Ball Books

Akira Toriyama's epic, which is currently enjoying great popularity on the Cartoon Network, is now available in English in its original manga form-reading in "reverse" order. After years of training and adventure, Son Goku has become the world's greatest martial artist. He will face off against all sorts of devious and powerful aliens and villains and all around bad-guys. The fight over the fate of the globe has never been so precarious-and so much fun.
Son Goku is the greatest hero on Earth. Several years after defeating the arch-villain Piccolo, he is now married and has a child. At this point, a visitor from outer space arrives with the news that Goku himself is an alien, and that he is Goku's brother. When the visitor turns out to be a killer, Goku's only choice is to fight his fierce brother to save himself, his family and the entire human race. A wild plot twist at the end may be the only chance for success.

Dragonball Z graphic novel #1, is #17 in the 42-volume series known as Dragonball. The first 16 of these graphic novels are called Dragonball, and deal with the adventures of young Goku. The story of Dragonball Z(DBZ) begins five years after Dragonball ends.

A mysterious alien comes to Earth, known as Raditz, and he brings surprising news: Goku is a saiyan, a warrior alien race that was nearly extinct, and Goku is Raditz's younger brother. No later than this does Raditz take Goku's 4 year-old son, Gohan, and demand that Goku join him in helping with the destruction of the planet. When hope seems lost, a strange alliance is forged. Piccolo, Goku's archenemy, joins forces with Goku, and together they go up against the powerful killer Raditz, which leads to a fight that will never be forgotten.

I had always been a fan of the original Dragonball comics, and wasn't too sure about DBZ. I purchased DBZ #1 just to see what it was like... immediately, I was hooked. DBZ is darker and more serious than the often goofy Dragonball, but still has playful, comedic moments, and strong-personality characters that you will love. The fight scenes are easy to follow, but remain very intense.

All the Dragonball and DBZ graphic novels are printed right to left. Reading it in the opposite direction can be confusing, but I got the hang of it really quick--so don't let that put you off.

For fans of the show, a much deeper and interesting story awaits. These comics were the original; what the show was based on. Nothing is left out, and the dialogue is translated directly from the original Japanese. However, unlike the kid-friendly show, there are some elements which may not be completely appropriate for young children(You be the judge).

I recommend this graphic novel to anyone who likes comics or anime. It has a great story, funny moments, awesome fights and more. I definitely think that if you showed enough interest to view this page, you would like it. Buy it.

This book is sooo cool! I have it and it just cool! It starts where Dragonball ends, and continues the 42 volume Dragonball saga as DBZ #1! Goku is grown up in this one ( wahh! No more cute little monkey! ) Raditz comes and kidnaps Gohan and athen Piccolo Daimao ( Piccolo the great demon king ) teams up with Goku to fight Raditz. This book is for anone who loves 100 page sparring sessions. The drawings are great and I can't complain. The only thing is it kind of gets more boring as you get into the fight. If you like this, you should obtain a copy of Shonen Jump the magazine that publishes DBZ. Hope this has convinced you!

I have to admit that my first impulse from seeing the show on Cartoon Network is the same: This is not a kids' book, or show, but should be viewed by a more mature audience. It doesn't bug me much though. More for people like me.

The art work is completely different from the normal American art. This can most easily be shown by the angles that Toriyama uses to get his message across. Japanese angles of sight in artwork have long been inspirational to Western artists, and I think that cartoons are no different. Also, Toriyama is much more interested in the simple beauty of a line and uses it over using tons of clutter in the pictures. Always a plus from my boat. The dialogue, again a reason for older kids, contains quite a few swearwords. Doesn't bug me, but parents might want to edit this one for a few years efore they let the kids have it.

I love the original format, but it makes reading other comicbooks difficult after reading this! I want to go right to left in them too!

Definitely one of my favorites so far.

In Japan the comic came before the show, so this isn't cheap mechantdice. In fact, it's way better than the show, even though the plot is exactly the same. Why? Becuase the translation is not cut, it still has sex jokes and blood, plus the words are much smoother. The charcters talk like normal people, and each has the own speech style. Piccolo talks like a king, while goku is kinda hick. And compare translations.
This is a real scene from teh DBZ Freiza Saga:
Funimation Dubbing:
Vegeta: What is that THING?
Gohan: A watch
Vegeta: Mighty clunky to be a watch

Viz on the other hand translates much more smoothly with each
character having there own way of talking.
(Piccolo and Vegeta both sound royal, while Goku is a little hick)
Viz manga translation:
Vegeta: What's that in your hand, WHELP!?
Gohan: It's a wattcch, sir.
Vegeta: Heh...Earthlings! Just smart enough to find their way across
space...but not smart enough to make a watch smaller than that!

