Switzerland Books

Most of the enjoyment with this book is the discovery of Nabokov's creation. Frankly, I suggest that you skip the reviews here, close your eyes for the moment and simply read the book - the same recommendation that I make for most of his books. Read the comments later. By the way, the novel has nothing to do with Harlequin romance novels - or maybe it does indirectly.

Vladimir Nabokov (1899 to 1977) is a Russian born writer who went to Cambridge, then lived in western Europe, the US, and finally retired in Switzerland. He has a medium sized body of work with numerous novels, short works, and well known non-fiction. Most know him for his 1955 creation of Lolita, which he wrote and re-wrote for over twenty years before the final product. It was based on a real life French story, but set in America. He has 20 novels.

Eleven of Nabokov's novels come from his early European period when he could write in many languages but he wrote his first 11 novels all in Russian. The present work is from his Swiss period, that is from his retirement years, written in English and one of his last novels. It was published in 1974.

Without revealing too much about the plot, it is a story of a fictional Vadim Vadimovich who lived at the same time as the author and who has a life similar to the author including a love off butterflies, writing, and living in similar cities and towns. However, we must assume it is a work of fiction and leave if for the reader to discover the details.

It is a very humorous and entertaining a book. I have read about half of his novels and thought it was excellent but a touch short of his best. It is a matter of taste, but I liked "King, Queen, Knave" and "Laughter in the Dark" as his best works, notwithstanding "Pale Fire" and "Lolita."

It is an entertaining read but not his best work. Saying that, readers will be far from disappointed and there are many funny sections.

LATH will not go down as Nabokov's most memorable or widely-read work. In fact, if it weren't for the novels that preceded it, it would probably be forgotten. And it's not a work I would recommend to anyone who hasn't already read most of N's other fiction. But to a diehard Nabokovian, LATH offers enough pleasures to make the read (and the wait) worthwhile.

Yes, it appears to be a "fictionalized" autobiography of Nabokov, with some key changes (Nabokov professed to be most content with life, while the same could not be said for LATH's protagonist-cum-"author", Vadim Vadimovich). Thus, one will not get much out of the book unless one has read N's other work and knows a bit about his life.

What make this novel truly enjoyable are (a) N's trademark wordplay (not as great as in "Lolita" and "Ada", but still magnificent); (b) small moments of genuine joy (as in the coy but cute resolution of Vadim's psychological conundrum); and (c) some excellent Nabokovian narrative tricks: Vadim feels he is living someone else's life and at one point appears to be on the verge of realizing that he is, in fact, Vladimir Nabokov (try wrapping your mind around that!)--only to have the epiphany slip away.

LATH should (as another reviewer recommended) be saved for last. Those who do get around to reading it, though, will almost surely enjoy it. I get a kick just thinking of the old guy--pushing 75, but still as vibrant and full of tricks as ever. That he never won a Nobel Prize is an terrible shame.

Beginning with a list of the author's "other" books, which don't exist outside the distorted mirror world of what Nabakov calls "LATH" (as he acronymically pegs Look At The Harlequins! within that book's own text) is a wildly inventive metafiction in the bilingually verbose hyper-alliterative Nabokovian mold. We get splendid sentences here on the jeweled gift of selfhood giving reason to resist suicide from whatever facet, cranky meditations on the author's pederastic proclivities and ego, and, most brilliantly, strange slips down the semiotic slope into madness. In two or three places in this book we find ourselves in a meticulously rendered literary reality and then, through a process of what one might call overdescription as exquisite as it is subtle, we find that our narrator has lost contact with the very rich world he has created for us; there is also a (to me) fascinating motif of the author's self-analysis of a strange spatial or geographical malady: he cannot mentally reverse himself and return after picturing a scene in his mind's eye. (This perhaps is meant as a sly parallel to time's one-way flow: time, which via the magic of the book, as opposed to the temporal incarceration of life, can be reversed--a hint of a kind of "law of nature" that might apply to a "real" metafictional character.) And despite the hefty overlap of the life of the protagonist with that of Nabokov (e.g., he has English tutors, Russian aristocratic blood, contempt for psychoanalysts, and the like), this book is clearly metafiction. The protagonist here, as with the protagonists in Transparent Things and Lolita, is fascinated by butterflies but not an entomologist of Nabokov's caliber. What makes LATH different from the work of other authors of metafiction's alluringly magical, "self"-indulgent mode, depends on the previous richness Nabokov has built up in his fictions which, from the Russian-drafted Gift to Humbert Humbert in Lolita, *already* deal with a protagonist much like the author. Thus the slippage here is not dual, between the author and his protagonist, but "trial" (as one might say), between the author, his protagonist, and the lives of his other protagonists, memorably Humbert Humbert of Lolita. Nabokov is having sly taunts: not only at America's image of him as author of Lolita, but at himself for being too quick to disidentify from that potent catcher of words and nymphs,
and finally perhas, at the ontological conceit of a fixed self that could be wholly either one or another. The protagonist here is a dialectical monster flitting between Nabokov and Humbert Humbert, a monster Nabokov himself capture's like a moth between LATH's pages. The last, and in some ways perhaps richest novel from a modern master.

