In this book, one begins to understand the long history of scandals in the family of Britain's monarchs. Elizabeth II's 'annus horribilis' is not an isolated event but an on-going saga of sexual high jinx and jealousies that have been a part of the British royal family for centuries.

Unlike their German cousins, the British people have an equally long-standing tradition of lampooning and laughing at the follies of their monarchs. Tabloid journalism was alive and well as far back as the early days of the House of Hanover.

The long-suffering Queen Caroline does her duty to the best of her abilities-gently leading her arrogant and insecure husband, George II, into doing the right thing in spite of himself. But the need for a government, independent of the whims and follies of the monarch, is by now most evident. The evolution of power centered in the Prime Minister and Parliament, and the ability of the British people to not take their leaders too seriously, is the reason England ruled a mighty Empire while Germany floundered and fell in two world wars.

Jean Plaidy not only has a gift for making history easy to read, but easy to understand. This book should be read after "Queen in Waiting."

I really enjoyed this book for all its content on the wonderful churches in Italy. I never knew there were so many. The pics in the book are very artistic and detailed. I was impressed with also the amount of info related to the history of these fine churches. I am moved by the Roman Catholic Vatican and its long tradition. IMHO this book is a must buy for your coffee table. A real eye opener and conversation starter.

Names Thomas Carr GGrandfather of Dabney Carr, Martin, Terrell, Wood, Sanders, Chiles, Clark, Davis,Minor, Powell and many other families of the time and much much more Well done!

This book is approximately 56 pages and filled with interesting history and short stories. I remember hearing interesting ghost/treasure stories as a child while visiting the Colorado area. I recently moved to the Colorado area, and I could not wait to obtain information and books about the area. To my surprise, this was one of the few books that I found. The stories are short and are perfect for story telling. The stories are filled with information to excite the imagination of the possibility that treasure might still be buried in the mountains that has never been retrieved. I probably won't go into the mountains looking for the treasure even though some of the descriptions are pretty clear to where it might be located. However, I think it will make a wonderful conversation piece while driving through the Colorado mountains with family members that are visiting the area. The book is clear and concise and if you are looking for some interesting stories to discuss with tourists or family members this is a great book. Once you start reading it your curiosity won't let you put it down.

'Complete Book of Calligraphy' is a very colorful and easy to understand book. I would suggest this title for anyone, new or well versed in the art of calligraphy. This book shows the endless possibilites that lie right at the end of a pen. Calligraphy can be used in so many creative ways, more than I even imagined! I thought calligraphy was just pretty words, but this book shows me that it goes well beyond that. This would also be great for gift-giving!

A bacchanal and major home renovations ensue when a bewheelchaired stranger crunches up the gravel driveway of a wealthy widow.

Corrigan, while fundraising for the handicapped in the English countryside, rolls into the heart and home of lonely Mrs. Blunt, much to the chagrin of her streetwise housekeeper and the daughter who stands to inherit her wealth.

Brilliantly concise and characterized by a dry and confident wit, Corrigan is charming, hilarious, and rage-inducing all at once. Note of interest: Blackwood picked up writing as a hobby when she was in her forties and married to poet Robert Lowell.

I found Bettinger-Lopez's work very impressive, especially considering that the vast majority of her research was conducted for an undergraduate thesis. Bettinger-Lopez clearly spent a great deal of time conducting personal interviews and was able to get "inside" the Cuban-Jewish community. As the daughter of a Cuban-Jewish emigre to the U.S. (to New York) who still has many Cuban-Jewish friends and family members in Miami, I truly enjoyed the author's vivid, detailed portraits of the community. Bettinger-Lopez also provided interesting anthropologic and feminist analysis of the Cuban-Jewish community. I did, however, find one aspect of the book troubling, and that is Bettinger-Lopez's tendency to frequently inject herself and her personal issues into the analysis of the people that she interviews. While this technique is interesting at times, it comes off as mildly self-centered and lacks the detachment required of a primary source researcher. Overall, I recommend the book and especially recommend it to Cuban-Jews and their descendants.

Despite superb maps on some subjects you never imagined, like the various shifts in the mouth of the Yellow River, and gorgeous illustrations of the art of the period, this book has a few flaws. The line drawing reconstruction illos are so dramatic and modern as to convey relatively little information and some inaccuracies (would someone tell me how those horses are drawing that chariot, other than with the reins?), and the cultural coverage of the text is irregular in what it covers if you are looking for depth. It takes a couple of readings before the text falls together, and then suddenly you know a lot about China. Perservere. It's not bad as an only home reference on China, or as an introduction for the educated adult.

After over a year of seaching, I stumbled onto this book. It's the ONLY one I can find which presents accurate information about dinosaurs from a Christian perspective, without falling into young-earth creationist propoganda. Great pictures and up-to-date scientific data. Appropriate for grades 3 through 5 to read to themselves. Younger children will enjoy the pictures. It's not exactly a "read-to-me" book, however.

My daughter is 15 months old and can't get enough of this book. She loves playing peek a boo and this book has some similarities. i have to watch her so that she doesn't wrip out any of the pop ups but other then that the illistrations are simple and easy to follow.