United Kingdom Books

The book, The Age of Shakespeare, takes my breath away! The many color prints and illustrations add beauty to a informative book. This is a well thought out book about Shakespeare and his times. I really enjoy reading it.

This is a great little book. Reading it won't give you a master's degree in Shakespearean studies, but it will give you a quick and interesting overview of many different subjects. The chapters are brief and topical: a discussion of Shakespeare's origins in Stratford, life and politics in Elizabethan England and London's theatres offer a fascinating glimpse into Shakespeare's world and works. The second section of the book, "Documents", looks at some of the primary sources for our understanding of Shakespeare, both documents from Shakespeare's life (a contract, his will, the First Folio), but also writings by those who saw the original plays, discussions of theatrical productions through the ages, and criticism by centuries of academics from John Dryden's 17th century analysis to modern feminist approaches.

The Age of Shakespeare is the perfect weekend read for those who want a bit of context about the plays and their origins. It is informative without being heavy. The dozens of color plates and illustrations are gorgeous, and the writing is intelligent and clear. A wonderful sampler

This book is an excellent addition to the literature on the Vietnam war, providing us with a new perspective. It is full of novel information but still easy to read, which is quite an achievement. It is particularly interesting -- given the current political situation -- to learn how eager the British government was to support Kennedy's Vietnam policy. This is a real revelation.
The book's approach is truly international, and the research is more than impressive. Among the archives the author used are the national archive of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the US, and of course Britain.

In this brilliantly-researched study, Peter Busch examines the Conservative government's policy towards the US war against Vietnam for the years 1961 to 1963. The author, who formerly worked at the Public Record Office at Kew, has thoroughly mined newly available records from Britain, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Germany. He also shows how British policy towards Vietnam related to wider policy towards South-East Asia, especially towards Indonesia. In both cases, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan ruled out negotiated settlements and preferred to use force.

Busch shows how Macmillan fully backed President Kennedy's aggressive military build-up in Vietnam, `a clear breach' of the Geneva agreements, while advising him to conceal it. Macmillan pretended to be a peacemaker, while actually supporting the US war. He aimed to keep Britain's `great power' status and prove its value as a US ally.

As co-chairman of the International Control Commission set up by the 1954 Geneva Conference, the British state abused its role in order to support the illegal, dictatorial Diem regime in the south. It backed up Diem's unwarranted claims that the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was responsible, `whether there was evidence or not', for starting the civil war in the south. It used these claims to rule out the DRV's call for reconvening the Conference to negotiate the peaceful reunification of Vietnam.

Macmillan helped the US counter-insurgency effort, setting up the British Advisory Mission in 1961. British forces also trained Diem's troops in Malaysia. In 1962, the British Ambassador to Saigon urged the USA to `crush and eradicate the Viet Cong'.

The British government only dropped Diem when it discovered that his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, was willing to discuss peace with the DRV. It then backed the US coup against Diem that sabotaged the chances of peacefully reunifying Vietnam.

Busch concludes that the British government did not pursue peace. "Britain supported the American policy in Vietnam wholeheartedly. The British only wanted to `sell' this policy in a different, less confrontational way." Plus ca change! This superb book vindicates all those who opposed the US aggression against Vietnam.

This illuminating book is not a narrative of the Iraq war but a series of observations on how the international community confronted evil after 9/11 and an analysis of history since the end of the second world war. Shawcross explores the stresses and strains upon international co-operation and diplomacy since that atrocity and the much more dangerous world it ushered in, revealing inconsistencies and hypocrisy in the foreign policies of certain nations. He also asks how the international community can best deal with criminal states, tyrants and terrorists.

Chapter One looks at the global nature of the threat, the proliferation of dangerous weapons, failed states and the Arab World. That is a backward region without good governance, political rights, civil liberties or a free media. This section discusses Iraq under Saddam in brief, including the 1991 war, UNSCOM, the IAEA, Iraqi deception and propaganda, the later inspection regime UNMOVIC and Oil-for-Food. Sanctions were eroded and many countries co-operated with Saddam who rewarded the families of suicide bombers in the Palestinian territories with $25 000 for the murder of Israelis.

Chapter Two discusses President Bush and PM Blair, their religious views and their shared concepts of right and wrong. He considers Bush as being closer to Reagan than the first President Bush. Here Shawcross also explains NeoConservatism, its prominent personalities, viewpoints and media like Commentary, The Wall Street Journal opinion page and Weekly Standard. He dissects the Euro intelligentsia and their immature anti-Americanism and hysterical Bush Derangement Syndrome. Also see Anti-Americanism by Jean-Francois Revel in this regard. The concept of pre-emption is also considered in this chapter.

Europe has proved itself incapable of standing alone against totalitarianism in the 20th century, as discussed in Chapter Three which looks at the world since WW2, the formation of the EU and the role of France in particular. UN failures in Rwanda in 1994 and Bosnia in 1995 led to genocide. The USA was forced to intervene in Kosovo in 1999 and after 9/11, in Afghanistan. The EU has a collectivist outlook and its political elites have always aspired to make it a counterbalance to the USA. Shawcross points out Jacques Chirac's friendship and collaboration with Saddam and the role of Gerhard Schroeder in Germany. Both leaders fostered a climate of anti-Americanism. Good riddance to them.

