U Books

In "Howard Zinn: A Radical American Vision," Professor Davis Joyce has made a valuable contribution to twentieth century American historiography. This intellectual biography of Howard Zinn is scholarly and entertaining. Davis provides lucid summaries of Zinn's major books. He also skillfully places Zinn's works within the context of recent American history. Anyone who is interested in better understanding Howard Zinn's approach to history would benefit from reading this book.

This volume is a very good introduction to the life, thought, and times of Howard Zinn, which should be of broad interest to students of society. I found the details of Zinn's struggles with John Silber fascinating (such university presidents are not at all uncommon--right Kern?). While many readers will be familiar with Zinn through The People's History, they should especially enjoy the overview and critique of such writings as Disobedience and Democracy (very relevant today), and The Politics of History (addressed to all of the social sciences). Dr. Davis Joyce is an excellent writer; he obviously admires both Zinn and his thought (if not his grading policies). This is truly an excellent intellectual biography.

BUY THIS BOOK as a gift for someone in need of hope.

In these times of desperation for so many among us around the world, it is in the inspiring story of Howard Zinn that the message every individual makes a difference, shines bright. That our collective efforts, both large and small, do indeed change the world.

Howard Zinn makes me proud to be a liberal and an intellectual, and his well-written biography gives me hope that in the end, reason, compassion, and common sense will prevail over prejudice and dogma. After reading it, I feel energized, and optimistic about the future, confident that my efforts at stemming the tide of ignorance in this country are worthwhile.

This book, is in my opinion, a must-read for all liberal-minded individuals. Howard Zinn's life is an inspiration, and his clear, concise viewpoints are brilliant -- a much needed counterpoint to Medieval, Dark-Age ideologies.

Zinn shows us that we are not, as special interests would like us to believe, "an obedient, acquiescent, passive citizenry." He articulates what many of us feel, that the ideologies which we take for granted "...are not the result of independent thought on our part, and indeed do not match the real world as we experience it..." A real eye opener. I enjoyed this book, and I'm sure you will too.

Howard Zinn: A Radical American Vision
Davis D. Joyce, Published by Prometheus Books
By Denis Mueller
I met Professor Zinn about eight years ago and began, with my Co-filmmaker Deb Ellis, a journey that would lead to a film about his life and the idea that the individual can make a difference. It was an amazing experience and one that has changed my life. I learned how to speak in public by watching this tall angular man walk to the podium and begin his talk with a joke usually about himself. I learned about his courage both physical and intellectual. Zinn was a bombardier who risked his life against the war on fascism, so when he gets to academia, it is nothing to risk his job for what he feels is the right thing to do. This gets him fired at Spelman for supporting the Civil Rights Movement and constantly at war with Boston University dictator John Silber.
What we did not do was chronicle was his development as a historian and teacher. A film cannot do everything, and some historians felt we had left out his importance in the study of American history, but if that was what they were interested in there is no better place to look at some of those critical debates than here in this book by Davis D. Joyce. Howard Zinn's book, A People's History of the United States, has sold over 1,000,000 copies and has helped change the study of history itself. He has been at the forefront of American radicalism, both as an activist and as an intellectual, yet some in the historian profession fail to understand the importance of the activist-scholar. He was a leader in the Civil Rights movement as an advisor to the Student Non-Violent Co-coordinating Committee, an adult who respected the students, and gave them the intellectual backing they needed in the antiwar movement during the Vietnam era. He remains an outspoken critic of our disastrous policy in Iraq.
Yet, when American historians are mentioned, some dismiss Zinn as a populist and fail to understand his importance in the study of American history. Davis D. Joyce, while acknowledging his work as an activist, goes a long way to correct that assumption and positions Zinn as a leader in what could be described as a revolution within the study of American history. Joyce looks at all of his work but plays special attention to his book, The Politics of History, which is perhaps as important as A People's History. It is here, more than anywhere else, where Joyce is able to fuse Zinn's influence as a historian and his life long commitment to a history that speaks to the great issues of our time. Joyce does this quite well when he illustrates the importance of a quotation by Denis Diderot on the writings of Voltaire, which Zinn uses in The Politics of History.
"Other historians relate facts to inform us on facts, you relate them to excite in our hearts an intense hatred of lying, ignorance, hypocrisy, superstition; and the anger remains even after the memory of the facts has disappeared."
Joyce has a keen eye for a quote and his selection of quotes from Zinn, whose quotes are a dream for any biographer, is one of the great joys of this book and they are used quite well to articulate Zinn's unique point of view. This is a book that is needed to help illustrate Zinn's contribution to the intellectual development of American history. In an essay about the historian as citizen, and the forgotten role of the public intellectual in today's society, we would be wise to listen to what he has to say:
"In a world hungry for solutions, we ought to welcome the emergence of the historian-if this is really what we are seeing- as an activist scholar, who thrusts himself and his works into the crazy mechanism of history, on behalf of the values in which he deeply believes This makes him more than a scholar; it makes him a citizen in the ancient Athenian sense of the word."

