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The best one yet! Jacky Faber gets herself into the craziest most exciting adventures in this one. I loved it!

This novel is the best that i have read so far.

When i first read the Curse of the Blue Tatto, I thought it was going to be one of those books where you had to put it down every 5 seconds so you don't die from boredom. But it was just the oppsite and for the Jolly Roger one it was even better. It had action through out the book and was really interesting. I especially liked the part where they had the big war. It was kind of like the last part of the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean 3' but better. The English slangs were sometimes annoying but it really gave me an idea of how Jacky talked.

I have to say this on had a lot of adult content thingys then the other ones but oh well it's still good

-Andrew Yoo

In this the latest installment (Book III) in the Jacky Faber adventures, young and impetuous Jacky sails back to England after leaving the Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls in Boston.

Jacky is now in search of her beloved Jaimy, but when she shows up at his house, his insufferable mother turns her away. Later on, she finds an ingenious way to meet him at the races by dressing up as a boy. To her dismay, she finds him holding hands with another girl. Impulsive and passionate as always, she assumes the worst and storms out of the place without asking an explanation, only to fall into the hands of kidnappers. When she opens her eyes, she finds herself aboard a ship far from the coast.

But the worse happens when her kidnappers realize the inevitable--she's a girl! Now Jacky has to prove herself as an accomplished sailor, keep the filthy captain away from her, and earn the respect of her fellow mates. Of course, her dilemma doesn't end here, for soon enough she's mistaken for a pirate and the authorities put a price on her head!

This is a book that will be utterly enjoyed by young fans of pirate adventure stories. Non-stop action and thrills fill the plot, but what really stands out is the well-drawn, utterly adorable character of the sensitive, yet headstrong teenaged protagonist, Jacky Faber. Her interaction with other characters and sharp wit are a delight to follow.

L.A. Meyer has an unusual, original style that is fresh and engaging. The author uses the present tense to tell the story; since it is a historical novel, I would have preferred the past tense, but this is purely a personal choice. Also, at times the technical descriptions of Jacky as she handles the ship can be a bit tedious, though I suppose this can be appealing to hardcore fans of pirate stories.

The ending leaves at a crucial point, leaving the story unfinished and readers begging for more.

Armchair Interviews says: The book can stand on its own in spite of being the third one in the series.

Under the Jolly Roger is my favorite bloody jack book yet! It has pirate adventure, romance and everything else a good adventure needs to have. The plot is she leaves Boston and goes to find her love Jaimy. When she finds him he is with some other girl. Then she gets taken by a naval press gain. The next thing that she knows the captain of the wolverine wants her in his bed! She goes and does what she does best; get in trouble and this time with all of England!

It's a fun fast paced book that I could not get my nose out of. I have read all of the Bloody Jack books and this one by far is the best. I can't wait for the 6th book to come out in September. If you are looking for a good pirate books then I would defiantly put this on you list!

Under the Jolly Roger was the third in the series of the adventures of Jacky Faber, authored by L.A.Meyer. I'm looking forward to reading the remaining books in Mr. Meyer's series. Although these books are recommended for young adults, as a "senior citizen", I have been pleasantly pleased with the three books I have read in this series. I enjoy historical fiction, and learned much about sailing in Europe in the early 1800's. The author certainly imparts a good sense of humor in his main character, Jacky Faber. As long as Mr.Meyer continues writing new novels in this series, I will definitely continue reading these delightful adventures of Jacky Faber.

Like the other books of his I've read (Black Book -- really great book), this book manages to be extremely factual yet at the same time emotionally gripping. Grossman's reporting narrative puts you in the time and the place and gives a strong sense of what it was like to be there - the senses, the feelings, the despair, the players, the impact to real people. If you are interested in the Soviet side of the war, or WW2 in general, this is a must read.

Grossman, most famous for his Tolstoyan work, 'Life and Fate' was, first and foremost, a journalist. He spent the majority of the Second World War on the front lines, witnessing some of the most violent confrontations of the war. He was in Stalingrad, widely acknowledged as the bloodiest battle in history. He was at Kursk, the major tank battle of the war and the military turning point-Stalingrad being the psychologic hinge-of-fate for Nazi Germany's imperialistic and ideological ambitions. He was at Treblinka during it's liberation and in Berlin during the final death-throes of the Nazi beast. In other words, he was an eye-witness to all the major events on the Eastern Front.

This book, cleverly and unobtrusively edited and translated by Vinogradova and Beevor excerpt relevant segments from Grossman's diaries. These wartime diaries were kept at great personal risk, since such activities were prohibited by the Stalin government. While many of the depictions of the attitudes and behaviors of Soviet soldiers seem redolant of 'socialist realist' propaganda, the descriptions of Treblinka and the author's sentient observations on Soviet military men are obviously the product of a gifted writer and psychologist.

The reader should recall that these diary entries were not intended for publication but rather were kept by Grossman to provide source material for future literary efforts. Unfortunately, Grossman fell afoul of Stalin, largely for his efforts to publicize the fate of Jews at the hands of the Nazis and secondarily for failing to sufficiently promote the role of Stalin's leadership and the Party in the Battle of Stalingrad. As a result, 'Life and Fate' was only published posthumously and stomach cancer claimed the author's life before much of the raw materials presented in this book could be crafted into a final literary effort. Any serious student of WW-II should read this book, as it is a major contribution to understanding the Soviet perspective on the 'Great Patriotic War'.

