I read this play as part of an independent project at school, and it was nothing short of wonderful. Charles Maturin intricately weaves a tale of love, betrayal and revenge. I really wish Maturin and other romantic playwrites were known better today. The Castle of Aldobrand is truly a work of literature that no one should miss!

This is a book about love, violence, the outsider against society: the forbidden love of Tristan and Isolde, the problem violence in Boiardo's Orlando in Love, Ariosto's analysis of women and society, Spenser in Ireland, and Shakespeare's use of the old romance trope of the custom of the castle.

A fascinating portrait of CAROLINE OTERO,the SPANISH dancer who came to symbolize the period called LA BELLE ÉPOQUE.In her time,she was a worldwide celebrity who had love affairs with the likes of EDOUARD VII,GUILLAUME II and the great duc NICHOLAS de RUSSIE.Many soupirants even commited suicide for her.With all the others COCOTTES of that time,CAROLINE's life changed after the great war.She finally became a recluse,like all the great beauties who tried to preserverved their legend.For anyone interested in that particular time in history,this book is a must.Her life was a fascinating incursion into the hypocrisy of a world that idolized her.

Before I started to read "Dunnottar," a visiting friend who's a museum curator (and graduate degreed historian) happened to pick it up from my dining room table. She leafed through it and declared, "This is a good book! May I read it when you're through?" Since her tastes and mine often differ, I wondered if that meant I was going to find the tale a dry one.

Well, I most certainly did not. Janet Elaine Smith's novel takes a story from her husband's (Keith) family history, and peoples it with men and women about whom any reader can't help but care. Being able to guess how John Keith's apparently hopeless love for Ann Hastings would turn out, and knowing enough about the time and place depicted so that I also was sure where the plot must go, didn't keep me from turning the pages eagerly and thoroughly enjoying a well-spun tale.

Romance and intrigue, friendship and betrayal, against an accurately researched historical backdrop. No wonder "Dunnottar" has been an Amazon bestseller. I really ought to make my friend the museum curator buy her own copy.

Dunnottar was not only a great story, but it made a small bit of history come to life! I enjoyed it immensely.

Here is an unusual new novel by Janet Elaine Smith. The beheading of a king, four love stories, the hiding of the precious crown jewels, a bouncy and charming little red-headed girl--all these should be enough of a mix for a historical novel, especially when it is based on the lore of a family we know. "Dunnottar" the title of this book, is actually the name of the ancient castle, the home of the Keith family, ancestors of Ivan Smith. He and Janet, his wife, and author of the novel, are regular attendants of our Federated Church. This is a first novel, to be followed soon by another one, "Marylebone." And so if you are ready for a romantic trip back to 17th century Scotland, here is your ticket.

When their grandfather's friend, Carrie Bell, invites the Alden youngsters to help her restore an old castle, the children become involved in searching for a missing Stradivarius violin, investigating mysterious lights and following a treasure map. Can the children solve the mystery hidden within the castle?

Children who are creative thinkers and problem-solvers will enjoy trying to solve the mystery found in #36 of the Boxcar Children series. The story takes place in dreary Drummond Castle, a smaller version of a German castle that is built on a cliff with a cave beneath. The Alden family has been invited by Grandfather's friend, Carrie Bell, to help turn the once-magnificent home into a museum. When the Alden children learn that a Stradivarius violin owned by the original Mr. Drummond has disappeared, they work together to find the missing instrument.
Three shady characters become the children's suspects: Mr. Tooner, the groundskeeper; Sandy Munson, Carrie's assistant; and Tom Brady, the antiques expert. As the Aldens bravely encounter seeing lights coming from uninhabited parts of the castle, hearing eerie music at night, and being locked in the cave, they succeed in figuring out who really has the valuable violin--and the true identity of one of the suspects comes as a surprise to all!
Being a second-grade teacher, I recommend this book to children who are entering the world of chapter books. The spooky setting and strange happenings will keep young readers highly interested. The clues and foreshadowing of the book will stimulate higher-level thinking skills, as well. Parents or teachers who read this book aloud to children will undoubtedly have insightful discussions as they try together to solve the mystery.

