Charles Williams Books

This is fairly heady stuff...here are actual recordings of some of the most famous, influential stage actors from the 19th and 20th centuries taking another bow. The only disappointment is that although the disc comes with a table of contents, it does not state which actor is reading any particular passage. So unless you are old enough to have actually heard Edwin Booth in person, you will have no idea which voice belongs to him.

Sometimes, I enjoyed writing reviews of books that no one will read. In this case, very few will read this good book about the peasant revolt in 1381 that rocked the reign of the boy-king, Richard II. The revolt that was brought upon by poor economic conditions, the Black Plague, lost war in France and poor general government-ship with ill-thought out laws, led to this major revolt that rocked the monarchy and brought England to a edge of a social revolution. However, this revolt also gave young 14 years old Richard his finest hour as a King of England and his role and how he helped save his own life and throne proves to be interesting as well as entertaining reading material. (Its regretful that Richard would have his heydays so young as his life and throne were both forfeited many years later.)

The book also goes into other minor revolts that this main revolt have spawn. There are also appendixes provided by the author that shows the dramatic decreased in English population from 1377 to 1381 thanks to the plague.

Anyone interested in English history of this time period should pick up this book and read it.

There is a new reprint of Goodwin's original version. A Greek Grammar My question is why did they not reprint this newer edition? I now own both books. A quick over view suggest the the 'Goodwin and Gulick' edition may be better than the original.
I have not compared these books in great detail, but I would at this point recommend buying a good used copy of this edition first. It is cheaper, it is more up to date (albeit still circa 1930, it is hardcover in a nice binding, and it has a type set and lay-out, which is a bit more user friendly. Also, if you decide to buy the reprint of the 'Goodwin' grammar, buy the Macmillian press edition. I own a 1963 hardcover edition, it has a great binding and is much better than the the new soft cover I bought for my friend; the contents are exactly the same.

This volume consists of 16 essays on the general topic of property and possessions, seen from the perspective of Christian ethics and related disciplines (economics, biblical studies, cultural studies). While each is worth reading in its own right, the book is somewhat flawed by a paucity of intersection among the essays, even among those grouped together by topic area. The co-editors attempt to set some common points of departure regarding methodology and focus in their introduction, but few of the subsequent authors adhere to this common framework. But this is a worthwhile volume offering rich insight into a neglected topic, and one that is very relevant to today's increasingly globalized economic order. The book grew out of a multi-year, grant-supported international academic project, and the co-editors assembled an impressive line-up of commentators. None of them disappoints, but one would hope for a bit more unity and coherence of common voices and concerns in such an intriguing volume.

This volume collects two books that are oddities among Charles Williams' writing. They don't fit easily into the categories of fiction, plays, poetry, history or biography. Although they were well-known and oft-quoted in CW's day, they slipped out of print in ours. Although brief, they are not his lightest or easiest to read books, mainly because he often alludes to a topic or idea to make a point without explaining it, which limits his audience. On the other hand, he goes to great lengths delving into other topics, sending readers first to the dictionary and then to the library.

Forgiveness of Sins is a study of the idea of forgiveness in the Bible and in Shakespeare (a uniquely Williamsesque approach). He Came Down from Heaven takes its title from a line in the Church of England/ Catholic Creed about the Incarnation. In publishing together these brief volumes the publisher has done a great service for those readers who having read the odd CW book are eager for more, and helped bring him in range of the wider reading public.

If this book were simply a collection of recipes for beers which won the 1996 World Beer Cup, it would be an interesting and valuable resource. But it's also an entertaining set of stories about these world-class beers, too. And everything is written in the inimitable Papazian style.

From time to time, the author waxes poetic (as he has been known to do in his other writings). In his discussion of Founder's Stout, he writes how thankful the brewers did not adhere to the Bavarian Reinheitsgebot in producing this beer, so that roasted unmalted barley could be included.

Both all-grain and extract/specialty grain recipes are offered for each beer, in a one-size-fits-all 5 US gallon length. Most homebrewers in the US will find this most useful.

