Average customer rating:
- Intriguing lives, lazily written
- Lytton Lite
|
Eminent Georgians: The Lives of King George V, Elizabeth Bowen, St. John Philby, and Lady Astor
John Halperin
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0312176856 |
Book Description
John Halperin illuminates the connection between four fascinating people and the intersecting era in which they lived -the second "Georgian" age, the period in England between the two world wars.
Customer Reviews:
Intriguing lives, lazily written.......2004-11-26
This certainly isn't Lytton Strachey. Like Strachey and Richard Holmes, however, Halperin well realizes the inherent great enjoyability of very short biographies of extremely interesting people. There seems to be almost no original research here, and Halperin is willing to make an extremely shallow and lazy transition to an anecdote just to squeeze it in, but he does write with grace (and has an eye for a great story). Oddly, there's a running theme throughout the book: the perfidy of what Halperin extremely loosely calls "treason," although what he means by treason seems so broad at times as to be almost meaningless. The best lives here are of the stodgy George V and the hilariously irreverent Nancy Astor, because with both Halperin seems really to have a new angle he wants to bring out; while his willingness to applaud the late king for his steadfastness and decency as compared to his eldest son's thorough rottenness, it does not seem to occur to Halperin that Edward VIII's character might be in part due to his parents' legendarily neglectful cold and neglectful care. Halperin's extremely heavyhanded evaluations of Elizabeth Bowen's novels are also a bit puzzling, although Bowen's exceptionally eventful life and character make up for his judgmentalism towards her fiction.
Lytton Lite.......2001-08-17
John Halperin takes Lytton Strachey as his model and provides four short lives of people he views as emblematic of the "second Georgian" era - King Geroge V himself, Elizabeth Bowen, St. John Philby and Nancy Astor. The results are interesting without being particularly memorable. Halperin tells his stories in a plain documentary fashion, without much analysis and with none of the mordant wit or strong opinions of Strachey's nasty little classic. Such a straightforward approach works best if bolsered by extensive research, but the slim bibliography indicates a newspaper profile rather than an original and insightful work. All this being said, Bowen, Philby and Astor are interesting enough as people to making reading "Eminent Georgians" worthwhile. As for the good King George, it will take a much more persuasive writer to bring that admirable but dull monarch to life on the page.
Customer Reviews:
Blah, humbug.......2006-07-26
This biography isn't nearly --no, make that doesn't even come CLOSE-- to being as excellent as James Pope Hennessey's QUEEN MARY (1959). Yes, that biography was written almost 50 years ago and Pope Hennessey was writing an "official" biography, but it's chock full of interesting information and is backed by thorough research and excellent writing. Anne Edwards resorts to wondering, in the first chapter of this version, whether Mary's first fiance, the Duke of Clarence, was Jack the Ripper, and hinting that this could be possible. From that high point (she wrote sarcastically), it's all weak. Talk about a comedown. Don't waste your time with this trash version; go to the one that tells you what Mary was really like, and why.
Good, Solid reading.......2006-02-06
Biography can be a demanding form. The pitfalls range from the Kitty-Kelley-extreme of trashing a subject to the adulation of a hagiographer. There is a very, very narrow path of objectivity between.
It is clear Anne Edwards has a great affection and respect for her subject. Perhaps she does not stay in the rigorously objective historian's path as much as one would wish, but she does acknowledge her subject's faults. She does not pretend, for instance, that Queen Mary was anything but a bad mother even by the standards of her time. Still, at the end of the book one suspects Ms. Edwards believes in the Divine Right of Kings with as much fervor as her inimitable subject. I doubt that was her initial intention.
The tempo is perfect--the book is an easy read without being simplistic. There is a good selection of pictures that nicely illustrate the entire life of this truly one-of-a-kind woman.
Monarchy isn't everyone's cup of tea, but if it interests you this is a must-read book.
This is a very well researched and most interesting read........2002-04-12
Queen Mary was the consort of King George V and the paternal grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II. She was a great influence on Queen Elizabeth II and the resemblance between Queen Mary and her famous granddaughter is uncanny. Queen Mary was the daughter of one of Queen Victoria's cousins, Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge. Queen Mary's father was the Duke of Teck (a morganatic son of the heir apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of Wuerttemberg - now part of modern Germany). Queen Mary was destined to marry Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (eldest son of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) but he died before any marriage could take place. Queen Victoria wanted this marriage badly. Queen Mary at this time was Her Serene Highness, Princess Victoria Mary of Teck. To have lost the heir to the throne of England was a great loss. Queen Victoria knew that this Princess was worth keeping and soon Prince Albert Victor's younger brother George was married off to his late brother's fiancee. They eventually became King George V and Queen Mary on the death of King Edward VII in 1910. The marriage was a success and for Princess Victoria Mary of Teck it was a great rise from Serene Highness to Royal Highness and eventually Queen Consort. Queen Mary herself had a very interesting early family life. Her brothers were interesting characters as well as her parents. One of her brothers married King George V's cousin HRH Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone while another caused Queen Mary much embarrassment with his gambling and other dubious activities. Queen Mary came from German stock and it is interesting to read about her German relatives. Her own married life is of much interest and of course her children are well known. She was the granddaughter-in-law of Queen Victoria, the daughter-in-law of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, the wife of George V and the mother of King Edward VIII and King George VI. Her life spanned a most turbulent period and she was a solid rock in the life of the British Royal family, providing a sense of security to the British Monarchy particularly during the abdication crisis. This is a very well researched book. It is well worth the read.
