England Books

This is one of the first books in a long list of fashion books that I own. It is one of my favorites. It is a bit academic as another reviewer mentioned, but I feel that's an important part of what makes this book a keeper. It covers European, mostly English fashion of the aristocracy. There are some great historical anecdotes. My favorites involve Empress Eugenie lounging audaciously around in her red knickers, and some about the rare daring lady to show up to the Ascott races in "pants". The writing isn't as witty as other books, but the historical detail is fantastic. There are quite a few pictures as well. The arrangement of the pictures and text is chronological and very easy to follow. The only drawback is that the pages are matte and not glossy. And the spine falls apart after a few years of hard labor.

A good and informative book. Just looking through it I learned a few things that I hadn't ever heard or noticed before, such as the way that tightlacing of corsets doesn't seem to have been too common before the late 1860s.
The book is very reasonably priced. The only trouble, which probably, were it to be fixed, would make the book cost a lot more, is that I often wish the photographs were printed in better quality.

It is a rare opportunity to see how people dressed in reality so far in the past. By contrast, fashion plates always show the garment in its perfect form, portraits are idealized, and original illustrations change the proportions, whether purposefully or not, to fit the times of the artist, not that of the garment. Photos do not lie.

The pictures feature mostly upper-class people in attractive poses, and the reader can enjoy seeing these people in their clothes, in a variety of settings, in the middle of different activities (cycling, skating, boating, traveling through snowy mountains, playing tennis...). The people sitting for portraits are looking their very best, trying out different positions, picking their finest clothes. As for the garments themselves, the pictures are clear and attractive, and the details are so telling!

The text dissects the pictures and explains costume of the era in detail, discussing the general trends, exceptions, class distinctions, and how the people in these old photos relate to all this. A Very good book for a costume historian.

This compact book is full of photos and it has great explanations from beginning to end. The author explains carefully every photograph, and also each of the fashions worn by the subjects.

If you love old photos of Victorian and Edwardian fashions, then this is a nice book to own for your library. (Also, the price is reasonable).

Dover Publications, monarchs of 19th-century fashion surveys, have hit another one clean out of the park with this superb examination of Victorian and Edwardian fashion from the coronation of Victoria to the early 1900's. Originally published in England in the early 1960's as "The Mirror of Reality", this book was acquired and republished by Dover in a handy paperback edition up to their usual high physical standards (Dover is well-known for the high quality of its paperback books). Alison Gernsheim delves into every single aspect of costume in the period, from buttons to boots, and the accompanying B&W photos, well over a hundred of them, are worth even more words. The fashion-plate books such as Stella Blum's "Harper's Bazar 1867-1898" and Joanne Olian's "Victorian and Edwardian Fashions from La Mode Illustree" are absolutely indispensable for showing the fashions of the era as their designers conceived them, but you need - I say again, _need_ - this book to see how those dresses looked in the real world.

My son had to pick two books off of a large list to read over the summer for school. After reading the other reviews of this book, we picked it. It was a wonderful choice. The book was very interesting, fast paced, well written and easy to read. I read it in 3 hours, and my son was able to read in in a few nights without any complaints of boredom.

If any literary giant needs to have his work adapted to film, it is Myers. As one of the premier writers of fiction for juveniles, the author has added another significant piece to his long line of classics. This one tells the story of a little-known African princess who comes under the wing of England's legendary Queen Victoria.

Not only does the book reveal the horrors of the African slave trade, the atrocities that some tyrants inflict on their enemies, and the class system that pervades much of a "civilized" society, it is a marvelous tale of a girl who overcomes such obstacles and becomes the darling of English society.

Although Sarah's life is brief, it is a memorable one as the character grows from frightened child to a loving mother.
I am recommending that all my students read this book as well as others by Myers. Now, if only someone in "Tinsel Town" would discover this fine author.

I'd much rather see his stories on the big screen than any about a teenaged wizard.

"At Her Majesty's Request: An African Princess in Victorian England" tells the life story of Sarah Forbes Bonetta, who was born an African Egbado princess, captured by rival Dohamans and taken to Dahomey to be murdered in a ritual sacrifice, rescued and adopted by a British naval captain, taken to England and presented to Queen Victoria, and raised under the Queen's protection in England and Sierra Leone. This handsome book is a very fine biography for young readers; it includes many excerpts from Sarah's letters and the Queen's diaries, as well as historic illustrations. Relevant information about 19th century West Africa and Britain (e.g., the Dahomey empire, the slave trade and British actions to end it, Christian missions in Africa, Sierra Leone, the British class system, women's place in society, etc.) is well presented. Although Sarah's story is interesting because of its uniqueness, much about the lives of ordinary 19th century West Africans and Europeans can be learned here. Despite the fact that there is little material concerning Sarah's life, the author has done a fine job and readers interested in Africa should be glad he did. The book contains a useful bibliography which includes "Dahomey and the Dahomans" (1851) by Frederick E. Forbes (the captain who rescued and adopted Sarah).

