Book Description
Trough the prism of the tumultuous life and brilliant intellect of Sir Christopher Wren, the multitalented architect of Saint Paul's Cathedral in London, historian Lisa Jardine unfolds the vibrant, extraordinary emerging new world of late-seventeenth-century science and ideas.
The man behind the bold, imposing beauty of Saint Paul's was as remarkable as the monuments he has left us. Wren was a versatile genius who could have pursued a number of brilliant careers with equal virtuosity. A mathematical prodigy, an accomplished astronomer, a skillful anatomist, and a founder of the Royal Society, he eventually made a career in what he described disparagingly in later life as "Rubbish " -- architecture, and the design and construction of public buildings.
Wren was a major figure at a turning point in English history. He mapped moons and the trajectories of comets for kings; lived and worked under six monarchs; pursued astronomy and medicine during two civil wars; exercised his creativity through the English Commonwealth, the Great Fire, the Restoration. His royal employment out lasted abdication, Dutch invasion, and the eventual extinction of the Stuart dynasty.
Beyond the public achievements, Jardine explores Wren's personal motivations and passions. He was a sincere, intensely moral man with a remarkable capacity for friendship. His career was shaped by lasting associations forged during a turbulent boyhood and a lifelong loyalty to the memory of his father's master and benefactor, the "martyred king," Charles I.
Everything Wren undertook, he envisaged on a grander scale -- bigger, better, more enduring than anything that had gone before.
Customer Reviews:
Well researched but trivial.......2005-05-17
I admit that I approached this book hoping for more info about his architecture and scientific thinking. And also admittedly, the author straight off the bat says that if you are looking for pure architecture on Wren look at another book, or pure scientific theories of Wren also look at another book. However, I was hoping for a middle ground. The book delves more into the turbulence of the times and how that affected young Wren's monetary standing. Lots of info about minor characters. Lots of overly long and redundant quotes from archaicly written (obviously) source materials that the author has to paraphrase almost word for word after the quote. But very little info about the science or the architecture.
on a grander scale.......2005-03-08
the author has obviously researched this great man's life thoroughly. unfortunately, she has so much to say it comes tumbling down onto the pages in the form of a poorly edited - if it was edited at all - work. it is impeded by a maddening amount of sentences aborted by " ( ) " and " - " to the point some sentences are so disjointed it is necessary to re read them to figure out where a sentence was headed before it got short circuited. some additions of this type can be informative, most are not. footnotes could have helped saved what could have been a great work on a great man by a great author. instead, it often reads as a mass of annoying self-interruptions and break up of sentence continuity.
ýreader if you require a monument, look around youý.......2003-11-29
"reader if you require a monument, look around you" (inscription of the plaque at Wren's tomb)
Sir Christopher Wren was born to a life of privilege that evaporated when Charles I was deposed. His father was Order of the Garter. Suddenly his family was in danger of losing life as well as property. These were Wren's student years. During this period Wren became pragmatic, and he survived.
It was the Restoration of Charles II to the throne of England that restored the fortunes of the Wren family. Too late for the father, but at precisely the right moment for the son. Charles II restored the monarchy, and restored the fortunes of Wren. The Restoration was an extraordinary period.
Wren was a Renaissance man, best known for his architecture, in particular St. Paul's Cathedral. But Wren also "mapped moons and the trajectories of comets" He "pursued astronomy and medicine during two civil wars."
This is a scholarly biography, and not light beach reading. Lisa Jardine's 85 pages of notes and an eighteen page bibliography may give some insight into how seriously she has taken her subject. On a Grander Scale is a detailed report on a fascinating time in England's history and one of the men that made it so. It is well done, accurate, and intellectually stimulating.
Christopher Wren and Contemporaries.......2003-03-06
Writer Lisa Jardine has written a very interesting book about Sir Christopher Wren and the extraordinary 91 years of life he lead. Even when you allow for the nearly century long life of this man it is still amazing the scope of what he accomplished, and how much more of his work we would enjoy today if it had been finished. Sir Wren served a variety of Monarchs, all who wanted to place their own mark upon London, and this often lead to his projects being delayed, stopped in the midst of their development or never getting off the pages he created them upon.
This book is not a traditional biography that focuses exclusively on the primary individual and only touches on his peers when appropriate. Lisa Jardine explores in varying detail, at times very carefully, the lives of the men that were contemporaries of Sir Wren. These detours will be welcome by those who already are well educated as to who Sir Wren was and what he did. If you are picking up this book for an in depth view of this man alone, this book will not satisfy your goal. An example that literally illustrates my point is the 16 color plates that are to be found in the book. Only 3 pages are dedicated to his architectural drawings, as many are dedicated to documents that bear only his signature, and more are dedicated to portraits of the royal heads of state he served together with portraits of their children. The same can be said for many of the black and white reproductions throughout the book, they are primarily of his peers, friends, and at times his adversaries. There are contemporary photographs of some of the churches he reconstructed with mention of the architectural sleights of hand that were used to make the buildings appear to the eye differently than they actually sat on the site. But the details are not shown, simply the building, I wanted the details.
