The Plague, The Fall, Exile and the Kingdom, and Selected Essays (Everyman's Library)

Average customer rating:

Moving, Thought-Provoking, and Genius

Excellent

The Ultimate Albert Camus Anthology

Love, Exile, and Suffering Illuminated by Life around Death

The Plague, The Fall, Exile and the Kingdom, and Selected Essays (Everyman's Library)
Albert Camus
Manufacturer: Everyman's Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1400042550
Release Date: 2004-08-17

Book Description

(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)

From one of the most brilliant and influential thinkers of the twentieth century–two novels, six short stories, and a pair of essays in a single volume. In both his essays and his fiction, Albert Camus (1913—1960) de-ployed his lyric eloquence in defense against despair, providing an affirmation of the brave assertion of humanity in the face of a universe devoid of order or meaning.

The Plague–written in 1947 and still profoundly relevant–is a riveting tale of horror, survival, and resilience in the face of a devastating epidemic. The Fall (1956), which takes the form of an astonishing confession by a French lawyer in a seedy Amsterdam bar, is a haunting parable of modern conscience in the face of evil. The six stories of Exile and the Kingdom (1957) represent Camus at the height of his narrative powers, masterfully depicting his characters–from a renegade missionary to an adulterous wife –at decisive moments of revelation. Set beside their fictional counterparts, Camus’s famous essays “The Myth of Sisyphus” and “Reflections on the Guillotine” are all the more powerful and philosophically daring, confirming his towering place in twentieth-century thought.

Customer Reviews:

Moving, Thought-Provoking, and Genius.......2006-02-08

I had read Camus's "The Stranger" and was taken aback by the wonderful understanding he had of the human mind. I needed to read more, and in this handsome book was a great feast for the mind. It is not meant to be read all at once, I found it helpful to read another book inbetween the full-length novels within the collection.
There has been no singular work that has moved me as much as the "The Plague, The Fall, Exile and the Kingdom, and Selected Essays", it goes beyond existentialism and his philosophy. It delves into the very mind, that which makes us human. The stories are not lost through their translation from French, the characters are the people you see in the streets, but they are put under the eye of a profound intellectual. It is more than worth the price, and the time spent reading the words is time well spent. His contribution to modern philosophy and existentialism is unchallenged, but he is also an amazing author and voice. The Plague may be the highlight of the book, but one will not lose enthusiasm reading that which follows.

Excellent.......2005-10-10

Albert Camus is one of my favorite authors. His stories are some of the greatest of the past century.

The Ultimate Albert Camus Anthology.......2005-02-27

If you're a fan of existentialism or just great literature then this is the book for you. Just by buying this set you're already saving money and the hardcover makes it great for book shelf eye candy. If you want to read what each section is about then just read the next review but if you're reading this, take into consideration that Camus wasn't awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for nothing. He was deeply involved in the struggles for Algerian freedom and you can tell from his novels that he is consciensly involved with the questions of the absurd and the freedom of man in a messed up world. These books and essays will make you think and start to ask yourself questions.

Love, Exile, and Suffering Illuminated by Life around Death.......2004-09-11

What is the meaning of life? For many, that question is an abstraction except in the context of being aware of losing some of the joys of life, or life itself. In The Plague, Camus creates a timeless tale of humans caught in the jaws of implacable death, in this case a huge outbreak of bubonic plague in Oran, Algeria on the north African coast. With the possibility of dying so close, each character comes to see his or her life differently. In a sense, we each get a glimpse of what we, too, may think about life in the last hours and days before our own deaths. The Plague will leave you with a sense of death as real rather than as an abstraction. Then by reflecting in the mirror of that death, you can see life more clearly.

For example, what role would you take if bubonic plague were to be unleashed in your community? Would you flee? Would you help relieve the suffering? Would you become a profiteer? Would you help maintain order? Would you withdraw or seek out others? These are all important questions for helping you understand yourself that this powerful novel will raise for you.

The book is described as objectively as possible by a narrator, who is one of the key figures in the drama. That literary device allows each of us to insert ourselves into the situation.

