The Other Tudors: Henry VIII's Mistresses and Bastards
Philippa Jones
Published by New Holland Publishers (UK), London, 2010
ISBN 978 1 84773 778 6
327 pages, illustrated
The Other Tudors rather caught my eyes a few years back when I purchased it. Patiently sitting on my reading shelf since then along with about 100 other books I have purchased, I finally sat down and read it. My new life has me reading, exercising, watching movies and doing genealogy and at the moment in that order actually. I haven't lost my love of genealogy; I just need to do other things and still to add in my knitting and that will likely begin one of these days as I have one item on needles and lots of wool to work with.
There are 13 chapters to this particular novel and there is a time line. This period of English History I find quite interesting as it marks a change in my Pincombe family. This family appears at North Molton having come with Lord de la Zouche in 1485. Henry VII becomes King of England following the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 which was fought in Leicestershire. Richard III, whose remains were lately exhumed, remains an enigma in British History. Did he kill his two nephews in the Tower? Now it also appears that there may be a break in the yDNA line for the Lancastrian line and does it also affect the Tudor line. Does it really matter who is the King/Queen of England in terms of dynasty? I do not think so actually. The present Queen is duly head of state - is an annointed Monarch coming down through the Royal Line of Scotland. An ideal state really bringing together the largest Island in the British Isles through such a common blood line.
The book itself in its thirteen chapters talks about the many wives and mistresses of Henry VIII and puts forward a reason for Henry VIII's attitude towards women. His own mother was, and history defends this idea, a perfect wife and mother and the thought is perpetuated throughout the book that Henry was seeking this same kind of woman for his wife. Had Catherine of Aragon produced a son/sons then Henry would have remained faithful his entire life to Catherine and there wouldn't have been a separation from the Roman Church. Would the history of England be that different in such a case? I suspect not really remembering my English grandparents and their attitudes.
I will not review the book chapter by chapter because it does not add to my knowledge of the general population in England in this time period. Most of my reading aims to learn more about different time periods in England so that I can appreciate the lives of my ancestors.
In all Henry is listed as having three legitimate children - Mary I, Edward VI and Elizabeth I and five known illegitimate children - Henry Fitzroy Duke of Richmond, Sir Henry Carey, Thomas Stukeley, John Perrot, and Etheldreda Malte. Several other possible children were mentioned.
A few of the things that I really liked about the book were the family trees that led each chapter. I want to get back to working on family trees for the Blake Cornwall family and I liked the layout of these trees and will micmic them somewhat with the work that I have done thus far on the Cornwall Blake family.
I recommend the book for anyone interested in this time period. The research that has gone into the book is extensive with lots of references to add to one's reading pleasure.
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Born Royal: The Lives and Loves of the Young Windsors
Born Royal: The Lives and Loves of the Young Windsors
Richard Hough
Published by Bantam Books, New York, in 1988
ISBN 055305323x
317 pages, illustrated
At heart I am a monarchist and so tend to read all the books that I come across on the Royal Family (both ancient and modern). When I was a child I heard the story of Henry Blake and Richard Blake refusing to accept a knighthood from Charles I of England. They were fined and later during the Civil War their manor house at Pinhills was destroyed as it had been used by the parliamentarians as a fortified garrison whereupon Prince Rupert attacked and destroyed it. I can no longer remember where I first heard that story but it rather intrigued me. Consequently I became an avid reader of history. Being a monarchist was a product of having three grandparents born and raised to adulthood in England (as well as my father who was just nine when he and his parents came in 1913) who thought of Canada as part of England so that King George VI was my King in a more personal way than perhaps most Canadians saw him. Everything that was written about him my grandfather in particular would read to us.
Born Royal - The Lives and Loves of the Young Windsors principally looks at King George V and his wife Mary (née Cambridge (was Teck until WWI)) (the first to use the surname Windsor having changed it from Saxe Cobourg Gotha during World War I for obvious reasons) and their six children. All but one of these children lived during my memory (John the youngest died of epilepsy at the age of 13 having been a rather sickly child) and two of them David and Bertie became Kings of England. David was uncrowned Edward VIII and Bertie was crowned George VI. The two younger brothers George and Henry became respectively the Duke of Kent and the Duke of Gloucester. The children of George and Henry were the first cousins of Queen Elizabeth II along with the children of Mary their sister who had married Lord Harewood, Henry Lascelles.
