H Books

The book is an outstanding novel of Civil War times as told by a soldier. The man was fascinating! I met Mr. Fowler shortly before his death and was totally fascinated by him. his study was like a museum of War related items and books. Even as he faced his maker, Mr Fowler was alert and full of life. I was thrilled when he gave me an autographed copy of Jim Mundy. When you read the book, it's like being there. The facts and places are so real! The world lost a great writer when he passed. his works will live long past him.
Thank You, Jim Fowler

This is very well written historical fiction which deserves to be much better known. Fowler clearly read many historical memoirs before writing this, and recaptures their flavor so well that I occasionally found myself forgetting I was reading fiction. At the same time, the narrative is more continuous and dramatic than one would normally get in a memoir. There are a few very minor historical errors, but in most cases the research seems impeccable. If I have a criticism of this book, it's that it doesn't transcend its memoir basis quite enough: it could use more drama, more extremity. Still, it is very, very good, generally on a par with Killer Angels and much better than the wordy and hyperintellectual Cold Mountain.

I usually don't like historical fiction but a friend recommended this to me so I went ahead and got a copy. I was not disappointed. I was drawn into the life of Jim Mundy as he sets off to fight for the South, falls in love, is wounded, etc. I learned a lot, too.

In October of 1861, Jim Mundy and the other young Confederate soldiers marching off to fight in the Civil War believed the Yankees would be whipped before Christmas. The whole reason Jim joined up when he did was because he was afraid the war would be over if he waited too long. Like most of the enlisted men, Jim's family was poor and didn't own any slaves. But that didn't stop him and the others from wanting to fight.

If determination and valor were enough to win a war, then by all accounts the South should have won, especially with soldiers like Jim Mundy. Told through his words, we experience the elation of early victories and the devastation of later defeats. With Jim, we also learn about specific battles, field hospitals, army prisons, and blockade running, all of the major features of the War Between the States. Stories written in a first person point of view can often be limiting. But to change that by taking the story out of Jim's hands and giving it to an omniscient narrator, floating above the landscape from battle to battle and side to side, would destroy the novel, leaving us with nothing more than a history text.

First published in 1977 by Harper & Row, JIM MUNDY was reissued by Stealth Press twenty-three years later. Unlike most recently published books, Stealth's packaging is quality inside and out. With full cloth-covered boards, decorative end papers and foil lettering, this is one book that you would be proud to display on any bookshelf and certainly worth looking for.

After I returned from a short trip to Gettysburg this summer, I wanted to read more about that historic battle. I picked up a few non-fiction books and reread THE KILLER ANGELS by Michael Shaara and was looking around for another novel with the Civil War setting. I found JIM MUNDY used on amazon.com. After reading the first page, a humorous letter written by an old Jim Mundy to his grandson, who is a student at Harvard and also named Jim, I simply couldn't put this terrific book down. The writing is in the form of a personal memoir and takes you from the early days of the war when a young Jim Mundy joins the 10th North Carolina Volunteers, through the battle of Gettysburg, to Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House. In between, it is at times humorous, at other times touching, and always exciting. After I finished reading this novel, I wanted to read more...I didn't want the story to end. I'm sure I'll read it again in the near future...and there have been only a handful of books that have had that effect on me. This book deserves more than just 5 stars.

During a time of conflict and upheavel, a wandering story teller is arrested by a perfidious bureaucrat for the crime of appearing suspicious and being in the wrong place at the wrong time (and possible violations of the Patriot Act). Imprisoned, Kai Lung does not languish. Although his enemy has the ear of the local mandarin, Kai Lung is aided by a beautiful woman who possesses the mandarin's other ear. In the tradition of "The Arabian Nights" our hero intrigues the mandarin's interest, spinning tales by turn ironic, poignant and pointed. With each tale told, the sympathy of the mandarin, the frustration of the bureaucrat and the love between Kai Lung and his ally grow accordingly and Kai Lung survives another day.

This story is set in the China of long ago and related through the filter of an early twentieth century english writer. The courtly, overly flowery language is deliciously funny and displays a sly satiricism which reminds me of "Gulliver's Travels". A truly timeless gem which may be read on different levels by different ages.