A couple of gripes which make this a four-star, rather than a five-star, review: First, the conversion between different units (e.g., SG to/from Plato, ASBC color to EBC color, and Fahrenheit to Celcius) is idoiosyncratic. The author does point out in his preface that EBC color values were derived, for the purpose of the book, by simply doubling the ASBC color. Secondly, the information on the cover gives the impression that the recipes are provided by the breweries, rather than being formulated by the author. In a sense, this is for the better, however, because the recips should be formulated by an experienced home brewer, rather than a professional. Still, I do not think it was entirely according to Hoyle to give such an impression. And the hokey "MBU," making its debut in this book, has to go. Homebrewers who work in metric usually use the number of grams of alpha acid in the hops.

All in all, an entertaining and valuable reference.

Let's face it, Ned Snelgrove, aspired to be his hero, Ted Bundy, but he never got that famous like his hero. He was already in prison in New Jersey for murder and got off on good behavior after nearly killing a second woman. The author does an excellent job in explaining and detailing the lives of his victims, Mary Ellen, Karen, and Carmen as well as their families who suffered needlessly through the trauma of Ned's terror. For a young man who had a solid education and graduated from Rutgers University (my alma mater), he became a killer and rapist in New Jersey and his home state of Connecticut. Unfortunately, his last victim, Carmen, would catch him in his notorious lies. Of course, he did it. Carmen was seen leaving with him and nobody bought his story that he just dropped her off in the opposite direction of her apartment. Still, I am only three quarters through and it's an easy read with about 100 short chapters broken down into parts. There is no question that Ned is guilty of the murders of his college girlfriend, Karen Osmun, or Carmen, a beloved sister, mother, daughter, and grandmother. Her granddaughter died after her murder. Ned never amounted to be the serial killer with the likes of Ted Bundy, JEffrey Dahmer, or JOhn Wayne Gacy. Unlike them, he was much more sloppy, inefficient, and incompetent. He probably did not realize that Bundy was also a necrophiliac. He dumped Carmen's body in Rhode Island where she was found by Mr. Mareck, who knows personally what it is like to lose a loved one. His sister was murdered in the terrorist explosion of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1988. He knows personally what it is like to lose a family member and not be able to find her. He found Carmen much to his own horror. The author paints a solid portrait of a crazed, brilliant sociopath criminal as well as the victims whose lives he claimed. Mary Ellen, the divorced mother and grandmother, survived but barely from her attack in 1987 while Carmen and Karen did not. Ned's crimes also took Karen's mother prematurely while Carmen's estranged husband in Puerto Rico died of a broken heart over her disappearance only two weeks after she was missing. Carmen would have never missed her daughter's baby shower or her birthday. Carmen was a fun loving woman who was vibrant and tried to overcome her hardship like her weakness for alcoholism. Karen had a promising future with a new boyfriend who treated her much better than Ned. She was killed right before Christmas in 1983. Her sister, Barbara, was pregnant and she would never get the chance to Aunt Karen. Phelps points these facts out about the loss of the victims. I thought the trial part was the least interesting part of the book because it becomes as always redundant and repetitive about Ned's lies and the facts about his guilt.

I AM OVER HALFWAY THROUGH THE BOOK AND THE MORE I READ THE BETTER IT GETS. THIS BOOK IS SO HARD TO PUT DOWN. MR. PHELPS DOES IT AGAIN!

Infighting Admirals - Fisher's Feud with Beresford and the Reactionaries

Geoffrey Penn

Pen & Sword, 2000


Naval technology advanced steadily during the Victorian Age, bringing in its train, steam power, powerful breechloading guns, armored ships, torpedos, submarine boats and wireless telegraphy. A glance at the ships the leading navies of the world (the Royal Navy, the French Navy, the Russian Navy and belatedly the US, German and Japanese navies) were building, tell us that strategic and tactical thinking did not keep pace with the technology. Ship yards built fantastic multi-stacked, ram-prowed battleships and cruisers armed with a miscellany of guns of all descriptions and sizes mounted in turrets, casmates and on open decks which were accordingly doled out in penny packets to fleets and squadron all over the world. The operating idea was naval wars would be fought as they had been fought in the past. Britain would maintain a close blockade of its enemy's ports while her trade protection cruisers found and destroyed enemy raiders sent out to prey on British merchants. Neutral nations would be coerced into silence and co-operation. Things went along swimmingly for several decades, the enemy nations slumbered while the Royal Navy, sole possessors of the high seas throughout a long three quarters of a century, made a virtual fetish of paint and brightwork. It wasn't until 1890, when an American naval officer, Alfred Thayer Mahan, published a work that revolutionized thinking about the strategic purposes of a navy and analyzed naval tactics from previous wars, that the powers began to wake from their slumbers. One early reader of Mahan was Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, possessor of the finest army in the world and a navy unworthy of Denmark. Expansionists from Teddy Roosevelt to the Japanese Mikado suddenly realized that the road to empire lay over the seas and that a large, modern, blue water navy was needed to advance along it. This book looks at the struggle within the Royal Navy to emerge from its hibernation and begin to adapt itself to a world where challenges to the leading position were coming fast and from every quarter.

