Williams Books

Started reading this on the book counter at the local B&N and couldn't put it down. Fascinating premise and wonderfully vivid excursion into turn-of-the century New York. Stylish, well-researched and entertaining.

Boorstin has a unique voice and take on the period and an interesting speculation on what I understand to be a missing period in the life of William James. This book gives a vivid and entertaining picture of life in New York a hundred years ago. Recommend.

"Newsboys'" boasts a page-turning plot as well as the wonderful ability to make you think about important life questions. I read the entire novel during one ten-hour stretch of business travel ... and it made what could have been a grueling day of planes and airports a day of pure joy. The plot kept me entertained, but the philosophical elements kept me both hooked on the book and repeatedly pondering my own life and choices. "Newsboys'" may not be in the same literary league as E.L. Doctorow's "Ragtime," but it's much better than the current crop of historical novels typified by "Carter Beats the Devil" -- a lot of research in search of a purpose. I finished the book feeling enriched, invigorated and determined to do better at all things. Any work of art that leaves you feeling like that is a great and rare gift.

The gifted philosopher and psychologist William James suffered a mental collapse at age thirty. This fact is well known by anyone familiar with James' works, but what remains unclear is what happened during his convalescence. "Twenty-one pages (as much as forty-two pages of writing)" were cut from James' diary that surely held some answers about his dark hour. Thankfully we have Jon Boorstin who writes so well from James' point of view that we need to be reminded these writings are actually not James' confessions but historical fiction. "The Newsboys' Lodging House" brilliantly extrapolates upon the missing pages to form a cohesive and believable account of what led James to become the renowned modern thinker and progenitor of Pragmatism and the Will to Believe.

The novel jumpstarts in 1908 Cambridge with a stranger imploring an attention-grabbing question, "Is you my father?" That teaser grabs the reader's unequivocal attention as James elegantly recalls how one chance encounter at McLean Asylum in 1872 with Horatio Alger, a writer of boys' stories, inspires him to leave the asylum and research "the question of evil" among the poor newsboys of New York City.

Boorstin has magically crept into James' psyche and delights us page after page despite many somber expositions that detail James' anguish over evil's place in the world. Reading in fact becomes compulsory as we eagerly await an answer to the stranger's aforementioned question. In the meantime, Boorstin expresses James' ideations in an entertaining manner and more succinctly than several philosophical tomes.

Bohdan Kot

As a lover and student of philosophy, I have a prediliction toward pragmatism. And as I have a prediliction toward pragmatism, I have a fondness for James. And as I have a fondness for James, I found this fictionalized account of a 'missing period' of James's life interesting (if not a bit strange and obviously fabricated).

In this novel, John Boorstin is envisioning James in his thirtieth year. This is when he experienced his mental breakdown leaving him an inch from suicide and in complete emotional paralysis. He had spent quite a few months, we know, in a mental institution, but here, the diary stops - the pages referring to this few-month period have been cut out of his diary, leaving the period a complete mystery.

Boorstin imagines a scenario that as far-fetched as it is (and the author acknowledges that) is interesting and at very least entertaining. James goes to New York with little money where, in fascination with Horatio Alger, volunteers to instruct children at a Lodging House for orphaned kids. It is there he meets a 9-year-old boy called Jemmie and becomes determined to save this child (who James is convinced is good at heart, but slipping into street-life) from the cold and hard world of the streets. Therein, James finds himself ensnared in quite a few 'plots' that gradually help him become his own person (as we know that when the 'missing period' was over, James was remarkably more directed and focused).

As I do not know how many people reading this will be as familiar with William James as us philosopher types, there is one part of the novel I think that may get lost on those not as familiar with James. Though one need not at all be a philosopher to like this novel, the story very much ties into the meaning of James' philosophy of pragmatism wherein 'truth' is said to be dictated sometimes by the 'facts' and sometimes by 'what we personally need to believe'. So as not to get too philosophical here, I will copy one paragraph from the novel that beautifully explains:

"Until this moment, I had thought true belief to be absolute and beyond one's control, the inevitable expression of one's fundamental knowledge of the workings of the world. Now I saw that we created our beliefs even as we cherished their eternal permanence. All of us are bound up in beliefs which express not only our deepest truths but our deepest needs."

