Sheridan Books

"The Return of Kai Lung" is the American title of a book originally published in Great Britain as "The Moon of Much Gladness". The American title is somewhat misleading, particularly to those who are familiar with the earlier Kai Lung books and were looking for more of the same. It is never clear from the text that the fictional anonymous narrator is Kai Lung himself. There is none of the interaction with listeners that marks the other stories, nor are there plot details involving the storyteller himself, as in the earlier works.

Those quibbles aside, readers who enjoyed the earlier stories will probably like this humorous mock mystery novel, involving the mysterious disappearance of a Mandarin's queue. The detective is an enterprising young woman who has read many of the mystery stories of the "Outland Barbarians". Disguised as a man, and aided by the Mandarin's secretary, she uses the "Barbarian Method" to discover the solution. The style of the narrative, and the fictional China in which it takes place, are much the same as the other Kai Lung stories. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

For those unfamiliar with the Kai Lung series, I would suggest starting with the two titles that are still in print: "Wallet of Kai Lung", and "Kai Lung's Golden Hours", which are also available free from Project Gutenberg. If you enjoy those, then you can decide whether you're willing to pay the rather high prices that used copies of the other books go for.

Mr. Herman documents a case of western disinformation surrounding the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II. He provides a service by documenting the participation of a diverse set of players including Fascists, the CIA and Italian Freemasonry, which has been implicated implicated in the Vatican Bank scandal and the assassination of Pope John Paul I in the book "In God's Name" by David Yallop. Mr Herman drops the ball and, perhaps intentionally, masks larger issues when he tries to promote the notion that the P2 Masonic Lodge's actions were "against the longstanding tradition of Italian Masonry that excluded political discussions." In her book "In Banks We Trust" Penny Lernoux touches on the broad role of Italian Freemasonry as a network used after WWII by Americans, who promoted Fascists to fight Communists. She notes, "Membership in a lodge was reliable evidence of the anticommunism required for a successful career in a NATO military force." The P2 Masonic lodge wasn't an anomaly. It reveals the essential character of organizations like the Masons.

I liked the way the book is organized exactly how a race is organized - rules related to the pre-start and start are presented first, then rules related to upwind sailing and tacking, followed by rules related to rounding the windward mark. Next, there are rules about off-wind sailing and gybing, and rounding the offwind mark, followed by rules related to finishing.

In each instance, the book shows easy-to-understand diagrams of real racing situations, and shows which rules apply. You don't have to read the entire book or even entire passages to get a useful chunk of rules information- each situation illustrated can be understood in a few minutes max. I find myself picking up the book for a quick look when I have a question about a specific race situation, and it delivers the info I need quickly and clearly.

My complaint about the book is that it does not seem especially durable, since a few pages of my copy became unglued at the binding within days of my starting to use the book - not a great start for a book that is likely to find it's way into the duffle bag of a racing sailors.

Other that that minor quibble I found this book to be an excellent, complete, easy-to-understand reference for the racing rules of sailing through 2008.

Chedzoy does a very good job bring the story of Caroline Norton to life. While very accurate, Chedzoy avoids the common tendency of biographers to dwell on dates and times but focuses instead on Caroline's actual life, which was remarkable. She was born into a family situation which forced her to marry a man which she did not love, and he soon became physically abusive to her. She was close friends with William Melbourne, who became Prime Minister of England, and her husband accused her of "criminal conversation" (a euphemism for adultery) even though he knew very well that this was completely untrue. Caroline's husband eventually took her three children from her and would not allow them to be returned to her until one of them died due to poor medical treatment. In retaliation, Caroline went to Parliament and over the course of a few years reformed the British laws for women. Overall, this was a very good book, and I would certainly recommend it to anyone interested in women's rights, poetry and literature (Caroline wrote many poems and novels-- during her life, she was compared to Byron and thought of as more talented that E.B. Browning), or English history in general.

Miles Smeeton and his wife certainly led an exciting life, and this book is the first of their series of books of their adventures at sea after Miles left the British Military. Neither of them were sea people, but virtually on a lark they decided to buy a sailboat in England (their home) and use it to sail to the Vancouver area (in Canada) where they were moving. This book covers that first journey, and all their pitfalls, triumphs, and exciting moments, and then also covers their trip from Vancouver to Australia.

Their writing is certianly inspirational - I mean, a couple who've never sailed before decide to buy a sailboat, and basically teach themselves how to sail while they navigate from England to Vancouver (through the Panama Canal). That takes some moxy!! Their story is filled with humor, as they retell the screwups and stupid things they did as new sailors, but that same lack of knowledge at times almost cost them their lives, and those moments of the book are quite exciting (even though we know they survived). They really make me want to try the same thing!

