United Kingdom Books

This is a very interesting, fast-paced book that provides a good introduction to Winston Churchill. Indeed, after reading this I was compelled to read "The Unruly Giant", which is a very solid biography recently written by Norman Rose giving further insight into this fascinating historical charactor.

I agree with the other reviewer in saying that Churchill provides an amazing amount of detail about the early exploits of his life, leading one to wonder just how much of it really happpened and how much he chose to embellish when writing this book some years later. Also, Churchill's constant references to contemporary events are sometimes confusing and frustrating unless one knows a lot of the history of the British empire and its political scene during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

None the less, it is a good book to start with if one wishes to learn about one of the 20th century's truly great men.

For a book written by the author when in his 30s (I may be off by a few years), this is incredible. First, because Churchill himself wrote it, and not some professional writer. Second, because of the extreme detail, which suggests either an incredible memory, or a willingness to make up finely constructed overlays of fiction. Maybe this is a little of both. Churchill either covers his tracks well, or presents the facts very pleasantly.

His mom ignores him and his dad holds about 3 substantive conversations with him. In return, he idolizes and idealizes both, consoling himself by getting in trouble at school, and playing army at home. Like a latter-day Peter the Great, his childhood army games lay a foundation for adult army leadership, although Churchill stays more constrained than the despotic Russian. He maintains, however, a raw animal side to his spirit which stays intact his whole life, resulting, in one memorable event about 40 or 45 years after this book cuts off with Churchill's marriage, where Churchill pauses on an inspection of a European battlefield after the defeat of Germany to urinate on the famed "Siegfried Line" in front of a group of military dignitaries. Naughty boy to the end.

Churchill convincingly puts himself back into young boy mode and preserves for us portraits of his nurse, Mrs. Everest, the hatefulness of boarding school, and the release of achieving self-actualization in the form of military school at Sandhurst, and then a whirlwind of military adventures on several continents, arranged mostly by his influential and adulterous mother. Not much adultery here, but William Manchester goes through it in detail in his first of the two-volume set "The Last Lion." Churchill never criticizes his mother; he just takes maximum advantage of her contacts.

In a double inversion of himself as the subject, this is a great summary of how Churchill decided to become a great man by first getting noticed in the middle of adventures, and writing about them during and afterwards. Plus getting paid for the writing to support himself on a scale correlative to other British subjects who either inherited it, or made it big in business. But it was all substrate for his political ambitions.

Teddy Roosevelt thought Churchill was a "show off." Which is probably true, and which comes out clearly in the video-ization of this book, under the name of "Young Winston." But he seems to have been a lovable showoff, and if Kennedy had not intervened, American political aspirants may instead be more self-consiously modeling themselves on Young Winston.

One problem: John Churchill had no male offspring, according to the family tree Winston added to his biography of Marlborough. No problem, just call yourself a Churchill, not a "Spencer-Churchill" or even a "Spencer" and just go to market as a Churchill. Plus make yourself great. He definitely did, and this book records what it also produces.

I greatly enjoyed this book. What I liked most about it is that the things that Spence talks about here, connecting ancient Britain to North African religious practices and migrations seem to be supported by modern genetic analysis(see http://www.oxfordancestors.com ).

Spence had a rather interesting career and was also the founder of the Scottish Nationalist Party.

A prolific writer, Lewis Spence (1874-1955) was dedicated to the 'Celtic Revival' of the late 19th/early 20th c. 'The Mysteries of Britain' was his crowning work in this respect, containing a wealth of material - which, in one form or another, has seen reprints, with minor changes of title, ever since its first appearance (1929). This Bracken Books/Studio Edition reprint comes complete with a facsimile of the illustrations Wendy Wood produced for the Ist ed.

Some would say that 'Celtic revivals' are problematic, and 'Neo-Celtic' fads even more so. Peter Berresford Ellis - a contemporary authority on Celtic culture, has asked how we can re-invent an unknown past, without substituting fantasy for reality? How far can the 'Celtic' tag can be stretched, before it becomes meaningless. It cannot be coined with intrinsic meaning, if simply a hook for frustrated urbanites to hang their 'pagan' wish fulfilments upon. Still, regressive questioning of this kind can go too far. Even the 'serious' revivalists of the late 19th c. have been viewed with suspicion.

