Walpole Books

THE INSIDERS' GUIDE TO RENO AND LAKE TAHOE is a great book about Northern Nevada and California that shows the Reno-Lake Tahoe area to be a region of great wealth and expensive homes. The book also proves that Reno is more ethnically diverse than you'd expect for a city of its size, and there is plenty of wonderful information about outdoor activities in the area. This is a book that you must own if you're planning to relocate to the Reno area, or even just to vacation there.

I purchased this book for a vacation to Lake Tahoe. While it is well-organized and provides a broad overview of the Reno/Tahoe region, it lacked really good, in-depth info on restaurants and attractions. I would recommend this book only if coupled with a more detailed book on the specific activities you want to pursue. We had a hiking guide (Afoot and Afeild in Reno/Tahoe, which was excellent), and I wish we had also had a restaurant guide.

This is a superb work - it clearly delineates the political and cultural clashes of the early Georgian period in English history. It contrasts the political philosophies of Bolingbroke and the Tories (nostalgic, reactionary, gloomy) with those of Walpole (experimental, pragmatic, forward looking) very comprehensively. The fact that Bolingbroke left so voluminous a literary trail while Walpole wrote so little of the theory of what he believed, does not deter Kramnick from clearly illustrating their philosophies.

He broadens the picture to include the literary figures of the period - Pope, Swift, Defoe and others and shows us how engaged they became in politics. This era was perhaps the first to spawn a profession of writers, who could actually make a living by the sales of their journalistic or literary works. It is ironic that the affluence which supported their careers should have been so criticised by the most of them. Gullivers Travels is ably contrasted with Robinson Crusoe - each reflecting the Tory (pessimistic) and Liberal (optimistic) views of either side of the debate. There is excellent commentary on the use of journalism and pamphlets to sway public opinion.

Bolinbroke, Swift, Pope and others essentially saw Walpole's England as corrupt, obsessed with wealth, and opposed to the traditional landowning classes. They saw the increase of the National Debt as ultimately leading to ruin for the taxpaying classes (landlords) while temporarily enriching speculators and placemen. This circle yearned to return to the `balance' between peers, King and commoners which they felt characterised their ideal of the Tudor era. Kramnick gives Bolingbroke credit for at least being consistent to this view, and finds that his circle were fearful of the new economic forces rather than cynical in their opposition. In this he differs from most British historians in their view of Bolingbroke's character.

Walpole and Defoe, and the establishment are seen as being in favour of personal liberties, and limited government intervention in the lives of the governed. They are depicted as being favour of `projects' - the new financial and trade methods which were actually increasing the wealth of the country. Walpole is shown as being intolerant - to the point of persecution - of the opposition press, and too tolerant of people in public office making personal fortunes.

I think this book, in its time, marked the start of a reassessment of Bolinbroke. Read now, it is for me the clearest synopsis of the battle of political philosophies which marked the beginnings of `liberal democracy' in British History

WW I has broken out and two Englishmen, Ivan Durward and John Trenchard, go to Russia to help on the front as medics. Durward is objective and forthright, while Trenchard is dreamy and possessing little self-esteem. Trenchard falls in love with a Russian nurse, Marie, and they become engaged. But the older and roguish Dr. Semyonov also falls in love with her, and is able to take Marie for himself (Trenchard puts up little fight). Marie is later killed during a battle, as is Trenchard. Much of the book is related through a diary kept by Trenchard and another one by Durward. The tone of the book is very somber, even melancholy, despite the passionate love interests. Best of all is Walpole's descriptions of the forest, a dark and sinister place for most, representing the "killing field" of the war (though not for Marie or Semyonov). The war plays a large part of the story, but it would not be fair to call it a "war novel." An interesting and well plotted story, but terribly grave and solemn in tone.

If you want this much detail, looks pretty good to me. This is very in depth, and is not a quick, breezy, layperson or coffee table type style look at the subject. The book is definitely an academic type work, so do not get it unless that is specifically what you are looking for.

Lisa Walpole's first teen novel will find a home on any 8th or 9th grade reading shelf. The story of Maggie, a junior in high school, and her first crush will appeal to all young female readers. It will even evoke memories for the older reader. Maggie's emotional awakening and recognition of those "butterflies in her stomach" will easily have readers relating to this experience as if it is their own. The soothing character of the grandmother and the symbolism add to the overall story. What girl wouldn't have trouble choosing between the handsome Brian and the gorgeous Michael. No sexual overtones or violence permeate the book. As a teacher for 28 years, I can confidently recommend this to other educators who want an easy yet entertaining read for their students.

The basic premise behind this novel is the maxim "To write successfully, a writer must be free." Hans Frost, just turned seventy, is a successful and respected writer of fiction, poetry, history, and essays; but he has yet to create "the masterpiece" he feels capable of producing. The main detriment to this endeavor he (and Walpole) believes is his domineering and shrewish wife Ruth. After an extended visit by his independent-minded niece Nathalie, he is inspired by her to separate from Ruth and to move far off from home base London to Cornwall and a little cottage where he will attempt his masterpiece once more. The best part of the book, because it's the liveliest, is the ending where Frost confronts Ruth with his plan. Walpole, not known for his humor, writes with wry wit here that adds much to the book's freshness and naturalness. The novel's bookish content should be appealing to those who revere the literary life.

'I Wonder Why the Sun Rises' would be a fine book for elementary school children who are inquisitive and of curious nature. The book would be an extra enjoyable read for those children who are scientifically inclined. On nearly every page is a question immediately followed by its answer. Colored pictures with captions are plentiful throughout the book,giving it a greater appeal to the average young reader. The pictures that show how the earth's rotation about its axis and its simultaneous orbit around the sun are responsible for our days,nights,and seasons are especially well-illustrated. Also of interest are pictures of an ancient Aztec calendar and one of a sundial, which is a flat stone clock that indicates time by a projecting rod that casts a shadow over different numerals on the clock depending on what time of day it is.

"This is at once a kind and brilliant book, at a time when our culture tends to favour a split between the two....Zeldin is gloriously rash in the sheer range of human concerns he takes on, and his language is a model of clarity and narrative impetus....Anyone who is willing to read this extraordinary and beautiful work andlisten to the vast range of human voices it contains will carry away a treasury of new ideas, but as something more valuable- hope." -Maggie Gee, DAILY TELEGRAPH(London)

"[This book]is a narrative of private lives, but it extends much further; it is universal history, but it has an extraordinary intimacy of tone....His is a study in which time is broken open to reveal the real world which lies beneath it, that real world of memory and inheritance which is all the more powerful for being obscured from sight."
-Peter Ackroyd, THE TIMES (London)

The second volume in the Herries Chronicle, it's the story of tempestuous Judith Herries, daughter of Rogue Herries. Both her parents die on the day she's born, and she's raised by her half brother David, who's 55 years older than she. She marries Georges Paris, a smuggler and gambler, and is unhappy with him. When Georges is violently killed by an avenging father, Judith goes to live with nephew Francis and his wife. A feud breaks out in the Herries household, which is carried over into the next novel in the Chronicle (THE FORTRESS). Judith has an affair with Warren Foster, leaves him, but has a child by him.

The story is a strong one, though saturated with violence (Judith's husband, nephew and lover all die in the story). The character portrayals are good, especially of Judith and Jennifer Cards, Francis's wife and initiator of the feud. The final quarter of the book is not as good as what came before; Judith's sudden delivery of her son is hard to believe, and the action from that point on drags. The book is set during the early years of the 18th century. Among the better of Walpole's novels.

I didn't understand the ending of "Behind the Screen". Can anyone explain me.? my email: durmaz_murat@hotmail.com