Richards Books

I'm a chemist and in my practical experience in the laboratory I have to say this is probably the best text you will find if you are a analytical reader. Of course, this book is not written with a enjoyable style, but if you bear to read it carefully and really analize the details, you will not regret the effort. This is great for reference and if it wasn't so dull in style It will make a great job as a textbook too, besides this is a classic.

I'm medical student from Hong Kong. I find it very useful in preparing Problem-based-learning tutorilas. The interpretation of the laboratory results are the most useful. It helps me understand more in the PBL cases.

Simple and delightful , filled with nice illustrations this book is necessary to every doctor not only clinical pathologists and laboratorits but everyone who handles daily with ambulatory and infirmary pacients. A must in every uptodate doctor or even meddicine students bookshelf.

I rate this book a "4" as it's essential reading for residents in clinical pathology. A large number of the pathology board questions come directly from this book, making it necessary reading. It's also VERY dry reading, even for a pathology textbook. After reading this book you'll be ready from something comparatively exciting, like watching paint dry. However, due to its importance in studying for the boards, I highly recommend it.

This reference receives from all reviewers the top recommendations for comprehensive, concise, understandable presentations. Every laboratorian needs this reference. The 20th edition is due in February, 2001.

Dr. Walton has done an excellent job of presenting one of the few textbooks on this topic. This is a thoroughly researched and carefully documented book containing not only Dr. Walton's expertise on the subject matter but that of several other experts in the fields of behavioral profiling, geographic profiling, forensic document examination, and forensic dentistry. The illustrations are excellent and tell much of the story visually. The last chapter, which details how investigators solved one of the oldest cold cases to date had me reading late into the night, even though I knew how it ended from reading newspaper articles at the time!

I am a retired Chief Investigator for a DA's office in California with over 30 years of criminal investigation experience. I currently operate a private investigation business, also in California. I have specialized in the investigation of violent crime for decades and have taught related courses at the college level. This textbook is by far the best homicide investigation textbook that I have ever encountered. While the title might lead one to believe it is primarily a "Cold Case Homicide" textbook, it is actually the best text on ALL homicide investigations that I've found. It's a "must have" for anyone involved in such investigations or teaching a course on any kind of homicide or other violent crime.

Richard Walton's COLD CASE HOMICIDES: Practical Investigative Techniques provides the law enforcement and forensic communities with the most important and comprehensive work to date on the subject of cold case homicide investigation. Walton has combined his thirty years of law enforcement experience and his impressive graduate work to merge theory and practice into impressive textbook. The case history format, which I find to me an excellent methodology, combined with the checklists, photographs and illustrations makes this book easy to read and comprehend.

Walton has provided the definitive roadmap for those who wish to successfully investigate cold case homicides. His innovative and time proven methods offer the reader a realistic overview of the cold case homicide and details various investigative methods to be used in this inquiry. Walton also provides practical and current information technology and advanced investigative tools, which have allowed law enforcement to re-examine cold cases with new forensic tools.

This publication is an invaluable asset to law enforcement and I am proud to have this book in my Practical Aspects of Criminal and Forensic Investigation Series.

Lt. Cmdr. Vernon J. Geberth, M.S., M.P.S
Author Practical Homicide Investigation
Series Editor, Practical Aspects of Criminal and Forensic Investigation
Taylor & Francis

I bought and read this book because I'm related to Walter David, accused along with Jack Ryan, in the 1925 murder Dr. Walton refers to in the introduction and throughout the book. This book is very readable, even for non-professionals. I learned a lot and can see this would be a very helpful textbook for law enforcement professionals wanting to learn more about investigating cold cases.

I wish Dr. Walton great success. His investigation became a 13 year hunt for the truth, resulting in the long overdue pardon of Jack Ryan.

