Everyone who takes English history probably remembers 1066, William of Normandy, the Battle of Hastings, and King Harold; essentially the date, the location and the leaders of the combatant armies. Some may remember that the fight was over the right of succession to the throne of England after the heirless death of King Edward the Confessor. A few may even remember that Edmond Halley's famous comet made an appearance just beforehand, creating great consternation that was immortalized in the Bayeux tapestry. For most, Harold's reign seems almost a foot note, hardly more than an intermission before the main event of the Norman conquest. With William and his successors come castle building, classic knighthood, feudal society, all the "romance" of the middle ages. Harold is so often treated as a cipher to all of this that the true drama of this transitional age is often lost on the student. Harold is just "the loser."

Ian Walker's book brings this period more into focus. He approaches his subject by examining, not only Harold's own life and career, but that of his grandfather and father, creating a sense of the venue for the events of the Conquest. Harold is no longer just "the loser." He is a powerful and intelligent warrior, dealing as often in diplomacy as in bloodshed, able to play the chess game of power politics in a very turbulent time. He was in fact "the last Anglo Saxon king," and his time, like the withdrawal of the elves from Tolkien's Middle Earth, is the end of an era. His predecessor Edward was the last of the line of Alfred the Great, the king who had wielded the tiny Anglo Saxon kingdoms into the one kingdom of England. William and his successors would turn the island into a developing nation state striving for a place in a world among other rising nation states.

I found particularly interesting the author's approach to the period as one of a family biography. Harold was not just a famous figure in history, he was a member of an ambitious extended family. Like the Borgias in a later time and place, Harold's father and his grandfather played major roles in English political life during the years preceding the Conquest, as did he and his brothers in their own time. Walker follows these careers, because it is the net created by their liaisons that defined the period. Pull out any of these lynch pins, and the history of the era would have been vastly different. Interesting too were the careers of Harold's children, who went on to carry the family into succeeding generations of international leaders. I have often wondered what the fates of descendants of famous people have been. What did happen to Cleopatra's surviving children for instance? At least in this instance, more is documented about Harold's children which gives a sense of closure to Walker's book.

Thoroughly enjoyable and informative study.

This is a great book for anyone interested in the mysterious and obscure events of England in the year 1066. Walker does a great job, trying to bring Harold Godwinson to life.

This was an excellent, intense account of a unique king's biography. I read this book to get more info on William the Conqueror, but now I'm obsessed with Harold II. A must-read for history buffs.

Owning this book is like owning a great piece of art, a priceless painting.

This is a book Hemingway would wish he had written himself.

Unlike so many books that have been published about this man in France in this era, this volume is evocative. All of the emotion associated with the people, places and things of that time in that place come through clearly, connecting to reader's hearts.

This book is literature, art. The great painting Conrad has created is one where all the subtle nuances are on the canvas. EH is not allowed to dwarf the other extraordinary characters like Gerald Murphy. Everyone is portrayed evenly. There is a fullness, a deeper appreciation of these people and that time than one finds in other books. The things that are familiar to the reader appear to be new because they are drawn in the actual context in which they originally existed. Conrad has not reconstructed Hemingway's France. He has found it and brought us into it. We are with Hemingway, Gertrude, Pablo et. al.

Hemingway beautifully remembered those people and that time in "A Moveable Feast," a favorite among devotees of Hemingway's work. To say Conrad's treatment is better than Hemingway's is a strong statement to make. It is a true statement.

The photographs are extraordinary but no more extraordinary than the prose that accompanies the pictures. This slim volume is, as said, like a large oil painting accurately depicting the scene, capturing the action and mood, and evoking emotion in those who view the art.

France in the 1920s was home to some of the most groundbreakingly creative artists of the 20th century and included Pablo Picasso, George Braque, James Joyce, T.S. Eliot, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, Cole Porter, Sergei Diaghilev, Sinclair Lewis, and Ernest Hemingway. Indeed, it was in his major work, The Sun Also Rises, which epitomized Paris during the jazz era and became one of the most powerful forces in this expatriate art colony's vortex of talent and experimentation. In Hemingway's France: Images Of The Lost Generation, Winston Conrad augments his informative text with contemporary color photography and a large collection of vintage black/white photographs to beautifully illuminate Hemingway's life during those "lost generation" years, during World War II, and his subsequent visits to France in the 1950s. Hemingway's France is "must" reading for all Hemingway fans, and for the non-specialist general reader with an interest in the writings, paintings, and poetry created in those turbulent times by the now legendary personalities of yesteryear.

