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Long overdue Advantages: Fascinating reading Disadvantages: - ...been late in coming, and a little less forceful in affect and event. Perhaps history is to blame here -- the Welsh have been only marginally protected by geography; the mountainous area was difficult terrain to conquer, but the supply lines to those mountains were relatively easy to maintain and sustain, unlike the trek to the northern reaches of Scotland or crossing the sea into Ireland, areas that (however much English history might want to contradict ... ...so fortunate. Indeed, it is a miracle that the Welsh survive. The Scots lost land, language and independence, but retained administrative and legal systems separations that preserved many aspects of nationhood. The Irish never completely lost independence. The Welsh, however, lost practically everything of nationhood, and barely sustained an independent culture. Thus, when the 'nations' of the British Isles began to re-exert their independent interpretations ... frkurt 06.09.2005 · Read full review Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of A History of Wales - John Davies	Degree of Information How interesting was the... How useful was it? Would you read it again? Value for money
The human face of an inhuman episode Advantages: Powerful, moving true story of war Disadvantages: None ...War as little more than a litany of four years of often futile military campaigns throughout vast swathes of the European mainland. Sometimes a book comes along that puts the human face of a largely irredeemably inhuman episode of modern history in much sharper focus. This, by a columnist for ‘The Times’, is such a book. Most of it tells the story of Robert Digby, a well-educated private in the British Expeditionary Force. Aged 28 at ... ...other villagers, archive material and a few surviving letters, he has produced a stark, atmospheric portrait in words of the reality and futility of war as seen through and experienced by one small semi-rural community. Most poignant of all are the letters written by Digby to his mother, to Eugenie Dessenne, and finally to Claire, from his murky prison cell as the execution squad were assembling outside. The sad story is rendered even more vivid ... JOHNV 09.12.2002 · Read full review Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of A Foreign Field: A True Story of Love & Betrayal in the Great War - Ben Macintyre	Degree of Information How interesting was the... How useful was it? Would you read it again? Value for money
A gripping account of the Anzio Landings Advantages: Eye witness accounts and Gripping accounts of the conflict Disadvantages: Need re-reading to piece the action together properly (minor point) This book was a revelation. I have always been interested in books recounting the Second World War and this has to be one of the best that I have read so far! Full of eye witness accounts both from Allied and Axis soldiers who fought on the front with a storyline that follows the action on a day by day, blow by blow basis, it was really hard to put down. The main players battle for control of the assault with pitched battles of words between the ... ...characters are well documented and make the overall read even more interesting. With maps of the battles opening each chapter it becomes relatively easy to follow the action, which at times is very complicated, it took several reads to really get the full picture of the action, but I never found it too difficult to follow. A well written, gripping account of a fundamental and sometimes forgotten battle of the Italian campaign if WWII. Highly Recommended! ... joyrider107 23.05.2009 · Read full review Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Anzio: The Friction of War - Italy and the Battle for Rome 1944 - Lloyd Clark	Degree of Information How interesting was the... How useful was it? Would you read it again? Value for money
Cornwell's Azincourt - bows, arrows and blood Advantages: Great battle scenes, historical accuracy. Disadvantages: Slightly week protagonist, although this is just a minor quibble. ...to the English 'Agincourt'). Azincourt focuses primarily on the famous battle and events leading up to it as seen through the eyes of one William Hook, an outlaw turned archer in the English army. It’s an interesting perspective owing to the central role of archers in the English campaign against the French, although as protagonists go, he is at times somewhat difficult to warm to, and frankly doesn’t talk enough, or with sufficient depth, to become ... ...though, the true value of Azincourt lies in the battle scenes, recreated painstakingly and (according to the author) with much historical research (most of the character names, including William Hook, are lifted directly from historical records). It is in these moments that Hook, and the novel itself, come to life. The skills of a trained archer are depicted with supreme clarity, and the raft of sensations that come with combat – blood, death, fear, ... nialbusby 10.09.2009 · Read full review Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Azincourt - Bernard Cornwell	Degree of Information How interesting was the... How useful was it? Would you read it again? Value for money
She became an MP - even with that hair, Lady Astor Advantages: Well-written, extremely interesting, and the author comes across as genuinely likeable Disadvantages: None Who could resist a title like that? And is this some lesser-known Shirley Williams, a former librarian or something? The answer is no. So why the title? Shirley Catlin, as she was born, tells us in the early pages of this memoir that during her childhood her father encouraged her to climb the bookshelves in their Chelsea house, right up to the ceiling. It was a secret between the two of them, as her mother, Testament of Youth Author Vera Brittain, ... ...Apart from Margaret Thatcher and Barbara Castle, Shirley Williams was probably the best-known female politician in Britain of her generation. She recalls her early childhood in the years before the Second World War, and her evacuation to America – where she might have become a child star, in the running for the leading role in the film National Velvet, had she not been beaten to it by Elizabeth Taylor. Yet politics was always in her blood. Her father, ... JOHNV 25.11.2009 · Read full review Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Climbing the Bookshelves: The Autobiography of Shirley Williams - Shirley Williams	Degree of Information How interesting was the... How useful was it? Would you read it again? Value for money