Everyone knows where Becket's bones were from 1170 until 1538 -- in the shrine in Canterbury Cathedral. Chaucer's pilgrims were on their way to see them... In 1538, commissioners of Henry VIII destroyed the shrine and, many assume, Becket's bones as well. But the contemporary accounts are ambiguous at best... In 1888 a shallow grave was discovered in the Cathedral crypt containing bones that seemed to match the description of Becket. They were even arranged in the makeshift casket in a way similar to descriptions of the arrangement of the bones in the shrine. Were these Becket's bones? And if they were, what would be the impact on the English church of the re-discovery of the relics of England's greatest Catholic saint -- one who died defending the authority of the pope? It sounds like a novel, but it is all true. This is a well-written, even handed account with a maximum of scholarship and a minimum of sensationalism (but just enough to keep you interested). Recommended

"The Quest for Becket's Bones" by John Butler. Subtitled: "The Mystery of St. Thomas Becket of Canterbury" . Yale University Press, 1995.

St. Thomas a Becket opposed the actions of his king, Henry II, who "wished" that he was rid of that priest Some of Henry's knights dispatched Thomas in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. The burial place of St. Thomas a Becket then became a shrine that was the center of centuries of pilgrimages in England. When another Henry, i.e. Henry VIII, decided to break with the Church in Rome, he made St. Thomas Becket an object lesson. On page 117, the author, John Butler, records that Henry VIII viewed Thomas Becket as a "rebel" who fled to France and to the bishop of Rome "...to procure the abrogation of wholesome laws". King Henry VIII ordered the "plucking down " of the pictures of St. Thomas Becket and that Becket would not be considered a saint "...throughout the realm". An example of this pettiness, this meanness, is portrayed on page 118, where the painting of St. Thomas Becket has been scratched out completely. This becomes the central theme of the book: were the Commissioners of Henry VIII so mean as to be able to disinter the bones of St. Thomas Becket and burn them? On page 119, the author quotes that " ...the Pope 'announced the new cruelty and impiety of the King of England, who commanded the body of St Thomas of Canterbury to be burnt and the ashes scattered to the winds". The Commissioner who supposedly ordered the ashes to be fired from a cannon was Thomas Cromwell. Interestingly, the author does not name the Pope, as usually done in historical works; it was Pope Paul III, (reigned from 1534 to 1549). Also interestingly, in this present age of restitution, reparation and restoration, this book makes no mention of the move to restore to Roman Catholics the riches, the land and the churches stolen from Catholics in 1500s.

If the bones were not burnt, were they later discovered (1888) in the place in Canterbury especially identified with Thomas Becket? You will have to read the book to find the answer to that. John Butler has taken historical facts and worked them into a book which reads like a mystery novel. His final chapter is a summary of the possibilities of what happen to the Becket's bones. You, as the reader, can pick the most plausible solution to this mystery.

I worked at Gore Place as an intern in college, where Robert Roberts worked. Many don't realize that this is often credited as the first book published in the US by an African-American. Insight into the labors of a butler in the early republic, of interest to those who are curious about lives of Af-Ams of the era, even though his race is never mentioned in the book.

I bought this book both as a training guide for my own servants and as a bit of historical research into butlers. Published in 1827 originally this book is a look into the lives of an upper class American family through the eyes of their butler. He covers everything you can image from claening to serving meals to appropriate dress to a philosophical discussion of the roles of servant and employers.

But watch out for errors.

The problem with writing history books is that there are a lot of facts to check. I, for one, am harder on books where I discover inaccuracies since for each one I catch who knows how many others get past me, or worse, form my opinion of a subject.

One glaring error I found in the book occurred on page 189:

"The California school [the California Maritime Academy], operating on Treasure Island (man-made in San Francisco Bay for the 1939 World's Fair), was enlarged and relocated to San Mateo."

For starters, the California Maritime Academy operated during the opening days of World War II from the Ferry building at the foot of Market Street in San Francisco. In 1943 it moved to Vallejo, it's location ever since. At no time was it ever located in San Mateo. Since the school remains in Vallejo to this day, this would have been an easy fact to verify. So how do we know the more obscure facts are correct?

This may be nit-picking, since the book was well-written and very informative. Despite some inaccuracies, I'd still recommend it to anyone looking for a good, broad overview of maritime history. (And for anyone looking for further history of the California Maritime Academy, I'd highly recommend Walter Jaffee's The Track of the Golden Bear (The Glencannon Press, 1996).)