Ernie Els has a easy golf swing. I am always amazed when I see how smooth it is and how far that ball flys afterward.

He breaks down the components of the swing with plenty of photos.

The only thing better would have been a DVD included with lessons.

Then buy this book. Ernie does a great job of taking you through the basic stages of the golf swing. Then he shows you how to use your new swing on your irons and then wedges. He even teaches you to fade and draw the ball before he finishes up. It's not too technical as some books can get and is explained in easy to understand language. The best part is the illustrations. Nearly every swing stage has pictures taken from multiple angles to drive home the points. Buy this book and see your golf score go down.

Ernie writes from the perspective of the Big Guy. Big Guy's -- over 6'2" and 200 pounds -- need to control their power and weight more than they need to generate distance.

A Big Guy would find no better place to start than with Ernie's book. I recommend reading once carefully, and then returning to the chapters every once in a while, as you work on the different aspects of your game.

One caveat: Since Ernie advocates keeping the club low to the ground for as long as possible on the back swing, and then "sweeping" the ground during the downswing, you will have an initial "loss of distance" if you emulate Ernie's swing. Also, Ernie suggests a slower tempo than others do, so this will also cut down on your distance.

With practice, however, you will learn how to get more weight behind the ball and more of a left shoulder turn, which should bring back the distance.

The point is that you will start hitting more fairways, and you will get less "wild."

I like this book because of its approachable format. It has clear explanations that are well illustrated with photos of Ernie in the various stages of each swing. The book separates the woods, long irons, short irons and pitching. In this sense it is really an explanation of the finer points of four different swings.

I have put into practice the knowledge I gained concerning pitching; an area of golf that has been particularly troublesome for me. He explains that it is really a very different swing to the full swing, and gives a clear, rational and effective insight into the pitch. Finally my short game has come good and I can see the way forward in the finesse pitch that will give me a new weapon under 100 yards from the pin.

The full swing is covered very well with plenty of clear, realistic and logical advise. I find I am thinking about the long and shot shots with much more understanding of the interdependence of the body turn, swing path of the club and unleashing of power at impact.

Ernie has one of the most, if not the most, elegant swings in golf. I am sure that the effortless appearance of his swing is a result of extraordinary co-ordination and effieciency of movement. I hope that my swing may someday look fluid and clean like Ernie's and recommend this book to anyone who wants to model their game on his swing.

Whilst I can not speak as an expert on golf, I would imagine this book would be as valuable for single figure golfers as it is for a high handicappers like me.

This book is better than many of the bestselling golf instruction books and DVD's I have read, or seen, because it is not overly technical.

I highly recommend it.

I've been at this wonderful game of golf for over 10 years and of all of the books I've read this is, by virtue of its refreshingly sound simplicity, the absolute best. What I like is that if doesn't follow the convention of the vast majority of instructional books out there that expect the reader to have a million swing thoughts to get the job done. Guys like Peltz and Ledbetter do offer great advice but Ernie Els points to the most valuable aspects of building a swing and hammers and hammers the point home to the reader on how essential they are. These are why Ernie Els has THE sweetest golf swing on the tour. It is a work of art. It's not the controlled power swing of Tiger who's textbook swing is anything but voilent, but one that is as deliberate as it is precise. It is the result of paying attention to the basics. In this book, El's points to the importance of fundementals. I mean, he REALLY emphasizes their importance as the foundation to building a great, sound swing. It may come across as oversimplified but the advice he gives on grip, rhythm, posture, and aim is put forth in an almost Zen-like fashion. Readers are expected to pay attention to these seemingly mundane fundamentals everytime they step up to the ball. According to Els, the rest will follow from there and after following his sage advice, I've found that he is absolutely right. Now the reader that complained that the advice is not easy to implement is wrong. He is missing the point of the book. El's is not trying to tell you how to swing like him, he's telling how you can build your own "classic" swing but the way I see it, you have to decide if you are patient, as well as disciplined, enough to do what he tells you. Trust me, it worked miracles with my game and it most definitely can with yours.

