Hallam ptovides us with a wonderful book on the reigns of Henry III, Edward I, Edward II and Edward III. Each of the reigns is examined in detail with a series of essays written by experts in medieval history. The 113 essays cover a wide range of topics and provide the reader with a vivid history of Europe from 1216 - 1377. Contemporary chroniclers tie the book together. This beautiful book contains over 235 illustrations (in color and black and white), five detailed maps and a genealogy chart showing the interrelationships between the English, Scottish and French Dynasties.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in medieval history.

I read the British edition and found it fascinating. This book is for the general reader interested in English medieval history. It is not a scholarly piece of work, hence it is easier to read and more entertaining. Every aspect of the life in medieval England (and a little of France) is covered as well as the rule of the Plantagenet dynasty. There is lavish use of photographs and colorful illustrations which brings all the information more into perspective. I highly recommend it for general reading.

Hugh Trevor-Roper has a reputation as a brilliant and incisive historian. He was not simply an academic historian, but took an active part in the events of his time, the most important of which was World War Two. He was an intelligence officer then, pitted against the Germans, and the insight and personal knowledge gained from this experience proved to be invaluable when it came to writing his first important book, 'Hitler's Table Talk'.

Each of his dozen or so books is an extremely lucid, direct, and unpedantic analysis of people and events both interesting and important. People who have read 'Renaissance Essays' should also read his earlier masterpiece, 'Rise of Christian Europe'.

'Renaissance Essays' is a collection of essays, written at various times, dealing with aspects of that period. The very first essay deals with the republic of Venice with its 'impersonal' and 'mysterious' head, the Doge; we learn of the tumultuous struggles between the proud Foscari and Loredan families for that position; we read of the stupendously vain Emperor Maximillian II and his grand designs; the fame and troubles of Erasmus, the great humanist scholar; the revival of interest in his close and great friend Sir Thomas More and the evolution of his 'Utopia'; we read of William Camden, the first great historian of the 'Elizabethan age', we read of Richard Hooker, the man who gave the then newly-founded but vulnerable English Church a philosophy, a creed with which it could claim its independence and fight off its protestant and Catholic opponents in England and the continent.

There is a particularly amusing and entertaining essay on the letters of the Lisles, on the Paracelsians, followers of Paracelcus, that mad, eccentric, but brilliant physician and philosopher; and on Robert Burton's enigmatic tome, the 'Anatomy of Melancholy'.

The final essays pinpoints the causes of the Thirty Years War.

by Sandeep Rajkumar

Hugh Trevor-Roper is one of the great historians of our time. Here is a historian who is not interested in the petty and obscure obsessions of some modern scholars; he is concerned with the totality, the full picture, the main effect of his subject. His style is inimitable, his prose fluent and crystal clear, his erudition and knowledge plain for all to see.

All these qualities he brings to this book, a collection of essays, written at various times, whose subject is that age we call the Renaisssance. It is a must for any keen student of it, and European history.

The very first essay deals with the republic of Venice with its 'impersonal' and 'mysterious' head, the Doge; we learn of the tumultuous struggles between the proud Foscari and Loredan families for that position; we read of the stupendously vain Emperor Maximillian II and his grand designs; the fame and troubles of Erasmus, the great humanist scholar; the revival of interest in his close and great friend Sir Thomas More and the evolution of his 'Utopia'; we read of William Camden, the first great historian of the 'Elizabethan age', who in fact coined that phrase; we read of Richard Hooker, the man who gave the then newly-founded but vulnerable English Church a philosophy, a creed with which it could claim its independence and fight off its protestant and Catholic opponents in England and the continent.

There is a particularly amusing and entertaining essay on the letters of the Lisles, on the Paracelsians, followers of Paracelcus, that mad, eccentric, but brilliant physician and philosopher; on Robert Burton's 'Anatomy of Melancholy' and finally culminating in an essay on the Baroque age and its culture.

