Pitt Books

This is one of the better entries in the series of Victorian murder mysteries featuring Inspector Thomas Pitt of the Metropolitan Police and his meddling wife, Charlotte. This time it's a death by arson in the affluent London suburb of Highgate. The victim is the wife of a local physician who escaped by being out on a call -- but was it really him they were after? There's a singular lack of clues and the local police are annoyed at Pitt's being called in anyway, so it's a particularly tough case. Charlotte and her sister, Emily, involve themselves by attending funerals and memorials and asking leading questions -- their usual m.o., in fact. Perry always includes a social issue to fulminate against and this time it's the profits made by aristocratic families from ownership of slum tenements. The Inner Circle appears, too, but only peripherally, which was a good decision on the author's part.

This book tries to show you the human rights of the poor people in London while they resolve the mystery of a crime, you will never know who is the killer until the last page, not because the book is good, because it could be anyone of the book, the writer never tells you anything about the real killer.
At the end of the book, nobody does nothing about the human rights or anything else.

Loved this book - just the right mix of "moral" and mystery. I prefer the books where Charlotte and Thomas are both active, and this gives a good mix. The period detail is excellent (as usual)and the mystery is solid too.

Having read all the previous Pitt novels in the series, I found arson a refreshing change from the usual murder weapon of choice...the characters were complicated and well-developed, and the murderer was in question until the end--but then Perry picked the most obvious choice for the villain, which disappointed me--I was expecting some great revelation, but instead, we got someone whose motives were already obvious (so obvious I'd written the character in question off my list of suspects ^_^), and the cheesy way the confession came about read like a melodrama. Other than the unconvincing ending, the book was quite good, and Gracie finally got some a share of the adventure! If there's one thing you can count on, Anne Perry always has some interesting development in her characters' personal lives, no matter what the case.

Charlotte and Thomas Pitt's maid, Gracie, has been admiring her mistress's detecting adventures for the past few books, but her participation in this story adds a freshness to the plot and the characterizations. Dedicated readers of the Pitt series know Charlotte, Emily, Thomas, and Great Aunt Vespasia so well now that new characters are always welcome additions to the cast.

In this story Pitt is called in to investigate a mysterious fire and death in Highgate, a prosperous northern suburb of London. While most London policemen are investigating the Jack the Ripper murders at Whitechapel, Pitt must get to the botom of how and why the Shaw house was set ablaze and whether the intended victim was really Clemency Shaw, a modest woman involved in social reform, or her husband Dr. Shaw.

The ending of this mystery was not really up to Perry's usual standards. I was pretty sure who had done the deed from the beginning, but as usual Perry provided some excellent and suprising insights into the other secrets lurking on Highgate Rise.

THIS BOOK IS A MUST HAVE FOR ANY VAMPIRE LIT. FAN.

Not a lot of wonderful stories, but a few fairly interesting ones. Not a lot of vampire's either, which i found dissappointing and why i called this review Vampire Lite I was prepared for some really great vampire stories... not some decent stories with vampire-like themes. The story about Sonja Blue has promise and made me want to buy other work by that author but that is about it. Entertaining but disappointing if you are looking for hard core vampire stuff.

The vampires in this anthology are a diverse group, some are romantic, some erotic, may possess supernatural abilities, or not, others are grotesque, or simply bizarre. Actress Ingrid Pitt (of the Hammer films "The Vampire Lovers" and "Countess Dracula"), opens with a wonderful introduction and contributes an enjoyable story. Most of the stories are between five and twenty-five pages long. A few of the stories are around fifty pages. Anne Rice is represented with the first story. At about twenty pages, "The Master of Rampling Gate", is worth the price of the whole novel. It used to be challenging to find a reprint of "The Master of Rampling Gate", which was originally published in 1984 in "Redbook" magazine. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking to expand their scope of authors of "contemporary" vampire fiction. For those who have not been introduced to the writings of the great Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Tanith Lee, Storm Constantine, Poppy Z. Brite, and Freda Warrington, you may decide to build a collection of their novels . I tend to lean more toward a preference for a romantic, supernatural version of the vampire, of which, there are only a few here.

As with any anthology, some of the stories will resonate more with any given reader than others. There were a few stories here than just didn't do much for me, but that's to be expected, and there were far fewer than might be expected out of 37 stories. But the quality was in general quite high, and if you read nothing else in this book, you really should read "Jack", by Connie Willis (the second to last entry in the book), a 50-page novella that is one of the best short, stand-alone vampire stories I've ever read.

