5 comments about England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings, 1075-1225 (New Oxford History of England).

1. Bartlett acts as a wonderful guide through the many layers of Medieval life. As he says in the Preface this is an "entry-point of the understanding of processes only slowly unfolding, sometimes across centuries". The book has a very narrow focus in both place and time, yet goes very deep in detail covering all aspects of medieval life. It is a long book that could easily be read in chapters in no particular order, but I read it straight through cover to cover hopeing it would not end for want of Bartletts engaging prose and wealth of fascinating source material. Perhaps the best compliment of all is my desire to want to learn more.
   
   It is an academic book and not always easy with some sections that are fairly boring (economic production figures, calculations of the number of sheep in the country), but overall the balance of interesting material outweighs these sections and makes the effort well worth the veins of gold. Most of all, it is highly trustworthy and authoritative; Bartlett is one in a long line of English historians who endeavored to be readable, arming themselves, as Roger of Wendover (13th C) says, against both "the listless hearer and the fastidious reader" by "presenting something which each may relish," and so providing for the joint "profit and entertainment of all."



2. Every now and then you come across a technical or academic book that is clear, concise and just beautifully written. This is such a book. One hundred and fifty years are covered at a cracking pace and I savoured each and every page. It's a large book at 750+ pages, but it left me wishing it had been twice as long.
   
   Most books relating to this period cover who did what, to whom and when. Bartlett doesn't: he assumes if you're reading this book you already know, at least in outline, the events of the period. It does cover how people lived, worked, worshipped, swore, laughed and cried. It makes you feel that you understand what it would have been liked to have lived during the period.
   
   The book is well structured and you can happily dip in here and there as your interest takes you.
   
   One minor criticism is that there are many words and phrases which, it is plain from context, have a particular technical meaning that Bartlett doesn't explain. But with Google to hand that's just a minor irritation.
   
   I just hope the rest of the series is as good.



3. I am jointly reviewing Frank Barlow's The Feudal Kingdom of England and Robert Bartlett's England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings. They deal with the same period, they are remarkably complementary, and I highly recommend doing as I did and reading them together.
   
   Barlow's book, first published in 1955, takes a traditional approach and reviews the events of the Norman and early Angevin period chronologically. Bartlett's, benefiting from recent research, offers a more static but broader picture of the period's trends and features. To the newcomer (as I was) or, I think, to someone with basic knowledge of 12th century England, the combination will be as instructive as it is exciting to read.
   
   The Feudal Kingdom of England recounts the main political events from the Norman invasion to the forced grant of the Magna Carta by king John. Barlow tells the drama of the conquest, the tales of dynastic intrigue, the blow-by-blow of three-sided feuding between king, church and baronage in sometimes gory, sometimes inspiring detail. Some stories simply need to be given chronologically, which Bartlett doesn't do: the manoeuvrings of William's sons, the dispute between Becket and Henry II, Richard's crusade and capture, the crafty king John's miserable reign. Though the narrative remains central to it, the book also contains chapters on aristocratic society, the church, and the English towns and countryside. In fact, it begins with an overview of England under Edward the Confessor which is invaluable for understanding change in post-invasion England.
   
   Bartlett's England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings paints a multi-faceted panorama of 12th and early 13th century England. It is equally awesome in breadth and depth. And it is free of the typical fault of medieval history, in which 90% of space is devoted to the doings of 10% of the population. Bartlett devotes more than half his book to ordinary people's lives, urban and rural: their work, their habitat, their relationship to the lords, their money problems, their beliefs. He offers fascinating information on perceptions of the world, how the day was spent and divided, on marriage, manners and pastimes, even on sex. His section on culture and language isn't the boring recital one often finds, but is lively and relevant to the rest of the book. He describes the church at all levels, not just that of the bishopric, and from both the institutional and the spiritual perspective. He makes the best use of available data to discuss economic developments, themselves key to some of the period's political events (e.g. late 12th century inflation and the disasters of John's reign). And of course, Bartlett describes government and political patterns, only not in sequence.
   
   These two books are complementary in other ways. Where Barlow tends to use original words, Bartlett prefers their more explicit equivalents (for example danegeld in one book is called a land tax in the other). If you only have time to read one, I would probably recommend The Feudal Kingdom of England, as it will leave you with the period's basic milestones. Still, it would be a shame to miss the fun of Bartlett's big canvas.



