Titles Books

In the beginning, cats did not purr, but they did get into mischief. Old Mother Holly has a cat and he was one that was constantly getting into trouble. One day, Mother Holly had to go out and she gave Cat a list of tasks to do while she was gone. At the end of the list, she included a very stern "Or Else!" However, Cat being a cat, decided to do things differently. He started doing one thing and it went wrong and then every attempt to fix a problem created a new one. Feathers, water and popcorn were all flying through the house. In a flurry of great effort, Cat barely managed to get it all cleaned up. The last thing he did was pop some stray popcorn into his mouth.
When Mother Holly arrived, she was pleased to see that all was done and she promised Cat a treat. Unfortunately, the popcorn started making noises in Cat's stomach. The noise was a soft one and even though Cat confessed to all his failures, Mother Holly forgot about that as she listened to the soft sound emanating from Cat. She found the noise pleasurable and asked Cat to do it again. After a short time, both Mother Holly and Cat were sound asleep.
There is something very comforting about the purr of a cat; it is certainly part of the reason why humans, especially children, have an instinctive love of cats. This story, an "explanation" of the purr, is one that will delight children and amuse adults.

As I said before, the title of this book was the attraction for me. I actually found the illustrations a little fearful. I personally would have liked to have seen brighter colors used in the illustrations and utilizing the title for a more whimsical tale. That being said, I still purchased several copies of the book and give it as a gift -- especially when one is focusing on the acquisition of a cat as a pet for the little one in the house.

Cat lovers, rejoice! Here's another paean to our favorite feline pet. Schachner's illustrations are hysterical as cat gets into all the mischief anyone can imagine - from tangling in the thread of his mistress's spinning wheel to climbing into the cupboard and creating chaos among the crockery.

Never one to clean up his own messes, cat considers housework and pushing a broom "weary" work (we agree). Nonetheless, in Mother Holly's absence he spills the soup, and while trying to clean up turns the kitchen into a duck pond. He also releases feathers from a quilt, and makes a myriad of messes.

Nonetheless, Mother Holly dotes on her pet, just as we do on ours. Animal lovers have found a kindred soul.

My Grandson, at age 2 years and 9 months picked this out because of the picture on the cover. I thought he wouldn't understand and enjoy it because of the British expressions. Was I ever wrong! He loves it and I love reading it to him. After two days he was playfully using the expression "I'll be in a pickle for sure" and telling his mother he had swallowed some thunder after eating some corn. Now two months later, I was surprised that he has practically memorized the book (the first six pages completely - and there are a lot of words, many of them quite unusual, on those six pages. He often suggests we "tidy up the cottage". Mother Holly is a great help with learning good behavior and, even after all the excitement, he usually goes to sleep when the cat does.

This is a wonderful African tale of a crocodile family and a hunterman. The story allows for children to really evaluate the way that man treats other beings and it teaches a lesson, of humility, graciousness, love and irony. Alot for a little book, huh? I love it and my son loves it!!!

The author is a superb artist. I have been collecting this African artist's one of kind ceramics for a number of years so I was excited to find that he wrote and illustrated a book. My seven year old son loves this book. His first grade teacher read the book in class when they were studying the folk stories of the world. The drawings in the book are worth the price of the book.

I loved this book! One day an author named Baba Wague Diakite came to our school to talk about his book "The Hunterman and the Crocodile." Each classroom got a copy of the book which I read. Soon I discovered that the story was going to be performed as part of the first school play of the year! Even though my class wasn't in it I got to meet Baba-Wague while working on the set since he lives right down the street from my school! And though I had to see it performed four times( because I was asked to do sound) I never got tired of hearing the same same story. I guess seeing "The Hunterman and the Crocodile" come to life gave the meaning of the story even more meaning. I would reccomend this book to anyone of any age.

This is a wonderful children's book. I love it!! We need more authentic authors and illustrators of folk tales from Africa. Where did these drawings come from? They're FABULOUS!!!

