Queen Salote of Tonga

Queen Salote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900-1965 by Elizabeth Wood-Ellem
Tonga is a unique place in being the only Polynesian kingdom to maintain its culture and government through the colonial period that brought down similar cultures in Hawaii and throughout the Pacific. Queen Salote adds to this uniqueness by being the ruling queen of Tonga in the first half of the Twentieth Century, an era dominated by male chauvenism. This story of her life and reign provides a wonderful view into the culture and history of this island kingdom. For papalangi (the Tongan word for people of Western society) this is not an easy book because there is a lot of Tongan names, geneology, and customs necessarily involved in the biography of their queen. Yet the very things that make it difficult also make it a rewarding book to read. What makes the book most enjoyable is the portrayal of this marvelous woman who ruled Tonga for almost 50 years. She ruled without use of force during a time of dissent from rival nobles and emerged one of the most revered leaders in Tongan history. She convinced her British advisors of her ability to rule and her island adversaries that their independence depended on her rule. I can recommend this book without reservation to anyone interested in women's studies, international biography, Polynesian history, or British colonial history.

The Song at the Scaffold by Gertrud Von Le Fort

The Song at the Scaffold by Gertrud Von Le Fort The story of 16 Carmelite nuns guillotined during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution. Olga Marx's 1933 translation does not hold up well to the passage of time making the book less accessible to the modern reader. A fine, but one-sided, portrayal of the nuns' story, their motivation, and faith. Interesting use of a fictional character, the nun Blanche, to contrast the fear an average person would feel in this situation with the conviction and courage of these historical martyrs.

Paris by Emile Zola

Paris by Emile Zola Paris is the third volume of The Three Cities Trilogy that began with Lourdes and continued with Rome. Published in 1898, Paris is Zola's summation of the 19th Century and his predictions and hopes for the 20th Century. In this work Zola gives a splendid portrayal of social life in Paris at the end of the century. He takes us into the lives of men and women of the upper classes, the working class, and even revolutionary Anarchists. This work is of particular interest to readers today who face the future of a new Milennium since Zola looks at the accomplishments of his century and projects his hopes for a new century ruled by Reason and Justice. We can see how the 20th Century has failed and succeeded in bringing Zola's vision of the future to life. Zola spent his career portraying 19th Century France through the lives of his characters. In this final work of the century, he uses his story telling powers to create a portrait of the end of the century (Fin de siècle) through the lives of his characters.

Rome

Rome by Emile Zola Rome is the second book of a trilogy that started with Lourdes and concludes with Paris. Often called The Three Cities Trilogy, the books could also be called Faith, Hope, and Charity. Rome picks up the story of a disillusioned priest as he goes to Rome to defend his book which is to be placed on the Index of Prohibited Books. The story explores his hope for a new Christianity that will meet the needs of modern society and his confrontation with a religious organization unable to change with the times. Zola's critical description of Papal bureaucracy will not endear this work to devout Catholics, but his description of the inner workings of the Vatican is informative and fascinating.

Bird Brains

Bird Brains: The Intelligence of Crows, Ravens, Magpies, and Jays by Candace Savage (Author) This is a wonderful summary of the latest findings and theories on Corvidae behavior and intelligence. I read the book because I wanted to find out why crows acted the way they do and have come away with a deep appreciation for this wonderful family of birds. In addition to the fabulous text, the book is filled with large, gorgeous pictures that are awesome. This must be read by anyone interested in birds.

Carpatho-Ukraine in the Twentieth Century: A Political and Legal History

Carpatho-Ukraine in the Twentieth Century: A Political and Legal History by Vincent Shandor Shandor tells the modern history of a section of Ukraine now known as the Zakarpatskaya Oblast. This is the fascinating story of a country that has been a part of five different nations in the 20th Century and whose people today live in six different countries. It was a part of the Hungarian Empire until the end of the First World War. After the war it was promised autonomy as Subcarpathian Ruthenia, the third part of Czechoslovakia, but this was never realized until the break-up of this country in 1938-39. Then for three days in March of 1939 it was the independent country of Carpatho-Ukraine, until the Hungarian Army crossed the border to reclaim it. In 1945 the Czechs and Russians agreed to make it part of the Ukraine without consulting its people. Shandor was the Ruthenian delegate in Prague between the two wars and has quite a tale to tell. Occasionally, the reader is swamped with names and details mentioned to prove Shandor's point of view. The presentation could have been more balanced, but overall it is fascinating reading.

