Europe Books

This is the best Russian history book I have read in a very long time. You should all be "Russian" out to get it as soon as possible. History was never my favorite subject, but this author made the subject come alive. My father's parents were born and raised in Russia and had to leave at around the turn of the twentieth century, so reading about the Tsars and the rebellions of that time period gave me a vast new understanding of my ancestral origins when my family members were strangers in a strange land. Great Job, Pete. History rocks!

This book is real tight now ya hear...pick it up pronto. huzzah for the j man

Mr. Julicher is the best teacher at Cranbrook. This book is great and informative.

I am in the process of reading this book and am
fascinated by the authors detail description of the
tsars. It's wonderful to read a book with substance
and not fluff! I am impressed!

Julicher's book is a great book for anyone who wants to read-up on Russian history without referencing several sources. The book easily divides periods of history into readible and understandable chapters. This is a great book for any college or high school student who is interested in Russian history

Morrow's book concludes with a chapter entitled "Two Roads," to revolution or to counterrevolution, to workers power or to Franco. It was not only the abstract need for socialism, that Morrow explains the Spanish revolution could have won only by going to workers power. The disastrous policies of the Stalinists, the social democrats, and the anarchist labor bureaucrats subordinated the struggle to the dictates of big business in Spain and imperialism abroad, the same forces that welcomed Franco.
Morrow is very good at explaining how this policy prevented the workers, peasants, and oppressed peoples in Spain from solving the many national and democratic tasks, supposedly solved in the US in 1776 and in France in 1789: land to the tiller, freedom from feudal rights and powers of nobility and church, national independence for the colonies in Africa, linguistic freedom and national rights up to self-determination for Catalonia and the Basque Country, to name a few. Fighting for these things was the natural reaction of popular masses in Spain as soon as Franco tried to overturn the republic. Sadly, Morrow shows how the Republican government lost because it turned its back not only on these rights, not only on socialism, but even the basic democratic right of workers and peasants to organize political parties, unions, workers councils, to publish and speak freely.
Morrow is not all depression and criticism. He saw with his own eyes the natural response of the working peoples in Spain to fight beyond the limitations of class collaboration. He saw how that power nearly defeated Franco and how it could have defeated Franco especially if the Republic had joined with the struggle of the colonial masses and oppressed nationalities to gain freedom Read Morrow and learn how the coming struggles will be victories and not defeats.

Socialist correspondent Felix Morrow writes a powerful account of the revolutionary uprising of Spain's workers and farmers in the 1930's and the heroic battles they waged to defend the rights and organisations won through struggle.

The counter revolution began in Spanish Morocco under the command of fascist General Franco, aided and abetted by Hitler and Mussolini while the liberal democracies from the United Sates to Britain and France, sitting under the shade of "neutrality" looked the other way secretly hoping for the Generals success.

For revolutionary fighters who thought the Soviet Union's bumbling help to the Spanish toilers was due to a series of bad misjudgements came to the realisation they were in fact coming up against counter revolutionary Stalinism.

Despite the impediments posed by social democracy and Stalinism, the Spanish workers had an ability to learn the lessons of previous events at great speed and combined with their almost unlimited capacity for struggle, were able to overcome what stood in their path.

However, they were let down not by the usual suspects but by the organisation that seemed to be the most free of the Stalinist and social democratic straightjacket - the POUM.

Morrow takes the reader through the earth shattering events that unfolded in Spain at the time and takes up central challengers facing that countries working people in the battle for state power.

A fascinating and powerful book, this tells the story of the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s, of the heroic struggle by workers and peasants against the fascist revolt led by Franco and backed by Hitler and Mussolini.. It is full of rich lessons for today-- including of the role of the so-called western democracies, the governments of the United States, Britain and France, in undermining this struggle for fear of unleashing a deep-going workers revolution.

This fight went down to defeat, but the leadership lessons to be learned from this experience are invaluable today. The need for workers to organize independent of the parties and policies of the bosses, bankers and landowners; the importance of championing land reform for poor peasants and the rights of oppressed nationalities (in Spain's African colonies for example) as a precondition for forging unity in struggle, come through in vivid detail here. Also the sharp test in practice of the disastrous policies of different political currents vying for workers and peasants support: from the Moscow-led Communist Party, to the anarchists and the POUM.

