Book Description

"I have often wondered for what good end the sensations of Grief could be intended."
-- Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson suffered during his life from periodic bouts of dejection and despair, shadowed intervals during which he was full of "gloomy forebodings" about what lay ahead.

Not long before he composed the Declaration of Independence, the young Jefferson lay for six weeks in idleness and ill health at Monticello, paralyzed by a mysterious "malady." Similar lapses were to recur during anxious periods in his life, often accompanied by violent headaches. In Jefferson's Demons, Michael Knox Beran illuminates an optimistic man's darker side -- Jefferson as we have rarely seen him before.

The worst of these moments came after his wife died in 1782. But two years later, after being dispatched to Europe, Jefferson recovered nerve and spirit in the salons of Paris, where he fell in love with a beautiful young artist, Maria Cosway. When their affair ended, Jefferson's health again broke down. He set out for the palms and temples of southern Europe, and though he did not know where the therapeutic journey would take him or where it would end, his encounter with the old civilizations of the Mediterranean was transformative. The Greeks and Romans taught him that a man could make productive use of his demons.

Jefferson's immersion in the mystic truths of the Old World gave him insights into mysteries of life and art that Enlightenment philosophy had failed to supply. Beran skillfully shows how Jefferson drew on the esoteric lore he encountered to transform anxiety into action. On his return to America, Jefferson entered the most productive period of his life: He created a new political party, was elected president, and doubled the size of the country. His private labors were no less momentous...among them, the artistry of Monticello and the University of Virginia.

Jefferson's Demons is an elegantly composed account of the strangeness and originality of one Founder's genius. Michael Knox Beran uncovers the maps Jefferson used to find his way out of dejection and to forge a new democratic culture for America. Here is a Jefferson who, with all his failings, remains one of his country's greatest teachers and prophets. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A SOMEWHAT LIMITED, BUT TOTALLY UNIQUE BIOGRAPHY . . .
_____________________________________________________________________________

I really enjoyed this biography of Thomas Jefferson - the book itself. My overall impression is altered somewhat by the added dimension of having listened rather than read . . . I bought the CD version because of the many hours I spend on the road. Dan Cashman, the narrator, has a splendid voice, but I felt his reading was too slow and with too many poignant pauses for my taste. I would have liked the audio version more if he'd been more straight-forward in its reading with less tendency to pontificate. Be that as it may, the substance of the book itself opened up the world of it's protagonist in a way few books do.

Although the book meanders a bit at certain points, the reader feels he is in Jefferson's mind at times. I would have liked the author to have told us about more of Jefferson's close acquaintances and their relationships. Few of the other founding fathers are mentioned, Benjamin Franklin a case in point. Attention given to Washington and Adams is quite sparse. I felt too many pages were devoted to Jefferson's lopsided relationship with Maria Cosway whom he met after the premature death of his wife. Maria was a married woman he was romantically attracted to, but who would have nothing to do with him except as a friend. He couldn't let go of her over the years, however, and she was too polite to totally cut all communications (even though she lived in Europe and ended up becoming a nun).

One thing I liked about this book was the way Beran shed light on Jefferson's intimate interests, his way of looking at the world around him and the place he felt he occupied in it. Some of those interests and notions, or ways, of looking at people, places, his own personal psyche and health (among other things) seem alien to us today. But that is what's wonderful about how Beran puts it all together - in a way you can almost taste Jefferson's time, what was important to people and what they found motivating (people, at least, who were of the station and caliber of Jefferson - a rarity to be sure). Many of Jefferson's fears, shortcomings and idiosyncrasies are also covered, but in an affectionate way which makes him seem more human and less aloof.

I was pleasantly surprised and gratified to find that Jefferson appeared to become more disposed to the teachings of Christ later in his life, considering him the greatest teacher of the virtues of pure love who ever lived. Beran indicates that Jefferson came to believe Christ's teachings transcended those of the Greek philosophers in that Christ applied them across the board to all peoples. Jefferson even wrote a singular treatise on the subject, this after having held a largely hellenistic view of the world for most of his life.

I finished the book feeling I would have liked to have known Jefferson personally and been able to have conversed and debated with him as a friend. My reason for awarding the book only 4 stars rather than 5 is largely due to my disappointment in the audio version - If I were you I'd opt for paper.

How Thomas Jefferson Can Change Your Life
This book is a Bildungsroman: the Education of Thomas Jefferson. It's the story of how Jefferson struggled to form himself into a man capable of action--the story of his "paideia," as the author would have it, in a bow to his subject's lifelong love of the Greeks. JEFFERSON'S DEMONS describes the mysterious ways the Sage of Monticello educated himself and learned to tap his most profound creative instincts.

Like so many great men, Jefferson was engaged in an ongoing conversation with the great men of the past, with Montaigne, Homer, Solon, Tacitus, Milton, Isaiah, Socrates, Jesus. Beran lets the reader overhear these conversations, and he shows us how Jefferson drew on them both in his private life and his public work.

The author's richly allusive style is itself an instrument in the communication of his vision of Jefferson: there are passages in the book in which the prose has less affinity with the rhytmically and spiritually flat prose of the present than with that of the Caroline and late Elizabethan prose-stylists. This startling use of language and metaphor prepares the reader for the book's major reassessments of whole tracts of Jefferson's thought. The book provides a nuanced reading of Jefferson's "Whig" and "Tory" qualities, shows how deeply immersed Jefferson was in a Virginia culture of decadent feudalism, and contains an ingenious reading of the connection between Jefferson's "sentimentalism" and the mediaeval romance of the rose. Jefferson's architecture emerges as something more deeply felt than the pasteboard classicism it is often taken to be; and Beran ties his analysis of Monticello and the University of Virginia to his discussion of how Jefferson tried to reconcile his civic republican ideals (the communitarianism of the classical city-state, the Greek polis) with his commitment to Whig liberalism, with its emphasis on liberty of trade, liberty of the press, and liberty of conscience.

I loved this book. It's a splendid account of Jefferson's self-culture and his attempts to apply the lessons he learned in the young American Republic, and it enlarges the number of intellectual debates in which Jefferson participated and through which he must examined.

But the book's most important message is an intensely personal one. Jefferson spoke hopefully of the "progress to be made under our democratic stimulants until every American is potentially an athlete in body and an Aristotle in mind." Beran shows the reader how Jefferson, in trying to realize this potentiality in himself and in others, aspired to the Greek ideal of the statesman who is also an educator, one who can help people to know themslves and do their work.

