Average customer rating:
- Super alpha male, very dark romance, and yet can't help liking this book!
- LOVE THE BOOK!!!
- not enough "romance"
- Surprisingly good. Definitely felt the passion between the 2 characters
- What a hoot!
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The Conqueror
Brenda Joyce
Manufacturer: Dell
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ASIN: 044020609X
Release Date: 1996-09-02 |
Book Description
Like a pagan god, Rolfe the Relentless rode into Castle Aelfgar to claim it as his prize--and Lady Alice as his bride. Lauded for his bravery in France, in England he was the hated enemy. Once ensconced in his new domain, Rolfe became determined to tame the Saxon beauty Ceidre, Alice's illegitimate sister, whose spirit and sensuality make him risk treason to have her--not Lady Alice--in his bed...
Mysterious and seductive, she was no lady but a spy for the rebel cause of her noble half brothers. Refusing to bow to this arrogant warrior who ignited her forbidden passion, Ceidre was swept into a dangerous liaison tied to the fate of England and kings. Yet with his kisses on her lips, his skillful hands on her body, she would have to struggle not to surrender to... The Conqueror.
Customer Reviews:
Super alpha male, very dark romance, and yet can't help liking this book!.......2007-05-29
What a page turner, this book is filled with twists, not one moment of boredom from me.
I read it in 1 day and lost lots of sleep. This book made me angry, sad, happy, laugh... had enough tender moments to make me think it truly was a "romance " novel and yet had enough "dark, awful" moments to make me think it could've been marked as a fiction too.
Although the hero cheats, rapes, etc... he STILL comes across as tender, in love with the heroine... yes, it sounds bazare and if you havn't read this story you'll think I am nuts. But you just gotta read this tender and yet dark romance story to know what I mean.
I highly recommend this novel.
LOVE THE BOOK!!!.......2007-03-20
I honestly love this Book! I can't even put it down! I say Rolfe was mean.. but at the same time a very passionate, sweet Man. lol! I even shed tears while reading it, especially when she was lock down in the dungeons..
Though I was a bit dissapointed when Guy died.. Over all, I enjoy this book!
not enough "romance".......2007-01-29
Being sexually attracted to another does not equal love for me as a reader. The Conqueror was a page turner, but still left me wanting. There were not enough soft moments between the main characters for me to rate this book any higher than three stars. In fact the first one hundred or so pages was pretty distasteful - but I kept reading because so many of the reviews made it sound like things would be great eventually.
I didn't particularly like Rolf, which was a problem. I just thought he was too much of a brute. Although, I will say that the tender moments between he and Ceidre were lovely - there just weren't enough of them. I like a harsh hero - but this guy was a little too much even for me.
Surprisingly good. Definitely felt the passion between the 2 characters.......2006-06-01
Basic plot:
It's the 11th century. William the Conqueror and the Normans are setting up shop in the U.K. Two Saxon lords are in hiding, orchestrating a rebellion against the Normans. William gives his most trusted commander, Rolfe, the keep that belongs to the Saxon lords, along with their sister's hand in marriage, since they are not there to defend it. On his way to claim his castle Rolfe meets Ceidre who he lusts after and believes to be his fiancee. When they arrive he learns she is the [...] half-sister of his intended but now that he's seen her he's completely blinded to any charms his actual fiancee may possess. Insert political intrigue as Ceidre has to try and stop Rolfe from becoming lord of her brothers' keep, not to mention balancing spying for her brothers, staying out of the way of her jealous sister, dodging Rolfe's lust and her attraction to him. Rolfe has to fight against his feelings for Ceidre and the fact that he just might feel differently about her than he has felt about any woman before.
I've been reading a rash of romances lately (well, 2 previous to this). I've never been on a romance kick before. Or maybe it's just because the first two were so unsatisfactory. Either way, this was a good book. I enjoyed it. I think the male protagonist (not sure I would use the word "hero") is believable; it's not difficult to accept that how he behaves is how a Norman warrior would behave in 1069. I also found myself very caught up in the story--the impossible conflicts between the two protagonists, on opposite sides of a war and having to deal with their loyalty to their people and to themselves/each other. I was very surprised that this had a plot I was interested in. I expected it to be one of those "Me, man. You, woman" kind of things, like you usually see with pictures of huge burly vikings on the cover. I was very pleasantly surprised by this and will have to try Brenda Joyce again. This is, at least temporarily, part of my permanent collection. (Yeah, I know, "temporarily permanent"?)
