France Books

Rene Chartrand provides in this series an insightful look into the French army of this period, its formations and basic organization as well as the caliber of its troops, with great detail to its unforms which are well illustrated by Eufene Leliepvre.

Truly on an organizational level the French army is quite impressive though its performance a shadow of what it had been under its previous monarch.

This book provides a lot of information about French Colonial and Naval troops that would be very hard to find anywhere else. A must read for any French and Indain War New France reenactors.

All five books in this series are magnificent. What makes them great is that they are not in the usual Osprey fashion. Their is no chronology of dates at the begging taking up space; Chartrand jumps right in with organization details, tactics, equipment, armament, and each regiments uniform distinction as it changed through Louis XV reign. The plates are outstanding. Usually for Osprey their only three figures per plate. Not here, 5 and more a plate. With that number it's not cluttered and doesn't detract from the detail. On a last note, I will never have to buy anything else to help me paint my Seven Year War French figures.

This is an interesting, highly accurate work, as are all of Rene Chartrand's books, which covers a period not usually well-covered, or covered at all. The addition of Maitre Eugene Leliepvre's lively, accurate, and colorful artwork only adds to the value and accuracy.

The early history of French light troops is one of trial and error, fits and starts, that tried to catch up to the excellent light troops of the Austrian army that so troubled the French throughout the early and mid eighteenth century. Here in all their Gallic splendor are the regiments of foreign born hussars, dragoons, uhlans, and whatever else the imaginative, energetic, and not always efficient soldiers thought up to raise and send into the fire in central Europe.

Told in a descriptive and accurate fashion, the book is a must for every afficionado of the period. It is also a very good introduction for the later Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods where the French light troops came into their own and began to dominate battlefields.

The addition of Eugene Leliepvre's superb artwork is a definite plus for the book, and ensures it will be used for years to come. This book belongs on the shelf of every enthusiast of this period and the later Napoleonic and revolutionary periods.

As the treatment of mental health disorders continues to expand outwards, beyond the domain of psychiatric institutions, the nature and implications of intensified psychiatric intervention is a cause for concern for all of us.

A social worker, teacher, and community activist, Diana Ralph takes on contemporary community mental health systems. In a meticulously researched and highly readable work, the growth and change in the definition and treatment of mental health disorders is subjected to a concerned and scholarly scrutiny.

Ralph finds available theories, from the liberal to the Marxist to the radical antipsychiatry approaches, inadequate in accounting for these changes. Instead, she locates the ideological origins of community psychiatry within the tradition of industrial psychology, and is able to show how its operation is linked to the needs of contemporary industrial management in their efforts to diffuse dissatisfaction and alienation in the workplace.
--- from book's back cover

Compiled and edited by Nic Maclellan, Louise Michel: Rebel Lives is the dramatic biography of Louise Michel, the fiery leader of the 1871 Paris Commune, a short-lived workers' government created when the city population rose up to exert its will. Also known as "The Red Virgin", Louise Michel was a rebel who spent much of her life on the run, in exile, in jail, or in danger of being locked in a mental asylum. "Louise Michel" tells the story of her life by directly collecting and editing her own words from her memoirs and the insights of her contemporaries. Her story is presented with her sharp-eyed criticism of a society and an era where the only lucrative trade for a woman was prostitution, and tributes to her life and efforts from such prominent figures as Emma Goldman, Victor Hugo, Karl Marx, and much more.

Kliatt, November 2004

MACLELLAN, Nic (ed): Louise Michel (Rebel Lives) Ocean Books.

Louise Michel. a relatively unknown figure outside of her native France, was an activist, an anarchist, and a fighter against racism who is known principally for her role in the short-lived French Commune in the spring of 1871.

A local rebellion, the Paris Commune was a reaction against the provisional government set up by the French after the defeat of Napoleon III by the Prussian armies in the Franco-Prussian War. Michel, a schoolteacher who had read widely in political theory, was fully embroiled in this brief moment of revolutionary ferment, organizing meetings, writing tracts, speaking, and even firing her gun as a fighter in the ranks.

Deported to New Caledonia at the fall of the Commune. she continued to write; and alone among her fellow deportees, championed the native Kanaks, a local tribe that attempted to rebel against French colonial rule. Back in France, she continued to live as she believed, travelling and speaking for the radical and anarchist causes she promoted.

