Friday, December 01, 2006
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
November Book
Meeting Date: Monday November 27th, 7:00 PM
Book: Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring by Alexander Rose
Book Description:
Based on remarkable new research, acclaimed historian Alexander Rose brings to life the true story of the spy ring that helped America win the Revolutionary War. For the first time, Rose takes us beyond the battlefront and deep into the shadowy underworld of double agents and triple crosses, covert operations and code breaking, and unmasks the courageous, flawed men who inhabited this wilderness of mirrors–including the spymaster at the heart of it all.
In the summer of 1778, with the war poised to turn in his favor, General George Washington desperately needed to know where the British would strike next. To that end, he unleashed his secret weapon: an unlikely ring of spies in New York charged with discovering the enemy’s battle plans and military strategy.
Washington’s small band included a young Quaker torn between political principle and family loyalty, a swashbuckling sailor addicted to the perils of espionage, a hard-drinking barkeep, a Yale-educated cavalryman and friend of the doomed Nathan Hale, and a peaceful, sickly farmer who begged Washington to let him retire but who always came through in the end. Personally guiding these imperfect everyday heroes was Washington himself. In an era when officers were gentlemen, and gentlemen didn’t spy, he possessed an extraordinary talent for deception–and proved an adept spymaster.
The men he mentored were dubbed the Culper Ring. The British secret service tried to hunt them down, but they escaped by the closest of shaves thanks to their ciphers, dead drops, and invisible ink. Rose’s thrilling narrative tells the unknown story of the Revolution–the murderous intelligence war, gunrunning and kidnapping, defectors and executioners–that has never appeared in the history books. But Washington’s Spies is also a spirited, touching account of friendship and trust, fear and betrayal, amid the dark and silent world of the spy.
(from: Amazon.com)
About the Author
ALEXANDER ROSE earned his doctorate from Cambridge University, where his prizewinning research focused on political and scientific history. He is the author of Kings in the North: The House of Percy in British History, and his writing has appeared in the New York Observer, the Washington Post, and many other publications. He lives in New York City.
(from: Amazon.com)
Links:
Book: Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring by Alexander Rose
Book Description:
Based on remarkable new research, acclaimed historian Alexander Rose brings to life the true story of the spy ring that helped America win the Revolutionary War. For the first time, Rose takes us beyond the battlefront and deep into the shadowy underworld of double agents and triple crosses, covert operations and code breaking, and unmasks the courageous, flawed men who inhabited this wilderness of mirrors–including the spymaster at the heart of it all.
In the summer of 1778, with the war poised to turn in his favor, General George Washington desperately needed to know where the British would strike next. To that end, he unleashed his secret weapon: an unlikely ring of spies in New York charged with discovering the enemy’s battle plans and military strategy.
Washington’s small band included a young Quaker torn between political principle and family loyalty, a swashbuckling sailor addicted to the perils of espionage, a hard-drinking barkeep, a Yale-educated cavalryman and friend of the doomed Nathan Hale, and a peaceful, sickly farmer who begged Washington to let him retire but who always came through in the end. Personally guiding these imperfect everyday heroes was Washington himself. In an era when officers were gentlemen, and gentlemen didn’t spy, he possessed an extraordinary talent for deception–and proved an adept spymaster.
The men he mentored were dubbed the Culper Ring. The British secret service tried to hunt them down, but they escaped by the closest of shaves thanks to their ciphers, dead drops, and invisible ink. Rose’s thrilling narrative tells the unknown story of the Revolution–the murderous intelligence war, gunrunning and kidnapping, defectors and executioners–that has never appeared in the history books. But Washington’s Spies is also a spirited, touching account of friendship and trust, fear and betrayal, amid the dark and silent world of the spy.
(from: Amazon.com)
About the Author
ALEXANDER ROSE earned his doctorate from Cambridge University, where his prizewinning research focused on political and scientific history. He is the author of Kings in the North: The House of Percy in British History, and his writing has appeared in the New York Observer, the Washington Post, and many other publications. He lives in New York City.
(from: Amazon.com)
Links:
Sunday, October 01, 2006
October Book
Meeting Date: October 23, 7:00 PM
Book: Selected Genghis Khan Biographies
Book: Selected Genghis Khan Biographies
- Genghis Khan : conqueror of the world / Leo de Hartog.
- Genghis Khan / James Chambers.
- Genghis Khan : his life and legacy / Paul Ratchnevsky
- Genghis khan / Brenda Lange.
This month we are doing things a little different. We are taking on the life of a person as opposed to a single book.
