Product Description
English is the collective work of millions of people throughout the ages. It is democratic, ever-changing and ingenious in its assimilation of other cultures. English runs through the heart of world finance, medicine and the Internet, and it is understood by around two thousand million people across the world. Yet it was very nearly wiped out in its early years. In this book Melvyn Bragg shows us the remarkable story of the English language; from its beginnings as a minor guttural Germanic dialect to its position today as a truly established global language. THE ADVENTURE OF ENGLISH is not only an enthralling story of power, religion and trade, but also the story of people, and how their day-to-day lives shaped and continue to change the extraordinary language that is English. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (24)

A respectable history of the English language
English is today the world- language. In this book its origin and development are traced, and its history is told up to today. Against all odds this minor island language became the language of some of the world's greatest Literature and today the first language of international communication and research. Bragg provides a serviceable if not very exciting history. His tone is matter- of- fact and he packs a lotof information in the work. But even in the chapter of Mr.Twenty- thousand Word Vocabulary, arguably the greatest writer the world has known, Shakespeare the story does not take on power and adventure. Ironic, that the story as a whole is rightly seen by the author as an adventure but somehow the tone of adventure does not pervade the work.
Still every reader will be able to learn from this work more about the English language and its history, than they know now.

Should Be Required Reading in All High Schools
This is the most interesting account of the history of English language. The story is fascinating. The writing is well-done. There are too many words in English to describe it. If you're reading this, you've probably read many other reviews as well. Had I stayed in the teaching profession, I would have recommended this as required reading for all high-school students. If you haven't read it, pick up a copy as soon as you can; you won't be able to put it down.

A love story
This is not a technical treatise for linguists and historians, it is simply an engaging outpouring of one man's love for his mother tongue.I found a number of omissions and misstatements. Not serious ones, but slightly jarring to one having a technical background in the subject.Nevertheless, I think this is probably the best available book on the subject for the general reader.In a relatively small number of pages it gives a remarkably cogent sweep of the origins, development, and current influence of the language, all in a delightfully chatty style.

One problem is that the book is written for a British audience, and it thus leaves outlanders with some degree of confusion and puzzlement over many of the author's remarks on the various dialects of the United Kingdom.And I found his understanding of regional American differences rather weak, as also of the accents and pidgins of the various anglophone countries of Africa.Bycontrast, I found his discussion of language usage during the Raj and its influence on contemporary India to have real depth.

In all, I would recommend this book very highly, especially for those unfamiliar with the topic.It is, I think, a delightful introduction.

My immediate impulse for writing this review is in a conversation I had this evening with a Ghanian gentleman I met in Belgium.He asked me to recommend a book to give him a better understanding of the history of English, and I could not think of a better one for his purpose than this.

Not a PhD Level Thesis, But What Did You Expect?
Melvyn Bragg is the well-known writer, editor, and producer of the long running British South Bank Show, and is also a prolific writer and novelist. He is not a linguist, but with his background as a journalist for the BBC, he does appear to know how to collect and compile reasonably accurate information and make it presentable, readable, and accessible to anyone with a high school level education.

I suppose if someone wants an authoritative discourse on the development of English, there is always the Oxford History of English. However, a quick check on the Amazon site for that particular book shows exactly zero reader reviews, suggesting that it isn't exactly a best seller. I'm sure linguists consult books written at that level regularly, but for someone who wants a quick overview written in readable prose, Bragg's book is not bad.

I am not a historian by trade, though I am reasonably well-read on the subject. I did not detect any glaring historical errors in Bragg's book, though to read some of the one-star reviews you'd get the impression he completely fumbled the research. I don't believe that is the case - if there are mistakes here in the research - then they are minor and nothing that I could detect.

My chief complaint about the book is regarding Bragg's style. This is a book about the English language, so perhaps all the verbal flourishes were intended to highlight the utility of English to convey thoughts not only precisely but artistically. Nonetheless, I found the prose a bit much - a bit too flowery and florid and overdone. Writers are not supposed to call attention to themselves by overdoing the so-called fifty-dollar words - I think Bragg should have toned the descriptives down a tad.He also decided to personify the language - talking about the English language throughout the book as though it was some kind of living entity capable of making decisions and performing actions. When combined with the aforementioned flowery language, this became a distraction and really did not contribute to the book whatsoever.

That said, I learned a good deal of new information, so I think, all in all, this was a worthwhile read.I am not sure I will run out and read everything else Bragg has ever written, but he is to be congratulated here for producing a book on the history of the English language that should be accessible to the average high school or college graduate - which is in keeping with the spirit of his television program as well.

Get The Audio Version
This is one I definitely recommend downloading from [...] as being able to hear the words in the various languages enhances the experience of the book. English is something I've always taken for granted, but this book gave me a feel for its unique flexibility and tenacity for survival through the ages. It never occurred to me to have pride in a language I speak every day. ... Read more

Product Description
A biography of Richard Burton containing his own words, through the co-operation of members of his family who made available to Bragg various diaries and letters. There are also fresh insights from Burton's peers, to provide a frank and intimate account of his life. The sensational highlights of Burton's private life are well known - his marriages to Elizabeth Taylor, abundant drinking and womanizing and jet-setting lifestyle. Less well-known are his own thoughts on acting, alcoholism and his roots in Wales. These are all revealed in extracts from his diaries and letters. The contributions from Sir John Gielgud, Lauren Bacall, Sir Alec Guiness, John Hurt, John Le Carre and many others add an extra dimension to this biography. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Phoenix rising from southern Wales
This is a long, well-researched view of the rise (and subsequent fall) of one of the most gifted actors of the late 20th century. Burton's story is improbable, but fascinating. Few people, even those as innately gifted as Burton, attain monumental heights without tremendous inner drive and work ethic.Coming from a childhood of near poverty in which his mother died when he was only two years old, working incredibly hard-- arising at 4am along with the local coal miners to collect animal dung (used for fuel), deliver daily newspapers (and then collect the papers on the weekend to sell to a fish and chips shop where he also worked "eyeing" the potatoes), he was a truly self-made man. He was mentored by no less than four men who recognized his attributes, including one (Philip H. Burton) who took him as his legal ward to allow him entry to Oxford University. His meager background perhaps makes Burton's rationale for involving himself in some incredibly terrible films (as well as several terrific ones) more understandable.Because this is a long and detailed volume, one probably should be a dedicated Richard Burton fan to appreciate this book.

Richard Burton: A Life
I'm still reading this book.Time has been limited, of late; but I am enjoying this close and intimate look at a complex human being whose great talent has brought me so many hours of enjoyment.This is the man who taught me what great acting is when I was in my mid-teens.

I Loved this book
Richard Burton has always fascinated me, beginning with the first time I heard his voice, so long ago I don't even remember when it was.He was beautiful physically when he was young, even though his skin was bad, and as he aged and his bad living habits showed more and more on his body, he still retained the magnificent charisma and sex appeal that always set him apart from all others.He always had that mysterious thing about him that made him absolutely riveting to watch no matter who else was onstage or onscreen.This book, with its delving into his intellectualism and writing life and his Notebooks, which really give a picture of the man himself from inside his own head, is absolutely one of the best books I've ever read.I feel like I actually got to know Richard Burton from reading this book.A person's writings are one of the best keys to knowing what they think, and I think this book was magnificent.He'd always fascinated me, and yet I knew next to nothing about him, aside from that he was a heavy drinker and was married to ET twice.Now that I've read this book, he fascinates me even more.How sad that he had such a self-destructive nature.How fascinating it would have been to psychoanalyze him.Fabulous book!!!!!!!

