The Empire Books

This is one of the better books written on Taj Mahal, Taj Mahal was built by the Mughals (Muslim emporers) who were the greatest people when it comes to invent & innovate art & architecture, they (Mughals) blessed pre-British India (India & Pakistan region)with their wonderful architecture, I highly recommend it, also I think the following two books will be excellent to add to your collection

1)Taj Mahal by Jean-Louis Nou

2)The Taj Mahal (Great Buildings) by Christine Moorcroft,

This book is very well written..I just got it somedays back..& let me say that this is one of the good books I have read..it takes us back to the mystical era of the Mughals (Mughlas were Muslim emporers who invaded present India & Pakistan region & created beautiful architectures Taj Mahal (Agra, India), Badshahee Mosque(Lahore, Pakistan)) & a lot of other architectures & gardens) this books describes their (Mughals) life style...I definitely reccomend it...but the best thing you can do is go to India & Pakistan yourself & see their architecture for yourselves...during my stay in Lahore (Pakistan) I visited different Mughal architectures & one garden built my Mughals..it was wonderful..I visited a Mughal fort (in Lahore) in the fort their was a thing which really caught me...their was a very big water pool..& right in the middle of that water pool was a small square shape marble made sitting place for Mughal women & it was connected by a marble path to the end of the pool...& I was like wowwww....these Mughals were I think the only emporers in the world with a sense of building beautiful architecture..I think other emporers destroyed the architecture but never bothered to built any architecture..but the Mughals not only did they built the architecture..but they built one of the best that can be seen..I have seen Taj Mahal in Agra, India (built by Mughal emporer Shah Jehan) for his dead wife..thats really a touching piece of architecture...then there is a Mosque in Lahore (Pakistan)..Badshahee mosque..the architecture & the beauty of this mosque is wonderful..their are many other architectures (Forts & Gardens)..though most of their architecure is mosques)...you can only enjoy their architecture if you see it with your own eyes ...ok I think now I will shut up..heheh & let you enjoy this book :)

One of the most astonishing cultures in history, the Mughals created art and architecture that continue to delight and astonish. There society successfully mixed two divergent religions, Islam and Hinduism, in ways that we today can only regard with wonder.

Rothfarb has presented the most delightful and provocative introduction to time in history that I can imagine (I have read probably 45 books on the period and visited India a few times). He ties together not only Mughal culture, but India's ancient past, its religion, its mores, and culture showing the Mughals in a far wider and more accessible context than any other book I have seen. If I were to write a nonfiction book about this culture, this is the book I would want to write.

While targeted (apparently) at juveniles, it is more than suitable for adults as well.

If this is your subject, this is your book.

It is quite moving to read and love a book about a place you actually hated while living there(years ago). Such a strong sense of California and its inland landscape in this book. I recommend it for collectors of regional works and for people who once lived in or near the Inland Empire.

INLANDIA represents the first Inland Empire literary anthology - the region described as the area east of Los Angeles - and packs in stories and insights by both native and non-Inland Empire natives. Many have been inspired to write about the area; but typically these writings have been spread out over mediums and areas, so it's especially notable to see them altogether under one cover. It's a solid pick of literary reflections and images promising to reach a wide audience of the region; from college-level collections to general-interest lending libraries with special interests in the Inland Empire.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Long the Rodney Dangerfield of Southern California, the Inland Empire sits about an hour east of Los Angeles and encompasses the fast-growing counties of Riverside and San Bernardino.

Far from the beaches of Malibu, it is a tough land, some say, the home of biker gangs and urban sprawl, a land buffeted by the unrelenting Santa Ana (or "Devil") winds that can flip cars and jangle nerves. Tell an Angeleno that you make your home in the Inland Empire and be prepared for the condescending half-smile followed by a wisecrack: "Oh, the methamphetamine capital of the world."

But this era of insult might have come to an end, if Heyday Books and Santa Clara University have any say in it. Inlandia: A Literary Journey through California's Inland Empire, meticulously edited by Gayle Wattawa ($18.95 paperback), is an ambitious collection that finally gives the area its due as a culturally and historically vital component of Southern California.

