Book Description
The epic siege of the island fortress of the Knights Hospitaller by the huge Turkish Army of the Emperor Suliman is one of the most compelling stories in the history of the western world. The Turks amassed an army of 30,000 men, which doubled as the siege dragged on. The knights facing them totalled 500, along with 4,000 Maltese levies and 4,500 other troops. Tim Pickles describes how despite constant pounding by the massive Turkish guns and heavy casualties, the Knights managed to hold out.
Customer Reviews:
Not impartial........2006-12-01
Mr. Pickles's scholarship aside, the dedication of this book and the afterward reveal a strong bias in favor of the Knights of Malta. The book is dedicated with gushing adoration to Mr. Pickles's father-in-law, who apparently was a modern member of that order. The afterword professes that chivalry lives on in the modern era, epitomized by the charitable works performed by the current members of the order. Mr. Pickles's personal enamour for chivalry in general and the Knights of Malta in particular cast doubt on the impartiality of his conclusions.
Badly researched and badly written.......2005-06-02
I am a Maltese historian focusing on this period of Mediterranean history. I bought this book because it was cheap, and cheap it was.
Look elsewhere if you want a truthful account of history. The Great Siege: Malta 1565, by Ernle Bradford is one of the best contemporary books around.
What a joke.......2002-06-20
After yawning through the first few chapters of Mr. Pickles latest attempt, I gratefully fell asleep and never picked Malta up again. Apparently Mr. Pickles fell asleep during his research for the book as well, as the number of inaccuracies in his research are astounding- I advise him to start publishing under the pseudonym "General Doofus". Don't buy this book unless you want to indulge the pocketbooks of a talentless author who spends more time pretending to be a General in lieu getting his facts straight. He should be drafted into service and sent to the front lines of any conflict we can find- then maybe he can learn to author a decent book.
A Well-Told Tale of Heroic Leadership.......2000-06-07
This is one of the very best of the Osprey Campaign series. The author succinctly describes the strategic background to the campaign, opposing plans, leaders and the forces involved. Order of Battle information is a bit sketchy. Once the Turks arrive, it became a bitter fight to the finish between two experienced and fanatical forces. This story is very interesting for military professionals to study because the outcome of the siege was close throughout, requiring imaginative use of "combat multipliers" and sound generalship. Both the heroism and leadership of La Valette are well told by the author. The maps depicting the key actions are excellent. Perhaps there are some minor errors (and what work of history is without error or omission?), but in this book there is a pathos of a long ago battle that is brought to vivid life by the author.
Malta, 1565: Mediocrity, 1999.......2000-05-18
The Great Siege of Malta was one of the most epic battles of the Wars of Religion. To date, the most popular book on this topic has been Ernle Bradford's "The Great Siege". While a gripping and highly readable account, it fell far short on providing specific details of the conflict. Despite this, it was responsible for developing my strong interest in the battle, and remains a personal favorite.
When I first heard of impending publication of Mr.Pickles work - and by Osprey Publications no less, reknowned for their level of research - I went so far as to pre-order it, sight unseen. Unfortunately, the initial high hopes held for this book were quickly dashed.
There are no new insights offered, and the level of historic detail is wanting. Armchair military historians are offered little in the way of explanation of unit organization, tactics, logistics or command structures. Indeed, in some ways the book is a step backward, in that its maps, while colorful, contain incorrect dates, events and troop locations.
Evidence of a general sloppiness of research is further reflected in the sparse bibliography, which ignores such critical contemporary works as Bosio's "History of the Order of St. John", as well as more modern efforts like John Guilmartin's "Gunpowder and Galleys." How this surprisingly short list of references got past the eye of Dr. David Chandler, the highly respected editor of the Osprey series, is a source of wonder.
Finally, the author's proposed rules for wargaming the Siege betray his unfamiliarity with the medium; if attempted, the amount of die rolling required by a game player would quickly send them to the hospital with a wrist injury. Its best to just pass them by.