I wish publishers would stop saying Anne Rice is the 'queen of vampire literature'. She is not an author I care to read. Also, I'm not crazy about Tanith Lee. I always feel like I've missed the point of her stories. Halfway through this book I had to struggle to finish the stories. The first half of the book (other than the Anne Rice story) was fine, then the stories got weird/uncomfortable. That being said, if you like the vampire myth, there are a lot of good/great stories in this book. My favorite is Jack by Connie Willis. Oh, and how come Laurel K Hamilton didn't have a story in this collection?

I've been skipping around a bit in reading this series, so some of the events in this eighth novel in the series I was already aware of, as part of the back-story in later episodes. Again, most of the action takes place within the extended family of Charlotte Pitt, wife of Inspector Thomas Pitt, one of Victorian London's finest. Where Charlotte married down, her sister, Emily, married up, to Lord George Ashworth. The Ashworths are paying an extended visit to his maternal relations, the Marches, and Emily is in agony over the attentions her infatuated husband is paying to the wife of one of his cousins, while ignoring her. But then George is found poisoned one morning, and it quickly becomes apparent that one of the eight family members (including Emily) must be the guilty party -- but which one? And then a second, connected murder takes place in the house, and family loyalties require that Emily take the blame. Or perhaps it was the only other outsider, Jack Radley, who is there for inspection as a possible suitor for the youngest daughter of the family. The story involves the gradual paring down of the list of suspects, largely through the efforts of Charlotte, who has come to keep her distraught sister company. This part of the narrative is quite good, but the author makes a strategic error in introducing a completely separate murder mystery at the very beginning, and then ignoring it entirely until the very end of the book, when she manages to weave it into the larger mystery. A pretty good story, though, especially (as always) in its portrayal of the suffocating strictures of Victorian Society, especially as regards women.

Being an Anne Perry fan I was disappointed in this mystery. It is the 8th in the Pitt series, and by far the least interesting. I don't know if I didn't like it because there wasn't much about Charlotte and Thomas and their children or what. Perry just seemed to rattle on with too many details. I hope the 9th book is better.

The customer "reviews" of this book are plot summaries which will spoil a potential reader's enjoyment. This is the best Anne Perry I've read so far (I've read about ten.) As usual, it exposes Victorian crimes against the poor and rebellion against one's own class by a few of the wealthy. But, in addition, Perry this time crafts several middle of the night, suspenseful horror scenes.

I'm often let down by Perry's endings. Not enough analysis/explanation is provided, and only the principals are allowed to react to the denouement.

I would like to see a chronological listing of her books. If you read them out of order, too much about earlier happenings is revealed. I knew, for example, that ____ could not have been the murderer in this book because he is alive and well in a LATER book which I had already read. Also, another character's death (from an earlier book) is referred to repeatedly.

I still love the Victorian settings and a glimpse into the rigid lifestyle and the grinding poverty of that time.

In the first mystery in the Pitt series, the Ellison family lost a daughter to the Cater Street Hangman. Since that time friends have suffered unspeakable tragedies, and now Emily Ellison March, Lady Ashworth, is suspected of murdering her husband George by putting belladonna in his morning coffee. Families with this kind of luck need to have someone married to a police detective!

If you are reading the stories chronologically, you will have followed the relationship of George and Emily through several novels. While I was initially sad to think his good-natured presence would be missing from future stories, I have to confess that there was little spark between the two. Maybe a change of pace is what Emily (and Perry's loyal readers?) need.

Charlotte (Emily's sister) and Thomas Pitt continue to develop as characters and sleuths in this story. Charlotte is even beginning to learn a bit of judicious caution and investigative skills! While the solution to the mystery was not entirely surprising, the twists and turns of the plot take the reader into some interesting and unforgettable aspects of late Victorian England. I highly recommend this book, and even if this is the first one you read you will enjoy getting to know the characters.

I have been reading the Pitt series in order from the beginning, and this is the best one yet. They are all good reading, but this one in particular offers the classic English mansion who-done-it feel. I highly recommend this series, but do read them in order. A complete ordered list can be found on the author's website, anneperry.net.