Will Kai Lung survive? Yes, but you really should see how...

During a time of conflict and upheavel, a wandering story teller is arrested by a perfidious bureaucrat for the crime of appearing supicious and being in the wrong place at the wrong time (and possible violations of the Patriot Act). Imprisoned, Kai Lung does not languish. Although his enemy has the ear of the local mandarin, Kai Lung is aided by a beautiful woman who possesses the mandarin's other ear. In the tradition of "The Arabian Nights" our hero intrigues the mandarin's interest, spinning tales by turn ironic, poignant and pointed. With each tale told, the sympathy of the mandarin, the frustration of the bureaucrat and the love between Kai Lung and his ally grow accordingly and Kai Lung survives another day.


This story is set in the China of long ago and related through the filter of an early twentieth century english writer. The courtly, overly flowery language is deliciously funny and displays a sly satiricism which reminds me of "Gulliver's Travels". A truely timeless gem which may be read on different levels by different ages.

Will Kai Lung survive? Yes, but you really should see how...

I tried to write my comments on Ernest Bramagh's Kai Lung's Golden Hours, which I just finished, in the same style:

In the opinion of this lowly reader, the esteemed author before our unworthy eyes has created a gem of the highest quality, polished by fine craft.

But you can only do this so long before you get frustrated, which is why you have to admire Bramagh, because he could maintain this oblique and ornate style throughout and still manage to tell a compelling and, more than often, extremely humorous story.

The titular character, Kai Lung, is a storyteller who runs afoul of the local authorities, in particular a rather nasty advisor. The problem is that Kai has set his eyes on a most beautiful young woman who is also highly desired by the advisor, and the mandarin in charge is quite corrupt. The one saving grace for Kai Lung is that the mandarin also likes a good story. Like Scherazade, Kai Lung is therefore in the positive of entertaining for his life, and that he is able to accomplish this is not due to the fragment of 1001 stories available to him, but also the help of his beloved (a fairly strong female character given the situation and the date this was written, 1922).

Not everyone will care for this book, because a style as circular and dense as this doesn't lead itself to the short-attention-span-generation (only James Branch Cabell has a more elaborate, yet beautiful, prose form in fantasy). I don't know what it was about the 1920s that enabled the creation of such great comedy (Bramagh, Cabell, P.G. Wodehouse [who first became popular as a novelist in the 1920s], Thorne Smith). Maybe it was the post-War jubiliation, the underground of prohibition, or the pre-Depression stockmarket? Not ours to wonder why, but just to enjoy and laugh.

The earlier reviewers of this book have said everything there is to say (and much better than I could have said it). I am the lucky possessor of a collected volume of all the Kai Lung stories. After having read Kai Lung's golden hours and the other books in the series, there was just one thing felt : a sense of profound sadness that there isn't more of Kai Lung to read!

I am adding this in 2003. I was wrong in writing that I have the entire collection of Kai Lung books. I learnt subsequently that there are a few missed out from my collection. For the records here is the complete list of the published Kai Lung stories :

The Wallet of Kai Lung
Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat
Kai Lung's Golden Hours
The Moon of Much Gladness (novel)
Kai Lung Beneath the Mulberry Tree
Kai Lung: Six

The last apparently contains six Kai Lung stories previously published ONLY in Punch magazine; the print edition for this book ran into a mere 250 copies and was published by Tacoma: The Non-Profit Press, 1974.

I have only the following :

The Wallet of Kai Lung
Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat
Kai Lung's Golden Hours
Kai Lung Beneath the Mulberry Tree

Kai Lung: Six, unfortunately was published in a very limited number of copies and I am unable to acquire one at an affordable price. The Moon of Much Gladness I hope to get soon.

My thanks to one of the persons who read this review and through his queries alerted me to the fact that - as I discovered later -my Kai Lung collection was not complete.

If you're here for the first time, then you have my sympathy on learning that this book is out of print. It's time for a re-issue--are you listening, Penguin Classics?