This is very much a part of James (both as a psychologist and a philosopher, James being equally adept at both). Boorstin's goal, in this fantastic but quite engrossing tale, is in part to give us a 'real live shot' of what James' pragmatism looks like in practice through James' very own eyes. The result is a very good novel that will at once entrhall you and capture your philosophic imagination.

This is a very good compliation of literary works of Western literature. It is refreshing to read the works of the masters of literature of yesteryear. Today, most people have never read or even heard of these works. What a shame!

The book arrived in a couple of weeks. I would have liked it to have arrived as early as the other 2 books did, but that was okay. It was just the book I needed and at a much reduced price from what the University was charging for it.

Everything was exactly as the seller described. On time and speedy service. Would buy from again.

Looks brand new. Very useful and I'm happy to have this in my library

I bought this to use with Tapestry of Grace curriculum, and used it with a 14 yr old fresh out of public school. It was way beyond her vocabulary level and reading skill set. This is a book I have seen used in college classes, and it figures, because much of the poems and plays are written in old or medieval English. We ended up scrapping this book most of the time and reading the same works in modern English online.
Having said that, for a child who is used to a classical education, this collection of works would be a pleasure to read.

I give it three stars not because it was not good, but simply because it is not great literature. However, it is a ripping great yarn. It's true to the Star Trek spirit. Anyone wanting to slip into a quick read where you already know everyone will have no difficulty reacquainting yourself with the cast of characters.

Like many Trek books there are many loose ends to tie together from TV shows and movies. Having tried my hand at plot development I can tell you how fun that is. Thus we find in book 3 (Avenger) why Sarek never melded with Spock as is traditional with Vulcan fathers and sons. There are other loose ends and the knot-tying is imaginative and believable.

But when it all gets down to it the stories are good. That, along with believable dialog and solid prose, are what make a book worth reading. This has all three. Shatner has done well by Star Trek fans.

I found this story to be quite captivating, and all three books almost inpossible to put down. I read all three, in one sitting each. These books, I must admit are not masterfully written, but are so filled with adventure that the writting just melts away. I geatly recommend this book.

If you are a fan of science fiction or have any intrest in science fiction at all I recomend that you read this series. The story line follows both the movie and TV plots and combines all of the current TV shows into one explosive novel.

Ashes of Eden is my favorite of these 3, such an excellent story I felt that I was watching a Star Trek movie in my mind.... The Return was slow to start, but really picked up and merged Kirk into the Next Generation universe, ended with a bang! Avenger was very cool, and it had some awesome reunitings, the Virogen plague was very interesting. But of all of this, I was surprised at how good of a story-teller Shatner was, he gets into the plots right away without boring the reader with useless details, all that matters it seems with these books are that they are fun, fun, fun!! I am a huge Star Wars fan, but these books are making my Star Trek desire come to life, Shatner needs to get into having these books developed into a film that incorporates The original series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and the mirror universe (I am currently reading Spectre-It is soooooo cool!)

Get this book, it will take you very little time to read all three stories, I read them all in 6 days, and I usually take a couple of weeks to a month to read just one novel. A+++++++

Like so many original Trekkers, I found the attempt by the "new generations" to kill off the Kirk character thoroughly appalling. Shatner's resurrection of Kirk, while an amusing conflict of interest(!), is a wonderful "take that" that undoes all of the damage. The series is actually really good science fiction adventure which captures the epic spirit of the original TV and film series extremely well. Aspects of "Ashes of Eden" smack of romantic cheese, but once into "Return", we get down to business. There is only one Star Trek captain, and it is Kirk. Long live.

I am an inveterate reader and Omamori is without question one of the best books I have ever read - twice. It is a book that not only spans generations, it touches one's heart! A wonderful love story that bridges cultural differences and carries the message that each of us, regardless of our differences, wants the same things out of life. A wonderful, engrossing read!