The book is divided into five parts: Childhood, Royal Expectations, Windsors at War, The Windsors Wed and Making us One. The author of the book is British and he has done a wonderful job of relating the story of the six children and how they interacted with their parents, grandparents, great grandmother Queen Victoria and their closest companions. His reference notes are quite thorough. I found it somewhat fascinating reading as I had been incredibly close to my grandfather when I was quite young until he died when I was eight years and I transferred this closeness to my grandmother (she died just eight months after I was married). From what my grandfather told me that was common in English families that you would feel very very close to your grandparents. His grandmother lived next door to him and he adored her. She was a doting grandmother it would appear but his father told him that she was very dictatorial when he was a child. The story didn't surprise me when it described how the parents dealt with their children. Their lives were incredibly busy and always having servants looking after your children likely meant that the closeness that one achieves with young children because of the need to care for them totally didn't happen.
If you are into reading books on the Royal Family this is certainly a very interesting one. The story of the abdication was one that I knew from childhood. Again I was not surprised at the way that it was written as it was almost precisely the story that I heard at a young age. David virtually abandoned his younger brother to his fate. As it turned out he was a marvelous King but the cost to him was great in that his health was poor. I can only sympathize with his family for being so negative towards the Duke and Duchess of Windsor as David and his wife became.
Richard Hough
Published by Bantam Books, New York, in 1988
ISBN 055305323x
317 pages, illustrated
At heart I am a monarchist and so tend to read all the books that I come across on the Royal Family (both ancient and modern). When I was a child I heard the story of Henry Blake and Richard Blake refusing to accept a knighthood from Charles I of England. They were fined and later during the Civil War their manor house at Pinhills was destroyed as it had been used by the parliamentarians as a fortified garrison whereupon Prince Rupert attacked and destroyed it. I can no longer remember where I first heard that story but it rather intrigued me. Consequently I became an avid reader of history. Being a monarchist was a product of having three grandparents born and raised to adulthood in England (as well as my father who was just nine when he and his parents came in 1913) who thought of Canada as part of England so that King George VI was my King in a more personal way than perhaps most Canadians saw him. Everything that was written about him my grandfather in particular would read to us.
Born Royal - The Lives and Loves of the Young Windsors principally looks at King George V and his wife Mary (née Cambridge (was Teck until WWI)) (the first to use the surname Windsor having changed it from Saxe Cobourg Gotha during World War I for obvious reasons) and their six children. All but one of these children lived during my memory (John the youngest died of epilepsy at the age of 13 having been a rather sickly child) and two of them David and Bertie became Kings of England. David was uncrowned Edward VIII and Bertie was crowned George VI. The two younger brothers George and Henry became respectively the Duke of Kent and the Duke of Gloucester. The children of George and Henry were the first cousins of Queen Elizabeth II along with the children of Mary their sister who had married Lord Harewood, Henry Lascelles.
The book is divided into five parts: Childhood, Royal Expectations, Windsors at War, The Windsors Wed and Making us One. The author of the book is British and he has done a wonderful job of relating the story of the six children and how they interacted with their parents, grandparents, great grandmother Queen Victoria and their closest companions. His reference notes are quite thorough. I found it somewhat fascinating reading as I had been incredibly close to my grandfather when I was quite young until he died when I was eight years and I transferred this closeness to my grandmother (she died just eight months after I was married). From what my grandfather told me that was common in English families that you would feel very very close to your grandparents. His grandmother lived next door to him and he adored her. She was a doting grandmother it would appear but his father told him that she was very dictatorial when he was a child. The story didn't surprise me when it described how the parents dealt with their children. Their lives were incredibly busy and always having servants looking after your children likely meant that the closeness that one achieves with young children because of the need to care for them totally didn't happen.
If you are into reading books on the Royal Family this is certainly a very interesting one. The story of the abdication was one that I knew from childhood. Again I was not surprised at the way that it was written as it was almost precisely the story that I heard at a young age. David virtually abandoned his younger brother to his fate. As it turned out he was a marvelous King but the cost to him was great in that his health was poor. I can only sympathize with his family for being so negative towards the Duke and Duchess of Windsor as David and his wife became.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Theirs is the Kingdom: The wealth of the British Royal Family
Theirs is the Kingdom: The wealth of the British Royal Family
Andrew Morton
Published by Summit Books, New York, 1989
ISBN 0671690027
176 pages, illustrated
Not my usual type of reading, but this book caught my eye and I read in one rainy day! I actually thought they owned more than they do in England/Scotland/Wales and Northern Ireland plus other places. This book was published before the public unraveling of the marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana, Princess of Wales which was to take up much of the press time during the 1990s. They still appear to be a happy family in the book and Diana is talked about as the future Queen. It has that sad tone about it because of what is to come. There is a discussion on Diana's finances and the rather clever way she too was building wealth in her own right and it is this wealth which now belongs to her sons permitting them to take part in the charitable functions that their mother skilfully built up through her time as Princess of Wales.
