Companies Books

I don't get a chance to read as much as I would like to or should, but a friend of mine told me I should read this book and that I could get a copy at the local bookstore because Bobby Cole was there having a book signing. I picked up a copy and got to meet Bobby and started on my way home wondering when I was going to get a chance to read my new book. As luck would have it I didn't have to wonder very long, a storm came through last night and knocked out the power so I lit some candles picked up The Dummy Line and started to read. I couldn't put it down, this is a truly enjoyable read and I would recommend it to anyone who: likes thrillers; is a hunter; or is from the South. The attention to character detail is great but not so much that it slows anything down because the book moves at a pretty fast pace. I can't wait until his next book comes out.
James Wible

I had been saving this book to have to read at the beach, and boy was I not dissapointed. It was a great read and I found it hard to put down. I read it in the span of 2 days. My wife Melanie then started it and finished it quicker than I did! If you like thrillers and are an outdoorsman (or the wife of the outdoorsman) this book is for you. Being a southerner and a hunter, I identified with everything mentioned or referenced in the book. Reading Bobby Cole's writing was like talking to one of my friends. Very familiar.
Set in the spring turkey woods, the book takes you on a
far-to-realistic journey with a father and daughter duo after some Alabama rednecks get after them. Suspense, twists and turns--this book has it all. That's all I will say to keep from ruining the book for you. Even though I was anxious to see how it would turn out, I enjoyed reading this book so much I hated it for it to end. I hope Mr. Cole continues his writing career after this fine first effort.

This book is a MUST read. Awesome, intriguing, great detail. One feels as if they are in the situation. My husband and neighbors read the book first and could not put it down. Same thing happened to me and my friend when we took the book to the beach!

This book is guaranteed to keep you you on your toes! I couldn't put it down once I got into it. Don't take it to deer camp unless you plan to stay up all night!

One of the most suspenseful books I have ever read. It has been a long time since I have read a book that I couldn't put down. All the different story lines intertwined make this a must read for everyone, especially those involved in hunting recreation. I can't say enough good things about this book. I am very eager to read the next novel from Bobby Cole.

Endurance: An Epic of Polar AdventureI wanted to know something new, beyond the shackleton's book - south, but sometimes I think Worlsley had a great imagination.

Amongst all the books on Shackleton's voyage, this one provides the best insight into Shackleton as a man and as a leader. Due to his sense of humility and perhaps focus on the task at hand, Shackleton's own account of the voyage tends to dwell on the daily details of the group's struggles. Worsley's account on the other hand provides great insight into group dynamics and Shackleton's skill at maintaining unity under trying conditions. Shackleton's story needed someone other than Shackleton himself to tell it, Worsley being the expeditions captain and Shackleton's right-hand man, not to mention a masterful writer, is just the person. This book should be mandatory reading for anyone studying leadership and team building.

Now those were some tough adventurers back then...just solid outdoorsman and really strong willed and strong physically. This was outstanding to read and imagine what the human spirit can endure.

I have read every book about Shackleton's epic voyage to Antarctica, and this book is by far the best. It is written by the captain, so it is first hand info, written from his personal diary. The details are magnificent; you are there, alternately shivering or tasting the caribou fur in your mouth. This book makes Lansing's book look like toast; and Lansing's book is good!

I read this after "South" and I think it is the right way to go. Worsley not only recounts the difficulties of the journey, but makes no effort to hide his admiration for his great leader and friend. The way Shackleton manages to motivate his crew in an unimaginably hostile environment is an example of true, effective leadership. Adventurers and business men, children and adults should all read this book.

Whether your are an entrepreneur, VC or lawyer, THIS is the book that you must read. It's really everything that you need to navigate the entire startup ecosystem. I've been in the industry for over a decade and I still use it as a reference and encourage both entrepreneurs and lawyers to read alike. I also think it's a great resource for VCs sitting on boards to make sure they are complying with all the latest and greatest regulations.

Includes all important areas of law for the entrepreneur. Was most helpful for our incorporation. Good, short, to-the-point, comparisons of S-corp, C-corp, LLC, partnership, and sole proprietorship. Still covered all issues and is updated to late 2007. This is important because the tax-code changes frequently (last major update was in 2003), and small changes to corporate structure and court pratices happen every year. Better than "Structuring Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Entrepreneurial Transactions." Better than "Starting Your Own Business" by Stephen C. Harper. Better than searching for piecemeal information on websites like news.YCombinator.

