Book Description

Compelling new vision of a major period in history, and the remarkable woman who was part of it. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

approach it with an open mind
When this book first appeared in bookstores there was complete silence in the media. When I read it on the bus I got so many dissaproving looks that I had to remove the dustcover. This is an important memoir that tells a previously hidden part of the history of the Civil Rights movement. As for MLK's sex life the details mentioned in this well written book have already been hinted at in Ralph Abernathy's memoir years ago.
As for GDP herself, I have commend her for not trying to sugar coat the story. She comes off as a willful, selfish woman and doesn't seem to mind it as long as the true story is told.

More National Enquirer than a historical text
Back around 1990 Ralph Abernathy was falsely accused of writng a book that dwelled on Dr. King's sex life. Abernathy's book (And the Walls Came Tumbling Down) was a great memoir, THIS is the trashy book that should've gone down in infamy. This "book" is filled with sleazy details not only about Dr. King but other aspects of Ms. Powers personal life. Hold on to your stomachs, folks. You will want to sterilize your hands after reading this garbage. ... Read more

Book Description

MURDER IN HIGH C...

A persistent paparazzi has hounded operatic soprano Isabella Sommita until her nerves are at the breaking point. Now her millionaire boyfriend has whisked her to a New Zealand island to recover. There she plans a performance of an aria written just for her-- by her secret young lover, who, along with a bevy of envious celebrities, is also on the island. It's the perfect set-up for grand opera-- wild passions...and bloody murder. And when the great singer is found dead, a photo on her bosom, Superintendent Roderick Alleyn must find out who did the diva in...
... Read more

Reviews (5)

Last in a wonderful series!
This book is Ngaio Marsh's last, and it is even more remarkable that she wrote it in her seventies.She still shows throughout the book that she deserves the title of "Queen of the Straight Crime Novel".In this book more than any of her others, we see her love for her adopted country of New Zealand.Her descriptions of this wild and beautiful land are wonderful.We also see her entering bravely into a "modern" setting.She discusses Diva misbehaviour and the curse of the paparazzi like a pro.In this book we have Alleyn and his wife Troy visiting a very rich man on his private island right smack off a lake in the New Zealand wilderness.The guests include this man's mistress - a world famous opera soprano, and her entourage.Of course murder occurs, and Alleyn is left to deal with it entirely on his own, since the mansion has been cut off bya storm.I missed B'rer Fox, but still the story didn't suffer.I am very sad that I have completed reading all of Miss Marsh's wonderful books.I do recommend them to anyone who loves detective stories.She is remarkably good, and it's sad that she's no longer with us.

Unusually Witty
Marsh was noted for her ability to draw memorable characters, and PHOTO FINISH is no exception, with the novel revolving around famous opera soprano "La Sommita"--an individual of such colorful bombast that her presence dominates both every one around her and the novel as a whole. Coaxed into assisting "La Sommita" when his artist wife is asked to paint her, Inspector Allen begins the case in an effort to track down a photographer who has made a career of photographing the diva in the most unflattering ways possible--and then selling the photographs to newspapers in cities where she is appearing. Upsetting for the diva--and extremely amusing for the reader--but is there actual danger afoot? There most certainly is, and once more Allen is called upon to investigate a particularly nasty murder, this time with possible Mafia connections. Some readers may spot the killer long before the inspector himself, but even so Marsh's vivid way with words makes PHOTO FINISH a vastly entertaining read.

Modern Mystery, Modern Issues
In Ngaio Marsh's "Photo Finish", Inspector Alleyn travels to Marsh's back yard -- New Zealand -- to consult with an Opera diva who is being stalked by a mysterious photographer.Unflattering photos of 'The Sommita', as she is known, have driven her -- as well as her 'patron' and his staff -- to distraction.Alleyn, along with his artist wife, Agatha Troy (who is to paint a portrait of the singer), journey to a remote island hideaway where murder -- no surprise -- quickly occurs.Marsh peppers the story with well-drawn characters: a young composer, surly Italian servants, mysterious millionaire...but frankly, I guessed who the murderer was early on, as well as the motive.The novel is still enjoyable, but other Alleyn mysteries are more exciting and more, well, 'mysterious'.

A fine finish
A wonderful mystery setting (New Zealand house party, cut off from the outside world) in one of Marsh's wittiest, best-written books (at the age of 85!).Ending was a bit disappointing, but otherwise wonderful.Her penultimate book, better than her last, Light Thickens.

Diva chews up the scenery, the score, young men, etc.
This book has another of those delicious, overwrought artists that are always so well-done by Marsh (she must have known many in her long career in the theater).In what's probably a take-off on the MariaCallas-Aristotle Onasis relationship, a dripping-rich magnate and aperpetually hysterical singer create the perfect setting for her genius ona remote island, where the murder occurs during (you guessed it) a stormthat cuts the island off from civilization just long enough for Our Hero tofigure out whodunit.Hey, that kind of thing still works for me.Theimprobable ending diappointed me a little, but that's hardly a criticism inthe genre, and it's a darn good read anyway. ... Read more

Book Description

This little book provides an attractive introduction to Martin Luther King, Jr. for three and four year old children. In simple form and language, it offers the profound truth that people of all colors ought to live together in loving terms. -- Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, President, SCLC ... Read more

Reviews (1)

most intriging, excellent,bravo
More books are needed like this for our youth of this next century.. ... Read more

Book Description

The story of a dynamic leader who believed in freedom and justice for all.King preached nonviolence, using peaceful means in his efforts to end discrimination against American blacks.Even though an assassin's bullets tragically cut King's life short, they failed to tarnish his triumphs or erase his legacy.