Stripped Bare: TJ's Heart of Darkness
I bought this book after reading the review in "The Wall Street Journal," which praised it as a "profound and exquisitely written meditation on the mind of America's most enigmatic Founder." I was skeptical at first; I did not want to read another study in what is sometimes called "pathography." But the book overcame my skepticism. The writing style is, I think, very fine, and owes something to the mandarin tradition exemplified by Lytton Strachey and Sir Thomas Browne. But what impressed me most about "Jefferson's Demons" was the complexity of the personality the author reveals in his protagonist. When I was in graduate school I read F.O. Matthiessen's classic study, "American Renaissance," in which Matthiessen argued that "notwithstanding the humaneness and toleration that made Franklin and Jefferson among the strongest bulwarks in our social heritage, it is forced inescapably upon us that their rationalism was too shallow to encompass the full complexity of man's nature." "Jefferson's Demons" makes a strong case that historians have misread Jefferson's "rationalism," and in especial have failed to do justice to the daemonic qualities in his neo-classical architecture. Jefferson was not as "shallow" as Matthiessen and others have supposed. He is interesting precisely because, as this book demonstrates, he is not a caricature of an Enlightened sage, a plaster-work Voltaire. Whether the Conradian nightmare described on page 250 of the book -- the accusation that Jefferson was once seen "FLOGGING IN THE MOST BRUTAL MANNER A NEGRO WOMAN" -- is true or not I can't pretend to say; but certainly Jefferson was more familiar with human nature's dark side than we've been led to believe. In any event "Jefferson's Demons" is a profound and brilliant book, and I am grateful for it; it is, I think, a classic of its kind.

Occult Side of Jefferson
I found this book fascinating. If it not always completely convincing, is is utterly thought provoking. Why have conventional historians missed the stuff this author has discovered in Jefferson? They must be blind. Did the third president "go out of doors each December and burn Adonis in effigy before the pillars of Monticello"? This book left me wondering just how far this supposedly Enlightened man went with his secret studies into the ancient mystery cults, weird fertility rites, the bacchanalia of antiquity. Jefferson even put implements of the primitive sacrifices -- knives and bulls' skulls and bloody dishes -- into his living room at Monticello. Sarastro had taken over here, and Master Adamo and Michael Scott! Yet Jefferson, the book shows us, did not stop with the mumming plays of the ancient fertility cults and the old pagan demonology; towards the end of his life he was as deeply immersed in the Bible and the Greeks, and he ends up playing the part of a democratic fisher king, a redeemer president. Going beyond his demons and sprites Jefferson turns to Socrates and Jesus. Like any intelligent man, he wanted to know why he was here, and like Solon, whose life he studied so carefully, his spiritual pilgrimage is a revelation. The book is in itself an education, showing as it does how closely Jefferson sympathized with the deepest spiritual currents of his civilization: with Solon and Socrates; with the 18th century sentimentalists who revived the love-poetry of Dante; with the black vesper-pageants of the Renaissance sages, Machiavelli, Montaigne, Shakespeare; with Goethe's walpugris-night dances and the myths which T.S. Eliot later used in creating his fertility tree in "The Waste Land" (cf. Jefferson's "tree of liberty"); with the early Greek theories of paideia (education) that underlie the University of Virginia and their relation to St. Jude's and Tertullian's theories of agape (love); with Aeneas' descent to the underworld in book six of Virgil's Aeneid and the "rival poet" of Shakespeare's sonnets; with Diotima's theory of Eros in Plato's Symposium, the witch of Endor, Simon Magus, the Jannes and Jambres and other wizards of the ancient Jews, and Machiavelli's theory that "the lust captain achieves greatness by raping Fortune, who by his seed is got with world-historic child." A truly exciting book, to my mind, one that shows how Jefferson used the spiritual resources of the West to invent himself -- and invent America.

Jefferson As Human Being
In this wonderfully readable and fascinating look at Jefferson's (for lack of a better word) "interior life", Mr. Beran renders our third President less of a mysterious Sphynx and more of a man with both a head AND a heart. We are so accustomed to thinking of Mr. Jefferson (when we think of him at all in our history-shunning American society) as merely the writer of the Declaration of Independence (as if such an achievement could ever be marginalized by the word "merely") or, worse still, as only a remote, two-dimensional figure whose head appears on our nickel. We forget (if we have indeed ever been taught to begin with) his many other sides, dimensions, aspects.

Michael Beran gifts us with a Founding Father just as subject to anxiety, joy, depression, optimism and grief as the rest of us mortals. His doomed romance with Mrs. Cosway, his trials with Alexander Hamilton, his love of family and, of course, his controversial relationship with his slave, Sally Hemings, all combine to present a human, flawed yet ultimately triumphant example of the human spirit.

Upon reading this book, one feels he knows Mr. Jefferson a bit better, even though some mysteries remain. As Mr. Beran writes in his thoughts on Jefferson's relationship wht Ms. Hemings, "Yet even if the fact of his paternity could be established beyond all doubt, we would still know almost nothing about the nature of the master's relationship with his slave. The quality of those intimacies, their tenderness or their brutality, is lost to history. Jefferson's love of Mrs. Cosway is eternally preserved in the words he wrote to her and she to him, but unless lost documents come to light, his unlanguaged transactions with Sally Hemings must forever remain dumb to the curious inquirer." One wonders if, one hundred or so years from now, there will be an historian who will look upon Bill Clinton's indiscretions with as much wisdom and candor and as little sensationalization.

With graceful prose that sypathetically reveals Thomas Jefferson's inner being without avoiding the frailties which puncture his character - as perhaps judged by us today in a different time and place - along with his incongruities of character - and, of course, his own brilliance, "Jefferson's Demons" is a thoughtful study of a man whose essence often eludes us in this fast-paced, modern world, where men of his intellectual calibre seem very few and far between. ... Read more

Book Description

"A memoir of the human heart . . . a drama of the highest order as well as an important document of twentieth-century history."--Faye Kellerman

Betty Markowitz and Richie Kovacs fell in love as teenagers in Budapest amid the terror and uncertainty of a world at war. They planned their future together, secure in the belief that their love could survive anything, even Hitler. Then, in March 1944, the Germans invaded Hungary.

Here is the moving and dramatic account of one woman's courage in the face of war, and of a love that spanned three decades. From the agony of separation to the horrors of a concentration camp, from her marriage to Otto Schimmel, an Auschwitz survivor who promised her a new life in America, through the joy and struggle of raising a family, Betty never forgot her first love. Then, in 1975, she returned to Budapest and saw someone across a crowded room . . .

To See You Again is Betty Schimmel's wrenching memoir of survival and sacrifice, of love lost and love found. A true story that unfolds with all the suspense of a novel, it is one that will not soon be forgotten. ... Read more

Reviews (39)

WOW!
I have read most of this book and it is amazing! Before i read or even heard about this story i met otto and Betty.Their stories are truly amazing and i believe it is wonderful that they are sharing with the future.

Saw the Schimmels at my school
I am a high-school student in Arizona. We had to read this book for school, and the Schimmels came to our class to talk about their experiences as Holocaust survivors.
I didn't really care that much about the Richie love story once I met them in person. Mr. & Mrs. Schimmel are people devoted to each other and, no matter how it happened, found an incredible love story of their own. I hope someday to have a relationship like theirs is now.
Their survival really made a difference to the world, since they are here to tell their story. There are a lot of people my age that think the Holocaust never happened. I know it did because I met people who lived through it and spend all their time telling students about the war. It was really touching, and a lot of us were crying hearing about all the terrible things that happened to them and we were all thinking about how we might have been in the same situation.
I guess the best part of the book is what people will do to survive, but the really cool thing is that Betty took the time to write it and tell everyone about her story.

