Book Description
In the political ferment of 16th-century England, one family above all others was at the troubled center of court and council. Throughout the Tudor Age the Dudley family was never far from controversy. They were universally condemned as scheming, ruthless, overly ambitious charmers, with three family members even executed for treason. Yet at the opposite extreme of the spectrum, Edmund Dudley was instrumental in establishing the financial basis of the Tudor dynasty, while John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, led victorious armies, laid the foundations of the Royal Navy, ruled as uncrowned king, and almost landed on the throne. Written by award-winning historian, Derek Wilson, The Uncrowned Kings of England charts the scandals and triumphs of this legendary clan. Foremost among the family, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, was Queen Elizabeth’s favorite for 30 years (and came the closest to marrying her), and governed the Netherlands in her name. His successor, Sir Robert Dudley, scholar, adventurer, and courtier, was one of the Queen’s most audacious seadogs in the closing years of her reign, but fell foul of James I. The fortunes of this astonishing family rose and fell with those of the royal line they served faithfully through a tumultuous century.
Customer Reviews:
A history not so dark.......2006-03-17
The Dudley family was one of the most powerful families in the history of England. One step away from the crown through several generations, they also exercised enormous influence in matters of military and economic affairs. They also have a dark history about them, as author Derek Wilson acknowledges in the subtitle to this text: 'The Uncrowned Kings of England: The Black History of the Dudleys and the Tudor Throne'.
To be sure, the Dudleys were of minor prominence but respectability before the Tudors arrived on the scene. The Dudleys were involved in various ways with the Wars of the Roses, but came to achieve their greatest fame and fortune under the Tudors, serving in increasingly powerful positions through all Tudor reigns save that of Mary (by this time, the Dudleys had become too identified with the Protestant cause to be trusted by the Roman Catholic Mary, but her reign was but a half-decade interlude in the more-than-a-century reign of the Tudors).
Wilson's text is not the typical history, and he explains why in the introduction. 'The "black legend" of the Dudleys is a monstrous injustice. It is based on the testimony of preachers, pampleteers and rabble-rousers who rejected the policies Edmund and his descendants stood for but who, for the most part, did not dare to direct their criticisms at the sovereign.' The most prominent members - Edmund Dudley (under Henry VII), John Dudley (under Henry VIII and Edward VI), and Robert Dudley (under Elizabeth) - all served their monarchs well, according to Wilson, including bearing the brunt of public criticism. 'With all this mud being thrown it was inevitable that much of it would stick.'
However, Wilson hastens to add that he is not writing a piece of hagiography, nor is he trying to deny the truth where it bears witness. Wilson does highlight areas of concern when warranted - just how much money did Edmund Wilson legitimately gain through his positions? What was the influence of Robert Dudley over Elizabeth? However, popular impression in history has most likely been distorted through propaganda, and has caused this generally able and loyal family to be largely overlooked in history. This is an especially problematic oversight, given that 'on at least two occasions, the House of Tudor really did come very close to being the House of Dudley.'
Wilson arranges his text into four main sections plus an epilogue. The first concentrates on the figure of Edmund Dudley, Esquire, who served as a legal official for Henry VII. He was recognised as an able and educated man by all around him; educated at Oxford and Gray's Inn, he had connections in town and country. He served for a time as Speaker of the House of Commons (then a position appointed by the monarch). However, he never advanced to the status of being a 'favourite'; Wilson gives various evidence for this, not the least of which is that Edmund Dudley never became Sir Edmund Dudley or Lord Edmund Dudley, nor were any other honourifics bestowed upon him, unlike the many courtiers around Henry VII. That he made money and acquired estates showed his competence, but his untitled state spoke of a distance.
The second section looks largely at the figure of John Dudley during the reign of Henry VIII. The third section continues with the same figure in drastically different circumstances. During the reign of Henry VIII, John Dudley slowed moved up the ladder through both military and diplomatic work. He achieved various stations, including being Lord Admiral, and was rewarded with trust as a member of the king's inner circle much of the time. During the reign of Edward VI, he advanced in terms of titles and land, becoming both Earl of Warwick and Duke of Northumberland during his tenure as what some would term the 'uncrowned kingship' of being Lord Protector.