This novel was written I believe in 1988. As it says in the back of the book, it took the author 7 years to write it. Much like Gone With The Wind, it came across to me as a once in a lifetime book and I guess this author has not written anything since. A real shame. As my title said, this was my second reading of this novel. The first perhaps at least 15 years ago. I think I even liked it more the second time. I read mostly at lunch time and while waiting for traffic to pass, so that I can get home as fast as possible. For this novel however, I kept on sneaking just another paragraph or two in between sales calls all day long and many times I had to reach for the hankerchief to wipe my eyes. I happen to love multi generational novels that take 30 to 100 years to play out such as Jeffrey Archer's "As the Crow Flies". This novel which starts in 1871 japan and goes to the end of WWII has everything that you would ever want in a novel. I would have to rate it as one of the best books that I have ever read. If you can find a copy buy it without haste.

This book was purchased for me by my DH. It is the best book I have ever read. The contents are historical and Richard must have done a tremendous amount of research in order to write this book. I could not put it down. I would highly recommend it.

This is my favorite book of all time. I borrowed it from a friend and read it years ago. I absolutely loved it, but a good friend always returns borrowed books! When I tried to buy it myself, I was told it was out of print. I was thinking about it recently and realized that I could probably find it on this site. Duh!!! Well, I just ordered it and cannot wait to receive and read it all over again and lend it to people who I know will appreciate it.

It's not just a story about love, it's about family, honor, sacrifice, friendship, culture and of course WWII from many different perspectives. I learned a lot, I laughed, I loved and I cried and when I was finished with this book, even though the ending was as happy as it could have been, I felt like I was losing my best friend. I remember when I was finished, I just sat in my room holding the book, silent in thought for almost an hour. Strange. It is a must read!!

I am very picky about what I read and only "go" into a storyline if it will increase my knowledge and thoroughly entertain me. This book did an exceptional job of both. I read Omamori about 5 years ago and picked it up again because I was out of good things to read (imagine that!). I knew very little about the effects of the war on Japan and loved "being there".

Whenever someone tells me they are in a reading, author or genre slump, I suggest this book. It is the best time I have ever had reading.

We do a lot of large group entertaining, intimate dinners for small groups, and carry dishes to church, school, and people's homes. This book is a must. With just a few ingredients and a little time, you can create something delicious and hold your head proud. I enjoy using various pans for an added touch. Sometimes I'll pipe a little lemon curd, fruit preserves,or fresh fruit on top to guild the lily. If you use an oval pan, around 3x9 or so, you can get two cakes from one recipe. That gives one to take to a friend and one to keep for yourself at home. I find the recipes very versitle, which is great, depending on what you have in stock. I highly recommend it. Enjoy! <><

I have also never written a review for a book before, but I must say I couldn't pass this up! This is a staple in my kitchen. Whenever I have company, go over to someone's house, participate in an event, I know I can pull this book out of the cabinet and whip up something wonderful in under an hour. I hardly make desserts from anything else anymore, it's too much work!!! Bottom line: This should be a part of everyone's cookbook collection.

I see Mr. Schloss has written other books of a similar nature - one on cookies, chocolate, pasta, and another using 3 ingredients for meals. Haven't checked those out but this cake book is great. Rich simple cakes, what's not to like? Going to try the lemon poppyseed today and I already have the ingredients for the sauerkraut cake and the sesame one. (Shucks, I'll just xerox the recipes I'm dying to try since I can't find a copy of the book).

I just happened to have checked this book out of our local library and it is breaking my heart to return it!
I've gone from hearing,
"This cake tastes like bread, Ma" and
" Whats wrong with the cake, Ma?" and
"Jen, maybe our oven is a bit wonky"
To hearing this:
" This is the best cake EVER Ma!" and
" My goodness, Jeni, I have got to get this recipe from you!" AND my husband-- who usually claims to not enjoy baked goods--is eating his words---and my cakes now! I only wish that I could afford the... price tag! I'll just have to write down nearly every recipe in the book!
If you can afford this book----BUY IT!

