Bennett Books

This is totally awesome! Do you want to learn about a bunch of family history and heritage? Then check out the book!!! Yay! Oh: and for the record, I'm NOT the author's daughter :D

- By: Stephanie Simpson-Woods reviewer for Midwest Book Review and Camp Horror

Diana Bennett's first novel is a hard one to put down! They should have just put super glue on the cover.

When a set of rings holding extreme powers find themselves on the hands of three men, it brings forth both knowlege and the intense urge for blood shed. Dante, the son of one of the ring holders is raised to kill, distrust and disrespect all who come near him. In his journeys he finds one friend who helps unravel his family's evil past without any knowledge that he is somehow involved the the evil web woven by Dante's murderous father.

Diana brings her characters to life with a marvelous pen and describes the characters surroundings with flare. This book is never leaving my bookshelf.

Set in the 1980s in a boarding school in the north of England, this Tony Award-winner for Best Play of 2006 is a dramatic comedy in which eight young "sixth-formers" prepare for the history examinations which will determine whether they are accepted at Oxford or Cambridge. No one from their school has been accepted in the past, and the headmaster is determined that this year will be different. To this end, he hires a young teacher, Irwin, to improve the students' "presentation" so that they will stand out from the crowd with the college examiners. His goal is to teach the students to think "outside the box"--not to be dull--when they answer questions.

Irwin's mission conflicts with the goals of the English and History teachers. Hector, the motor-cycle-riding English teacher, has taught the students reams of poetry, and they readily apply it in real-life situations. He has taught the French subjunctive (though it is not his subject) by conducting the class in French and having students pretend to be negotiating at a brothel. His classes are free-wheeling, often student-directed--taking the long view and valuing education for its own sake. The History teacher, Dorothy Lintott, has taught the facts: "They know their stuff. Plainly stated and properly organized facts need no presentation, surely," she remarks to the headmaster.

As the three teachers and the headmaster perform their duties, the eight students react as teenagers everywhere react, albeit a bit more politely. They banter and feed off each other's joking remarks, tease their teachers, get bopped on the head by Hector, challenge him to identify scenes from films (which they act out), and explore their favorite subject, sex. They are bright, charming, and ingenuous, and their conversations with each other and the faculty are spirited and quick-paced, keeping the audience constantly engaged and often laughing uproariously.

Bennett, whose recognition of humor in everyday life has become more sophisticated in the years since Beyond the Fringe, balances his humor with thoughtful observations about education and its value, as he also explores the subject of war. He provides additional commentary on his themes by including brief scenes which take place much later than the primary action. The play opens fifteen years after the main action, then flashes back to school days, before flashing forward five years, later in the play, as students reveal what has happened after college, thereby broadening the scope. Laugh-out-loud funny, thoughtful, and poignant in its moments of recognition, The History Boys is theatre at its best. n Mary Whipple

The best work I've seen on the subject yet. A must read.

This rather large book is great for those taking the Advanced placement European history exam. It is clear and concise. Its content is rather wordy but it includes many topics in each subject. For example, in the Chapter of the Rennaissance, it shows what the men were doing and the women's role in that time period. It also adds details about major battles, important writers and artist of that time period. The Ap European Exam includes a lot of this imformation that will surely be found in this book. I liked the book because of its complete source of information pertaining to the AP european exam. If you want a great score on the exam this book is for you. The study guide made for this book is also a great outline and preview to each chapter and is very helpful in taking the test.

The author has written a very good history book which is the basis of many college history classes throughout nation. The use of maps, pictures, and charts is very good and reenforces the material quite well.

This is my favorite history textbook I've ever used. It teaches on a higher plane of thinking, making connections and providing unbiased and interesting information.

I had to use this book as a course textbook for a college class last semester. One of the things that I really liked about this book is that it is very interesting; it really presents history in a fascinating way - one that draws you into it as you read. However, one of the bad things I found is that with this approach, it is very difficult to read to find specific information (although the quite-extensive index does definitely help). If you want a book you can skim, I wouldn't recommend this one - yet if you have the time to really delve deep, I would recommend it.

Well, my boyfriend really loved this book, and won't rest until he gets me to read it. And everything that he says is good usually does end up being good, so I trust that it is.

After reading the Bible I knew there was much more that I had not been taught in my Presbyterian USA church. I had an incredibale spiritual transformation at 16 and all I knew was that I had been "born again". 20 years later I begin to search and found this book. I knew that I could relate to an Episcoplian Priest. He explained a prayer language (tongues)and helped me to understand exactly what it was and how to actually activate it in my life. A MUST for those who are digging deeper and that believe.