Bradley Books

This would have been a good read had it not been for the painting of America as the 'villain' against the 'non-militaristic Japanese'. Where did he get his 'facts' concerning the manifest destiny of the American people against the Indians? If he ever read an osprey book or actual history book he might actually find the truth. Indians fought during the 7 years war (French Indian War - North American theater) on both sides of the fence. There was wrong done, no doubt about it. Not to the level of what this man suggests in barbarity against the native population (btw they weren't 'native' either they came from Asia over the land bridge and used 'might makes right' tactics against the indigenous people here at the time). Read your history. One nation conquers another nation. It is not always through might makes right either. Politics are just as able to defeat countries as a sword. But this guy... Some of this is great history - other is nothing more than liberal prattle. I was disappointed.

For anyone even remotely interested in the Pacific war, this book's an absolute "must read". I've given this book to two close friends who could not put it down and had the exact same reaction. An eye-opener, to say the least. Read it!

An incredible book for detail into the history of the world that leads to the stories of these brave pilots. It is accuracte but not a flattering commentary about how we treat each other on the face of the earth. Challenging and rewarding to read.

Author Bradley is a storyteller and a detective, not an historian. He needs some leeway to establish a context, which is tough to do with such a complicated subject matter. Reviewers should save their historical-critical energies to refute the analyses of real historians.

Technically, the writing is unsophisticated and sometimes inept. There are painful mixed metaphors, an annoying third-person use of the Japanese honorific "san" (and then only when the author approves of the subject), and the unscholarly, disparaging references to those who displease the author(bordering on name-calling).

Once you get by this trivia, you see the book for what it is: a mesmerizing, disturbing, intimate story about the exteme dichotomies of war. As with the tale of Breaker Morant or Judgement at Nuremburg, a reader can take any ideology he wants from this "sideshow of the war", but in the end can not help but be haunted, saddened, and inspired.

I am old enough to have lived through the war and remember it well. I never knew why Japan declared war on the U.S., even though I have taken every history class offered throughout my school career. "Flyboys" is probably the most brutal book I have ever read, almost too difficult in places. I am grateful to James Bradley for having written this book, I now understand why America dropped the Atomic Bombs and put an end to that war. "Flyboys" is a must read.

The first thing I noticed when I got this book was the Oracle Application Server (OAS) chapters. The next thing was that the content was pulled almost word-for-word from the OAS documentation. I'm not that familiar with the other products covered in this book, but if this is how the rest of the book was written, save your money. If you have the products, you already have this book. It's just not all in one place. For example, compare the discussion of "Multiple Instances and Threads in Cartridges" on p. 142 of this book with p. 2-17 the OAS 4.0.7 Introduction to Applications book. Not only are the figures identical, but the text is almost a perfect match.

Not very impressed with this book, it has little to do with Oracle 8i and Oracle's Java Vision.

With Web Development I was hoping for some database interaction, as the title states "Oracle 8i Web Development"

Where is the Java coverage: JDBC SQLJ JSP Servlets BC4j

This book is rubbish. I would not waste my money.

It has nothing to do with 8i, and everything to do with basic OAS.

Very frustrating!

The first thing I noticed when I got this book was the Oracle Application Server (OAS) chapters. The next thing was that the content was pulled almost word-for-word from the OAS documentation. I'm not that familiar with the other products covered in this book, but if this is how the rest of the book was written, save your money. If you have the products, you already have this book. It's just not all in one place. For example, compare the discussion of "Multiple Instances and Threads in Cartridges" on p. 142 of this book with p. 2-17 the OAS 4.0.7 Introduction to Applications book. Not only are the figures identical, but the text is almost a perfect match.

Finally this is like Complete reference if you are an Oracle DBA. If you are planning on installating or already have I would strongly recommend to purchase this book. You must have some HTML, Java, XML experience to understand examples in this book. Extremely good coverage of OAS (oracle application server) from installation to configuration. The author gave detailed tips and techniques on writing PL/SQL stored procedures that dynamically generate HTML web pages using Oracle database, and every new feature in OAS PL/SQL cartridge is covered. More installation information on WebDB server is available on OTN (Oracle technology network).

