El Cid begins his life's journey as the nouveau riche aristocrat, Don Rodrigo de Vivar. He is constantly snubbed by the other aristocratic families, despite being the King's greatest knight, for you see, his family was only knighted a generation before! Finally after enduring floods of insults, Don Rodrigo reaches the limits of his patience and tugs upon a rival's beard. This unseemly behavior, so tame by today's standards, dooms the Don to exile in the land of the Godless Moors. There, the epic takes off as the Don becomes known as El Cid (the Lord) after conquering the Moorish regions for the King of Castile (his approach to trying to escape his sentence of exile). A must read! (Search carefully for this book as it is out of print and is often costly, tho it need not be so.)

The book is a gem! El Cid begins his life's journey as the nouveau riche aristocrat -- Don Rodrigo de Vivar. At first, he is constantly snubbed by the older aristocratic families of Castile, despite being the King's best knight, for you see, his family was only knighted a generation before.
Finally in a fit of controlled rage, he responds to the numerous insults of a rival by tugging upon the rival's beard. This unseemly behavior, so understated by today's standards, gets him banished to the land of the Godless Moors. There the epic takes off as he conquers the Moorish regions of Spain in order to regain his standing with the King. A must read!!(But look for it on other websites - it's cheaper!)

This is the tale of an epic quest of El Cid, the Spanish war hero!

Here is my first impression of the book: Wow! I can see how some people got the idea that this book was an update of Burl's 1976 'Stone Circles of the British Isles'. It covers seventy sites in 230 pages and it's no coffee table book. Each circle has an outline plan and most sites have three or four photos giving Milligan the chance to pick interesting angles and individual stones. This is a philosophy I have tried to follow on the web where photos are almost free, but your average book shows one rather boring overall view of each site if you're lucky.

This, and things like the super-strokeable front and end-papers are why this book costs what it does. Milligan is described as one of Britain's most exciting new photographers, and he tackles the subject with energy. Commendably, he uses no ghastly graduated filters or other such fiddles. It hardly needs saying that Burl's lucid text and pithy wit are a pleasure, as always. There's even a 'carved head' from the Ring of Brodgar (frost action says Aubrey).

It's unusual in that there are no maps, and the circles are in order of date and name. Perhaps it's trying to steer away from being thought of as a guide book. Stirring the sites together like this makes for a fresh approach, and gives me the urge to reach again into the sack of reviewer's clichés and use the word juxtaposition. Apparently Circles of Stone was delayed three months from a July launch because the photography didn't come out 100% first time. This fanatic attention to quality is apparent throughout, and is doubtless why the Dr Burl was approached to write the text. Step aside Julian Cope, suddenly your holiday snaps look rather sad. I've run out of stars: 5/5!

For anyone whose knowledge of stone circles is limited to Stonehenge, this book is a revelation. Aubrey Burl's essay dispels some of the myths that have arisen concerning these monuments, while at the same time stimulating the reader's imagination. The photographs by Max Milligan are evocative and mesmerizing, revealing the subtle elegance of the stones and their relationship to the landscape around them. The book is a beautiful interplay between image and text... a treat for the mind and the eyes!

This volume covers the top 70 prehistoric monuments like Stonehenge all over the british isles. It has been photographed in every season, time of day and weather and is simply glorious. The text by prof burl is informative but easy to read and explains most of the so called mysteries about these places. They are the oldest buildings on the planet, some 5500 years old, and put into perspective all this fuss about the millennium. What of our achievements will last that long? Bravo Milligan, Burl and Harvill Press!

This is an overview of archæological and textual record of Britain during this poorly understood period. Its premise on the origins of the sub-Roman kingdoms of Britain is that prior to the official withdrawal of the Legions in 410, the primarily pagan secular elite of the British provinces were replaced by a Christian administration of low status origins. After the failure of Constantine III to gain the purple, this administration adopted native British power structures based on kingship. This theory can be used to successfully explain the decline of the villas, the rise of Christian ecclesiastics (based on Martinian militancy), and the introduction of pagan mercenaries who eventually created the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the East. The work is notable for its careful inclusion of Britain in the context of the wider remnants of the Western Empire. Better attested events and evidence from Gaul, Spain, Italy, and North Africa are used to explain what occurred in Britain. This is a great read and arguably a part of the basic body of current knowledge and synthesis regarding the Dark Ages in Britain.

