Wonderful news ... a new edition of this book will be released in paperback ..., available through Amazon.
Birkin completed the book when adapting the story of J M Barrie for a BBC mini-series, The Lost Boys. As well as writing Peter Pan, Barrie was in his time, regarded as a playwright the equal of George Bernard Shaw. That his work quickly fell out of favour may be due to its pathos and close relation to Barrie's own life.
I stumbled across this book over ten years ago, and its poignancy, honestly and power have been with me ever since.
It centres around the Llewelyn Davies family, which became the inspiration for Peter Pan, but went on to have an even more profound impact upon the life of the melancholic Scottish playwright.
As one of the protagonists later wrote, the masses of photographs (extensively reproduced in the book) seem to foretell the whole sad story. Indeed, Birkin's strength is allowing the story to unfold through letters, images and quotation from Barrie's surprisingly autobiographical work. What emerges is the finest of biographies. Peter Pan acquires a whole new sad significance in the light of this book, and it captures the fading Edwardian twighlight exquisitely.
Upon the death of the last of the Llewelyn Davies boys (after first publication), the majority of the material used in the book was bequeathed to Birkin, a ringing endorsement of his sensitive and perceptive retelling of the story.
I cannot recommend this book too highly.

I first read this book roughly ten years ago. It is still one of my all-time favorites. The beautiful and tragic lives of the Llewellyn-Davies family, and their beauty caught in intimate pictures, reminds one of the Romanovs. This book is a very loving, close portrait of the relationship between JM Barrie--the playwright of Peter Pan (and numerous other plays and books)and an Edwardian family composed of five charming, beautiful, intelligent boys. The boys' parents (one of whom is the daughter of George du Maurier [author of Trilby] -- the boys' cousin is Daphne du Maurier) both die young, leaving them orphans in the care of JM Barrie. The book contains astonishingly beautiful photographs, diary entries, letters, etc. The truth of the story gives it a charm and tragedy mere fiction lacks. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Barrie must be one of the 20th C's most under-rated and misinterpreted writers. This beautiful and haunting book helps interpret his writing, especially that maudlin classic of hopeless nostalgia Peter Pan. Look in this book beyond the fragile elegance of the Edwardian world, and the beautiful children frozen forever in time by Barrie's camera and there's tragedy. Everyone, Arthur, Michael, Jack and especially Barrie himself comes to a sticky end. It well illustrates that old morality tale: be very careful about what you wish for -it may come true. I agree it's a tragedy this book has slipped out of print.

Although the outcome is known, there is much to be gained from reading this book.

Apart from the specific history of the climb which 'conquered' Everest (a much-used but dubious claim about one of the great feats of human endeavour, and one not used by those involved), I was particularly interested in several aspects:

* The description of the expedition took place, the mechanics of it from someone outside the actual expedition;
* The non-mountaineer's view of mountain-climbing and experiences in the Khumbu ice-fall and Western Cwm especially. This was the experience many an armchair-Everesteer would wish for themselves, I am sure;
* The journalist's view of the people involved - all the other accounts I have read have been written from the point of view of being 'insiders' in the ecpedition - Hunt, Hillary, Tenzing, for example
* The mechanics of how Morris set up 'exclusive' media coverage from the mountain! It is amazing to think that it was a mere 50 years ago that messages were taking 8 days to reach London, when nowadays we hear live radio broadcasts of people dying in snowstorms, have immediate Internet access to expedition journals etc.

Thoroughly recommended for anyone with any interest at all in the subject.

This slim volume details the trip of London Times journalist Jan Morris with the 1953 British Everest Expedition. It provides interesting and unique first-hand accounts of Hillary, Tenzing, and other expedition personnel, as well as beautifully written descriptions of the landscape and persons encountered on the expedition. It is written in the style of its day - English "Public School" in tone - and reflects a love and command of the English language all too lacking in today's expedition accounts.

The account flows easily and draws the reader along with the expedition. Despite knowing the outcome, the reader is kept interested by the tone and language, and by the behind-the-scenes looks at how this mammoth effort came together, and its ultimate effect on those on the mountain and those back home in England. For example, as the book opens on the eve of Elizabeth II's Coronation, we see Field Marshal Montgomery reading the Time's account of Hillary and Tenzing's triumph as he waits in robes to process in the Coronation parade. Small asides such as this give the book its unique flavor, and make it an interesting and invaluable addition to the armchair (or actual) mountaineer's collection

This is a wonderfully written book of the events surrounding the historic Everest expedition of 1953 which saw Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay summit Mount Everest. It was written by special correspondent for The London Times, James Morris, who accompanied the expedition and first broke the news to the world of the successful summit. The news fortuitously reached England on the eve of Queen Elizabeth's the II coronation of June 2, 1953, and was the cause for much nationalistic pride. Hence, the name of the book.

The book is reflective of the time in which it was written and evokes a feeling of an era long gone. Therein lies its charm. Nostalgia buffs will love it, as will those readers looking to consume anything about Everest. It will not disappoint, though the book is not about the climb to the summit in the strictest sense. The book chronicles in great detail the author's journey to Everest, as well as his personal experiences and observations while at Everest, waiting to break the story of the end result of the historic climb to the summit. It also chronicles the cloak and dagger methodology which he employed in order maintain exclusivity for The London Times.

