Best Books of 2025: "Generalissima"--Queen Henrietta Maria and the English Civil War!

This is the second volume in a trilogy of historical novels about Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of King Charles I; mother of Kings Charles II and James II and therefore grandmother of the Old Pretender and great-grandmother of the Young Pretender and the Cardinal Pretender. 

In this book the author traces the lives of the Queen and her family from 1640 to 1644, from the Royal palaces of Saint James, Wimbledon, Whitehall, Hampton Court, to The Hague in the Netherlands, the battlefields of the English Civil War, through betrayals--especially by Lucy Fairfax, one of her ladies-in-waiting--and attacks on Henriette (as she is called throughout the book) because she is a Catholic; storms and battles at sea, the death of her mother, pregnancies, separations, her efforts and love for her husband and her disappointments that he has not always fulfilled the promises of their marriage contract, times in York, Oxford, Cornwall, and France!

Throughout all these conflicts, dangers, and adventures, Vidal's narration, use of dialogue, and description are vivid, personal, and often poignant.

The publisher's blurb:

As the Three Kingdoms totter on the brink of anarchy, Henriette-Marie, queen of Charles I, strives to bring up their lively, growing family. In addition to her own health problems, she worries about the welfare of her mother the Dowager Queen of France, who sought refuge in London only to find herself under attack. As Henriette faces choices which may separate herself from her beloved husband and children, she seeks help from the Pope and the Irish Catholics. Meanwhile, Henriette's spy, Wat Montagu, informs her that there is a traitor within the royal household. Determined to save the throne, Henriette eventually decides to sell her jewels in order to raise an army. In spite of storms and near shipwreck as well as the attempts of her enemies to kill her, Henriette is able to return to her husband's side with an army, earning for herself the moniker of "Generalissima."

And my blurb for the book, written after reading the book in manuscript:

“From the first words of the Prologue, you're there with the Royal Family in the picture Gallery. Limned by a great historical novelist, each episode in this second volume of Vidal's ‘Henrietta of France Trilogy’ develops the characters and explores the challenges they face with vivid description and riveting action. Vidal depicts Queen Henrietta Maria's love and loyalty to her husband King Charles I and her family in the throes of the English Civil War sympathetically and realistically. Volume Three can't appear soon enough! —Stephanie A. Mann, blogger and author of Supremacy and Survival: How Catholics Endured the English Reformation

I appreciated Vidal's focus on James, the Duke of York in a couple of scenes; the author assured me that he will certainly be featured in the third volume of this work. I think a novel about his life would be wonderful from the pen of this author!

Please note again, that I was asked to blurb the book, and that I received a copy of the book. The author and I have been acquainted since my book was published, and we met at the Catholic Writers Guild Live Conference in 2010. I appreciate her craft and historical acumen.

Best Books of 2025: MOZART BEETHOVEN SCHUBERT by Dietrich von Hildebrand

Please note that I purchased this book, published by the Hildebrand Project:

This extraordinary volume presents Dietrich von Hildebrand, one of the preeminent aesthetic philosophers of the twentieth century, in a mode unlike any of his other published works. Neither philosophy nor theology, neither biography nor personal appreciation, these essays achieve something rarer: capturing the true spirit of the music itself.

Hildebrand approaches the great composers with loving openness—the only stance, he argues, through which beauty fully reveals itself. He shows us Mozart’s radiant happiness, Beethoven’s victorious joy, and Schubert’s mysterious power, not through analysis but through reverent attention. The result is a book of profound insight and joyful discovery.

The three chapters dedicated to Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert were published in one book; the Additional Writings on Music, including on Sacred Music (Bach's St. Matthew Passion and his Christmas Oratorio), Beethoven's Fidelio, Richard Wagner's music dramas, selections from an unpublished essay on Wagner, and Verdi's music drama (Otello and Falstaff) are from other sources.

