Books

The Precipice (The Grand Tour; also Asteroid Wars)

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Interplanetary Imperialism
Near future fiction
Book One of a Trilogy, Part of the Grand Tour
Poor Science/Politics Undermines Otherwise Decent SciFi Work
Good Science and Politics in the Future

The Precipice (The Grand Tour; also Asteroid Wars)
Ben Bova
Manufacturer: Tor Science Fiction
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0812579895

Book Description

Once, Dan Randolph was one of the richest men on Earth. Now the planet is spiraling into environmental disaster, with floods and earthquakes destroying the lives of millions. Randolph knows the energy and natural resources of space can save Earth's economy, but the price may be the loss of the only thing he has left--the company he founded, Astro Manufacturing.Martin Humphries, fabulously wealthy heir of the Humphries Trust, also knows that space-based industry is the way of the future. But unlike Randolph, he doesn't care if Earth perishes in the process. And he knows that the perfect bait to ensnare Dan Randolph--and take control of Astro--is his revolutionary new fusion propulsion system.As Randolph--accompanied by two fascinating women who are also brilliant astronauts--flies out to the Asteroid Belt aboard a fusion-propelled spacecraft, Humphries makes his move. The future of mankind lies in Randolph's hands.The Asteroid Wars have begun.

Customer Reviews:

Interplanetary Imperialism.......2006-08-27

The Precipice (2001) is the first SF novel of the Asteroid Wars series. In this volume, Earth has reached the greenhouse cliff, the threshold where the world's climate changes drastically in a very short time. Although the greenhouse effect had been hotly debated, the current evidence could not be rebutted. The icecaps were melting and storms tore savagely at human infrastructure.

Dan Randolph is one of the victims of the new weather patterns. Jane Scanwell died trying to rescue people stranded by the flooding of the Tennessee River. Dan had not known how much he loved her until she was no longer there.

Randolph is determined to alleviate the greenhouse effects as much as possible by moving industry into space and providing raw materials from the Belt. Only one asteroid has ever been brought to Earth in the past; of course, the operation bankrupted Sam Gunn, but it was successful. Now Dan needs a less expensive way to mine the Belt and Martin Humphries shows him such a method.

Lyall Duncan has developed a small fusion power source. Unlike most such sources, the Duncan fusion device is small enough to fit into an old cruise missile used as a test vehicle. The results of this test suggest that a large version would be capable of powering a manned vehicle to the Belt in record time.

Although Humphries has offered to underwrite the initial voyage, Dan just doesn't trust him. Humphries has made his billions by merging smaller companies into his Humphries Space Systems and Randolph's company, Astro Manufacturing, seems to be the old Humper's next target.

While Randolph tries to get other concerns -- public and private -- to fund the first fusion drive spaceship, Pancho Lane has been taken off her piloting duties and assigned, with Amanda Cunningham, to the new fusion drive project. Humphries has recruited her to spy on Randolph, but Pancho doesn't really know anything; besides, she has already confessed her extracurricular activities to Randolph, whom she is beginning to admire. Humphries, however, is still unaware of her new role as a double agent.

Randolph finally exhausts his list of earthside contacts and takes his case to the Moon. Douglas Stavenger, founder of Masterson Aerospace and leader of the Lunar succession from the old United Nations, is still chairman emeritus of Masterson and is government head of Selene. Stavenger has made full use of nanotechnology for maintenance of his body and thus looks much younger than Dan. As they talk, Randolph learns that Humphries has blocked any deal with Masterson by buying a majority interest in the company. Stavenger, however, points out than Selene is quite willing to partner with his company in the development of nanomachines to make fusion drive units.

This novel is one of many works in the Grand Tour universe. Most of the major players in this novel are also found in other unrelated stories. Moreover, three other novels are direct prequels to this work.

Bova has been writing Science Fiction for several decades and was editor of Analog magazine and fiction editor of Omni. Since 1992, he has been concentrating on the Grand Tour novels, with a common political background and an expanding technology. These novels relate the exploration and settlement of the Solar System, from Mercury to Saturn, using engineering solutions based on today's knowledge and speculation.

Highly recommended for Bova fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of interplanetary adventure, political intrigue and cutthroat capitalism.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Near future fiction.......2005-08-04

I recently picked this up after noticing the library had quite a shelf load of Bova. I'm glad I did and will get back to the rest of his works very soon. This is set in the near future where things have changed from what we know (global warming has happened, nanotechnology) but not enough to make it unrecognizable or far-fetched. The story involves the decision to start mining the asteroid fields in order to replace earth's deplenished resources. Characters include rich execs, scientists and spacers all vying for the opportunity to help mankind or line their own pockets. Looks like I've been missing out on a good hard SF writer. It's an omission I plan to rectify.