In the anthology's introduction, Riverside native and National Book Award finalist Susan Straight tells us that she has striven to infuse her writing with "the fierceness we retain in these small places where people loved their own with the vehemence, the stubborn and suspicious and inventive qualities required to survive this part of Southern California."

Straight is not alone in attempting to depict all the complexities and beauty of the Inland Empire and its people. More than 70 authors are represented in fiction, poetry, native legends, journal entries and other writings from the 1700s to the present.

Some of the writers enjoy worldwide fame and have been translated into many languages. We're treated to an excerpt from a 1930 tough-guy novelette, "Blood-Red Gold," by Erle Stanley Gardner, the creator of Perry Mason. And there's the exquisitely creepy essay, "Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream" by Joan Didion, concerning a woman accused of murder in the 1960s. Other "big names" abound, including Norman Mailer, John Steinbeck, Joan Baez and Raymond Chandler.

Wattawa includes newer voices, writers who have lived or are living in the region and who feel compelled to chronicle the history and culture of their home through fiction. Kathleen Alcalá, who grew up in San Bernardino, offers the short story "Gypsy Lover," a haunting tale of one girl's attempt to come to terms with her older sister's mysterious disappearance. And in "Georgie and Wanda," Michael Jaime-Becerra skillfully fictionalizes the racial bigotry faced by a young couple in Riverside circa 1956.

Many of the nonfiction pieces are simply heartbreaking. Diary excerpts from George Fujimoto Jr. starkly recount the federal government's rounding up of his family members, who were housed in Arizona internment camps for the duration of World War II. Similarly, Malcolm Margolin's "The Cupueño Expulsion of 1903" details the removal of a native people for their valuable land.

Smaller-scale tragedies are perfectly rendered here, too, as in Alex Espinoza's powerful short story, "Santo Niño," that brings us into the lives of two young women as they battle economic hardship, infertility and strained relationships. And in "hap & hazard highland" by Keenan Norris, a young ex-con tries to reconnect with his old neighborhood as well as with his youthful dreams.

At the turn of each page, there are surprising little shocks as we enter themes radically different from the one before. For example, after the essay "909," Percival Everett's wry and provocative contemplation of Riverside County, out of the blue follows Sholeh Wolpé's poem, "Morning After the U.S. Invasion of Iraq," in which the community of Redlands seems unfazed by the beginning of the war: "The chatter is as always, quiet, / The smiles as always, broad."

No review can fully capture the breadth and spirit of this remarkable anthology. Suffice it to say that each author surprises, informs and entertains. Inlandia paints a complex and compelling portrait of a region that is simultaneously beautiful and harsh, multicultural and alienating, vibrant and destructive. Without question, it is a portrait that commands our respect. [This review first appeared in the El Paso Times.]

After reading this very creditable biography I donated it to the local public library.

I recall many rather cryptic remarks made by my grandmother years ago during Sunday trips to Cleveland about the Public Square and the Terminal Tower. She remembered the Mall project and other aspects of Cleveland that were obscure even in the fifties. These rather hazy recollections have now been re-examined inder the considerable light that Mr. Harwood has brought to the Van Sweringen brothers who were averse to publicity, even though they figured so much in the development of Cleveland in the 20th century. And their reach went far beyond that--these facts were not widely known. Excellent source.

I read a lot of books on train history. Once I started this one I could not put it down. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in railroad history during the glory days.

I grew up on the border of Cleveland Heights/Shaker Heights off Fairmount Blvd.A gradeschool classmate was Bernie Bernet. As a boy I rode my bicycle over to Shaker Blvd. to watch the Rapids go by. AtCWRU a colleague was Ian Haberman and my fellow members of NORM are Tolman and Wayne Hayes. I walked the East Cleveland Rapid line when it still stood empty. I was making notes for this history in about 1950. Except for the buying and selling of the various railroads, this book is a part of my life. I know every inch of it and except for a very few very tiny slips (in the maps mostly)it is a masterpiece. And the very book itself, without the contents, is a first class production.

