The annual Save The Children Giant Book Sale is on this weekend in Perth. It's being held at Winthrop Hall at UWA and finishes on Wednesday. Get in, grab lots of bargains, help out this worthy charity and get reading! I have.
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Showing posts with label book sale. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book sale. Show all posts
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Book Review - The Last Tsar by Edvard Radzinsky
I've just finished reading The Last Tsar by Edvard Radzinsky. The book goes into incredible detail of Nicholas II - the last tsar of all the the Russias. The reign of Nicholas II begin in tragic circumstances when his father Alexander III was murdered. Nicholas took the throne and during the mourning period and married his childhood sweetheart Alix of Hesse from Germany. One could so that that was not the start to a happy reign.
Edvard Radzinsky had access to secret documents in Russia in his ability to cover the incredible amounts of history in the Russian royal family is amazing. He had access to the tsar's diaries which we kept from the age of 13 and which gives us a great insight into who Nicholas II was. I understand that Nicholas was never a strong man for his mother held much power in the empire and his wife Alix appeared to be an autocrat at heart.
Nicholas was in a very privileged position as tsar and when some unfortunate accidents happened during his reign and many people were killed he became known as Nicholas the Bloody although the book doesn't talk about this in great detail it is as though Nicholas didn't know what was happening around him. I would say he was quite sheltered from what was actually happening in the country.
The story about the last tsar has been hidden from the truth the last 70 years. He and his wife had four daughters before an heir, Alexei, was finally born. But the heir was a sickly child and suffered from haemophilia. This illness was kept as a state secret. Alix, although she was queen Victoria's granddaughter, was ignorant to modern medicine which in fact could not treat her son had turned to Rasputin for help. He was a demonic and may and despised by many bodies treatment for the boy appeared to work and his mother had great faith in Rasputin as a healer. She kept the faith in him until her death and her demise can be partly attributed to her belief in Rasputin. The people of Russia did not believe that he, Rasputin, have such power over the royal family and they were condemned for the belief. If How could such a despised men have such great power in the royal household?
Nicolas came out from a large family and there were many grand dukes, his brothers, and they were largely murdered by the Bolsheviks. It is intriguing how much information Radzinsky has been able to unearth about the Romanov family. Did you know that Nicholas and Alix conversed in English and wrote to each other in English? There were over 600 letters from the empress to her husband during their lifetime. Her Russian was never fluent. Considering her ties with the British royal family, and Nicholas also, perhaps it's not so surprising that they used English.
When the second revolution came, the first was in 1905, Nicholas realised that he would have to abdicate to protect his family. This did not have the desired affect though and they were forced to leave their palace in Tsarkoe Selo as prisoners although at the time they may not have realised this. The guards for there for protection of the royal family. I believe the royals felt that they would be rescued by the British royal family but in truth nobody tried to save them. They were kept for some time in Tobolsk which is not far from Rasputin's hometown. This was seen as a good sign by the empress. Their final place of captivity was Ekaterinburg and they were not allowed much freedom here. Their captors were trying to discover the whereabouts of the Russian royal jewels without any success. Very cleverly the jewels were sewn into the bodices of the grand duchesses.
The final few chapters of the book are relating to the execution of the royal family and what happened to the people involved in the execution. At the time of completing another book a strange men contacted Radzinsky and provided documents that were still classified. Some of the royal servants were slain as well and there were meant to be 11 people killed. And just before book was published the Romanov family bodies were exhumed and the number of bodies seems to indicate what was written in the book was true - only nine people were killed and two may have survived. There is a great mystery surrounding Anastasia and Alexei. Did they survive? Radzinsky was not the only one to investigate this possibility and a great deal of mystery surrounds this outcome.
I enjoyed this book immensely and there are very few books I have read that go into this much detail. The man should have been a detective but he did have access to an immense source of material. The structure of the book actually changes from being a biography to listening to the opinions of the author written firsthand. It is a brilliant book and does not waffle on at any stage. Superb reading and I can only recommend it to you. Not bad for a book picked up for $3.00 at a book fair.
