United Kingdom Books

really intersting read with lots of interesting facts, not for the faint hearted, makes you think and relise alot of different things

Extremely fascinating text! It is no surprise Oxford University Press chose to publish this work. Whether the reader is a scholar specializing in the folklore of the British Isles, a student enrolled in a Viking seminar, or an individual with an interest in the topic, this work is informative and captivating. The text not only aids the reader in his or her study of British Isle folklore, but allows the reader to draw connections between Scandinavian culture on the mainland and other isles. I have read a fair amount of works concerning this topic, but none have kept me as interested as "Gods, Heroes, & Kings." A definite buy!

Gods, Heroes, and Kings: The Battle for Mythic Britain

Gods, Heroes, and Kings, written by Christopher R. Fee and David A. Leeming and published in 2001 by Oxford University Press is a fine overall introduction to the mythologies of the pre-Christian inhabitants of the British Isles, who can be divided into two groups, each of which, in turn, has two subdivisions. First came the Celts, both Goidelic (Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man) and Brythonic (Wales, Cornwall and the French region of Brittany).
Most of the mythology of the Celts was written down long after the coming of Christianity to Ireland and Wales. Many Deities appear in both literatures, but the precise relationship between the religions of the two main branches of the Celts is not completely clear.
Long afterward came the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons, a loose assemblage of Germanic tribes who became the English and transformed most of the island of Great Britain into England (Angle-Land). These newcomers wrote down little of their mythology, but a fair amount of it can be reconstructed by comparing off-hand references in works such as Beowulf with the much more extant mythology of Scandinavia, many of whose inhabitants raided and later settled in the British Isles during the Viking Era.
While closely related, certainly more so than the religions of the Goidelic and Brythonic Celts, the precise relationship between the Troth of the Heathen Anglo-Saxons and that of the Viking-Age Scandinavians, as well as the relationship between both of them and the pre-Christian beliefs of the Continental Germanic peoples (German, Dutch, and Frisian speakers) will probably always remain a bone of scholarly contention.
Despite being a work of more recent scholarship, Gods, Heroes, and Kings reflects in many ways the scholarship of the 1970's and 1980's, with considerable influence from the work of the late Joseph Campbell, author of the book The Hero with a Thousand Faces and the Masks of God series. The prominent influence of this scholar rather surprised me, as his ideas seem to be at the present time somewhat out of favor. However, just as in mythology and in clothing fashions, the popularity of ideas and theories in Academia can also have a cyclical element.
The writing style is very readable, and the combination of a section retelling a myth with a section commenting on it is both effective and enjoyable to read. The main idea of this book is that the battle for mythic Britain was not "a struggle between factions of ancient gods and heroes, but rather a war of attrition, a continual reformulation and assertion of age-old archetypes in the garb most appropriate for the audience who heard their stories" (p. 192). Many of the mythic themes survived Christianization amazingly intact, and contributed to the uniqueness of the Christianity of the British Isles.
Much attention is given to heroic themes, and the authors hold that the mythic Hero is actually Everyman (and Everywoman), and the Gods, including by implication Yahweh, are "competing masks of the same ancient beings," and that the masks are just the surface of what they represent (p. 220). Obviously, this is not a theological idea which most Heathens, nor for that matter most Christians would embrace wholeheartedly, but nevertheless it does open the door for fertile theorizing on such topics as the nature and essence of Divinity and the relationship between the Pantheons and Deities of different religions.
The persistence of these mythical themes, both mythological and heroic, is due to the fact that "certain universal concerns remain constant: proper planting, fertile soil, a timely and sufficient harvest (p. 220) and so "the battle for mythic Britain represents the ongoing attempt by humans everywhere to make sense of their present reality by drawing on those aspects of past traditions that fit the most appropriate mask" (p. 221).
The chapter headings of this work provide a good idea of what it contains: The Pantheons, already alluded to in this review, Deity Types, Sacred Objects and Places, Heroes and Heroines, Creation and Apocalypse, and The Sagas (in the broader sense of the term, not just the Icelandic ones). The conclusion of the book is "Five Reflections on the Face of the Hero in the Medieval English Romance - Trials, Tribulations, and Transformative Quests."
As I read Gods, Heroes, and Kings, I found that my overall impression of the book kept going up and down. The lack of footnotes is at least mildly disturbing in a scholarly work. However, the inclusion of fine a "further reading" section together with an impressive bibliography partly makes up for this serious flaw. I am left with the impression that it is trying to be both a scholarly and popular work, with mixed success.
For the Heathen reader, this book is a fine introduction to some of the major extant Celtic myths, and a good overview of our own lore. It is also a good beginning to the important and fascinating Heathen scholarly task of comparing and contrasting Germanic lore with that of the Celts, whose languages are related to the our own tongues, and in terms of geography, history and culture are even more closely our kin. This is a question which most serious Heathen scholars will sooner or later find themselves looking at. The book also provides much material for unraveling how ancient mythological themes continue to influence the core ideas of our culture, and shows one way in which our Gods and Goddesses managed to remain active among us during the centuries in which their worship, where it continued at all, was the furtive undertaking of a very few people.
All in all, I do recommend that you read Gods, Heroes, and Kings. It can be read and enjoyed on a number of different levels, and the fact that Oxford University Press chose to publish it says much. In addition, it is nice for a change to review a book that is in print and readily available at a reasonable price!
Patrick "Jordsvin" Buck
http://home.earthlink.net/~jordsvin

This book is a great read. It's obviously well-researched, and filled with intriguing facts. Furthermore, Fee has a writing style that draws the reader in and keeps him/her interested throughout. Highly recommended!

