Amazon.com
"I remember them arguing a lot. All the time." "My dad and mom are still real good friends." "When she married somebody else, at first it was comfortable." "It was like a shock." These are the voices of children of divorce, as compiled by David Royko, talking about issues as diverse as separation, self-blame, visitation, siblings, "Mom and Dad and Dating and Sex," stepfamilies, money, coping tactics, and fantasies of stalemate reconciliation. Over the course of three years, Royko, a divorce mediator for the Cooks County Court in Chicago, interviewed scores of children, ages 5 to 21. Their moving and insightful comments comprise this book, which is designed as a teaching tool for divorcing parents. Royko occasionally annotates these stories, pointing out for readers which elements to look for. But it is the words and emotions of the children themselves that tell the tale, and that, perhaps, can help divorcing readers protect their children from emotional harm. As Leroy, age 15, says, "When your mother and father split up, I don't care what age you are, if you love them at all, it hurts. It hurts bad." --Ericka Lutz
Book Description
"I remember them arguing a lot. All the time." "My dad and mom are still real good friends." "When she married somebody else, at first it was comfortable." "It was like a shock." These are the voices of children of divorce, as compiled by David Royko, talking about issues as diverse as separation, self-blame, visitation, siblings, "Mom and Dad and Dating and Sex," stepfamilies, money, coping tactics, and fantasies of stalemate reconciliation. Over the course of three years, Royko, a divorce mediator for the Cooks County Court in Chicago, interviewed scores of children, ages 5 to 21. Their moving and insightful comments comprise this book, which is designed as a teaching tool for divorcing parents. Royko occasionally annotates these stories, pointing out for readers which elements to look for. But it is the words and emotions of the children themselves that tell the tale, and that, perhaps, can help divorcing readers protect their children from emotional harm. As Leroy, age 15, says, "When your mother and father split up, I don't care what age you are, if you love them at all, it hurts. It hurts bad." --Ericka Lutz
Customer Reviews:
INVALUABLE! .......2006-07-04
One of the best books I have ever read on divorce. Dave Royko has captured the children's emotions, pain, relief, anger, they're all there! As someone who works with children of divorce, I found this book incredibly helpful and frequently refer individuals to it.
very helpful.......2000-08-23
This book provides lots of insights into how parents and stepparents can make things better. I found it helpful as a prospective stepmother to see things from a child's perspective. Unlike many writers on divorce, the author chooses examples where things go well. Those cases are encouraging and provide positive examples to follow.
Customer Reviews:
kids review.......2007-06-04
This book was one of the worst books I ever read! But the thing I don't like about it is that it's a girl book thing. What this book is about is there are two brothers (Chad, Luke) and an older sister (Heidi). They and their family decide to have a vacation in NY. When they get to NY, they rent a 100 year old townhouse. Chad and Luke hear voices when it is time to go to bed. Soon the two brothers find out that they are hearing sounds of people that are dead. Then one day they find some old clothes, put them on and they can go or see into the past. Then they save these two people named Tyler and Emily who died in 1888 because of a blizzard. Then the kids help Tyler and Emily survive the blizzard from the past. All the stuff about dance, balls, and weddings is sooo girl!
One of Pecks best.......2007-04-09
Voices after Midnight was the first Richard Peck book I read and out of the ones I have read so far it is the best. I read this first as a kid then again as an adult and I never stopped liking it. The different characters weave in and out of time till they get to the right time and accomplish what they need to do. Also if you like this book I think you might also like Time for Andrew by Mary Downing Hahn.
Chris Bs review.......2006-12-16
This book is about to Brothers. They move to NY and their family rents a town house in New york. Once there he hears voices- late at night, after midnight in this stange house thats at least one hundred years old. As they explore the house, the begin to slip in and out of their own time, back to the winter of 1888...............
I would recoment this book this book for young kids at the ages of 11-14 i think it is a good book because it is adventurous and exciting to read
Voices After Midnight.......2004-03-29
I think that is a good book to read because it is about adventure and science fiction.