One of the most amazing books I've read
Not very many books make me cry..this one DID! Betty Schimmel is an amazing survivor and has a story that I will probably never forget. I do not understand how people can call her "selfish" or or say she complained too much. She endured and survived the most cruelest circumstances and her story tells how strong love can be even in the darkest times.If someone can read this book and not feel any emotion something is wrong. This book makes you realize how lucky we are to enjoy freedom and health. I read this book more than a year ago and it still touches my life.

Let bygones be bygones
I felt mixed emotions about "Betty's choice".She wrote that she honored her values of family and didn't want to have Richie leave his family (with a 7-yr-old) nor for her own children to suffer. She modeled the behavior she would want her children to have.
It's as if she matured and realized that it's not as black and white as it appeared in her youth---that there are many things to consider besides her own immediate desires.---In fact, she gave into her own immediate desires when she married Otto. She tries to make it seem like Otto and her mother arranged for her to marry him but she said "I do". She didn't think ahead to how she would feel if Richie wasn't in fact dead. Perhaps she was influenced by her father missing for so long---and never returning.
But the fact remains that it was HER CHOICE to marry Otto. But she didn't decide to LOVE him. That came later...after she saw Richie and made a decision to stay with her husband and let bygones be bygones.

very juicy!!!
Wow. That was a good book! I liked it a lot. I thought it was very good. It was just interesting and juicy! I also thought that was interesting how a few people in the reviews knew her. Well I would recommend it to anyone. ... Read more

Book Description

The Nobel-Prize winning pioneers in the study of radioactivity. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Written with commendable measure, Geoffrey Perret's Jack: A Life Like No Other is an informal but informed cradle-to-grave biography of JFK. Though Perret hardly ignores the intricacies of Kennedy's uneven and truncated presidency--specifically the cold war imbroglios of Southeast Asia, Berlin, and Cuba, as well as intractable domestic festerings of poverty and civil rights--his real interest lies with the man himself. Kennedy, in chronic ill health from childhood, emerges here as a singular and daunting contradiction, at once cautious and impulsive, generous and selfish. He was a brat and a man of the people, an inveterate womanizer and a devoted family man, well-read but hardly intellectual, a charmer with a ferocious temper. Perret's book--utilizing heretofore-unseen documents--is refreshingly candid and felicitously nonjudgmental. Neither hagiographical, mean-spirited, salacious, nor conspiratorial, Jack, rich in anecdotes, is a welcome, evenhanded addition to the Kennedy library. --H. O'Billovitch ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Tabloid-ish? Maybe, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it
Let me start by saying that I am not anywhere close to being a JFK aficionado.I am not in the position to judge the accuracy of what Perret writes, but you get the feeling that he is sometimes getting carried away with the stories of JFK's promiscuity.At one point, he takes it upon himself to speculate that Kennedy and a woman friend probably slept together, based on nothing but the fact that they were in the same place at the same time.

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this book.Perret is a witty and entertaining writer, and at times I was laughing out loud.He also does a good job, given the length of the book, of giving some historical perspective- helpful if it is the first JFK biography you are reading.Maybe not a masterpiece, but a very enjoyable read.

A Good Try
Jack is a nice easy read but one tends to wonder where Perret got some of his ideas or if in fact he got them from anywhere but his own imagination.There are times when Perret seems to make up small insignificant happenings to forshadow the inevitable outcome of his life.That aside, Jack is a good book portraying a President so unique and so different than most ex-Presidents.This would be a good first Kennedy read.

Good Stuff Here!
The life of Jack Kennedy has been covered countless times in books, magazines and movies.Having made the transformation from assassinated president to tabloid favorite, one wonders if there is anything new to be learned about Kennedy, or if there is anything to be gained by buying Geoffrey Perret's book.If you're at all like me -- a fan of history, an admirer of JFK, but not too swayed by rose colored revisionism -- then this book will prove to be well worth the money.Perret starts at the beginning and fully explores the odd psychological uprbinging Kennedy experienced in a family that was extremely eccentric and neurotic -- quite a far cry from American royalty.He follows Kennedy through his pratfalls as a high school and college student, and laments on the never-ending health problems Kennedy ran into throughout his life.I, for one, never knew that our movie star president was often in a frail and precarious state.By the book's end, you walk away with a new appreciation for all of the complexities of Kennedy's character -- and there enough here to make Freud blink a few times -- and for the truly unique life that he led.

ZZZZZZZZ
Mr. Perret somehow succeeded in writing an incredibly boring book about a man who lived an extrodinary life.The book is also marred by continuous misstatements of fact and poor research.To those looking for a good book on JFK, I advise you to take a look at Nigel Hamilton's "JFK: Reckless Youth" for illumination on his early life, Richard Reeves' "Profile in Power" for a broad look at his presidency, and Arthur Schlessinger Jr.'s "A Thousand Days" for an intimate look at his presidency that also gives you an excellent sense of who he was as a person."Jack" isn't worth the time.

Another JFK-trasher; certainly NOT "like no other"
It's true that JFK lived a "life like no other," but the author completely missed his chance to tell the reader why. This is the same type of tabloid swill that's already been done to death in, for example, "JFK: Reckless Youth" and "A Question of Character." The themes of JFK's being obsessed with early death and his drive to live every day as if it were his last, are interesting ones, and could have been a good premise for this book. But this book adds absolutely nothing to what's already been written. No new ground is broken, despite promises to the contrary. Also detracting from his credibility are the author's gossipy references to such things as JFK's personal habits while having sex, how many cigarettes a day Jackie smoked (do I care?) and the homosexuality of friends like Lem Billings and Joe Alsop. Obviously JFK felt comfortable and confident enough in his own masculinity and heterosexuality, and valued the loyalty and friendship of these men enough, that he was neither concerned about nor felt threatened by their sexual orientation. Also detracting from the book's credibility is the sloppy research and annoying lack of fact-checking. For example, the author mentions several times that Bobby and Ethel were married in 1951.They were actually married in 1950. The book also states that Bobby and Ethel's first-born son was Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. In fact, he was their second-born son (he was born in 1954); Joseph P. Kennedy II (born in 1952) was the first. Also, Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy is mentioned several times as JFK's "eldest" sister, and is even misidentified as such (in place of Rosemary) in one of the book's photographs. Perhaps the author fell into Joe, Sr.'s spell of pretending that Rosemary, the actual first daughter and third child, never even existed. These are just a few examples.

This book is a waste of time. ... Read more

Book Description

This Publitzer Prize-- winning biography of John Muir is available once again in an updated paperback edition.

