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CBS News: Live Breaking News

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CBS News for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Apple TV keeps you informed on breaking news and the...

Unaccustomed Earth

Jhumpa Lahiri

9.0 (2 Ratings) Rate It

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Eight stories—longer and more emotionally complex than any Lahiri has yet written—that take us...

India immigrants short stories

Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity in Books

Dec 31, 2017

Outstanding insight, meticulous and moving

Other than historians and international lawyers you will not have heard of the lawyer Hersch Lauterpacht yet he is a very important figure in Philippe Sands' magnificent book.

East West Street is different and distinct in many meaningful ways, telling the fascinating story of the beginning of international human rights, but rather do so as dry legal history it focuses on two of the most significant individuals.

The author weaves the stories of Lauterpacht and Raphael Lemkin into Sands' own personal family story, which all tie into the 'city of lions' (Lviv/Lwow/Lemberg) in the first few decades of the 20th century. Both men and Sand's own family lived here, a place where East and West meet, hence the book's title.

It culminates into their assistance with the Nuremburg trials of ten senior Nazi figures, with Lauterpacht preparing the first drafts of the opening and closing speeches of the chief prosecution. Crucially he crafted the wording of Article 6 of the Nuremberg Charter, enshrining crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression into international law. Lemkin, in the same vein, constructed the concept of genocide, even coining the term.

And Sands discusses his detective work to find answers to numerous questions about his family. In the end his journey reveals tragedy, but a tragedy lightened by knowing the truth.

This is an outstanding book by a barrister, filmmaker and writer. It reeks of intellectual strength, and truly superb.

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ClareR (5726 KP) rated Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen in Books

May 3, 2018

Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen

Alison Weir | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics

8.3

(4 Ratings)

Book Rating

Tudor England at it's best!

Everyone knows the stories of Henry VIII and his six wives, don't they? Jane Seymour always seems to be the quietest, almost childlike, always doing as she's told. This novel paints a very different picture of her. She is a young woman of her time: obedient to her parents and the males in her family, religious, and ready to do her part as a woman (and that means bearing children!).
This novel looks at how she probably wasn't as innocent as we have always been led to believe. In all honesty, she lived at court - a place where family loyalties and wealth were above all else in importance: she couldn't afford to be an innocent.
I like the Jane that Weir portrays. She's resilient and cares deeply about her family and HER Queen (Katherine of Aragon). I really liked this book and all of the courtly intrigues: Tudor England has always fascinated me. It was such a sad end for Jane, and the authors extended notes at the end really explained well what she and some experts thought had really happened to her and why she died (heres a clue: it wasn't childbirth). I will be going back to the first two books in this series to read about Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn in preparation for Katherine Howard (wife #4 - and that should be a good one!!).

Kudos

Merissa (12058 KP) rated Atlantis Rising (Atlantis Rising, #1) in Books

Dec 17, 2018

I received this book from Young Adult Bound Book Tours in return for a fair and honest review.

If you like stories based on Atlantis then I'm sure that you will enjoy this. It is a light, young adult book that incorporates a sideline of romance but it doesn't overpower the story.

Allison had a hard start in life. She was left in foster care at age 3 but she can't remember anything from before that. She was in the system for a while before being fostered and adopted by the McKyes. Three years ago though, she is approached by a man in the park who was there with his family and told that her abilities (that she knew about... sort of) were wanted by a 'bad man' who wouldn't hesitate to hurt her family to get to her. So Allison tries to fade into the background. She thinks she's doing okay until Ian and Brandy come along and shake things up.

This is a well-written story that moves along at a steady pace. Ian and Brandy are brilliant characters and really help this story to come alive. There are lots of other great supporting characters though, not just including the family and Lillian (who rocks!).

The ending is bittersweet and I am hoping that this will be part of a series. There are unanswered questions left over and I really want to see more of Allison and Ian. Definitely recommended!