The author also spends a great deal of time on the order of The Knights of the Garter. This is a fascinating subject and group of people that has catalyzed entire books on its own. In this work it again occupies color plates that I would have like to have seen occupied by Sir Wren's work, I did not need to see the front page of a book about the society that was not even written by Sir Wren. There was also a style employed by the author that at times, while very accurate, was redundant. Lisa Jardine would describe an event, for example between Sir Wren and a friend; she would then place the original letter that would once again explain what she had just told the reader. Now reading the original source material is interesting, but in a 483 page book that purports to cover the 91 year life of one of History's noted personages, once this additional material is subtracted together with all the photos and images that are not of Sir Wren and his work, the amount of the book dedicated to the man and his work is substantially less than the whole.
I enjoyed the book but it is not a book that after a reader completes it, will set it down and feel they have a good understanding of the marvels he created for London and its Royal Families. His life was too long, too complex, and too varied in its pursuits to crowd his story with so much material on others. There is no reason the 16 pages of color plates could not have been devoted to his work, I did not need to see the children of kings and queens. I wanted to see his buildings and his architectural drawings that are beautiful art by themselves.
By all means read and enjoy this book, it will certainly cause you too seek out more reading on one of the ore remarkable men to have even inhabited London, and to have placed his mark on History.
Absolutely Terrific!.......2003-03-02
Christopher Wren, didn't he rebuild St. Paul's after the Great Fire. Yes, he did that--and rebuilt all those parish churches too. We all know that.
But, who knew that is father was the Dean of St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and, in that capacity hid the records of the Order of the Garter during the Cromwell period?
Who knew that he helped to found the Royal Society (for the advancement of science)? That he was at one time a professor of astronomy.
In an age where half those born did not reach their first birthday, Christopher Wren, lived to be 91 years old. His achievements were monumental (pun intended) but they want far beyond the architecture we know about (which in his old age he referred to as "rubbish").
His was an astounding life. This book is well researched and superbly written. After reading this one, I went out and bought the author's life of Jane Austen (of course from Amazon).
Kudo's to the author and you all go out and buy (and read) this one!
Book Description
A distinguished former foreign correspondent embraces retirement by setting out alone on foot for nearly four hundred miles, and explores a side of America nearly as exotic as the locales from which he once filed.
Traveling with an unwieldy pack and a keen curiosity, Christopher Wren bids farewell to the New York Times newsroom in midtown Manhattan and saunters up Broadway, through Harlem, the Bronx, and the affluent New York suburbs of Westchester and Putnam Counties. As his trek takes him into the Housatonic River Valley of Connecticut, the Berkshires of Massachusetts, the Green Mountains of Vermont, and along a bucolic riverbank in New Hampshire, the strenuous challenges become as much emotional as physical.
Wren loses his way in a suburban thicket of million-dollar mansions, dodges speeding motorists, seeks serenity at a convent, shivers through a rainy night among Shaker ruins, camps in a stranger's backyard, panhandles cookies and water from a good samaritan, absorbs the lore of the Appalachian and Long Trails, sweats up and down mountains, and lands in a hospital emergency room.
Struggling under the weight of a fifty-pound pack, he gripes, "We might grow less addicted to stuff if everything we bought had to be carried on our backs." He hangs out with fellow wanderers named Old Rabbit, Flash, Gatorman, Stray Dog, and Buzzard, and learns gratitude from the anonymous charity of trail angels. His rite of passage into retirement, with its heat and dust and blisters galore, evokes vivid reminiscences of earlier risks taken, sometimes at gunpoint, during his years spent reporting from Russia, China, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, South America, and Africa.
He loses track of time, waking with the sun, stopping to eat when hunger gnaws, and camping under starry skies that transform the nights of solitude. For all the self-inflicted hardship, he reports, "In fact, I felt pretty good." Wren has woven an intensely personal story that is candid and often downright hilarious. As Vermont turns from a destination into a state of mind, he concludes, "I had stumbled upon the secret of how utterly irrelevant chronological age is."
This book, from the author of the acclaimed bestseller The Cat Who Covered the World, will delight not just hikers, walkers, and other lovers of the outdoors, but also anyone who contemplates retirement, wonders about foreign correspondents, or relishes a lively, off-beat adventure, even when it unfolds close to home.
Customer Reviews:
No denial here, it's a good read!.......2007-03-05
I have yet to hike the Appalachian trail, and I'm only 41, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author has some wisdom well worth sharing, as well as a very candid view of his experience. I didn't feel he was in denial at all. Rather, he was realizing that 65 isn't so old, after all. This book is about the physical AND emotional journey into retirement. If you are interested in human nature as well as mother nature, chances are you will enjoy it. I gave it 5 stars to make up for some of those 2 star submissions. I've given it to my Mom, who has read it and enjoyed it and plans to give it to my sister. I wouldn't be surprised if it makes it's way to my Dad after that ... Enjoy.
Walk to Vermont.......2006-11-29
This book started out slow, but it really picks up and is an interesting read, especially when the author hits the Appalachian Trail. I found it hard to put down the book at that point.
Worthy Addition.......2006-02-03
"Walking to Vermont" is a worthy addition to anyone who collects, reads, and enjoys books on the culture of walking. I especially enjoyed it because it is also a worthy addition to literature related to the Appalachian Trail, and sits on my bookshelf besides Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods", Emblidge's "Appalachian Trail Reader" and Hall's "A Journey North."