From Hemingway's early romantic days in the Lost Generation Paris of the 1920's, to his swashbuckling exploits in the French countryside and his liberation of the Paris Ritz Hotel during World War II, and to his troubled final years when he returned to Europe and France in a failed search for rejuvenation, it is clear that Hemingway truly loved France.

With "Hemingway's France: Images of the Lost Generation," it is clear that Winston Conrad loves France as well. Conrad traveled extensively in France to gather the material for this book, and his passion for France and Paris (and of course Hemingway) are evident on every page as he attempts to show the reader why this country and city left such a grand impression on the biggest star of 20th century literature.

Conrad writes a clear, thorough biography of Hemingway, with France serving as a common thread throughout, but the feature that makes this book stand out is the great number of rarely seen photos of Hemingway and friends. We see Hemingway demonstrating deep sea fishing gear in the late 1950's, we see him dressed in dapper travel attire as his driver prepares their car, we see him riding on the back of a sidecar motorcycle during World War II, we see him sitting on the windowsill of his Paris apartment in the late 1920's, we see him in a rocking chair with his infant son Bumby...and for the Hemingway fan who has seen it all, these "new" pictures are like seeing an old friend after a long time apart. Not only do we see him, but we are treated to views of Hemingway's France that give a clear and confirming image of all those wonderful settings that we find in Hemingway's books. Conrad, a photographer of obvious talent, shows us Hemingway's haunts as they appear today, and often contrasts his own beautiful color photos with the vintage black and white photos of the same haunts from Hemingway's day; it makes for an effective mix of nostalgia and immediacy.

Conrad divides the book into nine chapters, each focusing on a different part of the French experience that today would be hard to discuss without mentioning Hemingway's name: The Literary Scene in Paris, Cafes, Restaurants and Nightlife, The Artists, Sports, The South of France, World War II, Bullfights, The Feast Moves On. All are well written, but the chapters on Hemingway's early years in Paris and later, his experiences as a combination soldier/journalist during the second World War stand out.

A pleasant surprise comes in Chapter 4 ("The Artists") with the reprints of some of Gerald Murphy's paintings. Murphy, in most Hemingway and Fitzgerald biographies, always serves as a footnoted rich benefactor to the talented writers and painters in 1920's France. But he was also an accomplished painter, and Conrad shows us some of Murphy's wonderful paintings (particularly Cocktail), revealing a talent that if it were more widely known would certainly elevate him above his current footnote status.

The usual cast of characters show up as well, with F. Scott Fitzgerald in a starring role before his crack-up, and his wife Zelda revealing in many pictures a nervous look that foretells her later mental disintegration. But the true star of this book is France itself. Hemingway always had a knack for selecting interesting places to live and for making those places his own, but of all the places he lived, Paris seemed to be the one that affected him most. It was the city of his earliest successes, and it was the city he chose to write about in A Moveable Feast, when at the end of his life he couldn't write about anything else. In between it was a city and country he could always return to for comfort, inspiration and excitement.

Winston Conrad, in the final chapter, says "If Hemingway could come back to life for a day, he might very well elect to spend it in France." After reading this book it would be hard to argue that Hemingway would choose otherwise.

This large-format book contains photos of young men taken from the 1920s through to the 1950s. They are amazingly fresh and vibrant, sexy, modern yet classical, and show this great photographer's vision and love of the male form. The models are for the most part aged between 18-25.

It's amazing to think that even some of the oldest of these images are so fresh that they may have come from the 1980s. Sometimes the clothing (of which there is little) shows the period in which the pictures were made but most of them have a tingling vibrancy and liveliness that belies their age. It's odd to think that the beautiful naked youth from the 1920s is probably no longer alive, yet his beauty and grace have, by List's skill, transcended time and we get the chance to wonder about how he lived; what he made of his life; and to ponder on how youthful beauty, though transient, can last forever.

