Great Tales from English History (Book 2): Joan of Arc, the Princes in the Tower, Bloody Mary, Oliver Cromwell, Sir Isaac Newton, and More

Average customer rating:

A real treat as an audiobook (a history teacher's review)

volume 2 as fun as volume 1.

History in Shorts

Accessible history

The Nightstand History of England

Great Tales from English History (Book 2): Joan of Arc, the Princes in the Tower, Bloody Mary, Oliver Cromwell, Sir Isaac Newton, and More
Robert Lacey
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 031610924X

Book Description

Unforgettable stories from the England of Chaucer, Shakespeare, and beyond-the rich second volume of great tales by a master of British popular history.

Customer Reviews:

A real treat as an audiobook (a history teacher's review).......2007-04-18

Robert Lacey has done something that many writers have failed to do (unfortunately) - he has written history in a fun, accessible, easy to grasp manner. After all, as Lacey points out in his introduction to Volume 1, the "history" and "story" come from the same Latin root word. Essentially, history should be the simple story of how things happened, to the best of the teller's knowledge.

Lacey's power as a storyteller is highlighted here in spades. He narrates his audiobook as well so there is the added bonus of hearing the author add nuance to the reading - essentially reading it the way he meant it to be heard.

The stories are short and entertaining. Only a couple of times in nearly six hours of listening did I find my attention wandering. This is a terrificly fun experience for any history lover. Full of interesting tidbits but not lacking in the larger themes or commentaries.

I am going to look for volume 3 and hopefully he has written or is writing his promised volumes on Scotland and Ireland as well.

Bravo!

I give this one an enthusiastic A+.

volume 2 as fun as volume 1........2007-02-12

i read the first volume of "great tales from english history," and had to immediately dive into the 2nd volume. this book covers the years 1387 to 1689, and is every bit as fun as its predecessor. these books are completely addicting. I just got the 3rd volume and having it here in the house waiting to be read has made life seem worth living a bit longer. buy all 3 of them and read them. you really should.

History in Shorts.......2005-09-08

Great Tales from English History Volume II, written by Robert Lacey, covers a wide section of history. Starting in the year 1387 with Geoffry Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales, Lacey continues until the year 1687. He includes smaller stories about various topics such as the first children's book. In Great Tales, Lacey also writes about the Plague, the London Fire, beheading, and burning traders.

Great Tales from English History Volume II covers all of the Kings ranging from Richard to James. It includes their multiple wives (especially in King Henry VIII) and children (King Charles II's 14 illegitimate children) who fought over the chance to become the next king or queen. Lacey also writes about the number of wars, both with other countries and the civil war. Religion also plays a big role in the book.

Robert Lacey's Great Tales from English History Volume II is definitely a nonfiction history book but he keeps a cheerful story telling prospective. Lacey manages to keep interest by including several smaller sections in between wars and kings. He includes smaller incidents and people to add to a person's understanding of history. Not a history person, I learned plenty about the history, most which is not taught in school.

Accessible history.......2005-09-04

I first discovered Robert Lacey as an author from his book 'The Year 1000'. Interesting, accessible, easy to follow, with a good balance of detail and breadth (always a tricky task when writing a popular history), that book was one of my favourites around the turn of the second millennium. I discovered this book on the shelves of my local library, and have found it equally worthwhile and fun to read.

This book concentrates on the late Middle Ages to the post-Reformation era in English history - in royal terms, the times of the end of the Plantagenets, the Tudors, the Stuarts, the Interregnum and Glorious Revolution (which a history professor of mine once intoned dramatically, 'was neither glorious nor a revolution'). In years, this goes from the late 1300s to the late 1600s.

One of the things that I like a lot about this particular history is that the stories are brief and self-contained while being part of the overall flow of the history of England. They make for good bed-time reading (the longest of the stories is barely seven pages long, in easy print and easy, storytelling language). Many of the characters are already familiar figures even to those who aren't Anglophiles - Joan of Arc, Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth the First, Shakespeare, King James and the English Bible. Then there will be figures that are lesser known but just as interesting - the Roundheads and Cavaliers, Rabbi Manasseh, Titus Oates, the Bloody Assizes. These are tales told in a simplified but memorable manner, and could serve for younger and older readers as a stimulus for further reading and investigation about topics brought up in the text.