Book Review for: Oracle8i Web Development written by Bradley D. Brown, published by McGraw-Hill companies, Inc. copyright 2000

Sequels are sometimes a mere shadow of the original. Could this be true of Brad's second book, Oracle8i Web Development?

The original book, Oracle Application Server Web Toolkit Reference, was written in early 1998 by Bradley, Richard J. Niemiec and Joseph C. Trezzo of TUSC and is an incredible value with its vast quantity of Web information. So how does Brad's new book stack up to the first?

It took me several weeks to review Brad's first book due to the enormous amount of material and this one took longer for the same reason. This book took has an incredible amount of web development information, in fact I refer to it as the A to Z , numbers included, Oracle Web Development Manual.

But the question is, did I like it and would I recommend it? The answer... absolutely. Because it covers just about everything you would need to know about developing an Oracle based web site. It starts with an well-itemized list of contents, which is 26 pages long, followed by 1050 pages of web development content as listed below.

Hardware and OS considerations, specifications and installation of the web server, OAS configuration, web database, HTTP Listeners and Oracle8i built-ins are some of the topics discussed in the early chapters. Tuning, uptime and web server version differences are also covered to help educate the reader. There are several chapters on development tools and their differences, including many examples. The tools and languages covered at length are HTML, JAVA, XML, PL/SQL,PERL, cartridges, and Oracle Designer.

Designing the site is thoroughly addressed, including discussions for a commerce server. Something I had not thought about until I read this, then realized "of course, makes a lot of sense to have a commerce server." The book goes on to describe utilities and offers troubleshooting tips , debugging code and security; an extremely important topic when you deal with your customer's information, like credit card processing. Need I say more, other than you are not getting a book with boring narrative, but one filled with page after page of code examples, topic tips, screen shots examples, diagrams and flow charts. In fact when I went back and looked at the layout of the book I realized it has an extremely good page layout and use of white space. In other words the layout appears to be "designed" rather than happenstance where many writers place diagrams and charts near pertinent text. It is not an easy task to keep the interest of a reader in a highly technical book, but my hat's off to Brad's accomplishment in doing so.

The book concludes with a 38 page index and a 26 page appendix of great web sites. When I contacted Brad about the extremely helpful web sites to find his source he told me he had to compile the list. When you see the list you will know that that alone took a while to research not to mention that list is only the tip of the ice berg of the wealth of information, or should I say tip of the "gold" berg.

If Brad intended to establish himself as a web authority, he has done it and this book demonstrates just that. What a nice gift to the community of web developers Brad has given us by sharing his wealth of knowledge on the subject. Thanks Brad!

Good read. Had to go out and get all the rest of her books.

I tried and tried to read this book. But, I was half way through it and still trying to convince myself to keep going. Don't bother

I am new to Celeste Bradley's Liars Series. I really enjoyed this book. I especially love the humor in her writing and the very strong female lead. I will be buying more of this series.

The Charmer (Liar's Club) by Celeste Bradley was terrible. I found myself half-way through the book skimming and skipping parts - just to get to the end. Collis Termayne was a great character in the early novels but lacked something in this one.

Collis was indeed charming, and Rose was fantastic, a perfect heroine, but the telling of the story through the first half was tedious and uninteresting. I found it interesting that all of the Liar and Royal Four stories took place in the same year, 1813. That could have been a disaster but the author pulled it off very well. I've never read another series with that many books in it, where the time line was so close. Well done.

For those who have a strong interest in learning biblical Hebrew, this is the book to buy. There is no other book that teaches you how to correctly and effectively learn biblical Hebrew. Sometimes it is hard to follow; but, he completely breaks down the language and gives the reader vital details about how the language works. It is best that you already have the basic knowledge of Hebrew before reading Gesenius so you can follow the readings better.

Despite how old this book is, it is still the most exhaustive book on Hebrew grammar and Hebrew scripture. I constantly use this book as I study my Hebrew text.

This book is very hard to search. The scripture index is not based on the page you will find something, but in which section. So the index wil get you close, but you really need to search to find what you are looking for. The type gets very small in places and makes searching a pain.

