The Devils of Cardona, Carr - B +

                                               This is a superb historical novel set in 16th century Spain. The country is wracked by the conflict between the old Catholics and the Moriscos, Muslims professing Catholicism. The Inquisition* is in full bloom, a national institution that knows no limits, and which literally takes no prisoners because just about everyone they interview winds up on the rack and at the stake. When a corrupt, evil priest is murdered in Aragon, near the French border in the Pyrenees,  Bernardo Mendoza, a Royal magistrate, is sent to investigate. Aragon is torn between the Moriscos and the Old Catholics.  The priest's murderer has declared himself to be the Redeemer, a Morisco avenging against evil. But it turns out that he is a Catholic trying to stir up conflict and start a full-fledged assault on the Moriscos and foment civil war. Mendoza skillfully navigates the twists and turns as he tracks down the numerous evil-doers and brings them to justice.  The author is a historian who has turned to novels. I hope he has plans to make this a series.

*It is somewhat shocking to read a reference to the Index of Forbidden Books and its prominent role in the infliction of medieval terror upon unwary souls.  I am reminded that the Index was still alive and well during most of my Catholic education and not terminated until 1966.

Eamon de Valera: A Will To Power, Fanning - B +

                                                Edward de Valera was born in NYC in 1882 to an Irish domestic and a Spanish father. Within three years, his father was dead and his mother shipped him to Bruree, Ireland to be raised in rural poverty by her brother. He earned a scholarship to Blackrock College in Dublin and became a teacher of mathematics. In 1910, he married Jane (Sinead) Flanagan, a teacher of Irish, and he adopted the name Eamon. He joined the Gaelic League and was soon running guns in anticipation of an armed revolt. He was an officer in the  Easter Rising and one of seventy-five condemned men whose sentences were reduced. During a 13-month confinement at Dartmoor Prison in England, he adopted the position that he was the 'senior' survivor and entitled to leadership because of his age and education. Upon his release he won a by-election in East Clare and became the leader of Sinn Fein. His goal was an independent republic. In the spring of 1918, he led the fight against English conscription in Ireland. Sprung from a second English imprisonment by Michael Collins, he left for America, hoping to raise funds and support for Ireland's 'self-determination'.  In late 1920, the UK Parliament divided Ireland and gave the south home-rule. The Irish refused, took up arms in acts of guerrilla resistance and the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) cracked down. It was at this time that his rift with Michael Collins began. Lloyd George met de Valera in London and later, offered "a Conference to ascertain how the association of Ireland with the community of nations known as the British Empire can best be reconciled with Irish national aspirations." In a decision that has been criticized for a century, de Valera left himself off the negotiating team and sent Collins as the leader. Their instructions were to refer terms back to Dublin, although de Valera gave them no direction, and in particular was silent on the question of Ulster. Worn out, exhausted, frustrated by the lack of assistance from Dublin and threatened with war, the delegates signed Lloyd George's proffered treaty on Dec. 6, 1921. The Irish Free State, the seventeen counties in the south, would be part of the Commonwealth.
                                               The Irish Parliament (the Dail) and the Cabinet approved the treaty. Most historians feel that de Valera's opposition was not to the substance of the treaty, but to the process - they signed without his approval. In a huff, he resigned from the Cabinet and the Dail.  Many in the country, particularly the IRA, were opposed to the treaty and de Valera fanned the flames of violence with a series of incendiary and provocative speeches around the country. The Irish Civil War soon broke out. Michael Collins was the most prominent casualty.  The Republicans continually were outmanned and out-gunned by the Provisional Government, and after two years, in May of 1923, the civil war was over. That summer, de Valera took command of Sinn Fein again and was elected to a seat in the Dail. His plan was to participate in the government of the Irish Free State, but he would not take an oath to the King and would ignore the London-appointed Governor General. He did not want Ireland to be part of the Commonwealth. He left Sinn Fein,  created Fianna Fail (the Republican party), won an election in 1932 and formed his first government in March.  His objective was complete independence.  A revised Constitution in 1937 accomplished his goal of further separation from Great Britain. A 1938 treaty with the UK eliminated Britain's right to use certain naval facilities in Ireland. The right to conduct one's foreign policy was de Valera's definition of independence, and he asserted independence by maintaining neutrality during WW2. It was, however, a benign neutrality, notwithstanding Churchill's bitter comments, and one in which Ireland secretly cooperated with both the US and the UK. In 1948, he was maneuvered out of the Prime Ministership and resigned from the Dail.  He made a comeback in the 1950's and was later president of Ireland. However, matters of economic development were not his concern. He had achieved Ireland's independence and nothing later in life ever engaged him as much.
                                               This is an extremely well-written and informative book. The author, an Irishman, asserts that only de Valera had the strength of will to exact the total freedom from the UK that he and many others craved.  Yet, he lays the civil war at his feet and paints a picture of a very difficult and thin-skinned leader. He lived until 1975 and saw Ireland and Great Britain join the EU.