Iktomi, The trickster of the Lakota, is up to his old tricks. In his chance meeting with the Prairie Dogs, demonstrates his untrustworthiness by making them up into fine meal. However, Iktomi meets up with Coyote, equally clever and untrustworthy, and finds himself tricked. This is the sixth book of the Itktomi series by Paul Goble. The book is another masterpiece of artwork and storytelling in the grand tradition of Paul's Caldecott award winning work. This book is a must buy for the school library, the storyteller, and parents who wish their children to read and look at a most delightful book. THe Best part of this beautiful artwork and story is that it tells a moral story, set in the old Indian buffalo Days that is as relevant today, as it was back when. Highly recommended for ages 2 through 12, and of course, adults of any age. Dennis West Boca Raton FL.

Iktomi, the trickster of the lakota, is up to his old tricks. In his chance meeting with the prairie dogs, he demonstrates his untrustworthiness by making them up into a fine meal. However, Iktomi meets up with Coyote, equally clever and untrustworthy, and finds himself tricked! This is the sixth book of the Iktomi series by Paul Goble. The book is another masterpiece of artwork and story telling in the grand tradition of Paul Goble's award winning work. This book is a must buy for the school library, the storyteller, and parents who wish their children to read and look at a most delightful book. The best part of this beautiful artwork and story is that it tells a moral story, set in the old Indian Buffalo Days, that is as relevant today as it was back when. Highly recommened for ages 2 through 12, and of course, adults of any age. Dennis West

In a previous misadventure, "Iktomi and the Ducks," the Trickster lost his roast duck dinner to the Coyote who is also clever and untrustworthy. Iktomi is the Trickster's name in Lakota, but in other Native American cultures he is known as Napi, Wihio, Glooscap, Nanabozon, and even Old Man Coyote. Paul Goble tells the story of their rematch in "Iktomi and the Coyote." As Goble points out, in Buffalo Days the stories about Iktomi reflected human nature and the wide range of possibilities from the divine all the way down. However, the stories that are told of Iktomi today represent him primarily in the Trickster role, forgetting that once he was a powerful force for good that helped in creating the land and taught humans how to make fire and gave them other gifts.

Once again Iktomi is about walking along one day on his way to a school to read kids his books, which tell all about his brave deeds and great generosity. But when the prairie dogs start laughing at him, Iktomi decides that nothing would taste better than baked prairie dog. The problem, of course, is to catch them. The fact that the prairie dogs are taking turns being buried up to their necks in the hot ashes of their cooking fire does not dissuade Iktomi from creeping stealthily toward them. As was the case with the ducks the last time around, Iktomi actually seems to succeed in his plan. But then along comes Coyote, looking sick and starved, limping slowly and painfully along on three legs, and you know that things are going to go badly for the Trickster.

Younger children might be upset by the story and some of the illustrations in "Iktomi and the Coyote," because the cute little prairie dogs do not fare well. The sight of the baked prairie dogs in the stomach of the wily Coyote (come on, you knew that particular adjective was coming) might be a bit upsetting, so be forewarned. As with the other stories of Iktomi, Goble provides text in grey italics where readers and listeners can make up their own insults about Iktomi, while the Trickster's thoughts are printed in small type. However, you should ignore those when the story is read aloud and leave it to the young readers to discover when they come back and read this story on their own.

IKtomi and The Coyote, by Paul Goble, new release by Orchard Books. IKTOMI, the trickster of the Lakota, is up to his old tricks. In his chance meeting with the Prairie Dogs, he demonstrates his untrustworthiness by making them up into a fine meal. However, IKTOMI meets up with Coyote, equally clever and untrustworthy, and finds himself tricked! This is the sixth book of the Itktomi series by Paul Goble. The book is another masterpiece of art work and story telling in the grand tradition of Paul Goble's award winning work. This book is a must buy for the school library, the storyteller, and parents who wish their children to read and look at a most delightful book. The best part of this beautiful story and artwork, is that it tells a moral story, set in the old Indian Buffalo days; that is as relevant today as it was back when. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for ages 2 through 12, and of course, adults of any age. Dennis West redfox@axxsys.net

This textbook is, probably, the best introduction to special relativity in English language.