Vasili Semenovich Grossman was a decorated Soviet military journalist best known in the West for his epic novel, Life and Fate (New York Review Books Classics). In 'A Writer at War' editors and translators Anthony Beevor (Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943), an esteemed historian and author in his own right, and Luba Vinogradova, follow Grossman's progression through the war by piecing together stories from his notebooks and writings. At times one would have liked a bit more context to be provided by Beevor, but that is a minor quibble.

Grossman, while still a loyal Communist at this point, managed to maintain a relatively objective viewpoint. He often pushed his editors to allow him to write stories they did not want written, in particular regarding the fate of the Jews in the Ukraine under German occupation and the role of the Ukrainians.

While at time the stories have to be stitched together from bits and pieces, `A Writer at War' is a gold mine and provides a rare view into the inner workings of the Soviet military and Soviet military journalism in particular. Grossman experienced the initial German onslaught and the Russian flight from it, Stalingrad, the tank battle at Kursk, and the death camps. The book includes an extensive article on the workings of the German death camp Treblinka. Earns the highest recommendation.

I'm very glad I've read this book, because it is truly one of the greatest, if not the greatest eye-witness account of the war on the eastern front. The chapter about the liberation of Dachau and the writer's thoughts about the Holocaust made me shiver, I've read dozens of books on the Holocaust but nobody ever put it to paper like Vassily did. If you haven't read this book, please do. You will never forget it.

Parragraphs of intense live experiences on the Eastern Front are interspersed with the introduction and analyses of historian Mr. Beevor. If it had been in a linear sort of narrative, so we could feel the progression of the drama, and we could get used to the comings and goings of our narrator, it would have been a great book. But we have only scattered pieces, fading images of a soul soaked in the pain of war, glimpses of horrors witnessed and stories that remain untold.

It's what it hints at that gives it its precious value: the authenticity and honesty of the man, Grossman. But it lacks a linear storytelling; it leaves a chaotic impression of imprecise locations and hard-to-pronounce names. I'm the first to be sorry about this impression, nevertheless it is what it is. I would have packed the best passages into a short book, made it more concise and more precise.

My grandfather served with the Devils Brigade, and since knowing that I wanted to learn more about this extraordinary elite unit of WWII. What I found was perhaps one of the best oral recount's of one of the finest units to ever exist. Having grown up in East Helena (3 miles east of Helena, Montana) and working at one point out at Ft. William Henry Harrison, this book gave me a new found respect for my grandfather and the great men who served in the First Special Service Force. Having finished the book I passed it on to my grandfather and he couldn't let it go. Driving by Memorial Park in Helena and watching the American and Canadian Flags both flying next to the First Special Service Force memorial, day and night, 365 days a year, I can't help but utter a simple, "thank you" everytime I go past it to those that are still living and those that perished for the freedom they helped provide for both countries.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants a greater depth of knowledge of this elite unit, or for the military buffs who wish to learn about or learn more of this outstanding unit!

My grandpa happened to pass away about 6 years ago, and he happened to be a part of the Black Devil Brigade. His accounts are in this book, his name is Fred Hubbard, and throughout the book he moves from a 2nd LT to a Captain. The funny thing is, I married a man who just commissioned into the army as a 2nd LT. and will soon be deploying. It is amazing to hear the story of what my grandfather when through captured in a book. The things these men endured for our freedom will always amaze me. I will always wish that I spent more time picking my grandpas brain while he was alive, but I am thankful to have this book to remember these things. This book really captures the essence of what these men went through, and what began what is the special forces today.

Hats off to Joe Springer....! He did the men of 5-2 and the FSSF an honor. My father was a Lieutenant in 5-2 FSSF and one of the main characters of the book, and Joe's Uncle was one of my father's NCO's who was KIA on Anzio. The personal accounts in the book may sound far fetched and exaggerated. However, this is far from the truth. The exploits of the men of the FSSF are a matter of record. Every man who served in the FSSF is a very unique individual. I got to know many of these gentlemen over the years by attending the annual FSSF reunions. And yes, what an honor and a privilege to just meet and speak with them about WWII and life in general. Every man in the FSSF willingly, and knowingly volunteered to join a unit where the odds of being accepted in the unit is less than 20%, and your chances for survival were even less. Thank You Joe for getting my father to open up regarding his experiences during WWII for your book. It also meant so much to him to honor the men in his command who were taken, that were not only soldiers/warriors, but true friends forever.

TAKE ABOUT FIFTY AMERICAN AND CANADIAN WORLD WAR TWO COMBAT VETERANS THAT WILLINGLY VOLUNTEER FOR A WINTER SUICIDE MISSION BEHIND GERMAN LINES. THEY ALL HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF EXPLOSIVES, THEY ARE SKIERS, PARATROOPERS, AND ARE EXPERT SHOOTERS. THEY BECOME THE BEST TRAINED AND HIGHLY MOTIVATED AND FIERCEST SOLDIERS THAT THERE GENERATION AND NATIONS PRODUCED. SEND THEM TO CENTRAL ITALY, ANZIOBEACH, AND SOUTHERN FRANCE WHERE THEY SLAUGHTER FIFTEEN TO TWENTY THOUSAND GERMANS. MORE THAN SIXTY YEARS PASS BY AND THEN THESE SAME FIFTY COMMANDOS INVITE YOU INTO THERE HOMES AND TELL YOU ABOUT THE FUNNY, SAD, AND ASTOUNDING THINGS THAT HAPPENED TO THEM IN COMBAT. THAT IS WHAT THIS BOOK IS ALL ABOUT.