19th century Dahomey is also the setting of "The Viceroy of Ouidah" by Bruce Chatwin.

I think this is a very well written book. I think that Walter Dean Myers is an amazing writer and that it is great he found this fantastic girl that many have never heard of.

The book, At Her Majesty's Request was the most wonderful book I've read because it tells the story of how Sarah Bonetta overcomed so many problems. First w/ the horror of watching her parents being killed, and then almost being sacrificed by the slave holders because of who she was and where she lived.Then when she was saved by a white man whom she couldn't even understand becase she spoke a different language.And then soon after that she learned how to speak english and then she became friends w/ the Queen of England, Queen Victoria.So the book to me was very heart-warming and I hope you love the book too! Go Wells Wolverines!

Anne Perry, the enormously popular writer of historical fiction, just recommended this ballad by G. K. Chesterton as one of five must read tales of historical fiction. (See the Wall Street Journal's online Opinion Page for April 21, 2007 in an article entitled "Past Tense.") Here's part of what she said:

"This is the story of the English King Alfred's desperate stand against invading Danes in 878. England is conquered, and Alfred is a fugitive when he sees a vision of the Virgin Mary that bids him call together the remnants of his people for a final battle. "The Ballad of the White Horse" is an epic poem of courage, passion and unsurpassable beauty."

If you'd like to read other tales and poems by Chesterton, you might want to get "The Ballad of the White Horse" as part of a collection of his poetry that I edited for not much more money. It's called G. K. Chesterton's Early Poetry and has "The Ballad of the White Horse," along with two other books of Chesterton poetry under one cover. That means you'll also get his best humorous poetry, "Greybeards at Play." No less a writer than George Orwell ranked Chesterton as one of the three best writers of funny poetry in twentieth century England. The poems are a riot of the ridiculous and are accompanied with equally funny sketches he did.

And although Anne Perry and I have the same last name, as far as I know we're not related. Her's is a pen name. Mine is a real name. I guess I'm not creative enough to invent a name for myself.

G. K. Chesterton's Early Poetry: Greybeards At Play, The Wild Knight And Other Poems, The Ballad Of The White Horse

Mr. Chesterton has a masterful skill with the pen; _Orthodoxy_ and _The Napoleon of Notting Hill_ are wonderful books--but _The Ballad of the White Horse_ is heartbreaking in its power, beauty, and nobility. With a stunning use of alliteration, rhythm, and imagery, Mr. Chesterton teaches the reader about true hearts, true faith, and true sacrifice. I have bought a few copies of this book to give as gifts to friends, and I eagerly recommend it to anyone who will listen. This book is a must-have for any individual interested in expanding their knowledge of great poetry!

Out of the thousand or so books I have read in my life, if I were to put the Bible aside (since the Bible speaks with a special authority to believers and cannot really be compared to other books), I have read no more than five or six books that I would call truly great. That means there are only five or six books I would rate at five stars. This is one. Yes, it is that good.

I have never read any author who could make the English language sing the way Chesterton does in this poem -- for over a hundred pages. In contrast to contemporary "poets" whose "poems" consist of a bunch of strange words scattered apparently at random on a page, whose meaning, if there is one, is far beyond obscurity, Chesterton had apparently unlimited ability to create rhyme and alliteration, and then he bound it all tightly in the sing-song ballad style that carries it all swiftly along. The words of this poem are glorious to hear, and really, this book should be read aloud, so that one might hear the music of the words.

And few have ever been able to match the way Chesterton paints pictures with words. I will quote one passage, and hope it is not to long, to illustrate this. The scene here is Alfred's army making one final charge against the Danish camp:

Then bursting all and blasting
Came Christendom like death,
Kicked of such catapults of will,
The staves shiver, the barrels spill,
The waggons waver and crash and kill
The waggoners beneath.

Barriers go backward, banners rend,
Great shields groan like a gong,
Horses like horns of nightmare
Neigh horribly and long.

Horses ramp and rock and boil
And break their golden reins,
And slide on carnage clamorously,
Down where the bitter blood doth lie,
Where Ogier went on foot to die
In the old way of the Danes.

It would be hard to imagine anyone anyone describing such a violent scene in so few words any better than Chesterton does in that passage. And this passage is but one of dozens of glorious word-pictures that Chesterton's poetry paints in this book.

