The Monarchy: An Oral Biography of Elizabeth II

Book Description

Her public and private worlds, the life and times of Elizabeth II and her family.

Fifty years ago in February 1952, while in Kenya on the beginning of a world tour, Princess Elizabeth ascended to the British Throne on the death of her father, King George VI, who the day before had stood on the tarmac at London’s Heathrow airport waving her farewell. She returned to London as Queen to be met at the foot of the aircraft steps by Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
The Monarchy is the brilliantly constructed oral biography of the life of Elizabeth II and her fifty-year rule as the second-longest-reigning British sovereign in history. This candid look at the enduring monarch has been compiled from interviews that paint a rich picture of the private and the public life of the Queen. With access to over one hundred friends and associates of the Royal Family, the authors have woven their in-depth conversations into a fascinating, comprehensive personal profile that brings vividly to life the various strands of Queen Elizabeth’s life.
We follow the story from her birth in an elegant townhouse in London’s Piccadilly, through the trauma of the abdication of her uncle, Edward VIII, and her realization that she was the heir to the Throne. During the London blitz the Royal Family stayed in London, an action that was loved by Britons, and after the war her almost fairytale marriage to Prince Philip followed by her Coronation in 1953 in Westminster Abbey. This early life is brought vividly to life by insiders like Lady Pamela Hicks, Lady Elizabeth Longford, Michael Parker, Earl of Harewood, Philip Ziegler, and others.
The years of her reign, beset by political turmoil in her beloved Commonwealth of Nations and problems nearer to home in her family, are treated sensitively. A portrait emerges of a woman whose understanding of political reality and foreign and domestic policy is wide and deep. She has been served by nine Prime Ministers from Winston Churchill to Tony Blair (who, it is certain, has both given her advice and received it in return). The Monarchy also sheds light new light on Queen Elizabeth’s often strained and fractious relationships with her children and their spouses, including, of course, the Prince Charles/Princess Diana/Camilla Parker Bowles drama that riveted the world.
Drawing on the knowledge and observations of a wide range of people, courtiers, journalists, heads of state, politicians, and close friends, this book is an intimate and meaningful tour of a remarkable life. It is also a forthright portrait of an amazing woman: the Sovereign Lady, Queen Elizabeth II, a figure who has captured the hearts and imagination of millions.

Customer Reviews:

Her Royal Highness According to Her Entourage.......2002-04-18

When it comes to the spate of books produced to mark the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the Throne, this is perhaps the best and most relevant, especially within the context of the Queen Mother's recent passing, since it looks at the British monarchy in its entirety; past, present and future.

The authors interviewed some 100 Royal Family friends, acquaintances, and members of their retinue, in an attempt to compose a portrait of their personal and public lives.

It makes for fascinating reading - authentic accounts from those who were there to witness history in the making, such as the day Queen Elizabeth II learned of her father, King George VI's passing. She cried upon hearing the news, "And then," according to her equerry-in-waiting at the time, Mike Parker, "she straightened up and she went in, to the desk she had been working at, and started to send all these telegrams off...."

The majority of the interviewees are British and there's a good deal of conjecture about different happenings, accounts that sometimes disagree; but it is this very conflict that makes it seem like you're there as events unfold through the various dispatches which provide enough detail to allow a clear picture to emerge.

We become privy to the inner workings of the monarchy. For instance, the King's many secretaries had a code for a multitude of contingencies, including his death. Sir Edward Ford, the King's assistant private secretary, reveals, "I got a telephone call from [Private Secretary, Sir Alan] Lascelles at Sandringham [House, one of the Royal Family's private residences], saying 'Hyde Park Corner,' because that was the code. He simply said: 'Hyde Park Corner. Go and tell [Prime Minister] Churchill, and the Queen Mary,' and he rang off."

The book includes a brief history of the monarchy, dating back to its establishment in 1066, with stops at notable milestones and interesting tidbits along the way. Queen Mary, for example, according to the Seventeenth Earl of Perth, John David Drummond, was "a very forceful character.... When she was visiting a grand house, she would like to see various things. And there was always a risk if she said: 'Oh, I like that; that's really something very nice.' It had almost reached the point that the host...felt impelled to send it on to her later."

Also covered is King Edward VIII's abdication of the Throne in 1936. The royal biographer Lady Langford divulges that the words "the woman I love," used in his abdication speech, referring to the twice-divorced Wallis Simpson, who would become the Duchess of Windsor, were suggested by then-Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Lady Longford also shares a story about how, when George VI became King, Princess Margaret asked her elder sister, "'Does that mean you'll be Queen?' And [Princess Elizabeth] said: 'Yes, some day.' And Princess Margaret said: 'Poor you.'"

