Historical Books

Although Jimmy was bitter and had a temper, he was a loving and mis-understood person. He truly cared about people. There was a lot of Action and suspense in this novel. This is one of the best American novels I have ever read.

Mark
London, England

His country forgot him, his friends abandoned him, and his family didn't know what to do with him. Jimmy O'Neal, a war hero, was alienated by everyone except for his sweam team whom admired, adored, and loved him. This is an interesting book. My English class just completed this amazing novel and everyone was touched by it. Great book.

Caleb Ryan, Dorchester, Ma

Many people have been writing articles, stories and novels about urban sprawl. Mr. Britt is just another one of those authors. This is cliche and played out. He needs to add a twist to it. Nice try, but not good enough.

Jenna, Franklin, N.H.

I lost my brother to alcholism. Seeing Jimmy O'Neal win the battle of alcolism was inspiring. I wish my brother could have read it. It may have saved his life.

Alyssa Shultz, Sidney Australia

My brother is getting ready to join the Marines. I will be worried when he goes to War. This book has helped him to realize that there are many people who have gone before him and had the courage to survive. I hope he meets someone like Jimmy O'Neal to lead him in battle.

First, I must say that I do not like to race through these novels. Instead, I like to read them slowly and savor every page. That was hard to do this time because this was a real page turner, an excellent follow-up to the previous installment.

Once I had finished The Reverse of the Medal, I instantly began pouring over this one, and indeed it was uplifting. Any fan of these books will be very pleased with this episode.

However, what I like best about these novels is the friendship between the characters. It says alot about honor, devotion, and true friendship, which I believe is the finest element of this series. That quality is particularly apparent in this novel.

Simply put, these books mostly get better and better as they go, and this one is probably my favorite of the lot (up through #14 at this point). Adversity strikes, and the boys are tested to the limit. Wonderful stuff from a spectacular writer.

I don't have time for a long analysis, but these books are fantastic. I am on my second read-through of the series, and this time I am buying them as I read them. I have never been interested in the sea or ships or the military, (I used to wonder why anyone would have a painting of a ship in their house, waste of wall space), but now I have a whole new respect and admiration. Patrick O'Brien brings the English navy to life in a way that evokes feelings of pride, sympathy, horror, elation and pure heart-pounding anticipation. The contrast of the main characters, Aubrey and Maturin, is amusing sometimes, often heart-warming. The galaxy of supporting characters is rich with personalities and details. The only character I really don't like is Diana, but she does lend another facet to Stephen's persona. All in all, I highly recommend this series, they are the best historical novels I have ever read.

After being deprived of his rank as post captain in "The reverse of the medal" Aubrey starts a new career as a "letter of marque" (private man-of-war) is started in this book. It's the characteristic seal of the series, it's a story of efforts and success, it enforces you to have read "The reverse", and to continue with "The thirteen -gun salute". If it will be your first book in the series it won't be the last. Save you don`t like this kinda book, then better don`t step through its board, and keep away of such a seizing.

It is a bit unfair of me to say that Patrick O'Brian's "The Letter of Marque" is a "character-driven" novel. Indeed, one of the many joys of O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series is his ability to sustain and develop such compelling characters over a long series ("LoM" is the twelfth book).

But while there is a fair amount of action in this novel, what distinguishes "LoM" is O'Brian's further exploration of his two heroes, Captain "Lucky Jack" Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin.

The novel opens with Aubrey bereft after being unfairly stripped from the lists in the Royal Navy. Unfairly charged and convicted of a financial scheme in which he played an entirely unwitting part, Aubrey has had his lifeline to the Navy cut as harshly as with a boarding axe. Now this merry captain, who used to delight in dreadful puns and baroque music, has been reduced to a cold, frightening visage. Remote, distant, joyless, Aubrey is at his lowest ebb.

Thankfully, Aubrey's boon companion, Dr. Maturin, has a lifeline. Thanks to a prodigious inheritance, Maturin buys Aubrey's beloved H.M.S. Surprise and outfits her as a privateer - with the titular letter of marque. This letter essentially authorizes the Surprise to be a pirate for the British Navy. While this offers Aubrey a chance to go to sea in his favorite ship, this joy is tempered by the shame that is attached to the word "privateer" by the serving sailors of the Royal Navy. Aubrey feels this acutely.

But privateer or no, the command of the Surprise offers Aubrey the chance at redemption through a heroic action . . . possibly even reinstatement to the lists! And so Aubrey leads the Surprise into various actions, including a complicated night-time raid on a French-held port to steal a ship from under French noses. O'Brian writes these scenes as only he can.

