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H Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Death in the Dark Continent

Published in Mass Market Paperback by St. Martin's Paperbacks (1989-07-15)

Author: Peter H. Capstick

List price: $6.99

Used price: $21.50

Average review score:

Great book

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-17

I got this for my husband for his birthday because he lived for 5 years in Africa as a child and his father used to hunt big game, so he loves reading books like this, and he said this one was an outstanding read.

Not bad

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-04-18

Reading books by authors like Capstick is a very good alternative to reading fiction. When you are reading fiction, however scary, thrilling and realistic it may be, at the back of your mind you know that it is fiction. Some of it may not even be plausible. When you are reading true adventure, it is then that you can realise the closeness of death to life, you can identify with the characters more closely, and you can feel their fear of something as primeval and primitive as claws, fangs and horns. You can also feel their elation at escaping injury.
This book is not meant only for hunters and any one reading it will learn something new on practically every second page.On the whole I did not like it as much as much as "death in the long grass". Still, the book has its chilling moments. It also has its share of dark humor. The author does not defend hunting and "cropping" of elephants as much as he does in death in the long grass.
Halfway through the chapter on leopards, I lost touch with what the author was trying to say.

Tales about the dangers of hunting the Big Five in Africa

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-05

Originally published in 1983, this book describes big game hunting in Africa. After a brief introduction, each subsequent chapter contains details and anecdotes about hunting each of the Big Five game animals of Africa (Cape Buffalo, Rhino, Elephant, Leopard, and Lion). In particular, this book is largely about the dangers of hunting each of the Big Five. All I can say is that being a safari guide/hunter must be an incredible life. I purchased this after reading Hemingway's `Green Hills of Africa' and Robert Ruark's `Robert Ruark's Africa' and was not disappointed. There isn't really a single narrative through this book, it is written in a more of a conversational style, almost as if you are sitting with Capstick in camp in the evening after a day of hunting and he is recounting various tales, `urban legands', and historical anecdotes about hunting each of the big five over a Scotch whiskey. If you don't know who he was, Peter Capstick was a hunter, guide, and prolific author who passed away in 1996. Capstick writes about a much later era than Ruark or Hemingway, things have clearly changed. There are more people about (farming, grazing animals, etc.), and the game is heavily controlled by the national authorities. Overall this is a very good, if not uniquely outstanding, read. Capstick writes with an easy prose, and the pages just sail by. After working through this book, you're quite likely to get the urge to pack up a few of your shootin' irons and buy an airline ticket to Nairobi (I know I did!). I give it only four stars though as much of the ground covered by Capstick has been well tread by others (e.g. everyone seems to feel the need to give their opinion about which of the big five is the most dangerous). I also liked Ruark's writing style more, and there was something more romantic and dangerous about safari hunting in Ruark's era (this is no fault of PC though) - they really were out in Indian territory. The more modern safari isn't quite so wild. In any case, if you love the outdoors, hunting, and testing your mettle against some of the world most dangerous game (or at least reading about it!), I would highly recommend this book. A little different than hunting white-tailed deer!

Not just for Hunters

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2005-05-04

Many other reviewers have characterized "Death in the Dark Continent" very, very well. It is a bit more graphic than Capstick's earlier "Death in the Long Grass", but not much.
But you definitely do NOT have to be a hunter to thoroughly enjoy Capstick. I think, though, there are a lot of non-hunters who simply haven't discovered how good Capstick really is at "grabbing you, making you sweat blood, and not releasing you until you've died three times, passed Elvis and Hoffa twice, and are coming around for heart attack number 4. Capstick is not just " a hunter with a typewriter". He is Hannibal Lecter mixed with Edgar Allen Poe and Stephen King multiplied by Norman Bates and home-schooled by JAWS. If you thought Amityville and Elm Street were scary, you were wrong. Peter Capstick will show you Scary in "Death in the Dark Continent". If you thought "The Pit and the Pendulum" was mind-wrecking, you were wrong. "Mind-wrecking" starts on page 152 of Death in the Silent Places. Read it early in the day.

Capsticks as good as ever.

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2002-12-26

If you havent read Capstick, you are missing out on a treat. Not only are his stories, graphic, exciting and compelling, his style of writing is nothing short of superb. Genuinly exciting, and often laugh out loud funny, all of his books are fantastic. When talking about the turn of the century past-time of "galloping lions" (described as "dangerous as typhoid") he writes:" THe elements recquired for the monotony breaking past time were a fast horse, a good rifle, a few lions and not much concern about the future".

Not for the faint of heart, there is a number of gory stories about the fatal encouters that people have, and some well placed warnings about taking any dangerous animal lightly.

A lot like his first book, "death in the long grass" Capstick writes about individual animals- with a chapter on the "big five", Buffalo, Rhino, Elephant, Leopard ( the best chapter in the book- beatifully written) and Lion. As before he relates his own experinces, plus encouters as described by his friends.

I would recommend Death in the LOng Grass as a first Capstick book, but this is still most highly recommended.

Joseph and His Brothers

Published in Hardcover by Univ of California Pr (2000-02)

Authors: Thomas Mann and H. T. Lowe-Porter

List price:

Average review score:

AN OUTSTANDING BOOK

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-26

One of the greatest books ever written.

Also the kind of service / support rendered by Amazon, when the first copy did not reach me, was truly touching and amazing. Within a fortnight of not having received the original book sent to me, I had the book finally in my hands ! Great customer service.

