Thomas More dreams of a world of tolerance and antimilitarism, but also of collectivism and anticapitalism (a world without money). For him, a world based on private property cannot be prosperous and just. He considered all treaties between prosperous states as a conspiracy of riches.
So, he was more radical than the most diehard leftist of today.
His principal targets are kings, religious authorities and the landowners with their disastrous policy of enclosures, driving all farmers and their families into certain poverty and death.
He gives us also a juicy mockery of the Swiss, who sold themselves as mercenaries to the highest bidders.
This book is still a worth-while read.

Generally, this is a very good edition of utopia. The translation from Latin is clear and very readable. Furthermore, the critical texts are a great help to the student. Now I don't have to run off to collect them from various magazines. In principle the inclusion of other utopias is a good idea as well. However, I was somewhat disturbed by the editorial notes on "Looking backward". It does not seem to me as if Mr. Adams has read very much of the novel. For instance, I found his comments on the role of women in the book misleading.

Thomas More's incredible, influential work, has one foot in the Middle Ages and the other in the Renaissance. More reflects on the Middle Ages, but was not yet ready for the Lutheran reformation. More offers both humor (for example, using gold as chamber pots), and political thinking on capitalism. I however think his Utopia is a reflection of the monastic system (without severe asceticism) rather than communism. I'm sure it is no accident that geographic the island of Utopia is similar to England. It is ironic that More did not heed Raphael's advice about servitude to the king. The inclusion of the humanist letters adds further to the humor.

This fine edition includes important predecessor such as Plato's republic and the Acts of the Apostles. Description from Amerigo Vespucci's first voyage, calls to mind Rousseau's "Noble Savage". With the inclusion of selections from Ovid to Brave New World this book includes almost two millennium of utopian thinking.

Sir Robert Carey is the perfect swashbuckler - with empty pockets and enough craft to be more than cardboard. Even years at Elizabeth's court have not prepared him for the treachery and double dealing on the English/Scottish Borders. A marvellous chase after stolen guns and more involvement with his strait laced, married love season a plot filled with the sights, sounds and smells of the 16th Century. Let down a little by the poor binding of this edition, as pages fall out after a couple of readings.

I have now read all three of P.F. Chisholm's novels chronicling the adventures of Sir Robert Carey, "the Elizabethan detective" and I await with the next installment with anticipation. Based on a real historical figure in the 16th century, Sir Robert Cary is part Cary Grant, part Harrison Ford, a charming courtier who, despite being a cousin of Queen Elizabeth, has trouble staying out of debt and on the right side of the law. All three books in the series are highly readable and recommended for fans of historical fiction, as well as anyone interested in the Anglo-Scottish border "troubles" of the 16th century.

A character-driven portrayal of Sir Walter Ralegh, largely told in flashback, but also involving some fairly fast realtime action.

Nye writes well on a sentence level. Generally, I found his historical portrayal believable, and his characters multifaceted, although I don't quite buy that Ralegh would be such a political innocent that he wouldn't realize why Elizabeth could by no means risk becoming pregnant. The plot is exciting; it bogged down a bit for me about 3/4 of the way through, but Ralegh's attempts to escape execution are fast-moving and gripping.

The different portrayals of Elizabeth in historical fiction are interesting. She's always larger than life, even when, as here, she has aspects of the grotesque. And generally, as here, she's shown quite negatively. I like the darkness of the way she torments her favorites in the book, though I rather doubt it's what really happened.

I disliked the homophobia with which James I and his lover Villiers were portrayed -- it's fine that James is a negative character, but the prejudice here seemed to go beyond Ralegh's normal Renaissance-era reaction.

In the final analysis, there's something self-indulgent about this book, about Ralegh and his endless self-recriminations and maundering. Still, readers of Elizabethan historical fiction will probably want to have a look at it.

With famed courtier Sir Walter Ralegh as his speaker/writer, author Robert Nye creates a fictional journal which includes all the elements of high drama the reader would expect of this vicarious peek into Ralegh's very private and intriguing world--his climb from obscurity to the highest levels of court life, the nature of his tumultuous relationship with Queen Elizabeth, his career as a soldier, his secret courtship and marriage, his loathing of the venal King James, his thirteen years in the Tower of London on false charges, and his eventual release by King James to search for gold in the New World.

The journal, which begins in 1618, moves back and forth in time, alternating vivid tales of Ralegh's tenuous existence aboard the Destiny, a ship off the coast of Guiana, with his colorful reminiscences of life in Elizabeth's court, when, as a young man he was living the heady life of a courtier. The ebb and flow of the journal creates its own narrative movement and conveys both the vibrant excitement of Ralegh's days as a young man and the melancholy self-reflection which dominates his old age. Sensuous descriptions and self-deprecating wit characterize his revelations about his younger days, while the privation and trauma he experiences at the end of his life elicit both sympathy and admiration as he tries to redeem his pride and reputation while walking a tightrope between his mutinous crew, his duplicitous king, and his Spanish enemies.