Royal Watchers will love it........2000-10-30
Anne Edwards is terrific and this book is no exception. It tells the story Queen Mary, the grandmother of the current queen Elizabeth, who rose from a minor royal relative to the queen consort of England. The path was difficult and almost lost - like Catherine of Aragon, she was betrothed to the heir who died prematurely (Edward, the whispered would-be Jack the Ripper) but married his brother instead. One of the most interesting episodes in the book is when her son, Edward VIII, chose love over duty, devastating his mother who had raised him to chose duty to the country over all else.
For real royal watchers, one of the things that sets this work above others in the genre, is the details of the clothing and jewelry worn by Queen Mary and the other royals. Mary was apparently not shy about wearing jewels that befit her station and these details are revealed to the reader. For every royal wedding, funeral and other occasion, Edwards takes time to desribe the clothing worn by the principals. If you've bought People Magazine to see the fashions of Diana, you need to read this book. It's much better that People magazine. Photos (b&w) are included as well.
Customer Reviews:
Accidental History.......2007-05-01
Lutyens, the architect of Queen Mary's Dolls' House, also designed the city of New Delhi and the Viceroy's House, one of the largest and most unique palaces in the world. Sadly, he was one of the world's greatest artists, but is remembered only for this (comparatively) tiny tourist attraction.
Tourists, architectural students, and historians should buy this book. This is the only thorough analysis of any of Lutyens' buildings, and as such, is an important historical document above and beyond its tourist appeal.
Probably the best book until they make a virtual reality show........2007-01-15
I was so enchanted by Royal Collection Official Guide Book to Queen Mary's Dolls' House that I ordered this one figuring (correctly) that there would be other unique pictures. This is the better of the two books - nearly three times as long and filled with more pictures, especially detail shots of the tiny furnishings and decorations. I am charmed by Cripp's method of showing scale: he poses the tiny cricket bat next to a regulation cricket ball, and the little golf clubs next to a real golf ball. This also includes a section on how the house is aging: fading wallpaper, damaged paint, etc. All of the pictures, except for a few that are historic, are in color. This is unfortunately out of print, and may be more expensive, so the purchaser will have to weigh issues of cost and availability for themselves. I think that either would do as a souvenier.
If someone is really interested, I would recommend getting both books. The Royal Collection Official Guidebook is a pretty good buy at $11.95 and a nice supplement to this one. A very few of the shots are in both, but not enough to make them redundant to the person who wants all the information they can get. Generally, the duplicate shots are slightly large in the S-W book. To compare and contrast the two, while the S-W book has more of everything, the RC book still has some unique shots. The photographs in this book take in the entire room, while the RC book often shoots the room at an angle, cutting off part of the room, but what is shown is sometimes in better focus and a bit larger. To compare the shots of the Queen's bedroom, the Stewart-Wilson shot shows the entire bedroom. The Royal Collection shot, at an angle , reveals some additional details such as the fire screen and the chinoiserie cabinet, but cuts off the exteme left-hand side of the room. (Her Majesty has apparently been rearranging her decorative items since the S-W book.) The S-W detail of the 18th century pietre-dure table concentrates on showing the design on the top. The RC detail shows more of the table and the objects normally on it. The historical sections, revealing how the house came to be built are the most different, and the RC book has more pictures of people who participated in creating the doll house and of the room in which it now sits with the Phillip Connard mural. The captions are overlapping, but not identical, and so one gains more information by having both.
More Corrections.......2006-05-19
To further correct the first reviewer, the Doll's House is certainly not a copy of Windsor Castle. It is nothing like it. Windsor Castle is a CASTLE - stones and very old, and big. The Doll's House is an "ideal home" of the early 1020's - albeit intended for royalty and not for your average Joneses.
Fantastic book.......2006-03-01
With a couple of corrections of the first review, I'd like to make sure that it's known that Queen Mary did not commission this dollshouse. It was the original brain child of the Princess Marie Louise, who spearheaded the creation of the house. Queen Mary was "extremely surprised" but agreed. The initial shell of the house was erected in Lutyen's office, then removed to the drawing room of his house in Mansfield Street in London.
