Bowles Books

This is a good book for beginners, but the tape does move quickly. Additionally, I wouldn't necessarily recommend this for short trips because learning phrases (at least for me) worked a lot better. But for a general intro to the language, this provides a nice base.

My wife and I have visited Italy twice after I studied this book and this book only on Italian. It gives you all you need for the basics, hotels, meals, directions and chit chat. I have used the "Teach Yourself" guides for Beginner's French and Serbo-Croatian as well, with equally good results. For the money, and the time that you are asked to invest to receive the rudiments of the language, you will do no better. Recommended as a guide to traveler's Italian, a detailed study of the language should be pursued with the more sophisticated guide named simply Teach Yourself - Italian.

I could not believe the first review listed, rating this book as a 1 star, viewed as helpful by 13 of 19 people. Having only studied this book, I went to Italy and with no tour guide or any other help made arrangements to go all over Italy, bought tickets, meals, conversed did it all with no help. This is a great book. I have used "Teach Yourself" Italian, French, and Croatian and gone to those countries and had a blast. They are great guides. The objection that the words weren't "phoneticised" is lunacy for anyone who knows that Italian pronunciation is very standard and a brief guide is all that is needed. Here is a hint if you are having trouble: write the pronunciations on a 3 x 5 card and use it as a bookmark, DUH! If you study this book and you have the initiative to copy the pronunciation onto a 3x5 card, Lei puo andare in Italia domani. Capisce?

THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A FRIENDLY INTRODUCTION TO ITALIAN, BUT I FOUND IT ANYTHING BUT THAT. MY BIGGEST COMPLAINT IS THE SMALL PRONUNCIATION GUIDE; IT APPEARS ONLY IN THE FRONT OF THE BOOK. IN MY OPINION, IT IS MUCH MORE HELPFUL TO HAVE A PHONETIC PRONUNCIATION BESIDE EACH WORD/PHRASE INSTEAD OF HAVING TO KEEP RETURNING TO THE FRONT OF THE BOOK. I CAN HIGHLY RECOMMEND BARRON'S ITALIAN AT A GLANCE; IT HAS AN EASY-TO-FOLLOW PRONUNCIATION GUIDE AS WELL AS PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTIONS FOR ALL WORDS AND PHRASES USED IN THE BOOK. TO SUMMARIZE, IF YOU HAVE NO OR VERY LITTLE KNOWLEDGE OF ITALIAN PRONUNCIATIONS, THIS GUIDE IS A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY.

I used this book to learn enough Italian to visit Italy twice, the second time living with Italian people who spoke not word one of English. It provided everything needed. It is a high school type approach with situation based lessons. The tapes are incidental, this is not a Berlitz course, the book provides the real teaching. If you have experience with language, understanding how to vocalize the printed word (Italian is very regular in pronunciation) you may not even need the tapes, but for a novice, better pop for them. It's very good. Meals, rooms, purchases, directions, all are included. Not an in depth course, but perfect for the traveler.

I have to admit I was a little disappointed when I received this book. Maybe I dont remember the story that well, but it didnt seem to be the original version and I wasnt impressed with the illustrations in the slightest.

Because it was a gift, I have no information for a comment on the contents.

This is one of many versions of the Gingerbread boy story. The illustrations are engaging and the repetitive text makes it easy for children to join in.
Try reading this version along with one or more (the more the merrier) versions. Children can compare details of the story and may be inspired to write their own version!

A delightful, old-fashioned story. The illustrations are great! It's a great kids story. My grandaughter loves anything to do with a gingerbread man and she loved it.

The copy I recieved of the Gingerbread Man was in excellent condition and was the version of the story just as I remembered it. Well done !!

An amazing book! A historical chronicle that reads like a novel, written by a man who was a thinking man's soldier, scientist, and anthropologist. A must read for those who are interested in the Western frontier of America and want to get an authentic feel for what it felt like to be a part of the happenings there. As aide-de-camp to Crook as well as a good friend Bourke takes you into the world of a General who life was full of complexities and controversy and a man who was highly regarded as the soldier's soldier.

