Leonard Wibberley makes Grand Fenwick come alive as completely and delightfully in the middle ages as he does in the Twentieth Century. This is one of my all-time favorite books for plain old enjoyment.
While such great events are afoot elsewhere one must pity poor Count of Mountjoy, a man who aspires to greatness but as the Prime Minister of the Duchy only gets to deal with trivial matters. He has to arrange to have the potholes in Fenwicks single road repaired, or to pay for the restringing of the bows and the purchase of new arrows for the nations tiny army. He dreams of superhighways and modern facilities and budgets in the billions for Grand Fenwick, but instead is stuck dealing with 2 pounds and 10 shillings to purchase some new arrows.
One day the Duchy's beloved princess Glorina decides she wants a sable coat, which costs considerably more than the Duchy's entire annual budget. This request combined with considerable diplomatic maneuver by Lord Mountjoy and diplomatic posturing by the US and the Soviet Union starts a chain of hilarious events that catapult the Duchy into the forefront of the space race. The US and the USSR are trying to get ahead of one another in a military space race, only if Grand Fenwick can beat them both will cooperation prevail in space.
This book avoids most of the pitfalls that render most sequels inferior to the original book, and I would highly recommend it. The only minor pitfalls to this book is that of course it is a bit dated and some of the historical nuances may be a bit inaccessible to young readers. END
In this book a tiny European country decides that the answer to its financial problems lies in going to war with the United States and loosing. After seeing how the US rebuilt its WWII adversaries it really seems the only sensible way out of their current economic crisis. Add to this a perfectly justifiable reason to make war on the United States in the form of an American company marketing a cheap clone of the nations staple wine label, and you have a unanimous decision for war in the great counsels of Grand Fenwick.
The only problem is how to get the Americans to realize that they are at war. An official note declaring war was simply lost in the bureaucracy of the state department. At last they mount a mighty invasion of New York City (with an expeditionary force 20 longbowmen strong). The results are hilarious. Indeed not a chapter went by in which I did not laugh out loud at least a couple times. This was a fun book to read. I think this book is far better than the movie based on it. The only cold war comedy movie that was as good as this book was Dr. Strangelove (although the humor is of a very different verity).
He is a battle-weary soldier who has no religous beliefs but still believes in justice for all regardless of their position in society.
He meets John the Baptist and learns of the Messiahs coming. He is a man who understands and sympathizes with the jews but changesd his mind when they crusify their Savior Jesus Christ. The end of course calls for tears and cries of joy at the same time. I reccomend this book to anyone who doesn't understand Jesus's journey. It basicly makes the book of Mathew into a story. This book is awesome!!!!
of two Trans Pacific races to Hawaii. A good book for anyone
interested in sailing. A must read for anyone thinking about buying a yacht.