We hear accounts of the difficulty involved in securing enough white horses for the service lords to ride on during Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1952; and memories of how the intense heat on the day of her father's coronation caused the boots of the bobbies, who lined the procession route, to stick to the tarmac. Reportedly, Winston Churchill opposed televising Queen Elizabeth II's coronation on the grounds that "people might watch the service while drinking beer!"

When the new Queen, in one of her first dictates, overrode the decision not to televise the celebration, sales of television sets soared in Britain.

It's possible that Sir Michael Oswald best sums up the awesome responsibility inherent in the monarchy when he says, "In a political job you can give it up. The Queen sees it that it's something she's consecrated to do, and to do for the rest of her life to the best of her ability."

As the Head of the Commonwealth, she commands a total of 1.7 billion subjects.

We witness salient points in the monarchy's chronicle, from the birth of Prince Charles, to his much-publicized marriage and eventual divorce from Princess Diana, to her imposing death.

Former Foreign Office official Ian Adams explains that the late Queen Mother exerted great influence when it came to the pairing of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.

Many of Queen Elizabeth II's courtiers are interviewed and we get a sense of what it's like to live inside Buckingham Palace, with its 600 rooms; the "world's largest inhabited castle" - Windsor Castle; and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Scotland; in addition to the Queen's two private residences, the aforementioned Sandringham House, and Balmoral Castle.

Remembering simpler times, when the beautiful young Princess Elizabeth became Queen, Admiral Sir Henry Leach suggests, "There was very much less scurrilous stuff floating round the media of the day...."

But starting in the late-1950s, the monarchy started to become the subject of criticism, and the authors don't turn a blind eye to this. There's talk of the struggle to find a suitable role for Prince Charles while he waits to succeed the Queen, with British Lord McNally saying, "I might be totally unfair to Prince Charles, but my impression was that beyond a kind of general look-around, there wasn't very much enthusiasm [on his part] for doing a specific job." A chapter in the book entitled, "The Heir Apparent: Who Is He?" examines in detail the issues that seem to surround Prince Charles, with part of it dedicated to debate about whether Camilla Parker Bowles will one day be Queen.

Lastly, there is a further examination of Prince Charles, with an eye toward assessing the future of the monarchy, centering on whether he will step aside and let Prince William succeed the Queen.

Regardless of your position on such matters, the authors present us with a captivating read and an inside look at Royal life.

Excellent.......2002-04-12

Excellent, original and interesting - dare I say even entertaining. If you are interested in a bio of a woman deserving of respect, that is not of the tabloid sort on people best described as a dilettante,(can anyone say "Diana",)then take a look at this one. It is very, very good. Elizabeth may have had her role thrust upon her by an accident of birth, but she has handled it far better than most have in the past, and probably will in the future.

One of the very best.......2002-03-16

This is one of the very best biographies I've read on the Queen - a very fair and unbiased book with wonderful insights from people who really know the Royal Family. The people who are quoted are well known and not afraid to tell the truth even when it isn't complimentary. I'd highly recommend this book - it is like sitting down in your living room and talking to people about the Royal Family. I thoroughly enjoyed it and found it hard to put down once I started.

Book Description

This is not your ordinary audio book! It's another collection of stories from Smokey Yunick's autobiography: Best Damn Garage in Town.

Smokey Yunick, the world's most famous mechanic, accomplished more in one life than most people could in five. He flew 50 missions as a B-17 pilot in WWII. He was an integral part of the birth of stock car racing and ran open wheel cars during the glory days of the Indy 500. He spent years in the jungles of Ecuador and held 10 U.S. patents. Smokey was concerned for the future, so he developed more efficient and powerful engines for passenger cars and safer crash barriers for race tracks. These are the real stories of racing and everything automotive in America told by someone who was there every step of the way!

To add to the fun we had people from all around racing read Smokey's stories. And while they were at it, we asked them to give you their thoughts on Smokey you won't believe what they had to say!

Dick Berggren publisher of Speedway Illustrated and Fox Sports pit reporter

Dave Bowman Co-host of Two Guys Garage

Monte Dutton Author and racing reporter

Ray Evernham Owner of two NASCAR Winston Cup Teams

Don Garlits Top fuel drag racing champion

Ralph Johnson inventor of the double-pumper carburetor

Steve Lewis USAC midget team owner

Bill Miller manufactures aluminum pistons and rods for Winston Cup & NHRA

Major Jeff Neischel, USAF B-52 pilot and Smokey fan

Bob Snodgrass president and ceo of Brumos Porsche

Bill Walker SmokeyÕs B-17 training buddy from WWII

Renee Walker SmokeyÕs sister

Book Description

• More than 250 categories of products and services, thousands of listings for everything and anyone needed to produce a movie or video

• Easy-to-use tabs make locating supplies even easier

• Expanded New York and Los Angeles listings

Making a movie? A TV show? A commercial? A music video? Need to rent a camera? Get a prop? Hire a special-effects whiz? More than 250 categories of products and services, with thousands of listings, make the Hollywood Reporter Blu-Book Production Directory 2006 the perfect book for finding everything and anything used in a production. Ten major tabbed sections represent all services and personnel. For this edition, expanded New York and Los Angeles listings make it even easier to find what's needed in the production capitals of the United States. Now finding that camera, special-effects whiz, or prop is absolutely no problem—ever.

