England Books

The guide contains so much information in one easy reference. One would have to spend hours on the internet and in the library to come up with this sort of information, and still not have the personal advice and direction that comes with this guide. Well worth the money.

As a new resident of Greenwich I have found the Anderson Guide to Greenwich an invaluable resource. It has constantly been referred to as the go to source for learning about our new town. We have found the listings to be comprehensive, complete and unbiased. Very Helpful book. A must have for anyone new to this area. Thank you for compiling this information in an easy to use format.

I have lived in Greenwich for over twenty years and have found "The Guide" as we call it in our home to be a reference book used by all. My children as well as myself use it often and discover new things about our town.. From restaurants, to nail salons, to fun activities for the kids.... What a wonderful thing the Andersons have done for our community!!!!

The praise we have received for our Anderson Guide to Enjoying Greenwich is overwhelming and warms my heart. The Guide is now in its 6th edition. The talented Glenville Maverick Cheerleaders are on the front cover. Jerry and I are grateful to so many Greenwich residents for their support and for their enthusiastic appreciation for providing the town of Greenwich with a useful guide. The Greenwich Library just ordered several copies. They keep copies at the information desk and at community answers to help people with their questions. The Historical Society has the copies of our past editions in its archives. We are pleased to be documenting our town's many events, restaurants, shops and tips about Greenwich way of life.

The Guide is a list of our favorites...simply that. It is not a book of advertisements. No place mentioned in the Guide had any idea that it would be included. Establishments and programs are listed because we like them. Although the Guide is about Enjoying Greenwich, you will note many selections are outside of Greenwich's town limits. These easy to reach places complement our many in-town resources.

Initially, many years ago, our first Guide was prepared for our real estate clients. Then the calls came in-their friends needed a copy. The owner of Just Books saw it and said we must publish it, and that is where it started. Our initial reason for writing it has not changed. We know finding favorite spots takes awhile. We have lived in Greenwich for many years, and we hope the resources in the Guide will help everyone moving into town feel right at home.

The new edition has over 160 restaurant reviews. Jerry and I anonymously visit each one at least two times before we write the review. We are looking at the whole experience-food, ambience and service. If a restaurant is disappointing in too many ways, we do not include it. Restaurant reviewing is a professional responsibility. We have a great deal to do with a restaurant's success or failure. Jerry and I have extensive food and restaurant backgrounds. I am the author of the Complete Book of Homemade Ice Cream and several other cookbooks. I am a cookbook addict with over 4000 cookbooks in my own collection. For a number of years we owned and operated a small vineyard. Tasting foods and wines and knowing how they are prepared is greatly helpful in reviewing quality. I am an interior designer, a professional member of the American Society of Interior Designers; and before devoting myself full time to real estate, I designed restaurants-two in Greenwich. Many people remember the popular restaurant, Morgan, open for many years in Greenwich that I designed. Knowing the requirements of good restaurant design is helpful in reviewing. We love finding new discoveries in dining, and we hope our readers of the Guide will enjoy them too.

My husband and I feel so lucky to have such a comprehensive and wonderfully-written guide of our town. Whether we are planning a night out at a restaurant, or looking for some local information about shops, exercise classes, schools or services, we always consult The Guide - it has definitely taken over our yellow pages and Zagats. We love the way it is organized. And the "Tips," such as "summer town concerts" and "100 things to do" are so fun and interesting! This Guide has truly helped us take advantage of living in such a wonderful town!

Somebody has killed an aging American veteran and Wesley Peterson has to find out who--and why. Old animosities between the U.S. soldiers and the English people uprooted from their homes come into play, but a psychic claims that the Armada Boy--a survivor of the Spanish Armada is the one to ask.

Kate Ellis writes a fine mystery but what makes this book so compelling is her descriptions of the people and countryside of England. Wesley Peterson, with his pregnant wife suffering from hormone overload, Detective Inspecter Heffernam, with is love for sailing and his need to escape from people yet desire to bond with them, and Detective Constable Rachel Tracey with her ambition, all make sympathetic characters you'll root for as they struggle forward.

The mystery is sufficiently complex and interesting. Ellis's approach of weaving the three eras together proves effective and, ultimately, the fabric of the story proves to be woven together more closely than would at first appear. This is an excellent novel.

Rest easy Ms Christie, your succesor has come through with another great mystery story. I can not wait for the next installment of Wesley's detecting prowess. Thank you Miss Ellis for a very entertaining series.