Beyond its magnificent use of the English language, this book also contains much philosophical insight -- insight that, although first published in 1911, is directly and clearly applicable today. Chesterton expresses very clearly the way that Christianity has formed the heart of Western culture over the ages, and the way that Christian faith -- which seems all about self-denial and thus sadness -- leads to unconquerable joy.

The book, of course, is not perfect; no work of literature can be. There are places where it gets a bit too preachy for my taste. But the book's flaws are few and minor, while its good points are many and glorious.

How good is this book? I have read it at least 50 times in my life, and I still enjoy reading it. In my opinion it is one of the truly greatest works written in the English language. It is one of the few books I have read that truly deserves five stars.

I had read some of Chesterton's fictional books, most of which contain poems which he has written, and I very much enjoyed his poems, so I decided to get a book of his poetry. This too I really enjoyed, so I decided to get another book of his poetry, this time it was The Ballad of the White Horse, and this book simply blew away all of the rest of Chesterton's poems. In fact, it simply blows away most poems by anyone. I have read Dante's Divine Comedy, Milton' Paradise Lost, Eliot's Wasteland, Chaucer's Canturbury Tales, etc., but I can honestly say that I enjoyed this epic far more than any of them. I am not saying that it is a better written poem or that it should be ranked above these classics, but I am saying that it is much more exciting to read than the others. Somehow Chesterton makes his poem involving: you are drawn into it and cannot put the book down until you have finished the chapter. He wrote it in such a way that the verses beg to be read quickly, and as I read I found myself reading faster and faster, until I was stumbling over the words and had to slow down again. Chesterton, like no other poet whom I know of, paints a picture of glory, honor, bravery, and captures the true spirit of an idealized Medieval War. The poem resounds with the drums of doom, the cries of angels, the hordes of invading barbarians and great deeds of heroes of old. If I were to recommend owning one epic poem, this would be the one.

Overall grade: A+

A stirring epic poem with a message important for the future of western civilization...to act on hope when there is no longer any hope... The outcome is always, finally, in God's Providence. "The Ballad of the White Horse" should have great appeal for young men who can dream impossibilities because they are firmly grounded in the eternal verities. The battles scenes will fire the blood!

It stood the test of time for me anyway, since I used to read this book in bed every night when I was about 14 or 15 and marvelled not only at the world of the Beatles but at the way that Schaffner's words opened up a realm of ideas whose breadth I could only intuit at the time. I just finished rereading the book again, 25 years later, and it still strikes me as elegantly written, passionate, honest, insightful and at times very humorous. (The way he speaks about McCartney's solo career is particularly funny). In 1977, he wrote, "As usual the wild card of the lot is John Lennon."

I think this is the book about the Beatles we all wish we had written. My copy is in tatters, and has a torn-up dust-jacket with the Rubber Soul fish-eyed lens photograph. I will never part from it!

This book is one of a few that every Beatle collector must have. Along with "The Beatles" with covor work by Andy Warhol, "The Beatles Forever" is a must have. If you are interested in owning the 1977 and 1978 soft and hard back copies of "The Beatles Forever" in near mint condition contact Seth at henry23@home.com

I have the pair listed under Yahoo auctions, "music," THE BEATLES, "The Beatles Forever." Look it up via search or let your fingers do the walking. I will ship upon receiving certified funds and you must pay shipping however it should not cost but $7 to $10 max to ship and you can see what the current bid is in Yahoo auctions.

This book must have taken Nicholas Schaffner all his energy to write. It's a wonderful account of the lads music from their rise to fame in 1964 to their solo careers in 1977. Schaffner cares most about the music and he definetely knows his stuff. He's not escatic about Sgt. Pepper, which is an overated album, and he mentions a forgotten George Harrison masterpiece, "It's all too Much". Schaffner writes in a dry witty factual style focusing on the Beatles albums, their influence on rock music, the ups and downs of their solo careers, and anaylizes their lyrics. There are pictures of all the Beatles singles and rare pics of the beatles infamous butcher cover. This is my favorite Beatle book.

I have loved this book for years. Nick Schaffner has done a superb job of sharing his personal love for the Beatles from both an objective and subjective standpoint. Not only does he make personal references in re the Beatles, he also details the history of the band and the recordings they had released up until this book was published. Certain references, such as the Beatles' hair length being comparable to then-president Jimmy Carter (1976-80) are what "dates" this work; other than that, this excellent book is a timeless classic.