Lethal Heritage, being the fourth BattleTech book I have read, is a solid introduction to the Blood of Kerensky trilogy. I recommend reading the Warrior trilogy before delving into the Blood of Kerensky, for a few choice reasons. First of all, the Warrior trilogy gives you a chance to familiarize yourself with Stackpole's writing style. In addition, the Warrior trilogy provides you with the necessary background knowledge of the Inner Sphere that you need to fully understand Lethal Heritage.

Lethal Heritage is the commencement of the Clan invasion of the Inner Sphere. This action packed addition to the story of BattleTech is necessary in the continuance of the saga. The Blood of Kerensky trilogy as a whole is very important, and Stackpole thrives in the heat of battle.

Yeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! This is an awsome book from Stackpole. THE CLAN INVASION! this is the first book including the tech and mech superior clans.It as plenty of mech action and 1 thing there has never been before! The Inner Sphere Uniting? i recomend this book to everyone who enjoys battletech

This is the first book I have ever read that forced me to put it down every few chapters just so I could breath! This book is packed with action, heroics, tragedy... In the end I was left yearning for the next volume in the trilogy.

Stackpole did a great job for this book.One problem ; needs more a of a glossary.Like Twilight Of The Clans showing the 'Mechs, jumpships,tanks,dropships,and Areospace Fighters. But that was only a minore problem.

This is the first Battletech novel I have ever read.
It is the first in the Blood of Kerensky trilogy and also the first novel in the Enter the Clans Battletech Era, which is comprised of 7 total novels.
The book is confuzing for the newcomers in the Battletech universe. There is a lot of action happening on a lot of fronts, the chapters going back and forth but Stackpole did a good job at making the action integrate seemless. The tranzitions are not rough but a bit hard to follow.
Stackpole is definitely a great writer. The action is great, storyline is rich and intriguing, character development and descriptions are also great.

If you plan on reading Battletech books in the Clans Era [years 3049-3059] this is the book to start with and make sure you read them in order.
This is the order of the books in the Clan Era:
Lethal Heritage
Blood Legacy
Lost Destiny
Natural Selection
Asumption of Risk
Bred for War
Malicious Intent

My daughter (aged 4) and I enjoyed this book and plan to read more. We had just finished the Josefina American Girl series and really, really liked those books. While Kit is a fine story, for us, it was not as interesting as Josefina -- probably because Kit's life is so much more familiar and similar to our own. That being said, Kit is a likeable child and the book is well-written. It does teach good values. Kit learns a adjust in a positive way to change and to be a 'team player' under difficult circumstances. A positive aspect of this story is that it will give children the opportunity to ask grandparents and great-grandparents about their Depression memories.