It was unveiled to the press, once completed, in the Mansfield Street house, then moved and reconstructed in the Palace of Arts at Wembley. It went from there to Windsor Castle, then to an exhibition at Olympia. In February of 1925, the house was returned to Windsor Castle. The Daily Mail donated a glass case through which we can now view the dollshouse in Windsor Castle.
This wonderful book has photographs of the letters written by Princess Marie Louise to all the firms and manufacturers involved in the dollshouse creation, as well as numerous photographs of the interior and furnishings. Pictures of tiny dollshouse ledgers, keys, and even a garden snail grace this book.
An extraordinary dollhouse explored in depth.......2002-03-15
England's Queen Mary--grandmother of the current Queen Elizabeth II--commissioned the construction of her extraordinary dollhouse (or "dolls' house" as it is referred to here) in 1921, during her own reign. It resides at Windsor Castle, as it has since being constructed there. Designed by Edward Lutyens (famous for his graceful furniture), the house is a reproduction of Windsor Castle right down to the last nail--almost literally.
David Cripps' photography beautifully captures the interiors of this amazing dollhouse, from the grand to the plebian. Here is the linen closet, each batch of towels tied with different-colored ribbon to denote whether they were intended for the nursery, the staff, or the kitchen. Here is a lacquer cabinet with gilded stand, dovetailed working drawers, and gold-leafed decoration. Here is a bed, complete with pillows, bolsters, sheets, blankets, and even a tiny walnut-handled bedwarmer. The toilet, complete with toilet paper discreetly placed in a bowl alongside, really works. The toothbrushes are made of ivory and have bristles made from the hair of a goat's inner ear. In the cellar, bottles of Chateau Margaux are properly corked and waxed and labeled. The pantry shows real bows of Fry's Chocolates sharing space with McVitie & Price biscuits, barley sugar candies in hefty glass candy jars, and Frank Cooper's Seville Marmalade in squat jars tied with brown paper and string.
The garage houses a miniature bicycle with brakes "in perfect working order," not to mention a Rudge motorcycle and sidecar, a seven-seater Rolls Royce limousine-landaulet, a Vauxhall, a "Sunbeam open tourer," and two Daimlers. Gorgeous royal crests are hand-painted on each. The house even has its own petrol pumps and fire appliances, as was normal for large houses in that era.
The house's garden is splendid despite the absence of a single living thing. The lawn, made of cut green velvet, boasts several tiny mowers (both motor-powered and not), and the nearby garden has its own lovely benches, hoes, spades and the like. There is even a robin's nest, complete with eggs, and a tiny, tiny snail.
Perhaps the most extraordinary thing in the house is the book collection. Famous authors were asked to contribute their own works. Arthur Conan Doyle obliged by submitted "How Watson Learned the Trick," an original 500-word short story done in his own handwriting. The bookplates for each of the books were designed by beloved Winnie-the-Pooh illustrator Ernest Shepard. Rudyard Kipling submitted not only two poems, but illustrated them himself as well. Other well-known authors who gave their own works to the Queen's house included G. K. Chesterton, Joseph Conrad, Robert Graves, Aldous Huxley, Hilaire Belloc, Rose Macauley, W. Somerset Maugham, and Vita Sackville-West. Topping off the fine works of this distinguished crowd are the leather-bound autograph books--one each for famous folks from stage and screen, famous folks from the military, and famous politicans.
There is even a room for storing the scepter, crowns and other regalia--all featuring flawless gemstones!
The details are endlessly fascinating and the house and its furnishings so well-constructed that without a tennis ball or coin or some other everyday real object, you easily forget that everything your eye falls upon here is miniature. For those who cannot get to Windsor Castle themselves to view the house in person, this book offers a very fine tour.
Customer Reviews:
A Good Review of the Politics and the Politicians of the Era.......1998-02-15
Kenneth Rose is an excellent scholar and this book is about scholarship--debunking the myths and telling the straight story about King George V and the politicians with whom he dealth. My only wish is that I could know more about George V the man, but this is the same objection that I've had of all scholarly biographers of Kings.
Book Description
As official biographer, the author had access to private papers which helped unfold the moving story of Princess May of Teck's impoverished childhood, her significant reign and her old age as the much admired Queen Dowager; she saw her fiancee, husband and three sons die, and another abdicate before her own death in 1953.
Customer Reviews:
Queen Mary.......2006-07-20
Before I read this biography I had no interest in the Victorians, didn't think much of the Royal Family and thought all biographies were boring. This book changed all that. It was the story of a remarkable life, well told, and it covers an important period in history it was good to read- in fact, it deserves to rank as the best biography ever written, even though it's 47 years old!
