Sheridan Books

Fabulous book in its research and real life adventures. Amazing that some of these places where various events took place, I've actually been there, 450 years later. Awesome. P. Almeidinha

I got this book because of my interest in stories about people surviving shipwrecks. The Padre, the subject of the book, survived THREE shipwrecks -- that alone makes the book worth reading. But the book is about a lot more than that.
Through it I learned about the beginnings of the world economy, monetary systems and even the development of Western political/ governing systems. All of that is provided as background to why things happened as they did during this remarkable saga. But even without that breadth of view, the story is astonishing and gripping. The primary source for the story is the diaries of the Padre and the author does such a great job, I really felt like I was reading a book BY the Padre.
I read the book a couple years ago and have read others because of the interests it ignited. But nothing has come close to being as interesting, as gripping or as broad in world view. Even after three or four years, it's still vivid and I actively recommend it to friends. To me, it is an unheralded masterpiece.

Set in Virginia, Florida, Ecuador and the Bahamas, there are no clear winners in this story, and Horner aptly entitles one of his chapters "Treasure is Trouble", something befitting the 17th-century Spaniards who met a tragic fate on the waters of Ecuador and the Bahamas, as well as the modern-day treasure hunters whose greed has brought them nothing but "trouble". The exception remains Dave Horner whose goal was clearly the quest for historical truth and the dissemination of valuable historical and archaeological data, something he achieved with eloquence. A captivating book and a lesson to be learned... again

Mr Horner does a good job of describing the attempts of a Spanish monk to get back to his homeland and the ememy attacks that he is forced to endure on his voyage. The descriptions that he gives of his modern day salvage adventures is also very interesting. A good read.

Immaculate research and superb translations from Spanish archive material turn this into both a scholarly research vehicle and a concise history of the Spanish colonies and the Treasure Fleets.
A good part of the narrative is in the words of a Spanish Padre sent out to Chile to minister to the colonists; this tells us first-hand of the vast mountains of silver that were being exported from South America, and of the nepotism, greed, dishonesty and cowardice that seems to be the product of any get-rich-quick scheme - and Spain had more than its fair share in the 16th & 17th Centuries. The rest of the story is supported by quotes from sailors and court officials, while Mr.Horner fleshes out the story with historical facts and some surmise - the many notes are detailed as appendix and are not intrusive, while there is other useful information contained in other appendices.

Our Padre seems unusually unlucky in being shipwrecked twice, and on the way home the fleet is ambushed in sight of Cadiz and he, along with two ships and 4 million pesos (38 cartloads!) are captured in a brilliantly described battle that Hornblower would be proud of.

However, he lives to tell the tale; his memoirs are so detailed that we have a better idea of the actual wealth contained in the treasure fleet than the manifests admit - also the position of the wrecks is so well decribed that Mr.Horner was able to locate the sites and recover valuable artifacts (and of course, silver).

As a bonus, we are treated to a superb description of the daringly successful 1657 British attack on the treasure fleet holed-up in Santa Cruz, in which the whole Spanish fleet was destroyed, with the loss of no ships and only 60 men on the British side. This effectively crippled Spanish hopes of sea-rule and bankrupted Seville.

The final chapter warns us of the perils of dealing with the red-tape and gung-ho journalism that inevitably accompanies any salvage, not to mention the thievery when there is treasure involved.

A very worthwhile read. ****

A little magic, a little romance-why do they always seem to fit hand in hand? Danielle Cutis has spent her whole life caring for Alain Deveraux. Her career as an Olympic swimmer was sacrificed to care for him, her fiancé left her because she was unable to travel on assignment with him; her needs have constantly been subjected to his. Oh he has his good points: he is sexy as sin, handsome as all get-out, and a quiet houseguest. Maybe what really gets under Danielle's skin is the fact that her tenant is over two hundred years old and fated to sleep naked in her attic until such time as his long-lost love is reborn and of age to return to him. If anyone is to blame, it should be Danielle's long ago ancestor, Odette, who gave Alain the sleeping potion and promised her family would protect him in his sleep. It has been a legacy passed down from generation to generation of women and it is fate it seems that intervenes to awaken Alain on the day after Danielle's fiancé walks out. Now Danielle finds herself dealing with a very sexy Frenchman who knows nothing of the modern world, yet must find the reincarnated form of his love within the next thirty days or he will fade into nothingness. A thoroughly engaging tale of romance with a twist of modern day magic. I must confess that I figured out what the ending would be early on in the book, but found the ride to get there was well worth the trip. I liked the spin on your typical romance novel and enjoyed the play between characters. The author added two cats with more personality than half the real people I know and it just added icing to the cake. I can't say enough about this book and how much I enjoyed it, excuse me while I go surf amazon.com for her previous works...