The book is written in five chapters and basically begins with Queen Victoria who ascends the throne of England but her family line is heavily in debt. Victoria being a frugal person immediately takes her finances in hand and along with her future Prince Consort turns the Royal Families fortunes around and today their wealth is a product of her initial planning. As it turns out other than the two spendthrifts Edward VII and Edward VIII the Royal House has been blessed with heads that are careful with their money and do not waste it frivolously.
The book is well illustrated with charming photographs from the time of Victoria onwards. The establishment of the House of Windsor much discussed and in such detail that you are able to understand the lines that still exist in England to this day and how they came to be through the descents in the House of Windsor coming down from Queen Victoria's very large family.
I highly recommend the book for those interested in a glimpse into the wealth of the Royal Family and into a better understanding of the Royal Family and how it is setting itself into the future with the marriages that are being made.
Andrew Morton
Published by Summit Books, New York, 1989
ISBN 0671690027
176 pages, illustrated
Not my usual type of reading, but this book caught my eye and I read in one rainy day! I actually thought they owned more than they do in England/Scotland/Wales and Northern Ireland plus other places. This book was published before the public unraveling of the marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana, Princess of Wales which was to take up much of the press time during the 1990s. They still appear to be a happy family in the book and Diana is talked about as the future Queen. It has that sad tone about it because of what is to come. There is a discussion on Diana's finances and the rather clever way she too was building wealth in her own right and it is this wealth which now belongs to her sons permitting them to take part in the charitable functions that their mother skilfully built up through her time as Princess of Wales.
The book is written in five chapters and basically begins with Queen Victoria who ascends the throne of England but her family line is heavily in debt. Victoria being a frugal person immediately takes her finances in hand and along with her future Prince Consort turns the Royal Families fortunes around and today their wealth is a product of her initial planning. As it turns out other than the two spendthrifts Edward VII and Edward VIII the Royal House has been blessed with heads that are careful with their money and do not waste it frivolously.
The book is well illustrated with charming photographs from the time of Victoria onwards. The establishment of the House of Windsor much discussed and in such detail that you are able to understand the lines that still exist in England to this day and how they came to be through the descents in the House of Windsor coming down from Queen Victoria's very large family.
I highly recommend the book for those interested in a glimpse into the wealth of the Royal Family and into a better understanding of the Royal Family and how it is setting itself into the future with the marriages that are being made.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
October Sky
October Sky
Homer Hickam
Published by Dell Publishing, New York, New York in 1998
ISBN 9780440235507
428 pages, illustrated
This book is a far reach to fit into my usual reading of history, genealogy and DNA. I need to go back about 53 years to truly explain why I would have read October Sky. Like the author of the book, I was very intrigued by the Russian-American Space Race and spent hours drawing space ships that could travel hither and yon through the universe. I didn't get into thinking a lot about fuel and actual launches but perhaps it was because there was just one of me interested. It was something I thought about, wrote a bout and drew pictures about all on my own. Few people knew of my interest and they were principally my grandmother, parents and siblings. Well that is a lot of people actually as I had six siblings. My mother actually encouraged me to think about space travel and when I thought I might join the Air Force after High School was quite supportive of the idea. I toyed with the thought but managed to earn enough money in my summers to pay for my university education so didn't have to enter the Air Force in order to follow my dream of being in Science. Once into University then an interest in Medicine came between my thoughts on the Air Force and Space travel and eventually marriage replaced all of those thoughts and I didn't follow through on any of those childhood dreams. Regrets; absolutely none - I have enjoyed my adult life. But back to the book. I watched the film (we bought the VHS years ago) and decided I had to read his book to see what caused him to swing his eyes skyward and dream that wonderful dream of leaving earth and being up in the stars; so much closer to God. For in all of that thinking; I never lost sight of God and the desire to come closer to Him.
I will not write a full book report on October Sky as I am reserving that for my genealogy, history and DNA books in order to show what I have learned that I can utilize in my family studies. The story of Homer Hickam, son of the manager of a coal mine in West virginia, and his pals who worked with him is the most remarkable story coming out of the 50s in the United States. These boys who never really would have had any thoughts but following their fathers into the coal mines of West Virginia all left their towns and went to college/university and became so different from those who had given them birth. They left a footprint that put West Virginia on the map and led thousands of West Virginians out of the coal fields and into the promised land of America. Nothing wrong with being a miner but by the end of the book the coal mine which had been a place of work for generations in Homer's town was slowly closed down although did have a new breathing spell at the end of the book but the future was clearly marked for them. A decline in use would mean a decline in jobs and the sons of these coal miners needed to find something new to do.