Average customer rating:
Fiddle Time Runners
Kathy Blackwell , Kathy , and David Blackwell
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0193220806

Average customer rating:
Fiddle Time Runners
David Blackwell
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJX0V8

Average customer rating:

Not bad 1 good strategy in this book

Crap Shooters Wake Up and Smell the Roses
Charles C. Westcott
Manufacturer: BookSurge Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Card Games | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Craps | Gambling | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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Wake Up Crap Shooters: And Join the Dice Revolution

Beat the Craps Out of the Casinos, 2nd Edition: How to Play and Win

Golden Touch Dice Control Revolution! How to Win at Craps Using a Controlled Dice Throw!

ASIN: 1588981940
Release Date: 2007-02-14

Book Description

This book is for the crap shooter who knows the game and is familiar with odds, but is tired of missing out on the big roll because his bankroll is gone when it gets there.

Customer Reviews:

Not bad 1 good strategy in this book.......2007-02-28

What i liked about this book was that there was hardly any filler, many craps/gambling books spend 75% of the book on explaining basic rules of the game, which is annoying as not all books should have that. This book skipped all the basic craps knowledge and assumes you know what a pass line, come bet is etc. Most of the book was actually spent talking about the strategy he uses when playing craps.

Average customer rating:

A great overview with some tips

The Complete Guide to Investing in Undervalued Properties.

The Complete Guide to Investing in Undervalued Properties
Steve Berges
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0071445803

Book Description

Everything the savvy investor needs to turn huge profits at very low risk in undervalued properties

Steve Berges's "Complete Guides" are among the most recognized brands in real estate investment--always one of the hottest topics on the business bookshelf. In The Complete Guide to Investing in Undervalued Properties, Berges shows yous how to beat rising real-estate prices by identifying sought-after undervalued properties ahead of the pack. Then, he demonstrates how to take control of these properties at very low risk to turn very high profits. You will learn how to:

Mine traditional and nontraditional sources for undervalued properties
Conduct the all-important property valuation
Gain control of undervalued properties using purchase option investing
Increase property value instantly
Offer the property to a new buyer at a huge profit

Download Description

Everything the savvy investor needs to turn huge profits at very low risk in undervalued properties

Steve Bergess "Complete Guides" are among the most recognized brands in real estate investment--always one of the hottest topics on the business bookshelf. In The Complete Guide to Investing in Undervalued Properties, Berges shows yous how to beat rising real-estate prices by identifying sought-after undervalued properties ahead of the pack. Then, he demonstrates how to take control of these properties at very low risk to turn very high profits. You will learn how to:

Mine traditional and nontraditional sources for undervalued properties
Conduct the all-important property valuation
Gain control of undervalued properties using purchase option investing
Increase property value instantly
Offer the property to a new buyer at a huge profit

Customer Reviews:

A great overview with some tips.......2006-04-21

I bought this book and was pleasantly surprised at how informative it was. Finding undervalued properties in any market is tough, although it appears author Berges has found some. He lays out the pitfalls and encourages everyone to invest, but be cautious. He owns a building company and knows what to looks for, so don't be foolhardy and fall in love with the first property you see. Overall, a good read for those wanting to invest, or start investing.

The Complete Guide to Investing in Undervalued Properties. .......2006-02-21

I enjoyed the majority of this author's book. Good insight into developing relationships with referral sources for undervalued properties. I know he has a great deal of knowledge, I like more in depth information.

Book Description

The English Bible---the mot familiar book in our language---is the product of a man who was exiled, vilified, betrayed, then strangled, then burnt.

William Tyndale left England in 1524 to translate the word of God into English. This was heresy, punishable by death. Sir Thomas More, hailed as a saint and a man for all seasons, considered it his divine duty to pursue Tyndale. He did so with an obsessive ferocity that, in all probability, led to Tyndale's capture and death.

The words that Tyndale wrote during his desperate exile have a beauty and familiarity that still resonate across the English-speaking world: "Death, where is thy sting?...eat, drink, and be merry...our Father which art in heaven."

His New Testament, which he translated, edited, financed, printed, and smuggled into England in 1526, passed with few changes into subsequent versions of the Bible. So did those books of the Old Testament that he lived to finish.