Challenging and Sublime

Helpful Votes: 20 out of 22 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-04

For all the great technological magic of our age we suffer the misfortune of living in a time where the depth of hyperbole rends the edge from language leaving us bereft when the time comes to describe something truly remarkable. Thus to say that John Woods' translation of Thomas Mann's Joseph and His Brothers offers readers a gift of almost indescribable value may leave one wondering if I am making a literally true statement or simply wallowing in the common puff of our day. In this case the latter is the case for Mr. Woods' translation of Mann's great opus offers the reader an experience both challenging and sublime.

Readers unfamiliar with Mann's work may feel a sense of vertigo beginning this even more than his other works. Much of the style of narration, unique with its perspective shifting through time, seems almost purposely designed to leave one doubting their footing. Increasing the sense of dread is the books sheer heft, with over 1500 pages of small type and weighing in at almost two and half pounds. Yet those brave souls who resist the temptation to lay down this load in favor of a more easily digested work will come to in the end appreciate the feast to come. Mann's work rests on its own unique rhythm, and once the reader grows acclimated they will surely appreciate both the work and the great skill of Mr. Wood as translator. This series of four novels expounding on the biblical tale of Jacob, his son of Joseph of the famous robe, as well as his brothers, often comes when people engage in the entertaining and fruitless parlor game of determining the greatest literary work of the 20th century. While no single work can claim such a title, the complexity of the work and the Herculean task of translation should be evident that this is only the second instance of its translation into English in the more than 60 years since it first appeared.

Beyond simply outlining the work's subject matter, in many ways it seems written with the express intent of defying further description. With a complex web of interrelated stories, occasionally taking subjects that the bible reflects on for only a sentence and expanded on them for a hundred pages and at the same time seeking to place this seminal tale in its religious, historic, and cultural context, the work often leaves the reader gasping at the audacity of Man's enterprise. Yet almost every one of his efforts comes as a remarkable success, leaving one much to ponder. Indeed, any expectation that one can rush through this work will surely leave you with only a headache and little to show for the effort. Instead, one must take their time and slowly chew on Joseph and His Brother's digesting each piece in turn. Like many great works this one takes effort and diligence, but the reward comes as more than just bragging rights for having read it. Far more, it will offer an often eye opening new perspective and beckon from the book shelf to be taken down again so that you may reread this section or that.

One last point: to end where I began, Mann's attention to detail and word choice often gives pause, making each of us consider the harm done when we rain down words on a subject when a mere drop would do.

Beautiful!

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-19

The new translation of Joseph and His Brothers is beautiful, as is the novel. Yes, it's long--about 1500 pages--but it's worth all the time it takes to read. Perhaps this isn't the place to start, if you haven't read Mann before, but if you already admire his work, you're going to love this book.

no title - first volume of series

Helpful Votes: 5 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2006-01-23

This isn't really about Joseph and his brothers, but about his father, Jacob. An amazing achievement, taking the bare bones of the biblical story and adding research from Judaism and Egyptian and Near East mythologies and oral histories. Plus Mann went to the land covered in these histories to see it for himself. There is an ironic, slightly satirical tone which surprised me - I thought it would be so religious - not at all. He made everything matter-of-fact and plausible and made the biblical characters come alive as real people, always adding the small details of their way of life then. Jacob seems such a sympathetic man, as Rachel does a woman, but Joseph comes off as a tattle tale, and there is the one line in the bible to support this as in everything of which Mann writes. Such a sad and touching ending to this first book.

Unsurpassed fiction, in any century!

Helpful Votes: 8 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-09

Anyone who has read my Listmania "Escape Mass Market Fiction" knows that I touted this novel (tertrology actually) as having ".... the most exquisite language since Shakespeare". But it is truly beyond that. After 30 years and over 3,000 books read I can affirm that there simply has been no greater work of fiction produced in any century by man or woman. One of the reviewers for the Lowe-Porter translation was dead-on saying you keep wanting to go back and reread the last 20 pages you managed to finish just to savor the experience. Original editions are a little rare and expensive, but, like any treasure, it's rewards are transcendental, and once read, you can consider yourself part of the most esoteric world of the true literati. NOTE-- Beginners who are easily scared off and prefer to sample before committing might want to skip the Preludes and go straight to the main chapters.

King Henry V (The Arden Shakespeare)

Published in Hardcover by Routledge Kegan & Paul (1967-06)

Author: William Shakespeare

List price: $45.00

Used price: $2.98

Average review score:

Valuable edition, easy to hold, fun to read

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-08-25

Once you get past the strange layout (described in other sections), this is a great edition of Henry V. It is easy and fun to read and offers valuable insights (not just for students either). Well worth a flutter.

A popular play in an edition fabulously rich in helps

Helpful Votes: 10 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2003-06-30

This play is best known for the St. Crispian's Day "Band of Brothers" speech given by King Henry just before the battle at Agincourt. It is a powerful speech that rallies people at all times and everywhere. Sir Lawrence Olivier made a film version in 1944 during WWII and Kenneth Branagh made another as recently as 1989. You can count on there being more versions. Epecially so when computers can help them make spectacular battle scenes (that aren't really in the play) with less expense.

Audiences love this play and they should. There is a lot to like and enjoy. I think upon repeated readings Henry becomes a more equivocal character than he seems at first. And readers of the King Henry IV plays will know him before he became King Henry and know something deeper about his personality.