I have just finished reading this novel and could not put it down, it is superb! I feel that I must disagree with the above review by Kelly Flynn - if anything this book is more engaging tham "The Merchants House"

In Kate Ellis, British literature has a champion to contend with the commercial american heavyweights churning out their tuppenny paperbacks. In the Armada Boy, Ellis successfully produces three narratives of different periods of time, all around the same West Country area. She interweaves these timeframes in a refreshing fashion that rather than slowing and disrupting the flow and pace of the story make the novel flow seemlessly and intelligably between ages. The author maintains the characters from the previous novel but manages to find the right blend of introduction and continuity meaning no readers are alienated in terms of character development. The novel's star characters would appear to be the Americans who I assure you, after spending several hours in the presence of some American Vets. on Christmas Eve are spookily realistic. The interaction amongst the detectives is impressive, with real depth and life which adds to the novel rather than drawing away from the pace of the book.

Bottom line: A great read as either a stand alone novel or part of a sucessful series.

This novel grabbed my attention from the first scene and held it to the last. It is a truly great read.

For me, the real joys of 'The Armada Boy' are the fascinating blend of modern and historical crime; the rich diversity of characters (my personal favourite being Detective Constable Rachel Tracey - a real star in the wings who deserves a novel of her own); and the way in which three completely separate periods of history are woven together so effortlessly. Oh yes, and as with all great crime novels, I would never have guessed 'whodunnit'!!

I hardly put this novel down from the moment I picked it up.I couldn't wait to see what the next page would bring. I inherited my love of crime fiction from my late Grandmother who was a real connoisseur of the genre and as I read this novel I thought often of her. How she would have loved it!

Published by the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, this thin (176 pages) paperback covers the Cape, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. It's beautifully illustrated with examples of the art created by the featured artists in the various communities, with recommended walking and driving (where needed) tours to take you to their studios and galleries. The maps for the Cape are not much help--they only show driving routes which anyone with a map of the Cape would have anyway. However the town maps for Nantucket and Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard show exactly where the studios and galleries are located so it is easy to find them and connect them in walking tours. There are also maps of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard islands showing the outlying artists' places. Written directions aid in finding the locations.

The areas on the Cape feature 17 pages in a chapter including Bourne, Falmouth, Mashpee, Osterville and Hyannis; a chaper with 23 pages covering Sandwich, West Barnstable, Barnstable, Yarmouth Port and Dennis; a chapter with 15 pages from artists in Harwich Port, Chatham, West Dennis and Dennisport; 16 pages for Brewster and Orleans; and 16 pages overing the outer Cape from Eastham, Wellfleet and Truro out to Provincetown. The Nantucket chapter has 19 pages on studios and galleries and a page on local festivals and special events. Martha's Vineyard earns 11 pages on studios and galleries.

Each article about an artist or gallery gives something of the artist's history and describes her or his work, highlighting the particular emphasis that artist brings to the pieces. There are also listings of museums and theatres and websites and phone numbers for them as well as for other art forms such as Opera and Chorale groups.

With the first edition printed in 2006, all the material is up-to-date, at least for the present.

Having been to the Cape a number of times, I was surprised to find out how much I had been missing.

Great organization and matter of fact accounting of great places to visit make this a very useful guide. Maps and points of reference help you streamline your travel, without missing a thing.

With more than can be accomplished in any one trip, it has been useful for many weekend getaways to Cape Cod.

As a frequent visitor to the Cape and islands over the years I was amazed to find the Arts and Artisans Trails guide book describing the roads and highways I've been traveling but with such insights into the history and Galleries hidden along the way. I can't look at the map or plan a trip without sneaking a peek at the Artisan's guide to see if I can include one or two on my next drive down to the Cape. This should be given to every visitor and newcomer to the Cape and islands. It's like having your own family or friends recommending things to do and see from an insider's point of view. Well done! Kevin Clancy Somerville, MA

If your summer guests don't know what to do or where to go, this is the book to have! It's full of wonderful studios and galleries, interesting information and lovely illustrations. I keep one on hand for my visitors and plan to give some as gifts. Even if you live on the Cape, you will find places you didn't know about...I know I did!

I highly recommend the Art & Artisans Trails of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket. The book is layed out nicely, with different walks for each area of the Cape (and one each for the islands). Each walk has a number of stops, including information on the artist, the hours, the website, etc. There are also lists in the back of artists by medium, by studio, and information on at guilds and fairs. A very comprehensive guide, and a fun way to see the Cape & Islands!

