Nicholson Books

This is quite simply a magnificent book. It contains an incredible wealth of information, ranging from leptons, bosons and variously flavoured quarks right through to galaxy superclusters. The planets of the solar system are covered in-depth, and every other known type of structure in the universe besides. Apart from this description of the universe on every scale, this book contains pages covering the history and methods of astronomy, space travel, the question of life in the universe, and likely scenarios for the beginning and the end of the cosmos. Even string theory is touched upon. The final quarter of the book is taken up by an extensive collection of star charts, inviting the reader to actively involve him- or herself in some stargazing.
But it's not just the breadth and depth of the information covered that makes this book such a gem, it is also the way it is presented. Every single page is visually pleasing, through a clever merging of text and illustrations. With text often broken up into numerous, succinct, thematic lemmas, many pages almost feel like a book in themselves. The layout and design is stylish as well as colourful. Many of the images are absolutely dazzling. Once you open this visual guide, anywhere, chances are you'll be glued to it for the next hour. A must-have for anyone who likes to be immersed in the endless wonders of our universe.

This book is amazing. Its pictures are beautiful and explanations clear.
I leave it on my coffee table as the pictures are so beautiful and on every page. I would suggest this book for especially persons that have not had previous knowledge of the universe as this explains it all in understandable detail. Good for all ages except the very young.

Exceeded all my expectations. This book draws on the latest photos from the far reaches of our universe. The best possible pictures of the most distant corners of the Universe. The discussion which accompanies each page is science worthy yet not "over the head" of the non scientist. Great to give the adolescent child or grandchild who doesn't yet know if they are interested in science. There's so much material in this one book, it will take you a light year to finish it!

this book is one of the best astronamy books I ever purchased. its full of pictures and up to date discoveries. I recomend this book to anyone interested in astronamy.

Visually intoxicating! You can learn the secrets of the universe in this one volume. I have numerous DK published books all of which are excellent. However, this is the paragon that all the other books are judged by. Simply, it is the best book that they have ever published. It should be the standard text book for astronomy classes!

This is an unusual book, strange in so many ways I'm going to have trouble listing them all. I'll try, though. I will say that at some level I enjoyed this book, and if you can overcome the shortcomings that I'll list below, you may enjoy it more than I did.

For one thing, there's the issue of the author's name. This *isn't* the Michael Collins who was the first president of Ireland (of course not, he's been dead for 80 years) though the author was born over there. He's also not the astronaut who stayed on Apollo 11 while Armstrong and Aldrin wandered around on the moon. And he's also not Dennis Lynds, who has a series of detective novels featuring a one-armed private eye named Dan Fortune, and who writes novels under the pen name Michael Collins. This is the other other other Michael Collins. Very weird.

The plot of the book is pretty complex. All of the plot takes place in the late 1970s, a strange choice for the author. It works at some levels, though. Frank Cassidy is a small-time next-to-nothing, working at a burger joint, married to a woman who is at first a dispatcher for a trucking company. They have two kids, though the older one is from her previous marriage. Frank gets word that his uncle has died, and he decides to return to his hometown for the funeral. However his cousin and the cousin's wife are very angry at this.

This is where things begin to get strange. It turns out that Frank's wife, Honey, was married before, and her husband killed two people and is now on Death Row. She beats the son she had with the first husband. Frank, meanwhile, steals cars and money in order to finance their trip back home. As the novel progresses, there's not a single solitary character in the whole plot who's truly honest, good-hearted, and/or selfless. Everyone's out for themselves, dishonest, and nasty. It's sort of a cross between American Beauty and The Grapes of Wrath.

One point I think worth making is that the author isn't an American. You've got to wonder what these guys are thinking (I'm thinking of the guy who wrote American Beauty) when they move here in order to write stuff and tell us what jerks we are. I wonder if an American could move to Britain or Ireland and write a novel like this, and get it published, let alone receive awards. Needless to say, all the gushing blurbs on the back of the book are from British and Irish newspapers, which all insist (of course) that it reveals "America's long malaise".

The author *can* write, though. There's not that much of a plot, unfortunately. Instead, we get a bleak, desolate account of Middle America a quarter century ago. While the author isn't positive about anything, it's interesting to watch the characters wander through the plot. The mystery angle isn't (as is traditional) important to the book, and the solution, when revealed, seems rather forced and quick. Luckily, as I said, it's not that significant.

I enjoyed this book within these parameters. I might recommend it, but you've got to be aware of how annoying it can be at times.

This is where things get weird, however.

This book is a pleasure to read. The writing style is effortless - Mr Collins is a skillful and inventive writer.

The story follows a 1970s family who return to the Frank Cassidy's hometown for his dad's funeral. As the mystery around the death unfolds, other themes are also addressed. In a couple of generations Frank's family has moved from primary industry, mining and farming, into the service econony (flipping burgers). The novel shows the impact on families, on men and women and their ideas of their place in the world. Some people can survive in the modern world of corporate farming, of colleges which free people from their tie to the soil. It is not an easy journey but the ability of people to survive shines through, especially when the benefits of education are used to change for the better. In the background the impact of a war fought overseas is also in the air.

Ultimately, a novel about hope. Perhaps even an update of the American dream? Great book, deserves more recognition.

The hero is a pragmatist in a Godless world. The protagonist, Frank Cassidy, had not had a day off in two years when he quits his job in New Jersey to go the the Upper Peninsula, Michigan for reason of a death in the family. He steals a car and later robs a man named Melvin. Frank's brother-cousin and his wife, Norman and Martha, dread the arrival of Frank and Honey and Robert Lee and Ernie, the children.

In the boarding house where they stay there is a hint of opulence. It is learned that the body of the deceased uncle, Ward, is being held by the authorities. Honey feels they should try to get jobs in the town. Frank works as a security guard and Honey in the business office of a college undergoing a transition from a community college to a four years residential college with a Great Books curriculum.