Friday, September 01, 2006
September Book
Meeting Date: September 25, 7:00 PM
Book: The Pirate Hunter : The True Story of Captain Kidd by Richard Zacks
Book Description:
Everybody knows the legend of Captain Kidd, Americas most ruthless buccanneer. Few people realize that the facts of his life make for a much better tale. Kidd was actually a tough New York sea captain hired to chase pirates, a married war hero whose secret mission took a spectacularly bad turn. This harrowing tale traces Kidds voyages in the 1690s from his home near Wall Street to Whitehall Palace in London, from the ports of the Caribbean to a secret pirate paradise off Madagascar. Author Richard Zacks, during his research, also unearthed the story of a long forgotten rogue named Robert Culliford, who dogged Kidd and led Kidds crew to mutiny not once but twice. The lives of Kidd and Culliford play out like an unscripted duel: one man would hang in the harbor, the other would walk away with the treasure. Filled with superb writing and impeccable research, The Pirate Hunter is both a masterpiece of historical detective work and a ripping good yarn, and it delivers something rare: an authentic pirate story for grown-ups.
-from: Amazon.com
About the Author:
Richard Zacks spent more than three years researching The Pirate Hunter, including months at the Public Record Office in London (where he found a pirate prisoner's long-lost diary). Zacks is the author of two previous books of unusual research: the bestselling History Laid Bare and perennial book club favorite An Underground Education. He lives in Pelham, New York.
-from: Amazon.com
Links:
Author Biographical information
The Pirate Hunter Website
Author Interview
Book Browse Review
Salon.com Review
Pirates of the Caribbean, in Fact and Fiction
Pirates - Fact and Legend
Piracy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pirates - National Maritime Museum,
Pirates and Privateers: The History of Maritime Piracy
Elizabeth's Pirates
Book: The Pirate Hunter : The True Story of Captain Kidd by Richard Zacks
Book Description:
Everybody knows the legend of Captain Kidd, Americas most ruthless buccanneer. Few people realize that the facts of his life make for a much better tale. Kidd was actually a tough New York sea captain hired to chase pirates, a married war hero whose secret mission took a spectacularly bad turn. This harrowing tale traces Kidds voyages in the 1690s from his home near Wall Street to Whitehall Palace in London, from the ports of the Caribbean to a secret pirate paradise off Madagascar. Author Richard Zacks, during his research, also unearthed the story of a long forgotten rogue named Robert Culliford, who dogged Kidd and led Kidds crew to mutiny not once but twice. The lives of Kidd and Culliford play out like an unscripted duel: one man would hang in the harbor, the other would walk away with the treasure. Filled with superb writing and impeccable research, The Pirate Hunter is both a masterpiece of historical detective work and a ripping good yarn, and it delivers something rare: an authentic pirate story for grown-ups.
-from: Amazon.com
About the Author:
Richard Zacks spent more than three years researching The Pirate Hunter, including months at the Public Record Office in London (where he found a pirate prisoner's long-lost diary). Zacks is the author of two previous books of unusual research: the bestselling History Laid Bare and perennial book club favorite An Underground Education. He lives in Pelham, New York.
-from: Amazon.com
Links:
Author Biographical information
The Pirate Hunter Website
Author Interview
Book Browse Review
Salon.com Review
Pirates of the Caribbean, in Fact and Fiction
Pirates - Fact and Legend
Piracy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pirates - National Maritime Museum,
Pirates and Privateers: The History of Maritime Piracy
Elizabeth's Pirates
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
August Book
Meeting Date: August 28, 7:00 PM
Book: A History Of The World In Six Glasses by Tom Standage
Book Description:
Throughout human history. certain drinks have done much more than just quench thirst. As Tom Standage relates with authority and charm, six of them have had a surprisingly pervasive influence on the course of history, becoming the defining drink during a pivotal historical period.
A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the 21st century through the lens of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola. Beer was first made in the Fertile Crescent and by 3000 B.C.E. was so important to Mesopotamia and Egypt that it was used to pay wages. In ancient Greece wine became the main export of her vast seaborne trade, helping spread Greek culture abroad. Spirits such as brandy and rum fueled the Age of Exploration, fortifying seamen on long voyages and oiling the pernicious slave trade. Although coffee originated in the Arab world, it stoked revolutionary thought in Europe during the Age of Reason, when coffeehouses became centers of intellectual exchange. And hundreds of years after the Chinese began drinking tea, it became especially popular in Britain, with far-reaching effects on British foreign policy. Finally, though carbonated drinks were invented in 18th-century Europe they became a 20th-century phenomenon, and Coca-Cola in particular is the leading symbol of globalization.
For Tom Standage, each drink is a kind of technology, a catalyst for advancing culture by which he demonstrates the intricate interplay of different civilizations. You may never look at your favorite drink the same way again.
About the Author:
Tom Standage is technology editor at the Economist, and the author of The Turk, The Neptune File, and The Victorian Internet. He lives in Greenwich, England.
Links:
Tom Standage's Blog
http://www.tomstandage.com/
Reviews
http://www.portlandonline.com/water/index.cfm?a=baeijc&c=ebeje
http://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm?book_number=1590
History of Tea
http://www.stashtea.com/facts.htm
Tea Home Page
http://www.tea.co.uk/
History of Coffee
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee
http://www.justaboutcoffee.com/index.php?file=history
Coca-Cola website
http://www2.coca-cola.com/
Book: A History Of The World In Six Glasses by Tom Standage
Book Description:
Throughout human history. certain drinks have done much more than just quench thirst. As Tom Standage relates with authority and charm, six of them have had a surprisingly pervasive influence on the course of history, becoming the defining drink during a pivotal historical period.