The next chapter charts the collapse of consensus in the build-up to the war in 2002, with discussion of UN Resolution 1441, the attitude of European elites (The "cicadas" as Oriana Fallaci called them), Old versus New Europe and the principled stand of some liberal intellectuals like Vaclav Havel and Adam Michnik. Shawcross gives credit to Tony Blair for articulating the necessity for Saddam's removal very well.

In the next chapter he shows how wrong the mass media were, especially in their doom-laded predictions of millions of refugees. The extent of Saddam's horrors was revealed but there were problems in the occupation and reconstruction efforts. Shawcross discusses the juvenile ranting of the anti-American literati and reveals the real attitude of the French Fop Dominique de Villepin who has now mercifully faded from the scene. Notable exceptions amongst the French intelligentsia include Bernard Kouchner, Andre Glucksmann and Bernard Henri Levy. Reconstruction in Iraq has proceeded with little help from Europe.

Chapter Six deals with the successes and failures after liberation, the proliferation of Islamic terrorism and the sinister nature of the hatred for America. He concludes that the liberation of Iraq was the right thing to do and that American sacrifice is essential to the world. Since publication, the situation in Europe has markedly improved with the election of Angela Merkel in Germany and Nicholas Sarkozy in France. The book includes a bibliography and notes arranged by chapter, and concludes with an index. Allies is a concise and illuminating study of recent history that puts the dangerous world of the 21st century in clear perspective.

A Long Short War: The Postponed Liberation of Iraq by Christopher Hitchens

A Matter of Principle: Humanitarian Arguments for War in Iraq edited by Thomas Cushman

World War IV: The Long Struggle Against Islamofascism by Norman Podhoretz

Once upon a time, during the US war in Vietnam, Shawcross scooped the world media by reporting on the bombing of
Cambodia under the secret orders of President Richard Nixon.

Naturally, Nixon was furious. Until then, no one knew about the bombing except the Cambodian people, the Pathet Lao, the
Viet Cong and most everyone else in the region. Shawcross told the American people. The truth infuriated Nixon.

Well, he's done it again. Conservatives will hate this book, because Shawcross deftly points out the long litany of US stupidity
that put Saddam Hussein in power, armed him and built up his regime. Maybe they can impeach him. Liberals will hate this
book, because he uses devastating details to justify the military destruction of the Hussein regime. Maybe they can impeach
him. Intelligent readers will love his writing.

Similar to his stories about the secret bombing Cambodia, Shawcross has a fondness for facts. It makes for grim reading, then
and now. But, life is never perfect. We can't get perfect omelettes every meal; sometimes we have to settle for scrambled
eggs. The underlying theme is basic, simple and utterly relevant to this year's US elections, "The responsibility on America and
its allies is immense. The only certainty is that they must succeed. The alternatives are too terrible to contemplate."

In simplest terms, Shawcross amply demonstrates how all Iraqis lived in terror from the threat that weapons of mass
destruction might be used against any region courageous enough to rebel. Hussein had a choice; to comply fully with UN
inspection demands and reveal himself as a bully without weapons, or stall the UN and hope it would go away and the Iraqis
would be left living in fear of his savagery.

One of his most troubling assertion is that "US President George W. Bush polarizes. Richard Nixon did the same through his
career, as did Margaret Thatcher. It is a matter of style and substance. The Bush presidency has created almost
unprecedented tensions between Europe and the United States." True enough. Only a fool would argue otherwise. It's a sound
argument for not re-electing Bush -- provided a "really nice guy" with a "great big smile" can be found to faithfully implement
Bush's policies.

His most troubling example is a quote from a February 1998 speech by President Clinton who asserted, "If we fail to respond
today, Saddam, and all those who would follow in his footsteps, will be emboldened tomorrow by the knowledge that they
can act with impunity, even in the face of a clear message from the United Nations Security Council, and clear evidence of a
weapons of mass destruction program."

Clinton couldn't act. The sheer hatred of him by Republicans in Congress, and many of those now in the Bush administration,
focussed on a little Jewish girl with kneepads rather than an Iraqi dictator with ambitions to terrorize the MidEast. The past is
done. The issue now is whether the current hatred of Bush will derail what Clinton could have done in 1998, or whether
greater wisdom will prevail.

Shawcross states, "I repeat, America and the West have made serious mistakes in Iraq." He's neither apologist nor opponent;
he remains optimistic, "I believe the bottom line is this: For all its faults, Americqan commitment and American sacrifice are
essential to the world. As in the twentieth century, so in the twenty-first, only America has both the power and the optimism to
defend the international community against what really are the forces of darkness."

American voters will decide in November, just as Iraqi voters will soon get their opportunity to decide their future in free and
open elections.