This is not the first book a Hebrew student should buy. However, this book should be one that you eventually get.

This is the grammar we used in Seminary, and I detested it then. But, now that I'm older and reading it for pleasure and not for a grade, I realize just how well this book is written, how well it is organized, and just what a gem it is. If you have a 'working' knowledge of Hebrew and want to know a more, this book will help you. If you are a Hebrew scholar and want to have a reference tool, this book is excellent. The only person who shouldn't buy this book is that person who is just starting to learn Hebrew. There are other resources available for the beginning student -- you should wait until you have a 'decent' knowledge of Hebrew before you get this book. But, if you want to continue your studies and get one of the best grammar references available, this is it.

Peace Profound,

Neshamah

Being a Catholic Priest, I studied Greek and Latin in my Seminary training, some years ago now. I always had a desire to learn Hebrew so as to be able to read the Old Testament in the original language. Whenever I picked up a "Learn Hebrew to easy way" book, I saw refences to Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar and thought, "this must be the book to have on this subject!"I must say that I am only in the early stages of working through this very thorough text, but so far I believe that it is a classic and will be worth the effort of reading it.

I recently bought Oxford's hardcover edition and its a damn shame that for the price of the book what you get is a glued photocopy of the original edition. I won't get into the content of the book. Gesenius' work is legendary for those interested in the subject. But I do warn those interested in this edition of what they'll get. It is sad that such a fine publishing house as OUP is getting into the habit of selling expensive editions of books that basically amount to a cheap reprint of the original. Instead of advertising it as expensive hardcover editions they should be more frank about what they are really delivering.

I love Phoebe she made me laugh and Raf makes the book come to life, they were suited for each other. I loved this couple most of all they are fun.

Phoebe Millbury and her two cousins, Deidre and Sophie were in contention for a fabulous inheritance, from their deceased grandfather Hamish Pickering - only if one of them were the first to snag a duke as a husband. After a scandalous incident in her earlier years, Phoebe was as anxious as the others but secretly desired to please her cold and distant father, "the vicar". However, in trying to project herself as an innocent debutante, Phoebe was tempted beyond measure by the devilishly charming and oh, so handsome rake Rafe Marbrook. With one look Rafe set fire to Phoebe's imagination, before they even touched at the first ball she attended.

The very next morning her Aunt informed her that she had received a proposal of marriage from a Marbrook, the Marquess who would soon be a Duke. As her aunt repeated the long titled gentleman's name, the only name registering in Phoebe's confused mind was that of Marbrook and her acceptance was immediate. However, what she soon discovered was that she had just agreed to become the bride of Rafe Marbrook's older legitimate brother Calder.


*** First of all, after reading other reviews I don't think the people who say Phoebe's acceptance of a mistaken proposal was as ludicrous as it sounds without examining Phoebe's motivation. Why didn't she just admit the mistaken identity? As the author pointed out, for the most part, Phoebe had lived her life without love and warmth from her father "the Vicar". She had made a disastrous mistake as a young teenager and this was the first time she had gained her fathers admiration, why he'd even smiled at her. The `vicar' had actually told her she'd made him proud! No matter that her heart was breaking, Phoebe simply could not deny her father's happiness and his long sought after approval.

Rafe could not believe that his half-brother had gone ahead and snapped Phoebe up before he'd had a chance to even pay her a morning call. Rafe knew his half brother Calder to be an efficient, cold, methodical and immovable man, but other than pointing Phoebe out from across a ballroom, Calder had not even spoken to her. And so, once more Calder had gotten the prize leaving Rafe standing empty at the gate. The author laid the groundwork with Rafe's emotional feelings of inadequacy and losing to his brother once more.

The author used Phoebe's self deprecating humorous dialogs to herself as well as entertaining antics throughout the story that often proved to be to be uproariously funny. Into this fun filled mélange of supporting characters the readers get glimpses of the other two cousins, Deidre - a concoction of beautiful sophistication; and Sophie, tall, plain, slender and studious whose personalities are hinted at and can only invite the readers to look forward to their stories. There is also a sliver of what I suspect is an interesting little side romance going on with the stately butler.