I absolutely love this cookbook. Most of the ingredients can be kept on hand for those last minute dessert needs, recently discovered bake sale. The results are consistent and yummy. All recipes can be made using just a pot, a spoon and a baking pan so you will love the clean-up. This cookbook has a lot of variety -- some of my favorites are Amaretto Cake, Chocolate Almond Torte, and Vanilla Butter Cupcakes.

Very good book; however, I ordered the wrong edition so couldn't use it. This was my mistake, not the sellers.

Jack Eller, "Anthropologist, Author, Rationalist," seems to have forgotten some major points in his argument about this book. First, although he correctly points out that the book does an excellent job about doing what it's designed to do - that is sharing about what's going on in the Christian missional realm - he argues that Christianity ought not to be spread at all, and that the whole book is just wrong. He says that "[from] a cross-cultural and anthropological point of view ... [i]t is arrogant, ethnocentric, and culturally destructive to spread a culturally-relative and almost certainly false ideology and belief system where it is not needed or wanted." That's all well and good, but since the book isn't about SHOULD people be missionaries or not, his review is instantly irrelevant. Any review of a book that rants about what the subject matter of the book is not is really not even a true book review - Jack should realize this if he's truly a writer.

Second, being a self proclaimed Rationalist, Jack ought to realize that his own "rational" worldview is also a religion, religion defined as 'a set of beliefs.' This book is most assuredly about the Christian Missionary Experiences of many people across the globe - not an exhaustive apologetic of the Christian faith. If Jack really believes that no one ought to push their beliefs, he should have never published his review in the first place.

Third, people like Jack who tend to think of "Christianity" in terms of "people who do things that I don't like or agree with, and they're always pushing pushing pushing their beliefs on me and others" should take the time to check out some of the many positive things that Christians have done throughout the world. One example is hospitals: both in the US and abroad. Ever notice how many, if not most hospitals involve Christian denominations in the name? For example, here in New York City we have New York Presbyterian and New York Methodist Hospitals which are some of the most sophisticated hosptials in the world. Why do they have Christian denominations in the titles? Because they were founded by Christians who believed that sick people can be helped through medical means. But we never hear about this - it's always "Christians pushing their ways." This book shows how missionaries have helped many across the globe both spiritually AND physically. Jack says that people don't want or need what missionaries have, but nothing could be further from the truth. Christianity properly understood is the most love and human care centered belief system in the world, and this book highlights that well.

This is a book about the theology, history, and strategy for succcessful missions. It includes case studies and many practical advices. The authors are many and good. The book almost is a must if you are going to be a missianary or want to support missions in an effective way. I highly recommend this book.

This book opens your eyes to the theology, history and strategy of missions. It will help you to understand the Bible and your place in this world like never before. You will understand WHY Jesus is the ONLY "way, truth, and life". You will be excited to work and pray to see people brought out of bondage and suffering, and into a life that glorifies God and offers peace, hope, and healing. Be warned - the book changes lives! Even if you cannot take the Persp. course, it is worth it to read the book.

This book was intended to accompany a course of the same title. I know more than a few people who took this course. One guy is a missionary in India; one guy went to work at the US Center for World Missions; another guy is a pastor of a church; others are full-time ministers; I don't know where some of the others are - probably the uttermost parts of the earth. So I always wanted to read the book that broadened the perspectives of so many people.

The book consists of a collection of essays written by scholars, seminary professors, ministers and missionaries. The theme of the book is to explain that the bible describes a Judeo-Christian God who, from the very beginning, had a missionary purpose - to reach the world - to reconcile the entire world to Himself.

When He contacts Abraham, His intention is to bless many nations through Abraham (and his descendents), and the rest of the Bible is the story of the process through which that original goal is accomplished. The book's conclusion is that Christians today are and should be being used by this same God to accomplish this original purpose.

Some of the essays are very technical, examining the original Hebrew texts and their meaning. Other essays offer interesting comments.

One of my original impressions could have got me convicted of white man phobia. Most of the authors (and there are some exceptions) are western white men writing about how western white men must bring their western white message to save the world. But fortunately I got over my phobia and read the actual content of the book, and evidently, so did many others.

