Biography: yes; Historical: no....
937660
For some people nothing is sacred... nothing is private.
Dr. Erica Miller is one of those people.

Having gone through multiple things in her time she decided to write about it.

Here is the publishers thoughts on "Thanks for my Journey".

Holocaust survivor and noted psychologist Dr. Erica Miller shares a no-holds-barred story of bravery, survival, and unprecedented accomplishment that is both riveting and inspirational
Born in Tshernovitz, Romania, Erica Miller was only seven years old when the Nazis forced her and her family into a holding camp in the Ukraine, where they remained for four harrowing years before being liberated. But their relief was cut short when they returned to their home and found it occupied by Russians. Only when her family immigrated to Israel was the author given the chance to escape the horrors of oppression and begin a new chapter in her life.
Facing obstacles most of us would find insurmountable, the author served in the Israeli Air Force, a rarity for women at the time, and then went on to earn a PhD in clinical psychology in America. As a dedicated mental health professional, Dr. Miller founded a chain of clinics that have helped hundreds of patients heal.
A story of hardship, perseverance, and ultimate victory, Thanks for My Journey also includes a special section where Dr. Miller shares her inspirational reflections on such topics as being Jewish, gender roles, and the power in being true to oneself.

First off I need to say I received this title free via E-book in exchange for my review of this title.  And no I do not have to give a glowing review... so I won't...

Unfortunately what drew this title to me was the subtitle "A Holocaust Survivor's Story of Living Fearlessly."....  After about 20 pages the history lesson was done.  The holocaust was finished and Erica and her entire family made it through the horror.

My review here is in no way a down play to her experience.  I can not even imagine the horror and difficulty that she and her family experienced during this time.  The sad thing is it only taught her to be self centered, closed off, and detached.  So many others learn from their experiences to be grateful for life, living it to its fullness and grateful to be alive.

Dr. Miller's experiences led her to be a very detached individual; not the best parent due to this; not the best sibling, friend, or spouse.  Not a team player etc...  In fact in her book she applauds the selfish nature she learned to have.

It is funny how sometimes the most messed up individual becomes a psychologist.  Add to that her fascination with the psychic, paranormal, and hypnosis... and you get a very unique approach on life.

As a Christian I found it sad to read where she considers herself an agnostic.  Wish someone would introduce her to God, the one who walked her through the Holocaust; who kept her safe in the Army; who brought her to America; and who seeks to use her strengths to make His name known.
4323040
What did I like about this book? The authors knowledge of historical facts, that went into writing this fictional book.
What did I dislike? The truth of those same historical facts, it was like a slap in the face, to read some of these truths, and I was outraged to learn that some of our past American leaders, were sheep in wolves clothing. Puppets without scruples. Liars to the American public.
Who should read this? Truth seekers. Christians, and Non-Christians.
1150938
Norma Goodrich's *Guinevere* promises to find the historical truth behind the figure of Guinevere.  The blurb on the back, the quoted reviews on the cover, and the introduction all state that Goodrich offers proof here of the historical Queen.  I had just finished the wonderful *Journey to Avalon* by Barber and Pykitt, which is full of information on the probable figure behind Arthur, but which only devotes a few paragraphs to his wife.  So, I was looking for some more information about her.
Goodrich doesn't dig into archaeology or history, though; the entire book is based on two medieval writings, the "Prose Lancelot" and the work of Geoffrey of Monmouth, and takes these works as absolute fact.  She delves into confusing episodes in the epics, and into symbols the writers associate with Guinevere, and attempts to find the roots underlying them.  Since much medieval romance was based on an earlier oral tradition, that's all fine and good--except that the more Goodrich finds, the less historical it sounds.  Instead of Gwenhwyfar, queen of the Britons, we get Guanhumara, goddess of death and initiation, a mythic rather than a historical figure.  Now, I don't generally mind mythic explorations onto the Arthur legends.  I gave the Matthews' *Ladies of the Lake* five stars.  But the Matthews were up-front about what they were doing.  Yes, the Arthur cycle is based both on history and myth.  But don't promise me history and give me myth.
440964
I am sure I am biased, because I am not a lover of history.
I like politics, biography, and contemporary novels
that may be future literature.  I was bored with this book.
Lilias was an admirable person and dedicated her life to a
worthy cause.  I appreciate the the book for introducing
Lilia Trotter to me, however that is all I can say about this book.
2309974
Take this biography of Bessie Wallis Warfield, eventual Duchess of Windsor, with several grains of salt. Higham is himself a member of the society that opposed Wallis' love affair and eventual marriage with the ex-King of England, and focuses on her alleged sexual exploits to a degree that borders upon voyeurism.  One wonders where Wallis found the time to court the Prince of Wales while bedding so many (alleged) other amours!  Higham also cites as evidence an "expose" of her life in China that has been discredited by other historians and biographers.