Drs. Christopher Fee and David Leeming have crafted an extraordinary work examining the marriage of Celtic, Germanic, and Norse cultures and religious beliefs in Britain (particularly as they are seen via the literary traditions that chronicled them) in an effort to understand how the impact of pre-Christian peoples influenced the unique Christianity of Medieval Britain. While Dr. Leeming has provided extensive retellings of pagan myths, Dr. Fee has written insightful analyses of these myths and their import to the creation of a British religious ideology. Beginning with a scrutiny of the various pagan pantheons, the work then moves through detailed examinations of, among other things, types of deities, heroes and heroines, and the different sagas of the individual cultures. As an apocalypticist, I found the retellings and subsequent commentaries on Ragnarok and the Anglo-Saxon Fire of Judgment immensely informative and useful.
This is an extraordinarily accessible book. It is intended for the non-specialist and, as such, would be perfect for an undergraduate survey course, for an upper-level topical course on British mythology/religion, or for any scholar seeking an understanding of Britain's pre-Christian culture. I would also recommend it highly as a handbook for any medievalist who needs quick and informed accounts of any and all of these topics. Not only have Drs. Fee and Leeming eloquently opened up the field of pagan Britain to further inquiry and discussion, but they have done so in a work that is, above all, easy and enjoyable to read.

Was actually searching Google for something and up popped sites for this previously unheard of (by me) trilogy. By amazing chance, what should come up on one site was P50, vol 1, and there I found our family and the distressing sentence, "Sadly, this family would appear to be extinct in the present generation."! I felt myself all over, breathed in and out and looked at myself in the mirror: "One with the Dodo and the Brontosaurus? Hmmm, I Don't FEEL extinct." We may not be churchmen any more, last was Rev Dugald, (d 1842)or even church-GOERS but we still consider ourselves Slioch an Easbuig (I thought Slioch took a 'd' at the end?)

Slainte, anyway...

Jas. A. C. Derham-Reid
13th of Auchinellan.

This is an incredibly thorough early history of Clan Campbell, including its possible origins. I might suggest that any reader have some broad understanding of Scottish history before diving into this book as it's not really an "introductory" level read. But for those with some prior knowledge, this will satisfy very nicely.

This book has openned up a new environment to me. My history as a campbell has always been hidden from me, this book taught me much about our histories and that we were better than any MAcDonald clan.

I recommend this book for anyone interested in researching the origins of the Campbell Clan. It is a treasure trove of information.

Alastair Campbell of Airds has made the history of the Campbell Clan a thoroughly readable mixture of fact and conjecture. A particularly interesting feature, in my opinion, is the family tree which begins with God and includes Adam, Constantine and King Arthur. Volume 1 covers the clan's origins in about 1263 through the Battle of Flodden in 1513 where many of the Campbell chiefs and their men died alongside their king, James IV. This is an outstanding reference book, a "must read" for anyone interested in Scottish history, and should be in all Campbell libraries. I look forward to Volume 2, to be published in 2002.

Is there something they put in the water over there in England? How do those Brits manage to be so funny? This Simpson guy has to be one of the funniest Brits to hit these shores. My boyfriend thought I'd lost it when I was reading this - he had to go into the other room. Really inspired stuff - some of it was a bit more stretching intellectually than I bargained for, but I sort of liked that too.

Just a total blast. I read the rave reviews before I bought it a bit sceptically and thought, `so, impress me.' And, boy, did he! I laughed out loud like a drain so many times and so noisily my roommate thought I was losing it. Then I leant him this book and pretty soon he was hysterical too. So many great moments it's difficult to pick out a favourite. So here's a few: A groom being buggered by lesbian strippers on his Stag night; a disastrous visit to a female prostitute in London's red light district; a surreal discussion about the cultural significance of foreskins with Monty Python worshipping US Marines in Tijuana; an exclusive interview with Oscar Wilde in which he `goes in'; and Simpson's own `George Michael' moment with a cute cop from the Beverly Hills PD.

The funniest, sharpest book I've read in years. I defy you not to laugh.

This is, simply put, the wittiest work of gay non-fiction ever published. Simpson may be the smartest gay essayist of our time. There's no question that he's the funniest.

You can't help but laugh...not at us but near us.

It really is as good as people are saying. But even better, you will see the world with a slightly twisted perspective afterwords...it really is a fun book.

