This book offers a refreshing look at the validity of the English monarchy through a fun, romantic story. The romance of Emmalissa and Will is a delightful undercurrent as Will tries to establish himself as the rightful heir of the throne. Their romance soon takes center stage, as often happens, in his quest for truth. If, in fact, there is any validity to this tale, it puts to question the premise on which the monarchy is founded -- lineage. At a time when the monarchy has become less popular, it would be interesting to know what the royals have to say about Harry's Son. This delightful, light story would make an interesting movie. A movie clothed in romance and intrigue that could question the roots of a nation's monarchy.

The book keeps you spellbound and not wanting to stop reading until finished. Provides enough historical facts to almost make it seem non-fiction. A very well-written and fascinating look into the English Royal Family. Very good.

I truly enjoyed reading "Harry's Son"! The author does an exceptional job of weaving historical facts and fiction to create, quite seamlessly, a really good novel. I liked the short, fast-paced chapter format, the political ideas expressed, and the very appropriate tie-in with today's monarchy. I highly recommend it!

Bonus points for the larger type, easier to read than a lot of other bibles. Extensive notes that defend the accuracy and infallibilty of the Bible. A must have for anyone who is serious about studying the Authorized version of the Word of God.

The Defenders Study Bible by Dr. Henry Morris is THE BEST Bible I have ever owned. I have been a Christian for most of my life and I own several different study Bibles but they all pale in comparison. Why? Because they compromise the word of God. In most of my other study Bibles, they make you doubt Gods word, especially in regarding the creation in Genesis by adding that the creation could have occurred over a longer period of time.

Dr. Morris verifies the six day creation with other bible verses. He doesn't rely on his beliefs, he relies on other scriptures for verification. The Lord would not need longer periods of time to create the world because he did it right the first time and does not need more time to let things "correct" themselves. He is a perfect God and he created a perfect world in six days. Why would God say six days when he meant something else? This is where faith plays a vital role in reading and interpreting the scriptures. You either believe God means exactly what he says or you don't. Satan compromised the word of God to Eve and look what happened. God means exactly what he says. Exactly.

Another plus is the scientific analysis of creation and the great flood. He describes using other scripture how the flood occured and the effects of the flood on the world scientifically. It really strengthens Gods word.

Having this Bible in the King James Version is comforting also because it is as close to the original Hebrew and Greek text as we can get. There is no interpretations. I compare verses from this Bible to my other Bibles and the changes are dramatic and sometimes entirely different. To me this can be dangerous.

In Job, some of my Bibles change the words Behemoth to Hippo or elephant and Leviathan to Alligator..... Now I have never seen a hippo or an elephant with a tail the size of a ceder tree, and I have never seen an alligator have smoke and fire come out of his mouth and nostrils.

I recommend this Bible and all of Dr. Morris' other books to all Christians, both new and old.

I have been using this Bible for 4 years for reference and study. Dr. Morris' notes have been a blessing through the years, especially the extensive notes in Genesis and the entire New Testament. This is the best specialty study Bible out there and I would recommend every Evangelical or Fundamentalist Christian who cares about the Bible, it's truths, and proofs for its truth add Dr. Morris'lifetime of passion for God and His Word to their study library.Plus it gets bonus points for only being available in the King James Bible. Dr. Morris is again consistent in his beliefs.

KINGS ROW may move you, stir you, shake you, shock you, stimulate you, reassure you, and inspire you. It is one of the few books that, like a true friend, I will return to often and never forget. It is a wonderful gift that transcends time and place.

Interspersed among the captivating narrative and rich characterizations are succint insightful meditative segments that sparkle like rare jewels and are brilliantly woven into the story.

My personal index of this book includes, in approximate order of appearance: angels, point of view, cage, science, intuition, mysticism, philosophy, struggle, vanity, *shining goal*, place in the universe, the conscious and the unconscious, multiple worlds, rivalry, piano music, control and order, discipline, *tryanny*, conformity, human nature, jealousy, things without faces, qualities, civilization, words versus voice, game, refuge, beauty, ugliness, money and power, mathematics, *design*, friendship.

Broadly and deeply erudite, astutely observant, and poetically articulate. FOR YOUR OWN GOOD, PLEASE DON'T MISS IT. And share it.