Extensive Burton Diary Excerpts Make this a Must-Have
Richard Burton makes today's tabloid celebrities out to be rank amateurs. Burton smoked a hundred cigarettes, and drank up to four bottles of vodka, a day. A rugby enthusiast and public brawler, injuries crippled him, necessitating prescription pain killers. There were five marriages, countless hookups, and at least three lovers attempting suicide. If there is any justice, the CDC will christen a newly-discovered social disease in Burton's honor.

But Burton was so much more than a tabloid spectacle. Riveting green eyes, chthonic intensity, a one-of-a-kind voice that could roar a beast's growl or sing an angel's hymn, and his innate instinct for language ensured his dominance over the Shakespearean stage as well as more popular fare like the DeMille-style epic "The Robe" and the Broadway musical, "Camelot." Women fell in love with him. Men fell in love with him. Servants, drinking buddies, costars, and even critics fell in love with him. Kenneth Tynan wrote that Burton "brought his own cathedral with him." Director Tony Palmer said, "It never occurred to you to ask whether or not you liked this man because you just knew. . . that you were in the presence of greatness."

Pockmarks rutted his skin. He made no attempt to resist his lifestyle's devastation of his looks; "I abhor mere prettiness" (483). Other actors exhibited superior physical form; toward the end, Burton could barely move his arms, his injuries were causing him so much pain. And, yet, theatergoers who saw him in a minor role in one of his first plays, "The Lady's Not for Burning," report that when the skinny, young, unknown was onstage, you could not take your eyes off him. Long after it was assumed that, through humiliatingly bad choices, Burton had terminally ruined his once promising career, he made a comeback in "Equus." Walter Kerr and Clive Barnes praised Burton afresh: "Equus" exhibited Burton's best work; he was the best English-speaking actor his age in the world, they reported (529). Burton followed that triumph to receive standing ovations in a revival of "Camelot."

He had so much going for him . . . and yet, popular wisdom goes, Burton threw it all away. He divorced his supportive, Welsh wife, Sybil, and married superstar Elizabeth Taylor, as famous for her scandalous multiple marriages, melodramatic brushes with death, and cleavage as for her art. Burton and Taylor lived large: expensive jewelry, public fights; a couple of good movies; too many stinkers.

In 1988, Tony Palmer, who had directed Burton in "Wagner," made a BBC documentary, "In from the Cold," that depicted Burton as a deeply tragic, sensitive, small-town Welsh artiste kidnapped by squalid Hollywood-Babylon fame and debauchery. Palmer told the New York Times, "I believe that the source of his tragedy is that he was given away, effectively sold, by his father when he was 14...[this] left Richard with a deep emotional scar which he spent most of his life trying to heal."

Through sheer accumulation of detail, Melvyn Bragg's biography of Burton offers some insight, but doesn't rise above the style or substance of a People magazine article. With a figure as complex as Burton, one wants more depth than is provided by observations like "Richard was a terrible boyo but he always came home" (185) or Bragg's insertion of himself into a text that should be all about Burton: "It is that last sentence, I think, which counts for most" (197) or Bragg's attempt to sound breezy by writing in sentence fragments: "Then took on Cleopatra and Rome" (185).

What makes this book indispensable for anyone interested in plumbing the Burton mystery is Bragg's access to, and extensive quotes from, Richard Burton's own diaries. Burton's widow Sally deserves gratitude for allowing their publication.

These diaries are not valuable because they are full of juicy, scandalous tidbits. Burton was born with the kind of ear for language, eye for detail, commitment to truth and the craving to get it all down in lovely, idiosyncratic prose that makes for a great writer. One mourns the novels Burton planned, but never wrote.

The diaries reveal that Burton very much loved Taylor, and was genuinely happy with her for many years. Sadly, they also reveal both their deep dysfunctions, largely fueled by alcohol and self-indulgence, and Burton's losing interest, and turning to a young, statuesque blonde, as Taylor, a short, curvy, brunette, aged. As often as Bragg emphasizes Burton's open-handed generosity and deep love for his many extended family members, I can't like this Burton; he often treated women shabbily, and I never got a sense that he ever figured out what love really is, beyond the passion of a moment.

I thought that reading this book would elucidate the Burton mystery for me, that I'd come away knowing how and why, in his best movies, he is so gripping and moving. I don't have that answer. Lots of us are born to alcoholic fathers, have rough childhoods, and play on the dark side, and yet actors with Burton's gifts are rare flashes of lightening.

One thing is clear, though, and it's an area Bragg does not plumb. Burton was in pain, not just chronic physical pain. You don't smoke and drink as Burton did without some inner dragon gnawing away at your viscera. Tony Palmer was on to something. You have to wonder, if this book depicts things accurately, why none of Burton's many loved ones ever took him aside and said, "Rich, get some help. Stop killing yourself."

LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!
This is one great book. I'd read it twice and I never do that. A must have for all Richard Burton fans. Talks about his life with Elizabeth Taylor, among other things. LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT! ... Read more

Product Description
Explore the twelve greatest minds in the history of science with some of today’s top scientific thinkers Ranging from the foundation of hydrostatics in the third century b.c. to the discovery of DNA’s structure in our own time, On Giants’ Shoulders is an accessible and thought-provoking round table on the seminal discoveries of science and the originators behind them.

"Well-known English journalist Melvyn Bragg presents stimulating portraits . . . [and] well-rounded evaluations of each pioneer’s life and influence."–Publishers Weekly "What makes this book work so well is that Bragg is a fine journalist applying his skills as an outsider to blow away the pretensions and reveal some of the mechanics and motivations of what is still a remarkably closed world." –New Scientist "Each life is pored over in a brief but brilliant intellectual postmortem with the help of prominent contemporary scientists. . . . Here are the paranoia, the blind alleys of research, the rivalry, and many collisions of intellectual heavyweights. . . . On Giants’ Shoulders holds delights for both scientist and lay person."–KEVIN O’SULLIVAN, Irish Times "What makes the result special is Bragg’s unusual relationship to his subject. His gentle probing and the selection of material address exactly the questions about science and scientists that interest outsiders."–JOHN GRIBBIN, The Independent "This is an enchanting book, because it is a book produced by a clever man listening intently. . . . Science is not, in truth, a daunting alien territory. But characteristically, it seems to want to tell us the answers dogmatically, before we are sure what questions we would like to ask. On Giants’ Shoulders asks just those kinds of questions."–LISA JARDINE, The Times (London)Amazon.com Review
So many of us are blessed--or at least affected--by the fruitsof science, yet how many of us really understand how we got them? Scientific creativity, like all other kinds, is a product of itstimes, but we can learn much from looking at the lives of its greatestpractitioners; as a sizable side benefit, these lives are oftentremendously entertaining. Author and BBC radio host Melvyn Braggunderstands this well, and invited many of the great moderninterpreters of science to discuss the lives and work of 12 greats,from Archimedes to Watson and Crick, and published the cream in OnGiants' Shoulders. These are no dry transcripts, though; Bragg hasa genius for selecting the most intriguing quotes and selections fromboth his guests and his subjects and weaving them into his ownengrossing narrative. His many novels have tightened up his prose sowell that he can make even a discussion of the genesis of relativity apage-turner. He couldn't have invented better material, either:Newton's notorious snobbery, Darwin's almost-naive sincerity, andLavoisier's turbulent life and untimely death make for compellingstories indeed (one almost wonders how they had time to changethe world). His guests, including luminaries such as Lewis Wolpert,Richard Dawkins, Oliver Sacks, and Roger Penrose, consistently cut tothe heart of their subjects' importance and tie it all up neatly inthe last chapter, "Where Are We Now?" An important question, ofcourse, and one that can be better answered from On Giants'Shoulders. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