Brian Moynahan's lucid and meticulously researched biography illuminates Tyndale's life, from his childhood in England, to his death outside Brussels. It chronicles the birth pangs of the Reformation, the wrath of Henry VIII, the sympathy of Anne Boleyn, and the consuming malice of Thomas More. Above all, it reveals the English Bible as a labor of love, for which a man in an age more spiritual than our own willingly gave his life.

Customer Reviews:

The Fugitive.......2007-09-15

Moynahan's book is informative, well-written and well-produced (except for sources rather than footnotes). Despite some reviewers strained concerns, the book represents no threat to people of faith. In fact it celebrates them. It depicts the struggles and underlying genius of a gifted translator and polemicist, William Tyndale and is as exciting as a thriller. Cleverly and informatively interweaving the emergence of the new printing industry - Moynahan presents a Europe that is surprisingly cosmopolitan. Tyndale wanders from Antwerp to Cologne to Maintz to Hamburg, pursued by Wolsey's spies, ambassadors and priests. Tyndale managed because he was a polyglot - English, German, French, Dutch, Greek, Latin and Hebrew - and he had many supporters especially among the men and women of business and industry.

In celebrating Tyndale's accomplishments, Moynahan does a number on the much and overly celebrated Thomas More. I am a practicing Catholic and Englishman too boot, brought up on the presumed saintliness of Thomas More. Stimulated by C. J. Sansom's 16th Century murder mystery - Dissolution, I have read in quick order biographies of Wolsey, Cromwell and now Tyndale. I no longer think of More as "blessed". True, More stood by his principles and was erudite - but he appears fanatical, twisted and sadistic and demonstrated little belief in the sanctity of human life. After reading Moynahan's description of More's pursuit of Tyndale and other evangelicals, I defy anyone to see More's Utopia as a pleasant place.

Moynahan effectively brings to life the leading characters of this troubled, violent, vicious and generally un-Christian period. The work and genius of Master William Tyndale - who appears to have been more saintly than Thomas More - have been largely submerged in the blood and fire of the times: Blood and fire in large measure shed and stoked in the name of us Catholics. While much of the Reformation was driven by avarice, greed and geo-politics, the reality is that the Church had become wedded to form over substance, and the Rome of the Medicii Popes was closer to today's Hollywood than to Heaven. It is stunning to see the attitude of the Catholic Church towards the Bible and the laity. Great things were at stake just as they are today, but the manner in which those great things were championed and protected was intolerant, immoral and deeply un-Christian.

A MODERN HERETIC'S PROPAGANDA HIT PIECE.......2007-06-27

IT IS SO EASY TO ATTACK THE ANGLICANS, LUTHERANS , AND EPISCOPALIANS FOR THEIR HERESY THAT IT IS SELF-EVIDENT, BUT MR.MOYNAHAN'S OBSSESSIVE HATRED OF MORE IS CAUSE FOR CONCERN OVER HIS REAL IQ REGARDING THE WHOLE ISSUES OF THE SO-CALLED "REFORMATION"[ BUT MORE ACCURATELY TO BE TERMED THE PROTESTANT'S WAR ON THE ONE AND TRUE CHURCH ]PERHAPS MR.MOYNAHAN IS IGNORANT OVER THE SEVERE FRACTURING OF THE EPISCOPALIAN CHURCH IN THE USA -PERHAPS EVIDENCE THAT IT WAS HERESY AND THIS OF COURSE WILL LEAD BACK TO CANTERBURY EVENTUALLY. ACCUSATIONS ARE MADE AGAINST THE CATHOLIC THROUGH BLIND AND STUPID STORIES[ AS IF PEOPLE LEARN THEIR THEOLOGY FROM HELLISH HOLLYWOOD ] MORE IS STILL WELL KNOWN 572 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH AND IN FACT, IS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS "A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS." TYNDALE IS A CURIOUS ANSWER TO A TRIVIA QUESTION. DR. JOHNSON EVEN MENTIONED MORE IN GLOWING PRAISE. THIS BOOK IS A PIECE OF PROPAGANDA GARBAGE - BURN IT LIKE MORE BURNED THE HERETICS TRYING TO KILL THE CHURCH. WANT PEOPLE TO HAVE NO GUIDANCE AND DETERMINE THEIR OWN MEANINGS FROM THEIR VERNACULAR?AS TYNDALE WANTED [ AS MOYNAHAN DEFENDS ] THIS IS THE KORAN....

An Excellent Biography.......2006-10-24

God's Bestseller is the second biography of Tyndale I have read this year and one of only a few produced in recent decades. Written by Brian Moynahan, the subtitle provides a glimpse of the author's emphases: "William Tyndale, Thomas More, and the Writing of the English Bible--A Story of Martyrdom and Betrayal." Less-scholarly than David Daniell's William Tyndale: A Biography, God's Bestseller is also more readable, as evidenced by the Mail on Sunday's endorsement which suggests it is "almost worthy of LeCarre."

