Book Description
Travel writer and nature photographer Don Pitcher knows the best way to experience Alaska, from fine-dining in Anchorage to backpacking in Denali National Park. Packed with information on dining, transportation, and accommodations, Moon Alaska has lots of options for a range of travel budgets, and provides suggestions for unique trips like the "Best of Alaska" and "Along the Alcan." Complete with details on where to view wildlife at the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge or kayak in Prince William Sound, Moon Alaska gives travelers the tools they need to create a more personal and memorable experience. Every Moon guidebook includes recommendations for must-see sights and many regional, area, and city-centered maps. With expert writers, first-rate strategic advice, and an essential dose of humor, Moon guidebooks are the cure for the common trip.
Book Description
This thoroughly updated guide covers all 591,000 square miles of America's 49th state. Unbelievably immense and gloriously wild, Alaska is pure heaven for the adventurous traveler. Find out where to eat, where to sleep, where to go, and how to get there. Experience the rugged slopes of Mt. McKinley, the brewpubs of Anchorage, and everything in between. "This guidebook contains all the travel information anyone will need, from luxury accommodations to remote hot springs." -- The Seattle Times
Customer Reviews:
A great travel companion.......2002-07-10
This book was very useful in my trip around south central Alaska. The content was up to date and specific and his reviews of the restaurants/lodging held true. As radio connections were sporadic, we took turns in reading the guide out loud as we traveled from one place to another. Not only was it very informative, but also Don's humor was a pleasant addition. Use other books for research, but bring this one along.
Keeping The Wheel Turning.......2001-02-25
I'm the original author of this book, having researched and written the 1st edition in 1983. After that, I got very involved in writing about the South Pacific islands and had to bow out, so I'm happy to see the way Deke and Don have developed the book through five subsequent editions. Last summer my wife and I returned to the area and tried following my old edition. It was striking how little had changed and we enjoyed our trip immensely. We pitched our tent on some of the same sites I'd used nearly two decades earlier! I suggest you use the far superior new edition of Alaska-Yukon - it's a wonderful part of the world, and you're in for a real adventure.
Alaska - Yukon Handbook.......2000-04-20
This book has been truely invaluable in preparing for a trip. It is not written in the normal dry style of many travel planners, but with wit and humor. As I read through the tidbits on the communities the author's dry humor and research come through. He is not afraid to tell you where the tourist traps are and when those self-same traps are worth a look because of the tacky items in them. The commentaries are honest and straight forward. Well worth the read if you are planning a trip to Alaska.
Average customer rating:
- Search For The New Edition
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Alaska-Yukon handbook (Moon Handbooks Alaska Yukon)
David Stanley
Manufacturer: Moon Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0960332251 |
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Search For The New Edition.......2001-02-25
To find the new edition of this book, search for "Moon Handbooks: Alaska-Yukon" on this site.
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Alaska-Yukon Handbook (Moon Handbooks)
David Stanley , and
Deke Castleman
Manufacturer: Avalon Travel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0918373786 |
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Alaska-Yukon handbook: Including the Canadian Rockies (Moon Handbooks Alaska Yukon)
David Stanley
Manufacturer: Moon Publications
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0918373174 |
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Print's Best Illustration & Photography (Print's Best Illustration and Photography)
Manufacturer: RC Publications
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0915734826 |
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- Opens kids' eyes to nature
- Captivating introduction to nature
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Life Cycle of the Pacific Gray Whale
John Klobas
Manufacturer: Heian International
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0893465321 |
Customer Reviews:
Opens kids' eyes to nature.......2001-03-16
This is a beautifully-written book with illustration that perfectly accompany the story. It's a great way to get children interested in nature, but adults will enjoy it too.
Captivating introduction to nature.......2001-03-16
This book is beautifully written, but easy for young readers to follow. The descriptions are enough to make any child want to learn more about marine biology and nature. Also the illustrations are wonderful and add so much to the story. I would recommend this book as a bedtime story or a good read for nature enthusiasts of all ages.
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Great Whale (Cooper, Jason, Life Cycles.)
Jason Cooper
Manufacturer: Rourke Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
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ASIN: 1589527097 |
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The Life Cycle of a Whale (Life Cycles)
Lisa Trumbauer
Manufacturer: Pebble Books
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ASIN: 0736811869 |
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Whale (Life Cycle of A...)