Let me explain the main themes. Love is expressed in many ways. There is the love of men and women for each other. Dr. Rieux's wife is ill, and has just left for treatment at a sanitarium. Rambert, a journalist on temporary assignment, is separated from his live-in girl friend in Paris. Dr. Rieux's mother comes to stay with him during his mother's absence, so there is also love of parent and child. The magistrate also loses his son to the plague after a desperate battle. Separations occur because of the quarantine on Oran, which causes love to be tested. What is love without the other person being present? The characters find that their memories soon become abstractions. But they reach out to establish new love with each other. Tarrou, who is also caught in Oran, decides or organize a volunteer corps to help with the sick and dead. Rambert decides to stay in Oran to help after having arranged to escape the quarantine. The survivors find succor in increasing closeness with each other. Rieux and Tarrou become close, almost like brothers. Even Rieux's patients become people with whom he develops an emotional bond, even though the waves of death become an abstraction as he can do little to avert them. The priest figure also helps to explore the notion of love for God and God's love for us. The exile theme is reinforced by the quarantine. People cannot leave Oran. The disease itself causes that exile to become worse. If someone in your household becomes ill, each well person has to be quarantined. So you may be living in a tent in the soccer stadium wondering what is happening to the rest of your family. Cottard is a criminal who is on the run from the authorities. He is in despair as the plague begins, and tries to kill himself. The distractions of the plague keep the authorities from troubling him, so the period of the plague is an exile from his criminal past.

Suffering is easy to explain. Bubonic plague came in two forms in the book. Both brought painful and rapid death, with few reprieves. There is high fever, painful swelling or difficulty in breathing, and enormous pain. Those who tend the suffering also suffer, from the enormous workloads, the sense of futility, and the fear that they, too, will be next.

Camus does a nice job of pointing out that these themes also recur in everyday life. We just don't see them very clearly. The people in Oran live in an ugly city that deliberately built itself away from the beauty of the ocean on a sun-scorched plateau plagued by winds. They take little time to enjoy each other or the ocean, because they are caught up with making money. Commerce is their passion. So they cut themselves off from love, in an exile of spirit, which causes them to shrivel and suffer emotionally even before the plague comes. Tarrou also describes is own sense of the plague in everyday life when he discovers that his father is a prosecuting attorney who helps bring criminals to the justice of a firing squad. Even that faint connection of not trying to stop the legal killing causes Tarrou to feel like he carries the plague within him.

The book is masterful in its use of metaphor. In the beginning, dying rats and small animals presage the plague attacking humans. At the end, their return presages the return of normal life to Oran. The scenes alternate between illuminating the main themes in the context of the physical plague and the emotional plague. Religion is used as a bridge between the two, raising the fundamental question about what God's purpose is in unleashing the plague. The priest is fully tested in his love of God through this development, which is one of the most moving parts of the book.

I have read the book both in French and in English, and found this translation to be a perfectly appropriate one. There are few nuances that you will miss by reading this in English. Obviously, if you read French well, you should read the book in its original form.

This book is an excellent example of why Albert Camus was named a Nobel Laureate in Literature.

After you read this great novel, I encourage you to consider the subject of complacency. That's the author's ultimate target. Where are you complacent in ways that cost you love, closeness with others, and happiness? What else is complacency costing you? How can you help others learn to overcome complacency in loving, happy ways without the spectre of death to help you?

The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family Politics at the Court of Henry VIII (Canto)

Average customer rating:

Speculative but intriguing
Interest theory, good writing, good overview of the court
intriguing theories, minimal evidence, tepid writing
A bit dry but isn't that the English way?
Rather Dry...But an excellent choice!

The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family Politics at the Court of Henry VIII (Canto)
Retha M. Warnicke
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521406773

Book Description

The events which led to the execution of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second queen, in 1536 have traditionally been explained by historians in terms of a factional conspiracy masterminded by Henry’s minister Thomas Cromwell. Retha Warnicke’s fascinating and controversial reinterpretation focuses instead on the sexual intrigues and family politics pervading the court, offering a new explanation of Anne’s fall. The picture which emerges - placing Anne’s life in the context of social and religious values, and superstitions about witches and the birth of deformed children - changes our perception of her role within the court, and suggests that her execution (occurring only four months after a miscarriage) was the tragic consequence of Henry’s profound concern about the continuation of the Tudor dynasty.

Customer Reviews:

Speculative but intriguing.......2006-03-13

I read this book several years ago but returned to it to refresh my memory after being referred to it as a source for Philippa Gregory's The Last Boleyn Girl. While some of Wernicke's assertions are speculative and her writing is a bit dry (especially if you're used to some of the more novelistic writing in popular history these days), she makes a lot of good points, corrects some incorrect assumptions that have been repeated ad nauseam, and generally emphasizes how much we DON'T know.

While there is no definitive evidence for her theory that Anne miscarried a deformed fetus in 1536, it certainly has plausibility and explains a lot of the mystery surrounding Henry's rejection of her and her precipitous downfall. On the other hand, Wernicke makes a good argument that there is virtually NO evidence that George Boleyn's wife was a principal witness against him in the accusations that he had committed incest with his sister, yet as far as I can remember this has been repeated as undoubted fact in just about every book on Anne I have ever read, fiction or nonfiction.

As other reviewers have said, while this book is definitely worth reading, it should NOT be the first biography of Anne that someone newly interested in her or her period picks up.