Its not that this so much a 'bad' book, as much as its just so... mediocre. Primarily, it boils down to a retelling of Bradford's tale, but with some flashier pictures and a far heavier hand. A disappointment.
Book Description
From the acclaimed author of Empires of Sand comes a mesmerizing new adventure that Jean Auel cites as “crowded with events that both forecast and mirror the conflicts of today.” Sweeping from the drawing rooms of Paris to the palace of Suleiman the Magnificent to the dark hold of a slave ship racing across the sea, here is a dazzling story of love and valor, innocence and identity, an epic novel of the clash of civilizations on a barren island where the future was forged.
The Mediterranean, the sixteenth century: Lying squarely in the midst of the vital sea lanes between the Christian West and the Ottoman Empire in the East, and ruled by the ancient Order of the Knights of St. John, Malta will become the stage upon which the fate of the world turns. For one of its sons, the hand of violence strikes swiftly, when young Nicolo Borg is seized by Barbary slavers and launched on a remarkable journey to the court of the supreme ruler of the Muslim world. Renamed Asha, plotting his escape even as he swears allegiance to the god of his masters and is schooled in the arts of culture and war, the innocent boy will be transformed into one of the Sultan’s deadliest commanders.
For Nico’s beloved sister, Maria, his loss fires her hatred for the knights who did nothing to save him and her dreams of escape from her stifling home. As the headstrong girl grows into a fierce beauty, she will capture the attention of one man in particular, Christien de Vries, a surgeon-knight torn between duty and desire, caught up in Malta’s frantic preparations against the coming Ottoman storm. Around Nico and Maria are men and women who will share their destinies: Dragut Raïs, a brilliant corsair, arch-rival of the knights…Giulio Salvago, a priest in full flight from his carnal nature…Alisa, a young beauty hidden away in a harem…Jean de La Valette, the master knight who is Malta’s only hope for survival.
As the mighty Ottoman fleet bears down on the tiny island, as Nico Borg makes his way back to his homeland at the helm of a warship, Ironfire moves inexorably to a shattering climax where all will face ultimate justice in the murderous cauldron of siege warfare. Brilliantly capturing the crosscurrents of a storied age, Ironfire is historical fiction in the grand tradition, a stirring realization of a pivotal moment in time that irrevocably shaped the world we inhabit today.
Customer Reviews:
I loved this book!.......2007-06-18
In the very best tradition of historical fiction, this book hooked me with the first page. David Ball is a truly a gifted writer, and does a wonderful job of making that period of history come alive. I'm looking forward to reading Empires of Sand, his first novel.
"Soap Fire" is a more accurate title..........2007-01-19
*** SPOILERS AHEAD !!! ***
Iron Fire aspires to be a historical novel. Though well-written and occasionally fascinating, Ball's epic has serious flaws as both history and fiction. It is a tough slog that could have used a bit more editing, or better yet, a different authorial perspective.
In terms of history, Ball's failing is what might be termed "Restonitis" after the alleged non-fiction author who has written junky pop fiction about the Crusades, the Inquisition, and the 11th Century. The symptoms of this disease are 1) the certainty that no sane or decent person in past ages ever espoused Christianity as a belief. Therefore every devout Christian in this book is inevitably a fanatic, hypocrite, fool, or scoundrel. Any and all sympathetic characters are always non-religious types or members of some other belief system. Symptom # 2 of Restonitis is an assumption that Islamic civilization in the past is in every way superior to Christianity, more tolerant, sophisticated, peaceable, moral, and advanced. Therefore the Muslims here are both more civilized in general, and also their religion apparently has none of the deficiencies of Christianity, so every religious Muslim in this book is really smart, noble, and decent.
