Stuart Books

Very illustrative and insightful. I am looking forward to reading Weir's Life of Elizabeth I that I just ordered today.

Excellent account of the times. Makes you appreciate the often precarious positions these vulnerable and ambitious women were in!

If you are a fan of Philippa Gregory, like myself, and you relish in the scandals and dramatics of King Henry VIII's Court, this may not be the book for you. This reads a lot more like a history textbook. Not exactly salacious or trashy. Just provides a lot of background and facts about this period of time. I just couldn't stay engrossed. I guess I need the fictionalized version, no matter how accurate it may be. Not exactly a short casual read by any means.

I found this book enlightening, easy-to-read, and quick to finish. It starts off with Henry as quite the affable young man, and even handsome. He is a catch for any lady, especially Princess Catherine, his first wife, but all of that changes as the years progress and he becomes more and more paranoid. In fact, as the book went on I found myself wondering why no one ever tried to assassinate him. He was a threat to powerful nobles, to his wives, to former friends... I felt terribly sorry for all of his wives, but especially Catherine.

A must read if you have been enticed by the interesting tale of the period... Perhaps you have read some of the fluffier books with more romance and fictional license. This is book fills in many of the holes. This book is a nice enjoyable read with great details that touch on the people in a Titan's wake.

The women come to life.
The politics and decisions that baffle us, centuries later, come into focus as you understand the rival nations and religious reform of the era. GREAT NOVEL.

This author did research and portrayed the characters factually and clearly.

Her Eleanor of Aquitaine novel is excellent as well.

I love this tiny book. The summer before taking an introductory Arabic language course in college I decided to make things easier for myself by getting acquainted with the alphabet in advance. So I bought this book. I went through it twice and when I finally had to absorb the Arabic alphabet in the fall, it was really easy.

It has four parts: chapter one discusses the Arabic language and such things as word roots; chapter two discusses the alphabet and the sounds in general terms; chapter three is the most important one as it goes through all the letters and their different shapes (initial, medial, final, isolated) and instructions how to write them; chapter four includes reference material (hamza, handwriting, a map of Arab countries, a passage from the Qur'an).

Chapter three is tons of fun since after each letter it gives examples of Arabic words that contain it. I used to cover the transliteration and try to read it - that is a great tool for becoming more comfortable with the alphabet.

If you are going to start Arabic, grab this book first. It is short, clear, and very helpful.

By humane, I mean that the authors' humanity and humility make this more than an intelligent book. They convey their understanding of Arabic and their appreciation of its beauty.

I am currently working my way through this book, filling up about a third of a page of college-lined notebook paper each night with Arabic. I have been doing this for two weeks and expect to make it through the entire book in about eight more weeks of this hour an evening, five day a week approach. It is a testament to the authors' approach that I can already take the romanized Arabic and turn it into 90% correct Arabic script for those letters I have already learned.

I agree with Mr. Awde that we should learn to read and write Arabic as a PRECURSOR to studying its grammar. So I am studying this book concurrently with Pimsleur's Conversational Arabic. And when I finish these two, I will progress into an actual Arabic textbook.

I enjoy and appreciate this book and so I highly recommend it to anyone wishing to learn Arabic.

This book is a must into the introduction to Arabic writing. It is clearly and intelligently written and easy to understand. As an American born Arab, I learned to speak the language along with all its nuances in tongue placement and glottal stops. I would never have believed that anyone could explain how these sounds could be recreated without the use of CDs or an actual Arab. However, these guys nailed it! If you really read this book and practice like they explain, you will definitely have a great basis for advanced study.

Pretty good introductory guide to the arabic alphabet and pronunciation, with some grammar stuff, too.

Awde and Samano's The Arabic Alphabet is a very good introduction to a complex language. I enjoyed the initial section, but became quickly discouraged with the language. This is not the fault of the authors. I think they succeeded in putting together a slim and accesible book. I hope to pick it up again soon.

I have read this book 3x in my life (mid life now). All his books are good, but this one is great. Well worth your time and money.

Eckert's "Frontiersman" is a masterpiece of historical literature on the settlement of Ohio, Kentucky and neighboring states during the late 1700's and early 1800's.
Centered around the pioneering life and adventures of Simon Kenton and numerous Indian individuals such as Blue Jacket and Tecumseh, this is very readable history. Somewhat like reading a movie due to its visual writing style.

With America's initial westward push over the Alleghenys and Appalachian Mountains, native resistance was immediately sparked into a fury. Kenton was one of the first to penetrate this country now known as Kentucky and the Ohio Valley. With Indian violence escalating nearly everyday, Kenton was the pivot man for many of the frontiersmen and settlers in the region.

We hear and read about such men as George Rogers Clark, Daniel Boone, General Anthony Wayne and William Henry Harrison to mention a few, along with the countless numbers of Native Americans all battling for decades to retain this land.

Although an extremely lengthy read, it nevertheless is an absorbing, lively interpretation of frontier life and the clashing of cultures. Excellent.

