New Zealand Books

This nicely bound book boasts inferior translation although it was done by an English PhD, and the type is puncuated with hypens in the middle of a sentence. This is very annoying but after about 100 pages, with patience the reader can over look this flaw if patient The greatest disappointment is the poor English translation that is at times, hard to follow as it appears the translation is literal and very clumsy to read in English. This is a book on demand edition (it is downloaded from a computer and bound when ordered and the presentation is more than acceptable), butd surely there is a better edition of this exciting adventure yarn in existence that has a broad appeal to young and old alike. It's a shame that the high price on this edition is so poorly done considering it was written by one of the most creative writers in literature. Verne has a tendency to spend far to much time detailing geography and sacrificing characterization for plot. The dialog at times is also very juvenile...but this could be due to the this particular edition, as this is the first time I have found a copy of this particular book. If nothing is available, then buy this edition. It's a rousing good yarn.

Although I was looking forward to reading "The Castaways", otherwise known as "The Children of Captain Grant", the beauty of the writing was disturbed by glaring errors. Hyphens and random symbols randomly intrude upon the narrative and dialogue alike. Sentences are cut in half and divided by several lines of blank space. To be honest, the book is published by a .com publishing company that failed to review and edit what could have been a wonderful rendition of an engaging story. It looks as though they downloaded the translation of the story without adjusting for changes in format or checking for errors. Shame on them. Although this particular novel is difficult to find in an English edition, do not waste your money. Let us put an end to cheap publishers demeaning good works. Do not purchase this version--search for another.

In Search of the Castaways is actually the first book in a triology by Verne, the 2nd being the famous 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and the 3rd being The Mysterious Island, and, I think that the trilogy shows him improving and evolving as a writer. This means that the last one is the best (and one of my favourites of Verne's) and that this one is the worst.

Of course, like so many of Verne's works, it's still an entertaining adventure. It tells of a story of the search for Captain Grant by his young children, a captain, an eccentric scientist and many others, all aboard the one ship and armed with the classic message in a bottle (with only the latitude of the location, the longitude being erased). So, they try circumnavigate the globe and encounter a great deal of environs, people and nature. This is Verne at his descriptive best but in this book, the descriptions become overbearing as he goes on for pages and pages (even more than usual). Also, as an Australian [although I know this was before the 20th century but still...] his descriptions of the continent are a bit cliched and probably rely on his contemporary audience never having been more than 2000km away from Paris.

Yes, there's the usual betrayal, triumph and tragedy which makes it a good children's book. But it has no finer detail that some of his more mature works have. If you want something that will make you think (beyond the escapism and armchair travel aspects of Verne's books - which is certainly a legitimate and worthwhile reason for those books), try the Mysterious Island.

Finally, I did not read the book in this edition so I don't know anything about this specific one.

The book is wonderful. It's a great adventure story, favorite with every child and adult I know. BUT - this edition looks like it is an unedited scan. Thousands of hyphens appear in totally incorrect places. First, I was determined to disregard them and enjoy the book, but by the end of 50th page I was really annoyed. This is not a book, merely a draft that needs editing. It is a shame that there is no normal edition in print.

The book (story) is excellent and I highly recommend it!
It's a great adventure and one of the best from Jules Verne.
I've read it many times as a kid, and it certainly deserves
5 stars, but the quality of the softcover indypublish.com
version is abysmal: crooked pages, bad layout with hyphenated
words in the middle of lines all over... certainly does not
worth $...

Chris Duff's humility is one of the many striking attributes of a finely-written account of an often nerve-wracking and dangerous journey around New Zealand's South Island by sea kayak. Duff reminds us of the power and beauty of nature that so many of us have forgotten, lulled by the comforts of city life, and introduces the characters living around the coast whose goodness and moral support helped him get through the ordeal.

You don't have to be a kayaker to enjoy this book, but if you are, then you can empathise much more with the many challenges he faced. I was out there on the water with him, edging into the waves, fearing the surf, dwarfed by the Fiordland's cliffs. Well done, and thanks for sharing the experience!

I took this book with me on a trip to New Zealand, and enjoyed reading it as I learned first hand the island's crazy seas, and the many interesting facts about the country. At times the author can be a little long winded, but I thought it was well written for a trip that inherently has so much repetition. If you like sea kayaking, nature, and adventure stories, I would recommend this book. If you get to a slightly boring part about being with one with the boat and sea, just keep reading, and more adventure is sure to follow.

Unfortunately, I do not quite share the enthusiasm expressed by the other reviewers. Although Duff is an excellent descriptive writer, the numerous descriptions and philosophical musings in this book tend to go on and on needlessly; I do not need to read three pages about what it was like to find two apples in the ocean and eat them, or read description after description of the joys and epiphanies one experiences while paddling in a remote area. A little of that goes a long way.