Besides The Boxcar Children, The Castle Mytery was the best Boxcar Children mystery I have ever read. And I have read 34 Boxcar Children Mysterys. Anyone who loves The Boxcar Children just has to own this. Its great. Get it as soon as you can. It is so good you will read it in 2 days! Kids from age 8 to 12 just have to read this and own it.

The 'Building of Castle Howard' is a sometimes amusing and consistently fluid account of the conception and construction of the Third Earl of Carlisle's estate in Yorkshire. The patron, from a 'high-handed' and cocky young Whig to a dour but sincere father of miscreant and ungrateful offspring [...] is addressed in the opening chapter, and the rationale behind the demolition of a provincial village to build an architectural showpiece is traced. The architects - Vanbrugh and Hawksmoor - are examined in similar contexts.

However, a descrition of Sir Thomas Robinson's incongrous alterations to the splendid mausoleum (1729 - 1745, though Summerson suggested 1742 as the date of completion) is not a sufficient account of his activities at the estate: the northern range of the house features several rooms completed under Robinson's supervision, but these are simply not mentioned.

The author combs out an icongraphical programme in Pelligrini's ceiling paintings in the domed hall (ie, the 'Fall of the Phaeton'), but a similar analysis with respect to the garden monuments draws different conclusions. Carlisle's changing position as a patron and politician accounts for this: the estate shifts, in Saumarez Smith's opinion, from being a an opulent panorama to an introverted retirement home for the earl, whom, in his dotage and increasingly unhappy free time, commenced autonomous study in matters of contemporary religious thought. This, therefore, effected his decision to build a grand mausoleum rather than allow his remains to fall into the hands of what his lengthy (and only) poem preserved at Castle Howard, described as corpulent and corrupt Anglican clergmen. As an explanation for the development of the garden buildings, this is not as simplistic as my description might phrase it: the book's account is entirely convincing. I do not imagine that 'The Building of Castle Howard' - an inexpensive but well-illustrated gem - will be in print much into the future. However, its interest is broader than simply an account of architectural patronage. Unlike other studies of 18th Century British art which read as prosaic 'case-studies' (especially in the case of portrait painting, all of which make the same point), Saumarez Smith's book is an autonomous and compelling analysis of specific buildings and their conception, not a dour treatise from which established generalities are laboriously combed out.

this book is soo good, (apart from its prise), it describes how were castles built and different types of castles. For the price, ive expected more, but the book is still good.

O.K., not the best of the series, but acceptable. A little more development of the characters and less focus on historical "teaching" would have made for a faster moving more engaging story.

Prince Albert Victor Christian Edward, Eddy to his friends, was in line to the throne of England after his father who later becomes King Edward VII. Eddy was an embarrassment to the family, drinking and carousing, going from one scandal to another. He married a Catholic commoner and was discovered in a gay brothel. The public and the Royal Family believed he would never be fit to rule and all gave a sigh of relief when he died in a fire.

Very few people realized that it was all a ruse and Eddy was banished to Glamis Castle, deep in the Scottish Highlands. He lived there for over a decade in a luxurious if isolated suite and was known as Lord Osborne to all of the servants. One night he disappears and his personal servant is found murdered, her throat slit open. Lord Charles Sheridan is ordered by the king to find out who murdered the servant and to discover where Eddy went. He is able to accomplish his mission with the help of his intelligent and nosy wife Kate.

After reading DEATH AT GLAMIS CASTLE, readers will be glad that they are not members of any fictionalized European Royal Family because they come across as utterly ruthless and willing to do whatever needs to be done to preserve their station in life. Robin Paige has written an excellent mystery that involves German spies, a dark conspiracy, and a servant who is loyal and devoted to a once crowned prince. This work is rich in atmosphere and gives the audience a feel for the period after Queen Victoria's death.

Harriet Klausner

I have a used copy from a 1978 reprint. Hardcover, 8.5" by 11", 230 pages, 105 b&w photos, 76 illustrations.

The author was a professor at Oxford University and the text & pictures are from a 1924-1925 trip thru southern England.

Thorough historical coverage. The book is more of a study of the history of the castles. The pictures are rather dull and small or old-looking.

This is not a bad book. The author's writing style takes some getting used to.