4. This book gave me a great understanding of the English under the rule of Normans and Angevin Kings. I found this to be interesting and not at all dry, as some NF works tend to be.



5. Robert Bartlett's contribution to the New Oxford History of England series is about a kingdom in transition. In 1075, England was a newly conquered realm of William of Normandy, who was transforming the sleepy monarchy of the Anglo-Saxons into a powerful feudal state. A century and a half later, his great-great-great grandson, Henry III, issued a modified Magna Charta that served as the foundation of English common law, establishing the right of the English aristocracy against the king. How this evolution took place forms just one aspect of this exceptional book, which addresses nearly every aspect of England's politics, culture, and society during this period.
   
   In doing this, Bartlett adopts an analytical rather than narrative approach. Events are studied within the context of the broader patterns and developments of the era. This makes for a more challenging read but also a much more rewarding one, with insights contained on every page. Readers unfamiliar with the period should start with a survey such as David Carpenter's The Struggle for Mastery: The Penguin History of Britain 1066-1284, but even knowledgeable students of the period will learn much from Bartlett's clear writing and perceptive analysis.

5 comments about The Beans of Egypt, Maine.

1. Carolyn Chute has fictionalized a small Maine town to produce a tale of heartbreak, rage, and even humor. The book is not a series of short stories, but a novel about the rural poor, people who have been forgotten by mainstream America. The prose is simple but definitely not naive. People who believe in a mythical rural heartland, where the barns are painted red and people enjoy the "simple life," will be shocked by this book.



2. I wonder if I should be even thinking of reviewing this book, given that I have had the very good fortune of being friends with the author for over 20 years now -- we met before "Beans" was published.
   
   However, I also feel that somebody out there should understand that this is a wonderful, honest, painful, loving, remarkable book. Carolyn writes about things she knows, and then gets very up close and personal about it.
   
   This book is an attempt to show those who have never known [or even seen] the lives of people some would term "unfortunate" and others simply disdain, and to show that THESE PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE. Being poor does not mean that one cannot live with dignity, or honesty, or humor. Being poor does mean that these people are often forced to live in a society that demeans them, insults them, and often forces them into places where they are regarded as nothing but yesterday's garbage.
   
   Let there be no mistake; The Beans are with us, and are not about to go away anytime soon, nor should they. If we have eyes to read and lips to read aloud the story of The Beans, we just might realize that they have much to teach us about truth, honor, respect, and love.
   
   I understand that many people will not understand how on earth I can make this statement because I understand that many people prefer to look for the tawdry and speciousness in environments that they find uncomfortable or even unbelievable.
   
   But this is above all a book of hope. It shows us that everyone lives a life of worth and influence, even if at times some of these "everyones" live lives that are in large part cruel and uncaring. And in that is the challenge of this book; to look below the surface and to see that all of us are part of the Bean family, and that we should value that relationship.
   
   This book is an amazing literary achievement, and this is a statement that I never make lightly -- even if the author happens to be a friend. So read it and try to let its power and honesty confer those qualities in abundance in your lives. You may not find them in your first reading of the book, but trust me -- they're there.



3. I first read this book years ago on recommendation of a friend. This is a powerful story about "white trash" America, with characters that jump off the page and come to life. To this day I still recommend Chute's book to friends who love to read. Every last one of them has come back and told me how much they enjoyed it. Beans of Egypt Maine is gritty, it's uncomfortable, it's amusing, and it's realistic. This is a damn fine novel.



4. I think it would of been better served published as non-fiction. If Carolyn Chute had taking the subject to the next level. It's too real for fiction. And that cover is deceptive as all get out!
   
   Don't be deceived by the cover. This is a story about abusive, ignorant-beyond-belief, incestuous white trash. It's gross. It's sad. It's embarrassing. I didn't find it funny or see any dignity, truth, honor, respect, love or honesty as others did. Not in the characters in the book anyway. Carolyn Chute for writing about them, yes. You want to cry for the children and slap some sense into the women. The human animal at it's cruelest.
   
   I knew a Mexican woman, heroin addict/dealer. She lived in a filthy dive motel with her 2 year old son and white husband. I remember seeing her 8 months pregnant, big as a barn, slamming heroin in the kitchen with her 2 y/o hanging off her leg watching, complaining about how when she gave birth the hospital would keep the baby in order to detox it. She didn't like that. The nerve of anyone messing with HER baby. I almost threw up watching all this. It still and always will make me sick inside. The next morning I went to the Methadone clinic and never looked back. This book brought all that back.
   