I guess the upshot is that I was looking for an exciting adventure story, and what I got was perhaps the most thorough description of the New Zealand South Island's coastline, coastal waters, and weather patterns ever written. If you are looking for an "Into Thin Air"-type battle against the odds, keep looking. Although the journey required considerable paddling skills and Duff faced a few close calls, overall the book records little actual adversity aside from large waves and days of waiting out storms -- often in homes of hospitable New Zealanders rather than on his own.

I also agree with other reviewers that the photos are mediocre and certainly are not "stunning," as the back of the book claims.

A couple of years ago I saw Chris Duff speak at Canoecopia - a worldwide paddling expo held in Madison WI. One of his talks was about his solo circumnavigation of New Zealand's south island - the same topic as this book.
I, and I think the rest of the audience, was mesmerized as he told his tale. Even though he probably has talked about his trip many times it felt as if he was reliving it for the first time. His ecitement was contagious. The audience could almost feel the ocean swells and smell the salty air.
Chris Duff is as good of a writer as he is a public speaker. He vividly describes the scenery of his voyage, the people he encounters and his own personal thoughts. While, his adventures are WAY beyond my personal abilities I could actually feel what it would be like in his shoes (or in this case fast drying sandals) due to his excellent writing ability.

By Bill Marsano. Chris Duff's photos, which are bundled together and whacked a little perfunctorily into the middle of this book, limp under the heading of 'snaps.' Duff belongs to the old school of kayakin' shutterbugs: compose any old how, so long as the bow of the boat is in the frame; shoot in any old light; and shoot, sometimes, any old subject. There's a darn nice snap of a Hooker seal here but what I really wanted was more pix of the damage (and later repairs) to his boat from the surf landing that nearly killed him. I'm just saying. (And the maps are even worse--clear, but seldom helpful.)

Never mind: This is a book of writing. Duff seems to have had no specific reason to try a 1700-mile circumnavigation of New Zealand's South Island (it's not even a first) but he is no virgin. He's looped the British Isles and then Ireland; he's paddled 8000 miles along the east coast of Canada and the U.S.; even now he may be paddling round Iceland.

He, too, gets into a little gauzy mysticism about the Eternal Why and his place in the universe, but most of the time he's a little too busy for that stuff. South Island's coast is a place that goes from bad to worse, and it's instructive to listen in as Duff relates his tactics and strategies for dealing with bad weather and dangerous, even life-threatening situations: You can learn from this stuff as well as be staggered by it. And just for lagniappe there are those occasional moments of perfect weather and following seas that surf him along in solitary joy. These usually come along just after the notoriously perverse Tasman Sea has, as they say south of here, "prit-near" beaten him to a pulp.

A particular pleasure of this book is the human aspect. Despite the solitary aspect of his circumnavigations, Duff is a sociable man who enjoys and appreciates the people he meets--and appears to bring out the best in them. Add that to the fact that Kiwis are notably kind and generous anyway and you are not surprised that Duff makes friends everywhere he goes and they bend over backwards to help him in every way they can.

Judging from the indications in the text, it's clear that Duff prepared extremely well for this voyage, and readers should pay close attention as they go along, because--probably because this stuff is bred into his bones by now--Duff spends very little time discussing equipment at the end. In fact, he's done with the subject in a single page.

There's one incident in this book that commands my admiration and will yours. I don't want to give anything away but at one point Duff receives some help of a rather expensive kind, and his response is to pull out his credit card. "No worries, mate," he's told, officialdom is budgeted for that. All very well, but Duff insists on paying his own way. He is well aware of the fact that a well-behaved guest doesn't batten on his hosts.--Bill Marsano is an award-winning editor and writer whose own kayaking voyages fill only pages, not books.

An odd novel, but an exciting one.
A teenaged boy is drawn into the search of a kidnapped baby.
But there was a flaw.....When the babys' guardians were contacted by the abductor, they did not behave realistically!
They loved their baby so why would they start joking around about future marriages the second they got off the phone???!!!That was highly dumb.
But the rest of the mystery was a great read.

This was a very well writen and entertaining book. Margaret Mahy does a great job in spreading out the action and discribing all of the caricters. The setting is one that most people can not relate to and I think that makes it more interesting. The book may be a little bit confusing but that is only because the caracters themselfs are confused.

Ellis, the main character in the story had just come home from college and is trying to get over is best friends suicide. This book is about 24 hours of Ellis first day back. The 24 hours of exacly what he needs to cupe with his friends suicide.

The book was very exciting and action packed. Full of car chases and drinkig, along with lust, and an incredibly weird neiborhood. This book was a very fast read and I enjoy every weird moment of it.

The author Margaret Mahy really used the young character in the story 24 Hours. I really found how she wrote the book was really suspencful and thrilling. I find myself entering the book as the character. She used figurtive language to add to the story but the language was still understandable by anyone who would read this story. I liked how she used the young teenager in the story making the events in the story believeable. Meaning they really could happen to anyone. That is why I liked this book so much was because I could really relate to the characters. I recommend this book to anyone who likes reading about challenges, hardship and true life.