For Thanksgiving it is decided to eat at Cedar Lodge and stay there through the long weekend. Listed winter activities are ice skating and ice fishing. In a telephone call Frank learns that his cousin Norman is collapsing. Norman upended the sheriff's car when served with papers of foreclosure. Frank and his family go to Norman's place where it is discovered the dairy herd has been killed. In the end Frank uncovers and clarifies mysteries that have always surrounded his boyhood. The atmosphere created by the author matches the subject of the search for meaning by being indeterminate, foggy, bewildering. The children are presented in interesting realistic detail.

~ Frank Cassidy learns in a newspaper of the death - possibly, murder - of his uncle, and goes back to North America to investigate any possibility of inheritance; to find out why his uncle died; and to sort out loose ends left in his head from a fire at his family farm in his childhood...

This book starts off quite promisingly. The writer evidently knows the mechanics of how to write well. But the book lacks sufficient plot after about the first hundred pages (of a 360-page book) to keep the reader very interested in continuing with it. The journey to the end of the book becomes boring, too unstimulating, too slow, too drawn out, with too much description and detail just for the sake of giving description and detail, too much describing of humdrum life, with the reader wondering if the book is going to go anywhere sufficiently interesting to be worth going on turning the pages. The characters in the book aren't made particularly interesting in themselves. The story ceases to be interesting. The reader is left in the dark for too long as to where the book is heading to, or why all the details are supposed to be interesting, or what the point of the book is supposed to be. Whilst what really happened many years before, in Frank's childhood, is revealed to us in the last fifteen pages of the book, by the time the reader gets there, he will probably have lost interest in the tale anyway.

A few specifics in the plot that didn't really seem to fit together well:
1. It seemed odd for Frank just to dump Juniper, the family pet, in someone else's car, and for that action then just to be accepted by the rest of the family.
2. It seemed odd for Frank to go back home with specific personal missions in his mind, but yet then never actually to get round to meeting up with Norman and Martha face to face for the whole time he was up there.
3. It seemed odd for Norman and Martha just to run away without saying more to anyone, after their herd was slaughtered.
4. Why Chester Green was suddenly being referred to as 'the Sleeper' didn't seem to be explained.
5. It seemed odd for Frank, not rich, not to want to salvage any possessions from either house before they were bulldozed.
6. It seemed odd and too convenient for Frank suddenly to be interrogating Baxter, his new co-worker, for information, which was forthcoming, as soon as he met him.
7. It seemed odd for Frank just to be allowed to be left alone with Chester Green in a hospital unsupervised, particularly in later visits after he had already been suspected of trying to harm or interfere with Chester Green earlier on.
8. Why Baxter suddenly ended up in the sanatorium following the window-smashing incident and ended up getting ECT treatment wasn't very clear.
9. Frank suddenly realising his mother had died in a fall many years ago, by listening to tapes, didn't really ring very true.
10. The detail at the end of the book (page 357), of Frank killing the paralysed 'Chester Green' in the sanatorium, seemed to be a detail borrowed straight out of 'One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest', where the huge red indian suffocates the comitose Jack Nicholson at the end of that film. That conclusion seems to be borne out by a reference to 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' in this book, just a page later (page 358).

All in all, this was not a very satisfying book, for a variety of reasons - mainly lack of interesting plot and lack of interesting characters.

Frank Cassidy lives on the fringes of society in a succession of demeaning jobs, a wife with an ex-husband on death row in Georgia, an angst-riddled stepson waiting for his father to be executed and an innocent pre-schooler, obsessed with his toy dinosaurs. Frank's edge-of-desperation lifestyle can be traced back to his childhood, his father and mother killed in a fire that erupted on the family farm when Frank was five-years old. His memories of that time are dim, shaped by the overwhelming presence of his uncle, who raised him as one of his own, and the psychological evaluations the doctor hoped would unlock Frank's fragmented memory of the night of the conflagration.

As soon as he is old enough, Frank leaves the farm behind, along with all family connections, to make his way in a hostile world with no patience for an emotionally damaged survivor. His life since then has been a series of misdemeanors, an anti-social approach to the rest of mankind. Frank views his occasional petty crimes as the natural evolution of a careful society, like car theft, his deeds "preordained statistical probability", but refuses to believe that "stupidity and desperation equate to evil". When he reads of his uncle's murder, Frank gathers his family and heads for the past, a dark trek from New Jersey to the vast, empty cold of the far north in Michigan.

Along the way, Frank telephones his cousin at the farm, arguing about the purpose of the trip and the resolution of a shattered history. For Frank, this journey is like poking a stick at a bad tooth, as painful memories surge, taunting and confusing his every action, his haunted youth returning with savage intensity. He makes his way back to the kind of town nobody would willingly return to unless called by tragedy or loss. People here live in despair, inhabiting days frozen in minimal needs and obligations, waiting to thaw. At each phase of his odyssey, Frank is beset by images and memories, the flickering light of a television screen in a starless night, black and white reruns the backdrop for a tragedy buried in his subconscious that fills him with a vague sense of guilt, a mistrust of his own motivations.

Thirty years after the traumatic events that stole his childhood, Frank is called back into the chaos of his youth, the self-destruction that has defined every rebellious action since. Both distressed and comforted by a suffering family he can barely provide for, Frank plunges into what remains of his world, forced to redefine time and place, to make a stand in this frozen wilderness, drawing courage from his own need for resolution and the love of his dysfunctional family. He does so with consummate grace, a tragic character cart-wheeling through free-associative hell on a collision course with the truth. The prose is shadowed and disturbing, a painful view of the underbelly of American life, where the have-nots gather around a burning trash can in hopes of warmth in an indifferent landscape. Luan Gaines/2005.