Edvard Radzinsky had access to secret documents in Russia in his ability to cover the incredible amounts of history in the Russian royal family is amazing. He had access to the tsar's diaries which we kept from the age of 13 and which gives us a great insight into who Nicholas II was. I understand that Nicholas was never a strong man for his mother held much power in the empire and his wife Alix appeared to be an autocrat at heart.
Nicholas was in a very privileged position as tsar and when some unfortunate accidents happened during his reign and many people were killed he became known as Nicholas the Bloody although the book doesn't talk about this in great detail it is as though Nicholas didn't know what was happening around him. I would say he was quite sheltered from what was actually happening in the country.
The story about the last tsar has been hidden from the truth the last 70 years. He and his wife had four daughters before an heir, Alexei, was finally born. But the heir was a sickly child and suffered from haemophilia. This illness was kept as a state secret. Alix, although she was queen Victoria's granddaughter, was ignorant to modern medicine which in fact could not treat her son had turned to Rasputin for help. He was a demonic and may and despised by many bodies treatment for the boy appeared to work and his mother had great faith in Rasputin as a healer. She kept the faith in him until her death and her demise can be partly attributed to her belief in Rasputin. The people of Russia did not believe that he, Rasputin, have such power over the royal family and they were condemned for the belief. If How could such a despised men have such great power in the royal household?
Nicolas came out from a large family and there were many grand dukes, his brothers, and they were largely murdered by the Bolsheviks. It is intriguing how much information Radzinsky has been able to unearth about the Romanov family. Did you know that Nicholas and Alix conversed in English and wrote to each other in English? There were over 600 letters from the empress to her husband during their lifetime. Her Russian was never fluent. Considering her ties with the British royal family, and Nicholas also, perhaps it's not so surprising that they used English.
When the second revolution came, the first was in 1905, Nicholas realised that he would have to abdicate to protect his family. This did not have the desired affect though and they were forced to leave their palace in Tsarkoe Selo as prisoners although at the time they may not have realised this. The guards for there for protection of the royal family. I believe the royals felt that they would be rescued by the British royal family but in truth nobody tried to save them. They were kept for some time in Tobolsk which is not far from Rasputin's hometown. This was seen as a good sign by the empress. Their final place of captivity was Ekaterinburg and they were not allowed much freedom here. Their captors were trying to discover the whereabouts of the Russian royal jewels without any success. Very cleverly the jewels were sewn into the bodices of the grand duchesses.
The final few chapters of the book are relating to the execution of the royal family and what happened to the people involved in the execution. At the time of completing another book a strange men contacted Radzinsky and provided documents that were still classified. Some of the royal servants were slain as well and there were meant to be 11 people killed. And just before book was published the Romanov family bodies were exhumed and the number of bodies seems to indicate what was written in the book was true - only nine people were killed and two may have survived. There is a great mystery surrounding Anastasia and Alexei. Did they survive? Radzinsky was not the only one to investigate this possibility and a great deal of mystery surrounds this outcome.
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| The Last Tsar by Edvard Radzinsky |
I enjoyed this book immensely and there are very few books I have read that go into this much detail. The man should have been a detective but he did have access to an immense source of material. The structure of the book actually changes from being a biography to listening to the opinions of the author written firsthand. It is a brilliant book and does not waffle on at any stage. Superb reading and I can only recommend it to you. Not bad for a book picked up for $3.00 at a book fair.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Save the Children Giant Book Sale 2010
Save the Children are holding their famous Giant Book Sale at Winthrop Hall at UWA. It started on Friday and runs until Wednesday. Apparently it was pretty busy on Friday and a bit quieter yesterday morning when we went. The local ABC radio station was in attendance broadcasting live.