P. Willis-Pitts was raised in a Liverpool black ghetto and become a rock musician at the time of the Mersey Sound phenomenon. He draws upon his own unique background (Ringo Starr worked with his father) to provide an insider's perspective on the rise of the Liverpool Mersy Sound as one who played in the same pubs, with the same bands, and hung out with the same people as did the Beatles. Liverpool, The 5th Beatle presents a fascinating comparison of Liverpool with Black America of the 1950s and 60s, providing insights into how the social and musical conditions in the African-American community found a direct reflection among the Liverpool Irish youth (including the Beatles) who were singularly responsible for the rise of the Mersey Sound and the resultant British invasion of the American music scene. Liverpool, The 5th Beatle is "must" reading for all Beatles fans and students of American popular music.

An engrossing eyewitness account of how and why the unique clash of heritages, races, and music in Liverpool spawned the Beatles. The writing is vivid and rhythmic, perceptive and humorous, robust and textured. The photographs lend a stark, unadorned realism to the words on the pages. Full of adventure, wit, and astute social commentary that recounts Liverpool's history in terms of its parallels with the underclasses of American society and its lessons for our future.

An engrossing eyewitness account of how and why the unique clash of heritages, races, and music in Liverpool spawned the Beatles. The writing is vivid and rhythmic, perceptive and humorous, robust and textured. The photographs lend a stark, unadorned realism to the words on the pages. Full of adventure, wit, and astute social commentary that recounts Liverpool's history in terms of its parallels with the underclasses of American society and its lessons for our future.

The writing is crisp, sharp and clear. The author does an excellent job of bringing the black neighborhoods of Liverpool to the world's collective attention. He also had the unique advantage of having an indirect connection with a Beatle -- his father and Ringo were coworkers!

The influence of black musicians on rock and roll has been well documented. Spirituals and the blues segued into rock and roll. In a recent interview, Paul McCartney himself said had it not been for the black musical pioneers, he and most other musicians would never have achieved the level of accomplishment they have today.

A riveting, well researched book. The Beatles and their music brought people together and were certainly a unifying force among the masses. I think this is something that will be treasured by all.

This is a self-serving waste of paper (mostly filler photos & anecdotes, less that 50 pages of "new" text). The author should stick to his fiction & autobiography. By far the worst piece of work on the Beatles ever published that I've ever read. My suggestion to this author is to stop trying to cash in on the Beatles!

"About the Author:  Prem Willis-Pitts was born and raised in Liverpool. Ringo Starr worked with his father, he had a girlfriend in common with Paul McCartney and he replaced George Harrison in a band that George left to join the Beatles. He saw the Beatles perform hundreds of times in Liverpool."

What evidence supports these claims other than the constant mention that his dad worked with Ringo?  He includes a few photos of himself playing guitar, but there's no mention of when or where they were taken? It's a poor attempt to win credibility with potential buyers!  Sadly, this ability to play on the sympathies of readers keeps popping up thoughout the book.

The "editorial reviews" suggest cheap name-dropping over substance. Louise Harrison left Liverpool long before Merseybeat so how would she know if this book discusses "the reality behind the Beatles' formation and background"? What information does the author mention about the city and Beatles that Sam Leach, self-professed Beatles manager "pre Brian Epstein," did not already know? It's nice to have these "quotes" from "famous" people, but they mean nothing!

The best "quote" is that the book was "wonderfully researched." Where are the sources (other than a brief list at the end)? A 300 page book, filled with photos, many irrelevant even to the text at hand; photos are used as filler - check the viewable excerpts! Some ideas are good, such as those about the local dialect, the influence of the Irish, and the comparisons with Black America, but these comments are made out of hand with no evidence to support such claims.

He claims Liverpool 8 was the "Irish ghetto" of his childhood, yet it was a Black ghetto within a decade.  How did such a fast transformation happen?  Was it Black or Irish?  Or both?  If it was both, why dismiss the Irish when it suits his argument?

In "Drugs and Rock `n Roll - Opening for The Beatles" several unrelated photos are used to "enhance" the writing. How does a recent photo of the Casablanca Club (or the girl standing in front of the club) relate to the chapter? Or the two large photos from the late 80s? All filler and no substance! The photos (like many other "recent" ones), are from the 80s, yet the book was published in 2000, and the subject is the 1960s! Makes you wonder when Mr. Willis-Pitts was last in Liverpool.

The anecdote of "opening for the Beatles" recollects an attempt to get some cheap drugs, and subsequent attempt to play while trying to stay high. Most posters of the concerts do not mention the Beatles, so who is to say they performed at the same show? The Beatles only headlined 1 of the posters! And he was higher than a kite!

