I'm not sure if it was a photo taken at a Star Fleet party, or an image from an unaired episode involving the Enterprise returning to earth circa 1800 and Kirk having difficulty remembering the finer points of that Prime Directive thing.
In addition to writing a very satisfying chunk of the new novel, I caught a couple documentary movies on Prime, and finished a very good book.
This movie was great if you're into history in general, and the French Revolution in particular. I didn't realize that it is the 2nd part of a two part deal. The movie appears to have been filmed in English--but is in French with English subtitles. It features Jane Seymour as Marie Antoinette, and Sam Neil appears briefly as LaFayette. There are others I recognize but I don't remember their names at the moment. Perhaps the first half provides more explanation; this part begins in the terror with no explanation about who is doing what or what the sides are etc. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it very much. It also reminded me of the "Slice-O" brand guillotine ad that a friend and I did for economics class when I was a sophomore in high school. On a more serious note, I think there are some present day parallels with the events and attitudes depicted. I'll leave you to watch it and draw your own parallels (if you have that sort of artistic ability--I can only draw flies).
This film is more like a movie and less like a documentary. The Terror is shown is some fairly disturbing detail. The camera cuts away before the terrible contact of the guillotine's blade, the pitchfork's tine, or the skull to the wall--but the sound is still there. On the one hand, Robespierre eventually got what was coming to him; on the other hand, Danton's speech may have been the best part. The link to the movie is at the bottom of the page.
Book Review
Young Washington by Peter Stark
General thoughts: I can tell that I have a marked preference for a book when I neglect the other books that I'm reading in order to focus on only one. It's like having a plate full of various fine foods, and finding that you enjoy one of them so much that you consume it entirely and ignore the others. This book took me away from the other books on my current reading plate. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have only one criticism. The author does a lot of speculation about how Washington might have been feeling at various times, asking a lot of rhetorical questions and such. That annoyed me intensely. Fortunately, the bulk of the material is factual, historical, well documented, and presented in a manner that is clear and relates an exciting story.
Story in a nutshell: The young future president's commission to take a message to the French to vacate the Ohio River Valley results in a splitting headache for Jumonville that no amount of aspirin can cure. The young officer is forced to surrender to the French and Indians, and sets off a global conflict between the French and British. He whines quite a bit, acts heroically, and whines some more. He seems to be the lone hero of Braddock's debacle, but never could get himself appointed as a Royal Officer. He goes through experiences that undoubtedly helped prepare him to command the Continental Army.
Do I recommend it? Absolutely! Nonfiction is almost always better than fiction, but this history is better than much nonfiction as well. A quarter of the book is made up of bibliography, footnotes, index, and additional notes. The story reveals how busy Washington was; it sheds more light on both his character and his exploits than I was taught in any classes that I ever took. I rate it: Mandatory Meat for the history gourmand.
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