Have to say going against most opinions here because I found little use in the book and quite glad I got it as a present and did not pay for it myself. I can see where some people might get some valuable information out of it but my biggest issue was that it couldn't decide if it was directed at the coach new to the game or an intermediate coach moving into coaching 11v11 games (hence little use for anyone coaching over 13's)

As the back of the book states the author has coached from 5 year olds to pros and it is obvious that he couldn't decide who to target the book at. Soccer books that try to cover all ages or aspects of the game are not good books

This book on soccer coaching is first rate! Easy to understand but NOT simplistic or dumbed down. Filled with great ideas and insights into the game for coaches AND players. I doubt there is a level of player or coach who will get this book and not find themselves flipping thru the pages picking out items and saying "I didn't know that". Well worth the price.

If you are coaching soccer for kids, and are eager to learn more about improving your own skills, this is the book to read! As you become an even better coach, your players will also benefit. The book is packed with information. The basics are well explained, and many specific suggestions are made for exercises that are fun, and at the same time provide good learning for the players. Contained in the book is also a first hand introduction to soccer that will teach you what to look for next time you watch a soccer game, and most important, a tool for improving the skills of your players in a human and friendly way. This book will improve your perception. Highly recommended!

This book includes excellent drills for skills ranging from fundamental to experienced. It also gets into a lot of game strategy, and it addresses the special situations such as throw-ins and corner kicks from offense and defense. I really like how he pulls in excellent advice and his philophy for coaching. If I had to select just one book for my coaching library, it would be this one!

First, I have to define intermediate. I have coached U6 and U8 for 5 seasons, and have just moved up to coach U11. I bought this book and Progressive Soccer, and this book was MUCH better. It's pretty beat up now because I refer to it constantly. It has drills and games for all the skills, and most of them start out at a low level (U8 or so) and get more advanced. Almost all of them have worked out well for our team.
I would say this is not a beginner's book, too much info and probably too in depth for a brand-new coach. Not a lot of "kiddie games" like you would use for U6 or U8. I would say U10 and up can get a lot out of this book.
My only complaint is I would like a little more in the team strategy parts and "system of play" parts, the book is a little weak on those areas, other than going through some different formations (which won't apply if you don't play 11 on 11).
Again, highly recommended for the coach moving up for the first time into the U10 age group for the first time.

I've been working from this book several months now, and the deeper I dig into it, the more impressed I am with its range of exercises, the intelligence with which the exercises were selected, and the clarity of the instructions. And I am a picky editor when it comes to clarity! This book is excellent. Highly recommended.

Excellent book. It is a little to techncal for people who are inexperienced in exercise, as it seems to be written for trainers. It is a great book for fitness trainers who want to expand their swiss ball and medicine ball workouts. As a Personal Trainer, I appreciate this book and DVD.

Although I knew a lot of the execises what I like most about the book is that it explains the effect of each movement and it shows photos for proper positioning. Each exercise also has a basic, intermediate and advanced version. For me, it was worth the purchase.

this is a very informative book. the dvd made it easier to get the exercises right. i would recommend this book to anyone who wants a strong,toned,well balanced pysique.

This book is worth twice the price. The accompanying DVD is also worth twice the price. It's a lot of information for the money!

Background: until a couple of weeks ago I exclusively lifted weights for strength training. Then I hurt my back, and decided I needed to get some more dynamic training into my regimen. I bought a few medicine balls, and immediately hurt my back again! (In a different spot.) I ordered this book (along with Gambetta's medicine ball book) to teach me the right way to use medicine balls. I was a bit unsure about this book because I really didn't want all those stability ball exercises -- I was just looking for med ball ex's.

In the meantime I went to a few stability ball classes at the Y because I figured that they wouldn't hurt my back. I actually enjoyed them and looked forward to the book's arrival.

The exercises in the sample program look pretty easy, that is until you watch the DVD and learn the *correct* way to do them. For all you macho guys out there who think that stability balls are for sissies, well let's just say that after I completed the beginner workout, I felt like I had been beaten by hammers all over my body. But in a good way! :-)

The DVD is very professionally produced. They film the exercises from multiple camera angles, and use slow- and stop-motion liberally to illustrate the critical parts of each exercise. (My 3 and 6 year-olds were mesmerized!) There is narration during the slow/stop sequences telling you what to watch for.