Book One of a Trilogy, Part of the Grand Tour.......2005-06-01

The Grand Tour is Dr. Ben Bova's series of books on the human exploration of the Solar System. This book is the first in a trilogy called The Asteroid Wars as human development reaches to the asteroids to get raw materials for space based manufacturing in the face of severe global warming. It is the story of the struggle between two wealthy individuals Dan Randolph (who we've met in several books) and Martin Humphries. These two characters are a bit simple minded. Randolph is the good guy, thinking of the best ways to save the Earth's economy. Humphries is the evil villian out only for himself.

One aspect of good science fiction is the science aspect that makes a prediction for the future that should be logically possible. At this Dr. Bova does an excellent job.

This recording runs for twelve hours, it is on ten CD's, read by Scott Brick, Amanda Karr and a cast of lessor characters.

Poor Science/Politics Undermines Otherwise Decent SciFi Work.......2005-03-01

I got this book as part of SFBC's three-book Asteroid Wars anthology - this being the first book from the "trilogy". I had been hesitant to purchase it in the first place, as the series was based on the premise of "runaway global warming", which is a shaky premise to begin with... however, the rest of the storyline appeared to be interesting, and I wanted to try a Ben Bova offering, so I decided to go for it.

Exact dates are never actually mentioned in the book, but certain clues place the story sometime in the later part of the 21st century, most likely around the year 2075.

Decent character development - with some characters switching sides back and forth from the "bad guys" to the "good guys", and one really "evil" character. A few interestingly suspenseful parts; and while the fusion drive, nanotechnology, and solar radiation science parts weren't bad, I was dismayed with the number of inconsistancies, bad science, and poor predictions made in this book written 2001, for example:

- It is stated that automobile companies in the middle 21st century were still having trouble getting the public to buy electric-powered automobiles, and wanted to add gasoline-powered engine sound effects to make their cars more sellable to the public - heck, here we are in the year 2005, and we already have a number of manufacturers offering efficient electric hybrids, which are beginning to sell quite well, and we obviously don't need any sound-effect gimmicks.

- In the Mid-21st century, religious right-wingers control the government (fair enough), but they are over-taxing businesses and control the media? Odd, because these are two specific things right-wingers just won't do (overtax business, or control media).

- The runaway global warming premise is taken to absurdity - with Greenland's ice cap on the verge of a total meltdown, and there is even talk of Antarctica's ice cap melting down - all due to man-made causes? This is junk science cubed.

- The author uses one spanish phrase in the book, and muffs it; "your welcome" is "de nada", not "da nada"... that, and other grammatical errors suddenly start to show up in the last few sections of the book, like the book's editors ran out of gas right at the end.

While these (and other) items were annoying, the invisible stealth suit gimmick that shows up half way into the book was absolutely awful. I don't want to "spoil" anything, as this situation plays a significant part in the story, but suffice it to say that this gimmick was so poorly concocted, and so badly out of place that it was almost laughable.

Good Science and Politics in the Future.......2004-05-14

I really wanted to give this book 3 1/2 stars. Why I chose 4 is that it seems to give a realistic view of the near future where the moon has been settled to the point where it is now an independent nation. The Earth is beginning the cataclysmic effects from global warming. Nanotechnology has evolved to new heights to the point where nanobots can be implanted into humans to enhance the immune system to the point where human bodies no longer grow old. Religious fanatics have banned all such persons from the Earth because they feel that eliminating natural death is tampering with G-d.

Dan Randolph (from some of Bova's previous novels) has become a do-gooder enterprenur who wants to build a fusion powered rocket and begin mining the Asteroid belt for the benefit of humanity. He is teamed with Martin Humphries, the prototypical "evil capitalist" who will provide the funding to make a great deal of money with the ultimate goal of double-crossing Randolph and taking his company.

Randolph plans to use two women pilots to fly his expedition, the tough as nails Pancho (her real name is Pricilla, but she will sic her snake on anyone that calls her that) and Amanda, who is a combination of looks and brains. Humphries has plans to make Amanda his third wife and wants to prevent her from flying to the belt, because of the danger involved.

