Games Books

ISBN 0789429160 - Cute little board books featuring animals are everywhere, so finding a novelty among them is a pleasant surprise. The touchable, feel-able parts of this book are fairly large and the variety of them is nice.

You're invited to meet the animals on the farm, offering children a tactile experience that non-farm dwellers might otherwise miss out on completely.

That the book also introduces new adjectives into the vocabularies of small readers is a great plus. The only potential negative is that, if you get a used copy, the Touch and Feel parts aren't what they ought to be. The pig's spongy nose, in particular, can get completely flattened and the touchable spot of the chick on the cover will fade after many pettings. Buy it new, and it's well worth it; used, not so much.

Both my kids loved this book from a very young age. The touchy feely aspect really draws the attention of little ones. And all in all the books are quite durable. Mine have been well loved by our two, and are now heading to our baby cousins. The farm and baby animals were my childrens favorites.

This was my daughter's first board book and the first book she took an interest in. She loved the photographs of the animals, as opposed to drawn illustrations. The book includes a variety of textures and recognizable farm animals.

My 2 year old enjoys this set a lot. She loves touching the furry parts of the cards and they are super sturdy (cardboard). There are about 5 cards that are way to hard for her limited vocabulary so we make up the names, other than that they are great!

Whenever we go out to eat, we are sure to take this book along. It keeps my little boy (11 months) entertained while we wait for our food, and works like a charm. There is nothing better when he is screaming his head off than to pull out this book and presto, instant smile. He touches and feels and tries so hard to say baa at the sheep at bark at the dog. It is well worth the money. And so far it has held up remarkably well (even though there is rice in the dogs fur and cheese on the lambs wool).

I found this book/series while searching for Choose Your Own Adventure type books. I've never played Dungeons & Dragons, have always wanted to, but no one to play with. The Lone Wolf series is a wonderful substitue for D&D to play solo. I wasn't sure what I'd get or how much I'd enjoy this book once I received it. I'm glad I purchased this book. It was great fun, only took me a couple times to get the hang of combat and calculating the points. It's quite a change from video game RPGs which I'm extremley familiar with. If you are looking for a great RPG solo book to get you started this is the book for you. It's written for teens/kids so it's easy to read and easy to get into but it does have depth. I've died 6 times in my quest and lived 2 times. I'm very eager to get the second book in the Lone Wolf series and further my adventure. There aren't many solo RPG books, it was popular in the 80s. Books like this are a gem. If you have it, keep it, if you don't have it get it. It passes the time, it's fun, it's an adventure.

I thought I had them all, until the internet happened. It's very exciting to see this worthwhile series rising from the ashes. In fact, one might take that literally, comparing the second printing of the series to the formation of the magna-kai, or second order. All back to that old idea of phylogeny recreating ontogeny.

Anyway, buy this. It's the best gamebook series of all time and Magnamund is in the top ten if not top five of all the imaginary worlds of the sword and sorcery tradition.

I haven't been so excited since they started making atari games again.

I read Joe Dever's books when I was in Junior Highschool (more than 12 years ago). All I could say is that no series are quite as good as these series. Rather than continuously publishing new novels from some unknown authors someone should really republish these series (Lone Wolf).

The Lone Wolf book series successfully blends Choose Your Own Adventure with Dungeons & Dragons type role playing. A perfect next level of reading for younger fans of the Choose Your Own Adventure series. I started reading this series when it came out in the late 80's. I'd say I was in around 4th grade. I grew out of the series before the Magna-Kai adventure was complete, but I still have most of the books. Recently, I flipped through book 16 and was totally brought back to Joe Dever's realm of high adventure fantasy. He makes it seem like your right there in the action with potential danger lurking around every page turn. It's extremely addictive, even for people not actually playing the choose a number game. (I always just used a 10-sided die.) Each section of writing is rarely over 2 pages long making it highly adaptable for a TV, movie, or video game series. These types of books are great in helping to develop self-reliant kids capable of forming independent thought & decision making.