I do enjoy this book very much because it is really interesting, attractive and mystery especially in the epilogue part. You can't guess what the ending is if you not read throughout the whole story, when you read more, there will a force put you to continue to read. Although this is my first time reading Mahy book. I am quite impressive not only the content of the story, but also her writing style and she use many different kinds of words to express her view.
This story starts with a seventeen-year-old boy, Ellis who just graduates from prep school and start a holiday. In the next twenty-four hours, he meets a friend, Jackie who brings him go to a mystery world that cannot escape. Inside the world, Ellis loses his hair, becomes a tattoo, help find a kidnapped child, fall in and out love and persuade an old friend from suicide¡K Every thing is strange. Although the situations are quite adult, it can reflect the normal life that everyone may encounter, so that it is suitable for every age group.
I like this book very much so that I rate it with a four stars, but there are a little blemish which is the beginning of the story, everything happen too slow and a little bit boring, you want to pay more attention to the person at every parts because it will turn up at the most important part and act as a key person. On the whole, if you want to know what happen to the Ellis¡¦s life, does he success to find the kidnapped child and success to persuade his old friend. I am strongly recommended to you.

I enjoyed the book 24 Hours very much, it was very interesting! However I would have to rate this book with 4 stars. Simply just becasue I didn't like the beginning. The beginning part of the story is very boring until you reach the middle where all of the action starts. To me Margaret used tons of details and quotes in the beginning such as, " retreating, like precisely spaced bloms in a park garden, they rose on long green stems that curved elegantly at the top, then blossomed into hoods of deep crimson." That was one part that really got me involved in the book, with the words flowing all perfectly together. However, she used to much detail to set the stage. To me it seemed to take six chapters till we finally got to the action. Some people might like that, but personally I am not one of those people. so if you stick with the book I assure you that you will not be disappointed int the end, because this book has a fantastic and puzzling ending!

I am very interested in history and particulary fond of historical atlases. I own several by Colin McEvedy: The Atlases of Ancient History to Recent History, the Historical Atlas of Africa and that of North America. I particularly enjoy his witty incisive view of history. This particular atlas fills in my knowledge gap about the Pacific area. It was particulary fascinating to view the maps and read the history of this area, to find out how the "other half" of the world has been doing.

This atlas covers what is now the United States, Canada, East Asia, and the entire Pacific The focus of the text is very heavily on Europe and the United States. I would have liked much more focus on China, which had a huge impact on the region. It starts in 28 million years ago and finishes in 1998. The interval between maps gradually shrinks as we get into the modern era, so relatively little is pre-AD. In all, it has over 50 maps.

While I don't think this book is as good as the rest, this entire series is superb and is absolutely essential for any lover of historical atlases. I have been an owner of virtually all of them for at ten years and I can honestly say that they are most read books of all that I own.

The reason is their unique portability and scope. Most historical atlas are huge, heavy and expensive. They are difficult to read unless you are sitting at a table and very difficult to carry. This limits their utility (even though I still love them). Most history books have lots of dense detail about one nation or one period. Virtually none cover the broad sweep of an entire region over centuries.

Like all Penguin Historical Atlases, it is small, light, reasonably priced and incredibly broad in scope. These atlases offer a unique perspective on history than is otherwise impossible to achieve. Their size and weight make them perfect for travelling. Whenever I go on a trip, I take the most relevant ones with me. That way I can brush up on my history of the region.

The format departs a bit from other Penguin Historical Atlases, which I think is a drawback. They departed from the usual map on the right and text on the left.

The four parts of this book's contents gives a good indication of what you will find: Part 1, Setting the Scene [31 of the 120 pages to cover the period from 28 Million Years Ago until AD 1513]; Part 2. The Ocean Defined [by the Spaniards, English, Dutch, etc., of course]; Part 3. From Cook to Perry [need I say more]; and, finally, Modern Times [pp. 79-112, including much detail about WWII].

On the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the author states: ". . .as is often the case in Japan, things were not as they seemed. For instance, the idea that power was being restored to the emperor was simply humbug; the monarchy remained, as it always had been, purely ceremonial. For another, the new government was searching for a consenses and soon found it; top priority,it announced, would go to strengthening the armed forces. In a society that took great pride in its warrior caste, this was not a policy anyone could oppose. . ." And so on.

If the reader is content to understand the history of Japan simply as a series of Mifune films, topped off by "The Last Samurai", this may be the book for you. Otherwise, you will recall that the monarchy was very much in control of the government at least from the days of Prince Shotoku (d. 622) until the Gempei War (1180-85). . . He/she will also recall that the samurai class lost its political and social position from the very beginning of the Meiji Restoration. Was this a "society that took great pride in its warrior caste," or was it a society that was "opened" in 1853 with Commodore Perry's guns trained on the capital, a society quite aware of how Europe (including England) and America were on a rampage to colonize the entire world, that it might bestow upon it the blessings of democracy and Christianity? What would you do if you were a Japanese in 1868?