He also distanced himself from the violence he describes, yet was willing to "have a go" at a racist drunken Londoner who fled once confronted by a Scouse accent! It's a thin line between violence and... as ever the moralist author always makes sure he's on the right side in the end! Discussing drugs and what they did to him and his friends is another example. He acknowledges that the lives of several associates were destroyed by drugs, yet describing how he was strong enough to leave it all behind when he chose to is a patronizing end to yet another self-serving story. How can anybody so drugged, as he constantly claimed to be, remember all of these details?

The worst drivel is his psycho-babble that claims to be an understanding of the Beatles through their marriages. John and "iconoclastic" Yoko; Paul and Yuppie Linda; George's fantasy to follow Paul by marrying model Patti Boyd (BEFORE Paul got married!!); and poor Ringo marrying at his "peasant" level.

His generalizations of people from Liverpool are disgraceful. He argues that it is stereotyping, then details how Scousers are supposedly violent and unruly, deceptive and full of "shady" dealings since any item is "fair game," and thus do absolutely anything given the opportunity! I won't mention the obvious errors in his comments on football. Writing this book proves he grabbed his own opportunity here!

The book has merits. It's interesting to see a portrayal of the city from somebody who did not achieve fame or fortune (sadly it seems an attempt to win both was the reason for writing the book!). If there is one good use, then it's the few interviews done with musicians from the time.

Overall, a frustrating read which I will NEVER pick up again.  Unless you collect absolutely everything about the Beatles, don't waste your time or money on this. I suggest the author stick to his fiction and autobiographical work, and leave the historical events to the historians. Anybody interested in the history of Liverpool's music scene should read Wondrous Place by Paul du Noyer.  It covers the 1950s to the present, but every page is worth reading, there are few photos to fill pages, and only a page or two of "personal anecdotes" by the author, though they relate to the book.

What's next?  Ringo's first wife's nephew writes of the family reunion at a Who concert while cousin Zak was playing drums for Roger and the boys! I'm sure Ringo wouldn't be there, but he could get a few mentions and a front cover photo!!  And if that sells like this book, it's proof that you CAN fool some of the people all of the time!  My suggestion to this author: give a rest to any attempt to cash in on the Beatles and concentrate on other things!!

This book is about how a girl who is excellent in writing, but is always getting in trouble with her hazardous temper. She got suspended to Manning High School and now after she finally made good friends she has to make new ones. While she's doing that, she has to handle one of her teachers, Mr. Kooner. Mr. Kooner is like a dog, he makes the students scramble for their books. He drops them on the floor and students have to get down a wrestle for there books because he doesn't have enough. Of course she doesn't join the scramble because she's not like them. See what Emma does to stop
Mr. Kooner, and for good.

The mistreated black girl

Emma Walsh was a good girl who never did anything wrong. She went to Marlborough high school where she wanted to become a debutant. Emma's parents got divorced when she was only 12 years old. When everything was going just fine but then she got transferred to Manning high school where Emma learned she couldn't become a debutant. Her boyfriend Marvin started to hang out with white people who convinced him to do drugs. Emma was going through all this and her parents were divorced and would fight every time they saw each other. Emma met a boy named Allan who helped her get through the last semester of school. Mr. Kooner, one of Emma's teachers would make them scramble for books because he didn't have enough books for the class. Emma tried to put a stop to the scramble. Emma entered a contest where you write an essay and if she won she would be able to say her essay in front of the whole school during graduation. When she handed her paper to Mr. Kooner he didn't turn it in for her. Emma did find a way to get her paper in the contest.
I liked this book and I didn't like this book. It teaches a valuable lesson to kids and even adults. It was very interesting. It made me not want to put it down when I read this book. I didn't like this book because it had a lot of problems. They were all solved but it was confusing to me.

By Samantha

The book Because We Are is about a girl named Emma. She is an African American girl and a senior in high school who goes to a predominately white upper class school. She hangs out with the other few blacks at her school. She has a white boyfriend who is not giving her what she deserves and she has parents whom a couple years ago got divorced. So her life�s is pretty average as far as teenagers life goes. When one day a sudden outburst at school gets her sent to the principal�s office and transferred to a school a lot closer but not as respected called manning. She is afraid that she won�t fit in with al the blacks that are not as fortunate as she is. She is also afraid that the golden slippers will not let her become a debutante. She befriends a guy named Allan and starts to relax a little. Will everything pan out will Emma become a debutante will she graduate find out in this awesome book. Read it you will be surprised how much you will like it.