I started this series probably 15 years ago, maybe more. I remember being so wrapped up in this interactive adventure that I couldn't wait to get my hands on the next installment. Well, while cleaning off my shelves a few days ago I stumbled across these gems and I tell you, I got overwhelmed with the same feelings.

You are Lone Wolf, the last of the Kai Warriors in the land of Sommerlund. Throughout your adventures (the are 28 books and 4 "World of Lone Wolf" books) you will face monsters big and small, wizards, magicians, puzzles, riddles, and everything else your imagination can think of.

This book is just like your standard "Choose Your Own Adventure" book except that it is more interactive. Not only do you choose your path, but you also choose your skills, equipment, and whether or not you want to battle enemies. This book employs an interesting combat system in which you pick a number from the "Random Number Table" at the end of the book by closing your eyes and poking the page with your eraser (see my shared photo). I highly recommend getting ahold of a 10-sided die to use instead, because after a few books one can learn where the higher number areas are.

I had the first 15 books of the series when I was younger and now that I've reread them, I am scrounging ebay and used Amazon books to locate the next ones. Unfortunately all of these books are out of print. If you are looking for these books, I highly recommend getting the UK editions of books 12-20 because the US editions are abridged and are missing huge sections. Additionally, there are many "broken links" since they were edited so when it says to turn to page XX it takes you to the wrong place. Also, good luck finding books 21-28 as they were ONLY printed in the UK. They are very rare and if you have them, hold on to them!

Finally, Joe Dever has authorized the free distribution and licensing of his Lone Wolf series which are available online. This resource has the unabridged editions which makes it great. I will not give out the URL as part of the reviewers agreement but with a little searching you should be able to find it. However, I am still a fan of reading the paper version, and look forward to sharing this epic series with my children, should I ever have any.

This book is an absolute MUST for any and all individuals working at any level within a state or county correctional setting.Sounds corny and preachy but the information in this book can/will save you from getting sucked into some really ugly situations and schemes! If you are just beginning your career in corrections then this book is worth $100.00 EASY!You can find it used for much,much,much less online.Actually,I recommend this book to any and everyone,not just those working in a correctional setting.Many of the topics and warnings carry over into the crime-ridden real world we all inhabit. OK. End of lecture.
Thanks for reading!

This is an extememly helpful and important book for anyone working within the correction system or in any re-entry program. It could save you making some very serious mistakes. A must read.

This is truely one of the best books around for those that deal with inmates, especially those new to corrections!

Great book! I highly recommend this book for anybody in law enforcement or anybody trying to get into law enforcement! It will definitly make you think about what these criminals will do to manipulate you!

This is one of those books that really help you realize that you need to be AWARE. It's hard to do at first, but it teaches you what to look for when you are working with criminals. If you are, then you should buy this book.

This series is a great read. If you like MTG books in general, this one will not disappoint.

The Gathering Dark does a great job of fleshing out a Dark-ages world, and should be well-liked even by those unfamiliar with the card game. The characters (even minor ones) are engrossing, the villains original and classic at the same time, and the descriptions of spellcasting absolutely enchanting. Since reading the book, I often find myself thinking about all the places I've been, mountains and mangrove swamps, lakes and rivers, and wishing I could do something with those memories. And thats what a fantasy book should do; draw you into itself.

I would consider myself Blue-Green, by the way.

A warning to religious folk: one of the villains is an agent of the Church of Tal, a mideival-christianity-style religion that burns people at the stake, particularly suspected spellcasters. For me, it's a villain I love to hate, but others might disagree. It highlights the difference between religious scholars and true scholars, miracle-workers and mages: one group truly understands their feild, the other just repeats by rote, without understanding or innovating.

Try the book. It feels Right, and thats what matters.