Other important areas covered are Contracts & Lease, Operational Liability, and Intellectual Property. I will be using this book heavily for those areas as well.

A book that every entrepreneur should read. Read it before you start the company, it will help you a lot.

This book goes into great detail about all aspects of Business Law. Anyone who currently owns a business or is thinking about opening a business needs to read this book, or at least have it near by as a reference guide.

However, the book is certainly aimed at Corporate USA and those who are looking to start up a BIG business. If you are looking to open or currently own a Small Business, then there are better books on the market that are tailored more to your needs.

This book deserves to be on the shelf of every entrepreneur. The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law will take you on a virtual tour of the start-up process, and beyond, from the legal perspective. As experienced entrepreneurs understand, any business is a web of relationships, many of which are detailed in legal documents. This is the case for the relationship (establishment) of the entity with the state, relationships between co-founders, relationships between employees and the company, relationship between the company and its investors, suppliers, customers, etc. The legal foundation for all of these is clearly explained, and this book includes a wealth of practical information that will help any entrepreneur to work more efficiently and effectively with their legal counsel.

Steven K. Gold
Author, Entrepreneur's Notebook: Practical Advice for Starting a New Business Venture

This book is a great overview for someone just beginning to think about starting a business venture, but it seemed to be more focused towards the needs of a large venture, rather than a small business. It covered a lot that I thought would not be applicable to the type of business I want to start -- a small town retail shop where I plan to run the business myself and will not hire executives or get funding from investors (other than probably a local bank or the SBA). Perhaps this just shows my ignorance of what owning a small business is about, though!

I also have to express my disagreement with his comments regarding attorneys. (Disclosure: I am currently an associate at a big law firm.) It sounds like he happened to get some bad attorneys. For what it's worth, my thoughts, based on my own observations of attorneys at large and small firms (my own firms and opposing firms), are this: (1) I don't think his experiences reflect the services provided by all large law firms -- I think the quality of services you get depends on whether you hire a good INDIVIDUAL attorney, not law firm, (2) you are much more likely to have someone "learn on your dime" at a small firm than a large one simply because attorneys at large firms do a lot more business and specialize in certain areas and therefore become more experienced with matters that arise in those areas, (3) most small firm attorneys will NOT be as great as the ones he found, and (4) most partners are so distracted by bringing in business and a million other things that associates are much more likely to focus on your deal, keep things moving quickly, and actually pay attention to the details. I think the ideal arrangement for a small business owner is to find a good associate who has a good partner to ask for guidance on big issues when needed. I just don't think it's fair to generalize that all big firm attorneys are terrible and negligent with small clients, or that associates are all clueless and learning on your dime. (I can provide proof in the form of reviews from my large and small business clients!) That all being said, there are some fantastic attorneys at small shops and if you find one, you will pay much less for their services. My best advice on finding a good attorney (whether at a large firm or a small firm) is to get referrals from other business owners.

The Entrepreneur's Notebook by Gold offer an enthusing reading for anyone interested in knowing the fundementals of starting a new business venture with the least amount of mistakes. This is why I liked this book:
1. Uses real life examples from the author's own experience to explain entrepreneurship and the mistakes not to make when starting a new business.
2. Uses very simple analogies (I love the chapter on cash flow).
3. Very easy to follow and explains the different entrepreneurial personalities in great detail.

I did not like this book for the following reasons:
1. This book is not universal and most of the chapters apply to entrepreneurship in the US only. Although the first chapters are applicable to any entrepreneur, the ending chapters are rigid and US specific.

Final Verdict: Still a valuable buy but more applicable to US entrepreneurs rather than Entrepreneurship in general.

Steven gives great illustrations to drive home his insightful advice for entrepreneurs. As he's "been there, done that," we can take his advice to heart in the hopes of becoming a success like him!

Great book for getting ready to open a new business. Would refer to anyone thinking about opening a business.

Gold goes far beyond the typical "here's the difference between a C Corporation and an LLC" to explain not only the nuts-and-bolts of finding business partners, forming a company, marketing your products/services, and writing a business plan, but also--and perhaps even more importantly--how to *think about* being an entrepreneur and how to make the critical decisions that can make or break any new venture in its early stages. And he does this not only from the point of view of someone who has studied and taught business (although he does fit the bill on both of these fronts), but as someone who has successfully started and run several businesses.