Dr. Richard Walton's COLD CASE HOMICIDES is not just a textbook for cops and criminalists. His well researched, plain talking "How To" is for anyone and everyone interested in knowing how a real murder case is painstakingly put together, a fiber of trace evidence here, a reinterview of a cold case witness there, until it is solved. Its all here, from crime-scene to courtroom. This is a must have, easy reading reference book that should be in the library of every mystery fan and writer. Law enforcement professionals know the value of this book and I expect it has already been shipped to most police academies and Criminology 101 classes. But, I believe the book's greatest contribution will come from how it informs the layperson of how real cold case murder investigations should be conducted. Congratulations to Dr. Walton on a job WELL DONE.

Steve Hodel
L.A.P.D. Homicide Detective Supervisor (ret.)
Author, Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder

The general reader and the scholar should enjoy this book. Holmes does set Coleridge talking.

Don't miss Owen Barfield's WHAT COLERIDGE THOUGHT if you want to explore the matephysician.

This is the Coleridge I thought I knew through his poetry. Holmes brings him to life in this first volume of Coleridge's early years. The book makes you wish you had known Coleridge personally and shared in his life. His life is complex and challenging and so it must have been for Holmes to research and write Coleridge's life. In fact, Holmes seems to have a special knowledge into the life of one of the greatest poets of the English language. This book gave me insights into Coleridge's works I had not had before. If you want to learn more about Samuel Taylor Coleridge, his life and his works, this is the book to read.

If you think Coleridge was finished by 1804, think again. True, all his great poems had been written but an astonishing life of triumph and tragi-comedy lay ahead. "Coleridge, Darker Reflections" is the long-awaited second half of this award-winning biography of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It covers the period 1804-1834 - a time when, according to popular belief, Coleridge's fertile imagination had dried up and he faced a slippery slide to an opium-induced decline. But not according to the author Richard Holmes, described as "Our best post-war biographer". He is a superb story teller and unlike so many biographers before him, deeply in touch with his subject. His first volume, "Coleridge Early Visions" introduced the poet to a new generation of admirers (including myself who was fired into writing a play for children about the poet's early magical years). This wonderful book will surely establish STC as a troubled but gigantic genius of the 19th century. Holme's own genius is to show us Coleridge the man. "Always on the knife edge between tragedy and comedy" said Holmes at the London book launch this week (21st October 1998) Holmes has worked assiduously through STC's vast notebooks. Like his namesake, Sherlock, the author clearly enjoys the detection element of biography. His is a personal search for the man, his millieu and his place. Holmes retraces STC's footsteps around England - echoing the desperate perambulations of the wandering poet. Holmes tells this astonishing story at a cracking pace - he has the thriller-writer's gift for making you turn the page. We follow STC through his Malta years - a wonderful evocation of Coleridge's chaotic life. The years of tragic opium decline in London are brought to life (I challenge you not to cry) - and yet there are so many triumphs - the marvellous late poems that Holmes has championed in an earlier collection, the seminal lectures on Shakespeare, Coleridge the thinker and radical, Coleridge the father (not a very good one), the years of relative happiness in Highgate where we find Coleridge the guru. Above all is Coleridge the man. Holmes as only the greatest biographers can, brings his subject completely to life and shows us why Coleridge was such a tour de force in the Romantic movement and why Byron called Wordsworth "a fixed star" but Coleridge "a meteor". There is so much to love in this book - it is hard to know what to recommend. If you have never read a biography before, make this your first. If you think you are familiar with the life of STC, this book, so full of new discoveries and insights, will make you reassess the poet. Holmes is clearly enamoured of his subject. It is a book that will make you laugh out loud in places. You will see exactly why Charles Lamb said of his great friend "He is an archangel, damaged."

This treatment of Coleridge's early life is excellent in scope & detail; in fact, it won a prize. But its strength-- objectivity-- is its weakness. Holmes expresses no imaginitive sympathy for his subject. He writes about Romanticism with the detatchment of an entymologist examining a butterfly. And while he treats Coleridge's pathology in an overtly psychological manner, he fails to identify the pathologies he describes -- like a doctor who collects symptoms without making a diagnosis.

