Wainwright Books

Story starts with acquitted killer telling investigating officer that he did in his wife. Then it gets interesting! A fast-paced read, with a light tone. Sure to addict you to Wainwrights.

In this sequel to St. Clare's "To Tell Me TerribleLies," heroine Serena Wainwright tackles 21st-century conflictsin an 18th-century society: career, lover, family, child. As in theprevious book, the Pine Barrens setting is intricately woven into the story line, which takes place in 1785, shortly after the first book ended. Whereas the St. Clare's first book, subtitled "A Romance of the Pine Barrens," held echoes of genre romances, this one is a novel--no qualifications apply. Its pleasures include a glassmaking scene in which the tensions among the characters are played out in molten fire; a Philadelphia dinner party replete with conversational fireworks and flies; and passages featuring a child lost in more ways than one that I defy anyone to put down. Ghost Stag, a Lenni Lenape ironworker whose tribal wisdom resolves incipient trageesy, is a worthy addition to the "Lies" cast. So is botanist Jonathan Allenby, who yearns to have a plant named just for him. As was said of its predecessor, the nature writing is lyrical--as are the love scenes, parental and otherwise.

I read this book when I was little and now passed it down to my 7 year old son who enjoyed it. It is an adventure of several kids on an island - solving a mystery. The nice part of the story is how the kids can just freely roam around the island on their own - very different than today..

An interesting look at Life Magazine in an account that is part history and part personal memoir. Wainwright is clearly too close to his subject to craft an objective account, but there's still an awful lot of material who are interested in either _Life_ itself or in the history of magazines in general.

Much fascinating stuff, such as the Clifford Irving hoax, the exclusive _Life_ coverage of the astronauts, and the JFK assassination.

David Fleisher is a professional, dealing, as he puts it, with the same commodity as doctors and midwives, but at the other end. He is hired to remove an inconvience and proceeds to organize to complete the assignment.

Told in first person, most of the novel depicts his methodical approach to service delivery, with flashbacks illuminating his early days in the profession. This hit is complicated by the fact that he knows the victim, in fact the victim was his early montor, not that a professional would be deterred by that fact.

After all prepartion is complete, Fleisher meets his victim, on Christmas Eve as it turns out, but then, (of course) complications arise, leading to two or three surprising turns before the ultimate conclusion.

John Wainwright was a prolific British author in the 1960s and 1970s (and perhaps later). His writing style is not taut, but interest in the prime character and in some secondary characters is maintained. Well worth a read.

From Chapter 1 which proceeds by author Wainwright to compare the non-events in Philadelphia from 1700-1800(when wood was the fuel,candles and oil lamps were the light,water often contaminated was drawn from private wells,refrigration was non-existent,no advances had been made in sanitation,and medicine had yet to unravel the "mystery of yellow fever"..it mentions the "old Philadelphian of 1880" who marvel at how change had begun in 1802(public works system when Schuylkill Rver water was pumped into the city..the river 'damming' at Fairmount in 1820's ..its first railroad(the Philadelphia,Germantown,norristown) in 1832 with horses pulling it in rainy weather since the locomotive was not allowed out in the rain.Gas-lit buildings and streets followed by the end of the 1830's with the "Dawn of the Electric Age" (Chapter 2) with the modern merchant John Wanamaker,whose store stood next to the new city hall building on Penn Square in Philadelphia.The book evolves interestingly through "its evolution" and on Page 370 is followed by "Appendices" which includes the names of all 'Directors & Officers from 1899-1961,PECO's history highlights(4/1/1852-10/7/60).incl of its "blackouts[4/4/1937--01/22/1947--10/15/1954--3/19-3/20 of 1958--9/12/1960('54 was caused by Hurricane Hazel,'58 was called "Operation Snowdrop;'60 was caused by Hurricane Donna)..while the 1st in '37 was caused when a 66,000 volt ciruit breaker exploded during a clearing of a "fault" at the Plymouth Meeting Substation; and the '1947 blackout caused by the rupture of high-pressure gas main in compression room at West Conshochocken Gas Plant (with a serious fire lasting 2 1/2 hous) kept Norristown without service approximately 24 hours;Pgs 387-391 contain accounting statements and/or graphs re sales and service ,Pgs 392-394 list 53 "Utility Companies" incl of 'PhiladelphiaElectric Company'associated with HTRDA{High Temperature Reactor Development Associates,Inc.(inc. 11/13/1958) ,listed alphabetically the 53 are Alabama Power Company --West Texas Utilities Comany]The story of the Company ends with an "Index"after Page 394(alphabetically from "Academy of Music"--"Zoo").Its leaf pages(all 4) are beautifully sketched maps of its gas & electric service areas:inked in blue (in the front(2) labeled PECO System "Electric Service Area" and before the back book jacket (2)labeled PECO(without the word 'system"-"Gas Service Area" Pictures of workman at "Operation Snowdrop are on Page 306...and even the original employment record of Horace P. Liversidge(PECO president 1938-1947) on Page 115(with his initial employment being at the age of 21 as "wiring inspector".