What makes the Rebel Lives series valuable is its presentation of primary source material once the historical background has been carefully laid out in an introduction. Not only are excerpts from Michel's autobiography and letters included, but also brief pieces taken from the works of Engels and Marx writing on the Commune as well as short citations from many others, including Lenin, Emma Goldman (who calls Michel "a complete woman"), and Howard Zinn. Selected reading lists contain books and Web sites in both French and English. A unique resource.

Patricia Moore. Brookline, MA

"Since it seems that any heart which beats for freedom has the right only to a small lump of lead, I demand my share. If you let me live, I shall never stop crying for vengeance, and I shall avenge my brothers by denouncing the[ir] murderers" (p.101).

So said Louise Michel before the court passed sentence on her for participating in the rebellion that became the Paris Commune. The court did not execute her. Instead, it sent her into exile at the prison colony in New Caledonia 20,000 miles from Paris. Even there Michel advocated for the indigenous people of the island (the Kanaks) in their struggle against the French occupiers.

Michel was dubbed the "Red Virgin": "red" because she was an anarchist and "virgin" because her sexual orientation was unclear (as if this mattered) and because she was unattractive. I don't see it. She had a great and beautiful spirit, and I have fallen in love with her.

Ocean Press is to be commended for providing a good introduction to the person of Louise Michel and the times that stirred her and she helped to shape. Through the writings of such notables as Bakunin, Kropotkin, Marx, Engles, Lenin, Emma Goldman, Howard Zinn, the editor's introduction (Nic Maclellan) and Michels herself, we learn about her mixed proletarian and bourgeoisie background, her undying devotion to her mother, her days as a school teacher, her militancy and leadership role during the Paris Commune, her exile in New Caledonia, her return to Paris and her prescient feminism. All in a mere 115 pages. It is quite a feat.

Whether you've been to the Louvre and want to protect and enhance your memories or you just want to see the most beautiful works of art ever collected this is the perfect book! It gives you history, background info and of course amazing pictures! You're next purchase will be plane tickets to Paris!!

I bought this book for my son before I visited the Louvre because he was majoring in art. A few years later, I went to Paris and visited the Louvre. It was great to look through the book after having been there! It's still his book, but it was so wonderful to have it around after experiencing the incredible galleries in person! If you're going to the Louvre, my suggestion would be to really go through this book FIRST... then go to the Louvre! There's so much there it's overwhelming. I wish I'd planned out my visit there after going through the book.

This is a great book. It covers all the art departments of the Louvre and does it in a very concise manner. But it has a peculiar presentation format - too many sidebars and info boxes etc mixed-up with the main text, small pics breaking-up the main text too often, and many times it is not easy to match the sidebar to the pic intuitively.

A true masterpiece. A fresh look at one of the world's most extraordinary museums. I received this book as a gift, and I have truly enjoyed it.

This newest anthology by the leading scholar Frances Smith Foster is a work of manifold merits. It does provide, as several other reviewers have remarked, a counterpoint to the traditional assumptions that the amorous and marital lives of early African Americans were largely short-lived and unfulfilling. More than just proving many marriages to be remarkably resilient, however, Foster's book depicts a full array of affectionate sentiments. Some are light selections, from marriage advice ("Never marry a mope or a drone") to waggish rhymes:

I loves my gal,
She hain't no goose--
Blacker `an blackberries
Sweeter `an juice

Others, though, are ruminations on the deep pathos of lovers in bondage, as in the 1861 passage by Harriet Jacobs, which asks "Why does the slave ever love? Why allow the tendrils of the heart to twine around objects which may at any moment be wrenched away by the hand of violence?" Such pieces round out a varied selection, encompassing wedding vows, bachelor ads, letters exchanged between spouses, first-person accounts of family life, and a great deal more.

While the anthology is, on the one hand, a terrifically valuable document of social history, it is also evidence of an African-American print culture and literate community significantly larger than most contemporary readers would ever suspect. The compilation brings together countless texts made available here for the first time, and is an excellent resource for anyone interested in the literary and romantic lives of African Americans across the century of writing that the book spans. Complete with a touchingly personal introduction and a useful list of further reading, this well-organized volume will fit as perfectly into a family library as it will a college syllabus. A truly wonderful collection.

I especially like the introduction and found the content interesting historically and relevant to life today. Although the author is a scholar, she writes in a way that is easy to understand and read. Some of it is very touching and moving. But there are also many humorous entries.