Mr. Springer may have been initially motivated by the desire to honor his uncle (killed serving with the First Special Service Force) but his work honors all who served in that unit. One seldom sees an oral history which tells the story of a unit so well. All the contributions by unit members tell the story without the distractions often found in other compilations. Always engaging, you just don't want to put the book down. Not only does one learn about the unit and individuals who made up that unit but one also learns about the equipment used, how it was acquired, and the soldiers' opinions of its performance. An amazing amount of information presented in a way that also entertains and honors the men who served.

This was a very good book, one of the best I had read about people sentenced to prison. Most of the books in this genre have been written by men, it was nice to see Eugenia Ginzburg give a woman's perspective. She tells a very touching tale & every page you feel closer to this brave / intelligent woman. The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn was the most recent book I have read on the same topic. This is also a very good book but I would say I preferred "Journey into the Whirlwind" a little more just because it was one person's personal tale & I think her translator did a very good book translating this book into English.

I did have a few minor questions & if you haven't read this book you may want to stop reading here ....

What I wanted to know as I was reading the book & never did find out by the end of the story was : 1) She mentions her husband countless times through the book but you never find out what happens to him. 2) She has two children that she is separated from while they are young - you never do hear what happens to them & how they get together (if they do). She does mention in the epilogue that she wrote things intending to give them to her grandchildren so I assume she gets reunited with her children & lives to see her grandchildren. 3) She is sentenced to a 10 term & 417 out of 418 pages total are dedicated to her first three years in captivity - the last page is an epilogue that says she ended up serving 18 years in total. It doesn't say why she ended up serving 8 extra years & really 15 of her 18 years in captivity aren't even mentioned in the story.

If you haven't read this book don't let these last few points stop you from reading her story - you would be missing out on a great read.

This book reminded me of Holocaust accounts and the novel 1984, but it surpassed both of them in terms of what humanity is capable of. It is simply unthinkable that Ginzburg could be put into jail and tortured by the party that she was devoutly loyal to, and that she could hold out hope and stick to her moral values for so long. The stories of some of the prisoners are heart wrenching- escaping the Gestapo only to be sent to the gulag, or having your son raised essentially his entire life in jail after jail. This memoir illustrates the whole range of human capability from the evil party leaders, the spiteful accusers (life-ruiners), the brainwashed party followers, and the disillusioned survivors.

Think about it. You are completely devoted to a political ideal. You give your heart and soul for the cause of this ideal, only to be accused of Terrorism against the politics you stand for.
This is the life of Genia. This is a true story of a Woman who is stripped of her family. Tortured both mentally and physically, on false accusations that she was involved in terrorism against the Russian Government.
This book is fascinating. Eugenias account of the days she spent being interrogated, and locked up in Solitary confinement are not only horrifying in its own right, but downright uncomfortable knowing that she, and thousands of others were being falsly accused of treason against the Soviet Union Government back in the late 1930's.
The book itself is very well written. Eugenia recalls, in detail, events that happened to her and her "Comrades" during Stalins reign of terror. I could not, personally, put the book down.
If your interests lie in History, this is a very interesting account of an era that was confused, both Politically, and personally.
You are not wasting your money. This is an excellent read. I would recommend it to anyone.

I've read both Journey into the Whirlwind and Within the Whirlwind. I've also read most of Solzhenitsyn's work and this is different and all the more horrible because it is a memoir.

Imagine yourself, an up and coming professional, married to an up and coming professional, two kids, nice apartment, all the benefits of being successful. But there is something in the air, people are disappearing, and the government is denouncing traitors and conspiracies at a fever pitch.

People you know, professionals like yourself, start to disappear. The fear is palpable. To talk about it, it is believed, is to bring the same fate down on your own head. Everybody just carries on. But you can feel it coming. Your friends no longer contact you. Are they afraid of you? Is this your imagination? Do they know something you don't? You reflect back. Who could have denounced you? Did you make an ill considered remark? Were you friends with the wrong person?

When the authorities finally come it is not a surprise.

You enter into the maw of the gulag, slowly pass into its guts and there, utterly alone, isolated, you exist and time drips slowly by....

Eugenia "Genie" Semyonovna Ginzburg spent seventeen years in the Soviet prison system, escaping death, unlike millions of others. She never again saw her husband after being imprisoned. The Gulag Archipelago by Solzhenitsyn, Man is Wolf to Man by Bardach, Kolyma Tales by Shalamov and Journey into the Whirlwind all include overlapping and similar information, but differ in format and style (although hers is most similar to Man is Wolf to Man in its telling). Her memoir of life in the Gulag is one of few written by women and so provides a unique and interesting perspective. All are fantastic books, well-written, often unbelievable and mesmerizing, but there is a noticeable difference between the multi-volume The Gulag Archipelago and Journey into the Whirlwind (seemingly short at just over 400 pages).

Genie is first brought in for questioning in 1934. With her young children in the other room and her husband away on business, she takes the call. Her beliefs at that time are such that she would willingly die for the party. Soon thereafter, she is incarcerated at Black Lake and is eventually sentenced to ten years of solitary confinement for not denouncing a coworker who had written an article offensive to the party.