And of course there is the whole bit about the drive to France being sponsored by the Church to avoid confiscation of property by the Crown. Moreover, there is the slaughtering of the French prisoners, and his treatment of Falstaff (who dies offstage in this play). This isn't revisionist stuff, it is right there in the play, but it is easy to miss the first time you are trying to take in the play.

In any case, this Arden edition is the one to buy and read from. Why? Because it has the most authoritative text, but that is only the beginning. It also shows variants between the early sources. The notes at the bottom of each page of the play are simply fabulous. The editor includes not only helpful notes explaining what might be obscure in the text of the play, he provides sources Shakespeare probably used such as Holinshed and makes for some very interesting study. There are also some helpful notes on how various scenes have been performed over time.

And to make this sound more like an infomercial, you get more! The introduction provides great background material on the play, its sources, and how it has been performed throughout history. After the play, there is a photo reproduction of the first Quarto from 1600 and it is fairly readable. There are also a couple of maps showing the path of the English Army from Harfleur through other towns on its way to Calais and makes clear how they had to pass through Agincourt.

There is also a helpful genealogical table so you can see the confusing claims used by Henry and the French nobility to make their claims. And there is a doubling chart so you can see how theater companies can perform all the roles with fewer actors.

This is a great edition as are all the plays published by the Arden Shakespeare. The amount of work collected in these volumes is stunning and they will enrich your experience of the plays tremendously. I can't recommend them enough.

I've always loved this play with its wonderful battle scenes

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2005-01-22

This play more than any others in the histories glorifies Englishmen and England. His characters in this one are larger than life, but each has their own limitations and flaws. The play covers the time of the Battle of Agincourt when the French King Charles was so sure of victory that he sent a messenger to Henry to ask him to give up and to pay a ransom before the battle. On the eve of the Battle of Agincourt, the English were outnumbered five to one, Henry's troops were on foreign soil and riddled with disease. The scenes where Henry dons a disguise and goes out amongst his troops to bolster their confidence are great. The English managed to triumph in this battle where all was stacked against them mostly because of Henry's leadership. This is such a sweeping story that it is hard to condense in a few words, the plot of the play, but it is a wonderful example of Shakespeare's skills as a writer.

Every soldier should carry a copy.

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2004-11-25

'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.' What more need I say? Henry V is an imortal classic of western literature. And this edition is complete and accurate. See the film if you want, but be sure to read the words at least once. They are inspiring.

Someone please give this book to Bush

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2004-11-08

"Now, if these men do not die well, it will be a black matter for the King that led them to it."

Particularly poignant poetry in these times of pompous presidential sabre rattling and wars based on questionable facts.

Love and Responsibility

Published in Hardcover by Farrar Straus & Giroux (T) (1994-06)

Author: Pope John Paul II

List price: $15.00

New price: $64.99
Used price: $26.94

Average review score:

Speaks the Truth

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-24

This book gives an excellent analysis of human dignity and its relation to the beauty of human sexuality as a gift, and from that gift is life. The book gave me an insight on how our culture has exploited our human dignity and sexuality, such as viewing people as "objects" (e.g. pornography); this book speaks the Truth and I love it! I highly recommend this book for anyone who plans to read Theology of the Body, teach Theology of the Body for Teens, as well as teach Theology of the Body in marriage preparation courses or young adults groups.

Strong foundation for someone who wants to do what is right

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-27

Pope John Paul II provides answers to questions many don't ask, and most don't know how to answer. This book provides a strong foundation to those who seek to do what is right in relationships (relationship with God, significant other, fiance/ee, or spouse). The authority and correctness of this book has made me, a life-long Protestant, take a second look at the Catholic Church.

Changed my heart...

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-13

This book is so beautiful and stunningly true. It took my breath away and it spoke to my heart. It brought me to a new understanding of my body and how I express Love through it. I feel that it is truly inspired by the Holy Spirit and is a "must read" in this age. It's a great companion to his "Theology of the Body."

This Book Changed my Life. Tolle, Lege.

Helpful Votes: 7 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-15

This is a poetically dangerous book. I first read it some ten years ago, just after having graduated college, when I was emerging from my adolescent decadence & skepticism.. I was searching for understanding, for faith. The thought herein is so limpidly potent it made me high, like great poetry. It radically changed my thought & heart for good. For better. It made me actually embrace the Faith, and the Church's ethic on sexuality & the human person. It really sheds the deepest insight, revealing the pith of what it means to be a human being. To be a man or a woman, a Christian.

So I cannot possibly recommend it highly enough. It should be read by, or explained to every Christian, not just Catholic. It ought to be a part of every Catholic's catechesis, as well as at the top of the reading list of anyone who seeks to understand the Faith.

[Aside: If you are a priest, have you quoted this book in a homily yet? Please, Father.. I mean, I realize hearing from the likes of SS. Ambrose or John Chrysostom is waaay too much to ask, but can we get at least this much of the Tradition? Please? Is thirty years back already too far? By that mark we should have already had enough of the St. Louis Jesuits & their ilk by now.. and we all know we're *never* going to get sick of them!]

I've heard (or rather have read) some folks - a rank few - attack this work, and it's author, on the grounds that they are theologically suspect: for being phenomenalist. More Heidegger & Husserl, than Augustine or Aquinas.. For being modernist, in other words. Instead of being reactionary, the pope's too "liberal" for some. Funny. People are such a hoot.