Though William Tyndale died almost 500 years ago, we continue to read and enjoy his Bible. The first man to translate Scripture into English, much of Tyndale's language and vocabulary continue to used commonly within the church and without. He coined words and phrases such as My brother's keeper, passover and scapegoat. Other commonly used phrases include let there be light, the powers that be, my brother's keeper, the salt of the earth and a law unto themselves. His mastery of English, though the language was still in its infancy, was unparalleled in his age. "In the begynnynge was the worde, and the worde was with God: the the word was God. The same was in the begynnynge with God. All thinges were made by it and with out it was made nothinge that was made. In it was lyfe and the lyfe was the lyght of men. And the light shyneth in the darknes but the darknes comprehended it not." Those verses passed into the King James and subsequent translations almost untouched.

Tyndale's mastery of the language is evident in passages of Scripture he was able to translate only in part before his untimely death. Read aloud these passages from Song of Solomon as they were written by Tyndale and then by the writers of the King James. "Up and haste my love, my dove, my bewtifull and come away..." The King James renders this same passage with far less skill, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away." Tyndale writes, "For now is wynter gone and the rayne departed and past." The King James bumbles, "For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over, and gone." The cadence, the use of language, is unmatched. We can only imagine how Tyndale would have rendered the Psalms, Job and other poetic books had he been granted long life.

But as we know, Tyndale was not able to complete his translation of the Old Testament. He did not write his own epitaph as was the custom at the time. But as Moynahan points out, a passage he left from 1 Corinthians seems to serve well: "'And though I gave my body even that I burned, and yet had no love, it profiteth me nothing.' That used love and not charity was technical evidence of his heresy, of course, and the prime reason why More wanted him brunt. But Tyndale did not die for charity; he died for love, for the love of God's words and of their readers, and the most familiar work in the English language is thereby given the added grace of being a labour of love." We see this love evident in his reply to Henry VIII when offered safe passage to his native England. Were Henry to grant even a bare text of Scripture to the common people, Tyndale promised, "I shall immediately make faithful promise never to write more, nor abide two days in these parts after the same: but immediately to repair unto his realm, and there most humbly submit myself at the feet of his royal majesty, offering my body to suffer what pain or torture, yea, what death his grace will, so this be obtained. And till that time, I will abide the asperity of all chances, whatsoever shall come, and endure my life in as many pains as it is able to bear and suffer." The king would never submit to so audacious a demand and soon decreed that Tyndale be hunted down and killed. Though agents of Henry were never able to find Tyndale, he did eventually fall into the hands of the church authorities and was put to death. His last words, soon to be a rallying cry for English Protestants, were near-prophetic. "Oh Lord, open the King of England's eyes," he cried. Only a few short years later, Henry authorized an English translation of the Bible and, ironically, one based largely on the work of Tyndale.

Tyndale's name may not be widely known, but his influence is still felt. "Tyndale's traces are everywhere, of course. 'That old tongue, with its clang and its flavour,' as the critic Edmund Wilson wrote of the Bible, 'that we have been living with all our lives,' is Tyndale's tongue. Its cadence, its rolling and happy phrases, its consolations and the elegance of its solace, are his."

Despite his influence and his importance to the development of the English language, Tyndale is relatively unknown to both Christians and non-Christians. It is to our detriment that we forget about this great man of faith who gave his life for his conviction that the Word of God must go forth and must be made available in the common tongue. Moynahan's biography is an excellent introduction to Tyndale's life and influence. It is written in a way that will appeal to any reader, it still conveys a great deal of information and is clearly the result of meticulous research. It is one of the best biographies I have read this year and I commend it to you.

Moynahan Sells Me on Tyndale.......2006-04-26

Few history books have influenced my thinking as has Brian Moynahan's "God's Bestseller: William Tyndale" (2002). I found this 422-page (hardback) difficult to put down. I was often cheering for and, in the end, crying over the life of William Tyndale.

Moynahan portrays Tyndale as a man of rare talent and extraordinary vision. Almost from the beginning of his clerical career he wanted to offer the Bible to the English-speaking world. One feels Tyndale's early clandestine efforts for bringing Scripture into English. One is fearful as the Gloucestershire clerk quickly leaves for the continent evading royal arrest to begin his life-long passion.

Moynahan's narrative correctly shows Thomas More' villainous pursuit of Tyndale. As Henry VIII's Chancellor More had all the power, money and legal statute needed to track Tyndale down and ultimately execute him. Tyndale's short life was lived as a fugitive from royal pursuit. He was constantly on the move (Tyndale had few friends and no family by the end). Moynahan's is an exciitng and illuminating heart-in-the-throat narrative. He reveals all the nasty 16th century politics of Henry's torturous and corrupt reign.

