Though he prefers to fly solo, the author’s curiosity and aptitude for history would make him a good road companion.
Three journeys—to the western Mediterranean, Scotland and France—through the past twined with the present, from historian Robinson.
Robinson likes his trips to be leisurely paced—on foot, bike or slow boat, though he’s also well-acquainted with planes and buses—with frequent stops for a beer, to smell the roses and to get intimate with the past. The author says, “I feel something profound in places where tangible history survives to the present, as if by touching the walls I can transport myself across time.” History guides Robinson in two of these adventures—following Hannibal’s footsteps from Spain to southern Italy and Joan of Arc’s through France during her incandescent years battling the Burgundians. He braids a deep reading of their campaigns with his bright observations, adding broad slices of politics, history, geology, architecture and military history, as when he says, “The sacking of Saguntum was not just a casual act of violence perpetrated by a man who hated Rome, it was a coldly calculated strategic necessity.” The author also has fine eye for detail, remarking how, “White medieval stonework was blackened by time and weather, and copper roofs ran with a green patina.” In Scotland, Robinson strikes out upon moor and high ground, slips up to the Orkneys and spends time, uncharacteristically, in Edinburgh—he is not a fan of cities. The author freely admits to a fear of crowds and, for someone with wanderlust, he has a pleasingly comical ineptness with foreign languages—the French, not surprisingly, give him the most grief in that department. Perhaps it’s karmic retribution for all the hamburgers he ate in France, where he could have spent his admittedly meager euros at a local bistro instead.
Though he prefers to fly solo, the author’s curiosity and aptitude for history would make him a good road companion.Pub Date: April 8, 2011
ISBN: 978-1453766743
Page Count: 386
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
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