Mixed into that overall story are the personal lives of the people that Homer knew so well. The pains and the triumphs of their lives as they moved into adulthood. The story of Homer's parents who did get to live the good life of retirement at Myrtle Beach far from the coal fields of West Virginia. The triumph and sorrow of a young science teacher, a woman, who inspired this young group of boys to be more than what they saw around them and to go on and win the National Science Fair with their rocket and fuel experiments. The books brings us there with them in their "Cape Canaveral" as they set off rocket after rocket each time to incredible new heights that guaranteed them their place in history at a time when America was struggling to win that race to the moon (and they did!).
I highly recommend this book to anyone who shared with me that incredible moment in history when we left our planet and took a picture of it from outer space - when man walked on the moon; when we saw ourselves as more than what we had been for thousands of years - explorers of the universe. It is also for those who have followed us in life and are curious about how we felt about the search for something out there.
Homer Hickam
Published by Dell Publishing, New York, New York in 1998
ISBN 9780440235507
428 pages, illustrated
This book is a far reach to fit into my usual reading of history, genealogy and DNA. I need to go back about 53 years to truly explain why I would have read October Sky. Like the author of the book, I was very intrigued by the Russian-American Space Race and spent hours drawing space ships that could travel hither and yon through the universe. I didn't get into thinking a lot about fuel and actual launches but perhaps it was because there was just one of me interested. It was something I thought about, wrote a bout and drew pictures about all on my own. Few people knew of my interest and they were principally my grandmother, parents and siblings. Well that is a lot of people actually as I had six siblings. My mother actually encouraged me to think about space travel and when I thought I might join the Air Force after High School was quite supportive of the idea. I toyed with the thought but managed to earn enough money in my summers to pay for my university education so didn't have to enter the Air Force in order to follow my dream of being in Science. Once into University then an interest in Medicine came between my thoughts on the Air Force and Space travel and eventually marriage replaced all of those thoughts and I didn't follow through on any of those childhood dreams. Regrets; absolutely none - I have enjoyed my adult life. But back to the book. I watched the film (we bought the VHS years ago) and decided I had to read his book to see what caused him to swing his eyes skyward and dream that wonderful dream of leaving earth and being up in the stars; so much closer to God. For in all of that thinking; I never lost sight of God and the desire to come closer to Him.
I will not write a full book report on October Sky as I am reserving that for my genealogy, history and DNA books in order to show what I have learned that I can utilize in my family studies. The story of Homer Hickam, son of the manager of a coal mine in West virginia, and his pals who worked with him is the most remarkable story coming out of the 50s in the United States. These boys who never really would have had any thoughts but following their fathers into the coal mines of West Virginia all left their towns and went to college/university and became so different from those who had given them birth. They left a footprint that put West Virginia on the map and led thousands of West Virginians out of the coal fields and into the promised land of America. Nothing wrong with being a miner but by the end of the book the coal mine which had been a place of work for generations in Homer's town was slowly closed down although did have a new breathing spell at the end of the book but the future was clearly marked for them. A decline in use would mean a decline in jobs and the sons of these coal miners needed to find something new to do.
Mixed into that overall story are the personal lives of the people that Homer knew so well. The pains and the triumphs of their lives as they moved into adulthood. The story of Homer's parents who did get to live the good life of retirement at Myrtle Beach far from the coal fields of West Virginia. The triumph and sorrow of a young science teacher, a woman, who inspired this young group of boys to be more than what they saw around them and to go on and win the National Science Fair with their rocket and fuel experiments. The books brings us there with them in their "Cape Canaveral" as they set off rocket after rocket each time to incredible new heights that guaranteed them their place in history at a time when America was struggling to win that race to the moon (and they did!).