Interest theory, good writing, good overview of the court.......2005-09-17

The story of Anne Boleyn, doomed second wife of Henry VIII and mother of Elizabeth I, is well known, but the author is interested less in repeating the biographical facts and more in investigating her unintentional role in dynastic Tudor politics. Was she the victim of a Cromwellian conspiracy? Or, as Warnicke suggests, more the victim of circumstances in her inability to produce a male heir? It's certain that Henry was profoundly insecure about his family's hold on the throne, and that Anne, daughter of the earl of Ormond, was closely related to the Howard dukes of Norfolk. The earl, in fact, created a network of family connections in pursuit of his own dynastic ambitions that helped to doom his daughter. A first-rate study of family politics, and you don't have to accept her own conspiratorial theories.

intriguing theories, minimal evidence, tepid writing.......2005-06-07

Warnicke has done an impressive job researching the evidence that survives, and-- until her theories really get rolling-- is quite scrupulous at admitting where there are gaps. (Many readers may be surprised that there are periods of months during Anne's brief time as queen where not much is known about her.) But eventually Warnicke fills the gaps with her own theories: that the male fetus Anne miscarried in 1536 was deformed, that this caused Henry to think of her as a witch or sorceress, and that the men accused of adultery with Anne were all libertines or guilty of the new crime of buggery. These theories are not borne out by the limited evidence Warnicke examines, but she becomes so convinced of them herself that she starts treating them as fact and interpreting a wide range of events in light of them. (She seems confident, for example, that the allegedly deformed fetus was on Henry's mind at many specific points.)

It's sad that Warnicke's theses weren't subjected to more rigorous scrutiny before publication; given that several chapters originated as conference talks or journal articles, it calls into question whether the academic world has anyone listening as well as talking. Certainly no lawyer or scientist would consider this book's main arguments to be substantiated. By losing sight of possible counterarguments, Warnicke's careful work can seem no better than if she'd never consulted the original sources at all.

The writing and editing compound the frustration. In addition to some tortured syntax throughout, Warnicke sometimes belabors less controversial points (she states over and over that there was no formal faction linking Anne with Cromwell, for example). But toughest from a reader's standpoint is her loss of perspective that, even though we know how it ends, there is still a story to be told here. Hence she can write that Anne went to her lying-in chamber two weeks before the birth of "Elizabeth, her only surviving child." While every reader knows that this would become Anne's only successful childbirth, no one could have realized that in 1533. Jamming in the later facts removes any sense of the life being lived at the time. Moments like this add up to an approach to Anne that seems strangely lifeless: I suspect any readers who react positively to this work are bringing their own enthusiasm for Anne, and their own sense of her personality, to the book-- they aren't picking it up from Warnicke.

One specific irony: Warnicke's theory that George Boleyn, Anne's brother, had homosexual leanings, has already informed a popular novel and miniseries, "The Other Boleyn Girl." So this theory is on its way to becoming accepted as fact by people who won't realize that it's not actually supported by surviving historical evidence.

A bit dry but isn't that the English way?.......2003-08-17

Rise and Fall is a bit dry. It's a workmanlike text book but I enjoyed it. If you're coming to this book expecting romance, high drama and emotion go find another book. The author treats Anne like a politician or a warrior. She shows what steps Anne took and offers a theory as to why she took them and finally, the author shows why Anne fell. You'll probably enjoy Lady in the Tower or The Concubine better but if you collect Anne Boleyn books this is a worthy one for your collection.

Rather Dry...But an excellent choice!.......2002-07-27

This book is extremely well researched and accurate,I consider it to be the best biography I have read of Anne Boleyn to date. Yet be warned...it could be looked at by many as rather a dry text-book like read, and would not capture the imagination (or frankly attention) of someone unfamiliar with Anne's life.As the title suggests this book covers politics,and rather seriously I might add.So if you are looking for the first time for a biography of Anne Boleyn make this your second choice.

Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East

Average customer rating:

A Major Source of Historical Perspective
Supporting Links and Passing Praise
Not 5 star good.
A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing...
Extraordinary! A monumental book.

Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East
David Fromkin
Manufacturer: Quill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0380713004

Book Description

Wonderful....No book published in recent years has more lasting relevance to our understanding of the Middle East. Los Angeles Times

Customer Reviews:

A Major Source of Historical Perspective.......2007-10-01

I wish to second Robert Steele's 5-star review of "A Peace to End All Peace", which was posted yesterday. I had ample time to read the book thoroughly, not in the stands at my son's Little League game, some years ago. It's worth a careful and thoughtful reading; no other book I know of sets the stage for understanding the Middle East in the 20th C as conprehensively. And after you finish it, I'd recommend "All the Shah's Men" as the key text for understanding America's embroglio with Iran.