During her interrogation sessions, in which she repeatedly refuses to "denounce" that is, lie, about the activities of acquaintances facing the same fate, she comes face to face with people who she thought were friends, but who have willingly denounced her in hopes of receiving special treatment, or lighter sentences. She herself never caves. Some of the interesting and different information found in her telling of life in the prison system during Stalin's rule, she is able to provide information about life within prison and receive information about the outside world using (coded) "Aesopian Language." Prisoners also use a system of knocks to communicate messages to one another and keep track of goings on within the prison and the status of their prison mates. Although it's a boring, lonely, (she has one cell mate most of the time), damp, horrible, hungry life, she survives long enough to be sent to Kolyma, where she realizes just how "good" she'd had it in solitary confinement. What she recounts from Kolyma is similar in many instances to the recollections of other Gulag prisoners, except for anecdotes referring specifically to life among the women.

Readers who enjoyed the aforementioned books should include Gulag: A History by Anne Applebaum, which provides a general overview of the prison system, in their list of companion reads.

well this is the first book i read on winston churchill . bought it in 1983 . the foreword is unforgettable but historical mistakes in it makes this work not the very best on the luife of sir winston. great prose nevetheless.same can be said of book number two.

This is a truly *massive* work, equal parts scholarship and artistry. Though volume one runs close to a thousand pages (counting notes, sources, etc.), I finished reading it this afternoon after an off-and-on reading of about two weeks, and it just flew by. Manchester crafted this with such precision care that I fell into the narrative from page one.

The greatest strength of the book itself-- aside from it's subject-- is Manchester's gift of narrative. WC was the quintessential Victorian, as Manchester points out time and again throughout both volumes. It is only appropriate, then, that the author should give some feel of what it was like to live in the British Empire at the time of Queen Victoria. Some of the very best passages, in my opinion, deal with life during the last quarter-century of Victoria's reign. These are not mere digressions. These fascinating glimpses into WC's era help the reader to better understand Churchill himself, who was born a Victorian and remained one to his dying day.

Manchester provides insight into British colonial administration, life in the British Raj at the end of the 19th century, and the upper class's attitudes toward sexuality and marriage. While this is fascinating in itself, Manchester goes even further and weaves a vivid tapestry of politics, history, and culture through his use of personal correspondence. It is his exhaustive use of personal correspondence-- between WC and his parents, WC and his wife and children, WC and Members of Parliament, and between all sorts of people talking about Churchill and the events in which he was caught up--- that this gives Manchester's work the feeling, not of history or even biography, but of a life too large to have been lived by one man.

Manchester is one of those writers who appears unable to disappoint. This is a book to be read and savored. For years, it sat on my shelf - I saw as a large undertaking that I wanted to do right.

The book has a very interesting structure. First, it begins with a kind of interpretive introduction to the man, vividly characterizing him while also evaluating his strengths as a man of history and his glaring weaknesses. You see him, worts and all, and it is both funny and enlightening. The psychological depth is virtually unprecedented in any other bio I have read. Second, you get a view both into his milieu - as an aristocrat of talent and privilege in Victorian Britain - and a biography of both of his parents. This is crucially important, as we come to see Churchill as an anachronism, but also as a boy neglected by narcissistic parents. (Interestingly, the absence of one or both parents is a common trait in extraordinary achievers.) Third, you get his life story, more from the events he was involved in than as an intimate portrait, though much of his personal life is covered. Indeed, he used action as the most effective tonic against depression.

The man that emerges is flawed and complex, but evidently a political genius. In my view, the key to his character is that he remained a Victorian gentleman, who viewed martial valor as the greatest source of meaning and glory in life. This suited him to titanic struggles, such as the one he faced with Hitler that places him in the ranks of the greatest historical figures. As an egotist, he always wanted to place himself at the center of events and yet did so with courage and tenacity in spite of his physical weaknesses. When out of power, he exercised other gifts, such as writing, with equal talent and energy.

Nonetheless, Manchester proves that Churchill was not a politician deeply in touch with his constituency: he never developed a typical base of power and often his views did not synch with the mainstream. Without Hitler, his hour might never have arrived: this duality is a theme that runs through the entire book.

If there is any flaw here, it is that Manchester includes a plethora of detail, not only about world events but in Churchill's political maneuverings. Normally, I delight in these details, if I know there is a purpose to all of it, which I did not always sense in this book. (Here a comparison with Robert Caro is instructive: you always know where he is going and why.) Others may see it differently, of course. Also, many of the historical details I already knew, so did not need Manchester's wordy introductions, but they were useful in the many cases of which I was ignorant.

All in all, this is one of the most engrossing and fascinating bios I have ever read. Warmly recommended.

Winston Churchill was not a likable or even an admirable man.He was dishonest,childish,ruthless and disloyal.Perhaps worst of all,he was a megalomaniac-he knew that he was a Great Man,and that some day he would fulfill a magnificent destiny. But when war and catastrophe came to England he was perhaps the only politician psycholigically capable of inspiring continued resistence and defiance to Adolph Hitler and the Third Reich.Given that England had already lost the war,that was a breathtaking achievement.