Professor Rindler presents a skilful introduction to flat spacetime using four-tensors and allowing the neophyte to get leisurely acquainted with the nondefinite metric of Minkowskian spacetime through several worked and insightful examples -- not to mention the most interesting collection of problems, presented at the end of each chapter, that I have encountered in a textbook at this introductory level.

Having said that, I must add two remarks.

My first remark is that I cannot understand the reason why textbooks in English (as this one) insist in deriving the Lorentz transformation using Einstein's second postulate on the speed of light: as already pointed out by Jean-Marc Levy-Leblond (Am. J. Phys., Vol. 44, pp. 271-277, 1976), this second postulate is not only superfluous but also epistemological misleading -- see, e.g., the French textbook by J. Hladik and M. Chrysos (Introduction a la Relativite Restreinte, Dunod, Paris, 2001) which can be bought at Amazon.fr.

My second remark is that I think Hestenes' geometric algebra -- see, e.g., his article in Am. J. Phys., Vol. 71, pp. 691-714, 2003 -- is the most appropriate mathematical tool to present special relativity, even at the undergraduate level. You can check this out in his book "New Foundations for Classical Mechanics" (2nd ed., Kluwer, 1999), namely in Chapter 9.

The special theory of relativity was proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein in his article "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies". Some three centuries earlier, Galileo's principle of relativity had stated that all uniform motion was relative, and that there was no absolute and well-defined state of rest; a person on the deck of a ship may be at rest in his opinion, but someone observing from the shore would say that he was moving. Einstein's theory combines Galilean relativity with the postulate that all observers will always measure the speed of light to be the same no matter what their state of uniform linear motion is. This theory has a variety of surprising consequences that seem to violate common sense, but which have been verified experimentally and overthrows Newtonian notions of absolute space and time by stating that distance and time depend on the observer, and that time and space are perceived differently, depending on the observer.

This book assumes no prior knowledge of relativity, and I have found it great as a device for self-teaching this fascinating subject. It elaborates on the underlying logic, dwells on the subtleties and apparent paradoxes, and contains a large number of problems which cover all the basic modes of thinking and calculation in this discipline.

The viewpoint of the first three chapters is three-dimensional. These chapters include simple introductions to topics such as the relativity of simultaneity, length contraction, time dilation, the twin paradox, and the appearance of moving objects. Starting in chapter four on spacetime, the strongest possible use is made of four-dimensional techniques. Pure tensor theory is relegated to the appendix, so that it can serve as chapter 3.5 for readers that are unfamiliar with it. In chapters 5 and 6, on mechanics and electromagnetism, a purely synthetic four-tensor approach is adopted. This is simpler and more transparent than the historical approach, a good example of four-dimensional reasoning, and also brings the reader face-to-face with the man-made aspect of physical laws. In the last chapter on the mechanics of continua, the synthetic approach is somewhat softened by the well-known analogy with electromagnetism. I highly recommend this very readable book on a complex subject. It is especially helpful to those with an engineering background, since it makes heavy use of examples and diagrams to explain concepts. The table of contents is as follows:

1. Foundations of Special Relativity
2. Relativistic Kinematics
3. Relativistic Optics
4. Spacetime
5. Relativistic Particle Mechanics
6. Relativity and Electromagnetism in Vacuum
7. Relativistic Mechanics of Continua
Appendix: Tensors for Special Relativity

This is a short, but well written, text on special relativity written at the level of an advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate student. Most discussions of special relativity are either very basic (little more than a discussion of Lorentz transformations and the postulates of relativity) or advanced presentations that are meant as lead-ins to general relativity. This book nicely fills the gap between these two extremes. The mathematical presentation is complete, but this text also contains detailed discussions of basic ideas to explain results with words, not just equations. There are also many useful problems at the end of each chapter. This book contains chapters on the relativistic mechanics of particles, electromagnetism, and the mechanics of fluids, although the fundamental ideas and mathematics are clearly elaborated in the first several chapters. Rindler also describes (and resolves) the Lorentz paradox and the twin paradox at length. This is an outstanding book, and if you are looking to fill the gap between the basics and GR, this is the text you need.

