Or, should I say, "A whole new slant on brotherly love"?

This book looks at the interesting theme of dysfunctional families setting policy for England during the Renaissance, Jacobean and baroque periods.

Attention is given to the incredible arguments Henry VIII made in order to set aside his first wife, Catherine of Aragon in favor of Anne Boleyn. Relying on the fact that Catherine had first been the wife of Henry's brother, Arthur, the argument completely ignored Henry's own incestuous activities. Henry had taken as mistress Mary Boleyn, Anne's sister, and probably fathered two children, with her.

Five stars were given due to the originality of the work, but be warned when you see the word "scholarly" used by me. It is a pleasant euphemism for "dry", or "difficult reading". Parts of the text have the reader slogging through sentences of more than 60 words. The paragraphs are replete with commas, semi-colons and such, when a period would do nicely. But, hey, we can't all be blessed with a gift for pithy prose.

So, if your interest centers on royalty and on the fascinating Tudor times, I recommend this book.

This book is a wonderful escape for anyone who picks it up, but if you are familiar with Cape Cod or the coastline of New England you'll find it even more appealing. The people and places so accurately described in Taber's work will make you a convert and read all of her books. Her prose is so superb that you forget you're reading at all and feel that you're having a conversation with Gladys herself. Gone from this world for over two decades, Gladys is still alive with such a presence in these pages that I open her books when I need comfort and I feel as if I'm speaking to my grandmother. An accomplished professor of Writing, a Wellesley grad, a naturalist, and a New Englander, Gladys Taber will remind you that all is and can be right with the world.

I loved the book but have misplaced it! I really need to find this. It has great stories from our own back yards as well as a great Lizzie account (Borden!).

As the author of the historical fiction, Tagger, Alone Along the Mystc River, I can confirm that the "Mystic Coast" is a well-researched and presented depiction of this beautiful New England coastline. Their pictures and illustrations do it justice.

While on the island of Nantucket I read this book and used it to take my own walking tour of many of the houses and historic buildings on the island. It is extremely well written and had hundreds of full color photos of the buildings, ocean, boats, and all that makes Nantucket so special. A must read for those planning a trip to the island and for those who visited and want to relive the pleasure of their trip.

Though I've never been to Nantucket, this book absolutely makes me want to go, the next time I'm on the East Coast. In the meantime, I can flip through this gorgeous book and dream. The photography is alluring and recipes so inventive and interesting. Some of them seem a little cheffy, but for the most part they look easy enough to make for a summer dinner party. Plus, the profiles of the restaurantuers make me want to try their recipes! It makes a great gift.

The Nantucket Table is beautifully illustrated, crisply written, and full of tasty recipes. Try the salmon in parchment and grilled leg of lamb. Fabulous. This book is a real winner.

This is a great little reference book for the bizarre names of New England towns. Why is Massachusetts called Massachusetts? Buy this treasure and find out.

This book is a keenly interesting look into the ways, the works, and the world-views of the early inhabitants of what today is Southern New England. Dr. Bragdon writes not in an historical style, but rather in the ethnographic tradition. Thus, her chapters are sometimes rather slow going unless you're an anthropologist. There's a lot of jargon. It's still a great read for the non-specialist, however. I would like to recommend keeping a dictionary handy, for times when the esoteric nomenclature of anthropology becomes as impenetrable as a pre-colonial flock of passenger pigeons.

The book is not divided up by tribe, as one might expect. Instead, Dr. Bragdon has divided her work by conceptual paradigms, or by umbrella descriptions of features of life shared by all the peoples of the land under discussion. Chapters delve into cosmology, ritual, or social relations, as well as "Kinship as Ideology," "Metaphors and Models of Livelihood," and "The Quotidian World:Work, Gender, Time, and Space."

By the way -- if you don't read fairly carefully at the beginning, you may miss something important. Dr. Bragdon has chosen to employ the term "Ninnimissinuok" as a blanket term for members of ALL the local Algonquian tribes. Just be aware that that what the word means -- otherwise you might waste a lot of time scratching your head, wondering who, exactly, these Ninnimissinuoks are supposed to be. I mention this because it's not nearly so well-known a term as, for example, Narragansett, or Wampanoag -- but perhaps it should be. The author demonstrates it's validity, and it's importance.

The bibliography at the end of this book is worth the book's price, all on it's own. There's a discouragingly large amount of poorly researched, pseudo-mystical writing out there, on the subject of Native Americans. Well, you won't find any here! All the cited works I've tried to locate have been of an extremely high caliber. The bibliography alone could keep you happily reading about the native peoples of Southern New England for many, many moons.

Again, this book can be a little steep going at times, if you aren't trained as an anthropologist, but it's worth the effort. Definitely two thumbs up.

Nature Walks In The Berkshire Hills is the latest title in the AMC "Nature Walks" series. This "hiker friendly" guidebook includes 42 nature-rich walks for all ages and abilities; detailed descriptions of flora, fauna, and geology; summaries of distance, time, and level of difficulty; detailed maps and directions for each walk; driving and parking information; local tales, legends, and lore; useful names, addresses, and phone numbers; trip planning and safety advice. This handy little pocket sized compendium is ideal for planning outdoor excursions in the beautiful and natural New England country that is just two hours from Boston and New York City.