A dizzyingly quick and unbalanced overview of the gorier side of 3,000 years of Jerusalem's glory. Sinclair, a colorful, prolific, and idiosyncratic historical writer (not to be confused with ``historian''), appears to be taking off from his The Sword and the Grail (1992). Sinclair's best research and description is reserved for the unwashed Knights Templar, who seem to be curious mixtures of mystic monks and savagely fierce warriors. The other Christian Crusaders through the ages are constant targets of Sinclair's critical eye and are often noted for their rapine, hypocrisy, treachery, and petty infighting. The various Muslim forces in the Levant are generally lauded for being the repositories of true culture and piety, who, when not the dominating force, are the victims of intruding Christian and, later, Israeli colonialists. The British author's weakest areas (curious for a book timed to coincide with the Holy City's trimillennial) involve biblical and theological material. Judaism, for example, is misunderstood as sharing the Christian and Muslim ``cosmic struggle between God and Satan, good and evil'' and ``the concept of an intolerant faith enforced by the sword.'' Sinclair's anti-Jewish bias is evident in his description of Israelis committing a ``ghastly reenaction of what the Nazis had done to the Jews.'' Other twisted facts about refugees and the Arab-Israeli wars remind us of typical European advocacy-journalism, and mar some otherwise absorbing historical writing that focuses on the ``religious geography'' of the three monotheistic faiths. Drain the book of religio-political bile and you are left with some engaging chapters on the Jerusalem Templebased architecture, mathematics, and geometry still revered by the Masons and other spiritual descendants of the Templars. (16 pages b&w photos, not seen)
Pub Date: Sept. 20, 1995
ISBN: 0-517-59476-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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