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Full Score of Sequoia ... Read more

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This piece of Chamber Music is a sequel to "Breakfast Rhythms" written in 1974. Duration: ca. 17 minutes. ... Read more

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Unforgettable stories from the England of Chaucer, Shakespeare, and beyond-the rich second volume of great tales by a master of British popular history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

The Second in the Great English History storybooks
The second of three volumes, this narrative continues the history of the British Isles.The tales begin with the story of Geoffrey Chaucer and end with the story of Isaac Newton, spanning the years of 1387 to 1687.This history begins with stories of England and ends with the unification of Scotland, England, Wales and part of Ireland.

Lacey intersperses stories of famous royals with little known people, which makes this a truly unique book.I really like learning stories that explain various parts of the English culture.

I highly recommend this series!

A real treat as an audiobook (a history teacher's review)
Robert Lacey has done something that many writers have failed to do (unfortunately) - he has written history in a fun, accessible, easy to grasp manner. After all, as Lacey points out in his introduction to Volume 1, the "history" and "story" come from the same Latin root word. Essentially, history should be the simple story of how things happened, to the best of the teller's knowledge.

Lacey's power as a storyteller is highlighted here in spades. He narrates his audiobook as well so there is the added bonus of hearing the author add nuance to the reading - essentially reading it the way he meant it to be heard.

The stories are short and entertaining. Only a couple of times in nearly six hours of listening did I find my attention wandering. This is a terrificly fun experience for any history lover. Full of interesting tidbits but not lacking in the larger themes or commentaries.

I am going to look for volume 3 and hopefully he has written or is writing his promised volumes on Scotland and Ireland as well.

Bravo!

I give this one an enthusiastic A+.

volume 2 as fun as volume 1.
i read the first volume of "great tales from english history," and had to immediately dive into the 2nd volume. this book covers the years 1387 to 1689, and is every bit as fun as its predecessor. these books are completely addicting. I just got the 3rd volume and having it here in the house waiting to be read has made life seem worth living a bit longer. buy all 3 of them and read them. you really should.

History in Shorts
Great Tales from English History Volume II, written by Robert Lacey, covers a wide section of history.Starting in the year 1387 with Geoffry Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales, Lacey continues until the year 1687.He includes smaller stories about various topics such as the first children's book.In Great Tales, Lacey also writes about the Plague, the London Fire, beheading, and burning traders.

Great Tales from English History Volume II covers all of the Kings ranging from Richard to James.It includes their multiple wives (especially in King Henry VIII) and children (King Charles II's 14 illegitimate children) who fought over the chance to become the next king or queen.Lacey also writes about the number of wars, both with other countries and the civil war.Religion also plays a big role in the book.

Robert Lacey's Great Tales from English History Volume II isdefinitely a nonfiction history book but he keeps a cheerful story telling prospective.Lacey manages to keep interest by including several smaller sections in between wars and kings.He includes smaller incidents and people to add to a person's understanding of history.Not a history person, I learned plenty about the history, most which is not taught in school.

Accessible history
I first discovered Robert Lacey as an author from his book 'The Year 1000'.Interesting, accessible, easy to follow, with a good balance of detail and breadth (always a tricky task when writing a popular history), that book was one of my favourites around the turn of the second millennium.I discovered this book on the shelves of my local library, and have found it equally worthwhile and fun to read.

This book concentrates on the late Middle Ages to the post-Reformation era in English history - in royal terms, the times of the end of the Plantagenets, the Tudors, the Stuarts, the Interregnum and Glorious Revolution (which a history professor of mine once intoned dramatically, 'was neither glorious nor a revolution').In years, this goes from the late 1300s to the late 1600s.

One of the things that I like a lot about this particular history is that the stories are brief and self-contained while being part of the overall flow of the history of England.They make for good bed-time reading (the longest of the stories is barely seven pages long, in easy print and easy, storytelling language).Many of the characters are already familiar figures even to those who aren't Anglophiles - Joan of Arc, Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth the First, Shakespeare, King James and the English Bible.Then there will be figures that are lesser known but just as interesting - the Roundheads and Cavaliers, Rabbi Manasseh, Titus Oates, the Bloody Assizes.These are tales told in a simplified but memorable manner, and could serve for younger and older readers as a stimulus for further reading and investigation about topics brought up in the text.

There are a few maps, royal lineage charts, and woodcut/line art drawings throughout the text.Lacey includes a bibliography for further reading (this contains a good number of website addresses for making further research very easy).There is also an index, which many popular histories forget, but Lacey is to be highly praised for including one here, making looking up particular names, places and events very easy.

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Customer Reviews (1)

A nice book that still needs to be written
I was very excited to get this book, having been to London several times and hoping that I would now be given information about the really great stuff that I had, heretofore, missed.I was vaguely disappointed.Though I would not say this book was a total waste, neither did I use it very much on my next trip.