John Butler has presented a fascinating, informative, highly readable, and entertaining story of the rise and fall of the American Merchant Marine. While written from the perspective of an insider, the author never talks down to the reader, nor overwhelms the reader with needless detail. He presents the material in a calm and even-handed way, and hold the reader's attention throughout.

STALLION IN THE STORM is an excellent book. Anyone who loves mystery and animals will love this book. I recommend readers should be ages 8 and up. Fantastic! Great! That's what I say about this book. Ben M. Baglio the author, has made two series that I've read some of, ANIMAL ARK and ANIMAL ARK HAUNTINGS. This is one of his ANIMAL ARK HAUNTINGS. This book is a type of ghost story, crossed with a mystery story. The setting is mostly Folan's Stables. Folan's Stables is in the country and is a racing horse stables with a yard for racing in. The main characters are Mandy and James. Mandy is an animal lover and can't stand animals in danger. James is an animal lover too, and to show it, he has a black Labrador retriver named Blackie because he's black. He also helps Mandy rescue animals in danger. Dr. Adam Hope is Mandy's dad, also a doctor at Animal Ark, and the temporary horse vet at Folan's Stables. In this book Folan's is having trouble. The horses are unsettled and get all jumpy at races. "She didn't even have a chance to run." This is what Mandy said when a horse didn't want to run a race. Could it be because of the mystery incident that happened at the stables? Or are the stables haunted? And why is the owner ignoring the stables? Find out by reading the book.

Mandy and her best friend James are very excited when Mandy's father promises to take them with him to visit Folan's Racing Stables, but when they get there they realize something is very wrong. Many of the jockey's that ride at Folan's think that Tibor, a stallion who died in a race is haunting the stables. It's now up to Mandy and James to find the truth and save Folan's.

This was a great first book to a wonderful series. I recommend this book to any fans of the Animal Ark or Animal Ark Pets book series.

This is my favorite Esperanto textbook. Because it is broken up into 1,000 + lessons, one can study as much or as little as one wants per day.

Other Esperanto language books that I've seen (including Esperanto) introduce a number of grammar rules (or exceptions), vocabulary, and exercises. This is way too much for a young child! But this book breaks every new concept into it's own section. For instance, in one section you'll learn that there is no translation of the articles "a" and "an" in Esperanto.

Now, that's obviously too small a section to take up at one time... but you might want to only cover 2 sections, or maybe you'll want to take on 8 sections at a time. It's up to you - how much time you've got on your hands, the age of the student, etc.

One section, which introduced the first sentence and a number of nouns, I spent a week on with my children. But it was just one simple grammar rule, so it wasn't overwhelming at all. We all had fun.

The biggest drawback to this book is that not all the words are defined - the author assumes you will understand that "monto" means "mountain" and "dromedaro" is "dromedary". You'll need access to a good Esperanto/English dictionary in order to really succeed with this book.

At the end of 2 weeks study with this book, my kids knew well over 200 words (and we skipped the ones that would be more difficult for the younger ones, like the translation for "ideal" and the cities and rivers). We were on page 6... and already knew hundreds of words.

There are some really entertaining poems and quaint little words of wisdom. The author is quite a character, and the book is very lively.

This is an excellent resource, and I highly recommend it. Please email me if you would like some suggestions about using this book with children - we've been having a lot of success and a lot of fun.

This textbook has stood the test of time. It has seen multiple publishers and has stood up well. Although it is one of the older textbooks for English speakers learning Esperanto, it does not convey a dated feel. It is broken into over a thousand small, easily digestable lessons. This makes it extremely well suited to self-study students learning in their spare time. It's small size also makes it easy to take along.

Most people will know of the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth as a couple of old cruise liners -- many may have stayed at the Hotel Queen Mary in the ship's now permanent home in the waters of California. For a brief time, these ships were converted to military use in World War II to transport troops. On one occasion, the Queen Mary hit the British light cruiser HMS Curacoa, causing the ship to sink with the loss of hundreds of allied soldiers.

Daniel Butler is a great historian and storyteller and he makes the wartime history of these two ships come alive. He doesn't start with the day the decision was made to use these cruise ships for military use. He sets the stage and gives the readers an understanding of the years leading to World War II -- not only giving a political and military background, but also telling us what was happening in the shipping industry that led to the construction of these two ships.

To me the two most interesting parts of the book came when Butler tells about the most significant event of the Queen Mary's tour of duty (when the Curacoa was cut in two by her), and the most mundane (what it was like for a soldier to be transported on one of the Queens). If there is a weakness, it was here. I wish he could have had more first hand accounts from the surviving veterans who had crossed the ocean on their way to war. But of course, there are fewer and fewer such survivors still with us. Butler wrote this book just in time.