For example, he not only points out the need to put together a team, but explains how to recognize your own strengths and weaknesses and how to identify complementary team members who are most likely to work together as a cohesive unit. He not only explains the importance of finding the right corporate lawyer for your company, he also provides concrete--and nonintuitive--advice for how to avoid picking the *wrong* one. He doesn't merely repeat the mantras of "find your niche" and "focus on your core competency," he explains how to translate your "big idea" into a finely-honed business plan based on analysis of both your company's strengths and weaknesses and the market in which it will operate.

I highly recommend this book to anyone thinking about starting a business who wants to avoid common pitfalls and start off on the right foot with the "entrepreneur's mindset" and plenty of concrete strategies for success.

This book has practical advice. And the recipes are pretty darn good, and amazingly inexpensive. He relies heavily on beans and canned tomatoes and lots of spices, so the food is interesting in flavor, color, and texture. Most recipes also make a LOT, so that you can have extras to freeze for later dinners or take some to work in your lunch. This not only saves your eating plan, but softens the blow to your pocketbook that eating out entails. We have not found too many recipes yet, that we dislike. Most are very delicious and filling and are even better the next day. This book was indeed worth the purchase price; equal amounts of advice and recipes. Well done!

I think any one concerned about their health should take a look at this book. The recipes are great too.

I started researching this topic about 2 years ago when my 35 year old husband became violently sick one night, he went the next morning for a blood test and his triglycerides were over 1800. They should be around 150 for a normal person. My husband has what Dr. Murkin calls Diabetic genes (all of his siblings and father suffer from high tri's & cholesterol). His HDL was 20 and his cholesterol was 400. After 2 weeks on Murkin, tricor and niacin he's bloods were in a good range. Since my husband & I prefer not to take medicine, he dropped the niacin and tricor after about a month. His bloods remained low with just the Murkin Diet. He began cheating about 6 months ago and spiraled out of control, a recent blood test showed tri's up above 2000. We are back on the diet in a big way and we will never go off of it again. I highly recommend this book!!

I edit cookbooks for a living, and this is one of my favorites from which to cook. If a strict fat-free diet isn't necessary for you, modify as I do by saut?eing veggies in a little olive oil, and feel free to improvise with substitutes. But this book is solid and full of creative, colorful food and wonderful flavor combinations.

Fat Free, Flavor Full is the book where Dr Mirkin lays down the thought and the science behind his 20-gram/ "20/30" plan. If a Mirkin book has been recommended to you by a doctor, this is the book to read (get it from the library if you must, but do get it). He lays out his story, explains why genuinely low-fat diet is important, and the links between high fat and disease. I cannot recommend this book enough for those with high cholesterol, who have typeII diabetes, or TypeII runs in their family.

For most Americans it requires a bit of a seachange in eating habits, but it's well worth it. With the right foods, you can lose weight while eating as much as you want(I work in a very physically demanding job, build up a whale of an appetite, and teeny portions of food are simply NOT going to cut it!).

His tone can be a bit magisterial at times and I personally don't share his dislike for soybean products, but the science and reasoning behind this book are undeniable. If you are serious about losing extra weight and living healthier, get this book. Read it, absorb it, make the change, and live better.

I love this book. It was "the book" when I was growing up. My grandmother read from it to us all of the time . Great memories!~ Highly recommended.

This large collection of poems is absolutely great! I love poems I don't have to work at to understand - just enjoyable, fun, nostalgic reading. I wanted to surprise a friend that remembered having a book of poetry as a child that included both Custard the Dragon and Little Orphan Annie. This is the only book I could find with both. And now I treasure it as well. I hope to have to buy more copies for my grandkids someday!!

I have had this book for years, ever since my family was very young. I purchased it myself. We spent many an evening sitting on the front porch with neighborhood children reading the poetry. The funniest time was when we had a neighbor from Japan read Jabberwocky. I remember that to this day. I think she laughed the hardest. There is a poem there for everyone. Now I bought the book for my grandchildren. One in particular loves and writes poetry, and I feel this will give her a chance to read all kinds of poetry. That is who I bought this last book for. It is a family book.