The result is an outstanding example of conventional literary biography, but one that is insensitive to growth, imagination, and mind in the act of making the mind -- or why Coleridge was passionate about them. Those interested in these must seek elsewhere, but this volume remains a good place to learn the facts of Coleridge's life, despite its dry prose.

Somehow Holmes produces scholarly biographies that make compulsive reading. He never fictionalizes or puts thoughts in his subjects' heads that he has no authority for - and yet he keeps us turning those pages. Is it the subjects he choses? Shelley and Coleridge both had strongly "plotted" lives. Coleridge married the sister of Southey's wife and fell in love with the sister of Wordsworth's wife. I liked his comment on Coleridge's father's predecessor in the the benefice of St Mary's Ottery.

Wilbur is one of the indispensables; impossible to imagine American poetry, or indeed the American trajectory, without these poems, so deftly shaped, giving such wry light. I am grateful for this book.

I first read Richard Wilbur's poems more than 20 years ago, but I have to admit that for most of that time he has been for me like the fire brigade or catastrophic health insurance -- I was glad he was there, but for whatever reason he didn't seem terribly relevant in my life.

This book helped remind me how wrong I have been.

Upon reflection, I realize that at least part of the reason for my undervaluing Mr. Wilbur's work stems from my own shortcoming: I was probably too young to appreciate his delicate insight and wit when I formed my opinions about him. But the main reason is probably because he's such a forgettable personality. He is a white male. Like most men of his generation, he served in the army during World War II. He doesn't use strange punctuation marks or filthy language. I know almost nothing about his personal life, but, as far as I know, he has never considered suicide, he has never been in rehab, he has never gone mad, and he has never been arrested. All he has done is produce beautiful and important poems, virtually non-stop for more than 60 years. In an age in which we are flooded with public personalities that demand to be noticed, that is disappointingly easy to overlook.

Collected Poems, 1943-2004 is probably as close as we're going to get to Mr. Wilbur demanding to be noticed. And if you are the type who enjoys simple pleasures and metrical poise, then you really should notice him as he appears on these pages. Everything Mr. Wilbur wrote through 2004 is included here, including previously unpublished recent poems, song lyrics, children's poems, and the great poet's well-known published works. There is no need to own any other book of Mr. Wilbur's poetry if you buy this.

I'm not enough of a fool to try to use my own words to describe Mr. Wilbur's. Instead, I'll end with the final verse of Seed Leaves, one of my favorite poems in the book:

Forced to make choice of ends,
The stalk in time unbends,
Shakes off the seed-case, heaves
Aloft, and spreads two leaves
Which display no sure
And special signature.

Indeed.

Wilbur's collected poems would be in every American home if poetry was taught better. He is the most technically proficient poet in American literary history. In matters of rhythm, meter, rhyme, shape and form, he is a sculptor, a magician.

Check out these tercets from "First Snow in Alsace," remembering that Wilbur saw pretty much three years of straight combat in World War Two:

The snow came down last night like moths
Burned on the moon; it fell till dawn,
Covered the town with simple cloths.

Absolute snow lies rumpled on
What shellbursts scattered and deranged,
Entangled railings, crevassed lawn.

You think: beyond the town a mile
Or two, this snowfall fills the eyes
Of soldiers dead a little while.

Collected Poems 1943-2004 is an anthology of poetry by Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner Richard Wilbur, who has previously served as poet laureate of the United States. The compendium features works in a variety of formats, meters, and rhyme schemes, with themes ranging from the mundane to the extraordinary. A superb cross-sampling of the best of Wilbur's work, Collected Poems 1943-2004 is a treasury recommended for both libraries and private poetry shelves, and is certain not to disappoint true poetry lovers. "On Having Mis-Identified a Wild Flower": A thrush, because I'd been wrong, / Burst rightly into song / In a world not vague, not lonely, / Not governed by me only.