Written as the civil war unfolded, this book documents the tremendous capacity of ordinary working people to fight oppression and change society, and the crying need for a leadership capable of leading this movement forward.

Although written in the late thirties, this is still one of the best titles on the Spanish civil war available. Unlike many other books on the subject, which analyze the events from either an anarchist or stalinist point of view, Morrow offers a socialist perspective. He illustrates quite well the shortcomings of both the anarcho-syndicalist CNT-FAI but does not fail to criticize the strategy and tactics of the "marxist" POUM either. Morrow takes specific events and shows how the POUM repeatedly failed to fill a revolutionary void due to its indecisive leadership. Indispensable reading material for socialist activists as well as readers with a general interest in labor history and revolutionary history.

Morrow was a great editor, a great journalist, a man who captured the spirit and realities of the Spanish civil war, not as an uncritical supporter of the Republicans, but as a revolutionary critique familiar with the lessons Leon Trotsky tried to give about the Russian Revolution, familiar with the betrayal of the class collaborationist leaders of the Communist and Socialist parties in Spain.
In this book we see in the flesh what we may here about in other writer's analysis of this civil war. I was always struck by how he shows the imporance of the struggle for land and support to the small farmers, not by analysis but by describing the debates he heard on this subject between Spanish peasants and Franco's troops.
The rise of Le Pen and France and the attempts of the same social democrats and stalinists to get workers in that country to subordinate the struggle to supporting Chirac is an errie echo of the same policies that Morrow shows led to the defeat in Spain.

Some of the photos from this superb exhibition may be found in "Fashion", also put out by the Kyoto Costume Institute, published by Taschen. (Available through Amazon.[com])

This is my favorite of shelves-full of costume books, not only because of the quality of the photography and the beauty of the items in the Kyoto exhibition, but also because it captures the experience of silently moving through the exhibition itself. I've used this book extensively as a visual reference for recreating 18th-century gowns -- no amount of description can accomplish what detailed photos can.

This is an excellent pictorial guide to 18th and early 19th Century clothing explored through very creatively put together displays of actual clothing. If the reader is looking for a book crammed full of quality photographs and little text this is it. However, the book is out of print and hard to find at a reasonable price. Most of the photographs are repeated in a newer book, also by the Kyoto Institute, called FASHION, so it is worthwhile considering the latter book instead, given the high price of Revolution in Fashion on the secondary market. Interestingly enough the new book "Fashion" is now published in a boxed set of two books, the 18th Century dealt with in the first of these.

This is the best book on the costumes of the 18th century that I have ever found. Page after page of gorgeous garments are clearly photographed and beautifully displayed. It is inpirational.

This is an outstanding exhibition catalogue from Japan (thankfully written in English). It has the most fabulous, clear photos of 18th, early 19th century costume.

If you have any interst in European Fashion during this period try and get your hands on a copy of this outstanding book.

It has worthwile text, but the photos are the real find.

Rick Steves's guide to Istanbul had all the details that I needed. Everybody in my group was surprised about all the information that I was able to give them based on what I read in the book.

This has all the things that make Rick Steves' guides great. The clear maps, the insider tips, the historical back-story. The Authors are Rick's guides who live there, and know their city forward and back. This gives you the indispensible knowledge to make a visit to Istanbul safe and rewarding.

I've bought the Rick Steves phrase books (which are the best, by the way) but this was my first of his guide books and, I have to say, I'm hooked. I absolutely love his list of the top sights. Not only does he rank order them from the must-see to the could-probably-miss, but he includes a very brief description of the site, the days and hours it's open (great for planning!), and the page number you can go to for more in-depth information. I put a post-it note on this page and was constantly referring back to it. There's really great information on each site you visit and my friends started out our first day in Istanbul making fun of me for always referring back to the book for the fun facts he includes. By the end of the first day there they were coming up to me asking what Rick Steves had to say about where we were at :) I love that he includes lots of budget and mid-range options. Europe isn't cheap and Rick Steves helped me stay within my budget. After using this book, I've now purchased Rick Steves Rome, Paris, and London books as well. I know they're going to be worth every penny!