To anyone who's studied history on a reasonably objective, both symptoms of Restonitis are laughable and naive misstatements of fact. This puerile bias is particularly silly in Ball's book as the Siege of Malta is literally incomprehensible if we assume the Knights were all vile and brutal hypocrites whose Christianity was irrelevant or deeply flawed. The Knights as a group endured a lot and suffered much, and the citizens of Malta suffered by their side. If the Knights and civilians did not really believe in their faith, they would have surrendered or collapsed under siege. The victory they achieved is due in large part to the strength of their religious conviction, and to doubt this from a cynical modern authorial perspective greatly reduces one's ability to write convincingly of the era.
So on the historical level, we have a cartoon, with even such notable Christian leaders as De Valette being portrayed as a harsh mean-spirited martinet, and every Muslim in sight having a halo over his saintly head. The local parish priest is an evil rapist, the Bishop is indifferent to the plight of his flock, the rank and file Knight abuses commoners, drinks, gambles, and whores, etc. This is an idiotic picture of an era, and more importantly does not do much to explain the causes, conduct, or outcome of the central plot element here, the Siege of Malta.
On the level of fiction, Ball fares a bit better as he is not a bad writer and tells a good tale. However, he has an unerring perspective to seize on what is dull and trite and so slights more interesting and unique topics. Thus we see a lot of wretched boring peasant life in Birgu, and clichéd heartwarming Yenta-like shtetl domesticity with a colony of secret Jews who are of course all lovely, caring, and wonderful (as they are not Christians, you see). The Knights are generally ignored, and the Siege itself is only about a quarter of the book. We see a little bit of life in the Sultan's court which is unique and interesting, but then we are back to Birgu for more adventures of our impoverished, abused Orphan Annie substitute, Maria.
Maria's misadventures are another problem. Her brother is kidnapped, her mean drunkard father beats and mistreats her, her mother is indifferent to her and then calls her a whore. She is raped by an evil priest, ignored by the Bishop and civil authorities, and then sees her adopted Jewish family tortured and beaten by evil Christians. (Hm, do I even need to add the work "evil" there?) Then finally she falls in love with a noble Knight of St John (who being a good man of course ignores his Christian faith and his sacred vows and has sex with her outside of marriage). Then of course there is her unrequited love admirer Jacopo, and finally the return of her long lost brother on the other side of the Muslim siege forces...
Anyway, besides the fact that so much misadventure strains credulity, Maria is also virtuous, perky, smart, optimistic, beautiful etc. She is therefore an utterly boring character who makes Dickens heroes seem like deep and complex personalities. The other main characters are somewhat better, but between the cartoonishly evil Christians and the Pollyannaesque heroine, much of Ball's narrative is unconvincing and tedious to read. Another main problem is Asha's love for Alisa, which is told (not shown) to us as being a major motive for his behavior and driving force of his life. Frankly, the little we see of his love suggests puppy love, and the burning urge for revenge that develops from Asha's loss is hard to believe.
In total, we have bits and pieces of an interesting book here. The naval warfare, the conflict between cultures and religions, the Knights of St John, and the Siege itself are all fascinating. However, the soap opera aspects of the plot, the dull heroine, and the overly modernistic secular interpretation of events stands in the way of the good stuff, and ultimately Ball spends a lot of time on the less interesting aspects of his story. We have all read the oppressed peasant girl meets dreamy nobleman plotline far too many times before, and to have yet another iteration of this old saw at the expense of more unique and fascinating development is a great loss. We see the glimpses of a great story in the background, but annoying Maria and her latest ordeal keep getting in the way.
Finally, as mentioned above, the politically correct vilification of Christianity and the idealized treatment of Islam suggest a reverse form of colonial cringe, where we in the West feel all guilty and ashamed that we sucked so much in the past. While we as a culture should take care not to be chauvinistic, Ball's work goes too far in the opposite direction. This makes his book feel like a puppet show, and ultimately suggests that he was unable or unwilling to do serious research into the realities of the era about which he writes.