Lourdes by Emile Zola

LOURDES tells the story of a four day pilgramage to the famous shrine in the late 19th century from the point of view of an abbe who has lost faith. He accompanies a childhood friend and her father as they seek a cure for her paralysis and pain. The abbe is no believer in miracles and his story is about the faith of those who have no where else to turn. Still powerful today, as many turn from a science-based medical establishment, when it offers no cures, to faith healings which heal, if not always the physical symptoms, the anguish and pain of hopelessness, this book explores the hearts and minds of the faithful with respect and insight. Zola's descriptions of trains and hospitals full of the diseased hopeful are overwhelming to read. His mixing of the political, the spiritual and the personal is well-balanced and provides a great tale. You will find the story of Bernadette and the Lady of Lourdes here, but if you are looking for inspirational reading about miraculous cures, you should look elsewhere. This book is about the very human side of a place usually known only for its miracles.

The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics by Denis Kitchen & Paul Buhle

The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics
by Denis Kitchen & Paul Buhle

The Art of Harvey Kurtzman is a large-format well-illustrated overview of Harvey Kurtzman's work. The book is divided into 5 chronological chapters based on major periods in his life. Each chapter is illustrated with rough sketches from Kurtzman's personal archives and other half-finished pieces or sections, as well as at least one finished work from the period.

Chapter 1 is entitled "Hey Look! It's the '40s" and is an outline of his earliest work in cartooning. Included are six of the 150 "Hey Look!" one-page comics he did for Stan Lee's Marvel.

Chapter 2 reviews his work with Bill Gaines' E.C. Comics, mostly doing war comics. There is a 7 page section where his story "Corpse on the Imjin" (from Two-Fisted Tales #25, January 1952) is reproduced in black & white drawings.

Chapter 3 is the heart of the book and devoted to his pioneering work with MAD magazine. Over 30 MAD covers are reproduced as well as the complete "SUPERDUPERMAN!" comic (from MAD #4, April 1953).

Kurtzman left MAD after disagreements with Gaines; and Chapter 4 covers the period in Kurtzman's life when he put out three other magazines: Trump, Humbug and Help! Two Trump covers, 14 Humbug covers, and 15 Help! covers are included as well as a complete 11 page cartoon called "The Grasshopper and the Ant" (from Esquire, May 1960) featuring a beatnik grasshopper and a workaholic ant.

Chapter 5 is mostly about Kurtzman's 25 years producing "Little Annie Fanny" comics for Playboy. A three page "Little Annie Fanny" origin story, which traces her life from a childhood in Al Capp's Dogpatch, through her growing up in "Peanuts" and "Little Orphan Annie," and ending with one-panel affairs with "Dick Tracy," "Beetle Bailey," and "Mandrake the Magician," appears here for the first time. Also reproduced is the Little Annie Fanny "Americans in Paris" (from Playboy, August 1967) and two cartoons on Dracula and Women that he did for French alternative comics.

This book, with its cartoonist-at-work sketches, roughs and thumbnails, will appeal especially to readers interested in Kurtzman's creative process. It may not be the best introduction to Kurtzman, but its finished pieces will provide enough for someone new to Kurtzman to grasp the importance of the man to the 20th century comics industry.

Ten Nights In A Bar-Room, And What I Saw There

Ten Nights In A Bar-Room, And What I Saw There
by Timothy Shay Arthur
Having been raised myself in a bar next door to the author's home town of Fort Montgomery, I am fascinated to read what is called the best Temperance novel of the 19th century. Set in the 1850s, this morality tale portrays the evil of alcohol in the story of a mill owner who sells his mill to build a tavern in town. Told by a visitor to the town who stays at the tavern for ten days over a period of ten years, he shows how customers and owner are all too weak to resist the temptations of demon rum. An interesting look at pro-temperance literature of the 19th century.

The People From Nowhere: An Illustrated History of Carpatho-Rusyn

The People From Nowhere: An Illustrated History of Carpatho-Rusyns by Paul Robert Magocsi

Both my parents are from a small town near the Carpathian Mountains in what is now Western Ukraine. In the last 100 years this small town has been in the following countries: Austria-Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Carpatho-Ukraine (for one day on March 15, 1939), Hungary, USSR, and Ukraine. They speak a language (or dialect) they call Ponashemu (which I am told means "what we speak") but is officially called Rusyn, and they call themselves names like Rusyns, or Ruthenians, or Carpatho-Rusyns, or Slavish, or Byzantines, or the "ponashemu" people. They are what Paul Robert Magocsi calls in this book "The People From Nowhere."

