatively simple and compelling. It contains excellent prose that one might associate with Tolstoy's writing, and it is only the length that discourages the reader. This was a seven day read, cover to cover, including two 300 page days - each day about the same as a complete regular novel such as "Saturday." It is not for the faint of heart.
   
   War and Peace is a bit of an odd novel being so long. Tolstoy goes beyond a simple novel as Anna Karenina or The Cossacks. He tells a historical tale plus he injects approximately 100 pages of his own non-fiction comments about society and war. Tolstoy's non-fiction comments ruin the book to a degree. Instead of the best novel ever written, Tolstoy's political ideas - which the reader can skip - tend to tarnish the book as a piece of literature. One feels that he should have been able to integrate his ideas into the actions of the characters rather than giving the reader long lectures on history and politics in the middle and at the end of a wonderful story (as Dostoevsky integrates his ideas on religion and morality into the dialogue). Otherwise, it is probably one of the best novels ever written.
   
   I like Pevear and Volokhonsky's work and have bought and read three of their other works and have looked at the Oxford version very closely. All the translations, such as Oxford (Maude) and Modern Library Classics (Garnett), are good and very similar in overall quality. For example, turn to the beginning at the start of section 11. The present book uses numbers while Pevear and Volokhonsky's use Roman numerals. What other differences are there? The present book says two people "value" their friendship while Pevear and Volokhonsky says they "cherish" their friendship. Not much different. Reading on the same page, the two turn to talk to each other in Maude while in Pevear and Volokhonsky's work one speaker pulls up their chair. One would have to know Russian and consult the original text to know if the "chair" is more accurate, but overall one gets a better or a more complete picture of the events from Pevear and Volokhonsky. So, spend the extra $10. and get the newer version with the better hard cover as a bonus.
   
   Great read: 5 stars if you have the fortitude, and worth the effort.



3. I had been putting off reading War and Peace for over 45 years because my early attempts were with terrible translations. After looking at reviews of different translations, I decided to try once more with the Maude version. It is very readable and I appreciate the notes in the back and the character list in the front. It reads like the great novel it is supposed to be. I only wish I had discovered it earlier, but I am enjoying it now!



4. I held the book in my hands and felt its weight. It looked quite big; not as big as when I first saw it but still big - and had I actually gone
   through all those pages and all those letters? Apparently. What now?
   What was this feeling spreading in me? was it emptiness? I felt sad. For the first time after completing a book there actually was a possibility that I would never read a better book for the rest of my life. This possibility weighted heavily on me, and the book, still resting in my hands, grew even lighter.
   But then, thinking about all the moments in the book, all the characters, all the emotions, all the ideas and images I thought: Well, if this book in fact turns out to be the best book I'll ever read, that would be alright.
   And then I didn't feel empty anymore. I was not sad anymore, in fact, I was satisfied, and warm. And I still am.



5. The Maudes translated WAR AND PEACE in Tolstoy's house, consulting with him. They did a nice, thorough and very readable job. Meanwhile Tolstoy deliberately wrote in a simple, easy way to reach more readers. So while the Pevear translation may be slightly better (scholars have examined this work for more than a century and picked up translation errors here and there) or slightly worse, you really can't go wrong with the Maudes.

No comments about Victory of Eagles (Temeraire, Book 5).

5 comments about Empire of Ivory (Temeraire, Book 4).

1. Novik has created some of the most engaging characters in literature! Captain Will Laurence, who had to give up his Naval commission to captain his Chinese Celestial dragon Temeraire in the Napoleonic wars, goes to Africa to help find a cure for a strange illness attacking Britain's dragon fleet. I can't put these books down and can't wait for the next one!



2. This is a non-stop adventure story that also asks a question: what would history have been like if all world civilizations had the superweapon of the day: dragons? In this exciting alternate history, China, the Incas, Africa, India and Europe had approximate military parity in the 1800s, and as a result, the map of the world looks very different in the draconic 1800s than it did in the real 1800s. We've had hints of this earlier in the series (the Incas have been mentioned as a force to be reckoned with, and the relationship between China and European countries plays out differently when the Chinese have hugely powerful dragons). In this book Novik turns her attention to Africa, with unforgettable results.
   