An amasingly well written story talking abaut a young mage Jodah.It is happening during period of time betwen the Brothers' war and the Ice-age, known to Dominarians as the Dark.The world lies in ruins, depostated by the blast of Sylex (Brother's war).Day are getting darker and colder, magic-hating church of Tal rules the lands of Terisiare,goblins raid around and in the secret wizard scool Conclave of mages the leader mage Ith was kidnaped by his own student Marisil who became the new lord mage. But as a new student Jodah arrives to the Conclave, everything changes.He frees Ith and with his help defeats Marisil, who is trying to open a gate to the machine hell of Phyrexia.Later (in the next two book) he becomes an emortal archmage of great power and fights a war with Lim-Dul the necromancer during the Ice-age.Jodah wons it but his trubles are not over yet as his friend Jaya becomes posesed by the evil soul of Marisil. Archmage saves her banishing Marisil's spirit.Jodah then ,togather with a planeswalker Freyalise cast an enchantment to end the Ice-age.As he did so,he accidently rose Lim-Dul back to life,killing him again soon after. Jodah is not known to die or appear in any other book so who knows.He just might be an emportant character in the next one.

An amasingly well written story talking abaut a young mage Jodah.It is happening during period of time betwen the Brothers' war and the Ice-age, known to Dominarians as the Dark.The world lies in ruins, depostated by the blast of Sylex (Brother's war).Day are getting darker and colder, magic-hating church of Tal rules the lands of Terisiare,goblins raid around and in the secret wizard scool Conclave of mages the leader mage Ith was kidnaped by his own student Marisil who became the new lord mage. But as a new student Jodah arrives to the Conclave, everything changes.He frees Ith and with his help defeats Marisil, who is trying to open a gate to the machine hell of Phyrexia.Later (in the next two book) he becomes an emortal archmage of great power and fights a war with Lim-Dul the necromancer during the Ice-age.Jodah wons it but his trubles are not over yet as his friend Jaya becomes posesed by the evil soul of Marisil. Archmage saves her banishing Marisil's spirit.Jodah then ,togather with a planeswalker Freyalise cast an enchantment to end the Ice-age.As he did so,he accidently rose Lim-Dul back to life,killing him again soon after. Jodah is not known to die or appear in any other book so who knows.He just might be an emportant character in the next one.

After finishing the Brothers War a few months ago, I finally started reading The Gathering Dark. Brothers War I read over the course of a few weeks, but this book I finished in three days. Contrary to others, I actually liked it more. Grubb has done a fantastic job and I'm very much looking forward to reading the next two in the Ice Age series.

This a great addition to any d20 campaign, but particularly D&D ones! It finally gives playable options for overcoming obstacles sans fighting. Well there is fighting and battle scenarios in the book, but their are also lots of scenerios, and ideas for more, that involve more thinking and skill use then base attack score and spells per day. A good buy!

This is a refreshing sourcebook filled with interesting scenarios that will challenge and refresh your game. Say good bye to the dry, repetitive "kill the monster" adventures. Its a breath of fresh air to have your players utilize that dusty section of their character sheet that tracks their skills.

There's nothing better than writers who are combat vets - with an important part of the game knowing when NOT to fight; Knorr and Varhola share their knowledge of tactics with you. Reading this will make most people better players //

Just when you think d20 reference books have all gone flat, out comes Skirmisher with one that rocks! A must buy for the serious gamer.

This is the most impressive sourcebook I've seen in a long time. It is essentially a conglomeration of encounters all set in the same general area. While many of the encounters seem a bit overpowered, each has a number of non-combat options to make them easier, or even completely avoidable. I LOVE this, and try to do similar things in just about all my games. If you think ahead and use all of your abilities, your encounters should be much easier than just storming straight ahead. The guys at Skirmisher understand this, and have come up with what I think are some really interesting scenarios. Perhaps the best compliment I can give this book is that I will use it enthusiastically in my future games. And the AC/DC references don't hurt a bit, either.

This book turns out to be far more than a mere catalogue of mates. There are many fully analyzed games, colorful comments on history, and many exercises to help cement the ideas. You would think that everybody has read this book and therefore it would be impossible to place these mates. However, the authors show you how to find the essentials in a position so that you can create new variations that aren't in the book.

Conclusion: Far more than a mating manual, also serves good introduction to tactics in the middlegame. An excellent value.