But this novel is not only about Aubrey. Dr. Maturin continues to ply his intelligence trade. He also continues to struggle with his two demons - an addiction to opium and an addition to Diane Villiers, his estranged wife. Maturin has heard that Diane has fled to Sweden with the attractive Swedish colonel Jagiello after she heard (incorrectly) that Maturin was having an affair in Malta. And so Maturin heads north to confront her, and possibly Jagiello, with the truth.

All of these plots allow O'Brian to explore both Aubrey's and Maturin's characters in new ways. Aubrey has had his troubles before with the law, but those were always civil matters involving nothing more than unsavory characters. Here, Aubrey is confronted with shame for the first time. Maturin also must confront his own nature, for as a man of intellect and science, he is not proud to be addicted to either a drug or a woman. And yet he is.

"The Letter of Marque" may be the shortest of the Aubrey-Maturin novels so far, but there is a lot of meat on this small bone. Do not read this novel unless you have read those that come before - the characters won't make nearly as much sense. But you will be thankful once you get to this novel - it is well worth the wait.

I really enjoyed this fictional portrayal of the woman at the well. Her strength came alive, not just her shortcomings. It made you think, about your past, present and your future. And it most important lesson of all was that it is not where you are it is where you are going. My thought process was challenged by Hendricks portrayal of Christ which was as I found out later his intention.

This book is wonderful. The women's guild at my church featured it as a topic of a book discussion last year. We had the pleasure of taking part in a telephone conference with the author Obery Hendricks. He was very gracious. It was a wonderful experience. The reader gets an understanding of how women and minorities were marginalized in society during Biblical times.

This is a touching story of a young womans journey from her joy of life to near-death despair around to a greater joy of life.
It truly celebrates the strength of womanhood. The descriptions were vivid and the personalities so real, I felt I knew all of the characters. Because all women have experienced Maryam's life in some form, this story will touch your heart in an unbelievable way. I loved this book!

In this glorious tale of redemptive love BEFORE we know what it is, Maryam flowers despite the heartships and trials of her life. Hendricks is a master storyteller who gives us the depth of anguish from both the men and women, while not excusing the pain that the men are causing the women in this Novel. Given to me by a Pastor who shares the stories of women in the Bible with his congregation, I read it from front to end without stopping, finding the message that God loves us even when we don't see it. Worth reading, but more, worth its use as a Bible study tool. Wonderful story with a dynamic ending!

This is a gripping, at times lusty, tale based on the life story of the Samaritan Woman. LIVING WATER is not a stereotypically lightweight, biblical novel. It's for readers who are ready for a challenge and willing to look for truths presented in nontraditional forms.

Author Obery Hendricks, a seminary "professor of biblical interpretation," calls this, his first novel, "an African American retelling of the New Testament story of the woman at the well who was married to five successive husbands at a time when women did not have the right to choose either marriage or divorce." Ethnic overtones are evident in some characters' nicknames (Sonny Boy and Big Mama) and patterns of dialogue ("Oh Lordy, we're in trouble now" and "Don't he talk sweet"). But there are deeper parallels: The ravages of slavery and harsh control influence the heart of the story --- the Samaritan men being humiliated and beaten down by the Romans; the women being powerless property of the husbands who have lost respect for themselves and take out their frustration on their women.

The book opens with a short, startling death scene of the Samaritan woman's fifth husband. Then Part 1 is a flashback, from prenuptial childhood up to that pivotal, bloody mess. She --- her name is Maryam, though significantly we aren't told this for 250 pages --- is a spunky, in-your-face kind of kid who sadly learns, from her kindhearted grandmother, Ma Tee, that spunk is not acceptable for girls. "Atop the coarse woolen tunic that is [the girl's] usual attire is now draped a stale, heavy garment of carefulness. Ma Tee has tried her best to craft it to her size, yet it does not fit. Still, she will dutifully struggle to wear it, though its weight will sag her heart to its knees." And this narrative comment comes even before she's married to and beaten down by her first husband and abandoned by numbers two, three, and four.

This is a feminist story, but not drastically so; it is egalitarian more than man bashing. The big cast of characters --- five (or is it six?) husbands, three father figures, a brother-in-law, Messiah Jesus, and more --- include bad men and good; similarly with the Samaritan women. In a supplemental reader's guide, Hendricks explains that the Samaritan woman's journey "to be free of male domination and mistreatment was also my own journey to free myself from the roles of dominator and mistreater."

Theologically conservative readers may rankle at some feminist theology, but, again, this is not as radical as it might be. Hendricks interprets biblical passages (mostly from Proverbs, once from Luke) that personify Wisdom (a feminine Hebrew word) as being descriptive of "the woman-side of God."

For a novel that is replete with social commentary applicable to any age --- including a chapter on an itinerant, fraudulent faith healer --- LIVING WATER is an engaging read. Part 2 --- in which Maryam claims her name, takes up with a man who loves her and treats her well, and becomes a disciple of Jesus --- includes powerful scenes of redemption, even unto the last page, which drew a tear to my eye.