Wilson argues that it was Edward's devise moreso than John Dudley's to cancel out the claims of Mary and Elizabeth and settle upon the heirs of Frances Brandon, married to Henry Grey. Whether this is entirely true will likely never be known; it is possible that the overall influences of the time influenced Dudley and Edward in the same way such that their intentions and ambitions coincided. Lady Jane Grey being married to Guildford Dudley, one of the Duke's sons, would have produced a Dudley dynasty for England.
The final major figure is Lord Robert Dudley, who made a remarkable come-back from being part of the family who tried to supplant the Tudor dynasty with one of their own to being a favourite of the final Tudor monarch, Elizabeth. So much a favourite was he that, when marriage to him seemed impossible for Elizabeth, serious proposal was made for him to marry Mary, Queen of Scots, whose progeny became monarchs of whole of Great Britain. Again Britain might have had a Dudley dynasty, but it was not to be. Lord Robert remained a trusted and loyal friend for Elizabeth who was nonetheless mistrusted and resented by many others.
His son, another Robert Dudley, also became a late favourite of Elizabeth, but his legitimacy was never established, and when his son died in infancy, the Dudley line died out, not long after the Tudor line had similarly expired.
Wilson's text suffers a bit from lack of editing (lots of mis-placed commas, occasional typos in word choice and spelling), but on the whole is engaging and accessible, and certainly illuminating toward a family otherwise lesser known and little studied. There are genealogical charts showing descendants as well as alliances, photographic plates with images of the Dudleys and places of interest, a good collection of notes, bibliographic references, and a reasonable index. This book straddles the fence between being a popular history and an academic history, edging more toward the popular.
I enjoyed reading this book thoroughly, and recommend it to any interested in British history, royal history, and Tudor and Shakespearean times.
Uncrowned and surprisingly unknown.......2006-02-02
What most of us know about the Dudleys comes from their supporting roles in the stories of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Jane Grey and Elizabeth I. To put it mildly, they have not been overburdened with good press. Wilson does his best to rescue the Dudleys from their "Black Legend" and in some regards succeeds. While I can't entirely accept his assertions that Northumberland did not plot to have his son crowned king through Jane Grey, Wilson's depiction of Robert Dudley as a wise advisor to Elizabeth I instead of a 16th Century boytoy is convincing.
Like an increasing number of nonfiction books, this one could use a bit more time with a copy editor. One Dudley has "died in the wool" beliefs and Margaret Tudor has only one heir instead of two. Minor quibbles but annoying nonetheless.
The Other Side of the Story.......2005-08-13
History has been unkind to the Dudley family, laying a multitude of evil actions at their feet and never really giving them a chance to defend themselves. Enter Derek Wilson, Defender of the Underdog? Wilson's biography of this influential family logically and soundly refutes many of history's uglier interpretations of their actions. The book is well researched and includes many notes taken from Dudley family correspondence and other historical documents. In the chapters where Wilson presents alternative spin on commonly accepted interpretations of Dudley actions, he does so by including opinions of Dudley contemporaries, both friends and rivals, and by assessing the social, political and religious climate of the times. I found the book engaging and highly readable.
Average customer rating:
- Good on it's own, bad as "Volume 2"
- Good story, But the writing...
- Let's shed the spotlight on the Empire for a bit...
- Does anybody ever die???
- Developing the series beautifully.
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The Uncrowned King (The Sun Sword, Book 2)
Michelle West
Manufacturer: DAW
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0886778018 |
Customer Reviews:
Good on it's own, bad as "Volume 2".......2007-06-14
I loved the first book in this series, and got this book to read more about the main character, Diora, and her mysterious, wonderful, terrifying world.
Instead I got your basic sword-and-sorcery in a totally different world. Yeah, it's the same planet but the difference is as extreme as Afghanistan and Los Angeles.
If you read this book without expectations of the first, it's not a bad book at all. The character of Jewel is fun. Valedan is not explored as deeply or as well as he should be, and I wish there had been more and simpler background on the Kings.
A great deal is left to supposition and imagination. It reads like volume 2, but not of this series. Events and backgrounds are hinted at and it really seems like there MUST have been a book or a chapter missing. That's pretty annoying.
Good story, But the writing..........2004-12-06
I consider myself a person who is usually up to the challenge of a difficult read. But difficult just for the sake of being difficult...
