G Books

I grew up with Angelique as my mother was a big fan. We used to watch the movies all the time. I only wish the books and the movies were available in the US to buy as i would definitely be a buyer of both series

I first read the Angelique series when I was in high school, 30 years ago. Her story always stayed with me. At one time I had ALL the Angelique books (that is all the ones published in english). I went looking for them the other day to reread them. I can't find them! I can't believe I got rid of them!!!ARGH! Now Angelique is selling for $45! I now have to buy all the books again to reread them.

I would compare "Angelique" to "Kristen Lavransdatter" by Sigrid Undset. Heroines like these come along once in a generation.

The book traces Angelique's story from her childhood in Poitou to her arranged marriage to the horribly disfigured Comte de Peyrac. Her days as a criminal in the Court of Miracles, her time in the tower of Nesle and finally her triumph.

The detailed research in these books is mind boggling. It was this book that sparked my interest in Louis XIV and French history. Everything in these books is based on historical facts. In Angelique La Voisin predictes that the King will love Mme de Montespan and Angelique but that he will marry Mme Scarron. This is what actually happened! The poison conspiracy also is historically documented. Sergeanne Golon is not the only author(s) to write about The Court of Miracles. In "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" a large part of the action takes place in the Court of Miracles. If you look at a Michelin guide map of Paris the Court of Miracles is identified on it.

For Angelique readers here is a list of her books in chronological order:

Angelique (sometimes appears as two books Marquise of the Angels & The Road to Versailles)

Angelique and the King

Angelique and the Sultan (Angelique in Barbary)

Angelique in Revolt

Angelique in Love

The Countess Angelique (Angelique in the New World)

The Temptation of Angelique

Angelique and the Demon

Angelique and the Ghosts

I am not surprised to see that nearly every single review of this book is 5 stars. The book IS that good.

The Angelique series (actually 10 book) is one of the most enjoyable reads, as well as movies. It has everything one would want in a story: action, adventure, secrets, love, hatred and revenge in the time of Luis XIV. Although the story is far more interesting while Angelique is still in France (the first 5 books), her adventures in America/Canada are also pretty good. Unfortunately, it is impossible to find a new edition in the English language. I am lucky enough to be bilingual and was easily able to find the new editions of the full series (and the movies) in Russian, it has never been out-of-print in that language. However, I would love to reread it in English. The mini-series is also fantastic although it takes some liberty with the written plot and Michele Mercier is the perfect Angelique. If you can get it (in any language) the book is a must read and the mini-series is a must see!

Anyone fortunate enough to first read these books while young (I was in my late teens), will very likely want to read and re-reread them as he/she gets older. I do, and simply cannot recommend them highly enough. One of the reviewers here states that Anne and Serge are born storytellers but is misinformed: Serge did indeed produce writings, but he was primarily a scientist and he provided invaluable research for earlier Angelique books; their historical accuracy, human insight and fluid yet economical prose were, and remain today, the key to their enormous success. Anne and Serge Golon combined their very different talents but Serge was adamant in crediting the authorship to his wife. For your information, Serge died in 1972 but, so far as I know, as of May 2007, Anne is still alive and resides in Versailles. There are various websites, www.worldofangelique.com, Wikipedia, etc.

I started reading this series in the 70's while travelling enroute to my husbands next military assignment. I have read them 4 different times in a period of 20 years. Just getting ready to read the 9 books again since it has been apx. 5 years and I can't wait to re-read them. After reading the reviews in this section, I was astounded to learn that it has been made into a series in some countries on tv? Wow, what a fantastic series it would be for HBO or one of those broadcast companies! I am hoping that they are published as one person mentioned here as leather bound copies for collection. My copies are yellowed, tattered and torn but "saved" nonetheless, for re-reading. Thank you for all this wonderful information and please add my pleas to have it re-published as soon as possible.

To me Feynman is right up there with Albert Einstein. I love is fearlessness and is desire to see the truth. The Buddha and Feynman are probably enjoying a good laugh. I recommend his other book " What do you care what other people think".

This is the shortest book about quantum electrodynamics I've ever read, but it is still full of profound revelations (for instance, electrical charge is really nothing more than the square root of the probability that an electron will couple to a photon, etc)...

Feynman picks the thing that is simplest in the quantum world, a single particle, and explains it using no math. Instead of equations, the quantum theory in this book consists entirely of pictures. But this is not a popularization in the usual sense. This is not gossip about science. This actually is quantum theory in a very simple case. For anyone who wants to know how the universe is put together, this is an astonishing mind opener.

Feynman makes it easy for the curious amateur to understand. This book is accessible and mind-blowing. Everyone should read it. And there is little if any math so don't be intimidated.