   This "historical" background is brilliantly imagined (and absolutely fascinating) but Novik doesn't let it overwhelm the story or the characters. We see the overall historical picture only in tantalizing bits and pieces, as they filter through the consciousness of the sympathetic main character, Captain Will Laurence. Laurence is a patriotic British officer who loves both his dragon and his country, and who struggles to save them both even when their interests do not always coincide.
   
   In this series dragons are not just the weapons that civilizations use to jockey for position, but vividly imagined characters, and that dual nature gives everyone who loves dragons an inherent conflict. Are dragons just weapons to be used, or are they to be valued for their own sake, like people are? Every civilization that Laurence visits has found a slightly different answer to that question, and Laurence himself is often profoundly uncertain about where his own loyalties should lie, and must let his instincts and his dragon be his guide. At the end of this book he's forced to make a decision about this conflict. That decision leads to the cliffhanger that other reviewers have described. But at the level of Laurence's character, this ending isn't a cliffhanger but a resolution. He has at last committed himself irrevocably to a dangerous course of action, and everything in the first four books has led up to this moment.
   
   One warning: as other reviewers have said, this volume probably would be hard to understand on its own. Since the other books are really good, though, the journey to this one should be an enjoyable one.



3. Empire of Ivory, the fourth book in the Temeraire series, picks up shortly after Black Powder War and the fall of the Prussians to Napoleon with Temeraire, Captain Will Laurence and crew, and the feral dragons they picked up along the way returning to an England in dire straits: an unknown disease has stricken the entirity of England's Ariel Dragon Corps. The defense of England is left to Temeraire and his untrained feral groupies as they try to prevent France from learning of the sad condition of the Isles' defenses.
   
   When it is determined that the disease originated in Africa and is similar to what ailed Temeraire as the round the Cape in Throne of Jade, Temeraire and Laurence are sent with a handful of ailing dragons to Africa to look for the cure that nursed Temeraire back to health.
   
   What ensues is an adventure to the Dark Continent that really adds new dimensions to this alternate Earth where Dragons walk among men and not always as its equal or subordinate. Temeraire grows even more as a character and Captain Will Laurence faces his toughest test as an officer when he must face the horrific intentions of his superiors and the future of England and the World's Dragons.
   
   This is another excellent installment in a fantastic and original series from Naomi Novik!
   
   (One bone to pick with the publisher: once you have started a series in paperback, DO NO start releasing hardcovers after four books! With book five slated as a hardcover release, and my library now sporting four paperbacks in this series, I am NOT going to mix formats.)
   
   >>>>>>><<<<<<<
   
   A Guide to my Rating System:
   
   1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
   2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
   3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
   4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
   5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.



4. While I was floored with the original book, by the time I got to the fourth I was ready to be put down.
   
   The first Book was a screaming romp in the lines of O'Brian and a vigorous page turner. I've always been a fan of the Napoleonic era, and the concept of adding Dragons into the spin! What fun! But by the time I got to this one... sigh. The fun was dead.



5. 
   "Temeraire: Empire of Ivory"
   
   It's wonderful to see that even after three novels the author is still on form as the series progresses. This fourth book shows us a little more of the world that Novik has created, including the depths of the dark continent of Africa and their practices concerning dragons, as well as a glimpse of other areas of England and Scotland. The writing is concise and beautiful, bordering at times on poetry, and the dialogue is some of the best I've ever read.
   
   Novik has managed to keep the story ongoing and compelling without merely writing "the adventures of...", ensuring that each novel expands upon the continuity without simply throwing in new situations or characters. The characters themselves here are wonderfully written, and although there has been less of the interaction between the dragon Temeraire and his captain Laurence during the last few instalments, we see a reinstatement of their close blond and the promise of further development.
   
   With a great storyline and a killer ending, this is definitely worth picking up if you've read the first three novels.
   
   8.5/10

5 comments about War and Peace.

1. THis was a translation I waited for impatiently, but I am sorely disappointed. Even though I have read this my favorite book numerous times, I found some snetences almost totally unnegotiable and ackward. Perhaps the translators were attempting to replicate Russian sentece structure along with word meaning?
   