British scientists talk about their heroes
This book is a collection of write-ups of BBC radio show programs about the heroes of British scientists.Each chapter considers a prominent scientist of the past, such as Archimedes, and then presents a synopsis of interviews and discussions with modern-day British academic scientists about the featured scientist of the past.Through the interviews, we gain an understanding of the opinions of the modern-day scientists concerning their academic heroes, mixed in with some of the facts concerning their lives and discoveries.The book is thick with opinions and philosophy compared to the amount of factual information it contains about the featured scientists.If you are interested in what modern British scientists have to say about some famous scientists of the past, then this book is for you.But if you're looking for a book where you can learn something about the famous scientists themselves or a summary of their discoveries, you should look elsewhere.

Unique study of giants
Bragg demonstrates how a "dabbler" in science can lead one more deeply into the research realm.Using his generalist background, he shows how anyone can appreciate what science can achieve and what it means to us all.A feeling of "being left out piqued his interest and he decided to seek out what he had missed.His technique is one any of us can follow - his interest was piqued by the growing number of works for the general reader.He didn't expect to become an "expert player", but through these works could at least be "at the game".

His study of fifteen key figures in science becomes a summation of what he garnered through reading and interviews.Bragg's long journalism career gave him an entry key and many insights in dealing with the "giants" and their interpreters.Having discovered several in this role, he has formulated a survey that will be valuable to many.Using a technique combining the interview with the works of good writers, he's created a readable, cogent overview of what science is and what it means.From Archimedes through Newton, Darwin and Curie to Watson and Crick you are given a variety of views of the key figures.The importance of each is stated clearly, mixed with what is known of their characters and background.

In his conclusion, titled "Where Are We Now?", Bragg makes an excellent summary of the impact of these seminal thinkers.As an observer, he claims to have produced a "map" of scientific thinking.The map is incomplete, but evokes an image of science as a "human exercise intent on examining the meaning and purpose as much as the structure of life today".It's a fine summary conclusion to his outstanding effort to help bring science to anyone wishing to learn its values.The future, his interviewees stress, will be one of further, deeper discoveries.His "giants" are in reality the ideas they developed, not in any way the scientists themselves.From Newton's irascibility to Darwin's diffidence, all these figures retain a strongly variant human identity.If nothing else, this book imparts the idea that science belongs to us all and can be furthered by anyone interested enough to undertake investigating unanswered questions.[stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

This outstanding science history is superbly written
Melvyn Bragg's On Giants' Shoulders: Great Scientists And Their Discovers From Archimedes To DNA explores the twelve greatest minds in the history of science and ranges from the foundation of hydrostatics in the third Century B.C. to the discovery of the human DNA structure and gene mapping of our present day. This outstanding science history is superbly written, splendidly presented, totally reader friendly, and ideal for both the science history student and the non-specialist general reader with an interest in knowing more about the science and scientists who have made modern life possible.

Broad Shoulders Indeed
As a non-scientist, I especially appreciate this book which "focuses on twelve scientists who, in the last two thousand five hundred years, changed the world as we perceive it and as we live in it. From Archimedes in Ancient Greece to Francis Crick and James Watson in mid-twentieth century England, these landmark minds, their lives, their struggles, their colleagues and rivals are explored and unravelled by some of today's leading scientists. In combination, their stories and discoveries constitute a single guide to the history of science." We are indeed provided with a wealth of information about both their "stories" and their "discoveries." I especially enjoyed the chapters on Newton, Darwin, Freud, and Einstein but found all of the other commentaries well worth reading, also. The history of science is, in essence, a history of discovery, and the most important discoveries are of ideas. In this invaluable volume, Bragg makes understandable what has been until now (for this non-scientist, at least) a "marvellous enterprise" of human experience and intellectual achievement otherwise inaccessible.

PERSONALITY OF SCIENTISTS COME TO LIFE!
On Giants' Shoulders is a tribute to twelve scientists who, in the lasttwo thousand five hundred years, changed the world both as we perceive itand as we live in it. Their minds, their lives, their struggles, theircolleagues and rivals are explored and unravelled by some of today'sleading scientists. Taken together, their stories and discoveriesconstitute a guide to the history of science.

A bestseller in England,this book combines engaging portraits of these figures with accessiblediscussions of their most important discoveries. Those profiled areArchimedes, Galileo, Newton, Lavoisier, Faraday, Darwin, Poincaré, Freud,Curie, Einstein, Francis Crick and James Watson. Their stories are enhancedby insights provided by interviews with some of today's leading scientists,including Paul Davies, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Jay Gould, John Gribbin,Sir Roger Penrose, Sir Martin Rees and Oliver Sacks.

Based on interviewsbroadcast over British radio, this book differs from the radio series inthe ampler amount of material contained, as it was possible to include morematerial from the original transcripts, which had been mercilessly prunedfor the thirty-minute radio programmes.

Melvyn Bragg is an acclaimedjournalist and the host of the popular BBC Radio 4 programme Start theWeek. He is also the author of seventeen novels and five works ofnon-fiction, including biographies of Richard Burton and Laurence Olivier. ... Read more

Product Description
A passionate but ultimately tragic love affair starts when two students - one French, one English - meet at university at the beginning of the sixties. From its tentative, unpromising early stages, the relationship develops into a life-changing one, whose profound impact continues to reverberate forty years later. REMEMBER ME...takes one of the oldest stories in the world and gives it renewed, visceral force. Here are characters who spring from the page, brought to vivid life with exceptional empathy and insight into the workings of the heart and mind. And here, captured in intimate, telling detail, are the emotions that bind two people together, and the subtle shifts in thought and feeling that can prise them apart. This is a novel of great emotional intensity, which leaves an unforgettable impression. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Not worth one star
I bought my first Melvyn Bragg book thinking that it sounded really interesting, and would be a perfect beach read. Yes, it was a hardcover, and I had to sacrifice two other books, in order to stay under the limit in my hand luggage.

What a mistake. Do not buy this book, unless you've either been to France (I haven't) or have read previous Melvyn Bragg books. I managed to read 300 pages, and still couldn't manage to keep reading. There's so much editing to be done to it, and I bet that was the final draft.