I highly recommend this book to anyone who shared with me that incredible moment in history when we left our planet and took a picture of it from outer space - when man walked on the moon; when we saw ourselves as more than what we had been for thousands of years - explorers of the universe. It is also for those who have followed us in life and are curious about how we felt about the search for something out there.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Birthday Books and Reading List 2
I received a gift certificate for books for my birthday. I was supposed to buy e-books but my reading tastes haven't reached the e book revolution yet so I instead bought books at 80% off in the history section which is my usual reading habit along with science. This list also includes the four books my husband bought :) which I will also read. I still have 20 books to read from my earlier reading list but next winter will give me lots of time to do that inbetween doing genealogy. I also read eight of John Grisham's books when I needed some light reading as I was away from our normal occupations! I will list them one of these days but will not do a book report. They were certainly interesting books but I didn't read them to glean information for my genealogical studies or for my interest in science (having graduated 44 years ago in science, I have managed through the years to stay fluent to a certain extent in my field although the science reading now tends to be about the "masters" of the New Scientific Age unless it is about DNA in which case I connect that to genealogy anyway.
- Freemasonary: Its History and Myths Revealed, Moran, Giles, published by Indigo Books in 2011, Toronto, ISBN 978-1-5526-7668-4, 192 pages, illustrated.
- The Story of Physics: From natural philosophy to the enigma of dark matter, Rooney, Anne, published by Arcturus Publishing Limited, Bermondsey, London, ISBN 978-1-84837-769-1, 208 pages, illustrated.
- The War Scientists: The brains behind military technologies of destruction and defense, Craughwell, Thomas J, Published by Murdoch Books Printing Limited, in 2010, ISBN 978-1-74266-567-2, 303 pages, illustrated.
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Royal Britain: A magnificient study of Britain's Royal Heritage with a Directory of Royalty and over 120 of the most important historic buildings, Phillips, Charles, Published by Hermes House, Leicestershire in 2011, ISBN 978-0-85723-678-4, 512 pages, illustrated.
- My Years as Prime Minister, Chrétien, Jean, Published by Alfred A. Knopf Canada in 2007, ISBN 978-0-676-97900-8, 435 pages, illustrated.
- To Keep the British Isles Afloat: FDR's Men in Churchill's London, 1941, Parrish, Thomas, Published by Harper Collins Publishers in 2009, ISBN 978-0-06-135793-0, 324 pages, illustrated.
- The Illustrous Dead: The terrifying story of how typhus killed Napoleon's greatest army, Talty, Stephan, Published by Crown Publishers, in 2009, ISBN 978-0-307-39404-0, 315 pages.
- Lavoisier in the Year One: The birth of a New Science in an Age of Revolution, Bell, Madison Smartt, Published by W.W. Norton & Company Inc, New York, ISBN 0-393-05155-2, 214 pages.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life
Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life
Nick Lane
Published by Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, in 2005
ISBN 9780199205646
354 pages
The title of the book proved to be an eye opener to the deeply intense dissertation on mitochondria and the meaning of life. Nick Lane takes us back to some of the earliest studies on the cell and how it works and along the way back to his present (early 2000s) captures the many seminal papers on the development of the various theories on the origin of life on our planet and the rise of the Eucaryotic cell which includes the powerhouse of the cell the mitochondria. Interestingly it is this mitochondria which lets all of us look at our deep ancestry if we decide to invest some of our genealogical money in DNA testing. For me, I have found such research to be absolutely fascinating and I continue to discover more and more about my deep ancestry as a result. If you are looking to connect yourself by name back thousands of years that just isn't going to happen but you will know how your ancient ancestor left Africa to then follow their own migration path to their resting spot before the great migrations of the last three or four hundred years or in my case just a little less than 200 years when my first ancestor left their resting area to come to Canada in 1818.
The book is written with an Introduction and then seven parts and eighteen chapters spread between these parts and ends with the Epilogue. The use of parts as he has them becomes self explanatory as you read through the book. He refers back to the different parts as he presents the various hypotheses that have emerged with respect to the initial discovery of mtDNA to the possible evolution of the Eucaryotic cell containing mitochondria, through a study of the function of mitochondria within the cell and then into ageing and an excellent summary in the last chapter which he labels Epilogue and it stands alone as it own part (8) and without a chapter number since it is a summation of the main points in the entire book.
The Introduction is the slow part of the book unless you are uptodate on your Biology and all the terms. It is 48 years since I have studied Biology although I worked in Zoology after graduation and have done a fair amount of reading in DNA over the last five or six years. None the less I found that the first section was slow going as I absorbed all of his information in the Introduction. Do not be discouraged if you find that to be the case. It is more than worthwhile to work your way through this section as the rest of the book quite grabs your attention and it becomes very hard to put it down. Fortunately I read most of the book on the train going to London and returning from Western's Homecoming on the train back.
Part one is entitled: Hopeful Monster: The Origin of the Eukaryotic Cell. Taking us far back in time the author brings us up to the present hypotheses. A very interesting read I found.