In the forward to CIVITAS TO KINGDOM, N.P. Brooks of the University of Birmingham suggests that K.R. Dark's new book may give the phrase "The Dark Ages" a new meaning. Using information from historical, archeological, and other sources available in the early 1990s, Dark has constructed a new interpretation of Britain in the years between 410 A.D. when the Roman Empire sent an official letter stating it could no longer defend the Britannia, and the germanization of most of Britannia by the Anglo-Saxons in the 800s.

Dark's study covers the provinces not immediatly subdued by the Angle and Saxon mercenaries the Romans hired to "protect" Britannia before 400 A.D. Non-Anglo-Saxon Britain included the nothern and central areas of the island, plus Cornwall and Wales. Dark says the inhabitants of this area maintained an 'Antique Roman Society' which combined political, economic and other aspects of pre-Roman and Roman eras.

Dark has assembled an enormous amount of information gleaned from recent historical studies (text anayses) and archeological studies as well as other sources. He asks, "What is Roman". After he lists and defines the characteristics most scholars agree are "Roman" he shows how material evidence supports the notion that the Roman Britannia survived what has been described as a barbaric Celtic era. One the other hand, he says, "the polities of Britain, tribes, civitates, or kingdoms, remained stable from the Pre-Roman Iron-Age to the sub-Roman period....the general picture is of overall continuity but not a static system...the conventional picture of the fifth-to-seventh-century 'Celtic West' as a reversion to Iron-Age cultural and political organization is mistaken."

This is an excellent book, quite readable, and loaded with footnotes for those who wish to go further.

Most of us know, on some intellectual level, that change and continuity are both simultaneous processes. There is no period in all of history where one is entirely absent, though there are many times when one takes precedence over the other. Without a doubt, the post-Roman (often called, somewhat decievingly, the "sub-Roman") period was one such period for the British Isles. The dominant religion changed from pagan to Christian, Pictland became Scotland, Britain became England, and the Britons became Welsh or Breton or Cornish. The Roman Empire fell, and independent British kingdoms sprang up, only to be washed away in the tide of Anglo-Saxon invasion within a century or two. From 400 CE to 600 CE, in the space of a short 200 years, the makeup of the country changed almost completely.

With all this going on, it's easy to forget that there was a great deal of continuity here, as well. Kenneth Dark, in this excellent scholarly tour de force, reminds us of that little fact. He argues that the political structure of post-Roman Britain was made up of Roman civitates (cities--used as the basic unit of administration by the Roman Empire, almost like a state in the US) which, with the end of Roman authority, elevated themselves to the status of kingdoms. These civitates were themselves based on the Celtic tribes that the Romans had conquered centuries before--rather than take time and energy to create a new aristocracy (which would no doubt even further alienate the newly conquered Britons), they simply adopted the old tribal aristocracy as imperial apparatus, like so many other hegemonic empires. Kenneth Dark shows the survival of Roman traditions and culture through the "Dark Ages," and points out that many of the traits we think of as a "reversion to native Celtic customs" may, in fact, have been the natural trajectory of the way Roman culture was heading in Late Antiquity.

Though Kenneth Dark may overstate his case, it is a case that perhaps needs to be overstated. The study of post-Roman Britain, I think, has lost its equilibrium in the "Change versus Continuity" debate, making this book a valuable counter-weight. I heartily recommend it to anyone interested in that murky historical gloss from the end of Roman rule, to the beginning of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.

In The Coasts of Bohemia, Derek Sayers tells us how social values are invented and reinterpreted by those with the will and the power to do so, a study of Bohemian history with broader applications. He writes to clarify and contextualize social movements in the Czech lands from before the Hussites to the modern period, but the reader learns late in the book that his passion owes something to the cooperative assistance of his wife, whose father was a professor lost to the world of learning when he was removed by the Nazis as they closed the universities in Czechoslovakia in the 40s.
The book is a bright but isolated star in the realm of scholarship that explains the Czech lands and people to the citizens of the United States. Sayers has a firm grasp on the little things, "the quotidian," that make up cultural identity, but it is his writing style and his ability to weave small points into major themes that makes the book such a masterpiece.
I note with mixed feelings that Sayers works and teaches in Canada. The English-speaking world's gain; America's loss.