The story is about a French woman and an English man, who meet, kinda fall in love (he seemed to be doing all the chasing in my opinion) get married, and have a child. But my main problem from the beginning of the book is that the author doesn't even attempt to hide the fact that the man is telling "their" story to their daughter, and even goes as far to talk about his wife in the past tense, and then it's confirmed she's dead. Er, hello? Way to ruin the entire story!!! But there's also way too much description. I'm all for description, don't get me wrong, but the description does go on for paragraphs. And I mean LONG paragraphs. It`s just too much. And I couldn't get my head around the characters. I hated the two main characters, I thought the woman was too cold hearted, and kept her lover at arm's length most of the time it felt like.

I don't know what happens at the end, apart from what the author tells the reader (still a big mistake), and I don't particularly care either. Apologies to all the Melvyn Bragg avid readers out there, but I don't particularly care for his style of writing, and will be avoiding his books from now on. ... Read more

Product Description
Melvyn Bragg's acclaimed epic novel is set at  the tumultuous dawn of Christianity in Britain and Ireland.  It is a stunning story of adventure and spirituality, war and romance, but it is deeply rooted in Bragg's historical studies of the Dark Ages, and it throws into question our modern-day conceptions of faith, hope, and true love.

Two people destined to be lovers sacrifice themselves for what they believe to be a greater destiny.  For the warrior Padric, a charismatic British prince, it is the salvation of his people and homeland from warring Northumbrian overlords; for Bega, a bewitching Irish princess, it is carrying out her self-imposed commitment to spread the word of God.  She, bearing a fragment of the true cross, is gifted with miraculous powers; he is a swordsman without peer.  Their disparate missions send them apart as they travel throughout the frigid wilderness of a primitive England beset by terror and villainy.  Faith is pitched against doubt, spiritual fulfillment against physical desire, romantic ideals against political expediency and pragmatism against theory.

The Sword and the Miracle rose quickly to the top of the British bestseller lists, heralded by critics as an absorbing, wonderfully evocative work, several cuts above contemporary attempts at historical fiction.  The reader will find an exciting narrative informed by insight, knowledge and understanding. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Saints Preserved
This novel reads like a sort of Christian saint's sword and sorcery.
The description of the Irish king's keep got me:
the very primitive characterizations of the warriors was almost as good.
The Irish always blame the English for their backwardness,
but it may have been a result of their cultural problems?
I had read before of a Celtic Christian sect that remained
independent of the church of Rome,
but I never knew it had to do with when Easter is celebrated.
In this book the saints have real visions and fasting is taking to
an unhealthy end. Reading this book gives you a real insight into
the 600th century in England.

Truly captures the genuine Struggle between the Mundane, the Profane and the Divine
Armed with careful scholarship and a deep insight into the personalities, tragedies and triumphs of his characters, Melvyn Bragg weaves an engrossing and remarkably authentic tale of the struggle to save Christianity in its original purity, even as it barely clings to life during the dark ages of the British Isles. This is an historic tale of true triumph through great tragedy of real people and the communities they served - or cruelly dominated - deftly mirroring the eternal struggle we all face between our dual natures of godliness and devilry.

The background and locale of the story is historical, as well as most of the characters Bragg summons from the dead pages of history.The protagonist herself is a mysterious and only partially mythical figure known as St. Bega.Her intense inner conflict between her most deserving earthly desires and her ideally pure devotion to God serves as a personal parallel for the historic struggle between Christianity and pagan rutuals which had hitherto served, yet chained mankind to a barely sustainable earthly existence.

As in true life there are no pure heroes, only men and women doing the best they know how to do in the circumstances they find themselves.In the face-off between Bega, servant of the new "one God," and the priestess of the old gods of stone and sky, druids and druidesses are portrayed - quite accurately - as largely benevolent and wise stewards of an ancient magic, andwhose advice the sometime fanatical Christian monks and abbesses would have been better off to accept on occasion.The Celtic Church, though clearly superior in true devotion and spirituality, cannot match the necessary pragmatism of the falsely pious and worldy Roman church, whose demands that the Celtic church accede to the authority of Rome have much more to do with a raw lust for power than they do with saving souls.Indeed, the religious enemy is clearly not the pagan druids and priestesses, but the enmity between professed followers of Christ.

Finally, this is a story of sacrifice.True and noble sacrifice born of faith and love for one's fellow man no matter how undeserving they may be.This is not your Sunday School version of sacrifice where, in the end, God rewards the valiant with all the glory and worldy riches they had denied themselves in His service, but the true, Christly sacrifice where one gives up his or her most cherished dreams to bring about a better world for others.Then, finally perishing in the struggle, as they realize those dreams will be left forever wanting, the only reward they are left is a knowledge that such a sacrifice has been acceptable to God and has, indeed, brought a measure of divinity into a world which so desperately, though ignorantly, needs it.

If you're looking for simple, swash-buckling adventure, pass this book by.If you are not willing to accept Christianity or paganism on their own terms, don't bother. If you're ready to truly ponder what true devotion to God is, or requires, both in your own soul and society at large, then you truly owe it to yourself to read this work.

Well written, but more than once it put me to sleep
The title of the book was catchy, I am a lover of Arthurian legend and historical fiction, mainly having to do with the British Isles.In this occasion and realizing Mr. Braggs is a good writer, the characters of thebook were, in my opinion, most of them despicable.Zealous religious,though not totally convinced of their own believes.The best character inthe book is Reggiani, the pagan, who was the only one to make sense.Asshe asked Bega, "Why do you have to pray so much?Is your Goddeaf?"I think this is the best line in the book.But to zealousBega she was evil, and would not listen to her unless she embraced the TrueFaith.Luckily for me, Reggiani never did.These religious fanatics wereso insecure, that they couldn't even discuss the matters, or at least tryto convince.No, they only judge.Fanatism at its best.This is the bookthat I have taken the longer to read.Most of the time, I found it boring.The main character, Bega, couldn't even love the boy Bede.She was soarrogant as to make him a gift to her God. I need a good book to put thisone behind me!

A Pagan 7th century Britain under attack from Mad Christians
Melvyn Bragg's "The Sword and the Miracle" (or "Credo" as it is known in Britain) is astonishing.It is so well researched and so well written that the characters live in your head long after you haveclosed the pages for the last time.

It's a classical battle; between thePagans and the Christians, and between the Christian Celts and theChristian Catholics, set in a violent and turbulent period ofhistory.

What makes this book is such memorable characters: Bega, thedevout christian, destined to become a saint; the pagan woman whom Bega sodespises, yet who is so human, Bega's "man", who's love she isprepared to forgo to persue her love affair with God.

The strength ofthis book is that the characters react, not with 20th century eyes, but asyou'd imagine them to in the 7th century.This is not a historical novel. It is, at least to me, a biography!I cannot recommend it highlyenough

Read this book.It will change your outlook on life, love andreligion.It is wonderful.