The Indian mutiny of 1857 sees the cantoment of Krishnapur besieged by sepoys. For three months Mr Hopkins (the collector) galvanises the British community in resisting the onslaught...
This book is superbly written and often reminds one of the style of George Elliot. It is both witty and profound and wonderfully researched and charactorized.Like the best of Elliot,Farrell uses his narrative to inform on other topics-the great cholera debate;the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace- and questions the basis of what culture actually lends to civilisation.
Books like this just don't get written these days.

Paul Scott wrote in his RAJ QUARTET that it was in India during the last days of the Raj that the British came to the end of themselves as they were. In this superb Booker Prize-winning novel written concurrently with the QUARTET (and which casts a similar cold eye towards the British imperial ambitions in India), J. G. Farrell shows how the Raj itself was formed and how it already carried within it in embryo the seeds of the destruction for the entire Empire. The novel takes place in a city in Northeastern India during 1857, the year of the Great Sepoy Rebellion: the British stationed in Krishnapur hear vague rumors of what they will call "The Mutiny" from faraway towns but are mostly unwilling to take them seriously. The ensuing siege they endure carries on for months as they wait for help to relieve them; though slowly forced to an absolute subsistence level--and then to even less--, they refuse to relinquish the habits of social conditioning that have made them already who they are. Social snobbery, physical modesty, gender segregation: all remain firmly ensconced even as their physical conditions start deteriorating so greatly they start dying in large numbers.

The novel's subject would seem to suggest that the novel would make for almost unbearable reading: oddly it does not, because the characters of the novel (who are almost entirely British) maintain such a droll and uncomprehending attitude towards their conditions, no matter how desperate things seem. Thus, since Farrell focalizes his narrative mostly through his thoughts, everything seems unreal throughout the entire siege and not quite so nightmarish as it might have been had he used a more distanced narrator. The work is in part a parody of old-fashioned "Mutiny novels," so you should know that the ending is very much in keeping with those kinds of novels (which proliferated throughout the Empire during the latter half of the nineteenth century); characteristically, however, Farrell puts his own intelligent spin on things, so even if the ending you had been expecting does occur it doesn't in the way you had expected. This is the second, and perhaps most famous, of the three superb works of Farrell's "Empire" trilogy which beautifully illustrates the conditions of Empire described in another nearly coeval work, Jan Morris's famous PAX BRITTANICA trilogy. It's exciting, amusing, intelligent, and greatly worth reading.

This is an excellent novel about the Sepoy Mutiny in India in 1857. The focus of the story is the siege of the British Civil Service enclave at Krishanpur (historically this was the siege of Lucknow). A group of Sepoy soldiers was given new rifle cartridges that were wrapped in greased paper, and the paper was removed by biting it off with one's teeth. The word spread was that this grease was animal grease, which was an insult to religion. The sepoys mutinied, killed their superior British officers, and started marauding across India.

Hearing about the mutiny the (tax) Collector in Krishnapur had ramparts built around the British buildings in Krishnapur. Shortly afterwards the Sepoys attacked in waver after wave for a period of several months. Surprisingly author Farrell describes the sufferings of those besieged with a good deal of humor, humor that pricks holes in the pompous beliefs and attitudes of 19th century British colonizers. We bring them progress, a superior civilization, yet they turn on us marvels the Collector. The condescension doesn't stop with the Indians. At one point the Collector speaks to the British women in the enclave, and silently thinks that in reality women are really useless creatures. It is the men of the world that shoulder the responsibility of getting things done. The padre runs around telling everyone that God is punishing them for their sinful behavior. A new school and an old school doctor constantly disagree over medical treatment. In perhaps the funniest scene of the book the old doctor contracts cholera, and instructs his aides to cover him with mustard plasters. The young doctor, who is aware that cholera victims die from dehydration, initiates a saline IV every time the old doc sinks into a coma. The IV brings him around, and he immediately pulls out the IV and insists on getting his mustard plasters, following which he soon sinks back into a coma. Back goes the IV and the doc becomes conscious again. This cycle goes on and on and becomes hysterically funny.

The British thought they were doing wonderful things for the Indians, but the harsh reality of it is they were creating harsh lives for their colonial subjects. The sepoys, for example, were paid near starvation wages. This is an important novel about the misguided philosophy behind imperialism. Perhaps there is a lesson here for us Americans. Should we really be focused on bringing our way of life to other countries?

"The Siege of Krishnapur', the second of J.G. Farrell's now classic works on the British Empire, (see also Troubles (New York Review Books Classics) and The Singapore Grip (New York Review Books Classics)) is a fictionalized account of the Siege of Lucknow during the Great Mutiny of 1857-1858 (aka the Sepoy Rebellion). The mutiny or rebellion, depending on one's point of view, was ultimately defeated by the British and led to the replacement of East India Company rule by direct British governance under the Raj.

Farrell masterfully recreates the insular British upper-class life in India - and the siege only intensifies this insularity. As the siege drags on and on, the inhabitants strive to maintain expected standards of behavior and decorum. Farrell populates his book with interesting characters who debate and dispute morality, religion, progress, and civilization.

Excellent introductions are a hallmark of the New York Review of Books Classics and the introduction to this volume by Pankaj Mishra places the book in historical and cultural context and adds significant value.

Highest Recommendation.

At the climax of this magnificent novel, the book's protagonist, Hopkins, the British civil administrator or Collector of Krishnapur, finds himself trapped in a Union Jack whose flagstaff has been shot down, knocking him to the ground. He recognizes it as the scenario of a persistent nightmare that had been troubling since his small enclave had been put under siege several months before. But it is also a symbol for the entire book.

The initial set-up here is similar to that of the author's TROUBLES: a group of British colonialists crammed together in a decaying building while the threat of native rebellion comes closer. But this is larger in scope, with a bigger cast of characters, grander themes, and a rebellion which is much more than some background disturbance. Unlike the violence in TROUBLES, which is seen at first hand only in the hallucinatory final chapters of the book, this one (the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857) takes center stage about a third of the way into the novel, leading to harrowing scenes of death, starvation, and disease. On the level of a simple war story, these events (based on the siege of Lucknow) make for a stirring story of heroism and courage -- especially where these qualities are unexpected, is in the formerly stuffy Collector who discovers hidden talents for generalship and strategy, and the young poet George Fleury, fresh out from England, who proves to have a strong practical streak and a remarkably cool head.