Supporting Links and Passing Praise.......2007-09-25

I am forty books behind in actual reading, but I had the pleasure of scanning this book while on the sidelines of my son's football practice, and it is, as so aptly described by the best of the reviews, breathtaking.

The sentence that grabbed me is in the final paragraph, where the author sums up the roots of the Middle Eastern troubles as being directly on the heads of the English in particular, who lied, cheated, and stole without mercy. He says of Loyd George: "His political deviousness and his moral and financial laxness were never forgotten." Would that this were so, for Dick Cheney and George Bush are our Lloyd George.

I have written a full summative review of a book that complement's this author's sensible account, and reading that review before reading this book could be helpful. The other books also support the view that we are our own worst enemy, that there is plenty of money with which to make the world heaven on earth, but rule by secrecy, predatory capitalism, and fascism disguised as democracy has looted the planet and picked the pocket of the individual taxpayer while destroying the middle class. We are repeating history, in part because we have one of the most poorly educated populations with respect to history and global cultures, than ever before. The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency has taken to complaining recently that he cannot find enough qualified recruits in our shallow pool of "worldly" talent.

The Health of Nations: Society and Law beyond the State

The key point of the above book is that the Treaty of Westphalia and the creation of nation-states as soverign entities with unrestricted powers within their own borders--borders created by the English and other invasive colonizing powers with the US the most active in the last 200 years--were huge mistakes. We should instead have at least made Indigenous Peoples co-equal, and understood, and respected, tribal boundaries established over centuries. Ignorance and hubris/arrogance combine with greed at the corporate and dictator levels (see Ambassador Palmer's book on "Breaking the Real Axis of Evil" to understand why our White House loves 42 of the 44 dictators on the planet, and Tim Weiner's "Legacy of Ashies" for why CIA went straight into the business of supporting dictators as proxy bullies). Paul Bremer had it right: the root cause of terrorism is us. See my comment for a note on Chinese Irregular Warfare that just took force off the table as a US option.

See also
The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (Vintage)
The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America
9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA, Fourth Edition
Rogue Nation: American Unilateralism and the Failure of Good Intentions
Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq
Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency
The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy
Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders Into Insiders

On the positive side, but Amazon only allows ten active links, see
Yochai Benkler, Wealth of Networks
Barry Carter, Infinite Wealth
C.K. Prahalad, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid
J. F. Rischard, HIGH NOON: 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them
Robert Steele, The New Craft of Intelligence
Robert Steele, The Smart Nation Act: Public Intelligence in the Public Interest
Thomas Stewart, Wealth of Knowledge
Alvin Toffler, Revolutionary Wealth
E. O. Wilson, The Future of Life
Medaard Gabel, Seven Billion Billionaires (forthcoming)

I hope this contextual connecting of some dots is viewed as helpful. This is not a "pretend" review!

Not 5 star good........2007-09-08

I have bought this book after looking at all the 5 star reviews on this site and was aghast when I read it through. The book is not terrrible. It provides an extremely elitist interpretation of history which still teaches many things. The author, aside from several exception, illustrates individuals as caricatures. Does not analyze the cultural social and economical structures any more than skin deep and appears to have very limited access to any knowlegde about the Ottoman empire. Many contentious issues are glossed over. I would not have written this review cause as I said the book is not terrible but it certainly does not deserve all the 5 stars that it got. If you have read real history books, just read the first chapter and you will understand exactly what I mean. If you just want to have some hazy idea about the "Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East" than this book is good for you. Note however that you have only that, a hazy idea.

A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing..........2007-09-02

I agree with all the rave reviews--this book is a "must-read" in order to understand what is going on in the world today. The title refers ironically to the justification that World War I was a war to end all war. The peace that followed the First World War, including the carve-up of the former Ottoman Empire by the Allied powers and encouragement of nationalism by Woodrow Wilson, led to disaster. A good companion for Barbara Tuchman's "The March of Folly".

Extraordinary! A monumental book........2007-08-25

This is a well researched, comprehensive narrative on how the middle east was formed, centered on the British side of events, where the most important decisions were taken. Reading these pages, I can only think of the mess that the middle east was in those days, mostly because the major constituents of this region, that is to say Mesopotamia, Arabia and Palestine, had more than one internal player interested in holding part of the dismembered Ottoman Empire, and with the major external players at war trying also to get a piece of the cake and install or retain its influence on this important region, strategically important for its oil resources and geographic location. Added to this scenario was the zionist question, Turkey and its confilcts in central Asia and the internal problems faced by Britain, politically and economically.

Those were very complex times indeed, where the best of British diplomacy was deployed in order to forge peace and stabilize the region according to the situation in those years. Sadly, the settlement of 1922 didn't consider the Kurdish people and the Palestinian Arabs. In spite of all these problems, the book also allowed me to know more about the Arab people and part of its history and religion, its tribes and sects. I cannot say this book is the best in this subject, but certainly a must reading.