In the Introduction to the 'Strange Theory of Light and Matter' Feynman tells us that what he likes to talk about is the "part of physics that is known, rather than a part that is unknown." And he goes on to give us a thumbnail sketch, a "physicist's history of physics," which shows how physicist's, in their quest to describe the world, continually reduce a group of seemingly unrelated phenomenon to a single phenomenon. So heat and sound were found, thanks to Newton, to be reducible to laws of motion, while electricity, magnetism and light were reducible to Maxwell's electromagnetic wave. In this way physicist's explain the world.

Here one is almost tempted to say that they proceed much as religion and ideology do. Religion has from the beginning of recorded history been taking phenomenon and feelings, like storms and suffering or aging and despair, and molding them into an internally coherent explanation of all that is and was and will be. They do this by separating the relevant from the incidental, then uncovering the essential by excluding the accidental. They simplify. In similar ways ideologues like the communists take what at one time were discreet incidents and disparate facts (for instance, the poverty of the third world and imperialism) and weave them into a grand general explanation. Is science merely the latest avatar of religion? - Or perhaps it is an ideology without tears?

Not so fast! Feynman goes on to show us that attempts to explain the atomic world foundered on the laws of motion. He shows us that the rescue of those shipwrecked on the shoals of classical theory involved the invention of a new, counter-intuitive theory, Quantum Mechanics. He then goes on, while discussing a small portion of that theory, to give us the (deliberately) hilarious and 'absurd' example of how physicists predict how many photons, out of a given number, will be reflected back from a surface. 'Draw little arrows on a piece of paper' and watch the clock, he tells us. And with no explanation as to why this procedure works! Of course, for physics, what matters is that it does work. Physicists have been forced "away from making absolute predictions to merely calculating the probability of an event." But where is the essential, the eternal, the necessary?

Perhaps this is what Feynman is driving at. Science describes, it doesn't explain why. We should all wonder at that. The great 'philosophical' questions that drive theology and political ideology are beyond the purview of physics. Science doesn't create worlds; nor does it 'interpret' or change them, it simply describes what it finds. (It is technology that changes the world.) Freud saw fit to end one of his books by saying that 'our science is no illusion, but it would be an illusion to believe you can find elsewhere what it does not offer.' But how much truer this is of physics! One is then perhaps not surprised to come away from this little book wondering exactly what the status of philosophy, psychoanalysis, politics and religion would be in a genuinely scientific world.

But of course there will never be, given human irrationality, an entirely scientific human culture. This book is a superb introduction to quantum electrodynamics. It's 'experimentalism' and agnosticism towards grand philosophical explanations I found very congenial and convincing. Feynman is an engaging personality and this is an entertaining book. While one doesn't need a degree in physics and math to understand him a lay competence and interest in math and physics is certainly necessary. For those of us still living in a Newtonian world, a dwindling number to be sure, this book will have several surprising moments. But that really is part of the show!

One of the things I like about this book is that it manages to retain an archaic feeling without sounding fake (you know, the type of dialogue that sounds like a bunch of college students roleplaying). Pope's choice of using modern language for the dialogue doesn't spoil the setting at all, whereas trying to force readers to jump back and forth between Elizabethan dialogue and modern narration could be annoying, e.g. Patricia Wrede's version of "Snow White and Rose Red".

Overall, Pope's characters are really well fleshed out, and she's also a master at describing atmosphere. The supernatural terror that Kate is subjected to in the underground halls kept me up at night for a while after both times I read this.

I didn't know the plot of "The Perilous Gard" was related to an actual legend till I stumbled across the name "Tam Lin" elsewhere on the Internet. Now I'm fascinated...

This book is beautiful. The proud elves! The historical drama! Probably the best theory for where elves/fairies came from, oh, and the answer will suprise you!
This books haunts you in that though there are mystical, magical elements in this story when you done reading you have to admit that it really COULD have happened. This book made me cry, I love it when books have the power to make you feel that much emotion. Do yourself a favour and read the book!

The Perilous Gard

The Sherwood Ring

The Perilous Gard is a book I still reread as an adult. The Sherwood Ring is good also. I just wish that Ms. Pope had written MORE.

The Perilous Gard is a wonderful rainy afternoon book. The characters seem real and the Elizabethan England that is described seems real and charming but none too easy to live in.

The best part of the story is the characterizations of the fairies themselves. Not the fluttery, glittery creatures beloved of Walt Disney, but a real, proud alien race at one with nature. The queen particularly is both admirable and cruel, pitiless and pitiable.