James Boswell's "Life of Samuel Johnson",published in 1791,is generally considered the finest biography produced in the English language.However,Manchester's work is perhaps superior. Boswell was of Johnson's world and therefore conveyed it to his reader only incidently;that is,he naturally assumed that his reader would be familiar with the things and events with which he was familiar.Manchester,writing of the past,appreciated the necessity of re-creating Churchill's world for the reader.He was brilliantly successful.The world which Churchill inhabited would have been amazing even to most of his contemporaries because of his social class.As Manchester points out,in over 90 years of life Churchill never drew his own bath;one of his relatives,visiting friends without his valet,sent down word that he was having trouble getting his toothpaste to "froth properly".He'd never applied toothpaste to a toothbrush himself.It isn't just the story of Churchill's life that is so engrossing.It is the wonderful recreation of Churchill's world,of the people he knew and the conversations he had,the events which occurred and the way that Churchill and his friends and enemies reacted to the events.

As Boswell loved Johnson,Manchester worshipped Churchill.Indeed,Churchill was in some ways a lovable man.He was devoted to his wife and family(happily married for almost 60 years-how many men can say that?) He revered his father (a syphlitic,who depised him,)and he was loyal to his country and the Empire it ruled.Personally,I doubt that I'd have been able to spend more than ten minutes in a room with Churchill.But this book is one of the finest I've ever read.I was honestly sorry to read the last of its almost 900 pages and I'm opening the second volume tonight.In the forward to the second volume Manchester quotes a definition of biographer.The biographer is judged "by his ability to suggest the sweep of chronology and yet to highlight the major patterns of behavior that give a life its shape and meaning."Boswell did that. Manchester,I believe,did it better.

This is William Manchester at his best. This is fascinating reading and fascinating writing. Of course Winston Churchill was quite a character but to be honest I didn't know that fact until I read this book and its companion volume.
After reading this book I put it to my mind that I would read everything that Manchester wrote. I've got a couple more to go. You can't miss with this purchase. A great story, great writing, and good history. What more could you ask for?

Ever wonder what kind of person takes such an interest in every form of flora or fauna there is? One who is hyperobservant, apparently. And when Gerald Durrell turns that eye on the eccentric characters in his family and around him on the island of Corfu, you'll absolutely love reading his words.

This book is very funny and enjoyable. It tells of the author's years as a boy spent on the Greek island Corfu. I love the stories of his adventures raising and studying the wildlife on the island. It is also funny because he recounts tales of his strange family. At some parts I found myself laughing out loud. You should read this book along with Birds, Beasts, and Other Relatives.

All of Gerald Durell's writings are terrific, but the ones about his family are truly laugh-out-loud wonderful! This is a book I have enjoyed over and over, and have given as a gift many times.

This book, ironically, was on one of those horrible "summer reading" lists so many of us are forced to do in high school. It's the only one I was ever forced to read that I truly, genuinely loved. I laughed out loud literally every two or three pages, and though I have no natural interest in animals (especially insects), Durell makes his descriptions of the nature on Corfu as gripping and as touching as his descriptions of his family.

It's been ten years since I first read this book, and when I get together with my old friends, we STILL argue about our favorite scenes, the best character, the most troublesome pet. This is a book you won't be able to put down the first time you read it, and will want to re-read the moment you finish it.

Not many adults ever reminisce about their childhood dreams. Those who do, generally label these as wishful thinking and sigh them away. Rarer are those who live lives of fulfilled dreams. Gerald Durrell, an eminent author, naturalist and expeditionist, was one of those uncommon individuals whose life's entirety was one long childhood dream come true. "My Family & Other Animals" is his most famous work, and is the first of his Corfu Trilogy.

The kid Gerald Durrell, or Gerry, was eight years old when his family moved from England to the Greek island of Corfu. Through the eyes of the young, fauna-loving and ever-inquisitive Gerry, Corfu seems to be the strangest place on Earth, and all humans, whether inhabitants of Corfu or not, appear to be strange people. The book describes Gerry's meticulous observations and detailed experiences in Corfu amongst dogs, cats, toads, snakes, scorpions, owls, magpies, gulls and other creatures he keeps as pets in his house, and his family members who are bemused as well as troubled by Gerry's love for these animals and insects. Young Gerry's mother and siblings stay engrossed in their own worlds, leaving Gerry alone to spend his days as he wishes, free from burdens such as going to school and being nagged by elders. Thus begins Gerry's exploration of Corfu, starting with the garden in his villa, and eventually his domain of knowledge crosses over to the neighboring islands.

The book will make you roar with laughter right from the preface itself. Descriptions of animals are unconventionally funny. Humans also are not spared. Imagine an entire family changing residence from one villa to another, just because one of them foolishly invited his friends so many that they would not fit in the current villa. After animals and humans, the third elaborately portrayed element is nature. Detailed descriptions of fig trees and setting suns create a Wordsworthian aura. Once Gerry sets on describing some of these, he can be drawn back only by some exquisitely crafted squirrel or a raucously howling dog.

The best way to savor the book is to read it over several sittings, by allowing the excessive laughter to brighten many a dull day. An enlightening perspective of the work can be seen through Gerry's eyes. Animals, unlike humans, know exactly what they want. They are easier to please and easier to be understood. Most importantly, animals are easily befriended and are almost always loyal. When the book ends, it feels as if an intimate and jocular friend has left you forever.