Part two is entitled The Vital Force: Proton Power and the Origin of Life. Again it does help to have a background in Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics as I am reading alone but not essential. I can remember when Biology was primarily doing excellent drawings and laboratory experiments on frogs and small mammals. The change in Biology is perhaps the greatest in any of the natural sciences in terms of the skills you must bring to this natural science these days. A very interesting chapter once again.
Part three is entitled: Insider Deal: The Foundations of Complexity. As a former Creationist I have moved on a long way from this point of view. But I haven't lost my deep religious attitude towards life. I like the challenge though of reading how life evolved and knowing that my God is still there with me along the journey of life. Again a most revealing chapter.
Part four is entitled: Power Laws: Size and the Ramp of Ascending Complexity. Continuing on with the evolution of the Eucaryotic Cell and the movement towards warm blooded mammals is an interesting chapter and still one would wonder why I, a genealogist, would feel that this book is adding to my genealogical knowledge bank. Perhaps part of that is my being first attracted to yDNA and mtDNA and then to traditional genealogy that answers that question. I still avidly read everything I can find on DNA. This chapter too is revealing and I am starting to relate it to my genealogical meandering in deep ancestry.
Part five is entitled: Murder or Suicide: The Troubled Birth of the Individual. This section brings us closer to ourselves and how we exist as a multi cellular organism with tremendous diversity. His constant references between the many classes of mammals is an excellent way to understand mankind.
Part six is entitled: Battle of the Sexes: Human Pre-History and the Nature of Gender. Now we are into genealogy and deep ancestry. His discussion on the evolution of the sexes is a most interesting one and again a very good read.
Part seven is entitled: Clock of Life: Why Mitochondria Kill us in the End. Perhaps this part more than anything brings the book into genealogy and the story of families. For the story of families is the story of birth, mating and death - a constant and continuous cycle that either brings our line down to the present or ends those of collateral lines leaving us as the sole carrier of the markers that delineated our family line. Again a fascinating read.
The Epilogue is an excellent review of the high points of the book and a summary of what we have learned and where we are moving in terms of more knowledge.
I highly recommend this book to those who wish to read more about the evolution of mankind and in particular the evolution of mitochondria DNA and how it defines the family lines.
Nick Lane
Published by Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, in 2005
ISBN 9780199205646
354 pages
The title of the book proved to be an eye opener to the deeply intense dissertation on mitochondria and the meaning of life. Nick Lane takes us back to some of the earliest studies on the cell and how it works and along the way back to his present (early 2000s) captures the many seminal papers on the development of the various theories on the origin of life on our planet and the rise of the Eucaryotic cell which includes the powerhouse of the cell the mitochondria. Interestingly it is this mitochondria which lets all of us look at our deep ancestry if we decide to invest some of our genealogical money in DNA testing. For me, I have found such research to be absolutely fascinating and I continue to discover more and more about my deep ancestry as a result. If you are looking to connect yourself by name back thousands of years that just isn't going to happen but you will know how your ancient ancestor left Africa to then follow their own migration path to their resting spot before the great migrations of the last three or four hundred years or in my case just a little less than 200 years when my first ancestor left their resting area to come to Canada in 1818.
The book is written with an Introduction and then seven parts and eighteen chapters spread between these parts and ends with the Epilogue. The use of parts as he has them becomes self explanatory as you read through the book. He refers back to the different parts as he presents the various hypotheses that have emerged with respect to the initial discovery of mtDNA to the possible evolution of the Eucaryotic cell containing mitochondria, through a study of the function of mitochondria within the cell and then into ageing and an excellent summary in the last chapter which he labels Epilogue and it stands alone as it own part (8) and without a chapter number since it is a summation of the main points in the entire book.
The Introduction is the slow part of the book unless you are uptodate on your Biology and all the terms. It is 48 years since I have studied Biology although I worked in Zoology after graduation and have done a fair amount of reading in DNA over the last five or six years. None the less I found that the first section was slow going as I absorbed all of his information in the Introduction. Do not be discouraged if you find that to be the case. It is more than worthwhile to work your way through this section as the rest of the book quite grabs your attention and it becomes very hard to put it down. Fortunately I read most of the book on the train going to London and returning from Western's Homecoming on the train back.
Part one is entitled: Hopeful Monster: The Origin of the Eukaryotic Cell. Taking us far back in time the author brings us up to the present hypotheses. A very interesting read I found.