I would give it five out of five stars.

Interesting is what I would call this book. The reason I would call this book interesting is because it is about a black 18-year-old girl who goes to an almost all white school. It all starts with a white boy who makes fun of Emma in one of her National Honor Society meetings and a teacher won't do anything about it. After the meeting is over she is really mad at both the teacher, for not doing anything to the boy who made fun of her, and the boy, because he made fun of her, but after her meeting she goes to her English class anyway. Once she arrives in English class she remembers that she forgot to do an assignment that was do that day. Then once that class was over she went to lunch were she sees her English teacher. Once the teacher sees Emma she comes over to talk to her, and she put hand on Emma's shoulder, but Emma pushes her hand away and tells her to stop it. The teacher ends up taking it the wrong way and sends her to the principal's office. After she gets to the principal's office the principal talks to the teacher that sent her to the office, and then talks to Emma? It ends up that Emma has to go to another school because of what she did. At the end Emma realizes how much her education, teachers, friends, and parents mean to her, so then she tries her hardest to get a scholarship to a good school. At the end her friend Marvin gets a scholarship, but will Emma?

This is another of the biography collections covering World War II generals that was done in the early 90s by a British publisher. In this book we get an introductory essay by editor John Keegan that puts the rest of the book in context, describing how Churchill dealt with generals, what he thought of them, and how he related to them, briefly. After that, we have a series of short (each about 20-30 pages) biographies of various commanders from the British Army in World War II. The editor chose to restrict himself to officers from Britain itself, so no Guy Simonds or Bernard Freyburg. He chose commanders who had some influence on the outcome of the war, or who were somehow outstanding or memorable, so no Miles Dempsey. Instead, the editor chose those soldiers who stood out in some way, or were somehow instrumental in the victory in a fashion that can't be ignored.

Within this, as is usually the case in such a volume, the individual biographies are somewhat uneven. Some are written as if you know everything already about World War II, and others are written in a very elementary style, as if you know nothing. Some are also more editorial or review of the individual's character and actions (the essay on Montgomery is the most obvious one in this category) while other seek merely to inform you about the person involved. There are two combination biographies, one covering the "Desert Generals" (Cunningham, Ritchie, and Leese) and another covering two generals who were more involved in diplomacy during the war, Adrian Carton de Wiart and Edward Spears. These tend to do little more than recount the facts of these men's careers: there's no space for anything else.

I think the general researcher who's looking for a reference work covering this topic will find this book useful, if only in a limited fashion. Since the coverage is rather limited, you're going to be disappointed if a particular soldier isn't covered here and he's the one you're trying to research. On the other hand, if you are looking for information on someone who *is* here, then you're going to get more data here than you would from the Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography, for instance. So it depends on whom you're researching.

This collection of essays, edited by Keegan, provides a good introduction to most of the generals who made it to the top of the British Army in WW2. The essays are of varying standard and some require a knowledge of the subject and their place in the world. Each article has a bibliography and a career time line. Keegan provides an introduction as to each generals place in the scheme of things and his relationship with Curchill. Generally a good book with some outstanding essays.

This book is an interesting and exceptionally well-done introduction to the British perspective of World War II. Each of the seventeen chapter is a biography of a key British general during this conflict. Some are well-known (Montgomery), while others have largely been forgotten (Sir Henry Wilson). Five generals end up having to share two chapters. Each and every one, though, gets a good biography. There are differences in focus, emphasis, and interpretation, which is to be expected, but none of these entries is weak. This fact in and of itself makes this book unique among in its genre.

The authors come from a number of backgrounds: academia, journalism, and the military, including a general and a field marshal. One of the contributors is Australian, another is American and the rest are British. The reader is getting a good cross sampling of the British perspective.

The main theme that emerges from these essays is the importance of interpersonal relationships with both Churchill but also other generals. The chapters also do a good job of introducing the reader to issues in the literature without getting bogged down in the details. Each chapter concludes with a chronology of the general's life and career.

