This in-depth portrait of English history's consummate stateswoman — her "Justice, temper, magnanimity, judgment" (the queen's own assessment of what best fitted a monarch) — focuses on politics rather than the cult of personality. And surely no one could be more politic than Elizabeth Tudor, whose prudent alliances catapulted England from a bankrupt minor kingdom to a great power. Her ability to win the absolute fidelity of her subordinates and to manipulate her favorites and suitors is legendary. On the question of the Virgin Queen's virginity, Johnson quotes Elizabeth herself: "I do not live in a comer — a thousand eyes see all I do, and calumny will not fasten on me forever," and suggests that only once, during a summer spent hunting with Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, did she come close to allowing her feelings to rule her head. She is styled here as an omni-competent cool pragmatist, but also a pacifist, who advocated tolerance toward Roman Catholics after her restoration of the Protestant Church of England, objected angrily to the beheading of her cousin Mary Queen of Scots, went to war with Spain reluctantly, and suffered personally over the execution of Essex for his conspiratorial folly. Elizabeth comes through as a model ruler, humble and charismatic, moral and resolute. Totally involving biography, perhaps even touched with relevance for our own era of crisis in world leadership.
Pub Date: Oct. 3, 1974
ISBN: 0030129362
Page Count: -
Publisher: Holt Rinehart & Winston
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1974
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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