Short story, I sent Gambetta's book back because it pales in comparison to this one.

By the way, today I went to the Y and it was a beautiful day (60 degrees in February!) so the place was empty. I had my choice of an empty weight room or an empty aerobics studio. I chose the studio and the stability balls! What does that tell you?

I highly recommend this book. I am 63 years young, have always eaten heathly and maintained my weight. During the last 2 years because of very stressfull events in my life I stopped being physicaly active and although I ate healthy, I ate all the time. I put on 40 lbs. With the help of several nutrition books and the CORE BALL WORKOUT book I lost weight and I have been losing my oversized gut (belly, adomen, stomach).

I am not the type person who can read instructions and follow them. I am a hands on person - show me and I can do it. This book is very easy to follow. Great descriptions, instructions and accompaning photos to teach you the exercise.

I had major back and neck surgery years ago,this book has exercises that I can do, are beneficial both to getting fit and for stenghtening the back and neck without worry of injury.

This would be the best investment you ever make - an investment into yourself.

Well I have just got down to working out and I must say that this book is great.
I am a beginner and workout alone at home, and this book has all the details written down which are easy to understand and follow.
The exercise that I have done are pretty tasking and therefore good.
All in all, easy to understand and follow and great workouts in there, so don't hesitate to buy this book,take it from someone who is using this book as apersonal guide at home.
Enjoy

The book covers all the basics about the exercises with the ball, the illustrations are clear and the explanations easy to follow, it just would be good that it would come with a cd on viewing how to.

This book is great and easy to follow. It has easy, intermediate, and advanced poses/exercises. I would recommend this book only if you are strongly disciplined in exercising regularly.

If you don't want to be out at the gym, this book is a great book for short workouts that you can do at the home with your own core ball.

There is too much in this book to help in preparing your outline. There are other study aids which give better examples or explanations.

This study aid has been incredibly helpful. It is great to refer to it after reading a case in your casebook. It has a lot of helpful tips in writing exams as well. I would definitely recommend Emanuel Contracts to anyone taking Contracts!

This book spoke of a lot of the same cases that my professor talked about and made them understandable. Definitely recommended if the material is the same.

This is the best outline for contracts for a 1L student. It has very helpful examples and is very well organized. It is definetly worth the $.

if you need a quick lifesaver and a way to sort out a mess of notes at the end of the semester, then this book is for you!

Everything I've made out of this book has been a success, from the "laquered" Asian chicken to the celery root puree. The short ribs were outstanding. Dorie Greenspan has translated Daniel Boulud's recipes into something any capable home cook can make -- and enjoy!

Daniel Boulud is truly one of the world's greatest chefs, and this book is written proof of that. If you want simple, basic French cuisine that you can make at home without a lot of fuss, then this is the book for you.

You don't need to be a chef to enjoy this book.
The story of Daniel Boulud's passionate journey to become a world class chef is a great read. He talks the talk and walks the walk! I have since dined at his restaurant (Cafe Boulud)
and would say it was of the best meals of my life! Everything went right to create a transcendant dining experience. This
doesn't happen by accident and the book explains all that Chef
Boulud puts into his art. Enjoy!

This superb chef provides intense food that the home gourmet that has been cooking for sometime can easily handle with ingredients that are not as bizarre and hard to find as most cookbooks from star chefs.

Unique is the organization of recipes, here into four groupings of Traditional French, Seasonal Specialties, Other Cuisines and Vegetarian.

Offerings in each include main entrees, sides and desserts as well as first courses, soups, etc.

A marvelous dish from French category is Sea Bass en Croute or the Cornish Hens a la Diable. Unusual combo exemplefies Boulud's coupling of tastes, Sweet Swiss Chard Tourte. Don't tell your guests what this is until they eat. Swiss Chard done right is magnificent. A tangy sweetness to it that here is married with honey, orange and pine nuts. This is superb!

How about Cod with Blood Orange Sauce and Creamy Grits from Seasonal section? Who would have thought to put blood organes with cod? Citrus goes so well with seafood as this, but with grits? This guy is truly French-American chef.