Also as in TROUBLES, there is a pervasive eroticism to this book, centering around three of the younger woman besieged in the Residency: the debutante Louise, chaste belle of Calcutta balls; Miriam, George's young widowed sister, tired of being assigned to stereotypical female roles, and Lucy, whom everybody knows as a "dishonored woman" although nobody is entirely clear as to the extent or agency of this dishonor. As the siege persists, the courtship conventions of colonial society are turned on their head by proximity and deprivation. There is one almost surreal scene in which Lucy, attacked by a huge cloud of otherwise harmless flying beetles, rips off her clothes and promptly faints, leaving two young men to scrape the insects off her, in the process discovering the differences between a real female body and a marble statue.

For, despite the bloodshed, Farrell's characteristic tone of comedy is present here too, but now his targets are as much institutional as personal: the hypocracies of colonialism, trivia of class and culture, and Victorian attitudes towards faith and science. As we meet the cast of characters, we find many different points of view: the Padre who believes that the rebellion is God's punishment for sin, the cynical Magistrate who is a confirmed atheist, the Opium Agent who believes only in profit, rival doctors from older and newer schools of thinking, bluff soldiers who do not think much at all but who can yet be excellent at their jobs, the aesthete Fleury whose first reaction to being under fire is to assemble phrases for an epic poem, and the Collector, who believes in progress, but attempts to strike a balance between all points of view. And to a remarkable extent, the author also manages to retain that balance. The siege is a crucible in which every kind of received attitude may be tested, and for the most part found wanting. But Farrell is never preachy or polemical; he does not make everything subservient to a single point of view, even the anti-colonial one. His great gift is to keep you thinking, even as you turn the pages with bated breath. A brilliant achievement!

A Child's Christmas In Wales CD: And Five Poems
Hurrah! Now I won't have to wait for the radio to play Dylan Thomas reading his wonderful Child's Christmas every Christmas. Truly a beautiful recording of the other poems as well.

My goodness, these illustrations are ugly. They completely detract from the beauty of the language. Either read it out loud to a blind person or stick with the version illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman.

This reading of A Child's Christmas in Wales is tops! It wouldn't be Christmas for us without hearing Dylan Thomas tell his story. He recounts a holiday of simple, family and neighborhood doings, and paints a picture of snowy, seaside Wales of the 1920's.

I love this story, as do all my children, who, from their earliest years, have not much struggled with the density of the language nor the scatteredness of the story. 5 of my 8 great-grandparents are from Wales, and the remaining 3 have the blood in them as well, so maybe it is like drinking water for us.:-D Our minds are all scattered, and words, even English words ;-D, fall on us in clumps....which makes it doubly hard to keep a clean house. LOL

The sort of prose-poetry imaginative way of seeing and describing the world unique to Welshwomen and Welshmen and Welshchildren, which does not seek to keep up the pretense that history can be separated from myth, story and desire, and which requires loving with eyes wide open to [and eventually embracing] one's own and others' bumps, bruises and idiosyncracies included, is extraordinarily well represented here. So, by the way, is speaking and listening to the close and Holy darkness!

My favorite version isthe one illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. To me she has captured the complexity of the Welsh personality best, though i have nothing to say against the other illustrators praised in these reviews. I DO have a warning for you: there are some skinny versions flying about which do not have the poem-story complete and correct. This sort of work cannot suffer removal or modification, IMHO.

gbg

If you have read A Child's Christmas in Wales, you know that it has to be a classic. But you can't fully appreciate it until you have heard Dylan Thomas read it. What a deep, expressive, poetic voice. For years, I have listened to the recording on a Caedman record. It is wonderful to have it on a CD.

The Last Valley: Dien Bien Phu And the French Defeat in Vietnam

Apparently the best account ever written on Dien Bien Phu. Just two brief remarks:
1. History is shaped by strong personalities, and there was an abundance of them in Dien Bien Phu. Despite the book's large volume, there would be welcome a chapter sketching portraits of key protagonists (Bigeard, Langlais, de Castries etc), at the expense of details on arms specifications.
2.The author is favorably predisposed to French military leaders, and I tend to sustain his argument about injustices inflicted to the French army by politicians. Nevertheless, he is inclined to offer unnecessary excuses to the former, as well as to soothe down quarrels. Why not state bluntly that Cogny and Langlais could not tolerate Navarre and de Castries respectively? Even though the outcome might not be different, leadership exercised by de Castries was apparently inadequate. During this epic battle, besides heroism, mistakes had been made also on the French part, which the author appears quite eager to justify, out of respect to this unique effort.

I must say that the author did an excellent job if he intended this book to be a record of the day to day action on all theaters of engagement between the French and the Viet Minh.

Because of the excessive level of detail, the book is very diffcult to read and appreciate. It is a mind numbing experience.

Read this only if you wish to know in detail the horrible sufferings that that combatants on either side faced in a senseless war. Otherwise you will be better off with just a summary.