Marvelous! ... but what's Fabio doing on the cover??
As a long-time follower of Melvyn Bragg's literary works (as well as an admirer of his illuminating yet refreshingly non-combative interview style on the South Bank Show), I first read "The Sword and the Miracle" a year ago under its British title, "Credo". It captivated me -- not only because of the author's exquisite use of the English language, as always, but because he achieves the near-impossible: He pulls characters from an ancient, largely undocumented age and imbues them with contemporary human qualities. In fact, I sometimes had to chide myself, sitting smugly on the cusp of the 21st century, for presuming to feel angry at Bega in her ferocious struggles against the sin of desire. I kept feeling tempted to use words like `denial' and `self-fulfillment' ... modern-day arguments that would easily have convinced this girl, naturally, to ride off with her prince, turn her back on the sometimes fanatical and cruel Christianity of her time and place!

But, of course, the princess Bega lived and died in those times, not these. And Melvyn Bragg does not write feel-good stories for the genre market. Hence, I believe the editors and marketers at Random House did this novel a great disservice by re-titling it to sound like an Errol Flynn swashbuckler, and by encasing it (the version I received, anyway) in a slick dust jacket with a Fabio look-alike on the cover! I have to wonder how many readers of serious historical fiction were driven away, and how many attracted who simply needed bed-table escapism after a tough day of board meetings; the latter were consigned to disappointment and the book to a lukewarm reception. I admit I'm baffled by a marketing plan designed to repel those most likely to appreciate the product being marketed.

This novel is not one long history lesson, however. There are great battles depicted in furious detail, and barbaric characters of epic proportion, and a horrific rape described in such clinical slow motion that it could be a scene out of de Sade's own chambers. Although what lies between is not always easy reading, in the end we walk away having been not just observers but enlightened travelers through a dark time in history. Title notwithstanding, I found "Credo" / "The Sword and the Miracle" to be a powerful portrayal of life and people in an era when Celtic mysticism was engaged in a losing war with Christian martyrdom, and Bragg does a masterful job, particularly in the prickly encounters between Bega and the pagan priestess Reggiani, of leaving us with the question: Did we take the right turn 1,200 years ago?

"The Sword and the Miracle" -- or whatever name it bears -- is one of Melvyn Bragg's most imposing achievements, both intellectually and creatively.

Regarding his other works, for historical romance on a more traditional scale, read "The Maid of Buttermere", based on a true-life scandalous affair in early 19th century England. Or for more contemporary settings: "A Time To Dance", about a convention-shattering love between a staid, aging banker and a young working-class girl; and "Crystal Rooms", with plotlines that course through modern-day London, from political heights to a Fagin-like character and his boy-slaves. And you wouldn't want to miss the author's special facility with erotic passages.

Although his myriad pursuits could probably qualify Melvyn Bragg as a Renaissance man, I continue to be drawn mostly to his fiction -- as the purest manifestation of the mind and spirit behind the whole body of work. ... Read more

Product Description
When Sam Richardson returns in 1946 from the "Forgotten War" in Burma to his hometown in northern England, he finds little changed. The war has changed him, however, broadening his horizons but also leaving him deeply scarred with traumatic, often hellish, memories. In addition, his six-year-old son Joe barely remembers him, and his wife has gained a new sense of independence from her wartime job. As all three strive to adjust, the bonds of love and loyalty are stretched to the breaking point in this taut and profoundly moving novel that captures what millions of families experienced in the aftermath of World War II. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Powerful story
Based on the reader reviews, Bragg is not well known, but those who have read him are impressed. In this book, his portrayal of the people in the north of England is masterful. They exemplify what Flannery O'Connor said about her family: that the only emotion they allowed themselves to express was anger. Loving, forgiving, and understanding thoughts run through the minds of both Sam and Ellen, but their expression is stifled in the hard atmosphere of their home town. They are at an impasse trying to decide whether to try to re-establish their lives in the familiar but devastated town or to risk everything for opportunity in Australia.

England took a long time to recover after WWII, and the efforts of Bragg's characters to put the deprivations and horrors of the war behind them are poignant. In 1946 rations were still short, housing was scarce, job opportunities demoralizing. After coming of age and proving himself in the jungles of Burma, Sam finds himself adrift without so much as a pat on the back. Ellen too has grown during her husband's absence, working, raising her young son, and finding support from an ad hoc family. She finds that Sam's return, which she's longed for for four years, doesn't automatically set things right.

The reader is rooting for these obviously intelligent and capable people. Their ultimate decision, literally the last gasp of the book, leaves the reader wanting the rest of the story. And there is a sequel I'm anxious to read.

The Soldier's Return
This book has been read by myself and others in a reading group. Without exception, the group consider Melvyn Bragg to be a gifted writer who didplays a sensitivity and emotional deftness that's belied by his public persona.

Excellent
I was very impressed by this book. It really sums the sense of 'making do' in post war Britain as well as dealing with the social constraints of the time.
At times I wanted to shout at Sam & Ellen to stop them making a fateful mistake! ...read this book.

Quietly Brilliant
It's a theme repeated endlessly ever since the Odyssey, and yet this story of a soldier's weary return from war reads like it's all brand new.

Following a grueling and horrendously brutal campaign in Burma in the waning days of World War II, Sam Richardson returns to his home, a tiny village in England's Lake Country called Wigton. There, as he has dreamed of for months and years, he is reunited with his pretty young wife Ellen, and his young son Joe, a baby when his father went off to war.

Soon enough, it becomes apparent that the happy reunion was only the tip of the iceberg. A tangled web of emotions, frightening to both Ellen and Sam, and unspoken by both, threatens to destroy the relationship they both want so badly to keep. Sam is haunted by the atrocities and death he has seen in the war, and can hardly keep in his own skin as he dreams of escaping to far-off lands to make a new start. Ellen, used to being on her own, is frightened by this stranger with her husband's face, and clings even more desperately to the village of her birth and the way of life she is accustomed to. And in between them is little Joe, accustomed to having his "mammy" all to himself, and now misplaced by a stranger he must call "daddy."

Alongside this very private drama of three very private people is the larger story of the village of Wigton, which suffered all manner of privations during the war--but whose people are still clinging strongly to village ways.

Bragg, who grew up in the Wigton area, has created a masterpiece, in my opinion. It is followed by "A Son of War," a continuation of the Richardson saga, and something I intend to read immediately.

No Dramas Here
When Sam Richardson returned home from Burma after the second World War, nothinkg appreared to have changed in his hometown.However, traumatised from his experience, he found it difficult to adjust.He loved his wife Ellen and son Joe deeply, but having returned almost as a stranger to them, he had hurdles to cross to forge bonds with them.While he desperately wanted to get out of the familiar and routine surroundings, Ellen and Joe wanted to stay put almost as desperately.

Unsentimental and almost glommy, this book is not for readers looking for dramatic plots or romance.It simply moves the reader along with the thoughts and feelings of the two central characters, Sam and Ellen ... Read more

Product Description
A novel which recounts the passion of a retired bank manager and his love for a solicitor's 18 year-old secretary. They meet when she wins an essay competition of which he is the judge, and the novel is in the form of a letter to her. The author's previous books include "The Maid of Buttermere". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

She hated Sherry
At first this book reminded me of Of Human Bondage (Signet Classics) or Lolita By Vladimir Nabokov, but he seems to have avoided the pit falls in this novel.
It is more like star crossed lovers by the end:
the older man and the brilliant young girl he loves.
It has depth and full flowering of passion and experience.
It is better written than the history by Melvyn Bragg that got me interested.
It pretty much covers a lot of bases in the love affair area:
Love, obsession, deception, romance, infidelity.
It is certain;y one of the best novels I have read lately.
It even has suggested reading: William Hazlitt's Liber Amortis.