The only thing Nabokov accomplished here was to induce me to yawn at the head harlequin. HARLEQUINS is an exercise in (no--better make that "an excretion of") self-congratulatory lit-chat. It's a roman-a-clef that makes all the obligatory allusions to Nabokov's self-overrated oeuvre. It is a suffocating borefest. I got the distinct sensation of being hermetically sealed far up the netherlands of Nabokov's preening patoot. Although I did enjoy the following passage:

"Would I like to know something? (Dilatory sip and lip lick.) Well, at all my five public readings since the first on September 3, 1928, in the Salle Planiol, she had been present, she had applauded till her palms (showing palms) ached, and had made up her mind that next time she'd be smart and plucky enough to push her way through the crowd (yes, crowd--no need to smile ironically) with the firm intention of clasping my hand and pouring out her soul in a single word, which, however, she could never find--and that's why, inexorably, she would always be left standing and beaming like a fool in the middle of the vacated hall."

Beginning with a list of the author's "other" books, which don't exist outside the distorted mirror world of what Nabakov calls "LATH" (as he acronymically pegs Look At The Harlequins! within that book's own text) is a wildly inventive metafiction in the bilingually verbose hyper-alliterative Nabokovian mold. We get splendid sentences here on the jeweled gift of selfhood giving reason to resist suicide from whatever facet, cranky meditations on the author's pederastic proclivities and ego, and, most brilliantly, strange slips down the semiotic slope into madness. In two or three places in this book we find ourselves in a meticulously rendered literary reality and then, through a process of what one might call overdescription as exquisite as it is subtle, we find that our narrator has lost contact with the very rich world he has created for us; there is also a (to me) fascinating motif of the author's self-analysis of a strange spatial or geographical malady: he cannot mentally reverse himself and return after picturing a scene in his mind's eye. (This perhaps is meant as a sly parallel to time's one-way flow: time, which via the magic of the book, as opposed to the temporal incarceration of life, can be reversed--a hint of a kind of "law of nature" that might apply to a "real" metafictional character.) And despite the hefty overlap of the life of the protagonist with that of Nabokov (e.g., he has English tutors, Russian aristocratic blood, contempt for psychoanalysts, and the like), this book is clearly metafiction. The protagonist here, as with the protagonists in Transparent Things and Lolita, is fascinated by butterflies but not an entomologist of Nabokov's caliber. What makes LATH different from the work of other authors of metafiction's alluringly magical, "self"-indulgent mode, depends on the previous richness Nabokov has built up in his fictions which, from the Russian-drafted Gift to Humbert Humbert in Lolita, *already* deal with a protagonist much like the author. Thus the slippage here is not dual, between the author and his protagonist, but "trial" (as one might say), between the author, his protagonist, and the lives of his other protagonists, memorably Humbert Humbert of Lolita. Nabokov is having sly taunts: not only at America's image of him as author of Lolita, but at himself for being too quick to disidentify from that potent catcher of words and nymphs,
and finally perhas, at the ontological conceit of a fixed self that could be wholly either one or another. The protagonist here is a dialectical monster flitting between Nabokov and Humbert Humbert, a monster Nabokov himself capture's like a moth between LATH's pages. The last, and in some ways perhaps richest novel from a modern master.

This book's strength is that the author was present for this historic timeframe and his ability to recount details and nuances of character of the Amercians and Russians involved in the negotiation process. The photos usd could be better. there should have been more of mrs gorbachev and mrs reagan.

While I find this an intriguing account, I must disagree with the author's theory that the cold war ended earlier than the collapse of the Soviet regime. Soviet reforms relied on the person of Gorbachev, and it was not until the final collapse after the coup attempt that we could be sure of the long term path of Russia. While Matlock makes the valid point that the end of the cold war and the collapse of the Soviet Union were two separate events, the two were intimately related, and it's in my belief we could not formally declare the end of one without the sure and certain demise of the other.

That being said, Matlock has written a fascinating and absorbing "pre-quel" to his "Autopsy on an Empire". Here is Reagan with all his flaws, yet with the steadfast purpose that secured his place in both national and international history. Gorbachev too is illustrated as the determined yet all too human reformer, who although ultimately failing in his task, nevertheless takes the courageous steps that create an environment which allows for the bold rebirth of a nation.

I must admit to being a bit miffed at Ambassador Matlock for his recent endorsement of Senator Kerry for the upcoming US election, but I give him credit for his telling of a tale of incredible and perhaps unprecedented scope. I give four stars for the tactical analysis, but withhold the final one for what his former boss once called "the vision thing". Nevertheless this is an invaluable book for any student of the late cold war period.

Reagan and Gorbachev are two of the most important men in the last half of the 20th century. Each of them, thru ways subtle and overt, led their nations to the point where the Cold War could end, and a new future could begin. Much has been written about what each did on their domestic fronts to move their governments and populations to this point, and much has also been written about how they worked together, sometimes in public and sometimes in private. This book focuses on the latter.