Bottom line: Celeste Bradley delivers a funny laugh out loud Regency filled with sensual romantic trysts, engaging characters, warmth, and laughter.

Marilyn Rondeau, for www.ck2skwipsandkritiques.com

I enjoyed the characters and the story line, looking forward to the next two in this series.

Vicar's daughter Phoebe Millbury has a chance to inherit a fortune. There is one catch, Phoebe must be the first of her cousins to marry a duke. Not only must Phoebe compete with her cousins to marry a duke, Phoebe has a romantic scandal in her past. Then Phoebe meets Rafe Marbrook.

When Phoebe receives a marriage proposal from the Marquis of Brookhaven, she happily accepts. Not only is Phoebe madly attracted to Rafe, as Marquis, he is next in line to the dukedom. Then Phoebe learns that the Marquis of Brookhaven isn't Rafe but his older brother.

I love historical romance and I love Celeste Bradley. The heroes make my eyes cross and the heroines make me long to walk a day in their slippers!

Desperately Seeking a Duke fulfills all my wants for a delicious reading experience. Sumptuous romance, clever dialogue and a battle for riches make Desperately Seeking a Duke a delight!

Annmarie
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

The hero and heroine fall in love at first site, and then have to face obstacles to being together before they finally get their HEA.

I think it is very hard to pull off a love at first site book, because falling in love is one of the best parts of a romance for me. If the hero and heroine are already there at the end of chapter one then a lot of that magic can be lost.

One of the problems for me with this book is that inital meeting and falling in love just didn't seem to have the fireworks necessary to make the couple fall in love the way they did.

Second there is no more interaction between the couple til nearly page 100. I like lots of interaction between my leads.

Overall I found this book to be only average.

While this is a good gag gift for a woman, one of the main themes is the weaknesses and shortcomings of men, which tended to turn me off. The second main theme is that women can take control of their life and control their own destiny, which I approved of. Constructed from a series of staged black-and-white photographs with witty captions, it takes only a short time to go through it.
While it doesn't specifically say so in the acknowledgements, it appears that these are modern photographs, yet they look like they were taken in the forties and early fifties. The clothing and hairstyles are all from that era. That was the feature that I liked most about the book.

First of all, those who gave this book low ratings (such as the gentleman who called it male-trashing filth) must not "get it." This isn't supposed to be deep and heavy...so of course the text is simple and to the point (it's a picture book, for heaven's sake, people). This book is not meant to seriously bash males...it's more like a caricature portrayal. Men and women are different, and we should just laugh at it because that's not going to change anytime soon. Greive helps us to do just this. As a man, I'm sure he wouldn't go around bashing men in a serious way...how many times have female comedians stood onstage poking fun at the female stereotypes of being emotional, or catty, or in love with shoes?? Sure not every female is like that, but there are certain stereotypes in our world that make for great humor when it's done in fun. This book is both humorous and inspiring. I bought it when i was single, and I also gave it as gifts to friends -- single & looking, recently single, and even married. My boyfriend saw it on my coffee table this weekend and started looking through it...he thought it was hilarious! The vintage pictures are great, and although it pokes some light fun at the guys, by the end of the book the message is serious and poignant - don't try to be anything but who you are, and in doing so everything else will fall into place in its own way and time. This is a great gift for any girlfriend going through a breakup, as well as those who are single and feeling a little disenchanted. My only regret is that there are only 5 stars, because this book deserves many more!

and unfortunately, soooo accurate! Any woman who has loved or tried to love a man will love this book. A side-splitter!

This piece of filth was written by a self-loathing male and is bought by misandric, self-centered imbeciles. It's nothing but a grocery list of men's faults and an insinuation that women, in contrast, are perfect. Even violence against men is joked about: suggestions of women shooting men and even severing their private parts.

If there were a similar book about WOMEN being awful, NOW would have sent death threats to the publishing house. Ridiculing men for about a hundred pages is no different.

This piece of sexist garbage is for the woman who says how much she hates men -- and then wonders aloud why no one will go out with her. Who in his right mind would?