It keeps you interested because you don't know what is going to happen until the end. I would
recommend that people read this book because if they like science fiction they will like this
book.
Vocies After Midnight.......2000-05-30
In "Voices After Midnight" Chad,Luke,their older sister Heidi,parents and family dog Al take a vaction from California to New York City. When they arrive there Chad and Luke are hearing voices late into the night-after midnight.This house is a least one hundred years old, are they hearing voices from the past? Heidi is acting stranger by the second, is it becuase of her mom's friends daughter Jocelyn? Or something else? Now everytime Chad and Luke open doors slowly they go back to the past-to 1888, or 1929 or just a couple weeks ago. Soon they start to see the Dunlaps people that lived there over one hundred years ago. Chad is starting to think his brother is right, mabey they do have a gift or better yet a mission. Can Chad and Luke change the past to save the Dunlaps from the bizzard of 1888? When they go to a New Year's Eve party at a very rich family's manor they find their sister-Heidi waltzing with non other than Tyler Dunlap. Then they find out that she is also living in his old bedroom. Tyler can't seem to take his eyes off of her-but he's also asking questions she can't answer. Heidi makes the owners of the house daughter VERY angery at Tyler for waltzing with someone other than her. Luke and Chad are very suprised that Heidi of all people has the gift to travle in time. They're soon to find out that if you're wearing clothes from the past you're visible. Tyler has a younger sister the same age as Chad -Emily, and Chad has a little crush himself. Can Chad,Luke,and Heidi save Emily,and Tyler from freezing in the blizzard of 1888?
Book Description
From thunderous broadsides traded between wooden sailing ships on Lake Erie, to the carrier battles of World War II, to the devastating high-tech action in the Persian Gulf, here is a gripping history of five key battles that defined the evolution of naval warfare--and the course of the American nation. Acclaimed military historian Craig Symonds offers spellbinding narratives of crucial engagements, showing how each battle reveals the transformation of technology and weaponry from one war to the next; how these in turn transformed naval combat; and how each event marked a milestone in American history. BL Oliver Hazard Perry's heroic victory at Lake Erie, one of the last great battles of the Age of Sail, which secured the Northwestern frontier for the United States BL The brutal Civil War duel between the ironclads Monitor and Virginia, which sounded the death knell for wooden-hulled warships and doomed the Confederacy's hope of besting the Union navy BL Commodore Dewey's stunning triumph at Manila Bay in 1898, where the U.S. displayed its "new navy" of steel-hulled ships firing explosive shells and wrested an empire from a fading European power BL The hairsbreadth American victory at Midway, where aircraft carriers launched planes against enemies 200 miles away--and where the tide of World War II turned in the space of a few furious minutes BL Operation Praying Mantis in the Persian Gulf, where computers, ship-fired missiles, and "smart bombs" not only changed the nature of warfare at sea, but also marked a new era, and a new responsibility, for the United States. Symonds records these encounters in detail so vivid that readers can hear the wind in the rigging and feel the pounding of the guns. Yet he places every battle in a wide perspective, revealing their significance to America's development as it grew from a new Republic on the edge of a threatening frontier to a global superpower. Decision at Sea is a powerful and illuminating look at pivotal moments in the history of the Navy and of the United States. It is also a compelling study of the unchanging demands of leadership at sea, where commanders must make rapid decisions in the heat of battle with lives--and the fate of nations--hanging in the balance.
Customer Reviews:
Great naval history, aside from the spin on current events.......2007-09-08
As a Naval Academy grad currently on my 13th year of active duty, I've read a lot of naval history--voluntarily or otherwise. Relative to other works nearby on the bookshelf, this one is engaging, easy to read, and genuinely insightful. The author understands naval warfare and delivers his accounts and his interpretations with a deft balance between the strategic and the tactical, between the theoretical and the practical. I concur with earlier reviewers who commend the overall quality of Decision at Sea... and I also concur with those who note the political agenda that emerges as Symonds' history closes with current events.