Wallis, of course, was no saint. She was promiscuous and ambitious, seeking an adventurous and high-class lifestyle to which she would have been entitled had her parents made wiser choices.  She spent her youth just far enough on the inside of society's strict caste system to rub elbows with the influential and wealthy, but with a reputation inherited from her parents that resisted her efforts to untarnish.  She and her eventual "great love" Edward/David spent the rest of their lives as part of the jet-set society, yet dependent on the good graces and support of those willing to take them in.

Was Wallis a Nazi sympathizer? Probably - but Higham's attempt to portray her as a spy don't wash.  Wallis was a flighty woman who doesn't strike this reviewer as someone who would be willing to risk losing her inclusion in high society and European royalty.  There was no benefit to her taking such risks, although her writings indicate a contempt for the lower classes and certain racial groups. This was typical of a white woman of her class and time period. This reader is inclined to place such maneuverings as the interest of her husband rather than Wallis herself.

Questions of political views and her sexual past that can't conclusively be confirmed or denied add to the Duchess' mystique. She, like Anne Boleyn, will always be the scarlet woman who loved a king  - but, unlike Anne Boleyn, her king did indeed sacrifice an empire for her.

Can't give Higham's biography more than three stars. It's too much like a tabloid encyclopedia than a realistic portrait of a woman whose exploits would hardly raise eyebrows today. Perhaps Wallis was ahead of her time.
3316522
Henry Kamen's prejudices against his main subject of study- Spain- are well known. What is really surprising is that he is still considered to be a serious historian at all. There are so many mistakes and fallacies in this book that only mentioning some of them will bring to light the ignorance of the man. For instance, he says that Spaniards did not care about learning other people's languages. Nothing could be further from the truth. Did he know that the first Chinese book to be translated into a modern European language was the "Espejo claro del claro corazn" by a Spanish dominican? Did he know that the first modern European method to study Japonese was created by a Spaniard? Did he ever know that most pre- columbian languages were enriched with bilingual dictionaries compiled by Spaniards?. As to the assertion that Spain- or Castille was a poor country on the periphery of Europe at the beginning of its rise as an Empire that is simply laughable. Poor compared with whom? Economically and socially speaking the different kingdoms of Spain, starting with Castille, were among the most dynamic ones in Europe and had been at the crossroads of the main innovations and cultural advances since the times of the Arab invasion and the Reconquista. As to the decline in the XVII century, again, that is a ridiculous myth. Until the end of the Napoleonic cycle at the beginning of the XIX century did Spain indeed ceased to be a great power. In the XVIII century, even with a change of dinasty Spain had controlled more territories than England or France and its navy again and again kept on repelling and humiliating any British attempt at conquering Spanish America - remember the defeat of the English Armada by Blas de Lezo in Cartagena de Indias? of course, if you are English you do not know anything about it because it is not taught at the English schools....that is the way English historians keep on lying about their own history and the history of others.