What a hoot!.......2006-02-21
You can't possibly take this romance seriously -- it's so bad, it's good. It's just well written enough to be readable, but some of the dialog is just laugh-out-loud funny. (Hero to wife, who's mad about his infidelity: "I ---- where I will.") It's the kind of book where characters use the words "my liege".
But I hand it to Brenda Joyce, she keeps the reader turning the pages. I mean, when the hero is named Rolfe the Relentless! (A relentless stalker, certainly.) If you are sick of reading romances that take themselves way too seriously -- i.e., you've had it up to here with Lisa Kleypas et al. -- pick this one up, it's a guaranteed giggler. It's definitely not PC, it's not even really a "romance", but it's fun.
Book Description
A powerful account of the life of Tamerlane the Great (1336-1405), the last great Mongol conqueror of Central Asia, ruler of a vast empire, and one of history's most brutal tyrants
Tamerlane, aka Temur-the Mongol successor to Genghis Khan-ranks with Alexander the Great as one of the world's great conquerors, yet the details of his life are scarcely known in the West. Born in obscurity and poverty, he rose to become a fierce tribal leader, and with that his dominion and power grew with astonishing speed. He blazed through Asia, razing cities to the ground. He tortured conquered inhabitants without mercy, sometimes ordering them buried alive, at other times decapitating them. Over the ruins of conquered Baghdad, Tamerlane had his soldiers erect a pyramid of 90,000 enemy heads. As he and his armies swept through Central Asia, sacking, and then rebuilding cities, Tamerlane gradually imposed an iron rule and a refined culture over a vast territory-from the steppes of Asia to the Syrian coastline.
Justin Marozzi traveled in the footsteps of this fearsome emperor of Samarkand (modern-day Uzbekistan) to write this book, which is part history, part travelogue. He carefully follows the path of this infamous and enigmatic conqueror, recounting the history and the story of this cruel, cultivated, and indomitable warrior.
Customer Reviews:
Mixed Bag, Lots of great stuff, some glitter.......2007-10-02
Marozzi has done a lot of work and there is a lot of great stuff in here. At times he seems to get carried away and feel that he was writing a Hollywood script, it makes the book a cross between a novel and a work of history. But don't get me wrong, he seems to know his subject well. The title is misleading as was the man himself. Tamur used Islam as and when it served his purpose and so implying that he was enforcing Islam is wrong. Tamur killed Sunni's and Shi'as just as happily as he killed people of other faith. Marozzi's treatment of Tamur Lung (the right way of saying the name) reminds me of Mel Gibson's cheap tricks with Christ, throw in a lot of gore and people will buy it to be shocked. Both seem to ignore the context of time. Then every now and then Marozzi throws in a few pages of utmost brilliance like when he boldly states: "Europe of that time was backwater" I doubt how many historians missed that part. He is a great story teller and reads like James Mitchner, just not as gripping. His talks about his travels seem a bit weak and not very interesting. But having said that, I would strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in military history, Tartars, wars in Islamic world and I am sure I will read this book again someday. His map in the beginning is great, but then he chooses to throw some black and white pictures instead of more maps.
It's a bird! It's a plane!.......2007-06-05
In principle the idea to make a mix of a travel book with a history book does not sound so bad - but it does not quite work in this case. The author's travels have little historical relevance, are wordy, and in most (not all) cases simply detract. I ended up just skipping them. The historical part itself is somewhat better, but is badly in the need of editing. The author apparently can't decide whether to give a chronological narrative, and runs back and forth in time with confusing consequences. The citations from contemporary sources are far too long, especially ones from the Spanish Ambassador, whose story of travel to meet Temur is told in similar words at least three times throughout the book. I fully agree with a previous reviewer about too many pages (the whole chapter, actually) being devoted to analysis of the Marlowe play - with no useful information, whatsoever. I would advise to skip the whole chapter, but, confusingly, quite a few pages in the middle and the end of the chapter "forget" about Marlowe and just address Temur himself. Adding to a feel of unfinishness are the maps: they are never referred to in the text, are somewhat redundant, and randomly distributed throughout the book.
On a historical level, although the author, to his credit, does not diminish the atrocities caused by this monster, still, the author clearly finds Temur a more positive figure than the book itself portrays, emphasizing his building legacy and patronage of arts. I am sure this came as a great relief to hundreds of thousands slaughtered by Temur's orders in most cruel manner, in cold blood.
Still, overall, much of this book reads relatively well, and it's only one currently available. Maybe the author will tweak the next edition to make it better......