Maybe it's the authors writing style, but this book is bogged down with details and an extremely slow narrative. All the action is killed my the passive voice. What makes me not like this series so far (I've read up to book 2) is the way the author takes very simple things and somehoe finds a way to present them in a twisted convuluted fashion. I mean, I understand if a situation is complex...it should be written so. But two characters having a mundane conversation should not sound like a passage from the bible.
Exmple:
"She opened the door, feinting as she stepped out"
Turns into
"She heard him say something, brushed his words away with the heavy wave of a hand, took a step toward the doors and teetered there, on the edge of night.
And fell in"
- Michelle West, The Uncrowned King
You don't really figure out that the character feinted until a few paragraphs later in the story. I'm not saying the author should have wrote in the way I wrote it above, but you get the idea. Almost everything is written like this, especially in Book 2! It is so annoying!
I personally do not want to read poetry when I am supposed to be reading prose.
*note, Book 2 is a little more interesting and I really want to find out what happens in the story, becuase it is a good plot, but the writing is killing me.
Let's shed the spotlight on the Empire for a bit..........2004-08-25
Mmmm... Valedan. At least, those were my thoughts when I first began reading this novel. I read the first 90 pages the same night after I finished "The Uncrowned King", so the characters were heavy in my mind. I was by now accustomed to the ways of the South and the new cast, and being a long-term Devon ATerafin fanatic from the Sacred Hunt series *and* a Valedan fan, I found this book quite enjoyable. As always, West had to put a spin on things. New trials, new triumphs. The focus on this book is Valedan proving himself capable of taking the position of Tyr'agar by competing in the most difficult and challenging games in the Northern Empire. As always, I enjoyed West's new characters. They added a new shade, a new perspective onto the story, as to dive deeper into the history and tragedies of the Dominion as well as the triumphs and tragedies of the North. Mysterious characters, such as Kiriel, go into further development and change as well as the story progresses.
Now, a warning to all readers- the characters from the Southern Dominion are, for the most part, forgotten throughout this story, as it occurs within the confines of the Northen Empire. But fear not, they will get their turn in the spotlight as well.
As typical with Michelle West, you have to wait until the last few hundred page sof the novel for the most delicious moments, but it's well worth the read, especially if you're a Valedan or Jewel fan!
Does anybody ever die???.......2004-06-22
.... this book seemed to repeat the first 25 pages over and over and over again. Someone tries to kill someone. Some magical hero stops them. over and over. Bad guys always lose, good guys always win. Assassination attempt after assasination attempt is NARROWLY avoided, due to the last-minute revelation of one of the characters. I becomes quite annoying. How can the book contain any drama if you know the bad guys are always weaker than the "good guys?" I skimmed through half of the book.
In any case, I have already purchased the entire series, on the merits of the first book ... so hopefully it will get better. Although,r eally, I doubt it. This author seems to have a tendency to repeat herself, and to make the good guys invincible.
Developing the series beautifully........2004-02-23
First and foremost, if you haven't read the first book in this series, go read it before you touch this. Though the author tries valiantly to make it friendly to someone coming into the series with this book, it's almost impossible to fully understand this one without having read its prequel.
I must say that I was a little disappointed with the scope of this installment; where the first one shifted between the two countries, this focuses almost entirely on the northern Empire, specifically Averalaan.
The action in this book moves significantly faster than that of the first, and not at the cost of character development, either. Many characters who were mentioned in the first book come back in force and help flesh out the story wonderfully.
My only real gripe is that I wish the author had included a pronounciation guide with her little glossary as Janny Wurts has done. Many of the names seem Spanish in origin, but there are a few which simply stump me.
Average customer rating:
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The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein: Uncrowned King (Volume 1)
John Donaldson , and
Nikolay Minev
Manufacturer: Russell Enterprises
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: B000O5ZGHI |
Product Description
Akiva Rubinstein occupies a unique position in chess history. One of the greatest artists ever to sit down at a chessboard, Rubinstein was also the strongest player never to get a shot at the title of World Champion. The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein, Volume 1: Uncrowned King focuses on the years 1882-1920, covering Rubinsteins rise from a modest upbringing to his emergence as Emanuel Laskers chief challenger in the last years leading up to World War I. It also examines the effects this conflict had on his sensitive psyche and the way it influenced his play in the post-War years. The most definitive work ever done on the first part of Rubinsteins career, this revised and expanded edition of The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein, Volume 1: Uncrowned King offers almost 500 games, many of them deeply annotated with notes translated from top players of the pre-World War I era, including Lasker, Tarrasch, Schlechter and Rubinstein. The authors have also made many new annotations to the games and uncovered quite a bit of interesting material including recent discoveries on Rubinsteins stay in Sweden after World War I. The second edition of The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein, Volume 1: Uncrowned King is 20 percent larger than its predecessor and with its wealth of crosstables, archival photos, multiple indexes and through bibliography it offers a treasure trove for the Rubinstein fan.