This book is a great read; it is amusing, entertaining, and enlightening. And all through it, there is the underlying philosophy of a great historian which gives it such unity and effect

Elizabeth Hallam provides us with a superb book on the crusades told through the words of contemporary or near contemporary writers. The chroniclers were chosen to represent the often conflicting views of the crusades from the viewpoints of the Western, Byzantine and Muslim worlds. A panel of leading experts provides short essays linking the words of the chroniclers.

The book is divided into seven chapters, starting with the Muslim world before 1096 and ending with the Mediterranean after 1453. Superb illustrations and six maps accompany the beautifully written text. Short biographies of the key individuals involved in the crusades and a glossary enhance the reader's understanding of the period. The bibliography leads readers to 20th century books on the crusades.

Anyone interested in the crusades should add this book to their library!

I didn't really know how to rate this book. As a diary? As history? Should I have rated Trevor-Roper's editing?

So I rated it a "5", but it hardly matters. I don't think anyone will read Goebbel's diary because it's "popular."

My reactions to this book were mixed. I found my opinion of Goebbels as a man and a mind considerably lower after finishing the book. Yes, I knew beforehand that he was a recalcitrant Nazi and mass-murderer. On the other hand, I've read Albert Speer's books, and he always spoke admiringly of Goebbel's intellect. I respect Speer's intellect highly, but I must say that he was wrong about Goebbels. Goebbels in this diary is an ugly, sordid, vicious little man, repeating the same tired mantras again and again, transparently trying to varnish his image for history, and sniping and gossipping about everyone around him. (But then, Speer found himself to be dreadfully wrong about Hitler, too.)

Intellect? I hardly found myself able to discern one in this mess.

Still, I'm glad I read the book. It adds another dimension to my understanding of the Third Reich, and serves as a counterbalance to the other accounts I've read.

But I wouldn't call the experience of reading this book enjoyable.

This isn't for everyone. Arthur Plantagenet, Baron Lisle, Henry VIII's maternal uncle and the illegitimate son of Edward IV, became governor of Calais, the hotly contested final British stronghold on French soil, in his old age. It was a time of social unrest and the perilous birth of Protestantism. He was accused of treason, and his letters were subpoenaed. Thus, they survive to this day. Muriel St. Clare Byrne edited them into six volumes that tell a narrative tale and paint a genuine portrait of a highly placed Tudor family stuck in turbulent times. Fortunately, there is this one-book abridgement for those of us who don't quite have the stamina to read the whole six volumes.

This can be a difficult read, as you would expect. Some of the legal and real estate squabbles are obscure. On the other hand they involve people like John Dudley, father of Robin, who also turns out to be Plantagenet-Lisle's stepson, and Edward Seymour, brother of Queen Jane. (Both these men, incidentally, become Lord Protector during Edward VI's reign.) And it's fascinating to read genuine letters written by the administrative power, Thomas Cromwell, who is probably the best writer of the lot, though clearly very calculating and political. We also watch as two of Arthur's stepdaughters, through his second marriage to Honor Basset, are forced to vie for positions as ladies-in-waiting to Queen Anne Boleyn, his stepson James Bassett vies to get into the college of Navarre so that he'll be hobnobbing with Princes, future Kings and Cardinals, and a perfectly ordinary courtship between his sister Mary and the son of a French business partner goes sour because of the Reformation. Meanwhile the daily routine of ordinary life shows through with everyone throwing gloves and lace and coats and animals, some as pets, some to eat, at each other, and describing the various states of lands--that they're fighting over, live on, or are absent from. Different readers will get different things out of the wealth of material here. Though everyone will learn a little bit more about why Cardinal Reginald Pole was so important to the machinations of Tudor times. There's even a nice picture of him.

The title suggests this book is comprised of reminiscing reflections from sadistic, self-satisfied Nazi war criminals. In fact, most of the observations in written and spoken testimonies, diaries and documents, suggest the 'Perpetrators and Bystanders' were appalled. Frequently, however, they were only bothered by the manner of the beatings and executions. Those whose material contributed to this book had to see starved women beg for their lives-- soon to be corpses pulled from gas chambers by hooks on sticks inserted into their mouths to make for easy dragging-- Nazi mass executions of Jews by bullet in which many near dead tumbled into communal graves begged to be shot again, or even crowbar execution beatings by SS-supervised Ukrainians, and so on, before returning to enjoy their privileged lives away from real military action.