As most know, ON THE BORDER WITH CROOK (hereafter OTBWC), was written by Captain Bourke during the year 1890, for when he left the Southwest in 1886 he had more than enough written pages of diary and notes to fill several books.

There are several reasons behind the writing of this book, but with General Crook recent death, one of Captain Bourke's desires for the book was to keep the harsh "government treatment of the Chiricahuas..." "... before the public." This is not only a mark of both General Crook and Captain Bourke's humanity, and an outward demonstration Bourke's singularity of feeling with his old commander, but it equally shows his ethnology interests but sense of fair play that ran through both General Crook and Captain Bourke.

After the book was finished, the manuscript was mailed to C. Scribner's and Sons on 7 March 1891, with Scribner's comment "the whole book so far promises all you could hope for it." Working on the manuscript continued through the summer, with the book seeing print in November, 1891. Bourke had by that time been transfered to Texas, and he had some feeling that both Generals Schofield and Miles wanted him removed from the big city acclaim for the book. If there is any truth to that, their efforts failed, as the book immediately became and remains to this day, a true classic. With one author stating that OTBWC was probably Bourke's greatest literary success.

With Captain Bourke having seen service in the Civil War (Medal of Honor receipient), graduate of West Point, service in the 3rd cavalry, and staff officer to General Crook from 1870-1886, OTBWC was much more than just a book about Indian fighting, it encompassed the entire Indian War activity of frontier post and field, fellow officers and soldiers in general, recaptured memories of landscapes, and among others, Indians such as Sitting Bull (Tatanka-Iyotanka), Crazy Horse (Ta Sunke Witko), and Geronimo (Gothalay).

Two of the most helpful books concerning the study of either Bourke or Crook are recent ones: PAPER MEDICINE MAN by Joseph C. Porter, and GENERAL CROOK AND THE WESTERN FRONTIER by Charles M. Robinson III, with both books published by the University of Oklahoma Press: Norman.

Combine these books with the recent issuing in print by Mr. Robinson of Captain Bourke's diaries, the daily army life experienced by Crook and Bourke the years 1870-1886 to life as never before.

Semper Fi.

John Bourke writes wonderfully of General George Crook, a legendary Indian fighter in post-Civil War Arizona, Wyoming, and Montanna. Bourke, who for most of the time was Crook's aide-de-camp, is an unabashed admirer of the General, but the book goes far beyond flattery and sycophancy. Bourke makes the reader admire Crook as much as he himself does, for Crook truly did possess unmatched stamina, experience, attention to detail and equal measures of sympathy for the Indians he was fighting and ruthlessness in his ambition to drive them onto the reservations. Bourke too admires the Indians, especially the Apaches. In fact, one of the book's high points is its almost anthropological descriptions of Apache life, the Arizona landscape, life in the frontier Army, and the social milieu of old Tuscon. The descriptions of Crook's campaigns against the Sioux and Cheyenne flag just a little, but only in comparison to Bourke's own rapturous discussions of life in the Southwest. The book that this compares best to is Eugene Ware's "The Indian War of 1864" (which I've also reviewed for Amazon). Ware, like Bourke, was a serving Army officer with a keen, sympathetic eye for all he saw in the old West. Both were involved in more hair-raising episodes than a dozen Hollywood action heroes combined. I too am a serving Army officer, and I can testify that none of my peers today has seen as much or writes so well.

The concept of Manifest Destiny took root during the Mexican American War, and assumed grander proportions following the Civil War. Gen. Crook had been a calvery officer whose services proved to be of considerable value, as much for his ability as for his compassion for the Indians. His job was to protect the settlers and subdue the Indians by locating them on reservations. The author was with Crook during his first and second Southwest campaigns as well as that of the Northern Plains. His love for his commander and appreciation of the Indians made him the perfect writer for the topic. Gen. Crook seems the ideal officer for the job, but was defeated, not by the Indians but Agents assigned, after the army had done its work, to reservations by Washington. The book is a wonderful description of the duty performed by Gen. Crook who, had his system been utilized, would have led to a better life for all. In the end, Bourke feels, Crook died of a broken heart. Important history, and a story too beautifully told to miss.