This collection of the poems of Richard Wilbur is in several ways a gem. Not only does it contain the bulk of the works of Wilbur, who is one of the very few major poets of our era, it is also that rarity in today's publishing industry; that is, a beautiful book, well printed on good quality paper in a most readable typeface, and elegantly bound. Wilbur's work is notable for his affinity with the poetry of Europe and elsewhere. His translations from the French, in particular, are all of a high standard. Wilbur is not afraid to write verse which has rhyme, rhythm, and elegance. This is a book to be treasured.

Martin Gardner is the name that always comes to mind when one thinks of Mathematical Recreations. Anyone who ever read Scientific American magazine will remember his column in every issue. He wrote the column for 25 years;and made puzzle lovers of millions of readers. His fans ran the gamut from those with a very elementary background in mathematics to those with a high degree of knowledge. What he did was to make mathematics something to enjoy and use as a recreational pursuit. Over the years, he wrote about 70 books,many that have been popular for a long time.
In this book, he has chosen 340 puzzles from his columns of over 25 years. He has selected simple problems as well as medium and difficult. Each problem is supplied with an answer or solution . Often, answers in puzzle books are sketchy;but here we not only get an answer but also a good idea and explanation on arriving at the solution.
The most interesting thing about this book is that it is geared to all levels of puzzle solvers (OMNIHEURISTS). I am sure that someone who has worked only a few puzzles,and who hasn't,will find many quite easy and in a short time will progress to those with more challenge; due particularly to the answer explanations.At the same time ,those with a lot of experience will find plenty to amuse themselves.
Along with a pick of some of the best of the columns over the years,Gardner has included 12 of the best brainteasers to have come his way since he stopped writing the column in 1986.
Also, we are given a list of all the other books that Martin Gardner wrote over the years. Along with that, there is a list of selected titles for those interested in more in the world of Recreational Mathematics.
If you like Mathematical Recreations or puzzles of any kind ;take a look at this book and you'll surely want to own it.

This is a superb collection of puzzles of all kinds. Anyone experienced or not in the puzzle field should own this book.

Martin Gardner is a guarantee for this book's efficiency, and highly educational and entertaining content. 5/5

What a great collection of puzzles. Anyone who likes puzzles SHOULD own this.
I initially bought this for myself. But my brother-in-law loved it so much (when it arrived) that I gave it to him as a present. Just ordered it for myself again!

The Colossal Book of Short Puzzles and Problems is going to be THE gift to send to your puzzle-loving friends and family. Gardener is a master and a national treasure. Every math teacher should own this book as a resource, and every puzzle-lover should have it for hours of fun.

Deborah Bennett, author of Randomness and Logic Made Easy

Great collection of thought puzzles, some well known, some highly original.

What I like most is that every problem, from the simplest up to the really difficult, has a twist to it: You may think you immediately see the answer, but there is always something you didn't think of. For example Problem 1.1 (to be seen in the Excerpt when you click on the image of the book): How many dates in a year can be confusing if you don't know whether they are in European notation (28/2/2007) or US (2/28/2007)? Your first thought is "That's easy, just 12x12", until you think a second time.

If you want to train your brain, solve a few of Martin Gardner's puzzles every day. Or just do it to have fun.

This is a wonderful book, touching the heart and soul of the reader written by a man who has endured so much and still has so much humor and quick wit in telling his story. Great vision from the patient, watching and feeling, but unable to do anything about the situation at the time. This is extremely well written and a tremendous asset to families that face similar instances with their loved ones.

This is the story of a thoughtful husband, a good patient, and a courageous man. Anyone interested in things medical or who has an ill loved one will enjoy this book. The author contracted Hepatitis C from a tainted blood transfusion. This disease caused a sort of domino-like effect causing among other things the need for (so far) three liver transplants. While in a coma he was aware of his surroundings to a point. This is a recounting of what he thought was happening to and around him, and what was actually happening. It is fascinating stuff. His compassion for families of other patients is touching. And his ability to lift the shroud of mystery that hides the state of COMA is uplifting. An idea as monumental in life saving potential as either penicillin or the Salk vaccine is PRESUMED CONSENT. The time is now, and hopefully this idea will be implemented in the immediate future.

