Book Review: The King Who Lost America by Alan Lloyd I’ve reviewed more than one biography of George Washington, hero of the American Revolution and first president of the United States of America. But there was another George involved in the Revolution, King George III of Great Britain. This biography is about him. It begins… Continue reading Book Review: The King Who Lost America
Tag: history
Book Review: The Case of the Constant Suicides
Book Review: The Case of the Constant Suicides by John Dickson Carr Castle Shira is not a canny place. Ever since one of the Campbell soldiers involved in the Glencoe Massacre threw himself from the tower, supposedly to escape the ghost of a murdered MacDonald, there have been a series of falling deaths associated with… Continue reading Book Review: The Case of the Constant Suicides
Book Review: Whatever Became of…? Vol. III
Book Review: Whatever Became of…? Vol. III by Richard Lamparski The vast majority of my readers will have at some point encountered one of those clickbait articles titled something like “8 CW stars of the 1990s, what they’re doing now, #3 will shock you.” Nostalgia is a powerful force, and most humans have at least… Continue reading Book Review: Whatever Became of…? Vol. III
Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction Science Fact December 1984
Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction Science Fact December 1984 edited by Stanley Schmidt Continuing to dig through my pile of stuff that I’ve been meaning to reread, I found this issue from the year I actually subscribed to Analog.. This was an indulgence as I was underemployed at the time, but a magazine in the… Continue reading Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction Science Fact December 1984
Book Review: The Dark Ages
Book Review: The Dark Ages by W.P. Ker One of the first things Professor William Paton Ker (1855-1922) discusses in this book is that the term “Dark Ages” is misleading and rather nebulous in timing. That established, he sticks with it for a handy title for this survey of European literature from roughly 500-1100 A.D.… Continue reading Book Review: The Dark Ages
Movie Review: The Black Book (1949)
Movie Review: The Black Book (1949) directed by Anthony Mann The French Revolution is eating its own. The corrupt monarchy was overthrown, yes, and many of the cruel aristocrats executed or exiled. But the temptations of power have turned the Citizens’ Committee against each other, and control of the mob requires ever-increasing sacrifices of the “enemies… Continue reading Movie Review: The Black Book (1949)
Book Review: Paperbacks from Hell
Book Review: Paperbacks from Hell by Grady Hendrix Back in the 1970s and 1980s, there was a big boom in paperback horror books, which was helped along by some truly lurid cover art that told the potential reader right up front that this was a book about, say, flesh-eating rabbits. Horror writer and vintage paperback… Continue reading Book Review: Paperbacks from Hell
Magazine Review: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction April 1978
Magazine Review: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction April 1978 edited by Edward L. Ferman This issue of the long-running speculative fiction magazine is “All-British”, which the editorial material notes was one of the easiest theme issues to do, since they already had a number of stories by British authors on hand. They dug… Continue reading Magazine Review: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction April 1978
Book Review: The Butchering Art
Book Review: The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris It was not that long ago that surgeons and surgery were to be feared. Without anesthetics, the pain and shock of having your body cut into would often kill the patient. And if they survived that, the chances were good that infection would set in. A combination… Continue reading Book Review: The Butchering Art
Book Review: The Last Victorians
Book Review: The Last Victorians by W. Sydney Robinson Much as we sometimes like to pretend otherwise, historical eras do not have clean breaks. Bits and pieces of the Roman Empire lasted well into the Middle Ages, most of us have met people who haven’t got the memo that it’s the Twenty-First Century now, and… Continue reading Book Review: The Last Victorians