I read Kings Row about 12 years ago and became a huge fan of Henry Bellaman. Kings Row is the kind of book that lives long in your mind and heart. He breathes life into the characters and you feel as though you know them each personally and would recognize them on the street. He knows the pulse of human emotion and the author is a psychologist, a man of spiritual depth and insight, and his words sing. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in what it means to be human and how we fare in terms with the world around us and the inhabitants we come in contact with. I will never forget this marvelous book and have recommended it to many. Beautiful!

Kings Row is one of my 2 favorite books (the other is "A Tree Grows is Brooklyn"). I read it a few months ago, shortly before I turned 15. Henry Bellamann shocked me with his good characteriation of all the characters, major and minor. Everything in the book was intwined with everything else. So many things happened in this town, which is based on Fulton, MO, that I wonder what sort of things are happening in MY town. Read it. The last 10 pages are sad and suprizing. I cried at a few parts. The movie is good too, but the ending is somewhat different. Anyway, read Kings Row.

Yet again, J Ridley takes the reader on a remarkable journey, guiding you through the maze of factual background without ever letting your hand go. His mastery of the English language and notable training as a barrister make him the best narrator of the century.

Jasper Ridley's bio of Henry VIII, if nothing else, suggests to me that executioners must have had a steady employment during early 16th-century England. In Ridley's biography, England's formative king is essentially a psychopath, and the country became Protestant, not because of any doctrinal attachment to the Reformation, but as a consequence of political machinations and goals on Henry's part. This, in fact, is one of the book's great strengths; Ridley is rare among biographers in his thorough attention to and excellent summary of the thicket of political events surrounding Tudor England, and this book does an excellent job of explaining these intricacies. Especially fascinating was the depiction of the conflict between Henry and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Henry would have probably gotten the papal annulment that he wanted to dissolve his marriage to Katharine of Aragon, if only Charles had not effectively controlled the pope and been such a bitter enemy of Henry's; then Henry would have found no need to break from the Catholic Church, and history would be entirely different! For a Renaissance monarch, Henry seems more to resemble one of the 20th century's bloodthirsty dictators in this book. While the depiction initially surprised me, Ridley backs up his claims with such excellent documentation and use of primary sources (which I was able to check), that he definitely has a point! A fascinating bio.

Ridley paints a picture of a King who is as ruthless a tyrant as any 20th Century dictator. Henry VIII is shown as a ruler who forced his ministers to do his bidding and then executed them to satisfy public opinion, once his policies began to loose popular support. He would stop at nothing to get what he wanted, including breaking with the Pope in Rome and reforming the Church in England with him as the head, when the Pope refused to grant him an annulment from his wife, who could not give him a male heir. Thereafter, Henry played Protestant and Catholic factions against each other, so that he could remain in complete control as an arbiter; alternatively burning influential Protestants as heretics and Catholics who refused to recognize him as Supreme head of the Church of England as traitors. Ridley's picture shows us a king who would stop at absolutely nothing to get what he wanted, including turning society and 1000 years of religion completely upside down! A fascinating look at the Stalin of the 1500s!

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.

This Bible is the best I have ever owned. There is a section called Prepare to Meet God at the beginning of most chapters, with ideas about things to look for while reading. There are thought-provoking questions with verse references at the end of the chapters. The biographical sketches are awesome. There are wide margins, with room to take notes. The New King James translation is extremely close to the intended meaning; when I look up a word in the original Greek or Hebrew, invariably it's the same word that is in this version, or a very close synonym. If you're only going to have one Bible, this is the one to get!

This is likely one of the best study bibles out there for personal devotions and small study groups. Henry Blackaby and Claude King open up and make alive the Scriptures - where real application to everyday life can be understood and made by the bible student!

When using this bible, the student quickly understands and sees that God continues to talk to us today. The study tools incorporated into the tome are thought provoking and simple to apply. One of the best features is the "Prepare to Meet God" and the "Did You Notice?" segments sprinkled throughout the scriptural text. These tools help the student to understand that the spiritual life is real and doable. These segments combine doctrine, history, and application with ease and they spark the faith of those who read them.

