2 devastating stories of faith and sacrifice from Balzac's panorama of nineteenth-century French life, La Comédie Humaine.
The Atheist’s Mass
Category: War
Citizens
This book will give the reader an understanding of the tragedy of the French Revolution. A Revolution that failed to feed the population, a Revolution that failed to protect the population from outside invaders, and a Revolution that failed to protect the population from corruption and tyranny. A failure on all accounts.
Monkey King Makes Havoc in Heaven
by Wu Cheng'en ISBN: 978-0-241-75240-1 First published: 16th Century 104 pages Translated by Julia Lovell Publisher: Penguin Archive part of http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com 6 / 5 Stars A wonderful short extract from the longer work "Monkey King : Journey to the West". It has been compared to both Don Quixote and the Canterbury Tales. What makes the… Continue reading Monkey King Makes Havoc in Heaven
The Madness of Nero
Nero has seized control of Rome and the crown. He is willing to destroy anyone that gets in his way. no one is safe - not even his scheming mother.
The First World War
by A.J.P. Taylor ISBN: 978-0-140-02481-4 First published 1963 287 pages Publisher: Penguin Books Cover photograph: British soldier at Ypres (Paul Popper/Popperfoto/Getty Images) 5 / 5 Stars Very interesting book, and a very useful book if you are to visit the battlefields, cemeteries and graveyards of World War in Northern France or Türkiye. And there are… Continue reading The First World War
The Basque History of the World
by Mark Kurlansky ISBN: 978-0-099-28413-0 First published 1999 359 pages Publisher: vintage-books.co.uk Cover illustration by Nikolai Punin 5 / 5 Stars The story of a people that has never had its own nation-state and yet has thousands of years of history. They sailed the Atlantis, not only the Bay of Biscay. They could have found… Continue reading The Basque History of the World
The Royal Game
by Stefan Zweig ISBN: 978-1-78227-826-9 First published: 1941 Translated from the German by Alexander Starritt 105 pages Publisher: pushkinpress.com Front cover image: Supawat Bursuk / EyeEm / Martin Barraud 5/5 Stars A page turning novella full of intrigue and drama. Written during the Second World War in the age of the great ocean liners. This… Continue reading The Royal Game
History Of The Cathars
A really interesting introduction to the history of the Cathar movement.
Wasp
by Eric Frank Russell ISBN: 978-0-575-12904-7 First published 1957 180 pages Publisher: Gollancz / http://www.orionbooks.co.uk / http://www.gollancz.co.uk Cover illustration by Dominic Harman 3.5 / 5 Stars A different type of science fiction book. Although an interstellar war is the backdrop, all the action takes place on one planet, and a single region on that planet.… Continue reading Wasp
Modern Times
by James Harvey Robinson, Ph.D. First published 1902, this version 1925 790 pages Publisher: Ginn and Company Ltd, Queen Square, London WC1 5/5 Stars A history book and a historical book, newly revised to include the Great War, 1914-1918. The book is intact with full colour maps, such as this of Europe after 1815. The… Continue reading Modern Times
Blitzed
Drugs in Nazi Germany By Norman Ohler ISBN: 978-0-141-98316-5 First published 2015 281 pages Publisher: Penguin RandomHouse UK 5/5 Stars A rather remarkable book, translated from the German by Shaun Whiteside. This book focuses on the pharmacological underpinnings of the Third Reich. With the ascent of the Nazi Party to power in 1933, recreational drugs… Continue reading Blitzed
The Kingdom of Acre
A History of the Crusades III : The Kingdom of Acre By Steven Runciman ISBN: 978-0-241-29877-0 First published 1954 401 pages Publisher : Penguin Classics Cover illustration: Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris 6/5 Stars A wonderful end to the trilogy of books written about the crusades. The attention to detail and fast pace reminded me of Stieg… Continue reading The Kingdom of Acre
Riders of the Purple Sage
By Zane Grey ISBN: 978-0-340-92287-3 First published 1913 298 pages Publisher: http://www.hodder.co.uk 3.5/5 Stars Slip into the world of cattle rustlers, mormons, cowboys and riders. The scene is breathtaking, beneath the mountains and valleys, plateaus, rivers, creeks and gorges of Utah. A tough existence is brought to life by Zane Grey. The most memorable chapter… Continue reading Riders of the Purple Sage
Arthur’s Last Stand
by Alan Coren ISBN: 0-80651-027-1 First published: 1977 64 pages Publisher: Robson Books Illustrations by Alan Coren 4/5 Stars The last in the wonderful 'Arthur' series by Alan Coren, written in the mid-seventies. Brief and easy to read, the books contain good characterization, surprises, battles and dressing up - all things kids will love.… Continue reading Arthur’s Last Stand
The Boxer Rebellion
The events of 1900 laid the foundations for a modern state and any analysis of modern China must first look book at the events of 1900.