Without being naive, Lewis Spence was confident with his sources. Keen to savour Celtic culture in all its forms, be it that of his native Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Mann, Cornwall etc., Spence felt that the Druidic/Bardic tradition had been preserved - at its best, in Welsh sources. Thus, he esteemed the work of Iolo Morganwg/J. Williams ab Ithel/Llwelyn Sion - e.g. the Welsh triads, the Barddas etc. - as genuine, even though this had been viewed with suspicion by some of his peers, and remains controversial to this day. Spence regarded such material as genuine, adducing his reasons in chapter III - the 'Mystery of Celtic Philosophy,' and chapter IV,titled 'Barddas.' This is but one aspect of Spence's book - but, given the seminal importance of the Barddas in the Celtic revival , and the often careless remarks heaped upon it by detractors, it is pleasant to hear the book appraised in positive terms. For his own part, Spence claimed that he had seen transcripts of material - attributed to Llywelyn Sion, which pre-dated Iolo's sources, thus demolishing the notion that Iolo had fabricated the material. Some of this material was in Raglan Castle. The manuscript of Llywelyn Sion, transcribed by Edward Davydd, was still extant in the Library of Llan Haran, Glamorganshire. Hence, - 'What' Spence asks, 'is there improbable in all this? He goes on to note that much of the mytho-poeic imagery involved, mythical cycles etc., also appear in the Mabinogion and other such sources, which are beyond dispute. Hence, Spence says: 'It seems to me, indeed, highly improbable that (Llywelyn) Sion 'invented' this mystical progression . . .

I have singled this material out, and Spence's remarks about it, because texts like the Barddas have, in effect, served as handbooks to sustain the 'Celtic revival.' So far as Spence was concerned, its 'triads' etc., preserve the 'mysteries of Britain' - understood as an inner doctrine. The external factors - megalithic sites, such as Stonehenge, or so-called 'burial chambers' such as 'New Grange' etc., are or were, merely the external vehicle through which such inner principles unfolded in a deeply symbiotic relationship. Spence also looks at the empirical aspects, discussing the possible function of megalithic sites, underground chambers etc. Once viewed as crude edifices, presumably tokens of a crude culture, modern archeologists now know that such megalithic sites embody a very precise knowledge of the stars and their movements, with exact allignments and progressions to mark the procession of equinoxes, solstices etc. In short, mathematical precision of a very high order. Believe me, it is a moving experience to await the Winter Solstice inside a 'beehive vault' such as that found at New Grange, watching the fingers of the dawning sun work their way along the narrow passage, until they strike the central altar (owing to a phenomenon called 'precession,' and the lapse of time, this no longer happens exactly on the solstice day ). It is science - plus magic. Spence had his own theories about the origins of British/proto-Celtic culture, citing sources in N.W. Africa, Berber and Basque people etc., sources strangely confirmed by genetic research, decades after Spence wrote his book. In other respects, almost in defiance of his own findings, Spence had the urge to celebrate the 'mysteries of Britain' as a kind of nationalistic - or at least, highly indigeneous trait. In other respects, he referred to Morien O. Morgan, another 'Druid' revivalist from Glamorgan, who ultimately linked the Druidical system with a kind of parent Indo-European source. Peter Berresford Ellis has noted the links between classical Indian and ancient Irish music. Phoneticaly, certain elements of ancient Irish are virtually the same as Sanskrit (e.g. 'madhya'= middle/mean; 'san scroight' - 'holy writ' etc.) If anything, what we now call 'Celtic' culture finds reverberations and echoes world-wide. There are definite correspondences between the Ainu language and Celtic. Prof. Barry Fell (Harvard) has found Celtic (Ogham) inscriptions in N. America, dating back before the Christian era. This upsets all the comfortable ideas about absolutely distinct cultures. We may have to accept the fact that centuries before Christ, there was a kind pan-Celtic culture, linking the 'mysteries of Britain' with far flung places like Hokkaido, and ancient artifacts found in Vermont etc.