As well, at the back of the book there is a 'God Focus' section that defines the Doctrines of the faith - giving a definition, 'contents and context,' 'experiencing God,' 'a Fresh Encounter, and scriptural references to the particular doctrine highlighted and discussed.

This particular study bible is a must-have for those who want to gain a deeper understanding, have a better hold on, and a fresh encounter with the Lord, in His love, grace, wisdom, et al.

The bonus of this particular version is the New King James Version text... all the poetics of the Old King James updated and far more readable. This one's a gem.

I highly recommend it to one an all.

This is an excellent study bible. It turned me to the word of god. Before I just read the bible, now I understand it.

I am now 32 years old, and this book remains vivid in my mind as one of my all-time childhood favorites. The story of the mute stable boy Agba and his travels with 'his' beloved horse Sham exposes young readers to a variety of cultures and stressses the value of faithfulness and loyalty without being at all preachy. Sham, sent as a gift from the Sultan of Morocco to the King of France, is mistreated during the voyage and arrives looking like an old nag instead of the young, well-bred Arab stallion he is. The king's rejection of the horse is the beginning of a new journey as Sham -- with Agba always there to care for him -- passes from one owner to another, eventually becoming "The Godolphin Arabian" one of the three founders of the Thoroughbred bred. This book is worth buying in the hardback form, especially if that means getting Wesley Dennis' gorgeous illustrations in color

This book was given to me when I was barely eight years old, almost thirty years ago. I learned how to read books that took more than one sitting with "King of the Wind".

The story is of a mute Morrocan stable boy, Agba, and a foal, Sham, who is born to one of the royal mares Agba cares for. Sham...and Agba...are selected to be part of a gift to the King of France. Their adventures in Europe are filled mostly with despair and cruelty, until Sham sires a foal that becomes the beginnings of the Thoroughbred breed we know today (this part is true; Sham was renamed "The Godolphin Arabian"; all Thoroughbreds must include in their pedigreeone of the three specific founding sires, and the Godolphin Arabian is one of them).

There's a lot here: adventure, triumph over adversity, a respect for other cultures, the care of the creatures that share our lives, and a healthy dose of humor about the absurdities of the powerful or elite.

As a kid, I eagerly devoured any Marguerite Henry book I could find. It's well worth it to get hard-cover editions that include the wonderful full-color illustrations by Wesley Dennis.

this has to be the most wonderful book ive ever read.from the moment i read it,my mind was instantly taken to the stables of morroco(sp?)with his beutiful horse.it is so imaginative,adventorous that you'll want to read it over and over.i think its one of the best books ive ever read.im reading it for the..........20th time i think:)you'll love this book if you love horses.it is very discreptive and i highly recommend this book to people,horsey or not.hope you read it.buy it,you won't regret it:0)

I looked long and hard (and asked many a scholar) for the "perfect" Shakespeare publication that I might purchase to study "King Henry V" (for a experiential education requirement, I had undertaken the translation of Henry V into American Sign Language). The Arden Shakespeare came highly recommended by everyone, and has lived up entirely to all its rave reviews.

I will never buy Shakespeare from another publisher. While these books may be slightly more expensive than a "mass market" edition, I believe that if you are going to take the time to read and understand Shakespeare, it is well worth the extra dollar or two. The Introduction, the images, and plethora of footnotes are irreplaceable and nearly neccessary for a full understanding of the play (for those of us who are not scholars already). The photocopy of the original Quatro text in the appendix is also very interesting.

All in all, well worth it! I recommend that you buy ALL of Shakespeare's work from Arden's critical editions.

On D-Day British officers read Henry's famous words to their men as they approached the beach. When Churchill needed material for his famous "Few" speech, his thoughts turned to the pages of Henry V. From "once more into the breach" to "we happy few, we band of brothers" this play resonates with Shakespeare's paen to England's warrior king. Oh, you'll be a bit confused at the start if you haven't read Henry IV parts 1 and 2, but this is primarily the story of Henry V's victory at Agincourt. Whether the play glorifies war or just Henry you will have to decide. There is much food for thought here for the perceptive reader. But then Shakespeare is always provocative.