   Personally I think men and women like that, some how some way, should be surgical sterilized.



5. I loved everything about this book. The episodic plot. The population of characters. The brilliant writing. I agree with another reviewer that it has something in common with the Grapes of Wrath.
   
   I did find it amusing reading the critique, here, from one of Chute's friends. I truly don't believe Chute would categorize her book that way at all. I see it as an extremely well written portrait of a class of society; written without one iota of prejudice pro or con; written without any moralizing or any higher purpose than story itself. It succeeds because of those things.

5 comments about Over the River and Through the Wood.

1. My three-year old lovrd this. Nice pictures of an old-fashioned Thanksgiving, but he particularly liked the idea of a ook you could sing along to.



2. David Catrow takes a Thanksgiving classic for a wild ride! The long and stressful holiday road trip to a distant relative's home, with the car stuffed full of siblings, pets, and food, is a universal experience. In this whimsical picture book, the baby of the family escapes into a joyful, snowy Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, where characters, floats and balloons take on a life of their own. The lively and imaginative scenes keep the pace of rhythm of the text, and Catrow's cool midseason tones achieve the not-quite- fall-but-not-quite-winter effect. An ideal purchase for the car trip to Grandma's - or for the sibling whom you used to draw seat boundries with.



3. My 3 year-old son pointed out that the kids are not wearing seatbelts. Catrow draws the seatbelts, he just doesn't put them on the children. The baby is buckled in the carseat, but on the very next page is somehow climbing out the window. That upset my son, because he knows the importance of always staying buckled in. This may be nitpicking to some people, but it really concerned us. Other than that, the story is cute and well illustrated.



4. I just bought this book for my 2nd grade music classes because I've been using a copy from the library for the last 3 years, and my students all LOVE this book. The pictures have a story unto themselves: a family is driving by the Macy's parade as they leave town for their grandparents' house, the baby crawls out the window during a traffic jam, gets tossed about through the parade, rides some balloons, and ends up safely delivered to Grandmother's house just in time for the family to arrive and eat a traditional dinner together... except the baby steals the pumpkin pie. Kids just shriek with laughter when they aren't busy singing, and (most important to their music teacher) they remember the song later because they had such fun learning it. They beg to read this book again and again, but I only do it at Thanksgiving, so it's a big treat. ;-) Many thanks to the illustrator.



5. Christopher Manson's illustrations are perfect for this Holiday favorite! A great board book to give and share with little ones on Thanksgiving Day!

5 comments about Food for the Dead: On the Trail of New England's Vampires.

1. A note about the reviewer who stated Michael Bell explores graveyards with a camera and tape recorder, like an aspiring Art Bell wanna be.

   If you read this book, which I strongly recommed for anyone who is looking for a fresh perspective on the tapestry of folklore and legends, you will discover Michael Bell is neither superstitous nor prone to fantasy. He playfully mocks those who lurk in churchyards, hoping to record a whisper from the grave and give themselves a thrill at the same time. "Food for the Dead" seeks to explore how concepts like "modern" vampirism and other legends develop and exist, using genealogical research and good sense. If you're looking for a good scare and juicy ghost stories, keep shopping. In search of a fascinating read? You found it, enjoy!




2. A series of case studies involving the (still-common) belief that the dead can be jealous of the living and return to capture them, Food for the Dead is meticulously researched. It should be noted that documentary evidence concerning digging up the dead in New England is sparse. I attended a lecture given by Bell last autumn, and he certainly seems to know everything there is to know about the topic. The book is somewhat repetitive, however, which makes it difficult to sustain interest.



3. I received all of the other books that I ordered at Christmas except this one. I would still like to receive this. At first they said it would be shipped in March, but it never was sent to us. Please advise. Thanks.



4. Forget everything you know about vampires and join the author on his 20 year investigation of "vampire" stories in New England. In an age where germ theory was not yet understood and rural communities at the edges of established Puritan religion struggled to make sense of consumption (tuberculosis) as it decimated entire families and regions, old folk remedies and legends led to the exhumation of the dead and the burning of hearts and lungs. Folklorist-historian Bell does an excellent job of researching these events and placing them within their historical context while bringing alive the human emotional response to the drama and horror involved. Definitely a worth while read and very eye-opening.