'BAY WINDOWS' WROTE: "Simply put, IT'S QUEER WORLD is an acerbic delight from cover to cover.... Simpson excels at casting a cynical gaze over British and American pop culture with hilarious results. To his way of thinking, we're all in the same boat, and guess what - it's leaking! Bitchy yet pithy is a rare combination to pull off, but Mark Simpson has it in buckets."

I loved this book. He seemed genuine and really care the fate of the Hong Kong Chinese.

Regardless of the so-called hidden agenda behind the rush to the democracy before the handover, the truth was back then none of the patten's predecessors had the political reforms in agenda. They were all diplomats and they only really concerned to kowtowing Beijing. Patten was a politican and he tried to work and fight for the benefits on behalf of HIS constituents i.e. people of Hong Kong. He got unfairly smeared by Beijing in return just because the truth hurts.

The bottom line was Chris Patten did leave a legacy way better than Tung che-hwa, the chief executive of Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region-not the disease) could ever dream of. What an irony it was when the white Anglo-Saxon master who make Hong Kong prosperous and better than the mainland Chinese themselves.

When the Union Jack lowered the last time on June 30, 1997, it symbolized not only the beginning of the fall of Hong Kong, but also spell the death of Hong Kong. Hong Kong-the beacon and the crown jewel of what a Chinese society ought to be back then ceased to exist.

I loved this book. I thought it was a great narrative on Chris Patten and his governorship and the hardships he endured. The book spares almost no detail, but I would have liked to see more of the Democrat's point of view. This book is absolutely necessary for people who wish to know in-depth about his governorship.

After reading the online review of Theroux's Kowloon Tong (a fictional account of the 1997 Handover of Hong Kong), I am surprised to find that only one customer have contributed a review to Dimbleby's marvelous work on the historical events. Dimbleby provided an excellent and comprehensive account of the political events that led to the signing of the 1984 Sino-British agreement, the arrival of Chris Patten, the introduction of legislative reform, and the eventual derailment of the democratic movement by the Communist Chinese Government. Dimbleby also tell the stories of several Hong Kong citizens and their views of the Handover. Being a native of Hong Kong who have spent my last 12 years in the States, Dimbleby's book brought me up-to-date on the big political stride taken by and the obstacles awaiting the people of Hong Kong.

This book is one of the best books about the history and political development of HK. It not only gives a brief but interesting historical outline at the beginning of the book, it also traces the development of HK politics. What the governors before Chris Patten did and what have been changed since the arrival of Patten. It also outlines lots of power struggles between the governor and the ministers in Britain and how Patten dealt with them. For sure the relations between the governor and the Prime Minister John Major is a key factor contributing to the "success" of the governor. Of course one would have no doubt about that the close relationship between the governor and the writer, Jonathan Dimbleby, who followed Patten to come to HK and spent several years with him, which does enable him to access some crucial but secret matters that are not easily accessed by other journalists. Being a HK citizen, reading the book enables me not just to know the past better but it also enriches me about the situations of HK at that time. Reading it is just like passing through the history once again, with all those political arguments between China and both Patten and Britain reappearing in real life. Another interesting thing about the book is that it also touches lots of the everyday lives of the ordinary people living in HK, how did they feel about the political arguments and what did they plan to do after the handover of China. This makes the book more lively. This book is definitely a book that students of history/Political Science/HK Studies should read.

Jonathan Dimbleby's The Last Governor is a tour de force that gives the reader an insider's perspective into the tenure of Hong Kong's last colonial leader, Chris Patten. Dimbleby treats the reader to a narrative account of the trials and tribulations that Patten faced as he attempted to enact democratic reforms in Great Britain's last colonial jewel. Although one would undoubtedly expect the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to be vociferously opposed to any belated attempt by the British colonial authorities to bequeath a semblance of democracy on Hong Kong, Dimbleby makes the case that Patten's biggest enemies often came from within his own government. Dimbleby's revelations that selected British cabinet and Foreign Office officials shamelessly sought to downgrade the importance of Hong Kong and sacrifice Patten's proposed reforms on the alter of commercial relations with the PRC, resulted in Dimbleby being investigated by the Foreign Office for possible receipt of secret intelligence materials. Dimbleby was cleared of these allegations, but the vast array of insider information that Dimbleby amassed for this book strengthens the strident arguments that Dimbleby advances. Only a handful of participants in The Last Governor emerge with their reputations unscathed. Hong Kong's local and international business elite is portrayed as willing supplicants in the PRC's efforts to scale back personal and political liberties after Hong Kong's reversion to PRC sovereignty, a position easily enforced by PRC threats to their commercial interests. Martin Lee and Emily Lau, two of Hong Kong's leading democracy advocates, are portrayed as actually weakening Patten's push for democratic reforms through their uncompromising approach. The various representatives of the PRC are painted as unbending ideologues with little appreciation of Hong Kong's way of life. Dimbleby is most critical of the British officials, past and present, who acted to either inadvertently or deliberately sabotage Patten's governorship. Most prominent on this list is Sir Percy Cradock, Great Britain's lead negotiator in the 1984 Joint Declaration and former Ambassador to the PRC. Cradock comes off as a modern-day Neville Chamberlain, willing to cut a bad deal with an unsavory power for the sake of diplomatic expediency. Cradock compounded this error by working both privately and publically to weaken Patten's political position and policies. Dimbleby also argues that the Cradock mentality had infected the entire Foreign Office and selected members of John Major's cabinet, who worked to undercut Patten and sell-out Hong Kong in favor of better commercial relations with the PRC. The greatest strength of The Last Governor is also its greatest weakness. While such open access to Patten gives this book the necessary dramatic propulsion, it also strikes the reader as serving as Patten's mouthpiece. While Dimbleby does downgrade Patten for underestimating the challenges he was to face as Governor, Dimbleby's portrayal of Patten as the lonely David fighting against the multi-headed Goliath seems to diminish the numerous allies Patten needed to help him accomplish the limited reforms he was able to enact. Dimbleby could have also delved deeper into the political rationale behind the PRC's bargaining position and policies regarding Hong Kong. The Last Governor is highly recommended reading for anyone interested in Hong Kong, Chinese, or British affairs and to readers interested in how bureaucratic politics affects international diplomacy. Dimbleby's prose is brisk and should easily captivate and entrance the reader. Keep in mind that this is not an academic tome, so Dimbleby's point of view is repeatedly expressed without reservation or apology.