I enjoyed this book immensely once I got into it. The first chapter didn't impress me, but after that the book held my attention. The main character, Kate, was a great heroine that I enjoyed reading about and she had her own flaws, which I thought was great. Because most books in this sort of genre have the perfect, beautiful, strong, intelligent, courageous heroine, which I always found somewhat unbelievable. This book is adventursome, fantastical, and has some romance thrown in too. Its my kind of book! I plan on looking for more books by this author.

I really don't get how this book has so many good reviews. My friend was just raving about it, and I had high hopes because the plot looked interesting. I read it, regretted starting it after the first chapter, but didn't stop because my friend wanted me to finish it, and I was hoping that it would get better. No such luck.

Although the plot is original, the characters are shallow. Kate is the perfect little mary sue whose only flaw is (my oh my!) clumsiness! The romance between Kate and Christopher was bland and unemotional.

All the dramatic scenes in the book were... off. I felt like whenever something was supposed to be frightening or shocking, the simple and slow paced language threw me off, and I had to read the page over again to be sure that anything important had actually happened.

The story droned on and I actually had to force myself through most of it... Hate to be a downer but it really wasn't that great.

I only say that because you'll receive a free copy once you sign on with the company. I bought the book after I accepted a job there and lo and behold I had two copies of The Science of Success.

As far as the book goes, it was pretty good, the only thing that it was really weak on were examples of how Koch Industries actually used MBM to make money. After having worked there I really can't tell you how they have used MBM to make money either because during the two day MBM training you only hear one example and you'll be left saying, "Why of course we made money off of that because we're in oil!"

Other than that it does a very good job of outlining the economic principles that have made up the Koch management structure. Each company within Koch is very nimble and small and we really weren't bogged down in bureaucracy (mostly just accounting rules) like most companies are. The book also gives a very good look into the culture at Koch which was the strongest asset and the best thing I took away from working there.

This is not a self-help book. It is an excellent slim introduction to free market economics and economic thinking masquerading as a business book.

While I picked up the "Science of Success" to see how he applied economic thinking to running a business, I was blown away the authors clarity and elegance in describing economic thinking.

I also found his business system - MBM (Market Based Management) The Science of Human Action Applied to Organizations - to be interesting. It was not a how-to guide though.

The Science of Success is going to be a business classic. If you're in business, especially if you want to make your business work better you need to read this book.

Check that. You need to read and re-read and re-read this book. And you need to try out what you learn in experiments in your workplace.

That was one of the first things I got from this book, the idea of seeing trials of new ideas as "experiments." It's a powerful concept because it immediately washes away all the "risk of failure" that makes it hard to try new things in so many companies.

Koch's idea is amazingly simple. When you try something new, you see your trial as an experiment. Then you measure the results and learn from them. Whatever you learn, you've succeeded.

It's like that old story about Edison trying a gazillion different things as a filament for the electric light bulb he was try to invent. Time after time he tried. And, one after another, the filaments he thought would work didn't. "I haven't failed," Edison told a person who questioned how he could stand all that failure. "I've found a gazillion things that don't work."

One reason this is a great book is that there are those incredible insight like that all through it. You find yourself thinking, "Wow. That sure makes sense." You reach for your highlighter. You drape the book in sticky notes.

The book is also great because it reminds you of basic concepts that you knew once. For example, you probably learned about "sunk costs" and "opportunity costs" in college.

Koch will remind you of the definitions, but he does something more and more important. He shows you how to use those concepts in your decision process. Let's see how he does that.

On page 33 he reminds you that a sunk cost is "an unrecoverable past expenditure." And he tells you "Such costs should seldom be taken into account when determining what to do in the future because, other than possible tax effects, they are irrelevant to what can be recovered."

The money you put into developing that new product? It's a sunk cost. It's not an investment. You won't get it back. That means that it's irrelevant to whether or not to kill the new product or put more money into marketing it.

Koch shows you how the economic concepts of sunk cost and opportunity cost ("the value of the most valuable alternative that must be foregone to undertake a given act") should affect your decision making.

Another reason this book is great is that it brings together a very intelligent business owner's lifetime study of economics and human behavior and how they apply to making a company work. This isn't an academic treatise either. Koch has used these principles to run his company, where he is the primary owner.

You many not be familiar with the name Koch Industries, but you surely know some of their brand names like Stainmaster, Dixie Cup, and Georgia Pacific. Koch Industries is the largest private US company. It got that way, in part, because Koch used the principles in this book to run the company. In 1960 Koch had revenues of about $70 million. In 2006 they were $90 Billion.

In other words, this is not just theory. Koch has actually, truly, really put his money where his ideas are. In The Science of Success, he lays out what he's learned over a lifetime of study, thought and, more important for you, experimentation. Here's how he's structured the book.

Chapter 1 is short history of Koch Industries. You'll learn about how the company evolved and get introduced to the experiments that worked and many that didn't.