Russ McDonald is not someone many people have heard of, unless you happen to live in the world of Shakespeare scholars, in which case, I would be surprised if you have not. Mr. McDonald was for a long time associated with the Folger Library, and has edited numerous volumes of the Penguin Shakespeare editions, among other credentials. I have had the good fortune to be in one of his classes, and I can think of no one else I have ever met that has so much love and appreciation for Shakespeare's genius, while simultaneously being able to pass that to his students. I honestly don't think there is anything this man *doesn't* know about Shakespeare.

That being said, The Bedford Companion is less about The Bard, and more so about the times in which he lived. While attention is given to his plays, equal attention is given to such things as the history of the Globe Theater, Shakespeare's early life, the economic situations of the time, and a history of Shakespeare appreciation, or "Bardolatry". It shows Shakespeare as a human, as a buisinessman, a family man, and how he eventually become know as the greatest writer in the English language. (Most of his plays weren't published until after his death.) This book may not help you fully understand Hamlet, but it can certainly make it more interesting.

Russ McDonald's book provides excellent materials that help students to see the time in which Shakespeare lived. I use it everytime I teach Shakespeare. Note, I'm 13 and under, but Amazon's review system is funky (see!).

I recommend this book for those who enjoy reading British literature from the 16th and 17th centuries not just Shakespeare.

Its been almost 13 years since I had the pleasure of enjoying Russ McDonald's insight on Shakespeare first hand and it was a pleasure re-engaging with his wit and insight again via this text.

This book is a great overview of all things Shakespeare. It intorduces the man himself, the language of the works, the culture of the Elizabethans and the theatre, sosurces, and basic scholarly criticism and ideas. A wonderful foundational text with primary documents which greatly enhance the reading and give the subject a new life.

Bedford's handbook is quite handy for a non-expert. Anyone who's going to be teaching Shakespeare but hasn't written a dissertation on him ought to pick one up.

If you've never read a book by Leon Garfield before, then you don't know what you're missing. One of the masters of children's literature, and a direct literary descendant of Charles Dickens (encompassing his love of dark and murky plots, meaningful character names and stupendous use of language), Garfield writes stories set in the mid-18th century with such authenticity that it's as if he'd lived through them.

Bartholomew Dorking (later dubbed "Tolly") is a young apprentice to a draper when he's accosted by Mrs Gorgandy, a professional widow who claims bodies from the gallows for the sole purpose of selling them to surgeons. Coercing the young teenager into watching the body of the dreadful Black Jack, Tolly is horrified when the corpse suddenly lurches back to life! By the insertion of a piping into his windpipe, Black Jack has cheated strangulation by the noose, much to the dismay of Tolly who now finds himself the convict's unwilling associate as he flees through the dark London streets.

Feeling responsible for the criminal's return to life, Tolly finds himself intolerably bound to him, even when he finds himself assisting in the sabotage of coaches. Yet by twist of fate, Black Jack upturns a carriage traveling from the Carter household, which contains young Belle Carter on the way to an asylum. Considered mad since she was a little girl, Tolly now finds himself with a new traveling companion, one that his soft heart cannot bear to see locked away in madhouse. Caught up with a traveling circus, troubled by the twin burdens of Black Jack and Belle, hounded by the malicious Hatch and desperate to evade the authorities, Tolly grows from boy to man in the vividly portrayed atmosphere of Dickensian London.

Garfield incorporates certain aspects of 18th century life into his story; the beginning of medical study (resulting in the need for dead bodies), the tricks of the trade in traveling fairgrounds, the idea that madness was contained in the bloodlines of families, and the religious fervor that heralded the end of the world (apparently Armageddon was forecast on a regular basis). Reading a Garfield book is getting a history lesson without realizing it, as all these components are beautifully knitted into the context of the story.

Also worth mentioning are the characters themselves; each one brought vividly to life. Tolly is a kind-hearted teenager with a somewhat nervous disposition, though Garfield tells us: "Sort hearts are easily combustible, and when they take fire, they burn with a sudden blaze." Burdened with a clear sense of right and wrong, with a conscience that makes him act on these impulses, (probably due to his idolization of his uncle, a sea captain) you can't help but admire his determination to do the right thing - whether he really wants to or not. Likewise, the terrifying Black Jack is a figure out of a nightmare: hulking, unpredictable, violent and menacing. Even minor characters, such as the dreamy Belle, cheerful Doctor Carmody and blustering Mrs Gorgandy are all great examples of creating unforgettable characters with the right imaginative language.

And Garfield was the master of descriptive language; reading any book of his a joy simply because it is wrapped in expert use of the English language, so rich and dense, you'll find yourself re-reading sentences just to appreciate the care with which they were crafted. Want some examples?