It should be noted in the interest of clarity and to avoid confusion, that times do indeed change. The author, James Morris, underwent a gender change subsequent to the original 1958 publication of this book. When the book was released again, however, the publisher did so under the name which the author had since adopted, Jan Morris. James or Jan, the author is a hell of a writer, and the book is well worth reading.

At times the story of Frobisher borders on the ethereal. Fleets of Elizabethan sea-dogs sailing every year or so towards Labrador, searching for the (apocryphphal) NorthWest Passage to China, returning each time from an ice-bound continent with lumps of black granite and then funding another trip on the strength of completely bogus reports that there was gold inside the granite rocks. The expeditions serve as a parable of greed, curiousity and folly. For Frobisher, they were the high point of a chequerered naval career. A notorious privateer, Martin served in some of Drake's greatest raids on Spanish America. He also served with distinction against the Armada. The only downside to a biography of Frobisher was that he was almost totally illiterate and that therefore almost everything about him has to be reconstructed from official records or second-hand reports. This is a great life of a strange man.

A wonderful book written about one of England's first Maritime explorers. Frobisher usually is written with such notables of the time as Drake, Hawkins and Raleigh even if his famous voyage to the Northwest was a failure. He still managed to retain his dignity and eventually became one of England's greatest sailors. Mr. McDermott's book is a wonderful and complete picture of a quite-not-so-honest Yorkshire man who rose up to become a great explorer despite his past dealings with privateering and the law. Frobisher's last biography (AFAIK) was published in 1923 (William McFee) yet Mr. McDermotts excellent research and writing clearly rates above Mr. McFee's outline of a man whose history was written by happenstance and luck. I found this book to be invaluable research of a not-so-well-known man whom I portray at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in California. Well researched and well written. A must for any 16th century maritime history fan or historian. Cheers!

If you cringe whenever you hear our civic leaders butcher an over-rehearsed line, mix a metaphor or use any number of PC abominations currently in vogue, wash your ears out with this collection of speeches by a master of the English language. I consider any literary work or speech by Churchill to be among the best examples of the proper use of our great and beautiful language. More so than even Shakespeare, because Shakespeare is so antiquated, Churchill is the high priest of proper modern English.

Churchill had a way of mixing humor, invective and sarcasm to drive home his point, but never in a base or vulgar way. He never pandered to the audience or talked down to them; he spoke honestly in a determined and forthright manner that assumed a level of intelligence capable of understanding whatever he said.

Churchill was the most quotable of twentieth century world leaders. Who could forget his cut at Mussolini: "An Italian sausage in a Sam Browne belt." Or this gem about truth which should have been played weekly during the political scandals of the 1990s: "Truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it and ignorance deride it, but in the end, there it is."

This book also serves as an excellent historical reference. It is thoroughly indexed and has a comprehensive table of contents. The editor has written a helpful preface to each series of speeches to provide background for the modern reader. The book should prove interesting to any history buff, and should read like poetry to those who love the English language, properly used.

This is an excellent compilation of standard terms used in diplomacy as a branch of international relations.

the definitions provided are succint and precise, and help the reader with the right amount of information. The links provided to other words are especially valuable, permitting a complete search of the selected word of topic.

It is in the nature of today's world of diversity and complexity that a compilation like this one will need updating from time to time, and addition of new terms that keep cropping up in different parts of the world. No doubt an internet ediion of the book, in the future will be of special value in such an updating process.

it is an invaluable guide.

It lurks everywhere, even in 'special relationships'. It surfaces in most disputes. But coercion depends less on power, than on the ability to put it to appropriate use. This is particularly true at sea, where David often defeats Goliath. This book covers a wider field than the author's two earlier books - Gunboat Diplomacy and Britain's Naval Future - but the incisive quality of the agrument and the wealth of illustrative examples will be familiar to previous readers.

For politicians, diplomats and naval officers, for the students and the practitioners of international relations and, above all, for the rest of us, the prospective victims of their attempts at crisis-management, this is a book as essential and seminal as its predecessors.

Sir James Cable spent five years in the Army and thirty-three in the Diplomatic Service.

I bought this book because my son (James) is very interested in the Middle Ages, King Arthur, etc. Since he is 7 years old and the book begins when Sir James is 7 years old, he really enjoyed it. The details on weapons, armor, etc. added a great touch and were not only interesting, but educational. The book contains some vocabulary which required explanation, but in general he was fascinated. The illustrations are excellent and we read a few pages at a time each night so we could discuss them in detail. I hope Mr. O'Brien writes more about the adventures of Sir James.

If you have an illustration or text description of Scottish arms and no idea to whom they belong, this is an excellent place to start. Graphic features -- chevron, fess, greyhound, Maltese cross, mullet -- are arranged alphabetically, with 5,500+ separate contexts described and pertinent individuals noted. And there's a complete name and rank index.

