This book provides a lot of good general information without going into too much detail. It is a fast read and well-organized. The Michelin books provide greater detail but sometimes more is not always better. I used it to select places I wanted to go and then researched them in other books to confirm my choices. It is a good starting point in planning a great trip.

Those of you who can read French, consider buying the work by Henri Gougand, la Chanson de la croisade albigeoise, because this one contains the original document on the left, and the translation on the right. But that doesn't mean Shirley's translation is bad, it is a translation that doesn't match the rhyme that Guillame (William) de Tudéla and his anonymous successor used. In fact, Shirley's translation is more readable than the original manuscript and offers in depth details that the other chroniquer of the Albigensian crusade, Pierre the Vaux-des-Cernay, does not mention. The introduction by Janet Shirley is one of the most compact and informative written pieces on this subject yet. And the story itself is still readable after almost seven centuries. Those who are intrested in the Albigensian Crusade, and want to have a look at a genuine source should consider buying this translation

After reading the wonderful book, The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony, I was expecting great things from The Ruin of Kasch. Unfortunately this disjointed, disorganized, collection of odds and ends never seems to pull together into any cohesive whole. The tid-bits about the life of Talleyrand were not substantial enough to maintain a narrative thread throughout the entire book. There wasn't enough cohesion around the Talleyrand sections to begin to say this was really commentary on this fascinating personality. Read The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony twice rather than read this book once.

Very odd book. Full of nostalgia for the aristocracy of France, not unlike Nietzsche's nostalgia for the aristocracy of Rome and Greece. It is highly disjointed, indeed ofter incoherent relying upon dense references to obscure figures in the 18th Century. There is a thread of Rimbaud running through the text There are brilliant moments and insights, but no follow through or exposition. It is fragmata, obscurata, anecdotes, quotes from belles letres and diaries. Its central theme is musings on the loss of aristocratic legitimacy and the rise of the democratic mob. Worth reading if the French revolutionary period interests you and you are familiar with European culture of that period.

Since I much admired Calasso's first book, The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony, I looked forward to reading this one. Unfortunately, it is a mess. Although full of interesting bits, the pieces fail to add up to a satisfying whole. The author is never able to define what he means by "modern" except to provide ever more anecdotes about Talleyrand. These are intriguing but unsatisfying. Calasso seems nostalgic for an old world when myths, customs, magic were taken seriously. But it is hard to be sure if even this nostalgia is the point of the book. Still one can't help but admire the wide ranging knowledge of this author and his sometimes eloquent writing

As with this authors other work on Napoleon there are some mistakes, but given the sloppy level of "scholarship" that abounds in Napoleonic studies this work is hardly a candidate for historiological oblivion - despite the best efforts of the more hysterical and strident readers/guardians of the "truth"

The author's take on Bonaparte is realtively one-sided, but, so what? That's not a crime. Perhaps buyers of this book could place it at one end of their shelf and Alan Schom's "biography" at the other with the truth falling in-between? Either way, more reading is always better than less. Buy this book and enjoy it, it's not bad.

A Reader

Hamilton-Williams places an entire new slant on the subject of Naploeons fall and uses his many sources well ( and provides warnings when the sources are not trustworthy ) most of his conclusions are viable on the evidence provided and well written. Half his problem are that a large amount of his conclusions destroy the assumptions that a large portion of Napoleonic historians make and like to continue to make and hence the backlash against him. His view of Napoleon essentially brought down from within is one that is gaining more and more acceptance and anyone who is prepared to cope with his partisan approach to the issue will enjoy and learn from this book.

With regards to emphasis the book leans heavily on the undercurrents, political manouverings of this period and thus provides a fresh look on an overwritten subject. Excellant

Hamilton-Williams builds his book around original documents, including memos and orders. His view is as free of bias as one can hope, while building a compelling case against the Grand Alliance and for Napoleon

I began this book believing that William Randolph Hearst's granddaughter Patricia Hearst would be able to provide some insight into her grandfather's life and character, as well as her family's idea of what happened to Thomas Ince. However, Ms. Hearst opened the book with a disclaimer that her grandfather was not much discussed by her family, and that with his having died before her birth, she could only speculate along with everyone else about what Mr. Hearst was like, and about what happened to Tom Ince.

In addition to having boring fictional characters and an uninteresting, unresolved plot line, this poorly-written book was filled with fictional, inaccurate stereotypes of actual people that are no longer alive to defend themselves. Were any of the real people Ms. Hearst wrote about still living today, she would have been liable to lawsuits for slander. Hearst and her co-author paint Marion Davies as a mean, conniving, stupid, ill-mannered floozy who was with Hearst strictly for his money. Every other reference I have ever read about Miss Davies spoke of her generosity and kindness, her fun-loving nature, and her deep admiration for Hearst. None of that appears in this novel. Ms. Hearst doesn't spare her grandfather an ugly treatment either; nor is she at all kind in describing the movie stars that filled San Simeon with gaiety, laughter, and good-natured hijinks. In addition to gratuitously trashing the reputations of the well-known people in this novel, Ms. Hearst and her co-author also get wrong the few well-established facts concerning Tom Ince's death.