"The boy and the giant felon stared towards each other. In the one pair of eyes was savagery, contempt, even murder - and an angry bitterness that he should be obliged to the white-faced maggot of an apprentice who peered up at him. In the boy's eyes there was fear of savagery, fear of murder, and also a glint of bitterness provoked by the felon's contempt."

"They moved with circumspection through the night; chose infirm alleys and crippled lanes that slunk by the river in a blind and stinking confusion - as if the very streets were lost and would have cast themselves into the river if only they could have found the way."

"A huge spade struck and tore the green quilt...then another. Again and again the spades struck, till the earth flew up in gusts and scudding showers, spattering the stones and spoiling the green. Bending above these spades were two questing faces: one enormous, bearded, black as sin - the other young, desperate, not knowing or daring to know what lay beneath...only wild with hurry."

If you've never read Leon Garfield before, then you're doing yourself a great disservice. Although "Black Jack" is not my favourite of his works (that honour belongs to Smith), you won't regret picking up this book.

There's something in this book--in its characters, its settings, its situations--that is quite reminiscent of the work of Charles Dickens. But it's a lot shorter and simpler than the average Dickens novel. So I could recommend this book to anyone who likes Dickens, and even more so, to anyone who would like Dickens if only he weren't so long-winded. Or just to anyone who enjoys a rousing, well-written, action-packed novel with colorful characters.

Oh, and even though this book is marketed for younger readers, I see no reason why adults could not thoroughly enjoy it as well.

Leon Garfield is one of the best writers for older children ever; no, make that for anyone! His gorgeous language, fabulous, gripping plots, vivid characters and Shakespearean understanding of humanity put him in the very top class of that golden age of children's books of the 60s and 70's--and some of the best of today's golden age, such as Philip Pullman, cite him as an importantinfluence. Back Jack is one of his best books, a wild, terrifying, exciting, romantic and mysterious adventure story that left me reeling as a kid, and still thrills me to bits! Don't miss it!

Leon Garfield's one of those authors that, once discovered, feel like personal triumphs. When I read a Leon Garfield book, I suddenly have the impression that I've done something noble and great for the cause of humanity. He feels like my own personal children's author. The kind that I discovered all on my own and that, as one of the best kept secrets in kiddie lit, I don't necessarily want anyone else to know about. Then I come to my senses, sigh, and write a review like this one. Ever since I discovered his brilliant Dickensian, "Smith", I've been meaning to work my way through the Garfield oeuvre. "Black Jack" was second on my reading list and, now that I've read it through, it has become my favorite book by this author. If you've a child that's been enraptured by books like, "A Series of Unfortunate Events" or even, "The Wolves of Willoughby Chase", then you'd be committing a serious crime to omit from your reading list this most enjoyable of high Victorian adventures.

When a set of unlikely circumstances end with young Bartholomew Dorking guarding the coffin of the recently hanged villain Black Jack, the boy is less than delighted. An apprentice to a draper, Tolly has always led an upstanding pious life. Next thing he knows, however, the recently hanged Black Jack (the kind of man described here as, "a mighty fellow, and rough... as if the Almighty had sketched him out (and left the Devil to fill him in) before He'd settled on something of a quieter, more genteel size") is not as dead as he first appeared. In fact, he is very much alive. Taking Tolly with him wherever he goes, the boy finds himself the unwitting accomplice to this most dark-hearted of villains. In the course of their adventures they meet madwomen, frauds, fortune tellers, and sailors. And while Tolly finds true love in the most unlikely of places, Black Jack learns how to use his enormous strength for something other than villainy.

The book is a highly satisfying read. Part of this is due to the characters Garfield's conjured up. Tolly is fourteen and your typical heroic orphan. The kind of lad that Oliver Twist could've grown up to be (if Oliver was a little less saintly and little more human). His eventual lady love, one Miss Belle Carter, begins the book as mad but eventually is seen to be just a gal who suffered a severe shock in her youth and has needed to recover from it ever since. But the true hero of this tale is the title character. Black Jack's one in a million. He's so real that you can practically feel his villainy emanating off the pages that describe him. At the same time, there are chinks in his personality that allow you to understand why Tolly feels he must earn Jack's respect, even as he hates and fears him. Jack has his weaknesses as well. He fears madness above all things and he's often rather disconcerted when he observes Tolly doing the right thing in the face of what's easy. By the end of the book you'll find yourself cheering Jack and Tolly on and wishing that Mr. Leon Garfield had had the inclination to make several sequels of their adventures to accompany this marvelous tale.

