Collins Books

This is a first rate, well crafted work of non-fiction. The author has a gift for putting together a compelling narrative about the unusual ordeal of the whale ship, Essex, which sailed out of Nantucket and was done in on the high seas by an extremely aggressive sperm whale who attacked it. So complete was the damage that the ship sank, its crew of twenty cast adrift upon a seemingly infinite ocean to find their way back home in three small boats. This real life, unheard of attack by a whale was the basis for Herman Melville's classic work of fiction, "Moby Dick".

What the author does is ground what happened to these most unfortunate of men in the historical context of the time. He paints a picture of the milieu in which they lived. Their lives were governed entirely by the whaling industry that was the bread and butter for Nantucket Island, the whaling capital of the world.

Drawing upon narratives by some of the survivors, as well as other historical data, he paints in intricate detail what life must have been like for these men. He weaves a tapestry of early nineteenth century life on the island of Nantucket and the preeminence of whaling in the lives of those who lived there, as well as the role of the Quakers. In essence, he brings the men, who were involved in this most notorious of survival at sea stories, to life for the reader.

It is a balanced narrative. This was to be the first voyage as Captain for the democratic George Pollard, who was teamed up with a very aggressive and ambitious first mate, Owen Chase. This was later to prove to be a poor combination. Nearly a third of the crew was African-American, which was an interesting twist, arising out of the abolitionist views of the Quakers, whose views were the mainstay of Nantucket. Most of the crew was very young, the cabin boy, Thomas Nickerson, being but fourteen years of age.

When the Essex was attacked while on the high seas by a gigantic, aggressive sperm whale and destroyed in the process, the story of the what happened to the crew makes for one of the most engrossing and amazing stories of survival ever to be told. Against the odds, eight of them survived their ordeal, which lasted for months. Dehydration and starvation were to drive them to a new frontier of human behavior. That threshold, however, once crossed, was one that would forever haunt those who survived. Their agonizing journey and foray into anthropophagy is chillingly chronicled.

This is a riveting and triumphant book. It is a tale richly told by a masterful storyteller, who is able to make this work of non-fiction come to life for the reader. This is simply a great book.

This review refers to "In The Heart Of The Sea" by Nathaniel Philbrick

Nathaniel Philbrick leaves no stone unturned in this very tragic and complex, but true account of the wreck and sinking of The Whaleship Essex. Rammed by a huge sperm whale, that from all accounts was a definite attack on the ship, the crew, men who lived and profited by the sea and were the slayers of whales for the precious oil provided, were now the victims as the hunted became the hunter. It is an incredible story of man's will to survive against all odds, that was the inspiration for Melville's "Moby Dick".

Philbrick immediately draws you into not only the lives of the Essex's crew members, but the entire town of Nantucket, from where the ship sailed,detailing the close-knit families, the women's roles and the daily life in Nantucket. Often revealing some very intimate details. The life on board a whaling ship, the hardships of the journey for both the crew and their families, and the journey itself through the vast ocean are all very much a part of this story.

You will feel like you have gone back in time to 1820, and are there with them, as the whale attacks the ship, the men nearly frozen by horror and disbelief, and the beginning of a long, horrifying journey,a fight to stay alive under some of the worst conditions imaginable.For thousands of miles, and many months, I was constantly amazed at their ingenuity, and stamina as they tried to find safety, food and water. Steering clear of islands they thought might be inhabited by cannibals, they later found they had to resort to that themselves. Questions still remain as to the actual circumstances that occurred.

A handful of survivors left to tell the story, not all agreeing on some points, but enough so that this tragedy at sea and the men who lost their lives as well as those that survived may be remembered for their bravery. Philbrick delves into all the details, from the people involved, to procedures at sea, and even what became of the survivors through the years.The book is so well written, that it will grab you right away and won't let you go. Sometimes you have to keep in mind that this amazing tale is not an adventure novel.

For those who may prefer an audio editionIn The Heart Of The Sea: The Tragedy Of The Whaleship Essex... is an excellent reading . Narrator Scott Brick sets the tone and captures the importance,the tragic events, and the emotions involved. It is unabridged. For details of the audio edition see my review of 9/14/06.