In the chapter on Mozart, he focuses on Mozart's operas: two of his singspiel, The Abduction from the Seraglio (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) and The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte), and the three da Ponte operas, Cosi fan Tutti, Don Giovanni, and Le Nozze di Figaro. I was surprised that von Hildebrand did not mention either Idomeneo or La Clemenza di Tito, two of his opera seria but perhaps they weren't performed in Germany or Austria at his time. (When Idomeneo was performed in Vienna in 1931, it was in an adaptation by Richard Strauss with some of his own music included, so maybe it's for the best.) It just seems to me that the spirit and form of the opera seria, with its emphasis on virtues, would really appeal to von Hildebrand. 

He deplores (in 1962! already!?!) some of the misleading staging of Mozart's operas, the view that Giovanni is the hero of his opera--an anti-hero, at least--to the disparagement of Don Ottavio whom, along with Donna Anna, "deserve[s] our love" for their "moral depth." In a footnote to his discussion of "The Marriage of Figaro" he deplores productions that update the setting to "an art nouveau room" or "add farcical, coarse effects"! Von Hildebrand greatly appreciates the character of Cherubino, "that enchanting invention [of Beaumarchais], original in the operatic literature and so quintessentially Mozartean . . . An incarnation of Mozart's youthful phase of being in love, Cherubino is a unique character and without counterpart in the whole of literature." (p. 7)

He would have been most concerned with some performances of Cosi fan Tutte, when the couples switch after they've been re-united. I think he'd also be appalled with the depiction of Mozart in Amadeus, even though he knows that Mozart was no saint! Or rather, he'd be more concerned with Salieri's rejection of the true response to value, God's Providence in the distribution of talent.

Of course he does not neglect Mozart's other works, his symphonies, concerti, chamber music, and his religious music, including the Great Mass in C minor, the Requiem, and the "Ave Verum Corpus". He emphasizes the "festive radiance" and "the quintessentially Catholic character" of all of Mozart's works.

In the chapter on Beethoven he finds "such complete artistic fulfillment, such a conscious striving for specifically artistic worlds, such intentional realization of these worlds to the very last detail . . ." He writes of the art of Beethoven "is an unsurpassed expression of the objective logos. The ethos suffusing it is through and through that of a reverent and profoundly felt value-response [an emblematic statement of von Hildebrand's] of a surrender to the world of values and to God." (pp. 27-28)

Von Hildebrand especially praises Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, calling it "thoroughly Catholic": in the final words of this chapter, he writes:

When at the beginning of the Benedictus the violin rings out, it is as if heaven bends down; when the Dona nobis pacem resounds, as if humanity form its true metaphysical position looks up beseechingly to God. Truly, it ever in the world of art applies, then here we must say: "It is the Passover of the Lord." (p. 42)

The chapter on Schubert took me the longest time to read because I am not as familiar with Schubert's works, especially not his Lieder, so I had to stop to hear what von Hildebrand was praising because he knows Schubert's works so thoroughly, and he responds so empathetically to Schubert's person and art.  He calls him "a figure so uniquely loveable and filled with such extraordinary genius" (p. 44). He contrasts the joyful sharing of his music with close friends in the "Schubertiaden" to "an understanding of the tragic dimension of human existence in this valley of tears--a presentiment of death." (p. 45) 

Von Hildebrand comments on Schubert's lieder, saying he developed this form of song into "a fully artistic genre" . . . and that "His Lieder are musical poems." Von Hildebrand also praises Schubert's Masses, especially the Mass in E-flat Major, noting how he interweaves the Incarnatus the Crucifixus in the Credo, as "an entirely unique conception, which . . . allows us to see the mystery of the Incarnation in light of the Crucifixion." (p.61)

I found it interesting how few Italian (except for Mozart's three da Ponte operas) or French works or composers von Hildebrand discusses: no Massenet, Gounod (21 Masses!), or Thomas and certainly no Debussy or Berlioz. Even when he discusses Verdi, it's only Otello and Falstaff (Shakespearean inspirations with Boito's librettos; not Macbeth from Piave!)--and not La Traviata, Rigoletto, or Aida--and certainly no Puccini. He mentions Rossini's "Barber of Seville" once. No French melodie or Italian arie antiche, just German Lieder. His selections are focused! Probably depends on what was being performed in his time; musical tastes and trends change over time and place.