What's the point of writing yet another review for this book? Well, I couldn't help it! This book is fantastic. Two features I really enjoy: the patterns are mostly explained through entire game miniatures and the authors give extensive historical notes on the players.

Art of the Checkmate is an awesome book. I've read it, put the patterns and quizzes into "Chess Workbook" software, and I've drilled through it at least 5-6 times. If there is one thing that you need to learn how to do in chess, is to checkmate your opponent. Each form of the mating patterns should be memorized. I found that after drilling through this book a couple of times, I am far more dangerous than before. I instantly, recognize and operate my pieces toward checkmating the king. It became effortless for me to become a dangerous player. After I read this book the guys at my club were suddenly shocked to find their king so often in my cross-hairs for potential checkmates. Against good players, these threats rarely lead to checkmates, but they lead to bad trades, bad sacrifices, loss of tempi, and bad moves by my opponent which ultimately weaken my opponent.

Get this book and become a dangerous chess player. It's for beginners, but the only problem is the descriptive notation.

I have bought and sold hundred's of chess books over the years, this one is a keeper . My copy is well worn from heavy use. It is the best book of its type I have ever come across! Teaches ALL the basic mateing patterns, and how to apply them, in a very simple, but USEFUL way.

The Art of the Checkmate is a book I purchased about 10 years ago and feel this book deserves to be an essential part of any chess players library. The book focuses on checkmates (no surprise) that at some point you will face as a chess player. Don't think that these moves are just a novelty and not played in todays games, many examples in the book show GM's being defeated from these moves. With smothered mates, corridor mates, Boden's mate, pseudo-sacrifice, and double checks, as well as a host of others you will benefit from knowing these moves. The book can be purchased for less than a few days lunch so there's no reason to skip this one. Overall I think this book is required reading by all ratings from novice to GM.

Susan Polgar's book intrigued me from the start as it focused rather like her father's book on prolems and working to figure out what your first move. The only drawback is that it is heavily influenced towards the White pieces. Overall, though, Polgar's book really helps you develop an idea of playing 'for the future and not just for the now' (i.e. you need to play smarter and not just better).

The idea is also to develop the ideas about looking 2-3-4 moves ahead and that will benefit all players enormously!

This book is perfect, with lots of excercises and lots of important tactics discussed and overviewed. An exceptional piece of work!!!

This is another excellent book by Susan Polgar. Her first book is similar to this one, but with the major difference being the difficulty of the chess puzzles. The first book was elementary compared to this one. This book really tested my skills and eyes for the correct move. It basically deals with developing the art of seeing the tactic or creating the winning move with little instruction. The chess puzzles help the speed player. This book is great practice in using the art of tactics. It has helped my play by supporting wins over a high 1400, 1500, 1600 this week. An excellent book for the intermediate player.

This book has a perfect combination of variety and quantity. Problems are broken down by type. Each type is introduced and explained step by step, then 50 or 100 practice problems of that type are provided for drill. The solutions are at the back of each section. There are separate sections for Mates in 1, 2, 3, and even 4 moves, as well as pins, discoveries, double attacks, etc... I have her father's massive collection of mate problems. This book is less overwhelming and will be approachable to a wider audience.

This is an incredible chess book!!! You want to improve your chess?? Read this book and solve the puzzles, but solve them seriously! Dont look for the answer at the end of the chapter, some of them are not easy, but keep practicing, every day solve some puzzles, you will not notice your improvement while you are reading but after some chapters if you play against your friends again, you will see it and they too!! In less than two months practicing you will see results!!

This book start from easy problems, you will solve them easily, next chapter you will think "Oh c'mon give something better than this!!", but after a few chapters you will be playing much better and solving puzzles that never before you could solve... in just seconds!!.