A reader unfamiliar with British military culture will stumble on some issues: the acronyms are completely different: GOC and KCB to give only two examples. (General Officer Commanding and Knight Commander of the Bath---a knighthood that gives the individual the title of "Sir.") The practice of keeping generals on half-pay is another practice that is often referenced but never explained. (A general without an assignment received only half his pay. If he did not receive an assignment after two years, he was retired.)

Nonetheless, this book is easy to read and is recommended without reservation.

Churchill's Generals proves to be just that, basic introduction to the British generals who fought under Winston Churchill during the Second World War. Its an interesting collection of soldiers, some which every students of military history knows while others were folks no one never heard off until they read this book. These biographical essays proves to be a mixed bunch. Some are better then others. Some essays proves to be quite insightful and able to give an personal understanding of their subject. Others seem to be written by a clerk copying off some dossier file.

The book is a companion to its sister volumes, Hitler's Generals and Stalin's Generals. I would put this book above Stalin's Generals but its definitely inferior to Hitler's Generals. I haven't seen titles for Roosevelt's Generals or Hirohito's Generals so I guess we are stuck with these three books.

Overall, a pretty basic introduction essays. It should be enough to arouse your curiousity and hopefully you will read more on the subject. Some of the British generals like Slim really do need greater attention.

This is an angry book. This is a smart book. This is a sad book. But most importantly, particularly in these days as the Latino and Mexican population of California continues to grow in numbers and influence, this is a book that requires you to look at the history of the State of California from a different view, and to maybe begin to understand the seriousness of the events and history covered.

It has been at least a decade since I read this volume, but its true stories still resound in me. This book is an education and what more can one ask for from such a work. William J. Trinkle, Director, The Bear Flag Museum.

Pitt's history of the decline of the Californios is an extremely important record of California's past. Few contemporary Californian's are familiar with the rugged settlers who came to this place and created a society of their own. Largely abandoned by the Spanish and then Mexican overseers, robbed by the invading Americanos, the Californios left their indelible mark upon us. their influence is subtle now, but we still live in the various "ranchos" they founded and ranched. This is a very accessible and well-written piece of scholarship. It is simple enough to qualify as a popular history, well researched enough to be taken seriously in academia.

Wonderful genealogical source for those with ties to the "Californios"...great reading for anyone interested in early California history as well.

pitt certainly gives us a descriptive account of life in California before the gold rush and after. his referring to so many names and families did make the whole story of the people a little confusing.

These questions along with UW questions is all you need to feel really prepared for step1. Of course you have to read FA and the other books, but regarding to questions practice: This is the book!

Well, I did like this book. However, it has a very inconvenient particularity: questions are so repetitive. I mean, for a patient description, two many questions were asked, of course, for different aspects of that particular patient. But it, then, moves away from the original purpose, which is to simulate, as much close as possible, the "real-life" aspects of USMLE test. Still, the CD-ROM that accompanies the book is not well formulated. It has the advantage of allowing to choose topics to study but it gets so boring when you try to simulate the 50-questions set of USMLE and it starts repeating questions all over again. So, please, take care when you buy this book: if you want to review by topics, good; if the purpose is to simulate USMLE, forget this book...

thought this book was very helpful for the step 1. very similar questions to the real thing

Sure this book has tons of great USMLE type questions, and doing questions will help cement the key facts that you learn while studying for boards. However, this book is just a series of 17 entire practice exams. The questions are NOT organized into topics which I found to be key to studying (this is why so many students spend $$$ for the Kaplan QBank because you can choose questions that you just studied that day). Its hard, frustrating, and low yield to do questions if you have not studied the topic yet. I only recommend using this book when you have completely mastered all the subject topics of the USMLE.

i took my step 2 last december and the questions on the exam were very (!) close to the ones on this cd. comparable products (even though newer) seemed to be made for a different exam....
to me the best source available.

I am generally a fan of the NMS books, and have used many of them for my 3rd year clerkships with great results. I expected equivalent assistance from the NMS step 2 review CD. Unfortunately I had great difficulty installing and opening this CD and an hour later, gave up and borrowed the book from a classmate. I later heard from multiple classmates that they, too, had difficulties with this CD and preferred the book. I can wholeheartedly endorse the book with 5 stars, and assure other medical students that the step 2 version I took yesterday was very comparable to the test 4 therein.

Had no difficulty at all installing the CD. Although the software interface is slightly different than the real USMLE, the questions' style and content were right on the money. Like the real test, it allows you to mark and review questions. You can take whole exams or focused exams (e.g., OB/Gyn, Peds, Surg, etc.) in the areas where you need help. The biggest help was the computer timer ticking down just like the real exam -- nice to get used to this.