Edit your post:
  Henry Kamen's prejudices against his main subject of study- Spain- are well known. What is really surprising is that he is still considered to be a serious historian at all. There are so many mistakes and fallacies in this book that only mentioning some of them will bring to light the ignorance of the man. For instance, he says that Spaniards did not care about learning other people's languages. Nothing could be further from the truth. Did he know that the first Chinese book to be translated into a modern European language was the "Espejo claro del claro corazn" by a Spanish dominican? Did he know that the first modern European method to study Japonese was created by a Spaniard? Did he ever know that most pre- columbian languages were enriched with bilingual dictionaries compiled by Spaniards?. As to the assertion that Spain- or Castille was a poor country on the periphery of Europe at the beginning of its rise as an Empire that is simply laughable. Poor compared with whom? Economically and socially speaking the different kingdoms of Spain, starting with Castille, were among the most dynamic ones in Europe and had been at the crossroads of the main innovations and cultural advances since the times of the Arab invasion and the Reconquista. As to the decline in the XVII century, again, that is a ridiculous myth. Until the end of the Napoleonic cycle at the beginning of the XIX century did Spain indeed ceased to be a great power. In the XVIII century, even with a change of dinasty Spain had controlled more territories than England or France and its navy again and again kept on repelling and humiliating any British attempt at conquering Spanish America - remember the defeat of the English Armada by Blas de Lezo in Cartagena de Indias? of course, if you are English you do not know anything about it because it is not taught at the English schools....that is the way English historians keep on lying about their own history and the history of others.
3746051
I understand that this is a work of fiction and as such, it allows the author to take certain liberties with the historical facts and/or events in order to create the story.  However, this is not just a work of fiction.  It is supposed to be HISTORICAL fiction and that being the case, the author should at least have a certain regard to the historic facts.  Ms Kalogridis did an OK job describing Florence during the Renaissance times but did Leonardo da Vinci a disservice by creating him completely out of thin air!  There is not an ounce of factual truth in his character.  I felt completely let down and even slightly irritated that the author would deliberately make him up like that!

It is my opinion that if you want to tell a story about a renaissance painter and his sitter that is fine.  Go ahead and called them, Giovanni and Leticia or whatever.  Then, you are free to let you imagination run wild and create your tale.

Now, if you choose to write about Leonardo da Vinci and Lisa del Giocondo, there are expectations that come with that choice.  The writer have to at a minimum *consider* the historic facts about these people.  That is what historical fiction genre is all about.  Otherwise it is just pure fiction.  Sure, one would argue that not a lot is know about Lisa, so there is a lot of room to play.  However, enough is known about Leonardo to make this book laughable.  Sorry.
1072040
Our human nature drives us to want to know the "real story" behind great historical personalities.  Much like "People" or "Us" magazine, Suetonious gives his readers back curtain access to the lives of the rich and famous.  No salacious story nor tantalizing scandal is ignored.  While many of his portaits are interesting, most of the biographical sketches are ultimately mere fluff.  Enjoyable but disjointed if you do not know your Roman history.  Finally, the great British actor Derek Jacobi's audio performance really lifts what is really a three star book.
4165456
If your ideal historical novel is a plain vanilla chronicle, one by Jean Plaidy and her heirs (or latter-day novelists like Sharon Penman, Michelle Moran, C.W. Gortner or others) in which historical characters talk against a recognizable backdrop, you'll probably want to avoid this offering like the plague. Even fans of Hilary Mantel may want to approach with caution: while Hermione Eyre is employing new literary techniques to bring to life long-dead historical figures (in this case, far less well known than was Thomas Cromwell before Mantel turned him into a post-mortem celebrity in&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Wolf-Hall/dp/0312429983/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Wolf Hall</a>), she goes far beyond Mantel and approaches the world of metafiction in her recounting of the struggles of the legendary early 17th century beauty Venetia, Lady Digby, to hang onto her charms.

