William King Books

Haven't actually read it, but since one of my very good friends wrote it, it will definitely be excellent!!

The actors in this production are superb. Stella Gonet as Lady Anne is exceptional. Even without seeing the play, it is easy to understand because the actors read with such expression that the listener becomes totally immersed in the story. I loved it.

The Naxos recording is an excellent rendition of RIII. The characterization is rich and well done. Full of passion and rage, you don't need to see the actors to "see" the play. The scene with Anne is particularly good.

As Continental forces and Virginia militia units were engaged in winning independence, American quartermasters and provisioners struggled to provide these units with all the necessities of life, from meals and guns to meat, fodder for horses, the horses themselves, firewood, and every other type of material. Much of this was requisitioned from the civilian population and certificates were issued payable in either continental or state funds, depending on the units supplied, upon presentation to court authorities. Thousands of these certificates issued to Virginians were duly entered by the courts, and they provide a fascinating insight into the period of the Revolution. These "Publick" Claims booklets contain interesting and useful information about the contributions of ordinary people to the Revolutionary War. They provide some details of people's service in the militia or as guards for prisoners of war; they indicate where some bodies of troops were at particular times; and they identify providers of horses, wagons, cattle, grain, or other supplies. Much of the information in these booklets cannot be found anywhere else, which makes the surviving records particularly valuable. Also remarkable is the fact that records survived from virtually every county in the state at that time with the exception of the newly formed Kentucky counties. This makes the collection even more valuable in covering areas which heretofore in this time period have suffered from a lack of personal data. The "Virginia Publick Claims" are published by counties. In addition to a faithful transcription by Janice Luck Abercrombie and the late Richard Slatten, a complete index is provided for each county booklet. This series is an extremely important genealogical tool for searchers in Revolutionary-era materials.

This book was excellent. I have been an amateur student of the Hanover era of the British monarchy and there are many books out there on the Great King George III or the Bad King George IV. There are numerous books on Queen Victoria and the Era she heralded, but there is little on King William IV, son of George III, younger brother and heir of George IV and previous monarch of his niece Queen Victoria. King William saw England through only 7 years but in that seven years he saw a lot of changes in parliament and help begin restoring the faith of the British in their monarchy that was lost during the reign of George IV. Mr. Ziegler does a wonderful job of showing William's private life and the trials he endured from his time in the Navy, to life with Mrs. Jordan and their 10 children, to his finding proper wife and becoming King. A great story of a good man.

I must admit that I started the Owen Archer series in mid-stream and was immediately hooked! I hunted down the first three books and set about devouring them over the Christmas holidays. The King's Bishop, book 3 in the series, struck a chord with me. Ned Townley has lost his lady love and is driven fairly mad. Candace keeps you wondering through out the book as to whether or not Ned was capable of killing the young page he thought was flirting with his beloved Mary. And did he kill those he felt were responsible for her death? Ned leads Owen on quite the chase as Owen searches for the truth. As the body count grows, so do the suspicions that Ned is the murderer. Even Owen doubts his close friend. True to form, Ms. Robb keeps you going until the end when Owen returns to his soulmate, Lucie. Defintely two very enthusiastic thumbs up and five very well deserved stars!

Rare original version of the computer game consistently ranked one of the top 10 of all time. The first "3D" adventure game.

Pitkin puts out such great books! This book provides brief histories of the Kings & Queens of Britain. It's informative, and has some nice pictures. Grab this up, as it's hard to get in the U.S.!

Kings X - Common Law and the Death of Sir Harry Oakes

This book tells about the murder of Sir Harry Oakes, identifies the murderers, and explains the involvement of others in this officially unsolved murder. The evidence against the accused son-in-law was forged and fabricated by Miami detectives brought in by the Duke of Windsor! Few were neutral about Sir Harry Oakes. To some he was a benefactor and philanthropist, to others he was a robber and cruel oppressor. Oakes made a huge fortune by discovering gold in Ontario; earlier he sought gold in the Yukon and elsewhere. He migrated to the Bahamas, which had no income tax, and spent money developing the island (p.12)