5. Food for the Death is a great book for anybody interested in New England history, vampires, and how folklore works. Michael E. Bell basically went hunting for vampires in the history of the small towns and back roads of New England. And found them. The question he has, besides did people really believe their dead were causing death and illness, was HOW did these folks come to the knowledge on how to due with the undead. Many came from England yet the methods used were those from Eastern Europe. Did they invite them on their own or did the ideas somehow come across the ocean? And how did one family in one state learn about how to deal with vampires from another family incident in another state, a event that happened generations ago? How did the cities and churches handle the hunt for the undead and why do people still believe today that VAMPIRES still exist? The book mostly focuses on how folklore grows and changes over time, changing hard facts into misty legends.

4 comments about Smith & Wesson (MA) (Images of America).

1. This paperback book gives a pictoral insight into the history and workings of the Smith & Wesson factory and the people who worked there. It is not a reference book as such that would contain details of specific guns, etc. But, it takes us through the history with pictures probably never before published from private collections allowing us to visualize an important part of our American history. Thank you for writing it.



2. The history that is shown and written about in the book is interesting. It is a window to what has happened in the past.



3. This is an excellent little book that exceeded my expectations. I bought it for the photos but found the text to be very nice reading and informative. But it's the pictures of the plant, advertisements, and the people that make the book. You can't help but pick out a person and sit for fives minutes wondering what their life was like working at S&W. There are a couple of individuals that worked there for forty years!
   
   Another thing that captures your thoughts is how free and different America was at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries. It's amazing to see the rows and rows of revolvers and think about how there was no government intrusion into their ownership like there is today. And, Gasp!, look at the ladies with their S&W revolvers! What a contrast to today's society.
   
   This book is very well written with many many wonderful photographs. If you enjoy the history of firearms this book will delight you. Even if you are just interested in the times and how factories looked back then, no matter the product, you will find this book entertaining and worthy of reading.



4. . Interesting but not new information. Read the book in one night OK for someone just introduced to S&W. I expect more from Jinks

4 comments about Reclaiming the Commons: Community Farms and Forests in a New England Town.

1. OUTSTANDING!Very impressive! Pointed, engaging, and inspiring from the get-go. And extraordinarily well-written -- my innate and involuntary tendency to mentally edit anything I'm reading was off in another county someplace.



2. This book,written by a newcomer in the environmental landscape, will become a landmark. It points the way to transform the suburban way of life into one that is sustainable.This it would do by converting suburban open spaces into community sanctuaries for agriculture,husbandry and forestry, administered by suburbanites themselves,especially by their youngsters.The great strength of the proposals is that they have been demonstrated to work by the author and his associates in the upscale Boston suburb of Weston. Another plus is the grace and humor with which the book is blessed.



3. In Reclaiming the Commons, Brian Donahue has given us a remarkable portrait of a thriving community farm in Weston, Massachusetts called Land's Sake. In 1980 the nonprofit organization Land's Sake was formed in Weston, a suburb of Boston, to work closely with the town's Conservation Commission on managing and using the town's growing public land. Its three founding principles were to care ecologically for Weston's land, to involve the community and especially young people with the land, and to be as self-supporting as possible through the sale of products and services. By thinking of the land as a rural space that could "benefit from our presence, rather than need to be protected from us," they opened the possibility that they could engage suburban youth with the land and produce high-quality natural products for local sale, offering ample educational and recreational activities while striking "a balance between protecting natural ecosystems and making sustainable, productive use of the land."

   Land's Sake sends about one-fifth of their fresh organic produce to Boston's homeless shelters and food pantries, as well as sponsoring a Harvest for Hunger every September, thus ensuring that their surplus finds an assured wholesale market (the town pays the price to send the food to the inner city) which benefits the disadvantaged and disenfranchised in the nearby urban areas. Donahue shows that suburbia "is the condition of residing outside the city proper with little functional connection to one's neighbors, aside from the schools, and almost no functional connection to the land," and he shows that community farms on common land offer a vibrant opportunity to keep farmland from being lost to development, and to transform the suburban condition from alienation to connection. This is a surprisingly powerful and exciting book that will show suburban and city readers how to become more connected to their land and to their source of food.




4. Reclaiming the Commons is an excellent read for anyone interested in the natural history of New England, community farming, open space issues, and the value of farms in the landscape. This is a well written, thoughtful book that offers an inspiring vision for a future of locally produced food, protected farmland, and community involvement that farms help to create.