Sabrina Crewe
Manufacturer: Tandem Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: School & Library Binding
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ASIN: 0613061578 |
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The Whale (Life Cycles (Peeble Books/Capstone))
Paula Z. Hogan
Manufacturer: Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishers
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ASIN: 0811481808 |
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Killer whale;: Mammal of the sea (Life-cycle stories)
William M Stephens
Manufacturer: Holiday house
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Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: B0006CFJI0 |
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The life cycle of the whale
Paula Z Hogan
Manufacturer: Raintree
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Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: B0007BQX3K |
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Bulbs of North America
Jane McGary
Manufacturer: Timber Press, Incorporated
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The Gardener's Guide to Growing Fritillaries (Gardener's Guide)
ASIN: 088192511X |
Book Description
North America is home to approximately four dozen bulbous genera. Among these are some very popular rock garden plants, such as Calochortus, Erythronium, and Fritillaria, which have never had anything substantial written about them in book form. Others, including Calydorea, Hypoxis, and Muilla, are not as well known outside specialist collections. The characteristics that make bulbs so desirable in gardens include their great diversity of flowering time, color, size, and form; their ability to adapt to a wide range of environments; and their capacity to multiply and spread without a gardener's intervention. Amateur botanists and horticulturists, particularly those with an interest in alpine and rock gardens, and travelers planning a field trip to choice plant-viewing sites all over the continent, will be inspired by this firsthand account of native North American bulbs. More than 100 impressive color photos illustrate the 11 original chapters.
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Bulbs for the Rock Garden
Jack Elliott
Manufacturer: Timber Press, Incorporated
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 088192346X |
Book Description
An excellent introduction to small bulbs for use in the rock garden, including some unusual and somewhat tender bulbs for warmer climates.
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A Bibliography of the Finds in the Desert of Judah, 1970-95 (Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah, Vol 19)
Florentino Garcia Martinez , and
Donald W. Parry
Manufacturer: Brill Academic Publishers
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 9004105883 |
Book Description
This volume contains a bibliography of the research on the Dead Sea Scrolls published during the last 25 years, and as such it provides scholars with an indispensable tool for further research. Although originally planned as a continuation of B. Jongeling's A Classified Bibliography of the Finds of the Desert of Judah 1958-1969, the materials are presented in a different way in order to avoid unnecessary duplications of entries. Each bibliographical entry is alphabetically listed in the first part of the book and is provided with an identification number which allows for multiple classifications. The second part offers a sophisticated classification of the materials by themes, topics and key words, but also by manuscript numbers and titles of the compositions as well as by authors.
Amazon.com
All due respect to the Gambinos and the Genoveses, but the Italian mob families aren't the only gangsters to make for compelling memoirs. In terms of relentless ruthlessness and its obsession with the almighty dollar, the Irish mob of Boston's James "Whitey" Bulger could match its New York counterparts hit for bloody hit. For decades, Edward J. MacKenzie, Jr. (a.k.a. Eddie Mac) was a drug dealer, enforcer, and key associate of Bulger (on the lam as this book was published). Mac's first-person account of those years is rife with more gory details per page than the entire last season of The Sopranos.
By the brutal code of honor and loyalty in the streets, the candid dishing of such dirt marks MacKenzie as a world-class rat, second only to Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, the man who put John Gotti away. But Eddie Mac has some justification in spilling the beans; in exchange for his tips, the Feds turned a blind eye toward his crimes. (It's also worth nothing that Bulger himself was an informant for the FBI.) The author certainly doesn't portray himself as any sort of hero or "gangster with a heart of gold." Witness his charming account of one of many attempts to "enlighten" a wayward associate: "Probation notwithstanding, I had to open Steve's eyes a little. I headed over to Dunkin' Donuts and bought a cup of coffee for $1.24. Medium, black, scalding hot. . . .Steve was still in his car, sleeping like a baby. The window was down and he had his head against the door, hands under his cheeks. I poured the hot coffee down the side of his face, making sure to get some on his eyeballs. . . I swear if I'd had enough money to buy the gasoline that day that's what I would have done. . . but I'd only had $1.30, so the coffee had to do."
Although MacKenzie has not one but two ghost writers (Karas is a contributor to People magazine and the author of The Onassis Women, while Muscato is a self-described "strategic communications consultant"), the prose never rises above the level of the sleaziest pulp fiction. But that of course is exactly its appeal, and fans of the true-crime genre will find Street Soldier a supreme pleasure, guilty or not. --Jim DeRogatis
Book Description
For decades the FBI let James “Whitey” Bulger get away with murder, allowing him continued control of his criminal enterprise in exchange for information. He went on the lam in 1995 and today follows top-ranked Osama bin Laden on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List.
Edward J. MacKenzie, Jr. was a drug dealer and enforcer who would do just about anything for Bulger. In this compelling eyewitness account, Eddie Mac delivers the goods on his one-time boss and on such former associates as Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi and turncoat FBI agent John Connolly.