Part two is entitled The Vital Force: Proton Power and the Origin of Life. Again it does help to have a background in Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics as I am reading alone but not essential. I can remember when Biology was primarily doing excellent drawings and laboratory experiments on frogs and small mammals. The change in Biology is perhaps the greatest in any of the natural sciences in terms of the skills you must bring to this natural science these days. A very interesting chapter once again.
Part three is entitled: Insider Deal: The Foundations of Complexity. As a former Creationist I have moved on a long way from this point of view. But I haven't lost my deep religious attitude towards life. I like the challenge though of reading how life evolved and knowing that my God is still there with me along the journey of life. Again a most revealing chapter.
Part four is entitled: Power Laws: Size and the Ramp of Ascending Complexity. Continuing on with the evolution of the Eucaryotic Cell and the movement towards warm blooded mammals is an interesting chapter and still one would wonder why I, a genealogist, would feel that this book is adding to my genealogical knowledge bank. Perhaps part of that is my being first attracted to yDNA and mtDNA and then to traditional genealogy that answers that question. I still avidly read everything I can find on DNA. This chapter too is revealing and I am starting to relate it to my genealogical meandering in deep ancestry.
Part five is entitled: Murder or Suicide: The Troubled Birth of the Individual. This section brings us closer to ourselves and how we exist as a multi cellular organism with tremendous diversity. His constant references between the many classes of mammals is an excellent way to understand mankind.
Part six is entitled: Battle of the Sexes: Human Pre-History and the Nature of Gender. Now we are into genealogy and deep ancestry. His discussion on the evolution of the sexes is a most interesting one and again a very good read.
Part seven is entitled: Clock of Life: Why Mitochondria Kill us in the End. Perhaps this part more than anything brings the book into genealogy and the story of families. For the story of families is the story of birth, mating and death - a constant and continuous cycle that either brings our line down to the present or ends those of collateral lines leaving us as the sole carrier of the markers that delineated our family line. Again a fascinating read.
The Epilogue is an excellent review of the high points of the book and a summary of what we have learned and where we are moving in terms of more knowledge.
I highly recommend this book to those who wish to read more about the evolution of mankind and in particular the evolution of mitochondria DNA and how it defines the family lines.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Springtime in Britain: An 11,000 Mile Journey through the Natural History of Britain from Land's End to John o' Groats
Springtime in Britain: An 11,000 Mile Journey through the Natural History of Britain from Land's End to John o' Groats
Edwin Way Teale
Published by Dodd, Mead & Company, New York in 1970
ISBN 0-396-06209-1
406 pages, illustrated (author's photographs)
My Anniversary book (45th wedding anniversary) quite captured me and I started to read it that very day and completed it today. I have since learned that the author, Edwin Way Teale, is a Publitzer Prize Winner for his books on seasons in North America wherein he basically did the same as the book Springtime in Britain. Traveled the length and breadth of the area describing the flora and ornithology of the area including the geologic disposition. His writing is somewhat breathless; it is very difficult to put the book down between chapters. He draws in the historical context as well which is very apt in Britain with its ancient history.
The book is written as 36 chapters with each chapter representing a particular area of the country upon which they concentrated for an interval of several days or even a week on occasion. The names chosen for the chapter depict the contents of that chapter. He did not visit any record depositories because this was to be a nature book filled with the sights and sounds of Britain.
Why did he choose to write such a book? When I learned that he was a Publitzer Prize winner for his seasons in America, I thought perhaps he was simply carrying on the theme to the British Isles but as we arrive at Cheshire we learn that his son David had been stationed possibly in this general area during the Second World War with the American troops. His son died in France following the Normandy Invasion. Because their son could not say exactly where he was they could not know for sure but the flora and ornithology which he described in his letters most resembled this area. Then further as we reach West Yorkshire, the author reveals that his father had been an emigrant to the United States having been born in this Riding of Yorkshire and so his interest became more personal as he remembered the tales of his father's childhood and searched for momentos of that earlier life. One wonders if he would have undertaken his 11,000 mile journey through Britain were it not for the personal connection. Only the author could clarify that and I suspect such evidence is lost to time. But other than the short personal reflections, the author and his wife keep steadily to the task of revealing Britain to their readers.
The book is dedicated to his wife and one of their deviations from the trip is his wife's illness near the beginning. A bad cold for his wife had turned to pneumonia and they rested at Tunbridge Wells where she regained her strength and so the journey continued on again from this point as her health returned after a week's stay there.
My favourite parts of the book were written about the areas that I had seen whilst on our tour of Britain but he left me quite breathless to see the rest that I had not yet seen. I think this book will be our building block for our own tour of England itself and later Scotland when we attend the Routledge Reunion in 2014. It seems a long way away but the time passes so quickly when one is planning a trip down to the minute details that the time is soon upon you. We have already begun our planning but will keep the book close as we look at the various areas for in 10,000 miles they crossed over many of the areas that we too will visit.
