United Kingdom Books

It's said that the Devil can quote Scripture to prove his own point - and something like that has been tried with the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the Norman Conquest of England. The French claim it as French. The English have claimed it as Anglo-Saxon. During World War II, Hitler tried to use it as a kind of Book of Genesis for the Third Reich. William the Conqueror, 7th Duke of Normandy, was the descendant of Vikings. ("Norman" derives from the Latin for "Northmen.") The Scandinavian connection appealed to Hitler's racial, mythic notions. Among the Tapestry's 11th century images of conquering warriors, he sought ancient origins for his supposed Germanic super-race.

In fact, maintains R. Howard Bloch, these competing claims are only possible because the Tapestry itself hardly takes sides between the conquered Anglo-Saxons and the conquering Normans, and seeks to reconcile those whom it portrays. Its point of view is neither clearly Norman nor Anglo-Saxon. Without dwelling on fixing blame, it shows both armies fighting bravely. ("French and English fall together," it says of the battle at Hastings.) All may go on to become King William's peaceful subjects. Bloch finds in the Tapestry's well-recognized ambiguities an intention by its designer to tell the story without maligning either Normans or Anglo-Saxons.


Sterling Professor of French and the Director of the Humanities Division at Yale, as well as author of several books about the Middle Ages, Bloch brings an unusual array of qualifications to this subject. His mother, formally trained as a textile engineer, was a craftswoman who covered the walls of their home with creative needlework; his father an expert in the manufacture of finished cloth. In considering the Tapestry, its purposes and the influences it reflects, especially those found in other woven, painted or embroidered fabrics, Bloch speaks the language of textiles as one born to it.


He points out from the beginning, as all writers on the Bayeux Tapestry must, that it isn't strictly a tapestry at all, but an embroidery, on a long (about 230 feet) linen strip; and that we have no other record like it. Despite the crude medieval drawing, the Tapestry vividly brings alive the sweep of events. The most photorealistic horses, for example, could not pulse with more vitality, or fall in battle more convincingly, than they do in these images. In the Tapestry's unfolding story, we see the Anglo-Saxon Harold Godwineson swear his oath of loyalty to Duke William. It doesn't tell us whether he had a choice, or was tricked. Is King Edward the Confessor of England, on his deathbed, revoking his promise of the crown to his kinsman, Duke William of Normandy? Promising it to Harold? There sits Harold in majesty, crowned -- if it was with indecent haste, the Tapestry doesn't say so -- the day after Edward's death. Duke William "is told of Harold," the Tapestry tells us neutrally, and he prepares to invade. There is the mysterious woman, Aelfgyva. With generations of scholars we wonder who she is, and why she is here. Is that cleric merely touching her head, or slapping her so that she'll never forget something she's witnessing? The images quicken their pace, reaching the bloody clash at Hastings and the Norman victory. Something is missing at the end of the Tapestry; perhaps the lost portion showed King William in majesty, matching the earlier crowned and enthroned Harold.


Professor Bloch understands the Tapestry with an appreciation of what may be called the southern angle: that the Normans who had campaigned in or been to the Italian peninsula, Sicily, the Holy Land, Constantinople, brought back with them both novel combat tactics and a network of cultural threads that linked their northern homeland with Byzantium and with the whole Mediterranean world. He points out not only the famly Scandinavian links of style and motif with the Tapestry, but those found in sumptuous Byzantine silks, proposing lights for what have been obscure corners of Tapestry interpretation. In so doing, he gives greater attention to the enigmatic borders of the Tapestry -- those often-cryptic passages above and below the main narrative -- than do some other commentators.


He argues that the Tapestry deliberately leaves crucial questions unanswered. It means to withhold one-sided judgments. The Tapestry does NOT tell us whether Harold swore fealty to William willingly, or whether he knew he was holding his hands outstretched over sacred relics, making the oath a much more serious matter. It leaves unstated, not alone what King Edward intended at the last, but what it was in his power to do. Though the evidence suggests that English hands made the Tapestry, it is NOT clear whose voice, so to speak, tells the story. The Tapestry, Bloch maintains, is not a work of partisan propaganda. King William, he says, wanted Anglo-Saxons and Normans reconciled under his unifying rule -- and wanted the wider world to acquiesce in his dreams of even wider empire. Without knowing for sure when or where the Tapestry was made, or by whom ordered, or where it was designed to be displayed, Bloch says, we can find all this on its face. It's an argument that anyone interested in the Norman Conquest, the events surrounding it and those that flowed from it, should want to consider; and it is engagingly written. I couldn't put it down. Its story is, of course, still relevant -- to, among much else, the fact that Prince William of England will someday be King William V because he'll be counting from King William I, the Conqueror.