John Bourke writes wonderfully of General George Crook, a legendary Indian fighter in post-Civil War Arizona, Wyoming, and Montanna. Bourke, who for most of the time was Crook's aide-de-camp, is an unabashed admirer of the General, but the book goes far beyond flattery and sycophancy. Bourke makes the reader admire Crook as much as he himself does, for Crook truly did possess unmatched stamina, experience, attention to detail and equal measures of sympathy for the Indians he was fighting and ruthlessness in his ambition to drive them onto the reservations. Bourke too admires the Indians, especially the Apaches. In fact, one of the book's high points is its almost anthropological descriptions of Apache life, the Arizona landscape, life in the frontier Army, and the social milieu of old Tuscon. The descriptions of Crook's campaigns against the Sioux and Cheyenne flag just a little, but only in comparison to Bourke's own rapturous discussions of life in the Southwest. The book that this compares best to is Eugene Ware's "The Indian War of 1864" (which I've also reviewed for Amazon). Ware, like Bourke, was a serving Army officer with a keen, sympathetic eye for all he saw in the old West. Both were involved in more hair-raising episodes than a dozen Hollywood action heroes combined. I too am a serving Army officer, and I can testify that none of my peers today has seen as much or writes so well.

This book has a lot of different and interesting projects in it. Something for everyone.

I stitched the Anniversary Oval on pages 93 and 94 as an anniversary gift and it turned out very nice. However, I had to find my own letters and numbers for it since they weren't included in the book. I also stitched the Halloween and Thanksgiving projects into pins and magnets that turned out well too.

This book contains detailed instruction for beading on fabric or perforated paper. Many of the projects shown were available in kit form in years past. Projects range in size from 1.5 inches to detailed samplers. Colorful photos and clear charts make these projects easy to follow. The designs are beautiful and many can be completed in a few hours.

This book has many patterns (wish I had the book here to count!). Almost all are small--ranging from pin size to ornaments--with only one larger sampler piece. (That pillow on the cover is not as big as it seems.) All patterns are suitable for beginners but more advanced stitchers will find these patterns work up quickly enough for presents. There are a number of patterns that could be used to represent months (like an umbrella for March and flowers for May) if you are into that new seasonal craze. Great book if you like the Mill Hill beaded stitchery kits.

Beads add a beautiful new dimension to cross-stitch and this book makes it easy to do. It has around 100 very small designs: lots of hearts,flowers and baskets,cute little houses,angels,halloween and christmas ornaments. There are also around ten (a little bit larger)beautiful samplers. The charts are well defined with clear instructions. The designs are small but very charming and cute. I also used some of the designs for x-stitching without beads and the results were very pretty.

Ms. Herrera is a delight to read about, a delight to see in photographs, and a delight to have in the fashion world.

A wonderful, gracious designer, well loved and appreciated throughout the fashion industry.

Potential purchasers of this book should be aware that it has very little about Ms. Herrera's designs. I had hoped it would contain photos of her fashion designs, but the book is mainly a puff piece with glowing comments about Ms. Herrera from her family and friends. There are some interesting photos from her early years, conveying a sense of her evolving style, but overall the book is disappointing. Definitely not an objective review of her career as a designer.

As almost every designer has it own book(s) it was now time for a book by Carolina Herrera. This designer who nobody knows in The Netherlands, perhaps only for her fragrances which are for sale in discount drugstores, has done her best to create this ode to herself. And that is exactly what it is. This book is only filled with pictures of Carolina throughout the years. Her children are also featured on a few pictures in this book. The book itself is beautiful and also the pictures are very nice. Don't get me wrong. But a book about a designer without pictures of models in her designs is just not possible i think. So if you want to buy this book to see an overview of her work don't buy this book! A few pictures in this book are not printed on the paper but inserted loosely so you can easily take them out. This makes it possible to frame them or something else with them. That's really nice. I can't wait for Donatella Versace to publish an ode to herself!!