A book that will certainly get read again and again. Highly recommended read for anyone, but for those who love tales of the sea...an account so vivid of this tragic story at sea, you may want to pack some Dramaine for the ride.

Enjoy the read....Laurie

For anyone who loves the American theater, this is a perfect book for a gift. The photos are wonderful, and the text is very informative about the established and up-and-coming playwrights of today.

What is it that makes a man or woman able to look at a bare stage and create a stage play that makes that stage come alive with excitement, drama, song. In this book famed portrait photographer Ken Collins has photographed sixty one of the best playwrights of our time. Equally famed journalist Victor Wishna has interviewed these playwrights and seems to have a way of getting them to talk about themselves, their lives, what drives them, and how they think of their plays that is fascinating to read.

Example, the last entry is Susan Yankowitz, she says: 'I see the theatrical event as something magnetic, hypnotic, emotionally and physically compelling. The audience leans forward in their seats; you, the writer, entice them into your work with everything at your disposal -- ligtht, sound, movement, gesture, image -- not only words, as some believe.

This book is a brilliant concept, brilliantly executed.

This was one of the most fascinating books I have ever read, and I've read thousands. The author wrote beautifully, with such vibrant descriptions it was almost like being there. I've often wondered what it would be like to have lived in a village in Punjab during that period of time. I would strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in rural Indian lifestyles.

I read it about 12 years ago so I'm kind of rusty about it but I recall it was a super book. The true story of an amazing gutsy British lady who gets involved with a Sikh Nihang (temple guard) in India and their subsequent adventures. This book is a real sleeper for those of us who enjoy cross-cultural and travel writing. Highly recommended. I wonder what the author is doing now?

This book takes three social carnivores many people hate--African wild dogs, jackals and spotted hyenas--and tells their stories. Such a book is especially needed in the present day, when African wild dogs are endangered and spotted hyenas near threatened. van Lawick-Goodall and van Lawick-Goodall are world-class animal behavior scientists, and yes, they are Jane Goodall, the famous chimpanzee researcher, and her husband Hugo van Lawick, the wildlife photographer who captured the chimps on film. As in their general-audience works on chimpanzees, the text is lucid, entertaining and informative. The photographs, although black and white, are excellent.

The authors skillfully present these animals as individuals, with fascinating individual temperaments, and I found myself caring about them as they engaged in the drama of their lives. I also learned a lot about these three species, and wished I could have learned even more. As van Lawick-Goodall and van Lawick-Goodall focused their research more on chimpanzees, this book represents relatively few years of research and does not contain the most up to date information about these animals. The authors are much more familiar with their chimpanzees, having spent more than thirty years with the apes in contrast to the two or three years of research this book represents. Correspondingly, Goodall and van Lawick's chimpanzee books are better. However, this book is still excellent. I particularly liked the hyena section, because the social system of hyenas is unique, complete with female dominance, and extremely complicated. And no, hyenas and jackals are not really scavengers, but kill most of what they eat themselves.

Although wolves and lions have received much publicity as social carnivores, the three species featured in this book are perhaps even more interesting. There is a dearth of popular books about them, and _Innocent Killers_ is probably the best on the market. It is disappointing this book has not become more popular, because it is a gripping tale with unique protagonists.

Just so you know, Jane van Lawick-Goodall is more commonly known as Jane Goodall - yes, the one that works with chimpazees. Hugo van Lawick-Goodall was the photographer as well as her husband during the chimpazee studies.

This book manages to make 3 animals that most folks do not have a lot of love for and make them interesting reading. I don't particularly like hyenas and the description of how they eat their prey alive is unnerving but it is also fascinating. Hyenas (as well as jackals and wild dogs) kill their prey with a method known as rapid disembowelment. The prey dies very quickly as opposed to the methods lions (as well as cheetahs and leopards) use which is suffocation. Suffocation can take at least ten minutes if not longer to kill the prey. I won't presume to know which is the most painful way, but rapid disembowelment would seem more efficent from the predator's point of view.

They spend over two years studying spotted hyenas, golden jackals and wild dogs. The information about the social structure the animals participate in as well as their hunting methods are described in great detail. You don't have to be a zoologist or have specialized training to appreciate this book, but I think being an animal lover would be a great help.