Great Book.......2006-11-28
A little slow to develop, but unstoppable once it got going. There's some fantastic detail and it's very historically accurate. I'd recommend it to anyone.
Absorbing Novel.......2006-10-11
An important novel, mainly because most Americans know nothing of this pivotal struggle - The Great Seige of Malta, 1565. The History Channel regularly ignores it when covering the Ottoman Empire, the life of Sulieman, or the Knights Hospitaliers. A major motion picture about the Great Seige was scrapped in 2003, probably due to tensions with the West and Islam. David Ball is masterful in depicting the battle scenes, and is very faithful to the historical unfolding of the event, as chronicled by an eyewitness historian named Balbi. It's truly unbelievable to those who haven't read this account.Forts St. Elmo and St. Angelo still stand today and you can tour them while vacationing in Malta. There's also a museum at the Grand Master's Palace in Valletta with thousands of artifacts from the Great Seige on display. The characters in the story are developed nicely and there are some surprises. Lots of twists and turns and well-paced. Hard to put down this book. It all leads up to the inevitable climax, which gets very intense.
One of the best I have ever read........2006-08-17
I read David Ball's Empires of Sand when I was traveling through the Andes mountains in Peru. And now I had the chance to travel through Turkey, so I stopped at the local bookstore and picked up a copy of Ironfire.
This is truely one of the best novels I have ever read. Please, don't read anymore reviews or summaries of this book. Let the story unfold around you clearly and do not bring any preconceptions about what to expect.
If you love reading about real humans, then read this book. Real people are not evil or good, deceitful or arrogant, brave or cowardly. Real humans are a complicated mix between many things. That is what this story is about and I guarantee that it will bring tears to your eyes several times, both joyful and sad tears. And sometimes emotions will rise within your throat just from the sheer weight of it all.
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- Beautiful
- Simple and touching
- I really enjoyed the book Anne Frank.
- This is the best book I ever read
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A Picture Book of Anne Frank (Picture Book Biography)
David A. Adler
Manufacturer: Holiday House
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The Children We Remember
ASIN: 0823410781 |
Book Description
The story of the girl who tried to hide from the Nazis.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful.......2006-10-01
I loved it. The story is told in clear, simple language that makes it easy for children to understand (Crucial in a book geared for a younger crowd) and the illustrations are breathtaking and accurate.
A wonderful introduction to Anne Frank.
Simple and touching.......2005-07-12
This book is Simple and touching. Its very simple to read but goes into the depths of her short and in the end devastating life. She had a simple life and she loved it but the last and dark days that she spent in the secret annexe.
further- (beyond this story)
iT turns out that Otto Frank was the only one to survive out of all the secret annex (peter wasn't heard from) everyone else died. If only she had survived the last couple of weeks then she would be free once more.
I really enjoyed the book Anne Frank........1998-02-24
As a sixth grader I really enjoyed the book Anne Frank. The story was about Anne Frank,A brave young Jewish girl about 12 years old and her fourting year old sister. She found out at age 14 years old that she had to put a lot of cloths on. She had to hide in the attic for three years so the Nazis would not find them. It took place in Germany where her family lived. She once lived in a house,If she went to school she would be shot. The Nazis burnt all the Jewish books and pictures. A lot of children hid so they would not be shot because the people that hid them or they would be shot with no questions asked. The only person who survived was her dad, and the reason her mom died first, and Anne and her sister died after. I think the person who reads the book would cry or be really interesting in it. The book is based on her family life as a Jew in Germany.
This is the best book I ever read.......1998-02-10
I'm a 6th grader. This book is about Anne Frank when she was a young girl. Anne was born on June 12,1929. She had an older sister named Margot. Her parents names were Edith and Otto Frank. Her family lived in Frankfurt for hundreds of years. She had a peaceful life until the Nazis came. Anne Frank died when she was fifteen years old. Then someone found Anne's Frank diary, which got published in 1947. This is the best book I ever read because I like how it is written, telling the story clearly. I like how she did not die until she was fifteen years old. If I was Anne I don't think I would I have lasted that long because I don't think I could take care of myself that long.