This book is long overdue. The material debunks the myths that African Americans did not believe in long stable relationships. It provides inspiration, humor, historical information and much, much more. It should be a must read for every student. It will uplift some, enlighten some, and encourage some.

This book is inspirational! It debunks the myth that modern African-American families are in eternal crisis because slavery tore apart men and women seeking long-term intimate relationships and this instability has impacted modern relationships. On the contrary, this book shows love among antebellum African-Americans had a persistence, longevity and depth little known to those in the modern world. The presentation is witty and organized in a way that allows the reader to laugh, morn and relate to the circumstances in which the couples find themselves in a single sitting. This book should discussed and shared with family and friends as a catalyst to heal the wounds created by the myth that life-long commitment between African-Americans is abnormal. It is a must have in every reader's personal collection!

Foster's research for this anthology 10 years in the making carried her widely. She found examples of African American love and marriage in songs, letters, stories, poems, memoirs, lectures, sermons, folk sayings, oral history, and autobiographies. This interrelated material from a wide diversity of sources is organized into the natural flow of feelings and types of relationships between men and women. The first chapter is In Love - With Love; the second, Whether to Marry - and Who?; followed by Proposals and Vows, then Married Life; with the final section of on generations of a family titled Family Trees Rooted - in Love. Within each chapter, the selections are grouped according to kind; all the poems and excerpts together, excerpts from longer writings such as stories together, etc. The selections in each grouping are arranged chronologically following any anonymous writings when applicable coming first. The bulk of the writings are from the 1830s or so to the mid 1930s; with the majority from after the Civil War to the Harlem Renaissance. A small number are from the Colonial era.

While giving attention to a little-covered theme running through African American life from its earliest days, as Foster notes in her introductory essay, the anthology coincidentally brings to notice little-known African American writers and discloses the presence of an established African American printing business. Thus, the anthology is also in some measure a collection of uncommon African American literature for studies in this area; and it casts light on aspects of African American economic activity not widely known about. The lengthy bibliography is notably useful for further pursuit of all the major and secondary subjects entailed in the anthology.

I just finished reading this sequel to A Venetian Affair. Lucia is quite different from Giustiniana (the main character in the previous book) but this true story leaves you with the same mixture of fascination and melancholy. Unlike Giustiniana, Lucia immediately marries her first love, Alvise, and despite also being the protagonist of a scandal, her life is not as thrilling as Giustiniana's. Like Giustiniana, Lucia lives first hand through the European aristocracy, from Venice to Vienna and to Paris. But while in A Venetian Affair the source of dismay is the missed happy ending for Giustiniana and Memmo (her lover), in Lucia it's another demise that characterizes the book: the fall of her beloved Venice.
Through her detailed correspondence to her sister we learn of Alvise and Lucia's efforts to keep their status once orphans of the Most Serene Republic. This is what I believe defines this book. It's the story of a power couple who in their prime loses their motherland, and that helplessly witness a millennium of history being crushed between the French and Austrian power struggle. Alvise and Lucia, they really try. When Napoleon has the upper hand they get back on their feet and are actively involved in being part of the new world order. But as soon as the Austrians take control they have to start from square one, and we find Lucia mingling with the Viennese aristocracy while living in the Hasburgic capital. But then Napoleon is back, and off to Paris they go. These are not merely social ladder moves. There are estates to save, and the underlying theme is the slow but inevitable decadence due to unfortunate geopolitical circumstances that this otherwise very capable and visionary couple is subject to. Of course the book is packed with affairs and loaded with illegitimate children, but the force of this book is its historical value. It's the first hand account of how a historical European nation was phagocytized and of why its resurgence has been suffocated in the following decades.