I received this book as a gift. I LOVED it, the pictures and the one liners were funny, true and really made me think. I had to purchase this book for my sister. We all are looking for "that one" what this man said was "I am the one" be true to yourelf. then you will find truth, love and Mr Right. Thanks!

A worthy addition to the Avalon series written in Bradley's style. I didn't notice a change in authors.
This particular title takes us back to the time when Druids where still on Mona and through most of Boudicca's life. It visualizes the events leading up to the Mona masacre, as well as Boudicca rebellion. Particularly dear to me is a story behind Lhiannon. Lhiannon, a young priestess, is very different from Lhiannon, the High Priestess in later novels. The novel gave me a very welcome glimpse into why and how of Lhiannon's later dettachment, while High Priestess.

I think it is ridiculous to keep attributing books written by others to Marion Zimmer Bradley. They must think that the reading public are a bunch of simpering idiots. Or- could it be? She is communicating with Diana Paxton via spirit medium or ouija board! Pls, give me a break! Authors, create your own darn worlds. Stop trying to co-opt MZB's - you do not measure up.

This is a wonderful addition to the Avalon series. My mother said it was one of the best she had read so far...and that says loads!

This book gives a deeper meaning to The Forest House and a further understanding of the Ravens.

I was a little disappointed to discover Marion Zimmer Bradley did not write this book, but Diana L. Paxson continued the Avalon Saga very well. As a former Latin and Roman History Instructor, I enjoyed reading the story of a great leader of Britain with the factual information enriched by fantasy fiction set in the Roman occupation of what came to be called Britain.

I came to this book with some knowledge of c++ and java so I can't really say how I would have found it if I was a complete beginner. Having said that, however, I must state that I found this book to be very well structured. The concepts were clearly explained and the author doesn't waste time with too many examples, only what is necessary to get the point across. So indeed, in less than 21 days I was up and running (well maybe walking briskly). I look forward to more books by this author.

The book is very barebones and basic. It does not cover anything in depth and you will find that you will need another book to help you with your project if you are counting on this one to do so. I find the topics discussed to be poorly documented and for a senior level developer moving to C# this book is not for you. Try APress's "C# and the .net platform" by Andrew Troelson (EXCELLENT BOOK..that has everything you will need to know about .net covered in depth!)

I am a start out Programmer but I figured it would be a good book to start from. I did it for a while and I got really bored the leasons took forever. Then I tried a C++ book called WeekEnd Crash course and it was great and kept me interested if you want to do C++ instead of C# try that book

I have thoroughly enjoyed the book and its ability to bring one up to speed with C#. He covers some very basic concepts such as structures, classes, indexers, and advanced topics such as delegates. All the constructs that one needs in order to put the language to work are detailed.

If you are looking for a quick, down and dirty book to jump start your knowledge of the language I would rate the book 5 stars.

One of the biggest challenges with OO languages is not using a procedural style when writing code. The author no doubt has a handle on the C# language. But I don't think he has a handle on OO. As the author mentions, everything in C# is class. With this in mind, I would expect to see good class design throughout the book.

My criticism, which I hope is taken with a grain of salt, is that the examples which wrap up a week's lesson are too procedural. They are spaghetti code that I personally would re-factor before publishing. There is a Main method that is hundreds of lines long with nested do's nested in if's nested in do's that are nested in if's... get the picture?

If this seems like harsh criticism, I apologize. I thought twice about writing this review until I hit is Black Jack program on about page 400.

Respectfully,
A fellow techie

This is by far the best ever introduction to C# programming that I have ever read.
Experienced programmers, especially those coming from a Java or C++ background, will be able to skim through the first few "days". Beginners to coding are introduced to fundamental principles such as variables, loops and conditions and then quickly move on to more interesting subjects.
The book's examples are better than most too, they are generally of sufficient length to be realistic while still illustrating the point.
The other highlight for me was an absence of typographical and more importantly technical errors. Spelling errors tend to distract and break up the flow when reading and when I see something that I know to be wrong I am always wary of trusting more advanced topics later.
I can't recommend this book enough for those wishing to venture into the world of C#.