T. E. Lawrence wrote that amateurs do something because they love to, and professionals because they must. We can thank the muses that Martin Windrow is a self-described amateur, because this work bears all the hallmarks of serious and loving craftsmanship. He places both the war, and the battle in context, he casts a glaring light upon some of its myths, and he gives serious attention to the technical aspects of the battle that the great majority of military professionals would otherwise miss, such as the state of Viet Minh artillery tactics and doctrine. Were Fall still alive and writing, Windrow would still have outclassed him. Anything and everything you want or need to know about the battle for Dien Bien Phu is here. The very best military history I've read in English in a very long time. Bravo!

the book just kind of grabbed me, twice.
first when i saw it on the library shelf, i read "hell in a very small place" many years ago and have a continuing interest in vietnam and america's involvement there.
the second time is when i started reading it, it reads like an excellent detective story, i sat and sat and finished it at one sitting, not a small feat considering it is over 700 pages long. This style is the first very notable characteristic.

not only is the writing excellent, but the author is one of those people who you can imagine talking to. he appears to a military historian from his amazon authors page. writing since the 1970's with an accent on french and the foreign legion. But this book looks like a long term research project and literally a work of love. the detail and interest he displays puts it in a class almost by itself. the only other military history that i've been this impressed by is the boer war by pakenham. The research and simply put love that went into this book is evident thoughout and is a second notable item.

there is something else that makes it outstanding, several places he shows some very unique and well thought out ideas. they are just snatches of his worldview: some pages about the wounds caused by military bullets, a couple of places where he talks about the relationships between politicians and military leaders, and his discussion about how men fight for their buddies next to them, not geopolitical big things. There are just a few of these rather tantilizing glimpses, enough to make me look for more of his books. This disclosure of the man behind the work and his ideas developed from a lifetime of study in history is remarkable and the 3rd item i wish to point out.

I'd not a fan of military histories, nor an i particularly interested in the genre. But i do like his writing. I find the careful analysis of what happened, what lead up to it, how people responded fascinating and as yesterday proved, somewhat addictive. There is an overwhelming number of names, who went where and fought whom, etc, those datum that make up military history, but it is not so bad that it bores or obscures the ideas. He is a very careful documenter of the facts, desirous of completeness and setting the historical record straight. All elements which appear strongly in the book.

There is another thing remarkable about the book and it's author, a desire to look at the facts and the events and truly learn from them. To see this part of our world, a somewhat dark one, filled with the dead and lost, and remember them not just for their sacrifices but what these things have to teach us about ourselves and the societies we find ourselves in. and the first place to find the meaning of events is to get them right, to be factual and see what happened and propose why. something that this book does in a uniquely interesting and useful way.

i sure wish the militaries of the world had more thoughtful people like this author, either in their general staffs or in their officer universities. perhaps a significant dose of reality and history is what more of our military leaders need before embarking on disastrous campaigns.

This is a superb and well constructed book and is by far one of the best accounts of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu that has been written. The author gives the reader a great insight to the formation of the Viet Minh and their rise to become a formidable fighting force whose journey to power led to the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu.

The book is well balanced and very readable. It gives a well presented account of the battle and how it unfolded and also shows how, although the French were defeated, at some stages of the fighting, victory could have gone either way with the staggering battle casualties suffered by the Viet Minh.

He also deals with the communist purges in the north after the French had been defeated and the division of the country into North and South Vietnam.

This fine book would not be out of place on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the military campaigns of Vietnam.

I happened to find this paperback version on the bargain shelf at Borders for $5, and I made the decision to buy it just on looking at the first photograph alone. Impulsive? Yeah, but I don't regret it at all. I just bought this book tonight, so I haven't actually read it yet. However, just looking at the photographs was mesmerizing. There are some really incredible trees out there in the world and I think the author has done a great job of capturing some of them. If you don't come across this book on a bargain shelf somewhere don't worry, it is well worth the price that Amazon is asking.

As I recall it, I first saw this book in 1996 or 1997 at the Midnight Special Bookstore in Santa Monica before they closed. The photographs of the trees were the most breathtaking photographs of trees I had ever encountered. I didn't buy the book then, but I remembered it for a long time afterward, and then my husband gave me a copy of it for Christmas a few years ago.

What I particularly like about this book - beside the photographs - is that it contains a Gazetteer at the back which tells the reader where the trees are located, what page they are pictured on, what kind of tree they are and whether they are accessible to the public, whether they are part of the Forest Enterprise or whether they are part of the National Trust. It also gives the reader a designation for Champion trees with full measurements. This is very handy and has saved me from having to pull all this information together myself.

My husband and I are going to be in Surrey this summer and we are looking forward to paying a visit to several of the trees mentioned - in particular - the Crowhurst Yew (pp. 120-21) and the Tandridge Yew (pp. 22-23) located in the churchyard at Tandridge in Surrey. These are probably the most spectacular. There are also several others at Kew Gardens which we are hoping to visit (tulip tree p. 61, hybrid strawberry p. 67, chestnut-leaved oak p. 71, maidenhair (Ginko), p. 83, Chinese wisteria p. 151, as well as the Knap Hill weeping beech p. 155, at the Knapp Hill Nursery in Surrey).

The introduction is very poignant. Pakenham recalls his encounters with trees which prompted him to create this book. He recalls a severe storm in Ireland in January, 1991, which toppled 12 out of 19, of his 200 year old, 100 foot high beech trees which once inhabited his garden - "all had been good friends to five generations of our family." "Why had I not looked at them more carefully before?" he asks.

This is an amazing book from the stunning photographs to the detailed stories about each remarkable tree. It is also scattered with beautifull 18thC etching of illustrated trees that refer to the tree being discussed.I found this book quite beautiful. I would definately recommend this book to anyone who is passionate about trees. Or to anyone who is looking for great photograhic reference as I was.

Pakenham's Meetings with Remarkable Trees and his Remarkable Trees of the World are portraits, not just pictures, each book documenting the impressive presence of sixty venerable trees from around the world. Pakenham groups them by their histories: Natives, Travelers, Shrines, Fantasies and Survivors. Each is a testimony to the majesty of Nature's creativity, diversity and adaptability.

Pakenham shares the unique history of each of these outstanding personalities, in the context of its species and its struggles for survival - ever threatened by man's over-cutting and under-husbandry of these irreplaceable resources.

Inspirational!

If you need a gift for a nature lover or photographer that you really like, this is the book for them. And get yourself a copy while you're at it.