This book is a truly wonderful addition to the bookshelf of any connoiseur of both early photography and male beauty.

It's a beautiful book about cute boys of 20's and 50's in Germany and Greece.

A sly grin to Goodbye to Berlin, Temple and alike...

While this whopper of a text admittedly took two years for me to read(off and on), I found it to be splendid, informative, cogent, and lively. Unafraid to take the time to spend a page and a half here and there on relevant non-European issues, it is a global account of the region that most shaped world history, for better or worse. The book is never didactic, taking positions on a variety of controversial issues without fervor, examining all sides of each particular debate. It is quite amazing how Roberts can condense and simplify, without any reductionist gimmicks. This is certainly not Europe for Dummies. For me, it was most compelling during the two World Wars, for through these climactic events, the true "story" of Europe emerges, though pretty it is not. This enjoyable work should please both the history buff and the casual reader as a delightfully complete sampler of all the major European events , since, well, the beginning of time, up to the present.

First off, J.M. Roberts wrote the large one volume History of the World. This book also has been published by Penguin as The Penguin History of Europe. History history of the world also had a Penguin edition to it.

It is good that Roberts has multipule publishers for both of these works, as they are works that should remain in print for a very long time. I always hate it when I find good stuff that is out of print.

Now, about "A History of Europe". Good work. It focuses more on history after 1800 though. But then, this is what is important to most modern readers. We read to find out some answer to the question of who we are. So, naturally, a general history is going to focus more on later periods that tell us more about who are currently are.

It does cover all the topics of interest. Prehistoric Europe, thru the Classical period of Greece and Rome, up thru the middle ages and into modern times.

Great book to own and read and reread all the time.

Once again, J.M. Roberts tackles a large historical subject; first, he wrote an excellent history of the world, and now, he has written a history of Europe that is as good, if not better.

Roberts exhibits a remarkable gift for conciseness and generously shares what seems to be vast insight on the history of Europe. Other histories would be very detailed but Roberts is able to capture the same subtleties with fewer (brilliantly chosen) words and ideas. He quotes some rather obscure but fascinating sources; you feel as if you are in the company of an eminent old historian who has been studying this subject all his life, has read just about everything there is to read on the subject, possesses no illusions or pretentions (he's too old for B.S.), and picks out those few gems of his knowledge that almost no one else knows just to share with you. Roberts really tries to tell it like it is (or was) without mincing words.

The author also goes to a great deal of effort to convey the feel of different periods so that the reader may better understand how historical events were perceived at the time and how they led to subsequent events. True history is not a mere chronicle of events but also the interpretation of those events, then and now. Roberts is keenly aware of this.

I have read both Roberts' book and Norman Davies' "Europe: A History"; both are superb but in different ways. Davies' book is larger and more detailed, and seems to prefer to let the large volume of facts and quoted sources speak for themselves. Roberts seems to prefer a greater emphasis on interpretation and broad insight, something that only a historian of his stature could respectably do. Both are perfectly acceptable methods of writing history. If you want a good reference, pick Davies' book, but for additional explanation of why Europe is the way it is, Roberts' book is highly recommended.

The most upsetting thing to a student of the Scottish Gaelic Culture is the lack of accurate information available. Among "Brigadoonery", New-Age rosy-coloured romanticism, and commonly available histories of Scotland, the student is faced with errors, misrepresentations, and outright indifference to Gaelic heritage and culture. Dr. Newton's work is the first serious attempt to redress this situation.

"A Handbook of Scottish Gaelic Culture" provides a useful starting place for both the novice and the scholar by describing the culture in its own words. He uses folktales, poetry, songs and stories in Gaelic, with English translations, to support descriptions of all aspects of daily life: work, family, social, spiritual, creative life and entertainment. Many of his sources, being Gaelic, have never been available to the English-speaking student before.

Because Dr. Newton is attempting such a massive undertaking, there are some aspects of the work which are dealt with in less detail than others would like. I found it curious, for instance, that there isn't a section on fishing as a community food source. This was of prime importance in Coastal and Island communities. That said, it must be remembered that this is, after all, a "Handbook", not an "Encyclopaedia". He has included copious notes and an eleven page bibliography for further study for those who wish more information.