Aimee McLeod Reviewer

Alain Devereaux watches all his dreams shatter as the love of his life is run down in the street in front of the church in which they were to wed. She dies in his arms and he wants to die too.

Odette Bishop a dear friend of both Alain and his beloved Brigette, has other plans for Alain. She had once told them that the two were meant to be together, if not in this life then in the next. Odette believe she knows of a way to bring these souls together once more. The way is not without risk as Alain must ingest a potion that will put him in a sleep that until the time in which Brigette is reborn into a new life and becomes old enough to wed. At that time Alain must not only find her within a thirty day period, he must win her love once more. Should he fail, he would simply cease to exist.

The female descendants of Odette's family shall watch over his sleeping form til that fateful day arrives.

Dani Curtis in only one in a long line of women who have been cursed with the guardianship of the "Sleeping Beau". If she had her way she'd put him out of his misery in short order. Dani has watched her parents marriage fail, and had had to sacrifice her own olympic dreams because of her "inheritance". Now her fiance' has defected. Enough is enough. Dani is seriously contemplating giving Alain a taste of the pain he's cost her when she detects movement. The time has arrived, now all she has to do is find Alain's soul mate and she can be rid of this odious responsibility on just 30 days.

Easier said than done? You'd think so. Alain awakens to a totally bewildering world but is irritable and impatient as one would expect. He wants results - yesterday. Luck is on their side when Alain spots Brigette's double on that mysterious box in the living room with the moving pictures. Oh my, she's a famous movies star and they have to find a way to meet her and make her fall in love with Alain.

Meeting her takes a litte Wiccan magic, but making the woman fall for Alain takes only a little charm. So why are both Alain and Dani unhappy?

Dani has fallen for Alain but to have him would surely mean his death. Alain is completely confused by his deep attraction to Dani while he feels nothing for "Brigette".

Ms. Sheridan's well known humor comes into play with her side character McKenna, an off beat fellow Wiccan who is Dani's best friend. The woman bends over backwards to get these to "see" with their hearts with hilarious results.

A great twist on a favorite fairy story. Readers will enjoy this tale of magical love.

-- Leslie Tramposch ~ Paranormal Romance Reviews

In New Orleans 1797, Alain Devereaux watches as his bride is struck by a wagon as she lovingly approaches him on their wedding day. She perishes in his arms and he knows he must find some way to be with her again....so he willingly consumes a sorceress's magic potion which puts him in a deathlike sleep. Of which he will only awake when his beloved is reborn in another life.

In New Orleans 2000, Danielle Curtis is the current female descendant of the sorceress and the tradition has been handed down through the generations to protect the 'sleeping' male at all cost. Even if the cost is happiness in her own life. Dani's fiancee dumps her and she feels unloved and unwanted and lays the blame on the lifeless male body in her attic. As she kneels before his prone state, in despair, he awakes from his 'sleep' and Dani must now help him find his true love in thirty days or he will cease to exist.

From page one, I was intrigued and totally into this fantastic story. The hero is to die for....gorgeous and so endearing, my heart went out to him. The heroine is spunky and dedicated, regardless of her own feelings....she deserves her heart's content. Together, this couple entranced me! This story is why paranormal fans love this genre!! A highly recommended book!

This story is basically Sleeping Beauty with a role-reversal twist - the hero's the sleeping beau here. Years ago, Alain Devereaux lost his one true love Brigette to an evil curse of the latter's dead hubby. A sorceress takes pity on him and puts him into a magical sleep, where he would awake from when Brigette is reborn in another time and place.