All I can say is that I know nothing about this supposed masonic subversion of the papacy, myself. I only report the nattering for the sake of full disclosure, as it's the only negative criticism I've read of this book anywhere. Virtually every Catholic I respect who has read this book loves it.

Lots of folks from the other side of the spectrum shoot their mouths off and scratch their pens over the Church's teaching on sexuality in general, without ever really bothering to understand it. They call John Paul (and Paul VI & Benedict, etc., etc.) authoritarian killjoys, amongst worse things. (The Church's prohibition of condoms prevents the control of AIDS! Or didn't you know? Wait.. Or is it the Church's prohibition on sexual activity outside marriage? Is that killing people too? I get so confused.. Anyway..) They would never bother to touch this book. They cannot afford to give it a fair read. Like witches with water, trolls sun, vampires garlic, or Kal-El kryptonite, exposure to the truth in these pages burns.

Despite all the cocky posturing, I think many of them sense this.. They know it might actually awaken conscience, and move them to become someone they would rather not be. For, as we all know, an informed conscience can be a truly inconvenient thing. Tant pis..

But useful, nonetheless. Being that it can free you from unhappiness, addiction, "poor self esteem," and that ultimate killer of love, freedom & life: sin. Which is why this book and the "inconvenient" yet beautiful truth that it proclaims is so essential.

Purgatorial fire (Truth, Love) hurts, but cleanses.

Final admonition: acquire & read this book.

The antidote to the outside world

Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2006-07-27

"Love and Responsibility" is Karol Wojtyla's analysis of erotic love between men and women. Originally given as a series of university lectures in 1958-59, the book was first published in 1960, ironically the same year the first oral contraceptive pill was approved by the FDA. "Love and Responsibility" is the philosophical foundation on which Wojtyla (later known as John Paul II) based his "Theology of the Body".

The overarching theme of Love and Responsibility is the personalistic norm, whereby one treats others as persons, not as objects of use. This idea is especially important in the realm of sexuality since it can be easy to use the other person even within the bounds of marriage.

I found Wojtyla's writing about shame to be especially interesting. Shame has negative connotations these days, but in Wojtyla's understanding, shame is simply when something that is private crosses a boundary and becomes public. The sexual values of our bodies should remain private, but today many young women dress immodestly making the sexual value of their bodies public, so this would be "shamelessness".

And if anyone is under the impression that the ideas in this book are going to be prudish, just take a read through the final section of the book on Sexology. Wojtyla says a husband must take into account the different sexual arousal rate of his wife so that "climax may be reached by both the man and the woman, and as far as possible occur in both simultaneously." I can see why women liked this pope!

While the reading might be a bit on the philosophical side for some readers at times, I believe if every man would read "Love and Responsibility" and take it seriously, women today would be treated with more dignity and respect that they currently are given.

Love Is a Wild Assault

Published in Hardcover by DoubleDay (2000-01)

Author: E. H. Kirkland

List price: $7.95

Average review score:

Wonderful book about the Texas Revolution and Runaway Scrape

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-05

I enjoyed this book more than any other about Texas history. It was an unbelievable but true story about a woman's fortitude during a very difficult time.

A RARE TREASURE OF A BOOK

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-16

In 1968, I was a 24 year old Texas newlywed who had a serious case of Flu. While recovering in bed, my mother-in-law gave me a book to read called Love Is A Wild Assault. I thought it sounded like a rather "racy" title for my mother-in-law to be recommending to me, but she assured me that it was not just another "dime-store romance novel"; that in fact it was a wonderful story of how love,courage and determination got one young Texas woman through all of the experiences of her life during the early days on the wild Texas frontier. I will forever be indebted to my mother-in-law for introducing me to Harriet Potter and her story. I have recommended it to so many friends over the years, and I never tire of re-reading it myself. I also gave my daughter her own copy a few years ago when she was ready to leave home and begin a life of her own. It has become one of her favorite books; and now we are both anxious to share it with HER daughter who is a voracious reader and will begin high school next year. This book is timeless and deserves the highest praise that can be given. It is indeed a RARE TREASURE to find a story like this one. I only wish I could share it with EVERYONE.

Fantastic Book

Helpful Votes: 10 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2003-02-20

My mother knew Elithe Hamilton Kirkland when she was in college. When I was 11 years old my mom bought Elithe's book ... & had her sign it for me November 1981. I have kept the book with me as I've moved, married and grown up, although I didn't read it until the end of last year, 2002, 21 years later. I don't know why I waited so long! I guess I just wasn't ready...

What a wonderful tribute Elithe completed when she made Harriet the Brave's story available to all for eternity. I learned about real challenges & tragic circumstances during the time when Texas became a Republic. I learned no matter what happened, Harriet overcame. She & Elithe are an inspiration to all women. If you're considering this book, please buy it & make it yours!

For those of you who are curious, here is what Elithe (1910-1992) wrote to me many years ago: "For Melinda Darlene (who shares my Aquarian Birthday), Young Woman of the Future in time, you will come to know Harriet the Brave and Beautiful - to know her well and to love her! I predict that you and this Kishi Woman of Caddo Lake will be seekers of Truth and Tejas forever! Elithe Hamilton Kirkland, Kyle (at the Allen Bend of the Blanco), Texas, November 28, 1981"

If you'd like to know more about Elithe Hamilton Kirkland, ref: http://www.library.swt.edu/swwc/archives/writers/kirkland.html

Great honest book about strong women

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2006-07-01

Is it possible to equally detest both feminists and purely decorative women? If your idea of the frontier woman is someone who overcomes both timidity and inselectivity, the lessons learned from this book will be monumental. Its basic thesis is that love must like all things be practical, because in loving the practical, we are loving the life that gives us consciousness. There's philosophy, frontier adventure, and the story of a woman determined to survive whatever life throws at her in this alternately whimsical, romantic, adventurous and violent book. It needs a better edit, and the style seems formal to our ears now, but the challenging sentence structures show us how much smarter people were even 50 years ago (attention modern humans: your civilization is dying and you're in denial). One could probably drop 100 pages of redundant experience and data from this book without losing a thing, but I'll take it as it is. A surprisingly good read.