"My Family & Other Animals" is a beautiful comedy, and is highly recommendable for reading by people of all ages.

http://readsafe.blogspot.com

We are accustomed to viewing excellent documentaries on the TV and the big screen. It is nice to find a literary documentary just as enjoyable. The mid 19th century was an incredible time for change. Europe was adjusting to the post Napoleonic ideals of political and religious freedom. The United States was fighting against the secular immorality of slavery. Prussia was building a military machine to dominate Europe. Italy was struggling with a unification which would require shedding the medieval yoke of the Catholic Church. In the midst of these changes a 6 year old Jewish boy , Edgardo Mortara, is kidnapped within the Papal States under orders of the Inquisition. The charge is that the boy has been secretly baptized. The baptism cannot be undone and therefore the boy cannot continue to live with his Jewish parents. Governments from around the world protest the kidnapping and Pope Pius IX responds with traditional dogma. This is a wonderful researched narrative which brings together themes which will be of interest to Christians, Jews and any reader curious about the changing role of the Roman Catholic Church in this period of European history.

The excellent DVD, "Secret Files of the Inquisition", (available from Amazon and Netflix) dramatizes part of this story and includes commentary by the author, David Kertzer.

Simply one of the most insightful books I have ever read. Thank you Mr. Kertzer for illuminating this fascinating event in our history.

Douglas Wood has already summarized and evaluated this book, justly praising its historical worth. I'd like to add a note about its shock value; in a moment of history when anti-semitism seems to be a joke in some people's minds, surely this is a book that might make the pain and folly of bigotry "real" in terms of a single family, and therefore accessible to readers who can't empathize with mass tragedy.
It's also quite a thrilling book to read, by the way, a better detective story by far than Dan Brown could manufacture.

A Jewish family's illiterate Catholic housekeeper sprinkles well-water over an infant child and furtively mumbles the baptismal sacrament. When the Inquisitor learns of the deed, he orders the kidnapping of the then six-year-old Jewish boy. This foul deed is almost certainly sanctioned by the highest levels of the Catholic hierarchy. The police forcibly remove the child from his family's Bologna home and swiftly transport him to the Church's House of Catechumens in Rome for reeducation. Despite all protests from the boy's family and the Jewish community and in the face of a destabilizing international uproar, the Holy Father refuses to yield. By holy grace, the boy has been miraculously saved and the Church keeps him, inculcates him in the Catholic Christian religion, and assiduously converts the boy.

The boy kidnapped in the name of religion? Edgardo Mortara. The Holy Father in question? Pope Pius IX. The year? 1858. That's right 1858, not 1458, not 1658, but smack dab in the middle of 19th century Europe.

Historian David Kertzer tells the complete tale in his excellent work, `The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara.' As Kertzer relates in the epilogue he learned to his surprise that there was no reliable work on this topic. Kertzer sets out to remedy this gap and succeeds by examining the episode in fine detail. Using detailed court and police investigation records, Kertzer explores numerous evidentiary questions such as whether the baptism took place at all, whether the proper conditions for a valid lay baptism existed, who put the girl up to it, and how did the Inquisition find out about it?

The story is told against the background of the movement to unify Italy under secular rule. And here is yet another surprise for the uninitiated reader, including this one: until 1861 the Pope was still the temporal ruler of a wide swath of the Italian peninsula (this rule continued on a lesser scale to 1870). The treatment of young Edgardo was one of the factors that helped build support across Italy and internationally for the Risorgimento or Italian reunification.

The episode also hastened Pius IX's evolution, shall we say, to reactionary beliefs. Pius IX not only made papal infallibility part of Church dogma, but he also issued his infamous Syllabus of Errors in 1864, a broad attack on rationalism, science, and religious freedom - really a frontal assault on the Enlightenment and most other signs of progress in the previous three centuries. If Kertzer's book does nothing more than direct his reader's attention to this astonishing document, he has succeeded in the historian's task.

Kertzer examines the trial of the Inquisitor in detail and the formidable difficulties facing the prosecution. For example, what crime did the Inquisitor commit when his acts were legal at the time he committed them? Would the new government prove willing to violate the fundamental principle that the accused must have had notice of the illegality of his acts?

As for Edgardo, he remained with the Church fathers until he reached his majority and by then his conversion had firmly taken hold. He went on to become a famed proselytizer for Catholicism especially among the Jewish peoples. This role may help explain why this story has remained untold: it embarrassed Jews and Catholics alike.

Some readers may find the detail devoted to the investigations and trials to be excessive, but bear in mind that Kertzer is writing the seminal history of Edgardo's kidnapping. A fascinating tale full of surprises, very highly recommended.

I can't help but think that millions who do not know that they are interested in the history of the Italian Risorgimento would suddenly find themselves incapable of putting this book down. David Kertzer kept my attention while helping to answer my questions regarding how a country that is predominately Roman Catholic can name streets, buildings, and piazzas after the heroes of the Risorgimento who took by force most of the lands ruled by the Pope while Pope Pius IX called upon all the faithful to oppose them. I am now closer to seeing how statues and monuments honoring Garibaldi, Mazzini, Cavour, and King Victor Emmanuel can share the beautiful Italian landscape with cathedrals and the Vatican.
Historical events are impossible to understand without learning of the human issues of the times in which they transpired. Such a study should not be a dry recounting of the facts when it can be, as Kertzer demonstrates, a living, breathing, gut-wrenching encounter with those who created that compelling history.
I know it's almost cliché to say that this reads like a good novel, but it's true.
The trial of Momolo Mortara rivals any of the stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and it is all the more riveting in the context of the amazing events that led to it. Sherlock Holmes could not have used his powers of deduction more skillfully than Momolo's attorney used his unbiased mind to separate facts from prejudiced and selective interpretations.
I give this book my highest recommendation. I hope that THE KIDNAPPING OF EDGARDO MORTARA has been or will be translated into Italian. Perhaps a greater awareness of the past can positively influence current challenges in Italy involving the assimilation of other cultures and religious beliefs - brought on by mass immigrations in recent years.