Working closely with Muir's family and with his papers, Wolfe was able to create a full portrait of her subject, not only as America's firebrand conservationist and founder of the national park system, but also as husband, father, and friend. All readers who have admired Muir's ruggedly individualistic lifestyle, and those who wish a greater appreciation for the history of environmental preservation in America, will be enthralled and enlightened by this splendid biography. Features a new foreword by Steven J. Holmes.

The story follows Muir from his ancestral home in Scotland, through his early years in the harsh Wisconsin wilderness, to his history-making pilgrimage to California.

This book, originally published in 1945 and based in large part on Wolfe's personal interviews with people who knew and worked with Muir, is one that could never be written again. It is, and will remain, the standard Muir biography. ... Read more

Book Description

With the passion and grace that mark her bestselling novels of women and faith, Mary Gordon contemplates one of history's earliest and most powerful female martyrs

Eternally fascinating, an enigma no less in our time than in her own, Joan of Arc has haunted Gordon's consciousness since childhood. Who was this girl who came from nowhere, supported an equivocal cause, triumphed for a scant few months, failed as a soldier, vacillated about her vision, died in agony, was refused canonization for five hundred years, yet, ponders Gordon, "stands alone in our imagination for the single-minded triumph of the she--and it must be a she--who feared nothing, knew herself right, and chosen of the Lord?"

Joan of Arc penetrates the popular cultural icon to examine the vulnerability of a woman forced by her mission into the public world of men, from her first march at the head of the French soldiery at the age of seventeen to her capture by the British in 1430, from her vilification as a witch to the formidable legacy of her struggle. Only Gordon--a storyteller the San Francisco Chronicle calls "scintillating"--could breathe life into a figure so ethereal, so puzzling, so human. ... Read more

Reviews (24)

a superior scholarly analysis
Although this is my first Mary Gordon book, I am fairly impressed by both her narrative skills and fairly in-depth analysis on the life of Joan of Arc. After reading all the readers' poor reviews on this book, I feel responsibile to defend Gordon and voice out some objections towards the readers' harsh comments on Gordon. Although her book is not an excellent source for Joan of Arc as an biography, Gordon did a good job in informing the readers some rare (instead of popular) historical background during the time as well as Joan's personal motives which contribute to her uprising. It's true that Gordon did not tell a straight forward story about Joan, it does not mean that she is a bad writer who intends to omit important details. In the book she gave a detail chart of dates and events of Joan to compensate the biographical account for Joan (if she did not expose it enough in her book). I am impressed to find that in a short work, Gordon's intensive research on Joan gave vivid, clear, historical and sometimes critical analysis about Joan herself and her actions. Gordon's style is both narrative and analytical. Gordon's book may not an important biography for Joan but it's definitely a wonderful and exciting read for those who wants to know the Joan behind the scenes.

"There is no one like her"
Previous Amazon reviewers of Mary Gordon's Joan of Arc often criticize Mary's choice of writing a "meditation" instead of a "real" biography. One particular reviewer especially disliked the Introduction which he thought was just plain awful.Well, put me in the other camp - I thought the Introduction was wonderful, and in fact the best chapter of the book. Why so? Because Mary Gordon, very much like Johan Huizinga who she references, immediately grasp an essential truth about Jehanne - there is no one like her. Huizinga was an historian who realized Joan could not be comprehended with the ready-to-hand tools of the historian. Mary Gordon realized the very same thing with respect to the tools of the biographical reviewer. A "meditation" is not a failure. Rather, some such "indirect" appraoch is necessary, whether it be poetic, or reflective as in Mary Gordon's approach. As Harold Bloom might say, the essence of Joan is her irreducible "strangeness". I am absolutely convinced that persons who do not realize this will never be equal to the task. As Mary Gordon says her Introduction : "There is no one like her". That is why Mary's approach succeeds.

SAINT OR CRAZY TRAIN?
One of the most famous woman warriors ever known was Joan of Arc. The only thing I really knew about her before reading this book was what was filtered through movies and oral legend. To me, there has always been a thin line between saying Joan was schizophrenic, or mentally deranged, or a charlatan, or a person who truly heard God.

From the outset Mary Gordon makes it clear that this is not a standard biography, but more a meditation on Joan of Arc. Joan was born into a time of petty squabbling amongst the nations of Europe. For example, there was a huge dispute going on in France as to who ruled there. Was it England or the French heir to the throne, Charles? After about a hundred years of war, they were no closer to settling the dispute. As in World War II, part of France sided with the invader armies of England. The other part sided with Charles. The problem was that Charles was almost bankrupt, demoralized, and unmotivated to seize any power or take any action.

Enter the rejuvenating force of Joan, a peasant girl who claimed that God had told her to crown Charles king of France. Instead of having the divine right to sit on his keester all day, Charles woke up to the fact that he just might have the divine right to RULE. While giving Joan symbolic power over his armies, she was mainly just seen as the mascot as she inspired French armies to throw the English out of Orleans, even though she took part in the fighting. (She later dubiously claimed she never killed a man in battle). Gordon points out that anyone that leads merely by charisma is doomed to go downhill without victories and, after just a few victories, Joan suffers just that fate, is captured, and after a show trial reminescent of Stalin, burned at the stake for heresies against the Church.

In this biography, Gordon focuses more on the social force of Joan than a standard work would. Being such a short book, we did not get enough of the actual trial transcripts which were taken down as the events happened. To me, the introduction took up too much room, and the last chapter was just about literary works inspired by her. Gordon believes that Joan sticks out in the minds of Europe because she was a woman who threatened the male hierarchy. I don't mean to make this sound like Joan of Arc is a feminist book.

The reason why the English hated her so much was because they believed that women were inferior and it was shameful to lose a battle to her. So she had to be stopped. The church hated her because she went against conservative ideas. In that era, just as now, the Church was reactionary. It was dangerous that a person could speak directly with God. If that became the norm, what would the Church's reason to exist be? Even the king she helped crown was embarassed by his beholdeness to her and abandoned her to be executed without even lifting a voice in protest. Joan was too revolutionary a force to survive in an orthodox age.

The problems I had with her was that Joan seemed a little too much to enjoy the pomp or her position. She always wanted to look good, even in battle. She wanted nice lace capes etc. Ironically, she was captured by a soldier who was able to pull her off her horse by grabbing on to her cape. It seemed like she was some berserker fashion model. She wasn't very rational either, taking hundreds of troops to battle against thousands. She was a source of inspiration and could have done a good job as a figurehead but she wouldn't settle for that. I also have doubts that God would find any interest in whether France or England ruled each other or not. In the end, I believe that Joan either was delusional or made up the whole story of the voices, just as people today see the Virgin Mary in windows.

Really bad
Since I listened to the unabridged version, I continued through the end. If I was reading, I would have quit long before the finish. The text was awful, the reading worse!! It took a dynamic historical personality and reduced her life to some kind of soap opera persona.