Why I didn't rate this book higher is because the characters seem to be stiff and the male/female relationships are extremely boring.

Rein in at the Brink of the Precipice: American Policy Toward Taiwan and US-PRC Relations
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Rein in at the Brink of the Precipice: American Policy Toward Taiwan and US-PRC Relations
Alan D. Romberg
Manufacturer: The Henry L. Stimson Center
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0974725544

Book Description

Rein in at the Brink of the Precipice: American Policy Toward Taiwan and US-PRC Relations draws extensively on the US-PRC negotiating record to assess the issues and dynamics at play on the Taiwan question. While Beijing and Taipei are ultimately responsible for their future relationship, the book argues that American leaders, inattentive to the history and the nuances of normalization, have generated unintended crises - and could do so again. Written by Stimson senior associate and East Asia program director Alan D. Romberg, this study has been hailed as "the definitive work on the evolution of the Taiwan question."

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Underrated And Unjustly Obscure

The Precipice
Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov
Manufacturer: Hard Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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A Common Story: A Novel (Classics of Russian Literature)
Fathers and Sons

ASIN: 1406938084
Release Date: 2006-11-03

Book Description

The less Raisky appeared to notice Vera, the more friendly Vera was to him, although, in spite of her aunt's wishes she neither kissed him nor addressed him as "thou." But as soon as he looked at her overmuch or seemed to hang on her words, she became suspicious, careful and reserved. Her coming made a change in the quiet circle, putting everything in a different light. It might happen that she said nothing, and was hardly seen for a couple of days, yet Raisky was conscious every moment of her whereabouts and her doings.

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Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov (1812-1891) was one of the leading members of the great circle of Russian writers who, in the middle of the nineteenth century, gathered around the Sovremmenik (Contemporary) under Nekrasov's editorship - a circle including Turgenev, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Byelinsky, and Herzen. He had not the marked genius of the first three of these; but that he is so much less known to the western reader is perhaps also due to the fact that there was nothing sensational either in his life or his literary method.

Customer Reviews:

Underrated And Unjustly Obscure.......2001-11-11

Poor Ivan Goncharov! He was fated to become the Salieri of 19th century Russian literature. Thematic similarities between _The Precipice_, which he regarded as his masterwork, and _Fathers and Sons_, which Turgenev rightly regarded as his, led to a falling-out between the two authors, friends until then.

Yet _The Precipice_ is, perhaps because of its slightly campy air to modern audiences, a very enjoyable read today. It features:

--characters with programmatic names decodable to those with a basic knowledge of Russian (for example, the heroine is "Vera," or "Faith"; the bad-boy protagonist is "Volkov," or "Wolf");

--a plot containing seduction, betrayal, redemption, and secrets of the generation of elders (there's more implied sex here than in all of Turgenev);

--serious discussion of ideas that were to set Russia afire within fifty years, much as did _Fathers and Sons_.

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From the best selling author of The Dandelion Clock. When Matt is diagnosed with cancer, he and his long term partner, Jamie, gradually come to terms with the illness. With the help of family and friends, they learn to live with the life-threatening disease and its consequences. Precipice explores a potentially melodramatic theme - bereavement and recovery - deftly, sensitively, and with great conviction, An uplifting story of love lost and love found. The accompanying nine short stories complement Precipice with Mandal's characteristic blend of humour and pathos. Truly another 'must read' book from this talented author. "Jay Mandal's steadily growing reputation as a writer of considerable wit and emotional honesty can only be enhanced by his latest novel. Not to be missed! " Tony Heyes. The Independent Gay Writer Sarah Waters about All Worked Out: "I found it a fascinating - if also rather painful - read. You certainly capture the nuances and claustrophobia of a relationship in a state of breakdown."

Customer Reviews:

Mandal writes from his heart!.......2005-05-16

Precipice is one hell of an emotional ride. How does one cope when one is dying and has to leave one's lover behind ? How does one cope knowing one's lover is dying, waiting for it to happen and knowing nothing can ever bring him back ? Mandal's writing is emotionally charged without being over sentimental. His words are simple yet deeply moving, expressing every emotion deeply. I enjoy "The Dandelion Clock" a lot and was looking forward to "Precipice" which surpasses my expectation. It may be shorter than I would have liked but reading it the second time, I realize Jamie, Matthew and Richard do not need more words to tell their touching love story. I cried a few times but it was tears I shed willingly for Matthew and Jamie. I dread tragedies but Mandal has not fallen into the common trap of tragic gay romance. The writer give us hope and one come away satisfied that "happily ever after" is possible. Not a fan of short stories I hope Mandal will devote more time to novels.