Let's start with the lovely cover image: thanks to the research behind Lucia, this previously unknown work by the widely acclaimed Swiss painter, Angelica Kauffmann, came to light. And thanks to the owner's permission, its appearance on the cover allows us all to enjoy it. This is our first meeting with the blossoming young Lucia. Her glowing complexion, full bosom and that chestnut tendril that curls downward along her neck bespeak an innocent yet eager anticipation of life's sweetnesses. But this is not a love story. Lucia's life is much larger than her courtship and marriage with Alvise Mocenigo, and emphatically disproves what we think of as the bounds for a woman then.
From the start, Lucia's story shows her caught in the middle of things, from local power struggles in Venice to empires rising and falling and the devastating wars they brought about. Political events determine one challenge after another for her, as daughter, fiancée, wife, mother, woman on her own.
Accounts of political moves, diplomatic dealings, warfare strategy might not seem the stuff of a woman's life story, and yet they make perfect sense here, are fundamental, illuminating and intriguing. As these combine with finely wrought details of the everyday, the past truly comes to life. Di Robilant's style, as in A Venetian Affair, draws the reader in. When you read Lucia, you feel welcome and respected. And at once you are involved.
Di Robilant works with some very special material, unearthed not only among family papers but also in archives around Europe. In the end, he did not write the story exactly as he had set out to, for his research uncovered unexpected turns in what he knew as his family's history. He never makes an issue of this, but leaves it tacitly to his readers to imagine what it must be like to see a family legacy twisted into a different shape and to discover fundamental family ties you never knew existed. Di Robilant set out to bond with his past, which in the end he did, but not with the past as he knew it when he set out.
I highly recommend this book to readers with a passion for Venice, the Napoleonic years and memoirs about women who rise to unexpected challenges; to readers curious to have an insider view of life at court (Paris, Vienna, Milan) in the nineteenth century or a landlady's perspective on the scandalously libertine Lord Byron; to readers simply fond of books where biography and history elegantly merge with great merit to both genres.

Lucia: A Venetian Life in the Age of Napoleon begins where Andrea Di Robilant's A Venetian Affair left off. Lucia Mocenigo was the eldest daughter of Andrea Memmo, and she married at seventeen into one of the best-known patrician families in Venice. When the Republic fell in 1797 to Napoleon, Lucia went to Vienna, where she became friends with Josephine Bonaparte. Later, Lucia moved back to Venice, where she became Byron's landlord. She died in the 1850s, when she was in her 80s.

Lucia is a compelling look into the life of an intriguing woman. She was at the heart of European political change, as her letters to her husband and sister show. What Di Robilant does successfully in this book, as he did in A Venetian Affair, is bring the event s and people to life. Everything Lucia, her husband Alvise, and her son Alvisetto, do is documented here with precision. Sometimes with too much precision: when her son was a teenager, Lucia obsessively worried over his progress in school. But in all, Lucia was an impressive woman who rose to the challenges she faced with courage.

In this book Venice at the end of the eighteenth century comes to life. Lucia was only a young girl when she returned to her native city from Rome, where her father was Venetian Ambassador, to be married to a much older man. She lived in many of the great courts of Europe, travelled extensively, witnessed the fall of the Venetian Republic to Napoleon, and as an impecunious widow was the landlady who rented out her fabulous family palazzo to no other than Lord Byron. It was in the attic of Palazzo Mocenigo on the Grand Canal that her correspondence, recounting every minute detail of her long and fascinating life, was preserved and handed down through the generations until it came into the hands of the author, who is her descendant. A wonderful book. Highly recommended.

This is a wonderful horse story which helps us (children and adults) realize the benefits of helping others. As we give help, we are blessed. I like the way the story develops. We see how Amy needs and helps the horse and how he needs and helps her. The story ends this way. "I know we gave each other that extra spark in life. Every day could be faced with bright anticipation. We were truly a lucky pair."

At the author's website, you can copy a lesson plan with suggested questions. Search for "Children's Books by Frances Dinkins Strong."

The Hamilton's are looking to purchase a tame enough horse for their nine-year old daughter Amy, when they come across a malnourished horse that is up for sale. Even so after a test ride, he seems to move pretty good, is very quiet and has a great temperament, traces of an equine star. Mr. Hamilton feels he would make a great horse for Amy and by the next day they return to pick him up.

Once home, Amy names him Lucky. It turns out Amy has tunnel vision, can barely see in the light of day and later Lucky goes blind in his right eye. The two build a bond of ever-lasting friendship, one depending on the other.

This is absolutely a delightful tale that reminded me much of the classic movie "The Black Stallion," and much like the movie A Lucky Pair achieves a magical atmosphere that children, as well as adults will enjoy.

Positively one book which will make a wonderful addition to any child's library. Lesson plans are included on the author's website.

