Country houses

COUNTRY HOUSES OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND WALESBy Andrew GingerThis book is beautifully illustrated and offers concise appreciation of the country house, its history and the architecture. Divided into four sections. ‘Origins’ is 16 part exploration of the key aspects of these magnificent houses. From their architectural style and furnishings to below stirs, garden buildings, art and collections they house, continually changing social uses. Part II has four pages of maps. Pinpointing each of the houses in the gazetteer, showing principal roads.Part III ,gazetteer, is an alphabetical guide to 100 of the most outstanding country houses, together with the brief details of history and other features and also the directions for the visitors. Part IV is a kind of useful glossary of the architectural terms and a full index. Gorgeous color plates

Spirit of Penley

SPIRIT OF PENLEY
Twentieth century in photographs
By Derrick and Shirley Pratt
To open this book is to time travel back to the faces, fields, and buildings, that were Penley of the long past. When it was an ancient rural idyll, Penley through the war years, when it was thrust abruptly into the twentieth century, and its journey to the present day, “tale of two villages’, It documents the change from a little welsh agricultural back water. It is named after the seventh century king of the Mercians, Penda, to a sudden transformation in1942. At that time two huge United States army hospitals were built there. The village was filling up with vast number of strangers and a need for new and better roads was created. New industries and increased housing facilities too were required. The whole story is being told through the help of the photographs. Family groups whose ancestors have been Penley people for centuries. Farmers and neatly dressed children. The changing appearance of the pub. Dramatic building of the hospitals. Ranks of doctors and surgeons. Again in 1945 Polish army replaced the Americans. They were really making the little welsh village as their home. Compare the rather feudal rent dinners held in the pub. There the lady tenants were allowed but they had to eat separately from the men that meaning in the kitchen itself. After the integration of the Polish integration into the Penley life, running occupational therapy workshops in carpentry and cobbling kept the village well shod. The religious festivals and the dances they brought along with them and the Polskie echo.

scattered among the peoples

SCATTERED AMONG THE PEOPLES
The Jewish Diaspora in twelve portraits
By Allan Levine
Diaspora is derived from the Greek word for scattering and originally applied to any people exiled or resettled in the ancient world. More recently it has come to define the Jewish experience when King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians burned the Temple of Solomon in 586 BC sending the people of Judea into exile. This chronological look at twelve defining points in the Jewish history, from Seville in 1492to Kiev in 1967, is immensely readable and well researched. Scandal, fortunes made and lost assassination and tragedy - a very important addition to the understanding of the Jewish culture.

Ladies in waiting

LADIES IN WATING
From the Tudors to the present days
By Anne Somerset
Drawn from variety of resources, including the diaries of Lady Anne Clifford, Lady Cowper, and Fanny Bumey. Fascinating expose of the lives of ladies in waiting may lead you to revise your ideas about what exactly went on in the exotic and eccentric world of the court. At a time when virtually every profession was an exclusively masculine preserve. The position of the lady in waiting on the queen was almost the only occupation that an upper class English woman could with propriety pursue. What is more, if they become royal mistresses, real power was within their grasp. Some, such as the rapacious Lady Castle Maine, amassed a fortune. Anne Boleyn lost her head. Even today the queen is assisted in the execution of her duties by a group of women whose duty is to provide her with companionship and support

last night dream

I was flying over the high hills and dales so fast and lot of birds of various kind were just following me in the sky. I was wondering as to what is happening. Although I was floating with the flowing winds, I have not stretched my arms or legs. What is this supposed to be? Only thing this was the dream I had last night. Can any one explain this please.

Edwardians

THE EDWARDIANS
By Ray Matterslay
Contrast between the two ages was dramatic. After the earnestness and somberness of the later Victorian era and the Edwardian years, though brief, were light hearted, reflecting the character of the new king, Edward VII. He was 60 before he succeeded his mother and was ill prepared for the task as he was not groomed, for the role, the court too could not bring themselves, to contemplate Victoria’s death. This was a time of achievement. Man took to the air, motor cars became a common sight, great politicians evolved, novelists, artists, and musicians shone. The author has consulted unpublished diaries, and letters, in order to create this lively master piece of a very special period in Britain’s history.

CAESAR AGAINST THE CELTS

CAESAR AGAINST THE CELTS
This one takes the reader to each of the Caesar’s campaigns in ancient France, Britain and Germany. Describing Caesar’s battle on land and sea including the invasions of England. The bridge across the Rhine and sieges of numerous Celtic strongholds. Climax of his northern campaign occurred at Alesla in central France. Young Celtic warrior Vercingetorix commanding a great coalition of rebellious tribes finally surrendered to the Caesar after an epic siege. He was carted off to Rome in chains and put to death, after his opponent’s triumphant parade. Throughout the narrative are descriptions of the clothing, armour, weapons, and tactics, of the Caesar’s army as well as those of the Celtic tribes. The works also reflects on the results of modern archaeological, linguistic and historical research and also includes identifications of the sites of many battles, camps and sieges