Even as Moynahan show's William Tyndale's life as the stuff for an exciting Hollywood drama, he also takes time to explain Tyndale's evasive personal life. We learn that Tyndale may have met Martin Luther and learned German at the Protestant master's feet. We see Tyndale's various correspondences with many of the leaders of his age (the letters are still extant). We learn that Tyndale's translations were often completed in the middle of the night just hours before he was forced to flee the king's men.

We discover Thomas More's personal obsession with Tyndale (a compulsion that ultimately brought Tyndale to the fiery stake). In the end William Tyndale was captured through the duplicity of a "friend" and burned alive in Brussels (in 1526) because he was the first to translate (and publish) Scripture into English. (Ironically, Thomas More- staunch Roman Catholic- met his downfall at the hands of Thomas Cromwell- Protestant- weeks before Tyndale's capture. Cromwell's meteoric rise to power, as Henry's new Chancellor, did not allow time for Cromwell to block Emperor Charles V's- a royal Roman Catholic- execution of Tyndale.)

Moynahan offers a considerable portion of Tyndale's original translation (only three original copies survive). He reports that 84% of the King James Version New Testament and 78% of the KJV Old Testament are lifted from Tyndale's translation. (The 1611 KJV composers used Tyndale as their guide for English Scripture.)

This is a fast paced story of intrigue, arrest evasion, governmental corruption, betrayal, and divine inspiration. Through all the political turmoil in the first third of the 16th century, William Tyndale prepared a brilliant translation of God's Word for his fellow Englishmen. His was the original pioneering effort that made the Bible accessible to all English speakers.

This book in very recommendable to all: scholars, students, historians, theologians, Bible studiers, and those looking to read an exciting (real life) story. Moynahan will sell you, too, on William Tyndale.

Faith - Works - Betrayal - Death.......2005-03-20

The author, Brian Moynahan, notes that William Tyndale's translation of the Bible "....fathered what is probably the best known and certainly the most quoted work in the English language." A 1998 analysis of the King James Bible, found Tyndale's words account for 84 percent of the New Testament and for 75.8 percent of the Old Testament. The text observes that Tyndale believed English "corresponded with scripture better than ....Latin ...." The text narrates how Tyndale through faith and sheer determination translated the Bible into the English language.

The author provides a most interesting narrative of the sixteenth century printing and publishing industry in Europe and England. The printing/publishing industry in England was small and closely controlled by the Church and government. However, Lutheran books and tracts were coming into London from Germany and the Low Countries in large number and on a rising scale. This was a concern to the government and the Catholic Church in England. Thomas More began a vigorous campaign to squelch religious reform persecuting heretics and condemning them to death by burning at the stake. For his part, Tyndale began an enthusiastic and dangerous public duel in writing with More.

Though a scholar with a Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees from Oxford Tyndale related to average men who "shared ideas with him, ....made a natural constituency for reform, and ...were brave." He adopted the Reformation's efforts to provide common readers with the Scriptures in English and resented the Church's ban on translation of the Bible into English. He planned to translate the Bible, but was unable to find a patron. In addition, he adopted the new Lutheran doctrine of justification by faith alone and facing prosecution as a heretic, he fled England and sailed to Hamburg in April 1524. He stayed on the continent until his execution eleven years later. During his self-imposed exile in Germany and Amsterdam, he translated and printed his English translations of the New Testament and a major portion of the Old Testament. In 1526 he published a revision to his New Testament translation and another revision in 1534 in which he made an effort to correct errors while "His main aim was to strengthen his writing, to clarify meaning and bring it closer to the Greek." The author notes that Tyndale's work was complicated by the fact that "No standard spellings existed in English, and it was a common for a word to be spelt differently in a single passage:...." A steady flow of Testaments into England was maintained by smugglers so that by 1534 the Tyndale Testament was a great money-maker.

The book gives an excellent account of Tyndale's exile years. He continued his dangerous public duel in writing with Thomas More. More's malice that drove him against Tyndale "was a phenomenon, insatiable, galloping, morbific." In a manner that would do justice to a twentieth century spy novel, against Tyndale, More used "double agents, political intuition and the intricate manipulation of rulers and senior officials, the sowing of brides, flattery, and inflexible and murderous intent..." Unfortunately, as the author notes in day-to-day politics, Tyndale was inept. Throughout Tyndale's exile, Henry VIII's "pursuit of the annulment and remarriage to Ann Boleyn-weaves in and out of Tyndale's life...." To her credit, Ann Boleyn protected and promoted evangelicals, and favored Tyndale's scriptures and other writings." She was known as a protector of Tyndale's readers.