I though Galileo's Daughter was the best book I read last year, and this one is a close second. Only James Gleick has the self-confidence and skill to synthesize the life of Newton down to 191 succinct and fascinating pages. The average author, full of himself, would probably write about 1,191 pages and you wouldn't be able to lift the book. This is a masterpiece of time, space, light and color. A reader in motion will tend to remain in motion. It was just great, I read it in one sitting. I hope this starts a trend!

I'm not a mathematician; I'm not even much good at arithmetic. Once when trying to count backward from 100 by 7's I started with 97, went to 93, and gave up. Of course I was lying in a hospital bed, but even at my best I wouldn't have gotten far. I tell you this because I approached "Isaac Newton," by James Gleick expecting to read the introduction, pick up a few bits-and-bobs, and bail out. What a surprise to find myself reading even while walking to the bus stop. Thank you, Mr. Gleick for a fascinating biography that doesn't bog down in numbers, but still imparts the scientific information salient to Mr. Newton's life.

Isaac Newton was a piece of work. A scientist, but also a student of biblical prophecy; a chemist, but also an alchemist; a public figure as well as something of a recluse; a fountain of learning who refused to publish. Isaac Newton was a man of his times, and Mr. Gleick points out the very interesting paradox that Newton lived in a pre-Newtonian world. Of course he would be filled with contradictions. Even so, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Newton's contemporary and a philosopher/mathematician in his own right who found himself at odds with Newton by independently inventing differential and integral calculus, told the Queen of Prussia that "in mathematics there was all previous history, from the beginning of the world, and then there was Newton; and that Newton's was the better half."

If you would like a better understanding of the laws of nature we take for granted, and an understanding of the life and times of the complicated man who formulated them for us, then I recommend this highly readable (and mathematically understandable) biography.

James Gleick's book Isaac Newton presents the life, the oddities and the great discoveries of the man who set the foundations of modern physics. Gleick has a unique talent for rendering science in layman terms. He preserves and sometimes amazingly expands the scope of the original ideas. When I read his book Chaos I wondered - Gleick seemed too vivid and comprehensible for a scientist and in the same time too penetrating for a writer who is not a professional researcher.

Maybe you would like to see what creates the observations described by Newton in his famous laws. Perhaps you have been sometimes puzzled by the enigmatic meaning of your life. Then you should read also Eugene Savov's Theory of Interaction the Simplest Explanation of Everything, James Gleick's Faster and Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order by Steven Strogatz. The explorations and discoveries presented in these three books show a path toward a new knowledge in which the laws of Newton and his genius shine even brighter.

You will laugh, cry and be confused when you read this book. This book can teach you that what you think is good is not always good.

There is a boy named Peter Pan. He sprinkles fairy dust in Wendy and her two brothers. Then he shows them how to fly. He takes them to Neverland and shows them to the Lost Boys who live there. Wendy becomes their mother. She makes up rules, like any other mother would do. The boys have to follow these rules. Everything was fine until Captain Hook came with his crew to where the boys and Wendy were. While Wendy and the boys were at the lagoon, where they go every day after dinner, they see a girl named Tiger Lily, princess of her tribe. She was captured by Smee, one of Captain Hook's men. Then Peter saved her. A few days later Wendy and the boys were on their way to Wendy's house when they too were all captured by Captain Hook. Then Peter saves them. Then the lost boys, Wendy and her brothers go home. All except for Peter.

It is mostly about what the people in the book think is right with childhood. The kids in the book think that if you grow up it is bad, but in our case it is actually good.

Peter Pan is a violent book not really made for children under the age of 10 but people 10 and up can read it. It is violent because of the language that is spoken and the idea that killing could be fun. Also, the vocabulary is very difficult for children under 10 to understand. Even if you're older it is difficult to understand.

Overall, it is a good book but watch out for the violent ideas if you are reading it to little children.

This is an utterly charming work. It has been retold myriad times, but nobody else has done it as well as the original teller, J. M. Barrie.

It's difficult to know what to say about a book like this... everybody knows the story. But I guess that unless you've read this book (not just seen a movie or read a retelling), you don't really know the character Peter Pan, and without knowing the character, you don't really know the story. So read it.

By the way, if you enjoy this, you probably would also like "Sentimental Tommy" and its sequel "Tommy and Grizel", both by Barrie. There are differences (for one thing they're not fantasy), but there are also compelling similarities. Anybody who found Peter Pan a deep and slightly bittersweet book would be sure to enjoy them.

-Stephen

When talking of literature, people tend to look solely at books they read today but forget what they used to read, namely the ones we read as children. It is a common misunderstanding that children's literature is to be read by children and children only, but when we come to think of it, which one of us are not children, at least in our hearts?

One of the best books any child, young or old, can read is Barrie's Peter Pan. Although written in the past century, it has something for any generation at any time. Its humorous views at the world from a child's mind left me rolling over the floor, laughing; the exciting storyline kept me busy with reading until the end; and the serious undertone made me think of whether the world wouldn't be a better place if we realised that deep down, however deep, we are in fact all children. So if YOU are a child, which you most certainly are, get yourself a copy and enjoy your ongoing childhood.