Ballots, Bullets & Kabulshit
By Toby Ralph ISBN: 978-0-14-357058-5 First published 2012 135 pages Publisher: Penguin Specials 3/5 Stars An interesting short read into how to run an election in a war zone. Slightly tarnished by Ralph's own pontificating "...typically I'm engaged to manipulate truth for electoral gain", and "... I could still earn four times as much ..."… Continue reading Ballots, Bullets & Kabulshit
The Kingdom of Jerusalem
A History of the Crusades II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem by Steven Runciman ISBN: 978-0-241-29876-3 First published 1952 385 pages Cover: British Library Board Publisher: Penguin Modern Classics 5/5 Stars If the 'hero' of the first was crusade was Baldwin I, the first King of Jerusalem, then the 'hero' of the second crusade (and the… Continue reading The Kingdom of Jerusalem
People of the First Crusade
By Michael Foss ISBN: 1-85479-674-7 First published 1997 228 pages Cover illustration: Detail from The Fall of Acre, Vie et Miracles de St. Louis Publisher: Michael O'Mara Books Limited 3.5/5 Stars An interesting view of the crusades from those that took part in it. Relying on close personal accounts from that time - the author… Continue reading People of the First Crusade
Empires of the Sea
The Final Battle for the Mediterranean, 1521-1580 by Roger Crowley ISBN: 978-0-571-23231-4 First published 2008 301 pages Cover image: The Naval Battle of Lepanto by Antonio de Brugada Cover design: Gavin Morris Publisher: Faber.co.uk 5/5 Stars The great empires of the 16th century, the Ottomans versus the Hapsburgs, the Spanish versus the Turk, Christendom versus… Continue reading Empires of the Sea
Indoctrinaire
by Christopher Priest ISBN: 978-0-575-12119-5 First published 1970 202 pages Cover image: Edward Parker / Alamy Cover design: Sidonie Beresford-Browne Publisher(s) : gollancz.co.uk / orionbooks.co.uk 3.5/5 Stars This is Christopher Priest's first novel. A simple story involving nuclear war, personality drugs and time travel. He focuses closely on a few main the characters, and that… Continue reading Indoctrinaire
The Hammer and the Anvil
by Dwight Jon Zimmerman ISBN: 978-0-8090-5358-2 First published 2012 148 pages Illustrated by Wayne Vansant Publisher: Hill and Wang (Farrar, Starus and Giroux) 3/5 Stars A great introduction to the lead up to the American civil war. Abraham Lincoln is well known, but not so much Frederick Douglass. This is an illustrated parallel biography of… Continue reading The Hammer and the Anvil
A History of The Crusades: The First Crusade
by Steven Runciman ISBN: 978-0-141-98550-3 First published 1951 270 pages Cover illustration: Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris Publisher: Penguin Random House, UK 5/5 Stars A drama and narrative that reads like fiction but is based on closely researched historical fact. Runciman brings to life the major players with detailed character analyses; Baldwin I of Boulogne, Raymond Count… Continue reading A History of The Crusades: The First Crusade
A Farewell To Arms
by Ernest Hemingway ISBN: 978-0-09-991010-7 First published 1929 293 pages Cover illustration: Unknown Publisher: Penguin Random House 5/5 Stars A part-fictionalized version of the Italian defeat at Caporetto. Part-auto-biography, part fiction, the writing is always lucid and always exact. Hemingway's prose has a sing-a-long quality, which he directly intended. The paragraphs can be long or short,… Continue reading A Farewell To Arms
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