This book picks up where The Napoleonic Wars: The Rise of the Emperor 1805-1807 leaves off. As Napoleon defeats Austria with his customary ease he learns of betrayal by Russia. The single biggest mistake Napoleon ever made was his decision to invade Russia and march all the way to Moscow with an army that wasn't up to the Grand Armee of old. Even as Napoleon's army recorded success after success against the armies of Russia, Napoleon was stretching himself too thin and would eventually be brought low by disease and the elements.

Most of this book is taken up by the advance on Moscow, where brilliantly fought battles had the Russians back on their heels all the way past their capitol. Battle descriptions and artwork depicting the events of the time are excellent, similar to most others in the Essential Histories collection. The book also contains very interesting and concise descriptions of the political thinking of the time and of the cultural changes taking place. Overall, a great description of the start of Napoleon's fall.

I look forward to continuing the Napoleonic Wars set from Essential Histories.

This book is another masterful piece of writing continuing the story of the Napoleonic era from 1808-1812. In less than 90 pages, it captures the political thought and military preparedness of each country. It explains why countries went to war. And it explains the campaigns, why they occurred, and summaries the battles in exciting, easy to read prose. It is an exceptionally well written summary of the political and military events of the period. If you want a good overview of the period, this is an excellent choice.

this is a mastefully written history of the construction of british empire and its relationship to natural philosophy (science). this book is a must read for anyone in the field. she is also a great writer.

An electrifying and thought-provoking study. Irving's book is a must read for anyone interested in the intellectual history of the British Empire and the impact of seventeenth-century science on the institutions of British colonialism.

This must-have for off-coast mariners has been published yearly since the eighteenth century. It seems to me that Amazon is the cheapest source of the paperback, yet comprehensive, commercial edition, which will be sufficient for most applications.

An essential almanac for anyone undertaking astro navigation. Clear and concise data from the Hydrographic Office with instructions on use of sight reduction tables using electronic or tabular means.

Nearly forty years have passed since this book was first published, and it is still the best synthesis of this complex subject. Robert Bruce Flanders' 1965 classic study of Nauvoo, incomplete as it is because of its intentional disregard of social and religious issues, opened an avenue of discussion that most others have been unwilling to follow since that time. Flanders said that he wrote of Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, not as a religious leader but as a "man of affairs--planner, promoter, architect, entrepreneur, executive, politician, filibusterer--matters of which he was sometimes less sure than he was those of the spirit." He also wrote of Mormon Nauvoo as a western boom town and not as a religious "city on a hill." There is little of the reverence in Flanders' study that most other Mormon scholars have displayed in handling the subject; the sacred history approach has created a romanticized and superficial image of Nauvoo and the events that took place there.

As interpreted by Flanders, Nauvoo is largely a story of tragedy, both personally for Joseph Smith and collectively for the Mormons. For Flanders, the lofty visions that had led to the founding of the Latter Day Saint church descended into a secular quagmire of economics and politics because of internal flaws and external pressures on the banks of the Mississippi. Ultimately, the city failed and the church fractured.

Very balanced book on the Mormons in Nauvoo. Gives a more complete view of the persecution, and reasons thereof, that members of the LDS faith went through in Nauvoo. From their political involvement to land speculation to polygamy to everything in between. Covers everything without an overly rosy or cynical view. The best book on the period that I've read, whether written by a member of the LDS church or not.

Excellent book. Unfortunately it is brief, I wish it were 2 or 3 volumes. The information presented has been prepared by masters in their field. This book will have you researching more on the topics covered, because the topics are short yet powerful enough for you to want to know more.

The book also has short subjects on each of the British class of ship, but oddly one of the major classes is absent.

This may first appear to be nothing but one of those historical 'picture books' and it is profusely illustrated, but it is much more than that. Well-research, historically correct text, and well-organized, it is one of the best books on the topic on the market today.

Robert Gardiner continues his study of naval warfare in the age of sail with this excellent study, covering the war at sea, the war on the lakes, privateers, and the arsoniistic adventures of the British Admirals, Cockburn and Cochrane, up and down the Chesapeake and the eastern seaboard of the United States, although this last is somewhat played down.