The author has the knack of always saying just exactly the needed words to connect the math with the physics. After reading every line of this book very carefully I can say that at last I understand special relativity.

There are many books on General Relativity but the reader has to be careful to pick the right one so as not to waste his (or rarely her) time and money! Lawden's book belongs to the class of technical introductions - it requires you to have an undergraduate background in physics and mathematics. The author is primarily a teacher and he has taken care to make the material as easy to understand as possible. On the other hand, this book will not enable you to go directly to the research literature. A great plus of the book is the very reasonable price. I have had the infuriating experience of paying more than $100 for a highly praised textbook only to find it unreadable. The mathematical formalism Lawden employs (tensor calculus based on covariant and contravariant tensors) is now considered old fashioned but it is still the easiest for a beginner in my opinion. Once you have finished this book, I recommend that you read Synge and Schild's "Tensor Calculus" for more depth in the mathematics and also "The Principle of Relativity" (a collection of original papers by Einstein and others) to get a feeling for the history of the subject. Both of these are also Dover paperbacks and very cheap. Then if you want a more modern approach, I recommend Schutz's "A First Course in General Relativity" which is still reasonably priced and will bring you closer to the level of contemporary research. Schutz uses a formalism of tensor calculus which aligns it with differential geometry and is now used in advanced textbooks.

This book is very good for those seeking an introduction to Tensor Calculus, Relativity and Cosmology. Nothing more than a basic and fundamental know-how of physics is required, atleast for the first few chapters. If you're comfortable with the simple basics of linear algebra, classical mechanics, electromagnetics and calculus, you should have no problem with this book.

The book starts out with a basic review of classical physics and very quickly progresses to the Lorentz Transformation, and then to Cartesian Tensors and Special Relativity. Lawden handles the flow quite well, and covers the basic Special Relativity mechanics & electrodynamics as well as general Tensor Calculus & Riemann Spaces. Finally, he proceeds to discuss the General Theory of Relativity with a strong focus on Black Holes & Gravitational waves and analyzes elements of Cosmology in the light of the General Theory of Relativity.

However, I would not recommend this book in and of itself for learning Tensor Calculus. Unfortunately, Lawden does not have any relevant references to Quantum Mechanics, either, which would have proven to be immensely useful to the novice reader. You'd also do well to brush up on your physics fundamentals before jumping head-on.

This book primarily acts as a very basic introduction to those that are not familiar with some aspects of elementary modern physics such as Tensor Calculus and Relativity, and does an extremely good job of that.

Personally, I'd highly recommend this book if you're looking to read up on Relativity & related areas.

I have bought a bunch of books on Tensors, and in this one you actually get to do calculations, its the only one I have found of this sort. I am in the process of reading this book, but so far its a five star. I also looked up Lawden on the Internet and he was involved in a lot of early space research and was sought after by alot of companies, a must book for anyone serious in research. One last note, you need to get the answers for the questions to see techniques of his style.

I'm really impressed with the clarity of the material.
I've worked through 21 problems in chapter 2, and the answers to the exercies do not have a single mistake in them yet.

The publisher will also email you a .pdf file of all of the chapter problems worked out in detail. I've found the solutions to the problems to be a good supplement to the text itself.

I would buy other titles from this author and publisher.