Written by a former ambassador to the USSR, this book gives detailed accounts of the discussions between the two leaders, discussions within the camp of each leader (though mainly in the US camp for obvious reasons), and highlights both the failures and successes in the on-and-off dialogue between Reagan and Gorbachev, and their underlings, throughout the 1980s. The author shows how Reagan consistently pushed human rights within the USSR as a the price for arms control, while the USSR wanted the end of Star Wars on its part. The reasoning and logic used by both parties is explained in detail, along with arguments and rivalries within Reagan's team. Overall, a good book that shows the intricacies of great power diplomacy, military - political rivalries, and conflict management and resolution.

My thoughts on this book match up pretty much with Oberdorfer's book on the end of the Cold War, which was originally titled "The Turn." They both offer a more open-minded approach. Matlock, in this book, has a bit more distance from the event, which allowed him more access to the Soviet side. And he was an insider's insider to what occurred. Oberdorfer's account is as the top-notch journalist he was. It's easier reading and thoroughly entertaining.

Matlock offers a fairly moderate view on the end of the Cold War. For the past decade or so, the right has been on a mission to rewrite history about Reagan and the Soviet Union's demise. In essence, they want us to believe that the Soviet Union collapsed because Reagan drove them to it by building up the US military, which in turn forced the Soviets to build up; the Soviet problem though, was that they had limited resources. When pushed too far, they collapsed. Clever and convenient story. Also false.

Liberals don't really get it right either. They feel Reagan is irrelevant and that Gorbachev came in and saved the world. Also convenient and clever. And again, false.

The truth lies somewhere in-between. US policy towards the Soviet Union was well in place before Reagan came around. That isn't to say that there weren't differences between Reagan, Carter, Nixon, etc., but the idea of containment was already in existence. And we have Truman and Marshall to thank for that. Still, Reagan was absolutely correct to call the Soviet Union an "evil empire." They were. Reagan also offered the American people a positive vision and purpose. Finally, he showed that we could build up in a way that no nation could compete with us. Of course, we went further than was healthy; but alas, we are still standing - and they are not.

Gorbachev, too, was a different kind of leader. Because he still preferred socialism that does not mean he was Stalin or Brezhnev reborn. Gorbachev was different. Plain and simple. He could have fought harder and killed to maintain Soviet supremacy over the East. Some of his predecessors have done just that - by the millions no less.

Both Reagan and Gorbachev, as well as social forces much bigger than any individuals, played important parts in a process that was much greater than its parts. Matlock justly notes all of those facts and he takes us through a fairly brief account of the actual meetings and inside discussions that helped change the world into something better. But the future, as we all found out on 9/11, was not without risks and problems.

Jack Matlock's review can leave many Reaganites dissatisfied. He claims that Reagan DID NOT win the Cold War, at least single-handedly. He reveals, contrary to the moanings of the Communist fanatics, that the US DID NOT have an agenda to destroy the Soviet Union, whose collapse it actually feared for unforeseen circumstances. There WAS NOT even a plan to destroy the Communism, as it seemed unrealistic. What was at the beginning was a much more modest (by the count of today, not twenty-three years ago, though) agenda of not letting the USSR think that it can win the arms race and compel the world to subservance; to get the Soviets out of violation of numerous arms treaties and stop supporting terrorism; to get them out of the Afghanistan; to make it more respectful to human rights inside and around its empire. Not quite modest, though! Matlock shows quite convincingly that the US missile programs and especially SDI (Star Wars) were not enough to wear down the Soviet Union to the point of destruction: anyway, if the USSR did not chose to reform from inside, it could easily survive (although I would personally argue that the Reagan administration DID work to undermine the USSR economically - remember the pressure to push down oil prices, for example). And of course, Reagan did not force Gorbachev and perestroika. The latter happened largely due to a sequence of historic accidents: Russian leaders kept dying and the only one suitable to take (not one foot in the grave) office actually happened to be the one with aspirations to reform. Then Reagan found a partner at the table who can be sensible to his words and pressure. Former KGB head Andropov promoted Gorbachev for years, what an irony!!!

But here is what Reagan really DID. He DID convince the Soviets they could not prevail over the US in either arms race or grabbing new additions to its empire. He DID NOT chicken in the negotiations and made Soviets pretty much acquiescing to the US demands. This was extremely important as Gorbachev could not really start reforms without easing up the burden of arms race. In the end of the day, he understood that in order to disarm, he NEEDED the reforms - he had to be relieved from the pressure of hardline dogmatics in the Politbureau in order to eliminate very symbolic but essentially pointless stumbling blocks in the negotiations. So, Reagan really and honestly worked towards the end of the cold war, I would even say, there may be the case that he actually forced its end once Gorbachev was there, but the historical accidence and the good will of Gorbachev was an equally important factor. The same policy might not have resulted in what it resulted in with another aging blockhead in Kremlin, but Reagan's policies would surely make even this hypothetic blockhead abandon some of Brezhnev's ways.