Street Soldier is also a story of the search for family, for acceptance, for respect, loyalty, and love. Abandoned by his parents at the age of four, Mackenzie became a ward of the state, suffered physical and sexual abuse, and eventually drifted into Bulger’s orbit.
The Eddie Mac who emerges in these pages is complex: An enforcer who was also a national kick-boxing champion; a womanizer who fought for custody of his daughters; a kid never given much of a chance who went on, as an adult, to earn a college degree in three years; a man who lived by a strict code of loyalty but also helped set up a sting operation that would net one of the largest hauls of cocaine ever seized.
Street Soldier is as disturbing and fascinating as a crime scene, as heart-stopping as a bar fight, and at times as darkly comic as Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction or Martin Scorsese’s Good Fellas.
Customer Reviews:
Much More Truthful than Kevin Weeks' "Brutal".......2007-10-19
I'm an Irish-Catholic guy in his 40's who grew up in Boston in the late 60's and 70's. I've read Streeet Soldier and Brutal several times each, and I personally believe much more of what Eddie Mac has to say about the "real" Whitey, as opposed to the relatively reverant tone in which Weeks still speaks of Whitey. Sure, Eddie Mac and Weeks are both equally dangerous sociopaths, and will surely go to Hell (assuming it exists) for all the evil they inflicted on their fellow human beings over the years. Having said that, Weeks still seems to be loyal to Whitey, and probably knows exactly where he is hiding out these days. For that reason, I don't believe a word he says when he defends Whitey against allegations that he was a rapist, a child molester, etc. Eddie Mac definitely gives the reader more insight into what Whitey was really like...and isn't that why we all read these books, anyway?
Best of Show.......2007-09-17
Better than the Kevin Weeks expose, and far grittier than the journalistic looks at the Bulger gang, this one takes the cake for depravity with readable writing to make it go down like acid. As Mob tales go, the Boston version is more blue collar, but every bit as riveting as insider looks at the best of the New York gangs. The early section on the author's depraved and deprived childhood is particularly chilling. If only these guys had been so literary back when they were actually gangsters, maybe they wouldn't have gotten into so much trouble.
Better then a book about LA gang members.......2007-03-17
After reading this you get a sence that these guys have more brains then LA gang memebers.
Who are basically just playing the roll.
Street soilder is exactly what he says he is.
Solider in a street of reality.
Ups and Downs from childhood to grownup.
Much better then anything you can pick up on California gang culture.
Tells it like it is!.......2006-07-24
I read the other South Boston Irish Mobs books recently, and find them all self serving and egotisitcal. Weeks, Shea, want us all to think they are the real deal, and can out fight anybody, then again, don't they all? In Mackenzie's book Street Soldier, he pulls no punches, basicaly tells it like it is! Calls himself a predator, a scumbag. etc. Mackenzie's book tops them all as far as taking the reader into the dark,hard world of the Irish Mob. He then describes the good with the bad, and explains brilliantly, "that in every bushell of apples, there's always a few bad ones." The other so called authors can Complain all they want about who's who, but the reviews tell it all, and Mackenzie has them all beat. I give Street Soldier five stars, the best of the bunch.
ok but is it true.......2006-05-12
the book will keep you interested,but is it true after reading Brutal and brother bulger and rat [...] you don't hear much about this guy so I can say this guys thinks he's bigger than who he is.
Book Description
For good reason, the queen in chess inherits its fearsome power on the game board from the reputedly murderous maneuvers of the fourteenth-century Queen Isabella of England, as historian and biographer Paul Doherty shows in his engaging account of a savage chapter in medieval English history. What begins with a peace match—the marriage of the twelve-year-old daughter of France’s Philip IV to the dissolute Edward II in 1308—ends in bloody conflict, a possible regicide, the usurpation of royal power, execution, and exile. In a lively narrative that brings a fresh perspective to the history of Isabella’s catastrophic marriage, Doherty illuminates the people, passions, and politics that prompted the young queen, after thirteen years, to flee the feckless, ineffectual king who had sacrificed the English army to ignominious and unnecessary defeat at Bannockburn and to escape court intrigues and her personal persecution by men like the sinister Hugh Despenser. At Isabella’s command, though, Despenser eventually met a gruesome death, when she returned to England with the exiled Roger Mortimer and a mercenary army that deposed Edward and enthroned the conquering queen in the name of her young son, Edward III.