These stories are about a wandering storyteller, who gets into various jams and escapes with the aid of his silver tongue and an admiring coquette. For someone who apparently never visited China, and never even met that many Chinese, the verisimilitude Bramah achieves is amazing. This is an English child's storybook China, yet the stories themselves richly delight adults, too. The scene-setting is wonderful, but the real gem is the dialogue. Suave, sly, elliptically ceremonious, mock-abnegating--but you really have to read it to catch the flavor. Hillaire Belloc's introduction is on the money about how deceptively easy this style looks, and it is a great pity that more people do not have the opportunity to enjoy this and the other Kai Lung works today.

May your sleeves be filled with a sufficiency of taels, and may hungry and homeless ghosts find solace at your house-pole, and preserve your family tablets from the mischiefs of the lesser orders of the beings of the Upper Air...

This book is an important document. There are moments in which it is very painful to read. The number of Holocaust survivors is diminishing, I thank Mr. Gordon for writing down his memories so vividly. Mr. Gordon also says something very important: in spite of everything he suffered he does not hate the German people. Hatred is not part of his philosophy nor his approach to life. I believe this is the most important lesson from this book.

This is one of the best books I've ever read. I'm not religious or Jewish, but this book tells it all about how humankind can succumb to the worst of circumstances and yet still find meaning in life to go on. This book is about how a Regime can take control of a continent overnight and about how war can create enemies of us all. I'm a 42 year old white female American who finally has an understanding of hatred in a way that I never did before. Everyone should read this book. I cried through the last chapters recognizing a young boy's freedom at last. It's a must read for all.

The cover of this book shows a child holding a wooden bowl and spoon, watching the sunrise over a concentration camp. The perspective of a child enduring and surviving the unfathomable degradation and killing of these camps is one of the many remarkable aspects of this book. Excerpts from his book can be viewed at: http://www.remember.org/harold/books.html

...
This has been one of the most inspirational books I've ever read...
I woke up..., seeing the sunrise and feeling very thankful for my life.
This story follows the true events of a horrific time in our world, when our fellow mankind were treated so inhumanly, during the World War 2. This book is about a young boy's personal experiences and views of staying in the Nazi Concentration Camps. That young boy grew up to be; the author of this book! The true story told in this book was horrifying and yet wonderful. I'll never forget the story of Harold's life and I want to share it with others. I can't express the sorrow, joy and hope I felt for this author and all who unwillingly had to take part in those devastating times. Thank God, he survived and shared his purpose with us. Mr. Gordon you have inspired me beyond words. Forgiveness, is such an easy word to say but not so easy to do. I wonder what justifiable, excuse I could ever come up with to not forgive those who've hurt me. I'm so happy that you have triumphed and have received such wonderful blessings in your life!
I still hadn't decided when my kids should read this book, but after reading some other reviews, I'll definitely have my teenager read it now and my other children when they are just a bit older.
I guess I was trying to protect them from reading a firsthand account of such atrocious acts. My youngest and oldest sons are the age span that Mr. Gordon was during his experience. As a mother I couldn't imagine my children going through that. I think they should read it and we'll all pray that this History will never repeat itself! Once again, this is a book I'll recommend and never forget!
I read on one of the reviews that Mr. Gordon is a speaker, does he still have speaking engagements? I live in the same area he lives, if he's still here. I would be very interested and appreciate any information about him.

I first read this book when I was in the fourth grade and was very surprised that it was my grandpa that went through all of the trials described. I could not put the book down until I had finished it. When I finally did, my whole perception of this horrible war had changed. It was hard to grasp that these horrible circumstances had surrounded my grandpa's childhood. This book and his wise teachings have taught me forgiveness, hope, and faith. This book is an alternate for The Diary of Anne Franke. You get a different view, not one of growing up in hiding but one of growing up in concentration camps.

This is a well thought out book. Most of its information is practical and useful. It takes a bit of time and work to begin to apply the material. Overall, the book's strength lies in its simplicity without becoming a cheesy "1,2,3" type book.