--- Reviewed by Evelyn Bence

Wow! Harriette S. Sherman (H) and her loving and beloved L are amazing, impressive, inspirational people. Abruptly separated by World War II immediately after their marriage (they returned from their honeymoon to find his draft papers waiting), they wrote copious letters back and forth to support each other and to continue their relationship in the only ways they could. They saved the letters, and over 50 years later the author cleaned out their closet, pulled out the box of letters, and decided to arrange them into a book to share their story. I'm so glad she did! The letters and the bits of connecting narrative gave me eye-opening, enthralling insight into some of the personal struggles of the times. Their joint story is not just informative, it's also really good and gripping and tender, and I've loaned my copy out to friends so many times that I got some extras -- one to use as my loaner in case it ever doesn't come back, and a couple to give as gifts. Thank you, H and L, for this terrific book, and also for your steadfast services to the country through this awful war. I admire your strength and courage and perserverence and love.

Love in the Time of War,by Harriette S. Sherman, is a beautiful and inspiring book. I found myself laughing and crying as I identified with her through the trials of the war-time separation from her newly-wed husband. The letters and narratives evoke the rhythm of the war both at home and overseas in remarkably vivid language. I want to thank the author for the gift of her courage and generous spirit in sharing this very personal and touching story.

Love in the Time of War:a Remembering is a beautiful book that centers around the letters written between 1941 and 1945 by two young American newlyweds whose marriage was disrupted by the call of the author's husband to war. Harriette Sherman reminds readers that the successful battlefield struggles of those men who have come to be called "America's greatest generation" were made possible by the wives, mothers, and other family members who held the pieces of daily life together at home. The intimate letters that the author and her young husband exchanged were the only way they stayed "connected" during their forced separations as war raged in Europe. In their honest and straight-forward manner, the letters reveal much about what it was like to be a young bride to start married life alone in the early 1940's. Equally satisfying are the letters sent from the battlefields which tell much about the transformation that every successful soldier must undergo from new recruit to seasoned veteran. The book gives the reader a fine exampleof how love can ripen and mature under the strains of life, even the horrors of war. For history buffs, the book evokes in very clear images what it was like to live through this time and how the battles were fought and won, both at home and overseas. For the generation that is now fighting the war against terrorism, the book offers valuable lessons of hope.

It's amazing what one can do with a battered box of old letters! After the gripping first paragraph of the prologue: "I trembled. My whole body seemed to come alive with his first gentle kiss. Twenty-two years old and engaged to another man, I felt a thunderous jolt as L's quiet "I love you" wrenched my life into a 180 degrees turn-about toward a different, unplanned road...," I was hooked and the book became a page-turner. The letters flow so well into each other that they read as a novel and what a love story indeed! Though not just mention of hugs, kisses, and I-love-you's. Their letters, with some detailed added pages by the author where she saw the need for it, give a lot of insight what life was like during those days in the army, and how a young wife, left behind a few weeks after her wedding, not only survived on a meager income (or sometimes no income at all) but managed to save for trips, some 3000 miles away, to be with her husband for a mere one or two days. I reveled along with them in those short moments of happiness.

In their letters they try to be reassuring, but you are aware of the constant fear and tension they had to endure, especially when 'L' is injured in Normandy during his participation in the D-Day landings.

Some of their letters are of special significance to me as I was myself a WW-II victim. After reading the book, I felt the urge to thank 'L', albeit very belatedly, for helping to liberate Holland, where my family and I were about to succumb to malnutrition.

A very memorable and loving memoir!

From 1941 to 1945 Harriette Sherman's married life existed for the most part via the postal system. Although separated by war, she and her new husband communed, joked, loved, and even fought and made some of the toughest decisions of their lives through the most simple medium - pen and paper. A byproduct: Their correspondence not only documented an extraordinary era in an engaging fashion, it also explored the profound nature of love and commitment.

Sherman's epistolary memoir, "Love in the Time of War: A Remembering," astounds with its honesty and its precious details. One feels as though one is peering in on Sherman through the open window of her home, watching her at her desk scrawling the words she will send off to her husband, waiting eagerly with her for his return, or at least for his response. This type of intimacy is a gift. But it is when Sherman connects the text of these letters with the context of her life, revealing her growth and development as an individual and as a partner, that the letters truly sing with life: its joys, sorrows, struggles, and overall, its sustaining love.

Although it is about a period and a war more than half a century ago, reading this book during a new period of devastating warfare, I found an unexpected comfort and perhaps even some courage from this enduring testimony to survival and devotion. I recommend "Love in the Time of War" to young readers (junior high) as well as adults because it engages history in a way that history books rarely can. It tells it from the inside out, from the individual daily lives that make up an era, their innermost feelings and tribulations. Like love itself, something to treasure.

