Nonfiction-International

Labor’s Lost, women’s Work and the Early Modern English Stage by Natasha Korda ’79. We all know that Juliet, Lady Macbeth and every female part in Shakespeare was played by a male actor in the time of Shakespeare. What were the women doing? Natasha explores the tasks in and about the theater that women performed, expanding our knowledge of how much woman’s ingenuity, and expertise contributed to the plays and to society at large. Who washed, starched and pressed all those elaborate ruffs? Obviously, the women. More than that, widows and unmarried woman were instrumental in the lending of money for interest, making capital available when direly needed. Natasha is thorough in her examination of women’s contributions. I was particularly fascinated by her analysis of The Merchant of Venice as Portia portrays the newfound power of a married woman having economic clout of her own, the analysis of th…

The Flight of the Romanovs, A Family Saga by John Curtis Perry ’48? And Constantine Pleshakov. We all know little snippets of this story. We remember the strange (but very temporary) power of Rasputin, the apocryphal (and completely false) story of Anastasia, and the steep fall from imperial sovereignty as the revolution swept away all the trappings of excessive opulence. This book, in elegant, compelling prose, presents the full story of this family of unprecedented wealth and privilege. I could not put this book down.

Our acquaintance with the family begins with the assassination of Alexander II in 1881. Though stability marks succeeding generations, this death serves as a reminder and omen that all can be lost in a moment. When revolution comes, the huge extended Romanov family must scramble to survive. Nicholas II and his family are of course all slaughtered, but the dowager, Nicholas’ mother, survives a…

A Hole in the heart of the World by Jonathan Kaufman ’74. Nonfiction-International. “L’écrivain ne peut se mettre aujourd’hui au service de ceux qui font l’histoire: il est au service de ceux qui la subissent.” Albert Camus, Discours de Suède, 1957.

I subscribe to this idea that history is best appreciated through the stories of individuals whose lives are impacted by forces not under their control. Policies are best understood through the prism of their effect on humans going about their business. In this profoundly moving work, Jonathan tells the story of five families living in eastern Europe from the outset of World War II and the Holocaust through the cruel reign of Stalin up to more recent times after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the opening of the Iron Curtain. In Prague, Budapest, Warsaw, and Berlin, we meet the families whose lives have been altered by anti-Semiti…

Gardens of the Amalfi Coast by Robert I. C. Fisher 60’s? This book provides armchair travel to the gorgeous Amalfi Coast. The text is replete with tantalizing observations from history, literature, architecture, and most important, botany: the profusion of lush and colorful plants from the towering Washington robustapalm to nasturtiums, bluebells, white oleanders, cyathea, and asplenia, to name only a few, thrive in these abundantly blossoming gardens. Our amiable guide cites writers who have been drawn to the beauty of this place from Homer to Graham Greene to D.H. Lawrence to Truman Capote. The topography of the land and the garden sculptures recall the Odyssey. As we wander with our guide through the meandering paths we are surprised by stone balconies, columns, and pergolas which provide frames for stunning views of the sea and even Mount Vesuvius. The book is full of exquisite photographs of sweeping vistas and shady nooks.