Alain in his crystal coffin gets passed on the sorceress Odette's descendents. The coffin ruin quite a many of these women's lives. Now, in New Orleans in year 2000, Danielle Curtis sees her boyfriend head for greener pastures, thanks to a big conflict about that Thing In The Coffin Upstairs. Dani has seen her parents' marriage detoriate thanks to That Thing, and Dani has to scarifice her Olympic Gold Medal in Gymnastics, again thanks to That Darned Thing. She's had it with responsibilities. She takes a knife in an impulsive attempt to mutilate that... you know, but lo, Sleeping Beau awakens.

Alain now has 30 days to find Brigette and marry her before he disappears from existance. Dani finds herself helping him, and things get a bit sticky when Alain identifies the new and improved Brigette as Cate George, actress. And Brigette's evil hubby may be also reborn in the present. And of course, Dani feels the hormone thing about Alain too. Oh dearie me.

SILVER RAIN is an entertaining story about magic, but as a romance, it kinda flounders. I sympathize with Dani's initial hostility about that darned man in the coffin business ruining her life. I would ma that man with the hardest rolling pin myself if he ruined my life the way he ruined Dani's. And come to think of it, when Alain asks me to help him find Brigette, my first reaction would be to kick his butt out of the door. Dani is a better woman than me, I must say.

The trouble is, very little of the story is devoted to Alain's point of view. Hence for the most time I'm subjected to Dani's thoughts. Which means Alain is trying to woo Cate, not Brigette. Then, suddenly Alain is sleeping with Dani while mooning for Cate. My eyes narrowed into tiny slits of annoyance at this point because since I have no idea what makes Alain tick, he comes off a horny, flacky creepo. And the abrupt confession of love from him at the last few chapters don't ring true because frankly, I have no idea what is going on in his head.

And to be honest, I don't find Alain a sexy hero. He is always befuddled and making Dani do everything for him for setting him up with Cate all the way to showing him the wonders of modern plumbing. A lost, hapless St Bernard doggie who keeps requiring my constant pampering and time and help isn't what I would call hero material, no matter how adorable a St Bernard Alain reminds me at times. Guess Dani likes her man that way, but I find Alain more of a lost child than a sexy hero. Worse, a child who doesn't seem to be able to take care of himself or do anything. (I'm old fashioned in that I like my heroes to be able to do things, you know.)

The romance in SR isn't very absorbing, but I must say everything else in the plot is very engaging and entertaining. SR makes a better book as a paranormal story with some romance-lite thrown in. It's entertaining, but as a romance, it misses the mark.

Highly Recommended

A little magic, a little romance-why do they always seem to fit hand in hand? Danielle Cutis has spent her whole life caring for Alain Deveraux. Her career as an Olympic swimmer was sacrificed to care for him, her fiancé left her because she was unable to travel on assignment with him; her needs have constantly been subjected to his. Oh he has his good points: he is sexy as sin, handsome as all get-out, and a quiet houseguest. Maybe what really gets under Danielle's skin is the fact that her tenant is over two hundred years old and fated to sleep naked in her attic until such time as his long-lost love is reborn and of age to return to him. If anyone is to blame, it should be Danielle's long ago ancestor, Odette, who gave Alain the sleeping potion and promised her family would protect him in his sleep. It has been a legacy passed down from generation to generation of women and it is fate it seems that intervenes to awaken Alain on the day after Danielle's fiancé walks out. Now Danielle finds herself dealing with a very sexy Frenchman who knows nothing of the modern world, yet must find the reincarnated form of his love within the next thirty days or he will fade into nothingness. A thoroughly engaging tale of romance with a twist of modern day magic. I must confess that I figured out what the ending would be early on in the book, but found the ride to get there was well worth the trip. I liked the spin on your typical romance novel and enjoyed the play between characters. The author added two cats with more personality than half the real people I know and it just added icing to the cake. I can't say enough about this book and how much I enjoyed it, excuse me while I go surf amazon.com for her previous works...