   Another problem for this reader was the lack of in-line translation of the FRENCH, which is more numerous than one would suspect. I do not read French, and looking to the bottom of the page for meaning broke the flow of my read and cause numerous stop-start impediments. THough this raw presentation of the French may be considered a strength for the reader who can read it, it is not an advantage for those of us limited to understanding English only.
   
   My favorite translation remains the Maude, but I would recommend any other I'm familiar with before this one.
   
   If you are at ease with French, you may enjoy this, but even then, I would challenge you to take an arbitrary long paragraph and match the Maude translation against this one. For me, Maude wins hands down!



2. I struggled through War and Peace many years ago, so imagine my surprise(and pleasure) to find that this new translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky is a wonderful read and gives the reader an entirely new perspective on Tolstoy. I am rereading The Brothers Karamazov now, translated by the same couple, and am looking forward to Anna Karenina.



3. Finally, a translation of War and Peace that is readable and is true to the beauty of Tolstoy's narrative. This husband and wife team of translators, one a native Russian speaker, one English, have produced the definitive translation of this tome. It is also a beautiful volume visually - I love holding it (though, by nature of the novel's length, it is heavy), I love the physical aspect of reading it.
   
   Now that the solution to the perfect translation of War and Peace has been solved, maybe humanity can get on to a solution to the problems of war and peace in this world...until then, I think I will reread this volume of War and Peace again and again...



4. Although I have just started this book, I can tell you it is a good translation and easier to read then the version I read in high school.



5. I have read that Richard Pevear does not know Russian, but merely edits his wife's translation. Okay.
   
   Pevear calls WAR AND PEACE "daunting". It isn't. It's merely overwritten, wordy,redundant, repetitious, chronologically clumsy, and loaded with structural defects, writer's errors and digressions. Tolstoy himself called it "verbose", and said it had too much that was "superfluous". I agree with Tolstoy.
   
   Pevear refers to Pierre as "a singular man", but in fact he was somewhat commonplace and something of a dope. Tolstoy thought Dolokov was his most interesting character and again I agree with him. Pevear lumps Dolokov with "mediocrities" and calls him "ordinary". Even though he drank an entire bottle of rum on a window ledge for a bet, was an accomplished duellist, stopped the retreat and led the Russian win at Schongraben,ran a gambling house, worked for the Persian monarch, and led a band of partisans that drove Napoleon out of Russia! Some "ordinary!"
   
   Pevear points out Tolstoy's repetitions of words, but I don't see that as objectionable. He neglects entirely Tolstoy's chronic repetitions of sentences (even in the same paragraph or on the same pages), paragraphs, even entire ideas. I mean, how many times do you want to be told that history makes great men, not the other way around? After the 6th time or so, one's eyes glaze over.
   
   Pevear claims that Tolstoy created "a new form", but that's just nonsense. A cop-out for people who are in denial and don't want to face the fact squarely that WP is just not very well written. And Tolstoy himself claimed that the form of WP was in keeping with Gogol, Dostoevsky, and other Russian contemporaries.
   
   Pevear is good at pointing out the inadequacies of other translations, and I couldn't find anything to disagree with. (Though I was interested to note that he didn't criticize Dole, which is my favorite.) But this translation commits greater sins by being too literalistic. The Pevears choose words that are anachronistic, or bundles of words that fail to convey meaning, but merely obscure it. Moreover it is not enough to merely translate words-- syntax, grammar, and meaning must also be translated. And there is altogether too much French. I mean, this is supposed to be a translation, right? If they were translating Confucius, would they give us long passages in Chinese?
   
   And Pevear leaves Kutuzov off the list of Principal Characters. Now how on earth could one do that?
   
   This is a good translation for people who like it, and there's nothing wrong with that. And it's a good translation for Americans living in France, like Pevear.
   
   The standard--although it is not my favorite translation--in terms of the overall balance of translation, graphics, and design, continues to be the Maude Inner Sanctum edition of 1942. And it wouldn't hurt to augment that with the 1922 Oxford Maude.