When I was in the 9th grade, I wrote a paper on the breakup of the Beatles entitled "The Gestalt Beatles: The Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts" and smile today as I think of how much I wanted to be a paperback writer. There is no doubt that Mr. Schaffner has inspired countless hordes of fans in this manner. I think of my old term paper because the writing in this book is greater than the sum of its parts - the combination of objectivity and subjectivty make for a very well rounded presentation indeed!

I had the pleasure of meeting Nick Schaffner at a Beatles' convention and he graciously autographed my copy of this book. He also shared stories about the Beatles and offered words of solace to fans still mourning John's death. This book deserves a place of honor and is a must-have for the avid Beatles' fan. Please read this book and share it with somebody. You will be glad that you did.

I own over 150 books about this lot....and this is one of the 4 or 5 best. Track this down

I agree with jt from New Jersey. I picked up "Far Cry" based on its review in the NY Time Book Review in 1986 (front page coverage). If you simply accept Mrs. Hawkins at face value you will fall in love with the setting, the time and Mrs. Hawkins approach to life.

Perhaps the book has a special place in my heart because I read it in a hotel bar overlooking the Arno in Florence while my pregnant wife was resting upstairs. I still reread the book and remember the bar. Funny.

I enjoyed "A Far Cry from Kensington" and recommend it. It's an entertaining story about an overweight young editor who matures in many ways (weight loss, new romance) over the course of the novel and exhibits strength of character in overcoming various tribulations. When she puts down a toadying literary hanger-on, this unpleasant person becomes something like a stalker. A good yarn; the last chapterlet is bang-up. It's one of those novels, which I think are pretty rare, where the last two pages are the best part.

I am a big Muriel Spark fan -- I mourned her passing earlier this year -- and was very interested in a book that is generally accepted as a companion novel to the brilliant "Loitering with Intent", one of my favorites. I was particularly intrigued given the reviews on amazon. So I want to caution prospective readers that there's no way that this is up to Spark's best work. It simply doesn't have the resonance or mysterious allusiveness that some of Spark's other books have. It's kind of a throwaway, in fact. So I think some of the reviewers below are getting carried away and overpraising the novel. Open it with reasonable expectations and you have an entertaining, intriguing tale ahead of you.

This is one of those books that cannot described in a nutshell. If you had to hazard a guess at a description, you'd have to place it firmly in the comedy/ tragedy/ drama/ mystery/ romance section, or simply file it under Spark: Muriel in the Classics section.

Narrated by the once round and central character, Agnes Hawkins (a.k.a. Mrs. Hawkins or Nancy), the story revolves around her experiences as a young widow living in furnished rooms in a semi-detached building in South Kensington. She colorfully describes her neighbors and acquaintances, and gives us tantalizing glimpses into their little secret worlds, in which she is a trustee and confidante.

Despite the mysterious black boxes and the lurking threat of enemies, known and unknown, our heroine manages to keep her head above water, remains a pillar of strength and finds true love among the rubble. Thanks to her diet plan (freely given to the reader as a bonus for purchasing the book), she gains new self-respect, and reinvents herself in a new country, a far cry from her humble beginnings.

A simple classic by an inspired writer.

Amanda Richards

I picked up a copy of Muriel Sparks, "A Far Cry from Kensington" on a friend's recommendation, and I loved it. Mrs. Nancy. Hawkins, the main character is a woman that everyone depends upon and needs to talk with. She has that certain way about her that summons trust and understanding. The fact that her figure is zaftig and that she is a widow lends credence she believes to her trust factor.

Mrs. Hawkins tells her story from a 30 year distance. It is 1954, post World War II, and she is living in a furnished room near Kensington. She has several neighbors of interest and Milly the landlady, was one of the more interesting. She was also a widow and was
Known as an organizer, She was able to organize everyone and everything. Basil and Eva Carlin were a quiet couple and lived on the first floor. Wanda Podolak lived next to them. She was a Polish dressmaker. Kate Parker lived at the end of the hall. She was a district nurse and suffered no germs at all- she was constantly cleaning. On the attic floor, lived a medical student William Todd.

Mrs. Hawkins was an editor at a publishing house and in due time she lost her job and went on to several others. She was excellent at her job, and, of course, everyone confided in her. She knew everything that was going on with everyone. Like the rooming house she lived in, Mrs. Hawkins spent her days and evenings giving advice. The rooming house becomes involved with Wanda and her anonymous letters that turn into blackmail and eventually into big trouble. Along the way, we meet Hector Bartlett, a charlatan who turns many lives upside down.

Mrs. Hawkins gives advice to many and one day she looks in the mirror and discovers that she is too obese. She resolves to lose weight, and by eating only half portions and then quarter portions, she does just that. Her fine bone structure is revealed, and her new body structure also attracts many men. She finds herself in a relationship with William Todd the medical student, which eventually turns into a marriage. Thirty years later,
Mrs. Hawkins, so wonderfully happy with her life in Italy, "a far cry from Kensington",
looks back at her life and continues to offer us advice.