Richard Darling allows us in on his "coma life" and invites us along on his amazing journey through his life-threatening crisis. Richard is one of millions of Americans who suffer from hep C and is one of the few who has survived three liver transplants. His story is life-affirming and humorous, despite the dire subject matter. This book is for anyone who has faced a medical crisis but most especially for anyone who has had a loved one face a serious medical condition or crisis. Even more importantly, it is the story of some dedicated and compassionate caregivers who have made his journey possible.

Dr. Darling has written a tome of rare insight, dignity, and maturity interspersed with wry humor. He's been to the brink against hepatitis C, liver cancer, diabetes, a heart attack, three liver transplant operations, and more, and embraced his struggle of survival with not just courage, but understanding. Dr. Darling lets his reader experience the serene, surreal life "inside" his coma and, if for no other reason, this very human insight makes this book a literary must for all, and especially for patients who need their spirits uplifted.

ComaLife is Dr. Darling's gripping story of his surreal life "inside" his coma,
which included an angel tabby cat who stayed by his bedside until he was out of
danger and hilarious adventures with Barbra Streisand, Kathy Lee Gifford, Dennis
Rodman, Bill Gates, and other loveable characters. At times while in his coma,
Dr. Darling could see and hear those around him, but he couldn't respond.
Alternating chapters tell his uplifting, real-life struggle of survival against
hepatitis C, cirrhosis of the liver, liver cancer, diabetes, a heart attack and
three liver transplant operations. Once you begin ComaLife, it is almost
impossible to put it down. All sorts of emotions are evoked: humor, sadness,
and joy, which contribute to an incredible book. In addition, Dr. Darling shows
great appreciation for caregivers (e.g., his wife, Kress) and how important they
are to the ill. A true gem of a book that is uplifting for all and especially as
a gift for the ill! A book like no other!

Effective execution takes coordinated effort. Why is this seemingly obvious fact so difficult to experience? The authors do an excellent job of illustrating how effective listening provides the starting point for a level of interaction that allows disparate views to be heard and valued.

This book allows me to be more aware of and intentional about, creating converations that search for a meaningful launching pad for strategic and tactical execution.


Jim Canfield
President/COO
Renaissance Executive Forums
San Diego, CA

I was introduced to this book by a colleague at a former employer. If you feel like you are building consensus, driving decisions or winning arguments - only to learn later that nothing is sticking "because of the other guy" - then you owe it to yourself to read this book.

The authors do an excellent job covering the theory of creating an authentic dialog where truth is spoken, beliefs are shared, perspectives understood and alignment and consensus are built. One of the key points is that communicating at this level is not always easy or comfortable, but it is essential to constructive communication.

In terms of format, the authors combine theory with a running fictitious story that is more colorful and detailed than a typical case study. Some may think the story is hokey, but I found it useful and entertaining. It also makes the book a hybrid between the cutesy (and somewhat useless - IMHO) parable format that is raging across business publishing, and pure theory, which can become dry and pedantic.

This is a very helpful book if you need to facilitate meetings to produce business results. It has helped me immensely.

The authors have offered a refreshing and effective model for communicating. The search for an intersection of facts, views, and intent makes incredible sense. I am using this model in all of my work and making progress in creating more value and less waste. I love their vocabulary. Buy this book if you want to make a positive and significant difference in the manner in which you communicate to those you want to influence, inspire and transform.

Connolly and Rianoshek take the view that any issue, no matter how seemingly intractable, can be resolved through effective communication. The ideas and tools in this book back up that view. The writing is clear and the organization will make it available to a variety of learning styles. Excellent book!

This is an excellent book that gives a way for individuals to take difficult problems/situations involving people and use communication to resolve the problem. It is well written with good illustrations.