Heady reading.......2006-11-16
It might be inappropriate to say I >enjoyed
< a book about a protagonist who decorated the scenes of his victories with pyramids of skulls. However, the book is absorbing. The author writes well, with skill, knowledge, and at times quiet humor. His comments on conditions in Temur's lands today were very interesting, connecting the past to the present.
I probably had better than average knowledge of Temur, knew about his coffin lid, and so forth, but my knowledge was, at best sketchy. Didn't Handel have a hand in writing an opera about him? I had never figured out what Mongols were doing ruling India. This book filled in vivid details about this fascinating, but almost forgotten, page of history.
Fortunately, my decision to buy the book was not influenced by the reviewer who complains about Marozzi's use of Marlowe's play. Actually, the play figures very briefly in the book. It provides an intriguing contrast of the perception or dramatization of Temur and the historical facts. For that matter, I wish he had commented on Handel's opera, too.
Readers are sure to ... well, I shouldn't say enjoy it, but you will want to read this book.
Overly dramatic.......2006-07-20
Marozzi keeps using phrases such as gold and precious stones, and uses repetitive dramatic language to describe every battle. The book is interesting in spite of the unsophisticated writing.
A spirited, riveting account blends ancient and modern worlds.......2006-05-23
Tamerlane was the lost nomadic warlord and his achievements ranks him with Alexander the Great in power and domination - yet his name is little known today. That's why TAMERLANE: SWORD OF ISLAM, CONQUREROR OF THE WORLD is so important: it tells of a fierce tribal leader who tortured and killed without mercy, whose soldiers erected a pyramid of some 90K enemy heads, and whose iron rule ran from Asia to Syria. Journalist Justin Marozzi has traveled throughout the Muslim world gathering information for this history/travelogue: TAMERLANE comes packed not only with source material information but with the first-person experiences of the author's travels in search of it. A spirited, riveting account blends ancient and modern worlds.
Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch
Book Description
At the end of World War II, American costumed-adventurer Lobster Johnson led an Allied attack on Hitler's space program, but not before the Nazis were able to launch the first man into space. Now, after sixty years, Hellboy is partnered with an artifical man - a Frankenstein's monster implanted by Bureau scientists with a bomb - to travel to the ruined castle in Norway to intercept the returning capsule, and its single passenger. . .the conqueror worm.
Customer Reviews:
Graphic SF Reader.......2007-09-03
An excellent atmospheric Hellboy romp, as usual. For a concept or even character design when you first see it, somehow it works. It looks ridiculous, sounds like it would be silly, but it is not. Hellboy is exactly the kind of guy you would love to buy a beer for (hopefully out of range of any monsters). Mignola's style just fits.
Good stuff.......2007-06-07
This is comics as it was meant to be. Great art, exciting story, interesting characters and nice scenery (buildings and places). This is good stuff. - Mike Mignola, give us another four part mini series, it's been far to long since we got one.
Dark and Light.......2006-08-30
Love the H.P. Lovecraft gothic horror influences, the sarcastic humor, and the art...FANTASTIC!
The worm crawls in..........2005-04-02
The last collection(for now..sigh) ends with a big bang as Mike Mignola continues to delve into the history of those pesky nazis. As Indiana Jones would say,I hate those guys! Just as Steven Spielberg understands and honors all those pulp stories in his Indiana Jones movies(along with another guy who understands the pulps, George Lucas) Mr. Mignola brings out Lobster Johnson! to combat the Nazi nastiness! If all comics were even a quarter this well produced I'd be broke! Good news for Hellboy fans, the fun continues in Weird Tales and B.R.P.D!
Customer Reviews:
Sigmor Cameron finds a wife.......2007-01-27
Sigimor Cameron goes south into England to help save the life of a man who saved his. He arrives at Drumwich Castle to find his friend Peter has been murdered. Peter's sister Jolene and his son go into hiding in the bowels of the castle. Sigimor and his men agree to get the three year old heir and his aunt out of the castle and to safety in Scotland. They are pursued by Harold who wants Jolene and the little boy so he can keep the castle and fortune that belonged to Peter. There are several altercations between Harold and Sigimor, Jolene is captured at one point. Sigimor gets her back and talks her into marrying him to keep Harold from getting her. They fall in love, but continue to fight Harold's attempts to get Jolene and the little boy. Jolene and Sigimor are a great couple because they are so different and but "fit" perfectly. Hannah Howell's books always have unlikely couples who meet and stay together through one travail after another. She's done another great medieval romance, and kept the stories of the Cameron clan going. If you like Hannah Howell and want to know more about the Camerons, get this book.