On the issue of inaccuracy, let me cite at least one, including one of the author's remarks that some might mistakenly consider amusing: "The Japanese script, on the other hand, though it looks similar to Chinese, was, from the start, an instrument for writing Japanese. There are several variants, which were combined with Chinese characters to produce the wildly complicated, often ambiguous hotch-potch that has proved so perfect a match for the Japanese psyche." (p. 23)

Where does one begin to address such a confused -- and bigoted -- statement? The earliest extant document in Japanese, the Kojiki (ca. 712), for the most part used Chinese characters for their PHONETIC value to convey Japanese sounds. The Nihon shoki (720), on the other hand, was written by Japanese IN CHINESE. Eventually, the Japanese developed two parallel syllabaries (kana) -- hiragana and katakana -- to complement the use of Chinese used SEMANTICALLY, for their meaning. . . The chart on p. 23 is also misleading. The Korean column contains standard Chinese characters but should probably display the Hankul script developed by the Koreans; and the "Japanese" column is, at best, some example of specialized writing style that to most Japanese today would be simply unreadable. Ask one.

For a good book on the issues, see Peter T. Daniels and William Bright, "The World's Writing Systems," New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. 922 pages.

For many years, Dr. McEvedy has been producing succinct analyses of mankind's achievements, combining wit and devastating attacks on the post-modern academic establishment.
But for some time, he left himself open to one major criticism: why deal with the Middle East, Europe, the Americas and even Africa, while relegating East Asia by implication to a historical backwater? In this book, he has convincingly rebutted his critcs.
Naturally, there will be partisans who find McEvedy's Euro-centric view of the world distasteful. To quote from an earlier work, "Asia is [rightly} considered only as a stage on which the European struts... this... needs no justification".
But here he has shown he is no mindless neo-con or jingo: he is simply not prepared to whitewash inconvenient facts, such as the smug and self-defeating attitude of the Ming and Ching rulers of China, or the fact that Japan only acquired real historical significance with the Meiji Restoration.
This is a book which will withstand the tests of time. It is brightened by the author's usual lively wit and extraordinary gift for relating maps to prose.

Following from the excellent, entertaining and informative series of Penguin maps on Europe (Ancient, Middle ages, Modern, Recent Histories) this book attempts to show 10000 years of history in the Pacific in 100 pages using the same geographical map (of the entire Pacific rim), showing the rise and fall of cultures, civilisations and other relevant events in the history of the region.

Unfortunately, in this case it does not work so well with reading of the book a little disjointed and less absorbing that others in the series. There are two reasons why I think this is so :
1) The time frame is just too large - too much happens in 10,000 years to be described in enough detail in a book like this, and we end up with lots of details for some events (e.g. America vs. Japan in WWII, European exploration of Pacific 16th->18th centuries) and not so much on others (e.g. mass migration of Chinese to SE Asia in 19th century).
2) The geographical area covered (all the pacific rim) is just too big and in some parts just too plain empty. Further, some of the most interesting events are just outside this map and so are just shown on the periphery or get missed out, e.g. the rise and fall of various Chinese dynasties and the Russian conquest on Siberia all appear on the very periphery of the maps but the Galapagos and Easter islands are all that really exist in the SE Pacific and don't really have a lot of history but still are shown on every page.

Maybe these are just limitations of the rules of these books (i.e. to use the same map) but maybe a map of Asian history would be a good complement to it.

Despite this though, it still is a good read. Mr Mcevendy has a clever ability to describe a whole era of history in a single paragraph. And finally, as with his other books, within the text there is often some very funny lines which will keep readers amused, e.g. on the extinction of native species with the arrival of man "... the moa's problem was having had to too easy over the subsequent 150 million years : no enemies, no sense of danger, no moa".

Edith Nesbit is my personal hero. I read a review once that explained that when a reader first discovers this Victorian authoress, he or she always feels as if come across some revelation.

E. Nesbit's books are to be recommended to every child with spirit and imagination. All her books, including The Story of the Amulet were written at a time when children's vocabularies were assumed to include two and three syllabel words. Readers of modern garbage may stumble over a few long and archaic terms but for a spirited romp full of imagination, courage and magic, these books are indeed magic. Childrens literature at its best.

I liked "The Story of the Amulet", by Edith Nesbit. It is a well written and thought-provoking book. The children introduced in "The Five Children and It" and seen again in "The Pheonix and the Carpet" are back once more to finish the trio. As in "The Pheonix and the Carpet", this is a travelling book. However in this book the children travel in both time and space to search for the other half of an amulet that, when joined, will give the children their heart's desire. I removed a star for a few reasons. One, out of the five books by Nesbit that I have read, this is ranked 5th. That is not to say that this was a bad book. It's just that I thought the other ones were better. Two, I like the books where the characters are granted wishes best, as in "The Five Children and It". However, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes magical happenings, time travel, and those who liked other Edith Nesbit books.

What a charming children's story! Aimed for kids about 10 and up, including me. Written in 1905 or 6, set in London, but escaping to ancient Tyre, Egypt, England, Babylon, through the magic of the Amulet. It actually tells quite a lot about 1905 London, most of it rather unpleasant. A Good Read.