As a fan of John Hemming's The Conquest of Incas I was dubious that Kim MacQuarrie's work could begin to approach the level of Hemming's classic. Notwithstanding, I opened The Last Days of the Incas hoping I might glean an interesting insight or two. MacQuarrie's work quickly sent me shooting the rapids of Inca history. It is a breathtaking ride into the rich fabric of past events that make Peru such an enchanting venue today. Read this book and experience the sights, sounds and colors of Incas and Spaniards colliding on the stage that is Peru. Take the trip and you may be as pleasantly surprised as I was. I suspect that even John Hemming would enjoy the show.

I love this book!! could not put it down,it went everywhere i go,well written(i kept my dictionary close by)love the language,the playing with words,how the author made the characters come alive and made u feel like you were a part of the struggle,i went through different emotions reading this book and had to remind myself that this is modern time and what in the past is in the past.Now i am in the research phase buying products from amazon,and investigation how i can visit.
I raise my hat to you Kim,well done.
Montgomery Croker

MacQuarrie is a great story teller, and he pulls you right in.

He makes these historical events read like a novel. Part of the appeal is his presentation of Manco Inca and the Pizarro brothers. The author helps you understand the characters and once you do, you become absorbed in their times and troubles. Even the battle scenes, from which I normally cringe, are compellingly written. The contrasts in technology, religion, customs and values of the Spanish and Inca culture are marvelously described.

The "Last Days" parts stand in contrast to the beginning and the ending which are about the exploration of the areas and the re-discovery of the sites. While these are interesting tales, they pale before the story, which MacQuarrie tells so well, of the last days of the Incas.

I do not have much to add to what previous reviewers have said. I loved this book for its colloquial style and flowing narrative. The author did a great job detailing the life and deeds of Manco Inca, though, somewhat anti-climatically, he cut short the account of Gonzalo Pizzarro's (a major arch-villain) defeat and death. I personally recommend reading this book AFTER reading Prescott's account, in that it elucidates and magnifies the interwoven sories that make up this tragedy.
P.S. I STILL do not understand how could the Spanish have survived if 50,000 warriors would have just rushed them (rushing like a crowd in a burning movie theater) or thrown SIMULTANEOUSLY stones and javelins at them. I just don't get it.......

12 years ago, motivated by a pictorial in National Geographic, I traveled to distant Peru. It was a fascinating journey, but after reading this book, I wished that I had it before I went (impossible, of course). I took it as a reverse travelogue, making sense of the places I had gone to and where they figured into the historical and exploratory narrative.

This book reads like a novel. In fact, I'd be surprised if it isn't ultimately converted into an HBO mini-series or the like. Interesting characters, from the puppet-turned-rebel Manco Inca, to the brash and vindicative Hernando Pizzaro, fill these pages and make them come to life. Revealed is an extra-ordinary account of the amazing conquest of a large and prosperous Empire by a small band of greedy Spanish outcasts.

Written in lucid prose, with numerous quotes, from Incas, Spaniards, and even outside philosophers, Kim MacQuarries does an excellent job of reaching out to the reader and creating a fascinating historical account. Well organized, the book even concludes with a complete description of the archeological work of the modern period associated with the recounted events and makes those almost as fascinating as the events themselves.

I couldn't recommend this book more highly.

I was unfamiliar with the Kindertransport that moved 10,000 Jewish children to safety from the Holocaust. This biography brings that event to life through the memories of Lisa Jura. At 14, her parents sent her to London and the book covers that wrenching journey and the next six years of her life. Growing up during the blitz in a refugee home with 31 children makes a fascinating book.
Lisa's devotion to music weaves the story together as she strives towards her parents' dream. Becoming a concert pianist seems unachievable under the circumstances, but this touching biography details Lisa's progress towards that goal. This account has appeal for both adult and teen readers.
I also recommend In The Shadow Of The Cathedral: Growing Up In Holland During WW II by Titia Bozuwa

author of Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family

from the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles
August 30, 2002

Vienna, 1938. In the city of Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven and Strauss, 14-year-old musical prodigy Lisa Jura looks forward to a promising career as a concert pianist. Hitler has other plans. With the breaking of glass on Kristallnacht, Jura's dreams are shattered.

Internationally celebrated concert pianist Mona Golabek, with journalist and poet Lee Cohen, has crafted a loving, lyrical tribute to her mother, Lisa Jura, in "The Children of Willesden Lane: Beyond the Kindertransport: A Memoir of Music, Love, and Survival."

Jura was one of 10,000 Jewish children saved from the Nazis by the British and sent on the Kindertransport to safety from Eastern Europe. Already being compared to "The Diary of Anne Frank," this simultaneously heartbreaking and uplifting tale weaves together the stories that Golabek's mother told her about prewar Austria; the gut-wrenching separation from her family; life at the orphanage on Willesden Lane; and the power of music to help her survive.