Anyone who writes a book on history is entitled to append a few pages of personal opinion on what that history teaches us, so I don't grudge Symonds for doing so. And the presence of the standard anti-war talking points toward the end of the book, masquerading as detached scholarly analysis, should not discourage any student of naval history from reading it. (Heck, if people who support the Iraq War allowed the presence of anti-war sentiment to determine what we see and hear, we'd have to lock ourselves in our houses, turn off our cable TV, spray paint our windows black, and block out every internet web site except National Review and Power Line.) I disagree with a previous reviewer who criticized the inclusion of the Spanish-American War and Operation Praying Mantis here: History is unintelligible if not rendered as a story, and Symonds does his job when he selects those two posts to span a coherent narrative.
His treatment of the Spanish-American War is valuable despite the rather obvious preparation of negative analogies to the Iraq War, and you just have to roll your eyes and read on as he tries to cast Reagan's shwacking of Iran as nothing more than a continuation of Carter's fearsome policy of passive-voice press releases.
My only real gripe with Symonds is the flagrant contradiction between 1) his adulation of commanders at sea who had the fortitude to act on imperfect information and the initiative to accept risk rather than wait in vain for victory to work itself out, and 2) his criticism of the Bush administration for doing EXACTLY THAT with respect to the threats of rogue-state WMD and mass-casualty terrorism. Perhaps Symonds' understandable affinity for the niceties of international custom in the age of fighting sail led him to the same mistake of many of his peers: the confusion of the means of international law with the end of freedom. Our professors seem unable to understand that we've entered an age when the former, when honored thoughtlessly, can be an impediment to the latter.
Bottomline: Those of us who understand the "neo-con" argument for shaping history before it shapes us must accept that many of our best historians and most talented writers are immersed in an academic/political culture that, literally, cannot understand it. We have to live with that, at least until the passage of time gives us the abilty to look upon the Iraq War with the same dispassionate precision that Symonds deploys against the most significant naval engagements in U.S. history.
Good, but uneven.......2006-07-02
Symonds's book reviews in detail five landmark naval battles in American history. He has selected these five battles not only for their significance to the military conflict of which they were a part, but also for being representative of different phases of America's ascent to superpower status.
As the book is divided into distinct and separate sections dealing with each battle, it is perhaps inevitable that these sections will vary in narrative quality. The best chapter by far is Symonds's magnificent telling of the battle of Hampton Roads, when the Confederacy's and the Union's fantastic new weapons, their first fighting ironclads, squared off in battle. The significance of this event has been well covered in other popular histories, but Symonds really brings it to life. He conveys the full shock of the Virginia's swath of destruction through the Union forces, as well as the stunning nature of the Monitor's spirited defense the next day. But where Symonds really shines is in conveying the experience of battle aboard the two ships. I was haunted by the imagery that Symonds weaves, the claustophobia, the heat, the smoke, the water overhead obscuring the sun every time the Monitor terrifyingly dipped below the waves.
Symonds doesn't sustain this level in the other chapters. His relation of the battle of Lake Erie is interesting enough. The chapter on Midway could hardly miss, so dramatic were the events, but I didn't find that his Midway chapter stood out in any way from others I have read.
Historians often get into trouble when they veer away from more distant history, where they have the advantage of historical perspective, and try to characterize current events without the same objectivity. Symonds stumbles badly in the later chapters, presenting a partisan and at times clumsily-informed take on the US's current conflicts. (For example, he repeats the oft-propagated canard that the Bush Administration tried to justify war on Iraq by blaming them in part for 9/11, when in reality the Administration's case for war with Iraq was different and more nuanced -- that in the post-9/11 world, America could no longer tolerate defiance of UN controls on weapons proliferation, and violations of the Iraq war cease-fire, from a nation with active connections with terrorist organizations, including those that have attacked us.) Symonds's credulity in accepting a political version of current events detracts from what would otherwise be a fully credible history.
In general, this book does better when narrating specific naval events than in trying to comprehend or explain the broader sweep of American history. It is mostly readable and informative, with one truly outstanding chapter on the battle of Hampton Roads.
Ill informed political bias mars well-written history.......2006-03-21
I just finished this book. The historical naval battles are well written and entertaining. They appear to be well researched as well with plenty of footnotes.