While looking to see if one of my favorite historical authors (James Alexander Thom) had a new novel out, I came across the books of Allan W. Eckert on of those "If You Like This Book, You'll Like This Too" lists. I had never heard of Eckert before, but based upon the GREAT reviews of this book I decided to give it a try. What a suprise! All of the positive reviews aren't lying. I can't put the book down! It just pulls you in until you feel like you're roaming the Ohio Valley with Kenton and all the other brave folks (White and Indian). The 588 LARGE pages make it extra special for folks like myself who fly through books quickly. I would highly recommend the book and can't wait to start another one by him.

P.S. The books by James Alexander Thom are equally well written for those who are looking for a simular type author.

Wow, what an interesting, exciting, factual book! Just as engaging and excitingly written as any Louis Lamour or Zane Grey novel, except very factual. Based on tens of thousands of pages of interview notes taken from those who lived during this period of history. You will learn a lot of American history and enjoy it, to boot, if you read this book! Don't miss this one!

Eckert has written a truly engrossing book on an amazing figure in American history. Simon Kenton, like Daniel Boone had the lust to wonder the woods for days and both had a immense memory for the scope of the land he wondered. The narrative writing is excellent. It puts you back in the 18th century when America was truly wild. It was a harsh land when one false step led to an early death, often times gruesome. The Shawnees were none to compliant to give up their lands and sold it at a high cost of human life. Tecumseh also emerges here, also one of the greatest figures in history. A Sorrow in Our Heart, which is about Tecumseh is also a must read. In the Frontiersman, the Ohio River flowed blood red with hatred for intruders. There are captivating stories here of the many clashes that took place between whites and indians. It was a time period of two cultures clashing, one wanting to hold on to a way of life etched into the land through balance and harmony, aganst a culture that produced men who were determined to see new vistas and experience the thrill of blazing a trail that many would soon follow. But it was this migration which ruined the very thing they loved most, the feeling of true wilderness. This book captures it all. A must read for those who find history a fascinating subject.

Lovely book, clearly 19th Century Lithographers had access to the Sony "blue tone" setting. Either that explains the covers strange colour, or they had run out of black ink. The book confirms my belief that Aleister, or Sir Aleister Crowley as he claims to be, though not an aristocrat, was a very well off young man; he was certainly a very naughty boy but not the incarnation of evil, Satan, as was claimed by The Daily Sport.

Aleister Crowley is best known for his books and essays on magick (it was he who coined that spelling), but he also wrote several works of fiction. Diary of a Drug Fiend may be his best novel, even though it is in many ways more a platform for his ideas and techniques than a conventional novel.

The novel takes place in Europe, mainly England, around the 1920s. This was apparently the time when drugs such as cocaine and heroin were just becoming illegal and socially unacceptable. The story concerns a young couple, Peter and Lou, who fall in love, both with each other and with cocaine and heroin. Crowley, who had considerable experience with drugs himself, is very effective at describing the euphoria of people experiencing drugs for the first time. Their lives are utterly transformed in an almost mystical way. Of course, the body quickly develops an increasing appetite for these powerful substances, and soon more and more is needed. Soon after that comes the inevitable crash, when the addict must take huge quantities just to feel normal and goes through hellish withdrawal when drugs are not available.

In addition to the physical addiction, Diary of a Drug Fiend shows how the addict's overall judgment is clouded. Peter easily falls victim to a con man, and soon the couple are facing a shortage of money. They are only rescued by the intervention of a mysterious man called King Lamus, who is a thinly disguised version of Crowley. What makes this book interesting, and different from other books that deal with addiction, is that the real point is to show the power of the will to overcome any problem. According to this view, which adherents of modern 12 step programs will not take kindly to, there is nothing special about addiction. It's simply one way people can lose sight of their "true will," to put it in Crowley's terminology. "Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be the Whole of the Law" was one of Crowley's favorite sayings, and it is repeated often in this book. The meaning, as is made clear, is not to simply do what you want or to follow your whims. That is how the couple in this novel end up addicted to cocaine and heroin. It means, rather, to follow your Will, which means living up to your highest potential, fulfilling your destiny or becoming one with your Higher Self, to put it in other terms.

Diary of a Drug Fiend is an enjoyable, if not a great novel; in some ways it's rather didactic, especially towards the end. Still, even someone who is not particularly interested in Crowley or magick could find the descriptions of the couple's descent into addiction and madness compelling. Crowley says in the introduction that the events depicted are all true. How true they are we may never know, but it is a fact that Crowley set up a kind of community in the Mediterranean called The Abbey of Thelema. The last few chapters of the novel depict a kind of idyllic life where people discover and live according to King Lamus' magical instructions. What Crowley did here, both in the novel and real life, is to try to set up a kind of laboratory of the spirit where people are led to reach their highest potential. At various times, other spiritual teachers, such as Gurdjieff and Rajneesh (both as controversial as Crowley in their own ways) established communities of their own. Whether Crowley succeeded or not is still hotly debated, but Diary of a Drug Fiend gives a compelling summary of many of his ideas. It is also an entertaining read with a style more accessible than Crowley's nonfiction books.

This book is awesome wicked crazy and I would recommend it to anyone who was ever interested in anything on the edge of reality.

It's not quite as much fun to write a review when it seems everyone is basically in agreement. Crowley was not as evil as folklore suggests, and he was a lot more intellectually accomplished than his detractors would care to admit.