I am a 3rd grade teacher and a "man teacher" as many kids say, and I loved sharing this book with my students. The boys enjoyed it as much as the girls, and we all spoke of Kit as though she were our friend. I found the book to be well-written and full of interesting tidbits perfectly in tune with what the kids would question or want to know about. There is so much these kids do not know, they are missing information somewhere. When I was a kid, I learned so much from wonderful TV programs like "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" and "The Waltons" and "Little House on the Prairie" and so I knew about other time periods. These kids only seem to know about the present day. This book helped them think beyond what they know. Interest in TV programs led me to look for books on similar themes when I was a kid. The best thing about this book was that it made me want to share it with my own grandmother, who lived during the Depression. She was a poor country girl, not a city girl like Kit, but she would enjoy the book if she wasn't suffering from memory loss in the nursing home. I think of her as I read the books. It is like I am sharing something of my grandparents with tomorrow.

It's like being a girl long ago. You'll love it! Kit's real name is Margaret Mildred Kittredge. She has to sleep in the attic because Stirling Howard comes to visit and get to sleep in her room. So she turns the attic into her own beautiful room.

By Kacie age 8

I read the book Kit An American Girl.
This book is great.
You can learn from this book. It tells you how a family works together & It teaches how hard it was to live back in 1934.

I learned some interesting facts.
I learned about the depression. I learned about what you would have to do to live & I learned it was 1934 when the great depression happened.

I would recommend this book for three reasons.
1. It is a fantastic book..
2. It was a true story.
3. This book has so many facts about Kit.

Kit An American Girl is a good book.

M.W.

We got this at a rummage sale, and he won't put it down. He's never been a really strong reader, but the main character, Kit, is believable. He likes reading about Cincinnati. He finds it amazing that someone wrote a book about the state he lives in. We have tried just about every book out there to get him to read independently. This is the one book he picks up on his own and reads over and over again.

A real eye opener for anyone interested in the future of our country (and the world). This book clearly illustrates how the United States has become the least democratic country in the western world. It is the responsibility of every U.S. Citizen to read this book, something the Democratic and Republican parties do not want you to do. After reading this book, you will know how to make your vote really count!

I don't think the founding fathers had an iron-clad 2 party monopoly based government in mind when this country was founded. In fact in was thought that the most intelligent and creative citizens would volunteer their time and energy to run the government and then return to their real vocation. What a distance we have traveled since those ideas. Robert Roth really tells it like it is, not like we hear it from the political parties. Our government is way out of control, when it cost $40 million to run for a primary in California's gubernatoral race and when big business can buy legislation almost on demand. It's time for change, and Roth's book sheds all the light we need to see how crucial and timely that change is needed. What an extraordinary book he has written and what a must it is for all of us to read it.

For anyone interested in third party politics, this book offers a good snapshot of the Natural Law Party, which, along with the Libertarian, Reform, and Constitution parties stands as one of the "major minors" -- often on the ballot, with a fairly professional operation. That said, much of the book drags, as Roth preaches about NLP views on several issues at great length, and gives short shrift to the party's actual plans for future electoral action. Perhaps silliest -- though most telling about what a minor party must face -- is a lengthy section about the creation and publicity of just one press release.

This is a very humorous and readable indictment of our political process. It manages to clearly present the ways in which our democracy is not in the least democratic, without whining or complaining. It also presents the startling and surprisingly realistic proposals of the Natural Law Party.

Bob Roth has done us all a great service with his highly readable, timely book that offers us a vision of a simple, practical way out of political gridlock and incoherence and into a more harmonious age. The new millennium is upon us. It is time we thought in new millennium terms, not in an obsolete paradigm that is bringing us down. Bravo for this book and the courage and promise it holds.

Excellent book, but I am not sure the distinction is between Western and Oriental tactics. I suspect that American Indians, frontier scouts, the British SAS, U.S. Special Operations community, etc...would be very familiar with, and skilled at, these tactics.

A classic dilemma that resurfaces every time we go to war. Militaries, at least in the West, prepare to fight the last war and not the next one. As a free society, the public tends to forget the hard lessons learned and shuns warriors during times of peace. The end result is that we constantly are reinventing the wheel after every war/generation.