Aimee E. McLeod, Reviewer

This introduction was perfect and in my opinion, the best place to start if you plan on learning about the Tarot deck. Jungian and Gnostic perspectives on reading the cards (especially the Major Arcana). I think this is the best place to start. Douglas goes through the Major Arcana after an excellent history/introduction of the Tarot. From there, the Minor Arcana with a great introduction into using the cards.

In my search to understand the Tarot, I have read probably 25 books or so. Some of them, a very few, stand out as what I consider to be the best. Coming to grips with the Tarot is very personal, but I'm a traditionalist in the sense that earlier decks tell more about the original intent, and that there is a structure to the major and minor arcana; there for the Diviner to construct a methodology.
This particular book by Alfred Douglas is right on the mark, and his analysis and interpretations have added knowledge to my extensive readings. In short- a fabulous top of the line Tarot book (Barbara Walker also comes to mind) for not only the beginner (what a great place to start!) but also for the advancing. While not complicated in the least, his interpretations are thought-provoking, and expansive.

This is a good book published by Penguin. Some think the tarot is bizarre, cultish, and evil but I have found it to be an excellent way to make decisions. Really all it is is meditating on artwork to tap your intuition. I reccomend it for decision-making for all with a right-brain temperament. This book is a good primer.

comprehensive, philosophical tarot background with Jungian interpretation of the major arcana. Archetypal story progression of 0 through 21 in major arcana and memory key for minor arcana. Outstanding overall presentation on formal tarot use. Great, especially used in conjunction with similar texts.

When I started looking into Tarot, I asked an experienced reader which book to start out with and he recommended this one. He was so right! Buying this book was the best thing I could have done for myself as a beginner. This book examines the history of where the cards come from, what types of mythology are incorporated into the pictures on the cards, the evolution of the cards through time, and the psychology involoved in the Major and Minor Arcana. Every reader has a book that they always rely on for thier interpretations, and this one is mine!

This book is an excellent start for any beginner and I think that an experienced reader would benefit from reading it as well. Definately worth 5 stars!

Hard to find book -- it's out of print. Good romance and quite accurate with the horse description. For instance just before entering the show rind, Diana complains that her horse is evading her outside leg. Her trainer responds by telling her to use less rein and a stronger inside leg. How many of us have been told more leg and seat and less hand???
The plot is engaging although not too many of us win everything we enter, nor do we go through all the trauma that poor Diana goes through. The writing style is simple and easy to follow. Many kudos to the author for such accuracy with her equine details.....

As a romance novel and horse book, this novel gets five stars from me. Diana Winston, an intrepid and beautiful equestrienne gets an unexpected shot to ride and compete on the A-show circuit when a friend buys her an injured horse. Along the way to Grand Prix success, she meets several men who all teach her different things about life and love. Deliciously bitchy descriptions of the horse world make this a must for those familiar with the circuit.

This book just flew off the shelf of my local used book store right into my hand. I couldn't put it down. I couldn't give it back either. It remains on my shelf now when one of my friends aren't reading it. I keep looking for more of Ainslie but could only find trophies. Some one please tell her to keep writting!!
If you can find this book buy it.

Someone contact Ms. Sheridan and tell her to write some more books! This one was wonderful! Wonderful, exciting plot, and real horse stuff!

Amusing, trashy, romance, yes - all of the above. However, the sub-plot around the early days of the AIDS epidemic is at once moving, frightening, well written, and very deeply felt. Recommended for anyone on or off the "A" Circuit.

I have read all of the Nathaniel Drinkwater novels penned by this author and this one seemed the most authentic, which is high praise because the others were outstanding.

As Napolean tries to increase his world domination, Drinkwater finds himself involved in the blockade of the French/Spanish fleet, eventually taken prisoner and on one of the enemy ships during the epic battle of Trafalger.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time extolling this authors virtues, except to say they are legend and apparant. This is his best yet.

All of Woodman's books are excellent. My husband & I read them all first & them they are given to our son who passes them on. If you are interested in English naval history these are for you.

1805 is the sixth entry in the Nathaniel Drinkwater series. The first six books of the series were copyrighted within 4 years and the next six took ten years to come out. Woodman wrote the first books rapidly. The result is a high level of intensity and some unevenness but the series is of very high quality for the genre. The series has tackled a number of serious themes while incorporating dramatic naval action and 1805 is no exception.