Fall of a Kingdom (Farsala Trilogy, Book 1)

Average customer rating:

Long-Winded, but an Okay read
A great trilogy
Yes, This Would Be Persia
Great book based on persian myth and Hrum/roman invasion read it!
This is her BEST Work...

Fall of a Kingdom (Farsala Trilogy, Book 1)
Hilari Bell
Manufacturer: Simon Pulse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0689854145

Book Description

Who was Sorahb?

Stories are told of a hero who will come to Farsala's aid when the need is greatest. But for thousands of years the prosperous land of Farsala has felt no such need, as it has enjoyed the peace that comes from being both feared and respected.

Now a new enemy approaches Farsala's borders, one that neither fears nor respects its name and legend. But the rulers of Farsala still believe that they can beat any opponent.

Three young people are less sure of Farsala's invincibility. Jiaan, Soraya, and Kavi see Time's Wheel turning, with Farsala headed toward the Flames of Destruction. What they cannot see is how inextricably their lives are linked to Farsala's fate -- until it's too late.

In Fall of a Kingdom, the first volume of the Farsala Trilogy, Hilari Bell introduces readers to a world of honor, danger, and magic in this spellbinding tale of self-discovery.

Customer Reviews:

Long-Winded, but an Okay read.......2007-08-19

Every time I finish one of the Farsala books, I always think "Wow, these books are great!" And then I start the next in the series and all I can think for the first 300 pages, is "Just get to the ending already! Get to the good part! I have to finish the boring part!...Why did I start this book again?!" The Farsala series are slow to start off (and the beginning lasts for hundreds of pages) but the endings are really fantastic. If you're willing to labor through the first 3/4, the last 1/4 is worth it, but if not, don't read this book. It can also be confusing in the beginning because Hilari Bell introduces three characters at once and if you put the book away for a while in between reads, you can get a little bit confused and lost. If you're really a fan of fictions involving battles, strategic plans, and what happens to citizens during a war, try the book, (maybe borrow it?) because I'm not sure that everyone will be sastisfied at first.
I'm sorry to be so down on the book in general. I really am a Hilari Bell fan (my favorite is The Goblin Wood, my top recommendation), it's just I don't think that this series is her best work.

A great trilogy.......2007-03-27

If you're looking for another great trilogy to read, this is it. It's clean, doesn't slow down, and has great characters. A must read.

Yes, This Would Be Persia.......2006-12-10

However, it would be more like Persia if there were elephants and camels, not foot soldiers. FYI: Persia was a cavalry empire, but had the slow moving "War Elephants" that usually were mounted by pikemen and archers.

Now, to the review. This book is written is the POV of three different characrters. One is the son of the Farsalan army's general. He isn't brother to the general's daughter, another POV, Soraya. Jiaan (the son of the general) is a lot like Jon in the A Song of Ice and Fire Saga, who as well is the son of a mighty politcal powerhouse man. In fact, this book has a lot alike with A Song of Ice and Fire. Kavi, the last of the POVs is a trader who seems ordinary.

The Hrum, however, are not anything like the Romans. Yes, the conquer, but no, they do not have caucasian skin, and no, they don't have golden helmets with mohawks on them.

Appropriateness (for parents):
Violence: 7/10: A large climatic battle with realistic dialogue to what it was really like, plus a death of an important character.
Sexuality: 2/10: Slightly sexual theme.
Profanity: 5/10: Swearing, sometimes strong, insults.

Great book based on persian myth and Hrum/roman invasion read it!.......2006-11-27

The book Fall of a Kingdom by Hilary Bell is an intruiging story based on the Persian myths and the invasion of the Romans. The invincible Farsala is attacked by the ever conquering Hrum and the outcome is quite surprising for the three protagonists, Jiaan, Kavi and Soraya. These teenagers are tested for loyalty, strength, and courage as Farsala's fate unfolds. Agreeing with Tamora Pierce,"An amazing tale of adventure, fear, magic, conquest, and rebellion."In each chapter the point of view switches fromJiaan, Kavi, Soraya, and bits from the myth of the Persian hero Sorhab. Readers will be easily sweapt up into this story. Also, the end is sure to provoke any reader into reading book 2, Rise of a Hero.

This is her BEST Work..........2006-08-28

Hilari Bell wasn't one of my favorite writers really, until this came out. My mom got it for me and so I read it. I was surprised, really that this is was really good! It is as good as Eragon and Eldest, though I wish it had more humor... This book is about a country named Farsala whether fictious or not, I don not know, but then Farsala is in trouble in getting conquered by the mighty Hrum. Trouble is, Everybody thinks that they will be able to ovecome the Hrum. That is there big mistake...