I play against my computer and also online in yahoo chess, my rating usually is around 1400 to 1500, and never more than that. This night I just beat a 1600 guy!. He couldnt see what I could!! Even I offer him a queen sacrifice!! (unfortunally he didnt take it because it was mate, but he lost a knight instead!:)

Amazing book!! Thanks Susan!! I will buy all the Polgar family books!!!
Here are some of them:
A World Champion's Guide to Chess: Step-by-step instructions for winning chess the Polgar way (Chess) and
Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games

Some Advices from just a (still) regular player:
1. When you find a puzzle that you cant solve after 15/20 minutes thinking, just leave it and go to the next one, dont look for the answer!. Later, next day or next week try again and you will find the right move for sure!
2. May be I shouldnt say this, but just in case... dont be tricky with yourself! Make the moves in your mind, do NOT touch the pieces until you find the moves just thinking. If you dont do this, the excercise will be useless for you and a waste of time because you will not improve your game doing this.

I was a poll watcher on election day this year, and since there were long chunks in the middle of the day when nobody was voting, I brought this book along with me.

Wow. I've probably read about 40 poker books in the past three or four years, and this one truly rivals Harrington and Gordon's volumes as a great read, with immediate practicality.

I was worried when I bought it that it would just be a rehashing of all the tips that Full Tilt gives out on their website from the pros, but it was nothing like that.

Ferguson, Matusow, Forrest, Lederer and more gave great information about styles of play that they employed, but the great thing was, there was contradiction among them, showing obviously, we each need to find out what's best for us. I think Ted Forrests' chapter was incredible, easily my favorite. This book also has chapters on the the non hold'em games, and with HORSE and other tourney's gaining more and more popularity, I found these extremely valuable.

This is one of the best poker books out there.

Michael Craig (ed.), The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition (Grand Central, 2007)

"Comprehensive" is not the way to describe this book, but I'm not entirely sure what is. Why is it that so many poker books are so... imposing? This isn't quite the doorstop the two Super/System offerings are, but it certainly aspires-- well over four hundred pages. As with those two books, this one contains a number of chapters contributed by a number of different high-profile poker stars, among them Mike Matusow, Howard Lederer, and Huck Seed. Unlike most of the poker books I've seen recently (and like the Super/System books), The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide doesn't limit itself to Hold'em, taking on such esoteric subjects as Omaha/8. There's even a Razz chapter. (Thus the presence of Huck Seed, most of whose WSOP bracelets have come in Razz events.)

A lot of it's stuff you've read before, but it never hurts to hear it again, and-- especially if you've spent most of your time reading about Hold'em-- there's much to be learned here as well. Personally, I think it's worth the price of admission just for the Omaha/8 chapter. ****

Buy this book, its one of the best out there and it covers many gametypes

Brilliant all round book, which I've learnt and gained much more poker knowledge from. Im not one for reading books but I couldn't put this one down!

In the world of poker literature, no limit hold em advice dries up and becomes useless pretty quickly these days. One year after its release, this underrated and underread book still holds advice that has yet to find its way into most tournaments. Almost every chapter regarding NLHE offers insights into the game that blows almost everything else away. Dare I say it, I think it even makes HOH begin to look dated.

Andy Bloch's chapter on preflop play is worthy of its own 5-star-rated book (even if I disagree with some of his advice, such as reraising with middle pairs while in position). Lederer's chapter on leverage is knowledge only a miniscule percentage of your opponents will be even vaguely aware of. Chris Ferguson's chapter on bet sizes is all you'll ever need to know about that subject. Gavin Smith's chapter on LAG play is a must-read for both the player wanting to learn to play that dangerous style, or for the TAG wanting to understand his loose-aggressive opponent.

In addition, there are great chapters on other poker games such as Omaha, Stud, and Razz (the Razz chapter being my personal fave). I honestly don't think there is a better tournament book out there. I also honestly hope it continues to fly under the radar for at least another year.

I've played many minis games in my life (Warhammer, 40k, LotR, etc...) and I have to say this original of H.G.Wells is still one of the best rule systems out there! It's easy to understand, easy to use, and easy to get immersed into. No dice, no ambiguosness, just straight forward fun. You can play a day long battle royale of many armys, or a quick 20 min skirmish between to friends. It's also a fun look at history as the pictures of grown men, in full suits and straw hats, laying on the grass playing from the turn of the century are priceless!