What's to say? The greatest cartoon ever is out of print and can't be seen by anyone. Thankfully his animated work is available on DVD through Amazon and it's a humbling experience. Those were the first animated cartoons and in some respects they've seldom been equalled. His first one--THE first one--is a shocker, like some amateur building the Taj Mahal on the first try. In terms of raw, fantastic, dizzying, imagination coupled with stunning craftsmanship McCay may have no equal.

If this material is not made available pressure should be exerted somewhere, maybe with the Smithsonian, to release new editions. The lack of availability is almost criminal: like finding out that Don Quixote's gone out of print or something. Really, I'm not being hyperbolic. For all the interest there is in comic art these days, all the Manga, Fantastic Fours and graphic novels, this has to be accepted as the medium's Shakespeare.

Although originally published as a weekly comic strip at the turn of the century, time has hardly diminished the charm or imaginative experiences of Little Nemo. As an unscripted character in his episodic dreams, a little boy named Nemo endeavors to keep up with the developments in "Slumberland" as they rapidly unfold. Recurrent characters show up to join in on the adventures, usually already in progress, and to clue Nemo in on where he is expected to go. As in dreams, the logic is usually skewed, and the storylines quickly gain momentum till they peak in a cataclysmic event that ultimately awakens Little Nemo. The wonderfully illogical development of the dreams are still as fresh today as they were a century ago. The only reminder of the era they came from is the quaint clothing and manner of the characters. The innovative story developments, though, are still uniquely fresh, having come from the visionary mind of Winsor McCay, who is credited with being the father of modern animation.

Long before a little boy and his tiger explored the imagination with wry social commentary and surrealism, Winsor McCay did the same with this amazing series of full page newspaper comics. This is a veritable treasure trove of comics history.

Admittedly, the jokes are not the same as Calvin and Hobbes so do not expect the same feelings. I find that Nemo evokes more feelings of wonder and delight while C and H brings about the hearty "guffaw". Also, the ending of every episode is exactly the same in that Nemo awakes to find the night's adventures were all within his head.

On the other hand, this book gives wonderful background of McCay and his world as well as beautiful reprints of the original prints.

I would heartily recommend this to anyone who enjoys fantasy, childhood, comics, or the dreams of past days.

Winsor McCay has been forgotten by the mainstream Nostalgia R' US spoon-fed media circus that we are all tapped into. Winsor McCay was a pioneering creative genius. He may not have been the very first motion picture animator but created some of the first animated shorts which featured CHARACTERS. His first was Gertie the Dinosaur. McCay would actually tour with his short and interact with the dinosaur on the screen, making it roll over and other tricks. McCay's Little Nemo is a feast

for the eyes. His eye for detail gives us a window to the early days of the 20th Century. The characters are completly fantastic. He was decades ahead of his time.

Winsor McCay's "Little Nemo in Slumberland" is a rare combination of artistry and imagination that deserves to be considered the first classic comic strip. "The Yellow Kid" came first, but it never demonstrated the superb craftsmanship of McCay's work, which is done in a distinctive "art nouveau" style that presages the coming of surrealism. Within the frames of his story McCay was able to create illusions of vast size and space, showing a word that was remarkably futuristic. Each of Little Nemo's weekly adventures told of a dream of the tousle-haired boy (of about six?) and concluded with him falling out of bed or waking up. McCay's son Robert served as the model for Nemo. Before working on the Slumberland strips McCay had experimented with other comics including "Little Sammy Sneeze," "Hungry Henriette," "Poor Jake," "Tales of Jungle Imps," and "Dream of the Rarebit Fiend" (the last one under the pseudonym Silas), but none of them even hinted at the splendor of "Little Nemo." In 1909 McCay would go on to create "Gertie the Dinosaur," the first commercially successful animated cartoon, which is probably how most people know of McCay's work. But that can only be because they have yet to be exposed to this comic strip.