Muriel Sparks has been called "Britain's greatest living novelist", and she was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1993 and Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres in 1996. She lives in Tuscany, Italy. An outstanding story, told by a wonderful novelist. prisrob

Muriel Spark's A Far Cry From Kensington (1988) is the bookend companion to her 1981 classic, Loitering With Intent. Both novels share a common theme, and like the earlier novel, A Far Cry From Kensington is largely autobiographical and takes place in virtually the same setting and time period: the literary world of early Fifties London. Both are explorations, via reminiscence, of the banality of everyday evil, taking place among the workaday, routine lives of the lower middle class. Less scathing if no less hilarious than many of its predecessors, the relatively unsung A Far Cry From Kensington is the most realistic and humane novel among the twenty-odd Spark has written. It is also exceptional in that it is the single Spark fiction in which a love affair blossoms into a successful relationship of duration.

The story of the universally respected though immensely overweight Mrs. Hawkins, A Far Cry From Kensington follows two divergent threads in her daily life: the mounting sufferings of a rooming house neighbor who is being anonymously threatened, and the problems that stem from her own continuous encounters with Hector Bartlett, a manipulative sycophant who hopes to use her footholds in the publishing world to advance his nonexistent literary career.

While Loitering With Intent can be read as something of a tactical combat manual, A Far Cry From Kensington is instructive in the art of deduction: caught up in a spiraling series of mysterious and increasingly serious coincidences, Mrs. Hawkins, short of both hard facts and physical evidence, actively unravels the odd events that are taking a toll on both the lives of her friends and her editorial career. Fully realizing she is as prone to misjudgment as anyone, Mrs. Hawkins, utilizing her intelligence, intuition, and instinct, nonetheless proceeds confidently and assertively to pierce the veil of secrecy and quiet conspiracy engulfing her. Spark is at a creative peak as she reveals the subtle turns, nuances, and moment to moment impressions in Mrs. Hawkins' mind as she forms her cautious conclusions.

Unlike Spark's finest novel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961), in which a significant portion of the mystery of human existence is shown to exist on a partially transcendent level, A Far Cry From Kensington eventually grounds that mystery in the knowable everyday. Though the author was to return to something of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie's vision in Symposium (1990), here she seems to be expressing that at least the mundane truths of human life can be ascertained by diligence of method, applied intelligence, and a fundamental willingness to be believe that some people are unabashedly predatory, unscrupulous, and ethically coarse at best. Another message of the novel is that the weak, the foolish, and the vacuous are among the most potentially dangerous individuals one can become involved with.

Upon its release, a number of critics publicly objected with pointed distaste to some of Mrs. Hawkin's behavior, she who enjoys "a puritanical and moralistic nature; it is my happy element to judge between right and wrong, regardless of what I might actually do." For exhausted with Hector Bartlett's elaborate attempts at manipulation, unhypocritical Mrs. Hawkins calls him a "Pissseur de copie" to his face when she encounters him in a public park, and continues to do so, to the detriment of her publishing career, throughout the novel. "It seemed to me," she says, that he "vomited literary matter, he urinated and sweated, he excreted it." Far from keeping this observation to herself, Mrs. Hawkins loudly shares it with authors, editors, and publishers, and since Hector is protected by best-selling author Emma Loy, finds herself fired from one job after another. But Mrs. Hawkins is without regret: "I can't help it. Sometimes the words just come out and I can't stop it. It feels like preaching the gospel." Thus in this and other passages, A Far Cry From Kensington supports speaking one's perception of truth under certain circumstances, regardless of consequence, even if that truth represents an enormous breach of upper class WASP manners and social decorum.

In Spark's vision as expressed here, building relationships of any kind solely for personal gain, manipulating others through callous, self-interested `networking,' and general toadyism are high crimes, all of which Hector Bartlett is guilty of in the extreme. In fact, Hector is one of Camille Paglia's "court hermaphrodites": "red hair en brosse, brown corduroy trousers, tweed coat with leather patches on the sleeves, a yellow tie and a green shirt: this was gaudy in those days, and Hector Bartlett was always dressed in bright colors. He was tall, with a pronounced stoop of the shoulders, which made him seem older than he was - I imagine at the time, he would be in his mid-thirties. His face was round with a second fat chin. He had a small but full baby-mouth as if forever asking to suck a dummy teat." Though many critics have felt otherwise, no amount condescending liberal piety can excuse Hector's routine aggressive subterfuge, moral mediocrity, and parasitic nature. It's unlikely that Spark chose this character's name randomly: "hectoring" is exactly what this he often does to those he encounters, and `Bartlett' suggests his "pudgy," pear-shaped physique.