The title comes from Andy Warhol (originally Warhola), a famous Rusyn-American, who often said he was from Nowhere. The place he was from is the Carpathian Mountains and his people are the Rusyns who are the subject of this book. Their homeland stretches through south east Poland, north east Slovakia, western Ukraine, eastern Hungary and northern Romania. Various voluntary and forced movements have created large communities in Serbia, Czech Republic, USA, Canada and Australia. I have found people with my mother's unusual maiden name in Brazil.

Dr. Magocsi is Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Toronto and the leading expert on the Rusyn people. He has written many books both scholarly and popular about them. I have found this to be the most scholarly of his popular books with pictures on every page and a good survey of the history of this people and their land. It was published in Uzhhorod (or Uzhgorod), the major city of the region, simultaneously in three different language editions: English, Rusyn and Ukrainian. The book is chronological and focuses on major male figures and historic events. His mastery of the subject is evident and the pictures are well selected. While this will mostly be of interest to Rusyns, it is a good book for getting a brief overview of their history for anyone who wants to learn about them or this region.

The Language of Bees by Laurie R. King

The Language of Bees by Laurie R. King

Part of a series based on the retirement years of Sherlock Holmes and his young wife Mary Russell, this volume is the first of a two volume story that is completed in The God of the Hive.
Holmes and Russell come home from seven months abroad to find one of his bee hives has died out and that he is the father to a grown man. Waiting for them is young Surrealist artist Damian Adler, Holmes' son by Irene Adler, who was his opponent in Arthur Conan Doyle's story "A Scandal In Bohemia." Having outwitted Holmes in the Doyle short story, Laurie King creates this account based on the premise that Irene outsmarted Holmes a second time by keeping from him the existence of their love child Damian.
This first volume outlines the rocky beginnings of a relationship between the three unlikely family members, a retired detective, his young protégée and wife, and his war-scarred son. Damian needs his father's help and Mary gets drawn in to a family that keeps growing as we learn of Damian's wife Yolanda and 3 year old daughter Estelle. Yolanda's involvement in spiritual pursuits draws the newly united family into a confrontation with a religious leader whose penchant for human sacrifice threatens all their lives. Holmes brother Mycroft also plays a significant role in this family drama.
If you have followed the relationship between Holmes and Russell since their first meeting, this is a wonderful addition that adds depth to their characters and an exciting adventure that King fills with details of the time and place. Just be prepared to face the words "to be continued" as the story reaches a climax. The God of the Hive will be required reading for anyone who enjoys this book.

Aunt Jane's Nieces on Vacation

Aunt Jane's Nieces on Vacation by L. Frank Baum writing as Edith Van Dyne

Aunt Jane's Nieces on Vacation is the seventh of a ten volume series written under the pseudonym Edith Van Dyne by L. Frank Baum. The series chronicles the adventures of three young women who are all nieces to John Merrick, a rich childless industrialist. Uncle John takes an interest in their upbringing because they will be the heirs to his vast fortune, and the books chronicle his adventures with them.

In On Vacation, the three nieces, Louise, Elizabeth and Patsy, return for the summer to Uncle John's farm in the upstate New York village of Millville where they decide on a whim to start a newspaper. Rich Uncle John buys them all the equipment they will need, setting up a modern newspaper print shop in an empty building, and the three nieces learn what it is like to put out a daily paper.

The description of an early 20th century newspaper from set up to production makes this an interesting story. Add in some local intrigue with a new paper plant, immigrant workers and a local politician. Season with a talented Bohemian female artist and a mysterious vagabond with amnesia. Stir well with Baum's talent for positive prose, and you have a delightful tale for a young woman of 100 years ago.

While we today may marvel at Baum's depictions of the locals, foreign workers and the members of polite society, these archaic portrayals are useful in getting a view of social structure and perceptions in 1912 just before the start of World War I.