In a section on the camps, an SS Doctor, Johannes Kremer, Mengele-like, describes how he 'reserves' certain starving prisoners who are particularly interesting to him medically, for warm disections. On the next entry of his diary he says: "'There was roast hare for lunch'a real fat leg'with dumplings and red cabbage'" His remark, chosen for the title of this chapter: "Food in the officers' mess excellent."

There are a number of photographs throughout the book, which were taken in spite of it being forbidden.

For those of us born after 1945, there is an impenetrable membrane between us and a proper sense of these important recent events. (If you visit Auschwitz/Birkenau you may be struck by how modern everything looks. It was not that long ago.) We may ask how it is possible for civilized people with families to commit and tolerate such affronts to humanity, and then quietly return to their lives with a clear conscience. Hauntingly, there is an even worse question, if I had been born in the right time and place, and had been fed the right propaganda, could I have done it? In some way, am I doing it now?

Such books as this make me mournful and trouble my sleep. I consider this necessary reading for anyone hoping see a little deeper into this terrible odyssey shared by perpetrators and victims.

I also recommend Nazi Hunter, the Wiesenthal File, by Alan Levy, which is by no means similar in style or perspective, but contains a wealth of information.

This book really makes one shiver. I have read a number of books on the holocaust and World War 2 and this book absolute is the rawest of the books covering the genocide. That is not to say the book had a blow by blow account of the methods of killing, but just the history of this group of solders and the off handed way the mass killing was described. The people doing this killing were just normal guys, not unlike friends, family or myself. Wow, it is just amazing to me the way they try to justify what they were in charge of, the crimes against humanity that they committed. That is what was so disturbing to me. It is much easier to think that the mass killing was done by some group of homicidal maniacs let out of the asylum and given guns that that is not the case.

The details you get here are very hard to take once you have finished the book and think about it. This is one of the few books that for weeks after I finished it I would continue to think about it I do not think I can recommend this book enough; it really gives you a feel for the tremendous crime that took place. You will not be able to stop reading the book until you have completed it. I could go on and on. Even if you are not overly interested in WW 2 or the Holocaust you should read this book, there is no way you will not be griped by it.

Read it but be careful! The abyss will look back at you. The reports, letters and diary excerpts... This is really the backside of the nazi grandiose facade. Not forget the Holocaust? This book will never let you forget.

...this really is a monumental work. It is common to say that Gibbon was a great writer but it's best to look elsewhere for the history...if you can swallow, say, _The Federalist Papers_, you will enjoy Gibbon.

...There is still a lot of good history to learn in Gibbon. The important thing to remember is that Gibbon often takes the point of view of conservative elements in Rome, so he inherits a particular agenda that does not look favorably on the decline of Rome the city or the Roman senate, or on the rise of the military dictatorship.

That just means that the punch line is, don't make Gibbon your introduction to Roman history. Maybe start with Michael Grant's _History of Rome_. But Gibbon is still a valuable read from a purely historical point of view, not just a literary one.

Also important to remember is that Gibbon uses "decline and fall" in maybe a different way than we do. He essentially means the drift away from the principles and institutions of Golden Age Rome (that's the conservatism again) over the 1500 years that the Roman Empire (as he conceived it -- rolling the Byzantine Empire into the Roman) existed.

DON'T read these volumes (this 3 volume Modern Library edition is a complete reproduction of the 6 volume text edited by J.B. Bury) if you want to learn about the death of the Roman Republic, because it's not covered (for that and other general history try Cary and Scullard's _A History of Rome Down to the Reign of Constantine_). Gibbon begins (in Vol. 1) in the 2nd century AD and goes (in Vol. 3) to 1453 AD; the Republic ended in the 1st century BC. Trite comparisons aside, it's also difficult to find anything deep or valuable in Gibbon that directly foreshadows the modern American experience. For starters, the grand princples of Federalist America are different from Golden Age Rome, and any decline away from them is fundamentally different (if there even is such a decline).