There are a few maps, royal lineage charts, and woodcut/line art drawings throughout the text. Lacey includes a bibliography for further reading (this contains a good number of website addresses for making further research very easy). There is also an index, which many popular histories forget, but Lacey is to be highly praised for including one here, making looking up particular names, places and events very easy.

The Nightstand History of England.......2005-08-31

A second collection of vignettes from English history by Robert Lacy, pithy and enjoyable. The drawings and layout give the book a cozy, old-fashioned feel. The stories are presented simply and clearly, and make the book an ideal choice for bedtime reading.

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Hard to be Princess
Good book (MARY, BLOODY MARY)
Good Book (Mary Bloody Mary)
Mary ,Bloody Mary
Mary, bloody Mary

Mary, Bloody Mary: A Young Royals Book
Carolyn Meyer
Manufacturer: Gulliver Books Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0152164561

Amazon.com

Teen fans of the movie Elizabeth will be fascinated with the pomp and sinister intrigue of Mary, Bloody Mary, an engrossing story about the teen years of Mary Tudor, half sister to Queen Elizabeth and daughter to Henry VIII. As a baby, Mary was adored by her father, who carried her around on his shoulder and displayed her for the court to admire. But as his marriage with her mother, Catherine of Aragon, waned for lack of a male heir, Henry began an affair with the beautiful Anne Boleyn. Mary was convinced that Anne was a witch. Didn't everyone know she had a sixth finger? And wasn't it Anne who persuaded Henry to declare his first marriage invalid (rendering Mary a bastard)? As the king grows ever colder, Mary is banished to a distant house, forbidden from seeing her mother, left to wear rags, and finally--at Anne's bidding--summoned back to court to be a servant to her baby half sister Elizabeth. Once there, Mary lives in constant dread that she will be poisoned or sent to the executioner's block in one of her father's rages. By the time Anne Boleyn herself is beheaded, Henry's first daughter has become the bitter and angry woman who was to be known as Bloody Queen Mary for her savage religious genocide. Carolyn Meyer, long acclaimed for her teen fiction (Drummers of Jericho), accurately captures the glitter and grandeur as well as the brutality of this fascinating period in history. (Ages 10 to 16) --Patty Campbell

Book Description

The story of Mary Tudor's childhood is a classic fairy tale: A princess who is to
inherit the throne of England is separated from her mother; abused by an evil
stepmother who has enchanted her father; stripped of her title; and forced to
care for her baby stepsister, who inherits Mary's rights to the throne. Believe it
or not, it's all true.
Told in the voice of the young Mary, this novel explores the history and intrigue
of the dramatic rule of Henry VIII, his outrageous affair with and marriage to the
bewitching Anne Boleyn, and the consequences of that relationship for his
firstborn daughter. Carolyn Meyer has written a compassionate historical novel about love and loss, jealousy and fear--and a girl's struggle with forces far
beyond her control.

Customer Reviews:

Hard to be Princess.......2007-06-14

Queen Mary of England, often called "Bloody Mary" for some of the brutality exhibited while she reigned, had reasons for being the way she was. This book is the story of the things that happened while she was young, before she finally took the throne.

Mary was the daughter of Henry VIII, king of England in the fifteen-hundreds. As a child she adored her father, but he was never quite satisfied that she wasn't a son. He didn't think a woman could rule England. His wife Catherine, though, couldn't have any more children, so he was stuck with Mary as his single heir. Halfway through his life, Henry decides that isn't enough. He begins an affair with a coldhearted woman named Anne, and begins trying to get a divorce from Catherine. At that time England was largely governed by the Catholic church, which forbade divorce. Henry persists, though, and meanwhile exiles Mary to a remote palace where he separates her from her mother, reduces her allowances, and ignores her for most of her teenage years. If Henry is allowed his divorce, Mary will be humiliated, named illegitimate and unfit to take the throne.

When Anne finally gives birth to a daughter, things get even worse for Mary, who is brought back to the palace as a servant for her young half-sister. Anne does whatever she can to make Mary feel unsafe and unwanted, even as she tries to hold onto her tenuous position with Henry. As another wife who is unable to produce a son for him, she is just as useless as Catherine had been. And as Henry grows more and more crazy, her fate might be even worse than his first wife's.

I liked reading something about history that was presented in such an interesting way. I liked reading about the possible bad side of being a member of a royal family.