I liked the way Butler filled in the history of the Queen Mary and
Queen Elizabeth.He also told a very good clear picture of life
we lived aboard ship. On page 92 second phargaph tells of a March
1945 crossing . I was on that passage and well remember hearing
the depth charges explodimg.I still have my white tag and cabin
with number on D deck.To verify my memory I checked my discharge and called our coplit yes he remembered hearing the depth charges.
This tolded of the vital roll these two great ships played in
winning of the war.Many of these things where new to me and I was there.

An exciting book. Historicaly accurate telling of the great fire in October 1947. It grips you like a work of fiction, but all the accounts are true. The only stories I've heard of this disaster that are in more detail, are from my family members who were there and fought the fire. Great read, and highly recommended.

I had never heard of this book when I happened to see it in the gift shop of the place where my wife and I were staying for a few days last month in Bar Harbor, ME (one of the most beautiful places in this country!). As a person always interested in unusual historical events, I purchased this book, and I am very happy that I did. It is a well-written, extremely lucid account of the great Maine fire of October 1947, which really devastated that state. By the terms of our current western wildfires, which destroy millions of acres, this was small (only a bit over 200,000 acres were hit), but a lot of the destruction happened in occupied areas, when homes, businesses, churches, schools, and almost entire towns were lost. This book is at its best when it recounts the human aspect of this series of fires, and the author has collected newsprint accounts, in addition to interviewing the people involved at the time. It is a true tale of heartbreak and heroism, and it shows the resolution and sheer grit of the folks from Maine. They are wonderful people, and this book is quite a tribute to them!

I belive this book merits the G.K. Gilbert award;it explores aspects of geomorphology that have rarely been featured in the published literature. Butler is obviously an expert in this field.

This book is well-written, well-illustrated, and well worth the read. I wish its pricing made it more accessible to students of geomorphology. Concepts have international implications. Highly recommended.

The divison of opinion on this page is interesting but probably not surprising. Emma is a book for serious readers and if you go in expecting an easy-to-read page turner, then stick to Danielle Steele. (It is beyond depressing that two people who wrote reviews were somehow of the amazingly ignorant opinion that Jane Austen ripped off Alicia Silverstone's Clueless.....Rather difficult seeing as she was alive in the early 1800's .....hmmm.) Emma takes patience but it's a rewarding read, with all the complications, misunderstandings andbanality of your average soap opera yet shining with Austen's trademark subtle wit and mordant intelligence which has made this novel a classic.Books do require a little more time, effort and thinking than sitting mindlessly in front of Alicia Silverstone, but what you take away from the experience is a much wider understanding.

I've read Sense and Sensability, Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, and most recently Emma, and while all of them are wonderful, this one was, to me, the most engaging. The characters are all really well developed, especially Emma, who is portrayed as incredibly human. You always like and sympathize with her, but sometimes you want to slap her. The story is, briefly, about Emma, who lives with her father Mr. Woodhouse. She has vowed herself never to marry, but loves to play matchmaker. She has just matched her former governess, "Poor Miss Taylor," up with Mr. Weston, and is quite proud of her success. Mr. Knightly, a neighbor and the brother of her older sister's (Isabella) husband (Mr. John Knightly), warns her about meddling, but she doesn't take him seriously. Soon Emma befriends a young girl of unknown parentage (she is illegitimate and her father, while providing for her care, remains anonymous) named Harriet. Harriet is in love with a farmer named Robert Martin, but Emma thinks that he is beneath her, so manages to talk her out of accepting his marraige proposal. Instead, thinking that she would be a perfect match for Mr. Elton, another local gentleman, encourages Harriet to set her sights on him. Harriet actually talks herself into being in love with him, until everything is ruined because Mr. Elton turns out to be in love with Emma instead. She turns him down and he leaves town, soon returning with a wife, whom no one likes.