What struck me about this book were the resounding themes in the final chapters. (I don't think this is a suspense-driven book, so I don't see myself as "spoiling" the ending here.) "Do What Thou Wilt" may seem archaic or sinister, but it ultimately means nothing more than finding your ultimate purpose, your deepest will. Once you find that, your other problems will fall by the wayside. Put in those terms, perhaps the theme sounds too pedestrian. But the way Crowley presents it here in terms of overcoming a heroin and "snow" addiction is marvelous. In many respects this book, particularly toward the end, reminded me of Ayn Rand's writings, where man's ultimate potentials are examined and exalted. Crowley's King Lamus is not far from the John Galt and Howard Roarke idealisms. I walked away from this book refreshed and inspired. Thank you, Mr. Crowley.

Yes, if you have any interest in narcotics addiction this is a MUST-READ. Seriously, if you are a cop, or a lawyer, or a judge, this is a fundamental source of information that will really expand your comprehension of the subject of narcotics addiction. Thank goodness here in California the emphaisis is on REHABILITATION for users and simple possession. And, thank goodness, here in California if you are a dealer that clank you just heard is the prison door, scum bag.

Yes, for those with interests in the arcane, the esoteric, the occult or the erotic, your time will be well rewarded by the book. There is bizarre imagery and mystical references throughout. You'll have a blast with this one. Please note that these Crowley books become astronomical in price when they go out of print, even the paperbacks, so you may want to snag one of these even if you can't read it right now.

One sign of a good book for me is that when I'm done with it, the book is all marked up with pencil marks indicating points which I want to read again some day. Just about every page of this book is marked. Yes, it truly is classic.

Awesome. Great writer. First few pages took a little while to get through due to all the British lingo, but after that, it flew.

A fantastic treatise on a much overlooked medical problem!

As a third year medical student, I was largely unaware of the prevalence of B12 deficiency and its devastating repercussions. This book, a combination of anecdotal evidence and solid research provides a strong case for the importance of B12 testing (using Methylmalonic acid urinary testing not serum B12 levels!) and B12 treatment.

The chapters on B12 & Multiple Sclerosis as well as autism were particularly interesting!

All in all a great book! Easy to read, but with profound repercussions.

I have some technical questions I would love to ask the authors, should they wish to contact me.

Paul Theodorescu
paultheo2004@yahoo.ca

This book is a must read for everyone in contact with other human beings. I have dealt with the devestating effects of b12 deficiency for all of my 20's and 30's (at least) with everything getting nothing but worst in the last year. My little boy shares many of my symptoms and is being tested as we speak...now that we know how to test! My son's doctor had no idea how to test him. Two weeks into B12 therapy most of the symptoms that have been plaguing me for years are gone! The rest are slowly improving and I suspect that they will continue to improve. When I think of all the doctors and tests and appointments and medications and theories I have had over the past years, it is downright depressing. All I needed was what my body was screaming for...B12! Cheap, easy to get, effective and mandatory B12!!!!

This book lays it out well and is very well referenced. The format is very reader friendly with many great examples. If you are looking for a book that you could bring into your doctor for their education (for your own survival!), this is the one. It is an absolute horror that this illness goes unfound for so long in so many people. Protect yourself and your loved ones and have this book on hand always. This is the best gift you could give anyone. It saved me in ways I don't even want to think about. Thank you to the authors for this important piece of knowledge that is far too ignored in the medical community.

The only reason that B12 is not being hailed as the new miracle drug is because it is not possible for a pharmaceutical company to get a patent for it and make lots of money from it. Another result from this absence of profit is that doctors are not being informed that many ailments can be caused by a B12 deficiency and, therefore, do not test for a B12 deficiency and, when they do, they use the wrong test and, even when they use the correct test (which is rare) they misinterpret the results and, even when they prescribe a B12 supplement, they order the wrong type of B12, in the wrong form, etc., etc...
The best thing you can do is to order an extra copy of this book and just give it to your doctor. Unless he is a complete egomaniac, he will appreciate the information because there aren't any other authoritative books on this subject, and the total amount of time devoted to teaching about B12 in medical school is only about 2 minutes.
Although it's true that someones ailment could be caused by something other than a B12 deficiency (the author admirably points this out in the introduction), not being cured when the cause is something as simple as a B12 deficiency because doctors are not trained to look for this is tragic, especially when you consider the seriousness of some of the illnesses that a B12 deficiency can cause.
My sister suffered from depression for 20 years and tried a variety of medications, none of which helped very much. When she started a weight loss program that included small amounts of B12 given by injection, it seemed to help her mood. When she mentioned this to me, I did some research and found this book. I then found her a doctor who was willing to provide her with B12 injections of 2.5 mg (2,500 micrograms) three times a week. In a matter of a few weeks, her depression was gone. Before the B12, she just wanted to go somewhere and wait to die. Now, at age 54, she is planning and looking foward to the future. (By the way, the B12 must be in the form of injections to be effective.)