The early American frigate victories, the frantic shipbuilding and fighting on the Great Lakes, the sloop duels in the open sea, Porter's adventures in the pacific aboard the USS Essex, Lawrence losing the USS Chesapeake to HMS Shannon, while uttering the famous, 'Don't give up the ship!' which Perry later uses as his battle cry at the victory on Lake Erie, the famous and profitable voyages of the American privateer Prince de Neuchatel (a superb model of which is in the Smithsonian, by the way), all are thoroughly and colorfully covered in this must have volume on a little studied war.

It is in larger than normal format, and looks something like a coffee table book, but don't be fooled. The narrative is exciting, facts not commonly in evidence are chronicled here, and the illustrations are superb. This is a must buy and a must have.

Colin White works hard so we don't have to. He has saved us having to dig through countless book to find information on persons, events and places that feature prominently, or even incidentally, in Lord Nelson's colourful life. This book will be an invaluable aid to everyone interested in Nelson, the Royal Navy, and the Napoleonic Wars.

Also highly recommended:

Joel Hayward's "For God and Glory: Lord Nelson and His Way of War"

Evan Thomas's "John Paul Jones : Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy"

While visiting Nelson's flagship VICTORY in Portsmouth recently, I asked the guide to recommend a book about Nelson, as I realsied I knew very little about the great man. He told me to buy this excellent book by Colin White - and I'm really glad I did.

Its packed with fascinating facts (did you know, for exapmple that Hitler actually planned to move Nelson's column to Berlin if he defeated Britain?)and some really wonderful illustrations.

Its a really good read and I find I keep going back to it to check on various facts. What's more,its got me reading more books about Nelson!

(PS: Did you know, by the way, that Colin White has written ANOTHER book about Nelson? Its called '1797: Nelson's Year of Destiny' and its all about his exploits at the Battle of Cape St Vincent. I looked for it earlier on the Amazon list but it wasn't there.

For the past 35 years the 1950's have been totally overshadowed by the 1960's - not just in the amount of literature, film & television dedicated to each decade's events, but also in our view of their relative "importance" - a situation that reflects the huge impacts of the 60's on the media, the arts, fashion, technology, politics and social attitudes. But, in historical terms, the 50's is an equally interesting and important subject - particularly from the UK's perspective - and in this lengthy, extremely well written, and deceptively titled "pure history" book Dominic Sandbrook shows why.

Deceptively titled? Well, even though the period covered is stated as being 1956 to 1963, in reality the book encompasses a much wider overview of political and, in particular, social history during the whole of the 50's while, quite wisely, ending pretty sharply in 1963 when "the 60's" - in terms of what the phrase has come to mean - really started. A good thing too, because what it explores in assiduous detail is UK society, and its politics, economics & arts, in a period of massive, under-estimated and often forgotten change.

And it's the sheer scale and speed of these changes that drives the book along. With a "consumer society" that, having been stalled between 1939 and the gradual lifting of austerity restrictions from 1951, spent a great deal of the 50's indulging in an orgy of "first time" buying of washing machines, refrigerators, televisions and cars - all of which transformed peoples' domestic lives and had major social & economic repercussions. With an Empire that in 1948 was the largest ever known and fundamental to the UK's economy, its international standing and its view of its place in the world, but which, by 1963 had been almost totally dismantled. With politicians grappling to control an economy made inherently unstable by the costs of maintaining the UK's increasingly anachronistic view of its military importance, the impacts of massive consumer spending, and, for the first time, major consumer debt. With an unequalled period of mass immigration from "The Colonies" throughout the 1950's causing a fundamental and permanent change to the cultural, social & economic mix of the population. With television developing, within just seven years from 1953 to 1960, into a hugely influential mass media vehicle, and with radical developments in literature & music from the mid 50's onwards pushing the boundaries of what was "acceptable" into new areas that precipitated much of what happened in the 60's, the individual & combined impact of these changes on UK society make for absolutely fascinating reading.

By the end of it all you're left in little doubt that, while "the 60's" continue to grab the headlines, it was "the 50's" (or more precisely the years from 1951 to 1963) that was a much more important period of change for the country, and that in explaining why in such a thorough and, above all, "readable" manner Dominic Sandbrook has fully achieved his goal of putting the period into its correct context. Fascinating, enjoyable and comprehensively researched, "Never Had It So Good" will change your view of the 50's, which is just about the best accolade that can be given to any history book.