These compilations of interviews are the accomplishments of Jose Fraguas, who has gone through the effort of extracting and editing many of these interviews from their original sources (often magazines inaccessible to the rest of us due to date of publication or what-have-you). What a treat to read the thoughts of Morio Higaonna (pg 97) and Teruo Hayashi of Goju Ryu, Masatoshi Nakayama (pg 225) and Turuyuki Okazaki(285) of Shotokan, Kenei Mabuni (pg 165), Kenzo Mabuni (pg 177) and Minobu Miki(235) or Shorin ryu, European Karate Pioneer Henri Plee(303), South African Shotokan Pioneer Stan Schmidt(321), and American Karate Pioneer Ray Dalke(29)! Not to mention Elite Historian Harry Cook(1) of the UK, and The USA's own William Domitrich(pg 71) of the Chito-Ryu...so many names, such little space for me to name them all! Yet what a wonderful combination from a variety of respected schools.

Suffice it to say, if you are a martial arts history buff, you will have a tough time putting this volume down. You will enjoy Higaonna's truths about his sensei Anichi Miyagi as much as Ray Dalke's story of his break with Nakayama Sensei. Honest, eye-opening, and honestly, enjoyable! I often felt as if I was in the same room as these men, afforded the opportunity to learn from their experiences.

A terrific opportunity at an unheard of price. My only fault with the series is that the name of the original interviewer and the publication it first appeared in is left off. A bibliography at least would have been nice. Nonetheless, who could miss the personal histories of Fumio Demora (55), Tak Kubota (153), Dan Ivan (111), Kanazawa (127) and more? Absolutely worth it!

For those who are interested on martial arts, and specifically karate, this is a must have book. Great interviews with great masters. Makes you understand the essence of practicing karate.

A very readable and enjoyable collection of interviews with famous masters and exponents in the karate world. Alas, some of my favorites, such as Mabune and Nakayama, have passed away since this book was published, but Fraguas has done us the service of immortalizing their thoughts on karate in this great little volume. You'll find dozens of famous masters here, and it includes interviews with well known American and European experts (such as Dan Ivan, Chuck Merriman, and Ray Dalke in the U.S., and H. D. Plee in France) as well as Okinawan and Japanese masters. At the time of these interviews, many of these masters were already in their 50s, 60s, or 70s, and it was interesting to hear their thoughts on the evolution of karate during their lifetimes, as well as how their understanding of karate had changed or deepened with age. There were some surprises too, when I learned that Kanazawa had been studying Yang style tai chi since 1957 and was rated a master in it (he mentions there are 7 levels to Yang tai chi and he holds the highest level). He feels that tai chi has helped his karate, which was interesting, since I study tai chi and have found it useful to me also in many ways. Overall, a very fine book of fascinating and informative interviews with many of the most famous names in karate of our time.

Since our family once used the Key-System, it was great to read about it, and see all the places it went to.

This book was everything I hoped it would be. As a railway buff and a fan of the Key System it is a great addition to my library

I'm very impressed with the photos in this book. Some of these seem to be newly discovered. My father rode the Key System Bay Bridge trains during the 1950s as I mentioned in my review for another Key system book.

It is fitting that this book was published about one year before last months's 50th anniversary of the end of the Key System's Bay Bridge rail service on Sunday April 20th, 2008 as reported in the April 18 th issue of the San Francisco Chronicle. Although I can't think of a more sadder and tragic day to remember than this, volunteers at the Western Railway Museum north of San Francisco observed it by operating to two surviving Key System bridge units.

This is one of the best books about the Northwest. Corr does a great job blending the story of an activist family with the rise of Seattle after World War II. Next to "Skid Road," my favorite on Seattle. Should be a movie. A great female lead character in Dorothy Bullitt.

Corr's book is more valuable than the narrow title suggests. More than a history of a powerful Seattle family and its TV-Radio empire, Corr's larger theme is the post-war growth of Seattle, the price of its progress and the universal tension between idealism and commerce. This story is interesting because Dorothy Bullitt did not set out to make money in the new medium of TV. Rather, she and her son, Stimson, created a new media force that shook up the sleepy newspaper-dominated local media. Well into the 70's KING-TV scooped many big stories. Corr does a masterful job of tracing the early deviations from the "King ideal"--Dorothy's dumping of her son in favor of Ancil Payne, the shift from hard news to TV celebrities, and the ultimate cash out by Payne and Dorothy's daughters. Along the way Corr paints many colorful portraits--the Machiavellian Payne, Dorothy's hopelessly dysfunctional grandchildren, the bright and attractive Jean Enersen--the lone remaining link to the glory days, the irasicble Don McGaffin--a throwback to the hard drinking, hard working, macho muckrakers of the turn of the century, and the glib, shallow Jim Foreman--the self-described "ratings machine" and low water mark for KING's television journalism. There is much to savor in this well written and colorful book. One hopes that Corr will soon devote his considerable talent to a subject with broader appeal.