Chapter 2 is about Market-Based Management (MBM), which is what Koch calls his system. That's something of a misnomer. He's not referring to "market-driven" management. "Market-based" refers to "based on free market principles." This chapter also introduces the Science of Human Action.

The Science of Human Action is "the study of how humans can achieve their ends through purposeful behavior." It's the action steps connected to economic principles and psychological truths.

In the chapters that follow, Koch defines five dimensions along which you apply MBM. They are Vision, Virtue and Talents, Knowledge Processes, Decision Rights, and Incentives. There is a wealth of good ideas under every single heading.

There are two downsides to this book. At times, Koch writes like the engineer that he is, but the ideas and concepts pull you right through the rough spots.

The other downside is a result of the value that's here. It took Koch a lifetime to write this book and you won't get more than a fraction of the potential value from it unless you read it more than once. I'm staring my fourth read.

No matter what business you're in, no matter where you are in your career, you should read this book. It's a new business classic, on a par with Peter Drucker's Managing for Results. It's got the same strength of intellectual underpinnings, the same solid logic, and the same rich simplicity. The biggest difference is that The Science of Success is written by a man who built a great company using the concepts he's writing about.

Would that Koch, or any company actually worked this way. Nothing wrong with the book, unless you view Ayn Rand's stuff as incorrect. My personal experience with Flint Hills (a Koch subsidiary) didn't look much like this, but it was a recently acquired site and it takes a while to change a culture.

I have a bachelor's degree in business management and this book came out at the right time since I have been looking for books on management that match my philosophy and brush up on what I learned. My only complaints with this book is that it is too short and I would have like to have seen more real-life examples of how MBM was successful.

Essentially, Charles Koch outlines a management philosophy based on the economic writings of Ludwig von Mises. Koch's management style is one of employee empowerment by treating them like entrepreneurs while looking to retain and train the best people.

His no-nonsense style is clear throughout the book and he gave some interesting insights into how Market-Based-Management works. Koch Industries has been using MBM for years and, as a result, the company is the world's largest multi-billion dollar corporation. He must be doing something right with these kinds of results and I am sure if Professor von Mises was alive he would be gleeful at how his economics can be used successfully in other ways as well.

Best of luck to Mr. Koch in getting other companies to sign on to his philosophy. If Koch Industries with MBM is any indication, America's corporate culture will never be the same!

I am very glad that this book was the first book on management I have read since having graduated.

I only say that because you'll receive a free copy once you sign on with the company. I bought the book after I accepted a job there and lo and behold I had two copies of The Science of Success.

As far as the book goes, it was pretty good, the only thing that it was really weak on were examples of how Koch Industries actually used MBM to make money. After having worked there I really can't tell you how they have used MBM to make money either because during the two day MBM training you only hear one example and you'll be left saying, "Why of course we made money off of that because we're in oil!"

Other than that it does a very good job of outlining the economic principles that have made up the Koch management structure. Each company within Koch is very nimble and small and we really weren't bogged down in bureaucracy (mostly just accounting rules) like most companies are. The book also gives a very good look into the culture at Koch which was the strongest asset and the best thing I took away from working there.

This is not a self-help book. It is an excellent slim introduction to free market economics and economic thinking masquerading as a business book.

While I picked up the "Science of Success" to see how he applied economic thinking to running a business, I was blown away the authors clarity and elegance in describing economic thinking.

I also found his business system - MBM (Market Based Management) The Science of Human Action Applied to Organizations - to be interesting. It was not a how-to guide though.

The Science of Success is going to be a business classic. If you're in business, especially if you want to make your business work better you need to read this book.

Check that. You need to read and re-read and re-read this book. And you need to try out what you learn in experiments in your workplace.

That was one of the first things I got from this book, the idea of seeing trials of new ideas as "experiments." It's a powerful concept because it immediately washes away all the "risk of failure" that makes it hard to try new things in so many companies.

Koch's idea is amazingly simple. When you try something new, you see your trial as an experiment. Then you measure the results and learn from them. Whatever you learn, you've succeeded.

It's like that old story about Edison trying a gazillion different things as a filament for the electric light bulb he was try to invent. Time after time he tried. And, one after another, the filaments he thought would work didn't. "I haven't failed," Edison told a person who questioned how he could stand all that failure. "I've found a gazillion things that don't work."

One reason this is a great book is that there are those incredible insight like that all through it. You find yourself thinking, "Wow. That sure makes sense." You reach for your highlighter. You drape the book in sticky notes.

The book is also great because it reminds you of basic concepts that you knew once. For example, you probably learned about "sunk costs" and "opportunity costs" in college.

Koch will remind you of the definitions, but he does something more and more important. He shows you how to use those concepts in your decision process. Let's see how he does that.