Glenraven (1996) is the first Fantasy novel in the Glenraven series. Jayjay is having trouble with her third marriage and Sophie is still grieving for her lost child. When Jayjay finds a Fodor guide to Glenraven, she decides to run away from her troubles and easily convinces Sophie to accompany her.

In this novel, Jay and Sophie ride their tour bikes up to a dilapidated building that looks abandoned. They are supposed to meet their tour guide here and they gingerly walk in to find him. Although not immediately apparent, the guide soon appears, changes their money, and stores their bikes in his car. They drive off through the Italian Peimonte.

Transferring to the bikes when they reach the intersection of the main highway and an ancient Roman road, Jayjay, Sophie and their guide ride through delightful mountain country. Their guide, however, does not provide a running description of the points of interest or the native plants and animals on the way. Jayjay and Sophie begin to suspect him of nefarious intentions.

After climbing an endless series of switchbacks, they reach the mouth of a tunnel through the mountain. The tunnel seems to go on forever, but they eventually reach a set of intersections and turn back and forth until reaching daylight. The guide convinces them to change into less conspicuous clothes and goes ahead to make further arrangements. Jayjay and Sophie never see him again.

This novel involves Jayjay and Sophie in a number of strange incidents. Gradually they come to realize that Glenraven has absolutely no modern conveniences. The life of the peasants is nasty, brutal and short. The nobles have indoor plumbing and central heating, but nothing more than the Romans had.

Although initially dealing with the Machnan -- ordinary looking people -- they quickly encounter the Alfkindir and the Aregen, who obviously differ from humankind. The Alfkindir also have made servants -- the kin-hera -- of various kinds. Ruling over all these peoples is Aidris Akadan, the Watchmistress; she is Kin, but preys on her own people to stay alive.

They also soon realize that magic is not a myth in Glenraven. All three of the peoples have magic of some kind, but the Machnan have been losing their magic for years. Only Yemus, First Wizard of Zearn, has any magic left. All else has been instilled into the magical guide to Glenraven.

This novel is about magic, love and fear. Too much magic is controlled by Aidris, but Glenraven has a bit more to fight the Watchmistress. Jayjay has a need to love, but is afraid to try once more. Aidris fears death, but Sophie is beginning to crave death and deny her loves. Jayjay and Sophie are the chosen heroes of Glenraven, but can only defeat Aidris by losing their fears and accepting their loves.

These authors are past mistresses of adventure and romance writing and this work is a splendid example of their skills. It might not be their best work, but it certainly maintains the reader's interest and suspense. It is well worth the time and expense.

Highly recommended for Bradley and Lisle fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of adventure, love and magic.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Goes into detail on the torture death of children while their mother watches, when no detail was needed. Gruesome, disgusting, not at all like other books by Bradley. Get this only if you enjoy creep-out violence for its own sake.

...What they got were Sophie, a woman who stopped living when her daughter died, and Jayjay, a woman who just left her third husband. The Machnan had poured all of their magic into creating an artifact that would call to someone who would be able to free them from Aidris Akalan, the evil Watchmistress who ate the magic of other people to stay eternally youthful and immortal. The artifact took the unlikely guise of a guidebook in a bookstore. When Jayjay picked it up, she thought it would be the perfect place to get away/hide until she could face the fact that she would be getting divorced for the third time by the time she was thirty-five years old. Sophie unexpectedly found herself wanting to go along too. But when they arrive at Glenraven, nothing is at it seems. Can they trust their tour guide or is he setting a trap so he can rob them? In trying to evade their "pursuers" they walk right into their enemies and stumble across a hidden revolution among the Alfkindir, the long-lived race that Aidris Akalan comes from. Matthiall is the leader of the revolution, but he is betrayed by one of the warrags, a wolf/dog hybrid that is unlike anything Jayjay and Sophie have seen before. As they flee Aidris' palace with Matthiall, they run into the other monsters, including the Watchers, the demons that Aidris Akalan has called forth out of the Rift to keep her immortal. When the ancient race of the Aregen get involved, things become even more complicated...