Of all the great historical and artistic sites in the world, the Bayeux Tapestry is perhaps second on my list of places I would like to visit (Troy comes first). Actually not a "tapestry" (it is technically an embroidery) the Bayeux Tapestry, dating from the Eleventh century pictorially tells the story of William the Conqueror's invasion of England and victorious battle at Hastings. Exactly who sponsored its creation, designed it, and embroidered it remain mysteries, as does its ultimate purpose. Bloch's new book does not seek to supply sensational answers to these continuing controversies (as did, for example, Andrew Bridgeford's "1066: The Hidden History of the Bayeux Tapestry"), nor even to solve the perplexing mystery of the identity of the woman "Aelfgyva" who appears in the Tapestry. Instead, Bloch provides a fast-reading discussion of the historical and artistic context for understanding the Tapestry. He concludes that there are many Scandinavian/Norman elements incorporated into the the design (and Scandinavian textiles are the most closely related art works known), but that Anglo-Saxon illuminated manuscripts appear to supply the models for the style of illustration. And the author traces back important design elements to Byzantine silk weavings.

Bloch contends that the Tapestry was consciously created as a way to bring together the Anglo-Saxon and Norman peoples on both sides of the English Channel (although it seems to me that this view is suspiciously congruent with modern notions of multiculturism rather than Eleventh century realities). Regardless whether one accepts or rejects this viewpoint, the book's narrative provides an informative examination of the Norman and Anglo-Saxon worlds which gave birth to this unique artistic treasure.

Dr Bloch explains the tale of the Tapestry in a very clear and appealing manner. In particular, he describes the sequence of events depicted by the Tapestry itself as well as the political environment of early 11th century Europe that led to the pivotal Battle of Hastings. His insights are cogent and sound. I highly recommend this brief but thorough work.

I would have liked to have known this Lady this was the best book I have read in years

I had been wanting to read this book for two years, having seen Lynne Hymers reading it in "The 1940s House." It was definitely worth the wait--I devoured this book like a good meal. Nella Last was a very resourceful, imaginative woman. I very much enjoyed her candid honesty, and the way she kept her sense of humor, even while missing her boys and dealing with her husband. I'm very much looking forward to the second volume of her diary.

Nella Last was a participant in the Mass Observation project. Her diary of the life of an "ordinary" British housewife during the war was open, honest, and reflective. I loved watching her grow from a submissive housewife to an independent, confident woman who found she could remain loving and caring without being a doormat. I found many of the mundane details of dealing with rationing, running a canteen, preparing for bombing, etc. on the homefront to be fascinating. I would have like to have known her, but at least I had the opportunity through this book.

Requires a black man from England to slip behind the curtain and report on the quondam parlous State of african americans... He did it. You should read it. Who ever you may be.

Truly a good read on many levels-- as a travelogue, as a history review of a critical time in US emancipation.. It's all good.
And well crafted too; beautifully polished phrases encapsulate moments and people. Really, it's all good.

Gary Younge is a young British journalist of Bermudan descent, who decides to take a trip through the American South in search of some of the symbols of black culture he most identified with in his youth. Along the way Younge interviews a variety of activists, civil rights figures, and every day people, and comments on the landscape around him.

As an American living in Britain, this book was fascinating to me. Younge goes on a classic "fish out of water" tour of the US, but the racial twist makes the book all the more interesting. The book is at turns sad, thought-provoking, and even at times laugh out loud funny. (Check out the letter he finds left in a motel room drawer.) Younge is surprisingly fair in his interpretation of the culture he meets, giving credit where it is due, and genuinely seeming to see both sides of the story. This is surprising because the author freely admits to his Marxist youth: he (still) refuses to stand for the Union Jack, though he proudly rises for the playing of the Internationale. Given that background, I expected a much more harsh view of the US, but Younge manages to surprise me.