Though very exciting and full of fascinating period detail, Nye's novel is more than a biography, however. Ralegh tells us that his journal is ultimately a log of three voyages: first, the voyage of the ship Destiny--his present, day to day life; second, the voyage of his history--his past and his fortunes; and, third, the Voyage of Destiny, not his life or his ship but something more than the present, the past, or both together. This third journey is an internal one, and we observe Ralegh making an effort to achieve deeper understanding, not only of himself, but of the real values which give meaning to man's existence, not the values imposed by society. He is accompanied, on both his real and his symbolic journey, by an Indian named Guayacunda, a mysterious man whose tribe was wiped out a hundred years earlier, and whose ancestral heritage, language, culture, and even real name have vanished completely, leaving him without the ancestral values he thinks would give meaning to his existence. As they share their dreams, they search for an understanding of truth which will give value to their separate realities.

Multi-leveled and totally satisfying, The Voyage of the Destiny uses the fascinating life of Sir Walter Ralegh to illuminate the search of a thoughtful man for truth and meaning in life beyond what society and its values have imposed, not one truth at the expense of others, but truths which come from a life lived with respect and humility, not with pride or a need for recognition. In that way, Ralegh discovers, he may achieve true honor. Mary Whipple

don't think you know all there is about seafaring. THis book covers so much, that you'll need to read it multiple times in order to understand all the detail it gives you about commercial and naval vessels and the men that go out to sea.

Delhi has laid claim to be the capital of India since the earliest days of Aryan civilisation in the great North Indian plain. Rajput kings and Muslim invaders alike have built large planned cities and strong fortifications. Delhi has attracted many because of its strategic location: defended to the west and south by quartzite ridges that are the last spurs of the Aravalli ranges and to the east by the great Yamuna river, which has also ensured it plentiful water. To the east lies the fertile Gangetic plain and to the west the rich lands of Punjab with its five rivers. From Delhi pressure can also be exerted to the south on Ajmer, the gateway to the Rajput kingdoms. No fewer than 15 cities had been built on this spot beforethe British rulers of India decided to move capital here. By doing so they wanted to lay claim not only to the vanished Mughal empire, which had its brilliant court in the Red Fort in the heart of the city of Shahjehanabad on a site northward of Delhi, but also impress upon the people that they were the legitimate heirs to the great empires which had ruled from this spot. Imperial Delhi, then, was to, from thebeginning, be a city that would awe the beholder. It was to be the expression of British might in India, of its stable policies and enlightened views, and of its respect for law, order, reason and tolerence. It was also to be a city that would in its architecture display a synthesis of Classical and Indian design elements, thereby symbolising the progress and harmony that was to be had out of co-operation with the rulers. This book is one of the finest chronicles of the process of planning New Delhi and its principal monuments. It covers the original vision for the city, several alternate sites and plans, and the eventual outcome of the co-operation between Lutyens and Baker. New Delhi's systematic lay-out is the highest evolution of rational principles. The Vicregal Palace together with the Secretariat blocks occupies the highest point- Raisina hill. In defence of !this site Lutyens quoted from the Bible ' the city on the hill cannot be hid'. A great east-west axis- the Kingsway- proceeds from Raisina to the Yamuna and the oldest city of all Indraprastha. Wide green lawns, straight avenues of trees and long reflecting pools border this principal axis. The Kingsway is cut at right angles by the other axis of the city- the Queensway. At the heart of the city stood a statue of the King-Emperor, while arrayed around the hexagon around it that delineated Prince's Park, were the palaces of the Maharaja's friendly to the British. The whole thus expressed a rational, well-planned city, where the Viceregal Palace symbolised the paramountcy of the British empire over the native rulers, who affirmed their loyalty to the King. With its wide, straight, tree lined boulevards the city has often been compared to Haussman's Paris. The resemblance is strengthened by the enormous All-India War Memorial Arch that stands in Prince's Park, astride the Kingsway. Its proportions and outline recall the Arc de Triomphe and the whole is remniscent of the Champs Elysee. Meanwhile Lutyens evolved a style that could truly lay claim to the brilliance of Indian decorative elements while espousing for its overall form the simplicity and strength of Classical Greek architecture. His sandstone buildings are simple and massive, shunning excessive decoration for a nobler expression. Restrained and fused to these solid buildings are decorative elements from the three principle Indian cultures, Hindu, Muslim, and Buddhist. Lutyens deliberately avoided an ' Indian style' because he felt that there was none such- each ruler had merely imposed his conventions and indeed Indian buildings are modest in their structure and ground-plans. Most cover this up with a profusion of decorative elements, but again Lutyens shunned this over-richness for a more austere and formal style. This was also necessitated by the raging controversy over whether Delhi should have a Muslim or Hindu architecture, which threatened to ! incite communal riots. Insofar as Lutyens borrows form Indian structures it is from Buddhist stupas such as the one at Sanchi, for their bold simple lines struck a chord. For the rest, the wealth of floral and geometric patterns, not to speak of animal carvings that India has produced are subtly woven into the whole. This book covers the entire history of the evolution of New Delhi. I recommend it for the wealth of plans and lay-outs it has, as well as some of Lutyen's original designs for the Viceroy's palace. It should appeal to all those with an interest in city planning or in the architecture that Lutyen's promoted which sadly did not outlive him. It is unique in that it neither gets bogged down in academic discussions of what city-planning ought to be, of the needs of developing nations or of indigenous design requirements, nor is it a glossy picture book of Delhi's 'sights'. It is a well-paced, thorough book that evokes the image that the planner's of Delhi had in their minds- of a grand city, that a nation that considered itself to be the heir to the Roman Empire would be proud to build. Perhaps the only shortcomings of this book are that it does not display all the plans that are discussed nor does it indicate which ones the text is referring to. This means that one has to often read very carefully and try to make a plan fit a description. This difficulty could very easily have been obviated. Secondly, while much of Delhi eventually remained on paper, it would have been worthwile to display and discuss those structures that never got built. The rapid decline of the British Empire meant that Delhi remained an unfinished city, and I was particularly looking for insights into the Delhi that might have been, the institutions, hospitals, libraries, museums, offices that were doubtless intended to fill in the capital and continue and irrevocably establish Lutyen's claim to an imperial architecture for India. While Delhi remained unfinished, this book need not have and from a historical chronicle could! have continued into the imaginary realm of the Delhi that was envisioned, the Delhi that was to be the second city of the Empire after London, the Delhi that might have been.