First of all, I have to say, living in China, you are always expecting the worst, but I was so delighted, when I went to the postoffice to pick up my first item from Amazon.com. First of all it came on time and second it was packed perfectly.
The book is more than I expected, very beautiful layout, front- and backpage. You can even remove the cover and then you have a beautiful book. It is very interesting, tells you a lot about her life and the many beautiful pictures gives you a perfect look into her world, and you even get good fashion ideas. This is definately an item to purchase if you like to read about the famous fashinistas. I promise, this book will not dissapoint you.

This book is a beautiful pictoral biography of Carolina Herrera, who's considered one of the most elegant women in the world and a regular on the International Best Dressed lists throughout the 1970s.

Carolina Herrera - wife, mother, friend, designer - exudes a natural warmth that is unmistakably classy. Her inherent gifts for classic chic were nurtured in her rarified position as the beautiful daughter of the Governor of Caracas.

Carolina's collections also define the woman herself: classically chic yet modern, with a refined sophistication that is always feminine and somehow manages to be comfortable as well.

The real effect will be to confuse children about gender differences, and encourage cross-dressing. This could be the first step in confusing children about their sexual identity. THis is one example out of the volumes of material being produced and pumped into our schools by well-funded groups like GLSEN.

This incredible book is not only an amazing tool for getting kids to open up about and annihilate prejudices of all kinds, it's also wildly funny, at times, very moving, and a joy just to look at. With gorgeous photos and artwork by both children and adults, "Cootie Shots" is an anthology of theatre and poetry for everyone. Some pieces are from emerging artists, some are from pros like Tony Kushner (Angels in America). When I got my copy I expected just another trite collection of writing "for kids". Finally there's a theatre book on the market for kids with DEPTH. BE SURE to check it out!

I rated this book 4 out of 5(with 5 being the best) becuase it had a little bit of bad language. Besides that I thought the book was great! It really made me think about how other people can be different and that you shouldn't tease, make fun, or judge them differently,when you really don't know them. I learned that you should always respect people because of who they are. I would recommend this book to bullies, people who get bullied, and people who like to read about standing up for yourself and appreciating who you are. I'm really glad I read the book.

This is a wonderful book for ANYONE interested in children's theatre and civics education. The writing is sensational--and the subject matter is timely, meaningful, and handled with great care. Don't miss the Islamic grandmother and the snake!

This book will capture your imagination and inspire you at the same time. Every page offers a new suprise and new unexpected delight! This is the "Free to Be You and Me" for a new generation. It speaks to children and adults both while never talking down to either of them. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in bringing smart and fun theatre to children. Plus the artwork is fabulous!

I love this book, it is absolutely beautiful. Everyone with any taste needs to purchase this book!

Photography is extraordinary. The people featured therein, not so much. Still, it's a beautifully done publication and worth the cash but buy it at discount.
Stylemaven

Flash review: The perfect gift book for this season.

This new book, timed for Xmas giving, features a selection of the best homes shown in Vogue in the past several years. It is a large-scale book, filled with wonderful color photography. Although Elle Decor and Architectural Digest have come out with similar books this season, neither can hold a candle to Vogue's tome. If you are familiar with the 1968 publication, "Vogue's Book of Houses, Gardens, People", which now sells for $400 and up if you can find it, you will know what is in store for you.

Maximum emphasis on homes you would love to see in person, owned by people of impeccable style: Janet de Botton in the south of France, Marella Agnelli in Marrakech, David Cholmondeley's stately, etc.; minimal number of celebrity digs done by decorators of questionable taste which you tend to see in Architectural Digest. The style and taste of the featured houses, gardens (and, yes, people) are on an entirely different plane than those shown in the new books by the other two lifestyle magazines.

you have to love decor and fashion to understand this book.it is Vogue after all!!!! the book is full of fabulous properties and fabulous people.I went through it already many times and got inspired by it.
Buy it f you are a fan of vogue magazine !!!

There is no disputing that this is a sumptuous volume. Lavishly produced, its oversized 384 pages are crammed with images of exquisite rooms and lush gardens from 36 unique homes, owned by the rich and/or famous in Europe, America and North Africa and into the likes of which you and I will never set foot. (Which is the reason, thankfully, such books are produced and why we lesser mortals buy them.)