Reviewed by Betsie

You don't have to be a lover of horses to appreciate this story about a visually impaired young girl and her horse, Lucky. This can be read and enjoyed by children and parents alike, either as a book older children can read by themselves or have read to them by a parent. A truly inspiring book--I recommend it to all book lovers.

I read The Lucky Pair to my granddaughters, age 5 and 9, and was delighted to discover that my five year old granddaughter immediately recognized that the horse was the talker! They both truly enjoyed the book and were able to use the context to figure out the meanings of most of the advanced words in the story. The ones they could not, I explained to them. Both of them learned so much about what it is like to take care of a horse. This was all new to them. With a new understanding of word meaning and horses, this book provided a wonderful learning experience for them.

The first 50 pages of this "cookbook" is a wonderfully romantic but not romanticized portrait of Marseille and that historic Mediterranean port of call's long history, native customs, literary inspirations, immigrant influences, notorious mischiefs, and recent cultural revival. Recalling the movie "The French Connection," it's hard to think of Marseille as being trendy, yet Daniel Young makes a convincing case, especially through his side-by-side presentation of the local Provence-based cooking and emigre flavors that gives the food its contemporary appeal.

The recipes I have attempted so far have been delicious and very doable (so far I've preferred to try the straightforward, home-style dishes from home cooks (many from grandmothers, others from fishermen) rather than the more elaborate ones from Marseille's restaurant chefs). I can see myself making the Parmesan and black olive biscuits all the time. The Provencal-style eggs in cocotte are terrific and also simple to prepare. My friends loved the basil potato chips and the Moroccan crepes. The soupe au chocolat -- that's right, chocolate soup -- is to die for!

Incidentally, I'm not sure what "Cloudia," my fellow customer reviewer, is talking about when she complains of no index. My copy of the book has a very detailed index where you would expect to find it, in the back (pages 259-272).

It was interesting to learn that Marseille is a great Pizza town and has Pizza trucks complete with North African Pizza styles, but that didn't make me feel like I was there. The recipes all seem very complex and seem to come from the kitchens of fancy restaurants. I did manage to create a halfway decent vegetarian Spinach bouillabaise as inspired by one of the recipes.

Incidentally, I was moving when I wrote this review, and so I goofed. Of course there is an index! I don't know why I thought there wasn't one. So I apologize to the author and review readers for that considerable error.

Alors! robertolov's review is spot on. The author, Daniel Young, has created a sense of place and people that is warm, engaging, and thoughtful. It's somewhat akin to being regaled about a person's family history before actually meeting them. No cutesy French stereotypes here; to bastardize Shakespeare, the author has taken the approach of "what is a cuisine, but its people." Daniel Young is an evocative, compassionate interpreter who shares Marseilles' culture with descriptions that are so intimate, I felt as if I were right there. There is such joy in his discoveries that I couldn't put this book down -can you imagine, a cookbook! As for the recipes... they are terrific, healthy, flavorful and for the most part, quite simple. But of course.

Daniel Young's recent book, Made in Marseille belongs in every serious cook's library, this is a wonderful book. His recipes are a good mix , some Eastern Mediterranean rather than the usual type of French Cookbook which we're more familar with. Mr. Young's bouillabaisse,his excellent appetizers especially his Tapenade are a very good reason to have his very special book, additionally the photographs by Sebastien Boffredo really capture the area.

Simenon's Chief Inspector Maigret never fails to take me to Paris, to enfold me into the city's daily life and the problems of solving a crime. This is accomplished by an economy of language that somehow includes all the details necessary to create a lucid scene.

This novel begins on a rainy night when Maigret accompanies his doctor friend on an amergency call: a man has been stabbed on a nearby sidewalk. It is no ordinary victim. He is the young son of a wealthy perfume manufacturer. The victim's hobby is secretly taping conversations wherever he goes. It is a pastime that proved fatal--or did it?

Maigret's investigation takes him to cafes and brasseries, from the wealthy to the poor, and piece by piece he solves the crime. Or, perhaps, it should be said that Maigret lets the killer play out and solve the case on his own. In either case it is the journey, not the solution, that ntrigues. There are the sights, and sounds, and smells of Paris. As usual, Maigret chats with his wife, goes to movies, and pauses often to have a beer or wine and to reflect on what he has uncovered to date.

Any lover of crime fiction who has not yet discovered Georges Simenon should do so immediately. Like Arthur Conan Doyle, he is one of the best, not just of crime fiction but of fiction writing in general.