This Istanbul follows Rick Steve's usual formula of focusing on the main sights, providing practical information, good walking tours and useful travel tips. I have used Rick Steves guidebooks for over 7 years livng and vacationing in Europe. My only disappointment with this book was with the eating recommendations. The restaurant descriptions were not as honest as they could have been - especially for the Sultanahmet touristy area. If I am going to eat in a tourist trap I prefer to be forwarned. At one recommended $$$ fish restaurant, the Balikci Sabahattin our group of 3 adults and 3 children was subjected to snobby service and were outright scammed into ordering multiple servings of first course dishes (dishes were the same size but contained different numbers of portions) - NOT the treatment I expect from a Rick Steve's recommendation. Buy this guide for the sightseeing and the Lonely Planet Turkey guide for complementary information and restaurant recommendations.

This useful guidebook is compact in size, concise in descriptions, and colorful in discoveries. Husband-and-wife authors Lale and Tankut Aran love Istanbul with such passion, enthusiastically guiding readers through the back doors, back streets, and back stories of their beloved city. They single out Turks you can track down for a chat; don't miss their picks of several Grand Bazaar shopkeepers who happily share their stories and, of course, their wares.

I especially like the self-guided walking tours; museum must-sees; and money-saving transportation tips. Although I've been to Turkey six times, this little guidebook helped me rediscover Istanbul with fresh eyes and a renewed sense of appreciation for this complex, appealing country.

This was the first book I read about the Camino and it remains, more than a decade and 40 similar texts later, still one of the very best such. If one is to read a single straightforward journal account I can think of no better introduction to the subject.

For my recent compilation of pilgrimage quotations ("Ultreia! Onward! Progress of the Pilgrim") I read all 40 or so contemporary English journal accounts available about the various routes. Stanton's is clearly within the first grouping of 8 or so best such books (i.e. largely those written by established authors and/or academics). And Stanton is immensely quotable; indeed, with 20 such abstracted for my review volume Ultreia!, the Road of Stars to Santiago was the single most quoted text of all.

When I bought this book I wasn't sure what to expect. I'd already purchased a couple of pilgrim guides but was hungry for more readable material. This isn't a pilgrim guide but rather a sort of journal of the author's experiences on the Way of St. James.

For anyone interested in the Camino, hiking or just a well written yarn that's hard to put down, I give "Road of Stars to Santiago" two thumbs up!

This is a fascinating book, and will appeal both to those who love travel tales and those on a spiritual quest. No self-described holy man, the author is frank about doubting his faith and his ambivalence in making the pilgrimage. Yet you see throughout the book how the journey emptied then replinished him He draws vivid word pictures about the sights, smells and characters that he encounters. If you have a desire to drop out of the hustle and bustle of life to learn to listen to the great, glorious creation around you and the Creator above, then this book will make your feet itch to begin your personal pilgrimage. I enjoyed this book thoroughly, and was enriched by the reading. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

This book is powerful in its simplicity. Stanton's journey is mundane, but from the people he meets and the sites he visits, we learn much about life and travel.Books on the pilgrimage are plenty now, but I would recommend this one for the everyday traveler taking the path.

This is a great book and is a very useful guide to the pilgrimage. It is hard to find, and Amazon is doing a great service in trying to provide it for pilgrims. However extracts from the book with very useful information can be found at the Telegraph Online London web site in the TRAVEL section. Look search under Yahoo for Telegraph Online and then Browse the many pages and articles on the pilgrimage found under the travel section. The book is fully reviewed in the newspapers's travel pages, the site has many useful useful facts about the pilgrimage including a FAQ

I thought the book was especially useful because Lucian Boia tells us right off the bat that there is not one, but many histories, of Romania. This is one of those histories, fortunately it's one that is well-researched. Some histories have been doctored to present a particular ideology while others try to be more objective. I suppose it's up to the reader to ultimately choose which history they want to believe. But at least this author was willing to admit that he didn't know everything, but was still willing to present the story of Romania's past to the best of his ability. I found that a refreshing change from those historians who pretend to have the ultimate answers.