A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the 21st century through the lens of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola. Beer was first made in the Fertile Crescent and by 3000 B.C.E. was so important to Mesopotamia and Egypt that it was used to pay wages. In ancient Greece wine became the main export of her vast seaborne trade, helping spread Greek culture abroad. Spirits such as brandy and rum fueled the Age of Exploration, fortifying seamen on long voyages and oiling the pernicious slave trade. Although coffee originated in the Arab world, it stoked revolutionary thought in Europe during the Age of Reason, when coffeehouses became centers of intellectual exchange. And hundreds of years after the Chinese began drinking tea, it became especially popular in Britain, with far-reaching effects on British foreign policy. Finally, though carbonated drinks were invented in 18th-century Europe they became a 20th-century phenomenon, and Coca-Cola in particular is the leading symbol of globalization.
For Tom Standage, each drink is a kind of technology, a catalyst for advancing culture by which he demonstrates the intricate interplay of different civilizations. You may never look at your favorite drink the same way again.
About the Author:
Tom Standage is technology editor at the Economist, and the author of The Turk, The Neptune File, and The Victorian Internet. He lives in Greenwich, England.
Links:
Tom Standage's Blog
http://www.tomstandage.com/
Reviews
http://www.portlandonline.com/water/index.cfm?a=baeijc&c=ebeje
http://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm?book_number=1590
History of Tea
http://www.stashtea.com/facts.htm
Tea Home Page
http://www.tea.co.uk/
History of Coffee
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee
http://www.justaboutcoffee.com/index.php?file=history
Coca-Cola website
http://www2.coca-cola.com/
Saturday, July 01, 2006
July Book
Meeting Date: July 24, 7:00 PM
Book: Blowing My Cover by Lindsay Moran
Book Description:
A clever, funny memoir from a young woman who fulfills her Mission: Impossible dreams by joining the CIA, only to discover that the life of a spy is not at all what she expected.
Lindsay Moran was a bright-eyed, idealistic Harvard graduate who hoped to serve her patriotic duty while living a life she'd first dreamed of as a child watching James Bond movies and reading Harriet the Spy. After applying to the CIA and passing lie detector tests, background investigations, and psychological screenings, she soon found herself in training at the Farm, learning how to crash cars through barriers at a hundred miles an hour, not to mention how to withstand interrogation.
But she was simultaneously learning that the life of a spy wasn't nearly the glamorous-not to mention principled-job she thought it would be. Her first posting, to Macedonia, confirmed it, as she witnessed firsthand the culture inside an organization whose intelligence failures led to tragic results during her own tenure. With a true story both thoughtful and funny, a wonderful new talent pulls open the doors to the CIA (from: Amazon.com)
About the Author:
Lindsay Moran is a freelance writer whose articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and USA Today. From 1998 to 2003, she worked as a case officer for the CIA.
Websites:
official CIA website
http://www.cia.gov/
Wikipedia Entry for CIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA
BookPage Review
http://www.bookpage.com/0502bp/nonfiction/blowing_my_cover.html
Interview with Lindsay Moran
http://www.eyeonbooks.com/ibp.php?ISBN=0399152393
Lindsay Moran's Website
http://www.blowingmycover.com/
Book: Blowing My Cover by Lindsay Moran
Book Description:
A clever, funny memoir from a young woman who fulfills her Mission: Impossible dreams by joining the CIA, only to discover that the life of a spy is not at all what she expected.
Lindsay Moran was a bright-eyed, idealistic Harvard graduate who hoped to serve her patriotic duty while living a life she'd first dreamed of as a child watching James Bond movies and reading Harriet the Spy. After applying to the CIA and passing lie detector tests, background investigations, and psychological screenings, she soon found herself in training at the Farm, learning how to crash cars through barriers at a hundred miles an hour, not to mention how to withstand interrogation.
But she was simultaneously learning that the life of a spy wasn't nearly the glamorous-not to mention principled-job she thought it would be. Her first posting, to Macedonia, confirmed it, as she witnessed firsthand the culture inside an organization whose intelligence failures led to tragic results during her own tenure. With a true story both thoughtful and funny, a wonderful new talent pulls open the doors to the CIA (from: Amazon.com)
About the Author:
Lindsay Moran is a freelance writer whose articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and USA Today. From 1998 to 2003, she worked as a case officer for the CIA.