(IMPORTANT NOTE: The injectable B12 my sister's doctor uses is Cyanocobalamin. It is made by American Regent, Inc.. It is available by prescription. A 30 ml bottle costs $13 at the Costco pharmacy. A theraputic regimine requires a 1,000 microgram injection every day (or 2,000 every other day) for up to 6 weeks. After this, 1,000 micrograms once a month for maintinence. You can save a lot of money by giving yourself the shots. If you use a 30 guage needle (this is the same size used for botox injections), you won't even feel it. (Really, you won't feel it at all.) The easiest place to give youirself the injections is in your belly. If you're uneasy about giving yourself a shot, just do it the first time at your doctor's office to see how easy it actually is. Giving yourself the shots beats the hell out of paying your doctor $100 for each shot, especially if your getting 3 each week.

This book contains critical information that could change the lives of many people. Anyone with any sort of unexplained health problems, from Alzheimers to leg pain to autism, must read this. I also wish every doctor would read it and become more aware of the prevalence of B12 deficiency. After reading it at the library, I bought a copy for myself and one for my doctor.

If you have or suspect having a vitamin B 12 deficiency or if you need to learn about this deficiency for any reason, I recommend you read carefully the book " Could it be B 12 ? An epidemic of Misdiagnoses " by Sally M. Pacholok and Jeffrey J. Stuart. But don't let it be your only source of information about the deficiency. Because at least half of alternative reliable scientific reports about this subject strongly disagree with the major allegations of the authors of this book. You must also be aware of the alternative opinions before deciding on what to do about your vitamin B 12 deficiency. I am not a medical expert and do not say who is right or wrong. However, I am glad I researched other sources of information after I was diagnosed with B 12 deficiency and after I read this book. I couldn't find any other books on this subject but there are a lot of serious scientific reports published on the internet by credible hospitals, laboratories, medical journals etc. You don't have to be a medical expert to understand them, they are written for the general public. Some of the information on the internet is crap but a significant portion is reliable , very informative and based on sound scientific reasearch and experiments.

Search from Google under the headings of vitamin B12 deficiency, homocysteine, methyl malonic acid, intrinsic factor and pernicious anemia. A lot of articles will pop up among them by reliable hospitals such as the Mayo Clinic and some labs etc. Also search under the same headings from the websites of Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia, American Family Doctor and Lab test on line. There are many other websites that include reliable information on Vitamin B 12 deficiency. After reading the book " Could it be B 12 ? An epidemic of Misdiagnoses " my initial reaction was an anger towards my doctor who diagnosed me with a B 12 deficiency believing that he had given me false information. I also had written a very favorable review of this book immediately after having read it two and a half months ago on January 19 2008. I have hereby replaced on April 11th 2008 my previous review of the book with this one based on my subsequent research on the internet about the topic from about ten different reliable scientific reports from different sources. My initial review was based only on the book. The present review is based on both the book and my subsequent extensive research. About half of the medical literature agrees with the authors of this book on the method of diagnosing and treatment of the vitamin B 12 deficiency. The remaining 50 % that disagree also base their views on sound scientific studies.

The authors of the book claim that most doctors in the world are ignorant about vitamin B12 deficiency. After finishing the book I initially bought this argument. However, after conducting the research on the internet I mentioned above I disagree that most doctors are ignorant about it. Surely there are a lot of doctors who are in fact ignorant about it and who misdiagnose. Even my doctor told me some things about vitamin B 12 deficiency some of which I still think are wrong. However, not all doctors who disagree with the authors are ignorant ; there are many among the disagreeing doctors who are very knowledgeable about this subject. Their methods of diagnosing and treating the deficiency maybe different than that of the authors. That does not necessarily make them ignorant. You can see this for yourself by reading their reports on the internet where they express alternative opinions about vitamin B 12 deficiency. Yet the authors of the book accuse all doctors who disagree with them with ignorance. I feel that it is unfair and unconvincing to accuse everyone who disagrees with you with ignorance. I got suspicious about that and found the alternative opinions. I am glad I did not let this book be my only source, I almost went and expressed my disatisfaction with my doctor based on this book. I regret that after reading the book and before reading alternative reports I got into an argument with a neuropsychiatrist whose acquaintance I made in a sports club who challenged the views in the book when I mentioned them to her.
Fortunately I did not go and quarrel with my own doctor based on the book ( it scares me to think I almost did ) because I had the sanity to investigate the deficiency from alternative sources.

The major allegations by the authors about which there is approximately 50 % agreement and of course 50 % disagreement among medical experts throughout the whole world have to do with the method of diagnosis and treatment of vitamin B 12 deficiency.

The authors claim that a serum ( blood ) B 12 test for a deficiency is unreliable by itself and must be accompanied by urinary methyl malonic acid ( MMA ) and serum homocysteine tests. Because in some cases a vitamin B 12 deficiency may damage the nervous system many years before it shows up on blood tests. Doctors who rely on the vitamin B 12 blood test alone could miss a B 12 deficiency if it does not show up on the blood test. The authors allege very strongly that the best measure of B 12 deficiency is the urinary methyl malonic acid and creatinine ratio test done properly along with serum B 12 and serum homocysteine tests. In the medical literature I researched there is strong support for this view. But there are also equally strong arguments in favor of the alternative view, claiming that on the contrary urinary MMA test results are not a reliable indicator of vitamin B 12 deficiency and that serum B 12 tests are more reliable. This is exactly the opposite of what the authors of the book claim.The book mentions that there are doctors that claim this. And it claims that these doctors are ignorant. However, in the reports the doctors state the reasons why urinary or blood MMA tests are unreliable and explain the results of scientific studies in support of their view. They are by no means ignorant.