Keys to the Kingdom: The Rise of Michael Eisner and the Fall of Everybody Else

Average customer rating:

digging into disney
Prescient Book
pretty terrible
Not a full view of the man -- which proves the point!
Masters Paints a Grim Picture of Disney's Inner Sanctum

Keys to the Kingdom: The Rise of Michael Eisner and the Fall of Everybody Else
Kim Masters
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0066621097
Release Date: 2001-07-31

Book Description

Like one of the movie moguls of old, Michael Eisner is a titan -- feared, powerful, and almost magically successful. After rising through ABC television and Paramount Pictures, he awoke the sleeping giant of Disney and sent it stomping across the entertainment landscape. But since the tragic death of Frank Wells in a helicopter crash in 1994, he has lacked -- for the first time in his career -- a colleague who could temper his personality.

The result, writes Kim Masters, has been a slide into a Nixonian paranoia and isolation. In The Keys to the Kingdom, Masters crafts a gripping account of this larger-than-life story of larger-than-life hubris, combining an insightful analysis of power in Hollywood with a vivid, deeply researched narrative that brings the personalities, the enmities, and the corporate mayhem to life.

Customer Reviews:

digging into disney.......2005-03-26

A very well written account of the movie business--detailing a lot of the major players. Discussion how decisions are made and how grown men act like little boys most of the time. This industry is ruthless and this book gives the reader on all the inside scoop about how that happens. A fascinating read. The pictures stink but thats ok.

Prescient Book.......2004-04-12

Keys to the Kingdom predicted the current situation at Disney with remarkable accuracy. The insights about Michael Eisner turned out to be right on the mark.

pretty terrible.......2004-02-25

Oh Lord, this book is so unbelievably frustrating....more than any book I've ever read. Eisner, his life and his actions are so completely fascinating and Masters somehow manages to take all this great material and make it mind-numbingly boring...what was she thinking? That you could write a "nuanced" portrait of someone by throwing in hot gossip, sound bites, bits of articles from Time and Newsweek, as well as a bunch of stories that don't remotely relate to the main subject but are "dishy"? There was so much I wanted to know as I read this book, so many questions I had and she didn't answer any of them. Masters discusses Eisner's charm vs. his ruthlessness, she brings up provacative examples of his relationship to his family, his friends and his colleagues, and then steamrolls all of them by emphasizing how "aloof" he is and "imperial." Doesn't she know that when sketching a complicated portrait of someone, you can't just throw a bunch of facts around but you have to maintain interest by putting them TOGETHER to form a PERSPECTIVE, a CONTEXT. Much more time should have been spent on Eisner's days at Disney (rather than the completely gratuitous tales of his time at Paramount, and Star Trek, and Nimoy, and Gene Roddenberry, and Don Simpson, and Barry Diller, and...well you get the picture). I liked the parts about his childhood and his relationship to his parents, they should have been given much more space...but the biggest flaw of this book is the lack of info on the Eisner-Katzenberg relationship. Sure, Masters give plenty of space to financial issues about Katzenberg's bonus, but aside from Wall Street enthusiasts, who the hell cares? She COMPLETELY glosses over the roots of the Eisner-Katzenberg bond, and we never get an idea of WHY IN THE WORLD DID THESE TWO PEOPLE REMAIN TOGETHER FOR 19 YEARS IF THEY WERE SUCH ENEMIES? What held them together? How exactly did they meet? She talks about how Katzenberg was won over, like others, by Eisner's self-deprecating charm and his (Eisner's) confidence in him, about Katzenberg's not-so-great childhood and his problems with his own parents (very vague descriptions there as well) and how Katzenberg constantly "sought Eisner's approval". Why? What did Eisner offer him that no one else did? Why did Katzenberg follow Eisner from Paramount to Disney? She spends a whole lot of time talking (in a dry, Variety-kind-of-way) about the break-up, but the real question she (and other writers) have often missed is NOT why this relationship crashed and burned but why it was born in the first place. Why did Eisner need Katzenberg? Why did Katzenberg become so enamoured with animation, with his role at Disney, with a potential role as Eisner's number 2? These people are not carbon cut-outs, they are people. They are fascinating, complex characters and Masters gives them with about as much focus as subjects of an obituary. She seems more interested in how much money Captain EO lost, how much money Eisner allegedly cheated certain people out of, how much money Eisner paid Michael Ovitz, how much money Katzenberg wanted, how pissed Leonard Nimoy was at Paramount, what a disaster Star Trek: The Motion Picture was to produce. I don't know about you, but I didn't pick that book up to learn about this stuff. It's SO DIFFICULT to really learn about these people (Eisner and Katzenberg) despite their famous "relationship" or "feud" extremely little is really written about their interactions together as people...you have to research a ton of articles to even find out anything...this is such an interesting subject but whatever Master's knows that the rest of us don't, she isn't sharing. Her book (like many articles) unfortunately is pervaded with the "Everyone knows this" kind of tone that drives me nuts...well, I'm not a Hollywood producer, or director, or actor. I've never met either of these people, but that's why I'm interested! People buy books on Spielberg because they're interested, why the hypocricy? Masters book is slanted, glib, gossipy, disorganized, unfocused,and worst of all, insulting to the reader.