Websites:
official CIA website
http://www.cia.gov/
Wikipedia Entry for CIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA
BookPage Review
http://www.bookpage.com/0502bp/nonfiction/blowing_my_cover.html
Interview with Lindsay Moran
http://www.eyeonbooks.com/ibp.php?ISBN=0399152393
Lindsay Moran's Website
http://www.blowingmycover.com/
Thursday, June 01, 2006
June Book
Meeting date: Monday June 19, 7:00 PM
Book: Royal Blood: Richard III and the Mystery of the Princes by Bertran Fields
Book Description:
Notoriously immortalied by Shakespeare and historians, he is history's most infamous royal villian: Richard III, king of England from 1483 to 1485. Crazed with power and paranoia, he is generally supposed to have killed the youthful Prince of Wales and the aged Henry VI, drowned his brother in a vat of wine, poisoned his wife, and, worst of all, murdered his two young nephews, the older of whom was the rightful king--a reign of terror ending only with his own cowardly death on the blood-soaked field of battle.
But is all this true? Modern revisionists, citing the unreliability of Shakespeare's sources and the political agenda of historians in Richard's own day, have offered a far different portrait. A brave and valiant soldier, a loyal brother, and an intelligent, able king popular with his subjects and defeated only through treachery, their Richard is the victim of a deliberate campaign of slander devised by his Tudor successors to the throne.
In this comprehensive, meticulously researched book, renowned litigator Bertram Fields outlines and evaluates the arguments of both sides, sifting through five hundred years of legend to apply his highly successful courtroom techniques to the available evidence. Clearing away the dust of time, Fields reconstructs one of the most dramatic and turbulent episodes in history, analyzing the motives and machinations of the many players and emerging with the most definitive account yet of this most fascinating figure--and a powerful argument against acquiescing to common belief. (from: Amazon.com)
About the Author:
Bertram Fields, the author of two novels published under a pseudonym, is widely regarded as the most prominent entertainment lawyer in the country. He has successfully tried many of the landmark cases in the entertainment and communications industries over the past 20 years. He lives in the hills above Los Angeles, California. Royal Blood was named Ricardian Book of the Year by the Ricardian Society.
Links:
e-text of Malory's History of Richard the Third
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~rbear/r3.html
e-texts of Shakespear's Richard the Third
http://absoluteshakespeare.com/plays/richard_III/richard_III.htm
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2257
Richard the Third Society, American BranchOnline Library of Primary Texts and Secondary Sources
http://www.r3.org/bookcase/shaksper/index.html
Wikipedia Entries
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_III_(play)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_III_of_England
Richard the Third Foundation
http://www.richard111.com/
Richard the Third Society and the book "Royal Blood"
http://www.r3.org/basics/fields/index.html
http://www.r3.org/basics/fields/field_reviews.html
Reviews
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0060987383/ref=dp_proddesc_0/002-0431023-0525618?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=283155
About Bertram Fields
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertram_Fields
http://www.ggfirm.com/attorneys/attorneys.php3?act=l3&id=36
http://www.harpercollins.com/global_scripts/product_catalog/author_xml.asp?authorid=13160
Other Books by Bertran Fields:
Players : the mysterious identity of William Shakespeare (822.394 F463)
Book: Royal Blood: Richard III and the Mystery of the Princes by Bertran Fields
Book Description:
Notoriously immortalied by Shakespeare and historians, he is history's most infamous royal villian: Richard III, king of England from 1483 to 1485. Crazed with power and paranoia, he is generally supposed to have killed the youthful Prince of Wales and the aged Henry VI, drowned his brother in a vat of wine, poisoned his wife, and, worst of all, murdered his two young nephews, the older of whom was the rightful king--a reign of terror ending only with his own cowardly death on the blood-soaked field of battle.
But is all this true? Modern revisionists, citing the unreliability of Shakespeare's sources and the political agenda of historians in Richard's own day, have offered a far different portrait. A brave and valiant soldier, a loyal brother, and an intelligent, able king popular with his subjects and defeated only through treachery, their Richard is the victim of a deliberate campaign of slander devised by his Tudor successors to the throne.
In this comprehensive, meticulously researched book, renowned litigator Bertram Fields outlines and evaluates the arguments of both sides, sifting through five hundred years of legend to apply his highly successful courtroom techniques to the available evidence. Clearing away the dust of time, Fields reconstructs one of the most dramatic and turbulent episodes in history, analyzing the motives and machinations of the many players and emerging with the most definitive account yet of this most fascinating figure--and a powerful argument against acquiescing to common belief. (from: Amazon.com)
About the Author:
Bertram Fields, the author of two novels published under a pseudonym, is widely regarded as the most prominent entertainment lawyer in the country. He has successfully tried many of the landmark cases in the entertainment and communications industries over the past 20 years. He lives in the hills above Los Angeles, California. Royal Blood was named Ricardian Book of the Year by the Ricardian Society.