So there you have it. A children's book for everyone to enjoy. You like descriptions? Then take a gander at passages like: "(She was) a happy, greasy, jingly lady whose skin was always aglitter with fine brass dust so that she had the air of being a worn but once costly Christmas present". You like a riveting story? By the second half of this book you'll be disinclined to set it down for even half a breath. You can't read a book unless the characters are likable? Even Tolly is a great guy to root for, and HE'S the saintly hero! Some people pooh-pooh Garfield as a lesser Dickens. I prefer to think of him as the logical step kids need between their everyday literature and real Dickens. If you want your child to pick up "Nicholas Nickleby" for fun, don't immediately ungulf them in that text first. Start them out slowly with a little Leon Garfield. With any luck, they'll be howling for more things along that vein. But don't relegate Garfield simply to the ranks of second-rate Dickens. He's an artist in his own right and his books are well worth discovering. You'll love it. I promise.

My sister, the unstoppable Codemaster Talon, gave this book to read as part of our literary exchange program (she gives me books to read, and I give her books to read). When I first glanced at this book, I thought it would be an easy read (it's just over 200 pages). Then, when I started reading it, I found myself stumbling over some of the old-fashioned English phrases. I asked her when it was written. "The 70s." she said. "The 1970s?" I asked? "No, the 1870s", she joked. I honestly wasn't sure which one was the real date when until she told me. Yes, this book is indeed authentic in it's language. But for me it was hard. My sister told me to stick with it. Boy am I glad I did.

The story starts out with the giant Black Jack being executed, and then procedes to tell the story of a poor good-natured youngster who finds himself in this terrifying scoundral's strange company. The strange thing is that for some reason, this terrible man finds that he likes the young lad, and won't let him go.

When the boy finds himself suddenly and strangely abandoned by the giant after starting (and ending) his search for an escaped lunatic young girl, he folows the road till he finds (and joins) a traveling carnival. The that's where our story begins.

As Black Jack struggles with his fear of lunatics (can you believe it?) and growing admiration for his young friend, Tolly (the young fellow) gains maturity and learns about life as he helps the poor lunatic (her name's Belle) regain her sanity. It's really engaging, because all the characters are so very HUMAN, and as Tolly continually tries to help the girl while at the same time keeping her from getting to close (she loves him you know) he starts to find that he cares for her too.

When Belle becomes convinced that she really is insane and has herself commited, and Tolly can't get the people imprisoning her to let him see her (despite his growing love for her), and Black Jack won't let anything get in the way of his friend's happiness... Well, let's just say it makes for one of the greatest climaxes I've ever seen in a book (especially when you consider the world is ending at the same time).

What really addicted me to this book was one thing. Love. When I read the passages about how Tolly and Belle found their feelings for each other grow, it gave me a simply wonderful feeling. The author of this book has managed to perfectly describe the feeling of being in love. I haven't felt this way while reading a book in a long time. This feeling the book gave me grew stronger and stronger as it progressed, but the very, very end made it shoot to the sky. Because what Belle kept describing in her wild rants of insanity turned out not to be mere dreams after all, but visions of a future more wonderful than she could have imagined.

If anything I have said connected with you in any way, READ THIS BOOK.

Bride starts the saga of the Christopher family which Mr. McCarry has written about in his other novels. If you like a book about adventure, family and love, this book is the book for you!! It takes you back in time and deposits you there where the sheer beauty and explosiveness of Mr. McCarry's writting will keep you for many hours!! You will miss these characters when the book is over and if you are like me, that is how you measure how good a book is!! Read this book, you will not be let down!!

This book is one that will consume you. It is a haunting tale, amazingly well researched, and with a very uncommon story line. Follow the wealth of characters and their almost dickensian development, each more vivid than the last. Fanny, although the central character, is merely the path to carry the reader through one experience to the next. This book has many dark angles ,often inherent with this level of tangibility. The contrast to your more typical novel only amplifies the life that literally courses through this book. It is well worth the time. But be warned ,it sticks with you, for better or for worse.

. . . to take to a desert island, this would be the one. Bride starts the saga of the Christopher family and if you like adventure, espionage AND a story of faithful love rewarded, this book will surprise and please you on every page. You will be stunned by the sheer beauty and power of the writing and when you turn the last page, you will wish there was that much more.