This book is an easy read and has step by step techniques that are easy to use. It focuses on understanding distinctions of why people say something and then tries to help put it in a catagory that you can handle with a leadership decision to motivate and coach. Many times I was able glean powerful tools off just one page. I am just finishing my first year as a successful sales manager. Thank you Kim

This is a good basic book on how to be an effective leader through mastering the skills of effective conversation. Most communication takes place through verbally, therefore the way we carry out our conversation is very critical if we are to be able to resolve conflicts in the organization, the motivate teams, to negotiate effectively, to be good listeners, good coaches and to hold effective meetings.

The author presented effective techniques that should help managers and leaders to enhance their conversation skills. The author provides insights and practical advice that should help leaders and any other readers to examine how they carry out their conversation and how this can be improved upon.

This is a well written book that I found easy to read, follow and understand that helped me to improve my communication skills and therefore recommend it strongly.

Don't let the first chapter discourage you from reading this amazing book. Although written with managers in mind anyone can benefit from its wise statements. Krisco delivers all he promises in his introduction. You will learn about listening filters, coaching others, couching your ideas so that people will listen. This book is full of insights and pithy sayings that will make you reflect upon your whole life not just your work life. You will learn to understand the "little voice" in your head and learn about listening filters. This book will make you a leader. A leader is described by Krisco as someone who consistently produces extraordiny results. I just completed reading this book and intend to revisit it many more times. I highly recommend this extraordinary work!

This book has ideas, concepts, and practical applications that should rank it up with THE SEVEN HABITS and THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE. But perhaps it is too small to be noticed by land-bound browsers, too casual for Kotter followers, and not avante guard enough for the Fast Company crowd.

You can't judge a book by its size, especially business books. So many authors take 600 pages to make the same point over and over with real world examples that suggest the author was "on the inside" as if we buy by the pound. Havard is the place to look for books grounded in theory and occasionally principal. And one out of twenty does influence business thinking. For the Fast Company crowd, a book offering scripts of what to say may sound too pedestrian. But for the seasoned leader looking to polish his skills, Krisco has just the buffer. And it is just the kind of book for beginners--not built on other theories, profound but not cumbersome. Like the Seven Habits, Leadership and the Art of Conversation rests on a few key ideas. One is a simple as you can't change the past. This is not a revelation but recognizing that is where most of us waste our primary tool for communication was an ah-ha for me. The straight-forward definition of leadership is free of concepts of power and more than hints at the core of leadership. Of course, to benefit from the book the reader will have to change deeper than a surface technique. Few are willing, as is usual when the rewards are great. Like Covey it puts the focus on the circle of influence by connecting today's conversation with what happens in the tomorrows. It's just a reminder that best sellers and best books are frequently two entirely different things. But hey, true leaders don't look for herds to follow. May this communication spark your interest in building a desireable future.

Lt Col Rankin was my squadron commander. the airplane he was flying was the F8U Crusader. I'm in the photo of the squadron winning the safety trophy.

This book was the most moving book I have ever read. He was the first and only man to survive being inside a thunderstorm, and he is still alive and well right now. Every time I see a thunderhead of a storm cloud, I think of this book, and how this man could suffer through all of that and still stay alive. I am a 13 year old girl, and reading this book could be the most inspiring expeirience ever. It is an easy book to understand, but fit for all ages. I encourage anyone who loves a good story to read "The Man Who Rode The Thunder".

I read Lt. Col. Rankin's book in the early sixties while learning to fly and have never forgotten the book nor the author's name. I have told numerous fellow pilots about it. Movie producers are overlooking this possibility. Someday, I would like to meet Lt. Col. Rankin.

I read this book (in paperback form) as a young man in the early 1960's. It made a great impression on me. As the years pass, I find myself remembering this amazing true story. Often I'm reminded of this book when I see a thunderhead, or storm system developing. (The only other aviator/writer that has impressed me equally is St. Exupery in his book, "Wind, Sand, and Stars.") Lt. Col. Rankin's book would make a wonderful film - if done with the same care as the classic Jimmy Stewart movie, "The Spirit of St. Louis". With today's special effects, and if filmed with daring and wonder, it would be a great. But read the book first. Its unforgettable!