The book has a chatty, friendly syle but it is not very substantive, which is frustrating because one has the feeling that Ms. Cornblath knows more than she is letting on.It is rather as if you are getting advice from a knowledgeable friend who is rushing out the door.

Some establishments are recommended but hours and phone numbers are not given.A good index.

I would use this book as a supplement.It might perhaps even serve as a preamble to your trip, using it to establish an itinerary.But it would not be an adequate guide on its own. ... Read more

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A teenage thriller in which a girl searches for the father she has never known. ... Read more

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Sir Henry Rider Haggard is best known for his adventure novels, especially King Solomon's Mines and She. Born in England, he emigrated to South Africa briefly, before returning to seek a legal career. He eventually became one of the most popular British authors of all time. Written in 1895, Joan Haste is a romance, but has enough action to satisfy any of Haggard's fans. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

ONE OF H. RIDER HAGGARD'S GREATEST ROMANCES
Anyone who reads H. Rider Haggard's 19th novel, "Joan Haste," will likely be struck with one overwhelming thought: Times sure have changed for women in the last 100 years or so. Today, nothing much is thought of a woman who bears a child out of wedlock, and that illegitimate child will likely bear no stigma on his or her name in adulthood. But back in 1894, when Haggard sat down to write (or, to be strictly accurate, dictate) "Joan Haste," boy, were things different! Either one of those "transgressions" could just about ruin a person's life. But what if a woman happened to be a "bastard" herself AND a single mother? What then? Well, it is just that double whammy that is explored in this very moving tale. Unlike most of Haggard's 57 other works of fiction, this one contains no lost races, no historical setting and hardly a bit of "action" to speak of. In it, Captain Henry Graves is called home to his family's estate in rural England, after the death of his spendthrift elder brother. This ancestral estate is well-nigh bankrupt, and it appears that the only hope for its continued existence is for Henry to marry Emma Levinger, the daughter of their landlord. But after a chance meeting with Joan Haste--the beautiful, illegitimate woman who works in the local tavern--and after breaking his leg while helping her capture some baby jackdaws, Henry begins to realize that the family fortunes are not uppermost in his mind. As might be expected, Henry and Joan fall in love, and that is just the setup of what turns out to be one of Haggard's most poignant love stories. The author takes his time in this longish novel, letting us really get to know his characters. There are many wonderfully dramatic scenes, with consistently sterling dialogue (if only people expressed themselves so well in real-life discourse!). The book contains many memorable characters, and is almost Dickensian in its description of the Bird family (with whom Joan stays in London) and in the secret agenda of Mr. Levinger. Perhaps the most memorable character of all, though, is Samuel Rock, a long-bearded Dissenter who is jealously in love with Joan himself. Indeed, Rock becomes so insanely amorous that he must automatically be placed in the pantheon of Haggard's other great love-crazed maniacs, a pantheon that includes Frank Muller in "Jess" (1887), Owen Davies in "Beatrice" (1890), Swart Piet in "Swallow" (1899) and Hernando Pereira in "Marie" (1912). Rock's crazed conduct leads to the only real "action" in the novel's 400+-page length, and makes for one superb cliffhanger of a final chapter. I advise all Harlequin romance readers to throw out those cheap paperbacks and try a REAL romance instead. This tale of the self-sacrificing Joan Haste (a "fast" woman?), and what she gladly suffers for the love of a man "above her station," will surely prove a moving experience for just about any reader. So, does Haggard manage to work in a happy ending for Joan and Henry, you may want to know? Well, I'd never think of telling, but anyone who has read a number of the author's other works will probably be able to deduce the answer to that one! Actually, I feel that I must reveal ONE of the book's other surprises, as it constitutes my only quibble with the entire work. (Stop reading HERE if you don't want to know.) When Joan runs away to London, and realizes that she is pregnant (oops...excuse me; I meant "with child"), the reader is left thinking, "How the hell did that happen?" Henry had been laid up with a busted leg, in Joan's aunt's house, for several months, and had been close to death for much of that time with complications. How he ever managed to get Joan knocked up (I mean, "in the family way") is quite inconceivable, especially since all Haggard had previously shown us is Joan nursing him, cleaning his room and reading him poetry. Graves could hardly move himself during this time, much less put the moves on her! I guess this is a case of yet another British gent keeping a stiff upper, um, hip! But besides this bit of what I suppose was constrained propriety on the part of the author, "Joan Haste" turns out to be still another wonderful novel from H. Rider Haggard, and I do highly recommend it. The 1895 Longmans, Green edition, which I am fortunate enough to have acquired, also contains 20 marvelous illustrations by T.S. Wilson that only add to the pleasure... ... Read more