There are two reasons to read this book. First, a marvellous account of life at sea in the 18th century, written beautifully and yet spontaneously by a simple sailor. Second, a moving human microstory of genuine love, adventure and lost hope. The two intertwine magnificently and I could not help identifying with the writer's plight.

This is gripping history as seen by the average participant in it. It's not about Admirals or Generals or World Leaders, it's about everyman and every woman. I first learned about John Nicol from another excellent history book "The Floating Brothel: The Extraordinary True Story of an Eighteenth-Century Ship and its Cargo of Female Convicts" by Sian Rees. John Nicol was on that extraordinary voyage and his memoir done when he was in his 60's was the only first-hand account of those voyages. I decided to seek out his memoir. After reading either of these two books, the readers will probably no longer yern for a romatic voyage on an ancient sailing vessel. Life wasn't pleasant on those sea voyages for anybody on board. The story of how John Nicol's story was eventually dictated to John Howell, an Edinburgh book binder who found him wandering the streets is also amazing. Howell is another average guy who made a great contribution to history through small acts of charity and publishing.

This is the life of an ordinary seaman at the time of the beginning of scientific exploration. John Nicol a seaman on the voyages of discovery and later trade to Australia, the Americas and to Africa. He observed life of the captains, the ordinary men at sea and the people of the lands he visited. He went to sea at an early age was imprisoned, married and lived to 94 and died in England. The diarys are a remarkable work of an eyewitness to history. It is written and edited in an easly readable style and brings history to life.

I love nautical fiction set during the age of sail (O'Brian, Pope, Kent, etc.) and so I enjoyed this memoir of a real-life sailor from this period. There are two disappointing things about this book though; it's very short (only about 160 pages if you exclude the introduction) and Nicol doesn't spend very much time relating events from the voyages themselves or his day-to-day life in the Royal Navy. Nicol mostly describes the places he visited and the cultures of the people who lived in those places. He does do a wonderful job describing these people and places, and he does it without being long-winded. He also relates a few humorous stories and gives us some details of his personal life, such as his ill-fated romance with a convict during their journey to Australia. Animal rights advocates and environmentalists would be horrified by one of his voyages in which he claims that he and his crew clubbed about thirty thousand seals plus many sea-lions. The way I look at it though, it was just a very different, more primative age. In any case, I enjoyed this book, and only wish that it had been longer and more detailed.

This account was first published in 1822, and has been republished with a forward and added footnotes by the editor. Unlike most seamen in the Royal Navy, John Nicol enlisted for the adventure, first serving at the age of 21 as a ship's cooper during the American Revolution, mostly in Canada and the West Indies. For the next 25 years he served on a large number of Royal Navy and merchant ships. He was present at some well known battles including the victories by Admiral Jervis at Cape St. Vincent and Admiral Nelson at Aboukir Bay. In the merchant service, he went to China 3 times, to Australia, Hawaii, the west coast of the Americas from Cape Horn to Alaska, Brazil and Portugal, and to the West Indies. He served aboard whalers and sealers that took him to Greenland and the Falkland Islands.

As noted by the editor, mortality rates among seamen at that time could average 15 percent per year from disease, shipwrecks, accidents aboard ship, or armed conflicts. John Nicol was one of the minority who survived to old age. He had saved his money and would have been reasonably well off ashore, but he married a cousin, and then abandoned a well paid trade as a cooper to escape the Royal Navy press gangs after 1801 and stay with his wife. He was a widower living in poverty when offered the opportunity to publish his story.