They began their trip at the end of March after an ocean voyage from New York City to Southampton where they rented a car (following a short lesson on driving in Britain) and then drove to Land's End to begin the glorious trek to John o' Groats. Even the history of John o' Groats was explained in the pages and I shall leave that for all the future readers to discover rather than reveal it here.
They did not travel through the Winterbourne Valley to any great extent and missed the road up through the Wallops into Hampshire which has its own secret beauty but overall they visited so many individual areas of England. At Oxford they were very close to this area but always I found that around each bend of the road the landscape changed. The housing was different, the dividers in the fields and even the shape and type of farm animal was variable as one crossed from one side to the other and from bottom to top to bottom once again.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone setting off the travels the highways of Britain. It is an older book now and life has moved on but surprisingly there is so much the same because it is an ancient country which holds dear the traditions of the old blending it with the new so that it is almost seamless and not gauche as one drives from an old area to a new area.
Edwin Way Teale
Published by Dodd, Mead & Company, New York in 1970
ISBN 0-396-06209-1
406 pages, illustrated (author's photographs)
My Anniversary book (45th wedding anniversary) quite captured me and I started to read it that very day and completed it today. I have since learned that the author, Edwin Way Teale, is a Publitzer Prize Winner for his books on seasons in North America wherein he basically did the same as the book Springtime in Britain. Traveled the length and breadth of the area describing the flora and ornithology of the area including the geologic disposition. His writing is somewhat breathless; it is very difficult to put the book down between chapters. He draws in the historical context as well which is very apt in Britain with its ancient history.
The book is written as 36 chapters with each chapter representing a particular area of the country upon which they concentrated for an interval of several days or even a week on occasion. The names chosen for the chapter depict the contents of that chapter. He did not visit any record depositories because this was to be a nature book filled with the sights and sounds of Britain.
Why did he choose to write such a book? When I learned that he was a Publitzer Prize winner for his seasons in America, I thought perhaps he was simply carrying on the theme to the British Isles but as we arrive at Cheshire we learn that his son David had been stationed possibly in this general area during the Second World War with the American troops. His son died in France following the Normandy Invasion. Because their son could not say exactly where he was they could not know for sure but the flora and ornithology which he described in his letters most resembled this area. Then further as we reach West Yorkshire, the author reveals that his father had been an emigrant to the United States having been born in this Riding of Yorkshire and so his interest became more personal as he remembered the tales of his father's childhood and searched for momentos of that earlier life. One wonders if he would have undertaken his 11,000 mile journey through Britain were it not for the personal connection. Only the author could clarify that and I suspect such evidence is lost to time. But other than the short personal reflections, the author and his wife keep steadily to the task of revealing Britain to their readers.
The book is dedicated to his wife and one of their deviations from the trip is his wife's illness near the beginning. A bad cold for his wife had turned to pneumonia and they rested at Tunbridge Wells where she regained her strength and so the journey continued on again from this point as her health returned after a week's stay there.
My favourite parts of the book were written about the areas that I had seen whilst on our tour of Britain but he left me quite breathless to see the rest that I had not yet seen. I think this book will be our building block for our own tour of England itself and later Scotland when we attend the Routledge Reunion in 2014. It seems a long way away but the time passes so quickly when one is planning a trip down to the minute details that the time is soon upon you. We have already begun our planning but will keep the book close as we look at the various areas for in 10,000 miles they crossed over many of the areas that we too will visit.
They began their trip at the end of March after an ocean voyage from New York City to Southampton where they rented a car (following a short lesson on driving in Britain) and then drove to Land's End to begin the glorious trek to John o' Groats. Even the history of John o' Groats was explained in the pages and I shall leave that for all the future readers to discover rather than reveal it here.
They did not travel through the Winterbourne Valley to any great extent and missed the road up through the Wallops into Hampshire which has its own secret beauty but overall they visited so many individual areas of England. At Oxford they were very close to this area but always I found that around each bend of the road the landscape changed. The housing was different, the dividers in the fields and even the shape and type of farm animal was variable as one crossed from one side to the other and from bottom to top to bottom once again.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone setting off the travels the highways of Britain. It is an older book now and life has moved on but surprisingly there is so much the same because it is an ancient country which holds dear the traditions of the old blending it with the new so that it is almost seamless and not gauche as one drives from an old area to a new area.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)