This book is one really fun and exciting adventure. E. Nesbit is one of the best children's authors ever. I suggest that anyone interested start with Five Children and It, which is even better. I would recommend this book to anyone!

When I first bought this book, I had planned to emigrate to New Zaland. After I started reading it I decided to go on holiday there first and hitchhike, just like Joe Bennett.
However, reading more and more of the book, I decided hitchhiking might not be the best idea for me. So I will take a bus tour.

Where the book really proves its worth though is when it comes to describing the country. It portays New Zealand for a great nation, but also one that is desolate and for the most part empty. Sure Auckland might be a big city, and Wellington and Christchurch follwoing suit, but the rest of the country?
Sometimes you can taste the loniless of the land. All in all it made me reconsider emigrating there. And reconsider Australia and reconsidering emigration all together.

The author's perspective is,at least to me, that he has spent too much time in New Zealand and doesn't really enjoy living there. If it wasn't for his dogs then he would have no real reason to stay. He hitchhikes around alot of New Zealand in search of a reason to stay. He spends alot of his book discussing hitchhiking techniques or potential rides. What he discribes of the scenry or way of life is always in a somewhat bored,sarcastic tone. I'm sure that there are Kiwis that think in those terms, but in all my trips thru out NZ, I never met any locals that were like that. They usually are quite upbeat about where they are.But to put things straight, he is an English transplant and has lived there 15 years. But what I really liked about his book is his descriptions of the details of life in NZ. Just lots of little insights into rugby, youth and travel, bits of history,local politics. Just little stuff that would be missed in larger scope books.

Being a Brit myself, over here in NZ for good (I hope), after around 4 years living and working here, Joe Bennett's writings struck a real cord. NZ is an excellent place to live and tour, and the real value is in its people - but like all busy folks it's easy to drift into the daily grind and forget why we're here.

The timing of world travel readers dipping into this book is fortunate, against the background of Lord-of-the-Rings-plus-100%-NZ-plus-All-Black-Rugby Domination-plus-America's-Cup-performance-plus-cheap-accomodation-and-decent-flight-prices gloss, so as to show a more down-to-earth view. Bennett's view should not be seen as cynical (as I note critics' views), and an awareness of what the book is about should be allowed to sink in.

Here is an older and settled guy, hitching around a wild and woolly land populated with interesting (and eccentric most times) and kind people, in a young country that's just recently re-forged its own identity as a Pacific Island chain the other side of Asia (or USA, depending on your persective) from the parents that abandoned it. Look at it as a view of NZ drawn from interaction with it's salt-of-the earth locals, and enthusiastic visitors. Bryson meets gnarrly Brit wit - Excellent.

Having been to New Zealand twice my wife and I contemplated moving there. Residing in a country is, of course, much different from being on holiday there. This book gives readers a look at the "Land of Two Halves" beyond what's been portrayed in the movies.

Hitchhiking his way on two separate journeys (divided between the North and South Islands), Mr. Bennett is given a lift from some very colorful characters. Some hard-bitten and jaded, others silent, a few as chatty as magpies. Like Australia, the Kiwis can be a rough-hewn, industrious lot, facing hardship with fortitude and good cheer. Some of the isolated towns, pubs and hotels are downright eerie, reminiscent of places that time forgot. Decor and furniture often dates from the 1950s, '60s or '70s and accommodation can be a bit threadbare.

Where Bennett really shines, however, is in his descriptions of what it's like when he's kept waiting for hours by the road without a ride. He manages to colorfully illuminate how it feels to stand with one's thumb jutting over the asphalt, on an isolated road shoulder with nothing to do but watch a bird hopping in the grass or a horse posing stock-still in an adjacent pasture. It takes talent to make such a situation interesting but that's exactly what he does. The middle-aged author thrives in such settings, having little time for the larger cities like Wellington and Auckland. He gives them short shrift.

Anyone wanting a glowing travelogue will be disappointed. This isn't an episode of Rick Steves' Europe. It's a realistic account of what a lonely traveler experienced by taking a satchel, walking to the edge of town and putting his thumb out. He vividly illustrates how it feels to try and time storm fronts and strategize over the best approach to where you want to go versus where your next driver is headed. It's life on the road by the seat of your pants.

I quite enjoyed this tale, feeling that I gained a more well-rounded perspective on a country I greatly admire.

This book certainly looks good... the idea of hitch-hiking as a way of exploring a country and its society is clever - you meet a lot of different people and get to see parts that are not always up there on the "must see" list of tourist destinations - and, on top of that, Joe Bennett is a skilled and entertaining writer. But despite such promising credentials, it really doesn't work in the way it should.