I can only agree with the eloquent rave of the first reader review. COASTS OF BOHEMIA is a miracle. It sweeps through Czech history, presenting a marvelous depth of historical detail while always remaining thoroughly readable, even beautiful, and exciting. Most of all I was impressed with the way in which the author so persuasively demonstrated a remarkable thesis: that a history so unique, particular, and extraordinary could show us things about European history in general that we had not seen before. A MUST READ for those interested in the area. Another perspective, also arguing for the broad and general implications of a very particular history, is offered in the book PRAGUE TERRITORIES. Both books argue for the contingency of national identity, the former relating it to the selfconsciously invented (reinvented?) Czech cultural "Renaissance" of the 19th century, the latter to the incredible creativity of the small group of Prague German Jews around Franz Kafka. PRAGUE IN BLACK AND GOLD presents the long sweep of Prague history in terms of eternal bloody conflict--ultimately a narrower thesis than the other two but a good introduction to Prague history, Czech and German. MAGICAL PRAGUE is a romantic journey through a cliche, a fun read but it never analyzes the "mystical" image of Prague but only reproduces it. All three of the above books are antidotes to this. But for a history of the Czech nation that enlightens European history generally, no book lives up to Derek Sayer's.

This is a marvelous book. It is far and away the best single work available to English-speaking readers with an interest in Czech history and culture. It also more than merits the attention of anyone with an interest in Central Europe, the Western invention known as "Eastern Europe," European cultural history, or cultural history generally.

Sayer is quite convincing in making his major arguments: that the Czech lands of Bohemia and Moravia are rightly viewed as having stood for centuries at the center of European history; that Czech national identity, created virtually from scratch in the 19th century, exemplifies a complexly and authentically modern process of self-invention; and that the echoes, ironies, and reversals of Czech history hold valuable lessons for Westerners whose notions of "Eastern European" exoticism and backwardness are rivaled, in their ingenuousness, only by our belief in history as progress. He shows in vivid detail how history and historically derived notions of collective identity are refracted in the service of politics and power--and not only by totalitarian regimes. (In one of the book's most disturbingly persuasive sections, Sayer shows how Communism--far from being the wholly alien import that many Czechs would now prefer to see it as--took root in soil that had been well, if unwittingly, prepared by 150 years of often liberal Czech nationalist ideology.) Throughout "The Coasts of Bohemia," he provides a lavishly and (one comes to understand) lovingly detailed journey through the collective psyche of a fascinating nation--though Sayers' love for the Czechs and for Czech culture, we also come to suspect, is fiercely complicated and deeply ambivalent.

It should also be said that Sayers' book is just about a perfect model of what a scholarly book should be: massively detailed but carefully, even dramatically, shaped and organized; filled with concrete particulars but always letting the reader see their relation to the grand themes; stringen! tly reasoned but deeply felt; and extremely well written, illustrated, annotated, and indexed. In all, an extremely intelligent, learned, and sophisticated book that is also a great read.

I found this well researched book fascinating. I have never before read a non-fiction work in one sitting (Then I reread it taking notes). This work undermines (without ever saying so ) many of the cultural myths that drive our current economy. Commons have been viable and sustainable economies and cultures. I should also add that as an avid science fiction reader I found a description of as alien a society as any I have otherwise read about.

According to E.P. Thompson (Customs in Common) best work on the subject -- and if not the only then certainly the most important. Sorry, I'm not an academic, just a student. For an insightful review, please look in a history journal.

I like to order oneeson@hotmail.co

I lived in Florence as a full time tourist for a year in the early eighties. I could divide my year into before and after finding this book; it's that good. The maps reveal every nook and cranny, helping you to see the hidden wonders right before your eyes in this city that is so immensely rich in wonders. The recommended walking tours make your time more meaningful, as the buildings and artwork become not only isolated splendors, but also pieces of the history of this remarkable city. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the latest edition so that I can plan a return visit for next year. Buy yours early and plan your time, and you will have a visit beyond what even the best tour guide could ever offer. Buon viaggio!

A lot of things began in Renaissance Florence: the way businesses keep their books, the way sovereign states relate to each other, the way people use art to tell stories and create beauty. These things and many more elements of modern society have their origins in this smallish Tuscan city. These impulses were born in the middle of the last millenium - during the century or so when Florence blossomed as the intellectual and artistic supernova of the Italian Renaissance. Today, Florence remains densely packed with the memories of that time. Eve Borsook's "THE COMPANION GUIDE TO FLORENCE" is the key to the city. In addition to all the names, dates, places of history, Borsook skillfully weaves in meaning and context so that you may know who painted what fresco in which church - but why it remains meaningful 500 years down the road. You can go to Florence to shop for many beautiful Italian creations. But with this book, you can gain a clear appreciation about why the names,images and achievements from this amazing city's glorious past still resonate in our lives today.