My name is Wayne Rankin and Lt. Col. Wm. Rankin is my uncle. I grew up with him visiting us and I am very proud of what he accomplished during his career in the Marine Corps. For anyone interested, he is still alive and well and living in California with his wife. His story has inspired me to be what I am today. I have a thirteen year old son and he is now reading all about his great uncle. If anyone is interested and reads this, please feel free to contact me at wcrseattle@comcast.net. Thanks.

Worthless, dated text. It's from a CA high school and I'm shocked to have it assigned to my grad school math class! The print was so small with few illustrations, our professor ended up not using it!

This is a great math book, really shows the beauty of it. It's especially good for teaching math to gifted and talented young students (middle - high school level.). I used this book to tutor gifted and talented 6-8 graders. They loved it! It is so different from the classroom math, yet it uses the classroom math and reviews the topics. The best thing about this book's approach is it really makes math challenging, yet fun.

Around 1976, Donald Knuth, a giant in computer science, then at Stanford, asked me how he could get hold of Mathematics: A Human Endeavor because he wanted to begin his son's education using it. He said that all computer science and mathematics was problem solving and he liked Jacobs's book because it engaged students immediately with interesting problems - ones that led somewhere. Knuth's hopes for the book were realized, and the one correction he noted was taken into account in the next edition.

The Preface to this third edition is by Martin Gardner, who wrote the prefaces for the previous editions as well. Gardner begins with a quote from Ralph Boas, whose reply to someone who said to him "You make mathematics seem like fun" was "If it isn't fun, why do it?" Jacobs makes mathematics fun, and he shows you that it is useful as well. Yes, there are uses for otherwise dull computation. That is part of the power of mathematics.

I am a mathematician. I taught a course at Bard College using this book. One of my students told me that her mother asked her what she was doing and she replied "Mathematics." Her mother replied, "You hate mathematics;" she replied, "Not anymore." Jacobs shows us that thoughtful writing that respects students and subject material can raise education to a higher level.

Start here. Back your efforts with the Teacher's Guide, which is a rich resource. Then explore further. There is a marvelous world out there.

And, yes, as you explore it you will learn to read, to write down your thoughts and conclusions, and to do arithmetic.

What's so truly impressive about Jacobs' book is the way in which he demonstrates that math is all around. His choice of subjects provides the reader with a broad introduction to the mathematical sciences, including geometry, probability, combinatorics, statistics, topology and more. More importantly, his examples and explanations make it relevant and fun.

Jacobs' writing is clear (which cannot be said for many books on math at any level) and his organization sweeps the reader right along. Though technically a textbook, this is excellent reading for anyone who's interested in learning about math. I read it in junior high school, and have re-read bits and pieces as I progressed through college and graduate school. His subjects are complex enough to merit rethinking, yet his explanations clear enough to be grasped by the first time reader.

Truly one of the great introductory math texts -- especially for those who think they don't need to know or can't understand math.

Amazon has a link above offering this title new or used in paperback... it's actually a WORKBOOK but because i trusted the web page and didn't take care to recognize a change in author i now have a worthless student workbook...

If you've been looking for a complete book on medieval castles, you have found the book for you. Although it touches lightly on such on such areas as medieval food, hygene, and battles, the bulk of this book is an in-depth study of castles. The writing is a bit dry, but very informative, covering fortresses from England, France, Itally, and even eastern Europe. I doubt there is much about castles unsaid in this book.

This book starts from the first few pages with an in depth study of the fortified positions of the middle ages - i.e. castles, keeps, etc. Despite a level of detail that may be too in depth for a beginner, the book itself provides a very readable style and is absolutely full of useful information (krunchy bits) for authors or others wishing to make an in depth study of medieval fortifications (ATTENTION GAMERS!). It has hundreds of high quality, albeit sometimes confusing, line art portraits that show each and every aspect of castle or its related cousins (where is #67 again - its sometimes like Where is Waldo finding the numbers referenced in the subtext). The book also has a great deal of information regarding siege techniques and the weapons used therein - and this information is fantastic in its level of detail and the included line art! The included photos are all in B&W, and some are rather grainy, but by far, they all serve the purpose they were intended to - they show the true grandeur of the castle as it was.