Then, however, liberal leftists would be absolutely stunned to find out who Reagan WAS. Contrary to their cliches, Reagan WAS de-facto a Wilsonian romantic who dreamt about the world without nukes (and irritated the Socialist icon Francois Mitterand enormously on this), who pressed human rights as hard as he could; who was not a war mongerer, who paid due respect to Russia, its history and the people. He DID not score cheap propaganda points, however. Sometimes, talking endlessly about human rights could harm more the people suffering behind KGB bars than help them. He was very much aware, and did not do what Jimmy Carter still claims credit for as 'true humanitarian.But he quietly helped many dissidents. ' He WAS smart enough to understand that Gorbachev is cornered by hardliners, and never claimed he 'defeated' him in negotiations even when Soviets de-facto acquiesced to the American demands and principles. He WAS standing up against some real hawks and hardliners in his administration. Again, he was a Wilsonian in goals, but very realist and shrewed in means.

Back to Matlock. He dispels one more myth, that is, that the US actually WON the cold war. Over whom? Communism, there was a triumph of democracy, which is definitely not a zero-sum outcome. If over Russia, Russians could emerge as the greatest winners in cold war if they treated their newly-found freedom with a more accuracy.

And when reading this book, one comes to understand why Matlock endorsed Kerry, not Bush, in the last elections. Reagan never was a unilateralist. He cherished allies even when the latter disdained him. He understood and respected enemies, and above all, he was a man of ideals.

I bought this book because my husband is Swiss and I thought it would be fun to read together. While reading it, I laughed out loud because some of the cultural differences are pretty accurate and also funny... especially if you are married to someone with a difference of opinion about saving versus spending money. Well, my husband was not so amused and found it all very insulting. I guess this book is good for those who just need to know there are other people out there who notice the peculiarities of the Swiss and need to commiserate. :-)

This book is laugh out loud funny and has many truths, though the Swiss may not want to admit it. All countries have their quirks and Switzerland is not immune either. A a Swiss dual national married to a Swiss, I heard about all these little quirks that all cultures and countries have and always teased my spouse that he was exaggerating regarding Switzerland. Then I spent time in the country and just recently I experienced the "self sustaining bureacracy" at work when the Swiss Govt. charged me $50 for a very fancy piece of paper to tell me what my address is, the state in the US I was born, the date when I got married and who my parents are-that's it, no really that's all it says-nothing more. I am convinced that the $50 was to pay for the fancy paper-that's how fancy it really is. So as the author himself notes on this very subject of family papers...I guess it's in case I forget these facts about myself. Needless to say I howled over this.

Read this book with humor and take into account that it isn't a traditional travel book nor an ultra accurate account on Swiss manufacturing and tourism or the countries stats. But there are some real truths here relayed with great wit. The author himself is Brit married to a Swiss and has made some genuinely funny observations on Swiss culture. I finished reading this book thinking the author genuinely loves and respects his adopted country, but gosh they do some funny things sometimes. A little joshing and humor never hurt anyone-even the staunch Swiss. We should always be able to laugh at ourselves and that's what this book sets out to do, and to my thinking, it succeeded.

This is a short simple to read book about the Swiss. I am Swiss, born there, but did not grow up in this very clean state. My wife who is a U.S. citizen bought me the book for my birthday. Because of my rowing career we traveled to Switzerland a fair bit and I observed the Swiss way through the eyes of my wife. I think this book is great for Swiss who live abroad because it reminds them why they miss Switzerland and why they don't. This book is great for Swiss who live in Switzerland and need motivation to go see other corners of the world. Since we have friends of different nationalities, Swede, Dutch, and German, we offered them their respective Xenophobe's Guide. They all loved their new booklet.
Happy reading, XENO www gorow com

I have lived in Switzerland for the past 9 years and this little tongue-in-cheek booklet is spot on - note that it was first published in 1995 and preciously little has changed since then.

I am just finishing up my third year of living in Switzerland part-time (6 mos./yr). This little book is a nice easy read and is not only enjoyable but seems to be pretty accurate in terms of encompassing the 'Swiss Mentality'. Possibly some statistics and technicalities are not 'dead-on' but most of them match what I have already heard. The humour in the book is great and is probably most appreciated by those who are non-Swiss and who live amongst them or know them well. (I'm sure most Swiss would struggle to find any humour in it.) Being able to read about things writen by someone else, that you see and experience in daily life yourself adds to the humour. I'd say a good read for someone who is going to be in Switzerland for any length of time.

This is the only book I bought for my trip to Switzerland, and I was able to get by very well with it. I visted Zurich, Lucerne, Lugano, Bern, Interlaken, Zermatt, Montreaux, Lausanne, and Geneva, and found the book to have all the information I needed for each city.

The format is easy to use, with listings of hotels, restaurants, tourist attractions, bars, nightclubs, etc., for each city, and the book includes info on virtually every city and town in Switzerland that a tourist could want to see. For major cities, the book even has maps showing where hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions are located, as well as more detailed maps of proposed "walking tours."