One of the more interesting parts to me was when M's van Lawick-Goodall talks about taking her baby son along on this expedition. She details how she tried to make it as safe as possible for Grublin and how he grew up with the animals.

The black and white photographs are excellent. The bat eared foxes are quite photogenic, as well as the cheetah cubs at play.The pictures of the books subjects are equally good.

M's van Lawick-Goodall does an excellent great job giving the reader a different viewpoint of these much maligned animals. Read the book and learn all about these "innocent killers".

This book was told to me to be the only generalist field guide to Insects and I can now say it is true! Very useful, simple and precise!

The most detailed and complete field guide on insects I've ever seen....plenty of color drawings and descriptions on morphology, habitat, ecology and ethology of each species. If you love the nature you can't loose it!

This is a hard to find book. If you can get your hands on a copy, you won't regret it! I LOVE THIS BOOK. Full of color illustrations, easy to follow text. Explains rituals and beliefs about Tibetan Buddhism. A must have, even for long time practioners. If not for anything, then for the wonderful photos. I would give more stars if I could.

Even before the Dalai Lama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, Westerners have looked upon Tibetan Buddhism as a source of timeless wisdom and inspiration. Unfortunately, many of us who participate in the practice of the religion find themselves as lost as a deer that stares with confusion into the headlights of an oncoming car. Robert Thurman has been through that already. In 1964, he became the first American to be ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk, by the Dalai Lama no less! Four years later, he left that life to pursue an academic career; he now chairs the department of Religion at Columbia University. Having lived in both cultures, (not to mention the fact that he is literally a genius) qualifies him as our guide for this magical mystery tour. If you read this book, you will then recognize at least some of what is going on in any Tibetan Buddhist ritual or celebration which you will ever witness. As an added bonus, reading this book will give you gobs of insightful trivia for interesting dinner-table conversation. The pretty pictures make this a suitable coffee-table book for illiterates; this book has something for everyone

This dictionary is more useful to me than Food Lover's Companion perhaps 6,000 entries in specific areas-when I am researching international foods, techniques and products. The IDFC's advantage is it's huge breadth of coverage, with a terse description of over 24,000 items.

With it's breadth of coverage, it does not have the depth of Food Lover's Companion in some topics, and it curiously lacks the FLC's pronuciation, a glaring defect in any dictionary.

When the IDFC is compared to Alan Davidson's erudite Penguin Companion to Food (or the hardcover version, the Oxford Companion to Food), which has WAY fewer topics, the IDFC does not present the concentrated depth as well. Davidson has about a page on "Celtic Feasting", and half a page on "Haggis", wheras IDFC has different Celtic dishes, and a terse paragraph on "haggis". Really, the same goes for reference books on any subject; one needs to have several texts to savor, and sort through to find the information you need in both depth and breadth. Certainly, as a dictionary the IDFC dwarfs the PCF by having over 22,000 thousand entries more than PCF, simply because the PCF is not a dictionary.

What to choose? I chose to have all of the above texts on my shelf. You additionally may select these and other reference texts in the specific areas in which you have a particular focus, be it French cookery, Medieval cookery, Caribbean cooking, etc. Because of the varied approaches and unique strengths of each reference book, I find them very complementary to each other, and, combined on one's bookshelf as a reference system, they, together, are certainly superior in accuracy, depth and breadth, to any "Googling" of a particular food item, term or technique.

The BEST culinary dictionary out. Considerably better than everything else out, even better than the Food Lover's Companion.

Kevin Dwyer's "Ireland - Our Island Home" highlights that island's heritage with a stunning collection of aerial photographs around Ireland's coastline. The images, shot from helicopters and small planes at low altitude and oblique angles, provide beautiful, detailed panoramas. The contrasting scenary ranges from the urban areas around Dublin and Cork to the wilds of West Ireland. A series of captions and miniature maps describe the subjects and the general locations where the photographs were taken.

The photographs are a reminder of how varied the Irish landscape can be, and how beautifully green it looks from the air (and from the ground). Lighthouses, farm fields, sheep pastures, and small villages mingle with old forts and modern port facilities. This book is highly recommended to those who have been to Ireland, and to those who plan to go. The book provides a unique perspective on a lovely country.