For someone who plans on visiting Romania or is simply fascinated by this country's unique and complex position in Southeastern Europe, for those interested in its culture, history and people (and the events and phenomena that have helped to define this history) or for those, like myself, who are attempting to piece together the puzzle of their national identity by going back to their origins.... this is a wonderful point of departure. Boia's narrative is very powerful, as he takes the breathless reader on an unforgettable journey through the various (both necessary and unfortunate) stages in the protagonist's development, in order that the reader may try to understand the complex, and often conflicting, make-up of this fascinating land (and, in the process, as was the case with me, gain a better understanding of oneself).
Unlike traditional historians, Boia doesn't just list facts; he analyzes Romania's condition throughout the ages and the events, ideologies and people that have made it what it is today, and at the same time, urges the reader to analyze them and to draw his or her own conclusions.
(I simply could not put down this book until I finished it.)

For someone who plans on visiting Romania or is simply fascinated by this country's unique and complex position in Southeastern Europe, for those interested in its culture, history and people (and the events and phenomena that have helped to define this history) or for those, like myself, who are attempting to piece together the puzzle of their national identity by going back to their origins.... this is a wonderful point of departure. Boia's narrative is very powerful, as he takes the breathless reader on an unforgettable journey through the various (both necessary and unfortunate) stages in the protagonist's development, in order that the reader may try to understand the complex, and often conflicting, make-up of this fascinating land (and, in the process, as was the case with me, gain a better understanding of oneself).
Unlike traditional historians, Boia doesn't just list facts; he analyzes Romania's condition throughout the ages and the events, ideologies and people that have made it what it is today, and at the same time, urges the reader to analyze them and to draw his or her own conclusions.
(I simply could not put down this book until I finished it.)

This was recommended as a companion buy for the book I originally wanted to order. I found it very interesting and thoughtful; really excellent.

After living for two months in the Romanian region of Oltenia, I came home obsessed with the place. I wanted to know everything I could about its history, culture, language, and people. This book was on my wish list for quite a while before I went ahead and bought it myself. Smartest thing I've done all year. It is a highly informative read about the history of the land, all the way from Rome's Trajan to the present day, and the aftermath of Romania's extremely destructive bout of communism. Boia writes candidly about the spotty past of the country, even to the extent of sometimes portraying Romanians unfavorably. A lot of emphasis is put on the relatively recent history of post-WW2 events, and goes into depth about Ceausescu and his appalling legacy. The only thing about the book that I was slightly disappointed in was the focus of attention on Bucharest. It was not an area of the country I spent much time in, and I wish Boia would have spread out and explained more about Oltenia and the Banat; but it was still very intriguing. I would enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the country.

I was amazed at this book! If you are planning a trip to Rome this book is for you! I think it is great for Kids of all ages, that includes Moms Dads and Grandparents, I loved the format. Rome can be a little daunting at times, And this book can help in keeping everyone happy intertained and well fed! Just a great book!

My daughter (11) and I loved planning our trip to Rome with this book! It ended up being the only book we carried with us as we toured the Eternal City. The information was great with wonderful tidbits to keep the interest level high. There are terrific pictures throughout although without a frame of reference for size, we were always surprised to find out something was MUCH bigger than we thought it was going to be! That was always good for a laugh.
Since we were staying nearby, the recomended gelato stand between the Pantheon and Piazza Navona became our regular nightcap and it is the best in the city! Great tip! We even sent another family there.
We homeschool so this was our field trip and this book was invaluable for our needs. Our copy has been our notebook and is full of written notes, highlighting, post-it notes, and drawings. Thank goodness the printing is such great quality. We wouldn't part with it for anything!
Ciao!