Love me tender
This novel is in the form of a long letter from a 54-year-old man to his 18-year-old lover. At first it sounds like the man is more in love with love than with Bernadette, his lover. He is also married, not necessarily unhappily either, though his wife is ill and soon (conveniently for the plot) dies. But before that happens, Bernadette becomes pregnant,and the story deepens from that point on. He and Bernadette decide to see each other while his wife is ill, though he continues to care for his wife with much love and tenderness. Bernadette tells him she will wait for him, and she does. Some of this comes across as just a tad too pat and unmessy - too idealistic - but Bragg is an excellent writer, and it's impossible not to find this book interesting: he pulls you right into the story.

A STORY OF "LOVE IN WHISPERS"
This is a well-written, beautifully evocative story of an illicit, thinly veiled relationship between a retired bank manager and an 18-year old young woman in the North of England in the late 1980s.

On the face of it, this story evokes reminders of Nabokov's "Lolita". Yet, as "A TIME TO DANCE" unfolds, the reader sees the blossoming of a relationship between a retired bank manager (who remains nameless) and Bernadette Kennedy, a young lady from a socially disadvantaged background who first comes to the attention of the retired bank manager through an essay she had submitted to a literary contest sponsored by the Rotary Club to which the aforesaid retired bank manager belonged.

Impressed by the quality of Bernadette's essay, he helps carry the winning vote for her. It wasn't until a little later in the story that he meets Bernadette for the first time to congratulate her for winning the top prize, and by degrees, their relationship grows and deepens.

Later in the story, complications develop in the relationship, which cause it to break up.

While this is a story of a love between 2 people from different generations, it is also a very deeply affecting human drama."A TIME TO DANCE" will leave the reader with nary a dry eye, seeing how it is that Love on a very personal level can broaden and enrich our everyday lives.

A STORY OF "LOVE IN WHISPERS"
This is a well-written, beautifully evocative story of an illicit, thinly veiled relationship between a retired bank manager and an 18-year old young woman in the North of England in the late 1980s.

On the face of it, this story evokes reminders of Nabokov's "Lolita". Yet, as "A TIME TO DANCE" unfolds, the reader sees the blossoming of a relationship between a retired bank manager (who remains nameless) and Bernadette Kennedy, a young lady from a socially disadvantaged background who first comes to the attention of the retired bank manager through an essay she had submitted to a literary contest sponsored by the Rotary Club to which the aforesaid retired bank manager belonged.

Impressed by the quality of Bernadette's essay, he helps carry the winning vote for her. It wasn't until a little later in the story that he meets Bernadette for the first time to congratulate her for winning the top prize, and by degrees, their relationship grows and deepens.

Later in the story, complications develop in the relationship, which cause it to break up.

While this is a story of a love between 2 people from different generations, it is also a very deeply affecting human drama."A TIME TO DANCE" will leave the reader with nary a dry eye, seeing how it is that Love on a very personal level can broaden and enrich our everyday lives. ... Read more

Product Description
Douglas Tallentire has at last achieved what his father and grandfather before him fought for so bitterly.Educated and independent, he can carve out his own career and spread his wings.But success, freedom and happiness are more elusive than ever in the fiercely competitive Seventies.From Cumbria to the frenetic whirl of sophisticated life in New York and London, Douglas, like all the Tallentires, must come to terms with private uncertainty and pain. ... Read more

Product Description
Longlisted for the Booker Prize 'Deeply humane and acutely truthful' Peter Kemp, Sunday Times After the upheavals of the Second World War, the Richardson family -- Sam, Ellen and their young son Joe -- settle back to working-class life in the Cumbrian town of Wigton. Yet for them, as for so many, life will never be the same again. As the old order begins to be challenged and new vistas open, Sam and Ellen forge their future together with differing needs and desires - and conflicting expectations of Joe, who grows up with his own demons to confront. 'It is as if these were the novels he was always waiting to write!He catches brilliantly the volatility of emotions -- how happiness can curdle, anger flare, guilt build into terrror.' Nicci Gerrard, Observer 'A novel about being alive, the kind of slice-of-life novel that everyone feels they have inside them but few could write' Brandon Robshaw, Independent on Sunday 'This sequel to The Soldier's Return -- widely acclaimed as Melvyn Bragg's best novel -- is every bit as convincing and enjoyable !This seems likely to become not only an outstandingly good series but one of the finest and most authentic records of the changes in English society, life and manners since the Second World War' Allan Massie, Scotsman 'Shot through with blazing integrity and authenticity' Val Hennessy, Daily Mail ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A stand-alone sequel to The Soldier's Return.
When Sam Richardson returns home to Wigton, a small village in Cumbria, after World War II, he recognizes his limited future there and the social barriers.Because his wife Ellen and small son Joe have spent their entire lives there, however, he chooses to remain, rather than go to Australia to start a new life, and he must now learn to adapt to peace as effectively as he once adapted to war. Wigton, however, represents "his limitations, his predestined mediocrity, his inevitable failure to be at the full stretch of himself," and he feels stifled.

Small events and everyday life, not dramatic plot lines, become the focus of the novel as Sam works at the local factory, tries to reestablish his relationship with his wife Ellen, and serves as a masculine role model for his son Joe.Sam is an Everyman--a man without an education who is dependent upon "the system" for his family's welfare, a man who must put up with slights and insults by his factory bosses if he wants to keep his job, a man for whom there is little or no opportunity for independent thought and action.Sam's big decision to set up his own business is a decision he makes alone, even though it will require enormous sacrifices by the whole family.

The daily lives of the Richardson family reveal the social, political, and economic issues of rural England from the end of the war through 1954. Dividing the novel into several sections, Bragg conveys the viewpoints of Sam, Ellen, and Joe through plain-spoken dialogues and interior monologues, short sentences, and simple vocabulary.We see Ellen's joy at finally having a house of her own in Greenacres, a public housing development, but also her dislike of the distance from town.We understand Sam's joy at having his business but recognize how hard the entire family works and how little privacy they have.Young Joe, on whom much of the book focuses, suffers almost overwhelming fears, and we empathize with him because there is no one in whom he can confide and still be a "man."Bragg's interest is not in creating an artificially "literary" novel as much as it is in recreating real (ordinary) lives.In this he is completely successful, creating a broad picture of the postwar era through the details of one family's struggle.Mary Whipple

Brilliant Sequel
This deceptively quiet and simple book, a sequel to "The Soldier's Return," is one of the finest novels about postwar England that I have ever read--and I have read many on that subject, almost more than I care to divulge.

"A Son of War" continues the story of the Richardsons, a working-class family in the north of England whose father, Sam, fought in the vicious Burma Campaign and came home scarred and emotionally battered to his young wife and son, Ellen, and Joe. In the last book, we saw Sam slowly and painfully come to terms with the limitations in his life until he could somehow squelch his dreams of finding something better (eg, relocating to Australia, a recurrent dream). The book was basically Sam's story, poignant and memorable.