This is not a book of discovery -- Mr. Wren knows who he is and is comfortable in his own shoes (but perhaps not his socks). The story reads like both a narrative and a memoir, as Mr. Wren recounts events and stories collected in a life as a foreign correspondent.
Fans of the Appalachian Trail and of the literature associated with it will be very familiar with the themes: trail magic, trail angels, trail names, and the wonderful people that make up the hiking culture.
I have been to the Hanover Ben and Jerry's and have never had a "White Blaze." I will protect my source on who informed me about it, however...
Not over the hill yet.......2005-02-02
A good book for those who are interested in nature, human and otherwise. At age 65, this New York Times foreign correspondent walks out of the Times building and just keeps on walking. Four hundred miles and five weeks later, he is at home in Vermont. This book chronicles the ups and downs, humanly and geographically, as he hoofs his way on New York city streets, over highways, under bridges, through towns and villages, over the Appalachian Trail, arriving home just in time to feed the cats. Henry David Thoreau is his philosophical mentor as he ponders things like the best way to carry a backpack, filter your water, boil your oatmeal, keep the mosquitoes away, pamper aches and pains, and decide upon a suitable trail name. Along the way he meets an interesting variety of fellow travelers, most walking for reasons that go way beyond just exercise. Civilization is never far away, and the author meets up occasionally with his wife and friends, when he forsakes the Daniel Boone lifestyle for that of the aging jet-setter dining in an exclusive restaurant. He admits that after these respites he is glad to hit the lonely trail again. During the book the reader is treated to gentle flashbacks that reveal Wren's adventurous career as a reporter in Russia, China, the Middle East, and other exotic locales. These recollections seem a bit shoehorned in, but they are necessary to understand how far the author has come. After what he has seen in his life, a hike of four hundred miles is just a walk in the woods. Those like me who are generally the same age as Wren will find the book a nice reminder that we're not over the hill yet. Wren says, "Life seems sweeter once you accept that it cannot endure. The best part of growing old is that welcome relief from being merely young." Great stuff for a graying head! Upon finishing the book, I went out for a good, long walk. But I'll be back for supper.
A JAUNT OF GREAT PROPORTIONS.......2004-09-03
I would call this a quiet book; pleasant storytelling with rippling rhythms of then and now. The author is a retired N.Y. Times foreign correspondent who attends his retirement party in Manhattan and then the next day starts walking to Vermont (near Hanover) where he is going to live. He walks on the Appalachian Trail where the distance is almost 400 miles and he accomplishes this in 5 weeks moving through 5 states. He tells of his experiences while on the trail with frequent interjections of incidences overseas while doing his work for his newspaper. I feel he could have elaborated more about his overseas experiences as they were interesting, but they took up from one paragraph to one page...oh well, I guess that is another book. He meets some interesting characters on the way, but because of the nature of his quest, nothing is permanent. I thought he hiked in a most sensible manner as every so often he would rent a motel/cabin, get a good meal in a local cafe, and take a shower/bath to clean off all the accumulated crud, and stop in to see past friends in their homes (which were on the way) and stay for a day or two. He accomplished lhis goal and derived great satisfaction in doing so and then wrote a book about it.
Average customer rating:
- Uneven but extremely useful
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The City Churches of Sir Christopher Wren
Paul Jeffrey
Manufacturer: Hambledon & London
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1852851422 |
Book Description
The Great Fire of 1666 devastated the centre of London, with a loss of old St. Paul's and eighty-six parish churches. Sir Christopher Wren, working with Commissioners appointed by Parliament, was responsible for rebuilding the cathedral and fifty-one of the parish churches, although the immediate need to start rebuilding made his design for an overall replanning of the City impossible. The work was funded by a tax on coals brought into the City of London.Much has been written about Wren's rebuilding of St. Paul's, far less about the other City churches, the principal subject of this book: this is indeed the first modern book to examine them as a whole. Paul Jeffery describes how and when the churches were built, exploring the respective contributions of Wren and of his two principal assistants, Robert Hooke and Nicholas Hawksmoor. Working from the surviving drawings and records and from the evidence of the churches, he explains the principal features common to the churches and their individual features. The result of the work was a unique set of contemporary churches. While not all are of the standard of Wren's masterpieces, such as St. Stephen Walbrook and St Bride's, none is without architectural merit and interest. The second part of the book is a gazetteer of all the churches, including those that no longer exist. The book is heavily illustrated and provides a visual record of all the churches.Since they were built the Wren churches have suffered steady losses. St. Christopher-le-Stocks was demolished in 1782 to make way for the Bank of England. Others, such as St Dionis Backchurch and St. Antholin Budge Row, were lost to Victorian parish rationalisation. Many were destroyed or badly damaged in the Second World War. Only twenty-three of the original fifty-one remain. These are now under threat again, with the Templeman Report's proposal that only four of the existing churches (none by Wren) should be retained as parish churches. They provide a test case of conservation, sitting as they do in the middle of the City of London. The City Churches of Sir Christopher Wren presents a clear case both for their importance and for their preservation.