I hear comments by Christians in Korea and India and Africa, and often I hear the same phrases used in this book. The Koreans often use the term "unreached peoples" and "people groups" which come right out of this book. This book has influenced people all over the world and has clearly defined and mapped out the objective of Christianity - the Great Commission.

I prefer Bartlett's for one major reason: You know where what you're looking for came from. There's plenty of good material in here, don't get me wrong, but if it's a Shakespeare quotation, I like to know *exactly* where it came from in MacBeth, so I can find it and cite it!

It does have an interesting organization-- by theme-- which is different from Bartlett's and can make flipping through it amusing. In that way, you can actually pick this up and just browse instead of reading 16 pages of lines from Paradise Lost, all together.

However, if you're looking for something practical, something you can use to give people an answer if they ask you, "Hey, that was interesting, where did it come from, exactly?," you're not going to be able to answer the "exactly" part. Just be aware of that.

Well worth the price of the book - excellent collection of quotes. Wonderful source of reference. I look forward to "wearing it out" as one other reader has!!!

I have had this book for 9 years and it continues to be my favorite. I have several other quotation books, but I always keep coming back to this one. It covers many topics that are categorized in a user friendly format which makes searching for the perfect quote a breeze. I recommend this book for the quotation fanatic!

A lot of quote books focus on the timeless and famous or the "witty" and not-so-meaningful. Peter's Quotations is a clasic among public speakers and essayists because it focusses on what these people are likely to need. It addresses broad, abstract topics such as "kindness" but also lays out the lawyer jokes. The topics are a good mix of the immortal and the current and, while often witty, are never ridiculous or campy (well, almost never campy). I've used it for years as a debater and public speaker, as a coach, and as a teacher. The best indication I can give you of its outstanding usefulness is that I buy a new copy for my speech team every year because a graduating senior always steals the old one. I'm on my third personal copy because I've worn two others out.

Not a "real" quotation reference like, say, Bartlett's, but a great compendium of mostly modern quotes. The book has a sharp, sassy, punchy, pointed sensibility (which only lags, unfortunately, in Dr. Peter's own added asides which are uniformly below the standard of the rest of the book). This is a quotation book that you will read cover to cover. Organization is handy so that when you want to find that pithy bon mot that struck you the last time you read the book, you'll be able to locate it easily. Highly recommended.

This book is comprised of a translation of Book V of the Codex Calixtinus, and abundant notes, commentary and introduction of same. If you have traveled to Santiago, then you have most likely already read extensive quotations, citations or information from this work. It is probably the single most important historical source of information about the pilgrimage. Or at least the most famous.

The translated work itself is only a small fraction of the total book. I urge you to go to the effort of reading the Notes to the Codex. Do this at least for the value for money in the experience since the Notes section is almost twice as long as the actual text. Even past that, I found the notes good reading, and only wish that they had been published in situ with the text and not at the back since it would have saved me a lot of really endless flipping back and forth.

The book is also published with a Hagiographical register of the relevant saints and a Gazetteer of the locations. Either of those sections might be of more use to the prospective pilgrim than is the text itself. I have to say that reading the Codex after I completed my trip made it funnier and more illuminating.

This is one of those fabled must-reads if you are interested in the Camino. If you aren't, it still might be interesting as an example of medieval travel writing. Melczer seems to do a good job with the book and the translation. Recommended.

I personally knew Mr. Melczer both as my instructor and later as a friend and I simply cannot say enough about this man. Studying in Spain with Mr. Melczer in 1990 I can say he truly opened my eyes to history, art and culture. I took copious notes, but I realized I could never fully "absorb" the knowledge that this man imparted to his students. He inspired me to enter the field I am in now.
This book is an excellent presentation of one of the most remarkable journeys traversed by so many people throughout history. The research is excellent and the reading is very clear. This book is a must for any person interested in Spanish history

DO NOT buy this book if you are looking for a modern guide to the Camino.