A Blazingly Honest Book.......2005-03-25

Precipice is a remarkable book. It is the story of a gay couple, Matt and Jamie, and the precipice of the title is an emotional one. Their relationship is put to the test when one of them is diagnosed as having cancer. It is easy to imagine what Hollywood would do with this theme; there would be celestial choirs and violins and we would be manipulated into wallowing in sentimentality. Our thinking would be done for us, our expected responses clearly signposted. Jay Mandal is too skilled a writer to treat his readers in this way. This is not to say that certain scenes in Precipice do not require the reader to have a box of Kleenex handy but ultimately this is an engaging and encouraging book. Lovers of happy endings will not be disappointed.

Comic relief is provided in the shape of their mutual friend, Richard, a cynic who, like all cynics, is a disappointed romantic. His flippancy is simply his armour and, eventually, he proves his worth. The reader is also treated to flashbacks to happier times and accompanies Jamie on his journey to acceptance and healing. Family members, friends and colleagues are all brought into the story and their reactions also have an immediately recognisable honesty about them. The inadequacy and incomprehension of straight society in the face of gay relationships is not shirked.

As a bonus the book concludes with a selection of nine short stories, ranging from the comic to the sad. Various types of relationship from the rocky to the rock solid are anatomised with as much skill as the weightier novel.

It is a rare author who can take his readers through the gamut of emotions and not leave them feeling in some way cheated. This story is wholly absorbing from the first until the last page and, far from being led by the nose, the reader is taken by the hand on a journey of emotional discovery. I am lost in admiration at Jay Mandal's skill and cannot recommend this book too highly. Jay Mandal's steadily growing reputation as a writer of considerable wit and emotional honesty can only be enhanced by this exceptional novel.

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Very fun read
Precipice: Mystery Novel or Textbook?
Must read for any logistics professional.
The story really pulls you in!
Excellent thriller with information on logistics in business

Precipice
Daniel Pollock
Manufacturer: Council of Logistics Management
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Goal

ASIN: 0965865304

Book Description

Logistics expert Jane Malcolm got her training under fire—literally—in the Gulf War, where movement of supplies and equipment meant the difference between life and death. Eight years later, she’s running her own logistics consulting firm. But as she stands on the brink of her greatest victory, she will be swept into a new, high-stakes game with an opponent she may not even recognize—until it’s too late. Poised to close a multi-national deal, Jane learns that a plane crash has claimed the life of her father, Royal Akers, head of a faltering superstore chain. Determined to restore her father’s legacy, she races against time to find ways around the Akers dynasty’s woes and uncover their source. For it rapidly becomes clear that these are not random mishaps, but corporate sabotage. International trading partners suffer the fallout, ratcheting the stakes even higher. Economic disaster threatens to topple a fragile government. If Jane makes one false move, it could be her last. Tense, taut, Precipice is an edge-of-the-seat thriller, creating an all-too-plausible nightmare scenario.

Customer Reviews:

Very fun read.......2000-04-29

My professor recommended this book and I'm glad she did. This book was a very fun read. It is action-packed and highlights the role of logistics and computers in modern society in an unforced manner. What did feel forced were a couple of the "romance" scenes but these are fairly short. I'd recommend this book to anyone. It definitely reads like a good novel, not an academic book, but does make you think about the impact of computers and logistics on society.

Precipice: Mystery Novel or Textbook?.......1999-12-10

Pollock successfully combines relevant issues of supply chain management into a book that reads more like a thriller than a textbook. While it doesn't fully accomplish either the intellectual endowment of a textbook or the heart-racing suspense of an exceptional thriller, the novel combines elements of each form in a unique manner to afford the reader an impression of both realms of literature. Whereas many other authors attempt to write one or the other, Pollock gives the reader a taste of each. While Pollock's work does have its shortcomings, he does what many novelists have yet to try. Perhaps his amalgamation of literatures will lead to a revolutionary kind of textbook, which will replace the monotonous readings students everywhere are currently facing. And, then again, maybe this is just one exhausted student's naïve desire.

Must read for any logistics professional........1998-11-12

I really enjoyed this novel of logistics and intrigue. Taking a subject perceived to be as dry as logistics and bringing it to life in the form of Jane Akers was truly unique. I look forward to another book on such subject matters, written in the same fashion!