Customer Reviews:
Uneven but extremely useful.......2001-06-26
St. Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside, St. Bride, Fleet Street and St. Stephen Walbrook (the 'dress rehersal for St. Paul's Cathedral') are familiar to most Londoners; their elaborate spires, now hemmed in by ugly office-blocks, spatter the horizons of tidy panoramas of 18th century London by Canaletto and Samuel Scott. Every one of these - with maybe the exception of St. Martin Ludgate - was gutted during the Second World War, by which time many of their pews, reredos and glass had been ousted in favour of convenient but sytlistically incongruent fittings. St. Dunstan-in-the-East, not exclusive in Wren's oeuvre as an exercise in 'Gothick' architecture (in spirit rather than in form), is now a pretty free-standing tower looming over a formal garden. St. Mary Aldermanbury was rebuilt in Wisconsin, whilst St. Michael Bassishaw, and St. Christopher-le-Stocks (to name but two) survive only as drawings and descriptions. Jeffery's 'City Churches of Sir Christopher Wren' is an affordable, nicely produced survey of the 52 London churches built from 1670 to replace those gutted during the Great Fire in 1666. After several discursive essays on design, attribution, fittings and other aspects of their conception, Jeffrey provides an expansive gazetter of each church.
His objective is - as he states in his introduction - to present a case for the conservation of the 20-odd churches that remain, whilst addressing aspects of authorship and parochial history relevant to the particular buildings. For those who find the twenty volumes of the exhaustive (and undigested) Wren Society journals daunting and (in the case of most copies accessable) rather fragile, Jeffery's parochial histories and surveys of expenses, craftsmen and subsequent renovations to the churches are brief, concise, and specific. The photographs and engravings included (as appropriate) are eloquent and printed to a high standard. Furthermore, plans (some in Jerrery's own hand) of churches of which little information can be milked (St. Olave Jewry, St. Matthew Friday Street and St. Mary Woolnoth before Hawksmoor replaced it, etc.) are included with each entry in the gazetter, and this section is the author's finest; but his excursions in problems of authorship give frequent pause for thought.
The attribution of St. Paul, Benet's Wharf, and St. Edmund the King to Robert Hooke is reasonably well established: the elevation of the recessed ranges of Bethlehem Hospital and the east and west elevations of Ramsbury Manor are sufficiently close in detail to identify Hooke as the probable author. Furthermore, the similarity of St. Martin Ludgate to St. Edmund means that Hooke's oeuvre is more elastic than one might have anticipated. However, the oblique and hazy attribution of the steeple of St. Mary-le-Bow to Hawksmoor is, quite simply, unhistorical: a drawing by Hawksmoor for the church (complete with an unbuilt three-bay brick loggia with stone coigns and pilasters) is not sufficient ground for the attribution that Jeffery implies. Furthermore, the delegation of 'thirds' of the city to respective surveyors (which has some documentary support) contradicts Jeffery's own conclusion that autograph works by Wren are largely concentrated in the north and west of the city. This would account for St. Clement Danes and St. James Picadilly (whose authorship has never been doubted), but the churches grouped far further east (around St. Vedast, Foster Lane, and St. Lawrence Jewry) are similarly attributed to Wren in other studies on what seem sound traditions. Jeffery does not delve into stylistic analysis to a sufficient degree to play with questions of this sort, and the results he presents should be treated with caution.
As a book that pleads for the conservation of these sometimes crude, ugly or obscure but consistently fascinating and diverse churches, The 'City Churches' succeeds. Thomas Archer's vast Westminster church, St. John, Smith Square, is at present a concert hall; similarly, Wren's St. Magnus the Martyr, whose rusting iron cramps are staining the coursed rubble masonry at the east-end, has been relegated the status of an uninteresting, decaying hybrid wedged onto a narrow site. Jefferys study underlines - in its imperfect but worthwhile scholarship - that the City Churches of Sir Christopher Wren, despite mutilation and neglect (All Hallows, Lombard Street, was pulled down, in the face of fairly serious disgust, as recently as 1938), continue to warrant study and are of considerable architectural interest.