To Eyre, this clearly is a subject for the ages: a woman who has relied on her beauty: "girls and beardless boys would wait for hours for the chance to see her pass", and even the description of Venetia's behavior -- "sometimes she wore her hair loose and half-tangled, sometimes she slouched and sucked her cheeks. Sometimes she danced when there was no music" -- is reminiscent of the celebrity beauties of our day. But while they can turn to Botox and plastic surgeons, Venetia had no such remedies when her charms began to flag and even page boys began to show signs of disbelief that she was a legendary beauty while she was still only in her early 30s. Her much-loved husband, an alchemist and enquiring scientific mind of his era, Sir Kenelm Digby, could, if he wished, conjure up some "viper wine" for her -- but in his eyes, at least, she is still the woman he married. That blindness may blind him, too, to Venetia's growing reliance on the potions of one of dangerous figures all too eager to make lavish promises to court ladies desperate to maintain their beauties, a reliance that will have tragic consequences.

I found this fascinating, if not always the kind of novel I couldn't put down and itched to pick up at every spare second. Kenelm Digby, a man "haunted by the future", particularly intrigued me -- as did the way that Hermione Eyre chose to portray him, as a man engaged as much with the future as with the past. Even as he struggles with the legacy of being the son of a would-be regicide (his father executed for his part in the Gunpowder Plot), Kenelm dreams and imagines of what the futures has in store. Eyre plays with that: in her portrayal of him, he holds a "press conference" after his return from a voyage (at which Eyre herself appears as a questioner); he cites Neil Armstrong and David Bowie. There are references to turning base metal into gold, and to JavaScript.

Where does historical fiction end, and fantasy begin? Eyre plays with that line in this novel, and injects a postmodern element of metafiction into the mix. The result is something that a lot of traditionalists will find alienating -- sure, there is a linear plot line, as Kenelm and others delve into the iniquities of apothecary Lancelot Choice, Venetia's "supplier" of viper wine, but it's mixed with a gothic mashup of sorts that can be tougher to navigate. I didn't always love it, but I usually found it intriguing. Guardedly recommended.
1043393
This biography is neither a success nor a failure.  As with the recent biography of Anne Neville, only the slightest information (needles in haystacks) exists on Katherine Swynford.  So the author has a very difficult task.  It may be that her subject doesn't even warrant a full-length book (I'll make my final judgment after I read Alison Weir's Katherine Swynford).

Lucraft has done good research and is generally cautious in her conclusions, which is commendable.  Two sub-topics caught my interest: Katherine Swynford's identification of herself with St. Katherine; and the analysis of Katherine Swynford's possible appearances in the writings of her brother-in-law Geoffrey Chaucer.

On the downside, Lucraft was a student not long ago, and still writes too much like one.  The book would be better without the final chapter, which strikes me as filler, totally unnecessary.  The addition of a family tree would be helpful.

I waited more than a year for this book and was predisposed to like it.  Though I am disappointed in the meager amount I learned from it, I recognize the difficulties the author faced and am grateful to her for tackling the subject.
4615218
Though well written, it is obvious a rewrite of history, a feminists view of what they wish would have been rather than what was.  After reading the novel, I realized it was that, a novel, not a true historical biography.  I also realized the author was applying wishful thinking.  I did further research, and discovered there is no documentation for her assertions.  It is true that women of that era subjugated their careers for their husband, but there is no evidence that Mileva actually contributed to the work to the degree this novel entertains.  Yes, it is entertaining, well written, but false or what might pass as "fake news" in our present climate.  Too many will read this and believe it to be factual.  I really detest works that subvert truth in this manner.
1659507
As Kathy says, this is an "unauthorized biography." And it reads that way. The good journalist that she is, Kathy starts with a very neutral title and then moves on to reveal material that is new to even some of the oldest Saints fans, some of which is positive and some of which probably hasn't made Benson very happy.  His comment:  No comment.
431275
I'd like to join the chorus of those giving this book low ratings.