"It Is Done" is one book that I could not put down. Once I started reading, I wanted to keep reading and reading until I had finished. You won't be able to put it down either. I can't remember reading a book in a couple of days. I wanted to know all about Kathy's miracles. This book has helped me to change some things in my life; i.e. thinking positive and affirming the things that I want. The affirmations really work! (The perfect parking space--try it, I couldn't believe it either!) Kathy has helped me to see that His plan for my life is already done. I look to Him daily for His protection, His blessings and His miracles. I am in the midst of reading this book again; and I know that I will read it over and over. It is easy reading! It is powerful reading! Thank you Kathy for sharing your miracles with us. I look forward to sharing my miracles with you one day.

This author writes in such an entertaining way, I did NOT want to put her book down! I was captivated by her story! I've been in sales for more than 35+ years, so I'm no stranger to positive mental attitude, affirmations, and visualization. But Ms Lewis' book made me reevaluate all I've learned through the years, put it in proper perspective, and further explore the spiritual principles to which she attributes her life's many miracles and her incredible success! It is very obvious Kathy is a genuine believer, and the way in which she speaks straight from the heart is very uplifting. The book was such an easy read, I felt as though Kathy was sharing her story with me over a cup (or two or three) of coffee. I would DEFINITELY recommend "It Is Done!" to others who want a good book with a wonderful story PLUS leaves you feeling good and inspired about life!

Kathy's book is simply wonderful! Through her own personal experiences, she takes you on a fascinating journey as she creates the life of her dreams by practicing basic spiritual principles. The excitement she exudes in sharing these principles with others is evident on each page, and you get the feeling that nothing would make her happier than to see others creating dream lives of their own. She has an honest, straightforward writing style that's fun and easy to read. It is truly inspiring to read about the modern day miracles that have shaped Kathy's life and positively impacted so many people around her. The book leaves you with a sense of empowerment to pursue the desires of your heart and the faith to surrender this pursuit into the loving and capable hands of God. If you're ready to live the life you were meant to live and feel it would take a miracle to make it all happen, then this book is definitely for you!

The book is NOT written with worn out cliches, difficult to understand platitudes nor with Pollyanna attitudes. Kathy has written a book from her real life experiences with which real people can relate. I would recommend it to anyone who wants the best in life or to anyone who does not know they can have a better life but are willing to find it possible. Even my friends who did not "need" this book, found it very enjoyable.

I teach pottery and always have at least one Jananese student in my class. (Some times they speak very little English)
This is the most basic pottery book. There are no color photos but what wonderful step by step instructional sketches, the sheer number of forms and different designs is truly Awesome.
This book is written both in English and in Japanese. I can't tell you how much this book has help bridge the language barrier (I speak Zero Japanese).
My students both Japanese and American love the book. Worth every penny.

This is an excellent book for the price! Simple and straight forward, it's a great learning tool and gives you some good basic info.

A very basic handbook if you are looking for pottery techniques, but invaluable for the English/ Japanese translations and terminology in hiragana, katakana and kanji for the Western potter who travels to Japan. Not many books around that gives one access to this terminology to enable one to discuss ceramics with the Japanese potter.The terminology regarding forms, descriptions, glazes, underglazes, etc are exellent, with helpfull maps on kiln sites and the different wares found in the different regions of Japan.

This informative and delightful book is a must for any potter. With charming and clear illustrations the authors provide information on tools, workshops, forming, decorations, kilns, etc. Even common problems are illustrated! Towards the end of the book, drawings of various forms will prove a valuable resource to many a potter. This book has become a constant reference in my own studio. Please note that two languages are used in the book, Japanese and English, accenting the visual delight of this well designed book.

How should Christians view childbirth? Is "natural childbirth" some fad started by hippies and humanists? Should Christians use midwives? These were questions that were being batted around by a group of us fairly new mothers back when I was pregnant with my second baby. I wish I'd had this book then. It presents a Biblical view of childbirth...a view that tells us that childbirth can indeed be joyful. Is this pie-in-the-sky stuff only for "earth mothers" or women who delight in "toughing it out" or being martyr-like during labor? Not at all! I have had the sort of joyful birth that this book describes and teaches. If you want to be inspired and taught on a practical level about childbirth and its significance for Christian families, this is a must read.