Amazon.com
"If you seek his monument, look around," commands Adrian Tinniswood in his scholarly but elegantly entertaining biography of Christopher Wren (1632-1723). "As an architect, he changed the face of England and the course of architectural history." Tinniswood describes with appreciation and discernment Wren's greatest buildings: "the bubble of unexampled lightness that is St. Stephen Walbrook" church, the additions to Hampton Court, and of course London's majestic St. Paul's Cathedral, a symbol of British faith and courage throughout the centuries. These structures were political as well as architectural achievements, and Tinniswood nicely captures the discretion, ruthlessness, and carefully cultivated connections that enabled Wren to survive the Civil War, get himself named Royal Surveyor, hang on to the job under five monarchs, and get designs approved and money wheedled out of a reluctant parliament. Tinniswood pays equally intelligent attention to Wren's early career as an esteemed Oxford astronomy professor and charter member of the Royal Society (and its president from 1681-3). He writes wittily about the quirks of Wren and such peers as Newton and Bernini, capturing the intensely personal nature of 17th-century public culture, and he (sparingly) offers his opinions in a way that enhances our understanding of the period. "I want my heroes to be people, not ideas," Tinniswood writes, after describing a squabble at the Royal Society. This sparkling biography reveals Wren as a human being without detracting from the heroic nature of his accomplishments. --Wendy Smith
Book Description
In His Invention So Fertile, Adrian Tinniswood offers the first biography of Christopher Wren in a generation. It is a book that reveals the full depth of Wren's multifaceted genius, not only as one of the greatest architects who ever lived--the designer of St. Paul's Cathedral--but as an influential seventeenth-century scientist. Tinniswood writes with insight and flair as he follows Wren from Wadham College, Oxford, through the turmoil of the English Civil War, to his role in helping to found the Royal Society--the intellectual and scientific heart of seventeenth-century England. The reader discovers that the great architect was initially an astronomer who was also deeply interested in medicine, physics, and mathematics. Family connections pulled him into architecture, with a commission to restore the chapel at Pembroke College, Cambridge. Tinniswood deftly follows Wren's rise as architect, capturing the atmosphere of Restoration London, as old Royalists scrambled for sinecures from Charles II and Wren learned the art of political infighting at court, finally becoming Surveyor of the Royal Works-the King's engineer. Most important, the author recounts the intriguing story of the building of St. Paul's. The Great Fire of 1666--vividly recreated in Tinniswood's narrative--left London a smoldering husk. Wren played a central role in reshaping the city, culminating with St. Paul's, his masterpiece--though he had to steer between King and cathedral authorities to get his radical, domed design built. As the Enlightenment dawned in England, Wren's magnificent dome rose above London, soon to become an icon of London and world architecture. One of the most influential architects in history, Christopher Wren comes vividly to life in this fittingly grand biography.
Customer Reviews:
By his deeds shall a man be known.......2002-04-21
Sir Christopher Wren has earned his reputation as a man of great learning and marvelous architectural works. He is therefore entitled to another book devoted to his lifework and HIS INVENTION SO FERTILE is just that. Adrian Tinniswood's "A Life of Christopher Wren" offers a well researched and finely detailed picture of the architectural legacy of Wren and his equally impressive, but lesser known work as an inventor, astronomer, and scientist. As a straight biography of the man - his thoughts and ideas and his family life - the book is a little sketchy. Unlike his friend John Evelyn and Samuel Pepys, Wren was no diarist. He in fact had very little to say about himself, his family, or the times in which he lived. When a biographer says that this is "a man you would give a great deal to know" you get a clear sense of the frustration Tinniswood faced in unearthing biographical details on Wren.
There is still of course quite a story to tell. Wren was born in 1632 and since his father was King's Chaplain at Windsor Castle one of little Christopher's playmates was the young Prince Charles (later Charles II). By the time Wren was 17 he had invented a pneumatic engine and a machine that wrote in the dark. His early interest was in astronomy and he made sundials and created a model of the Solar System. Wren tested the effectiveness of opium as an anaesthetic for prolonged surgery. This is where Tinniswood begins his book and I'd recommend skimming through the unpleasant description of experiments on a dog. A point that Tinniswood brings across, with Wren as a classic example, is that this was a time of knowledge as something whole. Learning was enlightenment in many subjects. Wren distinguished himself in mathematics, physics, medicine, and astronomy. In 1661, Wren not yet 30, was made professor of Astronomy at Oxford. Tinniswood highlights another interesting point about the general historical setting. How is it that this "fertile" period of great scientific discovery and expanding intellectual horizons coexisted with a time of civil war and massive political upheaval? The 1640's in England was a time of parliamentary revolt, a King (Charles I) losing his head - literally, and the rise of Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell represented a significant threat to Royalists such as Wren and his family. When the Restoration of the monarchy was achieved and Charles II took the throne, Wren was in a perfect position to benefit from the application of his "formidable intellect" in the service of his friend the King. Shortly after Wren and others formed a society for the study of science Charles II gave it a Royal Charter in 1661, and thus the Royal Society of London was created.
The main substance of the book and the work for which we best know Wren - his architecture - we now see as simply just another career for Wren. The first building he designed was the chapel for Pembroke College, Cambridge but the work that was to stand him in good stead a few years later was his dome for the Sheldonian Theatre at Oxford. For this he studied Michelangelo's drawings for the dome of St Peter's in Rome, and Wren went to Paris in 1665 to look at Lemercier's Baroque style dome at the church of the Sorbonne. Wren was again fortuitously placed to benefit when following the Great Fire of London in 1666, thousands of houses, over 50 churches, and a significant landmark were destroyed. John Evelyn said it best in his diary "I was infinitely concerned to find that goodly church, St Paul's, a sad ruin..." Because Wren was so quick on the draw with a post-fire plan for a redesigned St Paul's, there has always been a rumour that Wren himself may have started the fire. Tinniswood does not fan the flame of that falsehood at all.
After the task of surveying the fire damage was completed Wren submitted a plan for the redesign of not just St Paul's but of great sections of London. The Rebuilding act of 1667 set some things in place such as wider streets but only a few elements of the city plan were accepted. Even with St Paul's, Wren had to submit many designs. Tinniswood goes into detail on the "First Model", the "Great Model" and the finally accepted "Warrant Design" which incorporated a Latin Cross layout with a large dome. Any architect reading these descriptions will be on familiar ground. Some aspects of the profession such as constantly modifying plans, negotiating and compromise, all have a very old history.