Corr has done lovers of radio, and television, specifically those of us in the Pacific Northwest a tremendous favor, capturing the drama of the Bullitt family. His writing is lively and the story is compelling in its narritive detail. You'll learn of the struggles, gambles and tremendous paybacks the Bulletts made as they began and grew their broadcasting kingdom. If I had any criticism, it would be that the book is a little short of details concerning KING-AM and KGW-AM's heydays as Top 40 Rock N Roll outlets. The author completely fails to include, KINK-FM, one of the most interesting and hybrid FM radio stations in the country. If you are at all interested in radio, television or Northwest business history, this is definately a book worthy of purchasing.

I found the first chapter of this book rather tedious. It is about the teaching of Latin in schools and universities, and shows, by way of innumerable examples (a trait of the book as a whole - the author's range of research is truly amazing), the dominance that Latin had in the secondary school syllabus even for a decade or so after the end of the Second World War. In the 16th century, where this book begins, teaching was often done in Latin; at Oxford a statute of 1636 even required students to converse with each other in Latin, and in Prussian schools Latin was still spoken between pupils and between them and their teachers in the middle of the 19th century. Oxford and Cambridge required Latin as a condition for entry until the 1960s and 1970s, and therefore many schools had perforce to continue teaching it. (In a later entertaining section we learn how the young would compensate for the tedium of their instruction by inventing skits - sometimes scabrous ones - on the language.) But from the 18th century onwards teaching in the vernacular made more and more headway; and this, too, is illustrated with many examples. What is completely missing in this chapter is an account of the arguments in defence and (except for one or to examples) in opposition to compulsory Latin, or indeed of the sociological forces that were at play on both sides. For that kind of analysis we have to wait till Part III, the last two-fifths of the book. Before we get there, we are given a devastating picture of how, right back to at least the 17th century, only a very small proportion of pupils benefitted from - let alone enjoyed - their studies in Latin: the great majority, after 10 or more years of study, could scarcely understand a Latin text.

It is odd that the Latin of the Catholic Church should be the subject of only the second chapter; for surely the commanding position of Latin has its origin in the Church. This chapter is much better, for it gives explanations together with the exposition. The Catholic Church was suspicious of lay people being able to read the scriptures for themselves and interpreting it in a `heretical' sense; and it did its best to oppose translations into the vernacular; and though it accepted sermons in the vernacular and eventually even sanctioned translations of the scriptures, it insisted until Vatican II in 1963 that the liturgy must be in a language that even some of the lower clergy often mouthed without really understanding it. (Waquet does not mention the origin of the words `hocus pocus' - which is what laymen heard when the words `hoc est corpus meum' were gabbled by the clergy during the `magical' transformation of the wafer into the body of Christ.) The Catholic Church believed that a language which was no longer changing was appropriate for liturgies that expressed unchanging truths and for uniting Catholics all over the world.

The fact that Latin was read all over the world also made it for a long time the language of scientists, or indeed of any scholarly text that hoped for international distribution. Many works, originally written in the vernacular, were translated for this purpose into Latin. Even today, new words used in medicine are being concocted in Latin; Linnaeus' Latin or Latinized botanical descriptions are still in use, as are the symbols for elements in chemistry. In the multilingual Habsburg Empire Latin was widely used in administration (and in Hungarian Diet as the language of debate until 1840). The Treaty of Rastadt in 1714 was the first to be written in French; but until then Latin was the language of international treaties and frequently of diplomatic correspondence. However, when people spoke to each other in Latin, they often could hardly understand each other because each country, and often each region, pronounced Latin (even Church Latin) quite differently. (When I was at prep school myself, I was taught to pronounce `veni, vidi, vici' like `veenigh, veedigh, vighkigh', and had to unlearn this at later stages of my education.)