Customer Reviews:
Badly written and full of errors.......2006-03-16
An extremely odd book, full of avoidable errors. Many of Doherty's mistakes should have been caught by the editor: for example, on one page he states that Isabella was born in 1296, but later says that she was 9 in 1303 and 23 in 1321. Worst of all, he correctly calls Gaveston's wife Margaret de Clare the first time he refers to her, but a mere 11 pages later inexplicably calls her 'Joan of Gloucester'. Incredibly sloppy work and unforgivable for a man who holds an Oxford doctorate on this subject.
Other errors: Doherty repeatedly refers to the notorious family as 'de Spencer' when it should be 'le Despenser'. St Louis was the grandfather of Philip IV, not the great-grandfather. The earl of Arundel was not the son-in-law of Hugh le Despenser. Mortimer had 8 daughters, not 3.
A lot of the phraseology is very awkward: we get the sentence "New favourites might emerge?" (that's the whole sentence) and a reference to Isabella's "months at Paris". Months AT Paris??
Doherty does not state clearly enough when he is giving historical fact and when he is merely stating his own opinion or interpretation - for example, it's a fact that Isabella was almost captured by the Scots in 1322, but only Doherty's opinion that Hugh le Despenser (NOT 'Hugh de Spencer') deliberately put her in danger. Doherty, however, states this as a fact.
He perpetuates myths that other historians have proved to be totally fictitious: that Isabella was in or around the Tower of London at the time Mortimer escaped (she wasn't) and that she chose Grey Friars as her final resting place because Mortimer was buried there (he wasn't).
Doherty portrays Isabella as a "fairy tale Princess" (yuck!!) but also as a powerful but frankly evil woman, who demanded her own husband's execution, thought of him as a "non-person" and had "murder in her heart" regarding him. He also drastically over-estimates her abilities and intelligence and doesn't bother to mention what a disaster her regency was.
All in all, a very poor effort by a man who could and should do a lot better.
Did Edward Bluff His Way Out of the Poker Game?.......2005-11-21
If your knowledge of Edward II is as sketchy as mine was, you'll think that the strange death in the title of Paul C. Doherty's book refers to the gruesome manner in which Edward was supposedly assassinated. Edward is widely thought to have been killed by, in the translated words of a contemporary chronicler, "a red hot poker being thrust up into his bowels."
Certainly that is a strange death, but Doherty finds evidence that there is much more strangeness in what happened after Edward's downfall. Doherty agrees with most historians up to the point where Edward is captured, imprisoned in Berkeley Castle, and forced to abdicate in favor of his son, Edward III. Only fifteen years old, Edward III would be subject to his mother's control, and that of his mother's lover, Roger Mortimer.
Accepted history says that Edward II tried to escape from Berkeley Castle in 1327, was quickly captured, then killed by agents of Mortimer. Doherty thinks Edward's escape was successful and that Isabella and Mortimer buried a look-alike to prevent attempts to reinstate Edward II. He offers several possibilities about what happened to Edward II after escaping, but comes to no definitive conclusion other than that he was not murdered at Berkeley Castle and is probably not buried in the tomb that bears his name in Gloucester Cathedral.
Isabella and the Strange Death of Edward II is a short book, only 262 pages including footnotes, bibliography, and index. Doherty explains everything lucidly enough so that I was swept up right into history without knowing much about the characters beforehand. He explains the sources and their biases, and how he came to his conclusions. If you enjoy Doherty's book, you may also like Alison Weir's Queen Isabella (2005), in which Weir goes a step beyond Doherty, and decides that Edward II not only escaped, but ended up a hermit in Italy until he died in 1341.
Dull.......2004-11-03
With such interesting subject matter, I had high hopes for this book. However, it is so sluggish I can hardly get through it. The language and writing style is faux-scholarly and circuitous. As a result, the story doesn't "flow" and I find myself forced to reread several parts. The author glazes over the juiciest bits as well. There must be a better telling of this story somewhere out there!
An Engaging Entry Into Edward II & Isabella's World.......2003-12-21
I thoroughly enjoyed this well-written, logically formatted book. Unlike many non-fiction works covering this period in history, the auther manages to provide a great many pertinent facts without confusing the reader. Mr. Dougherty's hypothesis is that perhaps Edward II was not killed and may well have escaped his imprisonment and lived out the rest of his life abroad in exile. Could it be that the body contained in a tomb in Gloucester Cathedral does not belong to King Edward II? The arguments in this regard are convincing, reasonable and thus, most interesting to ponder. The absence of photographs was a slight disappointment but they are not integral to the understanding of this very good book.