There are rooms modern and rooms classic, arranged with the taste, elegance and restraint of the world's best decorators and captured by the world's greatest photographers. And yet the rooms are not museum pieces, but are demonstrably inhabited by their owners, their well-scrubbed children and their adorable dogs, such as the greyhound on page 317 filching a piece of cheese from the dinner table.

My favourite room which is featured on the front jacket cover is of Janet de Botton's breakfast room in Provence, its French chateau décor a study in white, cream and faded pastel, the background, literally a wall of china - floral motifed white plates and platters displayed on white-painted, floor-to-ceiling wooden plate racks built into the walls. (Already I've been measuring my walls to see how I can incorporate something similar - though less vast - into my old house).

At the opposite end of the décor spectrum is Amanda Brooks NYC loft, all kitsch and brash eye-popping colour like a Barbie Doll house with Brooks herself photographed in a Barbie Doll style gown in a Barbie Doll pose. (It's not to my personal taste but cleverly done & I had to look twice to be sure the figure lying stiffly across the bed wasn't a mannequin).

If you are a fan of décor books you will find plenty more here to inspire, amuse and entertain you and your like-minded friends and family.

So why did I hold back from a five star rating? My quibble is with the empty 14 pages devoted to Madonna which might have been put to better use: Madonna's cow pastures, M. with (admittedly cute) children; a gowned & high-heeled & coiffed M. feeding the chickens (as if!); M. canoodling with husband, a double-page shot of M's sheep -- & only one tiny interior shot, a sitting room that was rearranged by the photographer & does not reflect the actual décor of Madonna's house - which might have been of real interest even to a non-fan like me.
Thus the book falls just a little short of being, for me, the epitome of the coffee-table décor genre.

I'm an economic major and this book is use in our "Price Theory" class. Most of the student in this class, including me, agrees it is not a good textbook. The author just keep on blathering about the topic and hardly showing any examples or applications. How are we suppose to learn about the topic? Today, I just made two books purchase, "Price Theory and Applications" by Landsburg and "Price Theory and Applications: Decisions, Markets, and Information" by Hirshleifer. Hope these two new books can shed some light on this course.

In Microeconomics, Bowles applies game theory, the insights of experimental economics, a contested exchange theory of the firm based upon conflict and power, and endogenous formation of traits, to microeconomic theory.

This is probably the most developed statement of what Bowles has called "Post-Walrasian Economics." Essentially, a form of neoclassical economics in which the unrealistic assumptions of Walrasian/ perfectly competitve type economics are rejected and not merely replaced "imperfect" competition and information (e.g. some degree of divergence from the walrasian assumptions, using those assumptions as their reference point). Rather, Bowles gives complex, somewhat realistic descriptions of the non-Walrasian characteristics of the economy, many of which have a totally different qualitative side than the Walrasian model.

Bowles is largely successful, yet there are some problems. There is alot of calculus in this book, not at an incredibly high level, but this certainly limits the appeal of this book to many readers without an understanding of calculus. Also, many of the examples used in the models are very abstract. An agent is faced with a choice to "adopt a characteristic" when they "have an interaction" with some other agent. Nothing wrong with abstraction per se, but it would be nice to have a better idea of what real world issues these models have relevance for.

Also, Bowles rose to prominence as one of the top radical economists and one of the founders of the Union for Radical Political Economics. He apparently still has similar political views and much of this book supports the existence of pervasive market failures supports a left perspective. Yet, not much time is spent on the particular topics usually explored by radical models. Those aspects of the "conflict theory" of the firm which are most profound, such as the choice of technique being influenced by the need of the capitalist to maximize their bargaining power rather than efficiency, are mentioned but not explored in great detail. However, given the incredibly detailed exploration of various aspects of conflict in the labor process, the models developed in this book have great value for those looking to develop new radical models.

Also, this book is thoroughly neoclassical (albeit informed by the best advances in NC economics, even those which contradict age old staples of NC theory) in terms of price and distribution theory, etc... As someone who is heterodox in their beliefs about economics, this is bit of a disappointment for me. However, most of these insights could be integrated into heterodox theory.