Within the text, the authors do have a habit of referencing other authors, which, if your looking for more on the subject, is good. However, by page 80, they have referenced at least 30 other authors and works (is that not what the bibliography is for).

Outside of this one complaint, the book is absolutely invaluable to anyone interested in the subject!

NOTE: This review references the soft-cover red front edition of the book, which I could not find the link for on Amazon (it may be an out of print edition or not, I am not sure - however, the TOC of the this edition appears identical to mine, so I am assuming that the contents have only been repackaged for the HB binding).

This is an excellent work. It would be perfect for a student
project with a focus on Middle Ages building designs. The author
provides detailed engineering specifications for castles, forts,
a motte and rising towers. The engineering statics implications
are explained in the detailed design process. The work covers
action implementalities; such as, the ram, siege and cannon.
The author spends a portion of the book explaining how
war objects were constructed during the Middle Age period.

In addition, he concludes that an increase in wall size
necessarily means weakening the overall superstructure.
Some time is spent explaining the model diet for the period
which consisted of wheat, barley, oats and fish. This work
will help readers understand the building requirements
for structures created during the Middle Ages. The book would
be valuable for historians, art buffs, architects, engineers
and a wide constituency of other readers.

It does not matter if you all ready are a "fort-geek" or some one, who just want a book on the topic: This book will for sure please you.

"The Medieval Fortress" is a nice big (app. 11" x 8.5" or 28,5 x 22 cm), 319p. book, which covers the development of fortified places through out Europe and North-Africa from the early to the late middle ages - when the forts had their glory.
The book is built up of five main chapters. The First deals with the elements of a fortification; the Second deals in general with the different kind of fortifications in different parts of Europe (Islamic, Byzantine, Frankish, British, Norse, Slavic and Magyar (Hungarian)); the Third does the same, but with emphasis on the emerging castle; the Fourth chapter introduces gunpowder and the decline of the high castle walls through the description of several sieges (Constantinople, Rhodes, and siege of fortifications during the Reconquista); Chapter Five goes in depth with some selected fortifications in Europe: Some of the more famous ones and some more obscure. The reader is guided through fortifications/castles in Great Britain, Ireland, France, Low Countries, Switzerland, Holy Roman Empire, Scandinavia, Central Europe (present day Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary, and Slovenia) Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Eastern Mediterranean, Italy, Spain&Portugal, and North Africa. The appendixes gives the names of some more important builders and architects and their titles in different languages (French, Portugese, Spanish, Duch, Sweedish, and Russian), a chronology of important sieges from 623 (Constantinople) to 1529 (Vienna), a history of medival artillery and a glossary.
There are endless amounts of B/W pictures alongside with even more B/W line drawings and plans of forts, just like on the front cover of the book.

This book is a very good buy!

(Review based on First DaCapo Edition, 2001)

On the whole, I found this book to quite informative with many detailed descriptions of medieval European castles and cities. On some specific castles the data can be fairly general. I found this to be most obvious on castles that I have been fortunate enough to visit in the past and purchase a guide brochure or booklet from which I naturally compared the data.
I found the section on eastern European fortifications and their developement over the centuries to be very interesting as this was a subject I previously knew very little about.
But I do have one major 'gripe' or dissatisfaction with the book. The detailed and extensive floor plans provided throughout the book all suffer from some serious 'under labelling'. For example, a specific castle floor plan might have 20 itemised (numbered) points or features of interest on it. But when one refers to the "legend' or 'key' to find out what a certain feature is, it becomes painfully obvious that not all 20 features are actually clarified or described in the key. This is a fault that is not isolated and is unfortunately prevalent on the vast majority of floor plans in the book.
I'm not sure whether this problem is peculiar to the published edition I purchased or is in fact inherent throughout the whole published run. In any case it appears to be a large oversite in the 'quality control' department of the book's publication process. Other than these faults, I thought this book to be a good 'read'.

