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JERUSALEM

Name: JERUSALEM
Author: Andrew Sinclair
ISBN: 0-517-59476-5

THE ENDLESS CRUSSADE

by Andrew Sinclair ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 20, 1995

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A dizzyingly quick and unbalanced overview of the gorier side of 3,000 years of Jerusalem's glory. Sinclair, a colorful, prolific, and idiosyncratic historical writer (not to be confused with ``historian''), appears to be taking off from his The Sword and the Grail (1992). Sinclair's best research and description is reserved for the unwashed Knights Templar, who seem to be curious mixtures of mystic monks and savagely fierce warriors. The other Christian Crusaders through the ages are constant targets of Sinclair's critical eye and are often noted for their rapine, hypocrisy, treachery, and petty infighting. The various Muslim forces in the Levant are generally lauded for being the repositories of true culture and piety, who, when not the dominating force, are the victims of intruding Christian and, later, Israeli colonialists. The British author's weakest areas (curious for a book timed to coincide with the Holy City's trimillennial) involve biblical and theological material. Judaism, for example, is misunderstood as sharing the Christian and Muslim ``cosmic struggle between God and Satan, good and evil'' and ``the concept of an intolerant faith enforced by the sword.'' Sinclair's anti-Jewish bias is evident in his description of Israelis committing a ``ghastly reenaction of what the Nazis had done to the Jews.'' Other twisted facts about refugees and the Arab-Israeli wars remind us of typical European advocacy-journalism, and mar some otherwise absorbing historical writing that focuses on the ``religious geography'' of the three monotheistic faiths. Drain the book of religio-political bile and you are left with some engaging chapters on the Jerusalem Templebased architecture, mathematics, and geometry still revered by the Masons and other spiritual descendants of the Templars. (16 pages b&w photos, not seen)

Pub Date: Sept. 20, 1995

ISBN: 0-517-59476-5

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1995

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
DEATH BY FAME
by Andrew Sinclair

- BOOK REVIEW
THE DISCOVERY OF THE GRAIL
by Andrew Sinclair

- BOOK REVIEW
THE SWORD AND THE GRAIL
by Andrew Sinclair

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.