The problems start with the sequencing of his journey, which is very strange. The first half of the book finds him shooting off from his home in Christchurch to the increasingly bleak far south of the South Island, before heading up the island's equally remote West Coast. Hitch-hiking through these areas, which are notorious for their sparse habitation and bad weather, is a pretty daunting task and, not surprisingly, he gets fed-up with it two thirds of the way round and heads back home. Problem is that, by doing so, he misses out the whole of the north of the South Island which is not only stunningly pretty (with often glorious weather) but which is also one of the most interesting areas of the country. His journey round the North Island is at least more logical, taking in most of the "important" areas. But by now he's clearly getting very bored with hitching (so much so that he rents a car for large sections), a problem that's then compounded by his hitting some pretty appalling late Autumn weather, begging the obvious question of why choose to hitch at this time of year?

Next up, the people he chooses to meet are pretty strange. Not everyone picks up hitch-hikers and those who do are, as he finds, often slightly odd and usually want to talk a lot about their slightly odd lives. Off the road, he clearly likes a beer or two and, as a result, spends huge amounts of the journey chatting to bar-proppers in small pubs and hotels. Nothing wrong with either activity, but as an insight into New Zealand society it's a limited and far from representative cross-section of people.

Finally, Joe's either a pretty morose kind of guy or the boredom & banality of standing by endless roads for hours on end waiting for a lift, followed by a booze-up with some fairly lonely people in a small town pub gets to him. Whatever the reason, he spends increasing parts of the book reflecting on the less attractive aspects of New Zealand life while describing uninteresting parts of the country in bad weather. Not unexpectedly, by the end of it, his & your bottle are most definitely in "half empty" mode.

Which is all very unfair. I've visited New Zealand many times and lived in Christchurch. Sure, it's small country that's a long way from anywhere and its people are continually grappling with an inferiority complex that comes from being small and remote. But it's also stunningly beautiful with, at the right times of the year, quite excellent weather and a population that must rank amongst the most friendly and interesting anywhere. It's a superb holiday destination and, for the right type of person, a quite wonderful place to live. All aspects of New Zealand that our increasingly road-weary and often downright gloomy guide fails to capture and which, as a result, leads to a very unbalanced insight into both the country and its people.

Bad news then? Well not quite, because he can write and his stories are not only enjoyable and often quite funny, but his wet & windy journey becomes, in itself, an entertaining exercise in personal endurance. And, on the way, he experiences a side of New Zealand that most miss which, in turn, stimulates him to ruminate on a number of interesting and important social issues facing the country. Just don't get fooled into believing that it's really like this because, unless you too are mad enough to decide to hitch around the place at the wrong time of the year, it's most certainly not.

Rob is still dealing with his mother's death when he signs on for a hiking and camping trip. The other five teens on the hike have varying levels of experience and enthusiasm about hiking, but their guide, Harvey, is enthusiastic and knowledgeable enough for all of them. He explains that as long as he has a compass, he'll be able to get them where they are going.

Shortly into their trip, though, Harvey dies. Rob wants to follow the rules of the wilderness and stay where they are so they can be rescued more easily. He is overruled, though, and soon finds himself dragged along with the others, who feel better when they are moving toward the rescue they imagine is nearby. The group quickly becomes lost, wet, and injured.

Rob feels guilty about his part in their predicament. He feels like he should have been strong enough to make everyone stay at their camp, and he feels like he should have made smarter decisions to keep them all safe. His main concern now, though, is making sure that they get rescued before they starve to death.

I liked the survival aspect of this story, and the things the group did to stay warm and to keep alive. The characters were pretty weak, though. None of them really seemed like an actual person to me; they were all just vague cliches--the arrogant dumb jock, the frail beautiful girl, the tomboyish motormouth. Even Rob, the narrator, didn't really stand out. He somehow seemed distant from his own story.

Take It Easy
by: Joe

David Hill did such an outstanding job at writing this book that
whenever you pick it up, it is hard to put down.

This book Take It Easy is about a boy named Rob and the past month in his life has been so rough for him because his mother had died. Well, his
dad thought that he would do some good so he sent Rob on a hiking trip to New Zealand to get away from his troubles. Halfway through the trip the group leader dies and it is up to the teenagers to make it out of New Zealand al ¡ive. So they all decide to split up in different groups and go search for help. They had no luck finding help and they were starting to panic because they were running low on food supply.Then one day Rob wandered off by himself when he noticed a helicopter come to his aid, and the others were found not too long after that.

David Hill had really good discriptive writing like, Rob looked at the faces around him,shadowed under parka hoods, or pale and strained,with damp hair lying heavy across their skulls, eyes half-closed and vague. Another good use of description is, The sunlight had crept a quarter of the way down the bush on the far side of the valley. Tiny insects danced on the air as Rob sat on a boulder and tried not to think about what was to come.

I really enjoyed this book, although the end was fairly easy to predict. I would recommend this book if you like reading about getting lost in the wilderness.

This book really relates to real-life situations and how different people react to different problems. I though the author did an excellent job of vividly describing the characters and their personalitys. This was a great book!

I started reading and couldn't put it down, I finished it in 1 day!! Very good book!! Must Read!