The text notes that Tyndale's sympathizers could be burnt at the stake, but Tyndale remained safe in Europe. In 1531, the king ordered that Tyndale be seized and brought to England using private or illegal means. Amazingly in November 1539 , Tyndale was contacted by a representative of the King's Secretary and offered a safe conduct back to England which he rejected. By 1534 conditions were changing in England and Tyndale might have been safer in London than in Antwerp, but politically naive Tyndale did not detect the change and stayed in Europe. On 21 May 1535, a paid bounty-hunter, Harry Phillips, coaxed him out of his safe residence and turned him over to local Low Countries authorities. Amazingly, the authorities in England no longer had any desire to harm Tyndale and two senior officials of Church and State tried hard to secure Tyndale release in Antwerp. At a castle north of Brussels, not in England, he was tried and convicted as a heretic. Tyndale....refused to try to buy his life with his conscience and remained steadfast in his beliefs." He was burnt at the stake on 6 October 1536. In death Tyndale was a success as injunctions were issued in 1536 and 1538 that every church should be provided with a Bible. His life's work triumphed as "His ploughboy soon had his English Bible."

Thomas More refused to recognize Henry as the supreme head of the Church, was arrested and executed on 6 July 1535. The author devotes Chapter 22 to a discussion of who was the paymaster who paid Phillips for locating and betraying Tyndale. Several possible paymasters are noted but there is no strong documentation that any were in fact the payee to Philips. The author notes that there is no solid evidence, but conjectures that Thomas More was the most likely paymaster.

As Moynahan writes on page 56 "The richness of his vocabulary, his verbs in place of nouns and adjectives, his free sentence constructions, his ear for vivid saying-`as bare as Job and as bald as a coot'-and his sense of rhythm profoundly affected the language of the English-speaking peoples -the global language, now-." While there are no memorials or statues to Tyndale, the author notes that the King James Bible "....is, as we have seen, overwhelmingly Tyndale's Bible. Almost any passage in the New and most of the Old Testament, can serve as his memorial.

Bible battles.(God's Bestseller: William Tyndale, Thomas More, And The Writing Of The English Bible--A Story Of Martyrdom And Betrayal)(Book Review): An ... Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life

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Bible battles.(God's Bestseller: William Tyndale, Thomas More, And The Writing Of The English Bible--A Story Of Martyrdom And Betrayal)(Book Review): An ... Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life
James R., Jr. Stoner
Manufacturer: Institute on Religion and Public Life
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, published by Institute on Religion and Public Life on April 1, 2004. The length of the article is 2190 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Bible battles.(God's Bestseller: William Tyndale, Thomas More, And The Writing Of The English Bible--A Story Of Martyrdom And Betrayal)(Book Review)
Author: James R., Jr. Stoner
Publication: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life (Refereed)
Date: April 1, 2004
Publisher: Institute on Religion and Public Life
Issue: 142 Page: 37(4)

Article Type: Book Review

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God's Bestseller: William Tyndale, Thomas More, and the Writing of the English Bible---A Story of Martyrdom and Betrayal

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God's Bestseller: William Tyndale, Thomas More, and the Writing of the English Bible---A Story of Martyrdom and Betrayal
Brian Moynahan
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTIGGM

Customer Reviews:

Rights of Ownership.......2000-05-22

I own a copy of this book, and I have read a few things about Leo Szilard. Allow me to report that in the Dedication of this book, regarding Szilard, Teller wrote, "He criticized others too often for his own good, and not tactfully enough for the good of those whom he criticized. But unlike Socrates, Szilard was not condemned to drink the poisoned cup, which suggests that freedom of speech is respected more in the United States than it was in ancient Athens. In a democratic society, a man like Leo Szilard can have an influence no matter what his opinions. In a totalitarian society, he could end up in a psychiatric institution." (p. ix) My hope in the year 2000 is that the twentieth century will be viewed as the collapse of that kind of psychotically imposed totalitarianism, rather than the collapse of communism, and that a new realm of freedom will allow me, the most spaced out poet on the planet, to dedicate an irate poem to the memory of an actual invasion across a border into a place that just happened to be Cambodia thirty years ago. On a more intellectual level, this poem was also written in memory of every poisoned cup that has passed our lips since the death of Socrates was 100 % successful.

Yellow is for Asian people,

Green for young G.I.s,

Red for facing bloody truths,

Pink for feeling wise.

Orange is the agency

that offers explanations.

Defoliation is a minor de-flowering

Compared to the final defamations.

Book Description

On September 11, 2001, with the terrorist attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City, the United States entered one of the greatest trials in its history. There were thousands of deaths in the wake of that tragedy -- and thousands of heroes. Led by Police Commissioner Bernard B. Kerik and Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen, the New York Police Department (NYPD) and the New York Fire Department (FDNY) banded together in courage and hope during the rescue and recovery effort. In the Line of Duty salutes the brave men and women of those two departments, who proved to the nation and the world the strength and heroism of the American people.