I find his abilities and recipes to be inspirational for amateur gourmet. Techniques are not too formidiable and much is offered in the way of purchase and prep techniques. The small, details are what is worth the book. The user will see that this guy is on to each ingredient and wants to display its savor at max.

This is breakthrough cuisine, with simple, straightforward technique, but full throttle flavor and expert combining of luxurious components. You'll have fun with this one!

Martha Stewart captured the charm of this book in her introduction when she says `...I cannot wait to open it again (for)... those recipes that I want to try immediately... then to all the other recipes, because I'd like to try them also'. I have felt that same urge while reading other great cookbooks, such as Julia Child's `Mastering the Art of French Cooking', to which this book is a worthy amendment. This urge is a sure sign that the author(s) of the book have something which have touched your sensibilities.

It is important to note that while Daniel Boulud is the headliner, there is a very important co-author, Dorie Greenspan, who has won more cookbook awards than any three celebrity chefs put together. It's hard to determine exactly how much Dorie contributed, but, as a major cookbook author in her own right, I have to believe her contribution was a lot more than transcribing Boulud's words from tape recordings and notes. My guess is that, at the very least, she was instrumental in translating the recipes from the restaurant to the home kitchen. Her contribution must be, therefore, essential to the attraction of this book.

As other reviewers have noted, the book, like the menu at Café Boulud, is divided into four independent sections covering French, World, Seasonal, and Vegetarian cuisines. In evaluating the recipes, I believe this division is incidental. All of the recipes are easily identifiable as having sprung from the French culinary tradition. The only thing distinguishing one section from the others in my reading is that the first section on traditional French recipes presented a concrete look at the elements of Nouvelle Cuisine in the Troisgros brothers recipe `Salmon and Sorrel Troisgros'. In the past, I have read many generalities but few real examples on what this movement is really about. I thank Daniel and Dorie for that. There is, of course much, much more.

While the subtitle of the book proclaims it to contain recipes for the home cook, these are primarily only practical for the `foodie' cookbook collector, food hobbist, weekend meals, and special entertaining meals where the added cache of preparing something from Café Boulud adds interest to the feast. Almost all recipes are LONG, with long ingredients lists. Many recipes include long marinades and braises. Most recipes include substantial subpreparations such as for stocks and sauces. Luckily, the authors always add a warning when the technique requires a plan ahead step. None of this detracts from the type of enthusiasm Martha Stewart had for the book, as I felt the same thing. These are good recipies.

It is to our advantage that the new interest in food in the US is centered around both American and French cuisines, as this means that very few ingredients used in this book will be hard to find. I have even seen Jerusalem artichokes in my local supermarket. No need to travel to a farmer's market or to the regional megamart. Spices and herbs should be no problem. The hard to find stuff is more likely to be things like sweetmeats and marrow bones.

I found no errors in this book. The closest it came was to relate Jerusalem artichokes with globe artichokes in the main section of the book. The two are not botanically related, and this is cleared up in the appendix on ingredients. In general, I find such appendices on tools, techniques, and terms to be of little value, since, being just a few pages long, they invariably omit something you may look for. This book's appendices have good content, but they fail to explain many of the French culinary terms. I also give little credit to the pantry recipe sections, but, in this book and other good books like it, you need to know how the author prepared their veal stocks and the like to really know how their stuff is supposed to turn out.

The color pictures in this book are the way I like them in separate sections, all together, so you can page through all the pictures to choose a dish. In this book, the pictures are divided into the four sections of recipes. Very wise.

This book is MUCH better than the later `Chef Danial Boulud: Cooking In New York City', where the celebrity chefs started entombing their cuisine in coffe table books with lots of useless photographs. The absence of Ms. Greenspan's influence is also felt in the latter volume.

Even at $35, this book is a keeper.

One of my all-time favorites. If you are Southern, you cannot help but identify with these charming stories. If you are not Southern, this will give you a true peek into our culture.

A wonderful, entertaining collection of short stories with southern flair. As a mother of three, sneaking in time to read is not always easy and I'm a fan of short story collections/ anthologies. This particular book is very satifying and hard to put down!
The stories range from witty to heart wrenching, but all are lovingly crafted by an extraordinary group of writers. It will tickle your funny bone, tear at your heartstrings, and leave you with a wonderful impression of the south.
The recipes in the back of the book are an extra bonus and believe me, the chocolate nut pound cake is winner!