I highly recommend this book. I have used it this year with my fifth form (year 11) English class. My class is the 2 Year School Certficate class - I suppose their English ability would have to be defined as below average. They enjoyed the novel, and more importantly it held their attention - the death, near death and Carl's annoyingness! It was also easy for them to identify, talk and write about aspects like characters, themes, climax. Audio tapes of the novel are available from Replay Radio in NZ.

Cushla and her books is a recommended read for people working in the special education field. It helps you to understand what a person with a severe disability has to go through on a daily basis. Seeing how Cushla developed throughout the book, you were always in suspense of what would happen next. This book showed how the support and strength of a family can really make a difference in the life of a child who has severe disabilites.

Cushla and her books is a heartwarming story of two parents who are devoted to raising their daughter with significant disabilities. Even though these disabilities stunted her physical and cognitive development, her parents were determined to give Cushla the best quality of life. Cushla's mother introduced books to her at a young age and read to her on a continual basis. As Cushla aged, the constant exposure to books increased her cognitive development began to recognize words and pictures, and simply developed a love for books. However, several aspects of the story were presented in a textbook manner that made the reading often tedious and disengaging. Overall, the book has a strong message and is very informative.

Cushla and Her Books is a remarkable story about how a family of a young daughter born with significant developmental challenges followed their instincts. The story reveals the slow, but sure progress that Cushla makes and demonstrates the positive impact that her early and continuous exposure to books had on this development. This is a beautiful story about the power of human spirit.

Butler's first person account of her developmentally delayed granddaughter's progess, largely due to an immersion in quality literature from her earliest days, will convince you that it's never too early (or too hopeless a cause) for books to expand and enrich the life of a child. Inspiring. Written as Butler's thesis, so the emotion is backed up by research and knowledge.

Cushla and Her Books is a motivating story of the dedication and devotion of two parents determined to provide their child with the best life possible. The writing style of the book is presented in a textbook manner instead of as a recreational reading material. The descriptions of the books Cushla read were not intertwined with the supplemental material provided in the middle of the book, which lead to some confusion for the reader. Overall, Cushla and Her Books is an informational, as well as an inspirational story, of the success of a young girl.

I bought the second edition under the misleading impression that the contents will be updated, even though the conclusions may still stand. Instead, I have a book that's 95% same as before, plus some random afterthoughts on the main thesis that the Habsburg Monarchy self imploded because of losing the war, and not from the rampant nationalities conflict in an age of nationalism. If you want to read Sked's work on the Monarchy, just buy some second hand first edition.

And if you want a refreshing look at European history, look no further than Paul Schroeder's majestic The Transformation of European Politics.

First let me say that academically the book is both readable and factual in its content. But I found the book troubling for two reasons. First, Professor Sked writes like an English Lecture. He poses questions which he answers with his own opinions, many times taking other authors opinions to task. Those that he doesn't agree with he speaks of as liberal or extreme or having "missed the point". Secondly as this is a Second Edition,
it should have been brought up to date with information that has been developed over the last twelve years.

As an example of his inability to rewrite his own words (which he takes as sacrosanct) there is an aside that refers to the USSR and the eastern european satellites. He makes a referral to what would happen in eastern europe if the USSR were to go multi-party, hinting at chaos on the terms of Yugoslavia. Where has he been for the last ten years? No chaos, some nations in NATO and others being accepted into the EU.

Lastly, he shows a pronounced weakness in his understanding of military matters. In his discussion of the failure of the 1848 Hungarian Revolution, he dismisses the treatment of other nationalities in the Hungarian Crown Lands as being self-defeating but not disasterous. He especially discounts the Croats. Napoleon, not a bad general, described the Croat Cavalry
as the best in Europe, both for their bravery and ability to endure hardship. He used them as his scouts for his intelligence services and gave them credit for helping to secure many of his victories. They would not have won the was for the Hungarians, but they could have been a thorn in the side of both the Austrians and Russians. Instead the helped to defeat the Hungarians at every major battle.

Reading this book is informational, but you must be prepared to spend a lot of time searching around Professor Sked's opinions and biases to get to the facts.

If the book has a theme, it is that the Dynasty and the Empire were not in irreversible decline and the fall, brought about by defeat in WWI, was not inevitable. Why the title then? Well, towards the end of the book, in a couple of chapters added to the second edition, Sked admits that the title was chosen by his publishers and not by him.

My main reason for contributing this review is that I don't think it is clear from other reviews here that Sked's book is not a narrative or comprehensive history of the Habsburg Empire from the Congress of Vienna until its fall. It is rather a series of essays which reflect on other historians' treatment of some of the major themes in Habsburg historiography. These are interesting, challenging, occasionally repetitive, but are not, and do not pretend to be, a substitute for a general history of the period (such as C.A. Macartney's great work).

This text is truly invaluable for students of the Habsburg Monarchy. It's major strength has to be that it is analytical in style, providing explanations for the decline in fortunes of the Habsburg Monarchy. It is also innovative in that it provides a new perspective on the last century of Habsburg rule. Sked's book is an extremely readable text, which is accessible for all. An added bonus is that it provides a background to the historiography surrounding the Austrian Empire. Even if you do not agree with Sked's conclusions, it will certainly give you something new to think about, and is a useful antidote to the more traditional interpretaions of the Habsburg decline. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough!