Twilight of the Belle Epoque: The Paris of Picasso, Stravinsky, Proust, Renault, Marie Curie, Gertrude Stein, and Their Friends through the Great War, McAuliffe - B-

                                               This book's predecessor was reviewed here last month. It had the political and historical events as a framework; the artistic side was supplementary. This book is the opposite. There is much greater attention to the group biography of the artistes than to world events. While the painters painted and the musicians composed, businessmen also prospered. The men behind Coty and L'Oreal  began to manufacture and distribute perfumes and hair dyes, respectively.  Renault and Citroen were building automobiles and the Curies won a Nobel for their scientific research. Michelin manufactured tires and published a travel guide to enhance the driving experience. But this was the city that saw an explosion of artistic creativity and those events are center stage.
                                              The Entente Cordial, whereby the UK and France made an alliance, is the first significant political news reported and even then, not until the sixth chapter. Nationalism in France had once been the exclusive property of the far right. This was particularly true through the long Dreyfus Affair and its aftermath. As the first decade of the century passed and international tensions rose throughout the Balkans and northern Africa, all sides of the French body politic viewed Germany warily. In early 1914, Georges Clemenceau told an American reporter that his readers "scoff at talk of war" and, "Paris is gay, elegant, luxurious....Paris is now the important place for unimportant things."  In August, like people around the continent, Parisians hailed the coming of war. "Vive la France and Vive l'Alsace" rang out. Such enthusiasm quickly faded as the Germans almost reached Paris and the war began its grinding, lethal stalemate. The Germans shelled and bombed the City of Light and reached the Marne, just forty miles away, in August 1914, and a second time in 1918. Now Prime Minister, Clemenceau rallied the nation and became known as 'Father Victory'.
                                              "It was as France began to realize the depth of its war-inflicted wounds that its prewar world increasingly acquired the aura of a golden age." "The Belle Epoque had never been as radiantly perfect as enshrined in memory." Life in the capitals of pre-war Europe has been idealized as the ultimate 'fin de siecle'. That is true of London, Berlin and particularly St. Petersburg and Vienna. But no city of the era shines quite as brightly as Paree.

The House By The Lake, Carey - C

                                               This novel slips back and forth the between the late 1930's and 2010. The narrator's 94-year old grandfather is the common thread, as he asks her to return to the home he grew up in just east of Berlin and recover the engagement ring he was never able to give to his beloved.  I felt as if I was reading a young adult iteration of a love story, and the war that intruded. How an editor could allow three references to the Russians coming to Schloss Siegel in 1940, and then, later have them coming after the war is beyond comprehension.  The only saving grace is the half of the story tied into Marthe de Florian's apartment in Paris. The true story of the apartment and Marthe play a role in the novel. A few years ago after the death of Marthe's granddaughter, the apartment was opened.  It had been decorated during the Belle Epoque and untouched since 1939.

Before The Fall, Hawley - C +

                                               This is a summer read that starts with a private plane taking off from Martha's Vineyard and plunging into the Atlantic eighteen minutes later. On board is the 56-year-old founder of a news network that sounds like Fox News, and his family. A NYC money manger and a local painter tag along.  The painter survives and saves the son of the newsman. Everyone else perishes. The aftermath focuses on developments that are both indicative of the America we live in and appalling in their banality. The news channel's top on-air personality goes on an emotional binge blaming the crash on ISIS and raising over-the-top insinuations that could be appealing to only tv-addicted morons. The NTSB decides to focus on the painter who saved a four-year-old boy simply because they don't understand him, his life style or how he wound up on the private plane. And in the end, the reason for the crash is flat-out hackneyed. This novel starts out gangbusters and finishes very flat.

The Letter Writer, Fesperman - C

                                                This novel clearly did not work for me. It is set in 1942 NYC and does provide some interesting, obscure background information. After the 'Normandie'  burned in NY harbor and was lost to the government as a troop transport, there was a very heightened sense of anxiety about sabotage on the docks. That led to an unlikely alliance to keep the harbor safe for the war effort. The Manhattan DA's Office and US Naval Intelligence joined forces with Lucky Luciano's and Meyer Lansky's Mafia mob to secure the waterfront. The existence of this alliance is set against the efforts of a police detective and the letter writer to unearth some unseemly conduct.  As indicated by my grade above, I think the book flopped.