There are no photos of Switzerland in this book, except on the front and back cover. Although the lack of photos doesn't bother me, if you want photos of Switzerland in your guide book, I would suggest the DK Eyewitness guide.

This was a great guide for us while driving in Switzerland. Frommer's recommendations and descriptions for places to stay and site-see were fairly accurate. When they list a five star hotel as such, believe it. They also included mini walking tours in various cities ... it was great!!! What a fantastic way to get aquainted with unknown spots!!!!

I find this guide to be well organized and comprehensive.
The walking tours of the major cities is the feature I like
best, but there are also descriptions of major attractions
which help one decide which to see and which to miss if time
is short. I had an older Frommer's Switzerland guide and find
the format improved in this edition over the 1994-95 one.
The one objection I have is that in the listings of side
trips such as to neighboring villages, too often the only
directions given are by car. Perhaps there are no other ways
to get there, but I would have liked it if they had said so,
such as "No access by train or bus."

I have been to Switzerland many times. Recently I sat down with my daughter who has worked at a hotel at Interlaken in Switzerland during her years in Business Administration at McGill - up to last summer - and we went over the Switzerland guides to see how they ranked, and what was currently the best guide in our humble opinions. We are not experts but have certain requirements and preferences. It helps if one can get a feel for the area in advance of a trip, and generally that is helped by good maps and color photos. So those guides do better in our review. We like to make reservations by internet and telephone and just use the Guide as a "guide".

Generally it costs more to publish a book with color photos so when all else is reasonably equal, one feels that they get better value with a guide with photos. Also we wanted to see if the ambiance at certain hotels and resorts was accurately portrayed in the text based on our knowledge. So those aspects of the guides determine our ranking. Incidentally all the books are excellent. When we did our review the new DK Eyewitness guide was not yet available, but in any case it will be short, under 400 pages.

For the Swiss guides we separated the guides into three groups, 5, 4, and 3 stars.

5 Stars (this group has nice color photos plus maps and text).

A. Green Guide to Switzerland published February 2001 by Michelin, 395 pages, $14., ranked 24,380 on Amazon.com, 0.64" x 9.4" x 4.7", lots of photos, maps, text, accurate portrayal of areas. Gives a nice idea of what you will find. Goes right down to small villages in detail even though it is just 395 pages. First choice.

B. Lonely Planet Switzerland published July 2003, 335 pages, $ 14., ranked 29,913 on Amazon.com, .69" x 6.42" x 6.5". Solid effort, lots of good photos and descriptions.

4 Stars (this group mainly text and maps).

C. Rough Guide to Switzerland published June 2003, 704 pages, $13.27, ranked 30,209 on Amazon.com, 1.08" x 7.8" x 6.38". Solid effort lots of things to see and do and best "text and maps only" books.

D. Frommer's Switzerland published February 2003, 512 pages, $15.39, ranked 47,638 on Amazon.com, 1.1" x 8.5" x 5.08". Similar to Rough Guide but shorter.

E. Fodor's Guide to Switzerland 42 edition, published December 2002, 448 pages, $14.7, ranked highest in group on Amazon.com at 3,172, 1.2" x 8.98" x 5.01". The smallest in the group, do not know why it is so popular?.

3 Stars

F. Michelin Red Guide published in 2004, 563 pages but in four languages: Italian, French, German and English so English sections are just a fraction of the book.

I purchased a copy of this book to help with my summer research internship in Switzerland in 2001, and found it to be less useful than the Rough Guides.

The Fromer book is written as a fairly terse reference book, listing a few restaurants, hotels of various price ranges, and not much else for the different cities. Sure, there are listings of attractions for the different cities, but the way they are presented is not very helpful to plan trips. On the other hand, the Rough Guides have suggestions on things to do for the different places.

So all in all, it depends on your style of planning but I feel that this book is more suited to business travelers.

This makes for a good coffee table book, or perhaps bathroom reading, but as a graphic design reference it falls short. Basically just a picture book. The first half is a compendium of various samples of graphic design, some of them really wonderful, all using Helvetica. The second half is a photographic essay showing the font used in the public domain throughout the world. It would have been nice to include some essays from leading writers in the design world on the history of the font, or it's influence, both good and bad, in the visual vernacular. I was inspired to buy it after seeing the film "Helvetica," and found that film to be a much more rewarding experience.

My binding also fell apart the second time I flipped through it. I loved the book, but the binding is just terrible.

First the mystery: just why was every alternate page in the book joined together? The reader has to carefully cut the perforations to be able to look at every page. I can't find any reference in the small amount of text about this. My conclusion is that the public use of the type is on the open pages and non-public (or designed) examples are on the perforation joined pages. At least you'll know if you buy a pre-used copy though.

Apart from the perforations I thought this was a handsome little book and homage in the title is very apt. Helvetica is probably the world's number one communication choice, it works just as well on a municipal sign or a new baby announcement. Before it gained a monopoly each nation seemed to have its own jobbing type, Franklin Gothic in America, Gill Sans in England or Antique Olive in France, for instance but the super clean lines of Helvetica (and computer typesetting) meant it was no contest for all the others.