The other major disagreement is about the method of treatment. The authors of the book claim that Vitamin B 12 oral tablets even in high doses are very often ineffective in treatment of the deficiency and insist that pain free injections directly into the blood is indispensible as a treatment method. They claim that nobody should lose time and risk ineffective treatment with oral tablets. In some cases this maybe true for swallowed oral tablets which have to cross the digestive system. However, I came across many different reports on the internet that mention the effectiveness of sublingual ( under the tounge ) oral vitamin B 12 pills that are also absorbed directly into the bloodstream. Especially during the recent several years many independent studies throughout the world indicate that sublingual vitamin B 12 pills have been found to be as effective as injections into the blood, making the injections unnecessary in many cases. After discrediting the oral tablets and strongly promoting the injections throughout their book even the authors back off from their claims on page 153 under the heading : " A Final Word about Oral B 12 " where they admit the promising recent studies about the efficacy of oral tablets administered sublingually. After I took 1000 mg of swallowable oral tablets for four months my serum B 12 level shot through the roof rising from far below the lower limit to more than twice the upper limit ! My doctor told me to discontinue swallowing the pills.

So, read the book and read any serious other sources you can find on the internet and then decide with your doctor about how you will proceed to diagnose and treat your or your loved one(s)' vitamin B 12 deficiency. Just don't take everything the book or the reports say for granted. Make your own analysis and draw your own conclusions based on a varied rich source of reliable information about this subject. Good luck !

I've read all there is to read about Grant vs. Lee
but Rhea's works are the finest. From the Wilderness
to Cold Harbor, each book is a fascinating. There's no
way these books will ever leave my shelf! I usually reread
them every couple of years. Highly recommended!


Matt Looby

Having previously read Rhea's first volume on the 1864 Overland Campaign, I moved on to this work. Just like the first volume, Rhea has written a winner here. I had gotten somewhat tired of "military history" books because they were either overly detailed and dry and boring or they often focused too much on the commanders and not enough on the ordinary soldier. Well, no such problems with this book. Rhea has a very balanced prose focusing on the generals, the privates, and everyone in between. Furthermore, despite being full of enough detail for any military history buff, the book is very readable and Rhea writes in a style that makes you feel as if you are amongst the action, making you turn page after page. Other reviewers can probably write much better than I, but simply put, this book is a must have for anyone interested in military history or the Civil War.

I have recenty - in the past two ot three years - become interested in the Civil War. The Shelby Foote series is wonderful, but still leaves a lot of detail to be fleshed out. The more you read the more you want to know. Much about the War remains a mystery. The battles can be presented in much detail and Rhea's writing is clear and lucid. There is considerable detail in presenting excerpts from diaries, reports and the like to make the battles real from a human standpoint. The books are much like the work of Stephan Sears.
All are well written and enjoyable, although I do recommend a bit of lighter reading between volumes.
The only quibble that I have is with the maps. They often neglect detail that could help follow the action. Plaaces mentioned in the text are sometimes not to be found on the maps.
This complaint can be applied to virtually every Civil War book that I have read. If you are interested in the civil war, this series is excellent.

The Battle of the Wilderness May 5-6, 1864
Product Details
* Hardcover: 520 pages
* Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (July 1994)
* Language: English
* ISBN: 0807118737

The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern May 7-12, 1864
Product Details
* Hardcover: 483 pages
* Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (May 1997)
* Language: English
* ISBN: 0807121363

To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 13-25, 1864
Product Details
* Hardcover: 505 pages
* Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (May 2000)
* Language: English
* ISBN: 0807125350

Cold Harbor: Grant and Lee, May 26-June 3, 1864
Product Details
* Hardcover: 552 pages
* Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (September 2002)
* Language: English
* ISBN: 0807128031

I am reviewing the four books a single series although each book is a full stand-alone history. This is a highly detailed military history of Grant's Overland Campaign of 1864. Two of the best generals commanding two of the best armies, in American history, decide the Civil war in the East. Gordon Rhea gives this month the detailed attention it requires and had never received. The 2,000 pages allows for the full story of the campaign, the personalities, failures and success.

The first book covers the major battle of The Wilderness an area Grant wished to clear and Lee hoped to trap him in as he had Hooker in 1863. Through a series of Union miscalculations and command problems, Lee manages to get in Grant's way. What follows is a confused bloody two-day battle that has been termed "Bush whacking on a grand scale". An excellent series of maps, help the reader stay abreast of the battle and understand the confusion of both sides. Lee loses Longstreet and starts to make the hard decisions about personnel that he has avoided since 1862. Grant while testing his relationship with Meade and Burnside, is trying to learn the AOP's generals too. This process dominates the four books as repeatedly Grant is forced to deal with the problems this creates and Lee takes steps that were unthinkable in 1863.