McCarry was able to bring actual events of late 17th century English and American history to vivid life and his research into the time period is thorough. For example, I believe that he used actual events like the cold and snowy February 1690 night attack by French and Indians on present day Schenectady and the extraordinary escape of Mrs Hannah Dustin from her Abenaki captors, for the fictional attack on Alamoth and the manner of Rose Barebones escape from the Abenakis. His dreamy writing style lends itself to the way Fanny, his main character, sleep-walks through life, as if she and the virgin forests of America are waiting to be awoken to reality. This book is something which one seldom sees on the shelves of bookstores these days: it is exciting, thrilling, romantic in the grand manner of true romance (the worth of true patient love), as well as giving the average reader a taste of what life in America once was, a land filled with enormous trees, wild strawberries so abundant that walking through them was like walking through strawberry preserves, filled with danger and Indians who lived by a code of morals that only the French tried to understand. I highly recommend this book!

I nearly didn't read this book because I thought it was a romance and didn't feel in the mood for that particular genre.

Despite my intentions of passing it on to a friend, I opened it up and decided to just read a few pages -- I'm SO glad I did! Once I started reading, I couldn't stop.

I won't try to rehash the plot as other reviews have covered it nicely, but I will add my thoughts as it's an amazingly realistic and engaging read full of adventure with extraordinary writing that pulls you in where you find yourself holding your breath, at turns horrified or astonished. I found myself pulled into another world, and I highly recommend this book.

Don't make my initial mistake of dismissing it lightly -- this is literature to be read and savored.

I like this book because it addresses a diverse range of topics on how to achieve the English style. It describes the origin of each decorating tradition, offering an explanation or rationale for why something is characterized as "English," rather than just laying out a blueprint to follow. I also liked that cooking was incorporated into the book, and several appealing photos of food and recipes are provided.

Being a lover of all things English, I have several books and this is the very best of all. This book is chock full of information on how to achieve the style, what makes it "English" and the photographs are fabulous. I have never read a book of this style that had so much research that went into it. I also enjoyed several receipes that were included and the section that dealt with the meaning of words and how Americans and British differ in their usage.

This is a very TRADITIONAL (and Classical) English decorating book. It is not an "how-to" book at all, but rather, a visual journey throughout homes that are all decorated in the "Traditional" and/or "Classic" English style (in other words: this book is not about "modern" English decorating at all).

I own two other books by this outstanding author (Cheryl MacLachlan) and she always does such a nice job at taking readers into the world of European decorating, by showing a variety of homes in the various styles... as stated in the book's title.

If you own any of the Henrietta Churchill's books (ie: her books on decorating a 'la "English classical style") then you are probably familiar with Classical/Traditional English decorating. If not, browse through this book and/or Henrietta's many decorating books, and you will understand the English "classical" style a bit better.

One difference: The homes in this MacLachlan book are homes that are probably owned by middle-class English families, and are NOT owned by upper-class English families , --- such as all of Henrietta's books show. Therefore, if you want to decorate your home in English style, then this MacLachlan book is more doable & relavent to you. Personally, I like both author's books (MacLachlan's and Churchill's books) because together they show all the possibilities when incorporating Classical English decorating in your current home(s).

Author Cheryl MacLachlan writes "...'English style' refers to the unique constellation of elements - homegrown and foreign - that the English have taken as their own". This book shows you how to create a beautiful, charming English atmosphere in your home, and in your life.

My bedtime ritual now includes sitting down with a steaming cup of tea while browsing through every page of this book. After collecting and borrowing dozens of books on this topic, I find this one to be the most comprehensive and inspiring resource for the lover of anything English.

"Like a house, Bringing It Home - England is divided into rooms"...The book's chapters cover the following topics:

(1) The Substance of the English Style: common threads that unite all English homes, walls, motifs, graphics and everything out of the ordinary

(2) The Living Room: how to arrange furniture, select fabrics, and my favorite topic: how to create the look of a traditional English drawing room

(3) The Bedroom: creating a "cozy sanctuary", creating the romantic look (I can attest to the fact that her advice in this section works beautifully!), how to create the English look in your bath, and there is even a section on creating the look in a nursery!

(4) The Dining Room: special emphasis on creating a "tailored, handsome" look. Includes information on English china, porcelain and crystal. There is even a guide to selecting tables and chairs.

(5) The Garden: No book about English style would be complete without information on creating a traditional English garden. Includes a primer on the art of flower arrangement.

)6) The Kitchen: The floors, cabines, furnishings and "cooker" are all covered in this section as well as my very favorite subject on the pleasure of "taking tea". Oh, life is grand!!!!

(7) A Resource section which includes information on all the "English-style" essentials and where to find them. Includes a reading list and travel ideas.

The information is practical and inspiring, as are the beautiful photographs. I feel this is the best book on this topic anywhere.

5 Stars. Enjoy.

A warm and wonderful volume for any hopeless Anglophile. Great gift.