Great collection of poems for read aloud to younger children and for older children, copy and memeory work.

As a homeschooling mother, I have searched for several years to find just the right poetry book. I have children ranging in age from 6-19, and wanted a wealth of poems that would span the broad age range. This book contains over seven hundred poems - so every time we open the book, we discover new treasures. We especially like the rhythm and rhyme that so many of the poems have. Although the book is organized by themes, it is indexed by title, author, and even first lines, so we can easily find our favorites the next time. If you only have space or money to buy one poetry book, this is the one!

This is yet another book about dieting!!

It says that Diets are bad, they don't work etc etc etc etc but then offers it's own opinions on how to cut back which effectively make this a diet!

I found the tone very pretentious and the lady clearly has her own problems which she is pushing on the reader.

The fact is if you eat less calories you lose weight, if you eat more calories you put on weight, there is no secret!! So when the writer starts labelling everyone then people start believing that they have a problem whereas most of the time they haven't.

A painful read and I recommend you spend the money on a book with some healthy low fat recipes and lose weight properly!!

If your ready to say no more dieting and say hello to No-Diet Fitness.. this book is for you. Its a must read!!!!!

I own every diet/weight loss/fitness book known to man AND I've wasted thousands of dollars on various diets, prescription diet pills and alternative treatments for my weight. I've battled bulimia, starved myself, gone on all liquid diets, acupuncture, weight watchers - you name it! Nothing has worked long term. Now I know why. Pyatt lays it all out for you in plain english. I felt like she had witnessed my entire life and wrote this book especially for me!

Everything is addressed in this book - Unrealistic expectations set up by the media, medical issues, how not to pass the food obsession on to your children. She helps to take away the guilt without giving excuses. No more diets doesn't mean more weight gain. So don't worry. She's not trying to make you be happy with an overweight and unhealthy body.

Even though she does say that MY medical condition (PCOS) does require a diet with certain restrictions to achieve any kind of weight loss (bummer), I wish I had this book when I was 13 years old. It would have saved me alot of grief and I'd probably be a healthier more fit person today.

I'm planning on buying a copy of this book for all my friends and loved ones that have been and are going through the same thing. I may even buy an extra copy to give to my doctor and a few to leave in his waiting room!

Heck, I might even take up a collection to hire a fleet of helicopters to drop a few copies over every junior high and high school in the United States!

My fiance bought this book for me as a gift and I have been grateful ever since.I am on his account so the review will appear with his name, which is why I signed underneath.

This book changed my entire outlook on life, not just my weight. I was trapped in a vicious cycle of dieting that was causing me severe depression and a general lack of appreciation towards my entire existence. This book taught me to look at myself in the mirror and know that I am beautiful, and that there is so much more to life then food.

I think the best piece of advice is to really tell yourself that you can eat, anything you want whenever you want, then you just stop craving food and start having a healthy relationship with it.

I don't know what to say, now that food is slowly taking up the space it should be in my life (less space!), I have so much more energy and passion towards a lot of other things, so thanks wendy. one of my wishes in life now is; may every girl or guy who has struggled with their weight read this book and start to love themselves like they should!!

and wendy...thank you

-dalia

I first read a blurb about Dr. Pyatt's book in a fitness magazine. I was intrigued and, as a medical writer, wanted to learn more. So, with an editor's blessing, I arranged an interview with Dr. Pyatt and wrote a feature story about the work she has done throughout her life to help both men and women find their way back from the chaos created by dieting and disordered eating in response to the messages society bombards us with every day. We can never be thin enough. Thus, we are not "good enough." It's a vicious cycle, and difficult to break.

Dr. Pyatt's voice, in person and throughout her book, is encouraging, gentle, supportive, and wise. She does NOT ignore nutrition, potential medical problems, or the necessity for regular exercise. Neither does she leave readers feeling that if they DON'T exercise, they are "bad." In a world full of diet- and weight-related myths, "Fed Up" is a volume of common sense.

The method may be frightening at first to those of us who have been "brainwashed" from our youngest days--admonished for being overweight, perpetually dieting, falling prey to the promises of every new "program" that comes down the pike. It's hard to let go of the fear of NOT dieting, and Dr. Pyatt knows this. But by turning to her book again and again, readers will find that they gradually learn to accept their bodies, to set more realistic goals, and to stand up against the impossible expectations of a society obsessed with anorexic ideals.