Victor Davis Hanson, in a recent editorial in the City Journal called Why Study War, gave a perfect example from the Post-Vietnam era; "The public perception in the Carter years was that America had lost a war that for moral and practical reasons it should never have fought--a catastrophe, for many in the universities, that it must never repeat. The necessary corrective wasn't to learn how such wars started, went forward, and were lost. Better to ignore anything that had to do with such odious business in the first place"...."A wartime public illiterate about the conflicts of the past can easily find itself paralyzed in the acrimony of the present. Without standards of historical comparison, it will prove ill equipped to make informed judgments."

A well-written and important book that provides an in-depth analysis of small unit tactics.

Danger, danger, is very much the message put forth in this book and it should be heeded before it is too late. Some reviewers have mentioned Sun Tzu and his rules of warfare. Sun Tzu puts forth a very reasoned and systematic set of rules that define a nations path to victory or defeat. By definition, our present leadership has us solidly on the path of defeat. Our people in the field have to both fight our Eastern enemies as well as carry a great weight of poor leadership at the highest levels. This book is very informative and is for the most part, completely accurate and frightening.

The idea that hardware superiority alone can replace common sense is ludicrous and this book digs deeply into this. I remember seeing news footage of our troops in Afganistan heading up into steep mountainous terrain encumbered with huge heavy packs and body armor. They could barely move. They should have had only their clothes, rifles, ammunition and food and water and some good lightweight footwear. If you are going to fight an Apache you have to be an Apache. It seems at times to me that our soldiers are forced simply to carry as much weight in useless (and expensive) contractor equipment as a mule. Small unit combat and the tactics that win in this arena will be the deciding factor. Something also needs to be done about our so called free press. This game is for blood not for profitable commercial air time and these people should be subjected to the sort of censorship that our country used in WWII and the sooner the better.

I feel also that some of the opinions voiced on China are a bit over the top. The Chinese wish to better themselves and are not necessarily motivated by a desire to hurt us per se. It is very possible that in future that the Chinese could help us. They should not be blindly antagonized. They think and plan in a fashion that is very, very, long term. Our own leadership is cripplingly shortsighted in strategic planning.

I have lived and worked in the Mid East for a number of years and my personal opinion of the Iraq war can be summed up as follows:

1. The US leaves Iraq now and the country will dissolve into a bloody civil war.

2. The US leaves later and Iraq dissolves into a bloody civil war.

This book documents many of the reasons why this is so. Anyone who cares about the future of our country and indeed the world (China included) should read this book.

A sure test of talent and knowledge is the challenge of taking a very complex subject, explaining it in understandable terms and then offering solutions along with the understanding. My very brief stint in the Army ended long before Vietnam called the younger brothers of my generation. From the news reports it appeared that we suffered so many casualties only because the enemy was "sneaky" and prepared to die. How could the US lose to people who could not afford shoes?

Poole does a great job of bridging the gap from Sun Tzu to the muddy jungles of Vietnam and the significance of the lessons to our maneuver warfare. It is no accident that Boyd associate Willian Lind wrote the preface.

Poole finished the book just before 9/11. Our experience in Iraq and the Israeli experience during the past year show that we have much to learn. After 50 plus years of victories over various armies, the Israelis lost to what most consider a rag-tag army. Other than their heritage, they are as unlikely to defeat the Israelis as the sandal clod Vietnamese.

Poole's book is a gift to the small unit soldier and perhaps a greater gift to those in higher command who will order soldiers to assault targets with little understanding of what they may be facing. It may be at a distant command post or in the case of Somalia the commander flying overhead at 2,000 feet but unable to understand the river of lead flying down the street as he instructs troops to consolidate their positions.

This is a great aid to understanding current events and history from the comfort of your easy chair while balancing a martini on the arm. However, my sense is that it is far more valuable as a gift to a young trooper. In addition it should be mandatory reading ( along with Sun Tzu and Boyd's briefing slides) for every reporter who covers wars and "low intensity" conflicts.