1805 starts in 1804 with Napoleon threatening to invade England. Drinkwater, now a captain, must patrol the English Channel to ensure that the French cannot bring a huge army across and subdue the stubborn English. With the powerful Royal Navy besting the French at every tack, was an invasion of England ever a real threat? Woodman makes a strong case that the answer is yes. Woodman, through letters from Drinkwater's wife, conveys the tension that was felt by English people at the time. Whether the threat was real or not, the reader is convinced that it was.

The reader also gets a sense of the loneliness felt by sailors with months or years of separation from their families. Drinkwater becomes a father figure to Midshipman Gillespy. Woodman presents the irony of Drinkwater being a father to a boy who is not his own while his own son is fatherless at home. The loss of fathers for indefinite periods of time or permanently is one of war's great tragedies and Woodman portrays it with some understatement.

Modern readers also know that 1805 culminated in the Battle of Trafalgar, which was Britain's greatest naval victory and perhaps the most decisive naval battle in history. Drinkwater has a unique perspective on the battle. Woodman's description of the battle through Drinkwater's eyes is a vision of hell, a vision that rings very true. Even though the reader sees the battle from the English perspective and the battle is a victory, Woodman emphasizes the tragedy.

1805 is a little uneven but Woodman more than makes up for this by his description of the events leading up to the Battle of Trafalgar and the description of the battle itself from Drinkwater's vantage point. 1805 is a powerful novel that has probably not received the recognition that it should. Without Trafalgar this is just another naval novel but with Trafalgar it's a masterstroke. It's every man's duty to read this one!

Whereas the 'Corvette' started slow and ended fast; this starts off on page one with a panic situation in a gale off the Lizard, forcing Nat to club-haul the ship out of danger... This is so well-described you can almost feel the ship straining beneath your feet as the anchor wrenches the bows 12 points through the wind onto the other tack and safety.

The threat of now-Emperor Napoleon's invasion requires Nat's constant vigilance over the French ports, destroying any likely transports and incidentally aiding the spy network in their subversive attempts to overthrow the 'little corporal'. During this routine blockading, the intransigent midshipman Lord Walmsley pushes his status too far and ends up over a cannon wearing a check shirt, then a transfer out of Nat's hair - but who turns up in the future, like a bad penny.

Despite the blockade, the Frogs break out and, in company with the Dons, apparently head to the W.Indies, leaving Nat to wait for Nelson appearing from the Med. Nat gets a transfer to a 74, but in a turn of events he is captured by the Spaniards and flung into prison with his officers. The loathsome Santhonax appears again to quiz Nat and do more dirty deeds as the book closes.

Trafalgar forms the high point of the story, with Nat only able to view the carnage from the orlop of the French 'Bucentaure' 80, where he was transferred as prisoner with little Gillespy.

We see more of the character of Mr.Q, Mr. Frey & Lt.Rogers in this book as well as more of the strategy of the defence of Britain, as Nat becomes more accepted by those in command. A small reference in a letter from his wife, tells us that Nat has fostered poor little Billy Cue Maxted, the Mid whose legs were blown off in the action with 'Requin' off Greenland (in the previous volume 'Corvette'). This touching generosity, the tenderness he shows to little Mr. Gillespy and his encouragement of Mr.Frey reveals a different side to the cool, collected tactician we normally see.
Mr.Woodman's writing gets better and better with each story - more fluid and confident, yet providing another level of suspense under the surface; meanings are implicit rather than voiced; inferences made by subtle suggestion rather than bald statement, which makes this a real pleasure to read.
As good as the best in the genre. *****

This is book No. 6 in the Nathaniel Drinkwater series. In this story, Drinkwater is in command of the frigate Antigone on blockade duty in the English Channel, the Bay of Biscay, and along the Spanish coast. It covers a time period from March 1804 to April 1806, and involves Drinkwater in Calder's action and in the Battle at Cape Trafalgar, although aboard a French ship in the latter action! The book is well researched and covers details not found in run-of-the-mill history books. It is highly recommended to readers studying this particular segment of history. While the main plot can stand alone by itself, the book carries forward various characters from previous books, so it is helpful to have read the Drinkwater series in chronological order (I have been unable to find books 4 and 5 in the series from any source, but hopefully they will be reprinted).

