“Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: The Secret Agent Who Made the Pilgrimage to Mecca, Discovered the Kama Sutra, and Brought the Arabian Nights to the West”, by Edward Rice

544 pages, Charles Scribner’s Sons, ISBN-13: 978-0684191379

If Sir Richard Francis Burton didn’t really exist he would make for the most unrealistic of fictional characters. He was, without question, one of the most remarkable men of the 19^th Century, and in Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: The Secret Agent Who Made the Pilgrimage to Mecca, Discovered the Kama Sutra, and Brought the Arabian Nights to the West (whew!) Edward Rice covers the exploits of the man who was the towering intellectual and physical specimen: his face scarred by a Somali warrior’s spear; Burton the scholar and author; Burton the scientist; Burton the soldier, explorer, and British undercover. He did it all. Burton was one of the very first Europeans to seek the source of the Nile River in Central Africa, as daring then as a trip to the moon is now. He was the first European to reach Lake Tanganyika. In disguise he went to the forbidden cities of Mecca and Medina. He was the first European to penetrate the sacred city of Harar in the unexplored East Africa. It was Burton who brought out to the Western World the classic Indian book on sex, the Kama Sutra. And, perhaps his most celebrated achievement, Burton did the seventeen volume translation of the classic, Arabian Nights. Burton had mastered some twenty-nine languages and dialects and operated as an undercover agent while employed as an officer for the East India Company in India. On one secret mission, Burton investigated the Mormons of Utah, the subject of his book The City of the Saints. On another trip to the Western Hemisphere Burton explored the battlefields of Paraguay out of which came a book about the war between Paraguay and Brazil. Fascinated by swords Burton wrote a comprehensive treatise on the subject which is still in print today, The Book of The Sword.

Burton also served as a diplomat in Trieste, Damascus, and as envoy to Dahomey so as to convince the West African King to stop the celebration of the local custom of human sacrifice and cannibalism and to desist in the slave trade (Burton did not see any executions, as in deference to him or to his Queen the victims were slaughtered at night, “the evil nights” said Burton, with the King cutting off the first head himself). Burton’s translations of The Perfumed Garden and of the Boat in the Sea of Love were the first in English of these erotic Indian classics. Burton also had the satisfaction of seeing published his own works of Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah and First Footsteps in East Africa; Or, an Exploration of Harar. Although, tragically, many of his works and narratives were destroyed posthumously by his wife, no modern day explorer can even hope to achieve or surmount the exploits and travels of Sir Richard Burton who was knighted during the last ten years of his life. Although the 1989 Bob Rafelson movie Mountains of the Moon recounts just one chapter in Burton's life (the discovery of Lake Tanganyika and relationship with John Hanning Speke), it may be a good starting point for the reader.

A remarkable saga, truly one of the most interesting men in history, Edward Rice’s account of this explorer leaves the reader with a vivid account of what this man undertook in his lifetime. The reader will walk away from the book with a belief that what he has just read is a work of fiction at best. But it has always been said that “truth is stranger than fiction”

“Don’t Vote: It Just Encourages the Bastards”, by P. J. O’Rourke

288 pages, Atlantic Monthly Press, ISBN-13: 978-0802119605

American politics are dominated by news bites and slices of incomplete information for voters that often lack a basic understanding of economic principles or (in my opinion) logic. In Don’t Vote: It Just Encourages the Bastards, P.J. O’Rourke uses sarcasm and lots of analogies for why certain political issues are often carried to absurdity; states like California with strict gun laws have lots of murders while those with very lax laws don’t, for example, and also that we should probably have vote control because voting leads to politicians taking us into war which leads for far more deaths caused by guns. He writes about the futility of much of the left and right ranting (radio, books, etc.) because it’s like preaching to the little old ladies wearing white hats in the choir; I especially enjoyed how he worded the observation that we allow 19-year-old’s to vote but we don't trust them with a beer.