I first read "Memoirs" several years ago and picked it up again a month or so ago before traveling to Chile. I was just as enthralled by Neruda's life and exquisite writing as I was on the first reading.

One of the highlights of my recent trip was a visit to La Chascona, Neruda's home in Santiago. The home (a series of buildings on the side of a hill) reflects Neruda's sense of whimsy and humor. It was a thrill to sit in the hillside cafe realizing I had walked in the footsteps of Neruda and his guests.

Yes, I am a fan of Pablo Neruda's poetry but even more so of his memior. He captures life, its details, his surroundings, nature and indepth feelings like no other.

It reads like music.

Pablo Neruda's "Memoirs" is not a comprehensive autobiographical document. It is a personal memoir, recounted as if the author was sitting around a table, with good friends and a bottle of excellent Chilean wine, telling tales of the people, anecdotes and incidents that were so important in his life. "Confieso Que He Vivido," means I confess that I have lived. And Sr. Neruda certainly did that...with zest, zeal and so much talent. The translation by Hardie St. Martin is a good one, but it does not do justice to Neruda's beautiful skill with the Spanish language. He romances the language, like no other, even with his prose.

Neruda was born, the son of a railroad worker, in the then frontier wilderness of Southern Chile in 1904. He led a bohemian lifestyle, dressing in black "like the true poets of the last century," during his university years in Santiago. His shyness, the "kink in the soul,"...especially of women, took him a while to overcome. He describes the people and places of that period with great 'carino' (love). His political ideology began to form at that time also, and politics became an integral part of his writing. The Student Federation, student demonstrations and the subsequent repression, had a great impact on the young intellectual.

Neruda led a rich and fascinating life. World traveled throughout his life, he served as Chilean consul in Burma, Ceylon, and Java. He was the consul in Spain during the Spanish Civil War, and during this time "Nine Love Poems" from "Veinte Poemas de Amor y Una Cancion Desesperada" was published. It was at this time also, that his friend Federico Garcia Lorca was killed. Neruda was present in Paris to organize a worldwide anti-Facist congress of writers that would be held in Madrid. His writing about Spain during the war is heartbreaking. Returning to Chile in 1938, he found a burgeoning Fascist movement in his own beloved land.

I particularly enjoyed his account of the time he spent in Mexico, as consul. He tells of his encounters with the great Mexican painters there.

After returning home, Neruda ran for political office and was elected to Chile's Senate in 1945. He was later removed from his Senate seat after joining the Communist Party.

His friends included: Garcia Lorca, Ehrenburg, Picasso, Siqueiros, Diego Rivera, Octavio Paz, Miguel Angel Asturias, Gandhi, Nehru, Mao, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and most sadly, Salvador Allende.

Pablo Neruda's death, just weeks after the brutal murder of Chile's President Allende, is something I will never forget. I was living in Colombia at that time, and remember where I was and what I was doing when I learned of Allende's death, and later heard of Neruda's passing. It called to mind, then and now, my recollections, as a young girl, when President Kennedy's assassination was announced. I always thought Neruda died of a broken heart.

This is an exceptionally good memoir, told with great charm, in a series of vignettes. I highly recommend it, especially to anyone who has read and enjoyed Pablo Neruda's poetry - to my mind some of the most beautiful in the world. It also gives us a glimpse of the politics of the left from the point of view of a Latin American - not the usual perspective, and well worth while.

From very first pages, I was swept away into another world. You do not need to be familiar with Neruda or Chile to enjoy this book, but it helps. Neruda, while well known for his immense contribution to poetry, is a stunning writer of prose.

Memoirs by Pablo Neruda was simply the most beautifully written autobiography i have ever laid eyes on... Not only does he talk about his exceptional journey through life, from his childhood in the forest to his worldwide travels as a chilean diplomat (and encounters with famous personalities along the way), but his abundant observations and insights on life are an inspiration to anyone who has cruised through life while wondering where they are headed. Beautiful language and keen observations. Reading it made me wish I knew Spanish...