This is a well written account by a man who had only a basic formal education. I would highly recommend it as a "must read" book for readers interested in naval and merchant marine service of that time period. The book contains many tidbits of information not available elsewhere, including his recollections of female convicts in the second fleet to sail for New South Wales.

A wonderful way to relax over a rainy weekend. If you've been to London, it will take you back. If you haven't, the tape will prepare you for when you do go. Powell livens up the tour with interesting, amusing, and startling facts and anecdotes. The contemporary and historical information, the accents, the readers, the mood - all make for a quick trip to the U.K. in one little box. Very much enjoyed it.

Great book. Tours are easy to follow and take you into some really great parts of London that even locals don't know. I got to school our host on Aldephi.

Having read London by Rutherfurd made the tours even better.

The huge and bustling metropolis of London does not reveal itself to the casual visitor. To discover its hidden wonders, you must investigate streets and alleyways on foot. Now with the LONDONWALKS auido guide, visitors to London can put on earphones and slip a LONDONWALKS tape into their portable cassette recorder and start walking, while they listen to the history, scandal, and intrigue of one of the most magnificent cities of Europe. Each of the four audio walking tours in this two-cassette package takes about two hours, or as long as a morning or aternoon. They are narrated by the English actress Jean Marsh.

Self-directed (and very explicit in terms of getting you around) this book is a wonderful find. If I want to re-think all the great times my friend and I had trekking through districts/neighborhoods, I don't go look at my photos... I grab this book. The gentleman who wrote it (at the time we visited) also led guided tours of the areas described in the book ..20 pounds! Do it yourself for the price of the book. Funny, informative, and definitely worth the bucks.

We also bought the New York Walks (Manhattan) and found it equally informative, although written by a bunch of people from the NY "Y". Hester Street, Lower East Side, Upper East Side, etc., etc. GREAT.

LONDONWALKS Audio tours was the high point of our quick trip to London last month. We did two of the four walks and now we must return to do the rest. We will be looking for more Sound Travel Audio Guides. What a great idea!

This is a well-written work of historical fiction that will keep the reader riveted to its pages until the very end. It tells the story of Princess Caroline Mathilde of England, sister to King George III. At the age of fifteen she was wed to young King Christian VII, who eventually became known as the mad king of Denmark. Temperamental, high strung, and given to strange outbursts, his predilection for strange behavior was known early on, but despite this, the two kingdoms would still see these two wed, as the unification of England and Denmark was paramount to individual happiness.

King Christian VII developed a peculiar aversion to his wife and, consequently had conjugal relations with her only once, which propitiously resulted in the birth of a son nine months later. Alone in a foreign country, whose language she was only beginning to learn, and estranged from a King surrounded by sycophants, the young Queen gravitated to the one person who treated her as a person in her own right, the King's physician, Johann Struensee.

An advocate of the philosophy of Enlightenment that was overtaking Europe, Struensee had many ideas that were introduced as reforms in Denmark, through his influence with the King, who by now was easily led. These reforms were to make many enemies for him, as they upset the established feudal system that still existed in eighteenth century Denmark at the time. As he gained power through his influence, resentment against him grew within those circles that had formerly been close to the King. Unaware of the growing animosity against him, Struensee and the Queen became close intimates, bound by shared ideas and interests.

Struensee's relationship with the Queen, who was lonely and starved for affection, eventually transgressed the bounds set by propriety. Now lovers in fact, their relationship became grist for the rumor mill. As gossip and innuendo about their relationship swirled across royal circles in Europe, it ultimately became the focal point for a political coup that saw them both arrested and charged with treason. What ultimately happened to each of them was tragic.

This is a richly atmospheric work of historical fiction, filled with political intrigue, historical personages and events, as well as a bittersweet and poignant romance that was to have so many personal and political ramifications. It is a well told story that will hold the reader in its thrall until the very last page is turned.

This is a well-written work of historical fiction that will keep the reader riveted to its pages until the very end. It tells the story of Princess Caroline Mathilde of England, sister to King George III. At the age of fifteen she was wed to young King Christian VII, who eventually became known as the mad king of Denmark. Temperamental, high strung, and given to strange outbursts, his predilection for strange behavior was known early on, but despite this, the two kingdoms would still see these two wed, as the unification of England and Denmark was paramount to individual happiness.

King Christian VII developed a peculiar aversion to his wife and, consequently had conjugal relations with her only once, which propitiously resulted in the birth of a son nine months later. Alone in a foreign country, whose language she was only beginning to learn, and estranged from a King surrounded by sycophants, the young Queen gravitated to the one person who treated her as a person in her own right, the King's physician, Johann Struensee.

An advocate of the philosophy of Enlightenment that was overtaking Europe, Struensee had many ideas that were introduced as reforms in Denmark, through his influence with the King, who by now was easily led. These reforms were to make many enemies for him, as they upset the established feudal system that still existed in eighteenth century Denmark at the time. As he gained power through his influence, resentment against him grew within those circles that had formerly been close to the King. Unaware of the growing animosity against him, Struensee and the Queen became close intimates, bound by shared ideas and interests.