Great Scottish Historical Romance.......2007-01-08
Hannah Howell brings us the story of Sigimor Cameron, a Highland Laird, who goes to England to aid a man, Peter, who saved his life years ago. He arrives to find himself captured by Peter's evil cousin, Harold. Harold has killed Peter and plans to hang Sigimor and his clansmen until Peter's sister, Jolene sets them free. In exchange, she asks Sigimor to help her and Peter's son, Reynard, escape Harold. Harold seeks to marry Jolene against her will and to kill Reynard so he may inherit Peter's title. Sigimor and his clansmen flee with the pair but are pursued by Harold and his hired men. Sigimor, a 6'4" warrior, finds himself very attracted to Jolene, even though she isn't his type, she is petite, dark haired and English. He prefers buxom blondes or so he thought. Jolene, 23 years old, is still a maid because her brother gave her the freedom to pick her husband. Nobody has stirred her passion until she meet this huge redheaded Scotsman. In order to protect Jolene in the case she is captured Sigimor proposes marriage. Jolene agrees knowing she can always seek an annulment if she wants. When it comes to a head, she must decide whether to stay with her husband or to keep the promise to her brother to watch over his son. When her other kinsmen show up to help, she must make her decision.
I loved the humor of this book, the reaction everytime a Scotsman finds out she is English is hilarious. Jolene's reaction is even funnier. The characters have such chemistry that it just keeps the story hot. Great story I highly recommend.
Just OK- drags alot and romance isn't spectacular.......2006-08-17
Harold has killed his cousin Peter, an Earl, and is searching the grounds for Peter's sister and son/heir. He plans to take over Peter's lands and title. Lady Jolene, Peter's sister, free's the highlander's (who came too late to save Peter) imprisioned by her evil cousin. In doing so, they promise to take her and her nephew away to safety.
Jolene, her nephew, Laird Sigimor and his men journey thru England and Scotland with Harold on their tale. Along the way sparks fly between Jolene and Sigimor, but neither admits to anything. Then Sigimor decides to marry Jolene (against her protests) in order to keep her safe? -or is it because he feel's that she 'fits'- from a forced marriage to Harold. They continue onto Scarglas and Dubheildland as Harold turns desperate to kill them.
Overall it was OK, don't think I'll be rereading it soon and it did take me several days to get into it, unlike Highland Warrior (much better). So, you might want to read it to keep up with the series, but I definitely wouldn't recommend it as a first Howell book.
If you like highlanders, read Garwood and Paula Quinn - both are EXCELLENT! (Is it just me or does this book sound a bit too similar to Garwoods Ransom?)
My favorite so far!.......2006-07-15
This is by far my favorite book of Hannah Howell! I just want to read it again and again it's that great!
A cute romance.......2006-05-20
Maybe because I haven't read the author's previous books, I find the negative reviews puzzling. No, the hero is not a very complex man but I thought his character was appropriately portrayed. He isn't a man of court but a laird in the often violent Scotland of the 15th century. He was appropriately honest, straightforward, and a bit rough on the edge. I thought the romance between the hero and heroine was cute. One could feel the growing love between them, and even though the villains were dispatched rather easily, sometimes it's refreshing to read a romance without contrived twists and turns designed solely to put the title couple through hell and back. A light enjoyable romance.
Book Description
The Conquerors, the third volume in Allan Eckert's acclaimed series, The Winning of America, continues the narrative of The Frontiersmen and Wilderness Empire: the violent and monumental story of the wresting of the North American continent from the Indians. But the locale has moved westward—to the northern frontiers of Pennsylvania, to Michigan and the Green Bay area, especially the crucial outposts of Fort Pitt and Fort Detroit, Sandusky and Mackinac.
Wilderness Empire concluded with the English victory in the French and Indian War, a conquest which gave them possession of an immense North American empire. Now English soldiers and traders began the trek across the wilderness to man the former French outposts, to secure the land for the Crown and to exploit its riches. But these men were to find that the conquest of the Northwest did not end with the defeat of the French. The Indians had only resentment for the English, whom they regarded not as conquerors, but as unwelcome interlopers on their own ancestral lands. At last, provoked beyond endurance by restrictive policies, and encouraged by agents of the French, the most powerful tribes of the region united behind the charismatic Pontiac, war chief of the Ottawa, in a concerted effort to drive the English forever form the Northwest.