The Maigrets ate on a monthly basis with Dr. Pardon and his wife. Dr. Pardon complained that medical doctors were being changed into clerks because of all of the paperwork required of them. Superintendent Maigret and Dr. Pardon went out to see a young man lying in the street, a victim of stabbing. Maigret had become involved in the case involuntarily.

In reporting the death to the family, Maigret learned that the young man's parents were very rich. The father was a perfume manufacturer. The young man had had few friends. He had an unusual hobby, recording conversations. The tape recorder was recovered.

Maigret called in Janvier. The importance given to the case by the press was surprising to both police officers. A description of the assailant was obtained. Maigret called upon his other two favorites, Lucas and Lapointe, to help with the case.

The young man had identified the places where he had made recordings. The police officers followed in his footsteps. Maigret had known professional criminals well, but he had never been that interested in them. It had all seemed like a game somehow.

On a stakeout four men, presumed art thieves, are arrested. Seemingly the young man doing the recording had stumbled upon a criminal plot. The killer called Maigret. He was a man who had crossed a barrier. It was a matter of diminished responsiblity. The tale is taut, lucid.

When Maigret meets a serial killer, it's a dramatic face to face and, as usually, Maigret can understand why the killer acts in such an horrible way. Maigret don't excuse the killer but can understand. Like said Simenon : "Understand but not judge".

This is one of my very favorite Simenon novels; superbly paced and brilliant characterizations.

This simple and old-fashioned mystery was a pleasant surprise. There was nothing flashy, or garish, or over-the top about it - a straightforward police whodunit. Some readers might find this a trifle boring - we've gotten so used to multiple storylines and side-stories that it's a little hard to switch gears and wind down to something so basic, but it's worth it. Reminds one of simpler times, and harkens back to the days of Agatha Christie (Poirot, though, not Marple).

It's not precisely a solve-it-yourself, but it does give you plenty of food for thought. Even though it's a very short book, the characters are well-written and interesting, giving you even more incentive to at least try to decipher the ending. It's possible, but I think it's more luck than skill if you figure it out. Granted, there are none of the dizzying twists and turns of more 'modern' mysteries, no technology or romance, but it's still very much worth reading for any true mystery fan.

This is one of those rare detective novels with an excellent plot, well-defined characters, great atmosphere, and in a language without a wasted word. Only Ed McBain, among American detective fiction in the police procedural sub-genre, is a rival.

Chief Inspector Maigret is not hard boiled, no tough talking cop, nor is he exceptionally perceptive or brilliant. He just attaches himself to the case and plods relentlessly. Here a tiny, 86-year old widow is murdered, after complaining to the police that her apartment has been very slightly disturbed several times while she was shopping or sitting in the park. No one in authority pays much attention to her until after she is strangled. Why would someone kill such a harmless person? She has no valuable jewelry, no cache of money. Maigret must find the motive and the killer with meager clues.

Perhaps the most impressive element of this and other Simenon novels is the economy of language, albeit in translation from the French. There is plenty of detail but without wasting a word. The Simenon books should be studied by crime writers for the narrative technique alone.

This is a thoughtful well-plotted mystery. The author does a fine job portrayng Maigret, the other detectives, the victim (an elderly lady), her niece and her niece's son. The writing is simple and easy to understand. Simemon does not waste words but he brings the characters to life. The reader will be kept guessing until the end of the book.

Imagine drinking a glass of Calvados. The title is ambiguous. She was a tiny woman insisting upon seeing Chief Inspector Maigret personally. Madame Antoine, aged, having lived in her apartment for a long time, reported that her things had been moved. There is only the key she keeps in her bag. A niece and her son are her only relatives. She is pefectly aware that a young person might consider her mad. The concierge says she is very much like any other old person living by herself. Her clear gray eyes make an impression on Maigret. Then she is murdered, suffocated, and an investigation ensues. The police search and question, after all this is a police procedural. Maigret discovers that the victim had practiced twenty five years of thrift. A character named Le Grand Marcel is brought into the picture.