Rome With Kids is a guide to making the most of one's visit to Rome, the great seat of Western civilization, written especially for parents with children in tow. Color photographs and maps enhance the step-by-step itineraries, recommendations for kid-friendly activities, advice on viewing the finest museum collections before the kids burn out, tips on where to shop or rent bikes, and much more. Written by mother and former Rome resident J.M. Pasquesi, Rome with Kids is enthusiastically recommended to parents for its attention to detail and ease of use.

This is truly an amazing book. Very unique, not only informational but enjoyable at the same time. I have followed the author's advice throughout Rome and had a fantastic trip. I wouldn't go to Rome without this book.

"Rome With Kids" is just as important for your trip to Rome as obtaining your passport. This book is written for PEOPLE going to visit Rome. Children are people, too. This book will enhance the visit with the author's expert advice and insight on history, culture, food, shopping,and above all where to buy the best ice cream.
"Rome with Kids" has everything you need to discover the delights of Rome at your own pace and the pace of the children.
I have lived in Italy , on and off, for over 30 years. As I read this excellent book I found new and interesting things to see and to do.
I give it 10 stars.

Rome's Saxon Shore: Coastal Defences of Roman Britain is a slim book that details the defenses that Rome erected to protect Britain against the many Germatic raiders that plauged the provance for over three centuries. Do not let the small sized fool you though it is a very well written and researched work that helps bring light upon a forgotten part of Roman history.

This is a very well written, scholarly (although short) book on the Saxon Shore forts of Roman Britain that fills a gap in the literature nicely. It is beautifully printed, has many useful maps, illustrations and photos, and has a nice bibliography. Some of the books in this series are rather lightweight; I am happy to report that this one is much better than average for the Osprey series.

Nic Fields' ROME'S SAXON SHORE: COASTAL DEFENCES OF ROMAN BRITAIN AD 250-500 provides a technical survey of the design, history and technology of key fortresses and defensive systems of early Roman Britain, making it a pick for military collections and libraries strong in early history. The 'Saxon Shore' forts of Britain are among the most impressive monuments of the Roman occupation of the British Isles: their ruins are part of today's British landscape and their history is surveyed here with maps, photos and black and white and color illustration throughout.

Osprey keeps pumping out titles for history lovers everywhere. This is a concise, and easy to follow narrative of the defenses of Eastern Britian through the Arthurian period. Great illustrations as per usual, and brief time line make it quick study for Roman history buffs.

The typical Osprey title, concise, well-written, well-researched, and interesting. It is supplemented by excellent full-color plates depicting the fortifications themselves, and their soldiers in combat or on civilian duty.

If you wanted to know really what is going on in the EC, this is the book to read. It will give you insights into the political systems, which influences the monetary system, trading and the agenda they are following. Not to mention their bullying of countries to get their way.

When was the last time in a civilized, DEMOCRATIC society have we seen free speech outlawed? How about now. Now in the EU it is against the lau to express you opinion, your criticism, of what the political beast is doing. That means you cannot speak out against wrong doings of institutions and political figures.

That ruling alone did away with British common Law and over 50 years of european civil liberties. Where will it end? A totalitarian regime?

Some say THAT is just around the corner.

The author of this book got into HOT water for writing it. I hope this is not something that will foreshadow this type of activity happening here.

This book is a wake up call. If it is happening in the EU, what kind of ramifications will fall on us?

I have bought this as a present for friends interested in monetary policy and international affairs. I shudder to think of the impact the EU will have with a weakened US international policy. I can only envision them as growing threat to us economically and shudder to think of how a potentially fascist EU.

Buy this book.