Though it is well written, I have to question the choice of naval battles that the author claims changed the course of history. He's on safe ground with the choice of the battle of Yorktown, the battle of Lake Erie, and even with the battle of the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia. After that, and he too clearly starts pushing a political agenda.
For some reason, the next chosen battle is when Dewey defeated the Spanish "fleet" in Manila Bay. But there isn't much of an enemy fleet, one of the two ships worth mentioning aren't even able to move under their own power. So there really wasn't much of a "decision" and it's purely politics that makes this an interesting engagement. It's not a very inspiring battle, and perhaps that's why it was chosen.
Next was the battle of Midway, another good choice, where the fate of the war with Japan turned, as has been claimed by many scholars.
It's the last choice that makes the reason for including the Battle of Manila Bay make sense. The author has now included the very obscure Operation Preying Mantis where the US sunk two and disabled a third small, hardly significant Iranian craft, albeit one armed with a harpoon missile.
The author stretches to make the claim that this operation was equally comparable to Perry on Lake Erie or the battle of Midway for their impact on US history, and it's not very believable.
What is believable is that he compares Manila to Reagan's decision to attack Iran, and then makes numerous mocking attacks on President Bush.
It's also worth noting that in a book filled with footnotes, his attacks on Bush and Reagan with scandalous claims that we provided substantial quantities of arms to Iraq, and his claim that Bush insisted that Saddam Hussein was involved in Al Qaeda's attack on 9/11 and other mindless statements are curiously devoid of footnotes.
I've been to Iraq and haven't seen any US arms there, though I've seen lots of French, Russian, Italian, and other country's weapons there.
G. W. Bush was very clear at all times that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11.
So why is an otherwise apparently well researched book have these errors? The book is little more than a political hack work. It makes me question the legitimacy of some of the other claims made in the book.
I would recommend if anyone is interested in naval history to avoid this book. The author has talent as a writer, but his political bias is not only misplaced, but ruins his credibility.
Fantastic book.......2006-02-27
Craig Symond's "Decision at Sea: Five Naval Battles that Shaped American History" is an excellent book. He uses five key naval battles in American history - Lake Erie, Hampton Roads (the Monitor and the Virginia), Manila Bay, Midway, and Praying Mantis (1988 operations in the Persian Gulf against Iran) - as the vehicle to tell the story of the US Navy. However, this book is not a comprehensive history of the US Navy. He also uses these battles to trace American history from the frontier battles of a fledgling nation to its preeminence as the single world superpower
Symond's descriptions of the five battles (actually, six, since he also describes the Battle of the Capes between the British and French during the American Revolution) are superb. He describes the action and also gives sufficient background into the overall military situation and the importance of each battle. Finally, he writes for the general reader, and is willing to write the explanatory sentence or paragraph to describe the distinctive world of naval combat.
Symond weaves into each battle examples of the development of naval warfare. He compares the weapons, armaments, and propulsion with the previous battle, and describes how the experience of the sailors evolved from the deck-bound, unskilled combatants of the 18th century to the below-deck, unskilled combatants of the 19th century finally to the highly-skilled, technologically-adept sailors of the modern US Navy.
Finally, Symond uses each battle to illustrate how America's role in the world evolved. During the Revolutionary War, the colonial forces fought a frontier battle on a lake against a small British force. Although the battle of Lake Erie was important in securing America's frontier, and it was more of an out-of-the-way skirmish against the most powerful Navy in the world. The Civil War battle between the ironclads showed that America was still struggling to found itself as a nation, but that America was a technologically-advanced country. Finally, America emerged as a world power between the end of the 19th century (the Spanish-American War) and the Second World War (Midway), and by the 1980s (Praying Mantis) the US was the preeminent world power.
This ambitious book attempts to do many things, and Symond's narrative successfully accomplishes them all. This is an excellent book for anyone interested in American history or naval history.