This book is valuable for everyone interested in the real culture of the Scottish Highlands and Islands.

Michael Newton has managed to introduce us to Scottish Gaelic culture in a well researched and enaging way. It's not dry, it's not difficult to understand. I say introduction, as to try and cover every single aspect of history, lore and so on, in one volume, would be difficult. He has presented a cohesive, well rounded picture from the point of view of the culture itself, not as an outside study. Welcome as well, is the fact he also touches on the present state of things, which of course history books generally dont get into.
With the curious lack of this type of work, this was a welcome addition to my library. One may further research the aspects he brings to us, checking through the bibliography.
Mr. Newton also has a website, and is very active in the preservation of the language, stories, folklore. I hope he publishes more.

Whether you just have a curiosity, are seeking to know more of "your people", or are a student, this is an excellent place to begin.

I'm sick and tired of having to explain to Scottish people why I'm interested in Scottish Gaelic culture. Maybe if they read this book they'll get a good idea why it is important to Scotland as a whole (not just the Highlands), and why we should be preserving the language instead of ignoring it, or being hostile to it. If nothing else I wish someone had come up with a book like this earlier! The nearest equivalent is 'The Companion to Gaelic Scotland' which is really an encyclopedia and contains numerous omissions.

"I may have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have th heart and stomach of a King" - Elizabeth I

This quote from Elizabeth I says a lot about this book. Professor Carole Levin examines how Elizabeth I was able to use her role as a woman (where traditionally, the public viewed women as incapable, weak, dependant) to her advantage and at the same time she ruled like a "King". Levin also examined how Elizabeth was so successful in her reign and at the same time, she was not the typical "woman" of her time; she was childless, and unmarried. She portrayed herself as a "Virgin Queen" - as in she was married to her country.

It is important to note that this is not a biography of Elizabeth I but a book that gives a new perspective of Elizabeth I, that helps us to understand the overlapping of politics with gender and sexuality. Levin did an excellent job in using unconventional sources such as gossips, rumors, religious works, diplomatic correspondence that makes it a distinctive scholarly work. This book is also very easy to read, and even if you don't have a substantial backgroup in pre-modern European history, you will not have a problem in reading this book

This is a beautifully researched, well written, thought provoking study of how one of the most interesting and powerful women in history negotiated gender restrictions during her 45 year reign. Not just a standard biography, "Heart and Stomach" looks carefully at Elizabeth's use of gender perceptions and roles to present herself as the great queen that she was. I've used this book as a text in the classroom and I've recommended it to readers and scholars who are interested in all things Renaissance and in women's history. It's always a hit!

Carole Levin's study of Elizabeth I is unprecedented. This study not only gives readers who are unfamiliar with Elizabeth an idea of her life and desires, but it is explicates the problems behind a woman being a monarch in her own right in 16th century England. If one is interested in both English Monarchy and Women's Studies, this study will be enjoyed.