Lynette has become a pirate to avenge her younger sister, brutally raped and left to die when she was just 14. Her pirating activities, while not limited to, focused on her enemy with the intent to destroy him financially. Our hero, Daniel, is caught in the crosshairs when Lynette & her crew come across his loaded ship and take his cargo, his ship, and him for ransom.

I enjoyed the book, while not a "keeper", it did help while away some time. If you enjoy a strong heroine and a pirate theme, then I recommend this book...

Amazing! Just the other day, I was discussing with my friends the fact that there are so few good pirate novels. Then I discovered Ms. Fields delightful first novel. It was beautifully written and deliciously naughty. It made me feel like a Girl Scout all over again. It reminds me of the time I traveled cross country with my friend Mr. Bubbles, listening to our tape of Tibetan yak love songs...but I digress. Kudos to Ms. Fields!

Not only was this book well written, it didn't insult my intelligence. While including everything I want from a historical romance, it was funny, smart and included delightful twists on the usual pirate fantasy.

Thanks!

What a breath of fresh air; the damsel rescues the knight. Ok, so I'm a little biased because I went to high school with this lovely author. But I'll admit I was skeptical about her writing romance novels since I'd never read any of her writing then. What a fabulous surprise! Her first book reads like some of the best historical fiction. Better still, she keeps Lynnette and Daniel's relationship progressing just fast enough to keep you interested and just slow enough to drive you crazy -- and not want to put the book down. This reviewer ended up staying up till 3am on a worknight just to finish the darned thing. I'm not sure whether to thank her or kill her. In summary, keep 'em coming, Hillary!

THE MAIDEN'S REVENGE is a superb swashbuckling romance. The dialogue is smooth and the plot in this adventure is very creative. The colorful descriptions make you feel as though you are sailing the high seas with Captain Thorne. Readers will enjoy watching the chemistry grow between Daniel and Lynnette. The scheme to hold Daniel for ransom becomes more complicated than Captain Thorne thought it would be.

Ms. Fields' first romance novel is full of passion, action, and sexy encounters. THE MAIDEN'S REVENGE is a lively and entertaining story. Captain Thorne is a character who shows the reader she can be a strong leader, but she can also be very sensual when the moment is right. This story is a page-turner and a definite keeper.

Cliff Leach

This is a marvelous book and makes for fascinating reading. Gave me pause to reflect and wonder if I would have the strength to endure a similar hadrship. WWII was such a long time ago and it shaped the lives of so many people around the world. It is great that there are some really worthy movies available to educate the young people about sacrifices made by their grandparents (I should say great-grandparents) generation.

A child in remote Phillipines at the outbreak of the ware. The author leans heavily on her mother's diary for material.

When the Japanese invaded the Philippines in World War II most American soldiers and civilians surrendered. A few took to the hills and spent the war years as guerillas or simply hiding out from the Japanese. The author was an eight year old child during the war, the daughter of an American couple managing a gold mine on the island of Mindanao. They chose to live in the jungle and evade the Japanese. They didn't have any thrilling adventures, but the description of their day-to-day life is vivid and interesting.

The author doesn't pull any punches about her experiences. Neither of her parents are sympathetic people, nor are many of the other characters. She tells us of being sexually molested by an older boy. She gives us a picture of the stress the fugitives were under from the standpoint of a young girl.

One of the interesting aspects of the book was the almost-total separation of foreigner and Filipino before the war. The foreigners, mostly Americans, were unfamiliar even with Filipino food. Western men who married Filipino women were outcasts and the social and cultural separation of the cultures was almost complete. The automatic assumption by Americans and Europeans of the superiority of their cultures has broken down in part over the last half-century -- and that's a good thing.

As a true and true-to-life story of people uprooted by war, this is one of the best you will find.

Smallchief

I learned about this book from my high school alumni web page and read it mostly out of curiousity. A fascinating book, a coming-of-age tale of a young girl in wartime. I so appreciated the author's skillful melding of her childish observations and her retrospective adult understanding of this difficult period of her life. She unflinchingly, and often humorously, describes the colonial prejudices of her parents and other Americans in their small community, their condescension toward Filipinos and Filipino-American mestizos, the tensions arising from a basic incompatibility between her parents, their strained relations with other fugitives from the war, and even a sexual assault. What makes the book so special, beyond its extraordinary tale, is the author's mature and sensitive handling of the subject matter. She owns up to her own failings and seeks to understand and forgive those of others, without condoning bad behavior. As an expatriate child in the Philippines (more than 20 years ago), I too felt superior to and made fun of the locals and am now heartily ashamed of it. Just as it took age and distance to fully appreciate my family, I can now admit to my love for the Philippines and her peoples. Our situations were so different, nevertheless McKay's words resonated strongly for me and inspire me to seek to develop even a fraction of her graciousness.