Just because O’Rourke uses lots of tongue-in-cheek humor, sarcasm, and analogies that could be seen as over the top in their usage doesn’t mean he hasn’t got a slew of valid points; he is obviously a well-read and well-informed (and well-connected) person, and his writing is crisp and straightforward. Much of the chapters read like part of a conversation with a neighbor over a beer while barbecuing some burgers. Good old-fashioned complaining about how stupid so much of the American political scene is, was, and will be for the foreseeable future.

One of his more humorous observations is that taxes make Republicans, logic makes Libertarians, and having children makes Conservatives (I found this an agreeable embellishment of my own instincts), O’Rourke further observes that while people tend to live their own lives as they see fit (libertarianism at its core) they often want to force others to do things for their own good. I think both lefties and righties could gain something from a thoughtful reading of this book; certainly libertarians would enjoy it, although, his own words about preaching to the choir ring partially true here.

There is a great deal of discussion directed at our current mess and the Obama Administration that I found his critique spot on. There is also a lot in here about economics and the national debt and spending; perhaps this is the most important discussion in any political discussion these days, one that is over looked or soft-footed about. It is far too important a discussion to dismiss, and should be required knowledge before one is allowed to vote (good luck with that, of course).

“Good Living Street: Portrait of a Patron Family, Vienna 1900”, by Tim Bonyhady

400 pages, Pantheon, ISBN-13: 978-0307378804

Good Living Street: Portrait of a Patron Family, Vienna 1900 is one of those books which seems to be, on the surface, a simple family yarn; however, there is a lot more to this rare gem, as Tim Bonyhady has researched his family back to Vienna when they were living at the turn of the 19^th Century. Yes, Jews had done very well in Vienna since the mid-1800s, and many became wealthy; in fact they provided large parts of the money and talent to rebuild the city and its palaces along the Ring-Boulevard. At around 10% of the population they represented more than 50% of its medical doctors and considerably higher percentages of lawyers and financiers. They were one of the most astounding success stories anywhere and so became largely responsible for Viennese culture both in the creation and consumption. The book supplies some answers how this all happened.

The book begins with a move of the author’s great-grandparents from the provinces to Vienna and their achieving wealth in the gas lighting business in which Vienna was leading. They now participate in the glory that is Vienna 1900 to the fullest as art patrons amongst others. The Gallia great-grandparents, Moriz and Hermine, married in the 1890’s and had four children. The Gallia’s older daughter, Gretl, was a young woman who enjoyed being out in Viennese society in the pre-World War One years. She became engaged to an architect but the engagement was dissolved. After the war, she married briefly and had a daughter. Her sister became the first woman to earn a doctorate in chemistry (Gretl’s daughter Annelore is the author’s mother).

The main part deals with the art patronage of the founder family. Klimt painted a famous portrait of Hermine that is today in the National Gallery, London. A fine analysis is given of the circumstances of the painting’s creation. Like the furniture having been made by Josef Hoffmann, one of the major craftsmen of the time in the Wiener Werkstaette. The family is able to take along, on emigration, the largest art collection from the period. The story does not end with emigration but depicts the coming to terms in the new environment and a final visit back to Vienna of the author's mother at the turn of another century. The writing is very good, eliciting vivid pictures of a time long gone with its glory and upheaval.

What makes this book incredible is just how different their lives were in Vienna prior to migrating to Sydney after Kristallnacht. They are upper class women who have never needed to work, yet their Jewish heritage (even though they converted to Catholicism) forces them to make the decision to leave during the onset on World War Two. It is terrible to imagine what their fates would have been if they remained in Vienna. Due to their high social standing, they seem almost oblivious to the impending horrors of the war which their attitude is best exemplified when they travel first class by ship to Australia via London for a holiday before arriving as Austrian refugees.

What is incredible about the story is they create a new life in Sydney, begin working and live in a cramped apartment surrounded by designer Viennese furniture, paintings and decorative art in which some is later purchased by the National Gallery of Victoria. The collection is one of the most important examples of turn of the century Viennese art. Finally, it describes the lives of three generations of women who were indeed trailblazers. It is not a “light”, read rather a most intriguing book.