I purchased all six volumes of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. This work is written in the beautiful and fluid 18th century English. Gibbon is a master author, and the book was extremely well researched, consulting the works of Tacitus, Livy, Suetonius, and Polybius, Roman historians of fame. Volumes 1-3 contains the history of the Roman empire from 180 A.D. to 490 A.D., covering the end of the reign of Marcus Aurelius, to the time when Odoacer usurped the throne of the western empire. Volumes 4-6 contains the history of the eastern empire, from the late 300's to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. I highly recommend both box sets. All volumes together are approximately 3600 pages, and go into detail for pages subjects that are written only for about a few paragraphs in other books. A must for any enthusiast of the history of the Roman Empire.

This is an excellent abridged edition of Edward Gibbon's classic "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" and it makes both a perfect introduction for those just getting into Gibbon and a useful portable copy for people who have the entire set. This abridgement includes much of Gibbon's coverage of the decline and fall of the western empire and some interesting chapters and excerpts from the remainder of the work, ideal for the general reader. Most of Gibbon's history still stands up after 200 years (and footnotes point out where it doesn't), and it is written in an absolutely gorgeous English style. Anyone interested in Rome owes it to themselves to read Gibbon, and this is a good place to get your feet wet.

Henry Picker was a young German officer who knew stenography and took down Hitler's Table Talk for a period of four years during World War II. This book was first published in 1951 and has enjoyed many reprints in the intervening years. This edition is expertly translated and has some revealing footnotes which leads the reader to other sources.

Though Hitler is invariably portrayed as a raving madman in American "docudramas," he could also be a thoroughly charming and intensely charismatic private companion in his off hours. A man capable of seducing 65 million Germans and of his monumental crimes, had to possess an elemental force both inexplicable and fascinating. This book provides some clues to Hitler's personality, though in fairness, his mesmerizing mystique had been dulled by drugs and megalomania by 1941. He was surrounded by sycophants, but there were some perceptive and intelligent people in his milieu, most notably Joseph Goebbels. Hitler's secretaries were also articulate and intelligent ladies. However, his chauffeurs and other aides, such as Linge and Schaub, were hardly junior Einstein's.

Hitler's monologues are faithfully presented here and he emerges as a genius in certain areas (his knowledge of architecture and art was encyclopedic), and as a sexist boor in other realms. His believed himself to be omniscient and believed further that he was a messiah selected by Providence to save the German nation. Anyone harboring such delusions is bound to sound arrogant and insufferable on occasion.

This is a must have book for anyone interested in Hitler, his entourage, or his paralyzing effect upon other people. It's chilling that Hitler casually discussed trivialities while Europe was being torn asunder because of one man's twsited ideology.

This is a rather large book, but I devoured it literally overnight. The intelligence Hitler displays in his conversations is almost overwhelming. Even his harshest critics cannot deny what a brilliant mind he had. A self-educated man, he possessed knowledge of a broad range of subjects, sometimes knowing even more about certain things than men who were educated at universities. Before I read this book, I knew he was smart. After having completed the book, I was convinced of his genius.
There are 3 books which I personally consider "essential reading" to students of Hitler's life. The first is an out-of-print masterpiece written by August Kubizek (and the fact that it is out of print in the USA is really an indicator of the general public's blissful ignorance when it comes to matters of the TRUTH about Hitler's early life). The second is "Mein Kampf". Last but not least is "Hitler's Table Talk". I also strongly suggest to all bilingual readers out there to read this book (entitled "Hitlers Tischgespraeche") in the original German, as Henry Picker offers some really insightful remarks on the Fuehrer as a person. Hitler's Table Talk promises not to disappoint!