We spent one hour searching for books. The missus grabbed two cross-stitch magazines, The Boy got a few books including reference material and I picked up several sports autobiographies, war books and history books. I didn't think that the books on offer were as exciting as last year, although I did spot a few copies of one of the books that I purchased last year, and that the price of the higher quality books was much more than last year. I seem to recall not paying more than $8 for a publication last year and this year bought one for $15 and another for $12. Still, they will certainly tide me over until next year. Less time on Facebook and more with my head in a book. Not a bad pickup for just over $100 methinks.
Get down there, grab a bargain, learn yourself up and help out a worthy charity.
We spent one hour searching for books. The missus grabbed two cross-stitch magazines, The Boy got a few books including reference material and I picked up several sports autobiographies, war books and history books. I didn't think that the books on offer were as exciting as last year, although I did spot a few copies of one of the books that I purchased last year, and that the price of the higher quality books was much more than last year. I seem to recall not paying more than $8 for a publication last year and this year bought one for $15 and another for $12. Still, they will certainly tide me over until next year. Less time on Facebook and more with my head in a book. Not a bad pickup for just over $100 methinks.
Get down there, grab a bargain, learn yourself up and help out a worthy charity.
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| Winthrop Hall at UWA |
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| This way please to the Save the Children Giant Book Sale |
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| Thouands of books for sale |
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| 720 ABC's Sinead Mangan with guest Chris Murphy on guitar |
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| My books - pic 1 |
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| My books - pic 2 |
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| The Boy's books - pic 1 (doubled up the Ancient Rome Atlas and World History) |
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| The Boy's books - pic 2 |
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| Pile of books for a pile of reading over the next year |
Monday, August 16, 2010
Book Review - Kokoda by Paul Ham
Just finished another book written by Paul Ham. It's called Kokoda and covers the history of the battle between Australian (and American) forces and those of the Japanese. This book is incredibly well researched and examined sources such as diary entries, military documents and numerous interviews.
Kokoda is a term for which the Australian soldiers are held in high esteem. But not many of us know what happened there. This book tells the story of the struggle between few well-trained and many conscripted Australian soldiers who suffered from poor leadership, were ill-equipped and supplied and who fought against the Imperial Japanese army in some of the most inhospitable land (Australian territory at the time) imaginable.
The content is graphic and sometimes chilling. The subject matter is not for the faint-hearted. Neither side was well supported and suffered immeasurably from disease and lack of food. Cannibalism took place. War crimes are put forth. It's hard to believe that two armies could fight in such conditions.
This book is a must read if you want to know the story of Kokoda. It's also necessary to read if you wish to improve your vocabulary. Some of the words used that I need to look up are:
Crapulence, inviolable, gallimautry, amanuensis, discombobulated, ambuscading, bowdlerised, pathos, exigencies, obfuscation, spenetic, obesiant, kessel, mendacious, propifious, etiolated, caparisoned, rumbustious, felorile, fetiol, transmogrifying, ineluctable, insouciance, anthropophagy, eponymous, glossitis, apotheosis, exculpatory, abnegation, encomiums, sisyphean, abstemious, corporeal, inculcated, oleaginous and perfunctorily.
I'm glad to say that I completed the book just before the upcoming Save The Children Book Fair at UWA this weekend. Don't miss it if you wish to pick up a bargain, or twenty, on secondhand books with proceeds going to an excellent charity. You might even see me there.
Kokoda is a term for which the Australian soldiers are held in high esteem. But not many of us know what happened there. This book tells the story of the struggle between few well-trained and many conscripted Australian soldiers who suffered from poor leadership, were ill-equipped and supplied and who fought against the Imperial Japanese army in some of the most inhospitable land (Australian territory at the time) imaginable.
The content is graphic and sometimes chilling. The subject matter is not for the faint-hearted. Neither side was well supported and suffered immeasurably from disease and lack of food. Cannibalism took place. War crimes are put forth. It's hard to believe that two armies could fight in such conditions.