DO buy this book for a scholarly translation and background of the pilgrims who went before you on the Camino (the guide was written in approx. 1160 AD)! The large introduction is packed with detailed information about the history/legends of St. James and his tomb from the time of Christ through early Church fathers, early Spanish history, Islamic invasion and subsequent withdrawal, and the French connection. There is detailed history on pilgrim routes, what they wore, where they stayed, and more. A great read prior to walking the Camino!

As a collector of guide books about Iberia, I found this volume exceptionally revealing, practical and poetic.

When you are not sure of the details of any particular Camino miracle, you need go no further than William Melczer's guide. The Codex Calixtinus is the source of all those stories you read in the other English language books. Melczner's guide is the first complete English translation of Book Five of the Codex Calixtinus - the original medieval pilgrim's guide.

This is a scholarly, extremely well documented book. The entire book is 345 pages. Of this, the actual translated Codex is 50 pages. The introduction and notes demonstrate a through knowledge the medieval pilgrimages. The book includes a haigographical register and gazetteer as well as bibliograpy and index. I had to go to my unabridged dictionary to find out that haigography is the study of saints. The gazetteer contains a short explanation if each place name. Both the haigraphical index and the gazetteer are quite helpful when doing any Camino reading.

This is not a book I would carry with me, but certainly one that is enjoyed after doing the Camino. For those who have time, it supplements any historical reading one may do before the Camino.

Amazing story!!! I do not know if it is all true or not but if it is, the ending is a shocker. I was pleased as it is mighty hard to be surprised now days. This is about a very very fiesty girl. I do not agree with all the choices she made or some of the things her comrades did, but if you get past that, it is truly an amazing, edge of your seat story. My only complaint is that it was too short. I wanted to hear more. I sincerely hope there is a sequel to this. Also, I would like to add that the author did a terrific job writing from a female viewpoint. I am greatly impressed. Please write a sequel and tell us the rest!

I found this book to very enjoyable. Set in the first person, almost as if you're reading the diary of Anne Bonney, it really explores the reality of piracy in the early 1700's during the so-called "Golden Age of Piracy."

Anne Bonney served as a pirate with "Calico" Jack Rackham towards the end of the Golden Age, when pirates roved the seas and robbed any vessel that they wished. Unlike the earlier buccaneers or privateers who waged piracy against one nation, these pirates were nothing more than sea-robbers and life at sea with them was often short and brutal. Jack Rackham was not all that notable compared to other pirates and likely would have been forgotten to history except for the fact that he was captured with two women pirates.

This book is not just about the deeds of cutthroats and pirates as it follows the spiritual growth of Anne Bonney from her strong Irish-Catholic upbringing through her rebellious years to her years as a pirate. While some pirates may have been resigned to sell their souls, Anne is constantly trying to find a way out of the life she has entered.

This is a good book and my only complaint would be that it is too short.

This was my second read...the first was under the title "Anne Bonney...My Pirate Story". I love the new title "Pirate Spirit" and the new cover. Congrats to whoever designed both. Reading Anne Bonney's story again was just as enjoyable as the first time. This author has a real talent. I hope he writes something again very soon.

Jeffery Williams aptly displays his journalistic experience, as well as his years as a high school English teacher, in the fluid compositional style and tight editing of his first novel. Based on his research of the life of Anne Bonney, a legendary pirate of the Caribbean in the early 1700's, Jeffery's Pirate Spirit is an enlightening read. The story is told in the present tense from the first-person-singular viewpoint of a teenage girl. This was not an easy feat in itself, and I understand that Mr. Williams had adequate help in this regard from Mrs. Williams. My only complaint is that the author should have been a lot more diligent in his proofreading as the typo count is a bit high. This particularly disturbs me because this is the second edition of Pirate Spirit, and you would have thought most of the errors would have been cleaned up when the title was changed and a new cover designed for the 2007 edition.

