Ah.. tis nice to slip back into some quality non - fictch. I love a bit of controversial history. This time - Regency England. Really had no idea of tAh.. tis nice to slip back into some quality non - fictch. I love a bit of controversial history. This time - Regency England. Really had no idea of this drama. I knew that The Regent, later George IV (son of the mad one) wasnt too fond of his wife Caroline of Brunswick and was allready secretly married to a Catholic. I wasnt aware of the Queens story though. Shunned immediately - three people in the marriage scenario, he had countless mistresses, she was dismissed to her own court in Blackheath. This was only 20 years prior to Queen Victoria. She heads of round Europe being loud and vulgar but seemingly quite loveable, comes back to get charged with adultery so that the old sod can try and divorce her. Public outrage with Diana style peoples princess anti-monarch feeling. Brink of civil war as radicals support the Queen over the King. Poor luv cant get into the coronation to get crowned herself - goes hurtling round all the gates to the Abbey trying to get in and embarrassing herself. Real life Regency drama, cracking good read....more
I picked up a suitably bendy and well loved copy of this one at a good friends in Wales a little while book. Set amongts dramatic political changes inI picked up a suitably bendy and well loved copy of this one at a good friends in Wales a little while book. Set amongts dramatic political changes in late 18th Century Poland at a similar time to the French Revolution, It is supposedly based on the real life diary of the main character which came into the hands of the author somehow via one of her descendants. A real life connection with Historical Fiction - asssuming the fiction is well researched is always a bit of a bonus. I went to Krakow a couple of months ago too so it was nice to have a Polish set read. Theres a suitably scandalous scheming second lead in the shape of Zofia, the cousin you love to hate. A great foil for the ever so slightly too goody two shoes Anna. All in all its a great period romp and quite an incredible life story even if only half of it were true....more
Im still reeling from it. No matter what you think you know about the Holocaust, or seen in newsreels, it never fails to shock What i liked about it
Im still reeling from it. No matter what you think you know about the Holocaust, or seen in newsreels, it never fails to shock at the sheer scale of it. To say the Jews were treated far worse than livestock is an understatement, I can't even begin to describe their treatment. Like 'The Pianist' this is brought to home even more chillingly when its an account of actual individuals and their testimonies of what happened, what they had to do to survive and who they lost. Being a good Jew was never going to help you survive, and luck had nothing to do with it, those few that did, did so by some act of cunning and ingeniousness and in this case with the help of Oscar Schindler, who whilst maintaining a front of needing them to produce goods for the war effort and through spending millions on bribes, managed to protect about a 1000 Jews, a very small portion of the millions who would perish even then it was only possible by them being his prisoners and an incredible amount of subterfuge and daring acts. He was himself arrested 3 times and had to risk his story not being believed by the allies when the war ended. The book is very well written and based entirely on the evidence and interviews of the survivors. The author states in the preface that being a novelist he was more comfortable with that style of writing and so it is written essentially as a historical biography but fleshed out a little to give more of an impression of how events took place and what it was like, with conversations written as they would have occurred as dialoge rather than as recollections. To me a well written book (or movie) that is based in fact automatically gains a bonus star and this ones is something that was compulsive reading. It should be taught in schools. Its incredible to think my parents would have been teenagers when the worst of this was happening not that far away. Its just mind-boggling to think that it could have in what we imagine to be a civilsed nation. The thing is you only have to look as far as Guantanamo Bay to see how easily de-humanisation of people can begin to happen on our own doorsteps if it is not checked. I must admit it does also give you a sense of how damned lucky you are to have been born where you were and at what time. The Polish Jews were persecuted by the Poles before the war, and if they survived it, were 'liberated' to become citizens of a Soviet State. Nice one!..Ok..OK..so we all now about the holocaust but back to the book, I highly recommend it!, extremely well written, factual, and not overly-dramatised. The events were so shocking there was no need for it.
What I didnt like 'likes' and odd word for this book, it grips you, it makes you think and it makes you feel - deeply. But its not for the faint hearted, be prepared for holocaust nightmares!. Ive also read reviews from people who found it too dry and historical and not the novel they were hoping for. To me this enhanced it, I didnt find it in the least bit dry but i love a great biography. So if your searching for a great Novel in the traditional sense of the word then it may not be for you.
Moving and heartfelt, fictionalised account of the lives of the Mirabal sisters in the Dominican Republic under the tyranical regime of the Dictator TMoving and heartfelt, fictionalised account of the lives of the Mirabal sisters in the Dominican Republic under the tyranical regime of the Dictator Trujillo.