(My review is on Thoreau's Cape Cod rather than this specific edition).

While some literary critics seem to slight this work by Thoreau, saying that it is not as "powerful" as his other works, etc., I personally find this one very enjoyable. Sure, it does not have as much "philosophizing" as other books by him, but it is full of humor and very fun to read. The part where he describes the old man spitting into the hearth is particularly hilarious. The part about him sleeping in a lighthouse is also very funny. It lets us experience the more jovial side of Thoreau. This is probably one of the easiest to read among Thoreau's books.

Published posthumously, this volume is surprisingly consistent and complete (unlike "The Maine Woods" which is chopped into three different parts), it gives one the feel of walking along the entire cape, although the materials are quarried from several different trips. One only wish Thoreau had lived longer and had seen the West, imagine him taking a trip in the Sierra! Oh, well, meanwhile, we still have this one to enjoy.

This hardcover edition from Peninsula Press is unquestionably the best available edition of Thoreau's Cape Cod, for these reasons:

1) While all other editions are based on Thoreau's journal entries from only his first three visits to the Cape, this edition includes an epilogue compiling Thoreau's notes from his fourth and final visit, in which he traveled south to Chatham and Monomoy.

2) This is the only edition to translate the many, many Greek and Latin phrases Thoreau includes throughout the work, and it is also the only edition to provide illustrations, maps, and sidenotes in-text.

3) This is the only indexed edition ever created.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for fans of both Cape literature and Thoreau in general.

Thoreau visited Cape Cod in 1849, 1850, and 1853. These trips formed the basis for a series of essays, several of which Thoreau published in magazines. After Thoreau's death, the essays were gathered together and published as "Cape Cod" in 1865.

Thoreau's "Cape Cod" is different in tone in theme from his earlier books. The tone is leisurely and light. Instead of solitude or the wild woods, the picture that remains with me from this book is that of a long walk, or, as Thoreau puts it, a "ramble" through the sand and dunes of Cape Cod. The book is picturesque, full of humor and wry observation. Thoreau unforgettably describes the ocean, in its storms, vicissitudes, and moments of peace, the fish and the fishermen, the sands, birds, plants and lighthouses of Cape Cod, and the people. I have visited portions of the Masachusetts coast, but I have never been to Cape Cod. Thoreau took me there in his book.

The book is arranged into ten chapters. It opens with a description of the shipwreck of the St John on a rock off the Cape. Thoreau then describes a ride by coach across the Cape. But the heart of the book lies in the following chapters in which Thoreau with a companion walks the 30 mile beach from Nauset Harbor to Provincetown with many stops and diversions along the way. I felt the salt air and saw the fishermen and the sandy beach as I walked with Thoreau.

The most vivid characterization in the book is in the chapter "The Wellfleet Oysterman", as Thoreau describes a grizzled, taciturn, and ancient native of Cape Cod and his family who offer him hospitality for the night. Another memorable chapter involves the description of the Highland Lighthouse, no longer standing, and its keeper. The stops with the Oysterman and the Lighthouse punctuate Thoreau's long walks through the day over the beach and his meditiations about and descriptions of what he finds there.

Thoreaus walk ended at Provincetown, on the northernmost portion of Cape Cod, with its wood walkway, shanty houses, and ever-present scenes of fishermen, boats, and drying fish. Thoreau offers what I found an affectionate portrait of these hardy fishermen and their families. Following a description of what he found at Provincetown, Thoreau offers a great deal of historical background on the exploration of the Cape, from the Pilgrims reaching back to earlier French, Icelandic, and English explorers.

Thoreau's "Cape Cod" is a worthy companion to his books describing his experiences inland, on Walden Pond and on the rivers and woods of New England and Maine. It is beautifuly written with unforgettable descriptive passages. It made me want to get up and go from my life in the city, and over 150 years after Thoreau wrote, wander and walk for myself along the dunes and sands of Cape Cod.

This book details the flora, fauna and people that Thoreau found in Cape Cod in the 1850s. Thoreau organizes the book around a single trip to Provincetown, although much of the material that he uses in the book came from various visits to the Cape, and to the ocean in general. He starts with a description of a shipwreck at Cohasset, then a stagecoach ride from Plymouth, then a walking trip with a companion along the outer shore to Provincetown. Along the way, he describes not only the plants and animals he encountered, but also the people who he met. The book finishes with a lengthy academic historical account of the discovery and mapping of the Cape.