The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu

The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu: Being a Somewhat Detailed Account of the Amazing Adventures of Nayland Smith in His Trailing of the Sinister Chinaman
by Sax Rohmer

The first of a 13-volume series by Sax Rohmer, this is one of the most racist books I have ever read. Asians or Asia are always mentioned with a racist or pejorative adjective. An Amazon reviewer says of the Fu-Manchu series: "thematically, Rohmer serves as a literary bridge between Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories and Ian Fleming's James Bond." Complete with a doctor sidekick to chronicle the adventures, Rohmer tells the tale of Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. John Petrie as they struggle to oppose Dr. Fu-Manchu's exploits in London working for a shadowy Chinese organization whose goal is world domination. A brilliant scientist and leader of a band of devoted non-White slaves, Fu-Manchu's goal is to kill Western imperialists who stand in the way of Chinese advancement. The "seductively lovely" Kâramanèh, who is Fu-Manchu's Egyptian slave, provides a forbidden love interest when she becomes infatuated with Dr. Petrie. A rousing adventure, with Fu-Manchu killing people all over London as Smith and Petrie slowly come to grips with the powers they are up against, the book displays much of the European fear and misunderstanding of The East at the beginning of the 20th Century.

Pistols, Petticoats, & Poker. The Real Lottie Deno: No Lies or Alibis

Pistols, Petticoats, & Poker. The Real Lottie Deno: No Lies or Alibis
by Jan Devereaux

The sensational exploits of "Lottie Deno" have been well documented in The Story Of Lottie Deno: Her Life And Times by J. Marvin Hunter, and Lottie Deno: Gambling Queen of Hearts by Cynthia Rose. Jan Devereaux looks behind the legend to piece together the facts. Her research is impressive and her writing is relaxed. Not being a native of the Southwest, it took me a while to get used to her narrative style, but I was rewarded with what she calls in her subtitle "The Real Lottie Deno, No Lies or Alibis." Devereaux is an amateur historian like Hunter, and she is wise to not give up her day job in the healthcare field. She has excellent local credentials and her work, while lacking academic polish, shows thorough research.

The Rebel Girl: An Autobiography

The Rebel Girl: An Autobiography, My First Life (1906-1926) by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn

The Rebel Girl is a memoir by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn of her early work as a Socialist labor organizer for the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World). The first chapter tells of her life growing up in an Irish-American family. Her mother was an Irish nationalist and a feminist while her father was a Socialist. When she was 16 Elizabeth gave her first speech at a New York Socialist meeting on the rights of women.

She was so good at public speaking that it became her life's work, traveling all over the US while still a teenager. Mining towns in the Rockies and Minnesota, lumber camps in the Northwest, textiles strikes in Massachusetts and New Jersey are all places she went to help workers fight for safe working conditions and living wages.

Later on she talks of ideological struggles within the IWW leadership, her two marriages and raising a child, World War I, and the oppressive atmosphere in the US after the war against the Left. The Rebel Girl ends with the trial and appeals for the two Italian anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti.

The book was meant to be the first volume of her autobiography covering 1906 to 1924, her years before joining the Communist Party, and was first published in 1955. She died before she could complete the second volume which was to cover the 35 years she spent as a Communist.

Flynn is a great writer and tells her story of the early 20th century labor movement well. As a first person account, it is full of detail and personal perspective. At times I longed for a more objective account of some events for balance and this book has encouraged me to read further about the events described.

Aunt Jane's Nieces in Society by Edith Van Dyne (L. Frank Baum)

Aunt Jane's Nieces in Society is the 5th in a series of 10 novels written by L. Frank Baum under the pseudonym Edith Van Dyne. The series is about 3 nieces of their rich uncle John: Louise, Beth and Patsy who met in the 1st novel of the series when they were invited to visit their dying Aunt Jane so she could decide which of them, who she had neglected all their lives, she would leave her fortune to. After her death, the nieces are cared for by their rich uncle John Merrick who, having retired from industry, takes them on various adventures which are detailed in the books of the series.

In this the 5th volume of the series, published 100 years ago in 1910, Baum contrasts the simple goodness of the nieces to the pretentiousness and artificial values of high society. Louise's social climbing mother asks John to see if he can use his connections to get the three nieces introduced to New York's fashionable society. John loans money to a prominent socialite and asks his help. This man's daughter Diana sees this as an opportunity to gain influence with the rich financier and takes the three girls under her wing. All goes well and the girls are accepted at their debut and a charity ball. However Diana's cousin Charles Mershone, a socialite sociopath and one of the darkest characters Baum ever created, is smitten by Louise. When Diana takes a shine to Louise's suitor Arthur, she plots with Charles to separate the naive Louise from her fiancé.

Baum creates a good adventure with a delightful new character while shining a light on the artifice of society. Today's reader will find interesting the limitations the three nieces had to work within as young women in the early 20th century.

Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy.
Looking Backward, while written over 120 years ago, is about what the author envisioned the 21st century could have been like if the USA had embraced Socialist principles. Very popular when it was written (right up there with Uncle Tom's Cabin and Ben Hur), it is about a young 19th century upper class white man's surprising re-introduction to society when he wakes up from a 113 year nap at the dawn of the 21st century. Similar to Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" and Woody Allen's Sleeper in plot structure but told without parody or humor, in Looking Backward the world has changed dramatically while our hero slept.

Bellamy's hero is awakened by a retired doctor and his wife and daughter when they find him sleeping in a chamber under their garden. This family slowly introduces him to the wonders of a modern Socialist state where the nation is the only employer and the people's army works for the common good. Each chapter explores a different aspect of this modern cooperative society. Chapter 15 describes Bellamy's vision of the future of publishing, 16 discusses art, 19 is devoted to law, and 20 to education. The ideas are mostly presented through dialogs with the doctor with few actual visits and interactions. Economic progress is stressed over technological change.

Written before the Great Depression, Communism, National Socialism, two World Wars and the Holocaust, Bellamy's book blames much of the world's problems on social inequality and the pursuit of personal gain. He envisions the United States leading the world into a just brotherhood where humans work together for the common good. It is interesting to read today Bellamy's vision of looking back from an alternative world that never came into being although fervently desired by many at the time. For Bellamy and his readers the enemy was Capitalism and salvation was to be had in Communism and National Socialism. He envisions a world where these ideas were embraced by the USA instead of Stalin and Hitler and led to a Utopian society.

The 1909 novel Aunt Jane's Nieces at Work by L. Frank Baum writing as Edith Van Dyne, is the fourth volume in the Aunt Jane's Nieces series. The three young women, Louise Merrick, Beth De Graf, and Patsy Doyle, met in the first volume of the series on the estate of their Aunt Jane, who was dying and trying to decide which niece would receive her inheritance.

In this fourth book of the series Kenneth Forbes, the young man who inherited Aunt Jane's estate, is now running for the state legislature, in what he thinks will be an easy election against a corrupt politician. He is the richest man in this poor district but inexperienced in the ways of the world. When he starts to have a rough time, and it looks like all hope is gone, his three cousins decide to go to work for his election They show up with their rich Uncle John and, even though women can't vote in 1909, they organize an effective campaign. This is an interesting story that describes the type of political maneuvering of 100 years ago. Baum's mother-in-law was the famous women's rights activist Matilda Joslyn Gage, and I feel she would have been proud of her son-in-law's characterization of these three young political women.

Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History by Yunte Huang

Yunte Huang was born in China, came to the US in 1991, and is now an English professor at UC Santa Barbara. Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese police detective created by the White American author Earl Derr Biggers, who wrote six popular Charlie Chan mystery novels. Biggers based Charlie Chan on a real Honolulu Chinese detective named Chang Apana who was a respected member of the department. Hollywood made 47 Charlie Chan movies with White actors in "yellowface" makeup playing the Chinese detective. Many Chinese find these movies to be racist and offensive.

In this book the author looks at Chang Apana, and the literary and film versions of Charlie Chan, and puts them into the context of very negative American attitudes and perceptions of the Chinese over the past 150 years. This survey of America's troubled relationship with its Chinese population is what gives this book its broad value. It also sets into context the stereotyped Chan and the use of "yellowface" actors to portray him in the film industry. When seen against the much more negative images and attitudes that also existed at the time, the author makes Charlie Chan seem like a positive portrayal of the Chinese in American popular media.

This book leaves unasked an interesting question. Are the original Charlie Chan novels fatally flawed because they were written by a White American author? The White American author James Patterson writes novels about a Black Washington DC detective Alex Cross. His books have been made into movies with Morgan Freeman playing the lead. Could a Chinese actor play Charlie Chan in a way that would reflect the racial tensions of the 1920s?

Aunt Jane's Nieces at Millville by L. Frank Baum writing as Edith Van Dyne is the third book in a series written for young girls. It was originally published in 1908. The three nieces are Louise Merrick, Elizabeth De Graf, and Patsy Doyle and in this book they go to a fictional upstate New York town called Millville for the summer with their rich uncle John who has gotten a farmhouse there as payment for a bad debt. Much of the novel deals with the vast cultural differences between the small town farmers of the town and the rich "nabobs" living in the summer house. Soon after moving in the three young women sense a mystery in the sudden death of the previous owner of the house, a seaman named Captain Wegg, and the disappearance of his fortune. Suspecting murder and theft, each of the nieces has her own theory as to what happened and who may be guilty. The plot develops nicely providing a pleasant mystery/detective book with a happy ending.