Readers who enjoy history, science, and of course architecture will thoroughly enjoy this book. Given that it's a biography it's surprising that those are the fans who'll probably be disappointed. There's nothing new here about Wren the man and what we already know is not much. Look to his work instead; it says a lot that words alone can't express.
An Architect, and More.......2001-12-25
In London, within St. Paul's Cathedral, one can find possibly the most famous epitaph in the world. In Latin, it says, "Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you." Within the crypt is the architect of St. Paul's, and what a monument he has, and how fitting. But it is not hard, even oceans away from England, to look around and find something that Wren affected. One of the great lessons of the fascinating _His Invention So Fertile: A Life of Christopher Wren_ (Oxford University Press) by Adrian Tinniswood is that Wren is not St. Paul's, although the cathedral may be regarded as the centerpiece of his life. He was not even merely an architect. Wren's astonishingly comprehensive genius reached into many fields, and he was an advocate to encourage the way we do science in the modern world.
It was obvious when Wren entered Wadham College at Oxford as a seventeen year old in 1649 that he had a mind directed toward inquiry and practicality - his favorite activity was designing sundials. The two impulses would continue throughout his long life. The "new science" of Francis Bacon was showing that experimentation was better than Aristotle at showing how the universe worked, and as a scientist, not as a builder, Wren initially found fame. He made discoveries in astronomy and anatomy, and showed practical insights into lens grinding, water pumps, weaving, and submarine navigation. He was a founding member of the Royal Society which propelled science forward in England in the ensuing centuries. It is not surprising that this many-sided man would take an interest in architecture. When London burned in 1666, he was the first with a plan to rebuild the city (nine days after the fire), and although the plan was too ambitious, its centerpiece, the new St. Paul's, became his to work on for over three decades. He had one chapel finished in Cambridge at the time, and a theater under construction in Oxford; before he was appointed architect of St. Paul's, this was his entire architectural portfolio.
Tinniswood has given us a big, thorough biography of an imposing intellect. The facts of Wren's endeavors must remain as the only real illumination to his personality, because much of his personal life is hidden. He died at age 91, and had many fights with lesser minds in order to bring his vision of St. Paul's into being. He succeeded, but it might have been that the battles made him look back with regret as death approached. He concluded that by being appointed Surveyor General he had been condemned "to spend all his time in Rubbish." He mean such rubbish as the Royal Hospitals at Greenwich and Chelsea, the Trinity College library, or the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. At the end he lamented that he had eventually let architecture sap his time from being a professional scientist. Wren did leave behind a scientific legacy, and one cannot second guess history, but read this fine biography and know that he made the right choice.
Extremely readable account of England's most famous architec.......2001-12-15
Tinniswood's new book is the first of a string of new biographies of Wren due out over the next few years. Tinniswood is a writer first and a historian second and he was succeeded in producing a book that is undoubtedly highly readable. The tone is as a colleague described, positively conspiratorial and the reader is seduced into turning each of the 463 pages to find out what happens next. This is thoroughly admirable and there is no doubt that Tinniswood has succeeded in his aim of producing the most readable account of Wren's life to date. He is also extremely good at setting the scene, quoting from a wide range of sources from the period, rumour as well as fact. In view of all this it thus seems almost carping to comment on the scholarship but as people will inevitably use such a good book as a source for Wren I think it is justified. Tinniswood himself says in the foreword that he relies heavily on the Wren Society, yet this is now out of date. His facts are unreliable and students should beware. Moreover the truth is often sacrificed at the altar of readability so that in those places where there is considerable doubt, such as Christopher's son's mental handicap, the arguments for and against are not mentioned, one side being presented as gospel. All this said if asked to recommend a single volume introduction to Wren, I would cite this one. There are few writers that have managed to capture the excitement of Wren and none are likely to be as accessible to the modern reader.
Book Description
A column of Legionaires finds one of their fortresses manned by dead men. It looks like one of his own troops killed the sergeant. Who could have done it?
A flashback then unravels the mystery of the three English Geste brothers. After confessing to jewel theft they enlist in the French Foreign Legion. Sent to North Africa, the brothers encounter a tyrannical sergeant and the tale unfolds.
"One of the great classics of romantic, mysterious adventure fiction." (B-O-T Editorial Review Board)
Customer Reviews:
classic adventure tale.......2007-10-10
This is an adventure story in the truest sense. The exotic regions of Africa occupied by France are brought in straightaway, though the first part of the tale doesn't seem as engaging as the rest. Slowly, a mystery is described involving a bizarre scene at a fort. The story flashes back to England where the cast of characters is introduced. A jewel theft is seen to be the catalyst for the move to Africa. Some portions at Brandon Abbas drag on slightly, but the Gestes eventually find themselves in the Foreign Legion. The culture of this group, as well as that of Africa, is fascinating. They seem to eat soup for every meal. Breakfast and dinner are distinguished with coffee at one and un demi-litre du vin at the other. More interesting fellows come into the story. There are two Americans who seem to have a drawl. Their manner of speaking is a little difficult to follow and almost comical, but I suppose it's forgivable. When the gentlemen find themselves on their first assignment, things begin to move faster. Treachery and loyalty become issues and then an assault gets everyone's attention. There are some tragedies, but the pace is enough to keep the reader moving along, anxious to see what transpires. The last part of the book covers several years. It is sad that not more is written of this period of wandering through the desert interacting with the different tribes. Much of the culture of desert dwellers is explored and is very enjoyable to read. One tribe has a community in a nearly impregnable fortress. Their only worry is when they are forced to travel into the desert to meet and trade with other tribes. Sacrifice and strength play large roles. The ending was fine, though I feel that Beau Ideal had a better twist. The mix of languages is appealing and the writing style flows fairly well. This is a great story with all the necessary ingredients.
