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McCullough, David Willis (Editor) ListingsIf you cannot find what you want on this page, then please use our search feature to search all our listings. Click on Title to view full description
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McCullough, Colleen Caesar's Women
New York William Morrow & Company Jan-96 068809371X / 9780688093716 N Hardcover
From Publishers Weekly&newline;Senator and debtor, general and seducer, orator and would-be world conqueror, Julius Caesar, as depicted in this fourth installment (after Fortune's Favorites) in McCullough's epic re-creation of ancient Rome, is both a force of nature and something of a momma's boy. He worships his sophisticated mother Aurelia, &doublequote;a fount of experience and a mine of common sense,&doublequote; while dismissing as &doublequote;not important&doublequote; his &doublequote;expensive, idle, and monumentally silly&doublequote; second wife, Pompeia. Its title notwithstanding, this marvelously researched and detailed novel focuses on traditional male pursuits-political intrigue, war, conquest-in the corruption-riddled late Roman republic even as it elucidates the behind-the-scenes influence of women in a repressively patriarchal society. Caesar, though tenderly loving and protective toward his daughter, Julia, pledges her as a child to the adolescent Brutus, with whose mother-the cruel, scheming Servilia-the future dictator of Rome has a purely sexual affair. Years later, Caesar cancels the betrothal in order to use his blossoming daughter as bait to forge a political alliance with the commander of the Roman legions. Meanwhile, Cicero, Caesar's main rival, is portrayed as an incurable vacillator and social climber who displays scant gratitude toward his &doublequote;sour&doublequote; and &doublequote;ugly&doublequote; wife, Terentia, despite her foiling a conspiracy against his life. With great brio, and ample attention to Roman customs and rites, as well as to the religious, sexual and social institutions of the day, including slavery, McCullough captures the driven, passionate soul of ancient Rome. Illustrations; maps. Author tour. &newline;Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. &newline;&newline;From Library Journal&newline;In the fourth book in her &doublequote;Masters of Rome&doublequote; series, McCullough (Fortune's Favorites, LJ 9/1/93) details Caesar's rise to power from 68-58 B.C. Caesar repeatedly outmaneuvers his enemies, who devise one scheme after another to bring about his political, economic, and social downfall. Eventually he allies himself with Pompey and Crassus to create a formidable triumverate. Despite the book's title, women play minor roles in the novel. Caesar consults his shrewd mother about strategy and depends on her to manage his household. He adores his daughter and misses her dead mother. Nonetheless, he consistently subordinates personal affection to political ambition, seducing the wives of his rivals and maintaining an emotional distance from his own wives and lovers. McCullough crams the book with details about Roman life and politics and includes many pages of notes and a glossary. Those readers following the series and others with an intense interest in the time period will enjoy this installment.?Kathy Piehl, Mankato State Univ., Minn.&newline;Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Price:
6.00 USD
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Mccullough The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914
New York INGRAM BOOK COMPANY 15-Oct-78 671244094 Paperback
On December 31, 1999, after nearly a century of rule, the United States officially ceded ownership of the Panama Canal to the nation of Panama. That nation did not exist when, in the mid-19th century, Europeans first began to explore the possibilities of creating a link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the narrow but mountainous isthmus; Panama was then a remote and overlooked part of Colombia. All that changed, writes David McCullough in his magisterial history of the Canal, in 1848, when prospectors struck gold in California. A wave of fortune seekers descended on Panama from Europe and the eastern United States, seeking quick passage on California-bound ships in the Pacific, and the Panama Railroad, built to serve that traffic, was soon the highest-priced stock listed on the New York Exchange. To build a 51-mile-long ship canal to replace that railroad seemed an easy matter to some investors. But, as McCullough notes, the construction project came to involve the efforts of thousands of workers from many nations over four decades; eventually those workers, laboring in oppressive heat in a vast malarial swamp, removed enough soil and rock to build a pyramid a mile high. In the early years, they toiled under the direction of French entrepreneur Ferdinand de Lesseps, who went bankrupt while pursuing his dream of extending France's empire in the Americas. The United States then entered the picture, with President Theodore Roosevelt orchestrating the purchase of the canal--but not before helping foment a revolution that removed Panama from Colombian rule and placed it squarely in the American camp. The story of the Panama Canal is complex, full of heroes, villains, and victims. McCullough's long, richly detailed, and eminently literate book pays homage to an immense undertaking. --Gregory McNamee Edward Herrmann--an AUDIOFILE Golden Voice--could hold my interest reading from the tax code, but here--by lucky chance--he's been paired with a master historian. McCullough's biography of John Adams won the Pulitzer, while this book took the National Book Award. The exquisite abridgement is studded with facts with which to astound your friends. Did you know, for instance, that it was at first a French Canal, and 20,000 men died in the attempt? Thousands of Americans would also perish working in a climate where white men withered as cut plants in the sun and the mosquitoes were so thick they put out candles with their dead bodies. An amazing drama, brought thrillingly to life. B.H.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
Price:
11.88 USD
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