Read Marion Davies' own book, "The Times We Had," or any of the numerous biographies of stars of the early motion picture days to get a picture of what Hearst and Davies were really like, and the facts and rumors that circulated after Tom Ince's death. Even the speculative movie "The Cat's Meow" will provide a somewhat more accurate view of the people and circumstances involved.

I hate this book. The writing style and flow of thoughts the authors composed were fragmented. Annoying characters like Marion the dipstick, made reading torturous especially since she's on like every page - "OOhh daddy poo!", talking in her damn baby drivel. The heroine, Catha Burke was soo bland. She never affected me in any kind of way so having to read about her as she pursued the investigation was a bore. This book doesn't resolve some of the main reasons for reading the story, like who killed Thomas Ince, and is mostly flashbacks of boring snobbish parties with a lost heroine going nowhere.

As a speculative story on the alleged events surrounding film producer Thomas Ince's death in 1924, it greatly disappoints, offering no clear or conclusive hypothesis and relying heavily on sleazy innuendo. It is rather sloppy on historical detail (e.g. Greta Garbo did not arrive in the U.S. until 1925, John Barrymore was in London rehearsing for Hamlet at the time of the alleged events.) What makes MURDER AT SAN SIMEON truly reprehensible, however, is its trivialization of the silent film era. Fascinating performers like Charlie Chaplin and John Gilbert are reduced to tabloid fodder. Poor Marion Davies comes off the worst here; Hearst and Biddle's hatchet job of her almost makes Welles's mockery of her in CITIZEN KANE seem complimentary. In order to fully appreciate and understand silent movies, watch films like THE GOLD RUSH and SHOW PEOPLE instead.

A work of pure fiction by a totally discredited author.

Don't waste your money

Hamilton William's work is sloppily researched and cannot be considered a serious work of history. He seems much more concerned with grinding his own political axe than in presenting an accurate view of history. Other historians have dismissed his work as being closer to fiction than reality.

A better study on the period of 1813-1814 is R.F. Delderfield's "Imperial Sunset: The Fall of Napoleon 1813-14."

I'm not an expert on the history of this period, but I do find it fascinating. That's why I bought this book. The writing style is fast-moving and entertaining. The book does provide an interesting look at the complex reasons behind the fall of Napoleon. For example, I didn't know previously about the attempts to assasinate Napoleon. I also enjoyed the drawings and maps. This was a "fun read."

This book fell flat. The writer heavily sprinkles the story with ham-handed B-war movie accounts of anonymous Americans hollering out humorous dogface anecdotes and ridiculous French and German characters that are so inane they become distracting. We encounter a "typical" Frenchman, described as wearing a black beret and a handlebar mustache, talkeeng like thees with a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. Was the author watching a local high-school performance of "Last Tango in Paris" when he came up with that one? The research is sloppy; men of the 116th "Greyhound" Panzer Division, a major player in the German counterattacks against the Allies, proudly wore their unit emblem on their caps, not the words GREYHOUND. The author seems more interested in writing a screenplay than telling the dramatic story of the telling blow to the German army in France; the men who died in this struggle deserved better than this. I've read the author before, and I'm surprised by the quality of this effort. Didn't even finish it.

This book adds something to a library on the Normandy Campaign of 1944, but its title is misleading for someone whose interest is focused on the actual Falaise Gap battles. The author spends 250 pages leading up to August 14th, and then only 30 pages on the Falaise Gap battles: all prologue and no story. The book is also heavily weighted towards the American contribution, with an offsetting amount of content from the German side. The British, Canadian and Polish activity is poorly covered. This includes the complete ommission of the 3 day stand by the task force under Major David V. Currie of the South Alberta Regiment (16 tanks, and infantry from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada and the Lincoln & Welland Regiment) at the last village in the middle of the "Gap". This action won the one Victoria Cross awarded to Canadian troops in Normandy, and is worthy of a chapter in his book. The fact that photographs and movie film were shot by members of the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit of Major Currie in action on the first day (perhaps the most famous Canadian photo of WW2) might also have been mentioned. Oh, and by the way, the photo of "Men of an American Armoured Division pause briefly ..." is actually a picture of the short bombing in early August of the Canadian army on its fight towards Falaise. The original photo is in the Canadian Archives and one can clearly make out the British Army type uniforms and helmets, the vehicles all heading towards the camera except ambulance (red cross markings) heading back towards the bombed area to help with the many dead and hundreds of wounded.

This is only a few page play, not worth nearly the price quoted. Nothing else needs to be said except do not buy!

I ordered this sight/review-unseen: what a mistake. If you are looking for a 15 minute junior high school one act play, buy it. If you're looking for one Sherlock Holmes pastiche, pass! The plot takes place during the Great Hiatus, with Holmes chasing after poisoners in the Folies Bergere. Rather predictable, rather mundane but as I said, if you are looking for a one-act for pre-teens, it may work for you. I was hugely disappointed:P.

The title is deceptive. The book does not focus on the strategy of Napoleon beyond the second chapter.

The often repetitive book (I found several instances of wholesale cut & pastes of text) reduces great thinkers of strategy to two sentence summaries.

It never clearly argues its point, and in the second to last chapter outrageously refers to the stories of Christian saints as "fables".

I'm sorry, but a member of a strategy group in New York City, in this century, looking back on the whole of human experience in war and religion reducing great thinkers and profound events to short glib interpretation is OUTRAGEOUS.