What I am about to type concerning this book will be rather political, so I should make it clear at the outset that the author himself has no political axe to grind. He is simply examining and refuting some common misconceptions about the last century of the Habsburg Empire and the causes of it's fall. If that is what you are looking for, you could not do better than to read this book. This is *the best* book on the subject in English, bar none. If that is your interest, **buy it**, without reservation. Alan Sked's political opinions appear no where in it's pages, which are full of hard facts and strong historical thinking. It is in every way a model piece of historical scholarship.

The reason I see this as a very political text is that the history of the fall of the Habsburgs has been put to ideological use for a long time now. The Habsburg Empire was dismembered by that crusading moralist professor, Woodrow Wilson, in the name of "Democracy", "Progress", and other "enlightened" ideals for which he was willing to kill and send others to die.

It has been argued that the fall of the Habsburgs was a kind of bellwether, proving the inevitable progress of modernity and modern politics over the face of the whole Earth as a reactionary dionsaur of an empire finally died under the weight of it's own anachronism and decrepitude. The author of this book disproves that thesis totally. He demonstrates definitively that the Habsburg Empire was not weak or inept, and that in fact it faced it's worse crisis in 1848, and, having survived that, was viable as a political unit right up until the end of it's life. There was no mass longing for democracy, no mass discontent with the ancient Monarchy of the House of Habsburg, no demand for "national sovereignty" or "self-determination" on the part of the many nationalities of the Empire. They were fiercely loyal to the Monarchy right up until the end of it's existence. The Habsburgs fell, not because of the "turning of the tides of history" against them, but because they picked the wrong side in WWI. Period.

The fact that this is so undermines most of the cherished myths of the modern West. It proves that history has no inevitable current ending up with us, since it shows that the way history turned out was in fact the result of the individual choices of men, rather than the effect of some kind of powerful underlying trend that men could not have shaped. It proves that democratic gov't's are not the only ones capable of being seen as legitimate in the eyes of their people and that a nation of highly cultured and relatively wealthy people (the Austrians) could happily and freely choose to live under a radically different form of gov't, namely a hereditary monarchy. It proves that a powerful multi-ethinc state can be built, if ethnicity is carefully divorced from political power and protected (the Empire of the Habsburgs was virutally a microcosm of Europe in it's vast ethnic diversity). It proves that religion can be effectively joined to gov't - the Habsburg Empire was a confessional Catholic state until the end.

In short, it proves that the supposedly axiomatic modern truths about how politics just has to be are really just so many lies. There was, once upon a time, a strong, viable, multi-ethnic, confessional, hereditarily monarchical empire, that was a living force in world politics right up until the First World War, and that only ceased to be so after it was deliberately destoryed by the victors of that war, who sought to impose their ideology at all costs on the conquered, even if it meant destroying an ancient state and everything that was based on it. We know the results of this well: the wellspring of nationalisms this created has turned the Balkans into a killing field, and it left no strong power in the Germanic world that might have checked the Nazis after Germany itself was raped by the vitorious Allies; thus, the dismemberment of the Habsburg Empire cleared the way for Hitler and every horror to follow him in Central Europe. This was the price foreigners were made to pay so that professor Wilson could "Make the world safe for democracy". No amount of foreign blood is too much, apparently, for the ideals of a progressive intellectual.

Very informative book. Appears to have been well-researched. Lots of specific information.

Looking forward to following this guide to New Zealand.

Full of great information! The one thing it lacks is detailed maps of areas covered in the chapters. Considering that, it is still a great buy!

I am already planning my trip based at the book and it is does a pretty good on job at describing the places and best sites to see..

I'm used to the Fodor's Guides, so this should be another great trip I am planning and will revert back with the comments after the trip. But like I mentioned, I used it before and that is the main reason of why I keep going with Fodor's again...

You will be please with the level of information needed to plan your trip and help you out during the journey..

Way to go...

i used this book on a recent trip to new zealand, and for the most part it was great. my one complaint was with a restaurant recommended by the book in auckland that turned out to cater to large tour groups and served expensive sub-standard food. but on the otherhand, another restaurant recommended (joe's garage in queenstown) turned out to be a highlight of the trip. so, as with all guidebooks, i think the information has to be taken with a grain of salt and it's better to get a second local opinion. the maps and general local information were very helpful for navigation and for deciding what to do each day. worth it overall.

Better than most, but less informative and readable than the Eyewitness Guides. (The one on New Zealand is being updated now for an August release.) I think more guidebooks should start incorporating that format into their titles---sacrifice a few details for more showcasing of locations worth noting. Still, this is a sound source for information and it's one to keep with you when you travel. In one or two instances, I found information in Fodor's that was ONLY in Fodor's and nowhere else, so the research is obviously extensive.