I highly recommend this book.

Ms Maynard reaches a long way back into her memory to bring us this absorbing tale of a family forced to hide in the jungle on Mindanao when World War II broke out. The Japanese took over the Philippines, leaving nine-year old Mary McKay, her parents and a brother away at boarding school, stranded. With the American Pacific fleet sunk at Pearl Harbor, General McArthurýs advice that Americans were in no danger turned out to be very wrong. McArthur was a stockholder in Mindanao Mother Lode, a mining operation where the authorýs father worked. From a comfortable existence with servants to cook their meals and wash their clothes, this family had to flee to another inactive mining camp well into the interior of the island, where they were further from the Japanese soldiers now swarming over the coastal areas.

Other families in the same situation lived with them at Gomoco, a gold mining camp that consisted of a few rickety buildings with a little stream flowing by. That stream became a river as it flowed to the coast, but boats could not navigate through the shallow water near the camp. Maryýs father was in charge of the collection of people who came and went over a two year period, and he presided over numerous arguments, often over whether to use more of the canned food or (as Mr. McKay thought) to preserve it for the even tougher times that might come.

In the end, the family is rescued by an American submarine that took them aboard to share the tight quarters with sailors, dodging Japanese ships as they made their way to Darwin, Australia. Maryýs brother Bob spent the years in internment camps and was rescued from a prison in Manila when the Americans finally came and took back the Philippines. General McArthur kept his promise to come back.

The book includes snatches of Maryýs motherýs diary which she kept during the years of hiding. I suspect this was the main source of information from so long ago, although surely a girl who lived through so much peril and fear would not forget these events. But research and that diary must have supplied many of the details. Mary gives us interesting glimpses into the complicated relationship of her parents -- a father who could not understand his wifeýs need for comfort and reassurance, and a mother who begged her Filipino suppliers to find lipstick, believing that putting on a good face could hide her fears. The author also is willing to deal with the lopsided relationship between the Americans and the hard-working and loyal Filipinos, who did most of the work of keeping the foreigners fed and safe. That did not keep the Americans from feeling superior or making fun of the ýpigeon Englishý spoken by the natives. It took many more years of living for the author to see how insensitive and ungrateful were these actions.

I found the story pulled me in as I read, and I wanted to find out what new problems would appear and to learn how this family would finally found their way back home, whatever ýhomeý had come to mean to them. Once Mindanao ýfellý they had to decide whether to give themselves up (as the Japanese demanded of all Americans) or to continue to try to evade notice. Eventually enough servicemen and civilians who did not surrender themselves were able to put together an organized guerilla action to provide mutual support, harass the Japanese and keep in contact with American military forces fighting the war. That led to the submarine rescue and the end of the book, an interesting story from a time soon to be relegated to history books as memories fade completely and the story tellers are with us no more. This book is a rare opportunity to see the war from a new perspective, through the eyes of a child who experienced the disruption and terror of war up close and personal.

I had the privilege to study the history of the Germanic languages from a photocopied version of the manuscript for this book back in the day. Though the title makes it seem targeted at students of Old English, it actually gives equal weight to all of the Germanic languages, notably Old High German, Gothic, and Old Norse (Icelandic).

Each chapter begins with the parable, "The Sower and the Seed," in the language of the chapter. This text was chosen because it's actually found in the existing manuscripts - - the Bible tended to be translated into the vernacular early on, and disseminated widely - - and because this story has a goodly amount of grammatical action. "A sower went out to sow seeds" gives you three variations on the basic stem of , and you can see how that idea is reflected in each language.

Using the same text also makes for great pedagogy. After a few chapters, the student *sees* the differences immediately, and automatically starts thinking about the language at hand.

It would be easy to make a book like this a collection of reference grammars with a boring list of similarities and differences from one language to the next. Robinson avoids this, and writes in a lively and interesting style. I highly recommend this book if you're interested in the history of the Germanic languages.

This is a wonderful book, and I doubt if any serious reviewer will give it less than five stars. It is exceptionally well-written by an author who wears his immense learning lightly. Devoting a chapter to each of the known early Germanic languages -- e.g., Old Germanic, Gothic, Old Saxon, Old English, Old Frisian, etc. -- Robinson shows how the languages developed, how they shared common characteristics and developed new ones, and how they to some extent must have cross-fertilized one another. In the process, he shares some fascinating information, such as the development of "Futhark," the runic alphabet in which Old Norse was originally written, and makes a cautionary remark which explains that we may know a good deal less about early Germanic writings skills than we think we do: "It is easier to write a letter on a stick than on a stone." He also tackles some deep linguistic issues, such as the reasons why the idea of a language-tree may be misleading, and why the analogy of biological taxonomy to language typology can be problematical. When biological species diverge, they never re-converge. But tribes, armies, villagers, etc., my split up, rejoing, form new groups, etc., so their languages may diverge, reconverge, borrow, meld, and otherwise demonstrate a more complicated history than a "divergence from a common ancestor" model might suggest. For example, Robinson concludes there never was a "common language" which could be called "West Germanic."