Written in the plainest language possible but poetically conceived and executed, A Far Cry From Kensington belongs, with The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Girls of Slender Means (1963), The Driver's Seat (1970), The Takeover (1976), and Loitering With Intent, among others, with the very best of Spark's work.

I was inspired to become a nurse by stories of the "lady with the lamp" but it took more than 30 years before I found this book and learned just why Florence Nightingale deserved to be my inspiration. The pictures alone are worth the price of this book, and the story too is well told.

I knew of Florence Nightingale's nursing activities before reading this book but had no idea of the extent of her self-discipline, dedication and accomplishments. She was a systems analyst, administrator, networker and mystic who devoted her life to doing God's work. She was also a prolific writer of books, lay reports, pamphlets and thousands of letters. The author provides a wealth of background material describing the historic times and places associated with Florence Nightingale. One of the things I appreciated about this book were the many maps and photographs appropriately placed near the text about the person or places.

Dr. Barbara Dossey, founder of the American Holistic Nursing Association, has written an inspiring and insightful biography of Florence Nightingale that has much to teach us about being bold, tough minded, task oriented, creative, passionate and compassionate. Nightingale conscientiously developed the strongly focused conceptual, organizational and networking skills that contributed to her formidable accomplishments in the fields of nursing, housing, sanitation and statistics and did it all despite chronic illness, criticism, sexism and other major life challenges. Most of all, we learn that Nightingale was a visionary and mystic, whose life story challenges all of us to know, accept and realize our God-given purpose in this world.

learn about the history of the nursing profession... very interesting... lots of beautiful pictures

This is unquestionably the best biography of Nightingale ever written. The author reminds us that Nightingale was one of the first statisticians -- one of the first members of the statistical society in the U.K. and for many years the only woman member. Nightingale collected and published voluminous statistics about health care (she proved that the rate of childbirth fever was lower among women cared for by midwives vs those cared for by physicians and surmised correctly that the difference was that the midwives washed their hands and established hygiene in the birth chamber. The physicians came to the birth room covered with blood from dissections.) The germ theory of disease had not been developed -- but she was able to reduce the death rate in the hospitals in Crimea by ensuring cleanliness, safe water and good food for the patients.) She was also a suffragist and one of the first signers of a petition in support of suffrage put forward by her
friends, the philosopher John Stuart Mill and his wife Harriet Taylor, who were prominent proponents of women's suffrage. Mill asked Nightingale to dedicate herself to the cause of female suffrage and she replied that there were others as qualified as she; she was needed to reform the British military, hospital and medical systems. Nightingale shook up the British military, hospital and medical establishments. She had many enemies because of her work -- and they became even more virulent when she was proved right. Unfortunately their calumnies persist to this day. While doing the work which first brought her to public attention she contracted Crimean Fever -- a common complaint of those who served in the Crimea War. Dossey points out that recent research indicates that Crimean Fever was probably brucellosis which was and is epidemic and endemic in the Crimea. (It occurs now, too, in the U.S. among persons who work with infected cattle.) Nightingale was a very devout Christian. At 17 she sought a direction for her life. She came to feel that she was called to serve the sick and took a vow of chastity when she was 17. Barbara Dossey is an R.N. with a Master's degree in nursing. She has written texts on intensive care nursing and on wholistic health. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing -- which signfies the high respect of her research peers for her work. This is the finest contribution she has made and that says a lot.

The first and best of a family saga during the mid 1800s in England, when industry changes everyone's lives.

I first read this in 1971, and followed through with all Delderfield's later books. Now, through Amazon.com I can reread the entire series and and my husbands is reading it for the first time and is enthralled!

I have read God is an Englishman 45 years ago. It was a great book to read. I have enjoyed reading it so much that I have read it twice. There is a book 2 that follows this first edition and that too is great. I wish you they whoever can produce a movie of the story. It would make a wonderful masterpiece. Let the author know to produce a movie and let me know because I would be the first to see and then purchise it on DVD.
Thank you for a great site. I will be ordering a copy of this book again in the near future. I strongly recommend this book to all single ladies who enjoy reading a good novel and romantic story. Henrietta Netta, Exeter PA

Adam Swann has followed his family's tradition of military service for long enough to turn 30. He's seen a lot during those years, including a horrific massacre of civilians. When chance places a fortune in rubies in his hands, he's more than ready to make drastic changes. Back to England he goes, the England of a world just prior to the American Civil War, looking for a better way to spend his life. He finds it in two places. First, in a revolutionary business idea sparked by an encounter with a railway official; and second, in a runaway young woman. He marries the woman, factory heiress Henrietta Rawlinson (who's swiftly disinherited by her infuriated father), and he turns the idea into a hauling firm that deliberately fits itself into all the gaps the railway system cannot fill.