A short history of the patron saint of France.
Gordon's book is a little wooden, but it packs a lot of history in this short 170 pages. Some of the other Penguin life books have been a little wacky in their interpretation of the life of these great people, but Gordon does very well in her version of Joan of Arc.
Joan of Arc was a great leader of people in the unification of France. However her life was very short, and her military insight was slight causing her to be ultimately defeated. King Charles may have been a slacker but at least he saw his goal of a united France, long after Joan went up in flames. I think Gordon does a good job in detailing this.
At the end, Gordon shows us the after effects of Joan being burned. The Catholic Church bowing to political pressure started the process of making Joan a Saint in the late 1800s. Gordon relates these events in a concise summary. A good short read for those interested in the history of France. ... Read more

Book Description

The classic, Edgar Award-winning biography, published to celebrate the centenary of Hitchcock's birth with a new introduction by the author.

This is the definitive life story of Alfred Hitchcock, the enigmatic and intensely private director of Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, The Birds, and more than forty other films. While setting forth every stage of Hitchcock's long life and brilliant career, Donald Spoto also explores the roots of the director's obsessions with blondes, food, murder, and idealized love-and he traces the incomparable, bizarre genius from Hitchcock's English childhood through the golden years of his career in America as one of the greatest directors in the history of filmmaking.

"Absolutely compulsory reading."-The New York Times Book Review

"A real page-turner, and as complete a picture as we are likely to get."-Variety

"The finest book about a filmmaker yet. Sensational in its revelations; at the same time, a biography of unassailable integrity. I could not put it down."-Gregory Peck ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Interesting tedium
Took a little time to get going but once it did I read the book in two days. Extremely well researched and insightful. Have always been a Hitch fan, but was never aware of what a disturbed and internalized individual he was. The depth of this portrayal of the subject is surprising. Typically, a story like this will delve into relationships in the subject's life but Hitchcock really didn't have any. The author does a nice job of explaining the probable reasons for this. I recommend this book to fans of Hitchcock the man because it goes a long way in explaining why he made the films he did. Not to be confused with a technical "anthology", it's more like a psychological analysis into the twists and turns of the inside of Hitchcock's head. He was a strange dude!

Extremely informative, interesting
Donald Spoto has done a tremendous work in obtaining first-hand accounts from Hitchcock's friends, colleagues, family, and even Alfred, himself. There is not one iota of information about Hitchcock left out of this monumental work.

He traces the ghosts of psychology that haunted Hitchcock from a very young child on until his pitiful death. Hitch's wants, desires, insecurities, and love affairs (one-sided) are intricately outlined and analyzed in a biography that has few contemporaries. This truly is the ultimate work on Hitchcock's life.

The Man Who Knew Too Little
Spoto has done an admirable job at putting together 500 compelling pages of reading. Unfortunately, he mentions the fundamental problem with this book in the very preface...that Hitchcock left few records and let his guard down for few individuals. The Hitchcock most knew was no more personal than what we know from his television persona. So right away, we have a biography that doesn't have much basis. So Spoto tries to compensate by drawing conclusions about Hitchcock based on his films. Kind of silly, really. Spotos analysis of the films could be interesting, but it's very uneven...he'll spend 10 pages on one film, and barely mention the existence of another. And the only revealing passage on anything regarding Hitchcock's life itself is on his Tippi Hedren years.

However, my chief problem with The Dark Side of Genius is Spoto's tendency to excuse Hitchcock when convenient. It's ridiculously facile. EVERY time Spoto reached an unsuccessful Hitchcock film, he explains how Hitchcock was preoccupied, depressed, or altogether uninterested in the that film. Can't we allow that a genius is fallible? His classics were the product of passion; his failures were due do lack of interest. That's way too black and white a stance for any serious biographer or film scholar to promote. He never allows that Hitchcock tried and failed at times. To Spoto, when he failed, it's because he didn't care.

By far the most useless book on Hitchcock
This is one of the most influential and most useless books on Hitchcock. The book is very telling, not of its subject matter, but of the author. Sadly, the book received a lot of undue attention and its misconceptions have still not sufficiently diappeared. Absolutely horrendous.

It's torturously and sadistically good!
Awesome read! During the spring 2002 college semester I attended a film class where we, the students, had the opportunity to study Alfred Hitchcock the whole semester length. This was one of the books my teacher had us use as a resource book for our reports for the class. The book is well written and in depth. It covers it's bases through different perspectives/aspects of Hitchcock's life from birth to death. It's a good solid read for anyone. As Hitchcock would probably love to hear -- it's torture to give up such a good book. ... Read more

Book Description

With deft, picturesque prose, Aubrey presents biographical sketches for an intriguing and colorful parade of statesmen, poets, philosophers, and scientists, including Walter Raleigh, Francis Bacon, William Shakespeare, John Milton, Thomas Hobbes, and Rene Descartes, as well as a host of lesser known but equally fascinating figures. This anecdotal, gossipy collection brings to life the tumultuous world of Elizabethan and Stuart England and its revolutions in politics, science and morality. At the same time, Aubrey revels in the sheer variety of human nature and in the detailed, intimate, and sometimes scandalous aspects of his subjects' lives. An antiquarian, Aubrey began his collection as source material for his friend Anthony Wood's histories of Oxford University. In this new edition, more faithful to the original text than previous versions, Brief Lives emerges as a revolution in the art of English biography, a mixture of entertainment and erudition, and a lively portrait of an age. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Rambling 17th century gossip
It's fun reading this collection of digressive informal anecdotes about famous (and some obscure) Englishmen. If you enjoyed "An Instance of the Fingerpost" (where some of thc characters appear) you'd like this. As a primary source for information it gets less reliable the further back it goes. Aubrey was born in 1626 so his accounts of Shakespeare and Elizathans are a generation removed, but he had met Harvey and Penn and had been through the Civil War and the rule of Cromwell.

A unique gleaning of 17th century English history and gossip
Because its author never completed most of the entries for this biographical work, and never published it, what he did set down about his varied noble and ignoble subjects is uncensored, gossipy, perhaps unsubstantiated, and delightful. If you like browsing in Pepys' diary, or are fascinated by English life in the 17th century, this is the book to leave about for the occasional free moment. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Poor writing manages to make an interesting life boring
This book covers an interesting life story and has great detail, but unfortunately much of that detail has nothing to do with Mr. Fleming's life, instead focusing on the bloodlines of every British person he ever met. A typical sentence would read "While at the party Ian met John Blankenship of Eddileshile, who would later become the Duke of Ipswitch and marry the Dutchess of Flem, whose mother, the Dame of Foppishnich, once had lunch with Sir Henry Handllberg" - and NONE of these people would have had anything to do with the story, the party, or Ian Flemming. It is as if a Flemming biography was inadvertantly been mixed with a "Complete Peerage of the Brittish Isles" and they went ahead and published it anyway. If you must, get the print version, so you can skim over the irrelevant stuff that pops up every other sentence - if you listen to the Audible audio version (like I did) you will find it had to follow and boring to boot.

