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Holy War, Martyrdom, and Terror: Christianity, Violence, and the West

Philippe Buc

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Holy War, Martyrdom, and Terror examines the ways that Christian theology has shaped centuries of...

Early Japanese Railways 1853-1914: Engineering Triumphs That Transformed Meiji-Era Japan

Dan Free

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Early Japanese Railways 1853-1914 is a cultural and engineering history of railway building in Japan...

BookwormMama14 (18 KP) rated A Lesson in Love and Murder (Herringford and Watts Mysteries, #2) in Books

Jan 2, 2019

From the iconic cover through to the Epilogue, Rachel McMillan has delivered another thrilling Herringford & Watts adventure. Filled with love and mystery, sorrow and murder, trust and anarchy...You will be drawn into the story and fight alongside Merinda and Jem for justice and freedom. Can I just say..."Mounties"...Even this redneck American girl can appreciate the Royal North-West Mounted Police. And I was giddy with delight that Rachel incorporated them into this story. I loved this book so much (more than the first one I think). There was so much going on in history at this time. It was interesting to watch those with the desire to bring change, they had the passion and drive to see things through to the end...But they had a warped view of how to go about it. Unfortunately, it reminds me of society today. It breaks my heart knowing that not much has changed in that aspect. Protests, bombings, violence and murder...These are not the answers. That is all I will say about that...Back to the book...Full of the same witty dialogue and precarious circumstances that I have come to expect (and adore) from Herringford & Watts. The footnotes also make their appearance in this story, which I still think is BRILLIANT! If you are interested in mystery, humour, and romance, these are the books for you. You will want to start with the first book, A Bachelor Girl's Guide to Murder. Trust me, you don't want to miss out on this adventure. I received a free copy of A Lesson in Love & Murder in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.

Kudos

Andy K (10821 KP) rated Green Book (2018) in Movies

Jun 22, 2019

This generation's Driving Miss Daisy

The 2018 Academy Awards were interesting. On one hand, I was very happy boring, pointless Roma did not win Best Picture; however i was really pulling for The Favourite to win. Neither happened and Green Book snuck in and captured the top prize instead.

The modern Oscars are free of epics like Ben-Hur, The Sound of Music or West Side Story. Instead, character-driven stories seem to be in favor recently.

In this true story, recently unemployed Italian bouncer Tony "Lip" gets hired to drive an African American genius concert pianist throughout his fall tour of the deep southern United States in 1962.

As the two men get to know each other, they are exposed to the very different worlds and set of values the each possesses. Initial hesitation is replaced by eventual respect as the men grow a bond throughout their southern adventure as they confront racism in various threatening or nonchalant forms as is happens.

Tony comes to the aide of his client, Dr. Donald Shirley, several times revealing his bigotry and denial for his race has begun to wane. Dr. Shirley as well begins to understand Tony's rough exterior and even delights Tony's wife Cyrano de Bergerac style assistance in writing verbose and eloquent letters to her.

The acting is thorough and top notch by both Viggo Mortensen (one of the great working actors today) and Mahershala Ali (hot off of Moonlight) with a screenplay to match. The characters are flawed, vivid, well-rounded and interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed this memorable film and well deserved of the big prize.