1 comments about Sea Kayaking along the New England Coast, 2nd.

1. A delightful collection of ocean kayaking trips along the entire New England coast, from Maine to Connecticut. The book describes more than 30 trips in detail: put-in spots, suggested route, possible lunch spots, scenery, caution areas, campsites, and local-knowledge items such as what tide is required for a passage, plus post-paddling eating establishments. Venn covers both day trips and multi-day camping expeditions. The author has clearly done her research in planning each trip, incorporating her own knowledge and experience with that of local paddlers who have done these trips for years. Venn's style is easy to read and follow, and if you have a navigational chart of the area it is very easy to map her suggested route using her text descriptions and the maps provided. The introduction contains very brief overviews of such general topics as equipment, navigation, and rescues, but because of the limited space delegated them, these topics are best covered elsewhere. Overall, this is an immensely useful book with enough detail so you know what to expect before you drive to the boat launch. If you live in New England, I highly recommend it.

2 comments about Haunted Massachusetts: Ghosts And Strange Phenomena Of The Bay State (Haunted).

1. I'm not sure you'd get too much of an argument if you were to state that New England is the most haunted region of the United States, and certainly leading the charge with its colorful history of pirates, Indian wars, witchcraft, and puritanical oppression would be Massachusetts. "Haunted Massachusetts" gives readers 128 pages with dozens of tales of hauntings and other weird phenomena culled from throughout the state and separated by region. Books like this are very important in keeping alive local legends and lore and author Cheri Revai gives readers a lot of bang for their buck.
   
   While I've read a number of books on ghosts from the Massachusetts and Boston areas, most of the stories in the book were unknown to me. For example there is the story of "The Bloody Pit" a five mile rail tunnel through Hoosac Mountain that even Native Americans avoided. It's estimated that as many as 200 men may have lost their lives in the 1800's as the tunnel was constructed, leading to reports of groans, cries, and whispers from within the tunnel, and spectral lanterns being seen moving about as if the laborers are still hard at work.
   
   Then there is the story of the Charles Haskell, a fishing schooner that was cursed before it ever set sail when a man slipped and broke his neck. Sailors, always a suspicious lot, were hesitant to sail on the ship after this. But what happened when it finally went out was beyond even their worst fears as the men saw the ghosts of fisherman climbing into the ship from the sea itself, empty sockets for eyes, as they went about fishing before disappearing back into the sea. Small wonder that soon the Charles Haskell was returned to port, never to sail again.
   
   Witchcraft has been a part of the fabric of Massachusetts for well over 300 years. One eerie tale relates the story of Margaret Lesson, "old Meg" as she was called and reputed to be a witch. After an argument with a couple of soldiers in the 1700's, the soldiers soon found themselves harassed by a crow. Suspecting witchcraft, they filled their weapons with the silver buttons off their uniforms and shot the bird. They would later find out that old Meg died of the very same wounds.
   
   There's the haunted old Hornbine School, built in 1645 and still standing today where people swear that the stern headmaster is still giving out lessons to the children and then the Shrieking English Woman, killed by pirates off Marblehead and still crying out in pain for help over two centuries later.
   
   Some stories will be familiar, such as that of the House of the Seven Gables, made famous by Nathaniel Hawthorne who spent a great deal of time in the house, the oldest wooden mansion in all of New England. And then there is the terrifying home of Lizzie Borden in Fall River, MA, where Lizzie allegedly hacked her father and step-mother to death but would be found not guilty. Today the home is a rather exclusive Bed & Breakfast that may be still haunted by the Bordens who have been known to tuck guests into their beds at night.
   
   The writing is light and to the point. Revai doesn't offer opinions on the stories, that's not her goal. She succeeds in tantalizing readers with dozens of weird and chilling stories from all over Massachusetts. A Comprehensive bibliography lists the books and online sources that she used in putting the book together. It's really a wonderful read and highly recommended for fans of the genre.
   
   Reviewed by Tim Janson



2. This was more of a historical account of Massachusetts's ghosts. A number of the stories are well known (to ghost fanatics, that is,) and offer no new information. If you are expecting a collection of stories, compiled from first-hand accounts of witnesses, you will be disappointed.

No comments about Great Gardens of the Berkshires.

No comments about Five Little Peppers and How They Grew (Dover Value Editions).