Nicely done
In a fashion, Mr. Lycett's biography is as detailed as Carlos Baker's biography of Ernest Hemingway. Nearly every movement of Ian Fleming's adulthood is covered. What is revealed is not a pleasant personality. Ian Fleming was a selfish, egocentric fellow who was very much a rake and a cad, especially in the years before World War Two. Scion of a wealthy family, he was a true-to-life example of England's decadent ruling class as much as the Marchmont family was in Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited.(Interestingly, Fleming's wife, Ann, was friends with Waugh though Waugh did not know Fleming very well when Brideshead was written). Lycett paints an unflattering portrait of this ruling class. The ruling circle which Fleming was part specialized in divorce, arrogance, selfishness, the lapping up of assorted luxuries. They lacked fidelity and self-discipline. It is also noteworthy that in the middle of the Depression, Fleming was so set in society that he seemed to be able to vacation at a whim and not lose his job. Fleming would have died a spoiled cad if not for the discipline of war, in which he served well as an intelligence officer. Egocentric as always, Fleming later claimed to have drawn up the blueprint for the American O.S.S., later known as the C.I.A.. During the war, Fleming fell in love with Jamaica. This love led eventually to Fleming's routine of writing a James Bond novel each winter at his place, Goldeneye, in Jamaica during his ordinarilly 2-3 month winter vacations. The James Bond pop phenomenon was slow to take off and by the time that it did, Ian Fleming's health was in severe decline due to years of a diet of cigarettes, large amounts of alcohol and greasy foods. The Bond novels will never be known as great literature but they are tersely written in fine, spare prose. The plots are usually ridiculous but, after all, they were to be fun books, not serious literature. Sadism is laced within many for Fleming was a sexual sadist. What is most fascinating about the biography is the chummy relationships within the British ruling class where Fleming would have the homosexual Noel Coward as his best man, rent Goldeneye to Prime Minister Eden after the Suez fiasco and Fleming's wife, Ann, would carry on an affair with Labor Party boss Hugh Gaitskill with Fleming's acceptance.

This was a throroughly delightful and interesting read.
Lycett gives great insight into Fleming's character and also the world he lived and wrote in. Also, this book gives a great overview of World War II and the Cold War. I highly recommend this book to Bond fans and anyone else who enjoys reading about exciting persons, such as Fleming.

007's creator revealed
This was an excellent book. The research was excellent, and Lycett's ability to portray characters from the early to mid 19th century should not be overlooked. My only gripe was there seemed to be two oft-repeated phrases: "In a letter to Evelyn Waugh, Ann..." and "En route to Jamaica in New York, Ian...." But all things considered, this is an essential read for any 007 fan - casual or the vodka-martini drinking type.

Delve a bit deeper into the origins of 007
This biography of Ian Fleming by Andrew Lycett is an essential read for anyone wanting to learn more about the creative forces behind one of popular culture's enduring icons, James Bond. Fleming's childhood, wartime exploits, travels - any element which helped develop 007 - are explained in great detail. The book jacket describes Fleming as "a more interesting" man than his creation, and it's true ten times over. This book is about as readable as a biography can get - due no doubt to Fleming's action-packed, turmoil-filled life. As an added bonus, Lycett offers fascinating bits of information on each of the Bond novels - character name origins, methods of research, etc. Any and every 007 enthusiast should take in this commendable work, obviously researched extensively. If nothing else, "Ian Fleming: The Man Behind James Bond" could pass as a "How NOT to Live to be One Hundred Years Old" how-to guide. Given Fleming's terrible health habits, it's a wonder he lived to see fifty-six years. ... Read more

Book Description

It was one of the greatest romances of our time.They were both Hollywood giants in their own right, yet it was the nine hit films Katherine Hepburn made with Spencer Tracy that, in the eyes of the American public, defined them as Hollywood's most celebrated romantic team.On-screen, the headstrong Tracy had met his match and she put him in his place.Off-screen, despite the fact that he never divorced his wife, Kate remained utterly devoted to the mercurial, sometimes violent Spencer as he battled his dependence on alcohol.

Now, thirty years after Spencer's death, and as Kate celebrates her 90th birthday, Christopher Andersen reveals fascinating new insights from important sources, and offers the full, poignant story of their life together."An Affair to Remember" paints the complete, inspiring, often funny, sometime heartbreaking, always captivating portrait of the unique relationship between these two American icons. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Spence and Kate: the secret romance
These two screen giants met on the set of Woman of the Year in 1942 and were together until Spencer died of a heart attack, shortly after wrapping up Guess Whose Coming to Dinner in 1967. This book chronicles their remarkable, romantic pairing in an era where a movie star's private life could remain hidden from a prying public. Spencer was married to a devoted Catholic, Louise, and he refused to divorce her. He also felt a tremendous sense of guilty about his deaf son. So marriage was out of the question, but Kate didn't care, she just wanted she be with Spencer, and she was, following him all over the world to sit worshipfully at his feet.

Andersen dutifully chronicles the nine classic Tracy-Hepburn films and gives some intriguing behind-the-scenes glimpses into each movie. There is also much information about Tracy's legendary bouts with the bottle, his brief fling with Gene Tierney in the early 50's and Kate's affair with Howard Hughes in the 1930's. All the bases are covered, but I wish Andersen would have interviewed more people close to the duo. Still, an engrossing read and essential for anyone enamored with either Spencer or Kate.

Memorable
I found An Affair to Remember a truly remarkable portrait of Hepburn and Spencer's lives (before and after they met). The book was interesting and well written. A great pick for anyone interested in either actor.

Star-Crossed Lovers
This novel opened up a world that I knew nothing about. The world that only Katharine & Spencer lived in, together... I've been a huge fan of the acting duo for years. Now I feel like I almost know them. Reading thisbook is like taking a quick peek behind the scenes. It gives details intotheir lives prior to their initial meeting. Then continues describing howthey had to sneak around in order to keep their affair out of the papers.This novel is heartwarming & also tragic. I loved it. If you're aromantic, you'll love it, too.

A book for all the hopless romantics out there.
One of the best books I have ever read.A great love story for the romantic in all of us.Chronicals the ups and downs of a relationship on the sly with a love that would last a lifetime.Very sad, yet a love weall wish we could find.I couldn't put it down.

Very intriguing.
It was filled with great information about Katharine and Spencer - seperately and together.It is unbelievable that they existed in a 26 year relationship and nobody talked about it until Katharine started talkingabout it herself.Amazing. ... Read more

Book Description

Queen of Egypt, scholar, murderer, lover of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony...the perfect subject for distinguished historian Grant, who debunks the image of a wayward woman and replaces it with a brilliant linguist and strategist.


... Read more

Reviews (7)

Ancient spin meisters
I'm not a classicist as some of the other reviewers on this site appear to be, but as a layperson I can say that this book was pretty interesting. There are some boring parts, as others noted, but what biography does not have some boring parts? Here's what I found especially interesting:

Grant gives readers a good idea about how most of the chronicles he consulted were written from one perspective or another and thus tended to be sentimentally biased in one direction or another. Grant points out significantly that as "Westerners" we have clung most closely to the "Occidental" version of matters, rather than anything leaning toward the other side, the "Orient." He points out consistently how ancient writers who disliked Cleopatra changed facts around to disparage her, while the opposite was true of those who liked her.