The Conquerors is the story of Pontiac's uprising and the men involved in it: the conquering English, both soldiers and intrepid civilians, who undertook the dangers of the Indian trade for profit and the adventure of opening a new land; and, most importantly, the Indians, who refused to accept the yoke of the conquered and were driven to violence to protect their homes and their way of life from the encroachment of an alien civilization.
Combining the accuracy of a chronicle and the spellbinding pace of a story well told, Allan Eckert evokes the high drama of the conquest of the Northwest and the breathtaking grandeur of the land itself.
Customer Reviews:
Hooked on Eckert.......2007-10-02
I'm hooked on these Allan Eckert books. The Conquerors has a multitude of characters to follow in this work. All of their true experiences are nail biting. I find myself following their paths by searching all of the maps that are included in the book. I plan on reading all 6 of his 600 plus page novels.
Great book, great series.......2007-07-28
This is one of the better books in the Eckert series. I'd strongly recommend it for any history fan, and would definately encourage non-history fans to read this or any of Eckert's other books (Dark and Bloody River, Frontiersmen, Tecumseh).
Winning of America Series.......2007-05-07
This series is outstanding. These books are filled with actual historical dates, events, letters and people but with amazing readilbiity. I am not a huge history buff but these books pull you into the characters and their lives. I learned more fun history about this time through these books than while in school.
The Conquerers...Allan Eckert Winning of America Series........2006-07-14
As always, I was more than satisfied with the delivery, the condition of the book and the timeliness. You are to be congratulated for your fine efforts.
Keep up the good works.....
Great Book!.......2006-01-15
Allan Eckert has a way of writing historical books that will make even someone that is not a history buff love history. I try and try to read the historical reference books but I find them to be very uneventful and boring. Allan Eckert can turn that into a thrilling novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat without losing its historical accuracy. All the books in this series are great. The Conquerors is very, very interesting.
Customer Reviews:
Good Biographies........2006-04-21
Good details, and some fine history made this scarcely studied topic a worthy read. The book focuses on the Mongols finest commanders and their campaigns. Ghenghis, Kublai, Hulegu, and Tamerlane. I liked the latter chapter the best. For a book of less than 200 pages, you get a wealth of information. There are also fine full page illustrations, photographs, drawings and maps.
A Very Versatile History of Mongol Conquest.......2003-06-27
The Mongol Warlords, by David Nicolle, is a very broad and complete coverage of the Mongolian culture and its military campaigns. The book focuses on the four great Mongol leaders: Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, Hulego and Tamerlane. However, this book goes far beyond simple biographies of these four men.
This is a wonderfully illustrated book. Not only does it have many full-page illustrations, but it's chock full other great material: photographs, drawings, portraits, diagrams and loads of amazing maps. Even the margins are put to good use, diagramming pottery, artifacts, weapons, etc.
The histories and biographies themselves are honest, well-researched and complete. And there is so much supplementary material that the book guarantees something for everyone. And while it's true that you won't find anything in it that can't be found elsewhere, the book does a great job of putting together a wide variety of material in a useful and entertaining format. The content in this book will appeal to the casual reader as much as to someone who's topically oriented.
Great for reading or for reference, The Mongol Warlords provides a lot of bang for the buck. While it's not currently in print, I found my copy in a used bookstore at an attractive price. Look around; this book is worth the search.
Tons of great pictures and drawings.......2002-02-24
There is a lot of information about Mongolian culture, politics, and conquests as well as other aspects of their history, in particularly the Mongolian rulers (obviously). This book has a great deal of information about the way that they waged war and what they used to do it. There are details of what happened in particular campaigns as well as the battle tactics that were used.
Of course, that is what you would expect from the books title. However the biggest strength of this book are the tons of pictures and drawings of Mongolian clothing, weapons, and armour; as well as maps and other illustrations. It also includes breakdowns and explanation of their weapons and armour (I particularly like the part on why the Mongol bow is better than the English Longbow).
This is one of about 20 Mongolian related books that I have and it is one of the best.
Great reference with outstanding illustrations.......2001-01-10
Although its chapters focus on the four most prominent Mongol leaders of the 12th through 15th centuries, this book is much more than a collection of short biographies. Centered around the life and times of Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, Hulegu, and Timur are excellent descriptions of Mongol culture, archaeology, military tactics, and campaign strategies. David Nicolle's writing style is a pleasure to read, and while not as detailed and comprehensive as a textbook would be, still hits all the major campaigns and accomplishments of these men. The book (191 pages) is also interspersed with photographs of ancient artifacts and modern day ruins, as well many beautiful works of art. The illustrations by Richard Hook are very, very well done and breathe a life into the personalities and combat actions described in the text. It is a fine addition to any library of Central Asian steppe history and culture.