Reading the book makes you appreciate Poole but feel uncomfortable with the contents. A great contribution.

As with all of Poole's works, we are treated here to an excellent analysis of the tactical sphere of war. This time, from the eastern fighter's perspective. Written, I believe, pre-9/11, the work itself is a thorough offering of actual techniques and wartime practices used by small units against western forces, but it is most remarkable in that it outlines in a concise and friendly manner what most analysts still fumble over on MSNBC.

In the world of tactical operations and small unit tactics, we can not ask for a better teacher than John Poole. Keep a close eye out for any and all of his works, for they have a lot to say about how and what western forces will fight for the next fifty years.

NOTE: This work makes a perfect companion to the author's "The Tiger Way," which outlines the ideal western method for combating such tactics.

I read all these reviews and in the main agree with them. However, the real "way of western combat" is exemplified right here: we -- AT THE BOTTOM LEVEL -- are discussing all this and implementing it as we go. And as another reviewer mentioned, our soldiers are getting at it and learning from this NOW. Here's the clincher: does the oriental soldier or citizen do this. No way. It's not in their culture. Hasn't been for thousands of years. Unlikely to be unless huge changes occur in their citizenry. West = democracy / more free / BOTTOM-UP APPROACH. East = tyrrany / less free / TOP-DOWN APPROACH.

SUMMARY: I'd much rather be in the West facing the Eastern way of war rather than be in the East facing the Western way of war. Let's be data-driven: what is the kill ratio of WW2, Korea, and Vietnam? 40-1? 10-1? And yet, Poole's talk about Japan in WW2 making "infantry the most valued weapon". What?! Americans (and all European armies before them all the way back to Alexander) don't line up rows of infantry and charge across open fields to be mowed down. Doubt it? Guadacanal. Korea. etc. That's the "cultural" difference highlighted here: we value life, even a single soldiers.

Further reading: Carnage & Culture, by Victor Davis Hanson.

The book was a gift and it came in time for Christmas.

Struggling to find her love Rye, Poppy (a mouse) has to stop the beavers from making dams. She also has to stop them from turning the beautiful little pond to a big and dirty lake. Rye (a mouse) is trapped inside a dam and cannot get free. So Poppy is not only trying to stop the beavers and set free Rye, Poppy has a wild adventurer with her friend the porcupine, Ereth to tell Ragweed's parents (Rye's brother) is dead. Can Poppy stop the beavers as well as set free Rye and deliver the news? To find out, the call number is AVI and the author and illustrator is Avi and Brian Floca. You need to read this book along with the other great adventures with its series. "Ragweed," "Poppy,' "Poppy and Rye," Ereth's Birthday" and "Poppy's Return." This author has written many great books especially this one. So please, read this book. "Poppy and Rye" is a book for anyone. It has adventure, describing and wow words and many more! Here are some describing and colorful weird words said by Ereth. "Oh, fox flip," the porcupine growled. "Sticky roach toes," Ereth muttered. "Crabgrass up their snoots," Ereth snapped. Avi has a great word choice that makes you picture everything but with words. He really uses his imagination when it comes to writing words. This book I think everyone should read. So please try it!

An absolutly stunning childrens book, Avi makes it an exciting and addicting read. Very powerful read aloud to young children. It is the best book in the series, in my opinion. I highly recomend it.

Poppy has done it again ! Not onley does she save Ragweed's brother ,Rye , from a nasty batch of beavers ,
but she also saves Ragweed's family as well. I'd say this book is for someone who likes animals that's
proabaly why I like it so much.

Wow, What an Amazing Book
Hi, the book I'm reviewing is Poppy and Rye. The authors name is Avi. The location were the book mostly takes place is the brook. Another location is the beaver's lodges which you will find out were that is later in the book.