This book is a joy. It's like having someone sit down and say "I remember..." and off goes the story. These stories are funny and poignent and gentle and enjoyable. These stories really capture the spirit of the South- the faith, the strength and the pride. This book has been added to my bookshelves and will stay there and be enjoyed for years to come. I have even bought a few extras for my relatives down south.

Well worth reading.
Enjoy

I love the title of this book so much! This is a book of stories by Southern women writers. A lot of the stories really struck a chord with me. I laughed. I cried. The stories that stuck with me are "Grandma Tells a Tale," "Fingerprints," "Cookie the One-Eyed Horse," "Grandpapa's Garden," and "Sweet Tea." They are everything that is good about Southern fiction: strong sense of place, interesting characters, tug at your heartstrings, quirky, and just plain Southern.

This is my kind of book, good stories and great recipes! Several 'southern' writers have gathered their favorites...in both foods and stories and these stories make for a wonderful summer's read. From the dilemma of what to do with the (somewhat functional) outhouse that the man of the house just can't let go of, to the rememberences of our first time at Vacation Bible School and the original "what would Jesus do" we all struggled with at a young age, these women have tapped a vein of southern storytelling that runs sweet and deep. Some will have you laughing out loud, some will send you back in time, but all are infused with a real knowledge and love for the south. Danna Ball, Sandra Chastain, Debra Dixon, Virginia Ellis, Nancy Knight and Deborah Smith combined for the 16 stories tht will enchant any lover of southern fiction.

Karen Ball's WILDERNESS is a rollicking adventure in the woods, with romance and wit and wisdom sprinkled liberally over the story. I loved this, and I know you will, too. A wonder!!

I loved this book! The characters were great! I enjoyed reading as the characters grew yet stayed "real". I laughed a lot and my husband enjoyed it too.

This book had so many inspiring scriptures and passages that I made it required reading for my two teenaged daughters! Not only is the book fun in it's storyline but it is funny and can't put it down exciting! I loved this book.

This is one of the hilarious book that I have read in a long time. It shows that you can be an accident prone person and still be used by God in a wonderous way. It is a book about redemption and forgiveness and most of all LOVE. Definitely a book to spend with on a nice sunny day or just curled up in bed.

The story in this book is about Mady and Jason who meet on a trip to the wilderness with a group of people. Mady's first impression of Jason is that he is a "sourpuss" and he doesn't seem to like her very much either. Adding to that many things happen accidentially, like Mady knocking Jason down with her bag and landing on his back, that aren't very helpfull to create friendship between the two, even if as reader you are always aware that there is something between them. But this story is also a Christian romance. So even after their first kiss Mady can't love Jason because she is a Christian and he doesn't believe in God. Mady can only go on praying about what she sensed already at the beginning of this trip: that she is here to bring Jason close to God. She agrees that God should use her for this purpose even if it takes a trip into the wilderness where she and Jason as a team have to find their way on their own. But they get lost and now have to survive and to wait for help. Can this really be the answer to Mady's prayers?

This book is a romance but not a romance with a helpless woman and a heroic man. It's a story with many funny elements, written in an amusing way from the beginning to the end. I also loved the characters, Mady as a selfconcious woman who believes in God and who tries to obay him even if this sometimes seems to be hard in daily life but she doesn't give up. Also Jason and his past. I always tried to guess what made him turn away from God but I would have never guessed the "real" reason. The author really surprised me at the end. I loved every page of this book and I recommend it to everyone who loves Christian romances. I will definitly buy more books from Karen Ball.

Well-written, interesting and sheds new light on a long-forgotten subject. The author has the gift of understanding and writing well about both Gilded Age high society and finance, and uses her gift to good advantage. Occasionally the inner manueverings in the Equitable drag a bit, but this is a hardly noticeable defect. Five stars +; buy and and read it with enjoyment.

This is a well presented and gripping account of the clash of the titans of industry of a century ago. It shows them in their true, unsavory, colors, albeit a tad muted....

We find the anything-but-poor, yet unsuspecting Mr. Hyde (heir in his 20s to the Equitable Insurance fortune) shaken from his elite complacency and thrust into the eye of a storm that is kept stirred by the machinations of Equitable board member Henry Clay Frick, one of the more amazing and alarming capitalists from Pittsburgh's steel days.

