William King Books

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!

William Shakespeare's tragedy "Macbeth" was performed at the Globe Theater in 1605-06. The "Scottish" play was a calculated to be pleasing to James I, who took the throne of England after the death of Elizabeth Tudor in 1603. It was not simply that the play was set in the homeland of the Stuarts, but also that when Banquo's royal descendants are envisioned the last of them is the new King. (Note: Shakespeare does a similar sort of tribute to Queen Elizabeth when in the final act of "Henry VIII" the the Archbishop prophesizes great things for the infant Elizabeth. However, not only is there doubt that Shakespeare was the sole author of that particular history, it was not produced until 1612-13, ten years after Elizabeth's death.)

The play chronicles Macbeth's seizing the Scottish throne and his subsequent downfall, both aspects the result of blind ambition. However, one of the interesting aspects of "Macbeth" for me has always been its take on prophecy, which is decidedly different from the classical tradition. In the Greek myths there is no escaping your fate; in fact, one of the points of the story of Oedipus as told by Sophocles is that trying to resist your fate only makes things worse (the original prophecy was that Oedipus would slay his father; it was only after Jocasta sought to have her son killed to save her husband that the prophecy given Oedipus was that he would slay his father and marry his mother). In the Norse tradition prophecy is simply fate and manhood demands you simply resign yourself to what must happen.

But in "Macbeth" there is a different notion of prophecy that is compatible with what is found in the Bible: specifically, the idea that human beings simply cannot understand God's predictions. This is the case both with those who failed to understand the prophecies that foretold the birth of the Christ but also the book of Revelations, where the fate of the world is detailed in complex and essentially uncomprehensible symbolism. When Macbeth is presented with the first set of prophecies by the three witches, he is understandably dubious: he will become thane of Cawdor and then King, while Banquo will beget kings. However, when the first prophecy comes true, Macbeth begins to believe that the rest of the prophecy may come true. His fatal error, at least in the Greek tradition, is that he does not allow fate to bring him the crown, he takes active steps by slaying King Duncan. He compounds this error by projecting his ambitions onto Banquo; although Macbeth has Banquo killed, his son escapes to keep the prophecy intact.

Now the witches's prophecies are deceptively clear: no man born of woman may harm him and he is secure until trees start walking. Macbeth, who now believes in the inevitability of prophecy, fails to understand the fatal concept of loopholes. Thus, the nature of prophecy becomes an integral part of the play's dynamic.

Virtually all editions of Macbeth will have at least some annotations. Rummaging through five different editions, I preferred this Yale University Press version, edited by Burton Raffel, as having the most comprehensive and comprehensible notes, as well as an excellent introduction to Shakespeare's play. Raffel not only explains the meanings of obscure words, but also gives brief notes pertaining to relevant history, geography, stage directions, etc, that are rarely addressed as fully by other editors. In addition, Raffel frequently gives the proper way to stress the syllables in a line when reading it aloud, which can be extremely helpful. (However, in most places these stresses need to be very subtle, so that you don't sound like "taDUM taDUM taDUM".) And Yale's page layout is among the clearest that I've seen.

As a bonus, this edition includes at the back a long essay on the play by Harold Bloom. This is not an uninteresting commentary, but Bloom desperately needs a good editor. His essay is not only at least three times longer than it should be, but is startlingly repetitious. Yale would have been wise to have asked Bloom for a rewrite.

This book is a marvelous way to introduce young people to Shakespeare. The narrations help explain the action and help bring the moral lessons and beauty of Shakespeare to young people

I purchased this item with several other books regarding William Shakespeare's Macbeth. This is the best Macbeth version out there for those who want to read and understand Macbeth. The pages have plenty of space to write notes and every scene is explained in regular words for those who are having difficulty with the material. Besides the book, the CD-rom is its best feature with games and tests. It makes it easier for adults and not just kids. If you're wondering how to approach Macbeth to even the difficult and the challenged students, this will be the best 14 bucks you ever spent. Don't be a fool! It's a bargain at that price. I remember reading Shakespeare's plays in books with plenty of footnotes to only complicate matters.

This beautifully written and beautifully illustrated coffee table book is both an entertaining read and serves as a biographical dictionary and is packed with timelines, family trees and a historical tour guide of Britain.

It sheds a light on the characters and lives of the Kings and Queens of England and Scotland for beginners. Those with a more detailed knowledge of the British monarchs will ant to look elsewhere. Read about the strong and capable William I (The Conqueror), who, after defeating conquering England and defeating Saxon King Harold, built many cathedrals and castles including the Tower of London and commissioned the Doomsday book, England's first census; King Richard I (The Lionheart) who knew no English and spent all his time on foreign campaigns and crusades; the irresponsible and selfish King John; it teaches us of both the wise and magnanimous Henry VII, and those capable of deliberate cruelty such as Henry I (who allowed his own little grandaughters to be blinded and mutilated), Edward I (who ruthlessly hammered Cornwall and Wales into the English crown and cruelly ravaged Scotland), Richard III and Henry VII (who had two of his young wives beheaded along with hundreds of others who crossed his path).
The book mentions the speculation and probability that Richard III did order the murder of his two little nephews imprisoned in the Tower of London.
You can learn of the religious conflicts and different religious loyalties of different monarchs such as the fanatically Catholic Queen Mary I.
It is interesting to note that at least four English kings were reputed to have been homosexuals, William II (Rufus), Richard I (The Lionheart), Edward II, James I and William III.
Readers of this compendium can read of those who rallied the nation together in times of war such as Elizabeth I and George VI, the unpopular Hanoverian German kings George I, II and III, and the popular and flamboyant Charles II, known as the Merry Monarch.
Some of the facts are well known and others are more obscure.

Mr. Pineiro is an achiever.....a good story for those that need reasons to succeed in life... against all odds....you will find characters that are depicted strongly enough that will give you the main reasons that every human being needs to overcome difficulties.
An American dream come true. Read it.It may be a good movie too.