The book is a quick read, and I wish Younge had lingered in a couple of places a bit more: his passages on Savannah and New Orleans are unfortunately short. The book ends up more as a sociological/political book than a travel book, but Mr. Younge has all the makings of a great travel writer, with a keen ear for interestinc characters and dialogue, and an ability to evoke the essence of a place. Nevertheless, I can still strongly recommend this book to anyone: five stars.

Gary Younge is a black Englishman who decides to travel through the US South by bus, following the path of the 1961 Freedom Riders, who did such things as having their black participants use white-only restrooms in an effort to spur civil rights reforms. The Freedom Riders were key players in the US civil rights movement, and some of them were beaten or even murdered. Younge wanted to retrace their steps in 1997 to see if there was anything that would resonate with him as a British black man.

The book is successful on several levels: As a travelogue, as a history of the civil rights movement, and as an introduction to the South for the non-US reader. (A blunt hint from Younge to non-US readers: Avoid long-distance bus trips.)

To my surprise, Younge was generally positive about the US, despite some instances when he's exposed to modern racism, such as being turned away from an empty motel. Although racism lingers, Younge seems impressed that the US has dealt with its sordid past of racial oppression in a more constructive manner than Britain has. He marvels that US blacks can salute the flag and be patriotic without feeling hypocritical, whereas he, as a British black, finds it impossible to salute the Union Jack or to feel patriotism as a Brit. All in all, it's a fascinating treatment of the American South and its complicated history of race relations.

This is an excellent edited book on the non-profit sector. It is one of the few sociological treatments on the subject As a sociologist it has the full set of critical perspectives I have been searching for.

This volume is meant primarily to be a textbook for master's or Ph.D. level students. Nonprofit theory and cutting edge research is covered by the known academics in the field. The reference section is superb, leading one to further articles to explore an area in more depth. Yet the practioner will also find this book helpful in many ways, trends in funding and volunteering, up-to-date research brought to the practioner's world, etc. Even if you are not a student, if you work in the nonprofit sector you will find this book to be extraordinarily helpful.

Handbooks tend to be daunting reading. So you can imagine my surprise when, after reading it through the first time, I found myself wanting to read it through again! This is a very rich book that will be useful to a wide range of readers from experts to beginners in nonprofit sector research.



Beginners will benefit from the comprehensive nature of the collection. The broad coverage will serve as a fine map to guide those who are looking for paths to follow into nonprofit sector practice and research. Like an MRI scan, the depth of each chapter will serve as a map of the ever expanding theoretical and practical knowledge base of the contemporary nonprofit sector.



Readers who have some nonprofit sector experience will find themselves turning again and again to the chapters related to their area of research and practice. The experience of re-reading some of the chapters three and four times each allowed me to appreciate the depth of scholarship embedded in the theories and empirical evidence presented on each page. This is the kind of book you'll want to keep nearby, because something of value will be there to meet you at each read.



Experts in the field are going to find a lot here to their liking as well. The scope of the subject matter covers research from so many disciplines that, no matter what your interests are, you'll find something here that relates to your particular field of research. The volume also presents scholars with many well documented glimpses into the state of the art research on the full gamut of nonprofit sector issues.



The creation of a handbook that is broad in scope, deep in research detail, and useful to both beginners and scholars is something to be celebrated by all those involved in the nonprofit sector. Congratulations to those who worked on this project. You have pulled off a most difficult of tasks for the second time.

"Conversations with Wellington" is a unique insight into the character and later life of the First Duke of Wellington. Philip Henry, then Lord Mahan, later Earl Stanhope, took notes of his frequent conversations with the Duke during the period 1831-1851, ending just months before the Duke's death.

"Conversations" offers some insight into the lives of the British upper class of that period, a seemingly endless series of visits, horseback rides, and dinners, sandwiched between business in Parliament and visits to country estates.