If so, read this book! The late Helen Wessel studied the Scriptures in their original language, and discovered the truth about Eve's "curse". The first half of the book is written as a story, about a young Christian couple expecting their first baby. There is alot of information to be picked up in the story, and even more follows in the second half of the book.

Part 2 has such chapter titles as "Childbirth Through the Centuries," "Childbirth in the Bible," "The Medical Model," "Family Sheltered Birthing," "Birthing God's Way," "The Joy of Natural Childbirth," and "The Joy of Breastfeeding." One of these chapters alone makes the book worth buying. All of them put together makes it a must-read, even if you are not planning an unmedicated birth.

I read this book when I was pregnant with my second child way back in 1970. After having a medicated birth I knew their had to be a better way. With the help of books like this one, plus Grantly-Dick-Read's Natural Childbirth. I had a wonderful birth experience with my second and third child. After eons of being taught that we must suffer as part of the curse its great to learn and realize that it is labor; hard work. Very helpful book and a great inspiration. God is awesome. Men may think they've got it made by not having to have babies but to me it was an truly awesome, spiritual experience that I wouldn't trade for a million $$.

Although some of the experiences chronicled in this book are "too good to be true" it was a most valuable read for me. I wish I had read it sooner!! The relaxing techniques really helped and the key for me was welcoming a coming contraction rather than tensing against the pain which I did with my first two children. Having had natural childbirth for all three of my children, with no pain medication whatsoever, and having read this book before my third child, I found it worth its weight in gold! Had I not read this book, I wouldn't have managed the 4+ hours at 9cm.

I had previously heard of Aaron A. when I read the online issue of Serenity Rose at his art website, so I recognized his art style as soon as I saw the girl on the cover.
Kimmie66 is a soft science-fiction story about a girl trying to solve a mystery concerning her best friend, Kimmie66, who has sent her a suicide note. Unfortunately, this is difficult since people now socialize through "lairs" or a hi-tech version of a MMORPG, complete with virtual reality goggles.
The characters are interesting, especially Kimmie66. The heroine may remind Aaron A. fans of Serenity Rose - almost similar dress style, mannerisms, etc. The topic of technology and virtual communities would also appeal to modern readers. The art mixes a crisp, cookie-cutter style similar to anime or Junko Mizuno, along with a sketchy, horror edge resembling the works of Jhonen Vasquez. My only complaint is that it is not very long. I would have liked to learn more of Kimmie66 and her life outside of the virutal one, and a few things as well.
For the price of 9.99, I would say its worth buying.

Art: A
Plot: A
Readability: A
Average score: A (worth buying)

The Minx line is supposed to be aimed at teen girls, but from what they tell me at Eide's Comics in Pittsburgh, a lot of books get picked up by regular comic book readers like myself -- older and male.

I picked up "kimmie66" by Aaron Alexovich a couple weeks back and only now got around to reading it. About halfway through, I caught on to what Aaron was up to and was astonished by where it was headed. The book is far more than one would expect for the Minx line or comic books in general. No, it's not as good as Straczynski's "Midnight Nation" or even "Spider-Man: Revelations" but I'd rank it as a "must read."

But Kimmie66 is not just another Minx comic. Sure, girls age 13 - 17 will like Kimmie66, but so will you! Sci-fi/fantasy/techno-goth/awesome! An intiguing story in a hugely new world, creative and brilliant art style with endearing character design.
Buy this comic.

This story will be enjoyed by anyone who has ever experienced a meaningful relationship online: friendship, romance, or even a deep 6 hour conversation with a complete stranger. If you are thirsting for a book that helps you understand the mindsets of the new world we live in, this is one of those books. It may be set in the future, but everything in this story directly applies to the present day.

It hits home with the world we now live in; where physical barriers are becoming less important; where corporations are organizing international employee training sessions in virtual worlds, and are recruiting in Second Life; a world where you have close friends internationally but have no clue who your next door neighbor is.