Not a full view of the man -- which proves the point!.......2002-10-11

Some may say that Masters' book is biased against Eisner, but she does nothing except reiterate the feelings about him that have been voiced by many others in other forums. Maybe you want to give him the benefit of the doubt, but the duplicity, wishy-washiness, undercutting, second-guessing, micro-management and all around malevolence that is evidenced shows that's pretty much impossible. What we can't figure out is just why he is the way he is? Why does he casually cast aside decades-long friendships? Why doesn't he cultivate relationships with valuable talent instead of alienating them? What is most important to him that would cause him to make some the decisions he does? Eisner seems to be capable of cutting off his nose to spite his face--he fails to do things that would be beneficial to the company's bottom line which is what he claims to be most interested in. It doesn't add up. Still, it is fun reading about the Paramount years, the Katzenberg trial, etc. At this point in time (summer of 2002) when many believe Eisner is in danger of losing his job, this book gives us as much insight as possible as to the inner workings of Eisner's brain.
instead of burning

Masters Paints a Grim Picture of Disney's Inner Sanctum.......2001-09-24

After reading Hit and Run and an excerpt from the this book in Vanity Fair, I couldn't wait to read "Keys to the Kingdom." I was not disappointed. Masters does a fine job of telling Eisner's (and the stories of those around him--Katzenberg, Diller, etc)story. Something about Eisner has always bit a bit unreal--even smarmy at times--and Masters holds nothing back. It isn't always balanced, but overall is fair. The details and stories are terrific--until the last 1/5th of the book. I was engrossed until the story turned the Katzenberg trial--where Masters drowned us in the details. I love details, but at times one needed a road map to keep. Masters is to be commended for a journalistic/insiders account of that dark time for Disney, but wow...I just had a time staying focused. However, on the whole the book is well worth the paper back price. You'll learn how Disney has never really gotten over the death of Frank Wells and why all those executives keep leaving. It is indeed a grim place; Eisner's inner sanctum. It is also another fascinating book.

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The fall of the Hermit Kingdom
Woonsang Choi
Manufacturer: Oceana Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Balance is found

The Rise and Fall of Class in Britain
David Cannadine
Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0231096674

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"Class," the greengrocer's daughter Margaret Thatcher once remarked, "is a Communist concept. It groups people as bundles, and sets them against one another." The notion of social and economic classes has certainly been a durable one, and it has proven useful to not only Communist theoreticians but also historians and social scientists of all stripes. Nowhere does the idea of class seem quite so powerful as in Britain, writes London University historian David Cannadine in this engrossing study: Although his fellow historians there have largely abandoned class analysis in their work, social distinctions and divisions persist and remain powerful. That historians (notably among them the Marxist scholars E. P. Thompson and Eric Hobsbawm) and politicians now prefer to disregard those distinctions, Cannadine believes, is the result of "the shift from the traditional preoccupation with people as collective producers to the alternative notion of people as individual consumers"--the triumph, in other words, of market capitalism. Yet, Cannadine continues, it is through the lens of class that Britons "understand and describe their social worlds," and not through other idealized models. Cannadine examines the work of scholars and political thinkers who have attempted to alter that view, among them Conservative leader Stanley Baldwin, whose "main concern was to change the way the British looked and felt and thought about their society and themselves." However well intentioned, such efforts are doomed to failure, Cannadine argues, and although Tories and Labourites promise a classless society to come, the British view will likely remain class-bound. --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

-- Paul A. Seaver, New York Times Book Review

Although it is widely believed that the British are obsessed with class to a degree unrivaled by any other nation, politicians in Britain are now calling for a "classless society," and scholars are concluding that class does not matter any more. But has class -- once considered the master narrative of British history -- fallen, failed, and been dismissed? In this wholly original and brilliantly argued book, David Cannadine shows that Britons have indeed been preoccupied with class, but in ways that are invariably ignorant and confused. Cannadine sets out to expose this ignorance and banish this confusion by imaginatively examining class itself, not so much as the history of society but as the history of the different ways in which Britons have thought about their society.

Cannadine proposes that "class" may best be understood as a shorthand term for three distinct but abiding ways in which the British have visualized their social worlds and identities: class as "us" versus "them;" class as "upper," "middle," and "lower"; and class as a seamless hierarchy of individual social relations. From the eighteenth through the twentieth century, he traces the ebb and flow of these three ways of viewing British society, unveiling the different purposes each model has served.