Links:
e-text of Malory's History of Richard the Third
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~rbear/r3.html
e-texts of Shakespear's Richard the Third
http://absoluteshakespeare.com/plays/richard_III/richard_III.htm
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2257
Richard the Third Society, American BranchOnline Library of Primary Texts and Secondary Sources
http://www.r3.org/bookcase/shaksper/index.html
Wikipedia Entries
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_III_(play)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_III_of_England
Richard the Third Foundation
http://www.richard111.com/
Richard the Third Society and the book "Royal Blood"
http://www.r3.org/basics/fields/index.html
http://www.r3.org/basics/fields/field_reviews.html
Reviews
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0060987383/ref=dp_proddesc_0/002-0431023-0525618?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=283155
About Bertram Fields
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertram_Fields
http://www.ggfirm.com/attorneys/attorneys.php3?act=l3&id=36
http://www.harpercollins.com/global_scripts/product_catalog/author_xml.asp?authorid=13160
Other Books by Bertran Fields:
Players : the mysterious identity of William Shakespeare (822.394 F463)
Monday, May 01, 2006
May Book
Meeting date: Monday May 22, 7:00 PM
Book: Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
Book Description:
Blending the intimacy of memoir and the panoramic sweep of eyewitness history, Wild Swans has become a bestselling classic in thirty languages, with more than ten million copies sold. The story of three generations in twentieth-century China, it is an engrossing record of Mao's impact on China, an unusual window on the female experience in the modern world, and an inspiring tale of courage and love.
Jung Chang describes the life of her grandmother, a warlord's concubine; her mother's struggles as a young idealistic Communist; and her parents' experience as members of the Communist elite and their ordeal during the Cultural Revolution. Chang was a Red Guard briefly at the age of fourteen, then worked as a peasant, a "barefoot doctor," a steelworker, and an electrician. As the story of each generation unfolds, Chang captures in gripping, moving -- and ultimately uplifting -- detail the cycles of violent drama visited on her own family and millions of others caught in the whirlwind of history
About the Author:
JUNG CHANG was born in Yibin, Sichuan Province, China, in 1952. She left China for Britain in 1978 and obtained a Ph.D. in linguistics from York University in 1982, the first person from the People?s Republic of China to receive a doctorate from a British university. She lives in London and has recently completed a biography of Mao.
Book: Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
Book Description:
Blending the intimacy of memoir and the panoramic sweep of eyewitness history, Wild Swans has become a bestselling classic in thirty languages, with more than ten million copies sold. The story of three generations in twentieth-century China, it is an engrossing record of Mao's impact on China, an unusual window on the female experience in the modern world, and an inspiring tale of courage and love.
Jung Chang describes the life of her grandmother, a warlord's concubine; her mother's struggles as a young idealistic Communist; and her parents' experience as members of the Communist elite and their ordeal during the Cultural Revolution. Chang was a Red Guard briefly at the age of fourteen, then worked as a peasant, a "barefoot doctor," a steelworker, and an electrician. As the story of each generation unfolds, Chang captures in gripping, moving -- and ultimately uplifting -- detail the cycles of violent drama visited on her own family and millions of others caught in the whirlwind of history
About the Author:
JUNG CHANG was born in Yibin, Sichuan Province, China, in 1952. She left China for Britain in 1978 and obtained a Ph.D. in linguistics from York University in 1982, the first person from the People?s Republic of China to receive a doctorate from a British university. She lives in London and has recently completed a biography of Mao.
Monday, April 03, 2006
April Book
Meeting Date: April 24, 2006, 7:00 PM
Book: Big Chief Elizabeth : The Adventures and Fate of the First English Colonists in America by Giles Milton
Book Description:
In April 1586, Queen Elizabeth I acquired a new and exotic title. A tribe of Native Americans had made her their weroanza—a word that meant "big chief". The news was received with great joy, both by the Queen and her favorite, Sir Walter Ralegh. His first American expedition had brought back a captive, Manteo, who caused a sensation in Elizabethan London. In 1587, Manteo was returned to his homeland as Lord and Governor, with more than one hundred English men, women, and children. In 1590, a supply ship arrived at the colony to discover that the settlers had vanished.
For almost twenty years the fate of Ralegh's colonists was to remain a mystery. When a new wave of settlers sailed to America to found Jamestown, their efforts to locate the lost colony were frustrated by the mighty chieftain, Powhatan, father of , who vowed to drive the English out of America. Only when it was too late did the settlers discover the incredible news that Ralegh's colonists had survived in the forests for almost two decades before being slaughtered in cold blood by henchmen. While Sir Walter Ralegh's "savage" had played a pivotal role in establishing the first English settlement in America, he had also unwittingly contributed to one of the earliest chapters in the decimation of the Native American population. The mystery of what happened to these colonists who seemed to vanish without a trace lies at the heart of this well-researched work of narrative history.
About the Author:
Giles Milton is the author of the critically acclaimed Nathaniel's Nutmeg and The Riddle and the Knight. He lives in London.