A fascinating window into Hitler's feverishly powerful,original , jaundiced mind and the two obsessions which consumed him:1.mythic glorification of the Germanic race and 2. "lebensraum" in the vast Russian steppes.One is struck by his cold,steely intelligence but repelled by its rigidity as well as lack of grace & warmth.There is a lot of repetition.He has dogmatic views on almost every subject under the sun, no matter how trivial (eccentric but interesting!).A striking feature of Hitler's thinking is his megalomaniacal fixation on sheer scale and size___he is always planning in terms of CENTURIES,BILLIONS,THOUSANDS (of miles and tonnage) etc etc.Furthermore the quality of these monologues tend to deteriorate,gradually but perceptibly, as we move from '41 to '44.You cannot understand Hitler without reading these table talks.An entertaining read.

Sometimes, I just don't get British humor. My English relatives love the jokes of their countryman -- sometimes I simply don't get it. But, the jokes here are universal. There are many scenes which are made up of very embarrassing, but very funny, everyday scenarios. The story is about Travel bookstore ownder William Thacker, played by Hugh Grant, who lives in London, England's posh, expensive, and very high class Notting Hill district. One day, he meets and falls in love with lovely American actress Anna Scott, in one of the best scenes of the film. (It involves a cup of orange juice, apricots soaked in honey, and "raisins" -- remember that word for one of the film's BEST lines!

And Richard Curtis knows how to write dialogue -- this man can think up some really funny one-liners! Some of the supporting characters were off-the-wall (but not written spaztically -- a good thing). If you enjoyed the movie, check it out. It's worth the cash.

I enjoyed the movie greatly, but it was reading the script which really made me appreciate the sheer genius behind it all. Kudos to Richard Curtis! It is amazing how much he manages to get into a scene - everything WORKS, to tug at the heart strings or strike the funny bone.

The script reveals a few of the artistic choices that had to be made in the process of creating the script and the movie; however, this is a very polished end product - definately a last draft (with a few choice bits of scenes that did not make the cut at the end) and perfectly co-ordinated with film stills and photographs, all on luxurious glossy paper.

However, it is amazing how, having watched the film and knowing the charactrers, it is possible to visualise scenes in your head while reading the script - an especial plus for the left out scenes. I am now dying to compare my imagination with the director's cut, which I have been told might be available on the DVD version.

I saw the preview of the movie a few weeks ago, and when I saw this on the shelf of my local bookstore, I just had to have it. The quality of this book is excellent for the price you pay. This edition is similar to the Four Weddings and a Funeral screenplay published a few years ago by Corgi Books (unfortunately no longer available - not to be confused with the lower quality St. Martin edition) printed on high quality paper. The full colour photographs bring the script to life as you read it. If you enjoyed the film, BUY THIS BOOK!

What puzzles me is why people never acknowledge that Plantangent blood runs through Enlish royalty all the way through Jame I and beyond. The family name may have changed, but the same genes that gave Henry II his firey hair and disposition engendered the same characteristics in Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. The "dynasty" lasted for over 500 years. Not many could equal that.

This book is a wonderful combination of how their comtemporaries viewed the Plantagenets (and of course they were totally impartial), and little sidebars to fill in the historical flavor of the time. A great combination. I was especially interested in the stories of two kings you don't hear much about. Stephen I, who preceded Henry II, and John I (evil Prince John of Robin Hood fame.) I believe those are the only two names in English royal history to be used only once.

The Plantagenets ruled England for nearly 250 years, longer than any other dynasty, but their real focus was always on their domains on the Continent. In this oversized volume, Hallam concentrates on the early period, from Count Geoffrey of Anjou (who adopted the house name) through John "Lackland," who managed to lose not only Normandy and Aquitaine but Anjou itself. The combination of well-conceived narrative, chronicles and tales recast in modern English, and hundreds of color photos make this a browser's delight.

With surprising thoroughness, "The Plantagenet Chronicles" provides you with contemporary documents from the forefathers of Anjou through the end of the dynasty in Britain. Everything is accompanied by commentary and sidebars illuminating the documents and putting them into historical context. What's more, if slogging through a mediaeval chronicler's language strains the eyes, you can always look at the beautiful illustrations on almost every page. The book is GORGEOUS! The chronicles are priceless gems in a brilliant setting.