Good book (MARY, BLOODY MARY).......2007-03-21

IN England 1400-1500 Mary Tudor is King Henry VIII and Cathrine Tudor's (Cathirine queen of Aragon,) Daughter, Mary was crowned Princess of Wale sand is also the Heir to the throne. In this novelMary's father King Henry VIII falls in love with a girl from spain named Anne Boleyn. Anne is accusedof being a witch and has a spell over King Henry VIII. King Henry was having a affair with Anne and that started a fight with Cathrine. King Henry weas saying that there marage was invalid because he married his brothers ex wife. So he wanted a divorse. The priest wont let him. So Anne gets pregnant and Mary moves to another castle with her lady in wating named salsburry. Maryt soon ends up being a servant in her fathers castle and stays in a dark wet room that she didn't evan know they had. Mary had been specifically orderd to change Elisebeths dipers and stuff. soon Elisebeths be comes Princess of wales and new Heir to the throne

Good Book (Mary Bloody Mary).......2007-03-21

In the book Mary Bloody Mary, a princess (Mary) thinks she is the star of attention. When Mary's fauther King Henery VIII started having an affair with another woman mary starts geting un invited to balls and banquets. After a couple of weeks King Henery VIII tries to get a divorce with her mother, Mary's mother obliges knowing if she divorced the King she will be killed.the King sends Mary and her mom out of the kingdom. Mary gets sent to a dark, smelly room with out contact with her mother. Anne (the person Mary's father had an affair with) gets pregnet and Mary is forced to be a slave to Anne and her daughter. what will Mary do?

Mary ,Bloody Mary .......2007-03-21

This book takes place around 14-15 ad. Manily in and around England. this story is about a princess named mary who lives with her dad and mom king henery VIII and Queen Cathrine lots of servents and guards.And an evil witch that most people thought of her as but her name was Anna Boleyn.

But suddenly her life was changed as sha noticed at a benquet her father was very interested in one of the dancers.But I dont now why she has long black hair black eyes and a mark on her neck wich she here's its a witches mark.Mary has to snoop aruond to find out whats going on with this lady and her father. Or if there is even anything witch is what she wants to beleive. Days latter sha finds out her marrige is not going to happen She is glad becaus eshe did not want to mary him but she wondered why what was the reason of sudden change.Or did it have to do any thing with this woman Anne. Mary finds out she is being moved away to Beaulieu to her own palace with servants and guards But she was not sure why. But she would come back to here news about her dad and Anne. Whi'll she snooped around she heard that her father and Anne wanted to get married witch ment he would have to devorice her mother. He ended up getting his way as soon as they found out that Anne was pregnat and it was suppost to be a boy they say. After that my father announced her and her mother bastards.

Mary, bloody Mary.......2007-03-21

The setting was in Whales around 1500s. The main character is Mary princess of Whales, King Charels VIII, Lady Anne Boleyn, Salsberry, Queen Cathrine and many ladys in waiting. The story is how Mary is living a great life and this women just crashed it in to peices. The climax was when Mary's dad had just beheaded Anne Boleyn and he goes into this mad state were if she didnt sighn a paper she would be next. Finally after years she became queen but only for five years and died.
I liked the storey but it lacked a few things. It lacked climax, the story was just a plane thing it had a few like scary things but you could pridict it to well. It also lack interest like it never was interesting and it had a boring Cycle. It was just her life with on going nightmares.

Bloody Mary: A Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels Mystery

Average customer rating:

A nice follow up.
A new star in the galaxcy.
If you're looking for a humorous detective story this book is a winner
Too much gore for me - sorry!
Another Winner!

Bloody Mary: A Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels Mystery
J. A. Konrath
Manufacturer: Hyperion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1401300898

Book Description

tart with a tough but vulnerable Chicago cop. Add a hyperactive cat, an ailing mother, a jealous boyfriend, a high-maintenance ex-husband, and a partner in the throes of a mid-life crisis.

Customer Reviews:

A nice follow up........2007-09-06

J.A Konrath is one of my favorite new authors. His writing style is fast and fun, even when he is describing horrible instances. The books are fast paced, and are great page turners. The characters are very well written, and the story lines are compelling. I enjoyed getting to know the characters deeper, that were first introduced in the first book of the series "Whiskey Sour." If you like mystery/thriller/cop fiction you will enjoy this series.

A new star in the galaxcy........2007-07-21

While Patterson is my all time favorite mystery writer, I loved reading Konrath because his stories revolved in the Chicago area where I recognize all the nooks and cranies he writes about. That adds even more to the story for me since I'm from the area.