Links:
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~jmack/algonqin/oberg1.htm
Roanoke Island North Carolina
http://www.ego.net/us/nc/ob/roanoke.htm
Book: Big Chief Elizabeth : The Adventures and Fate of the First English Colonists in America by Giles Milton
Book Description:
In April 1586, Queen Elizabeth I acquired a new and exotic title. A tribe of Native Americans had made her their weroanza—a word that meant "big chief". The news was received with great joy, both by the Queen and her favorite, Sir Walter Ralegh. His first American expedition had brought back a captive, Manteo, who caused a sensation in Elizabethan London. In 1587, Manteo was returned to his homeland as Lord and Governor, with more than one hundred English men, women, and children. In 1590, a supply ship arrived at the colony to discover that the settlers had vanished.
For almost twenty years the fate of Ralegh's colonists was to remain a mystery. When a new wave of settlers sailed to America to found Jamestown, their efforts to locate the lost colony were frustrated by the mighty chieftain, Powhatan, father of , who vowed to drive the English out of America. Only when it was too late did the settlers discover the incredible news that Ralegh's colonists had survived in the forests for almost two decades before being slaughtered in cold blood by henchmen. While Sir Walter Ralegh's "savage" had played a pivotal role in establishing the first English settlement in America, he had also unwittingly contributed to one of the earliest chapters in the decimation of the Native American population. The mystery of what happened to these colonists who seemed to vanish without a trace lies at the heart of this well-researched work of narrative history.
About the Author:
Giles Milton is the author of the critically acclaimed Nathaniel's Nutmeg and The Riddle and the Knight. He lives in London.
Links:
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~jmack/algonqin/oberg1.htm
Roanoke Island North Carolina
http://www.ego.net/us/nc/ob/roanoke.htm
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
March Book
Meeting date: Monday March 27, 7:00 PM
Book: Leap of Faith : Memoirs of an Unexpected Life by Queen Noor
Book Description:
Leap of Faith is the dramatic and inspiring story of an American woman's remarkable journey into the heart of a man and his nation.
Born into a distinguished Arab-American family and raised amid privilege, Lisa Halaby joined the first freshman class at Princeton to accept women, graduating in 1974 with a degree in architecture and urban planning. Two years later, while visiting her father in Jordan, she was casually introduced on the airport runway to King Hussein. Widely admired in the Arab world as a voice of moderation, and for his direct lineage to the prophet Muhammad, Hussein would soon become the world's most eligible bachelor after the tragic death of his wife. The next time they met, Hussein would fall headlong in love with the athletic, outspoken daughter of his longtime friend. After a whirlwind, secret courtship Lisa Halaby became Noor Al Hussein, Queen of Jordan.
With eloquence and candor, Queen Noor speaks of the obstacles she faced as a naive young bride in the royal court, of rebelling against the smothering embrace of security guards and palace life, and of her own successful struggle to create a working role as a humanitarian activist In a court that simply expected Noor to keep her husband happy. As she gradually took on the mantle of a queen, Noor's joys and challenges grew. After a heartbreaking miscarriage, she gave birth to four children. Meshing the demands of motherhood with the commitments of her position often proved difficult, but she tried to keep her young children by her side, even while flying the world with her husband in his relentless quest for peace. This mission would reap satisfying rewards, including greater Arab unity and a peace treaty with Israel, and suffer such terrible setbacks as the Gulf War and the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin.
Leap of Faith is a remarkable document. It is the story of a young American woman who became wife and partner to an Arab monarch. It provides a compelling portrait of the late King Hussein and his lifelong effort to bring peace to his wartorn region, and an insider's view of the growing gulf between the United States and the Arab nations. It is also the refreshingly candid story of a mother coming to terms with the demands the king's role as a world statesman placed on her family's private life. But most of all it is a love story—the intimate account of a woman who lost her heart to a king, and to his people. (from Amazon.com)
About the Author:
Born Lisa Najeeb Halaby, August 23, 1951, in Washington, DC; immigrated to Jordan; daughter of Najeeb Elias (a pilot, director of the Federal Aviation Administration, and chairman of Pan-American Airways) and Doris (a homemaker; maiden name, Lundquist) Halaby; married Hussein bin Talal (King Hussein of Jordan), June 15, 1978 (died, February 7, 1999); children: Hamzah and Hashim (sons), Iman and Raiyah (daughters). Education: Princeton University, B.A., 1974. Hobbies and other interests: Skiing, water skiing, sailing, horseback riding, reading, gardening, photography. (from Gale Databse)
Links:
Queen Noor's Offical Webpage
http://www.noor.gov.jo/index.htm
Reading Group Guide
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides3/leap_of_faith1.asp#discuss
Seniornet Reading Guide
http://www.seniornet.org/php/readerguide.php?GuideID=40&Version=0&Font=0
Amazon Reviews
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0786867175/ref=dp_proddesc_0/002-0431023-0525618?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=283155
CIA World Fact Book: Jordan
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/jo.html
Country Studies: Jordan
http://rs6.loc.gov/frd/cs/jotoc.html
Book: Leap of Faith : Memoirs of an Unexpected Life by Queen Noor
Book Description:
Leap of Faith is the dramatic and inspiring story of an American woman's remarkable journey into the heart of a man and his nation.