This is not really deep fantasy, but it is a very good light fantasy. The characters are well-drawn and the reader can empathize with them as they struggle to accomplish something that they didn't even know that they were supposed to accomplish. None of the creatures/people in the book are what they seem and this makes for some interesting plot twists as unexpected events are always happening. The idea of a Glenraven was quite fun as it is portrayed as another small European country that has gone overlooked for hundreds of years. Everything is still in a medieval setting and they are very insulated. This is just a fun, quick read that has a nice, happy ending. A great break from some of the heavier fantasy that is out there right now.

i love marion zimmer bradly and really enjoy her writing style and glenraven was no exception. while this book may not be for hard core fantasy fanatics this is really a very entertainable book with witty, charming characters that often had me laughing and thinking "that's just what i'd say."

jayjay is a woman watching her third marriage fall apart when she finds a fodor's guide to glenraven, supposedly a small country in europe, and decides that's just the place for her much needed get away. her friend sophie who is still reeling from her daughter's death asks to come along. but glenraven is no small, obscure country in europe, it's another world that's dying because its thousand year old watchmistress is sucking the land dry. these unlikely heroes are like your best friend from high school and you find yourself smiling often throughout this work.

it's not a fantasy epic but instead a light hearted read that's just pretty damn good and begs to be read. there is a sequel which i am currently on which follows the same pattern of witty characters. i would definetly advise anyone to give this book a try for something alittle light and fun.

When JayJay Benning picked up a book in a bookstore, she thought the book was a travel guide to a small principality in Italy called Glenraven. Glenraven had supposedly been sealed off from the world and was for the first time opening it's borders to a few select individuals. Since she needed some time away from her husband, JayJay thought that Glenraven sounded perfect. After getting her friend Sophie to agree to come with her, they started on their trip. When the book starts rewriting itself before their eyes, seemingly talking to them, they realize that they're not where they thought they were. The people of Glenraven needed was a couple of heros to save them from a thousand year old ruler that feeds on the souls of Glenraveners to keep herself alive. JayJay and Sophie are not quiet what they had in mind. The pain of the Glenraveners can clearly be felt, and Sophie and JayJay's misery with their husbands is palpable. This book was touching, interesting, and well written.

I am not very interested in baseball, especially baseball 30 years ago, but I still liked this book. It's some of the best sportswriting I've read.

What's the deal with the errors. Did the author watch the game?
Where did he get his facts? Why weren't they checked?
A mediocre book on a game that has achieved mythic propotions.
If your looking for a book on the 1978 season that is mainly about the Sox check out, The Year of the Gerbil.
You don't really need to know what went on with the Yankees, we read about it every day during the '78 season.

This book was well researched. It brought to life the players of the time, then and now in their reflections. Bucky Dent may have only hit a weak homerun, but it has reverberated through the years and grown in mystique and folklore among the New York and Boston fan-base. The players' view from both sides in retrospect is something to be read and cherished. It makes one believe that this game was bigger than the game itself in the end. A time when baseball still had a few shreads of innocence before the fall. Truly a good read and hard to put down.

As several reviewers have noted, Bradley's book is full of irritating errors. The bottom line is that he's not a true baseball aficionado, like Roger Kahn, who has written the definitive book about the great 1978 season in "October Men."

It's not so much the irritating errors but a failure to grasp some of the great subtleties of the game. For example, Bradley minimizes Yaz as no Ted Williams by comparing his .285 lifetime average with Williams' .344 average. This is completely unfair to Yaz, who played most of his career in an era dominated by pitchers, including his famous .301 average to capture the AL batting title in 1968. This is a power hitter who won the batting title 3 times. That's 2 more times than Ruth or Mantle. Of course, he was not Ted Williams, but who is? He was a terrific player, and it's silly to suggest that his career and career numbers were somehow a disappointment, or that he somehow failed to live up to his promise.

The lack of appreciation also comes through in his description of Piniella's famous play in the sun field in the 8th inning. Bradley does a nice job of describing Piniella's decoy and his athletic stab at the ball to save the game. But, he does not mention how Piniella, like the true gamer he was, made his own luck by setting up in a kind of hockey stance to better be able to block the ball.