If you're looking for a humorous detective story this book is a winner.......2007-01-29

This is the first Jack Daniels mystery that I read and I loved it.

The dialogue between Jack Daniels and her partner Herb is a scream. Herb and Jack are great friends and never let Herb's incessant supplier of donuts and mexican food get between them. This is a rollicking ride as they hunt a twisted killer and finally nab the bad guy.

A fun read with a bit of twisted psychopathy thrown in. Fans of Jack Kerley and Janet Evanovich will love this murder mystery

Too much gore for me - sorry!.......2006-09-01

I really enjoyed Whisky Sour, the first story about "Jack" Daniels, a female police officer. I liked her strong character, the witty writing, and the characters in general. In many ways it struck em as a female "Spenser" character. The only issue I had was the sometimes extreme, nasty gore in it. I struggled through that because the rest of the story was so enjoyable.

I had really hoped that Bloody Mary would provide the same great characters and environment, and tone the gore down. Unfortunately, this was not to be. If anything, the gore level was cranked up here. Now we have a sadistic psychopath who enjoys torturing his victims for days, if possible, with as gory a result as humanly possible. He literally covers the walls with plastic to make the cleanup of blood and body bits easier. It gets overly disgusting.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy the rest of the book! I love the writing style. I love the one-liners and the sharpness of the characters. I love how generally strong Daniels is - although she does slip quite a lot here, for some reason becoming more like a "stereotypical female in a cop job" than she had in the first book. I liked the fact that her mom, a retired cop, was also still sharp, active and had a sex life.

The mid-life crisis, the dealing-with-an-aging-parent, and many other side stories were integrated in an interesting, although sometimes over the top, manner. For someone who spends her life evaluating peoples' discussions and seeking for meaning in a questioning, Daniels seems blissfully clueless about the importance of communication in her own life. So be it, some people are like that.

In the end, though, the gore levels are just too much for me. A lot of it was in there just for gross-out factor and had little real plot meaning. Even if a serious motivation was laid out, it might help - but there wasn't. It was more of a "this incredibly, completely insane person has landed in Daniels' life, so let's have fun with the idea." Somehow Daniels personally seems to attract more complete psychopaths in 2 years than most states see in a 50 year period.

So I'm afraid that for me, personally, I can't read any more of these. There are tons of other writers out there who give me the same level of enjoyability without the detailed body ripping apart. If someone wants to contact me should future books tone down the gore level, I'd be quite happy!

Another Winner!.......2006-08-13

As soon as I finished the first book in this series, Whiskey Sour, I snapped up the next one, Bloody Mary. J.A. Konrath brings the same mix of humor, suspense, character and plot to this sequel that made the first one impossible to put down, and I tore through this one equally quickly.

Again we are off with a bang as Jack has to solve the mystery of an extra pair of limbs that turn up in the morgue, handcuffed together...with her own handcuffs! Signs quickly point to a killer who has killed before and will again, and who seems to be close to the police department, and possibly a member of the police himself.

The mystery aspect was somewhat less believable, resting on the assumption that the killer is almost animalistically out of control in his killing rage and yet able to maintain his cover on a day to day basis, and able to form an alliance with a helper to boot. It's easier to see "who dunnit" almost from the start, but the plot takes some unexpected twists in the second half of the book. The character development continues as both Jack and her co-stars gain more depth and background, and Jack faces both a career crisis and a romantic dilemma (that is perhaps a bit too easily resolved).

I continue to like this series very much and look forward to another installment, but I do hope the author is able to move away from the "Jack is personally targetted by a crazed killer" theme--once worked well, twice was a stretch I was willing to make with the author because the rest of the book was so good, but three or more times would become rather ridiculous! Still I look forward to more good things from Jack and J.A. Konrath.

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Mary
Bloody Mary is a Bloody Great Biography of a Sanguinary Age of Tudor Rule in Britain
A Biography that Answers Many Questions
Boody Mary
Biased Interpretation of the History

Bloody Mary
Carolly Erickson
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0312187068

Book Description

Here is the tragic, stormy life of Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon. Her story is a chronicle of courage and faith, betrayal and treachery-set amidst the splendor, pageantry, squalor, and intrigue of sixteenth-century Europe.The history of Mary Tudor is an improbable blend of triumph, humiliation, heartbreak, and devotion-and Ms. Erickson recounts it all against the turbulent background of European politics, war, and religious strife of the mid-1500s. The result is a rare portrait of the times and of a woman elevated to unprecedented power in a world ruled and defined by men.