Encompassing social, intellectual, and political history, Cannadine uncovers the meanings of class from Adam Smith to Karl Marx to Margaret Thatcher, showing the key moments in which thinking about class shifted, such as the aftermath of the French Revolution and the rise the Labor Party in the early twentieth century. He cogently argues that Marxist attempts to view history in terms of class struggle are often as oversimplified as conservative approaches that deny the central place of class in British life. In conclusion, Cannadine considers whether it is possible or desirable to create a "classless society," a pledge made by John Major that has continued to resonate even after the conservative defeat. Until we know what class really means-and has meant-to the British, we cannot seriously address these questions.

Creative, erudite, and accessible, The Rise and Fall of Class in Britain offers a fresh and engaging perspective on both British history and the crucial topic of class.

Customer Reviews:

Balance is found.......2007-01-02

Class has generally been regarded as too important, or not important enough (depending on political allegiance). Cannadine does well in reviving the idea of class as an historical force, yet through providing a view of it largely independent from presently unpopular versions of Marxian analysis. A must read for Marxists and anti-Marxists alike.

Albert And Victoria: The Rise and Fall of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

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Albert and Victoria: The Rise andFall of the House of Saxe-=Coburg-Gotha

Albert And Victoria: The Rise and Fall of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Edgar Feuchtwanger
Manufacturer: Hambledon & London
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1852854618

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Albert and Victoria: The Rise andFall of the House of Saxe-=Coburg-Gotha.......2007-01-07

For a person who is not familiar with Victoria this would be interesting. However, for me it was a review of facts I already knew, so I was not too impressed with this book.

George Hudson: The Rise and Fall of the Railway King

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George Hudson: The Rise and Fall of the Railway King
A. J. Arnold , and S. McCartney
Manufacturer: Hambledon & London
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

* The Robert Maxwell of the nineteenth century* Victorian England 's greatest capitalist* Brought down by a shareholder 's questionThe building of the railways in Britain in thenineteenth century was the greatest ever industrialundertaking in the world to that time.Financed byprivate enterprise rather than the state,the schemesto build new lines were characterised both by theirambition and by their need for huge amounts ofcapital.The most ambitious of all of the individualentrepreneurs,and for long the most successful,was George Hudson,the 'Railway King ',whoseestablishment of York as the hub of an ever-growingnetwork of lines brought him huge wealth andgreat fame.Already a wealthy businessman and Lord Mayor ofYork before the advent of the railways,Hudsonseized the opportunity they presented with bothhands.He became an MP,lived in style andentertained lavishly.While his early lines wereprofitable,later ones were not.Ever more deeplycommitted,at a time when accounting standardswere lax,he hid inconvenient figures until broughtdown by a question at a shareholders 'meeting in1849.Disgraced,he fled to the Continent,hisname synonymous with fraudulent capitalism at itsmost brazen.This new biography is the fullestexamination to date of an extraordinary and complexman and his career.

Sinister Twilight: The Fall of Singapore

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Debacle

Sinister Twilight: The Fall of Singapore
Noel Barber
Manufacturer: Cassell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Japan | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0304364371

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Filled with drama, this classic account follows every step that led to the disastrous fall of Singapore to the Japanese in February 1942. The Japanese army, though outnumbered by 20,000 men, defeated the British only one week after the actual assault began. "Fortress" Singapore turned out to be nothing of the sort, with its defenders ill prepared and complacent. It was all too ripe for handing Japan its second victory of the war after Hong Kong.

Customer Reviews:

Debacle.......2004-06-15

For anyone living outside the former British Empire, it is virtually impossible to describe the calamitous psychological impact of the loss of Singapore in 1942. Winston Churchill had touted Singapore as the Gibraltar of the East; it was imagined to be impregnable, yet it was overwhelmed in a relative heartbeat by the Imperial Japanese Army, which rapidly advanced through Malaya (sometimes even by bicycle). Indeed, once the Japanese reached the island of Singapore itself, their main problem was that they had overrun their supply lines and were almost out of ammunition. Much has been made of the "complacency" on the British side that led to the debacle; the simple truth is that Singapore was only ever a trading post, that its defenses were more imaginary than real and that the local British and Australian troops, when put to the test, defended themselves very bravely. Barber paints a vivid picture of the pre-war Singapore, a place where English families would travel down to the same shop every week for Streets Ice Cream; where pink gin was lovingly poured at the clubs; where "There'll Always be an England" was sung on Sundays. Plainly Barber is in love with Singapore's history (as his other books on Singapore attest); from that perspective he conveys the sting of defeat just that more sharply.

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