I recently completed a production of this fine play where I played Geoffrey, Duke of Aquataine. I have done a lot of play and this without a doubt is the most well written. Goldman does not waste a single word in the play.

This play about the famously disfunctional family of England's Henry II is perhaps the most devestating family drama this side of "Long Day's Journey into Night".

For those who want a real epic, it can - but doesn't have to - be read as a sequel to Jean Anoilh's "Becket". Personally I found that this adds to the tragedy.

It opens during a fictional family Christmas get together that is combined with a historical meeting between Henry and France's young King Phillip. Henry's persistent humiliation of his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, through his string of mistresses has prompted her to hurt him in the only way available to her - by systematically destroying his relationships with their sons. Now Henry - although not old yet - is no longer a young man. The fact that a potentially dangerous Phillip - who has a legitimate axe to grind with Henry - is no longer a child forces them to realize that their familial intrigues have set their boys up for both internal and external disaster upon Henry's death. They make a real effort to save both their shattered marriage and their shattered children, but it may already be too late ...

The main tragedy, of course, is what Henry and Eleanor have done to their children. Richard is admirably brave but has had much of his compassion beaten out of him and replaced with brutality. Geoffrey's great sense of humor has been blasted in the bud, and his fustrated capability of love makes a weapon of an intelligence that would have been an asset to anyone who would have shown him the slightest affection in return (it's worth noting for those who don't know the family's subsequent history that given the condensed time of the play, Geoffrey would presumably have died in a fatal tournament accident soon after the action of the play - making him even more poignant). John, the youngest son of Robin Hood fame, is somewhat mishandled - his failure had much to do with Richard's prior mismanagement and lousy historical timing rather than his own faults, and the ruthless streak that doomed Geoffrey's son Arthur (who isn't in the play) as well as his general competence in many instances (he would later rescue Eleanor from a siege in a manner that would have done Richard proud) doesn't really come across - but in an otherwise excellent play Goldman can be forgiven for bowing to popular opinion in one case.

An accurate depiction of the dynamics of the Plantagenet family, "The Lion in Winter" is also a timeless study of what constitutes a healthy family.

I have to say Iam in love with this book. I know every line by heart. I saw the movie frist. Also a A+++++ movie. I don't know, something about it.It somehow just gets under your skin. Anyone who loves history. Or just just great works of writing should have this little book.

Athan Theoharis' Chasing Spies tells how the FBI failed in counterintelligence but succeeded in promoting McCarthyism during the Cold War. Chapters focus on the failure of the organization to apprehend and convict Soviet agents, their rejection of information which could have been used against suspected spies, and the efforts of the agency and Hoover to use the information for personal gain.

Like most of the books I have read by Rosalind Laker, it was not easy to put the bookmark in the page and go to sleep/work. I wanted to read, read, read. The characters are believable and just as you think you know where the storyline is going, it changes and ends a little differently to the usual "happily ever after". The story is set in England, commencing in 1890 and concentrates on jewellery design, gambling and love. As with most of her books, Laker seems to cut to the end too quickly but worth the read and very enjoyable. Read it, you'll love it!

A good suspense novel about a man kidnapping a famous model.

(I'd like to give a more detailed review, but it's been too long since I read the book.)

The characterization of the kidnapper is particularly interesting.

On the downside, the author seemed to get stuck at times. Most of the story focuses on just two characters on a small island. Stephen King managed to write a great novel about a celebrity and his kidnapper ("Misery"). Fahy's novel isn't quite as well-paced.