In Part III we at last come to the barrage of fiercely maintained arguments in favour of compulsory Latin: through Latin grammar one gets a better understanding of vernacular grammar; its study is a unique mental discipline in logic and its difficulties are good for the soul; it connects you with the loftiest part of the European inheritance; the moral qualities it conveys stand in contrast to the materialism taught by the sciences; some even claimed that it was a defence against Marxism as well as against Americanization; a Tsarist minister of education praised it for `inhibit[ing] the formation of independent opinions'.

And of course the knowledge of Latin was associated with class, status and power. In England successful entrepreneurs who had had no Latin and were not `gentlemen' would send their children to schools where they were taught the classics and so would become gentlemen. On the continent, the children of the poor were often deliberately kept away from Latin lest it encourage them to aspirations beyond their station. The medical and legal professions often used Latinity to bemuse and intimidate the laity. Latin was also used euphemistically to avoid the use of `coarse' and embarrassing vernacular words, usually to protect the modesty of women, only a tiny proportion of whom knew any Latin at all.

It is easy to understand why the modern world has abandoned Latin as any kind of staple. It is perhaps a miracle is that it survived as a staple for as long as it did; its defenders often went to quite absurd lengths; but this book explains what gave it its long-lasting sway. Although much of the material in it is very repetitive, it is very readable (and well translated by John Howe), and often entertaining.

This is a thought provoking book about the teaching of Latin in traditional, mostly European, educational systems from the 16th through 20th centuries. The author cites numerous examples of the way in which the prestige of knowing or being forced to learn Latin shaped the educational process as well the sometimes unwilling students who needed to acquire a fair amount of Latin in order to be full participants in this "empire." Highly interesting as a social/linguistic history in its own right,much of what Waquet describes could also be applied to any number of other class/educational factors that seemingly separate those who are inside or outside the system. No Latin ("dead language") basher, the author actually provides examples for the continued utilty of the study of Latin, albeit in a more specialized mode than those who wish to restore the classics to a place of prominince might wish. Highly readable for a scholarly book of this sort.

As the XVIII century advanced, the Latin language tended increasingly to decline in favour of the French, which reigned for the whole XIX century, before itself meeting competition from English.

In a sense it was the end of an era, a long late summer appropriately marked by the French revolution, the Napoleonic wars and the ensuing spreading of nationalisms. The "death" of Latin was more a kind of slow fading away: while it was increasingly superseded by French in the Republic of Letters and in the international diplomacy, it knew his last melancholy bright days with the philological studies in the German universities and the creation of Gymnasium: dissected, revered and enshrined it was no more than the cadaver of that great sovereign who ruled the European continent for so many centuries.

Universal language par excellence, Latin never ceased to be used in Europe even after the fall of the Roman Empire and the spreading of the new national languages. But in the meanwhile its use had changed substantially: from everyday language, increasingly to universal language in the double role of "sacred" language (for liturgy and Scriptures) and language of power and diplomacy. Then with Renaissance it finds a new role as language of culture: it is a second spring, because it becomes the supranational official language of the humanism first, and then of the so called Republic of Letters. Decline is only slowed none the less. Parallel to these roles, others are less obvious: aristocratic language, with its power of exclusion, the power to "say and conceal" and its obvious immediate uselessness that can become a mark of distinction for a proto-leisure class (Veblen).

"Latin or the Empire of a Sign. From the XVI to the XX century" is an outstanding essay on the evolution and role of this language in the European culture.
Well written, in a lively and colloquial style, sprinkled with examples, citations and anecdotes, it successfully captures the attention of the reader.
Certainly, the theme is very specific and targeted to an readership interested in the development of European culture and in Greco-Latin philology, none the less the writer has been able to arrange a "reader-friendly" text: all Latin citations are translated, every theme is carefully expressed in a way that also uninitiated can fully understand.

I found this book almost by chance: a few years ago had read a very flattering review of it, but as often happens, I forgot and reading did not follow. This is a study that springs from a former essay written by Francoise Waquet with Hans Bots: "La République des Lettres" (unfortunately still not translated into English), of which Latin was the common jargon.