The most important thing I can say here is that I still give Pirate Spirit five stars. I personally don't give a swashbuckling ship's rat about pirate books or movies, and I had never even heard of Anne Bonney prior to accepting Mr. Williams' book for review. I understand that Johnny Depp isn't hurting the sales of Pirate Spirit and Mr. Williams' student age group probably loves everything pirate oriented, but this book also stands on its own as carefully composed, entertaining literature. What else should you expect from an English teacher? I accept only a select few books for review on my website, and Pirate Spirit is clearly one of the best of those I have accepted. Jeffery Williams fully grasps the entire concept of composition. The story flows over the warm Caribbean waters from the very first page. The dialogue is articulate, yet realistic and believable. The author has shown us just enough detail to help us fall deeply into the story without being bogged down in extraneous developments. Whether or not we agree with the lifestyle choices made by Ms. Bonney, or the moral code she so adequately questioned, we as readers have been sucked into the hold of the pirate ship. We have been presented with the consequences of sailing the larcenous seas with all the maturity of a teenage girl disguised in male clothing. Jeffery Williams knows damn well how to tell a story and I hope he has a fruitful writing career ahead on the stormy seas of the publishing industry.

High school English teacher Jeffery S. Williams, who has worked as a journalist and freelance writer, cuts his creative teeth with his debut novel Pirate Spirit: The Adventures of Anne Bonney. The novel focuses on Anne Bonney, one of history's most infamous female pirates, who along with another well-known female pirate, Mary Reade, plied their illegal trade in the dangerous infested waters of the Caribbean during the Golden Age of Piracy in the early 1700s.

Williams succeeds in achieving gripping narrative tension as he deftly paints the character of Anne Bonney's life beginning in Ireland where she was born out of a scandalous adulterous affair to Peg Brennan who had been the uneducated chambermaid to William McCormack, a nobleman of considerable means.

Her early years were not exactly pleasant as she was constantly taunted by her well heeled classmates and called "illegitimate, a bastard, a whore's daughter, and a harlap's whelp." The one bright light in her life was her uncle Edward, whom she adored and who was always offering her advice on honesty, dignity, discipline and tolerance, until one day all of his counsel changed her forever.

Bonney had been attacked by a ferocious dog and only due to the quick heroic intervention of her uncle was she saved from certain death. This event instilled in her a toughness that helped her cope with many of her future trials and tribulations she would face as she vowed never to accept the role of a victim.

From Ireland, Anne traveled with her mother, father and uncle across the Atlantic to the New World where on board ship she would hide and listen in on the fascinating sailors' conversations describing the natives who inhabited the Carolinas, the slaves who were brought to America to work the plantations and the roving pirates. As she learns, the latter were "beholden to no nation, sea-robbers who roamed the oceans in search of ships to attack and plunder."

Settling in Charles Towne, and after the death of her mother, Anne experiences her first pirate encounter when the famous Blackbeard blockaded the port of Charles Towne, robbing eight vessels and bringing shipping to a standstill. Anne was fascinated by the pirates whose bravery she admired as well as their freedom to live on the open water even though they terrorized people and broke the law without fear of punishment. It was also during the blockade that Anne noticed the well-groomed Jack Rackham, a consort to Blackbeard, with whom she later runs off with after jilting her husband James Bonney. However, prior to her amorous entanglement with Rackham, we learn of Anne's initial fondness for her husband, James, who bewitched her with the talk of the ocean and piracy. Unfortunately for James, he wasn't exactly the husband Anne bargained for and he quickly lost her respect, particularly when he became a lackey and snitch for the Governor of the Island.

As the story builds to an exciting conclusion, we read about the unique and mysterious relationship between Anne and Rackham and how Anne joins Rackham in his pirate adventures, initially deceiving him into believing she is a man and eventually revealing her secret. When Anne insists that she participate with Rackham in his illicit adventures, she is informed that there are no female pirates, as it is bad luck to have women aboard a pirate's ship.

However after some reconsideration Rackham accepts her as part of his crew disguised as Edward O'Malley Brennan, the name of her dear uncle. Anne was by day a pirate, and by night the paramour. Throughout her various escapades, Anne proves herself to be a worthy pirate engaging in various dangerous battles and holding her own, effectively participating in the looting and plundering of ships and dividing up the spoils without the slightest hint that she was a female. Nonetheless, although she loved the high seas and the adventure, she abhorred the greed, murders and grotesque actions of the men which are all vividly described.