In the last decade of the 16th and first decades of the 17th centuries, Spanish and Portuguese Conversos leave their homelands and come to Amsterdam seeking what author Miriam Bodian calls rejudaization, or what we, today, call conversion as a requirement for full participation in community life and benefits derived by being part of rabbinic Judaism. Affluent, educated, and willing to learn rabbinic Judaism, these Conversos are seeking to learn and to establish Jewish rituals and worship. For example, ex-Conversos seek religious aid from Uri Halevi, an Ashkenazi rabbi from Emden who establishs what is probably the first synagogue in Amsterdam in 1595. When Halevi starts circumcising Conversos, the Dutch authorities arrest him and charge him with circumcising adults who are presumably Conversos. However, Halevi is released and allowed to continue working with the Iberian ex-Conversos and with his help they are able to establish their own rituals by 1603. One of the early Conversos who arrives in Holland is Isaac Pinto. He is overjoyed at having been given the opportunity to practice Judaism, the religion of his Iberian ancestors. Pinto not only learns Judaism, he studies Hebrew and established a synagogue, which he finances in its entirety during his lifetime. Although few of the ex-Conversos have the financial means that Pinto had, they actively participate in the Jewish community life of Amsterdam. However, as the 17th century starts passing, a new type of Converso who views Judaism as a practical necessity begin arriving in Amsterdam. Often times, this group of Conversos wanted to participate in the life of the synagogue and receive the benefits derived from being part of the Jewish community, but had no desire to undergo circumcision. There are examples of uncircumcised Conversos who died in Amsterdam and their families wanted to bury them in the Jewish cemetery of Ouderkerk. The Mahamad (see definition) ruled that the dead Conversos had to be circumcised before they could be buried in Ouderkerk. "Denial of the right of burial [in the Jewish cemetery] was used by the Mahamad in Amsterdam, if not to encourage circumcision, to pressure a few of the émigrés to undergo formal conversion to Judaism. These were persons who unquestionably belonged to the 'Nation' but, because of known female old Christian ancestors on their mother's side, were not Jewish according to rabbinical law, which held that Jewishness was transmitted through the mother". The Amsterdam Jewish community was very careful not to upset Spain or Portugal by actively promoting Judaism or openly protecting crypto-Jews on Spanish or Portuguese soil. This was because Amsterdam's ex-Conversos were heavily engaged in commerce as ship owners, diamond and spice traders, and many other activities related to commerce with the Spanish and Portuguese empires. Although the Amsterdam Jewish community probably did not openly help Crypto-Jews in Iberia, there is evidence that some of the many prayer books that were printed in Spanish and Portuguese in Amsterdam were sent to Spain and Portugal or their overseas possessions (Bodian page 199). The Amsterdam ex-Conversos strongly encouraged their friends and relatives in the Iberian Peninsula to leave before the Inquisition find them. The following exerts from letters written by the ex-Converso Abraham Idaña (Gaspar Mendez del Arroyo) to Conversos in Iberia illustrate the feelings of Amsterdam Jews in 1686: "The notion of serving God in one's heart, it is not enough. The law of Moses was given in order to be observed. It is a particularly grave sin to remain uncircumcised. One must flee to lands of freedom and be circumcised without delay. Nor should one delude oneself that good deeds can compensate for failure to observe the Law". The ex-Converso community in Amsterdam was always ready to help newly arrived Conversos who needed help to return to Judaism. If the community could not help the newly arrived Conversos in Amsterdam, the community would aid the new comers to find passage to the Ottoman empire, Italy, or even to the New World where more freedom could be found than in the Iberian Peninsula. Once the ex-Converso community established rabbinic Judaism they began observing Jewish precepts and prohibitions, developed over many centuries, which regulated and restricted relations between Jews and Gentiles. Regardless of this, there is evidence that some ex-Conversos men took lower-class gentile women, often maidservants, as mistresses. From 1600-1623, notarial records reveal instances of sexual relations between Portuguese Jews and gentile women (most of them were Dutch or Scandinavian). Even though it was illegal to have sexual relations between Jews and gentiles under Jewish and Dutch law, few of the ex-Conversos or their mistresses were prosecuted. Bodian tells us that to a degree the fathers of the illegitimate children provided for their support and that a group of fifteen Amsterdam Jewish merchants established a society called Dotar for the purpose of providing a dowry to orphans and poor girls descendants of the Portuguese Nation or Castilian Conversos. It is conceivable that many of the illegitimate daughters of ex-Conversos were eligible and obtained dowry to marry Jews. Eligibility to obtain a dowry was not only for Amsterdam's girls, but it was extended to girls who lived in the Iberian Peninsula, or other parts of Europe, the Ottoman empire, and the New World. Candidates had to prove eligibility by demonstrating that they were descendants of Conversos through either their paternal or maternal line. In order to find suitable candidates for dowries, the Amsterdam ex-Converso community established an elaborated network in many countries. It is possible that the dowry network extended its activity beyond determining eligibility for dowry. The Amsterdam ex-Converso community gained knowledge of rabbinic Judaism rapidly and by the 1630s they had produced their own rabbis and scholars, such as Menasseh ben Israel and Isaac Aboab da Fonseca. The community not only produced brilliant Jewish scholars but as a whole was very active in religious activity and its knowledge of Jewish traditions was adequate, if not brilliant (Bodian page 110). The ex-Converso community learned because of its perseverance to acieve rejudaization.