My Favorite Book of All Time

Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2005-09-20

I have read this book twice for two different book clubs and recommended it for several others. In 1957, Elithe Kirkland, a history writer, takes a diary found in an attic and novelizes it. This is an amazing true story of a pioneering woman in early Texas, her loves, her life and her courage. It reads like it was written yesterday. My favorite book of all time.

Mistress Masham's Repose

Published in Paperback by Berkley (1984-02-15)

Author: Franz Eichenberg

List price: $2.95

New price: $3.95
Used price: $0.37

Average review score:

My favorite children's book

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-21

As an American child of about 10, I acquired a battered copy of this book along with a bunch of children's books from a family friend whose children had outgrown them. As other reviewers suggest, I was mystified by much of the book (the poet Pope?) but I still found it a great adventure story and loved the illustrations. It didn't hurt that I resembled Maria myself (a bookish tomboy with glasses--thank God for LASIK). I have re-read the book with pleasure on a number of occasions and now understand the references, but I wouldn't hesitate to give this book to an intelligent American child today. Perhaps it would prompt him or her to learn more about British history and literature. I'm glad to see it has been reprinted.

One of my favorites - thanks for putting it back in print!

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-09

As kids, both my brother and I considered this one of our favorite books - and we did a LOT of reading. I can't tell you how many times I read it. Our copy was lost at some point, so I am thrilled that it is back in print so I can now read it to my own children. My kids are 3 and 6, so still a bit young for this book, but I'll probably buy a copy now for my own pleasure, and another for my brother.
I have always loved books that lead you to another book, and I just had to read "Gulliver's Travels" after reading this one. As a kid, much of it went over my head, but I still enjoyed it. Now that I think about it, I should re-read that one too...

Fantastic and inspiring

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-04-16

Although one of White's lesser-known works, to my mind it's easily one of his best (Anne Fine regards it as her favourite children's book). The concept of Lilliputians living in an English landscape garden is superb, and White develops his theme in wonderfully enticing ways - and always with his typical 'feel' for character and setting. There's so much to enjoy in this tale - still a classic after 60 years.

FOR GROWN-UPS TOO

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-04

I read Mistress Masham's Repose when I was 11 years old, and re-read it now as a Grandparent. It is magical, yet plausible that a little girl could enter such a fantasy world. Both my Granddaughter and my Greatniece will receive a copy for their birthdays with a note telling them why this book has not lost its charm through the years.

Little England

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-07

After finishing university T. H. White worked as a teacher in the Stowe School which occupies a gigantic former Baroque stately home: here he conceived of the idea of Malplaquet, modeled after the greatest of all British country homes, Blenheim Palace, where the Dukes of Marlborough have lived and where Winston Churchill was born and raised. Malplaquet, an imaginary dilapidated repository of all its nation's history (we find out the Princes in the Tower were executed in its medieval dungeon, which also contains the ax which beheaded Charles I), would make a wonderful setting for any book, but rather than use it for a Gothic (the obvious choice), here White had the inspiration to make it the setting for a children's fantasy. White's mansion is not only the home of the little girl Maria who has inherited the estate (and not much else) and her warders--some cruel, some kind--but also a group of Lilliputians brought over from their island home during the time of Swift, whom Maria encounters one day. Maria's encounter with the Lilliputians becomes for her a means for learning about the nature of tyranny--both that exercised over herself by her guardian the Vicar Mr. Hater and her governess Miss Brown, but also that she herself can hardly keep herself from exercising over the Lilliputian community hidden on her estate.

This is a children's book that, to be honest, will best be appreciated by adults. White imagined his readers not only familiar with GULLIVER'S TRAVELS but also with some of the history of seventeenth and eighteenth-century England: American children particularly today would be confused as to who Mistresses Masham and Morley were, or what Malplaquet is named after, or even who Gulliver was. And their patience might well be tried by White's love of Wodehousean "types": the bluff Lord Lieutenant with an obsession with horses and hounds, and Maria's mentor the absent-minded and esoteric antiquarian the Professor . But adults (and even older children) should love this book, and its well-structured narrative is a real pleasure.

No More Wacos: What's Wrong With Federal Law Enforcement and How to Fix It

Published in Hardcover by Prometheus Books (1997-03)

Authors: David B. Kopel and Paul H. Blackman

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Hopefully "No More Whackos" In Religious Cults!!!