Robinson also points out the limits of our knowledge -- so much of our reconstruction of these ancient languages depends upon translations of the Bible and other religious texts that we know very little about the idiomatic usage which surely characterized the "everyday" use of these tongues. We have to be grateful to Robinson for a book which is unlikely to be equaled, much less surpassed, anytime soon.

This book is an exceptional piece of literary work. This book compares old English to it closest continental relatives. I particularly enjoyed the preamble at the beginning of each chapter that discusses the history surrounding the people that spoke such languages as old Saxon, old Norse, old Friesian and other Germanic dialects. This would be a valuable tool to the student or to the armchair Etymologist/early medieval historian.

Orrin Robinson has done what many suggested could never be done -- or done well at any rate: he has constructed a useful, solid introduction to the whole of early Germanic linguistics, hitting all the high points, with concision, without merely paying lip service to each language. It's a terrific starting point for comparative Germanic linguistics -- from which you can move on to more exhaustive works on the individual languages.

Robinson covers seven key Germanic languages here, each in its own chapter: Gothic, Old Norse, Old Saxon, Old English, Old Frisian, Old Low Franconian, and Old High German. In each chapter, he situates the language in its proper historical context, discusses its development from Primitive Germanic, explains its phonology (useful crib notes to refer back to when you need to remember how to pronounce Old Saxon or Gothic! :), talks about the key literary texts in the language, offers two or three reading samples in each language -- with glosses and cognates in the margin and a short glossary following, provides an overview of the grammar, and more. Each chapter also concludes with a Further Reading section, telling those interested in learning more where to turn next.

This is quite a lot to have accomplished in such a relatively short book (c.300 pp.). Robinson's writing is a model of clarity, and the book never plods or becomes too overwhelming or too dry. I've read this book more than once and I refer to it often, which is a compliment of another sort. Very highly recommended indeed!

This book was my first introduction to Germanic linguistics. The book begins with a chapter entitled "The Germanic Language Family." Although the discussion is, for obvious reasons, framed in terms of the Germanic languages, this is incidentally the best and clearest exposition of the principles and techniques of historical linguistics that I have ever read.

The next chapter, "Germanic: A Grammatical Sketch", lists those features of phonology and grammar which characterize the Germanic languages, richly illustrated with examples, mostly from Gothic. That's because Gothic is considered to have preserved more archaic features than the other languages surveyed, and to best represent what proto-Germanic must have been like.

There follow chapters on each of the following languages: Gothic, Old Norse, Old Saxon, Old English, Old Frisian, Old Low Franconian, and Old High German. Each chapter begins with a short history of the tribe(s) which spoke that particular language, usually 4-5 pages worth.

Following this is a short listing of texts from which we derive our knowledge of the language. This obviously varies from language to language. In the case of Gothic and Old Saxon, the texts are few and are listed in their entirety. In the case of Old Norse, Old English, and Old High German, the number of texts which survived is too numerous to list them all, so the corpus is merely described by genre, with a few outstanding representative texts listed.

Next are two short readings in the language. These are limited by the scope of the texts that survive in the language in question. The first is usually the Parable of the Sower and the Seed from the New Testament, to allow for easy comparison between languages. The second is usually from a text unique to the language: for example, the second text in Old Norse is the story of Thor and Skrymir from the Edda; in Old High German, it's from the Muspilli; in Old Frisian, it's from a Frisian legal code.

Following the readings, there is a glossary of all words contained in the readings.

Next there is a short grammar of the language, which covers spelling and pronunciaton pretty thoroughly, and offers a less thorough treatment of grammar. The author clearly states that he did not intend to present a comprehensive grammar for each language. The intention is to give the reader the noteworthy characteristics of the language being considered, and especially to illuminate how it is similar to, and how it differs from, the other early Germanic languages.

The next section for each language covers some topic in Germanic linguistics; the author chooses a general topic which has special significance for that chapter's language. For example, for Old Saxon, he discusses Germanic alliterative poetry. This is particularly relevant to Old Saxon since our main representative text in that language is the Heliand, an alliterative epic retelling of the events in the life of Jesus.

Finally, there is a bibliography for each language, usually containing about 10-12 items, which directs those interested to further reading. The lists are relatively short, but I have found some real jewels there; McDonald-Stearns treatment of Crimean Gothic, for example.