Born into a distinguished Arab-American family and raised amid privilege, Lisa Halaby joined the first freshman class at Princeton to accept women, graduating in 1974 with a degree in architecture and urban planning. Two years later, while visiting her father in Jordan, she was casually introduced on the airport runway to King Hussein. Widely admired in the Arab world as a voice of moderation, and for his direct lineage to the prophet Muhammad, Hussein would soon become the world's most eligible bachelor after the tragic death of his wife. The next time they met, Hussein would fall headlong in love with the athletic, outspoken daughter of his longtime friend. After a whirlwind, secret courtship Lisa Halaby became Noor Al Hussein, Queen of Jordan.
With eloquence and candor, Queen Noor speaks of the obstacles she faced as a naive young bride in the royal court, of rebelling against the smothering embrace of security guards and palace life, and of her own successful struggle to create a working role as a humanitarian activist In a court that simply expected Noor to keep her husband happy. As she gradually took on the mantle of a queen, Noor's joys and challenges grew. After a heartbreaking miscarriage, she gave birth to four children. Meshing the demands of motherhood with the commitments of her position often proved difficult, but she tried to keep her young children by her side, even while flying the world with her husband in his relentless quest for peace. This mission would reap satisfying rewards, including greater Arab unity and a peace treaty with Israel, and suffer such terrible setbacks as the Gulf War and the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin.
Leap of Faith is a remarkable document. It is the story of a young American woman who became wife and partner to an Arab monarch. It provides a compelling portrait of the late King Hussein and his lifelong effort to bring peace to his wartorn region, and an insider's view of the growing gulf between the United States and the Arab nations. It is also the refreshingly candid story of a mother coming to terms with the demands the king's role as a world statesman placed on her family's private life. But most of all it is a love story—the intimate account of a woman who lost her heart to a king, and to his people. (from Amazon.com)
About the Author:
Born Lisa Najeeb Halaby, August 23, 1951, in Washington, DC; immigrated to Jordan; daughter of Najeeb Elias (a pilot, director of the Federal Aviation Administration, and chairman of Pan-American Airways) and Doris (a homemaker; maiden name, Lundquist) Halaby; married Hussein bin Talal (King Hussein of Jordan), June 15, 1978 (died, February 7, 1999); children: Hamzah and Hashim (sons), Iman and Raiyah (daughters). Education: Princeton University, B.A., 1974. Hobbies and other interests: Skiing, water skiing, sailing, horseback riding, reading, gardening, photography. (from Gale Databse)
Links:
Queen Noor's Offical Webpage
http://www.noor.gov.jo/index.htm
Reading Group Guide
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides3/leap_of_faith1.asp#discuss
Seniornet Reading Guide
http://www.seniornet.org/php/readerguide.php?GuideID=40&Version=0&Font=0
Amazon Reviews
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0786867175/ref=dp_proddesc_0/002-0431023-0525618?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=283155
CIA World Fact Book: Jordan
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/jo.html
Country Studies: Jordan
http://rs6.loc.gov/frd/cs/jotoc.html
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
February Book
Meeting date: February 27, 7:00 PM
Book: Sex with kings : 500 years of adultery, power, rivalry, and revenge by Eleanor Herman.
Book Description
Throughout the centuries, royal mistresses have been worshiped, feared, envied, and reviled. They set the fashions, encouraged the arts, and, in some cases, ruled nations. Eleanor Herman's Sex with Kings takes us into the throne rooms and bedrooms of Europe's most powerful monarchs. Alive with flamboyant characters, outrageous humor, and stirring poignancy, this glittering tale of passion and politics chronicles five hundred years of scintillating women and the kings who loved them.
Curiously, the main function of a royal mistress was not to provide the king with sex but with companionship. Forced to marry repulsive foreign princesses, kings sought solace with women of their own choice. And what women they were! From Madame de Pompadour, the famous mistress of Louis XV, who kept her position for nineteen years despite her frigidity, to modern-day Camilla Parker-Bowles, who usurped none other than the glamorous Diana, Princess of Wales.
The successful royal mistress made herself irreplaceable. She was ready to converse gaily with him when she was tired, make love until all hours when she was ill, and cater to his every whim. Wearing a mask of beaming delight over any and all discomforts, she was never to be exhausted, complaining, or grief-stricken.
True, financial rewards for services rendered were of royal proportions -- some royal mistresses earned up to $200 million in titles, pensions, jewels, and palaces. Some kings allowed their mistresses to exercise unlimited political power. But for all its grandeur, a royal court was a scorpion's nest of insatiable greed, unquenchable lust, and vicious ambition. Hundreds of beautiful women vied to unseat the royal mistress. Many would suffer the slings and arrows of negative public opinion, some met with tragic ends and were pensioned off to make room for younger women. But the royal mistress often had the last laugh, as she lived well and richly off the fruits of her "sins."