The second book moves the battle from The Wilderness south to Spotsylvania and Yellow Tavern. Grant refuses to "play the game" and retreat behind the Rappahannock but pushes past Lee and continues south. What follows is a race from defensive point to defensive point, which the AOP concedes to the AoNV. Union commanders hesitate at critical moments while the AoNV reinforces the objective. This allows Lee to stay up or ahead producing one of the bloodiest battles in our history at Spotsylvania. In addition, this book covers the critical cavalry operations, Grant's reasoning, and the price paid in taking Sheridan away from Meade. J.E.B. Stuart's death, is well covered. Both in terms of what it means to the AoNV, to Lee and to the Confederacy.

After one of the hardest weeks in their history, the two exhausted bloodied armies eye each other over their entrenchments. Lee understands that he is being trapped and that defensive war can only end in defeat. Grant is trying not to be stuck in a siege and determined to continue south. What follows is a series of forced marches and small battles as Grant and Lee test each other. Each general wins and loses daily as the armies march, counter march and fight. However, at the end of each day, Grant is always closer to Richmond. Lee produces a brilliant trap, Grant takes the bait but circumstances keep lee from springing it. Almost to late, Grant sees the trap pulls back, changes direction and continues south. Book 3, To the North Anna River covers this brilliant and exciting time in detail. Rhea produces some excellent analysis of both commanders and the developing personnel problems they are facing. Neither man is having an easy time of it and both understand they have never faced an enemy like this.

The last book takes us to Cold Harbor, one of the most controversial battles of the war. The detail history and excellent analysis leads us through this battle and produces some startling conclusions. As always, the author provides full support and justification for them. This might be the most important book of the series and the definitive book on the battle of Cold Harbor.

Each book has a full set of maps and illustrations. The writing is uniform and very readable. While detailed, the actions are understandable and you are seldom lost in a sea of names and/or unit numbers. Each book is a stand-alone history and is readable as such. The books were published from 1994 to 2002 and had to be written that way. This is the best account of the Overland Campaign available. It is both an invaluable reference and a great reading experience.

The Battles for Spotsylvania Courthouse and the Road to Yellow Tavern
By Gordon C Rhea

Between the opening round in the Wilderness and the culminating blood-letting at Cold Harbor there were two other major areas of action in the Overland Campaign.

In volume two of Rhea's extraordinary four volume series the action moves out of the wilderness as Grant seeks to outflank Lee and force a battle in the open where the weight of Union artillery and manpower would give it the opportunity to break the Army of Northern Virginia.

In a pattern which would remain true for this entire campaign, Lee's army simply moved faster and counterattacked faster than the Union Army. The culture of the Army of Northern Virginia was a culture of automatic aggressiveness. When attacked they immediately began to organize a counterattack. When they discovered the Union Army they immediately began to probe to see if they could get around its flank. When they had to defend they immediately began entrenching and dug as deep and fast as possible to give themselves the maximum advantage in stopping a Union attack.

Grant' had a much bigger Army but it was simply a lot slower and a lot more hesitant than its Southern opponent.

The Army of the Potomac was a very courageous and stubborn army when it was attacked but it had a hard time spontaneously engaging Lee.

Grant kept trying to overcome these institutional weaknesses by surprising Lee with night marches, diversions to distract him, and carefully planned mass assaults.

At Spotsylvania the Union Army almost gained an advantage using a surprise move which, if it had worked, would have put Lee at a huge disadvantage. Unfortunately the Confederate Army moved fast enough to get there first and by the margin of a few hours entrench enough to stop the Union advance.

Grant then prepared a massive assault at a vulnerable salient and actually won a shocking victory. Unfortunately , in a pattern which would become the norm in the first world war some fifty years later, the disorganization inherent in breaking through made it impossible to exploit the breakthrough and by the time the Union forces reorganized the Confederates had created a new and equally formidable line a short distance back.

Rhea carries you step by step through the agonizing bloodletting in which two powerful armies tried to maneuver but found themselves again and again engaged in bloody fights of attrition which were sapping northern morale and southern capacity to fight at about the same rate.

These books are a remarkable accomplishment.

This is a general comment regarding Hacking Exposed series. I owned Hacking Exposed (first edition) and then I moved to the more specific Hacking Exposed books, so now I've got Hacking Linux Exposed, Hacking Windows 2000 Exposed and hacking web Applications exposed. All those books absolutely worth it, do not hesitate to buy any of them.

Don't run Windows without it. An in-depth windows security book written for those who do not understand geek. Easy to read and chocked full of info provided to save you from common (and not so common) windows sins. Definitely for the home and enterprise network user/admin.

If you are responsible for a Windows 2000 server and do not have this book, you are asking for trouble. Get it today!!!!

Excellent book which helps you secure your system from the attacker's point of view. It makes you think as a hacker to be able to find the vulnerabilities in your machine/network.

My security officer loves this book because it allows him to send me emails guaranteed to keep me up at night. ;-)

I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Bernstein over the weekend at a book fair, and what a classy and kind woman she seems to be.

Since I am a librarian, I've read all manner of holocaust stories, and this remains the most moving I have experienced. This is the story of one family, in hiding. OK, that's the case for many holocaust stories, so what makes this great?