The story really pulls you in!.......1998-07-28

I enjoyed following the main characters through all the plot twists as the stakes got increasingly higher.

Excellent thriller with information on logistics in business.......1998-05-26

This book is must reading for managers in business. It is both entertaining and thought provoking

The Tree of Life: A Trilogy of Life in the Lodz Ghetto: Book One: On the Brink of the Precipice, 1939 (Library Of World Fiction)

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Great Novel

The Tree of Life: A Trilogy of Life in the Lodz Ghetto: Book One: On the Brink of the Precipice, 1939 (Library Of World Fiction)
Chava Rosenfarb
Manufacturer: University of Wisconsin Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0299204545

Book Description

On the Brink of the Precipice, the first volume of the trilogy The Tree of Life, describes the lives of the novel’s ten protagonists in the Lodz Ghetto before the outbreak of World War II. Chava Rosenfarb, herself a survivor of the Lodz Ghetto, Auschwitz, and Bergen-Belsen, draws on her own history to create realistic characters who struggle daily to retain a sense of humanity and dignity despite the physical and psychological effects of ghetto life. Although the novel depicts horrendous experiences, the light of faith in the human spirit shines through this novel’s every page.

Winner of the 1972 J. J. Segal Prize and the 1979 Manger Prize for Yiddish Literature

Customer Reviews:

Great Novel.......2007-02-26

What a well written novel, about the very horrible times in the Lodz Ghetto. Rosenfarb is relentless in bringing you into the horrendous conditions and the different personalities of people who were captive there. You can identify and pray for a different outcome. It is brilliantly executed. Very much recommended.

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Diana--Goddess of the Hunt
I wished I liked it but I did not.
A Terrific Thiller
What A Ride!!!!!!
One of the better page turners out there

Precipice
Tom Savage
Manufacturer: Onyx
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0451183339

Customer Reviews:

Diana--Goddess of the Hunt.......2006-12-20

There was one thing I feared at the start of my adventure with Precipice: that I would guess every plot turn before it happened. My fears were realized.

Even though Precipice is the first novel Tom Savage wrote under the Savage mantra, (Dance of the Mongoose is his first. Written under an alias) I read it last. Once you read two or three other Savage books, his modus operandi becomes recognizable. There are still things that genuinely surprise you, but you realize what you're dealing with. My familiarity with Savage's idiosyncratic storytelling assisted my deducement in major plot points. But the book was fun to read anyway. The predictability is the only reason I rate it four stars instead of five.

There is a touch of sadness throughout Precipice. You don't quite know how to take Diana Meissen at first, but she becomes the one you root for despite her mystery and questionable intentions.

As in all Savage books, no one is the person they appear to be, but there are no major contrivances on the part of Savage, as opposed to The Inheritance.

I wished I liked it but I did not........2001-12-19

I really wanted to like PRECIPICE, but no matter how hard I tried I just did not like it. Most of the characters are not whom or what they claim to be and we know that the protagonist is portraying someone she is not. All it did was confuse me more and more and made it hard for me to enjoy it.

The only other book written by Savage that I have read is VALENTINE. That novel really kept me guessing and I enjoyed it from beginning to end. (I, however, am not interested in seeing the `movie'). I have SCAVENGER in my pile of books to read and hopefully I will like that one better.

A Terrific Thiller.......2000-07-03

Having already read Tom Savage's previous books, Valentine & The Inheritance, I picked this up recently and from the first page was capitivated by this mystery that takes place in St. Thomas, VI. Tom Savage develops his characters very well and this is the kind of book you have a hard time putting down for long. If you like intriguing, fast moving suspense, Precipice is the book for you. Why this was never turned into a movie is beyond me, it has all the right ingredients. Very highly recommended.

What A Ride!!!!!!.......1999-07-22

Once again Tom Savage has got me hooked. Even though this was his first book written I read it last. I was hooked after I read Iheritance, then Valentine. Which led me to this book. My next adventure will be reading Dance of the Moongoose that I just found out about and I am still waiting for his fourth book to come out. Tom Keep up the great work. You never have to get of the Thrill Seeking Ride when your with Tom.