In a bid to oust Hyde from control of the mega-insurance concern that his father founded with wit, skill and sleight of hand, Frick engineers a negative publicity juggernaut that calls Hyde's personal financial ethics into question and ends up in the courts. The Equitable goes into receivership-with some luminaries like George Westinghouse in temporary control-until, beset by the scandal, Hyde sells out, shakes the dust off of his well-heeled shoes, and departs for Pre-World War I Paris. He remains a Francophile expatriate for the remainder of his days.

There is more to the story and some of it is here, and well worth the reader's time and attention, especially since Ms Beard had access to some privately held family papers and files that cast the story in a Schubert pink spotlight, with few shadows. The author, a personal friend of Hyde's granddaughters and a member of the same giltetry social set, goes easy on some of the tale. What is left on the cutting room floor is even more fascinating than what made it into this book.

For, shadows there are, and there is oh so much more of the story to be told, ranging from the Johnstown Flood (this family is connected to the infamous South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club) to the crafty ire of Mr. Frick's European counterpart, the equally effective and furiously ambitious harridan, the Archduchess Isabella of Austria-Hungary (again, an extended family connection).

What a yarn and all of it, true!

Perhaps Miss Beard will muster the courage to follow up this book with a prequel about Mr. Frick's very similar, skillful machinations regarding Mr. Hyde's future father-in-law, and a sequel that more fully addresses the irony of World History that found Mr. Hyde's son among two generations of this extended family who served diligently, on both sides of W W I and W W II, some as top level spies. Then again, perhaps not.

But if not, one hopes that other historians might take note, there is so much more to be told! This is a real life E Phillips Oppenheim novel. It would find as its centerpiece, Hyde's father-in-law, a rags to riches success - an orphan who rose to the top of the tree, on both sides of the Atlantic and who had his hands in many a pie, industrial and diplomatic....

Now...The only question is: Who will be the first to tell it?

Perhaps Martha Sanger, or Teresa Carpenter or Les Standiford or - of course - the incomparable David McCullough!

If you find this review helpful you might want to read some of my other reviews, including those on subjects ranging from biography to architecture, as well as religion and fiction.

"After the Fall," Patricia Beard's clear-eyed look into the excesses at the tag end of the Gilded Age, focuses around a costume party thrown in 1905 by then 23-year-old James Hazen Hyde, who was expected to accede to the presidecy of the Equitable Life Insurance Company when he turned thirty.

It never happened. Instead his enemies, in the company and outside it, used the ball as an excuse to start a power play that would bring him down. As sometimes happens, however, they brought themselves down as well.

The book is almost like a musical comedy in structure. The title is somewhat misleading as the ball itself comes in the middle of the book (imagine the ball as the big production number that brings the curtain down on act one). It begins with James's father, Henry, skips quickly through James's adolescence and early manhood (there'll be a production number having to do with James's hobby, racing horsedrawn carriages), the premature death of his father, and his rise to the first vice presidency of the insurance company, where, or so his father had hoped, he would be tutored by the interim president, James W. Alexander, who was nearing retirement age.

When the curtain rises on act 2, you will encounter an array of schemers, some driven almost batty as they struggle for power, and a parade of the gilded age financiers, J. P. Morgan, E. H. Harriman, Henry Clay Frick, and James Fortune Ryan, as well as President Theodore Roosevelt, ex-President Grover Cleveland, and Charles Evans Hughes, who would some day be, thanks largely to his investigation of the scandal, Chief Justice of the United States.

You'll maybe hear patter songs in your head as the robber barons form committees, make deals, break deals, and leak their doings to the press, as they scheme to acquire the faltering company for themselves.

And when the curtain comes down on the tale as the chastened but hardly impoverished Hyde leaves for France--saying his goodbyes aboard the ship that's about to sail perhaps--it comes down, as well, on the Gilded Age itself.

Notes and asides: The afterword, about Hyde's later life and that of his son, who was in the OSS during WWII should not be skipped.