The fineness of the writing (translated?) transcends the genre. Picking up a Maigret novel is a matter of dealing in a brand name consumer good. One is never disappointed. The storytelling is simple, classical, felicitous. Simenon used masterful economy in his art. The short bursts of information create an almost Raymond Carverish style. One is transported to Paris in the Spring. Time spent in the company of Maigret and his gifted inspectors Lapointe, Lucas, and Janvier is a pleasure.

for any Simenon fans. As always- Simenon is economical in expression- but still giving a full picture of the scene. I love this book because it allows- in one of the short stories- a closer look at Madame Maigret- and her personality. She is a shadowy character in the series, but always present.
The Holiday themed cover that is curently being used, makes it a nice Holiday gift as well. I also like that it is a bit longer than the usual Maigret- maning that it makes a good gift for someone about to go on a long train/plane or automobile trip!

In the mid-eighteen hundreds Mr. Poe invented the genres of modern literature, never to be surpassed in most. He invented the detective story in The Murders in the Rue Morgue: The Dupin Tales (Modern Library Classics) long before Holmes and Watson stalked in poor imposture their apartment in Baker Street. Poe's Auguste Dupin of Paris is the original, and the best.

One hundred years later Frenchman Georges Simenon created the long lived Inspector Maigret, whose brilliance, subtlety, insight and patience are unmatched in detective literature.

Unfortunately in our fallen age all that many know of the French detective is the banal and tiresome Inspector Clouseau; nevertheless, the proud and fascinating characters of DuPin and Maigret will long outlast that forgetable farce.

I admit I have long been a fan of Maigret, and of Simenon, whose long career embraced other novels of profound psychological interest, including Strangers in the house: Les inconnus dans la maison. I often grate at the unfortunate, traitorous and out-dated translations made into incompetent English (does anyone still use the word "vexed?"); yet I admit often enjoying the English cassette recordings, including recently the poorly mistitled (Errol Garner style) Inspector Maigret and the Strangled Stripper (Inspector Maigret Mysteries) or that series's compelling recording of None of Maigret's Business.

As a devoted fan admiring all things Maigret I therefore noticed the extremely accessible price of this present item, and thought it might be some brief momento of the immortal Inspector. Imagine thereafter my astonishment and my joy open receiving by mail this substantial volume, about 5 x 8 inches and over 325 pages long, a collection of nine tales written around 1950, translated by Jean Stewart.

Maigret here, after a very touching and telling and caring domestic scene, investigates a sighting of Santa; in another tale he employs a choirboy in the solving of a crime, and later follows a purposeful trail left by a child fleeing a criminal. We read here therefore another side of Maigret, as he works with and for children, always with the keenest psychological insight and subtlety of the author.

Look not here for Clouseau; the true humour here is much more subtle, much deeper, more true and real. Look not here for Kojak nor for blazing gunfire and shoot outs with hoodlums. Here you find no Mickey Spillane, but a patient, quiet, profound reflection of the people and the city of Paris in the post-war years, with no direct mention of that devastating and divisive war.

Here you will find nine excellent tales from this master storyteller. You will not be disappointed, but will find much to read and to reflect and to remember when life was like this, to rediscover our human nature.

Truly the continual portraiture of the intimate, quiet and deeply caring domestic life of Inspector and Madame Maigret must be read now in this era in which literature and we ourselves have lost this. Read this and remember, and receive the greatest gift of Maigret's Christmas, the great and unstated love of this matrimony.

Typically, a Maigret novel is easy reading. Four or five hours of light reading is all it takes to read a very good crime story. This lightness allows one to go on a Maigret binge where in the course of a week, two or three novels can polished off.

Miagret's Christmas is a collection of nine short stories. Some of the short stories are not so short, they are more like novellas. At 320 pages of small print, this book is by no means light reading. It took me a couple of weeks to finish the book.

Of the nine stories, I found four of them to be classic Georges Simenon. They were world class in their cleverness. The other five were good but not great. However, Georges Simenon's good is most writers very best. All and all a great book but a bit of slog.

These stories are excellent. All nine pose intriguing puzzles for Maigret and his colleagues to solve. What makes them special is the quality of the writing (just enough words to convey the image and no more) and the subtlety of the author who always seems to add a little bit more to the reader's perception of Maigret. There are great scenes between Maigret and his wife, Madame Maigret. Anyone married for any length of time will enjoy these little domestic battles. There are also some well drawn child characters whose interaction with Maigret is skillfully depicted. The reader always ends up admiring Maigret for his thoughtfulness and his persistance. He asks great questions of the witnesses to draw out the story. This collection of stories is outstanding.