Theres something about Hispanic writing and settings that I really warm too. The close knit extended families, the powerful language, Limondas on the verandah in a tropical garden. Passionate emotional characters. This had the added bonus or a true and tragic story and the sense of what it must be like to live at first relatively normal lives under a system where your every word could be overheard and used against you, people you know dissapearing and meanwhile having to be seen to celebrate your 'Benefactor'. And ultimately making choices as to how involved and what risks you would take to oppose that regime.
The book is written with varying perspectives of the four sisters. I loved it from the start. There were a couple of times when it dragged slighlty, I wouldnt have wanted to be any longer. I wasnt particularly fond of Maria Therese's childish diary entries. But overall, thoroughly enjoyable and engrossing....more
I felt slightly guilty in the end considering it was for a book challenge task in honour of The Queens birthday.. i wont be getting a knighthood any tI felt slightly guilty in the end considering it was for a book challenge task in honour of The Queens birthday.. i wont be getting a knighthood any time soon!. Actually H.M comes out relatively unscathed but in general the whole House of Windsor is summarily blasted. Its a definate page turner - we all love a scandal don't we?. Its seemingly very well researched and does point out clearly where things cant be proven and what facts there are. The more you go on, it does seem the more they had to find on them to keep up the pace so it seems whilst the majority of the book is extremely likely to be accurate there are one or two claims when you think, now come on thats a bit much.
e.g - The famous Soviet spy Anthony Blunt who was the Queens Art curator who managed to stay in close contact and in his job with the Royals for 15yrs after being uncovered as a traitor before it became public - the authors suggest was possibly an illegitimate child of George V, hence family resemblences and he new secrets, hence looked after.
- Lord Louis Mountbatten, Prince Charles favorite uncle and National War hero, while quite conviningly being shown to have been a megalomaniac, incompetent, bisexual and who pushed Prince Philip into tge royal marriage in order to create a dynastic house of Mountbatten (which Prince Charles may well adopt the title of on his accession), is suggested to have been in cahoots with the Soviets and finally killed not by the IRA but by the KGB getting rid of evidence under the guise of the IRA - hmm not sure about that one! Why would a prominent Royal be pro communist being the atipethis of everything communism stands for and at the same time promote his familys dynastic claims
Most of the rest of the book however enlightens us on some other interesting facts, most of which either now well known to the public or corroborated by other researchers suggestions.
Famously the Windsor dynastic line were never really British at and came to power through an obsucre German count who was 52nd in line to the thrown but happened to be the closes related protestant they could find after Queen Annne. Following anti-german feeling during the first world war they reluctantly changed their name to Windsor to try be as british as possible but still remained on excellent terms with the German royal families. They were looked down on by the blue blood english aristocracy who really were decended from English nobility.
Communism was seen as the ultimate threat given what happened to their cousins the Romanovs so though hopefully unaware of the true nature of Nazi-ism were very pro German even during the war and frequently tried to bring behind the scenes peace with Germany to side with them over the Russians.
At various times George the V was shown to have made unconstitutional influences over the government and it is claimed MRS Simpson was a convenient scape goat to force Edward the VIII into abdication because his views were so reactionary and he did not plan on being a hands-off monarch allowing the elected government to do its thing.
The Queen mum is claimed to have been after Edward but settled for second best with George VI hence her unending hatred and snubbing of the Duchess of Windsor who was refused a royal title.
All this and more ! certianly a fascinating read - thoroughly enjoyed it....more
What a great autobiography - just shows ordinary peoples lives can be just as interesting to read about as famous ones. it made me think alot about whWhat a great autobiography - just shows ordinary peoples lives can be just as interesting to read about as famous ones. it made me think alot about what life would have been like for my poor grandparents, struggling to make ends meet. Working class values. The class system in general. The value of learning and education. The gumption to do an honest days work and work hard. The drive to make something of yourself and to make a difference. The politics of the time. The frightening feeling of impending war - My Father would have been about 10, imagine war breaking out. Pretty scary. Woodruff is a great writer and a likeable person with a great story to tell. I enjoyed it far more than i expected to....more
A well written bit of HF with a nice non-fiction conspiracy theory at the end presenting the facts relating to their having been a female Pope in the A well written bit of HF with a nice non-fiction conspiracy theory at the end presenting the facts relating to their having been a female Pope in the 8th Century and the destruction of records relating to her by the catholic church in the 17th Century. I like HF thats well researched and relatively factual especially if its a period im unfamilar with and relying on the author to paint a fairly accurate picture of it. Whether the facts relating specificaly to Pope Joan are correct no one will ever really know now but the author paints a vivid picutre of dark ages Europe, populated by known historical events. Note of Caution to new readers.. Joan's only Pope for about the last 50pages, the vast majority of the book is her path from Childhood where education of women was seen as sinful, through an adult concealed as a man in order to escape the past and contiune her quest for knowledge, which is interesting in itself....more
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