Struensee's relationship with the Queen, who was lonely and starved for affection, eventually transgressed the bounds set by propriety. Now lovers in fact, their relationship became grist for the rumor mill. As gossip and innuendo about their relationship swirled across royal circles in Europe, it ultimately became the focal point for a political coup that saw them both arrested and charged with treason. What ultimately happened to each of them was tragic.

This is a richly atmospheric work of historical fiction, filled with political intrigue, historical personages and events, as well as a bittersweet and poignant romance that was to have so many personal and political ramifications. It is a well told story that will hold the reader in its thrall until the very last page is turned.

This book is a story about an English princess who was married to a mad king of Denmark. Like Mary of Scots she became involved in a high profile affair. This book is well researched, emotionally moving, and written with a nearly extinct flare. A very good read!

This book is a true story about an English princess who was married to a mad king of Denmark. Like Mary of Scots she became involved in a high profile affair, producing a child. This book is well researched, emotionally moving, and written with a nearly extinct flare. A very good read!

An emotional telling of the story of Princess Caroline of England. Sister to King George III, she, like most royal daughters of that time, was forced to leave home and marry the King of Denmark. Unfortunately, Christian of Denmark was insane as a result of contracting syphillis. Her life with him was almost torture and before long she fell in love with the court physician who wanted to rule Denmark more along the lines of the English. Of course, it ends disasterously.

Lofts does a very good job of conveying the feelings of the main characters and the reader develops an emotional attachment to their very sad lives. Only one complaint, I wish the author would have given a brief epilogue about the characters, especially the children of Caroline. I wondered what happened to her son and daughter.

The best way to study for exams is to work through old exams and the various Mathematical Olympiad competitions are no exception. This book begins with a brief explanation of the background mathematics considered essential for the Olympiad competitions. After this there is a complete list of all the problems that have appeared in the first round of the first 32 British Mathematical Olympiad competitions. The years covered are 1965 - 1996. While the solutions are labeled as "hints and outlines", they are thorough enough so that it would be a rare occasion for any reader to continue to feel stumped after reading them.
This book is also an excellent resource for any other mathematics competition at this level as well as some of the introductory courses in an undergraduate math program. Some of the problems are challenging to say the least; however in the true spirit of the Mathematical Olympiad, once demonstrated, in most cases the solution is clear.

A very good problem book for training mathematical olympiad.

I teach students, a mathematical olympic team, and this book will help them to get the training they need in order to have more medalls and achievements in their carreers. It has everything they need to do their exams and practice.

This book has proven: The olympiad problems are not so hard as they appears. For every problem, there is a valuable solution outline ,teaching us how to attack it in a natural way. Furthermore, here is a good list of reference books.

The last time I competed in a mathematical competition was in elementary school. So when I recently picked up and tried to solve some old Olympiad and Putnam questions I was dumbfounded, to say the least. Then I discovered "The Mathematical Olympiad Handbook." This book is an excellent intro to problem solving. It is an immense help in dealing with the frustration of problems that will not yield. No solutions are given-- only outlines to the solutions(which you should only read part of if you get stuck, as the outlines will easily lead to a solution). This structure was an excellent choice as it gives novice problem solvers a chance to solve problems on their own with a little help if they need it. Highly recommend!

[people new to problem solving should also check out "The Art and Craft of Problem Solving" by Paul Zeitz]

This book is lavishly decorated by Bewick's works, with such a quality that it can serve as a little Bewick anthology. In fact the quality of printing is better than the Dover edition of his works (which you can get at Amazon), and this collection of his vignettes that I also own (Scolar Press, 1978). It's worth the money just for the illustrations. By saying this I'm not depreciating the text. Mrs Uglow certainly writes gracefully. But bear in mind that Bewick was a honest, though quick-tempered, craftsman. His life was not that eventful. There're no scandals to expose (well, Bewick actually ripped off his clients, when he felt like to). As a result, the book is at best lively, but not exciting. Chances are that you won't finish it in one sitting, especially when you're not particularly interested in 18th-century England. But get it anyway, if you care about art history at all.

I appreciate the years of hard work that authors put into their books. Their mountain of effort allows me to learn more about their subject through a few hours or days of careful reading. However, some books are greater gifts than others. Jenny Uglow has given me two of my very favorite reading experiences. Her "Hogarth" was a revelation to me. She opened up Hogarth's world and provided such a rich context for his life that my understanding of his time and context made his life and work much more meaningful.

With this book, on the life, work, and world of Thomas Bewick, I experienced that delight again. I took my time savoring this book and examining the beautiful reproductions of his work with a magnifying glass (since my eyes can no longer pick up all the detail). Frankly, I had never heard of Thomas Bewick and wanted to read the book because it is by such a wonderful author. He was an engraver who specialized in engraving in boxwood. Again, a subject I knew only in the barest outline.