Book Description
Through moving photographs from the Yad Vashem Archives in Jerusalem, Israel, archivist Chana Byers Abells has created an unforgettable essay about the children who lived and died during the Holocaust. While it is a story of death and loss, it is also a story of courage and endurance, a story to be shared with today's children.
Customer Reviews:
A powerful photographic essay.......2007-07-03
This powerful photographic essay of few words describes the lives and tragic deaths of Jewish children in the holocaust and those who survived.
It consists of photos from the archives at Yad Vashem: The Holocaust Martyrs and Rememrance Authority in Jerusalem, Israel.
It shows pictures of these children, many who were murdered, and some who survived during the holocaust, it is both stark and tender.
As Elie Wiesel said of this little book: "Look at these children. Look at their faces. They will break your heart'.
The book begins : "Before the Nazis . . . some children lived in towns like this," showing the children in happier times, going on to their suffering and starvation in the ghettos and in too many cases their evential murder.
Real pictures of real children who lived during those times.
The hope lies in their memories and of the stories of those who survived'
Few words and many pictures, it brings home the tragedy of these times to young readers, in a way that few books can.
I have been to Yad Vashem, and have also seen throughout Israel, many beautiful children, and remembered that children like these were once cruelly murdered in their hundreds of thousands by the Nazis.
Israel must protect her children!
Excellent for the classroom.......2001-12-12
I am a 6th grade teacher of a multicultural awareness course in NJ. I came across this book last year and it was excellent. The pictures give the whole story in a very simple and powerful manner.
I also found excellent discussion questions in "Memories of the Night: A study of the Holocaust by Anita Meyer Meinbach.
I think Chan Byers "The Children we remember" is a must in the classroom library.
The Children We Remember.......2000-05-18
This is a wonderfully touching book that introduces elementary age children to the holocost. The pictures are poignant and draw the children in. The text is simple and thought provoking. Children begin to realize that war affects everyone even the children.
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A Day in the Life of Israel
Manufacturer: Collins Pub San Francisco
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A Day in the Life of Africa
ASIN: 0002551195 |
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In a single, 24-hour day, 50 of the world's finest photojournalists captured extraordinary images of everyday events which yielded the 200 remarkable photographs of this stunning portrayal of Israel's history, culture, and geography.
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The Jewish people: A pictorial history
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The Jewish people;: A pictorial history
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Book Description
No book has done more to instruct, enlighten, and inform conservatives about economics than Adam Smith's undisputed classic.
Download Description
The first truly scientific argument for the principles of political economy.
Customer Reviews:
a classic.......2007-07-20
It's a big book, but not in any way complicated. In a nutshell, it details the mechanisms by which personal liberty -- accompanied by personal responsibility and a just system of government -- make nations, and the individuals who live in them, wealthy. I had a Marxist professor who did not like Adam Smith because Marxist theory prefers to emphasize class warfare, while Smith is saying that everyone is capable of providing for themselves and the less the government interferes, the better off we all are. Many conservatives, meanwhile, like Adam Smith because they seem to perceive a "survival of the fittest" philosophy in his works. They are both wrong.
Really, The Wealth of Nations ought to be read along with Smith's other classic, The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Together, the message in them is that government should leave people alone as much as possible, but people ought to exercise that liberty without greed.
hard to find a serviceable edition.......2007-07-07
"The Wealth of Nations" is more readable than you probably think, and if you actually sit down to it you'll be repeatedly astounded by Smith's shrewdness.
But parts of Smith's original can be tough going in many ways. Why don't publishers acknowledge this by coming out with something more helpful than just the raw text?
Unfortunately, finding an edition that will be of great use to you is problematic. That's why I'm giving this book 1 star: not for the text itself, but rather for the paucity of well-done printings out there.
