United Kingdom Books

Richard Reddie's book is a well-researched and broad in scope history of the Transatlantic Slave Trade which existed for 276 years. He explores the events leading up to the slave trade, painting a picture of a cultured and learned Africa which became a point in the triangular trade route - from Europe firearms, alcohol, brass, copper and manufactured goods were transported to Africa; slaves were taken in Africa and transported by the `Middle Passage' to the West Indies and America; then sugar, tobacco, rum and molasses from America were transported to Europe. Research suggests up to 15 million enslaved Africans died because of this trade and their treatment by the Europeans makes very sobering reading - especially as Christians weren't only those trying to abolish the trade but were often those who participated and benefited from it.

William Wilberforce and the other abolitionists, such as John Newton, Thomas Clarkson and the freed slave Olaudah Equiano are shown as people who worked tirelessly against the slave trade but also as people who were fallible and whose 19th century view of Africans unable to determine their own lives feels rather uncomfortable to us today. The book is an informative and yet sobering read about an alternative holocaust, one in which many Christians colluded and whose revenues founded some of our largest institutions. It makes for uncomfortable reading but it is an aspect of our history which must not be ignored.

Lee's thesis - that the increased medicalization of women's reproductive lives has lead to a tendency to describe and explain such experiences with reference to mental illness and disease - is unique, and she argues it well and convincingly. In doing so, she exposes the similarities between the arguments of the antiabortion lobby and the arguments put forward by those who claim that giving birth can harm women's mental health, i.e. that both experiences - birth and abortion - can bring on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Lee goes so far as to say that motherhood is now regarded as the more problematized choice.

Fascinating book, well-written and definitely worth a read.

An Abundance Of Witches: The Great Scottish Witch-Hunt is a detailed history of witch-hunting and persecution in Scotland from approximately 1658-1662, an era generally thought to be the high point of a turbulent history of violence and hatred for accused witches. The turmoil of political history, Scotland's previous time as an English province, and the revived fervor of Calvinist religion in the Scottish Church accentuated the internal conflict. An Abundance Of Witches does not shy from sometimes horrifying details, including calculated tallies of men and women strangled or burned alive at the stake, fees paid to those involved in hunting, capturing, and executing witches; materials, components, and implements of torture used for such purposes, a search for the psychological motivations behind the slaughter, and more. An excellent and scholarly contribution to Scottish and European history shelves.

perfect chapters on the exploration, development and production costs. need to develop the section for joint operations accounting. i gained much from the chapter on DDA calculation. the publisher is not currently planning to print this book. hard to obtain a copy.

This book should be back in print.

I used it prior to an MBA course and I could have passed the Core Financial Analysis class on day one.

UK-centric though!!

As the Clum authors say about acting gay in this Book it can often get wet, wet, and wild. To my knowledge, it is the only book which covers a formal way to portray Homosexuals.

I cannot think of another Briton who has had more written about them for as long a time as Nelson. Now we are approaching the 200 year anniversary of his death at the Battle of Trafalgar. And we are hearing again of his famous signal 'England expects every man will do his duty.' And his famous last words 'Thank God I have done my duty.'

In this new book, nine noted historians contributed articles. Each views Nelson's life and legacy in a different light. In Part 1 of the book the subjects are Seamanship, leadership, orgiginality, Friendship, Freemasonry, Fraternity, Manliness, patriotism and body politics.

Of particular interest was Kate Williams article Nelson and Women which discusses how Nelson was marketed to the female consumer of the time. This included romance novels, fantasies about how sailors whould behave, and various consumer items offered for sale. This is a view of early nineteenth century England not seen before.

Part 2 of the book goes into the Nelson legacy. This legacy didn't just happen, it was carefully constructed by the British Navy, Government and others. They did a good job, the legacy has now lasted for 200 years and shows no sign of dimenishing.

A most interesting book that discusses parts about Nelson that haven't been emphasized.

As a shipwreck historian, I encounter many tales of lost vessels and attempts to recover all or part after they have either run aground or been sunk. Not least amongst these stories are tales of war and the recovery of ships (and aircraft) with which the Admiralty has an interest.

In this book, author Tony Booth gives the most complete account of salvage as directed by the Admiralty since it's very inception in 1906 right up to the present day. It is a fine work and one which will be of great interest to any person engaged in diving shipwrecks and the history of British official naval salvage.

To cite just two examples; The full story of HMS Montagu (a 14,000 ton state-of-the-art Duncan class battleship which ran aground on Lundy Island in 1906) reveals how this ship was needlessly lost despite the best efforts of the man placed in charge of her recovery. Elsewhere, a complete account of the loss of RMS Laurentic and her cargo of gold is relived in vivid fashion. Like so many other stories in this excellent work, they are both quite incredible.

Although I would have preferred to find more than the thirty black and white photographs which are found together in the middle of the book, it did not spoil my enjoyment of this, altogether first class account of a specific area of salvage - through times of peace and war which included two world wars and two Gulf Wars to name but four.

NM

Our design technology teacher requested this, for IB DP students. He says it is an excellent book, and highly recommended.

My 8 year old boy read this and immediately asked for more like this! He loved these books. They take the kids into the Middle Ages with three fictional kids from our time. Plus they fill it with fun facts from that time period. A great book, for learning and for fun reading!