The author concludes the work with a discussion of the grouping of the Germanic languages based on grammatical and phonological features, together with a chart listing some of these features and the early Germanic languages which exhibit them, for ease of comparison.

This is one of my most treasured books. I purchased it 10 years ago, and still keep it by my bedside. I've read it innumerable times from cover-to-cover, and also enjoy opening it at random.

I was standing in a college bookstore and saw this title as the text for a class on Asian history. I typically have no interest in this genre but this book was riveting. The detail and genuine quality of the author's words are unique. One expects a POW who was tortured to seek out the torturer for revenge not forgiveness. This story has a beautiful, eternal message to the rest of us who hold grudges over much smaller offenses.

What an incredible book I was not able to put down. I am a big military history buff and found the early pacific theater defeats very disturbing especially the battles in and around Malaya.

The treatment of Mr. Lomax was not surprising as the Japanese were ruthless. Putting this experience into such a personal and riveting ordeal makes this book a must read. Eric Lomax puts personal vivid perspective on the years after his ordeal that is often left out of most military history accounts of battle, defeat and capture.

This book is very cathartic and brought tears to my eyes. Forgiveness is a more powerful emotion and triumphs over anger and revenge.

An unforgettable story of endurance, cruelty and forgiveness. This is a story that stays with the reader, even years later. This is a true story of Mr. Lomax's experience during WWII. He was captured and tortured and almost died. At one time the only thing that kept him alive was practically throwing himself down a flight of stairs so he was transferred to hospital from the dreaded prison. After the War, Mr. Lomax, like many other Veterans was unable to lead a normal life with emotions. Having experienced dreadful torture at the hands of the Japanese he learnt to cut himself off from his feelings, in order to survive. All his life he never forgot the interrupter that was present during his torture, he dreamed of revenge someday. In a miraculous turn of events he mets up with this man, whom it turns out was unable to forget being part of the torture of Mr. Lomax, and it had haunted him all his life. The two men agree to meet, and the most remarkable thing happens they become friends, forgiveness and understanding occurs. This is one of the best books I have read about the POW experience during WWII, it is tragic, and yet has rewarding and true ending.

i also read this when it first appeared, was deeply moved and presented it to my wife's father, a ww2 veteran. i write this review today because a man george bush proposed for attorney general is about to be approved while refusing to admit that waterboarding is torture.

as every reader of this book knows, this is precisely the torture that was used on the author eric lomax, which terrified and impacted him for his entire life, and made it so hard for him to forgive even the interrogator present during it.

several reviewers have said this book documents how brutal was the japanese treatment of prisoners, and i agree.. how can we allow ourselves to become the same as those wartime enemies we have characterized as monsters? god help us if we do not object..

I read this book when it was first published about ten years ago and the moving experience has remained with me since I finished the final sentence. It is an incredibly vivid book that you will not be able to put down.
What Eric Lomax went through as a POW, and his eventual reconciliation with one of his torturers 50 years later displays a depth of humanity that is deeply moving.

This book is one of the few that succeeds in revising the historical profile of king Richard by giving him the place he deserves. For centuries Tudor historians, particularly More and Vergil (using all the heavy artillery of political propaganda on behalf of their masters the Tudor kings) had drawn a caricature of king Richard, making him a monster, the incarnation of evil, not to speak of Shakespeare's play, as brilliant as false. This book proves that king Richard was a wise ruler, an excellent warrior (he decisively contributes to the final Yorkist victory over the Lancastrians in the battles of Barnet and Tewksbury in 1471), loyal to his brother king Edward IV, tender to his wife, loved by the people (specially by Northerners, by the people of York, where he was almost adored, while Henry VII and Henry VIII, the first Tudor kings, were much hated, which explains the constant rebellions of Yorkshire under Tudor rule) The tragedy of king Richard III has nothing to do with Shakespearean plot; it is very unlikely that he ordered the death of Edward IV's sons (the book provides an interesting appendix on the matter) and, of course, he had no body deformity. His tragedy was both personal and political: a man who saw the death of his beloved wife, son and brothers, a king who tried to rule for the people against the barons and paid a terrible price, the price of being betrayed at Bosworth field in 1485; a ruler who tried to take control of the political turmoil, hopelessly, as he found himself trapped in the turmoil, overwhelmed and finally swept away. However, he set the foundations of modern Britain, creating a strong State by undermining the territorial rebellious powers of the old feudal peerage, which were the cancer that had consumed the nation since the Beauforts had made a puppet of Henry VI, the last Lancastrian king, and which degenerated into the open enmity between the dukes of Somerset and York and the subsequent civil strife. Apart from reading a fascinating period of the History of England, this book made me seriously think of how easy it is to falsify History. Richard III is somebody who definitely deserved rehabilitation. Well done, Paul!