Williams is certainly a talented writer and each piece of Pirate Spirit: The Adventures of Anne Bonney is well-crafted. Taking acceptable dramatic liberties, his observations and scenes are dazzling as he immerses his readers in the New World of the 1700s with his vivid descriptions of the sights, dangers, sounds and atrocities of the era, as if he was recounting a recent trip.

He is also very gifted in creating composite fictional characters while compressing events in order to stitch the action together more coherently. Moreover, he has a keen hand with characterization particularly with Anne and Rackham who are realistically drawn and laden with their flaws and internal conflicts.

And, as we learn from his Acknowledgements, with the aid of his wife Katherine's intuition and discernment into the human psyche, he effectively succeeds in comprehending the mysterious, romantic ways and whims of the feminine spirit. As he mentions in the opening pages, it certainly is a challenge for a man to consider writing from a woman's point of view, something he probably could not have done without his wife's aid and input.

We must be thankful to have novelists like Williams for their meticulous research skills and superb talent to reconstruct the past in a way that is entertaining and at the same time highly illuminating that make history come alive.

Norm Goldman, Publisher & Editor Bookpleasures

Any reader will find this an intriguing and well told tale about Elizabethan England and the men who held power of life and death over the ordinary citizen. It was a time when men were burned at the stake or beheaded for the crime of daring to think original thoughts, particularly about religion. Spies were everywhere and their word, whether false or true, could bring ruin and death to their chosen victims. It was in this same time when the fledgling theater was taking its form and drawing to itself, writers and thinkers of the day. While it rewarded them with fame, it could also bring them death. Patronage by powerful men was no guarantee of safety as Christopher Marlowe, author of plays like Tambourlaine and Doctor Faustus, learned when his friend Thomas Kett was burned at the stake and another friend Thomas Kyd was tortured to force him to accuse Marlowe of athiesm, a charge that would bring him before The Star Chamber where a trial with foregone conclusions would bring him to the executioner. Marlowe had involved himself with William Shakespeare, an up and coming theater producer, at the time he was charged with being an athiest. Marlowe's patron, Walsingham, concocts a plot to save Marlowe and let him continue to write plays. That plot requires the cooperation of Shakespeare. Thus, two levels of 'playmakers' are working toward their own ends in this great tale of who really wrote what plays. A great visit to a past both admired and reviled filled with characters you will know from reading history, but they step off the page in The Playmakers. Highly recommended for something different and a very satisfying read. Enjoy. I sure did.

I bought this, thinking it would be a serious and vigorous literary discussion on a thoery that I am well-read upon and interested in. That is, the theory that Christopher Marlowe wrote Shakespeare. Instead, this is a dramatic, exciting and colorful and very funny window into this time in history.
I must admit, I was little non-plussed at first as this is a subject with which I treat with a great deal of reverence, but after conferring with my wife (with whom I must credit with passing on this marvellous work)I have to agree that it is about time someone brought the Bard into the 21st century. Mr Johnstone, I dips me lid!

A while ago when I read of Shakespeare and the doubts of his originality as the author of the famous works, I would never have thought a book like The Playmakers would make it come to life like it has. I loved this book from cover to cover and I was sad to reach the end. Mr Johnstone has written a most enjoyable story of the era and the characters of intrigue. Well done.

The author is to be congratulated. He captures a period around Shakespeare's era with more completeness than I have read about or thought of before. Getting all the personalities of the day with the politics and risk of being called a heretic is believable indeed. It finally makes sense of the Shakespeare rumours, finishing with a clever twist. A great read.

This book was a fantastic read. Not only am I a book worm I also love Shakespeare - this was perfect! Two signs that make a book fantastic are that it was read in two days and at the end goes onto my book shelf. No Garage Sale box for this book!! It's gone on the shelf with Wilbur Smith and Maeve Binchy, Edward Rutherford and Bryce Courtney. I can't wait for the next one!