Wainwright's drawing have a beautiful clarity to them, sort of technical drawing applied to landscape, and any one of these Sketchbooks is worth looking at.

But I would recommend getting hold of the older editions rather than any books from this new edition, as the publishers have unfortunately decided to use a bright white GLOSSY paper on which to to print the drawings. It's not disastrous, but the older editions used a nice pale cream, matt cartridge paper, which gives a much more subtle presentation of the image.

So, 5 stars for the contents, but only 4 stars for this particular edition.

The Linton Porcupine by Ross Laidlaw tells the adventures of a 16th century James Bond type sent in His Majesty Henry VIII's service to Scotland. There he must hunt down and destroy a machine of war that could not only turn the tables in the war between Scotland and England, but totally shift the balance of power in Europe.

This book is entertaining as a Renaissance spy story. It is not terribly convincing historically, as it contains a few too many anachronisms, but they do not ruin the story. It is written as a lost manuscript "discovered" and translated into modern English by Laidlaw. Perhaps its biggest weakness is the way the author's commentaries on the dangers of arms races shows through (it was written in the 1980s, and yes, he even uses the phrase "arms race" of 16th century Europe).

The introduction is written in the style of 16th century English, and the book contains considerable amounts of dialogue written in Scottish brogue. For those who enjoy the history of the English language or different English dialects, it is a plus, but some readers may find it a hindrance to the story.

A friend loaned me this book, and when searching for information about it online, I found almost nothing. It also looks like it is hard to find. That's a shame, because the Linton Porcupine is worth reading.

This book was first created over 30 years ago from one man's dedication towards the longest footpath in Britain. It's style is unique in the fact that it is actually hand written! This guide is a perfect work of art in itself, with beautifully hand crafted drawings of the sites, and perfectly created maps of the route. To top it all, it fits neatly into ones pocket. The detail to the history and sites view along this wonderful path is astounding, especially as Mr Wainwright did not even enjoy his walk along the path! For me this book is a work of art and a useful guide to this walk. Other books have better mapping and modern telephone help numbers but this one is for the collector of fine things.

This book takes the reader back to the early 19th century and the beginning of the Gothic Revival tradition. We learn how this tradition was a reaction against the industrial revolution and the secularization of society. Pugin reacted against this movement by calling our attention back to the Middle Ages, a world of great faith, intellectual and spiritual integration, and hand craftsmanship. The great pioneers of the Arts and Crafts Movement (Ruskin, Morris, McIntosh, Stickly, Wright) all owe Pugin a great debt of gratitude. The multiple authors deal with various aspects of this multifaceted design genius. Various chapters deal with his early life (he was designing furniture for Windsor Castle at age 15, designing the interiors of the Houses of Parliment in his early 20's!), architecture, furniture, metalwork, ceramics, graphics, etc. The person who kept coming to my mind as I have been reading this book is Mozart. Both were child prodigies. Both were prolific. Both were perfectionists. Both died young. The book is lavishly illustraited with color and black and white photos. The text is well written. The linkage between text and illustraition is consistent and clear. Anyone who is interested in the Arts and Crafts tradition owes it to themselves to read this book. To ignore the contributions of Pugin to the developement of the Arts and Crafts tradition is like building a castle in the air with no foundation.