So why Latin could be such an alluring theme?
Well, because it was a common primeval language, a common mark in the identity of a culture before the Babel-like fragmentation of the Romantic period.
By looking at the story of the decadence of Latin, the development of the Continental culture can be understood more clearly: the decision of Louis XIV to favor a national literary language and the French great literary blooming (the age of Racine, Molière, Pascal,...) that precede the spread of French as common language of the European Enlightenment, the rise of bourgeoisie and the French Revolution, up to Vatican II Council in the XX century. But still in the XVII century Spinoza, by family and culture Ladino and Dutch-speaking , had to learn Latin to compose his treaties - and we can guess he did speak and write Latin with the Great Condé, with Leibniz and Oldenburg.
So first sacred language of religion and priesthood, then universal language for the Renaissance savants, diplomatic jargon in the European court and common idiom of the European cultural space, increasingly threatened by new national ambitions: the French decision to use national language for diplomatic treaties (to mark the national grandeur) and the development of true national cultures favored by the rise of a new middle class.

Mme Waquet is neutral in presenting the argument: she is neither against Latin nor nostalgic of the Latin golden age: she carefully gives voice to all parties in a well balanced and very convincing portrait. Most of the chapters actually deal with the pedagogic means used to learn Latin, and the contrabanded "virtues" of the fluency in that language.
Nevertheless sometimes the books presents passages of a great evocative force: the title in the first place with its suggestive "Empire of a Sign", the chapters dealing with the French Restoration (the "signe Européen" of Joseph the Maistre, Chateaubriand,...) up to scattered citations. One especially got my attention, and truly deserves to be fully cited:

"The writer Marie Noel, who regarded herself as "ignorant" ("I know no more Latin than my mother, my grandmother and their servants"), gives an admirable description of this experience which was certainly not hers alone: «The words, many times repeated, of Veni Creator, Miserere, De Profundis, Magnificat, Te Deum and all the others had become within us our family treasure». Her "Notes intimes" give a clear impression of what it was like to have contact with a language that - apart from everything else - was neither read nor-spoken, but sung, and that was therefore inseparable from its musical coating: «The little girl of Auxerre will begin ... on hearing Christmas carols, the moving monody of the Stabat, . . . to become aware of the power of words». Words, moreover, that resounded in the nave of a cathedral whose rich decor accentuated the impression they made.
«I had just turned nine, my grandmother took me with her. For me it the entrance to a sublime world, outside the other one, a world in which god and men exchanged unprecedented words that had no meaning in other countries. On the evening of All Saints' Day, at six o'clock, the two of us made our way into the great Night of the Cathedral which at that hour, under its prodigious vaults, had neither beginning nor end... In the tower the knell tolled... that admirable knell of Auxerre Cathedral, a tragic group of deep bells that burst suddenly into sobbing - five or six heartbreaking notes - and then fell back into silence from which, after a few minutes of anguish, they would break out once more in sombre tears drawn from some unknowable well of suffering and fear... Nevertheless, we sang along with the priests! »" (pag.102)

I did read this book because of my passion for the history of the European culture and also because of my old studies in Greco-Latin philology.
This book is unique in his genre, and while I strongly recommend it, it is not easy to suggest other books on the same theme. Nonetheless, I think that these titles could be excellent associates:
- "The Republic of Letters. A cultural History of the French Enlightenment" by Dena Goodman. Very interesting and well written, but uneven in the result, and sometimes with a too marked militant feminist approach (yet the author doesn't seem to appreciate the fact that Enlightenment was the first period in which women had a true relevant cultural role).
- "The Age of Conversation" by Benedetta Craveri - a must read for sure! Gripping like a novel and hugely learned, this is the story of the development of that culture of bonne manieres, intelligent conversation, informal culture and tact that we now tend to associate with Enlightenment and the last years of the Ancien Regime.
- "The Renaissance Bazaar. From the silk road to Michelangelo" by Jerry Brotton. One of the best presentation of the European Renaissance I had the chance to read: extremely lively and hugely learned (if interested, I have written a review on it)
- "Scribes and Scholars" by L.D. Reynold & N.G. Wilson, still unsurpassed introduction to classical philology. One of the few books in which academic and poetical are not incompatible adjectives. Extremely interesting the chapters dealing with the re-discovery of classical Latin texts, the struggle to emendate from errors and improve understanding.