I could not help myself by buying this book and it did not disappoint. This was a fun, albeit short read, that helped me live somewhat vicariously through Mr Baumgartner during his travails of restoration and the joys of sailing the East Coast. I was a little sad that there was not more on the actual restoration given the title- it was more about the experience. It just left me cruising E-Bay 'Sailboats 20-27 feet'.... it's that kind of book.

I'm not a sailor but this book (a gift) has charmed me. Somehow, the boat, the man, his family, his tribulations and the art of navigation are so artfully described that I have become enamoured of all of the above! Anyone who has ever been seasick or obsessed with completing a project will find themselves turning pages here. . .

I enjoyed this book very much because it comes from a person who is clearly both a sailor and a writer. Much like Anthony Baily, author of "The Coast of Summer", Baumgartner writes in a way that lets me know that he is comfortable and knowledgable about being on the water, with a tiller in his hand and his eye on the luff of the main. This is also a good reference, because Baumgartner describes how he solved problems I either have encountered -- or am likely to. I'll dig this out often, to solve a problem or to let Baumgartner take me to sea again.

I've never wished to sail, but London Went To Sea with me aboard for the duration of my read. I found the book rewarding in its detail and in the grandness of its focussed vision. The author's style, with reminescenses of Mark Twain, Hemingway, and even Dickens, was fasinating and seductive.

I still feel no desire to actually participate in the experiences the author so delightly describes, but now can feel justified by having so closely experienced the joys and difficulties of the reality....which strongly suggests the high level of skill of the writer.

Joshua Slocum himself would have been enthalled.

Then read this book, a practical, thoughtful, honest, and gently humorous guide to the real pleasures and challenges of finding, sailing, and caring for your boat, as well as the delicate balance of man, nature, work, dreams, boat maintenance, friendship, marriage and family.
It's not just a how to book, but a well-written and wonderful reflection by an active and skilled sailor that explores restoration details, costs, safety, mishaps and joys on the water, with a fine, candid, and thoughtful eye.

Kristof's book evokes feelings that will intrigue and disturb you. The children's story is a lesson of turmoil and survival,and I could not put the book down and read it in a matter of hours.I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading a book with awe and enthusiasm.

THIS BOOK IS GREAT. THE CHILDREN ARE VERY MATURE AND GENIUSES, AND THIS IS SHOWN IN A HIGHLY INTERESTING MANNER. I COULDN'T PUT THE BOOK DOWN.

This is very different from anything I have ever read before - something in between William Golding's "Lord of the Flies" and Elie Weisel's "Night". The savagery and cruelty is at such a level that sometimes it seems a little erotic. This is a very different view of the Nazi occupation and then Russian involvement in the East European countries. The story is about a twin and their grandmother surviving during second world war. They survive (actually they thrive) but had to bury their emotions and transform themselves into savages. They destroy their emotions and feeling systematically and clinically so that even traces of it cannot be found.
The whole book is narrated in first person plural and the author never mentions a single name to identify any person which is unique. The names does not mean anything nor does the relationship - all that matter is what one can get and survive. You can still see touches of humanity in these boys when they bring money and food to their friend Harelip but the amount of emotions involved in these relationship are extremely limited. The boys kill but are not troubled since to them it is one more act similar to gathering food and daily chores. I enjoyed reading it and hope you will also enjoy it since you do not come across this kind of book everyday. Translation by Alan Sheridan is also quite entertaining.

This book got me, by the way it's simply written, yet strongly portrayed. It's a very intelligent piece. It goes to show how imperfect the world would stay because of the scattered attitude of being a dimwit human among us. The twins have grown with power and strength, stripped of emotions, which is the very meaning of life. A war could trigger such fear and defense for two young kids to develop into perfect, rightful robots. I just hope my professor could read this book so he'd stop failing his students, and see how far a capability of a single person could go, if given a chance to face a crisis, killing and destroying are only starting options.