"Conversations" also reminds us of the elaborate code of manners and behavior expected in that era. As an example, Stanhope has the sense of discretion not to record the names of people who come up in his conversations with the Duke, who might be embarrassed at a later date. This rule seems to have applied principally to politicians contemporary with the various conversations.

Most importantly, "Conversations" offers us insight into the character and thinking of the Duke of Wellington in his later years. This is the Duke 15 years or more removed from Waterloo, serving the British Government in a variety of positions, still prominent enough as a hero and politician to be sought out for advice by a succession of monarchs and prime ministers. The book is apparently the source of many quotes of the Duke that appear in more recent histories. The Duke's inherent common sense, honesty, and sense of duty are obvious in conversation, as is the remarkable fact that a lifetime of military and politican service had given him a keen understanding of human nature but not left him cynical about it. There is a certain sadness in the narrative as the Duke's health slowly declines, and a sense that the long-lived Duke outlived his own times.

This edition is not annotated or provided with additional commentary beyond Elizabeth Longford's superb introduction. The reader who is not already familar with Wellington's military and political career, and the early historiography of the Napoleonic era, may find "Conversations" very difficult to follow. This edition is highly recommended to those interested in the Duke and his era, especially his recollections of the Peninsular War and the Waterloo Campaign.

Excellent work that provides plenty of quotes from Wellington.
This book gives the reader a picture of the man that augments even the best biographies.
Worth the time and money.

The conversations young Lord Mahon (later Earl Stanhope) recorded for posterity with the Duke of Wellington are certainly valuable on more than an historic note. These pages give a unique insight into the character of Wellington, illuminating his sense of duty to England and also his refreshing sense of humor. For a man who was known for his reserve and reticence, this book shows him to be quite open and frank on nearly all topics. The last years of the Duke's life are especially moving as Lord Mahon describes in detail the various illnesses that afflict the old warrior's body but never seem to overtake his mind. Anyone interested in the events of the last century and particularly the period of the Napoleonic Wars will enjoy this book. Wellington certainly ranks as one of the foremost figures of that era.

This is one of the best books out there dealing with criminology. It is huge and has essays dealing with many subjects written by some of the most influential criminologists in England and abroad.

This is the leading modern text in criminology, comprehensive and authoritative, written by 35 distinguished British contributors. The editors are Mike Maguire, Professor of Criminology at Cardiff University, Rod Morgan, Chairman of the Youth Justice Board of England and Wales and Professor Emeritus at Bristol University, and Robert Reiner, Professor of Criminology at the London School of Economics.

It has five parts: the history and theory of criminology, the social construction of crime and crime control, the dimensions of crime, the forms of crime, and reactions to crime. It covers research and policy developments and their relationship to race, gender, youth culture and political economy.

The evidence is that the serious violent crime rate is much higher in Thatcherite political economies than in welfarist ones. As Reiner writes, there is a plethora of material confirming that crime of all kinds is linked to inequality, relative deprivation, and unemployment. So, for example, the rise in crime in Britain in the 1980s was due to what happened in the 1980s: naturally Thatcher blamed it on what had happened 20 years before. And it was the 1980s, not the 1960s, that saw the dramatic rise in opiate use here.

The evidence shows that states with higher welfare spending have less crime and lower imprisonment rates. For every dollar spent, Michigans Head Start welfare programme brought $17 of benefit by cutting crime, thereby cutting the numbers imprisoned and thus the costs of imprisonment.

Of course, recognising that crime has root causes does not stop us exploring all possible avenues of crime reduction, victim support and penal reform. Nor does it mean ignoring offenders moral responsibility. Understanding does not cancel the need for judgment.

Thatcherite political economies also have more punitive penal policies. Yet welfarist Sweden has had a smaller rise in crime than Britain, while having a less punitive penal policy. Similarly, Finland has dramatically cut its prison numbers, without increasing crime.

Growing economic inequality and social polarisation increase crime and therefore insecurity and fear. We cannot afford to leave the economy, or society or security to the market. We need to take responsibility for all aspects of our society.

A vast collection of essays on different criminological subjects that covers most things on a course of study. Will also act as a good book for reference and background reading. Although it appears pricey it does cover a lot of ground and is indeed very cost effective when compared to similar books that offer not much for a similar price. The only criticism is this - if you are wanting a feminist perspective this often comes off as lacking, although in saying this it does (by this ommission) reveal the holes in criminological research that feminists are seeking to correct. Well worth adding to your collection.