The author mentions the uniqueness of Swiss design in the Fifties partly because the top designers always used the same typeface, the stunning Akzidenz Grotesk, which fitted into their rather austere but elegant graphic solutions even though it only had two weights, Medium and Bold. Who needs italic, extended, condensed, extra black and the other weights to communicate efficiently? The rest of the world for a start. From the late Fifties Swiss designed Helvetica spread across the globe and you'll see from the hundreds of examples in these pages some wonderful design solutions, especially the two hundred plus logos that use the face in all sorts of variations. As a typeface there are probably a few dozen Helvetica weights now available. Incidentally, the author suggests that Arial, the default type used on Outlook Express for most emails is a digital Helvetica, close but no cigar! The most obvious differences are the cap G and the lower case s and t.

'Homage to a typeface' is a lovely book that'll interest most typographers and anyone who is curious about a lettering style that seems to be everywhere.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

It's about what you'd expect. I feel like I got my $20 worth, but as mentioned, it's gonna fall apart before you're halfway into the book. I think if I would have heeded the warnings it may have gone a little farther. Your mileage may vary.

I'll start by saying that this is a lovely tribute to the most invisible, versatile and ubiquitous font. It is a full bled chunk of photography and unintentional wit.
Buuuttt....

The binding is absolutely horrendous. I'm not referring to the imaginative use of perforation, either. The binding completely fell apart after flipping through it once. The pages are not folded and stitched and only held in with apparently inadequate adhesive. I am now the proud owner of a nice stack of loose paper.

Due to the fact that the reader is expected to separate the perforated edges- the book becomes non-refundable.

So, although I wish I could recommend this little book due to content I strongly advise that you not purchase it.

With terrorism being the current excuse to freeze accounts of people who later turn out to be innocent, offshore asset protection becomes important to everyone - and perhaps more so if you are an immigrant with significant assets and living in the U.S.

What I really liked about this book was that it was direct and practical - and the publisher even provided a free offshore trust with an offshore brokerage account included. I didn't have to spend lots of time trying to pursue generic advice.

The developed countries continue to chip away at the individual's privacy. Using the usual guise of "money laundering," the OECD and FATF have attempted to blackmail foreign banks and tax havens into cooperating with their tax collecting agenda. At the expense of personal privacy, they will implement the one world society. Their initiative has been launched and will continue in the months ahead.

Adam Starchild's book is one of the best ways to personally escape rather than fight this trend.

Gee, I gotta say that I disagree with the other reviewers. I was expecting a LOT more from this book. Most of what I read is available for free on the web. That left about 4 pages that I could use. ( I'm glad for those 4 pages. ) But 218 pages of double spaced typeweritten text could probably be condsensed to 50 pages in regular type, subtract 30% fluff and filler (like personal recommendations for alternatives to trusts) leaves a very quick read. One afternoon should do it. I think its WAY overpriced. I don't need the 'free' newsletter, or the 'free' trust thats included. Caution is advised.

Many people who elect to become structured offshore do so because they feel persecuted by government, claim-minded litigants, and even investigative journalists. Often it is less an election than a matter of simple survival. In spite of assurances of fair trials and opportunities to be heard, assets are at risk if they remain in your home country or if you remain within the range of the agencies or individuals that would attack you. The natural law of envy provides that the greater your success, the greater the likelihood that you will become a target for several character types, each with a different agenda but all proximately motivated by the natural law. That is, the means and immediate goals of attackers may take different forms but at root, each is driven by the natural law of envy.

Unfortunately, it is impossible for anyone, including us, to live in this world without confronting such ugliness in some form or another. Cloaked in a thousand forms of self-righteous crusading and victim restitution, all efforts share a common goal of taking away your assets. For example, armies of IRS bureaucrats, working 40 hours a week in positions with little hope of advancement, are paid to audit you and simply cannot help but enjoy the prospect of acquainting you with financial adversity. They may not personally realize economic benefit from their work, but their gratification derives from knowing that at least you will not enjoy your former wealth.

Establishing a trust is often a useful method of centralizing control of your assets during your lifetime. You may wish to establish a trust for your heirs or for your own benefit. The method you select to pass your assets on to your heirs can make all the difference in your tax position.

Trusts are a means both of reducing tax liability and of simplifying inheritance. For those not familiar with the concept, a trust or a settlement, as it is sometimes known, may be defined as a document made between a person desiring to create a trust (settlor) and one or more persons or corporations willing to act as a trustee (the trustee) in which certain assets or property (the trust fund) are declared to be held for the benefit of certain third parties (the beneficiaries).

The procedure to establish an international trust is relatively easy.

Perhaps in the San Juan area, where I have not stayed, this book provides "off the beaten path" places to visit and sights to see, however, for Ponce and south Puerto Rico I was sourly disappointed. All the spots mentioned were pretty much the standard found in any other guidebook.