Things from the story
One of the very important things is when Poppy the mouse was about to make a trip to Ragweed's old house so she could tell Ragweed's parents why Ragweed would never return. Poppy called her best friend Ereth the porcupine old because she was apologizing because Poppy had been begging Ereth to come with her. Then Poppy said she was sorry for not respecting the elderly. Then Ereth got the impression that Poppy was calling him old. Another thing was when Poppy and Rye met. They met when Ereth was sleeping and Poppy was supposed to be sleeping. Poppy was dancing with a daisy and Rye asked if he could join. There's a beaver who's named Cas and he's got plans to make the brook into a lake. They have also captured Rye! What will happen to him????

Things I Liked
Some of the things I liked about this book are that the author gave so many details for example: the author described the grass in Dimwood as moist, the trees leaves delicious and the stars dancing in beauty and grace. When I read this book I couldn't stop reading until I figured out what happened to the character that was in distress. The book is a very good book. I also liked how the mice were braver than humans at times
For example: a 3 inch tall mouse has the courage to go in a beaver lodge when the beaver's are 2ft. and have giant tails. I thought it was pretty much fiction but, it was still fun to read.

My Ratings
I give this book, without a doubt, a 5 star rating because it's just a great book. I think this book is meant for kid's ages 9-13 years old.

I saw a smaller version from a local bookstore, bought the large version from Amazon, the fonts are much more comfortable to read. I am using the book as a reference, feel very satisfied. The book is also good for random browsing, the paper and printing are both of very high quality.

THIS IS GREAT BOOK WITH A LOT OF INFO. MY TEENAGER LOVES IT AND SO DOES MY HUSBAND

This book was a Christmas request from my 6th grader who is very curious about earth sciences. He was genuinely excited to see it when he opened it. In some ways it is more like a coffee table picture book than a reference book. It is lavishly illustrated with detail-captioned photos and charts. This is not the kind of book you're going to sit down and read cover to cover, but instead are going to use like a good encyclopedia of earth science. My older child, who is interested in astronomy, received the companion book "Universe" and the two make a beautiful pair of additions to the reference library.

The book is chock full of pictures and explains many concepts in a very easy to understand fashion. However, it has many typos and factual errors that should have been remedied before it went to press. Overall, I highly recommend it as a reference book and as an introduction to geology and various aspects of earth science.

A great book with a nice balance of pictures (including some full page) and informative text about, well...about nature!

Robin Cody, Ricochet River (Knopf, 1992)

So there was a big flap a couple of years ago about the new edition of Ricochet River, which got edited (in Cody's words, "I toned down one passage and cut another...") before being reprinted. So I figured I'd get my hands on it and see what all the fuss was about. First and foremost: I entirely disagree with the assertion (in the same interview from which I took the last quote-- Rachel Simon's January 26, 2005 piece in the Oregon City News) that "...sexuality is peripheral to the actual story, Cody said...". It's a coming-of-age story. Sexuality is central to it. Looking beyond the coming-of-age motif, however, sex stands at the heart of this tale of three friends on the cusp of college-- Wade, the high school sports star; Lorna, his girlfriend; and Jesse, the new kid, who's better at sports than Wade, but has a lot to learn, and a lot to teach, about life. As the book opens, Wade and Lorna are at the start of a rough patch that lasts off and on throughout the novel, and Jesse, seeing a woman in possible distress, moves on in, which colors the relationship between the three of them. How can sex be peripheral?

That's not to say that sex is the only thing explored in this novel. There's a great deal about salmon, as well (though the salmon and the sex do tie into one another intermittently), and family ties, existential teen angst, friendship, individuality, the raw deal given the Native Americans, and a whole lot of other stuff. But Wade, Lorna, and Jesse are the focus of the story, and taking away from that, however little, undercuts it. This is a good, solid novel, and it deserves to be read in its original form. ***

RICOCHET RIVER
By Forrest Joe Hess

I'm writing a paper on the story Ricochet River. And I'm trying to determine to see who is the main character of the story and in my opinion I think Jesse is the main character,
Because he's always in the story and he's always doing sports better than every one. Like baseball, "He switched his glove to his other hand. Than he wound up with a mirror image of that hose we'd all seen and whipped another bullet. Right-handed! I was stunned. The pitch was a perfect strike." Or like football, "Jesse was open all night. The first three times we got the ball, he scored twice on an end around."