A lot of things began in Florence. The way businesses keep their books, the way sovereign states relate to each other, the way people use art to tell stories and create beauty. These things and many more elements of modern society have their origins in this smallish Tuscan city. These impulses were born in the middle of the last millenium - during a century or so when Florence blossomed as an intellectual and artistic supernova of the Italian Renaissance. Today, Florence remains densely packed with the memories of that time. Eve Borsook's "THE COMPANION GUIDE TO FLORENCE" is the key to the city. In addition to all the names, dates, places of history, Borsook skillfully weaves in meaning and context so that you may not only know who painted what fresco in which church - but why it remains meaningful 500 years down the road. You can go to Florence to shop for many beautiful Italian creations. But with this book, you can gain a clear appreciation about why the names and images from this amazing city's glorious past still resonate in our lives today.

We just returned from a second trip to Scotland and this time we played some of the more obscure (but wonderful!) courses - this book was our guide - and we loved the descriptions, suggestions, and the way the guide is written. We had four other books with us, but this was the one we used the most!

A few years ago I was living in Cincinnati and wanted to take a golfing trip to Scotland. The local bookstores had nothing whatsoever in the way of practical guidebooks dedicated to golf in the UK. A database search came up with this title, and it sounded about right so I ordered it. A week or so later the bookstore said that their distributor didn't have any copies, or some such thing, but they suggested that I call the publisher myself. I was surprised to find that the publisher had a local Cincinnati telephone number. I called the number and was more surprised to be greeted with "Dr. Kroeger's office." The bottom line is that the author is a dentist in Cincinnati who wrote this wonderful book as a hobby. I purchased a copy, went to Scotland where I had a wonderful time, and signed up for a good teeth cleaning when I returned.

I plan to go to Scotland for golf and I thought this book really helped to give me a feel for the courses and the traditions of the Scottish people. I thought about playing only the big-name courses until I read about some of the hidden gems. Now I think I'll try to play some of them. Enjoyed the history part of the book too.

This book tells the story of a soldier that rose from being a foot soldier to he became a General. Charles De Gaulle did see combat and conflicts from several different positions during his life - from being a scared soldier with a rifle in his hand to being a high ranked officer that ordered his soldiers into war. I think this is a very interesting book, since it tells a specific story about a very special man. I would recommend this book to everyone that are interested in European politics, Military history, or just the Great Man Charles De Gaulle!

This book is outstanding for its literary, even poetic, power. De Gaulle thinks of France as a person fated for tragedy and greatness. His biggest problem is achieving recognition as the political representative of France after France has signed an armistice with the Germans: Churchill tells him that although he claims to represent France, neither England or the US will recognize him as such; De Gaulle steadily replies that it is sufficient for him if the French people recognize him. This is the story of a man standing against the entire world for the sake of an ideal. Reminded me of Nelson Mandela!

As one might expect, De Gaulle's memoirs of the Second World War are deeply concerned with self-justification, if not self-glorification. More surprisingly, they are good reading. De Gaulle writes in a formal, but clear and elegant style. The period covered is from the fall of France, through De Gaulle's flight to England and formation of the Free French, to the liberation and a bit of the postwar period. Obviously, this is not objective history. The chief interest of the book is that De Gaulle's personality and opinions colors every page. The reader may indeed be irritated, or he may be amused, by the author's undisguised self-regard, but in any case there are compensations. There is revealing detail on events such as the fall of France and the invasion of North Africa. With great candor and sharp perception De Gaulle assesses his own and others' strategies. There are good pen-portraits of Churchill and many other contemporaries. And there is the fascination of viewing great events through the prism of a commanding mind..

This exciting and well illustrated read traces the incredible expeditions of some of the most famous Spainish Conquistadors. Michael Woods travels along the tropical Amazon and to Everglades of Florida in search of the original route of the likes of Cortez and Pizarro. But this is not just an adventure story but also an accurate conveyance of history and the personalities of the time. He also manages to discuss the history on a thematic level - approaching issues such as human rights and colonialism. The illustrations are beautiful and add to the sense of wonder first experienced when viewed for the first time from European eyes.