"After the Ball" is a biography of James Hazen Hyde (1876-1959), Gilded Age aesthete, sportsman, patron of the arts and heir to the majority shares in The Equitable Life Assurance Society, which his father Henry Baldwin Hyde had founded in 1859. The emphasis is on the decisive event of James' life: His battle to retain control of his father's company that played out over the course of 1905 against Equitable's president James Waddell Alexander and its ruthlessly ambitious 2nd vice president Gage Tarbell. That battle commanded 115 front page articles in "The New York Times" alone and resulted in the passage of New York's Armstrong Laws in an attempt to regulate the insurance industry. Author Patricia Beard knew James Hyde's only son Henry Hyde -Henry was godfather to her son- which explains the late chapter dedicated to Henry Hyde's life.

James Hyde became the majority shareholder in The Equitable at the age of 23 upon his father's death in 1899. Henry B. Hyde had planned that his son serve as 1st vice president under the tutelage of James Alexander before assuming the role of company president at age 30. But Henry had ill prepared his son for the murky realities and unbridled ambitions of the business world. And James was ill-suited to the job, being by nature a man of arts and letters and high society. James idolized his father and took his legacy seriously but didn't understand his responsibilities until it was too late. In 1905, frustrated by James' ability as majority shareholder to stifle his plans for the Society, unscrupulous, dogged Gage Tarbell recruited malleable and unstable James Alexander as his ally and launched a campaign to force The Equitable to mutualize (give shareholders voting rights) with the intent of ousting James. They expected James to resign, sell his stock, and move to France. Instead, he put up a fight.

"After the Ball" provides a blow-by-blow account of The Equitable crisis and the attempts to resolve it, from James Hyde's lavish 18th century France-themed ball in January 1905 until his self-imposed exile in France a year later. Although it occasionally bogs down in minutiae, the battle for The Equitable is a page-turner. Histories of Henry B. Hyde, The Equitable, James' later life in Paris and New York, and his son's service in the OSS during World War II bookend the drama. Prominent industrialists and financiers from Wall Street's boom years of the 1890s-1920s are the cast, and The Gilded Age itself is a character. James' flamboyance, active social life, and ostentatious wealth exemplified the ideals of the era. He was praised for successfully juggling his business, social, and artistic pursuits. But he couldn't. "After the Ball" is the story of a doting father who gave his son an empire but neglected to teach him how to rule for fear that his image would be tarnished in the boy's eyes. It's the story of a son who inherited great wealth and power but little motivation to comprehend or exploit them and so fell victim to those more willing.

A well-researched history book that reads like a novel is a rare find, but this is one. In an era when corporate greed and corruption are once again a part of everyday life, it's also a nice reminder of where years of deregulation and laissez-faire policies got us last time. James Hazen Hyde was a product of that time: spoiled, overly entitled, shamelessly extravagant in a city where poverty was widespread, and fond of business practices that have since been made illegal. But he was also the victim of even greedier - and smarter - associates, and Beard does a great job of portraying a rather unsympathetic character sympathetically.

Hyde's downfall seems to have been a lack of ambition or interest in learning the business he inherited, coupled with an overeagerness to reap the benefits of his father's financial success. Illustrating the latter is the party that serves as the book's climax, an incomprehensibly extravagant affair by the standards of any era. Beard argues that Hyde's detractors had already been hoping for years to bring him down, and the ball simply served as a welcome excuse to do so. Whether she's right or wrong about that, the event certainly proved to be fertile ground for scandal. In a classic case of "the truth is never juicy enough," rumors began circulating that Hyde had paid for the ball with company funds (he hadn't) and that the already-obscene cost was four times as much as it really was. Despite being guilty of nothing worse than bad taste, Hyde was soon bought out of his father's company and out of Wall Street society. Investigations and reform legislation followed, but those who were guilty of real wrongdoing were never punished.

Beard's overview of the financial events and disputes will probably be too simple for those with a strong knowledge of finance and business, but it's perfect for the rest of us. In any case, she is clearly more interested in Gilded Age high society and how it set the stage for James Hyde and his party, and her research in that area is impressive. The era's many excesses leap off the pages, with various Vanderbilts and Roosevelts making cameos throughout, making the greed and injustice palpable without anything approaching preachiness. Hyde himself becomes a somewhat tragic figure, living off his inheritance in Europe, outliving the damage to his reputation but emerging as a walking anachronism on his return to New York in the 1940s.

Sad, but very well done!