Excellent and thought-provoking.......2006-02-05
I write this review from the somewhat unique perspective (at least compared to the previous reviewers) of being one of Professor Symonds' former students. I had the privilege of taking his course called "The Civil War to Modern America" while at the Naval Academy, and I will tell you, that it was because of Professor Symonds that I went from being a history student to a lifelong student of history. The style in which he writes puts the reader right in the moment. The quality of the research and the level of detail he provides all make for more than just a recap of battles long since past. In my mind, Prof. Symonds succeeds in bringing the past to life. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear I was standing right along side Perry at Lake Erie as well as the other key players at Hampton Roads, Manila Bay, Midway, and the Persian Gulf. Furthermore, not only does Prof. Symonds accomplish his goal by clearly demonstrating how the outcomes of these battles impacted our country's future, he also leaves us with a few things to think about as we continue to move forward into the 21st century. I think his epilogue is one that is extremely thought provoking with respect to this new role that the U.S. Navy has had to assume in the last several years. Regardless of your position, it certainly does raise a few questions; questions that can only be answered in the years to come.
Karl Darden
CDR USNR (Ret)
U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1984
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Naval War College Review, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2007. The length of the article is 563 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Symonds, Craig L. Decision at Sea: Five Naval Battles That Shaped American History.(Book review)
Author: William Lloyd Stearman
Publication:
Naval War College Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 60
Issue: 1
Page: 148(2)
Article Type: Book review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
In 1688, the birth of a Prince of Wales ignited a family quarrel and a revolution. James II’s drive towards Catholicism had alienated the nation and his two staunchly Protestant daughters by his first marriage, Mary and Anne. They are the ‘ungrateful daughters’ who usurped their father’s crown and stole their brother’s birthright.
Seven prominent men sent an invitation to William of Orange---James’s nephew and son-in-law---to intervene in English affairs. But it was the women, Queen Mary Beatrice and her two stepdaughters, Mary and Anne, who played a key role in this drama. Jealous and resentful of her hated stepmother, Anne had written a series of malicious letters to her sister Mary in Holland, implying that the Queen’s pregnancy was a hoax, a Catholic plot to deny Mary her rightful inheritance.
Betrayed by those he trusted, distraught at Anne’s defection, James fled the kingdom. Even as the crown descended on her head, Mary knew she had incurred a father’s curse. The sisters quarreled and were still not speaking to each other when Mary died tragically young. Anne did nothing to deserve her father’s forgiveness, declaring her brother an outlaw with a price on his head.
Acclaimed historian Maureen Waller recreated the late Stuart era in a compelling narrative that highlights the influence of three women in one of the most momentous events in English history. Prompted by religious bigotry and the emotion that beset any family relationships, this palace coup changed the face of the monarchy, and signaled the end of a dynasty.
Customer Reviews:
Shallow and Disappointing.......2007-06-14
The Glorious Revolution of 1688 was a compelling human drama as well as a major political event. At the center of the political events were Mary II and Anne, daughters of James II, real human beings who faced difficult decisions as to where their duty lay. Unfortunately, Ungrateful Daughters does a very poor job of telling this story. Instead of a story of real people dealing with an actual dilemma, Waller's book tells the tale as a shallow soap opera with the principals divided into neat categories of victims (James II and Mary Beatrice) and villains (William, Mary, and Anne).
The theme of James II as victim has come into vogue in recent years, as the result of a revisionist historical interpretation which casts him as a proto-modern champion of religious toleration. Regardless of the sincerity of James's professions about liberty of conscience, they were the result of the fact that members of his own Roman Catholic faith were a minority in Britain and would thus be the beneficiaries of any alteration in religious policy. James certainly never exhibited any inclination toward tolerance that would not end up benefiting members of his own Church. There is no record that his enthusiasm for toleration ever led him to press for better treatment of Protestants in countries with a Catholic majority. At exactly the same time that James was advocating tolerance of Catholics in Britain, the Protestants in Louis XIV's France were being forced to either convert to Catholicism or emigrate, and there is no record that James II ever protested to Louis about their treatment.