Book Description
If Benny Goodman was the "King of Swing," then Fletcher Henderson was the power behind the throne. Not only did Henderson arrange the music that powered Goodman's meteoric rise, he also helped launch the careers of Louis Armstrong and Coleman Hawkins, among others. Now Jeffrey Magee offers a fascinating account of this pivotal bandleader, throwing new light on the emergence of modern jazz and the world that created it. Drawing on an unprecedented combination of sources, including sound recordings, obscure stock arrangements, and hundreds of scores that have been available only since Goodman's death, Magee illuminates Henderson's musical output, from his early work as a New York bandleader, to his pivotal role in building the Kingdom of Swing. He shows how Henderson, standing at the forefront of the New York jazz scene during the 1920s and '30s, assembled the era's best musicians, simultaneously preserving jazz's distinctiveness and performing popular dance music that reached a wide audience. Magee reveals how, in Henderson's largely segregated musical world, black and white musicians worked together to establish jazz, how Henderson's style rose out of collaborations with many key players, how these players deftly combined improvised and written music, and how their work negotiated artistic and commercial impulses. And we see how, in the depths of the Depression, record producer John Hammond brought together Henderson and Goodman, a fortuitous collaboration that changed the face of American music. Whether placing Henderson's life in the context of the Great Migration or the Harlem Renaissance or describing how the savvy use of network radio made the Henderson-Goodman style a national standard, Jeffrey Magee brings to life a monumental musician who helped to shape an era.
Customer Reviews:
What a jazz book should be.......2007-06-29
In this world of mass-market trade publications on jazz, it is really refreshing to read such a musically literate book. This fascinating and engaging text is in no way beyond the general reader (i.e., one without an extensive musical background) but it is refreshing to actually see written music in a book on music, and an important jazz volume not written by a critic or journalist (not that there isn't room for the latter too, of course).
Book Description
Akiva Rubinstein occupies a unique position in chess history. One of the greatest artists ever to sit down at a chessboard, Rubinstein was also the strongest player never to get a shot at the title of World Champion. The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein, Volume 1: Uncrowned King focuses on the years 1882-1920, covering Rubinstein's rise from a modest upbringing to his emergence as Emanuel Lasker's chief challenger in the last years leading up to World War I. It also examines the effects this conflict had on his sensitive psyche and the way it influenced his play in the post-War years. The most definitive work ever done on the first part of Rubinstein's career, this revised and expanded edition of The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein, Volume 1: Uncrowned King offers almost 500 games, many of them deeply annotated with notes translated from top players of the pre-World War I era, including Lasker, Tarrasch, Schlechter and Rubinstein. The authors have also made many new annotations to the games and uncovered quite a bit of interesting material including recent discoveries on Rubinstein's stay in Sweden after World War I. The second edition of The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein, Volume 1: Uncrowned King is 20 percent larger than its predecessor and with its wealth of crosstables, archival photos, multiple indexes and through bibliography it offers a treasure trove for the Rubinstein fan.
Amazon.com
When the young, insignificant scion of an unremarkable German principality first came to England to serve as consort to the youthful Queen Victoria, no one could have guessed that he would grow to become one of Britain's great--if uncrowned--kings. Albert's life could not have been an easy one; a man of great intelligence, pride, and ambition, he was forced to move behind the scenes, playing major roles in running the Crimean War and working to keep Britain out of the Civil War being waged in the United States. He was interested in industry and technology, and worked to stage the Crystal Palace exhibition--the first World's Fair. Yet, while his wife adored him, his adopted people scorned him for his German accent, his foreign ways, and his covert activities as a surrogate ruler.