We went to Ireland and picked up this book while we were there. I was afraid that it would be cheaper in the U.S. -- we paid 30 euros -- and it was. Still, we have no buyer's regret.

This is a set of stunning aerial shots of the Irish coastline. While we took what we think are very good pictures, these are beautiful pictures that we cannot duplicate because they are aerial. They will be treasured reminders of many of the places that we visited.

If you're going to Ireland, been to Ireland, or just wish that you could go, and you love to hang out in coastal areas, this is a book for you.

The first attempt to list endangered species of invertebrates on a world wide scale and to relate them to their role in nature and their usefulness to man is now available as the latest in the IUCN Red Data Book series on threatened wildlife.

There are 1.4 million known species of invertebrates - animals without a backbone - compared to 46000 species of vertebrate mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish. There may be two to ten million more as yet undescribed, living in the ocean depths or in tropical forests. Their potential value to man may never be discovered, according to the authors, because they are disappearing rapidly as a result of pollution, razing of forests and the encroachment of man on their habitats.

Invertebrates are major components of food chains, they are of primary importance in the cycling of nutrients and they play a significant role in the maintenance of soil structure and fertility, as the IUCN authors point out. They pollinate plants, exert a natural control on pests, are used in the development of drugs and create products as diverse as silk, dyes, honey and buttons.

An innovation in this volume of the continuing Red Data Book series is a section on threatened communities. Eleven examples are given of tropical forests, caves, wetlands, dry biomes, marine environments and areas with unusual diversity of species. They illustrate situations where human activities may endanger large and unique invertebrate populations.

Book Contents:
-Intro
-Methods
-Acknowledgements
-Database Information Requirements
-Book Status Categories
-Taxonomic List of Threatened Invertebrates Described in Book
-List of Threatened Communities Described in Book
-List of Threatened Invertebrates and Communities Arranged By Country and Zoogeographical Region (Protozoa, porifera, cnidaria, platyhelminthes, nemertea, mollusca, annelida, arthropoda, onychophora, tardigrada, bryozoa, brachiopoda, echinodermata, other invertebrate phyla, Threatened Communities)
-Index

Information included in database:
Country, Classification, Distribution, Population, Habitate and Ecology, Scientific interest and potential value, Threats to survival, Conservation Measures Taken/Proposed, Captive Breeding, and References

In this work, Ms. Irene Collins presents to the reader a lovely opportunity to look, not only into the clerical connections of Jane Austen, but also into that of the country parish generally. Those who have read through the charming prose of Jane Austen, yet wanted to take a deeper look into the life of the country parson--a profession so many of her characters possess--would do well to read this book. The main body is composed of nine chapters covering the whole realm of the parson's livng; from his education, to the various neighborhoods he occipied, to the nature and method of worship. Within each she eloquently relates the subject matter to Jane Austen herself; by which, the reader is treated to a lovely portrait of the authoress' life. It also contains several illustrations and eight pages of glossed photographs and pictures. Anyone looking to glimpse into the rural parish of late 18th and early 19th century England, which Jane Austen knew as home, would thoroughly enjoy reading this splendid book.

Despite it's rather uninspiring title, this is an excellent book. Irene Collins is a history prof with a special interest in the connection between literature and historical events, and this book is just packed with facts and insights in a readable and entertaining format. It will help you work out just what Edmund Bertram had to go through in order to become the owner of a living, and why Mr Knightly shouldn't be blamed for the appointment of Phillip Elton.I've been a Janeite for four decades and have had the hardback version of this book for five years. I can honestly say that it is one of the two most useful books I have ever found concerning Jane Austen's life and mind, and I am constantly turning to it for reference.

The hardback edition and the paperback seem to be the same format, with differences only in the paper quality and size. There are several pertinent black and white illustrations, great endnotes, bibliography and index. The chapters are logically aranged with simple titles like "The Parson's Education", "The Parson's Wife" and "Morals and Society", and I would estimate that over ninety percent of all examples are taken from JA's life and family or from her works. Other examples are contemporary and exceedingly pertinent.Yet it's still light enough to be read from cover to cover, first time around, if you so wish.

If you love Jane Austen then you need to read this book. It really is great value for money.