Bewick was from an established but not wealthy family in the Tyne valley in northern England. He apprenticed as an engraver and demonstrated talent enough to found a shop with a partner. His work goes beyond the usual artisanship of wood engraving into a realm of artistry that sets him apart into a world that is still shocks in the effect and composition. This wonderful book provides a large number of his works in their actual size. Boxwood was used because of its hardness and ability to stand up to the number of prints commercial reproduction of the time required. However, the wood was small in diameter and the pieces tend to be small.

Yet, they demonstrate a full range of emotion. Bewick is able to capture the images of his time and the countryside he loved. There are pieces that are quite funny and make a point such as the man driving his cow across the river to avoid paying the toll at the bridge, but losing his hat that was more costly than the toll would have been. He also shows us the drama of storms, shipwrecks, and all kinds of vignettes from life.

However, his masterworks consumed more than twenty years of his life. The first was his Quadrupeds, which provided wonderful images and interesting text on animals both domestic and exotic. He then produced two magnificent works. The first volume was on the Land Birds of Britain and the second on the Water Birds of Britain. His presentation of the birds transcends mere illustration and were used and loved by naturalists for many decades. Even the great Audubon paid homage to Bewick's achievements. I find their beauty still has the power to stun and invite long and close examination.

Uglow provides what is known about his life, his apprenticeship and those who apprenticed with him (a list is provided in the back). We learn about his business dealings, his lack of skill in handling money, but his generous spirit with friends. His somewhat prickly nature also caused strife and ongoing difficulties that were needless and destructive. Yet, the work remains. And we are all enriched from Bewick's rich talents and Uglow's masterful and magical writing.

You owe yourself a trip through Bewick's life with Jenny Uglow as your guide. It will be an experience you will treasure.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

Here is Uglow's magnificent biography of Hogarth:
Hogarth: A Life and a World

Thomas Bewick was a hulking six foot tall, in the eighteenth century when such stature was remarkable. His realm of interest was the broad Tyne Valley, the region around Newcastle in England. His art, however, was of the miniature, woodcuts of astonishing detail about the size of a calling card. You might think that the life of such a rural artist in a medium that was dying out even when he was perfecting it could not hold much interest, but Jenny Uglow who has written biographies of others from that era has made Bewick's life, art, and world quite fascinating in _Nature's Engraver: A Life of Thomas Bewick_ (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux). This is a beautifully produced book, with scores of Bewick's engravings, most reproduced at the same size as he originally made them, often humorous tailpieces that were to fill the blank of a page at the end of a chapter, as well as serious reference illustrations of quadrupeds and British birds. Get out your magnifying glass. Each tiny vignette, composed only of minuscule blobs of black ink, is more full of details than you would have thought possible.

Bewick was born in 1753, and drew compulsively as a child. He was apprenticed to an engraver, and took up woodcuts when engraving on copper was becoming more customary. After his children's books, he spent nine years studying animals, live (sometimes in traveling menageries) or as preserved specimens. _ A General History of Quadrupeds_ appeared in 1790. He thereupon took on the task of documenting all the birds of Britain in _A History of British Birds_. An admirer was Audubon, whose big and colorful bird portraits were of a completely different branch of art, but who traveled to see Bewick in 1827, finding him, despite his age, full of life as "he delivered his sentiments with a freedom and vivacity which afforded me great pleasure... when I parted from Bewick that night, I parted from a friend."

The attention did not change Bewick in the least; he remained a plain, bluff, down-to-earth engraver. Uglow brings him to life. He was often irascible, and was not the easiest of businessmen to get along with, especially as he kept imperfect records. He chewed tobacco constantly, and might get into heated discussions over his pint at the pub. He loved music and angling, although he was no hunter, having killed a bullfinch with a stone when he was a boy; he remembered the bird long after, thinking that if it could have spoken "it would have asked me why I had taken away its life." He was a soft touch, constantly giving money away, to the consternation of his wife. He put feed out for wild birds, and he was much ahead of his time, as such eccentric behavior did not catch on until the mid-Victorian years. He was something of a conservationist. He sympathized with the Americans in their revolution, and he always felt that working people deserved representation in government. He disliked organized religion, and scoffed that the Bible's doctrine of original sin didn't "come within the scope of either rationality or justice." He could be classed as a deist, insisting that reading nature was the best way to understand its creator and to obtain a "perpetual cheerfullness". He was loyal to his family, and having been an apprentice, he took his own apprentices, and his relationships with them remained among the strongest of his life. One of his last woodcuts, included here, shows an ancient horse, and is titled "Waiting for Death". When death came for him, he was still at work on the impossible task of getting all the birds into his great work, and he was loved by almost everyone who knew him. He was an admirable man, Uglow plainly shows. Her book, full of Bewick's miniature masterpieces just as he would have printed them himself, lets him show what an admirable artist he was.