That's the bare outline. What makes this novel remarkable, though, isn't its plot. It's the characters, and the way author Delderfield lets them grow naturally out of the time and place in which he sets them. Adam Swann is in many ways a man ahead of that time, disgusted by what he's seen in war and determined to make his way in the world without committing outrages against basic human decency. In fact, he's determined to make a difference for the better while succeeding as a businessman. Henrietta, blessed with her enterpreneur father's sharp mind and quick wits for commerce, grows from a willful, uneducated and thoroughly spoiled girl into a worthy and even challenging partner for Adam in the course of the book's 800-some pages. Nothing seems forced, and none of the details of Victorian England ring false, in all of those pages. Some of the best reading comes from secondary characters who weave in and out of the main story, because each is well drawn and interesting - no matter how brief the appearance.

A tour-de-force, all in all. One of the best "family sagas" around, still, nearly 40 years after its publication.

R.F.Delderfield's "God Is An Englishman" begins a truly riveting history lesson of Britain's Victorian era and beyond. When I first read the book nearly 30 years ago fell in love with Adam and Henrietta Swann and their brood of children. You will, too!

This heartfelt book about deceased pets and the memorials their owners have made for them will strike a beautiful chord in the hearts of anyone who has ever loved and/or owned an animal. As a photographer myself I was immediately moved by the colorful images, predominately pola transfers and infrared shots, that adorn the pages throughout. The list of resources towards the back are also a great addition for pet owners interested in creating their own special memorial to their truest friends who have departed. I highly recommend this book to any pet lovers' book collection.

I love this book. Anyone who has ever loved and lost an animal friend will love this book. Anyone fond of cemeteries will love this book. The author's heart speaks to us through touching stories and beautiful images. She allows us to share in a universal love and remeberance of our animal companions. Not everyone understands the place they share in our lives. Through this book we can feel we are not alone and find some comfort during one of the most difficult times in our lives, the loss of a beloved friend.

This 1st edition with the beautifully done cover is both thought provoking and deeply emotional as well as indispensable for those who have lost a dear pet/"child".
Highly recommended.

Animal lovers face a double problem when a pet dies. The sense of loss can equal that which we feel for a human; but many people look askance at the person who mourns a pet. After all, it was "just" an animal.

Michele Lanci-Altomare's touchingly beautiful book, "Good-Bye My Friend," gives us, finally, permission to weep. The book is a loving compendium of poems and essays written by a variety of people on the deaths of their pets, combined with tender photographs of pet cemeteries and individual graves in the U.S., England and Canada. If you have a friend who has recently lost
a pet--or if you've lost one yourself--a gift of this book is a gift of comfort.

This books not only celebrates the beauty found in pet cemetaries, but the beauty found in the human/animal bond. Michele illustrates through her magnificent photos how deep and eternal the love can be for the animals in people's lives. The stories told are endearing, encouraging the reader to reflect on his own fond memories of the pets in his life. "Goodbye, My Friend" is a gracious tip-of-the-hat to pets and petowners everywhere!

I loved this book when I was little. I don't remember how old I was or where I first saw it, but I remember checking it out of a library several times. I knew it wasn't a new story, with the tattered cover and discolored pages, but I loved that there were never any problems in it and that the little girl lived so differently than I did, in a time before mine. I was looking for another childhood favorite and was thrilled to find this one! I remembered the story almost perfectly when I looked back in the excerpts. I can't wait for my own 3 year old to read it...

What a sweet book! I'm 23 and always pre-read any books that i intend to give as gifts to the various kids i know. Usually i find that they eventually turn into scary stuff which isn't too good for the younger ones. When i read this story book i went out and got six copies, one for each of the young children i baby-sit, age ranging 3 to 9, even the 9 year old loved it. There is no violence, no bad language and is a wonderful way of showing young children how people lived in days gone by without taking on a lecturing tone. You know what, even the two young boys liked it!:-)

Don't rule this out for your older children...I just bought it for my just-turned-8yo dd after starting a library copy of it and all of us (including 10yo brother) being enchanted (he actually suggested buying it...said it was a "classic"!)! It reminds you of simpler times... the wholesome joys of childhood. It probably is best for 8 and under but we found it absolutely charming!