Chapter 2 is a short biography of the Prince of Wales. He had average abilities, and poor judgment that created his bad luck. [An argument against hereditary rule?] He threw away his throne to marry a twice-divorced adventuress. Chapter 3 gives the biography of Wallis Warfield, who learned to please other people. David and Wallis were joined in mutual hedonism (p.35). Chapter 5 tells of the history of piracy, corruption, and crookedness in the Bahamas. It was settled by Loyalists and Southerner. Their social and economic structure is parasitic. Chapter 6 tells of Sir Harry's death: struck by a winch lever that had four prongs (p/67). Sir Harry reneged on a deal with Meyer Lansky! The body was returned to his bed, and set afire as a warning to others. The solution came from an unnamed informant (p.69). Chapter 9 tells of the amazing exploits of Raymond Schindler, a famous investigator. The Bahamian police destroyed evidence (p.91). Chapter 10 explains the origins of the police under the Common Law system. Chapter 11 gives a short history of the Common Law. Cross-examination is distinctive to the Common Law system; it tests the truthfulness of the witnesses (p.127). Chapter 16 notes the medical testimony about the murder. "Time of death can be determined accurately only by non-medical evidence: (p.152). De Marigny was at the murder scene before the search for fingerprints (pp.172-3). Chapter 19 has the testimony of the fingerprint expert on Exhibit J; this cross-examination was one of the most brilliant in history (p.205). Chapter 21 tells of the problem with this sole fingerprint (p.226). Erle Stanley Gardner's comment is still true today (p.242). Chapter 26 shows the technique of attacking the defendant's character to sway the jury. Legitimate alibis often fail to convince because they involve a relative, neighbor, or friend. Experts disputed the validity of the fingerprint. A Police Captain saw Harold Christie in the passenger seat of a station wagon when he should have been in bed! The Judge summed up the case "against the Crown" (p.301). The jury quickly returned a "not guilty" verdict, and the crowds celebrated. Leonarde Keeler used his polygraph to test de Marigny and found his statements truthful.

Chapter 33 suggests de Marigny would have been convicted under a Civil Law system where he would have "to prove his innocence". [But this assumes he would have been indicted.] Civil Law was created by kings and emperors, not from popular customs. Precedents of prior cases have no effect; there is no habeas corpus, or rules against torture. Common Law judges have had historical independence, and balanced the interests and right of the people against their rulers. There are four basic conditions for personal rights and democratic government. Chapter 34 warns us of attacks on the Common Law system (p.318). Lawyers do not train as apprentices in law offices, law schools do not train them as advocates. Houts suggests five steps to cure this problem (pp.322-324). Trial by jury is the only truly democratic form of participation left in the justice system. Houts suggests five steps to improve the police; we can't go back to the private vigilante system of previous centuries (p.326). The police must gather all the facts in the case, and not ignore or suppress evidence. The judge, jury, and prosecutor will do the rest.

Found this very old book. Title page missing, I do ndt know the author. Chapter 1 begins Sullivan's campaign into the Seneca country. Anyone know this? Sid Mansur, sidmansur@aol.com

As a teacher of 11th grade English, I ordered this text because I was curious about its supplementary material. Now I am committed to the Norton Critical Editions for EVERY Shakespeare play I teach in the future! My students were amazed and sometimes enthralled with the incredibly rich background material which supplemented their study of Macbeth. They especially loved comparing Lady Macbeth's invocation of evil forces, and her declaration of imagined infanticide, with Seneca's Medea, in which Medea declares she will sacrifice her children to punish her cheating husband. They were incredulous that Macbeth's witches were actually mentioned several times in Holinshed's history. The factual background for Macbeth's rise and fall, set within the context of the eleventh century, gave them a deeper understanding of his inherent brutality. They also were better able to appreciate the modern aspects of his personality as interpreted by Shakespeare by contrasting the Bard's Macbeth with Holinshed's details of the actual historical Macbeth. And they really enjoyed learning that Lady Macbeth's real name was Gruoch. (Several said they're going to name their dog or their first daughter after her! Ha, ha!) WHAT A SUPERIOR SOURCE for any teacher! Please buy this if you are reading, studying, or teaching Macbeth!