This is a wonderful, well-written and funny history of seven chaotic and confusing years for Britain, from the arrogance & disillusionment of Suez to the birth of 'The Swinging Sixties'. Reading about Britain in the 1950s might sound like a recipe for depression - too much poverty, too many sexual hangups! - but Sandbrook makes the period seem fascinating and worth closer attention. It's often surprising to discover how many of the social changes we associate with the 1960s were already well-underway in the previous decade.

Like many Australians, I have a very ambivalent 'pity-admiration' attitude to the British, especially the English, but my parents lived there for a few years in the 1950s, two of my brothers were born there and I lived there for a while when I was a teenager, so British politics and society have always interested me. This history is exhaustive, carefully analysing everything from the high politics of the Suez crisis, decolonisation and nuclear war to the new wave of popular writers and filmmakers and inevitably to the Profumo scandal and the creation of James Bond (John Profumo died in March this year).

There are also many great character sketches here, for example, Harold MacMillan, who always posed as unflappable but was chronically anxious & lonely, and the brilliant and half-crazy Enoch Powell, one of the most scholarly politicians in history.

A notable feature of this immense and detailed book is its humour: I laughed long and often. Two of many stories: This is from the young writer Colin Wilson's diary,

'the day must come when I'm hailed as major prophet....I must live on, longer than anyone else has lived.....to be eventually Plato's ideal sage and king.....I am the major literary genius of our century....the most serious man of our age.' Hilarious.

And during a CND march in London, when Bertrand Russell tried to dramatically nail a protest letter to the door of the Ministry of Defence, the door opened and a faceless civil servant handed him a roll of sellotape.

I am an American who owns over 300 cookbooks, and I consider myself a gourmet cook. On a recent trip to Britain, I scoured bookstores and chose this book over all the others. I�m glad I did. I have to say, this is absolutely the BEST cookbook I have come across in the past 20 years.

This book is not as comprehensive as The Joy of Cooking, which tries to tell you how to cook absolutely everything under the sun. But this book IS inclusive of everything that�s important in classic British Cooking (and in traditional American cooking, as well)�soups, sauces, cheese and eggs, vegetables, fish, meat, poultry, picnics, puddings, cakes and baking, and preserves and pickles. In addition, it has chapters on The Great British Breakfast, Savories and Snacks, Sunday Lunch Roasts, A Festive Christmas, and Afternoon and High Tea.

As an American, I learned SO much from this book. I learned about the ORIGIN of bacon and eggs for breakfasts, about the histories of many different vegetables (quite different information than is included in The Joy of Cooking), HOW and WHY British cuisine got a reputation for being bland (it wasn�t always so), and many things about the history of eating which have just been plainly lost to us in America. For example, I did not know before that the origin of certain foods sometimes being served on a piece of toast was from the �trenchers� used in medieval times--�trenchers� being big slabs of bread which were laid directly on the table, and food put on top. The reason for the use of trenchers was that plates were too expensive for ordinary people to use. Not only are so many interesting discussions about the origins of different foods and customs included in this book, but ALL the recipies are interesting and FANTASTIC!

British readers will enjoy the depth and style of this book, while American readers will really learn a lot about the origin of our own traditional cuisine. I will treasure this book for many years. I am buying four more copies to give as gifts this Christmas. I bought the paperback edition. This book is so wonderful and will be used for so many years, that I highly recommend to other readers to spend the extra money and get a hardcover edition, if it is available.

...I have always found his TV style to be irksome and irritating. But I have to give it to him with this well researched and mouth watering book. He has done Britian a huge favour here by celebrating all that is great about British cooking and reviving it. Certainly he seems to have had an effect, I have noticed how many British restuarants, cafe bars and grub pubs have sneeked in Cream Teas, Big Breakfasts, Toad in the Holes and Bread and Butter puddings; and they are all the better for it. If you have ever pondered at the sadness of lost food items from the British landscape, food which made Britain. Then I urge you to buy this book!