As for myself, I have lost and gained weight time and again. I have re-read this book three times. Last night, I completed the questionnaire in Chapter 4 for the third time, and was extremely happy to see that my highly negative body image and damaging weight obsession has significantly decreased in intensity. I don't expect 40 years of brainwashing (and dieting from the age of 7) to go away overnight. I just want to live a life free from constant obsessing about food and weight and how I look. This is the peace of mind that Dr. Pyatt offers, through the process she outlines in "Fed Up."

I cannot recommend this book highly enough to any man or woman who 1)is tired of endless, futile dieting; 2)wants to lose (or gain) weight; and 3) wants to take a stand against the unrealistic messages and expectations of our weight-obsessed society.

I had the honor of taking a pendulum class from Ramon Grace in August of 2001 in Jacksonville, Florida. He is an awesome teacher...and this book is like having him in the same room with you telling his stories. I learned a lot from his class and this book served as an excellent refresher for me. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in dowsing.

Some great information presented in a refreshingly simple and unassuming manner. Definitely one book I'll reference again and again!

In a field so top-heavy with wannabe gurus, spiritual advisors, people who 'know' what others ought to do with their spiritual lives and precisely how they should do it, Raymon Grace is a breath of fresh air.

He's an humble, unassuming man who knows his role and does his best to pass on his quiet wisdom without spamming, chest pounding proclamations and pronouncements, New Age evangelism.

I recommend Raymon, his books, his approach to metaphysics, his work of any kind to readers, wonderers, wanderers, and all others who don't believe they yet know everything there is to learn about the workings of the self, the Universe, the position of humanity in the overall scheme of things.

We could all learn much from Raymon Grace, and we'd all be doing ourselves a great favor by doing so.

I really enjoy this authors attitude and approach toward energy work. This book skims the surface and makes me want to know more. I intend to own more of his work.

The purpose of this book is to encourage you to use your mind power essentially by intending the outcome you desire to experience. The style of the book is conversational, dynamic, open ended, which makes it particularly refreshing. You are encouraged to experiment and explore.
The author provides numerous examples from his experience and from experiences of other people of using the power of intent for healing, changing financial situation, removing obstacles and transforming the energy whether in people, places or situations, increasing energy, and much more.

I have been likewise using and experimenting with mind power all my life, and some of techniques I used are similar to the author's, some are different, but I have totally enjoyed reading this book because in the author's desire to experiment with just about anything, I feel I have found a kindred spirit. The only way to learn, to develop proficiency in using mind power, regardless of the tools and techniques used, is by doing it - by doing something and discovering what happens. The author repeats it over and over throughout the book and I totally agree with it.

At the end of the book, the author has added - in the Appendix - Dick Sutphen's talk "The Battle for Your Mind" which revolves around different brainwashing techniques. The talk starts well delineating the elements of brainwashing as used by different organizations and institutions and then it goes into describing few techniques related to persuasion and influence (there are many, many more) and the article with this talk begins to sound paranoid because the moment you dare to relax your mind, someone will mess up with it. He mentions in one breath that the spiritual purpose of a human being is finding True Self, but at the same time sounds terrified of the idea of stilling the mind so that this True Self can emerge into his conscious awareness. Until he is willing to still his mind, he will be forever seeking and never finding, because the True Self is experienced beyond the thoughts, beyond the mind. What Dick Sutphen didn't seem to realize at the time he made that talk is that we are always influencing each other with our thoughts, words and behavior and that the way of choosing your life and exercising your freedom begins with choosing your thoughts and living consciously. Unless you choose your thoughts for yourself, someone else will do it for you.

There is a little bit more to miracles than merely intending them - and that is an awareness that we are immersed in an ocean of intelligent energy, of Spirit, or whatever you like to call it, and not only immersed by also made out of and that everything else is made out of this intelligent energy - and when we use intent we are consciously working with this intelligent energy. The greater awareness you have of this ocean of boundless energy and the greater friendship, the more intimate relationship you have with it by communing with it daily, the more you can do with it.