Great Book.......1998-07-17
This book is very good and informative. It contains interesting details on many of the key figures of the mongol conquest. My only complaint is its not long enough and doesn't have alot on the European exploits or the Golden Horde. However it does have details about the world at the time and many surprising details as well. All in all a great history book. To bad its out of print,but check your local library
Book Description
The original and complete 1.6 million copy inspirational classic now in paperback. A moving modern-day parable that shows how a positive attitude and hopeful spirit affects cancer and contributes to survival. Must reading for both patients and family members who are going through the cancer journey.
Customer Reviews:
The only cancer book I recommend.......2005-09-30
13 years ago, I wondered through the self-help section of the book store. I looked for a book I could share with my husband who was recently diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. While he was going through a series of painful spinal taps, I read him the book. It changed our lives. It's simple message does not preach or blame. It is a simple call to action that we have followed ever since we opened the book. For many years after I first read the book, my husband would page through it and read the affirmations (important messages) out loud.
Through the years, I have shared that book with others who were recently diagnosed. I keep on having to replace the book and we still try to live each day with meaning and purpose. In part, I attribute his survival to reading this book. It also works great for caregivers and family members. Cancer is a process, a journey and an opportunity to make your life what it needs to be. Get this book and enjoy it, get two books and share one with a friend.
I have conquered cancer... today........2002-11-06
This is a tremendous book... and I've read it 30 times. It's easy to read but filled with insights that helped me find a pathway to recovery. I have also purchased over 30 copies of this book for my friends... ALL of whom have been diagnosed with cancer in the last 8 years since my own diagnosis. Surviving cancer is a process... and with good strategies and good medical care people do it all the time. This book is a roadmap of much of that process.
Book Description
Curry serves up a delectable history of Indian cuisine, ranging from the imperial kitchen of the Mughal invader Babur to the smoky cookhouse of the British Raj. In this fascinating volume, the first authoritative history of Indian food, Lizzie Collingham reveals that almost every well-known Indian dish is the product of a long history of invasion and the fusion of different food traditions. We see how, with the arrival of Portuguese explorers and the Mughal horde, the cooking styles and ingredients of central Asia, Persia, and Europe came to the subcontinent, where over the next four centuries they mixed with traditional Indian food to produce the popular cuisine that we know today. Portuguese spice merchants, for example, introduced vinegar marinades and the British contributed their passion for roast meat. When these new ingredients were mixed with native spices such as cardamom and black pepper, they gave birth to such popular dishes as biryani, jalfrezi, and vindaloo. In fact, vindaloo is an adaptation of the Portuguese dish "carne de vinho e alhos-"-the name "vindaloo" a garbled pronunciation of "vinho e alhos"--and even "curry" comes from the Portuguese pronunciation of an Indian word. Finally, Collingham describes how Indian food has spread around the world, from the curry houses of London to the railway stands of Tokyo, where "karee raisu" (curry rice) is a favorite Japanese comfort food. We even visit Madras Mahal, the first Kosher Indian restaurant, in Manhattan. Richly spiced with colorful anecdotes and curious historical facts, and attractively designed with 34 illustrations, 5 maps, and numerous recipes, Curry is vivid, entertaining, and delicious--a feast for food lovers everywhere.
Customer Reviews:
Food as History.......2007-07-23
If your first taste of India was in a high school world history class, where you struggled to engorge and disgorge the indigestible names and exploits of Mughals, rajahs, and viceroys, this book will cleanse your palate. Dr. Cunningham uses the story of the development of diverse modern Indian cuisine as a savory entree into the religious, ethnic, and political history of the subcontinent, much as Jules Tygiel uses baseball as a lens for studying America in his book "Baseball As History." Curry is indeed a compelling synecdoche for pan-Indian culture. And Dr. Cunningham seasons her prose as skillfully as any chef, even to the point of including some artful recipes as illustrations of her basically scholarly narrative.
Curry is apparently and English invention .......2007-06-25
Curry is the sort of food that is served in Indian resteraunts in countries such as England, America and Australia. The way that it is produced is that in the kitchen there will be three large vats of sauce. One will be a tomatoe based sauce another a butter based sauce and the other will be based on milk solids. Curry is produced by cooking either vegtables and meat and then adding the sauce. This process is hundreds of miles from how food is coooked in India. However it is the technique developed in England by former Bangledeshi sailors who were the ones who drifted into the resterant buisness. The method is cleary one that makes food production easy rather than producing the complex flavours of the food of India. (Again there is no real thing as Indian food as each part of India has a different tradition.)