Furthermore, there is much to be said for the writing style. As others have mentioned, the book is a long essay that needs to be read at least in chapters. So you cannot just use it as a quick reference, which is really difficult while on the road.

Lastly, it is near impossible to find anything using this book alone (and not that I as a woman am bashing a woman writer), BUT the book comes without MAPS or any other helpful directions about how to get even to the most popular touristy places. Basically, the directions that go something like: "On the way from Boqueron beach, make a quick right by the giant cactus and the rock and the what-is-it will be right there" JUST DO NOT WORK.

Plus, it misses some really phenomenal things such as cock fights (Salinas) or how unbelievably BAD Puerto Rican food is and where to go to find pretty decent international food.

For better guides and less headache, pick another.

Noticing this book was a recent guide to Puerto Rico written by a woman, my wife insisted on buying it. We both enjoyed reading it for its combination of listings and colorful background notes. It makes you realize there is an island and culture worth exploring. We liked the descriptions that helped us better understand the way of life and why things are what they are. We decided to stay at smaller hotels where we heard Spanish and could eat local food. It let us appreciate what a fascinating and friendly place the island is. This book really did encourage us to get "off the beaten path."

Being born and raised in Puerto Rico,I thought I knew all the good places to visit. I bought this book with a little skepticism and what a wonderful surprise it was. The author definitely goes off the beaten path and the tourist traps. My husband and I just came back from there and the directions and the restaurants that the author mentioned were excellent.

If you definitely want to explore the richness of the island and the diversified environments that it offers, this book is for you. I highly recommend it. We took it with us on our recent visit and we really had a very enjoyable time.

In general, I like to avoid touristy spots, and bought this book in the hope that it would recommend places to visit. The format of this book is like a long essay, which makes it difficult to read, and not very useful as a guidebook. It goes something like: "if you take this street, first you'll pass this restaurant, which some people like for the chicken, and then this museum, etc" without giving definitive recommendations and must-sees for the tourist with limited time. I'm glad that my boyfriend brought a Fodor's, which was pretty comprehensive. But the best part of our trip was at an ecolodge that was very much off the beaten path (45 min on a narrow dirt road, up into the El Yunque rainforest), which I found by doing good old web research (search "elena el yunque").

The most helpful thing about this book was the lists of places to stay at the end of every region-discussion. Other than that, "Explore Puerto Rico, 5th Edition" had almost all the same sites & activities listed. For the sake of traveling lightly, we ended up not even bringing "Off the Beaten Path" with us, relying instead on "Explore Puerto Rico" (which has its own issues, see my review on that page for details).

This book only has old watches in and not all of them at that. Some details are incorrect.
However it is just a book on Rolex sports watches, but it has nothing new, the most modern watch it has is a 1975 GMT. So if you want to know something about Rolex wathes in the last 33 years, its not alot of good,

This book is completely stated sports models and really can help user when buying a vintage Rolex!

A most impressively comprehensive and finely detailed reference that will prove to be of great usefulness and interest to me when handling Rolex watches, and when talking to and advising collectors and enthusiasts.

Pictures are of good quality. A good book to add to the collection, each watch has good description and on the watch movement.
It is a limited market, you have to remember its a book on the vintage watches and not modern Rolex watches.
Saying that I would not be without it, But I am a watch Nut.

Great book for watch enhusiast. Although it only takes us up to 1997, so I was dispointed, The pictures are good, the history covers the basics. I would recommend to add to the collection

This superb new operational study covers the campaigns in Northern Italy & Switzerland of the combined Russian / Austrian army under the command the famed Russian General, Aleksandr V. Suvorov. His first campaigns in Northern Italy were a brilliant series of victories over the French Revolutionary armies under such Generals as Scherer, Moreau, Macdonald, Joubert & others. He was then ordered to take his army into the Swiss Alps, where he suffered a serious defeat at Zurich by the French under Massena. The text is accompanied by numerous contemporary illustrations & portraits, newly drawn battle situation maps, numerous photos of sites as they look today, and a number of new battle drawings by Bill Youngblood.

1999, hard bound in dust jacket, 9 x 11 1/2, prof. illustrated with photos, illustrations, drawings, portraits, maps, numerous orders of battle, bibliography, index.

I have been interested in Field-Marshal Suvorov for years. The writing is wonderful and insightful but the publisher Emperor's Press should review their policies. This is not the first title that seems to have been rushed to press without basic editing. My background on the topic is not as extensive as Mr. Nafziger, but I would suggest he read Art of victory; the life and achievements of Field-Marshal Suvorov, 1729-1800 By Philip Longworth, published 1965.

Duffy obviously knows his subject well (5 stars), but his efforts are substantially compromised by what can only be described as poor editorial efforts at the publisher, which results in numerous typos that diminishes the value of Duffy's work. The dust jacket even contains typographical errors, including a misspelling of another title offered by the publisher. Readers should not be made to suffer this way.

I didn't know General Suvorov until I bought this book. What a fascinating person he was. Suvorov never lost a single battle, this is admirable. I like the maps, and the objectivity of the author. The graphics are OK. In my opinion this book is one of the most interesting, and covers subjects almost unknown for English speaking readers. Good job.