Biographer Stanley Weintraub has penned acclaimed biographies on such renowned figures as Benjamin Disraeli and Queen Victoria, and in Uncrowned King he turns his attention to Prince Albert. Tapping previously unexplored sources, Weintraub chronicles every aspect of Albert's life--from the political to the sexual--in lively, accessible prose, sure to please even the most avid follower of the royal family.
Customer Reviews:
Just absolutely stunning!.......2002-04-08
After seeing the A&E production of "Victoria and Albert," I was curious to know more about the lives of the said characters (I'm also a history major so that helps, too). I was browsing through my university's library to find this book on Prince Albert and I read it. I just finished reading it today and wow, this is a stellar book. It's so comprehensive that my mind almost exploded while reading it. There were some minor details that could've been left out, hence the four star rating. I plan to read more about Victoria and Albert in the future. So take my advice. Treat yourself to this wonderful book and put it in your personal library. I'll be sure to buy this book when I have the chance.
Good covering of a neglected life........2000-08-24
I questioned myself before i picked up this book in the library; brought up as a good Englishman, i already knew all i wanted or needed about the Prince Consort, and was unimpressed with it, nor did i care to learn any more. Now i see i was quite correct in my questioning, and i'm afraid i may have to change my long-held, and therefore cherished, beliefs about him. Darn intellectual honesty, anyway! Weintraub's Albert was a responsible, educated, thinking man, thrust into a situation both wonderful and intolerable (his marriage and lack of acceptance in England, respectively). Weintraub shows him as having enjoyed the one side and, through hard work and dedication, partially overcome the other. One is left to wonder, as Weintraub indeed does, what would the monarchy be today had Albert lived as long as Victoria. Surely there would be some differences. On the basis of this book, it is not fair to say (as a previous reviewer did) that Albert laid the foundation for the pax Britannica; he did, however, through his fecundity, insight into both politics and industry, and though a great deal of hard work, aid the shaping of Europe through the First World War. As i look back now, it is hard for me exactly to define just why i have disliked His Royal Highness; i suspect it has to do with his rather poor treatment of his eldest son, the Prince of Wales, which Weintraub does not gloss over, but implies was deserved; also the wreck Victoria made of her life after he died, which really can't be laid at his door; also, though i am probably of the last generation to instinctively feel nothng good can come from Germany, the man was a German (though not a Prussion, at least). Two hundred plus years of racial dislike are hard to overcome. I would not say that i have yet overcome them; Weintraub has helped me see with a clearer vision, though.
A Prince Consort, who really should have been king........1999-08-16
At a time when marriages of royals were political matches, and not romantic ones, this is a story of an insignificant German prince who is married to the very young, Queen of England. Victoria and Albert actually fall in love with each other. Unfortunately, physicians at the time did not know when human females ovulated, which resulted in the many children of Victoria and Albert. However, her numerous pregnancies allowed Albert to become a more integral part in the monarchy. He became King in all but name as Victoria retired to the "sidelines." His diligent, untiring work set the stage for the great Victorian Era and the Pax Britannia.
well-written biography of Prince Albert........1998-07-14
This book is a balanced account of Prince Albert's life - both in his public role as prince consort and as a husband and father. Albert often had to be content to work "behind the scenes" in order to accomplish his goals, and the author provides the details of both his success and his failures.
It is a very enjoyable book. If you liked the author's earlier biography of Queen Victoria, you will like this book too.
Average customer rating:
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The Uncrowned King
Harold Bell Wright
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0766193918 |
Book Description
1910. This is Wright's Pilgrim's Progress-type allegory, with illustrations by Neill, who was well-known for his work in Frank L. Baum's children's books, including the Oz series. Contents: The Pilgrim and His Pilgrimage; The Voice of the Waves; The Voice of the Evening Wind; The Voice of the Night; and The Voice of the New Day. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.
Download Description
Said the Voice: "To thee, O Hadji, I come from the Beautiful Sea; the interminable, unfathomable sea, that begins at the Outer-Edge-Of-Things and stretches away into Neverness. I speak from out the Deeps Beneath. I tell of the Great That Is. I am a Voice of Life, O Hadji, and mine it is to begin for you The Tale of The Uncrowned King."