Meanwhile, Mr. Weston's son (Mr. Frank Churchill), who was sent to be raised by his aunt when his mother died, comes to visit his father and flirts constantly with Emma, who is flattered and flirts back. She begins to think she might be in love with him, but when he leaves town again to go back to his aunt and uncle, her feelings cool down. Another out of town visitor, Jane Fairfax, who is the niece of the rather irritating Mrs. and Miss Bates, has also come. Jane is destined to become a governess because she does not come from a wealthy family. Emma and Frank had been speculating about her, because Emma thought she was secretly in love with her friend's husband and that was the reason for her coming, and Frank said he agreed. Emma is jealous of Jane anyway because she is more talented and accomplished than Emma, but whenever she says anything against her to Mr. Knightly, he defends her. Mrs. Weston tells Emma that she thinks Mr. Knightly is in love with Jane, which horrifies Emma because if Knightly marries, then her nephew would no longer be the heir of his estate. Meanwhile Frank Churchill returns and Emma thinks that Harriet is now in love with him. Harriet does say that she has feelings for a certain gentleman that they both know, and that she thinks Emma knows the one she means, and asks for advice about whether she has a chance and should persue it. Emma encourages her, and meanwhile realizes that she has feelings for Mr. Knightley. Then another problem arises. I don't want to say too much more because I don't want to spoil the story if you don't know it, but the plot becomes even more complicated before everything is resolved. But it's a great book and if you are only going to read one Jane Austen novel, this is the one to pick.

i had to read this for my english sophmore highschool class and while most of my peers *hated* this book, i found this book very intriguing and esp. realistic to even today in highschool. the subjects of vanity, friendship, honesty, control, reality, self-desire, relationships, status, and maturity is all incorporated in this book and deeply and straight-forwardly depicts the life of any teenager in any century then or now. Emma struggles to understand her intentions and learns what her mistakes were all about and the reader sees her mature through experiences and constantly learning and realizing her mistakes and flaws and misconceptions. though it was a long story and had a lot of old-language narration, i have to say, Emma is part of the epitome of what ever teenager goes through, female and male. while this is mostly a chick book, guys can find themselves related to the situations that Emma deals with with the other men in the book. i highly recommend this book for people who have patience and are open to the ideals of aristocracy back then. it's amusing, witty, and shocking. really great book.

Okay, you're probably thinking that I'm just someone complaining about having to read it in my freshman year's honors English class. No, I was not forced to read this. I read it far before it was on the reading list. Just wanted to clear that up. Back to the review. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is an intriguing autobiography of a man obsessed with tampering with the laws of nature by reversing them. This novel shows how man deals with failure and loss. Unfortunatly, Victor Frankenstein dealt with failure and loss the wrong way and... Wait, I don't want to give away the ending. Anyway, Mary Shelley creates a clever plot and adds some gruesome happenings and romance, combining the three to make one of the most famous horror stories. Unfortunatly, for those of you still hooked to video games and fast-paced action, you may have a difficult time reading this for it tends to drag out at some points. But that's how literature is, you'll just have to deal with it. Apart from that, I would definitly recommend this book to just about anyone.

The Frankenstein monster is truly one of the most tragic characters in classic literature. He is obviously quite brilliant, having learned to speak (rather eloquently, I might add), and to read simply by secretly watching others. He's sensitive, kind, and appreciative of nature's beauty-all of the most admirable characteristics of a wonderful soul. And yet, he is vilified by all who come in contact with him because of his physical repulsiveness.

His longing for love, especially from Victor, was so painful that it became difficult for me to read. I kept hoping he'd find someone to show him the littlest bit of kindness. His turn to violence is entirely understandable, and Victor's irresponsibility toward his creation is despicable. Victor, who is outwardly handsome but cowardly and cruel, is the story's true monster.

In addition to writing a captivating story, Shelley raises many social issues that are still relevant today, nearly 200 years later, and the book provides a superb argument against *ever* cloning a human being.

(Note: I have the edition with the marvelous woodcut illustrations by Barry Moser and the Joyce Carol Oates afterword - superb!)

After seeing at least five versions of this tale in film - one of my great childhood monster loves - I was happy to finally read the novel. As so often occurs with classics, I was as surprised as I was fascinated.

For starters, the characters are far more subtle than any of the film versions: Victor F appears as a brooding and obsessed genius, but also as a great lover of life and nature. The monster, who is an articulate and literate creature who read Goethe, is even more interesting, from his hopeful beginning to his bitter reaction at rejection and his thirst for vengence. His eloquence was vivid and his pain horribly realistic.

But the work is also fascinating as a window into the mind of the Romantics, who at once strove to reject the rationalism of the Enlightenment yet reflected it. The creature starts off empty and what it becomes is due entirely to his experience. Knowledge is not always good, etc.

Finally, the themes are timeless and full of conflict: creativity giving birth to unimaginable destruction, tampering with nature as its necessities overwhelm even genius, and the like. THe book is a kaleidescope of philosophical reflection. The pain of the creator and the monster alike are inescapably linked like father and son.

I did find the style of the book a bit difficult. It is full of florid rhetoric and lengthy circumlocutions, as the doctor and then the monster tell their stories in almost identical prose.

Highly recommended.