A good yarn for juvenile readers.......2006-06-01
Children of all ages who love yarns about the French Foreign Legion ought to try the granddaddy of all such books, UNDER TWO FLAGS, a classic 1867 adventure novel by "Ouida", pseudonym of the English novelist Marie-Louise de la Ramýe, 1839-1908.
ISBN: 0192823280
Excellent Story on Romance and Adventure.......2006-02-05
"Beau Geste" is among the best fiction books that I have ever read. I first read the book in secondary school and it had a powerful and enduring effect upon me. I was so thrilled by the lofty ideals and values of loyalty, devotion, honour and duty displayed by the three Geste brothers, following the disappearance of the Blue Water sapphire.
When the Blue Water disappeared, each of the three Geste brothers confessed to having stolen it so as to protect the others. They then all proceeded to go and join the French Foreign Legion. The adventure then unfolds in its gory and moving detail. This is where the author demonstrates his genius in weaving a brilliant and moving adventure story that has withstood the test of time and has been enjoyed by several generations
I have read the book several times over the years but still get moved by this romantic and adventure story. I am always intrigued by the concept of the French Foreign Legion which was comprised of people of all nations where one did not need to reveal their true identity.
I highly recommend this exceptional book to anyone who loves adventure stories and those yearning to understand the values of honour, dignity, devotion, love, loyalty and bravery of yesteryear which are a rarity in these days of individual rights with no responsibilities.
Fantastic.......2005-12-22
The book was written so brilliantly. It was almost like reading poetry at times. Just the way Wren managed to convey his ideas with the right words was incredible. I highly suggest this book for people intrested in romance and war. A well rounded book. I only wish there were more books like this about the French Legionnary
Without a Doubt the Best Adventure Story Ever Written.......2005-08-19
I remember getting this book for Christmas as a child and thinking, "oh great another boring book my parents want me to read to instill a habit of reading". For whatever reason though, that night I decided to read the first chapter. Needless to say, I didn't put it down till I finished it. I still recall the chills in my spine when Lawrence tells of Beaujolais arrival the the fort.
The book is written so wittily and with humor that even the dullest of parts are fascinating.
This book inspired me to do my 10th grade term paper on the FFL which I still would like to join someday. I recommend the two 'sequels' also, though they definitely lack the thrill of Geste. If you like the writing style though, pick them up (if you can find them. I searched for a long time).
Amazon.com
There are plenty of entertaining stories written about the public mishaps and accomplishments of dogs; they are social animals and can play highly public roles in everything from television sitcoms to real-life emergency situations. The cat, as feline admirers will not hesitate to agree, is more select in its level of tolerance for lowly humans, and thus few true stories are told that revolve around cats in public life. And then there's Henrietta.
Christopher Wren belonged to Henrietta the cat, and Christopher Wren travels far and wide in his work as a foreign news correspondent. Of course Henrietta insisted on being brought along to Moscow, Paris, Beijing, Tokyo, and all the other cities the Wrens visited. And of course Henrietta got into all sorts of scrapes--cats can cause enough trouble right in their own living rooms! The Cat Who Covered the World is a tremendously entertaining memoir and travelogue, covering 17 years in the life of a busy cat and her accommodating family. Wherever she went, she charmed, and tales of flight attendants bestowing free portions of salmon mousse and Italian taxi drivers blowing kisses into her cage while ignoring the traffic are intertwined with more typical cat stories of sudden escapes into fields, food stealing, and incessant yowling at inappropriate times. For this book, Wren sets aside his investigations and simply enjoys, culling quotes about cats from Mark Twain, Christopher Smart, Deng Xiaoping, and Herodotus for a bit of added depth. His conclusion about the cat/journalist relationship will have all feline fanciers smiling in agreement: "I have met enough celebrity journalists whose smug self-importance might have been ameliorated or corrected altogether by the ownership of a couple of cats." --Jill Lightner
Book Description
Henrietta was an ordinary New York City cat until she ventured overseas with foreign correspondent Christopher S. Wren and his wife and children. Over seventeen years and tens of thousands of miles, she became a plucky, indispensable companion for the reporter as he covered world events in Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, Ottawa, and Johannesburg.
Wren's often hilarious and sometimes poignant account of an American family's adventures crisscrossing the globe shows them coping with chaos in faraway places -- always with the help of their ever-resourceful feline. The result is a charming tale about a spunky, curious pet who earned the right to be ranked among the world's most widely traveled cats.
Customer Reviews:
Adventures of Harriet.......2005-10-09
An absolutely delightful book. I enjoyed it so much, I passed it on to cat lover friends and have just received an e-mail telling me how much they enjoyed it.
one of the wittiest most touching books.......2004-03-08
I love this book , by Christopher Wren about his beloved cat Henreitta and their travled together as a news correspondent around the globe. It's a must read for any cat lover. It's funny in many parts, moving , touching and sad as well.