Magisterial, Majestic, and Marvelously Entertaining.......2004-12-13
While it's not the fashion these days for biographers to betray afffection for their subjects, James Pope-Hennessy clearly held his in the highest regard. Although born into the fringes of Germano-British royalty, the one-time May of Teck was, by the end of her long life, an icon of British life (she pops up in the oddest places, from a cameo as a waving hand in Virginia Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway" to a recent BBC film in which she is portrayed by Miranda Richardson as the mother of what we would now call a "differently abled" child).
Pope-Hennessy's biography is at once a respectful portrait of the Queen and a fascinating glimpse into royal life between the Crimean and Second World Wars. It bristles with colorful supporting characters, from the spiteful Lady Geraldine Somerset (whose fly-on-the-wall perspective as a lady-in-waiting gave ample room for her spleen) to the Queen's doting aunt, the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg Strelitz, to the exceedingly patient Duke and Duchess of Beaufort, who had the dubious honor of hosting the elderly queen during her wartime evacuation from London. Presiding over them all is the vast and benevolent Princess Mary Adelaide, the Queen's mother and a memorable figure in her own right. The author bids farewell to the Princess in a lyric passage that would seem at home in Woolf and that, as a teenager first reading the book, made me weep.
With lengthy excerpts from letters and other primary sources, unfailingly acute and frequently amusing observations of the foibles of royalty and those around them, and, in the end, a remarkably balanced view of the Queen, this book is both a model of how an authorized biography can be written and an invaluable resource for those interested not just in the life of one woman but in the times in which she lived.
the best royal biography ever!.......2002-12-30
Once in awhile I can judge a book by its cover-I have now owned a copy for 11 years and I also re-read it once a year or so. Mr Pope-Hennessey does a brilliant job bringing a huge cast of charachters to life, and Queen Mary herself is a fascinating study in early 20th century womanhood. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading about women in the royal family. All the elements are there, in great detail-but don't expect dirt digging. But you will not be dissappointed!
One of the best biographies of a Royal.......2002-07-13
I've owned this biography for ten years, and I seem to go back and re-read it once a year. It's the kind of book that's so well-written, you can start reading it from any chapter and get hooked. I don't think you have to be a Royalty-fan to enjoy it. Queen Mary was a fascinating person & her life was so interesting, to say the least. It's got so much detail, and the author makes you understand the circumstances which made Queen Mary the person she was. This book was published in 1957, which was only a few years after her death and a more reticent time, so don't expect any delving into Queen Mary's unfortunate habit of "guilting" people into giving her their historical knicknacks, etc. for her vast collections. (Or about her shady dealings in the matter of acquiring Empress Marie of Russia's jewel collection from the Empress' daughters at a bargain price.) For the Royal buff, there is also a wealth of information on Queen Victoria, Edward VII, Alexandra,et al. Make this a cornerstone of your Royalty (or just good biography) collection & you won't be disappointed.
God Save the Queen.......2002-04-22
Pope-Hennessy's book is a delight to read. He writes in a readable engrosing manner which makes his book hard to put down. He gives us a enthralling account of the life of this remarkably down to earth woman who is always a queen. The many love letters she received from her husband, the king, also disclose to us a woman who was indispensable to his success as a monarch. For everyone who has an even remote interest in royalty this is the book for you. A good read!
Customer Reviews:
I would highly recommend this book for grownups, as well as children! .......2007-08-09
Although I'm grown, I read the book, and must say I enjoyed it very much. I had never thought about days when the country had not yet been mapped. I never realized that people really risked their lives to do the mapping. It just seemed like maps always should have been there! This book really fired my imagination, seeing in my mind what all those people had to go through. I had thought before of people going west as pioneers, but never really going as explorers and mapmakers. That would have been so much more difficult! I wish this book had been around when I was growing up; I would have enjoyed learning about these things when I was young, and would have studied them more when I was older. This book made me see things and wonder about things, and is a very real eye opener! Wonderful pictures in the book!!!
Book Description
"Farrand states the rationale for his procedure succinctly, leaving most of the pages' space for photos that are sharp and truly enough colored to be fully legible..." - Booklist.
Customer Reviews:
Photos not just drawings.......2004-02-09
One of it's best features is the additional photo of the bird in flight, this makes identication easier. I looked over many books before I decided on this one, it is well organized and the photos are much better over those pictured with drawings. With each bird pictured is a list of similar species, I wish there were pictures of these too but than it would be too heavy to carry with me. My uncle has had many birder books for years and this is still his favorite too.Diane
All in all a worthy field guide........1999-05-01
I've owned this field guide for quite some time. The pictures and text are all good. I believe it would have been a better book had it had actual maps of of the birds distribution though. Describing where a particular bird is located geographically just in words without a map is not what I like. Other than that, this is more than an adequate guide for any person who enjoys birding.
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