On page 33 he reminds you that a sunk cost is "an unrecoverable past expenditure." And he tells you "Such costs should seldom be taken into account when determining what to do in the future because, other than possible tax effects, they are irrelevant to what can be recovered."

The money you put into developing that new product? It's a sunk cost. It's not an investment. You won't get it back. That means that it's irrelevant to whether or not to kill the new product or put more money into marketing it.

Koch shows you how the economic concepts of sunk cost and opportunity cost ("the value of the most valuable alternative that must be foregone to undertake a given act") should affect your decision making.

Another reason this book is great is that it brings together a very intelligent business owner's lifetime study of economics and human behavior and how they apply to making a company work. This isn't an academic treatise either. Koch has used these principles to run his company, where he is the primary owner.

You many not be familiar with the name Koch Industries, but you surely know some of their brand names like Stainmaster, Dixie Cup, and Georgia Pacific. Koch Industries is the largest private US company. It got that way, in part, because Koch used the principles in this book to run the company. In 1960 Koch had revenues of about $70 million. In 2006 they were $90 Billion.

In other words, this is not just theory. Koch has actually, truly, really put his money where his ideas are. In The Science of Success, he lays out what he's learned over a lifetime of study, thought and, more important for you, experimentation. Here's how he's structured the book.

Chapter 1 is short history of Koch Industries. You'll learn about how the company evolved and get introduced to the experiments that worked and many that didn't.

Chapter 2 is about Market-Based Management (MBM), which is what Koch calls his system. That's something of a misnomer. He's not referring to "market-driven" management. "Market-based" refers to "based on free market principles." This chapter also introduces the Science of Human Action.

The Science of Human Action is "the study of how humans can achieve their ends through purposeful behavior." It's the action steps connected to economic principles and psychological truths.

In the chapters that follow, Koch defines five dimensions along which you apply MBM. They are Vision, Virtue and Talents, Knowledge Processes, Decision Rights, and Incentives. There is a wealth of good ideas under every single heading.

There are two downsides to this book. At times, Koch writes like the engineer that he is, but the ideas and concepts pull you right through the rough spots.

The other downside is a result of the value that's here. It took Koch a lifetime to write this book and you won't get more than a fraction of the potential value from it unless you read it more than once. I'm staring my fourth read.

No matter what business you're in, no matter where you are in your career, you should read this book. It's a new business classic, on a par with Peter Drucker's Managing for Results. It's got the same strength of intellectual underpinnings, the same solid logic, and the same rich simplicity. The biggest difference is that The Science of Success is written by a man who built a great company using the concepts he's writing about.

Would that Koch, or any company actually worked this way. Nothing wrong with the book, unless you view Ayn Rand's stuff as incorrect. My personal experience with Flint Hills (a Koch subsidiary) didn't look much like this, but it was a recently acquired site and it takes a while to change a culture.

I have a bachelor's degree in business management and this book came out at the right time since I have been looking for books on management that match my philosophy and brush up on what I learned. My only complaints with this book is that it is too short and I would have like to have seen more real-life examples of how MBM was successful.

Essentially, Charles Koch outlines a management philosophy based on the economic writings of Ludwig von Mises. Koch's management style is one of employee empowerment by treating them like entrepreneurs while looking to retain and train the best people.

His no-nonsense style is clear throughout the book and he gave some interesting insights into how Market-Based-Management works. Koch Industries has been using MBM for years and, as a result, the company is the world's largest multi-billion dollar corporation. He must be doing something right with these kinds of results and I am sure if Professor von Mises was alive he would be gleeful at how his economics can be used successfully in other ways as well.

Best of luck to Mr. Koch in getting other companies to sign on to his philosophy. If Koch Industries with MBM is any indication, America's corporate culture will never be the same!

I am very glad that this book was the first book on management I have read since having graduated.

65 reviews all giving 5 stars. The author sure has a lot of friends. I don't know about readers though - good luck getting through it if you fell for the unanaimous praise. It is garbage.

Enormous storyline.

I recommend TRIFECTA OF SUSPENSE because this book is included in it and it has a better format. Besides, you will be getting three incredible books in one.

The story is excellent but the format is so much better in trifecta of suspense. I recommend that book. This one is nice to have in your collection. You can't beat this cover.

Cold, dark and disturbing is a perfect way to begin a ghost story. Throw in some love, family, humor and romance and you have a best seller on hand. (If it is done correct and tastefully). The cemetery fence was done very tastefully. You grow more and more attached to the lovable characters in each chapter. The odd events of a ghostly and supernatural matter make it a worthwhile and suspensful journey. I agree with others who loved trifecta of suspense even more than the cemetery fence. It has a better format and two extra hair raising stories.
a great read.