You are truly welcome if you can suggest other readings or just share ideas and comments!
Thanks for reading.

Being written near the time of the events this book portrays the lives of the first 12 Caesars in the writing style of the period.This is not how history is written today;and it allows a bright light to be shone on both public & private lies of the Caesars.It feels as if Suetonious is speaking to the reader privately.It is a superb account of the time.

I have read many biographies of famous historical figures, written by modern scholars, but none had the immediacy, the thrilling emphasis to minor details and the power of words that Suetonius' work features. The Roman historian proves that he was a true child of the classical world, having the gift of telling his stories in a few but full of meaning sentences. I think that after reading Suetonius one has a powerful image of every emperor as a human being first and as a ruler second. Hats off to the ancient writers who are the top specialists to explain the inner secrets of their society and epoch!

When you need a break from memorizing the dates of the Punic Wars, are bored speculating over what kind of salt the Romans used to sow Carthaginian fields, have given up on finding Philippi on any modern map, and can't quite recall the names of the dramatis personae during the year of the three emperors, this book will re-stimulate your interest in history by gratifying the natural human desire to learn more about crime in high places.

Imagine, all the gravitas reeking Romans were up to treason, homicide, intrigue, incest, bestiality, gifting poison mushrooms and assorted produce, adultery, simple theft, complex theft, tax cheating, forgery, perjury, matricide, patricide, fratricide, suicide, sistercide, and murdering or marrying thier neices, and all sorts of stuff not normal entertainment at church family picnics nor encouraged at the office.

A question does arise - was Suetonius accurate or fair? I think not; he is a delightful scandalmonger who makes no pretense at being fair and his sources undoubtedly included talk show hosts from the Forum's late night hour. Tiberius is for example portrayed as a monster; but he seemed to be a talented administrator himself or had the sense to hire those who were. Claudius while making very poor choices in wives and prone to some silly enthusiasms was very prudent in his foreign policy, by-and-large avoiding killling foreign folks who didn't enlist for suicide.

Overall a great book; just take it with a pinch of Roman salt.

This book may be helpful for every person interested in the French Revolution. It shows a "reactionary" vision of the Revolution, and describes all the human right violations done by the revolutionaries. In de Maistre's view, the French Revolution is a divine punishment for France. France had not follow its special vocation: to be a stronghold of the christian faith, and therefore came the Revolution. Perhaps the most interesting thing is that all De Maistre's predictions became true, specially the Restauration of Monarchy. Most books about the French Revolution are pure apologies. If you want to read something very different, read this book.

Joseph de Maistre is one of the harshest counter-revolutionary critics of the French Revolution. He calls for a return to traditional Catholicism and the Restoration of the monarchy. The book _Considerations on France_ takes a look at his arguments for that tradition and his understanding of the dark side of human existence through his unique Christian perspective. De Maistre was both a Freemason and a Roman Catholic, an arch-conservative traditionalist, and a strong believer in the primacy of papal authority in the secular and spiritual realms. In this book, he criticizes those eighteenth century philosophers and their belief in progress and the "social contract" ideal. He explains why the traditional development of society is more appropriate, given the rootedness of man in sin. This is an important work to understand the thought of De Maistre, a Catholic reactionary.

The Frenchman Joseph de Maistre published this counter-revolutionary political manifesto, _Considerations on France_, as a protest against the chaos unleashed on Europe following the French Revolution. De Maistre is credited for setting the tone for the conservative, pro-monarchist political right in Catholic and Continental Europe for the subsequent ninetieth century, as a sort of French contemporary of the esteemed British conservative, Edmund Burke. De Maistre glorifies war and violence as rooted in mankind's primordial fall from divine grace. De Maistre even goes so far as to view the executioner and the soldier as human agents of divine wrath against those who transgress the higher realm. Attempts to improve the human condition through revolutionary politics and high-blown rhetoric regarding "democracy" and "equality" are cursed to fail. These revolutionary movements will only collapse because of their disconnection with reality and their inability to comprehend the dark side of human nature. Instead, political change must be brought about through a gradual process. Traditions that go beyond human memory into the obscure mists of history have a quality of the a-rational, or the divine, about them. The sacred altar and the crown may be defended by force if necessary. It is curious that de Maistre, writing in the 1790s and early 1800s, predicted the restoration of the Bourbon family to the French monarchy after the military defeat of Napoleon.