Jesse loves to tell stories about a guy named coyote. Coyote and Jesse have a lot in common. There both rebellion and athletic. These are the stories Jesse loves to tell, he will even tell them in class. "Huckleberry told Coyote to tie a thong to the spear, so he could haul Wishroosh in. Ho, said Coyote. That's what I was going to do. That was my idea all the time."

Jesse is always getting into trouble, its ether stealing from a store of getting into fights or even shooting pet animals. "The point, and it just made me sick, was we had just stalked and killed a farm-fat defenseless cripple."

Having myself grown up in a small Oregon town in the 1960's, I can assure you that Robin Cody has accurately captured this experience for others to share. He has woven a rich tapestry, taking you into a one-industry community, where local high school sports heroes reign supreme and small town mentality clashes with any thing, person or idea that--simply by being different--challenges the cherished status quo. Where bright young people who dream of a life beyond the city limits despair of ever escaping.

Robin Cody's profound understanding and respectful rendering of all cultures represented--small town; timber industry working class; teenagers and Native Americans--makes him my Tony Hillerman of the Northwest.
Katherine Lawrence

I am an avid reader, but tend to gravitate towards more "feminine" books in general. However, Ricochet River was a hit with me from the start. I really enjoyed the masculine, teenage point-of-view, despite my being an adult female. It was believable, funny, and good for any age. This new version has been slightly toned down to make it more appropriate for younger readers, while retaining its draw for older ones.

Robin Cody's award-winning RICOCHET RIVER is available in a new and improved 2005 edition. The author chose to revise his manuscript for high-school audiences, with the help of the editing students at Portland State University's student-run Ooligan Press. Re-reading his work after fourteen years, he found he could make distinct improvements. His legendary coming-of-age story, originally published as an adult novel by Knopf, is now stronger and more vivid than ever. Every parent of a high-school student should find it wonderfully appropriate reading. Anyone of any age who lives in the Pacific Northwest will benefit from reading this book. Place is a major character, and the story is tremendously enriching. I wish I'd read it when I moved to Oregon thirty-five years ago, and I've hastened to order copies for my born-in-Oregon children.

I've worked my way through this entire series now, and while the first dozen or so (this is no. 23) were generally well done -- good, reasonably accurate descriptions of London of the 1880s, pointed contrast between Society's drawing rooms and the miserable existence of the laboring classes, vivid character development of both working cops and the elite -- the last few have shown a definite decline. Thomas Pitt, Inspector and then Superintendent at the Bow Street station, and a both very talented and highly empathic detective, has now been stripped of his position by the Forces of Evil (the entirely fictional and extremely melodramatic "Inner Circle") and dumped in the lap of Special Branch, where he's beginning to learn how to be a secret policeman instead of a public one. The "Seven Dials" area of London is a pretty minor player in this one, too; the author should have called it "Alexandria," because that's where Pitt is sent to gather information on a beautiful and patriotic Egyptian woman living in London who is caught red-handed wheeling a dead bottom through her back garden in a wheelbarrow. Also implicated is a high Foreign Office official, which is how Pitt and his "M"-like boss, Narraway, get involved. If the details of the motive for the murder become public, the government could fall, Egypt could erupt in revolt, and Suez might even be lost. Can't have that, right? The action is low-key, the plot development takes its time, and the reader will enjoy the scenery, both internal and external. At least The Inner Circle manages not to appear this time, and it's fun watching Pitt trying to deal with a totally foreign milieu -- even though Perry could have spent a lot more time painting its details.

I never really liked political anything, even in Anne Perry, but I could not put this one down. I finished it in one day. She did not disappoint me!!!! Thanks Anne

elizabeth cohen

Classic murder mysteries rely heavily for both their effectiveness and their appeal on a "slight of hands," and one of the tricks is a set of characters in whom one can become interested enough to relate to them in some way. Another is to create an ambiance that arrests the attention and keeps it. Anne Perry has a great knack for creating both memorable characters and an interesting stage on which they play out their roles in the story.

