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Inside Out 51 reviews
Nick Mason
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 2005
Remember When They Were Young
Detached music journalists and assorted types of hangers-on often attempt to write biographies of famous bands, but for the real goods it's always best to get it from the inside. It also helps if the band member in question can actually write. Nick Mason appears to have an acceptably clear memory on 40 years worth of history and his writing style is enjoyable, making this book the definitive Pink ...
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Elizabeth's Spymaster3 reviews
Robert Hutchinson
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 2007
Great history, passable biography, makes sense out of Shakespeare
I walked away with the feeling that the author intended to write a history of Queen Elizabeth's intelligence operations, but the publisher forced him to make it a biography. This book is an excellent history of internal and external politics of England during Elizabeth's reign. As a biography, it's only OK; not bad, but not great. As an adjunct to Shakespeare, it is brilliant.
I never ...
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The Shadow of the Wind 506 reviews
Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 2005
Great read - excellent literature. I loved it.
This book kept me hooked from start to finish. Very well written. Recommended it to family and friends, and they loved it. Can't wait for the next novel from this author to get released in English.
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King Charles II 2 reviews
Antonia Fraser
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 2007
Charming Charles
This is what popular historical writing is all about - a readable, knowledgeable, enjoyable book. Fraser provides a superb introduction to the varied life and dramatic times of king Charles II. Her background information is clear and reliably accurate, she provides a great deal of insight into the person of this most personable of kings, and her bibliography is a launching place for further ...
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The Body Shape Bible 3 reviews
Susannah Constantine, Trinny Woodall
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 2008
One of the best style advice books
This is an entertaining read as well as an easy to use guide to what to wear. I found a lot of useful information in this guide.
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A Stained White Radiance15 reviews
James Lee Burke
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 2005
beautifully written
A Stained White Radiance is a beautifully written book. An absorbing suspenseful story woven into the culture of the south. Burke gives us a sheriff who is complicated, masculine and sensitive to others and his environment. I read every word, not for the storyline but for the writing itself.
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New Europe3 reviews
Michael Palin
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 2008
Palin's new trip
Michael Palin once more takes us on a great trip into the New Europe. His travel books always make you feel your along for the ride. The best part of his travel books are you get a chance to meet the locals and see and feel how they live and they always make you smile. Palin has many travel books out and they are always of a high standard and make a good read. I hope after a short rest he's back ...
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Finding Sanctuary1 review
Christopher Jamison
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 2007
very excellent!
Well phrased from a superiour source. Highly recommend to any 'seeker' and all Benedictines, Oblate or otherwise.
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Everything and More 47 reviews
David Foster Wallace
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 2005
How not to write a book on math
It was Isaac Asimov who once pointed out that to be a great science fiction writer, you must first be a great writer, but the converse doesn't necessarily hold true: you can be a great writer but a poor science fiction writer. The same is true for other genres as well as David Foster Wallace's Everything and More illustrates: he may be a great novelist (though I can't even be positive of that, ...
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The Levant Trilogy3 reviews
Olivia Manning
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 2003
The aothor died too soon!
Olivia Manning died in 1980, shortly after having written the last Coda of her LEVANT TRILOGY. One may consider that she had not the time to finish it. The Greek War Gods had in stock more than a "piece of cake" for Simon Boulderstone, on the island of Leros. After Italy's surrender, the British tried to seize the Italian Dodecanesus and convince the neighboring Turkey to enter WWII on ...
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Thomas Cromwell
Robert Hutchinson
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 2008
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Washington's War3 reviews
Michael Rose
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 2008
Thorough professional examination of an obvious analogy
It has no doubt occurred to many of us that the struggles of "insurgents" to expel US forces from their countries are reminiscent of the American colonists' own War of Independence against Britain. The irony implicit in such a comparison is enough to satisfy critics of American "imperialism"; the more discerning wonder just how far the parallel can be taken, and what lessons can be drawn from it. ...
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The Last Disco in Outer Mongolia2 reviews
Nicholas J. Middleton
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 1993
Portrait of a strange country
I enjoyed this book. Middleton writes about a part of the world about which I knew very little, and one which is not covered by people like Bill Bryson. I liked his style of writing and I did not find him condescending toward a country and people which has been passed by by Western-style development.
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The City of the Sharp-Nosed Fish2 reviews
Peter Parsons
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 2007
Garbage Brings Forth an Ancient City
The idea of archeology in Egypt brings with it associations of pyramids, hidden passages, mummies, and gold statues. The ancient city of Oxyrhynchos didn't have any such claims. All it had was its garbage dumps, and instead of Indiana Jones, it had two young Oxford dons to dig around in it in 1896. They did not find treasure as might be displayed under spotlights in museum cases, but treasure ...
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Ian Fleming1 review
Andrew Lycett
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 1996
The Man Behind 007 & The Bio Behind the Myth
This biography is worth reading for two very good reasons:
The most obvious is to get a look at the man who created one of the greatest iconic figures of the 20th Century. "Bond, James Bond" is usually on every list of popular and enduring characters from the previous century and his simple introduction is normally cited as the most memorable movie line in cinema history. The 007 machine is ...
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The Legate's Daughter5 reviews
Wallace Breem
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 2005
An excellent perspective on Imperial Rome
This book does an outstanding job of putting you in the shoes of an interesting main character, who is given a chance to redeem himself by travelling to Africa and rescuing the daughter of a prominent Roman family. The depiction of life in Rome and Africa is interesting and has a very authentic feel. The events and plot are involving too and kept me gripped from start to finish. It's more of a ...
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Night Soldiers55 reviews
Alan Furst
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 2005
Recommended For Those Who Know History
This was my "first" Furst novel. Given to me as a gift several years ago, it worked its way to the top of my read "stack." What a pleasant surprise! An excellent novel. A great spy story, with characters that are interesting and nicely developed. I would highly recommend it. But be forewarned that it helps, greatly, to have some knowledge of 1930's Europe and the war-before-the-war among ...
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Cochineal Red
Hugh Thomson
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 2007
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An Equal Music2 reviews
Vikram Seth
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 1999
If you love Bach...
This romantic novel spends more time than you can imagine on Bach's "Art of the Fugue," so don't read it if you don't love Bach or don't care to hear it discussed. But if you love chamber music and enjoy a nice, schmalzty romance, you'll love this book.
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Collected Poems, 1945-19901 review
R.S. Thomas
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 2000
Wales and Christianity
Welshman R.S. Thomas is the author of some of the most memorable religious poetry of the century. As a clergyman in rural Wales Thomas had to face a country and a church in decline; this inspired poetry of an austere beauty. The poem "The Bright Field" seems to me to capture the essence of Thomas' poetry: "I have seen the sun break through / to illuminate a small field / for a while, and gone ...
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