A good general starter that'll whet the appetite.......2003-09-29
With an opening prologue espousing the imperial aims of Edwards 1st and focusing on the height of the English mediaeval period of the fourteenth century, Doherty focuses on London's expansion to become a true European capital and how Edward's dreams were thwarted by the Scots. Into the mix came the marriage of his son, the future Edward II and Isabella, the daughter of Philip IV of France
The first half of the book details the history of the couple right up until Edward's somewhat painful death (as reported by Swynbroke) whilst incarcerated at Berkeley. Opening with the political dynastical struggle between Edward and Philip to create future power for their respective countries the two were betrothed in 1299 with what could be seen at the time as a heavily bound contract promising all kinds of dire retribution if any party should renege on the deal. We move swiftly through the sudden death of Edward I in 1307, having some detail on the relationship between the King and the to-be Edward II, Doherty heavily emphasizing Edwards fiercely emotive personality traits. If a fiend you were a friend for life, if an enemy, he never got. This is a trait that is prevalent through Edward II's life and heavily affected his decision making. Two figures leap out as having lived and fallen with him. Firstly, Gaveston who was ultimately elevated to Earl of Cornwall and given such a place of prominence that the nuptials of Edward and Isabella were portrayed in a rather insulting manner to the French nobility. However, given Isabella's age at the time this does not seem to have been too problematic. After Gaveston's exile in 1308 and subsequent `execution' following an English noble revolt headed by Lancaster, Isabella rose in prominence and indeed fortified several treaties between Edward and Philip, whilst Edward eventually rounded on Lancaster and the remaining rebellious lords and had them effectively proscribed. Post-battle of Bannockburn where the Scots crushed the English in 1314 Edward became increasingly emotive in his rulings and Isabella found herself the subject of many plots. It is at this time Hugh de Spencer (or Dispenser as there seems to be some conflict of his name) the Younger rose to favourite under Edward, again to the same degree as Gaveston but this man appears to have been far more brutal. Indeed Doherty tries to suggest that Isabella's ultimate separation and rebellion against Edward in 1326 was due to the suggestion that there ultimately be an `open' relationship amongst the three of them. This in turn, `justifies' Isabella's adultery with Roger Mortimer during he initial self-exile in France and subsequent dealings in England when she returned to invade and execute de Spencer and capture Edward, forcing the coronation of their son, Edward III.
The second half of the book deals with the uncertainty surrounding Edward's death during incarceration, firstly placing his movements during those last few months then his subsequent burial away from Westminster as a `deposed prince'. Doherty gives time to discussing the movements of the body (it took several months to carry out the funeral due mainly to the military expedition in Scotland) before detailing the funeral of Dec 20 1327. After the internment Isabella seems to have forgotten her dead husband, moving swiftly to arrange the marriage of her son and Phillipa of Hainhault. Unfortunately, Isabella appears to have succumbed (with Mortimer) to excessive rapacity and governmental monopolisation resulting in Lancaster plotting rebellion and eventually falling out with her son, Edward III. After Edmund, Earl of Kent's admission that Edward II was not dead but imprisoned at Corfe Castle and there was a plot to free him - in itself a ludicrous turn of events - led to many arrests and death for treason. Nevertheless, by the fall of 1330, Isabella was in exile and Mortimer executed as all they had done was replace Edward's tyranny with their own. It was now the young Edward III decided to act in conjunction with Pope John XXII. Edward's close friend Montague managed to get Mortimer to declare that his word was above the King's and promptly pulled off a coup, imprisoning Mortimer then securing his execution. At the trial of Berkeley we learn that Thomas Gurney, William Ockle and Maltravers were identified as the regicides. All bar Gurney were eventually pardoned, he dying whilst under arrest. Isabella escaped and henceforth no reference was made to her being involved in any of the crimes committed. Doherty skips through the remaining 28 years of her life, noting her piety and charitable goodwill.
Come Chapter 7 the main protagonists are dead and hence Doherty's historical recreation ends. He spends the remaining 60 pages discussing the true events surrounding Edward II's death. He focuses on a letter from the papal notary Fieschi (dated by modern historians to around 1337) who claims to have met Edward II, detailing his life on the run until he ends up at a monastery near Milan. Going through the letter section by section, Doherty firstly seems to pass the letter off as fabrication then comes a more neutral stance is saying that he fundamentally believes that Edward II didn't die, but that Fieschi got his information second hand rather than in a direct interview.
Doherty's account of Isabella and Edward II and III is a good starting point for anyone wishing to gain an instant understanding of the history of England during the early fourteenth century. Immediately accessible to the general reader, it is useful for the pre-university student or for those wishing some standard reading of the subject though it should be noted the quality is nowhere near university standard. For more detailed analysis of the time and the personages involved there are better books out there, but this is not intended to be overly critical. It is a good general overview of the history with some `suggestive' theories that aren't really expanded on, that can leave the reader with questions to which the answers need to be sought elsewhere.
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