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 32 total.
Review Date: 2005-07-25

In this book the author blames the initial assault on David Koresh's Mount Cramel property on the ATF. He neglects to mention that David Koresh had enough guns, hand grenades and illegal automatic weapons to outfit the Kosovo Army for it's next Revolution.The BLAME lies with David Koresh and his followers. When you amass such as stockpile of ILLEGAL weaapons then you should expect a visit from the authorities which is exactly what happend . And due to Koresh's arsenal he managed to "outgun" the ATF and four good Peace Officers were murdered. All of this occurred because that madman and psychopath Koresh thought he had a "Direct Hotline" to God. Those 86 people chose not to surrender. Perhaps they thought the seige would end with flowers and free bottles of French Champagne? It seems like nearly everybody wants to blame somebody else for the Waco Incident instead of laying the blame at Koresh and his followers.I give this book 5 stars because no doubt it will apeal to the Paranoid Conspiracy Theorists out there and the Survivalist who now think their Government is "The Enemy "ever since Russians turned out to be nice people after all.

Investigative writing at it's best!

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2003-02-20

Kopel and Blackman did more than just their homework on this book. It is perhaps the most factual yet interesting critique on the way in which federal law enforcement operates today. The attack on Mt. Carmel is a very important even in the history of this nation and only from our mistakes can we change the future. This review I believe is especially credible since I read but certainly don't always like David Kopel's writings. Highest recommendation and a great source for research papers.

De-militarize and De-federalize law enforcement!

Helpful Votes: 20 out of 21 total.
Review Date: 1999-12-01

A very impressive accomplishment. There is a tremendous amount of detail here -- right down to how the ATF's name evolved from BATF -- but presented in a compelling and readable way.

This book is unusual in that it does not slant everything in one direction; it refuses to classify those involved as unambiguous good guys or bad guys.

The scope of the book goes beyond what's implied by the title. There is plenty of fascinating history here, many references to other law enforcement debacles. A compelling case is made that law enforcement has become too militarized and too federalized. The discussion of how "groupthink" on both sides (the government and the Davidians) leads to this kind of tragedy is especially excellent.

I've long wondered why liberals and conservatives seem inverted on Waco. Liberals are thought to be strong on civil rights, including religious freedom, and anti-military. Conservatives are thought to favor strong law-and-order. The authors explain this puzzle: the Congressional hearings quickly degenerated into an attempt to embarrass political opponents rather than a dispassionate search for the truth. The American public and the media took their orientation from Congress to a large extent. If a Republican had been president at the time of Waco, it's very possible the sides would have been reversed.

The authors show very clearly that the real problems with law enforcement have been building regardless of which party controls the White House or the Congress. I hope some legislators read this book and take the excellent reform suggestions to heart.

Great book, bad search warrant

Helpful Votes: 23 out of 25 total.
Review Date: 2000-07-18

Once again David Kopel (and Paul Blackman) gets to the bottom of things and shows what the Waco disaster was all about. If you only read one section of this book, read the part detailing the search warrant. It appears that all the death and destruction (on the part of both the Branch Davidians and the BATF agents who were killed) was brought on because of a failure to pay a several hundred dollar tax on a firearm.

This book focuses on Waco but also delves into the expansion of federal law enforcement and the effect it has on civil liberties in this country.

As per the United States Constitution, the federal government should have law enforcement jurisdiction over the following acts: piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, offences against the law of nations, and counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States.

Something has gone terribly wrong.

Read this book. Then read anything else that David Kopel has written. It will be well worth your time, and you will be well educated about the erosion of our rights as citizens.

A valuable analysis and reference for future reforms.

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2003-10-31

This work is not only an outstanding explanation of the Waco and Ruby Ridge incidents, but a critical review of modern federal law enforcement. The book goes beyond sorting out -- in meticulous detail -- what really happened in these debacles. Even more valuable is the objective analysis of the abuses and excesses of federal law enforcement, along with suggested remedies.

This book is a "must read" for anyone concerned with civil liberties or law enforcement.

Nowhere to Hide (Zebra Books)

Published in Paperback by Zebra (1993-01-01)

Author: J. H. Hovey

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Review of Nowhere to Hide

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2000-12-16

Currently living in Canada, Ms. Hovey chose to set this novel in Evansdale, a small town in Maine and home to psychologist Ellen Morgan Harris. Counseling others on problems she knows all too well, Ellen battles her own childhood demons and a predisposition to alcoholism. These, she can handle. It is grief, often underestimated as a prime motivation, which brings her to the attention of both law and outlaw. First, the premature death of her husband knocks her off balance. Then the contemptuously brutal murder of her beloved little sister, her last bit of home and hearth, drives her into a hard-edged and relentless pursuit of her sister's killer. She and the killer seem to have little choice as they follow their respective fates: the prey turns predator and the predator can't stop, even when self-interest would dictate otherwise. Hovey's realistic and understated prose carries the reader along faster and faster to a conclusion that both relieves and saddens...so many lives and so many scars. Hovey's characters are so believable that the reader closes the book after the last chapter as though returning from a visit to Evansdale. Readers who find a restrained description of terrifying events all the more chilling may see Nowhere to Hide as more thriller than mystery. In any case, we have reason to exult over Ellen's triumph and mourn her losses, in equal measure.

"...YOU WON'T WANT TO PUT IT DOWN.." Inscriptions Magazine

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2000-11-07

"...makes the reader glance nervously over her shoulder when the house gets too quiet. Start reading this book on a Saturday morning. That way, you'll have all weekend to read it, since you won't want to put it down.

Martine G. Bates Inscriptions magazine

"...a chiller of a book..."

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2000-10-30

Joan Hall Hovey is a mistress at description and in bringing characters alive. The reader always has a feeling of place as well as being inside each person's mind. Ms Hovey even teases the reader with the first name of the killer, but this reviewer can guarantee that the reader will know the chilling things that go through the killer's head and still not know the true identity.