Her Seven Dials is an amazing recreation of Victorian England in the earlier days of the queen's reign. The era is young yet, and the political turmoil that will set the stage for World War I and the social changes it brings is just beginning. Some of the older characters can remember the Napoleon wars. Thomas and Charlotte Pitt are paradigms of lower middle class life in the period, with their fate in the hands of Thomas's mentor in the Secret Service, Victor Narroway, and their maid servant and her beau, Samuel Tellman, in theirs. The interactions among all of the characters gives as much a feeling for the period as does the mention of hansom cabs, harnesses, and horse manure in the streets. Even the yellow skies and the chocking, smog filled London streets is classic for the era.

Perry's characters are charming and detailed, each a work of art in them selves. The maidservant is spunky, savvy and sensitive, used to the school of hard knocks, and her friend Tellman is gruff, masculine in an "old fashioned" sort of way, and smarts under the unfairness of social inequality and the period's newly arising sense of social empowerment. The stiff, formal society in which Charlotte Pitt grew up and still has family is faced with an erosion of their privileges and with a growing sense that they are on the threshold of major change. They are like dinosaurs waiting for the asteroid to strike them.

All of this sets the background for a puzzling murder of a man who should not really have been where he was at all and certainly not dead. The central characters push forward in an attempt to make sense of the confusing, almost irrational facts. It is this irrationality that is part of the slight of hands. Eventually Pitt must go to Egypt to unravel the mystery by back tracking the murdered man and his alleged murderess.

The venue in Egypt is Alexandria, a city to which I have been about three or four times. The descriptions of Victorian Alexandria might still easily pass for today, although the city today is more Western than Cairo and much more so than Thebes. The description of the rug suq was definitely memorable. The quarrel that leads to a small riot in the book reminded me of the minor violence that occurred among men there and in Cairo in the few days before Sadat was assassinated. Like the brewing sense of political unrest in the book, here too, everyone felt the tension in the air; everyone knew that something was afoot, but no one knew what was about to happen. It was a very tense time, and so was Pitt's Egypt.

I can not for the life of me understand the author's description of malaquia, an Egyptian soup--which I refer to as "frog-pond"--made for special occasions, as "delicious." I found it slimy and green. The latter I could handle, the former I couldn't. The mention of the sound of what seemed like crickets to Pitt, also brings back memories. Actually the sound is not crickets but a similar one made by small frogs in the canals and on the banks of the Nile. It's very restful. All in all, Pitt's trip to Egypt was as memorable for me as for him.

A delightful mystery.

Anne Perry doesn't disappoint in this recorded book. Read well, and easily one for the bookshelf.

Very descriptive and historically accurate. You'll love her vivid pictures of Alexandria. Egypt comes alive. I'm a harsh critic but this work bowled me over.

A very colorful, well written review. I am very much a novice bird watcher but share the interest with my 5 year old grandaughter. She immediately scooped up the book and it is in her bike basket so that while she is riding in her neighborhood she can look up and identify her feathered friends. Has been a great tool to share with her.

Great ! This was a gift and it was the perfect for the bird watch beginners book. Now you can sit out in the back yard together watching the birds and naming all the little feathered friends we have attracted.
My husband loves his Book!
Great Bargin and experence.
Fast Delivery!

This book has pictures that are sharp, detailed and close. They are arranged by color, not species, and include the most common birds in the area. It is my third bird ID book and my new favorite. Have shown to other people and they love it, too!

Beautiful book. Good information. Very helpful to a new bird watcher.Gives common birds that everyone can find easily in their own back yard or local park. Gives a new birder confidence and practice in observing birds that they are familiar with. Another book that makes my grandson happy.

This was a gift for my Dad to help him identify the birds outside his window. It is a very good beginners book with lots of pictures. I really like that the catagories are arranged by the color of the birds. It makes it an easy guide for him to use.