This is a terrific book. It details the origins of the passport, how it developed from an informal travel document to the modern entity we know of today. There are some stories and some topics I would have liked to have seen discussed at more length, but overall an excellent and entertaining book.

Martin Lloyd does a good job in this book of telling the story of the passport. He uses a fair number of illustrative stories to show how international incidents could come about (an assassination attempt on Napoleon III, for instance) because of passport rules (in that case, passports could be issued by one nation to another's citizens at that time). The book kept my interest throughout, and it includes illustrative pictures of passports and similar documents. The author is very conversational, occasionally letting his viewpoint come through but in a non-irritating way. It is interesting contemplating being a customs officer before passports were at least somewhat standardized. It's hard enough NOW to determine their authenticity!

Every now and then an expert in a field will produce about it a guide for laymen, a book to introduce aspects of his life's work to others. One might not expect much from Martin Lloyd, who spent 23 years in Her Majesty's Immigration Service, especially since as author he has confined himself to one little part of his job. In _The Passport: The History of Man's Most Travelled Document_ (Sutton), however, Lloyd has made uniquely interesting a document that most travelers just take for granted. From the paper it is printed on to its cover, and from cuneiform to optical scanner recognition, the passport is all here. This is just the book to give to someone racking up international frequent flier miles.

It is surprising how unsubstantial a passport is in legal terms, and how much it has changed in the centuries. International law, amazingly, has nothing to say about the rights of those with or without passports. Passports themselves were originally a sort of letter of introduction, but then monarchs became established and realized that it was useful to have some sort of control of who was leaving or entering one's realm. Even this was not given much legal weight. A more-or-less organized passport system has been in place for three centuries, but before the First World War, one could travel to most of the world without one; a passport was "in most cases a facility or a politeness, not a requirement." Internationalizing passports has presented problems, many of which have no good solution. It was difficult, once passport booklets had become the standard and once typewriters were universal, to develop a way to type into the booklet without breaking the spine. Worse, it was often hard to tell what was the front of a passport; Lloyd may be writing from his own experience when he explains that puzzled passport control officers would try to remember whether a certain nation's passports opened at the front, the back, were read sideways, and if so, which way sideways. International Civil Aviation Organization organizes passports, and has decreed, for the sake of civil rights, that passports not have a magnetic strip; that would make using them easier, but it might also encode information about the bearer.

Lloyd has included a host of interesting anecdotes about passports through history. William Joyce, for instance, was famous as Lord Haw Haw, the broadcaster of Nazi propaganda. He was obviously a traitor, but he was born an American and had become German, and had never been British. He was captured by the British, and accused of treason, but it is not logical that Britons could try a non-Briton for such a thing. Joyce happened, however, to have gotten illegally a British passport, and this was enough eventually to hang him. In 1953, an American named Davis declared himself a citizen of the world, and made his own passports under the auspices of the World Service Authority, a "fictional organization"; the document was mistakenly endorsed as real by some countries. Napoleon III, himself nearly a victim of an assassination plot involving false passports, said that passports are "... an obstacle to the peaceable citizen, but are utterly powerless against those who wish to deceive the vigilance of authority." Today's travelers are probably more inconvenienced by searches and interrogations, but Lloyd's original book, full of surprising facts, gives the full story of the original and everlasting ticket to overseas, one that governments have found useful, travelers a nuisance, and international law a nonentity.

Keeps the reader hooked, very motivating and uplifting. I enjoyed every minute and would recommend everyone get this book.

I bought this book because I am a Holcomb and have been able to trace my roots to Sir John. Reading the book was something that I did not bargain for, it was so moving and beautiful that I went back and order a copy for both of my brothers. It isn't important that he is one of my ancesters, the story and the wisdom that is passed down is priceless. Enjoy and learn from this wonderfull book.

Outstanding insight into success, written in story format---both exciting and interesting to read. Recommend to everyone; especially those who want to overcome adversity and succeed!