As Jura's mother, Malka, puts her on the train, she says the prophetic words that will sustain and inspire her daughter and future generations: "Hold on to your music. Let it be your best friend."

In a world turned ugly, the beauty of music becomes Jura's strength, and, against tremendous odds, with the help and encouragement of the 30 other displaced children at the orphanage, she wins a scholarship to London's Royal Academy.

"Each kid saw something in my mother's music that reminded them of what they had left behind in Czechoslovakia, in Austria, in Germany," says Golabek, a Grammy-nominated artist, "and that's what I tried to do in the story, not only to pay homage to my mother, but to all these kids and to their bravery."

The book opens with Jura's tantalizing daydream of performing in a great concert hall and closes with the fulfillment of that dream, as she makes her debut before an exhilarated crowd. And in between, the pages burst with melody: Jura pounding the cadenza of the Grieg "Piano Concerto" to drown out the sounds of bombs during London's blitz, Jura visualizing Chopin fleeing a flaming Warsaw as she struggles with the somber coda of the "Ballade," Jura remembering her mother's Sabbath candles as she plays the solemn opening of Beethoven's "Pathetique."

"My mom and her mother never cared if a piece is in C major. What really counts is the passion behind it, the image. If it's `Clair de Lune,' imagine the moon over a desert island. That imagination allowed her to survive the horrors of what she experienced, because a C-major chord will not inspire you through the horrors. It's the moonlight, the idea that maybe the composer wrote it for someone he loved. These things inflamed her imagination, and that's how she inflamed mine."

And now Golabek's book will inflame the imagination of a whole new generation. The Milken Family Foundation, together with Facing History and Ourselves, an educational organization that teaches tolerance to 1 million students annually, are working with Golabek to bring the story to schools across the country by developing a companion curriculum guide.

Plans are under way to launch the book in Austria, and make it available to teachers as part of the now mandatory four-year Holocaust education program for students.

The saga of Golabek's 18-year struggle to get the story published is almost as harrowing as her mother's story itself. "It went through many, many writings; many, many ups and downs, starts and disappointments," Golabek says.

Now the accolades and offers are pouring in. On Sept. 24, she will be an honored guest speaker at the California Governor's Conference for Women at the Long Beach Convention Center and will appear at Beth Am on Nov. 17 with her sister, pianist Renee Golabek-Kaye, and Jura's four grandchildren, all musicians: Michele, 16; Sarah, 14; Jonathan, 8; and Rachel, 7. Brandeis University will honor her at the Skirball Cultural Center next March 31.

Last week Golabek was interviewed on NPR's Morning Edition and was the subject of a feature story by Andy Meisler of the New York Times. In the planning stages is a concert next year co-sponsored by the U.S. Holocaust Museum and the Austrian government. And, of course, Golabek is considering movie offers.

On her syndicated radio show, "The Romantic Hours," which highlights stirring writings against a musical backdrop (Saturdays at 10 p.m., 105.1 FM), Golabek often quotes the poet Jean Paul Richter: "Life fades and withers behind us, but of our immortal and sacred soul all that remains is music."

"That was a quote my mother taught me, and the whole reason why I wrote this book and why I created `The Romantic Hours' was that my mother felt through words and through music our souls would be immortalized."

This is one of my all-time favorite books. If you are a musician, you will fall in love with it. The story is inspiring and moving and will make you appreciate music to the greatest extent possible.

Full of history. Easy to follow. Great read for young and old alike.

This is a story which every parent should read to their children. Talk about the history of WW2 and discuss the extremes of humanity. A book which once read you will never forget.

This scholarly and highly readable book is of importance to art historians, historians, and anyone with a serious interest in orientalism as both an art movement and a western cultural phenomenom. The illustrations are superb,and the additional profile articles on key orientalists (such as Richard F. Burton) are an added bonus. This book is certainly worth more than its price and will be of lasting value to future readers.

"coffee table" art books are usually just vehicles to display reproductions of the paintings. Not here - Davie's writing would make compelling reading if it was published in regular book format. He mainly focuses on orientalist painting itself - and shatters the critics - but he also has a fascinating section on four famous 'orientalists' which include Richard Burton and Lady Digby.

The reproductions are are splendid very accurate ( i have the pleasure of having easy access to some of the original paintings) and capture the exquisite craft of "Orientalist" painters. often with close ups of parts of painting that allow the reader to see the elaborate detail.

Worth every penny. I find myself reading it again and again.

An outstanding volume providing high quality images and interesting commentary. Too many art books commit the sin of spreading large images over two pages so the picture gets lost in the spine - not this one. Orientalist paintings are crammed with detail to show the erudition of the artists and their patrons: for once you can see plenty, and you're not sold short by the layout or the print quality. Not a book if you're looking for lush pictures of harem lovelies, one of the aspects of orientalism not given such high prominence here. Over all impression? The many different effects created by light in Middle Eastern landscapes, and the skill of these artists in capturing it

Brilliant book completely covering the subject, solid research, perfect rare illustrations. Lots of forgotten and difficult to find names. Very useful and highly recommended - worth every penny!

Really I'd like to give this 5 stars but for the lack of women it's 4. I feel sort of silly doing so because the art is astonishing and the sheer beauty just magnifies how "art" has changed. I wonder if any artist alive today could come close to duplicating these masterpieces. I doubt it. And Mr Davies writing blends with the terrain and subject matter splendidly.