There are also a few problematic claims in this book. Bowles apparently supports Duncan Foley's argument that if we focus on aggregate outcomes, the consequences of the SMD theorem are somewhat mitigated. Foley's claims are actually quite questionable. See Frank Ackerman's "Still Dead After all these Years: Interpreting the failure of General Equilibrium Theory."

The idea of Walrasian equilibria is in serious trouble, and there isn't a good back filler that fits experimental evidence. If this represents an exciting plot for you, read on. On the other hand, if you want to hide out in late 19th century (supplemented by 1950s) math models for a few more years, avoid this book.

If Bowles is any indication of the enlightened center, the walls of stable microeconomic theory are shaking. The trumpets are blown by experimentalists and and supporting work from serious anthropologists, historians, etc. that suggest people just don't quite do what is expected by classical microeconomics. That is a problem. Elegance that isn't factual just isn't science. Neither does it look like the gods of game theory fully come to the rescue, no matter how elegant Nash equilibria might be.

Still, the most likely candidate theory for stable microeconomics is the evolution literature and the associated game theoretic concepts that have been staples in biology for over 30 years. Ideas adapted from biology may offer dynamics without contextuality. Bowles teaches related constructs neatly in a book that is still less quantitative than a few others I have looked at. There are few partial differentials for their own sake. On the other hand, there is real math here--enough to scare people off who are fightened by such things, but math isn't the point as it can be in other micro theory works. The point is reality, which is also the slippery slope that will make this book hard for the trade to adopt, I'd guess. Remarkably, the book reads like a search for solutions rather than the expression of what can be said with simple math models in a logically consistent manner.

If your prof uses this text for microeconomic theory, you are lucky. It could be a lot worse. On the other hand, if you are an economist (or wannabe), you might want to supplement this with more conventional work if you are going to face departmental exams, syllabus reviews, etc.

This is decidedly the new view of things, though it will probably become dated in a reasonably short period as experimentalists proceed. It is isn't a history book of ahistorical microeconomic theory, which is the safe way to go for conventional texts.

Overall, this is probably as exciting as microeconomic theory can be, and it is the foundations of an honest social science theory--no matter how tentative. It opens more questions than it solvies which is probably the new standard for positive social science texts.

The book might have been improved by some broader treatment of social network theory in the game theory section and by even more extensive treatment of experimental evidence and methods--particularly methods. Few people are actually training social scientists to do experiments these days. That's too bad. It is the future.

If this work is the skeleton of such a future, economists are going to be political psychologists, are going to be behavioral biologists, are going to be population ecologists, etc. It may be a very interesting time to become an economist if this is the sort of book a program is using. Historians and science studies folks will want to monitor these emerging changes. This is a place to peg legitimate change.

Samuel Bowles, a heterodox economist known for his long time cooperation with Herb Gintis on various cutting edge works in the field of behavioral economics and related subjects, has made a fantastic synthesis of all the material and conclusions in this area of research in "Microeconomics: Behavior, Institutions and Evolution".

As the title promises, Bowles makes extensive use of concepts from socio-evolutionary theory, institutional economics and anthropology, as well as applications from (evolutionary) game theory, to discuss the basics of economic choices, interaction, cooperation, and exchange. It may take a bit of adjusting at first, especially if one is not used to heterodox economics, since his well-written overview starts from very different points than most generic orthodox textbooks do. But it is very rewarding: all the relevant issues are presented in their complexity, nothing is swept under the carpet, and what makes this book in particular commendable is the way in which information from anthropology, psychology and the social sciences is weaven into the 'story'. The contrast with the ridiculous assumptions and the unrealistic or simply false simplistic models of standard neoclassical textbooks (like for example that of Mankiw) is striking.

It must be said that a proper understanding of all the arguments requires familiarity with intermediate level mathematics for economists, and the general level of abstraction and discussion is quite high, so this is not an easy book. Fortunately, this is mitigated somewhat by Bowles' clear writing, and sometimes he also takes the trouble (which unfortunately few economists do) of specifically explaining what the mathematical formulas mean, for people who have difficulty with somewhat advanced equations and the like. In any case, he relies quite correctly more on empirical arguments regarding problems of the common, of evolution of institutions, the workings of altruism, prisoner's dilemmas, and so on than on any kind of math (although these things can be expressed in math, often).
At the end, Bowles provides some problem sets organized by subject as in the book, to allow readers and students to grapple with the issues presented.