This is a very readable biography of Richard III. While more recent research may have overtaken some of Mr Kendall's conclusions it by no means diminishes his scholarship.

Richard III's life has been the subject of many works of historical fiction. Additionally, he appears in the works of Shakespeare, is dissected by Sir Thomas More and others writing during Tudor times. Variously lionized and demonized, he is considered by many to be either the tragic hero slain in battle at Bosworth Field or the murderer of the princes in the Tower of London.

To see Richard solely as either a villain or a victim is to ignore the realities of the period in which he lived and the circumstances whereby he came to the throne.

I recommend this biography to those who want to know more about the life and reign of Richard III or are seeking some historical background to some of the works of historical fiction in which he features.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Paul Murray Kendall writes an objective biography of Richard III from his childhood to his death on Bosworth Field in 1485. He examines contemporary accounts with an emphasis on the reports of Dominic Mancini, who wrote from his own observations. He reviews pro-Richardian or revisionist theories as well as traditionalist viewpoints in an attempt to provide an objective narrative about the king's life.

The book starts with the earliest known information (at about age 10) and continues through Edward IV's reign and into Richard's, ending with his death in 1485. Separate appendices deal with the disappearance of the princes Edward and Richard and Richard's character.

In a nutshell, the author characterizes Richard III as a loyal, honorable, talented (military skills) leader as well as a devoted and religious family man. These strengths, however, were offset by inflexibility - a mind that saw black and white, but nothing in between - and political naivete.

Kendall's analysis of the available information concerning the disappearance of the princes is objective and sensible. His conclusion: Richard probably knew what happened to them. If he sanctioned their deaths, he did so because that's what rulers did to deposed kings in medieval times. The times were cruel and Richard was a man of his times.

Equally objective is Kendall's assessment of Richard's character.

The book is an excellent introduction to the life of a fascinating man as well as the times in which he lived. Highly recommended. FYI, this edition is a reprint of the original work published in 1955.

I bought this book to help with my a-level history personal study. Out of all the books i have used, this has been the upmost useful. The quotes, references to sources etc help the reader to bind in all the information from the book into a easily readable story. Full of facts whilst interesting. Having use to the appendix was very useful because i needed information about the 'princes in the tower'.

It seems that you can find two camps comcerning Richard III - people who think that he was truly the deforemed monster portrayed by Shakespeare or those who think that he ought to be canonized. Paul Murray Kendall did an excellent job of rendering a portrait of King Richard III that does not revolve around the typical Tudor propoganda and at the same time doesn't clamour for sainthood to be bestowed upon him. Anyone who is looking for a relatively unbiased view of this misunderstood monarch should definitely look into this excellent source!

Riding With Reagan: From the White House to the Ranch: From the White House to the RanchThis is an excellent book and I enjoyed reading it. It was very well written and interesting reading. Very good book.

I had personal reason to buy this after seeing the author on C-span Book TV since I knew people close to one of those mentioned in the book. Can't say who or how it got to her, but after reading it got a nod and wink. Think you'll do the same.

Barietta lets us into the inner circle outside Reagan's 'kitchen cabinet'. He paints a picture of Reagan that allows one to understand the essence of the man; his connection with the individual, and as such, the people. The author's allegiance to the President does not cloud the reality of the relationship between these two men. Despite the professional connection, Reagan had a way, I summize, to bridge that barrier and maintain a bond that is clear through the author's typewritten words.

This was a wonderful look, and the personal side of a great man. These are truly memorable moments from John Barletta, written in an honest, detailed and interesting manner. Well worth the read.

John Barletta, through his insight and understanding, with a rock-solid foundation of character and integrity, has connected with President Reagan as few others ever have. Reagan's inner-core and genuine goodness, plus our personal contact with him and the guidelines and special bonds we forged with this uncommon man were granted to a few of us who were privileged to spend those rare moments at his side while his core values transferred, as if by osmosis, to our minds and our hearts.

Barletta's view and understanding of Reagan is exceptional and true. His pleasant,easy-to-read, conversational style of writing is reader-friendly and gives the reader a "you are there" "eyewitness" feeling. The author had to come away from each experience with RR feeling more and more as if he were part of Reagan's extended family; an almost brotherly connection for the two of them.

It sure did for a few of us who were there at the beginning of RR's political career, like Edwin Meese III, Wm.P. Clark, Lyn Nofziger and Tom Reed.
What a pleasure NOT having to wade though pages of footnotes and notes to get to the meaning of this remarkable book. Not necessary when the author is intimately aware of his subject, as Barletta is. No nonsense, fabrications or embellishments in this book; just the facts--- beautifully explained. Thanks! Curtis Patrick, author, REAGAN: WHAT WAS HE REALLY LIKE?