Customer Reviews:

Mary.......2006-05-25

Many people blame Mary for burning Protestants. The Spanish Inquisition was much worse. I mean, MUCH worse than what Mary did. Religion was a matter of life and death in the 16th century. Mary was abandoned by her father in pursuit of a male child. Mary's life was in serious danger for not recognizing his acts. I believe she relied on her ministers more than was nessesary. Mary did not have the heart of a saint when Elizabeth was born. Anne Bolyen was crying out for Mary's execution when she didn't recognize Elizabeth as princess.

Bloody Mary is a Bloody Great Biography of a Sanguinary Age of Tudor Rule in Britain.......2005-12-30

Mary Tudor was the daughter of the infamous Henry VIII and his Spanish wife Katharine of Aragon (the daughter of Ferdinand and the indomitable bellicose Isabella of Spain.)
Mary was a Roman Catholic who succeeded to the throne following the early death of her young half-brother Edward VI
the son of Henry and Jane Seymour.Mary was religious, smart,
tough and infertile! She wed Phillip II of Spain arousing hatred in England against her wedlock to a Roman Catholic Spaniard. Only a year after Mary's death in 1587 the Spanish Armada sailed against England and their new queen Eliabeth I. She was Mary's
half-sister the daughter of the bewitiching and beheaded Anne
Boleyn.
Mary was a good woman who lived in perilous times. During Henry's affair and wedlock to Anne Boleyn her life was in danger.
She and her mother Katherine were exiled from court; the cynosure of several plots against Henry and the hope of Catholicism in Great Britain.
Mary's reign was short and bloody. During her monarchy hundreds of Protestants died at the stake or were beheaded for their beliefs. Mary was incapable of producing a child and heir to the throne. Her half-sister Elizabeth and Mary had a lifelong rivalry with Elizabeth emerging as the stronger and more successful of the siblings. During Eliabethan rule religious toleration was advanced.
Erickson is an expert on Tudor England and she writes like a
novelist making the convoluted tale of plots, murder, executions, dynastic jousting and descriptions of 16th century
England and European politics palatable for modern readers.
Erickson illuminates a dark,violent, cruel and frightening time when thosands died for their beliefs in fire, dungeon and
by sword.
This is a well researched, well written and well illustrated book on Mary Tudor England's first real reigning queen. The book is very detailed and is long. If you stick with it to the end you wil never forget the sad tale of Mary and the sad age in which she lived and ruled.

A Biography that Answers Many Questions.......2004-01-02

I found this book extremely interesting and absorbing to the point where I did not want to put it down. I would recommend it to anyone who, like me, wanted to find out what the foundations were of Mary Tudor's policies and also what she was really like as a person. The detail is so great that one learns even what her voice sounded like. It is as though Mary were alive again and not a figure from the 16th century. As some other reviewers have noted here somewhat critically, the book spends a lot of time discussing Mary's life before her accession to the throne. To me, this is to its' credit as an understanding of the forces, personalities and occurrences in Mary's early life are ESSENTIAL to answering questions about Mary's policies and actions as queen. I enjoyed Carolly's writing style. She is able to convey the complex interweaving of people and events in Mary's time in a manner that is easy to understand and follow along. Highly recommended, as is "Great Harry" also written by Carolly which I am reading now.

Boody Mary.......2002-12-19

After years of failed pregnancies and infant deaths, a daughter was born to Henry III and Katherine of England.She was the first female child in England's history to be given the throne as a birthright.But it would be a life of strife and emotional turmoil for Mary Tudor. After being declared a bastard for the sake of her father's notorious romances and being prosecuted for her religion, Mary gradually makes her way past all the hardships only to face a new set of challenges.

I thought this book was smart, albeit rather dull. I would reccommend this book only to readers who find this subject interesting and who have a large vocabulary. This book won't pull you in, you have to walk. In comparision to other books, this book is really quite eloquent and shows the intensity of Mary's struggle to keep her principles, yet to remain loyal to her father.

Biased Interpretation of the History.......2002-03-02

Queen Mary's life has been a craddle of loneliness, failure, hopelessness, tumult, lost hopes and sorrow... And the book represents it all in a very true historical context... However, the writer seems to have lost her objectivity during the process of research... The person she portrays is not the hated and incompetent ruler the history proved her to be... Instead, Erickson's Bloody Mary is rather a misunderstood "good leader" which is not in compliance with the reality...

Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy (Bloody Jack Adventures)

Average customer rating:

Bloody Jack
Brilliant, original, and thrillingly believable
A Very Good Book
Highly recommend!
All-time best series I have EVER read!

Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy (Bloody Jack Adventures)
Louis A. Meyer
Manufacturer: Harcourt Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 015205085X

Book Description

Life as a ship's boy aboard HMS Dolphin is a dream come true for Jacky Faber. Gone are the days of scavenging for food and fighting for survival on the streets of eighteenth-century London. Instead, Jacky is becoming a skilled and respected sailor as the crew pursues pirates on the high seas.
There's only one problem: Jacky is a girl. And she will have to use every bit of her spirit, wit, and courage to keep the crew from discovering her secret. This could be the adventure of her life--if only she doesn't get caught. . . .

Customer Reviews:

Bloody Jack.......2007-09-29

Excellent! Adventure, great characters, great writing, a little romance. I am looking forward to reading the whole series. Recommended for 13yrs plus

Brilliant, original, and thrillingly believable.......2007-03-31

What an excellent read! The writing is superb, the characters are dynamic, and the story as perfectly balanced, detailed, and deft as the ship on which it's set! I couldn't have enjoyed Jacky's story or its telling more. This writer is truly an adept artist. Were I 15 years younger (i.e. 9 yrs old), I've no doubt I'd be arguing with the librarian that the book belongs in the nonfiction shelves. Such a true-to-life adventure.

A Very Good Book.......2007-02-25

I would highly recommend this book to anyone! Nothing like a good adventure, eh?

Highly recommend!.......2007-01-08

This book is extremely entertaining and easy to read. It does take some getting use to in the beginning because of how the main character speaks, but you quickly get used to her street slang and humor. The book is a quick read and I think that anyone would enjoy it- boy, girl, adult, etc. I got it for Christmas and couldn't put it down the moment I started to read it because it was so interesting and funny.. just couldn't help but want to know what happens next! The ending is a bit abrupt but don't worry about that.. the second book, Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber continues right from where the first left off. I purchased all the books in the series and can't wait to read them all. I had some trouble putting them in order as they are not numbered on Amazon or on the covers but here they are:

Book 1: Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventure of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy

Book 2: Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman, and Fine Lady

Book 3: Under the Jolly Roger: Being an Account of the Further Nautical Adventures of Jacky Faber

Book 4: In the Belly of the Bloodhound: Being an Account of the Particularly Peculiar Adventure in the Life of Jacky Faber

Enjoy!

PS: If you liked this book I highly recommend Tamora Pierce's "Alanna" quartet as well as "Protector of the Small" quartet. They're great!

All-time best series I have EVER read!.......2007-01-06

I adore the bloody jack books. I was given them to read by two friends who promised that they were wonderful. I was skeptical, but so pleasantly surprised! My friends had promised pirate books, but I don't really think of them as particularly pirate-y. I have since recommended them to 4 people (a mix of friends and relatives, including an aunt who teaches 4th grade,) and every one of them has fallen in love with Jacky Faber, and her 'mis'-adventures. Utterly charming and always hilarious, these are currently my absolute favorite books.

Average customer rating:

A wonderful find

Bloody Mary
Meg Henderson
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0006550274

Book Description

A cracking novel of Glasgow from one of Scotland's best-loved and best-selling writers. Helen Davidson is as bustling, bright and businesslike as the mighty City of Glasgow itself. Her and her doctor daughter Marylka are strong women both, molded in the shadow of the strongest of them all - dogged, selfless, down-to-earth Aunt Mary, Bloody Mary. The Davidson dynasty seems cursed to see its marriages fail and its sons become tyrants or cowards. It is young Marylka who finds herself at the end of this line at the end of a century. But hope and salvation lie in the most surprising place, out west, into the wind. In this page-turning, heart-rending novel, Meg Henderson shows her readers that she is now without doubt one of the most captivating storytellers in all Britain.

Customer Reviews:

A wonderful find.......2003-04-29

A friend gave this to me and I did not expect it to be so wonderfully wonderful! It taught a bit about Scottish history and local islanders treated 'outboarders' (orphan children sent to live with strangers - some got love, some got slave labour). It also showed me how army deserters were treated in the war when they were not actual deserters but mentally and emotionally wounded who simply 'freaked out'.
I loved the style of writing and it was easy to read and I got through it in one weekend (could not put it down!). Highly recommend.