Overall, this is probably the best overview specifically about microeconomics currently in existence, and it's a shame that it is not the standard textbook in all economics classes on the subject. Much better than anything Mankiw, Barro etc. have ever produced.

Is there anything about the Di-and-Chuck saga that hasn't already been said? Christopher Wilson has decided that a book highlighting events from Camilla's perspective would fill a gap in the coverage of these events. It's a reasonable idea for a book, except that there's nothing to indicate he has talked directly to Camilla, and he's reduced to guessing what goes on in her mind.

Nonetheless, the book is an easy read and approaches the well-known story from a different angle, adding a few tidbits such as describing the Queen's raging hatred of Camilla. According to Wilson, it was Camilla who encourged Charles to marry Diana. The book is rather ambivalent in its perspective on Camilla, suggesting she saw no ethical dilemma in cheating on her husband to be Charles' mistress and orchestrating the sham marriage between Charles and Di. Yet in other passages, Camilla is shown in a sympathetic light. Even if Camilla is responsible for her own fate, it can't be easy being the most hated woman in Britain.

The book portrays Di's marriage as more of an empty shell than other authors have portrayed it. The author suggests Di knew what she was getting into, but was too naive and too intimidated to back out during the engagement. The marriage never had a chance; Di was never intended to be more than a showpiece. As the story is told in this book, the villain is Charles, who over and over is portrayed as self-centered even by the standards of royalty and utterly devoid of a moral compass or basic interpersonal skills.

The early chapters cover Camilla's family history. Skip those and jump into the middle of the book which is far more interesting. The book, written in 2002, ends with the author speculating that everyone should brace themselves for a Charles-and-Camilla marriage announcement, which of course occurred in 2005.

As the Camilla PR campaign continues in the UK, it's helpful to remember her role picking out the "perfect mouse" for her lover to marry. As Diana herself expressed the dilemma: "there were three of us in the marriage so it was a bit crowded".

Camilla selected the girl she thought would be too timid to object to the longrunning Charles/Camilla affair; slept with her lover days before the royal wedding, gave him trinkets and pictures to take with him on his honeymoon... no wonder Diana grew to hate both her husband and the "Rottweiler". One also wonders if Princes William and Harry will ever learn of the role Camilla (Queen Camilla) played in making their late mother so unhappy. The saga continues and I hope Christopher Wilson is there to cover it in his next book.

Unless you have NEVER read a SINGLE book on Diana and Charles, you will not find a scrap of new information here. I did not find a sentence that I have not read at least 10 times before. Additionally, it left out too much important information to be be a good, all-inclusive read.

I thought that I knew all that there was to know about the whole Charles-Camilla-Diana triangle, then I started reading the Windsor Knot and I realized that I did not know all that much.

The book is more than the story about Charles and Camilla and Diana's relationships with eachother. The author delves into the murky past of the players families and tells us about the some of the people that came before Camilla, Charles, and Diana.

A very interesting, entertaining book!

While I felt that this was an interesting read I felt the author painted an unfair portrait of Diana. She portrayed Diana as a crazy, unstable shrew and yet it was Charles refusal to end his relationship with Camilla that caused Diana to be so unhappy and angry. I don't think there are very few women on this planet that would be happy and accept the fact that their husband has a mistress for 20 years that he refuses to give up after marriage. It proved to me at least, that Diana was justified in her ending her marriage and giving up the throne. The author paints Charles and Camilla as 2 poor lovers who go through hell just to be together. I felt no sympathy for either of them. But it is an engrossing book none the less.

An even and informative tale about Camilla Parker-Bowles, a poor little rich girl who may someday get her prince.

What we learn is that the upper class in the UK is alive and sick with its own moral code. Do what you want, just don't talk about it.

I like the author's style of writing, but don't really care for Camilla.