Average customer rating:
- A Little Review
- Lawrence: the Eccentric, Uncrowned King of Arabia
- A Good Introduction
- An uneven book about a fascinating man
- Lawrence deserves much better
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Lawrence: The Uncrowned King of Arabia
Michael Asher
Manufacturer: Overlook Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0879517123 |
Amazon.com
Thomas Edward Lawrence was born illegitimate in 1888, "the son of unmarried parents who had vanished from one life to recreate themselves in another." (His father left four daughters, a marriage, and a hefty inheritance in Dublin to start a new life in England with the woman who'd been his children's governess.) Lawrence matured into an elusive man whose shifting personas baffled admirers and detractors alike. Explorer and Arabian scholar Michael Asher, himself familiar with the desert lands in which Lawrence made his military reputation during the First World War, accepts him as a complex bundle of contradictions. The story of this romantic Englishman's involvement in the Arab revolt against Turkey is, as always, a gripping physical, political, and spiritual adventure, and Asher retells it well. The book's most noteworthy achievement, however, is the balanced assessment of Lawrence as "a real man with a real blend of strengths and weaknesses ... whose inner lack of strong identity allowed him to be anything and anyone he felt others needed him to be." Biography purists may be put off by Asher's first-person intrusions into the narrative (frequently to retrace Lawrence's most famous journeys or to consider the veracity of incidents Lawrence described in Seven Pillars of Wisdom), but they serve to anchor a near-mythic existence in the geographic realities of the region he loved. --Wendy Smith
Book Description
A major new biography that provides readers with the first nuanced portrait of one of this century's most daring and enigmatic adventurers.
T. E. Lawrence began his role in World War I as a map clerk and ended it as one of the greatest military heroes of the century. He altered the face of the Middle East, helped the Arabs gain their freedom, and formulated many of the precepts of modern guerrilla warfare. But he refused any honors and spent the rest of his life in near obscurity.
A brilliant propagandist, rhetorician, and manipulator, Lawrence deliberately turned his life into a conundrum, thereby assuring his place as a mythical cult-figure for posterity. But who was the real man behind the masks? Desert explorer and Arab scholar Michael Asher set out to solve this riddle of appearances. The result--a biography combining the techniques of the detective story, travelogue, epic history, and high drama--clears away some of the false trails and captures the authentic atmosphere of the Arab Revolt.
Customer Reviews:
A Little Review.......2007-09-05
Having read a few books about T.E.Lawrence and his own tome i found Michael Asher's book easily the most enjoyable of the lot. Any man who took the time to physically visit the routes Lawrence (claims) to have made, has something to say. A very worthwhile book.
Damien in Dublin
Lawrence: the Eccentric, Uncrowned King of Arabia.......2006-12-20
Whether or not you truly want to delve into the life of Lawrence of Arabia and this particular biography depends, I think, on whether you want to preserve the dynamic image of him as portrayed in the movie Lawrence of Arabia by David Lean or want to dig deeper into the eccentric world of the real T.E. Lawrence. I myself am no Lawrence scholar and have something akin to a passing interest in him as a sort of mythological figure like Wyatt Earp or Daniel Boone. This particular book was picked up randomly at a library book sale for a quarter to supplement my knowledge of T.E. Lawrence beyond the movie and to help me prepare to read his memoir Seven Pillars of Wisdom, which I've heard is quite literary and even difficult without a bit of background on Lawrence and the Arab revolt.
As a writer and a scholar, Asher is reasonably capable and has adequate credentials to tell his tale. What has been mentioned in other reviews and which I'll echo here is that he unfortunately wants to interrupt the flow of Lawrence's biography by interjecting his first-person accounts of his travels around the same areas Lawrence traveled. Although this story-telling technique doesn't ruin the book, it slows down the pace and adds little if anything the reader needs or wants to know. To me, it serves as an annoying distraction. It's typical also for Asher to want to pick apart the mind of T.E. Lawrence and give some debatable theories about the motives behind Lawrence's actions. Certainly, Asher appears to do his homework and his assumptions about Lawrence seem well supported, but what is hard to take is the unequivocal nature of Asher's assertions. He himself never doubts his assumptions.