This is the descendant of the Guinness chart books and contains, for the first time ever, singles and albums (and EPs from a separate chart) together in one volume. Each artist has his/her/their singles, EPs, and albums listed in chronological order along with label, chart debut date, peak, and weeks on chart. Each re-entry onto the chart is noted separately. The index of titles is comprehensive and there is, of course, a chronological recap of number ones. Trivia fanatics will miss the pages of chart oddities that appeared at the back of the Guinness books, but that's a small quibble, since much chart trivia has been stuffed into the main listings (notes under the chart titles, etc.). An essential reference.

This is the descendant of the Guinness chart books and contains, for the first time ever, singles and albums (and EPs from a separate chart) together in one volume. Each artist has his/her/their singles, EPs, and albums listed in chronological order along with label, chart debut date, peak, and weeks on chart. Each re-entry onto the chart is noted separately. The index of titles is comprehensive and their is, of course, a chronological recap of number ones. Trivia fanatics will miss the pages of chart oddities that appeared at the back of the Guinness books, but that's a small quibble, since much chart trivia has been stuffed into the main listings (notes under the chart titles, etc.). An essential reference.

This is a beautiful book, with magazine style articles (they coincide with the pictures). It is a great book to have around the house for a casual fast food reference of Authurian art, and a sort of who's who in the legendary relm of King Arthur. Great for all ages.

This entire book was filled with beautiful illustrations, and gave a terrific overall view of the Arthurian tradition, not to mention Pre-Raphaelite art!....wonderful...

Detailed and for the most part objective. Lots of new information
from other sources.

Part 1 of Volume 10 of the "Kingdom in the West: The Mormons and the American Frontier" series, At Sword's Point: A Documentary History of the Utah War to 1858 chronicles the 1857-58 armed confrontation between Mormon Utah Territory and the U.S. government, which was the most extensive American military action between the Mexican and Civil wars. The entire incident is covered in two volumes; this volume is part 1, which examines the war's causes and preliminary events, such as President Buchanan's executive decision to replace Brigham Young as governor of Utah and reinstate federal authority through an army expedition. Also scrutinized are Young's reactions to the threat, the beginning of hostilities, and Thomas L. Kane's departure in 1857 on his subsequently famous mission to mediate a compromise. An extensively researched and annotated collection of primary historical sources, illustrated with a handful of black-and-white photographs, At Sword's Point is especially commended for college library and Utah history shelves for its wealth of firsthand accounts of soldiers and civilians on both sides of the conflict.

Norman Wisdom touched my heart when I was just a boy and he has never let go. After reading his autobiography, DON'T LAUGH AT ME, I was moved to tears with the sadness and heartache he had to endure in his childhood days. To say Norman's life was an emotional rollercoaster would be an understatement, but do not fear, for as many tears of sadness in this book, there are tenfold the number of tears of laughter.
If you like Norman now, you will want to adopt him as your grandfather by the time you read this book. A great biography, I highly recommend it.

For years Norman Wisdom has delighted audiences with his wonderfully self-depricating comedy. His remarkable story - his working-class background through to his rise to fame and top-of-the-bill appearances at the London Palladium - is charted in this the first part of his autobiography. This book scores over other showbiz biographies thanks to Wisdom's warmth, affection, and sheer humility, and, above all, this story of "working-class lad makes good" serves as an uplifting reminder to us all that, with hard work and determination, one can achieve anything.

I actually borrowed this book from a friend. It really is a gripping read- skillfully written, taut prose. It is always good to see a bad guy get his just deserts.

Lawrence lever is a talented writer.

I loved this book. A truly insightful look into corporate fraud way before world comEnron etc.

A great read!

The tension mounts as the reporters call in their news to the radio station. It's like CNN reporting. I think this book would be useful in a school where students could take the parts of the reporters; the script is already written. Our family had fun with this unique book.

this book is easy to read and to understand. the terminology used is also teriffic. i recommend this book for information about the battle of britan to ANYONE from 4th grade to graduate school

This is a great first book on the Battle of Britain. I have enjoyed many Max Hastings and Len Deighton history books because of their ability to make these subjects very readable. The book includes sections on the equipment of both sides of the Battle and keeps the book personal and interesting. The die hard history buffs will probably not care for this book as much as some because it lacks the thoroughness of an in-depth account. This book is excellent as an introduction to the Battle or military history in general.

This book provides an excellent overview of the the Battle of Britain. One gets the impression that this book was intended to be the pictorial compliment to the author's more in depth account of the battle 'Fighter'. Included are many photographs, drawings, charts and maps which help explain the battle on a day by day basis. The book also looks at air power and technology from 1918-1939, the rise of the Luftwaffe, aircraft designs and radar and some of the personalities involved with the battle. Included are many personal accounts from the combatants themselves that along with the pictorial content bring the battle to life. Some brief analysis is provided on where the RAF got it right and where the Luftwaffe got it wrong. Overall a delightful book which is an easy read and an excellent starting point of reference.