Books

Terence Rattigan
Road to Silence
Dictionary of the Print Trade in Ireland, 1550-1775
Cobber Kain
Kings and Queens of England
Mrs. Alexander: A Life of the Hymn-Writer
The Peculiar Sensation of Being Irish
The Figurehead
Cowslips and Chainies: A Memoir of Dublin in the 1930s
The Second World War: A Guide to Sources (Public Record Office Handbooks, No. 15.)
Snakes and Ladders: Fergus Finlay
Diary of a Soldier
English Episcopal Acta: York 1154-1181 (English Episcopal Acta)
Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits, Vol. 2
Robert the Bruce - a Scot's Life (Scots Legends)
Jane's Letters from Ireland
Patrick Lenihan: From Irish Rebel to Founder of Canadian Public Sector Unionism
The Gardens of Remembrance
You May Talk Now
Brief Encounters
Lord Stuart De Rothesay: The Life and Hard Times of Lord Stuart De Rothesay of Highcliffe Castle 1779-1845
The Way That I Went: An Irishman in Ireland
Keeper of Absalom's Island
The Early Stewart Kings: Robert II and Robert III 1371-1406 (Stewart Dynasty in Scotland S.)
Scotch-Irish Family Research Made Simple

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An Exciting, Thoughtful, Beautiful Play
Deep insight into the winslow boy
The Winslow Boy
Extremely compelling play
answer

The Winslow Boy
Terence Rattigan
Manufacturer: Nick Hern Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Winslow Boy
An Enemy of the People (Dover Thrift Editions)
Inherit the Wind
Twelve Angry Men (Penguin Classics)
The Indian in the Cupboard

ASIN: 1854592963

Customer Reviews:

An Exciting, Thoughtful, Beautiful Play.......2002-09-28

There are two movie adaptations of "The Winslow Boy" available, recently starring Jeremy Northam (1999), and anciently starring Robert Donat (1948). But neither is an adequate substitute for the real thing, the full text by Terence Rattigan. In 1988, PBS broadcast a superb production of the full text, starring Ian Richardson and Emma Thompson, but it has not, unfortunately, been transferred to video.

The play concerns a public battle against the government, waged by a father to vindicate his son, expelled from a naval academy for cashing a stolen money order. Although the crusade is exciting, the play is most interesting in what it reveals about the people intimately involved: the members of the Winslow family, their close friends and their lawyer. The resulting insights and realism are among the story's chief virtues.

At first reading, the play may seem a straightforward tale of innocence versus injustice. But on closer inspection, one finds that the boy's innocence is never proved, and that some in the family deny or doubt it. Moreover, even if he is innocent, the harm to members of the family and to the country from pursuing the case might be greater than the harm from letting it drop. Such uncertainty is frustrating, but life is like that. Crusades are often launched for ends whose worth is unclear. The play is wise to develop this point.

Moreover, the actions and motives of crusaders may be a mixture of good and bad. This may make them harder to join, but certainly interesting and instructive to watch. One admires the boldness, determination and persistence of the father, Arthur Winslow, without whose initiative the crusade would not exist. Yet he is rather a sourpuss, often dominating or humiliating others. His daughter and indispensable lieutenant, Kate, is the most attractive member of the family, bright and realistic but emotionally withheld and often blinded by partisanship. Sir Robert Morton, the celebrated advocate who represents the Winslow boy is a supercilious, cold fish, and a brilliant (unscrupulous?) forensic champion. All three make substantial sacrifices for the sake of their crusade.

The author is a master of surprise and reversal. Much of the dramatic excitement comes when esteemed characters behave badly, or disregarded characters greatly please. Perhaps the most beautiful moment in the play is a marriage proposal to Kate by Desmond Curry, an old family friend whom she rather disdains (and the reader discounts). And the mother, Grace Winslow, whose views have been generally ignored, finally makes a powerful case that the crusade, out of pride and stubbornness, is destroying her husband and family for a son who is uninterested in the result.

Another excellence of the play is its treatment of controversy. On the questions as to whether the crusade is justified and worthwhile, for the family and for the country, the author impartially assigns plausible arguments to the various sides, from the characters, the newspapers they quote, or the proceedings they attend.

An outstanding play, with plenty of food for the intellect, the heart and the soul.

Deep insight into the winslow boy.......2001-03-29

The book shows the defficenceis of England before WW1.

Overall it is the most boring book i have ever read.

The Winslow Boy.......2000-04-14

I enjoyed this play immensely and I also enjoyed the David Mamet film as well--a film that I thought was engrossing and a more than satisfying character study.

I liked how the play speaks of something that we sometimes give little regard to in today's society---the importance of and honor in a good and stable reputation. It was very enlightening to read this tale of a family (especially the father) who was in service of maintaining their son's dignity and place in society.

I was also taken by how this quest for honor taxes the family. My favorite scene in the play also begets my favorite line. The scene where the mother tells the father that he should let their son go on with his ife and not stigmatize him by this singular event is very honest and real. And when the mother says, "When he (their son) is grown, he won't thank you for it."-meaning the preservation of his reputation, I thought the whole idea and point of the story was driven home.

An excellent read indeed

Extremely compelling play.......2000-02-19

I really love this play. A friend gave me a copy and I started reading it on the train and was unable to stop until I had finished reading it! I was able to envisage the characters in my mind and as soon as I finished it, I HAD to go out and rent the David Mamet film adaptation which is also fantastic.

Sir Robert, Catherine Winslow and Arthur Winslow are remarkably well-drawn characters and all of the dialogue in the play is excellent. I really enjoyed this play and highly recommend it!

answer.......1999-09-19

It is based, substantially, on actual events. Try and see (if you haven't already) the David Mamet film adaption of the play which should be coming to video within a few months. It's a simply beautiful treatment. His most human work yet.

In Praise of Love (Nick Hern Books Drama Classics)

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In Praise of Love (Nick Hern Books Drama Classics)
Terence Rattigan
Manufacturer: Nick Hern Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

An almost unbearably moving story of veiled emotions running deep, In Praise of Love is a fictional play based on the true life situation of Rex Harrison's wife Kay Kendall, and her early death from cancer. The ending is "among the most perfectly crafted and economically effective passages anywhere in British drama."-Michael Darlow

Playbill: The Browning Version and Harlequinade

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Playbill: The Browning Version and Harlequinade
Terrence Rattigan
Manufacturer: Nick Hern Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Miracle Worker
Inherit the Wind
The Browning Version (Criterion Collection)
The Browning Version
Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist

ASIN: 1854592025

French Without Tears (NHB International Collection)

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French Without Tears (NHB International Collection)
Terence Rattigan
Manufacturer: Nick Hern Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Before Dawn
Terence Rattigan
Manufacturer: Samuel French
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 057312017X

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Ross
Terence Rattigan
Manufacturer: Samuel French
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0573040060

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The Winslow Boy (Acting Edition)
Terence Rattigan
Manufacturer: Samuel French Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0573014949

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Ross: a Dramatic Portrait
Terence Rattigan
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000FMPNO6

O mistress mine,: A comedy in three acts

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O mistress mine,: A comedy in three acts
Terence Rattigan
Manufacturer: French
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Separate Tables: Two Plays

Separate Tables: Two Plays
Terence Rattigan
Manufacturer: Samuel French
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B00005XVF7

Customer Reviews:

Separate Tables: Two Plays.......2006-10-20

Contains the plays: "Table by the Window: A Play in Three Scenes" and "Table Number Seven: A Play in Two Scenes." Both plays were written for 8 women and 3 men.

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