This is a chiller of a book, and falls in the `I don't want to put it down' category. Unless the reader has very strong nerves, this is NOT recommended as a bedtime story.

Reviewed by Shirley Truax

Don't Turn Off All The Lights When You Go To Bed

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2002-01-22

This book is right up there with the greats, in my opinion. While I think the author could have started off with more action, then perhaps after hooking the reader, gone back to the beginning, it still nonetheless is an excellent read. Once it heated up, I couldn't put it down. It was enthralling, captivating, and I was anxiously anticipating the ending. Ms. Hovey did such a remarkable job with the keeping the reader in suspense and caring about the lead character's fate. I recommend this story without hesitation. Ms. Hovey has a refreshing writing style, which I found to be clear and to the point, and as I stated previously, an absolutely marvelous ability to keep the suspense turned up high.

Synopsis: The story takes the reader into the world of orphanage girls and the depraved persons who either prey on them or allow others to. In this story, two sisters who survive life as orphans, grow up to become professionals. The oldest, a psychologist; the younger, a singer. Unbeknownst to them, the younger sister is being trailed by a sick person from their past. When she is murdered, the older sister, Ellen, finds solace in her best friend, who also happens to have spent some time in the same orphanage. As Ellen's life begins to spin out of control, she takes up the habit which killed her parents: drinking. Her best friend, Myra, who also doubles as her patient, on occasion, has been having weird dreams of which Ellen has been trying to help her figure out for the last year or so. However, after finding out about Ellen's sister's murder, the dreams come back with a rage. Myra is concerned about them, and even asks Ellen what they could mean, but Ellen is too caught up in her own nightmare to really concentrate and focus on their meaning. After Ellen challenges the murderer to come after her a police officer is assigned to protect her. She develops a great rapport with the officer, and when things seem to be less intimidating and the killer makes no further move to contact her, she convinces the officer of her safety and need for solitude. As if right on cue, all hell breaks lose and the reader is panting to keep up with the events in the story. Ms Hovey does an excellent job of fanning the flames of suspense and thrill, page after page until the very last word.

A Chiller for a hot night

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2001-04-09

Joan Hall Hovey's Nowhere to Hide, is a fast moving suspense thriller, that will keep you up all night to finish it. Ellen Morgan, who is still recovering from the untimely death of her husband, is shattered when her younger sister is brutally murdered. Her pain soon turns to rage when she realizes that this man has killed before and will probably kill again and that the police seem unable to catch him. When the evening news wants to interview her about her work as a psychologist, she uses the opportunity to challenge the killer and sets into motion a series of events that will leave you turning all the lights on and locking your doors as you breathlessly await the outcome. Ellen and her sister grew up in an abusive home with alcoholic parents that ended with her sister living for a time in a local orphanage. Ellen senses that the answers she seeks my lie in the old orphanage but before she can really begin to look into her theory, the killer strikes again. As Ellen races to discover the identity of the killer, she finds that in order to live, she has to confront a past she has tried very hard to put behind her. Hovey has created a disturbing look into the mind of a serial killer that will send chills up your spine.

Our Sacred Honor: Words of Advice from the Founders in Stories, Letters, Poems, and Speeches

Published in Hardcover by B&H Publishing Group (1997-09)

Author:

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Something we should all know

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-10

These are the people who founded our great country. These are people who we have all heard about, but don't really know who they were. This book is a great introduction to our founders and what made them do what they did.

Our Sacred Honor...

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-06

As always, Bennett tosses us a great story about our founding fathers. His writing is coordinated and he points out the best of the dramatic tales (real) that they endured--as individuals, as well as family heads. If only, when future historians look back on our current days, they would be able to say..."Those were great days." Alas, I doubt it. Although the founders were what might be called "normal mortals", to challenge each other to create our great nation makes one proud to be able to say "we belong!" They were clearly heroes.

One Inspirational Read

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-14

I was tasked to find an appropriate book to give to outstanding high schoolers for our local Rotary Club. I felt this book well represented the ideal of the club. This book should serve as a valuable resource in future years as these young men and women matriculate to higher learning, and careers.

Bennett chose material well

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-26

Bennett chose his material well. Historians may argue with some of the details in his commentary (e.g., that Burr shot to kill Hamilton, aiming directly at his chest). Others may take issue with some of the "nuclear family" biases inherent in his commentary. That isn't the meat of the book. The importance of the book rests in the quotes of the founding generation, and Bennett went beyond some of the most famous quotes and speeches, although these are represented as well, to give us a true feeling of a generation that approached life with a genuine goal of self-improvement. Most interesting were some passages from Abigail Adams, from her "tough love" to John Quincy through her disdain for french dancers. Anything regarding Bennett's personal life is irrelevant for assessing the value of this work.

The greatest generation speaks

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-07-09

The United States of America was blessed with a generation of founding fathers who were at the same time people of action, and people of thought. They were an incredibly brilliant group of political and moral thinkers. Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton, Madison had a profound understanding of both human nature and the unique circumstances bound up with the founding of the United States. Their dream was of creating a nation like no other before, one based on principles of freedom, and dignity of the individual The ideal formulation is of course in one of the documents central to this collection, ' The Declaration of Independence' , life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
In this anthology of the founding fathers' writings in story, letter song, speech and hymn we feel the spirit of a new and great nation and vision for mankind.
God Bless America.