Briefly, the author takes wonderful photographs of trees that affect and inspire him in Great Britain. Included with each tree is a history of the tree and facts and vignettes associated with the tree. His camera-work is impeccable and if you've ever tried to photograph a whole tree you will recognize the talent and work that have gone into this book.

The writing that accompanies the pictures is compelling and interesting. The author has obviously done his homework.

You can lose yourself for an hour at a time, or you can put this on your coffee table and get compliments from your guests, but have one in your library where you can get inspired and calm at the same time.

This first volume is written in a compeling style and is well researched. Catton makes the political manuevering come alive and deftly explains key facets of the war's basis and beginning. I am just beginning volume two, and based on how good the first is, I am looking forward to it.
Another reviewer labeled Catton as the poet of history, and I could not agree more. Highly recommended.

"The Coming Fury" is the first volume of Bruce Catton's centennial history of the Civil War. First published in 1961, some of its details are inevitably dated. Later historians have advanced different interpretations of some events. However, Catton's trilogy on the Civil War endures as a classic on the basis of his superb narrative, history as dramatic literature. Catton's gift is to capture the individuals at the center of events both in their essential, even prosaic humanity and as part of the seemingly relentless and tragic march of larger events.

"The Coming Fury" documents the onset of the Civil War, beginning with the Democratic Convention in Charlestown, South Carolina in April 1860 and ending with the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861. In that relatively short span of time, the ability of the United States to maintain the unhappy national political compromise over the divisive issue of slavery rapidly eroded into open warfare. Catton adroitly captures the stumbling efforts of different leaders to defer or avoid the horror of civil war while attempting to resolve what had become an unresolvable political issue. His account of the dilemma of Major Robert Anderson, trapped at Fort Sumpter in Charlestown by men who had lately been his fellow citizens, is especially poignant. Anderson is trapped also between the Union and Confederate Governments, each pursuing its own political goals through the fate of Anderson's small garrison, now the last symbol of Federal authority in South Carolina. The shelling of Fort Sumpter will trigger open warfare, culminating in this volume with First Bull Run, where a Union loss will put paid to the notion of a quick end to the war.

This book is highly recommended to students of the Civil War and to the interested reader seeking an enthralling account of the beginning of that war.

When my husband wanted a good book on the Civil War, a friend recommended Bruce Catton's American Civil War Trilogy. My husband thought it was a fabulous series, so I was determined to read it as well. After finishing the first book, The Coming Fury, I have to agree. Even though The Coming Fury was first published in 1961, it remains one of the definitive books written about the Civil War.

The Coming Fury actually starts before the Civil War with the Democratic Convention of April 1860 in Charleston, South Carolina. Here, the Democratic Party will splinter over choosing a presidential candidate because of the slavery issue. Catton painstakingly provides us with this political background leading up to the war, but in a very readable manner. "The story of 1860 is the story of a great nation, marching to the wild music of bands, with flaring torches and with banners and with enthusiastic shouts, moving down a steep place into the sea." The election of Abraham Lincoln will set the southern states on the path to secession.

Catton details the setting up of the Confederate government, the scramble for bases and forts, and the creation of the CSA military machine. He also spends much time on the opening shots on Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor. At first, it was like a war between friends. "The Federal soldiers in the fort and the South Carolina soldiers who encircled it maintained polite relations while they got ready to kill each other." If guns "were fired in the wrong direction, letters of apology were quickly sent and gracefully acknowledged."

The end of The Coming Fury takes us to the first major battle of the war--Bull Run. Considered a "battle of amateurs," it made both sides realize that this war wasn't going to be over anytime soon.

Catton seamlessly weaves the political and military aspects of the Civil War in a way that keeps this series extremely popular almost 50 years after it was first published. Having just read The Civil War by Geoffrey Ward, Ric Burns and Ken Burns, I was surprised to see how much of Catton's work found its way into their book. I have already started Volume Two, Terrible Swift Sword and it promises to be just as good as The Coming Fury.

The first of this three volume series takes us from the 1860 Democratic National Convention to Bull Run and is an absolute treasure. It is simply the most precise and informative narrative of this period I've read. After reading this you will understand how we got from a bunch of swelled-up aristocrats to a shooting war and you'll see how sad and pathetic the whole affair really was. You'll ask yourself a dozen times while reading why didn't somebody stop this madness?

The other two volumes provide a readable but brief history of the war. But as historical literature often does the story bogs down in dates and names and places and provides an accurate but rather generic list of events for the remainder of the war. For those wanting a get in and get out quickly version of the Civil War this is it.

For those wanting more detail and have the time I recommend Shelby Foote's trilogy. For those wanting a primer of the events leading up to the Democratic National Convention I recommend "Jefferson Davis, The Man and His Hour" by William C. Davis. Not in itself a great book but it does provide interesting insight into the politics, pride and stupidity in the years leading up to our country's darkest hour.

For anyone, like I once was, who needs an education on the causes of the Civil War, this book is indespensable. Growing up in the South, I was taught in public schools that slavery had very little to do with the Civil War. Catton not only obliterates this theory, he goes in to much detail about the various conflicts and rivalries (including slavery) which caused an unbridgeable chasm between North and South in the decade leading up to the firing upon Fort Sumter in April, 1861. He clearly demonstrates why these differences in philosophy would erupt into war, which in retrospect was probably the only way America could ever be united in our collective belief system, which we now take for granted. I would recommend this book (and Catton's entire Civil War Trilogy series for that matter) to both casual reader and Civil War buff alike. In fact, it should be required reading for ALL americans.

Jane Goodall needs no introduction, she cares for nature, earth and all the creatures on it. Some critize her seemingly unorthodox methods and her supposed "cult of personality." However, reading this book made me fascinated by our closest living relatives and how they are really so similiar to ourselves. It made me remember that we too are animals, but we are intelligent and the dominaters of the earth. But with that role, we have to protect the voiceless. Both scientific and thoughtful, the narrative of this book is good for any science class, home library or bedside stand. The most interesting parts for me were the chapters about alpha-male battles, the emotions of chimpanzees and the conclusion which discusses how we must be stewards of the earth.