From the dawn of time, power has been a mighty aphrodisiac. With diaries, personal letters, and diplomatic dispatches, Eleanor Herman's trailblazing research reveals the dynamics of sex and power, rivalry and revenge, at the most brilliant courts of Europe. Wickedly witty and endlessly entertaining, Sex with Kings is a chapter of women's history that has remained unwritten -- until now.
About the Author
Eleanor Herman was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She studied journalism and German at Towson State University and languages in Europe. For eight years she was associate publisher for North America for NATO's Nations and Partners for Peace magazine. She is married and lives in McLean, Virginia, where she writes history from a woman's perspective.
Sex with Kings homepage
http://www.sexwithkings.com/
Washington Post Review
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19416-2004Jun30.html
Royal mistress entry from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_mistress
The Mistresses of Charles IIby Brenda Ralph Lewis
http://www.britannia.com/history/charmist.html
The king's mistress - a royal tradition
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4465399.stm
The mistress with the mostest
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/10-13-2002-28131.asp
Madame de Pompadour
http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/pompadou.html
Book: Sex with kings : 500 years of adultery, power, rivalry, and revenge by Eleanor Herman.
Book Description
Throughout the centuries, royal mistresses have been worshiped, feared, envied, and reviled. They set the fashions, encouraged the arts, and, in some cases, ruled nations. Eleanor Herman's Sex with Kings takes us into the throne rooms and bedrooms of Europe's most powerful monarchs. Alive with flamboyant characters, outrageous humor, and stirring poignancy, this glittering tale of passion and politics chronicles five hundred years of scintillating women and the kings who loved them.
Curiously, the main function of a royal mistress was not to provide the king with sex but with companionship. Forced to marry repulsive foreign princesses, kings sought solace with women of their own choice. And what women they were! From Madame de Pompadour, the famous mistress of Louis XV, who kept her position for nineteen years despite her frigidity, to modern-day Camilla Parker-Bowles, who usurped none other than the glamorous Diana, Princess of Wales.
The successful royal mistress made herself irreplaceable. She was ready to converse gaily with him when she was tired, make love until all hours when she was ill, and cater to his every whim. Wearing a mask of beaming delight over any and all discomforts, she was never to be exhausted, complaining, or grief-stricken.
True, financial rewards for services rendered were of royal proportions -- some royal mistresses earned up to $200 million in titles, pensions, jewels, and palaces. Some kings allowed their mistresses to exercise unlimited political power. But for all its grandeur, a royal court was a scorpion's nest of insatiable greed, unquenchable lust, and vicious ambition. Hundreds of beautiful women vied to unseat the royal mistress. Many would suffer the slings and arrows of negative public opinion, some met with tragic ends and were pensioned off to make room for younger women. But the royal mistress often had the last laugh, as she lived well and richly off the fruits of her "sins."
From the dawn of time, power has been a mighty aphrodisiac. With diaries, personal letters, and diplomatic dispatches, Eleanor Herman's trailblazing research reveals the dynamics of sex and power, rivalry and revenge, at the most brilliant courts of Europe. Wickedly witty and endlessly entertaining, Sex with Kings is a chapter of women's history that has remained unwritten -- until now.
About the Author
Eleanor Herman was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She studied journalism and German at Towson State University and languages in Europe. For eight years she was associate publisher for North America for NATO's Nations and Partners for Peace magazine. She is married and lives in McLean, Virginia, where she writes history from a woman's perspective.
Sex with Kings homepage
http://www.sexwithkings.com/
Washington Post Review
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19416-2004Jun30.html
Royal mistress entry from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_mistress
The Mistresses of Charles IIby Brenda Ralph Lewis
http://www.britannia.com/history/charmist.html
The king's mistress - a royal tradition
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4465399.stm
The mistress with the mostest
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/10-13-2002-28131.asp
Madame de Pompadour
http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/pompadou.html
Sunday, January 01, 2006
January 2006 Book
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Meeting Date: January 23, 2006 7:00 PM
Book Description
Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion in the misty,early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. John Berendt's sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative reads like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of nonfiction. Berendt skillfully interweaves a hugely entertaining first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case.It is a spellbinding story peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman's Card Club; the turbulent young redneck gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the "soul of pampered self-absorption"; the uproariously funny black drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young blacks dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight. These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else. (from: Amazon.com)
About the Author
John Berendt writes a monthly column for Esquire. He has been the editor of New York magazine and lives in New York. (from: Amazon.com)
Links:
Last Word Book Club: Summary, bio, reviews and more!
Meeting Date: January 23, 2006 7:00 PM
Book Description
Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion in the misty,early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. John Berendt's sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative reads like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of nonfiction. Berendt skillfully interweaves a hugely entertaining first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case.It is a spellbinding story peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman's Card Club; the turbulent young redneck gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the "soul of pampered self-absorption"; the uproariously funny black drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young blacks dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight. These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else. (from: Amazon.com)
About the Author
John Berendt writes a monthly column for Esquire. He has been the editor of New York magazine and lives in New York. (from: Amazon.com)
Links:
Last Word Book Club: Summary, bio, reviews and more!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)