Short Books by Graham
Most good books are 70,000 to 100,000 words but short books under 20,000 words offer great entertainment and information in a short time. They are usually concise and meaningful. Witness Hemingway's "Old man and the Sea" versus the Grisham tomes.
John Graham is the author of over 30 Short Books … 28 of them presently available on Amazon.com. They are inexpensive entertainment and some are educational. For example, do you know what Benjamin Jesty did for us?
Click on the cover pictures to read an excerpt. John's bio. is linked in the heading. If you have a problem finding them contact me.
Your own copies of Short Books
Each self contained short book, priced at only 49¢ (that's right, cents) can be downloaded from Amazon.com. Go to Amazon.com and search for the exact title of the book. When you start reading you will not be able to put them down.
Vermissen - a 16th Century love affair with art by John Graham
Petrus Versmissen was a 16th Century Flemish artist competing with the likes of Brueghel and Reubens. His son and daughter both became painters. The life of this family and their various loves and tribulations, travel, battles, thefts, and deaths in the pursuit of their art is an exciting picture of life in the 16th Century. Beautiful Angelina is an Italian model.
The book comes in seven parts, each a self contained short book priced at 49¢ as downloads from Amazon.com. Shown is the cover of the first, Versmissen 1 - Petrus. Click on the cover to read an excerpt from the second book: Versmissen 2 - Angelina.
The other five books are entitled Versmissen 3 - The Next Generation, Versmissen 4 - Jacobus, Versmissen 5 - Erna, Versmissen 6 - Brueghel, and Versmissen 7 - Gretl.
You can also buy the entire book published by CreatSpace.com for a little more than 49¢
A Short History of Painting by John Graham
This fully illustrated short history of painting is different. In brief sections methods of painting through the ages are illustrated, pigments are described, and styles of painting through the ages from Prehistoric cave paintings to abstract modern offerings are described. The book goes on to explain how markets for art affected what was painted and the tolerance of society for different art is illustrated by a fully illustrated section on 500 years of the Reclining Nude.
This a fully illustrated book of 65 pages and great value for 49¢ from Amazon.com.
A Short History of Painting provides the information in a concise and very readable manner which might inspire you to look at other offerings in its comprehensive bibliography. It is also available as a book, see Latest.
Children of Hong Kong - a Novel of Expectations by John Graham
This is an adventure story. In 1985, in preparation for the return of Hong Kong to China, Britain issued new citizenship details. Some Hong Kong residents obtained full British citizenship while others at the bottom of the scale had no standing. This book traces the lives of four young people: a farmer native to Kowloon, the daughter of a British Trading House, the daughter of a refugee from China who lives on a junk, and an Australian activist. The story revisits their lives four times before Hong Kong is finally returned.
Along the way, a terrorist campaign appears, people are arrested, some die, and the outstanding finish of the book is something that would never be suspected. This first book in the series introduces the four 'Children" of Hong Kong.
This first book is available at 49¢ as a download from Amazon.com. Go to Amazon books and search for the exact title. The entire book, entitled "The Returning" is available through <http://www.createspace.com>
The Perpetual Pea - the tale of a geneticist by John Graham
The Shapers of our Age is a series of short books that tell the tales of great people who at the end of their lives were not recognized for the contributions that they had made to society. The Perpetual Pea is the story of Gregor Mendel, a monk who studied genetics … who traits are carried forward in a species … and gave rise to Mendelian Laws.
The book is written to portray the Mendel, the man, from his upbringing with his family in Moravia and the significant events through his life.
Other stories include The Printed Page - the tale of a printer (jan Gutenberg); the Painter of Light - the tale of an artist (Jan Vermeer); An Electric Personality - the tale of Nikola Tesla; The Evangelist - the tale of a young man (Yeshua bin Yosef); Cowpox- the tale of the inventor of vaccination (Benjamin Jesty); Wa-Tho-Huk - the tale of an athlete (Jim Thorpe); Catherine - the tale of a commoner (Catherine di Medici) and Opening the World - the tale of a politician (Richard Nixon). Each book is available at 49¢ as a download from Amazon.com. Go to Amazon books and search for the exact title.
All these tales are also included in a full length book, "Shapers of our Age" The Copper Beech, Denver, 2009.