I found this to be the most humorous of all Thoreau's work. The character sketches he provides in this book, sharpened with his trained eye for observation of natural phenomena, are legendary. The cultural description of the Cape and its environment is quite fascinating for those interested in the history of daily life in 19th century Massachusetts. As Thoreau describes the desolate, treeless desert that made up the far reaches of the Cape, one begins to comprehend what it meant for an economy to be based on wood and whale oil for fuels. Thoreau stresses how valued driftwood was for residents of the Cape, as one of their main sources of heating and cooking fuel. Doubtless, he would not recognize the Cape today with its lush new forests. Or its Wal-Marts--switching to an oil economy has brought mixed blessings for the Cape. For those who think Thoreau to be a humorless didactic philosopher, this book shows a very different aspect of Thoreau as a writer.

You will forget about the outside world when you read this; nothing but sand, wind, and water. Plus some natural history, local folklore, a few shipwreck tales. Typical Thoreau; he finds beauty, interest, detail in the wilderness. The desolate landscape will help to clear your mind. Highly recommended.

A great book to read while on vacation - a touching story that brings a place to life.

This is number 8 of the Cape Light series. I enjoyed this one as much as the others. I highly recommend it.

I've enjoyed the Cape Light novels. This book is about Miranda Potter, Molly Willoughby, and a mysterious angel that surfaces at the local church. Even if you haven't read the previous novels, you can read & enjoy this one as it is a complete novel unto itself. It's a good, clean, pleasurable read.

I have not had the chance to read this book yet. I like the author and I know the book will be a good one. I would recommend it to everyone. I know I am happy with my purchase.

This is the fourth in a series of Christmas books that Thomas Kincaid has taken a part in the writing thereof. The novels are set in the ficticious town of Cape Light and as you read each one you become more familiar with the citizens and their families and the daily lives they lead.
There is always a test of faith and courage involved. This new novel is especially charming and inspiring. Trust, doubt, belief and values make up the content.
I found "A Christmas Visitor' especially moving as each person faced and solved their problems with the aid of some special people and an 'Angel' that visits Cape Light for the Christmas season.
I look forward every year to Kincaid's Christmas stories.
The other four books are equally as good as they too take place in Cape Light just in a different time of year.

I happen to live in the Cotswolds, the setting for this beautiful book, this Monet of literature. And, complying with the below reviews, I have to say that Stroud has become a concrete river, choked with litter, sidelined with Burger Stars, neon lights; a MacDonalds is in the blue print stages. Hills are lined with new developments. It's like, and I quote my mother, "A disease is spreading."

Yet there are places untouched by Americanisms, consumerism, electricity (and here I apologise, as this becomes less of a review, more an account of personal experience). But there are still rivers afloat with leaves, valleys deep that welcome sunsets. They frost the sky in winter, burn it by summer.

"There's beauty in decay," as someone said. Haven't got a clue who. But there you go. Although dying of shallow needs and commercial interests, snippets of the old way can be found. And in all their glory, too.

A book to read & re-read. Finely crafted & evocative of a now long ago & far away time and place.

This book was required reading during my childhood and, of course, I couldn't have dragged myself more slowly through it. How wise we become with age. This is an astonishing book. Lee is such a master of description that, after only a few pages, you slowly start to smell the fresh country air and hear the languid sounds of summer as you are inescabably drawn into the world of his childhood - a world that you realize has already faded into the mists of history. But this special time has not been lost - it has been captured forever in this irreplacable series of pictures. The people in these stories become more real than seems possible with only pen and ink: his characterizations are as clever as anything by Dickens or Dostoevski, and he catches the very essence of the sights, sounds and people around him with a charm unmatched by any other English writer. But this is not a story-book universe: the people in his young life have all the frailty, vanity, delight and tragedy that you would expect in any small community - but what other has been crystallized with such talent and wisdom. A wonderful work of art.

There should be more than five stars for books like this one. All the reviewers who wrote about how poetic yet concrete, magical yet real this account of boyhood in the Cotswolds have said it much better than I can. It is pure magic. I wish it was 20 times as long. You might also find this book under the title "The Edge of Day". If you loved "Cider With Rosie" you might also enjoy "Lark Rise to Candleford", "The Golden Evenings of Summer" and the movie "A Christmas Story".

Rooted in the earth and shining with long gone summers and freezing winters this is a beautiful and poignant flower of a book. Written in a sensuous and lyrical poetic prose it tells the story of the authors's boyhood in the Cotswolds of the West of England. Spinning round the great orb of his clutter-minded and loving mother are his sisters and wider village life. There is Illness, murder, private sorrow, boiling summer and frozen winter and finally the running down of the feudal clock as long awaited change comes to the valley. A book, more even - a place to be visited again and again...