However, the deeper issue between James II and Parliament was not religious but political. James professed that he, as king, had the power to suspend and dispense with laws enacted by Parliament. Parliament, understandably, strongly disagreed with this claim, and there was bound to be a clash at some point. Religious policy just happened to be the issue upon which the disagreement came to a head. Waller is not as sympathetic to James as the most extreme revisionists (which incurred the ire of at least one reviewer on this site), but the theme of James as victim is a major one, as evinced by the title of the book itself.
Waller spends a great deal of time discussing a pivotal event leading up to the revolution - the birth of Prince James Francis Edward (later known as the Old Pretender) to King James and Queen Mary Beatrice in the summer of 1688. It was the prospect of a Catholic heir to the throne that pushed many who were undecided into supporting the intervention of William. Even before the birth there were many rumors circulating that the Queen's pregnancy was a conspiracy on the part of the Catholics to ensure the birth of a Catholic heir to the throne, and the rumors became certainties for many people after a boy was born, just as many Catholics had predicted. The fact that both Mary and Anne gave credence to these rumors is the crux of Waller's portrait of them as "ungrateful daughters." Historians have long accepted that there was no truth to the rumors insinuating that the new prince was not the son of the king and queen, and Waller excoriates both Mary and Anne for doubting it and doing nothing to stop the rumors. Anne in particular is held up as the villain of the piece, and, reading Waller's account, one gets the impression that she single-handedly fomented the rumors surrounding the birth of her half brother and could have stopped the revolution in its tracks had she acted differently.
However, Waller utterly fails to take into account that the circumstances of the prince's birth were not nearly as clear in 1688 as they are with the benefit of hindsight. At the time there were plenty of suspicious circumstances for those who wanted to doubt. The very fact of the birth of a healthy son to a woman whose eight previous pregnancies either ended in miscarriage or produced sickly babies who died soon after birth was in itself suspicious. Also, the birth took place a full month earlier than was expected. Waller argues that the discrepancy was due to a mistake on the part of the royal physicians as to the date of conception, which was probably the case, although she does not explain why this should have been clear to everyone in 1688. Additionally, although the birth was witnessed by numerous people, they were all either Catholics or political allies of James, whose testimony was regarded as suspect. Notably absent, besides Anne herself, were the Dutch ambassador and Edward and Lawrence Hyde (brothers of James's first wife and thus uncles of Mary and Anne), whose testimony would have been accepted as conclusive. From the perspective of three hundred years in the future, all these things may appear insignificant next to the fact that a baby boy was born in full view of numerous witnesses. However, in the atmosphere of 1688, with the prospect of a Catholic heir who might someday decide that a re-conversion of Britain to Catholicism was preferable to toleration (just as Louis XIV had reversed his grandfather's edict giving toleration to French Protestants), the questionable aspects surrounding the birth gave plenty of material to justify doubts on the part of those who were disposed to be suspicious.
The doubts about the new prince's legitimacy did not rest upon the testimony of either Anne or her sister. Neither Anne nor Mary started the rumors, although Anne repeated them and Mary in Holland believed them. The stories were spread throughout the country by such popular press as existed at the time and many prominent political figures lent credence to them and spread them. Anne's conduct in this affair leaves a nasty taste in the mouth, but it is far from clear that she could have done anything effective to quash the rumors, even if she had wanted to. Even if she had publicly denied the rumors, there was nothing to prevent people from dismissing this as done at the behest of James. Nuance, however, has no place in this book. By portraying Anne as holding the balance of affairs in her hand and failing to accurately consider events in the context of their time, Waller gives an incomplete and distorted picture of events.
There are numerous instances throughout the book of sloppy research and assumptions presented as fact. For example, Waller claims at one point that certain letters (not written by Anne) "imply" that Anne promised her father that she would restore the throne to her brother. There is no solid evidence that Anne actually made such a promise, and Waller does not present any. However, this supposed promise becomes a major theme in the book, and Waller refers to it again and again as fact, describing certain actions of Queen Anne during her reign as violations of the promise that she made to her father - a promise that there is no proof Anne ever made. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated example, but rather typical of Waller's method. Assertions are made on flimsy evidence, or no evidence at all, and thereafter referenced as fact.