I was a student of John Lazo & Bruce Pitt (Dept of Pharmacology) at the Univ. of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and I must congratulate them for their accomplishment with this software.

I really believe that the only way to improve this software is to make it more like the format of the current USMLE Step 2.

They cover all the important topics and I would advise any medical student to use it in preparation for the USMLE Step 2. Why use a book to practice questions, when you have to take the exam on a computer? It makes more sense to practice in a format similar to the testing situation.

An extensive review of Soviet-era archives contributes many previously unconsidered facts to Red Atom: Russia's Nuclear Power Program From Stalin To Today. In the 1950s it was the Russian dream to produce efficient, cheap nuclear energy: thirty years later Chernobyl changed the world. The history of the Soviet's use of nuclear power, its projects, and its setback after Chernobyl make for an intriguing history of a scientific and social disaster in the making.

I found Mr. Josephson's book to be highly entertaining and an extremely good read. Lots and lots and lots of information - maybe, sometimes too much. However, I noticed a number of errors, which, although slight, did jump out at me.

Mr. Josephson seems to like inserting a slight dusting of Russian terms in his book which are tangential to the subject at hand and, in several instances, are mistranslated. Two instances that immediately come to mind are his translating of "bakon" as pork fat, when, in fact, it IS bacon. "Sala" is what Mr. Josephson was probably referring to. A second is his translation of the word "spetzodezhda" as a hermetically sealed suit used in the maintenance of a reactor. "Spetzodezhda" is merely work clothing - of any form.

I also found the author's use of both imperial and metric measurements to be somewhat confusing and that required me to switch gears too frequently - sometimes in the same paragraph.

Two other errors that I'm surprised were not spotted in the proofreading are the placing of words starting with "dn" after words starting with "do" in the index and his comment on page 288 that the Latvians at the Ignalina reactor were unhappy about the number of Russians working at the reactor. Ignalina is in Lithuania. Perhaps the Latvians working there were distressed about the high number of Russians at the plant- but I assume that the native Lithuanians were even more distressed.

While Dr. Jasephson's compilation of information on Soviet nuclear research and developement is encyclopedic, the book is not easy to follow. It repeatedly jumps back to various points, the Russian revolution, early post WW II era and follows another area of the soviet nuclear program. Early in the book an unfamiliar unit of exposure, the "ber" is used but not defined. It is not a unit used at all in this country. In later chapters a definite anti-nuclear bias gets in the way of providing information. While Dr. Josephson is entitled to his view point, it would be more effectively communicated if he had a better understanding of the field.

An example, in discussing the Chernobyl disaster he says, "For days after the explosion, people continued to drink and consume the local water, juice, sausages and cucumbers, all of which had been irradiated." Having something irradiated is not the same as having it contaminated with radioactive material [fallout]. Although some are concerned about food irradiation which may be done to prevent spoilage, extend shelf life, and prevent food poisoning it is not at all the same as having food contaminated by radioactive material. Because he gives so little details in such tidbits it is impossible to tell if he means contaminated or irradiated.

Dr. Josephson gives many such alarming tid bits, in the last two chapters and epilog, without explaining the nature or level of whatever problem he is discussing. In the example the level of contamination, if that is meant, microcuries per gram or kilogram and applicable, acceptable levels would have defined the problem or if irradiation was meant, the dose food stuffs received would have been helpful. But such details are almost always missing and in some cases as in the example, incorrectly given or there is confusion in what he presents.

It has been my impression that Soviet nuclear research and development had many problems but this book did not illuminate them as I expected.

A very disappointing book.

This is a fascinating and frightening account of a huge story. It covers (often in excessive detail) the development of nuclear power under a totalitarian regime with little thought for the human cost. An excellent book overall.

The story he tells must be told. Uncounted innocent citizens of the region are still suffering from the careless application of nuclear power, and even today the development and construction of new reactors continues. The world must be made aware of the cost of continuing to ignore the deteriorating situation in the former Soviet bloc.

On the down side, Josephson's style is rambling, with excessive detail which does not add to the overall message. Even with a reasonable knowledge of the geography of the former Soviet Union and some of the people involved, I found it quite hard to follow.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is specifically interested in Soviet history or the history of Nuclear power. Others may find it tough going.