The detail is rich and remarkable; the prose sometimes more pedestrian than one expects from Picard. (32 pp. color...
From the Thames to witchcraft, from petty schools to bear-baiting, from Shakespeare to small beer—a succinct guide to the sights, sounds, and smells of the London of the Virgin Queen.
This is Picard’s third stroll through the history of London’s evolving streets (Dr. Johnson’s London, 2001, etc.), and like her other accounts, this one features the arresting detail, the perfect anecdote, the apt quotation. We learn that Elizabeth’s Thames barge had glass windows, that London Bridge, crowded with houses and business, had three gaps for sightseers, that kites and pigs took care of much of the street refuse (while supplying some more), that an Elizabethan woman was old at 40, that the Queen’s touch might well cure what ailed you, that codpieces gradually diminished in size during her reign, and that men wore no underpants but got along tolerably well with long shirt tails. Picard offers a stunning account of an impromptu brain surgery one afternoon at the Bear Garden, detailed instructions on how to erect a timber-frame house and how to put together a ruff collar (some had 600 pleats). She teaches us about medical care (so very primitive), childbirth (how any woman survived it is a mystery), and burial practices. She describes the various levels of ecclesiastical and civic organization in the city (parish, ward); she shows us what went on in taverns and on tennis courts, in Bethlehem Hospital (“Bedlam”) and the Globe Theatre (she advises a visit to the New Globe); she explains the workings of the 12 great livery companies (grocers, drapers, salters, etc.). She reminds us that educated men were expected to be able to sight-sing in parts—and to play the lute (barbers kept one handy for waiting customers to strum). She reminds us, as well, that children and women were little more than property. Punishments were public and harsh (hanging for buggery and hawk-stealing).
The detail is rich and remarkable; the prose sometimes more pedestrian than one expects from Picard. (32 pp. color illustrations)Pub Date: June 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-312-32565-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2004
A magnificent account of a central reality of our times, incorporating deep scientific expertise, broad political and social knowledge, and ethical insight, and Idled with beautifully written biographical sketches of the men and women who created nuclear physics. Rhodes describes in detail the great scientific achievements that led up to the invention of the atomic bomb. Everything of importance is examined, from the discovery of the atomic nucleus and of nuclear fission to the emergence of quantum physics, the invention of the mass-spectroscope and of the cyclotron, the creation of such man-made elements as plutonium and tritium, and implementation of the nuclear chain reaction in uranium. Even more important, Rhodes shows how these achievements were thrust into the arms of the state, which culminated in the unfolding of the nuclear arms race. Often brilliantly, he records the rise of fascism and of anti-Semitism, and the intensification of nationalist ambitions. He traces the outbreak of WW II, which provoked a hysterical rivalry among nations to devise the bomb. This book contains a grim description of Japanese resistance, and of the horrible psychological numbing that caused an unparalleled tolerance for human suffering and destruction. Rhodes depicts the Faustian scale of the Manhattan Project. His account of the dropping of the bomb itself, and of the awful firebombing that prepared its way, is unforgettable. Although Rhodes' gallery of names and events is sometimes dizzying, his scientific discussions often daunting, he has written a book of great drama and sweep. A superb accomplishment.
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1986
ISBN: 0684813785
Page Count: 932
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1986
Preaching to the choir, perhaps, but an invigorating sermon all the same.
Zinn-ian conspiracy theories, propounded engagingly and energetically by filmmaker and gadfly Stone and Cold War scholar Kuznick (History/American Univ.).
If you’ve read Howard Zinn—or if, like Jeff Lebowski, the Port Huron Statement is still current news for you—then you’ll have at least some of the outlines of this overstuffed argument. Premise 1: Though the United States may pretend to be a nice, cuddly sort of democracy, it’s the font of much trouble in the world. Premise 2: When, post-9/11, neocons began pondering why it wouldn’t be such a bad idea for the U.S. to become an imperial power, they were missing a train (or Great White Fleet) that had pulled out of the station long ago. Premise 3: We like European fascists better than Asian fascists, as evidenced by propaganda posters depicting our erstwhile Japanese foes as rats and vermin. Premise 4: War is a racket that benefits only the ruling class. Premise 5: JFK knew more than he had a chance to make public, and he was gunned down for his troubles. And so forth. Layered in with these richly provocative (and eminently arguable) theses are historical aperçus and data that don’t figure in most standard texts—e.g., the showdown between Bernard Baruch and Harry Truman (“in a colossal failure of presidential leadership”) that could only lead to a protracted struggle between the U.S. and the Soviet Union for post–World War II dominance. Some familiar villains figure in as well, notably the eminently hissable Henry Kissinger and his pal Augusto Pinochet; the luster of others whom we might want to think of as good guys dims (George H.W. Bush in regard to Gorbachev), while other bad guys (George W. Bush in regard to Saddam Hussein) get worse.
Preaching to the choir, perhaps, but an invigorating sermon all the same.Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4516-1351-3
Page Count: 784
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 23, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2012
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