A Missing Link Discovered

Certainly, any true history such as that written by Miriam Bodian is worthy of much more than five stars. . Professor Bodian chooses not the former when she describes and clearly illustrates the fact that the Ashkenazim (German “Jewry”) were not accepted by The Nation…the “Hebrew Nation”…Iberian Jewry. .... This book is highly recommended for all those of the Hebrew Nation, and for the Ashkenazim, or for anyone interested in Jewry. I also highly recommend it for Christians who would like to establish a sound base insofar as understanding what REALLY went on just before and during the periods when “Jews” started coming to the Americas. Few understand that the first synagogue in New Amsterdam (NYC) was of the Iberian peoples’, the Ashkenazim not arriving till wayyyy late in the game. Professor Bodian’s book, within my Hebrew National Community is about the best thing since apple pie…or shall I say, “empanadas de manzana.” It’s highly recommended for ALL.

Sincerely,

Daniel Enriquez David

This is a highly academic work of Miriam Bodian, Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies at Pennsylvania State University. With in-depth research, the author analyses a unique chapter in the history of Judaism: the return of Iberian "conversos" to rabbinical religion and the establishment of the Jewish community in Amsterdam. A remarkable account of the strength and perseverance of a "nation" which clings to its roots despite all adversities. This is cultural "Darwinism..."

Almost 5 stars!

This atlas gives exactly what it promises: The history of the lands between the German and Italian-speaking peoples in the West and the boundaries of the former Soviet Union in the East - in short: "East Central Europe". Not to be mistaken with "Eastern Europe", which can exactly be defined by the European area of the former Soviet Union, or Russia, Belorussia and Ukraine of today.
Beside East Central Europe, the atlas also covers the Balkans.

This is the best English-language atlas of it's kind at the moment.
Balanced history telling, which tries to present both sides of disputed topics, illustrated by beautiful - although sometimes rough - maps.
This work presents the finest of Anglo-Saxon mapmaking.
To be used together with the series "A History of East Central Europe", and to be compared with the "The Times Atlas of European History".

Review based on first paperback edition, 1995

From the Baltic to the Balkans and from 400 A.D. to 1992 A.D., this atlas colorfully covers the territory in the best possible way.

Researchers with Slavic, Germanic, Jewish, Greek or other ancestry from east central Europe will find this historical atlas invaluable.

It contains 89 wonderful maps which show useful details such as the Catholic diocese and archdiocese as they appeared in 1900, the tremendous populations movements from 1944 to 1948, Jewish settlement, and of course the ethnic composition of the region at various periods. Each map comes one or more pages of explanatory text as well.

I find this atlas to be a constant help in my struggle to understand the changing borders of the region throughout history. You can't understand family history if you don't have an understanding of the history of the family's place of origins. This atlas is an ideal way to better understand the history of east central Europe.

Excellent reference for genealogical research. A very broad collection of maps makes it useful for a wide rage of topics (religion, ethnic population distribution, politcal boundary shifts in a place where someone's always fighting over boundaries and control). A timeless reference....

Cyril Robinson was clearly a gifted and scholarly historian with a prodigious vocabulary and complete command of the English language. Unfortunately, not all the world's readers share those abilities. The result is a rambling tome targeted at academicians, not the masses. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with that, but why do it? Greek history is a rich tale full of important lessons on the development of our own democratic society. It should be available to the layman. Robinson, however, chose to saturate his bloated prose with an overabundance of "henceforths" and "hithertos," using long multi-clause sentences that force the reader to reread passage after passage in a constant struggle for comprehension and retention. The sheer number of dates and difficult names of people and places are hard enough to follow without adding puffy, upper-crust verbiage.

Well-educated readers--especially those with some background knowledge of the subject, will probably enjoy this impressive book. But for the average reader just looking to tone up on the basics of Greek history, this is going to be a yawner. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.

When I first became aware of this book many years ago, I passed up the chance to read it because I thought it was going to be a bit too scholarly. That was a bad mistake. About a year ago a friend of mine who downloads audiobooks from Audible let me listen to a portion of this history. I was so hooked I decided to buy the cassette version. This narration is far and away the best history I have ever heard in a recorded form. Contrary to one of the reviewers, I take strong exception to the assertion that Robinson's language is difficult. He writes beautifully. If you're just not up to good English standards...too bad. This is a marvellously narrated piece of ancient history that will live forever and should definitely have a place on the shelf of any amateur historian who values honest writing and clear thinking. I am thankful I came across this great work.