Anyhow. I have three before me:
1. The "Modern Library Classics" edition, the one you see on this page. This is complete and unabridged in a single volume, and has a handsome, sturdy feel to it. There is a 4-page introduction and a well-done index, but what irks about this edition is that while it has a plethora of footnotes, all the footnotes are of the "textual comparison" variety (e.g., "12 Car. II., C. 32"), rather than the kind that really help you understand antiquated terms and convoluted wordings. In other words, you'll get no help from the editors here.
2. Then there is the barren Wealth of Nations (Great Minds Series). There is a 2-page introduction at the beginning and an index, but beyond that it's nothing more than the original text, complete with the original punctuation and spellings (neither of which has been made more merciful for the modern reader).
3. The Penguin Classics edition, in two volumes: The Wealth of Nations: Books 1-3 (Penguin Classics) and The Wealth of Nations, Books IV-V (Penguin Classics). This is probably the least worst edition I have seen, with a superb introduction (nearly 100 pages long), and a glossary, all done by Glasgow's Andrew Skinner. But the only footnotes in the text itself are apparently Smith's own. They appear directly on the bottom of the page in question.
So good luck, whichever one you choose.
In case you need to know, Smith's original consists of five long chapters, or "books."
If anybody has a more respectable edition at hand, please comment and I'll incorporate it into this review.
Free trade and pro biz.......2007-01-25
Great study material - very difficult read, but a must read that should be taught in high school.
Buy this if you support free trade, less government, and the American dream. Beware, this books represents everything a liberal opposes, ideals which are deeply hated by those who support liberal gods like Barak Hussein Obama and Miss H. Rodham.
Must have........2007-01-03
They shouldn't let you out of school unless you have this one in your head. Nice to have a copy around.
Readable introduction to economic theory.......2006-06-15
For anyone coming to Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations the first surprise is how readable it is. Famous classic of economic theory though it may be, this is no dry academic tome to be read only by people with a scholarly interest in economic history. There are no detailed tables of statistics of the sort one might expect to find in a modern book on the subject, and no mathematical analysis, indeed not very much quantitative information at all. Instead there is a long series of examples to explain such ideas as why it is more efficient to divide work among several specialists rather than have a complete task fulfilled by one person, or why slave labour is ultimately more expensive than paying free workers, even workers in cities like Boston or New York, where wages were far higher in Smith's time than those in his native Scotland.
To illustrate the principle of the division of labour Smith discusses the manufacture of nails. Even a blacksmith -- skilled in working with a hammer but with no special training in nail making -- could not make more than a few hundred nails in a day, and those of poor quality. A specialist nail maker could make more than two thousand, but much greater improvements, both in quality and quantity, come from recognizing that even a task as apparently simple as manufacturing a nail can be broken up into smaller tasks: maintaining the fire at the right temperature, hammering the nail into the right shape, using a different tool to form the head, and so on.
A popular edition of Wealth of Nations is inevitably abridged, as one can hardly expect to buy a complete scholarly edition for a price not much more than that of a novel. Complete editions are available as well, but they are much more expensive. With sensible editing, however, an abridged version can include as much of Smith's writing as the ordinary reader is likely to want, together with notes to explain points that will be obscure to the modern reader. In the Oxford World's Classics edition Kathryn Sutherland has made an excellent job of this, with notes that fill around a fifth of the length of the book.
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Canids: Foxes, Wolves, Jackals and Dogs: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan
Manufacturer: World Conservation Union
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ASIN: 2831707862 |
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The new Canid Action Plan synthesizes the current knowledge on the biology, ecology and status of all wild canid species, and outlines the conservation actions and projects needed to secure their long-term survival. Aiming at conservation biologists, ecologists, local conservation officials, administrators, educators, and all others dealing with canids in their jobs, the authors aspire to stimulate the conservation of all canids by highlighting problems, debating priorities and suggesting action
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