... Read more

Book Description

• Martin Luther king is the most important black American of the twentieth century and defined racial equality in the United States.
• No one book offers such a succinct yet critically engaged analysis of King and his relationship to the rest of the civil rights movement.
• It offers a synthesis and assessment of a much larger body of scholarly and popular literature on King and the civil rights movement.
• Most studies offer straightforward biographies of King or histories of the civil rights movement: this book is distinctive in placing King’s leadership within the wider context of the movement

Kirk’s book offers an up-to-date assessment of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement, incorporating insights from the most recent scholarship. In doing so, he delivers a fresh perspective on the relationship between ‘the man and the movement,’ arguing that it is the interaction between national and local movement concerns that is essential to understanding King’s leadership and black activism in the 1950s and 1960s. Kirk examines King's strengths and his limitations, and weighs the role that King played in the movement alongside the contributions of other civil rights organisations and leaders, and local civil rights activists.

Dr. John A. Kirk is senior lecturer in American history at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is author of Redefining the Color Line: Black Activism in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1940-1970 (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2002), which won the J. G. Ragsdale book award. He has also published numerous articles and essays on the civil rights movement in the United States.

Reviews (1)

Martin Luther King by Robert E. Jacoubek and Nancy Shuker
The book Martin Luther King by Robert E. Jacoubek and Nancy Shuker demonstrates the amazing struggle Martin Luther King, Jr. and the black community went through to gain the independence and free will their ethnic group deserves.This book is a very good learning device because within the book there is a leadership essay by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. which clearly states what leadership is and how it affects the world.This essay helps you understand what America was like during Mr. King's lifetime.

The authors didn't write much about Martin Luther King's personal life.Instead, they talked about what conflicts he faced and what specific important things he accomplished.This way of writing allowed the reader to learn more about his heroic tasks.The authors wrote in a very factual manner.They gave many examples of what Mr. King accomplished by talking about his conflicts and then explaining the resolution he came up with.

The authors also used a story-telling technique in their book.They told most of the story in a "third person" view.To do this, they properly fit many actual quotations from Mr. King's speeches into the story.This way of writing allows the reader to learn more from the story that is told.The following quotation from the book is one example of this story-telling technique:"King told the crowds at that night's mass meeting: 'Now they know that an injunction will not stop us.'"

This book is great for all ages.The way the authors wrote helped me understand what a hero really was and what characteristics Martin Luther King had to produce such an advancement and to make the world more equal.The book makes you think of questions that influence what a hero really is.When I read the book, I thought of questions like:"Do leaders lead by force or by persuasion"By command or consent?"Raising these basic questions makes you think about the passage and what it really means.

I would recommend this wonderful book to everyone.It expressed Mr. King's story in a very logical manner which made it much easier to read.It showed how hard Martin Luther King worked at helping his ethnic group succeed in life with segregation and mistreatment surrounding their lives.The book taught me never to give up, no matter how difficult the task is and some day you will get what you deserve and worked hard for.In the end, after all the crime and mistreatment that had taken place, Martin Luther King finally pursued his dream and his people are set free. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Martin Luther King: a great man of great achievements
Harry Harmer achieves a great deal in a short space, covering the life of Martin Luther King largely by headline and the well known events of the day. The reading style of the narrator is very acceptable but not up to the standard of a professional actor. Harmer's style is factual and concise, and gives a coherent overview and analysis of King's driving religous philosophy and practical politics. Much background detail and human interest element is necessarily ommitted, but the overall effect is brisk and not too dry. King's one-line critique of Marxism is quoted to great effect. Harmer shows that King acheived the near-impossible - a radical, and radically effective, moderate political position which harnessed wide support and led to massive lasting social change for good. The proof of his rightness is strangely most evident in the opposition that King received. Neither the extreme Black Power groups who advocated violence, or the spineless wet appeasers who protested that he should temper his words and stick to preaching, came near to harnessing the lasting, positive, and effectual driving force for social justice that King did. Harmer maintains considerable objectivity throughout, and that in an area that arouses violent passion and debate to this day. He is not afraid to tackle the actions of the iniquitous vested interests of the day, for instance the role of the FBI, top politicians, and powerful white businessmen. This is a highly commendable introduction to the life and works of Martin Luther King. ... Read more

Book Description

1917. Great men need not that we praise them; the need is ours that we know them. They are our common heritage. This shall be a plain and literal tale. If its hero will but speak for himself and we may enter into some degree of intimacy and gain some measure of acquaintance with him as he was, this writing will not be in vain. Handsomely illustrated. ... Read more