Wells is the man! Thank you Skirmisher for putting this classic into my hands. It's a great family game - not too complicated, but not inane. Great game to play after a particularly rough loss of your favorite football team - you get instant revenge on the enemy!

It is immensely appropriate that I review `Little Wars' by H. G. Wells on the day Stephen Spielberg's remake of a film version of Wells' `War of the Worlds' opens in theatres around the country. I have known of Wells' little book for at least 45 years, when I first became interested in wargames and searched out titles on the subject which, in 1960, seemed to be few and far between.

The early sixtys were the heydey of Avalon-Hill's tabletop sized board games with little cardboard counters representing everything from a single sargeant to an army corp. These games grew out of the minatures rules which would later contribute, along with the popularity of the `Lord of the Rings' novel to the creation of `Dungeons and Dragons' roleplaying games. Both Avalon-Hill styled and Dungeon and Dragons styled boardgames have been partially superceded by computerized versions of these simulations and, while I still fondly fondle my chit representing the 82nd airborne division as it participates in the Normandy invasion, I get much more satisfaction out of a good computerized version of the same campaign.

And yet, Wells' simplified minatures rules with no more than a few dozen pieces per side and firing success being determined by real live aiming, physics of ballistics, and the effect of wind deliver the same kind of charm evoked by that old Robert Lewis Stevenson poem of the young boy with his toy soldiers navigating the hills formed by his blankets lying over his outstretched legs.

I am not intimately familiar with minatures rules, but what I do know tells me that they are quite complicated with lots of tables based on the role of dice. Wells' rules are much simpler. And, he is not deeply involved in realistic landscapes which are so interesting to minatures hobbyists. Not a word is said here about cleaning and painting raw lead or tin soldiers. All our troops here are fully clothed straight out of the box. All the landscapes are created by nothing more complicated than the kind of plain wooden building blocks I so coveted when I was a kid. These are embellished with the outsides of houses painted or drawn on the plain side of wallpaper which is then folded and glued around the blocks. There is not interest with any ability to hide inside any of these houses, as this would simply slow things down and make the rules more complicated. The only other concern is that if rivers are part of the landscape that there are enough fording and bridged points to not funnel things too much into a single choke point.

The rules only deal with three kinds of troops, infantry, cavalry, and artillery. As this book was written in 1913, and Europe had largely been at peace for almost a hundred years since the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, it is not surprising that the strategies evolving from these three types of troops are strongly similar to Napoleonic battles. As this was the period of muskets, long range infantry fire was remarkably ineffective compared to the destruction caused by Napoleonic era artillery. To a person versed in 20th century wars, it is strange to see the lineup of forces at, for example, the Battle of Waterloo, where the guns were in front of the main lines of infantry rather than far to the rear. This was before the age of indirect artillery fire, which just began in the American Civil War and it's great mortars.

So, the only way our small forces can inflict damage at a distance is by little cannons which fire real live wooden projectiles and, a soldier is killed only if you actually succeed in knocking the little fellow down with the wooden pellet.

A similar combat simulation which existed in parallel with Wells' and other minatures' rules is the kind of wargame simulations invented by the German General Staff with the very German name of `Kriegspiel' or War Play. An expert in English Kriegspiel practice compares this professional exercize with Wells' game and finds the latter far more fun, as the Sandhurst (English Army Military Acadamy) version is weighed down with rulings from referees and the kind of tables of outcomes so familiar to modern manual wargame rules.

Remembering that this book was written in 1912-1913, it is chilling to read Wells' final assessment of the lack of proficiency of professional military men at this little game. The most chillingly Strangelovean statement is that `You have only to play at Little Wars three or four times to realize what a blundering thing Great War must be'. This was written in 1913!!!

One may be discouraged from reading this book by the prospect of reading 120 pages of game rules. This is not what this book is about. All the details of the rules are compressed into the last six pages. Everything which goes before is the stuff which is written to bring out the little boy in us all. And, the author knows nothing of politically correct gender washing, as he is firmly committed to the idea that this is an activity for little boys, and maybe girls who think like little boys.