The writing style is very engaging, and somewhat witty, and Miles is definitely a story-teller, albeit at times a bit too like the stereotypical British low-level aristocrat who likes to keep a room occupied with tales of their bravado (think of "Owl" from Winnie the Pooh). He has so many wonderful vignettes from the stays at small islands, his encounters with other boats, and the people (natives and other sailors) that he meets on the journey, people who are friendly, some who are not. He also writes excitingly of the whole culture of sailing people that he is slowly entering into, a culture in which most people truly go out of their way to help each other, especially green behind the ears sailors like Smeeton. Very fascinating from a hisotrical standpoint, and a lot of fun to read from an adventure-loving standpoint. What I really enjoyed about this book, though, is that Smeeton's love of sailing truly comes through - he obviously loved every moment (even the tense life-threatening ones). It comes through in his writing, and, of course, when he and his wife decide *not* to sell the boat after they arrive in Vancouver, one knows that they have been hooked by the lure of the sea.

I was at times taken aback by he Smeetons' poor treatment of native peoples as they visited many islands, and some poor coastal areas, and how they speak of those people more as novelties to be displayed than as distinct and valid cultures and individuals - the Smeetons' have an almost typical colonial attitude to any group of people who don't wear shoes, or wear "the typical grass skirts native to their culture, even inappropriately on their women", and they talk some times of almost *lowering* themselves to enjoy the local culture. But, these people are writing in the 1950s, and one cannot expect much more from a former British officer, raised to be haughty and superior in feeling self-wroth, on a sailing trip around the world in the 1950s

I heartily recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure books,even though it is out of print and you'll need to special order. It's worth the wait, and worth the price of the book, and one that you might very well like to keep on your shelf for a long time to come.

Although it is not "quality literature," THE SEASON is a great read compared to others of its genre. The storyline is interesting, if a bit predictable, and all subplots end happily, just as you would expect and wish. Here's the basic tale: Three sisters, Lettice, Aurora, and Patrice Trevelyn are pursued by a number of gentlemen, as they are all fairly attractive and well-off. Proud Lettice has spent most of her time refusing suitors, but meets her match in Richard, a duke; spunky Aurora falls for his handsome younger brother, Peregrine; and dreamy-eyed Patrice believes herself in love with Basil, a military man. However, there are problems with all three possible matches. A terrible scandal is associated with Richard; Peregrine is kind and handsome, but often visits a woman of the demimonde; and Basil is unacceptable to Patrice's family, and known to be in need of funds. Meanwhile, their family friend, Stuart, pines after one of the sisters that he knows can never be his; Mama Trevelyn forces unwilling Lettice into a "watchdog" position over the younger two daughters; Patrice is packed off to stay with Grandmama in the dull countryside; and Aurora disguises herself to attend a Cyprian ball (shocking!) The sisters muddle through all these difficulties, while a colorful array of additional suitors, friends, and a few "bad guys" serve to make things even more confusing, but usually with amusing results. There were several places I actually laughed out loud - unusual for a Regency novel. I loved the witty and sometimes sarcastic remarks of the characters, (especially Lettice) and the vivid descriptions of the characters. This helped make them more realistic and easier to keep track of - there were quite a lot of characters. My only criticism is that I wish more time had been spent developing the romance between Richard and Lettice. The most predictable part: Aurora's story. It is almost identical to most Regency novels. On the whole, the storyline about Patrice was the best. I would read this book again. And probably again.

Description from the book back cover:

There was a banker with a hole in him by a bullet fired from a rare Lightning Colt pistol. Is it coincidence that the four passengers arriving on the last stage out of Sheridan are packing Lightning Colts? Is the sudden flood of counterfeit money appearing all over town also coincidental? Whatever it is, it becomes the beginning of a nightmare for Marshall Fogarty. As he attempts to sort out the reason why a beautiful lady, a cowboy, and two travelling salesmen arrive in town with their Lightning Colts on the same stagecoach, he winds up with more than he bargained for ...

This short summary of Sheridan's role in the last year of the Civil War is an interesting introduction to the lives of a remarkable group of largely-forgotten soldiers. Merritt, Mackenzie, Crook, Upton, and Wilson were young, gifted, and tough officers who contributed to Union victory. Custer is remembered today because he blundered at the Little Bighorn. The others are seldom discussed because they died in bed after distinguished military careers both during and after the Civil War. The author does a nice job of educating us about their backgrounds and contributions. Pleasantly written, one finishes the book wanting to know more about this Band of Brothers that Sheridan drew around him in the Shenandoah and at Appomattox.

Here is a really useful SPSS book: - it is spiral bound so it lies open on the desk for easy use - the authors group their material together - the format is large page so you see plenty of information when it is open

Chapter starting page 25 on data screening including recoding is a really useful reminder about the basics

There are a couple of things they (or the publisher) MUST do for the next edition: 1. Include an index 2. Explain some of the sub-dialog boxes for that appear under the sub menus eg frequencies (under analyse); scatterplot & boxplots under graph 3. Cover importing data via Excel etc

This is a very complete and detailed work. It is evident that anyone can make such a project given the time and the inclination to do so. It is well written, with many photographs. It is by a man who did the work and prototgraphed his entire process. It is a book that you would want to read cover to cover. It is a worthwhile purchase. I recommend it. Many readers will be able to relate to his stories and the efforts required to build his dream boat.