5 stars - thoroughly worth purchasing for any history buff!

I fully expected this to be another dry, somnolent history book. Was I ever wrong! Michael Wood has written a conversational account of some of the most gripping yet unreported events in this hemisphere. Trust me on this: you will love his style and his expertise. Wood puts you in the mind of Cortes, Pizarro, and de Vaca and passionately paints the history created by these men. This book will make you want to walk in their footsteps.

This book is awesome! It has countless pictures of where the Conquistadors explored, conqured, and changed the course of history. It has everything from Cortes and the conquest of Mexico and the Aztec Empire, to Francisco Pizarro exploring the Inca Empire. Best book out about the Conquistadors!

Set in the eighteenth century, Coram Boy is a story of love, crime, tragedy, heartbreak and miracles. It is one of the most beautifully written books I have ever read and one of my all time favourites. I am always reading it aloud, just because the words are so nice. The characters are very clear and made to love or hate. The author shows such depth of knowledge and expresses so much emotion! It is a complex, exciting novel and the end will make you cry! I love it to bits. I'm sure you will to.

Otis Gardiner is a peddler in London who persuades young women to pay him for bringing their babies to the famous Coram Hospital, a place where unwanted children can receive proper education and have a successful future. However, after Otis got paid, he would kill these babies and later on blackmail the women who entrusted him with their babies for more money. His son, Meshak, saved a baby that he was about to kill and escaped to the Coram Hospital and stayed there for the next eight years. The baby was named Aaron Dangersfield and was very talented in music, like his father, Alexander Ashbrook. Alexander discovered that Aaron is actually his son in a meeting with his wife and sister, but Aaron was already being sent on a ship to America to be sold as a slave. Someone rescued Aaron from the ship shortly after it parted. Finally, Alexander reconciled with his long lost son.
I think this is an unbelievably awesome book. It involved many characters that each has their own small story in this book. For example, Aaron Dangersfield¡¦s foster father is a simpleton, and he often dreamed of living with the kind angles in the chapels away from his cruel father. Aaron¡¦s real father was kicked out of his family for living a life as a musician instead of learning how to take care and prosper from his father¡¦s estates. Furthermore Aaron¡¦s best friend, Toby, is an African, and he was being treated like a rare, dark-skin plaything more than a human. All of these small stories add up to be what Aaron has to experience or discover, which is what makes Coram Boy extra interesting.
My favorite part of this book is the epilogue. In the epilogue, Meshak was finally able to be with his imaginary angels after all the suffering he went through. He is a simpleton and was being treated cruelly by his father ever since he was born. He doesn¡¦t really mind being mistreated by his father, but he does feel mad when he saw with his very own eyes that the girl he admired fell in love with somebody else. Therefore, he saved that girl¡¦s baby boy and loved him like his son. At the end, when even the boy that he cared about so much went away, he asked his imaginary angels, ¡§Can I be dead now?¡¨ With merely five short words, so much is being remembered and expressed.

It is 1741; Otis Gardner is the Coram Man, a cruel, sadistic trader who makes his living from the disposal of unwanted infants and by selling older children into slavery. Together with his half-wit son Meshak, he travels from Gloucester to London, collecting children under false promises of delivering them to the famous hospice founded by Thomas Coram.

Alexander Ashbrook, disinherited heir to a large estate, is unaware of the existence of his illegitimate son Aaron, a child given away in infancy and brought up in the Coram hospice to avoid scandal. Aaron, also oblivious to his father's identity, befriends Toby, a young boy saved from an African slave ship, and the childlike Mish who brought him to the orphanage all those years ago.

Set in eighteenth century Britain, "Coram Boy" is an epic tale of good and evil and the relationships between a father and a son. The plot is complicated yet compelling enough to make this novel impossible to put down. Jamila Gavin weaves a powerful story that explores the darker side of life in the 1700s and which combines romance, history, tragedy and hope. Beautifully written and filled with a cast of colourful and memorable characters to bring this eighteenth century world to life, Coram Boy is both a unique and special book. Although difficult to get into, this is ultimately an extremely rewarding read that has a wide appeal, although some readers may find the content of infanticide disturbing. Overall, this is definitely a five star book, and I would highly recommend it to both teens and adults .

~Jenna~