It's personal, no generalities; it is the simple yet piercing account of only this group of people. It doesn't pretend to speak for the masses, and yet it speaks _to_ me, far away from the sad, horrible experience.

It makes real people out of all the characters. If there's a hero, it's Jozef, who hides them. But he has his flaws, even comical ones. He can do no better than to hide people under his floor. He pretends to be a simpleton to avoid suspician from the Nazis. But his wife knows he is NOT a simpleton and suspects, correctly, that he is hiding something from her. Of course she thinks it's a lover and makes her husband's life miserable and endangers the family with her right-minded mistrust. When her husband comes clean to her, she is unexpectedly kind to the family.

Most telling at all, (hinted at in the title) is that they didn't live happily ever after. The symptoms of post-traumatic stress (not diagnosed at the time)led to life-long health and nerve problems even for the survivors. Yet you know, reading the book, that survival is worth the harrowing things that were experienced to get it.

A beautiful, simple, touching book that makes me appreciate my life.

A very powerful story about the Holocaust that is well-written and gives intimate detail. It's marvelous that the mother wrote down her entire story in 1959 and then was able to live to see it published. I also enjoyed the Afterward, written by the daughter, giving her impressions and what she remembered from this utterly tragic period from which almost no Jew escaped. The fact that each town was carefully named, each incident described in detail, made the story come to life for the reader who could well imagine himself/herself there at the time. The copy-editing done on this book was excellent; I only found two tiny errors.

I just finished reading Bitter Memories, and this is a definite for everyone to share with their family. What this family saw and lived through is awe inspiring and will leave you looking at your own lives. It will make you appreciate where we live and gives a new look at what the Holocaust victims went through. There are so many who will deny that the Holocaust ever took place, but Mrs Wallach and her daughter will help you see through their memories just how horrible it truly was.

This is an incredible story which while simply written,
encompasses all of the best and worst of what humans are capable of. The unbelievable love between and mother and her child is the overwhelming power that pervades the narrative. A gift to anyone who needs to understand what that period of history was all about.
Patti Sacher

Bitter Freedom
Jafa Wallach
Paperback: 209 pages
Publisher: Hermitage Publishers; First edition (April 25, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1557791570
ISBN-13: 978-1557791573

Although I have read many first-hand account books written by holocaust survivors, I found Bitter Freedom to be the most compelling story of it's kind since The Diaries of Anne Frank. The book moved me like no other.
Bitter Freedom is written in straight-forward prose by a mother survivor (Jafa Wallach) who shortly after the WWll ended, sat down and wrote the personal history of her family's lucky and often miraculous survival of the Holocaust. In letter form to her daughter- (Rena Wallach Bernstein) too young at the time to know the adult horrors of in which they survived, Mrs. Wallach pens an incredibly honest and poignant memoir.
"The years have gone by and yet the memory of how it all began remains vivid, fearfully close, as though it all happened yesterday. We were at home, apartment #3 Jagielonska Street in the town of Sanok Poland, listening to radio bulletins of Hitler's attack. You, my daughter, were just one year old. You looked up at our anxious faces, your father's and mine, but you could not have understood how deeply frightened we were. You repeated after us, in your baby lisp, "war, war"-the ugliest word in human speech. It wasn't long after that German planes began to pay their deadly visits to our little town of Sanok."

The book transports you back in history allowing you a glimpse of what everyday families were seeing, feeling and experiencing during this horrific time of war. The Jews of conquered Europe were taken by surprise never dreaming that civilized man could do to their fellow human beings what was now being done to them. Terror and mayhem swept Europe, and so swiftly had Hitler come east and so complete was his control of the lands he occupied- there was literally no where to run-no where to hide. Those hunted were now trapped in their own villages.

Escaping the terror was made especially difficult because many people of the Nazi controlled villages were deeply and historically ingrained with hate for certain groups of their fellow countrymen. The Nazis used this hate to their advantage by turning neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend. Christian against Jew. Those of the hated lucky enough to survive, did so only with the help of others who chose to put their own lives, and those of their families at risk to save their friends and neighbors. Very few were willing to take that risk.

Fortunately for the Wallach family One Christian man- a mechanic named Jozef "Jozio" Zwonarz did choose to put his own life and family at risk to save five fellow human beings. As he concealed four adults under the very noses of the Gestapo, he desperately schemed to save the life of the fifth family member, a four year old child. (Rena Wallach)
With parents and daughter now separated, the nightmare for this family was complete. There was nothing left for them to do. Their very lives were now in the hands of God and an auto mechanic named Jozio.

Bitter Freedom is a touching memoir, a suspenseful thriller, and an accurate historical novel all in one. Although the story took place more than 60 years ago, Jafa Wallach's messages to the reader are timeless and wonderfully relevant in today's world where war is in the news every day.

I predict that Bitter Freedom will eventually be on the top of every school's reading list. There are lessons here for all of us.
A must read.