The story of the Revolution of 1688 has the potential to be a compelling tale of real people living through momentous events. The two princesses who are the chief subjects of this book could be portrayed as real women who had to make difficult choices when their duty to their father came into conflict with what they saw as their duty to their faith and their country. Instead, what this book gives is a two-dimensional caricature of two women who "stole their father's crown" for no better reason than petty vindictiveness.
Compelling and informative.......2007-06-04
The Stuarts were more than a series of Scots-English monarchs, they were a contentious family filled with ambitious, egotistical, often ignoble figures who were not above slipping the knife in to advance their own careers. The generational and religious tension chronicled in this well-written true-to-life soap opera began with James II's move toward the Catholic Church, which alienated both his people and his two staunchly Protestant daughters, Mary and Anne, each of whom reigned after him. Whether Mary's husband, William of Orange, usurped the crown in the Glorious Revolution depends on your point of view, but Anne (who wasn't speaking to her older sister at the time of her early death) declared her half-brother, James ("The Old Pretender"), an outlaw -- having previously claimed, in letters to Mary, that their hated stepmother's pregnancy was a Catholic hoax and plot. Waller's narrative is compelling and enjoyable as well as informative. You can almost see a screenplay waiting to be written.
Obvious writer bias ruins interesting subject.......2006-04-18
Better books on the time period can be found. The writer distorts historical fact to fit her own agenda.
A great read........2006-02-10
I loved this book. It is well written and contains such detail that the characters truly come to life. I have many books on the Restoration and none of them describes James, Duke of York and his second wife Maria Beatrice and the "ungrateful daughters" better. Many jucy details. What they wore, how they looked, their quirks and peculiarities give a much fuller picture of the court and courtiers. This book is an easy read and would engage a reader who does not like usual history books. This does not mean it is light. It's the writing of an author who is a keen observer of the subjects.
Competent biography of the last of the Fatally Flawed Stuarts.......2006-01-20
If ever there were a family that deserved a biography like this it is the Stuarts. From the blood of Mary Queen of Scots rose a dynasty of strangely unattractive Kings and queens, culminating in the two daughters of James II. These two Queens of the stuart house, Mary II and Anne I have not had the same exposure to biography as other rulers of England, (such as Elizabeth or Victoria) and perhaps this is as much about their length of reign as anything - however they did preside over one of the most interesting periods and actions in British History. That is the deposition of their father to rule in his favour.
Waller, I thought, handled the material well, I was not disturbed by the jumps and only really noticed it in some of the reviews here. It is well written and well thought out. The unsympathetic portrayal of Anne especially can easily be explained, she was really a very unsympathetic character and her faults reminded me strongly of the George IV a century later, with a tendency to self-justification and general whininess. Something I expect you can do if you are Queen, but also perhaps a hang over from a century earlier when the annointed Ruler of the realm really did hold extraordinary powers and did not need to answer to any other power in the land apart from their own. A fundamental problem with her Grandfather who lost his head over that belief.
Over all I enjoyed it. As far as dysfunctional families go this is one interestingly flawed family, with its own bitternesses and a great deal of wealth and power at stake.
I would definitely recommend this as a good read for anyone who hasn't dipped into the period before.