One of the better page turners out there.......1998-03-21

This is by far one of the better "page turners" among the latest crop of psychological thrillers being churned out and published. All the characters (even seemingly minor characters like Trish Manning, the best friend, and Kyle, the ship's mate) play an integral part in this devilishly concocted revenge story. It's more in the vein of the fair play murder mystery with several puzzle elements that will interest readers who like trying to guess whodunnit-- and more fitting for this novel -- why-they-dunnit. I look forward to reading Savage's latest, The Inheritance, due out in the Summer 1998. He certainly writes a great yarn and I envy thriller writers who write real thrillers with clever plots, mounting suspense and a just the right amount of wit.

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The Precipice (1869) (Obryv)
Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov
Manufacturer: AST
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 5170220715

Memoirs of Madame de la Tour du Pin: Laughing and Dancing Our Way to the Precipice

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The aristocrat's France from the Old Regime through Napoleon
Long, but worthwhile
An Amazing Revelation

Memoirs of Madame de la Tour du Pin: Laughing and Dancing Our Way to the Precipice
Henrietta-Lucy Dillon de la Tour du Pin Gouvernet , and Madame de la Tour du Pin
Manufacturer: Harvill Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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Amazon.com

Henrietta-Lucy Dillon was born in 1770 to an aristocratic French family, in the heyday of the glittering ancien régime. She was witty, beautiful, and brilliant; her parents soon had her married off to the Marquis de la Tour du Pin. She had been told before she met him that he was short and ugly, but upon their first meeting, as she politely says, "I did not find him so."

Such restraint and simplicity is typical of Madame de la Tour du Pin's memoirs. Living through the most turbulent period in modern history, she frankly and unaffectedly records what went on around her--the execution of many of her aristocratic friends; her own flight to Holland, England, America; her last years in Italy; the deaths of her husband and her daughter before her own at the great age of 83. She has few opinions and no resentments, and one quickly warms to her simply as a woman, wife, and mother struggling to survive in a hostile world. And her observations on some of the great figures of history are priceless. Take "I also met a very famous man, Mr Gibbon, whose appearance was so ridiculous it was difficult not to laugh," her sole comment upon the author of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. --Christopher Hart, Amazon.co.uk

Book Description

An aristocratic autobiography from the time of the French Revolution.

"From my earliest days I had a feeling that adventures lay in store for me." Madame de La Tour du Pin offers the reader a "faithful picture of myself as I am and as I have been." Written for her son, this intimate document records the changes that befell her family and all those who attended the court of Louis XVI at the time of the French Revolution. A royalist, but also a realist, she concludes that "the rot started at the top and spread downwards." She came back to France after a three-year exile and became involved with the royalist cause, but her hopes were frequently dashed. This selection ends with the return of Napoleon to Paris from Elba. Despite her considerable hardships, Madame de La Tour du Pin writes with great intelligence, compassion, and wit.

Memoirs: Laughing and Dancing Our Way to the Precipice is among the first of a new list of nonfiction paperbacks published as Harvill Press Editions.

Customer Reviews:

The aristocrat's France from the Old Regime through Napoleon.......2005-06-22

This is a great book for anyone who already knows something about revolutionary France and a couple of decades beyond; a most interesting period of history. While Mme de la Tour du Pin lived until 1853, these memoirs stop at 1815, which is unfortunate as it would have been interesting to know about her experiences during the Restauration as well. Mme de la Tour du Pin has known many royals and nobles of her time and was an attendant of the courts of both Marie-Antoinette and Josephine Bonaparte. She had great admiration for Napoleon, whom she met a number of times; on social and even private occasions. The book is vividly written, thourough and appealing. Life of the "haute société" is placed in the private, societal an historical contexts of her time. The only thing I really missed was a cohesive structure and an overall vision of the historical period, but the writer may just not have been the type of person to provide for that. Recommanded.

Long, but worthwhile.......2003-08-20

Yes, this book is long, but it's worth a look. The details from someone who lived through such events is fascinating. If you like biographies, French culture, history, you'll enjoy reading this. She is able to paint a vivid picture of life at the time.

An Amazing Revelation.......1999-11-17

I'm not a history buff, but you don't have to be to be completely engaged in this book. It is so amazing to read an autobiography from an aristocrat who lived in France and in America three hundred years ago. If you are short on the historical details, start with the appendices in the back of the book. My favorite section was the period when she lived on a farm in upstate New York. It was incredible to learn some of the homey details and I nearly wept when she described our land and worried that clear-cutting would ruin our country. It could have been briefer, but even so, it is so disarming I can't put it down. She's a wonderful writer and her story is action packed and incredible.

Average customer rating:

Precipice
Colin Forbes
Manufacturer: Pan Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000MCA1YQ

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