In this followup, young Joe is the protagonist, as we see his parents' lives--and his own--from his point of view. When the book opens, Sam is still restless, but Ellen is content and happy for the first time when they move into a brand new Council house (tract houses that were offered at very cheap rates to returning servicemen and others). And young Joe begins to bloom.

Unfortunately, this is short-lived. Sam makes a move that profoundly changes the lives of Ellen and Joe, in ways he could never predict. Joe's intensely personal encounters with his inner demons make up the exqusitely poignant story as we follow him from young childhood to his early teens.

I can only hope that Melvyn Bragg plans to continue this brilliant series. The first two books have taken a place in this reviewer's mind as some of the finest contemporary novels written in the last few decades. I hope for more to come.

Masterful as ever
I'm an avid reader from way back of Melvyn Bragg's fiction, and it has never disappointed. Too little of it, I think, has made it to this country, and sometimes when it has, it's been diluted down for what some seem to assume is the short attention span of U.S. readers. Maybe that assumption is changing? First The Soldier's Return undiluted; now A Son Of War. And this time Bragg has outdone himself. I'm jazzed!

In England, Melvyn Bragg has often been compared to Thomas Hardy, but I defy anyone to find an American writer this side of John Steinbeck or William Inge who can better evoke the understated drama of a small town, whatever the nation. A Son of War is not a piece to be gobbled up at poolside like fast food, but rather to be savored, in a hammock under dappled sunlight or in a sofa by a wood stove. It's an emotional story well told, to be reflected on, and the author's use of the English language is, as always, to be relished.

From where I sit, A Son Of War is Bragg's most intimate and moving work to date. I recommend it to anyone who loves reading. I recommended it to ... anyone! ... Read more

Product Description
This is the first biography of the actor, Richard Burton, to be supported by his own 300,000-word unpublished journals that cover the years of his marriage to Elizabeth Taylor, plus all his papers and unpublished memoirs of his adopted father. Many of those close to Burton have talked for the first time, including his daughter Kate, his elder sister Cis, who brought him up as her own after the death of his mother when he was two years old and the teacher Philip Burton who adopted him and gave him his name. Bragg has also had the benefit of conversations with actors and close friends, including Sir John Gielgud, Sir Michael Hordern, Lauren Bacall, Robert Hardy, John Neville, Emlyn Williams, John Le Carre and Alec Guinness. Here, the actor who was born Richard Jenkins, the twelfth child of a South Wales miner, stands revealed as never before, often in his own words. After a scholarship to Oxford, a brilliant career in the theatre, then Hollywood and films like "The Robe", his career blossomed with "Camelot" and "Cleopatra" after which he married co-star Elizabeth Taylor.Further films intervened, then, in quick succession, he divorced Elizabeth Taylor, married Suzy Hunt and re-married Taylor, divorced her and married Sally Burton. In the book he discusses marriage, women, his work, arthritis and addiction to drink, and also shows himself to be a fine descriptive writer and humourist with a love of literature. At the age of 56 he died in his sleep. Melvyn Bragg is the author of 13 novels; his non-fiction includes a study of Laurence Olivier, "Land of the Lakes" and "Speak for England". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Excellent biography!
This is a well-researched and thoughtfully-written biography of a man who was perhaps the most famous man in the world in the decade of the 1960's. Now, sadly, Burton's legacy and fame have dimmed considerably and he's remembered more as Elizabeth Taylor's fifth (and sixth) husband. He was much more than that. I have always thought Burton overacted miserably in most of his roles and I was chiefly intrigued with him because of his beautiful physicality and because was an erudite, deeply intelligent man. He was also a prodigious reader and a keen intellect, but this genius seemed utterly wasted on Liz, a woman with whom he shared a passionate sex life, but precious little else.

The highlight of this book is the inclusion of over 100 pages of Burton's diaries, kept meticuously from 1965 until his death. Burton writes candidly, wittily and brilliantly. It's devilishly exciting to read his words about Liz and his vicious put downs of others, including a visceral tirade against poor Lucille Ball. He also muses on occasion about his autistic daughter, Jessica, who was hidden by the Burtons and kept in an institution all her life.

Burton had a larger-than-life appetite for living, sex, booze... you name it. He was self-destructive, manic-depressive and difficult, but all of those things make for a compelling character and this book illuminates him like no other.

As close as you'll get
My title refers to the way I see this biography; it's as close as you're going to get to a real picture of the man, especially seeing as he's no longer with us. I read this book some 8-10 years ago and have read it at least twice. What I liked,in particular, about this book is the fact that it is made up of, in no small measure, actual extracts from his own memoirs, as well as interviews with those closest to him throughout his life. A picture is painted of a very intense man, of painful and frustrating complexities, a man forever pursued by very real and personal demons. The latter, the "demons", is something which, I feel, is an inextricably inherent component of many of us, if we are truthful. Reading the book, it is easy to feel quite uncomfortable, in an intriguing way, about the fact that here is a man who, perhaps, is not ALL that different to ourselves, in as far as our own insecurities, fears and personal nightmares are concerned. This book is an absolutely fascinating, gritty insight to an angry, tough, yet vulnerable genius of a man of deeply human qualities, with which many of us can identify, at least in some aspects. A chunk of a book but very easily read; lock yourself away with this one, as you definitely won't want to be disturbed, once you're under way!

Rich By Melvyn Bragg
And there I was thinking Mr Bragg was just the fella off the South Bank Show.This book provided a suberb insight into the man that was Richard Burton; his childhood in Wales leading to his lifelong motivations and passions are covered with great detail and insight.The pieces from Burtons own journals are skillfully edited and included to give extra interest and weight to the piece, they also show that Burton's own misgivings about writing are unsubstanciated.
Every one of the five hundred odd pages keeps you hooked.Get it, read it, it's definitely worth every penny.

Burton is great
I loved the book: it reads like a novel and one has to remind oneself that it is a true story. It quotes extensively from Burton's notebooks and often he seems to be a better writer than Bragg. Burton emerges as a gifted,intelligent and sensitive person torn by inner conflicts - the side of himfew people knew. At the same time thebook has all: the glamour, thescandals, the love story etc. After reading it I rushed to buy all Burton'svideos available here. ... Read more

Product Description
frontis., 25 b&w photosThe Seventh Seal is probably the best-known work of one of the world's great filmmakers, the one which most clearly bears Bergman's unmistakable signature. The opening scene sets the tone: a stoney beach under a leaden sky, the knight alone with his thoughts, then the approach of black-clad Death, whom the knight invites to play a game of chess. Bergman's medieval allegory of faith and doubt is dark with the horrors of witch-burning and the plague. But it is also shot through with bright flashes of peace and joy, symbolized in the milk and strawberries offered to the knight by an innocent family of actors. In a finely written appreciation, Melvyn Bragg describes his own first encounter as a student with this extraordinary film, and how it revealed to him another cinema, quite different from the Hollywood with which he had grown up. He also recounts his later meeting with Bergman, and how the marks of his powerful personality are everywhere in this troubling but inspiring masterpiece.Amazon.com Review
This warm appreciation of The Seventh Seal isalso a biographical account of two very different people. MelvynBragg, who interviewed Bergman in one of the very first broadcasts ofhis South Bank Show, recalls how he grew up with Bergman'sfilms. As he recounts how Bergman's art accompanied him on his journeyto adulthood he also traces the progress of Bergman's own life andcareer, which reached its maturity at the time The Seventh Sealwas released. Bragg's unique approach to the story and the making ofThe Seventh Seal demonstrates how a great movie can have asstrong an impact upon a film lover as it does upon its film maker. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Almost worthless
There's a lot of secondary commentary on Bergman out there.My experience that most of it is pretty bad.Its authors usually think that there's something profound, revealing, and deeply important about Bergman's films, but they have a great deal of difficulty enunciating precisely what they mean.So they tend to be disappointingly vague.