Through over 100 pages of black and white photographs (and 16 pages of full colour), this memorial volume documents the heroism of New York's Finest and Bravest in the hours and days following the disaster. With a Foreword in tribute to the search and rescue teams -- and their fallen comrades -- by Commissioner Kerik, and filled with the inspirational words of national and spiritual leaders, In the Line of Duty bears witness to the indomitable spirit of the American people.

Customer Reviews:

A tribute to the heroes of 9-11.......2006-08-28

I enjoyed the book. It focuses on the people who risked their lives so others may live.

Shameless PROFITEERING from 9/11 Tragedy! .......2005-03-16

By now -- March 16, 2005 -- this book has been revealed as a sleazy bit of profiteering by the shameless BERNARD KERIK. KERIK was conducting an extra-marital affair with JUDITH REGAN, publisher of this book, in an apartment overlooking the smoldering ashes of the World Trade Center. (The apartment was INTENDED to be used for rest and recuperation by exhausted rescue workers from Ground Zero!) KERIK's "r&r" in the apartment included "negotiating" a deal with his mistress and publisher (JUDITH REGAN) in which she paid KERIK $75,954.52 for writing an introduction to this book. KERIK's introduction is just eleven sentences long, so KERIK got nearly $7000 per sentence!
Please don't believe REGAN BOOKS' claim that "Publisher's profits will be donated to the New York Police & Fire Widows' & Children's Benefit Fund." If you buy a copy of this book, you will just be contributing to the "r&r" fund of Bernard Kerik, a disgraced buffoon.

New York City in the Raw.......2004-03-24

In the Line of Duty, A Tribute to New York's Finest and Bravest, is a photographic tribute to the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the New York City Fire Department (FDNY). Police Commissioner, Bernard Kerik, and Fire Commissioner, Thomas Von Essen, provide the forewords for this volume of over 100 photographs.

While there are plenty of shots of the men and women of the two departments in action, there are also photos of the people of New York City, of the towers during and after the attack, and of the memorial services of the fallen.

There are also quotes found throughout the book from the likes of JFK, Faulkner, Walt Whitman, as well as from politicians like Governor Pataki and President Bush. However, all of these quotes can be discarded. The photographs are heartbreaking, touching, and some are quite inspiring - and they can stand on their own.

Sure, some people may find comfort in these quotes. They may need some help to digest the pictures that may be difficult to look at, but I find them out of place - even inappropriate.

These images need no help or assistance in conveying the tragedy and the breadth of destruction that occurred that day. Similarly, they don't need any help in showing the positive force of humanity which rushed to fervently rescue, love, and restore that which others were so quick and determined to cast asunder, hate and diminish. Looking at the images in Line of Duty, you get all of this, and you understand - they are that gripping and that powerful.

The photos hold you in the moment and refuse to allow you to think of anything else. They speak loudly and clearly without the need for any Hallmarkian, rose-colored tainted quotes like those from Governor Pataki:

"But clouds always pass. The sun always breaks through."

Gee thanks. If the pictures don't move you, some verbal chaser can't help you.

There are many photo books out there on the September 11th terrorist attack, and I've seen a number of them. I do recommend In the Line of Duty, A Tribute to New York's Finest and Bravest, which continues to draw me to it over and over again.

Shall we never forget.......2003-07-04

I was on my way to a class on 9/11, I remember hearing ona morning talk show that the first plane had hit. Morning DJ's being the clowns they are and being paid to fake and make fun of things,I assumed it was a joke. I wish now it had been. The pictures are moving, I do not know how to put into words the feeling and loss I felt. I did not personally know anyone lost on that fateful day, moments frozen in time. A young friend, a friends child, asked me what the pictures were and why they made my cry. How do you explain that to a child. With the help of this book I thinkI was able to give a 6 year old a small explanation. She asked, "They died helping other people?" Yes.

He who saves one life..........2002-04-24

This book provides an unvarnished glimpse at the pain of New York City, the blood and guts of September 11. There's nothing artistic or beautiful here--unless one considers the bounteous love delivered by firemen and women, policemen and women and emergency volunteers.

The Talmud teaches, "He who saves one life saves an entire world." New York City's Finest and Bravest lost 366 of their ranks on September 11 2001. The miracle: Their legions saved 25,000 worlds before two avalanches of dust and heat and ash cascaded into stories of smoldering twisted steel.

No book can fully expose New York City's still gaping wounds. But this one opens the window on that pain, in a manner deeply respectful of those for whom saving 25,000 worlds cost so many of their own. The names of all these fallen heroes are included. Alyssa A. Lappen

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In the Line of Duty: A Tribute to New York's Finest and Bravest

Manufacturer: Amazon Remainders Account
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Terrorism | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
September 11 | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000C4T1TU

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