One of the most popular dishes currently is Chicken Tikka Massala. Broadly tandoori chicken pieces cooked in a mixture of tomatoe sauce and cream. Apparently dreamed up in some English town, to freshen some slightly dried out chicken has now become a classic served in all English Indian resteraunts.
None of this should really surprise. The book outlines a fascinating history of food. The one clear thing is that food always seems to change. Chilli something thought to be an essential ingredient of Indian and South East Asian cooking was only introduced to Asia after the European discover of the new world. Prior to Columbus Indians and South East Asians used black pepper. Of course the tomatoe is of American orgin and one would wonder how Italian cuisine would have developed if America had not been discovered.
The book is a fascinating read and it is an insight into how flexible culture and fashions are.
A concoction that is India!.......2007-06-11
As a friend of mine once remarked, the measure of a culture is in the complexity & variety of its cuisine. Lizzie Collingham's book is a look into the development of this complexity & variety through centuries of conquests of the Indian mainland, & the consequent assimilation of societies, customs & spices.
From the Moghuls to the Potuguese & finally to the British, the Indian subcontinent's cuisine has been in a millenia-long flux. This book is the story of this flux. Sure, there is a huge plurality of cuisines, particularly regional, that aren't a part of this book, but, for me, what this book might/could/should have been is nearly not as important as what the book is.
As Collingham talks about the cuisines, she also documents a great deal of history & nuances often not part of text-book history. You'd find the Moghuls becoming "Indian" with Akbar, the Portuguese marrying Indian women & the consequent Indianization of the Portuguese househlds, & in the late 19th century, "...as Victorian Britain was enthusiastically embracing the idea of empire, & curry was becoming a favoured dish among the middle classes, Anglo-Indians were busily eradicating as many traces of India as possible from their culture."
Of course, there are recipes in this book. A mere handful of them. But they're all captured in the minutest of details. Unlike the 4 to 5 step Biriyani making process that you'd find on the web, this book's Biryani recipe is two & a half pages long - so that if you follow it well enough, you may be able to soften up an emperor enough to get a grant of 10 acres of prime real estate or some such royal favour.
Interesting book.......2007-06-08
Well-written, exhaustively researched, and with a very interesting topi, this is an intriguing book. I enjoyed reading it, and getting an overall perspective on curry, to go with my exhaustive eating experiences both in the US and in India.
If there were more recipes, I'd have given it 5 stars. If there were no recipes, I'd have given it 5 stars. I found in inclusion of only a few recipes distracting, hence the 4 stars.
Culinary History, Nicely Spiced........2007-02-13
Much more than a cookbook, this is a delicious historical travelogue of one of the world's favourite cuisines, nicely subdivided into sections describing the various influences visited on the Subcontinent from its various conquerors who were in turn seduced by the indigenous wonder that is Indian spice blends and cooking techniques. The author delightfully uses various well-known dishes as examples of the two-way flow of development and carefully compares original recipes with later variations (and adulterations!). You'll never look at an Indian menu the same way again!
Amazon.com
Another tour de force by one of America's leading public intellectuals. Conquests and Cultures continues in the tradition of Sowell's superb books, Race and Culture and Migrations and Cultures. The series attempts to understand the meaning of cultural differences, including how these differences have influenced the economic and social fates of civilizations, nations, and ethnic groups. This particular installment focuses on how military conquest both destroys culture and spreads it by examining the histories of the English, the Africans, the Slavs, and the indigenous people of the New World. Sowell rejects the cultural relativism that is currently so fashionable in the universities and forthrightly believes that some cultures--understood as "the working machinery of everyday life"--are clearly superior to others. He marshals a massive amount of scholarly material to support his ideas, and capably turns this mountain of data into straightforward prose. --John J.Miller
Book Description
Sowell, in Conquests and Cultures, helps explain the role of cultural evolution and warfare in shaping the destinies of the world's civilizations.
Customer Reviews:
Big-picture history.......2007-01-17
CaC is a series of case-studies looking at the interplay between (as the title indicates) conquest and cultural evolution. I enjoy "big-picture" history but, because the author tries to cover so many examples, the analysis seems to be just a touch shallow. Of course, CaC was probably intended as an overview to demonstrate a larger dynamic.
The most interesting section is the discussion of African slavery. I hadn't realized what a relatively small part the European powers played in the over-all slave-trade. I thought the treatment was fair--neither Euro-bashing nor revisionist.