Bernard Connelly has written the consummate "expose" on the Maastricht treaty and the process of European monetary integration. Connelly, a former member of the European Commission, blows the lid off the Maastricht treaty and the intransigence of Jaques Delors and the Kohl-Mitterand relationship, which led to the European Monetary Union (EMU) provisions in Maastricht. This is at heart story of the politics of monetary policy, especially the failed Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), with three primary themes: the primacy of politics in determining monteray policy, the role of "vision" and "ideology" in determining policy, and the comedy of errors which was the ERM. One should not let the economics of this book prevent them from reading it. At heart, this is a great story and has the intrigue of the best historical novel. Connelly has written a factual tale containing a heroine (Baroness Thatcher), villians (Delors, Kohl, Trichet, Mitterand, Tietmeyer), and Alphandery, the innocent whistle-blower who brings the ERM crashing down. Connelly provides any reader interested in knowing about the lunacy of European monetary integration just why this idea is flawed, and provides economic evidence to defend his primary arguments. Among the more important and convincing conclusions reached in this work are: the necessity of flexible exchange rates, the inherent negatives of Europhilism (and especially Franco-philism, since "Europe" is seen as way to prevent the rise of "Anglo-Saxon" institutions), and the belief in free, competitive markets. A final comment one feels obligated to make about this book is its timeliness, and his villification of France, which is supported by following the recent row over the control of the European Central Bank. If one wants to read one book on why the EMU was really founded, and why it won't work-this is the book.

Bernard Connolly was fired by the European bureaucrats after this book came out. If you read this book you will understand why. This book has all the detail you could ask for. It is an incredible expose of the events leding up to European Monetary Union.

If you support the European Community, reading this book will change your mind -- if you dare read it.

Excellent work. The reality at the core of all the pomp-and-circumstance surrounding EMU. Read it and be wiser.

Review of The Rotten Heart of Europe: the dirty war for Europe's money, by Bernard Connolly, Faber & Faber, 1995, £17.50.

THIS BRILLIANT book is a devastating exposure of the pretensions of those who want to rule Europe. It shows that the attempts to achieve monetary and economic union, and consequently political union, are bad for us. They will not bring monetary stability, economic growth or political harmony. Instead they will destabilise currencies, reduce growth and promote hatred between the nations of Europe.

Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is supposed to build on the experience of the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM). Britain's membership of the ERM forced us into a disastrous and quite unnecessary recession. After two years of suffering, Major said in July 1992 that Britain would soon be the leader of the ERM. Two months later, we were well out of it, and ERM had bermbed, as Jacques Clouseau, Major's mentor, would say.

ERM constrained British Government policy on non-monetary matters too. The Government appeased Spain over the fishing dispute to keep Spain happy about the sterling/peseta rate. So the Common Fisheries Policy, so damaging to Britain's fishing industry, is not an isolated EU aberration: it stems from the whole logic of economic and monetary union.

The ERM was described as the Eternal Recession Mechanism; EMU is likely to be Even More Useless. The ERM kept the poor countries poor; it did not help them to converge; it certainly did not help them to meet the Maastricht criteria. Spain's experience of ERM was catastrophic: 22% unemployed. The ERM forced Denmark into recession: unemployment doubled to 12%, the budget was slashed, and investment, output and wages all fell. In the ERM, Ireland's unemployment soared from 11% to 23%. ERM subordinated nations' economic interests to minorities' foreign policy goals: ruling class interests dominated working class interests. Some still claim that ERM and EMU could control capital, but actually they were and are attacks on the working class.

A 1992 report by the Monetary Committee, which advises the EU's Council of Ministers, admitted that ERM did not stabilise prices or money and did not reduce inflation. Perhaps it was after all just a tool for moving countries towards political union.

The book also depicts the present dangerous struggle between the French and German ruling classes for control over the proposed institutions of a single European state. Germany is determined to keep the Deutschmark and the Bundesbank: it wants EMU so that it can assimilate other countries into an expanded Deutschmark zone. France wants a new currency and wants to get its hands on the Bundesbank; it pushed for the Maastricht Treaty, which would destroy the Deutschmark. Who would control Europe's currency? Who would control the proposed new European Central Bank? Germany or France?

As Wilhelm Nolling, a Bundesbank Council member, said: "We should be under no illusion - the present controversy over the new European monetary order is about power, influence and the pursuit of national interests."

They are already fighting about the 1996 InterGovernmental Conference. Germany wants the economic criteria for EMU met as soon as possible: it insists that economic convergence must precede monetary union. France wants the earliest possible date for monetary union, believing that monetary union would produce economic convergence. Both are wrong of course: convergence cannot and will not be achieved, either way.