I am going to read the rest of this amazing woman's books.

Jane is amazing!

*****/***** for Through a Window

To anyone old enough to remember the first field reports from a brash girl named Jane, who chose to live alone with a troop of chimps in Tanzania, way back in the 60s, it has to be a little boggling to realize that she has kept at it for 47 years (as of this writing). Oh, sure, we've seen the TV specials and the magazine stories, and some of us may have read her account of the first decade, IN THE SHADOW OF MAN. But, we do have our lives to attend to, and Goodall's ongoing work easily fades into the background noise. In our long struggle to understand the locus of humanity in nature, there is surely no work more crucial than this. Goodall's discoveries about our closest genetic cousins have uncontestably shown us our place. We are not much different than chimps, merely more so. A young woman, too naive in the ways of science to "know" that animals don't have personalities, saw them clearly. Her honest reporting, championed by her mentor Louis Leakey, overturned a system that harkened back to Descartes (who, we must remember, kicked his dogs often to demonstrate that their mechanical reaction bore no likeness to human pain). After Goodall, animals are "its" no more, they are "whos." THROUGH A WINDOW, is the story of the evolution of one girl's dream into a research center, with dozens of assistants, who have tracked and documented a chimpanzee society through the years. It is the report of political change, as different chimp leaders come to prominence, of family loyalty and discord, and of the look in chimpanzee eyes searching our own for ... understanding? It is equally a reminder that her happiest times remain the hours she steals to spend a day alone with the friends she knows so well: the aging matriarch who was a chimp babe in arms in 1960, and her grandson now moving toward dominance of the troop; older siblings teaching youngsters to fashion tools to 'fish' for termites; the deposed leader racked out in a leafy hammock - remembering his glory days? Coupled with work done by others, partly inspired by Goodall - such as the teaching of American Sign Language to captive chimps, who in turn, TEACH THEIR OWN CHILDREN TO SIGN, manipulating their babies hands into words while pointing at objects - the idea that anyone presumes to defend vivisecting these fellow earthlings is incomprehensible. There is far more going on in chimpanzee heads than was, for instance, in the severely mentally handicapped humans I houseparented years ago. Our staff spent years trying to teach some of our clients a single hand sign, and when they did occasionally manage it, it was seldom clear if there was understanding attached. Chimps create their own sentences, even invent combinations to describe novel experiences. Yet no one (these days, at least) suggests it is ethical to give AIDs to developmentally disabled children to see what happens, or to lock them in isolation chambers where they slowly go mad. It is no wonder that Goodall's work in the late 90s began to focus more and more on ending all captive experiments on the creatures she knows so well. (See my review of her later work, BRUTAL KINSHIP, Aperture Foundation, 199, which focuses on that effort.) THROUGH A WINDOW is an inspiring look at the joy, satisfaction, heartbreak and struggle of one scientist who has changed our world.

Ever since reading Jane Goodall's book "Reason For Hope" (which is another highly-recommended one on my list), I have called her "Our Lady of Hope"; she truly has paved the way for a brighter future in her study of the animals and plants. And with her optimism and positive outlook, how could I not be floored by her work?

This book takes you on an emotional roller-coaster; tenderness (Flo's natural mothering instincts and her care for her children and her daughter, Fifi, imitating her mother), sadness (Flo's death and her son, Flint, pining away before dying; the short, tragic life of the unfortunate, long-suffering Gilka), horror (Passion and Pom savagely killing and eating their own community's newborns; the brutal warfare in the mid-70s), and amazement (at how very much like humans that animals are).

This book is simply a gem. And the images are marvelous: sometimes grim, sometimes tender, but seldom dull.

When I picked up this book it was because I randomly chose it from a pile of recommendations a friend gave me. I had no desire to read it, and the only reason I actually went through with it was that a) I would have to give the book back someday and b) she always recommends good-to-decent books. And despite the obvious reputation that Goodall has, I still had no desire to read it. Having recently picked up (and put down) Rachel Carson's The Edge of the Sea, I was in no mind to read another nature-based book. That gives you a good indication of my mindset going into this.

I'm glad I was wrong. I enjoyed this book much more than I would have imagined - it's a fascinating read. I say that having had virtually no prior interest in chimpanzee's nor Jane Goodall. I doubt I would have read this book on my own, since there are a million books begging to be read every time I open my eyes. Sometimes you need to go where you don't necessarily want in order to find a jewel.

The title of this book refers to the window that Goodall gets when she observes the chimps over the years. Through this window she gets an idea of how we, humans, have evolved from where we were to where we are. It gives her a glimpse of the similarities - sometimes uncanny - between chimps and humans. This window often leads to observations you can never expect. Goodall's observations and her way with words fully draw you into the narrative.

Goodall writes anecdotally, attempting to illustrate her point with examples of behavior she observes in the field. These instances make the book much easier to read than a pure scientific approach. Through the text you grow to like (and dislike) some of the chimps in the narrative, as well as easily finding yourself drawn into the various elements of (nearly human) chimp behavior.

The thing I find most surprising is that the stories which transpire between the "actors" are just as dramatic as a work of fiction. They say that fact is stranger than fiction. I don't know if I agree, but it can undoubtedly be interesting. It's certainly a surprise how similar the chimps are to us - or maybe it's not, which I guess is one of the points of the book.

If I have to take on the other POV, which I usually force myself to do in an effort to be fair, I suppose I have to say that despite all she has seen, she does at times force the issue that chimps are better than people. One thing I worried about was that Goodall would constantly laud how amazing the animals are and how we humans could learn from them. For the most part, she doesn't do this. From time to time she seems to be on the verge, but she balances it out with fair observations on both sides of the fence.