"The Notbook" Is one of the most important books written in the 20th Century, dealing with the aspects of war and post-war values. Kristof's genious writing skill is interesting and unsettling, and it opens a way to new angels of the great war. The twins' story is a very storng criticism about the human society and it's ugliness, it shows the most horrible result of the war's nightmares - the apathy. This epic, original, and beautifol book will surly become, one day, a literature classic, if it has not yet bocome one. And let us not forget the 2 sequels that make this masterpice even a bigger work of art. Kristof's name is to be remembered. This book is hard to read, yet easy, complicated yet simple, and it's importance is highly understood. You won't be able to put this book down, yet you'll hardly be able to continoue reading it. Definetly a masterpiece.

I thought the book was well written even for someone that has never sailed. The book made me want to learn to sail and look for adventure like the Pardys. My only question would be if it would be the same sailing throught the Med sea today. i hope so!!!! I went out and ordered more of there books right way and I can't to explore with them again!!!!!

As I returned to this site to order the remainder of the series, I thought I would share the experience. The sine qua non for me in books is well-written. This book is a welcome relief from the average poorly written cruising book. The sailing jargon is a bit daunting, but appropriate. I learned to like these people and would love to meet them and know if they are still asea. I wish that they had a web site like Rita Golden Gelman's, (the author of the great book "The Tales of a Female Nomad") to keep us abreast of their latest adventure. They left me aching to get started on my very slow circumnavigation; now, all I need is a captain.

Seraffyn continues to be the third crew member of this respected cruising couple's adventures. Each chapter seems to be written by this "crew" from a wave away prospective showing how to do it as well as how to enjoy the cruising lifestyle. I look forward to new insights of this type of motor-less sailing in the future. Please, Lyn and Larry do not stop writing these adventures from the sea. There are a whole new group of readers ready for your reprints to come out. Please do not let us down, remember the Spirit that helped you name your new boat-Tristan of Fiddler's Green. There are so many islands to explore, moorings to find and people to meet: keep looking for that piece of wooden handle just below the surface transcending into a quiet mooring and reflective tales of new places to explore. From Gibraltar to Malta and beyond, Seraffyn had the readyness of friendly and helpful people and cooking aboard fishermen's trawlers from a simple but tasty meal. Simplicity at it's best best describes the oneness of this couple where-ever they go sailing. Lyn and Larry expose the real demerits of the unnecessary things aboard both their boats. Experience less is a better value when crusing couples wish to cruise longer and fill the cruising kitty in less time. This book continues the saga for Lyn and Larry in a pleasant cruising lifestyle. A captive, leasurely read.

This was my first book I have read which is a narrative on what it is like to cruise for years in the Mediterranean on a 24 foot sail boat. I am planning on a 3 month cruise in the summer of 2002 and wanted info on what it is like. The Authors had a good mix of experiences from Lessons-learned, weather/seas in the Western/Central Med, and alot of good narrative about the people they meant in a variety of ports. It was just what I wanted to understand what the experience is like. I was a little disapointed when the book stopped short of the Greek Island which is where I am planning on going. Over all, if you are thinking of cruising and want a little feel of it with out ocean spray, this is the book for you...

This is the third book of the Pardey's four book Seraffyn series. Once you start them, it's hard to put them down. Lin Pardey has an easy, comfortable, writing style. One is really pulled into their travels.