An author of a non-fiction historical text has a certain responsibility, in my view. The responsibility is to be very very careful about accuracy, knowing that readers who will be less knowledgeable will regard you as an authority. Lack of care can lead to widespread belief in things that are just not true -- something that should be abhorrent to any true historian.

One of the first things that gave me pause -- something I have not seen mentioned in other reviews -- was Shirley's description of Clare Hoffman, the only representative, along with Jeannette Rankin (who voted "no" to war with Japan), to refuse to rise when FDR entered the House to speak about the attack on Pearl Harbor. Shirley says that he "was a vocal opponent of government-initiated flouridation and polio immunization."  This gave me pause, seeing that there was no polio vaccine until 1952, and flouridation of water was, to my knowledge, even further in the future. Did Shirley mean he was opposed to research on these topics? Or that he was LATER opposed to these things? Shirley gives no hint. At the very least, this shows a lack of respect for the natural questions that pop up in a reader's mind.

That this was the FIRST thing that led me to question the author's credibility  says much about my own ignorance, given the errors of fact that other reviewers have delineated. What finally led me to put the book down in disgust was the assertion, mentioned in many reviews, that it was FDR who ordered MacArthur to disband the Bonus Army in 1932, before he was even president! But even that might have escaped my scrutiny had I not JUST seen a documentary about the Great Depression that had a long segment on that very episode. Had it not been for that, I would have been among the readers who would have unthinkingly assumed something that was false to be true.

I won't go into the many typos and errors of construction and grammar that are rife in this book. Others have documented those very well. I'll only say that I think the errors of fact in this book -- in short, the poor scholarship -- make this a dangerous book.
4906778
Most professional historians at least try to feign objectivity in their treatment of historical figures.  Harry Kelsey does not.  The author despises Drake and makes no attempt to hide that fact.  Kelsey set out to do a hatchet job and he certainly wasn't going to let history get in the way.

Although the author does a reasonable job of addressing many of the established historical events, he deliberately fails to report dozens of well documented incidents of Drake's mercy and largesse.  While Drake's Spanish contemporaries were torturing or executing the Englishmen they captured, Drake repeatedly spared his captives' lives, fed and treated them well, then eventually released them unharmed.  These accounts are well documented BY DRAKE'S CONTEMPORARY SPANISH ENEMIES, yet Kelsey cannot bring himself to report these incidents.

Why?  Harry Kelsey loathes Drake and cannot force himself to simply objectively report the positive things that Drake's own enemies said about him.