I reckon the book gives a very good measure of Sir Isaac Newton's interests in philosophy. One shoulk ask why philosophy? Well we have to say that this writings contain some of the best arguments ever used in defense of God's existence. Moreover, the "Four letters to Mr. Richard Bentley" contain what should be considered the argument of "imperfection" for the existence of a Voluntary Agent in the Universe. Nobody before Newton dared to say that from the imperfection of this world it follows that God neccessarily exists. This argument will be, of course, a great subject for the criticism of Leibniz and Descartes' disciples. Then again, the book contains a very good paper on the natural and un-natural motion of celestial bodies, a very good treatise in itself on inertia and gravity, which makes us wonder whether our modern view on the universe is a Newtonian or a Cartesian one. After all the theme is very actual and it has not lost it's strenght.

Launcelot Greaves, Tobias Smollett's quixotic character, takes you on a hilarious journey filled with wonderfully funny scenes and characters. The book moves at the leisurely pace Smollett and Fielding made such excellent use of in their novels. Not only does Smollet amuse and surprise in this novel, but he also provides a insightful commentary on class, primogeniture and the state of the nobility in 18th-century England. This book you finish with a grin and a wistful sigh, because you don't want the story to end, a novel both funny and thoughtful in the best of senses.

There is an empty niche in the Shell/Royal Dutch HQ in the Hague, intended for a statue of Sir Henri Deterding. It is not there, as the company (and the world) rather hopes to forget this 'very, very remarkable man'. Even though he built up this enormous company almost singlehandedly, his name has become so synonymous with the evil excesses of capitalism that neither his successors in Shell, or his compatriots wish to be associated with him.

In this well-written book Glyn Roberts describes the career of Deterding from a rather leftish (Marxist) point of view, and makes it no secret he dislikes the man and what he stands for. The reader follows Deterdings career from the Dutch East Indies to The Hague, Baku, and world power in London. Roberts also tries to give an extensive overview of the oil industry and its ties with politics, which on the one hand is necessary for the uninitiated reader, but makes him drift away from his subject. For a better overview of the industry I would refer to Yergin's 'The Prize' or Sampson's 'Seven Sisters'.

The book focusses mainly on the latter part of Sir Henri's career, spanning the period between 1907 (after the RD/Shell merger) to his retirement in the late 1930's. It shows some of the collaboration between Deterding and the Nazi movement, as well as his dealings with the Imperial British government and his actions versus the USSR. Written in '38 (before Deterdings death) this book makes some amazingly accurate predictions about the course history was about to take. It also raises some questions which are still valid today, about the way in which large corporations and individuals in them, may and can influence world events. A very worthwile read.

Robert Menzies was a conservative Australian politician who served as Prime Minister from 1939 to 1941 when he surpringly resigned. At this time the Australian Labour party won office and dominated politics for the next eight years. Menzies built up a new party to regain power which he called the Liberal Party. He also developed an ideology to appeal to the forgoten people. That is he positioned his conservative party to appeal to the middle class rather than having it to closely aligned with big business.

Volume one of this biography concerns his early years and his career up to 1941. He was born in a country town and came from a poor family. He was able to get a university eduction and became a succesful lawyer and state politician before moving to the federal sphere. He did not serve in the first world war although his brothers did.

The book is actually by an author who has more sympathy with the labour side of politics rather than the conservative. Never the less it is a reasonable portrait of the man and also the period. One of the better Australian political biographies.

A perfect guide for roman mania interested in more than merely picture of its monumentum, this book contains colourful images of various types of ROMAN architecture scattered around its territory with plain explanation. And the book's hand-carry size makes your reading more confortable.