Required to read Henry for my AP English Language class, I came into the play with a bias. I honestly felt that it would be a boring political play. I was utterly wrong! A huge fan of Shakespeare, I found Henry V to be a formidable match for the Bard's more critically acclaimed plays, such as Hamlet and Macbeth. Henry has it all! Shakespeare's attitude toward Henry the King is certainly one of admiration. By communicating the fact that an effective monarch must have a complete understanding of the common subjects (Pistol and Bardolph and Quickly), Shakespeare sets up Henry to be the ideal Christian king. The controlled language of Henry's speeches, particularly his response to the Dauphin's idiotic insult, also glorifies Henry. I certainly recommend this play to anyone, fan of Shakespeare or not.

Alison Weir does a fantastic job of bringing each of Henry VIII's wives back to life. By tracing the lives of these women through childhoods to their deaths, this story truly centers on them, rather than the fact that they married a king. Weir also does a nice job in remaining fair to each, although at times her biases come in to play, the information given in each case is balanced, or at least attempts to be. Furthermore, Wier is complete. In one easily read volume, a wonderful framework is given which one not familiar with the content can be comfortable with. But then she goes further, giving detail upon detail, making this book not simply an overview, but a complete study. While Weir often repeats herself from one chapter to the next, the overall product is still excellent. For anyone interested in knowing about Henry VIII and his unfortunate wives, I suggest you read this book.

The story of Henry VIII's rule can only truly be told once a reader understands the vital importance attached to begetting an heir to the kingdom. Alison Weir, as usual, offers this thoroughly-detailed, sometimes amusing, sometimes heartbreaking portrait of a man who, thwarted at nearly every turn from getting a queen who could produce strapping male heirs to the Throne of England, descended from a jolly, back-slapping prince to a fat, cruel and nearly despotic king, whose final wish to be buried alongside Jane Seymour must have cut his final surviving wife, Katherine Parr, to the quick.

But, as the title suggests, the primary thrust of this book is not so much Henry VIII as each of his unfortunate wives. One learns a great deal more about them than the usual lines given by armchair historians. For example, "saintly" Jane Seymour, usually depicted as a meek and mild young thing, was just as much a deliberate factor in the downfall of Anne Boleyn as her royal husband-to-be. And as one reads about Anne Boleyn's temper, one teeters between sympathy for her and ... a vague feeling that perhaps Henry beheaded her not so much for failing to produce an heir as to get her to shut up and cease her constant nagging and ill-tempered outbursts. (Of course, then you swing back into Anne's camp, figuring anyone living with someone like Henry would be ill-tempered ... or perhaps worse!)

And so it goes ...

Fascinating, chock full of details of court life and rife with facts from many primary sources, Alison Weir's account of Henry VIII and his wives remains a standard of its genre.

I have one word to say-WOW! I am thirteen years old and last November my family took a trip to London over Thanksgiving break. While in Westminster Abbey's gift shop, I noticed this book about Henry's the Eighth's wives. The book looked HUGE and I jokingly told my brother I was going to read it. I started looking at it and it looked so interesting I really did end up buying it. Once I got started reading it, I couldn't put it down. I had heard about a King named Henry with six wives before, but this book completely changed my view of him AND his wives. Weir shows us their thoughts and feelings and brings every character to life. After reading the book, I reccomended it to my best friend's mother, who read it and loved it also. After reading it, I began to look for more books on the Tudor period in Great Britain and have become an absolute fanatic on the subject. I learned more from this one book than from all my other history classes combined!

"King Solomon's Mines" was published in 1885, when the interior of Africa was still an unexplored, "dark" continent; thus, it was the first book to present the possibility of adventure in Africa to the European reading public. Riding on the tails of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island," "King Solomon's Mines" made H. Rider Haggard famous. Much of what Haggard writes is based on his personal experience and observations in South Africa, where, unusual among the British colonizers, he learned Zulu, which gave him an insight lacking in his colleagues and contemporaries.

