Wisdom from the 42nd Page

Nine Days a Queen

Lady Jane Grey ruled as queen of England from July 10, 1553 to July 19, 1553, before Mary I supplanted her. Mary had Jane executed for high treason on February 12, 1554.

On the forty-second page of this historical fiction acount of Lady Jane Grey's life, “Nine Days a Queen: The Short Life and Reign of Lady Jane Grey” author Ann Rinaldi wrote (emphasis added):

Seven

The winter at home was endless that year. And it snowed so much. I played with Pourquoi and he became part of the household, and although I feared the doings of court life, the intrigue, the need to watch my every word and move, yet somehow, at the same time, I missed it. I missed the people I'd met, the music, the masques, the times I had for study, alone.

Here, though our household was smaller, I was never alone. Mother made sure of that. Even when I was doing my studies or when my tutor came, Catherine or Mary was allowed in the room with me. Mother believed that when a young girl was allowed privacy, bad things happened. I don't know what. But the lack of privacy drove me near mad.

More information about “Nine Days a Queen: The Short Life and Reign of Lady Jane Grey” (and the book itself) is available from:

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(HarperCollins Publishers, February 2005. Hardcover, 184 pages. ISBN: 0060549238; EAN: 9780060549237.)

War of the Rats

On the forty-second page of “War of the Rats” author David L. Robbins wrote (emphasis & hyperlinks added):

Zaitsev returned the sheet to Lebedev. "Thank you, comrade commissar. It takes courage to be so direct."

Lebedev patted Zaitsev again on the shoulder. "Yes, it does. I'll see you on the other side, Comrade Chief Master Sergeant."

Well past midnight, the Siberians lay on the beach, watching and listening to Stalingrad screm to them. A flotilla of battered fishing boats, barges, steamers, and tugs appeared. A barge dropped anchor in the shallows in front of them. Zaitsev saw the holes in the ship's timbers. Two men forward and four aft bailed buckets of water over the gunwales as fast as they could. Supplies were loaded quickly into the barge's hold. Wooden crates of ammo were shouldered up the plank and lowered below-decks. Several dozen cardboard boxes were stored; from them came the friendly sound of clanging, ringing vodka bottles. Crates of canned ham from America were carried up the gangway. The Red Army soldiers jokingly called this ham the "second front." For a year Stalin had begged England and the United States to attack the Germans in the west to ease the pressure on Russia. The Allies always responded with their many reasons for being slow and considered in their actions. For the Russian foot soldier, these tins of sweet, wet, red ham from places such as Georgia and Virginia were to be the only help they would get from the States. The ham alone would have to suffice as the second front.

The boats chugged onto the Volga. Flares split the glittering night sky. The men stared overhead, trying to picture the coils of smoke and search for the first hint of a diving Luftwaffe warplane. The dancing light from the city scorched like a fever across their brows, making them blank and sweat.

Halfway across the river a Stuka whistled past. The men braced, but no bombs or bullets fell. The fighter banked hard and climbed to avoid flying over the flames

More information about “War of the Rats” (and the book itself) is available from:

• Powell's Books
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon.com