When he writes about Wagner's operas, which he had probably seen at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus before fleeing Nazi territory in 1938, I still can't gain the kind of appreciation he has for these works. But I do think that he would be horrified by the different settings of the Ring cycle, etc. once the operas were allowed outside Wagner's designated performance site; (the Metropolitan Opera performed Parsifal in 1903 in spite of Cosima Wagner). 

When I think of Wagner's Ring cycle, I think of Anna Russell ("Remember the Ring?"; when Siegfried meets Gutrune, Russell exclaims that she is "the first woman he has met who isn’t his aunt!") so maybe that's my fault.

This is a book that demands a great deal from the reader. I was able to understand and sympathize with his expression of appreciation of Mozart most readily; Beethoven took some more recollection--I have listened to Beethoven through the years, including Fidelio--and Schubert took quite a few searches on YouTube to listen to some of his works. French and Italian are much easier for me to understand, but I've never studied German at all, so I have to take von Hildebrand's comments about the poetic expression of Lieder on his authority.

One of the reasons I've chosen it as one of the best books I read in 2025 is how much work I had to do to appreciate von Hildebrand's loving openness . . . reverent attention. . . . and . . . profound insight and joyful discovery." It was truly an interactive experience!

Honorable mention in this category of music appreciation goes to Dana Gioia's Weep, Shudder, Die.

One of the Best Books of 2025: "The Most Dangerous Man in England"

I've read many, many books about Saint John Henry Newman and nearly all them have added to my knowledge of this great saint and Doctor of the Church. Last year, I bought and read a copy of "The Most Dangerous Man in England": Newman and the Laity by Paul Shrimpton, published by Word on Fire Academic, and it certainly did fulfill that purpose. The publisher's book description:

Once described by the papal chamberlain George Talbot as “the most dangerous man in England,” John Henry Newman held bold views on the laity that challenged the ecclesial status quo of his day. But what exactly made his ideas so provocative? And what relevance do they have today?

In “The Most Dangerous Man in England”: Newman and the Laity, Paul Shrimpton examines Newman’s revolutionary perspective on the laity’s role in the Church and in the world. More than just an analysis of Newman’s writings, this work tells the story of the great saint’s dealings with lay men and women throughout his long and eventful life, revealing Newman’s lively insights, genius for friendship, and deep humanity. Shrimpton traces Newman’s journey from his influential years at Oxford to his leadership at the Birmingham Oratory, from the founding of the Catholic University in Ireland to his controversial efforts to establish a “Catholic Eton,” a boys’ school attached to the Birmingham Oratory. Through these episodes, Newman emerges as an example to pastors for how to work with and for the laity, as well as an example to laypeople for how to carry out a Christian apostolate through friendship. Shrimpton also shows how Newman’s emphasis on education for laypeople and the universal call to holiness anticipates the teachings of Vatican II by well over a century.

The whole Church, pastors and laity, should take note of the words and works of this great modern intellectual and Christian humanist. Newman’s vision has the potential to revitalize and empower every man and woman to embrace their mission to sanctify the world.

Paul Shrimpton has brought together his studies (A Catholic Eton? Newman's Oratory School (2005) and The “Making of Men”: The Idea and Reality of Newman's University in Oxford and Dublin (2015)) of Newman, his schools and a wide range of Newman's Anglican and Catholic interactions with and interventions for the laity in this magnificently comprehensive study.

There were probably some Anglicans who thought Newman was a dangerous man as he wrote the Tracts for the Times and argued for the apostolic authority of the Anglican bishops. After he became a Catholic, some Anglicans deplored the men and women who followed him as converts. But it was among the English Catholic hierarchy, some of the more ultramontane Catholic converts, and some of the old Recusant Catholic families that he was regarded as "the most dangerous man in England" because of their fear of the young, well-educated (Oxford and Cambridge) lay men and women whom Newman wanted to help, mostly through education and formation.