Average customer rating:

Bloody Mary.
Tom Sharpe
Manufacturer: Goldmann
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 3442446732

To Try the Bloody Law: The Story of Mary Dyer

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Better than the Church of England?

To Try the Bloody Law: The Story of Mary Dyer
Robert S. Burgess
Manufacturer: Celo Valley Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Mary Dyer: Biography of a Rebel Quaker

ASIN: 0923687564

Book Description

The story of a woman who carried her religious conviction to the death. Mary Dyer's death harmed no one but herself, and resulted in the protection of the life and freedoms of others since her time. The religious freedoms we have today in the United States are the result of the courage of Mary Dyer and other nonviolent protestors, hundreds of years ago.

Customer Reviews:

Better than the Church of England?.......2006-03-28

She was hung for defending freedom of choice. Choice to believe in a religion that was contrary to the pilgrim beliefs. 17th century Bible belt??? Moral Majority??? Thirty years before the Salem witch trials - did anyone listen??? Do they listen now? Mary Dyer had the courage to walk to Boston from Rhode Island to her persecutors more than once. She did not waiver.
P.S. William and Mary Dyer were co-founders of the State of Rhode Island!!!

Bloody Mary's Martyrs: The Story of England's Terror

Average customer rating:

Protestant Propaganda Masquerading as History
Disappointment
Just Barely Kept My Interest
Mildly entertaining, but deeply flawed
An very unenlightening list

Bloody Mary's Martyrs: The Story of England's Terror
Jasper Ridley
Manufacturer: Carroll & Graf Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Renaissance | World | History | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0786708549

Book Description

In this chronicle of a Catholic monarch's heartless rage, a nation's fear, and the unimaginable courage of the Protestants who died for their faith, the award-winning historical biographer Jasper Ridley explores the dark years of Mary Tudor's reign and the most extreme persecution ever to occur in England -- more than three hundred victims in less than three years. Within months of her ascension to the English throne in 1553, Mary restored Roman Catholicism to the nation, reinstated papal supremacy, wedded the Spanish prince Philip, and sealed an alliance with Catholic Spain. Her marriage failed to produce an heir, however. That failure -- a sign, in Mary's view, of God's displeasure with the practice of "heretic" religion in England -- prompted the childless queen to initiate her purge. Thus began the fires at Smithfield, and hundreds of Protestants -- among them the Anglican bishop Hugh Latimer and Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer, as well as many prominent members of the nobility -- met their death at the stake. In an absorbing narrative, this meticulously researched history relates their tragic, brutal, and often inspiring tale.

Customer Reviews:

Protestant Propaganda Masquerading as History.......2006-03-14

Mary's rounding up of Protestant revolutionaries, while deplorable, pales in comparison to the crimes of her father King Henry VIII and her half-sister Queen Elizabeth I.

Prior to Henry and Elizabeth, Catholicism was woven into the fabric of English society. You can still find echoes of it today in everything from patterns of speech (the omnipresent adjective "bloody" is a truncation of the oath "By Our Lady") to place names (Blackfriars refers to a Dominican priory).

That is why it was necessary for Henry and then Elizabeth to turn England into a virtual police state to effect the former's violent, imposed Anglican revolution. Elizabeth executed more than 800 Englishmen in the first year alone of her forty-year reign.

Much as Protestants imitated and countered Catholic books on authentic martyrs once they grew in popularity (through the so-called "Foxe's Book of Martyrs" upon which this volume is based), so too does this book merely attempt to undo the growing recognition by scholars that the anti-Catholic "Whig interpretation" of history that held sway for centuries was and is nothing more than state propaganda.

Disappointment.......2005-10-24

Ridley, a well known scholar and writer of UK history, really disappoints with this biased and amateur account(more like a retelling of a more famous book) of one of the Tudor's most infamous periods. Expecting so much more, from the first page it's obvious that Ridley (A Catholic?), seeks to place the blame on someone without looking at the psychological warfare that was going on inside Queen Mary (the first)to begin with.

It's never referred to and never accounted for the number of "Privy Councillors" that Mary had and listened to compared to the other Tudor Monarch's that were there step by step and through ever day of her reign. At one point, it got up to well over twenty, whereas in comparison, Elizabeth never went beyond five !! Then there is also the presence of the Hapsburgs particulary Phillip II who I hold responsible, in every way just as much as Mary was.