The point being, it seems, that you have to take your history with a grain of salt (just as we do the news from the various modern media). Some reviewers seem to feel that Grant himself is slightly biased, in Cleopatra's favor, but as long as we're aware of it, we can perhaps discern the bias and read other viewpoints to get a well-rounded sense of what actually occurred.

The other interesting point was how many people, mostly men presumably, died during these ancient wars. And how little their deaths accounted for anything. In other words, life was a lot cheaper then than today. In Cleopatra's time, only the top dogs had the sense of individual rights that most of us have today. Is that progress?

Grant's book, of course, is thoroughly documented for those wishing to do further investigation.

Diximus.

Pretty Dry
It's the splashiest period of all ancient history... a near Jerry Springer opera of lust, betrayal, and tawdry affairs. And yet, Michael Grant makes it about as dull as he possibly can.

He presents a very factual and well-researched account, though I take exception to several of his assertions and theories, including the one where he asserts that Octavian wanted Cleopatra to commit suicide because he was afraid the Romans would want to free her as they did her sister Arsinoe. Arsinoe was just one random Egyptian princess who defied Julius Caesar. Cleopatra was the occidental temptress who had ensnared and ruined two of Rome's best men. She was probably the most vilified and hated of all Rome's enemies in history, for with Cleopatra, it was intensely personal. The very idea that the bloodthirsty Romans would have a sudden sentimental streak towards her is pretty laughable.

But on the whole, his theories are soundly researched and well justified, even when I disagree with them. The book has some lovely portraits and a more in depth examination of Cleopatra's forebearers than is usually presented in her biographies. Moreover, he has an excellent perspective on the supposed 'inevitability' of Cleopatra's loss, and how the world may well have been different had things gone another way.

It's a reasonable and scholarly work that makes a fine addition to my collection. If you're looking for something to move you, you may prefer Margaret George's "The Memoirs of Cleopatra".

Probably the best biography on Cleo
Cleopatra is a fascinating figure... renowned as a patron of arts and learning, a gifted linguist, and a canny politicians, she is too often remembered as a sex kitten. Grant cuts thru the myths, pro- and anti propaganda to deliver what is probably the best biography on Cleopatra. Writen by one of the marquee lights of classical history, the book is written in academic style, although for the most part it is highly readable. To be honest, I found the first preliminary chapters to be somewhat slow going, but once the story begins it takes off like a grand soap opera. Not as splashy as some other works on the great queen, this is *the* place to go for a detailed, comprehensive look at Cleopatra.

Michael Grant is the greatest!
When it comes to ancient history, Michael Grant is the greatest! I've read several of his other books and he never fails to amuse and inform. His book on Cleopatra is informative as well as entertaining. Cleopatra was a Greek Macedonian ruler of Egypt with a deep love for culture and powerful men. Her liaisons with Caesar and Antony are very well described, as are her achievements as queen. Mr. Grant is truly the greatest!

Cleopatra by Michael Grant
All of Grant's books are becoming classics,he is the premier true storyteller,factual and fascinating, all his books are collectible must reads! ... Read more

Download Description

Shackleton tells the story of his last expedition (1914-1917) when his ship was crushed by pack ice. He sailed 800 miles in an open boat and then hiked twenty miles through the mountains in order to save his men. ... Read more

Reviews (31)

A modest, factual account of extraordinary leadership.
This a story of a "failed" cross continental expedition and its aftermath. It gives a continuous account of the unbelievable experiences of Ernest Shacleton and his crew of 27 men from the time their ship, the Endurance, is frozen in pack ice until their final escape some 20 months later. This unbelieveable feat was accomplished without a single loss of life!

The character and leadership abilities of Ernest Shackleton are impressive and facinating as he and his crew are pitted against forces of nature beyond the experience of most mortals.

I found much inspiration for dealing with life's everday experiences and challenges from reading this account. I have also read Frank Worsley's account of the "open boat" escape and a biography of Sir Ernest Shackleton. I will continue to expand this list of readings as I am able to find more accounts on the subject.

The lure of the Antartic and the study of these extrodinary adventures grips me as no other topic has for a long time.

A Gripping Tale
Ernest Shackleton has always been one of my heroes. The story of the Endurance and how the Shackleton Expedition kept body and soul together and made it safely home after losing its ship in the Weddell Sea ice pack is one of the most heroic episodes in the annals of human adventure. Hollywood could not write a more compelling epic.
I bought the book because I wanted to read a first-hand account of the Expedition, despite being somewhat afraid of its being bogged down in technical details. It was not. Once the scene was set, what the reader gets is a fast-moving, easy-to-read, and very gripping tale of the attention to duty, the guts, and the undying optimism it took to overcome what must have seemed like insurmountable odds. Shackleton's wry sense of humor and his willingness to take calculated risks and make hard decisions undoubtedly helped to inspire his men to work as a team.
You will sit on the edge of your seat as you read of the harrowing voyage in the tiny dinghy across the raging seas as Shackleton and a chosen few set out from Elephant Island in a desperate attempt to reach South Georgia. You will feel the weariness and the agony of his party as they seek to find a way to the other side through what had been considered inaccessible territory. And you will feel the sense of relief and triumph as the party stumbles into the whaling station where it was able to organize a rescue for the comrades left behind on Elephant Island.
That is really the climax of the story. Some readers may find the second portion of the book a bit anticlimactic, and it is, but that does not take away from the main story. The second part merely recounts the trials and tribulations of the other half of the expedition. The story of those men and their ship is interesting in its own right and is included here only because Shackleton, as overall commander of the expedition, included their story in his journal.
Sir Ernest Shackleton's story is an inspiration to me. His heroism shines in a world that produces too few heroes. I highly recommend this book to all who like a good story. Perhaps you will be inspired too.

the straight-ahead momentum of an ice breaker
His party stranded on an ice floe hundreds of miles from their destination, beyond the reach of the outside world -- even had the outside world known they needed help, or where to look -- his ship crushed by countless miles of pack ice and supplies running low, Ernest Shackleton spent not a moment in lamentation. He set about saving his crew and himself. They made their way to a small, desolate bit of island shore, from which Shackleton and five men journeyed 800 miles in a 22-foot open boat across the most dangerous sea in the world. A trek through miles of snow-covered mountain wilderness finally brought rescue. And everybody survived! Shackleton's is an epic tale of true adventure and derring-do, and he tells it with the straight-ahead momentum of an ice breaker diving into the pack. He sees beauty in the Antarctic, and he carries a touch of poetry (Browning, anyway) in his soul. He is also a detail man, and his flights of descriptive eloquence bog down amid facts, figures, wind speeds and diatomous striations. But this piling-on of minutiae proves riveting in the action sequences (most of the book). We feel like we are there. Having told his own party's tale, Shackleton gives a useful if anticlimactic account of the Ross Sea wing of the expedition - a story with its own generous measure of adventure, heroism and poignancy.