First the bad news - the typos in this book were atrocious. For the price you are asked to pay the publishers should have been able to pay a proofreader to go through the book and correct the glaring errors. An excellent work was given the appearance of something rushed into print to make a buck.

Having said that, Eagles Over The Alps is still worth having, both for the military historian, and for the wargamer. The fascinating history of the Italian and Swiss campaigns of one of the period's premier generals is well treated. Napoleon deservedly overshadows all other military men of his time, but Suvorov is arguably the better of the two generals in 1799, and this book helps to bring his career out of the shadows. Especially helpful for the wargamer are the line maps and orders of battle with detailed unit strengths. This book contains information that will be difficult to find anywhere else, and presents it in a lively style that is constantly engaging. Even with its flaws, this is still a good book.

Kept me on the edge of my seat. This guy takes nuclear sub on unbelievable adventures. Great characters developed, good plot. Enjoyed the heck out of this.

I have read all of the Nick Stone books (in order) and I have to say I like this one the best. The first person narrative really puts me inside Nick's head and gives him a distinct personality. I find his descriptions of what he sees to be very entertaining. Probably it's the British military slant. Also, his description of weapons and tactics feels natural and nevers seems to veer military over-description.

As others have written, the story is pretty good and all of the characters are fairly well developed. I agree that Silke could have been more detailed. Unfortunately, much of the detail was a previous book.

It's a little faster read than some of the previous books. To me that means he didn't stretch it out just to add more pages.

So, below is the biggest reason I liked the book. I'm sorry to say that I have to insert a

SPOILER ALERT!!!

It seems like in all the previous books, main characters that I developed an affection for all died in the end. Comrades-in-arms, both military and para-military, the daughter of his best friend, the list goes on. It seemed like each book had to have Nick alone (again).

In recoil, none of the main characters die. It felt right when I was done and didn't cast a pall on the rest of the story.

Probably the best Mcnab fiction I have ever read. Lots of military action, which is Mcnab's forte as compared with espionage. Very detailed and authentic technical descriptions that other authors can only dream about. No unnecessary exaggeration or bragging as far as the main character is concerned in an attempt to convince the reader of his background (like some others do to make it look real). The most captivating thing about Mcnab's book is that one never knows whether he is writing his own experience or fiction!

RECOIL, the latest of 9 or so books about the adventures of ex-SAS soldier Nick Stone against bad guys around the world is, I think, one of the weakest. Maybe I'm just getting tired of the same-old-same-old formula that McNab has been using to move Nick from one tight situation to the next from book to book. This time Nick leaves the comfort of Switzerland to fly to Africa following the trail of his girlfriend, Silky, who up and left him for who knows what reason. He eventually learns that she is in The Democratic Republic of the Congo. Why did she go?

I wasn't interested in Nick's efforts to locate her, primarily because Silky wasn't really a well-developed character and not at all likeable. Why would he bother in the first place? The usual stumbling blocks and shady characters are thrown in the way of his quest to find her and win her back. As Nick says, "I didn't have a home, not even a camper van or a tent. I had nothing in the world except a cheap ring and a beautiful German girl, and maybe I didn't even have her any more." Is this the stuff true love is made of? Does he really love her? I never got the feeling that he did. She certainly didn't seem to love him if she left for no reason and didn't even bother to leave a "Dear Nick" note.

The earlier books in the series (REMOTE CONTROL, CRISIS FOUR, and FIREWALL) were better written and held my attention. I genuinely liked the early Nick Stone and his relationship with the young girl Kelly whom he took under his wing after her family was murdered. There was the need for Nick and Kelly to get away from the evil guys who wanted to kill the people we cared about that's missing from this and the later novels. Too, there didn't seem to be the tiresome in-depth description of all the weapons used. McNab generally fills his books with technical jargon that gets in the way of the story, I think.

Some of McNab's fans will be less than pleased with this review, I know. It seems that people like to read glowing reviews and then rate them favorably. When a reviewer writes something other than what they expect, they give it a "thumbs down" and may even add a comment about how the reviewer probably "didn't even bother to read the book." Well, I did read the whole book (all 447 pages) and was not impressed. That's why I gave it a 3 star (C grade) rating. I'll stick with well-written thrillers by British novelist Stephen Leather from now on and skip Andy McNab, thank you.

The only McNab I had read before this was his first biographical book which I enjoyed as the story of a very brave if not an attractive man. Stone, Mcnab's hero has his unattractive side too but beneath the tough soldier's exterior it seems there is a soft heart too. I think what you get with McNab is very much a reflection of the author himself. You sense he has used all these weapons.he is an expert in the field not in mere theory. he is not though an expert in personal relationships, except for soldier to soldier.

It is a gripping read set in the darkest heart of Africa. It is one long battle to survive against the odds and not many do. There is much blood and more use of the f word than I like to read but I guess that is the language of the ex-S.A.S. and their ilk. A happy if unrealistic ending. The romantic comes out in the author in the end.