Anyone who enjoys Suspense, supernatural, the unknown, romance and pure excitement will call this story one in a million. Very, very, very well put together. I enjoyed it Immensely.

This is one of the best books I've ever read. It's a slow read, but not difficult - there's so much packed into these 280 pages that you'll have to take your time to get it all.

It came as advertised. It came rapidly. The only complaint I have is that I ordered a hardcover and received a paperback.

I love this book. This is a great book to read daily. I do a chapter or two a day and then look up the verses that are referenced. It is really humbling and puts things into perspective. Focus on eternity and not the here and now.

it's like having a mentor talking/converse with you about different important issues in a christian life, heart etc. . get the book!

This is not a review of the book per se (just got it, have not read it yet), but thought I needed to share this. Book arrived with another book (a textbook) in the usual Amazon box, each laying side by side. It was left out in the rain for most of the day by the local carrier until I brought it inside. The entire box was soaked and ruined, tape fallen off and box literally gaping open, all of the paperwork inside was falling apart in pieces and soaked, my textbook was completely ruined (soaked through, wavy wet pages etc - got returned), yet this book was absolutely dry - not a trace of even a microdrop of water - perfect condition. Take away whatever message you want...

I was very hesitant in buying another book. For some reason, I thought this was just another one of those "self-help" books and who needs more of those? Well, this book is quite different. It's a necessity...it's life changing. Once you begin to read it, you can't put it down. I am not a big reader, but I read it in 1 week. I immediately started applying the things that I learned and I am telling you, this stuff works. I would challenge anyone who is going through a difficult time and who needs a wake-up call in life to read Florence Scovel. One you begin to change your words and your thoughts, your entire world begins to change...and IMMEDIATELY!

By chance I recently rode a Philadelphia trolley that I hadn't in years and I came across someone who was reading this book at the the same time I was. It was wonderful to see someone else get the blessings from this book as I was.
For those who pay attention this book is not just a feel good book with trite ideas. Although this book does speak of visualizing your success it goes further and lets you know that action is required in your faith and that is what I love about this book. It basically tells you how to retrain your thinking so you can move forward toward a path of peace.
While Florence uses many references in the bible this can be utilized by someone of any faith or lack thereof. As a muslim, this book actually helped me with how I look at what I already believe with a new sense of wonder and enlightenment.

The Wisdom of Florence Scovel Shinn
This is an incredible book of thought. It transcends the writing of "The Secret'. It is a more direct and useful blueprint to living, loving and achieving your dreams. I gave this book to all my friends for Christmas a total of 20 copies. I would recommend these writing by Florence Scovel Shinn to anyone who has searched for an answer to many of life's questions only to find a paltry sentence here and there. It is not an easily read book as she presents many situations which will prompt you to stop and think deeply as it applies to you. A definite must for all personal libraries.

The Wisdom of Florence Scovel Shinn
This is an incredible book of thought. It transcends the writing of "The Secret'. It is a more direct and useful blueprint to living, loving and achieving your dreams. I gave this book to all my friends for Christmas a total of 20 copies. I would recommend these writing by Florence Scovel Shinn to anyone who has searched for an answer to many of life's questions only to find a paltry sentence here and there. It is not an easily read book as she presents many situations which will prompt you to stop and think deeply as it applies to you. A definite must for all personal libraries.

This is a LIFE CHANGING book. I bought it a couple years ago and as most people have already said, I continue to re-read it whenever I feel myself slipping. I have encouraged MANY to read this book.

This lady is the real deal and had this idea LONG before The Secret. More importantly, she remembers that it's all in God's control and sometimes no matter what you focus on, it's just not for you ... but maybe there's something better in store.

You have NOTHING to lose by reading this book ... only everything to gain. My new outlook on life "The supply is there before the demand". I want for nothing, everything I need is already there for me!!!

All the reviews you find on this book are right. Straight up amazing story, BUY IT!!! You might as well since you are on this page. This is the paperback edition (I was actually expecting hardcover when I ordered it), and there actually are a few typos here and there. That shouldnt matter unless you are OCD though. But seriously, a wonderful and beautiful story, well worth whatever price you have to pay for it!

I've read this novel many years ago and left within me a certain fascination for the Viking Era.
Lastly books like Harry Harrison's "The Hammer & the Cross" trilogy, movies like "Grendel & Beowulf" (2005) and "Beowulf" (2007) had triggered again my curiosity about these times. So I decided to "pay a visit" (aka re-read) "The Long Ships".
And here I am reviewing this excellent book authored by Sweden writer Frans G. Bengtsson (1894-1954). The book was originally published in two parts first in 1941 and second in 1945; the present edition contains both of them.