The "Little Nemo in Slumberland" comics in this book originally appeared in the "New York Herald" Sunday color supplement from October 15, 1905 to March 31, 1907 and are faithfully reproduced in their original colors from rare, vintage file-copy pages in the hands of a few choice collectors. There is even a special strip that appeared in the European edition of the "Herald" that was never printed in the U.S. The strip continued until 1911 and those strips are published in the other volumes in this series. In these early adventures Little Nemo first enters Slumberland and learns to cope with his unpredictable flying bed, pursues the beautiful Princess of Slumber, searches for the castle of King Morpheus, and endures the ministrations of Dr. Pill. Nemo also meets up with the devilish Flip, a green-faced clown in a plug hat and ermine collared jacket, who starts off always trying to summon the Dawn and wake Nemo from his dreams but then becomes our little heroes boon companion in his Slumberland adventures which involved an impressive array of strange giants, beautiful mermaids, humongous elephants, mysterious space creatures, exotic parades, fantastic dirigible rides, a jolly green dragon, and anything else McCay could imagine.

By both artistic and historical standards "Little Nemo in Slumberland" is the first truly great comic strip. When you look at the great strips that followed, such as George Herriman's "Krazy Kat," George McManus' "Bringing Up Father," Bud Fisher's "Mutt and Jeff," and Frank King's "Gasoline Alley," they are all decidedly different from what McCay was doing, although the use of "art nouveau" interiors and zany byplay by McManus is clearly an homage to "Little Nemo" as far as I am concerned. There is a sense in which those who see nothing similar appearing on the funny pages until Bill Watterson's "Calvin and Hobbes" have a point, although I would acknowledge Snoopy's imaginative life in "Peanuts" as well.

This volume includes "Perchance to Dream," an essay by Richard Marschall, who I think was the single biggest contributor of the strips reprinted in this volume. The essay provides a concise summary of McCay's life and career, with examples of some of his earlier work, "Little Nemo" postcards, and an incredibly detailed editorial cartoon. But the most important thing is that Marschall's efforts have preserved the premier American comic strip for the enjoyment of posterity. There has never been a more magical comic strip. Never.

This is the omnibus edition of the first three Richard Bolitho novels by Alexander Kent (Midshipman Bolitho, Bolitho and the Avenger, and Band of Brothers). The first two were written decades ago, but Band of Brothers only a couple years ago. I am not sure why kent waited so long to wrap up Bolitho's career as a Midshipman. Well, he finally did and this is the way it should have been from the start. Since each book by itself was rather short, this collection is not too big. We get a clear picture of our hero as he begins his ascent up the rank ladder. There is a lot of action. For anyone who wants battles and plot twists, this is the series for you. Kent doesn't bore the reader with unnecessary descriptions. Everything moves along at a good pace. A great introduction to the naval fiction genre.

Alexander Kent makes you believe your in the late 18th century aboard a ship of the line in the Royal Navy. Definitely recommend the book.

I recently got "The Complete Midshipman Bolitho," my first taste of the Bolitho series, and I am impressed. Having read completely through the Aubrey-Maturin 21-book series writtten by that most iconographic of historical fiction writers, Patrick O'Brian, I was prepared for something of a letdown in this series. Not so! I have been turning pages compulsively since I opened the cover. This book combines the first three chapters in Richard Bolitho's naval career ("Midshipman Bolito'" "Midshipman Bolitho and The Avenger" and "Band of Brothers"), and I'm left wanting more.

It is clear that I will have to chew my way through the entire series in order to satisfy my craving for Richard Bolitho's further adventures.

Wonderful book. Thanks for sending it in a timely manner. Have enjoyed all the books in this series. Alexander Kent is one of the best authors and would highly recommend any of his books.

I have sworn off tobacco and alcohol. I hate illegal substances and have surrendered to complete sobriety. Sugar and chocolate, too much coffee, excessive red meat, more than modest amounts of dairy products, obsessive exercise and other anti-social habits--I have put them all behind me.

But please, dear Lord, please allow me a singular pleasure in life. Let me revel in by Bolitholism and enjoy each adventure ad infinitum. Amen.