A minor classic worthy of it's famous author.

This is really worth picking up. A great book and a good time.

I've been an avid wargamer for 15 years. I'd heard of the rules set down by Wells but hadn't gotten around to reading them. I am glad I did. It took me back to the days of playing with toy soldiers in the back yard. It was neat to see how move, fire, and cover rules came to be. Unit integrity, hand to hand...its all there in its infancy. Its funny how Wells and his sons tackled the same issues that current game designers have to face. The book is a piece of wargaming history and any self respecting Grognard should have a copy of this on their shelf. It would be fun to read and share with children as well.

First off, A Mathematician's Apology is not very apologetic and G. H. Hardy did not need to be apologetic! The author believed that great mathematics cannot be done by older mathematicians and, so, one thing he apologizes for is being too old to produce math. As the creation of mathematics is the sole purpose of a mathematician, he felt that being too old to create it made him useless. But need I remind you that, during that time, he created this book! Another thing that G. H. Hardy apologizes for is for doing mathematics for mathematics sake. Hardy did not consider applied math to be real mathematics. He felt only pure mathematics mattered. It is perhaps ironic that the very mathematics he considered pure, his, became useful for the study of encryption later in the 20th century. In any case, one of the great things that G. H. Hardy did was liberate England from the chains of a single minded approach to applied mathematics. He also mentored the great genius Ramanujan. Hardy considered his time with Ramanujan and Littlewood, another great mathematician, to be the most productive time in his life. This book, which includes a mini biography of Hardy by C. P. Snow can give the reader a glimpse of what it is like to be a great mathematician if not what it is like to do great mathematics. I suppose no book can do the latter.

I learned about this book while reading another book, "Prime Obsession" and it awoke my curiosity mainly for two reasons: because it was a interesting subject, an apology for being a mathematician, trying to explain the purpose and usufulness of mathematics, and because I wanted to know more about Hardy's life, since I knew a few things about the nice story of this mathematician and Ramanujan. This is a brief book, there is a foreword that serve as a brief biography before enjoying Hardy thoughts, which by the way really grab your attention, even you learn a few lessons of simple mathematics proofs that try to show the beauty of it. I consider this book valuable for everyone.

Hardy was a giant among early 20th century mathematicians. It is difficult to overstate his importance. He was one of the first to show that mathematics is as much art as science without having to have interpretation (such as Dunham's "Journey Through Genius...").

This is what makes this book so poignant. Hardy realizes that he no longer is Hardy. In today's mathematics world that may not have been the case given the immediate communications possible between humans which may have kept him going. However, it may have been that he was suffering from the onset of dementia or Alzheimer's - it is difficult to tell given his admissions of not being up to the task - regardless, this book is overwhelmingly sad.

Anyone who cares about math should read this and thank Hardy for his contributions - plus they should have a copy of "A Course in Pure Mathematics".

This short book has long been one of my favorites. Hardy's philosophical musings may depress some but they ring so very true. Hardy is quite honest about life, art, mathematics, and his failing abilities. For example, his statement, that a very small minority of us are really good at what we do may sound depressing today. But the fact is true.

I can recall when words such as super, excellent, awesome etc. were used judiciously and very rarely to describe truly significant achievement. Today, doing one's job, albeit poorly, is described as excellent.

What I most like about Hardy's book is it's honesty and respect for the reader. A suggestion. Read the book proper BEFORE wading through C.P. Snow's forward. After about the second read tackle the forward.

A must have.

One of the most scholarly books that has been written in the 20th century, G.H. Hardy's thrilling memoir tells a story that other people are too afraid to discuss. Hardy's depressing transition from mathematical genius to near vegetable is a telling example of the archtypical fear of cerebral atrophy that resides among even the most resilient and foolhardy among us. This concise "novel" reads fluidly and especailly so for when written by a mathematician and serves to enlighten the world of the multi-talented nature of a world class mathematician. All in all this book is a rare find and should be read by people of all ages: whether a young aspiring mathematician or an old decrepit intellectual.