The story follows the life & circumstances of Orm from infancy to old age at the same time describing daily life of that period.
Orm as teenager is abducted by a Viking war-party and joins them willingly after a short period. From their homeland they sail to Spain where they are captured by Moors and enter Almansur's service.
After serving some years as Caliph's bodyguards they are forced to fly and return home, yet not empty-handed.
They are welcome at Denmark King Harald's Bluetooth court where Orm fall in love with Ylva one of the King daughters and ask her hand. The King is quite accessible but asks Orm to ensure his wealth and return next year.
Orm & his friends join a mighty Viking army and sail to invade King Ethelred's the Unprepared England. After many battles and errands Orm rejoin exiled Ylva & marry her, returning then to his home.
Orm and his family are forced into exile to escape King Sven Forkbeard revengeful mood and finally root in his mother's ancestral domains.
After years of consolidating his position as a respected member of that frontier community, Orm sail for his last great adventure in Eastern lands.

This is a very entertaining book merging seamlessly historical characters as King Harald, Sven, Ethelred and Caliph Almansur with fictional ones as Orm, Ylva, Asa and Toste. The author is able to transmit to the reader the true spirit of those turbulent times. Another very interesting aspect of the story is showing the beginning of Christianization of Scandinavian communities.

Take a joyful romp thru Viking's world, you won't be disappointed!
Reviewed by Max Yofre.

I disagree strongly with many of the people who have reviewed this book.

There's nothing wrong with its cover. I've done book and magazine covers myself. This cover is a little dated in style, being an oil (or more likely acrylic) painting with visible brushstrokes in places, but it's perfectly acceptable in quality. In fact, the use of unusual pastel tones on the front (sea green and lavender) is interesting, and the texturing techniques used on the shield and the loincloth of the viking warrior are very nice. It's not a masterpiece, but I have seen far worse book covers. If I had the original, I would hang it on my wall in a heartbeat. It's kind of nice. I like it.

Oh, you probably want to hear something about the words inside the book. All right. What everybody else says is true, only they are probably underestimating this book, if anything. Man, is it ever good. It reminds me of "I, Claudius", which is generally considered to be the best historical novel ever written, only this one is actually better. Like "Claudius", it is full of dry humor, but at the same time, it is a perfectly serious and thoughtful historical drama. If you have the slightest interest in the Viking era you must plunk down however many dollars it takes to get this one as soon as you can; it is worth every penny of whatever inflated price you have to pay for a rare used paperback. And don't worry about the darned cover!

War and strife make for good reading, at least for men pining for the (fantasy of) days of yore where heroes-to-be would gather fellow men to pillage far away lands for adventure and booty. This is among the best of such works I have read, ranking up there with the Homeric tales and the story of the Three Kingdoms from China. These Skanians (whom at that time considered themselves Danes, a far throw from the pacifist Europeans of modern Denmark) are savage men from a harsh culture, but they are also full of humor and a sort of stoic approach to both fortune and misfortune that despite their being seamen, would make a Spartan (from Laconia) proud. The story progresses through multiple kingdoms and conveys an accurate historical depiction of cultures at the cusp of the second millenium. Religion is dealt with in a tellingly humorous manner, and it reminds one that conversions were historically based on pragmatic choices and rarely some sort of spiritual epiphany. Adherents would switch from one religion to the next as their conditions (and fortunes) demanded. Buried into this amazingly rich (and incredibly fun!) tale of adventure like a vein of gold, it is a suitable reminder of what makes us human in this day of flaring religious strife and shameless demagoguery.

English literature began with a Viking story, "Beowulf," but have you ever tried reading it? My own "Beowulf" experience led me to believe Viking literature is right down there with Viking cuisine in terms of digestibility. Imagine my surprise when I discovered a novel about Vikings, written over half a century ago, to be as thrilling, fantastic, and engaging as "The Long Ships."

It's the story of Orm, a farmer's son in southern Sweden in the late 900s who one day finds himself a prisoner of a merry gang of Vikings. They quickly adopt him, and set out for adventures off the northern and southern coasts of Europe. Before the book is half over, Orm has found himself in courts from Spain to England, espoused three different religions, slain several dozen foemen, and found a princess to be his bride.

Frans G. Bengtsson's novel, originally published in Sweden in 1945, showcases two things I didn't expect from a Scandinavian academic, brevity and humor. Sure, the book is nearly 500 pages long, but Bengtsson crams a lot of incident in every page, describing events in broad strokes and letting the reader's imagination do the rest. Bengtsson's style, preserved marvelously by Michael Meyer's 1954 translation, is to consciously evoke the elliptical prose of ancient Viking sagas, but in such a way as to allow for a modern, tongue-in-cheek sensibility to come through, one that reflects a Viking world, however hard-bitten, of great wit and depth.