Poor Shackleton
Poor Shackleton. In all his life it seems he allways came late or second, allmost made it or, as in this story, did not reach his goal at all.
Most amazing in his last expedition is that no lives were lost, though probably encountering the worst circumstances of the expedions I know of.
Most remarkably are the stunning photo's by Frank Hurley. The negatives were either transported over ice and sea, or (no book provided me with that information) were allready developed on the ice. In my copy of this book (printed probably around 1935), but not found in all later editions, one of these negatives is in good quality full-colour, made in 1914!

Quite a tale of human survival
I want to dispell a couple of myths that seem to be pervading a handful of the reviews for this book. First, this book is NOT a cure for insomnia. This book is unbelievable exciting, and if it puts you to sleep so quickly, then your attention span has obviousley been severely warped by television or some other dumbing-agent. Secondly, the language, though written 80+ years ago, is not that challenging. I'm no linguist, but I didn't notice a difference between Shakleton's phrasing and word choice and the writing of today's writers. The fact that it was written so long ago does not make it boring. I think his book has aged quite well.

Was it the MOST exciting book I've ever read? Of course not! (That award likely goes to Helter Skelter) But Shakleton was not aiming to create an edge of the seat thriller (although he did come close!). He was only trying to, as acurately as possible, tell his heroic tale of survival in as much detail as he could provide.

The book's only shortcoming: I wish it included a much more detailed set of maps with which I could follow Shakleton's moves. I was constantly referring to the basic map at the beginning of my book only to be dissapointed by its lack of detail. There were countless references to islands that were not marked on the map in my book. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

shines a light on a murky time in history
I must admit a bias - HS Tsien is my grandfather's cousin. As such, this book is for me the family history that noone would tell me. For other readers, I would say that most history books concentrate on the rise of the USSR as a power, and then *poof!* there's China...how did that happen? Chang's book reveals how China's emergence on the world stage as a military power resulted from the US's own stupidity and xenophobia. My one real complaint about the book is that Chang's writing seems to drive the book to a climax at the point of Tsien's return to China, and then peeters out while she recounts China's race to the ICBM. This inconsistancy makes one feel that Chang herself had lost interest in the story, which is unfortunate. This story is fascinating enough (for anyone interested in history, not just me) to wish that the entire book had been treated with the care that Chang shows Tsien's US phase. Anyways, one leaves the story with feelings of respect and regret for what could have been. Please note that HS Tsien is still a bogeyman for the US intelligence community - he was mentioned, as Qian Xuesen, in the 1999 Cox report during the Los Alamos spy scandal. As far as I know, HS Tsien is still alive.

Meticulously researched and superbly written...
This is another book written by Iris Chang, author of bestseller "The Rape of Nanking". "Thread of Silkworm" told a fascinating story of a Chinese scientist, Tsien Hsue-Shen, educated in U. S. with great contribution in U. S. rocketry, was falsely accused as a communist and deported back to China in 1950's. Upon return to China, he became the father of Chinese missile program. The book was meticulously researched and superbly written. Iris Chang is a very talented writer; this is evident by this book.

barely scratches the surface
... the subject matter is very intriging and deservesattention. However, Ms. Chang's book has no real insight into Tsien'slife.... The actual writting is also lackingg. The book is filled with dragging sentences that fails to excite the reader. I only recommand this book to readers who do not know anything about Chinese history or Tisen. It is to be used as an general and elementry reference only. Even then, there are still many holes....

Saga of a rocket scientist worthy of Hollywood
Am I inclined to believe that all foreign born or educated defense scientists (e.g., Tsien and J.R. Oppenheimer) should be presumed "seriously suspect until proven innocent"? If so, to me Chang's book would no doubt leave open the issue whether Tsien had had a Communist leaning, while he was an immigrant in the US from a Nationalist China -- before and during a 'sky rocketting' career which culminated in his roles as JPL Director/Co-Founder; MIT/CalTech full professors; American aerospace pioneer; and a top Pentagon consultant, who grilled Werner von Braun in Germany to write for the US government its report on German aeronautics/rochetry state of the art.

To answer my own question, fortunately, I am not -- at least not consciously. So, let me justify my rating.

Poignantly told with facts organized like an epic novel, Chang's story is the saga of a gifted and industrious "orphan" from endless wars and feudal corruption in China who came to Uncle Sam's neighborhood for schooling, then contributed greatly to Sam's household, but was spurned from it by house stewards for allegedly associating with "people who condone thievery"; who then continued to work hard to be useful to people who appreciated him (as his ambition had always been) in a new career which he again excelled in, after, in the only remaining option he saw, being taken in by a delighted relative Uncle Mao.

As aristocratically brilliant, and yet democratically helpful to students/colleagues he saw as diligent, "why did he embrace the wicked Uncle -- of the proletariat masses of his kins?" you might ask.

'Cuz back in Uncle Sam's household, someone made him learn the lesson "You can't fight City Hall and expect to win." How about a harder question, from someone who has actually lived under a Fascist or Communist government?

One minor warning, though: Perhaps due to her bilingual upbringing, Chang's sentences are sometimes a bit long and not as colloquial as an impatient American reader might expect of a good novel. I won't throw rocks in my own glass house; so, to me, this quirk does not detract from the book in the slightest. Bear with her through limited technical discussions, and enjoy!

Remember Pygmalion in Greek mythology? A king could love the statue of a female figure so much that she came to life, to fall in love with him? If Tsien was innocent of the charge against him in the 50's America (you be the judge after reading Chang's book), isn't Tsien's "second life" as the leader of the successful Chinese ICBM project a modern-day antithesis of Pygmalion. Only this is not a mythical story, but real events which someday (with a chance however remote) may end disastrously for people on both shores of the Northern Pacific!

As Chang told us, the decent and kind, President Carter in the 80's by executive decree rescinded the INS order of the 50's for deporting Tsien (in essence saying, "Oops, we made a mistake.") Tsien however is still waiting for someone in the US government to give a forthright official apology for having ungraciously kicked him out while he was a guest in Uncle Sam's house, as he said so essentially (leaving it for others to remember his extraordinary contributions). Before then, he would not accept CalTech's invitation to come to California for awards of "Distinguished Teacher" and "Distinguished Alumnus."

Do most Americans who have read this book think the Communist charge against Tsien unwarranted (as President Carter must have, by his rescission decree)? If so, is it consistent with America's ideal of decency for some interested/concerned Americans to seek to make peace for their country with an aging ex-friend whom it turned enemy, and is it consistent with the US interest, in so doing, to disarm or merely soften whatever hostility toward USA his work may have bequeathed to his students and associates in China?

Whether these issues can be resolved positively with effective actions, before Tsien's death (in the challenging backdrop of the Cox Report) will determine if t