As a closet British/Norman amateur medieval scholar, the Norman and Angevin rulers are endlessly fascinating to me. This is one of the best books I've ever read on the subject. It places virtually every individual and significant event into context, some of which even biographies devoted to a particular individual haven't discussed. It blends the events, personalities, economics, religious aspects and power struggles into a comprehensive, highly readable narrative. My only caution -- the author assumes the reader has a general knowledge of the time period from the Norman Conquest of England through the Angevin dynasty.
Even though I have over 75 text books and biographies on the period, this is already one of my favorites I know I'll turn to time and again.

This book is an outstanding work of history, going for the most part into incredible depth on this critical period of British history, from the initial Norman conquest of England in 1066 to the final English conquest of Wales in 1284 (and also to the first English conquest of Scotland a few years later). Most importantly, it shows how this period formed the foundations of what would become Britain, covering everything from how the Norman overlords and their English subjects eventually assimilated each other to become one people, how the Scots were successful in forming a viable kingdom out of many disparate groups while the Welsh, who had seemingly greater advantages, ultimately failed due to their endless internecine feuds. The kings of the period, Norman and Angevin, come into sharp relief, their personal strengths and weaknesses shown often to be the biggest factor in the successes or failures of their reigns. The book also covers in great detail how Magna Carta came to be the foundation for the rule of law, how the institution of parliament evolved, how the concept of common law evolved and the unifying effect that this had on the nation, and how none of these things occurred without a great deal of struggle - military, political and social - between the various parties involved. It really is impossible to convey the depth of detail the book goes into on everything from how laws were enforced (at one point traveling courts called 'eyres' would hear cases in a given shire about once every two years), how creative taxation could be (widows were sometimes required to pay a fee for the right to choose if and whom they wished to remarry) and how the document-driven bureaucracy evolved (King Henry II employed four clerks in his chancery. His great-grandson Edward I employed over two hundred). About the only areas where I felt the author could have gone into more detail was in the eventual conquests of Wales and Scotland at the end of the period. But otherwise, I found this book extremely informative on many levels. It's a somewhat dense read due to the amount of detail, but you come away with a very firm understanding of what happened in the period and why it was all so critical to Britain's evolution.

Excellent and highly recommended: the best I've read in the recent Penguin history of Britain (v. 4 is poor, v. 5 is very good). Carpenter offers a very intelligent, comprehensive, balanced, and authoritative account of the social, economic, political, and religious aspects of a very rich period that witnessed the early formation of institutions that have lasted to the present. Best of all, Carpenter has written a masterful narrative in a clear, perspicuous, and fluid style that seamlessly weaves many complex themes in an orderly pattern, mixing illuminating detail with judicious observation. This volume is also much longer than the others I've seen in the series, and all the better for that. The index's organization is a bit peculiar (see all entries for "England"), but once you get used to it you'll find it accurate and reliable. (With all due respect to the previous reviewer, with whom I otherwise completely agree, I think the educated lay reader new to the period will do fine with this book. It's true, on occasion my eyes glazed at the detail on battles or finances, but one can easily skip a paragraph or two, or even several pages, without losing the thread, such is author's organizational skill.)

A very moving book. Brings back the sixties, I must say! An evocation of an era lost forever. One can only say that things really where better in the good old days.
It's wonderful to see them come all come (back) alive: Piers himself, but also Jochen Rindt, Frank Williams (the way he was, before he became an ***hole...)and so many household names of the time when I was young.
Wonderful book. Very well written. Excellent photography.

a beautiful book, well worth the wait...arrived safe and sound and not damaged. my partner loved it..very informative, lovely photo,s

For those of you who followed Grand Prix and sports car racing in the 1960s this is a great tale. Drivers, team owners, hangers-on were all basically children at this time. Now the Knighted Brits who are the masters of the GP universe ($$$$) probably would not tell you that they bought a case of cokes to sell by the bottle in the pits to make a bit of money (very true). Alexander Hesketh was a teenager who loaned his helicopter to a team to beat the traffic at Sliverstone(this was very '90s in the '60s!).

This is a marvelous biography of Mr. Courage and many of his friends and the times themselves, and not a burdensome pile of race reports. I did not want it to finish. I will reread it a number of times!