Shrimpton begins in Chapter 2, "Newman's Anglican Years, 1801-1845", with the Oxford years, highlighting Newman's service as a pastor to the Anglican congregations in matters of life and death, his efforts to educate his pupils as Tutor at Oriel College (in which he was thwarted by Whately), and of course his Tractarian movement efforts.

After Newman's conversion, Shrimpton emphasizes as much or more than Placid Murray, OSB in Newman the Oratorian: Oratory Papers 1846-1878, how and why Newman chose the Oratorian model of Saint Philip Neri. He chose the Oratorian vocation for himself and his Oxford converts as much for Neri's model for service to the laity in formation and education as for the Common Room community it provided them. The Little Brothers of the Oratory met to learn and share, both didactically and socially, with music and prayer. Newman wanted to do more for the ladies and girls of the Oratory too, and in course founded a "Catholic Eton" for the sons of many prominent Catholic families, certain of the need for the motherly touch at a boarding school. (Chapter 3, "Catholic and Oratorian, 1845-1890)

Shrimpton ably covers territory familiar to me from previous biographies and studies--the struggles to establish a true Catholic university for the laity in Ireland, the efforts to save The Rambler, and the mutiny at the first Oratory school, adding details throughout the episodes. Those details demonstrate Newman's comprehensive energy and the range and depth of his personal concern for his students, employees, and contacts. He was always ready to act, to advise, and to confront as necessary. (Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8)*

Chapter 9, "Opposition to Newman and His Influence of the Laity, 1862-67", demonstrating how out of favor Newman was in those years is balanced by Chapter 11, "Vatican I, the Cardinalate, Newman's Last Years", when honors at Trinity College in Oxford, and at Rome, and in Catholic England (his "victory lap" when coming home with the Cardinal's hat) finally come to Newman. 

Chapter 10, "Dublin Revisited: Newman's Reflections on His "Campaign in Ireland", 1858-74) , could be subtitled "Newman's Second Apologia", as Newman looks back on what he wanted to achieve, how misunderstood and feared those goals were, and how he deprecates the effects on the laity of Ireland of the failure of that campaign--a battle on many fronts.

Then in Chapter 12, "At the Service of the Laity", Shrimpton offers great examples of Newman's personal and written contact with lay men and women, families, parishioners, etc., reminding me a little of Peter C. Wilcox's John Henry Newman: Spiritual Director, 1845-1890. The section on "The geography of Newman's Prayer" is beautifully moving.

Shrimpton's chapter on Newman and Vatican II acknowledges the Reverend Ian Ker's insights in Newman and Vatican II in Chapter 13, but focuses more on the laity (especially in the universal call to holiness and evangelization) with an appropriate emphasis on the laity in the Body of Christ, the Church, and the triple roles of priest, prophet, and king.

In the last chapter, "Newman Today", Shrimpton offers insights into how Newman is a guide for the laity in the Church as we are "Living in a world turned irreligious", highlights Newman's personalism via John F. Crosby and others, discusses the formation and education of the laity "as if truth really mattered", etc., but I found it somewhat repetitious, especially the section on Vatican II, "Both precursor and interpreter of Vatican II", since I'd just read about that.

Nevertheless and notwithstanding, this is a great and comprehensive exploration of Newman and the Laity. It filled gaps in my knowledge--or reminded me--of certain important aspects of his efforts to aid the formerly ostracized Catholic laity of England, the recent lay converts, and the Irish in both Ireland and England. He wanted both to form them more fully in the Catholic Faith and to prepare them for evangelization and the defense of what they believed and lived. Highly recommended.

* Chapter 4, "Establishing a University in Ireland, 1851-54"; Chapter 5, "Running a Catholic University, 1854-58"; Chapter 6, "Establishing a Catholic Eton, 1857-59"; Chapter 7, "Rescuing "The Rambler" 1859; Chapter 8, "The Oratory School: Its Early Years and the Staff Mutiny, 1859-62".