Powers of Ten (Scientific American Library Paperback)

Published in Paperback by W.H. Freeman & Company (1994-09)

Authors: Philip Morrison and Phylis Morrison

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Scale and exponential notation.

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2003-04-27

This book is an introductory peek at one of the most foundational mathematical tools needed for any consideration of cosmology, astronomy, and/or particle physics:
"At one end, far out where the galaxies appear like glowing froth in darkness, all our sciences become only one: cosmology. ... At the other end, for the very small we again have one science only: particle physics. There are even hints that the two ends inform each other." Evidence, perhaps, that television isn't all bad, the concept here was developed for a TV special program (quite a few years ago now), then plucked from video to print. It's a 'can't miss' premise but I find the writing to be slightly awkward and there may be too many illustrations. For a book that begs me to pick it up, it too easily invites me to put it down. Even so, it makes for a reasonably good overview of a universe more than 20 billion light years wide made out of stuff so small that we must describe it using negative powers of ten. The idea here is to illustrate the dramatic changes of scale involved in only a few powers of ten, and thus the "power" of powers of ten. The book's theme is itself quite modest, but for the reader unfamiliar with the concept of exponential notation, this small volume may be a startling revelation. To those familiar with the concept, the book may be a mere novelty, perhaps a "coffee table book."

An outstanding lesson in basic science

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-19

The premise of this book leads to one of the most fascinating demonstrations of what relative sizes really are. The first illustration is on the order of 10^25 meters, which is approximately 1 billion light years. At this level, even giant galaxies are little more than a dot of light. Subsequent illustrations move in by powers of ten, so by 10^23, our galaxy is now a large period with some evidence of a swirling structure. This zooming in continues until at the level of 10^1 meters, we see a man and a woman on a blanket in a grassy park on the edge of a marina in Chicago, Illinois. Their location was the central position of all previous illustrations.
The zooming in continues, the focus now in on the back of the man's right hand. At the level of 10^(-5) meters, we see an entire white blood cell. When the level of 10^(-8) meters is reached we see the structure of DNA and at the level of 10^(-14) meters, we see the nucleus of a carbon-12 atom. Finally, at the level of 10^(-16) we see nothing more than a random collection of colored splotches.
This is one of the best basic science books ever published; it should be read by all students before they get out of high school. Our brains have an inherent difficulty in grasping the enormous differences in size that exist in the universe. The illustrations are also an excellent lesson in the basic mathematics of exponents. From 25 to -16 is only 41 orders of magnitude and yet we have gone from what is close to the size of the universe down to the smallest objects that are currently known to exist.

Another Scientific American Masterpiece

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2003-07-07

I purchased this book years ago when I began collecting the magnificent Scientific American Collection. It has since been published in paperback and I have heard there is a corresponding book that decreases by powers of ten. This is easily the most approachable of all the books in the series and I have used it with both my boys when they were younger.

Parenthetically, anything that would stimulate American interest in science - and stem the tide toward a universal scientific illiteracy - should be welcome. I have seen this powers of ten device several times but the one that stands out in my mind is the opening scene of CONTACT that was marred only by the pitiful displays of stupidity heard from the members of the audience. ("Is that Saturn?" "Yeah, it was once a star and that's how it got its rings." "That's what I thought.")

Back to the book, we start off matter of factly then proceed outward. The commentary is sparse because little is needed. In this case, the picture IS worth a thousand words - more if you get down to it. Get this now-affordable volume and give it to a youngster.

A picture is worth a 10³ words! Amazing!

Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2001-10-05

I've seen this book for the first time in 1985, when I was kid. It is still my all-time favorite.

Although the book does have lots of textual info pages, the core of the book is a series of 42 full-page pictures which depict the an ordinary picnic photo in different scales.

Starting from an ordinary dude resting on the grass, each page turn shows the scene from 10 times farther away. First we see the park he is picnicing on, then the entire city, and before you know it we are in deep space racing towards the outskirts of the Universe.

On the other side of the journey, each page turn magnifies the last picture tenfold. First by viewing a close-up view of the picnicing guy's hand, you quickly find yourself probing deeper and deeper through the realms of biology and chemistry right into the core of a single atom.

The really cool thing about the whole deal, is that all the images are centered at the same object: a single atom on the picnicing dude's hand.

In short, the idea is absolutely brilliant. The images chosen for the presentation is not perfect, but they are still amazing. Of-course, the film is much more impressive then the book, but you can't take a film with you to a camping trip...

No doubt deserves 5 stars; SURPRIZE it can be a child's book

Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2001-07-27

This is a great book. Believe it or not, I walk my 5 year old son through the pictures. I am sure it is not meant for youngsters but it can be used like I am am doing.

The idea behind the book is on its smallest scale it is inside a qark inside an atomic nucleus, inside an atom, attached to a DNA molecule, inside a nucleus of a white blood cell, slightly below the skin on a hand of a man asleep at a picnic on some grass in Chicago....all the way to the scale of the universe. My son and I will transverse the middle 1/3 or 1/2 of the journey. He gets to pick his own bedtime books and he chooses this one out of hundreds once or twice a week.

The pictures make a great way to explain the concept of scale and various aspects of science. On the facing page of the main picture underconsideration are objects of the same scale. You can really see that the tail of a dinosaur is 10 times longer than a man.

For the adult, it is an easy introduction to various aspects of science all at different scales. It is not a super serious book - no math - simple explanations. But as a practicing scientist, I view it as vary factual.