I'd seen Thos. Bewick's illustrations for years in NY Review of Books and elsewhere; they'd always seemed to me mysterious for their silent detail and concentration. So it was quite refreshing to find out that he was a loud, warm, confident man. He spent his life and career firmly rooted in one place, so unlike myself and many others of us in this "globalized" age. He devoted his career to appreciating the minutiae of life all around him, and innovated new techniques for portraying them. These circumstances, together with the author's calm, clear and often bemused style of writing, create a very cozy experience -- almost like reading a non-fiction fairy tale. I read most of this book in small bites of a chapter or two over the course of a couple of weeks of evenings, and found it a wonderful escape from the pressures of the day.

Though the book is very well-researched and surprisingly long (nearly 400 pages), it never drags. I'd been pretty ignorant about late 18th-early 19th Century English history other than a few names and dates, so it was also interesting to learn about the grass-roots resentment of government policies and wars, the government's tendency to turn dissidents into political prisoners, and much other historical context. But this learning is conveyed with a light touch. The illustrations are not only wonderful, they're as numerous as raisins in a cake, yet placed with great taste. A very outstanding book.

This is a very well written informative biography of the influential wood engraver Thomas Bewick. The author places Bewick and his artistic contribution in the context of his times describing the artist's rise to success at the beginning of England's industrial age and during it's wartime eras with France and America. Uglow is passionate about the artist and his work and the book is beautfully illustrated with well chosen examples of Bewick's phenomenal tiny woodcuts. His work has endured for 2 centuries and this book helps you understand why.

I wished this was longer and went into greater depth of the little things in life that changed during war time. There were some very interesting items, that unlesss you lived during those times you just wouldn't think about (driving without headlights at night, why street signs had to be taken down). It provides details of life at the time that only someone alive to live it could provide.

As I listened to Mrs. Stalcup's book, "On the Home Front," I was sucked into a world of Spitfires, Hurricane Bombers, and the Little Ships bringing soldiers from Dunkirk to Dover. Tears were shed when soldiers were lost in battle, and there was rejoicing when a major battle was won. I saw blood, I saw tears, and I saw glory.

It was quite an experience for my classmates and me. We had an author reading her book. Sometimes she would choose a student to read certain chapters because they were so emotional for her, such as the Little Ships and the Spitfire Funds.

It was an amazing book about a young girl who was living during World War Two. But the most amazing paart about it was who was reading it - the little girl from the book!!!!!

Stalcup shares her memoir of growing up in the town of Lydney, England, during World War 11. Ann stays with her parents and experiences war as it comes to her community with evacuees, German prisoners, Australian food packages, and American soldiers. Short, succinct chapters, enhanced by personal and archival photographs, make this a book to be savored as a read aloud or when read independently. Stalcup imparts the flavors of every day English life such as four o'clock tea, sweets, walks in the country, and the pleasures of a front garden, and how they are changed by a world at war. She retells moments of her life, from the age of three in 1938 with her first gas mask to V.E. Day in 1945. This factual memoir complements historical fiction titles such as Pearson's The Sky is Falling, Bawden's Carrie's War, Heneghan's Wish Me Luck, and Garrigue's All the Children Were Sent Away. Stalcup takes the reader's heart and mind into various events sharing humor, fear, courage, and community spirit. Thoroughly researched facts in combination with thoughtfully remembered experiences, make this compelling account a great starting point for curriculum dealing with war and a welcome addition to children's and youth's nonfiction collections. This first book of Stalcup's shows the beginning of a new children's writer with great potential.

Stalcup shares her memoir of growing up in the town of Lydney, England, during World War 11. Ann stays with her parents and experiences war as it comes to her community with evacuees, German prisoners, Australian food packages, and American soldiers. Short, succinct chapters, enhanced by personal and archival photographs, make this a book to be savored as a read aloud or when read independently. Stalcup imparts the flavors of every day English life such as four o'clock tea, sweets, walks in the country, and the pleasures of a front garden, and how they are changed by a world at war. She retells moments of her life, from the age of three in 1938 with her first gas mask to V.E. Day in 1945. This factual memoir complements historical fiction titles such as Pearson's The Sky is Falling, Bawden's Carrie's War, Heneghan's Wish Me Luck, and Garrigue's All the Children Were Sent Away. Stalcup takes the reader's heart and mind into various events sharing humor, fear, courage, and community spirit. Thoroughly researched facts in combination with thoughtfully remembered experiences, make this compelling account a great starting point for curriculum dealing with war and a welcome addition to children's and youth's nonfiction collections. This first book of Stalcup's shows the beginning of a new children's writer with great potential.

As Juvenile Literature, I suppose the book isn't bad in terms of its approach; as any sort of history, however, even for the American market, it falls well short because it's riddled with errors of fact and perception. This, despite the uncredited, but apparently heavy, reliance on Angus Calder's "The People's War" (Cape, 1969). It's no defence to claim "this is what I remembered" if the book purports to be a picture of "Growing Up in Wartime England." A better sub-title would have been "the middle-aged memoirs of a sheltered little girl." Stalcup is 20 days older than me and what I remember of WW2 in Britain is somewhat different.