I checked this book out from the library and loved it so much that I'm going to purchase a copy to own. Other reviewers have covered the fiction/fact aspect of the book, so I'll limit my comments to the beauty of the story and the illustrations. Adult readers familiar with Joseph Campbell will recognize elements of the hero-tale framework in the narrative. The story itself is compelling and captivating to children and adults alike. My 5 1/2 year old son eagerly chose it as his bed-time story every night until we finished it. (It's a long read-aloud for one sitting -- too long for a 5 year old at bedtime.) My 7 year old daughter and I were equally enthralled.

The illustrations are incredibly rich and detailed, with African-influenced stylization. They are fully up to the task of supporting the beautiful narrative. The paintings, along with some illustrative detail inserted into the text areas of the story give the book a regal, special feel, almost as if it should be handled reverently.

This book would be a wonderful addition to anyone's book collection and would make a beautiful gift. I also recommend the book "Sundiata: Lion King of Mali" by David Wisniewski as a prequel. Sundiata is portrayed as Mansa Musa's grandfather in the Burns book -- a detail which may or may not be factual. Regardless, it's another well told and nicely illustrated Mali legend.

If you are looking for a strictly historical book, go elsewhere. The main story is entirely fictional. However, it is beautifully told and gorgeously illustrated, and it is well researched historical fiction. No, we know nothing of the childhood of the famous Mansa Musa--however, the portrayal of the cultures and ways of life of the people is vivid and accurate, and this legend-like tale will surely gain a deserving place in the canon of children's literature.

For educational use, this is of fairly limited *factual* use because of the dearth of written accounts about Mansa Musa and his reign and, as a result, the fictional nature of the main narrative. However, the epilogue is factual (if not completely impervious to debate), and the entire book would be great as a fictional supplement to the study of the Middle Ages, especially as it takes the point of view of a non-Western culture and focuses upon an important historical figure who is often glossed over (because of lack of information and his lack of impact upon the West) in typical courses of study.

This book would be excellent for people of any background who enjoy history, good story-telling, and breathtaking illustrations.

For other great, beautifully illustrated, African-oriented picture books, try these:

Why do Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears? - an animal myth

The Marriage of the Rain-Goddess - based on a South African myth, it contains many elements common to African folklore and fairytales (such as the substitute bride)

African Princess - nonfiction about 6 royal women of Africa, from ancient Egypt to the 20th (and 21st) century. Painted illustrations are limited to one portrait per woman, but the book is fascinating and unusual, and photographs are skillfully chosen to complement the text.

African Princes - Complement to African Princesses.

There is a great deal of historical evidence in support of the mighty empire of Mali and the trek of the great king Mansa Musa across the Sahara Desert to Mecca. Some European historical accounts have him listed as the king of all of Africa. There is solid historical evidence that he lived in the early 1300's and further evidence that a mighty fleet of ships departed from the kingdom and made landfall in the Western Hemisphere during his reign. This would mean that their arrival predated the voyage of Christopher Columbus by almost two centuries.
This story is an account of the life of Mansa Musa before he became king, and while the background is historically accurate, most of the account of his life before he became king is fictional. Some of it is based on cultural myths that are still part of the Mali culture, but it is clear that there were once mighty empires in Africa. I found this book very interesting because it tells of an aspect of African history that we in the west rarely if ever hear about. The empires of Egypt and Nubia are part of the historical education of every western child, but the mighty nations that once existed in other parts of Africa are largely ignored. Most of the Africans captured and sold into slavery were from the northwest section of Africa and it is a western cultural myth that they were savages. From the historical events on which this book is based, a strong and civilized nation existed in that area several centuries before the slave trade began.
The authors do a good job in writing about the early life of Mansa Musa. It is an appropriate blend of a story for children with just enough adult features to make it appeal to all ages. Once I completed the book, my interest was so aroused that I did an online search for books on Mansa Musa and the empire of Mali.