EMU's implications are universally unpopular. The workers of France, Italy and Belgium are striking against the EU's schemes. The Austrian Government fell in October, unable to pass the EU-required budget.

We can see both from ERM's effects, and from the effects of the attempted imposition of the Maastricht criteria, how damaging membership of EMU would be. It would cause, as intended, a permanent lowering of wages, a permanently higher level of unemployment, and massive cuts in public spending.

Connolly sums up: "My central thesis is that the ERM and EMU are not only inefficient but also undemocratic: a danger not only to our wealth but to our freedoms and ultimately, our peace. The villains of the story - some more culpable than others - are bureaucrats and self-aggrandizing politicians. The ERM is a mechanism for subordinating the economic welfare, democratic rights and national freedom of citizens of the European countries to the will of political and bureaucratic elites whose power-lust, cynicism and delusions underlie the actions of the vast majority of those who now strive to create a European superstate. The ERM has been their chosen instrument, and they have used it cleverly."

What a cool book! The restaurants are listed by neighborhood and spotted on a map. So if you're wandering London and find yourself in, say, Soho, you can instantly find the author's dozen favorite restaurants within walking distance, each with a short review and specific dish recommendations. There's also an index by food type, and a color front section listing the author's favorites across the city in a handful of categories. It's not comprehensive, and that's *good*, because you're not overwhelmed with choices. And the author's choices skew toward the moderate and inexpensive (although that's a relative term in London), so it's perfect for the average, casual tourist.

I bought this book as a gift for a friend who lives in London. Since he wanted to try some new restaurants we paged through Time Out magazine and consulted this book. We found an absolute hidden treasure of a restaurant. Description and price were accurate. Location breakdown is convenient and information seems to be correct. Note---it does not have every restaraunt but highlights a few in each neighborhood.

This guide is terrific! It is well organized, by location with detailed maps included, and includes only recommended selections. Every restaurant we tried was accurately reviewed and all had exceptional cuisine. In a city known for bad food we ate Indian, Portugese, Chinese, Polish, seafood & at the oldest restaurant in town, and enjoyed every meal. The single best restaurant guide I have used for any location!

This book is a must-have if you want to enjoy the hidden food-treats scattered all over London and beyond. Charles Campion's curry house choices are especially good. And don't get tempted into buying a used version. There appears to be significant turnover in the restaurants in London. So you are better off buying a new one.

This guide includes 350 entries with the stated criteria for inclusion being that the restaurant is both recommended as a place to dine and that "it must be possible to eat a meal for 35 pounds a head or less." (We do note no definition as to what precisely represents a meal is given.) As such it includes eateries that range from the inexpensive to the moderately pricey.

Each entry is given one page that includes a price range, e.g. 8-40 pounds, with the lower figure representing the least one can "get away with" (per person), and the higher being the cost "if you don't hold back". Again these definitions are loose, but the price ranges in our experience prove reasonable.

Each eatery is discussed in plain English, no obscure symbols here, as to type of cuisine and ambiance, with numerous sample menu items being given (prices included). The reader is left with a relatively accurate idea of what to expect.

The guide orders restaurants by location, rather than alphabetically or by cuisine, a feature that we prefer but some may find inconvenient. Indices listing all entries by both cuisine and in alphabetical order are included in the back.

We do note that several very renowned places are conspicuously absent here. Whether those eateries are ignored for culinary reasons or otherwise is not discussed.

Do not expect a relative rating of each restaurant, there is none given. We consider this somewhat of a weakness; it would be helpful to know if a place is just recommended or if is considered outstanding. A short list of favorites by cuisine is given, but comparison ends there.

Physically the book is reasonably small and will easily fit into most handbags. Weighing only about ten ounces it is readily toted about.

As a compendium of the author's 350 favorite dining spots, the book is a prodigious effort. We have replaced our 1999 edition with this updated version. As frequenters of London we find this guide well worth having; it is one of the few that will accompany us on our next trip.