Information and technological advancement is happening so rapidly that what a person learns in their first year of college can become outdated by the time they graduate. This book captures the modern feeling of infinite access, infinite exploration, infinite creation. In a time when virtually anything is possible (pun intended), we need stories that target, capture, explore and encourage that feeling for all generations living here and now on our very, very small Earth.

The story itself is as old as time: it is the story of friendship, understanding, self-discovery and growing up. I would go so far as to say that I think parents might benefit from reading this book, to better understand the world their children are growing up in. And to simply enjoy the book itself; it is truly for all ages.

This is a very good story, and well told, even if ghost written.

Oddly, it casts the Duke of Windsor in a poor light, and indicates why, quite apart from the marriage question, he was a bad King. Who can read without wincing his account of how he abruptly cut short the presentations of debutantes to him at Buckingham Palace because it started to rain? This was the high point of perfectly harmless society ladies' lives, and he not only walked out in the middle, but caustically observes that he cannot understand why anyone was upset.

And then there is the peculiar passage where he says that he worked out that it would take nearly a month for bodies like the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and others, to present their loyal addresses, so he insisted on them all being done in one day, in one batch, because he could not be bothered to respond to all of them individually. Yet this was his job as a constitutional monarch!

A welcome feature of the book is that it stops at the moment of abdication. Although this means that he doesn't have to explain his conduct during the lead up to the war, and during the war (which is, however, documented in the Duchess of Windsor's memoirs), it does focus the book almost entirely on his upbringing as a Prince, and on the abdication, which are the most interesting things about him.

Well worth reading.

The Duke of Windsor wrote this book in the 1950s while living in Paris. Reading it you begin to get some sense that for all his faults here was an individual of extraordinary personal charm. It was certainly a singular life. Here was a boy who was led to believe he would inherit the throne of the greatest empire on earth but who ends up as a sad fixture on the international cocktail party circuit in the arms of an ageing American divorcee of uncertain past. What happened! The anecdotal style of this simply written book is very enjoyable to read. The passing of the certainties of the Victorian age, the Edwardian twilight, World War I, the thrill of all things new and American in the 20s and 30s: the would be Edward VIII is a uniquely placed witness. History increasingly casts the Duke and his bride as ridiculous even sinister figures. This book helps you to remember that they were human too, falliable, and at the mercy of political and world historical forces beyond their control.

The greatest love story of our century is an understatement.
A King's Story is well known to be ghost written for the Duke and even with constant prodding, he suffered from selective memory.
He seems to forget all his previous "friendships", those familiar with the saga will know this means the married women in his life before Wallis. A great addition to royal book collection, but if you are looking for the facts, hunt them down in Donaldson book. Companion book is the Duchess Heart has it's reasons. Maybe they should have gotten together so the facts in each book matched.

It is quite a sad testament to our times that there are very few true gentlemen left these days. Civility is indeed going the way of the do-do bird, and the days of gents like David Nivens, Cary Grant, Cole Porter, Sean Connery and the good Duke here, are slowly fading into obscurity. That need not be the case and, hopefully, there are few out there who still feel as do I, that it need not completely die. Perhaps if more read the memoirs here, they will become inspired and such a dream can become realized.

The memoirs themselves are quite extraordinary and give one fantastic insight into this legendary gentleman and family. Reading other reviews that quibble over "selective" memory of the Duke, I can only surmise that these come from the very same individuals who grab the latest issues of "In Touch" and whatever other gossip periodicals they can grasp, only to "learn" the inside dirt on various celebs and noteworthy individuals. If that's what you are truly after in the first place, then this is definitely not for you and you should just stick to reading the by-lines or scanning the photos of the tabloids. Otherwise, if you'd like to get a peek into a life of grandeur and civility, and perhaps some tips on how to bring a modicum of dignity to your own, then this is for you.

Enjoy.