"The Long Ships" is marvelously quotable: "For no man complains of the weight of the cargo, when it is his own booty that is putting strain upon the oars." Or: "Only poets can win wealth with empty hands, but then they must make better songs than other poets, and competition spoils the pleasure of composition."

The book jacket includes an enthusiastic reviewer describing "man-size helpings of battle and murder, robbery and rape," which captures some of the tone of "Long Ships" but misses most of the point. Orm is no savage bandit, but a thoughtful, evolving character of great honor. The Vikings he travels with do some robbing and killing, but in a measured way. As the novel goes on, a sense of social responsibility, manifested in Orm by his adoption of a somewhat twisted form of Christianity, comes through.

You might say the story of Orm is the story of the Christianizing of Scandinavia, told from a rather neutral viewpoint that respects Christianity's mellowing influence without being blind to its flaws in practice. You might also call it a straight-up adventure yarn of many threads. After a battle, Orm and his comrades may retire to a feasting hall to hear stories of brave deeds that fill pages and then never come up again. Or else we might get stories like that of a pair of jesters, forced to entertain the slayer of the king they loved, who come up with a marvelous form of vengeance right out of Monty Python.

One thing you can't call "The Long Ships" is dull. Even when Orm is not actually at sea (he actually spends a good deal of time raising a family on a farm), the book stays busy. Some old enemy is trying to take his head off, or else he is having another marvelously circuitous exchange with his dyspeptic priest friend, Father Willibald.

And the voyages Orm takes are a lot of fun, encompassing as they do the whole of the known world at that time, from Ireland to the Dnieper River and many points in-between. While a work of fiction, Bengtsson finds ways of introducing a lot of relevant Dark Ages history, even if some of it, like an enjoyably arch Y1K scare, may not be 100% accurate.

Other books are fun to read. "The Long Ships" is a book to get lost in. You will feel like a teenager again as you take the long way home with Orm, enjoying his simpler yet wondrous time and wishing the world could have stayed so forever.

Modern, up-to-date dsp info, this second edition is a must have.
The "Tricks" chapter is outstanding.

I wouldn't be adding much to other reviews.

A good teacher can make a challenging subject accessible. This is THE book that proves it. It is a very well written introduction/reference to a field that is generally made scary by those who teach it. Any beginning electrical engineer who feels interested in DSP but doubts whether he/she is cut out for it, should read this book. It will dispel their apprehensions.

I first got hold of the "Chinese copy" of this book in paperback. I liked the book so much that I bought the hardcover real McCoy so I could pay my proper respects to the author and avoid the poor paper and ink bleed-through of the paperback version. It is one of a half dozen books on the subject that I really value.

Unlike some abstract mathematical treatments of the subject, Richard Lyons really connects with the guy who needs to make it happen on the bench. It is loaded with relevant examples and clear figures. I recommend it as a reference for the DSP practitioner and as a first class tutorial.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to Richard Lyons for "Understanding
Digital Signal Processing", both editions. I had the great pleasure to
use and learn from the 1st edition about 5 years ago. At that time, I
had the overwhelming urge to convey my appreciation for the wonderful
work. Now that the 2nd edition is out, there is even more reason to
express how much I enjoyed and still enjoy those works.

In particular, the topics are spot on (eg, I needed to learn about CIC
Decimation filters), but most importantly, the exposition is so very
clear and so easy to understand: each step in the progression is made
obvious -- no "and then the magic happens" or "left as an exercise to
the reader" for the important stuff.

The result is an EXCELLENT EXPOSITION. The care and the craft of
carefully showing the intermediate steps makes it real and concrete.
And it is done with a beautiful balance of intuition, observation,
analysis, and math. Why sling equations around when a simple graph
makes things clear? The equations are there, but the pictures are the
teaching tools. Other books discuss the topics. Richard Lyons's books
illuminate the topics.

I'm pleased to be able to purchase these books, and happy that Richard
is being rewarded (getting royalties, for he is DSP royalty) for his
achievements.

I purchased this book because I found myself needing to do some digital signal processing and the FFT gives me anxiety. This book was an excellent and clear introduction to the basics and helped me to develop a much better understanding of the analysis. It's written in a clear style and assumes only very basic knowledge, in fact, I think you could understand much of it without even knowing calculus. I found the author's geometric exposition of aliasing to be particularly helpful.

I give the book 5 stars, but the potential reader should be aware that the book is serves as an introduction only. In the course of my analysis I discovered that some other "tricks" were necessary that could only be found in a more advanced DSP book. So, it might be helpful to have a more comprehensive reference at your side when it comes time to actually process your signals.