The other topics were a little more familiar and not quite as interesting. (As I mentioned, the treatment not especially thorough. I flipped through a few parts.) Overall, CaC is pretty good--not great--but worth the time to read for the novice or amateur historian (especially if you're not familiar with the "Annales" school of history to which Sowell is obviously indebted).
several topics in one book.......2006-12-07
This book has several threads that interact.
One is that the geography of a country has a strong effect on its history. The western hemisphere did not have beasts of burden until Europeans arrived and therefore stayed in a primitive culture. England had iron ore near coal and both near the seacoast which provided cheap transportation.
Another thread is that some cultures learn from contact with other cultures and some do not. Scotland was invaded by England and when the English left Scotland outclassed the English in engineering and medicine even thought they were behind in the beginning. Earlier the Romans invaded England and improved conditions. When the Romans left the English retrograded for centuries.
Another thread is that human nature is the same all over the earth. All nations have dominated other nations and mistreated them.
Conquests and Cultures.......2006-03-18
This book demonstrates quite clearly the growth and economic betterment of the people in underdeveloped countries through assistance from the Western Hemisphere world. The legacies of education, nutrition and economic growth and exchange of cultural knowledge brought about even by conquering armies is quite a surprise.
I especially liked the contrast between the desperate situation of the Irish during the various famines and wars with the English as compared to the relative security of the black population in the Southern United States during the periodof slavery.
The book makes a strong statement for the value of sharing technologies and opportunities between and amongst countries for their own betterment rather than merely rapiing the land of the conquered to satisfy the conquerer.
Stings have no venom........2004-04-08
Despite their best efforts, those who reviewed this book negatively or dismissed it as "been there, done that" expose that either their own preconceived notions ran afoul with Sowell's book. Or, their sacred cows were stripped down to expose the cheap hamburger of ideas.
As usual Sowell writes another well-crafted, researched, and documented book. He makes NO conclusions but rather, lets his reader form their own conclusions.
As evidenced by the fact that none of the so called "Politically Incorrect" panel shows NEVER invited Sowell on because no one on the left can counter Sowell's ease of analysis and myth-shattering and that includes lofty lefties like Hitchens, Chomsky, Schlesinger, and Cockburn...so goes the list of those who rail at the idea of a free-thinking minority having the audacity to stray from the Liberal Plantation (Not that Sowell was ever on the plantation in the first place).
A good measured read with plenty to challenge the reader (who doesn't wear idealogical blinders). A good book to add to your library.
Brilliant, Succinct, Germane!.......2003-12-28
It's always delightful to read cogent, well-thought-out and carefully written books. This is no exception, as Dr. Sowell continues to apply a broad education and extensive experience to derive insights that, once made, are startlingly clear and obvious.
Unlike several of the prior reviewers, who seem to feel that their unworkable personal ideology or limited ability to think actually have relevance in a review, I read this book to gain information and insights supported by impeccable research from an intelligent source. It may offend those with little or no education or experience, because it does not run along the same track as their favorite hobby horse(s), but then, reality and truth rarely do. (i.e., if you don't like accurate statistics, nor agree with a sequenced and relevant protrayal of factual information, don't read this book. It might upset any sense of "oughta be this way", or "I wanna believe X -- in contrast to actual events").
Dr. Sowell's insistence on his statements having a factual basis and extensive examples to support his conclusions can be daunting, nonetheless, as with any exercise (mental or physical, for that matter), the more effort you put into something, the greater the result.
Highly recommended, as are all of his books.
Customer Reviews:
The Spanish heritage of the Southwest........2003-12-29
This is the second Marrin book I have read. This author does a good job summarizing the important aspects of this history. Along the way, he brings some interesting stories into the overall historical summation. I like his writing style as it can be understood by a teenager or an adult. The overall message in this book was how the Southwest was first lost by the Spaniards, then the Mexicans, and won by the United States. The Southwest is defined as Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and California.
As mentioned, Marrin always brings interesting stories into his narration. You find out the origin of Texas, how Ps and Qs became a phrase, Taylor's reaction to a self important Lietenant, and others. These stories liven up the historical summation. They are a joy to read.
This is a good read for both teenagers and adults. Although the history is not covered in depth, it gives the reader a base from where to go.
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- The Dying Game
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- The Guy Not Taken: Stories
- The Human Mosaic
- The Masque of the Black Tulip
- The Red Tent
- The Slow Burn Fitness Revolution: The Slow Motion Exercise That Will Change Your Body in 30 Minutes a Week
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