In all, it is a riveting book that is well-balanced and, to be sure, well researched. Goodall's years of experience no doubt come through with this book, and her ease behind the keyboard is surprising. I did not find this clunky in the normal vein of science texts at all. In fact, it was a smooth read, almost to a word. Granted, it may not be everyone's cup of tea, but the subject matter discussed in Through A Window is sure to entertain most people who pick it up. Excellent book and highly recommended.

Jane Goodall's contributions to our knowledge of chimpanzees has been remarkable. Because she first arrived in Africa completely untrained as an observer of animal behavior, she was able to bring a humanist's instincts to her work; her natural ability to see details and connections, as well as her affection for her subjects, culminated in published results that rocked the scientific community. THROUGH A WINDOW picks up her observations where IN THE SHADOW OF MAN left off. Here, she follows the lives mostly of the children of the original group. She has organized her chapters by theme: Mothers and Daughters, Sons and Mothers, War, Power, Love, and more. Within these chapters, she explores the specific lives of the Gombe chimps and their relationships with their relatives and group members. By tackling specific topics of behavior, she is able to fully integrate the range of her experiences, from first observations to those made thirty years later. As Goodall is quick to point out, what she assumed at first did not necessarily prove to hold fast over time.

No less fascinating than IN THE SHADOW OF MAN, this book is extraordinary for its insight into chimpanzee personalities, relationships, and culture. If you have never before read Goodall's books, you will be surprised by the strong echoes of human behavior in these wild and highly individual chimpanzees. Goodall has made enormous contributions to our understanding of non-human primates, and should be widely read.

This book is great for first time parents. This is my most referenced parenting books and I have several! I kept checking this out from the library before I finally bought my own copy. You won't regret buying this one.

This book has been incredibly helpful to my husband and I, we purchased it after hearing one of the nannies on a morning weekly radio show in Minneapolis. The nanny gives out advice to parents each week and we always enjoy listening to what she has to say. We have 3 kids under 5 and really value the advice of British nannies, this books encourages a routine and schedule, fresh meals and plenty of sleep for kids (and parents). Since reading the book we have introduced these things and have seen incredible changes, our kids are so much happier, they are now going to bed earlier, helping me out in the kitchen, and our bedtime routine is so much easier. Thank You nannies.

I have read every baby book there is, and this definitely rates in the top 5. It's nothing earth-shattering or totally new, but there are great examples and good real-life ideas to use with your kids. Plus, it's entertaining to read.

My kids are 2, 5 and 7 yrs. I actually bought this book because I saw that it had a chapter on school.

My 5 yr old had a rocky first week at school and I was really worried. I read the school chapter first and the first thing it did was it made me feel better. The book reminded me that starting school is another new experience for my son and he needs time to get used to it, which of course on one level I did know but reading it made me believe it. I started using the "Goodbye Routine" and it definately resulted in less tears than the day before. I kept doing it and things have improved.The school chapter is really helpful and I am now using their homework advice for my 7yr old and Hooray what a difference!

I had just accepted that with 3 kids weekday mornings were always going to be rushed and stressful. This book has helped me to change all that and it was not difficult to do. Now most mornings we actually all sit down to eat breakfast together and I don't have to scream at the kids to turn the TV off.

I am also using the strategies on improving communication with all my kids but especially with my two year old who likes to say no to everything I ask her to do. I didn't realize that I was inviting her to say no by giving her too many choices.

My only complaint is that Nanny Wisdom does not cover Potty Training. I am just about to start that with my 2 year old and I had a hard time with my other kids. I would like to know how the nannies do it. Also, the recipes have been so popular in our house that I wish there were even more of them in the book.

Nanny Wisdom is it is actually fun to read which is an added bonus. The book has little stories about the kids the nannies have looked after and experiences they have had in their different jobs. It makes you understand how experienced and caring these nannies are.

After reading this book I really trust their advice 100%. I always say to my husband now, The Nannies say this or The Nannies say that!!

I loved this book because it covers such a big range of parenting problems and situations and really gives parents great answers. It has helped me more than any other parenting book I own (I did like What to Expect when my kids were newborns and I do like Pocket Parent). I know it will keep on helping me as it has so much in it. I am so glad I stumbled across this book in my parenting travels!

Just finished the final chapter and although my parenting of "lovely's are now with my grandchildren, you can always learn something new. The recipe's and the "how to" approach is consistent and right on! All the advice on how to deal with a child sleeping through the night helped out my daughter immensly. The nannies are great and their knowledge is superb. I highly recommend this book to new mothers, new dads, grammies and granpies - everyone who needs "expertise" on handling all the new situations that come with the title of parent.

wow, the set of fabled lands books are brilliant, they transport you into a whole new enchanted world where anything is possible. I would well recomend these books to everyone. I just want to know what happend to the last six in the series?, i,ve been looking for them everywhere!

The best solo RPG game ever!
These books create the most amazing fantasy world.
They allow you to roam about how you want to.
It was planned that enough of these books would be released to cover the map that is contained in each of this series.
However, I heard, that they charged too little for each book (in England I think they were just £5 or £6!!) so they couldn't finish the series for financial reasons!
An absolute shame - I do anything for the last few books!!

I strongly reccomend this wonderful roleplaying game. Absolutely non-lynear storyline, many different characters to start your game with and many mini-quests in the global quest.

I have been playing the Quest for more than 3 years, and it was a pity that only 6 books have been published. This is the most astounding Role Playing Games I have ever played. Specially for people who do not of RPG games on computers. I wish that Jamie Thomson and Dave Morris become aware of this and please publish the remaining 6 books.The descriptions in the book for places, characters and actions are so good that I have abandoned to play Fighting Fantasy Series. Best of all, for all readers, is that the adventure is unlimited and you can go back and forth.

wow, the set of fabled land books are brilliant, they transport you into a whole new world where anything is possible. I would well recomend this book to those of you who like to escape for a few hours into a land of fiction. I would just like to know what happend to the last 6 books in the series?, i,ve been looking for them everywhere!