Here's my favorite quote from the book: "It lies not in our power to love or hate, for will in us is overruled by fate"

this is a great book of photos. i have the original first addition big version of this book which has more pages and is bigger in size, so get the big one if you can. if you can't, get this small one because it has so many beautiful photos.

OK. This book is really magnificent. Alone the cover and the back cover are to frame. The Black Sitting is indeed breathtaking and belong on billboards.
However you want to be aware that there are different editions of this book. This one is a tiny hardcover edition, very small. I don't know why it was made. The regular one was a regular sized coffee table book, of around 10 inches height. It looks as though this may be out of print.

Simply put, Milton Greene's photographs, as a group, place him first among equals of the group of Marilyn photographers,some now dead and a fair number still alive (as of this date),whose work-along with, of course, her theatrical motion pictures-are all we have of this enigmatic and emotionally compelling figure, dead 42 years now.

This book is available both in a small pocket edition and in a larger coffee-table version, and each has its purpose, although most will prefer the bigger one.

Greene's relationship with Monroe differed from others in that he was also her business partner in Marilyn Monroe Productions, the company they formed that was one of the first serious assaults on the then-reigning Hollywood studio system. It gave MM the contractual withal to have much more control over the types of films she did, and the standards to which they would be made, and discretion over her actual work (an example being the provision that she did not have to film while periodic) than was generally the case at that time.

This also provided Greene with insight as to Monroe's thought processes and a great deal of interaction with her personal life, which photographers not so affiliated wouldn't have.

While there are many fine portfolios of Monroe by many very fine photographers-George Barris,Eve Arnold, Richard Avedon-Greene's,as a whole, stand out as capturing the Marilyn Monroe essence. No one image of his is iconic in and of itself-it's only in the aggregate that his work dominates. If you are only allowed one volume of Monroe, this clearly is the one to get.

We've seen enough pictures of Marilyn Morone, but this book unveils some of the rarely-seen backstage and real life pictures of Marilyn taken by her favorite photographer Miller Grenne. In addition to her normal sexy appearence, Marilyn looked natural, stunning and relaxed in these pictures. A must buy for Marilyn fans!

As the previous reviewers commented, I found this book to be a superlative photo album of one of America's foremost photographers. Mr. Green truly captured Marilyn Monroe's candid beauty. Green brought forth Monroe's innocence as well as her sensual and goddess like images through the lens of his camera. You see her playfully swimming and frolicking in a pool. You see her riding atop an elephant in Madison Square Garden, NY to help benefit Children's Charity. The closing photos in the book of her portrayal of Elsie Marina, in the Prince and The Showgirl and "Cherie" the "Chanteuse" in her first movie production of "Bus Stop" are memorable as well. I truly recommend this magnificent work for anyone who enjoys seeing a creative master photographer and the beautiful legendary Monroe.

Mindwalks gets you out on your path with mindful approaches to walking that help keep you motivated.

I picked this up on a whim because the price was right, and boy, have I been glad I did! It goes so far beyond just reinforcing the mind/body connection as it relates to walking. It's beautifully written; I like to read one or two sections every day to get me inspired in the morning. It's helped me use my walks more creatively, and look at the world in a new way.

I can't recommend it highly enough.

I call it "the big hatpin." We're all looking for more time/space for ourselves. This little book has short, easy-to-digest chapters (no major commitment required). Just the thing to get the mentally overburdened, physically underachieving boomer off the rear end and onto the feet -- so we feel we're claiming time and space for our own, not just "doing something I know I ought to do."

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It really helps to look at an average daily walk in a new way and made me excited about a walk i took over and over. i would recommend this book to anyone that liked walking and exploring new ways of doing it!

A lot of books on relaxation and stress-reduction are complicated and time consuming. Mindwalks is so simple. The concepts are easy to understand and they are not easily lost when you begin your journey. Start off slow with the book because it is so easy to read the whole thing through. Read a couple of different mindwalks and actually attempt them on a walk. It makes the book so much more enjoyable. Two thumbs up to Mary Frakes for an excellent, simple, and inspirational book.