Average customer rating:
|
Metabolic Syndrome in the 21st Century
Jose Antonio Gutierrez
Manufacturer: Elsevier Espana
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
Endocrinology & Metabolism
| Internal Medicine
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
Endocrinology & Metabolism
| Internal Medicine
| Medicine
| Medical
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Spanish
| Foreign Language Nonfiction
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ciencia
| Libros en español
| Formats
| Books
General
| Medicina
| Libros en español
| Formats
| Books
Medicina Interna
| Medicina
| Libros en español
| Formats
| Books
| Cardiología
| Enfermedades Infecciosas
| Gastroenterología
| General
| Neurología
No-Ficción
| Libros en español
| Formats
| Books
| Automotriz
| Ciencias Sociales
| Crimen y Criminales
| Educación
| Estudios de la Mujer
| Feriados
| Filosofía
| Gobierno
| Hechos Verídicos
| Planeamiento Urbano y Desarrollo
| Política
| Sucesos de Actualidad
| Transportación
Medicina Interna
| Medicina
| Médica
| Profesional y Técnico
| Libros en español
| Formats
| Books
| Cardiología
| Emergencia
| Fisioterapia y Rehabilitación
| Gastroenterolgía
| General
| Neurología
| Patología
| Práctica Familiar
| Psiquiatría
| Radiología
ASIN: 8481748927 |
Book Description
El sindrome metabolico es uno de los retos mas intrigantes y fascinantes de la medicina contemporanea. Se trata de una patologia en la que confluyen problemas de distintas areas de la medicina: diferentes grados de hipertension, acumulacion de grasa, insulinoresistencia, estados protrombotico y proinflamatorio, todos juntos en la misma persona. Esta concurrencia de factores hace que la persona tenga un riesgo mucho mayor de sufrir enfermedad cardiovascular o diabetes mellitus tipo 2, que lo que la suma de los factores individuales supondria.
Se trata de una "enfermedad" nueva, que ha llegado a ser un problema de salud publica muy importante en las sociedades desarrolladas y cuya rapida extension se debe fundamentalmente a la adopcion del estilo de vida occidental: fundamentalmente, muy poca actividad fisica e ingesta excesiva de alimentos.
Esta obra trata el concepto del Sindrome metabolico en su mas amplio sentido y da respuesta a la multitud de incognitas que todavia presenta esta patologia. Con un enfoque multidisciplinar y un equipo de colaboradores internacionales (Espana, Italia, Japon, Alemania, Estados Unidos, Reino Unido, Finlandia, Australia, etc.) de primer nivel en las distintas areas, escrita integramente en ingles, revisa todos los aspectos relacionados con el Sindrome metabolico, desde el punto de vista de la fisiopatologia molecular y la epidemiologia genetica: obesidad, insulinoresistencia, dislipidemias, hipertension, enfermedad cardiovascular y otros nuevos como inflamacion molecular, estado protrombotico, disfuncion endotelial.
Todos los capitulos presentan un abstract, en ingles y castellano, al inicio de cada capitulo con los puntos fundamentales que se van a desarrollar en ese capitulo.
Books:
- Yankee Magazine's Practical Problem Solver: 1,001 Ingenious Solutions to Everyday Dilemmas (Yankee Magazine Guidebook)
- 10 Days to a Less Defiant Child: The Breakthrough Program for Overcoming Your Child's Difficult Behavior
- 100 Questions About Sleep and Sleep Disorders
- A Good Start in Life: Understanding Your Child's Brain and Behavior from Birth to Age 6
- A Healthy Food Guide for People w/ Chronic Kidney Disease: National Renal Diet Client Education Guide
- A Little Book Of Love Poems And Letters
- A New Life - Pregnancy, Birth, And Your Childs First-Year - A Comprehensive Guide 2nd Revised Ed.
- A Special Gift My Wishes for You (Special Gift)
- Alex: The Fathering Of A Preemie
- ALL MEN ARE LIARS
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Art of Architectural Illustration 3
- NIV/The Message Parallel Bible
- Liquid-Liquid InterfacesTheory and Methods
- Prologos De La Biblioteca De Babel/ Introduction to the Library of Babel
- Life: Picture Puzzle
- Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics and the Production of Entropy: Life, Earth, and Beyond
- More than Kindness: A Compassionate Approach to Crisis Childbearing
- Artist's Photo Reference: Flowers
- Marketing Precedes the Miracle
- Wild Plants and Native Peoples of the Four Corners
The Truth About Children and Divorce: Dealing with the Emotions So You and Your Children Can Thrive
The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce: A 25 Year Landmark Study
The Love They Lost: Living with the Legacy of Our Parents' Divorce
Difficult Questions Kids Ask and Are Afraid to Ask About Divorce
Generation Ex: Adult Children of Divorce and the Healing of Our Pain