Not all men are created equal and the Royal Navy was possessed of some great minds and unfortunately its share of blockheads as well. Admiral Jackie Fisher had a great mind, saw and embraced the future with passion, clarity and vision, was an able administrator and displayed unflinching courage in the face of many obstacles. Admiral Lord Charles Beresford, second son of the 4th Marquess of Waterford, did not possess a great mind, was senseless to vision, was a haphazard administrator and a scheming coward...but he was a charming rogue and had friends in very high places.

Geoffrey Penn's book sets the relationship of these two men as they maneuver among the political eddies and currents of the Royal Navy, as a backdrop to the struggle of that navy to emerge from the habits and mindset of the age of fighting sail and blossom into the modern force that finally met and overmatched the High Seas Fleet of Imperial Germany at Jutland.

Penn goes deep in the politics of the Edwardian navy but just as deep into the administration and rapidly changing technology of that navy. The Royal Navy was very lucky to have a Jackie Fisher in its ranks ably supported by a cast of technically astute officers of middle rank that he promoted and supported in his "fishpond". Fisher wasn't perfect by any measure and made his share of mistakes. In the end however, in spite of the efforts of ignorant reactionaries like Charley Beresford, he created the fleet that John Jellicoe later led to victory over the Germans in the quest for naval supremacy.

I recommend this book to those with more than a passing interest in the age of steam navies and the Royal Navy in particular.

Written concisely, this is the interesting story of John C. Fremont, an amazing explorer, controversial soldier, and a failure as a Civil War general and a businessman. Black and white illustrations, photographs, and maps add to the book's visual appeal. My fourth grade son really enjoyed reading about Fremont's adventures.

Everybody knows the story of Little Red Riding Hood, but what this illustrated version of the classic tale by Beni Montresor shows us is that we do not know the original story by Charles Perrault. That is not to say that readers of this version of "Little Red Riding Hood" will find anything particularly new in this version, beyond the idea that the title character is bringing a cake and a little pot of butter to her sick grandmother, but rather than certain elements that they have taken for granted lo these many years were not there in the beginning.

With his artwork Montresor lulls readers into a false sense of security, as we enjoy the familiar beginning of the story and see the little red hood that the little girl's grandmother has made for her. Most children will be amused by the dapper white suit that the wolf wears when he encounters Little Red Riding Hood in the forest (note that Perrault answers the question that many of us had when first becoming inquisitive enough to start poking holes in the story regarding why the wolf does not devour the little girl as soon as they meet in the woods). However, once the wolf replaces the grandmother in the bed and lures Little Red Riding Hood closer to his big teeth, young readers are going to quickly realize that this is not the familiar version of the story that they know.

Consequently one thing that can be said for sure is that Montresor's version of "Little Red Riding Hood" is not the first one that young children should learn. Let them become familiar with the sanitized version of the tale, which is par for the course these days (read very young children the original version of "Cinderella" where we learn what the step-sisters did to get their oversized feet to fit in the glass slipper, which will tell you why it was made of glass, and you could scar them for life). Perrault's story is much more in keeping with the grisly fairy tales of a couple of centuries back and Montresor's artwork plays up such elements, so be forewarned.

The introduction to this book is provided by the opera singer Luciana Pavarotti, who recalls how he thrilled to this tale being told by his grandfather. Pavarotti recalls how he identified with Little Red Riding Hood because he shared her fears. When you read this book you will understand why he could call this a violent, mysterious tale, especialy with Montresor's artwork to bring out those aspects of the story.