I entered that book because it had a chapter on religion. And I was tremendously disappointed. It only considered approaches from western philosophers like Edward B. Tylor and his five phases of development of the religious attitude, an attitude finding its origin in animism, F. Max Muller and his approach from naturism, Emile Durkheim and his opposition of the sacred and the profane, Bronislaw Malinovski and his vision of a compensation in front of death, Talcott Parsons and his understanding of religion as mental patterns giving meaning to the unexplainable, Karl Marx reduced to a marxian approach and his conception that religion is part and parcel of exploitation, justifies it when it is being developed and justifies it when it is established. The book is ironic in this vision as being a victorian vision : the man in his castle, the poor man at his gate, God made them high and lowly, and ordered their estate. It becomes somewhat more interesting when it considers religion as knowledge, hence part of a culture with Berger and Luckmann, but it does not go very far though. Max Weber and his connection of ascetic protestantism and the development of capitalism is standard. I personally think that it is the necessity to accumulate means to develop the economy that required from religion to justify the ensuing everyday ascetism. But the chapter is defective because it does not see that religion - and philosophy - are two of the greatest inventions of humanity before the emergence of science. Religion originated in old prehistoric groups but it is still here, and here to stay, in spite of all because one dimension has been neglected : sipirituality. Man is a spiritual being who tries to explain and plan the future. Spirituality has been heavily rejected in western societies. We can see the results, including the refusal to consider that globalization negates spirituality and thus is a full force agression on some masses of people who are then rejected into a fundamentalistic attitude. In fact, the cause of this shortcoming is that the authors did not take Claude Lévi-Strauss into account who did not study religion but mythologies and the conclusion that comes from him is that there will always be mythologies because man is spirituality. Of course it did not take into account Buddhism which is a « religious » philosophy without any god. The book is western-centered.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, Université Paris Dauphine, Université Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne

While going through the book in1986, I often wondered if a more comprehensive, lucid and well-researched book could ever be written on the subject. My conviction still remains strong after all these years. This book is quite different from the usual introductory books on sociology meant for college fresher, which come packaged with pictures, photographs, case studies, box items and rather oversized glossaries of terms. Here, the whole gamut of sociology is presented by placing relevant theories side by side, which are often in stark contrast with each other. For example, the liberal perspective which hopes that `the expansion of education will also reduce inequality in society,' is followed by a jarring Marxian argument that the educational system is a `gigantic myth-making machine which serves to legitimate inequality.' These contradictions and shifts in the theories provide adequate clarity to the reader, rendering unnecessary any further intervention by the author.

All the seminal contributions of pioneers like Durkheim, Weber, Redcliffe-Brown, Parsons, Merton and Marx, and modern perspectives of sociologists like Michael F.D.Young, Edmund Leach and R.D.Laing are explained in a succinct manner. Apart from the various sociological perspectives, vital areas like social stratification, power and politics, poverty, education, organisation, family, religion and women and society are discussed threadbare. The final two chapters namely, methodology ans sociological theories are, to my mind, the final words on the subjects. I strongly recommend this book to anybody who wants to make any headway into the subject of sociology.

To close on a personal note - I found the chapter on religion the most absorbing in this book. As the functionalists' perspective of Durkheim, Malinowski and Parsons is decimated by the sharp but convincing Marxian standpoint, the chapter reads like a thriller, that is dominated by courtroom arguments.

This must be the Bible to sociology students around the world - i don't know an A level student who's lived without it. Buy it!

Written by two top college lecturers from Preston, England, this is a seminal and thoroughly readable work. Covers all sociological topics, well laid out, easy to read, excellent index. Suitable for senior high school and all levels of college study. The book is also well suited for anyone with a passing interest in social science or the humanities.

Everyone who wants to get a little bit deeper knowledge about sociology will find this book very helpful. It's main virtue is perfect balance between simplicity of language used and complexity of sociology itself. It is obvious that it is writen for someone who is only starting to dig into social science - but don't underestimate it for this!

Excellent book! Kept me going from the very first page. The characters are very real and believable. It's obvious Sheri did her research, and from what I understand, she had her rough draft well under way BEFORE 9/11. I only found one problem: I wanted to hurry through it to find out how it turned out in the end. Not all books do that to me. (I never turn to the last pages until I get there.) Well done!

Wow!!! I really enjoyed Across Time, Across Tears - everything about it! The characterizations are wonderful - I really cared about all of them and what happened to them next. Since about the second week of July, I have read non-stop - all kinds of books (non-fiction), and Across Time, Across Tears is one of the best I've read this summer.

Across Time, Across Tears is an extremely well written book. Before I had finished the first chapter, I was completely lost in the story and nothing could have dragged me out! I found myself drawn into the plot and relating to the characters from the very beginning.
This is an outstanding book!

This is a mile a minute thriller. I couldn't put it down. It may have over 400 pages, but they pass very quickly, and I found myslef disappointed the book had ended.
The author does a great job of providing a level of detail where you feel like you learn something as you read. There is clear plot line and appropriate conclusion.
Excellent!