I wrote an Amazon review for Professor Robinson's book, History of Greece, back in 1997. I still consider it to be one of the most entertaining histories I have ever come across. In fact, I liked it so much, I recorded it. It's a book worthy to be read, (and heard) over and over.

This books large size is simply due to its large subject. The City of London is a wonderful place that I have been fortunate to visit over a dozen times and plan to visit many more times.

In the states we measure the history of buildings and cities in decades and MAYBE a century or two. In London they measure in centuries and maybe a millennium or two (or three).

Mr. Inwood takes us through that history with lively prose and keeping the focus on the interesting and the informative without weighing us down with the kind of detail academics seem to love to inflict on themselves. No, this book reads like a book half its size because of the fun we have touring the development of the place and the inhabitants who have taken and left its glorious stage through the centuries.

If you know London you will love this book and if you don't know London you will learn to love it through reading this book.

Couldn't put this book down. Inwood writes as all professors should lecture. Very easy to follow, never boring.

Stephen Inwood has put together perhaps the most complete single-volume history of London to date. While many historians focus on a particular London (and yes, there are many Londons -- literary London, political London, et al.), and Inwood is no exception in taking particular focus at different times, this book touches on all the facets, by concentrating largely on London's inhabitants, and, as they belong to different Londons, exploring their native Londons and the interactions between the differing Londons.

Inwood from his childhood looked upon London as a 'remote and fascinating place'. His father as a London cab driver (as one finds, when living in or visiting London, often those who know the city best). Inwood infuses his memory of this fascination on every page of this 1100 page text, eliminating the remoteness by description and analysis that is excellent. As Inwood says, 'You can still walk the streets that Boswell and Dickens walked, and even, if you look carefully, see some of the buildings they saw.'

Inwood, realising that many histories begin with the 'easy bits', tackled the problem of writing history from the beginning, with Londinium, and even before. 'The first known inhabitants of the Greater London aea were the late Ice Age (8000 BC) hunters whose flint tools and reindeer bones were found in Uxbridge in the 1980s. From there he traces the founding of Londinium through Boudicca's revolt to Flavian Londinium to its virtual abandonment. London again had a revival during Anglo-Saxon times, being rebuilt by Alfred the Great or his son, Edward the Elder.

Edward the Confessor and his briefly tenured successor, Harold, helped intensify the significance of London by building, consecrating and then turning Westminster Abbey into a fundamental symbol of royal power -- the coronation at Westminster Abbey has remained a strong tradition for 900 years. London the city, however, had a love-hate relationship with royalty, and to this day the Lord Mayor has a ceremonial power to refuse the monarch entrance to the city, much in the way the door to the House of Commons is slammed in the face of Black Rod, the House of Lords representative sent to summon the Members to attend the proceedings in the house of peers.

Inwood's sensitivity to issues grand and small is in evidence throughout, by attending to sweeping urban planning issues to taking up a discussion of the role of Gentlemen's Clubs, 'Those who could not gain access to the best dining rooms could enjoy many of the pleasures of London society (the exclusively masculine pleasures, at any event) by becoming a member of one of the West End clubs...'

Inwood makes the observation that 'in the 1990s they could find England's most extreme social and economic contrasts within 5 miles of Parliament Square', and this is true on the whole, for the wealthy and the destitute both tend to flock to the urban scene. London has suffered by not having a central government, the only major city without such government, not that the GLC was effective, but that something needs to be done -- and perhaps the new mayoral initiative will bring some hope. London's 1993 GDP was about 110 billion GBP (180 billion USdollars), bigger than the GDP of Russia - 'a city with the capacity to generate wealth on such a scale does not need to endure overfilled railway carriages, understocked classrooms, decaying social services, underfunded libraries, neglected housing estates or families living in fire-trap bed-and-breakfast accommodation.'

Inwood concludes with an early comment on London: 'The city is delightful indeed, when it has a good governor,' penned by William Fitzstephen in 1173. Of course, today's problems are not unique even to London, as this history demonstrates admirably.

This is a history that is well worth the investment of the time it takes to read.