The City of Lights was once made bright by the flash of a revolution’s guillotine, and this app provides a glimpse into one of Paris' pivotal backstories.
Interwoven with dramatic string orchestrations, Charlotte Corday guides this walking tour examining key revolution sites surrounding Paris’ Palais Royal. Corday made an infamous name for herself by stabbing radical leader Jean-Paul Marat in the bathtub. Homage to his demise is given with a tongue-in-cheek bloody-dagger icon that leads from one page to the next. A clearly plotted table of contents includes such subjects as "Storm the Bastille" and "Reign of Terror," and classic artwork featuring the likes of Corday, Cardinal Richelieu and Marie Antoinette accompanies Corday’s narrative. Peppered among the period-appropriate tableaux are maps to such locales as Marat’s printing press, the royal gardens and the very site where Corday made her fateful cutlery purchase. The maps, conveniently provided in both traditional format and written step-by-step directions, even include visitation hours and public-transportation directions. Subject matter that could be stringently academic is alleviated by lighter factoids (readers will discover how la Révolution is responsible for France’s fine dining reputation) and interactive trivia questions (the correct answer to one such question leads to a discounted meal at the oldest café in Paris). Skipping from or returning to certain sections is made easy by simply revisiting the main menu, and forward/rewind controls easily allow scrolling of the audio. Currently optimized for iPhone, the display can be blown up to iPad-screen proportions with slight loss of image clarity.
An academic overview of la Révolution through the eyes of one if its key players, satisfying both historian and eager tourist. (iPhone informational app. 14 & up)
Pub Date: July 26, 2011
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Time Traveler Tours
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2011
A thoughtful, engaging history for intermediate students interested in Africa.
Oliver’s debut, about one of West Africa’s most powerful and charismatic leaders, delivers a vibrant mix of history and historical fiction for young adults.
The book introduces the medieval empire of Mali with several short narrative essays on trans-Atlantic exploration, trade and mining and soon narrows its focus to the compelling life story of the emperor Mansa Musa, who ruled Mali in the early 1300s. Oliver shows how Musa gained influence while making a lavish, politically important trip to Mecca, and his deft explanation of how Musa crossed the vast Sahara Desert briefly but skillfully conveys the difficulty of the lengthy voyage. This enjoyable work smoothly blends historical text with memorable anecdotes from primary and secondary sources, photos and sketches of replicas of ancient and medieval African art, and well-drawn maps. The book moves at a fast pace, and the author’s clear, straightforward style is likely to appeal to young adults. He easily switches between topics, discussing history (how Musa gained recognition in Egypt and North Africa), religion (how Islam shaped Musa and his empire), architecture (the methods of construction for Malian mud-brick buildings) and fables (the legend of the Malian “gold plant”). However, Oliver always strives for historical accuracy; even his fictional account of a young sandal maker who travels to Niani’s great market contains period-appropriate language and scenery. The book also includes a lengthy glossary that is amply illustrated with drawings and photographs of West African boats and buildings. The work’s one shortcoming is its abrupt ending after Musa returns home; it lacks a thorough explanation as to how and why the empire of Mali eventually dissolved.
A thoughtful, engaging history for intermediate students interested in Africa.Pub Date: March 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-1468053548
Page Count: 128
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The subtitle here tells the reader exactly what the book is about; what it doesn't say is how much fun it is to read. The Greek astronomers could measure latitude as early as the third century b.c., but more than 2,000 years passed before the development of a reliable method for measuring longitude. Former New York Times reporter Sobel (coauthor, Arthritis: What Works, 1989, etc.) sets the stage by recounting the difficulties early navigators had in determining their exact longitude. After the loss of many ships and human lives as a result of navigational errors, in 1714 Parliament offered a rich prize for a practical way to measure longitude at sea. British astronomers saw a solution in the stars, by making sufficiently accurate measurements of lunar positions and comparing them to positions calculated for a known reference point. But the calculations could take hours and were tricky even in the best of circumstances; one future astronomer royal, under pressure, botched a measurement of the longitude of Barbados. Enter John Harrison, an apparently self-taught English clockmaker. Over a period of 40 years, he developed four increasingly precise chronometers capable of holding accurate time over a long, rough sea voyage. Comparing the chronometer's time to local sun time, a navigator could measure longitude with high precision in short order. Despite fierce opposition from astronomers (who scorned a "mere mechanic"), Harrison's clocks were enthusiastically endorsed by every mariner who put them to the test (including such luminaries as Cook and Bligh). With the support of King George III, the clockmaker eventually prevailed and won the prize. Sobel tells his story (and the larger history of the search for longitude) clearly, entertainingly, and with a fine sense of the era in which it took place. Breezily written and full of fascinating characters and facts, here's a science book as enjoyable as any novel.
Pub Date: Oct. 19, 1995
ISBN: 0-8027-1312-2
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1995
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