I FOUND MYSELF ENGULFED IN THIS BOOK FROM THE VERY START. THROUGH DR RICE'S DESCRIPTIVENESS, HE PUTS YOU WRITE IN THE NOVEL WITH THE OTHER CHARACTERS. HE TAKES YOU THROUGH MANY EMOTIONS TIME AND TIME AGAIN, HAPPY TO SAD, FUNNY TO MAD. THIS WAS A BOOK I DIDN'T WANT TO PUT DOWN. IT IS A MASTERPIECE . FRAGILE X WOULD MAKE A THRILLER OF A MOVIE

Dr Rice has written a medical thriller that kept me up all night. This book though lengthy is a page turner that keeps you guessing all the way through. He takes you directly from your couch cushion to the middle of the story via his discriptiveness. This is one that you can read over and over again!!

Superb novel!! Once I started it, I couldn't put it down and ended up finishing in the wee hours of the morning. I'm an avid fan of medical thrillers, and Dr. Rice's first novel has more than impressed me with its plot, characters, detail and suspense. I look forward to reading more (Dr. Rice?)?? My only complaint is that the binding of the book is poor and I now have a few loose pages, so now I can't borrow it out to others since I got the copy signed as well. You will enjoy it!!

Received the book as a gift and I didn't start it right away. When I did, I couldn't put it down! Fabulous writing and subject matter. Hate to think there's such greed in real life but unfortunately, we hear every day that there is. When can we read more from Dr. Rice?

Fragile X: A powerful force bearing a voice of truth, compassion and courage.

Dr. Rice has artfully created a single story to the many which cleverly exposes the harsh and ruthless realities of Managed Health Care: a structured business whereby the decisions of physicians are compromised for the sake of capital gain.

Fragile X is the story of Molly Loomis. She is a young woman who by the wicked hand of Managed Health Care is wrongly surgically stripped of her God-given right to bear children. She is not, however, stripped of the keen, instinctual qualities that are ever-present in a woman's heart, being and spirit.

The characters are real: men and women who speak their truths with passion. And as I read, it was the courage of the characters, whose journeys to prevail, served as my hope for a future free of the pervasive predominance of Managed Health Care.

It is for a very personal reason that I find Fragile X to be so compelling. It is for the sake of my mother's struggle that I pray the masses embrace this captivating literary work for its overall precision.

I watched as my mother, in her last years of life experience the injustice and inhumanity of Managed Health Care. After receiving her last rites, my mother with her seemingly lifeless seventy-two pound frame, defied tremendous opposing odds and survived her battle with pseudomonas (a deadly bacterial disease of the lungs). From this point on in my mother's life she depended on an oxygen concentrator to breathe. After many months of red-tape, it was determined that the level of oxygen which ever-flowed through yards of clear tubing and into my mother's lungs, which was necessary for her quality of life as well as perpetuating it, did not meet administrative criteria. My mother was denied coverage. My mother was denied oxygen.

Thank you Dr. Rice

I absolutely love Anne Stuart's heroes and Luke is no exception. He is a very sexy hero!!!

This is a very well written book! Very dark and thought provoking. Anne Stuart is one of my favorite authors from her "Ice" series to the older novels she is a fantastic story teller!
Highly recommend this book!!

Great plot, hot sex, superb characterisation. What more can I say? I need to go and get all her other books now.

I can't think of a single thing about this book I didn't like.

Luke is an opportunist. Manipulating and controlling his way to riches.
Rachel is a lost soul searching for meaning. And she believes that meaning lies in Luke and his hold on her mother's money.

Luke's a harsh one with a bag full of charms. You find yourself just as helplessly enthralled with him as everyone else seems to be. He's that seductive. And yes, that interesting. You're on the edge of your seat anticipating his next words. His next act.

Rachel is, finally, a heroine worthy of battling Anne's dark heroes. Yes that vulnerability is still there. But that doesn't mean she doesn't know how to pick up a sword. Or that she will put it down at the drop of a hat.

They're perfectly matched. And the plot is rather unique to boot. LOVE this book.

I am a fan of Anne Stuart's for life. After reading Nightfall and now Ritual Sins she has pushed her way to the top of my favorite authors list. There is simply NO ONE else out there quite like her. She can create the most unlikely characters that one can imagine. In Nightfall, the hero was a convicted serial killer and in Ritual Sins the hero is a cult leader and ex-con.....interested? You should be!

Read other reviews for the plot synopsis. I will spend this review commenting on the book instead.

Luke is multi-dimensional and not clearly good or clearly bad. Rather, he is an exciting blend of both good and bad. He has lived through hell and is, no doubt, a criminal who has had to "look out for himself" above all others. Usually this type of character would repulse me, but as we get to know this dark and dangerous man, all is explained, and I was able to get behind this man and cheer for him.

Rachel is also tough. I went between love for her and hate for her until I got to know her story. After I realized what she came from and what she had experienced in her life, it all made sense. Rachel's character is EXACTLY as she should be with the life she was dealt.

These are two MESSED UP people! What I loved about this book, is that Anne Stuart allows these two "disasters" to collide, and unknowingly heal each other. Through Rachel, Luke is able to "burn" his past, and through Luke, Rachel is able to "come alive" again. I guess that kind of healing from love is the type of story I like best! Add in some remarkable secondary characters and some evil plots, and I think you've got in your hands one of the best books out there!

DO NOT MISS THIS ONE!