I'd recomend it to anyone. It's am enjoyable read for adult and children as well. For anyone who lvoes there feline baby very much this is the book for you.
One cat that needs frequent flyer miles.......2003-12-01
Being a cat lover, I've read a few books about the mischievous trouble making creatures. My personal favorite is The Cat Who Covered the World by Christopher S. Wren. Wren, being a writer for the New York Times, travels the world with his family, including the cat.
From Cairo, to Paris, to Beijing, there's not a place Henrietta, the cat, hasn't been. Henrietta is the most amazing cat I've ever heard of. She has very prototype catlike qualities, intelligent, resourceful, cunning, just to name a few. She's like super cat. Her qualities as I've just listed, are doubled compared to any normal cat. She even has a refined taste; she'll only eat certain kinds of fish and other meats, not like other cats that just eat whatever is in front of them.
Wren's style of writing is very interesting. He's very descriptive, and seems to know exactly what word would fit where. It seems like he's memorized the dictionary. He uses a lot of bigger words that I couldn't even figure out from context, for example the word "eschatological", which has some thing to do with death and what happens after. I've never heard of that word in my life. You definitely need to be an experienced reader to read this. I love how he describes the actions of the cat, and the cat herself. Everything he says about her is catlike and very descriptive, giving people a clear picture in their minds.
People can learn things from this book. Like how people in different countries treat cats, and their opinions and superstitions about them. One example of superstitions would be that I learned that some people in China think cat's eyes have magical features. I now know more about customs of people in different countries and their views on Americans and reporters.
One thing the Wren's had to consistently go through were baggage checks and customs every time they entered a new country. This seemed to be a problem for Henrietta. In some countries they made her visit a vet and were very suspicious about her having foreign diseases. The veterinarians at these places would poke and prod at her as if she was a stuffed animal. In other places they would love her to death and let her go through without a problem.
Wren adds a sense of humor to his book as well. I think that's one thing that made it so captivating. Knowing the behavior of cats is an important thing to have stored in the brain to understand some of the humor. If people have never owned a cat they may not understand why something would be funny. Such as in one part of the book he has the schedule of Henrietta in the morning. It talks about what a cat does in everyday life. People can't possibly understand the humor of the cat's schedule unless they've lived with a cat or an animal with the same kind of behavior.
Overall Wren did a great job on this book. I would recommend The Cat Who Covered the World to any cat lover or cat owner. I only wish more people would write books like this about their cats.
Good book for cat lovers..........2003-03-26
When my local bookclub picked this book for our monthly selection, I wasn't sure what to think. I mean, how much discussion can be generated by a cat book? Thankfully I am a die-hard cat fan, so at least I'll have some funny cat stories to share.
The Cat Who Covered the World tells the true of story of New York Times Foreign Correspondent (and author), Christopher Wren, as he travels around the world with the family cat in tow. Not a born cat-lover, Chris took his time warming up to Henrietta. Eventually, however, she became an integral part of the family. And when Chris was dispatched to his first overseas assignment, Henrietta was sure to tag along. This book paints a sweet picture of a man just doing his job and the cat who made it bearable for 18 years.
As for the book itself, it's cute. The writing is for the most part simple, but I did tend to get a bit confused when the author reminisces about certain political happenings in the countries he lived in. If you're not up on your foreign history, be forewarned! However, the story as a whole is good; the cat, Henrietta, is a very endearing and sweet character, and I see much of her in my own two cats; and the different countries discussed will allow the reader to do some armchair traveling of their own. I recommend this book as a quick weekend read, but I believe it was written solely for the cat lover. All others may not find it as endearing or sweet, or may not relate to the relationship between author and family pet.
An Amazing Tale.......2002-10-06
Wren's story nicely captures the hectic pace of his family's life and of the often exotic atmosphere of the far-flung places to which Wren's work as a journalist took them, along with their apparently indestructable cat Henrietta. Wren's description of the exhausting, time-consuming and frustrating paperwork that goes with the territory of traveling around the world with a cat is mind-boggling. Because the family willingly took on this added burden in order to keep Henrietta with them, it's clear that they loved her dearly and that she was without doubt an important member of the family. I cheered their efforts on her behalf (even though I look askance at allowing a cat to roam busy city streets or tropical landscapes where predators may lurk), but I would have liked to have read more about personal interaction between Henrietta and the family. We're told she curls up on the daughter's bed at night. But we don't hear her purr, we don't see her lick the girl's cheek or nuzzle her neck. Henrietta certainly comes off as independent, resourceful and resilient and I got a kick out of her, but with a little more detailed description of her interaction with the family, she would have seemed like a more loveable and huggable cat.
Book Description
1929. Wren immortalized the French Foreign Legion in Beau Geste and many other novels of high adventure and romance. Contents: What's in a Name; A Gentleman of Colour; David and His Incredible Jonathan; The McSnorrt Reminiscent; Mad Murphy's Miracle; Buried Treasure; If Wishes Were Horses; The Devil and Digby Geste; The Mule; Low Finance; Presentiments; and Dreams Come True. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.
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