I was amazed when i came across this title in my search. I got both the Milly Molly Mandy books as a gift when I was little. I had to wait to read them as i couldnt read very well when i received them. The became my favourite books and I still have them packed away somewhere to this day, dog-earred and with torn covers. I never tired of reading the same stories over and over again, wishing that I could have adventures like Milly Molly Mandy.

This book was the first I was able to read myself, at age 4. It had been my mother's book as a child, and I still have her copy. I was amazed to see that it is still being printed and is still so popular. Somehow I thought it was unknown to most people (my little secret!)

My own granddaughter is now old enough to read about Milly-Molly-Mandy, so I will purchase the new edition for her. She looks just like Milly-Molly-Mandy! Also, it is fascinating to learn that the stories take place in Holland, not England. My sisters and I still use the phrase "little-friend-Susan" to describe the perfect friendship!

Miss Mapp rules the tiny English village of Tilling- that is she rules those who matter. It is a tiny circle of people who have enough class to rate her attention - but she manipulates and lauds over them with machiavellian schemes, and intelligent surmises - and she is intelligent.

Benson has written a village with a range of gorgeous characters - from Diva who is Miss Mapp's great rival, to Irene the local artist who keeps embarrassing Miss Mapp with her prosaic pronouncements. Then there is the local Vicar who talks in a combination of Shakespearian English and Burnsian dialect. There is also Mrs Poppit who is an up and coming social climber (hardly worthy of Miss Mapp's notice) and the novel begins with Miss Mapps machinations to the Poppitt Bridge party.

Village life you see seems to run around Bridge parties. In this petty world of card games there is a great deal of opportunity to expose one another's weaknesses and Miss Mapp, in order to be the center of village life in Tilling finds no object too petty to exploit. This is a novel of small things made into huge issues because of the smallness of the village. There is Miss Mapps constant running battle to dress better than Diva, the competition over Mr Wyse's attentions (with his supposed comtessa sister), and the ever pressing desire to be the First To Know all the gossip in town.

The physical descriptions both through the characters minds and from Benson's pen are wonderful for instance Diva is always depicted as whirling around the place - her legs circling. Mrs Poppit is ever present in a huge and weighty sable coat.

This is a wonderful book, and beautifully written. Benson seems to me to be very influenced by Austen - there is the small and claustrophobic atmosphere of village life - the characters (Miss Mapp seems so like Mrs Norris of Austen's 'Mansfield Park') to me - and then there are the odd Austen Names (in this case the Coles feature strongly as a family that is not quite up to snuff - just as the Coles are in 'Emma'). If nothing else Benson writes of English village life in the 1920's with the same Ironic pen as Austen did of village life in the early nineteenth century.

Highly recommended if you want a couple of days of laughter.

Miss Elizabeth Mapp lives in the English village of Tilling and there she attempts to be part of the cream of Tilling's society. With a steady diet of gossip, Miss Mapp and her circle of fellow residents flavor their lives with eyes on the goal of status. Benson's sharply observed and satirical tale is part of the Mapp & Lucia series, which pokes fun at English society of the times. Like an early ancestor of "Dynasty" or anything else produced by Aaron Spelling, the Mapp and Lucia stories are big fun for any Anglophile or fan of camp literature.

This book from the hilarious pen of Benson, is odd in a certain way. After all, Miss Mapp is the queen of Tilling in the book, and undisputed depot who rules with an iron tongue! Where is our dear Lucia, Mapp's sworn enemy, and the pretender to the throne? Well, she is back in her original home of Riseholme, with her dear husband Peppino. Those who know the Mapp and Lucia Saga from the wonderful television series, might find it strange to have Mapp ruling the roost without interference, however it makes for a delightful read (with one oblique allusion to Lucia), and shows that Miss Mapp is a strong enough character to carry her own book. The most significant event (though hardly significant at all really) is the rumored duel between Puffin and Flint over the affections of Miss Mapp. What really occured on that misty morning? Read this brilliant piece of humor to find out. I love it!

Well, after meeting Queen Lucia, I quite enjoyed learning all about Tilling and its dear Miss Mapp. You will wonder who she visited in Riseholm, and you will die from the anticipation of the two ladies meeting up in subsequent books (you won't be disappointed!). The characters are fantastic, the situations are comic, and I absolutely loved this book! I am officially hooked on the entire series! I hope you will try it and love it just as much as I.

Not only will the Reader of today recognize Miss Mapp amongst her acquaintances, dear Reader is only too likely to see *herself* in caricature. (I, for one, am Diva Plaistow; no getting round it.) A delight from the first paragraph, "Miss Mapp" is even more enjoyable if you've read the first two in the Lucia chronicles. Librarina@netscape.net