This book is a must read if you want to know the story of Kokoda. It's also necessary to read if you wish to improve your vocabulary. Some of the words used that I need to look up are:
Crapulence, inviolable, gallimautry, amanuensis, discombobulated, ambuscading, bowdlerised, pathos, exigencies, obfuscation, spenetic, obesiant, kessel, mendacious, propifious, etiolated, caparisoned, rumbustious, felorile, fetiol, transmogrifying, ineluctable, insouciance, anthropophagy, eponymous, glossitis, apotheosis, exculpatory, abnegation, encomiums, sisyphean, abstemious, corporeal, inculcated, oleaginous and perfunctorily.
I'm glad to say that I completed the book just before the upcoming Save The Children Book Fair at UWA this weekend. Don't miss it if you wish to pick up a bargain, or twenty, on secondhand books with proceeds going to an excellent charity. You might even see me there.
Kokoda by Paul Ham
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Didn't Enjoy Sunday Morning Swim Today
Today I didn't enjoy my usual Sunday morning swim. Reason for that is The Boy and I went to do fruit and vegie shopping prior to calling in to UWA for the annual Save The Children Book Sale. It's a fundraiser for the aforementioned charity and there are thousands of books on offer for only a few dollars each, generally.
We spent about an hour and a half there and I bought five books for myself. Last year I purchased four books and only have one left to read. The Boy got some 20-odd books including a few references book that I chose. There was something by Charles Dickens, Robert L Stevenson and several Captain Underpants books in amongst them. He'll finish his books before I complete mine.
The book sale is at Winthrop Hall and concludes on Tuesday. I believe that Tuesday is bargain box day so fill a box with books and pay bugger all. You won't have the choice that last Friday or Saturday offered however. It's all for a good cause and your brain will thank you for the stimulation.
Had a swim in the afternoon but it wasn't the same. And The Boy wasn't feeling too well either. Perhaps to do some laps in the morning.
We spent about an hour and a half there and I bought five books for myself. Last year I purchased four books and only have one left to read. The Boy got some 20-odd books including a few references book that I chose. There was something by Charles Dickens, Robert L Stevenson and several Captain Underpants books in amongst them. He'll finish his books before I complete mine.
The book sale is at Winthrop Hall and concludes on Tuesday. I believe that Tuesday is bargain box day so fill a box with books and pay bugger all. You won't have the choice that last Friday or Saturday offered however. It's all for a good cause and your brain will thank you for the stimulation.
Had a swim in the afternoon but it wasn't the same. And The Boy wasn't feeling too well either. Perhaps to do some laps in the morning.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Book Sale
Over at UWA (University of Western Australia) there is a book sale in Winthrop Hall for the Save The Children charity. People, libraries and others, if there can be others, have donated books of all kinds to be sold at bargain prices with all money raised going to the charity with special focus on Bangladesh. So many people. So many books. Didn't take enough cash but they took credit card.
There was a travel section but no book on Singapore that I would have found useful. They did have travel guides for Mexico, South America and Greece though. I bought a couple of books on South Korea, General Norman Schwarzkopf's autobiography, Robert Hughes' The Fatal Shore and a book about the economic rise and fall of countries from 1400. The Boy picked up Tom Sawyer, a 300 page puzzle book that he spent the ensuing four hours reading and finished and a few others including The Jungle Book. Miky bought a Van Gogh book, something about the Renaissance painters and home craft. It was an afternoon well spent.
There was a travel section but no book on Singapore that I would have found useful. They did have travel guides for Mexico, South America and Greece though. I bought a couple of books on South Korea, General Norman Schwarzkopf's autobiography, Robert Hughes' The Fatal Shore and a book about the economic rise and fall of countries from 1400. The Boy picked up Tom Sawyer, a 300 page puzzle book that he spent the ensuing four hours reading and finished and a few others including The Jungle Book. Miky bought a Van Gogh book, something about the Renaissance painters and home craft. It was an afternoon well spent.
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