Dove into this after enjoying Pedersen's wonderfully heartbreaking but humorous novel "Last Call." Now we move from Brooklyn, NY, to the Midwest. Anyone who has ever been a teenager or attempted to raise one will love "Going Away Party," which sums up so many of the conflicts inherent in coming of age today. Technology and the high cost of education have changed the landscape and not always for the better. It also contains a romance with an age difference that serves to show how our perspective on life changes as we mature. What I especially enjoyed was that drugs, abuse, and violence were not needed to make the passage to adulthood dramatic and fraught. It's angst filled enough without those and Pedersen also uses deft humor to keep things moving toward a surprising and touching ending.

Wow, this really is a really hilarious version of that movie "Lost In Translation," though the book came out a few years before the movie. What was most interesting to me was that you can read nothing into it and just enjoy the story and the one-liners, or you can read A LOT into it, about life and love and coping in the modern world. I'd be interested in hearing the author's intention. I enjoyed the book and my 16-year-old daughter not only loved it but won't give it back.

This is definitely a riotous "Lost In Translation," though I see from the date that this book came first. And there's no Tokyo, just the good old American midwest. But it's a wonderful tale about two peple meeting in (very) unusual circumstances and searching for meaning in their lives. All the Catholic girl guilt resonated deeply -- dating on Saturday night and then going to church on Sunday morning. And also the boys in the family always being allowed more freedom. I had no idea how Pedersen was going to wind this one up but she managed to do so nicely, complete with suprises and laughter. Every mother will want her daughter to read this book in order to demonstrate that we're not as bad as you think!

I first read this book a few years ago but when I saw the movie "Lost In Translation" the other night I couldn't believe the similarity and went back and enjoyed it a second time. I didn't like the movie as much as all the reviewers but I'll see anything with Bill Murray. HOWEVER, for all the people saying how good that movie is, GOING AWAY PARTY is also a story about two dislocated adults, a young woman and an older man, that takes place in the US Midwest. Only tt is laugh-out-loud funny on almost every page and has a terrific ending.

Great take on the conflicts of being a young person and trying to follow the rules set down by your parents, the guidelines of your religion, and the expectations of society. Terrific dialogue and a surprise ending. Laugh-out-loud funny!

The titanic battles of the Great War on the Western front are probably well known to most readers of this review. Much has been written (and rewritten) and analyzed (and overanalyzed) about the Somme, Verdun, Ypres. Given the relative numbers of troops and the distance from the main action, the events in Africa can seem to be of little importance. The story of the fighting in Africa during the Great War contains no less heroism or bravery shown by many participants, and the actions of General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck are still mentioned amongst the greatest campaigns fought by any general at any time. Throw in a few harrowing and humorous anecdotes plus some unusual aspects to campaigning (like big game hunting), and you have a great read.

Byron Farwell has written a detailed, entertaining account of the events of the Great War in Africa. It is part military history and part adventure story. There were essentially four (largely) independent campaigns fought against the Germans in Africa: Togoland, the Cameroons, German Southwest Africa, and German East Africa. Farwell covers each of these in detail, the last of course taking up most of the book, as a succession of generals chase Gen. Lettow-Vorbeck and his native askaris through modern Kenya and Tanzania. From a purely military perspective, there is quite a bit of interest here. For the Germans, how do they defend a central position we surrounded by much stronger forces. For the British, how do they use their military and logistical superiority to advance into hostile (to say the least) terrain against a disciplined and motivated enemy?

One of the great aspects of this book is that Farwell occasionally takes detours from the narrative about the purely military aspects of the campaign to present accounts of many of the quirky events and people and the role they played in Africa. For example, Farwell discusses in detail the dragging of several ships over several thousand kilometers to Lake Tanganyika to contest naval control of the lake with the Germans. This expedition was probably unique in the annals of military campaigns, but it leader was particularly unusual. Farwell also discusses an attempt to resupply the Germans with zeppelins, some of the confuse naval actions along east Africa (the German cruiser Konigsberg sailed up the Rufiji river and it was quite difficult for the Royal Navy to get at it, to say the least). Finally, Farwell discusses some of the nasty diseases present in Africa that were often more of a scourge to the average soldier than combat. One type of parasite that infected the body and slowly ate the infected person from the inside out was particularly nasty. It is also annoying that Farwell tries to explain away every British defeat as the result of unreliable and poorly motivated natives, poor leadership, etc. To be fair though, he does give the natives (particularly the askaris fighting for the Germans) their due.