What you get is a finger pointing excerise and poorly written at that. May as well just find a copy of Foxes "Book Of Martyrs" and be done with it.

Just Barely Kept My Interest.......2004-12-01

I think that I am with Todd (see his review below) on this one. It is a great topic, but one that seems unduly light in the hands of Ridley. I do not mind the salacious aspects of the burnings at all. The problem is that Ridley cannot make up his mind if he is going to regal us with stories of grisly burnings till we can almost smell the burning flesh, or rather engage in a sort of mildly analytical narrative of the fluctuations of the Catholic vs. Protestant battles that went on in the hearts and minds of people in 16th Century England and Europe.

Both objectives would be fine by me. But he really just starts on track and then quickly switches to another. I can handle the fact that he is merely regurgitating "Foxe's Book of Martyrs" --there are a lot of august historians that make their honest living doing this well -- but Ridley really never pulls it off.

There is of course some of the value judgements that rear their heads at obscure and incomplete times. At times Ridley reminds me of some of the disjointed conversations I used to have with some of my (ancient English) relatives on the perils of Popery! in the 21st Cen! --- One would think that we could get past that. In other passages Ridley talks about the struggle in the hearts of all people and the brutal "terror" of the burning -- which easily eclipsed the rather limited burnings of Henry VIII.

Just barely kept my interest. I selected it as my ripping read of the week (you know, the one you read after you have grown bored with reading philosophy of science books and you can no longer concentrate on Hobsbawm -- the time where you just want to revel in the joys of Counter Reformation excess before crawling off to bed), but this book did not accomplish that for me....

It was OK, but with a read like this it does not encourage one to read Ridley's other works.

Mildly entertaining, but deeply flawed.......2002-09-13

There is no question that Ridley's book is mildly entertaining to read--any work based upon Foxe's "Book of Martyrs" should contain a certain amount of gripping material. Unfortunately, this book is little more than a rather tepid summary of some of the more salacious portions of Foxe. Ridley's prose occasionally evinces a dry wit, but more often it is simply banal and overly simplistic. It almost seems as though he was writing for a juvenile audience. Moreover, he makes little attempt to analyze the experience of the martyrs, preferring instead simply to repeat the narrative details supplied in Foxe. Most unforgivable, however, are Ridley's continually distorted moral and historical judgments, which render this book a very pale shadow of serious history. Opinions are certainly welcome in the study of history, but surely Ridley could have done better than to repeat some rather tired old cliches. It's really a shame and a surprise that this book is not better, considering the fine books Ridley has written in the past (e.g. biographies of Thomas Cranmer and Nicholas Ridley, two of the most prominent Marian martyrs.)

An very unenlightening list.......2002-06-26

Bloody Mary's executions of Protestants created a deep seated hatred of Catholics in the English soul and cast a long shadow. Understanding what happened in this period of English history is essential to understanding the next 400 years. However this book is primarily a distillation of John Foxe's Book of Martyrs, and provides little more than a list of martyrs with only a limited attempt at understanding the forces at play.

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Bloody Good Reading!
The only book for the serious Bloody aficionado!

The Bloody Mary
Christopher B. O'Hara
Manufacturer: The Lyons Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 155821786X

Book Description

A connoisseur's guide to the world's most complex cocktail, with recipes for variations and garnishes.

Customer Reviews:

Bloody Good Reading!.......2000-07-07

The reader who picks up this book will find far more than a collection of recipes. The Bloody Mary provies a glimpse of life in Paris of the 20's and a peek into the drinking preferences of the American expatriate writers who frequented Harry's New York Bar. The photography is excellent, and whether or not the reader partakes of The Bloody, the book is fascinating. The organization, however, leaves something to be desired, with the much-sought recipe appearing about the middle of the book. Also, far too much of the book may have been dedicated to the application of the Bloody Mary toward the relief of hangovers. The best way to handle hangovers is probably not to get them, to begin with. Since hangovers occur after drinking, it may have been more reasonable to place this section at the end. I, too, enjoyed Hemingway's recipe for the Bloody Mary. It's a great read!

The only book for the serious Bloody aficionado!.......1999-11-05

This was an excellent read, with great recipes for bloodies and some solid info on combating hangovers. History section was interesting too, as was the recipe for Ernest Hemingway's bloody mary! I totally recommend it.

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