More objective treatments of Drake include

1. "Francis Drake" by John Cummings

2. "The Secret Voyage of Sir Francis Drake" by Samuel Bawlf

3. Passing treatment of Drake in "The Queen's Slave Trader" (biography of John Hawkins) by Nick Hazlewood

Even Kelsey's own more recent (2003) work "Sir John Hawkins -- Queen Elizabeth's Slave Trader" treats Drake (albeit incidentally) more evenhandedly than his "Sir Francis Drake:  The Queen's Pirate".
397580
I suppose I can't legitimately say whether or not EMPRESS OF FAREWELLS was properly researched...because Prince Michael of Greece gives no evidence of his research in any kind of real bibliography.  The lack of an index or table of contents is also glaring.  Despite tossing about the names of several royal families, he includes no genealogical charts.  Finally, while he refers to a photograph of the Empress on pg. 217, describing the severe facial expression seen in most of her photos, not one such representation is included in the book.  Which is a great disappointment.
Despite these drawbacks, FAREWELLS reads like a fairy-tale (except, of course, for this princess's doomed, insane existence for the last decades of her life).  The Emperor Maximilian is an inscrutable character:  was he gay?  Did he find Charlotte physically unappealing?  Because their marriage was never consummated.  Charlotte is depicted as intelligent, brave, imperious, and stoic, and her time in Mexico was filled with revolution and intrigue of all kinds.  Bottom line, Prince Paul (who may or may not be somehow related to the Empress...I'd know had he provided family trees...) delivers an easily-read biography of a tragic royal character.
4537678
Not a history in the traditional sense, "The Ornament of the World" presents a number of biographical vignettes displaying the richness of literature, art, science, and philosophy in both al-Andalus and Christian Spain and how this intellectual renaissance resulted from the blending of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian heritages. The stories are valuable and fascinating because they rescue an important legacy from the oblivion of the ill-named "Dark Ages." Unfortunately, this rescue mission is hindered by an ill-conceived and even more poorly executed thesis.
One of the major problems with Menocal's work is that she never tells us what she means by "a culture of tolerance." It is an odd and ambiguous phrase containing two very loaded words. Does "culture" refer to artistic and intellectual life, or to the religious, political, and social climate, or to the entire civilization and its customs and mores? Does "tolerance" merely mean mutual influence (in literature and art) or, more broadly, social acceptance (in everyday life)? On the one hand, the phrase "culture of tolerance" could signify the artistic and intellectual life created by the mixture of three religious heritages. On the other hand, it could mean a climate of economic acceptance and social open-mindedness. Or it could mean something in between: that the fusion of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish traditions resulted from (or perhaps resulted in) a more "tolerant" society.
That the Iberian peninsula experienced an unprecedented tri-cultural fusion during the medieval period is nearly incontrovertible. Al-Andalus (as well as parts of Christian Spain) enjoyed a unique flowering of philosophical, architectural, and literary pursuits underscored by multilingual translation activities. Whether that indicates "tolerance" is another matter. Menocal is a professor of literature and language; as a result, her book focuses on literary and artistic achievements, but she ignores social, urban, economic, religious, and comparative history to the peril of her thesis. In the epilogue, Menocal herself acknowledges that "even when political and ideological circumstances are characterized by strife, artistic and intellectual life prospers" (Germany in the 1920s comes to mind). The simple fact that the Christian kings spoke Arabic and read Muslim translations and adapted Moorish architectural motifs does not mean they were "tolerant." When confronted with evidence that certain poets and intellectuals were in fact not tolerated (i.e., they were exiled or executed), she still tries to shoehorn their achievements into her nebulous thesis of "tolerance."
A case could be made that, relatively speaking, medieval Spain did boast a culture or even climate of tolerance, but Menocal's survey is not broad enough to prove this thesis. She acknowledges in her post -September 11 postscript that "the forces of intolerance were always present and ultimately triumphed" in medieval Spain. Nevertheless, her book highlights the cultural achievements of a few literate, upper-class aesthetes and glosses over pogroms, exiles, persecutions, daily harassment, poll taxes, and slavery--not to mention the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim ghettoes. The result is a worthwhile glimpse of a nearly forgotten intellectual tradition but a lopsided view of medieval Spanish "culture."
Finally, Menocal's presentation is hardly improved by her prose style. She persistently and unnecessarily uses the passive voice, she strings together barely related modifiers and clauses to create unreadable run-on sentences, she has a tic of using the word "But" to begin hundreds (no exaggeration) of her sentences, and she is fond of using repeatedly the same cliches and anachronisms ("the center did not hold," "bestseller," "realpolitik") and creating new ones ("memory palaces"). These faults hamper the telling of some otherwise very interesting stories.
3998410
I hoped that Amazon.com would have exercised a little caution in writing a review for this Biography.  Yes, it's a sexy looking book with a sexy cover, and fun to read.  However, it's largely HISTORICALLY INACCURATE, especially the bit about Chiang Kai-shek letting the Communists go during the long retreat.  Many of the facts that Jung presents the reader with are disputed by many Chinese historians.  Round-table discussions have been held at a few historical conferences to focus mainly on the validity of facts that Jung uses.  If you're looking for a fun and interesting read that may or not be a load of inaccurate dung, read this book.  If you are more inclined towards a historically accurate book, I would suggest Jonathan Spence's "Mao Zedong".