There are two reasons that I only give this book four stars (most reviewers to date have given it 5). First, while both detailed and highly readable, this book is not uniquely outstanding. Farwell is not David Chandler or Shelby Foote, and while anjoyable to read, this is not something that most readers may read 3-4 times in their lives. Second, this book is definitely written from the British perspective by someone who is obviously sympathetic to (and enamoured with) the Golden Age of the British empire. I certainly respect this view, but I think there is much more to the events in Africa during the Great War than what can be gleaned from General Smuts headquarters or in London. Working through Gen. Lettow-Vorbeck's memoirs after reading this book would give you a somewhat different perspective.

The bottom line is that this is a great (and easy) read for anyone (either casually or professionally) interested in one of the most unusual military campaigns in history. Definitely recommended.

Informative, insightful, & readable.
At last! A writer who both:
A)Knows his material
and
B) Can write in an absorbing & engaging fashion.
L. Sprague De Camp fans take note--you will like this book.

Also, try--
Mimi and Toutou's Big Adventure: The Bizarre Battle of Lake Tanganyika

Joseph Conrad would have loved and respected Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, and any woman would have been proud to have been his African Queen. This book is really three vignettes and one great story of courage and endurance.

At the outbreak of World War I, Germany had four African colonies, Togoland, Cameroon, South West Africa (now Namibia) and German East Africa (now mainland Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi). The stories about the conquering of the first three are very straight forward and give a very good idea of how the fighting in Africa differed from that in Europe. Of course the British made major mistakes of bringing in untried Indian troops who were totally unfit to fight in the 'Bush' but everyone kept a 'stiff upper lip' and died from disease and malnutrition.

The major story is how the commander of the "Schutztruppe" (local militia that were made up of European Officer and NCOs, African levies called Askaries, porters who were the most numerous and their wives and children) Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, managed to fight a four year war against over- whelming odds, and never lose a major engagement to the British. Throughout the war he was the consummate Guerrilla fighter, never facing the British head on but using hit and run tactics and always being one step ahead.

(There is a great side story that is better documented in "Mimi and Toutou's Big Adventure by Brian Garfield", about the bringing of some British naval ships to fight on Lake Tanganyika; but Farwell does a good job of telling the story in a succinct manner.)

In the end, the British, mostly made up of South African Whites,Nigerians, Kenyans and Indian troops, spend four years chasing Lettow around Tanganyika, into Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique), Northern Rhodesia and back into Tanganyika. During all this time he would leave his sick and wounded behind to be tended by the British, and would release his European prisoners if they would give their parole (agree not to rejoin the war). At the end of WWI, he was leading four to five thousand troops and keeping 87,000 British Commonwealth troops tied down protecting ports and railroads that could have been shipped to France. (He didn't surrender until November 15, 1918.)

For any history buff who enjoys a story that is almost Kipling-esque, this is the book to read.

This book was ok, no way near how good you might think it was by reading all the glowing reviews. To me it read more like a university text book than an exciting story. If you read the other reviews and see them mention all the really interesting "forgotten" stories of WW1 in Africa you may be suprised when you actually read the book. Several reviews mention the "Battle of the bee's" - you may be suprised when you read the book & see that the "battle of the bee's" is one short paragraph in the book. The reviews mention an amazing story of zeppelin L59 - in the book this takes up about 2 pages of text & a picture. So if you have read some of the glowing reviews you know almost as much about the bee's & the Zeppelin journey as if you had read the whole 400 page book. I found most of the book of some interest but I wouldn't really recommend this book to someone unless they are really looking for info on a certain battle in WW1 Africa at this time - but even then the info isn't very in depth.

As an italian, I've always had unending difficulties in search of books or any other source about military operations in Africa during WWI. But now and then, the name of von Lettow-Vorbeck appeared, surrounded of the fame of glorious deeds and exceptional personality. Well, reading this book has been a really enjoyable experience: masterly well-written, with sound attention to details but always keeping in sight the overall perspective. Last but not least, really fair balanced, it depicts men and events almost flawless, without any irritating bias against the one or the other side of the battlefield. In the midst of all that, Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck emerges as a hero and one among the greatest soldier of history, maybe a forgotten one, but nonetheless as great as a von Moltke or a Napoleon.