On the other hand, Bradley has done some terrific research and offers real insight on such baseball fine points as Piniella's decision to play Lynn to pull given Guidry's lack of his normal speed (another decision that helped win the game) and Gossage's ability to relax on the last pitch of the game to give his fastball such terrific movement as to make the great Yaz pop up meekly to third base. Bucky Dent's story is well told, as are the stories of lesser known players like Roy White. Also, Bradley does an excellent job with the difficult, but ultimately endearing, character of Thurman Munson.

Bradley tries to do the same with Boston players, but perhaps he did not get the same level of cooperation. I don't think he can fairly be accused of bias. This is particularly so given that the one player who emerges as the most admirable is Yaz. Yaz was a great competitor and teammate and, like Reggie, embraced the role of hitting in the clutch. The portrait of Fisk was also well done.

Bradley is also right on the money to stress the mental toughness of the Boston team and the unfairness of the "choke" label. This is a team that pulled itself off the mat after the Boston Massacre and won game after game after game in September. They were as tenacious as the Yankees. Also impressive was the ability to come back from 5-2 in the playoff game to make a game of it. It's fitting the game came down to just one run. When Reggie hit the home run to put them up 5-2 I thought it was over. Coming back against Gossage was pretty impressive.

Bradley tends to side with Zimmer critics, who fault some of his tactical decisions down the stretch (particularly going with young pitchers over Lee, whom Zimmer hated personally) and pinch hitting decisions in the playoff game. I'm partial to Zimmer, and think the Boston fans have been unfair to their managers over the years.

The book is well researched and adds enough to the lore of the great game to be worth the time. It is also well written and absorbing. And for Yankees fans, it's a nice respite from the present day.

Trip to Copacabana was to celebrate Berra's 32nd birthday, not 22nd page 10).
Mickey Rivers hit .326 in his second season with the Yanks, not over his first two seasons with them (page 34).
Rivers also had 557 AB coming into the game, not 555 (to nitpick, I also wouldn't say he had "27 walks in 555 at bats", as walks don't count as an at bat - should have been 27 walks in 600 plate appearances)(page 34).
Reggie Jackson came into the game with 96 RBIs, not 90 (page 39).
From 1967 to 1975 is eight years between World Series appearances, not six (page 44).
Author quotes Ted Williams as saying the Sox lost to the Yankees on opening day in 1949 by a score of 11-10. Actually, they lost to the A's, 3-2. They lost their home opener to the Yanks 4-3, but only had a 1-0 lead early in the game. They did not lose any games by 11-10 that year (page 65).
Roy White was not "actually traded" to the Dodgers. He was assigned to the Dodger's AAA team as part of a trade involving other players. He was always property of the Yankees, and the Yankees did not have to "get him back" - they simply called him up from the minors, as they would have done with any of their other minor league players. The distinction is that he never became property of the Dodgers (page 92).
As noted elsewhere, Yaz would not have pulled the ball down the left field line. In addition, right fielder Piniella, noting that lefties were pulling Guidry, would have played closer to the right field line, not the left field line (page 99).
In the first paragraph of page 136, Jack Brohamer is described as hitting right. In the very next paragraph, he is correctly described as hitting left.
Also on page 136, it says Brohamer was signed for $100,000 a year. On page 41, it states he was signed for "about $110,000 a year."
Jim Spencer was a first baseman, not an outfielder (page 146).
The author seems to be very confused about which is right field and which is left. In addition to comments above, on page 150 he states that the Red Sox shortstop trotted "out into right field toward the third base line." The third base line marks the border of left field and foul territory.
On page 157, the author states that "Munson had never played outfield in the pros." Actually, he played one game in the outfield in 1971, two in 1975 and 11 in 1976.
On page 186, Lindy McDaniel is referred to as a starting pitcher. McDaniel played for the Yankees from 1968-1973, appearing in 265 games in relief and making three starts. The modern equivalent would be referring to Jorge Posada as a first baseman.
On page 208, Rick Cerone's name is misspelled with two "r"s.
On page 240, it states that Dwight Evans was beaned by Mike Parrot on August 29. He was actually beaned on August 28, and Mike Parrott's last name has two "t"s.

There may be more, but I leave that to other readers.