Melvyn Bragg's little BFI volume on Bergman's "The Seventh Seal" is one of the worst of these faux commentaries.In a total text of about 50 pages (minus the stills reproduced from the film, which are actually the best part of his book), he devotes perhaps two pages to actually talking about the movie (this in Chapter 5).The greater bulk of the book is a bizarre and spotty memoir in which Bragg talks about his own childhood, his early love of cinema, his lusting after Harriet Andersson in "Summer with Monika," and his religious upbringing.It's only at this point that he begins to say a few sketchy things about his book's putative topic, at which point it's too little, too late.

To compound errors, Bragg incredibly ignores Bergman's two autobiographies, The Magic Lantern and Images, even though both were published and available before his own book.Instead, he refers to a 25 year old collection of interviews, Bergman on Bergman, which Bergman later explicitly repudiated.

Give this one a miss.Truly.

Rigid series format inhibits a full study of Bergman classic
This is another rather disappointing entry in the BFI Classics series, a padded look at one of European cinema's most famous totems, Bergman's 'The Seventh Seal', that medieval allegory of plague, faith, doubt, death, God and chess.

It is disappoint because it promises so much but doesn't deliver.The opening chapter, 'Art and Religion', looks at Bergman's attempts to return Art, its creation and reception, to the condition of medieval craftsmanship and faith, when to create was synonymous with worship.Bragg, an acclaimed novelist and arts broadcaster (he made a film about Bergman in 1978) has recently produced two major series on religious subjects, but any hope for a serious tackling of this aspect in Bergman's work, and 'The Seventh Seal' in particular, is quickly jettisoned in favour of less demanding chapters on Bragg's first exposure to cinema and Bergman (the usual 'alternative to Hollywood' stuff), and the importance of Bergman's childhood (which is obvious to anyone who's seen a Bergman film, especially 'Fanny and Alexander'; although it's alarming to discover the young Bergman's obsession with Hitler, for whom his stern pastor father was a dead ringer).

Another chapter deals with the genesis of the film in a play Bergman wrote for an acting school, but fails to analyse the way Bergman, in this and all his work, systematically uses theatre and acting as a metaphor.

What is especially disappointing is that the final chapter, a brief synopsis of the film, is brilliant, full of casual asides that are actually dazzling shards of critical insight.Too late, Bragg reveals he has the measure of this dark, enigmatic, unnervingly comic film (one actually dismissed by most Bergmanophiles as superficial and uncharacteristic, but Bragg doesn't mention this) - Bragg's intelligence is dimmed by the rigid format of the series. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Darwin
This a real "sleeper", ought to better known in US. From listening gives impression of having been done on BBC. If so, would love to have a DVD of such. ... Read more

Product Description
The second half of the twentieth century has seen British artists, architects, and designers assuming a central role on the world stage. Starting in the years of reconstruction after the war, the young began to challenge accepted artistic values, looking at popular culture for their inspiration; the iconoclasm of the Pop movement has continued to be one of the most vital ingredients of the British art scene. In the year-by-year record that this book provides, the work of newcomers making their first impact is seen alongside that of outstanding artists in their maturity, with connections and contradictions across the entire visual scene--from architecture, interior design, furniture, and the decorative arts to painting, sculpture, and graphic art. Pictures and text explore the many factors that contributed to the special character of British art. The unique system of artists teaching in art schools, the worlds of fashion and pop music, political and social developments: the response of the best artists to these influences has always been original and questioning and has opened new avenues for future development. The book is organized by decade, and the achievements of each are highlighted by statements from a distinguished group of artists, designers, collectors, and critics who have themselves made a significant contribution to each decade. Encouragement, challenge, and opposition have all provided stimulus for creative talents that have been able to override the changes of taste and fashion. The book features the work of more than 250 artists, from Henry Moore, David Hockney, Francis Bacon, and Lucian Freud to James Stirling, Richard Rogers, Neville Brody, and Damien Hirst. The publication is also a celebration of the first fifty years of Thames and Hudson--founded by Walter Neurath in 1949--and the role that the publishing house has played in educating the public and supporting the arts during this period.Amazon.com Review
This lavish book is a catalog of sorts of 50 years of the best of British art, architecture, and design. Christopher Frayling, Rector of the Royal College of Art, in his suitably upbeat forward, notes that "some analysts reckon that Britain's future, in the post-industrial world, may depend on our creativity and visual flair." This book displays the origins of that flair. The essays by noted critics and artists David Sylvester, David Hockney, Melvyn Bragg, and Nick Serota ensure that the artistic and cultural history of mid- and late-20th-century British art is thoroughly covered, but it is the splendidly reproduced pictures that really make this book sing. Psychologically taut Francis Bacon paintings and a politically charged Chris Ofilli canvas are here, along with architecture ranging from 1950s London County Council flats to the Millennium Dome and designs that include David Mellor cutlery and the space-age-looking Dyson vacuum cleaner. In addition, samples of video, photography, advertisements, fashion, and technology (the Apple iMac computer was designed by a Brit) are explored. The impact of television on visual media is appropriately weighted--Bragg points out that the marriage between art and the small screen "is happier than anyone could have dreamed of." All in all, this is a thrilling book that gives British national pride a good name. --Amazon.co.uk ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Superb
This book is a wonderfull display of british artwork, it is also extremely informative and a trully usefull and pleasurable book to have. I can not recomend it highly enough. ... Read more

Product Description
JOSH LAWTON, a young Cumbrian orphan and farm worker, is an exceptionally good man. Strong and athletic, he is trained to be a fell runner by Cedric, a garrulous ex-soldier who takes Josh under his wing.But Cedric is alienated when Josh falls in love with Maureen, a worldly girl from the neighbouring town, marries her and fathers a child. However, the quiet and simple life that Josh loves does not satisfy Maureen who seeks excitement back home in the arms of her former lover, a local bully. The betrayal brings Cedric back into Josh's life, eager to discredit the woman who had usurped him.It also leads to a climax that is both inevitable and shocking: Josh, who hates fighting, is drawn into a battle with Maureen's lover and is killed.Cedric, filled with revenge, can only turn his knife on himself.The novel's tragic ending is both a warning against simplicity and a cry for its presence in everything. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Super writing!
I've only read a small part of this huge book, but it's written in great writing style, and one of those books you KNOW you're going to love as a classic! ... Read more