However, if the reader can accept that Asher's views are valid, then the reader should also be prepared to discover that Lawrence was more than a little eccentric, something bound to undermine the beautiful myth around the man. Aside from the details given about Lawrence's truly weird need for self-debasement in the form of flagellation as well as his decision to spend his adult life after Arabia as an enlisted man in the military, what bothered me most about Lawrence as discussed by Asher was his tendency to play with facts, an inclination apparently noted by other biographers. Given the reality that reality is often subjective, I do like to know the facts as accurately as they can be reported. Apparently, Lawrence seems to have appreciated the value of propaganda and chose to exploit it to achieve his ends, which are not terribly clear. Therefore, it's hard to know the whole truth about what happened during the Arab revolt, and Asher finds numerous holes in Lawrence's story. I'm happy to report that Asher does make clear that Lawrence accomplished much of what he claims to have accomplished, so Lawrence was indeed a dynamic fellow and the right person at the right time to do what he did, but he also makes clear that there are bizarre, masochistic motives that drive Lawrence. Therefore, if you want to truly know the man behind the myth, read on. If you want to preserve a myth, watch the movie, and then read an encyclopedia for broad details about Lawrence's life and the Arab revolt.
A Good Introduction.......2006-07-13
I am by no means a Lawrence scholar. I picked the book up at a discount because at the time I was preparing for a deployment to Iraq and was reading everything I could on the recent history of the Middle East. I found the book well written and fascinating. Historicaly accurate? Who knows? But it was a great introduction to a Western icon closely tied with the rise of the Saudi kingdom and the current map of the Middle East. After reading this I read Lawrence's own "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" and who knows what the absolute truth was regarding Lawrence and his exploits. All I know is that this book made for a good reading. I appreciated Asher's insights into Arabic culture and customs. Certainly as we struggle to win the "hearts and minds" of the people in Iraq, any scholarship that helps us to understand how a Westerner can succesfully interact with the Arab peaple is a welcome read.
An uneven book about a fascinating man.......2003-07-31
This is a large and invovled biography of T E Lawrence, written by an author who starts out as an admirer, and remains so to the end, though to a much lesser degree.
Though there is a lot of information about the battles in the desert, i found this book most interesting when the author explores Lawrence's psyche and personality, and attempts (not always successfully or believably) at the truth behind the myth. He tests a lot of the claims about the great man, and mainly finds them wanting. This book is especially strong when it admits that it comes to no definate conclusion - rather, the author presents the facts as he sees them and lets the reader decide.
This book is probably one of the better Lawrence biographies out there at the moment (though i would not say nearly the best) as it delves into the contradictions of the man and the myuth, and isn't afraid to 'pull punches' and not make excuses for the more troubling aspects of Lawrence's personality.
I finished this book wondering why such a genius felt compelled to fabricate so much about his life, but also seeing him as more ' three-dimensional' than the common myth.
Lawrence deserves much better.......2003-02-18
This book fails in many ways. The reason it gets 2 stars instead of one is that it's hard to discuss Lawrence without some fascinating things coming through.
First, Asher makes himelf part of the biography. He discusses his own personal travels in a manner that add absolutely nothing to the reader's understanding. The final paragraph of the book begins with "I." Further, the frequency and manner in which he interjects himself in the book is highly annoying.
Second, there are numerous factual problems with the book. At one point Asher refers to Turks shooting their rifles at Bedu who are over two miles away. Even a trained sniper with modern equipment wouldn't take that shot. Further, his description of Lt. Junor's plane crash is at odds with other accounts. Asher says the plane erupted in flames even though there are published photos of the crashed plane that show otherwise. Lastly on this point, Asher doesn't use Tunbridge's writings on Lawrence's days in the RAF as reference material. It's a surprising omission.
Third, as other reviewers noted, Asher writes extensively about Lawrence's psyche. This would be sensible if Asher was either trained in psychology or referenced studies by those who are; unfortunately, neither is the case. Instead there are a few bibliographical references to works on psychology, but none specific to Lawrence. Asher's vehement discussion of Lawrence's mother makes the reader wonder whether the author or the subject had the greater maternal relationship issues.
Fourth, is Asher's style, or more accurately, styles. At times he uses the contemporary jargon of British soldiers, whereas at other points he writes in a very stilted manner adding unnecessary Latin phrases to the text. His best writing is when he's providing background or contextual material such as the discussion of British military actions elsewhere in WWI.
Lawrence was one of the most fascinating personalities of the 20th century. He deserves a much better biography.
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Soapy Smith: Uncrowned king of Skagway
Howard Clifford
Manufacturer: Sourdough Enterprise
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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