Although on the surface an adventure story for young boys, "King Solomon's Mines" raises interesting questions about the role of the colonists and their relationship with the African people on the eve of the great European scramble for Africa. Like the elephants that Quatermain and his group hunt and shoot down simply because they are there for the picking, so Africa and its riches presented itself to the Europeans as rich for exploitation. The question of "What is a gentleman?" runs throughout the narrative, leaving the European reader to discern whether Africans possessed a nobility and dignity comparable to the ancient Greeks and Biblical Hebrews. Haggard depicts the Zulu language as comparable to the richly metaphoric Old and Middle English languages.

"King Solomon's Mines" gives us a glimpse into a way of life that was shortly to disappear with the arrival of the Europeans.

I picked up Haggard's "King Solomon's Mines" to read on the train, knowing that it would be entertaining, and I wasn't disappointed. Moving quickly but without forsaking the kinds of detailed narration that bring a story to life, Haggard's novel is an engaging treasure hunt of the Indiana Jones variety.

The book is styled as a long chronicle written by safari-leader Allan Quatermain to his son, describing a hunt for the lost diamond mines of King Solomon in the heart of Africa. Haggard peppers the tale with nods to real life that go out of their way to convince us that everything we are reading is true--editorial comments purportedly added later, for example--and the result is a compellingly detailed read. It is clear that Haggard knew Africa well, and his framing of this knowledge within a focused and nicely spun-out plot pulls you right through the book to its climactic finale, which I should probably allow you, after you've traipsed across deserts and tamed native unrest with the narrator and his companions, to discover for yourself.

So, "King Solomon's Mines" is a well-constructed read, but another of its strong points, the humor that is so central to the story, forces a look at the bigger context. Haggard takes solid jokes (like Good's pasty white legs, for which he is assumed to be a god by the natives) and, like David Letterman, returns to them at intervals in a manner that always uses them in a new way but lets the reader think that he or she is on the inside, slyly being chucked on the shoulder by the narrator.

It's this penchant for humor that gets a little uncomfortable once you think about it, because you can't help but compare Haggard's novel here to another journey to the center of Africa written two decades later, Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," which is conspicuously devoid of laughter unless it's the very evil kind. Haggard's novel is immensely entertaining--I don't want to deny that for a second--but it glosses over some very real problems that Conrad is more careful about: imperialism and its disastrous universe of consequences.

I probably shouldn't stand in judgment of Haggard for his take on and his playing to the racial politics of his day, but I'm going to do it anyway because Haggard was, in his day, one of the most widely read writers writing. Adventures like "King Solomon's Mines" set the bar for the British male for decades and, if it taught him to be a gentleman and fair-player, it also grounded this ethos in the belief that he was superior both socially and racially. Thus is it the gentlemanly westerners who manage to import due process into African law in this novel, and thus does Captain Good's native love-interest ultimately recuse herself from his affections because, as a white man, he is like the sun. And what can possibly be good enough to mate with the sun?, she asks. Disturbing, in retrospect.

This gripping adventure story gets four stars by virtue of its great plot and skillful spinning-out of that plot. It misses the fifth star because it buys wholeheartedly into the myths on which centuries of imperial violence were founded. And no matter how enjoyable this novel is, it's hard to chase those ghosts away.

Surely a classic, this was Haggard's first foray into the literary field -- to prove he could do it better than some of his contemporaries. Having spent time in South Africa as a minor civil servant, he drew on his experiences of that land to impart a feel for the country in this short, but by no means small, tale of treasure hunting & adventure among unknown & exotic peoples. This is the story of an over the hill "white hunter" impressed into the service of two English gentlemen seeking the brother of one who had disappeared years before on the edge of a great desert in vain (or perhaps not so vain) pursuit of the fabled mines of King Solomon. Along the way they are joined by an enigmatic native guide who is much more than what he seems as they stumble across previously unexplored (@ least by Europeans) tracts of Africa & into a lost nation related, apparently, to the Zulus of southern Africa whom the English of that day so feared & respected. Drawn at once into the internal politics of these people & overawing them w/their European tricks, they are soon in deadly peril from the the cruel king of that country and the evil sorceress who conspires behind his throne. But there's no use telling too much of a tale like this in a review -- the interested reader is urged to read it for him or herself. It's quick & exciting & no more than what it seems: a fast paced adventure in strange parts, for those w/a taste to see how the great ones, like Haggard, did it. -- Stuart W. Mirsky (mirsky@ix.netcom.com