This book is really really great. Not that it is very interesting to read, mind. It's great in the sense that it provides you with just about any piece of info that you need to access about this complex disease.

This book is not a riveting, action packed adventure. However, this book does paint a very realistic portrait of Indian life and problems that occur in Alaska. I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a feel for Tlingit Indian society.

Wild Bill Hickman and the Mormon Fronter is an action-packed biography of the author's grandfather that puts together the life of one of Utah's living legends. Not much has been written about Bill Hickman in book-length form. Though a direct descendant of the subject of the book, Hope Hilton remains detached and avoids the glorification syndrome so often seen with family history writing. Bill Hickman led a colorful life, a life that many would consider to be the antithesis of the ideals which are espoused by the Mormon church. Hilton maintained that Hickman "killed more men than he saved." In this biography one learns that Brigham Young may have been responsible for ordering some of the killings allegedly perpetrated by Hickman. Hilton obtained much of her information from Hickman's autobiography Brigham's Destroying Angel, which Hickman wrote following his apostasy from the Mormon church. Therefore, much of his material might be questionable, as his autobiography was written during bitter times. The author takes the reader through every major phase of Hickman's life, from the east to the west coast, and finally ending with Hickman's death, couched in relative obscurity. I would recommend this book to all those who enjoy a touch of rebellion and excitement.

This book provides fascinating insight on all topics from love to war to farming to manufacturing from an economic point of view. You do not need to subscribe to the classical theory to gain wisdom from this book. You don't even need an economics background to appreciate Adam's insight.

Okay, so I'm kind of young but hey! I can still review a great book. Wooden teeth and Jelly beans is a book about presidents- but not the ordinary kind. It gives great facts in a fun and colorful way. I enjoyed reading it and kept on reading it over and over. I reccommend this book for anyone that can read or is in the ages of 7 to 777 years old. I especially loved the pictures that are like really good charicatures of all the presidents from Washington to Clinton. I really hope you pick up this book because this book is the best example I have seen of an educational book that can be fun!

I am now in 6th grade and I am on book 5. I started with wordly wise 3 in fourth grade. Although I have spent many hours frustrated by the homework assignments given to me with this book, I have learned many complex and interesting words. This book is great for teachers/parents who want to push their kids a little further than just copying spelling words 3 times each every week.

Next year, I'll scream if I see wordly wise following me to middle school, but I guess its for my own good.

Dr. Stephen Bull, curator of Military History and Archaeology at the Museum of Lancashire, picks up in this volume where he left off in his first Osprey volume on trench warfare. In this volume, Dr. Bull covers the evolution of trench warfare in 1916-1918. While far from comprehensive, this volume is interesting and does cover the most important aspects of the subject. However, readers should be aware of the not-too-subtle Anglo-centric bias of the author, particularly since like the first volume, the entire focus is on the Western Front. Trench warfare on the Russian, Italian and Turkish fronts is ignored in this volume, and even the French do not receive their fare share of coverage. I find it odd that the tiny Portuguese expeditionary force receives more attention than any Commonwealth army in this volume, including the Canadians and ANZACs. Indeed, both books in these series really only concern themselves with British and German trench warfare on the Western Front. Nevertheless, given the size constraints, these two volumes represent a good summary of Western Front trench warfare in the First World War.

The volume consists of short sections on the development of "Big Push" tactics; introduction of helmets and body armor; raids; sniping'; new defensive tactics; light machine guns; new offensive tactics (German and British only). The excellent cover plates include British raiders; German assault troops 1917; a Portuguese trench mortar team 1917; British & Australian specialist troops; German equipment; French specialist troops; American infantry 1918; German assault troops 1918; American trench fighters 1918; and a British platoon attack 1918.

Overall, the author does a good job covering the highlights of evolving trench warfare doctrine in 1916-1918 and hammers home the thesis that tactics and doctrine were in a period of trial and error in this period. However, while the author successfully identifies the recognition by both sides that a solution to trench warfare deadlock had to be found, he fails to adequately define their solutions. While the author discusses the German storm trooper units and mentions Colonel Bruchmuller's new artillery tactics, he fails to note the lessons learned in 1917 at Riga and Caporetto. Nor does the author really describe infiltration tactics or the fact that the attacks in the 1918 Kaiserschlacht were a mix of infiltration and standard infantry tactics. As for the British, the author does a much better job (obviously since this is where most of his information concerns) discussing the evolution of new tactics, including tanks and specialist troops. However, deficiencies in British defensive tactics that contributed to the 1918 defeats are not mentioned. Nor are Canadian troops mentioned in this volume, despite the impressive capture of heavily defended Vimy Ridge in April 1917. Although French troops and weapons appear in various illustrations in the volume, they are barely mentioned in the text and there is no mention of the 1917 Nivelle Offensive. Furthermore, the author's failure to mention the development of "methodical battle" tactics by both the French and the Australian general Monash is a major omission. Yet despite the over-focus on the British trench experience, these volumes are still a good summary of the subject, as long as readers do not forget that there were other armies that were fighting and dying in the trenches in 1914-1918.

World War 1 Trench Warfare is an excellent summary of the transformation from maneuver warfare to static operations and its associated problems in 1914-1916. The author, Dr Stephen Bull, is a curator and military historian at the Museum of Lancashire. While this volume is almost exclusively focused on the Western Front, the author does provide a thorough survey of the main elements of his subject. Unfortunately, the size constraints imposed by the Osprey format prevent Dr. Bull's fine effort from being more comprehensive in terms of other theaters of the war. The Eastern Front is only slightly addressed, while the Balkan and Gallipoli fronts are virtually ignored. The Italian army and the Italian-Austrian Front are never mentioned. All in all, Dr Bull has provided a fine survey of trench warfare in the opening phase of the war, but his fine efforts are clearly constrained by the concise Osprey format.

The volume begins with a 6-page summary of the main armies in 1914, including sections on artillery, cavalry and infantry, enlistment sources and tactics. A 4-page section on infantry weapons in 1914 appends the section on armies. This opening 10-page section is well written and provides a good basis for understanding the military forces available at the start of the war. However, there are some omissions that affect the author's narrative concerning the genesis of trench warfare. First, there is no mention of relative engineer capabilities of the opposing armies, since the author focuses only on the three primary branches. In fact, Germany had a substantial edge in engineering capabilities, beginning with the fact that it assigned an engineer battalion to each of its divisions; British divisions had only two engineer companies and French divisions only one. Therefore when the time came to dig in, German divisions had 50-200% more engineering capability than their opposite numbers. A second factor relates to pre-war doctrine, which the author only addresses in terms of offensive tactics. Again, Germany had an advantage because it had employed rudimentary trench works in pre-war maneuvers, whereas most other armies had not. Both of these factors helped to give Germany an early edge in trench warfare.

The author provides a short section on the early maneuver phase of the war in 1914, followed by a 10-page section on the first trenches. The section on the transformation to trench warfare is decent but fails to adequately explain the reasons for this shift. The "shell scandals" of 1914-1915 are also covered in this section on the opening days of the war. Unfortunately, the author misses the opportunity to mention a number of issues highly germane to trench warfare, partly because of diversions on side issues like the "shell scandal." The author misses the two critical components that set the stage for trench warfare in the first place: machine guns with mutually supporting and interlocked fields of fire and durable obstacles. While the author provides technical details on machineguns, he fails to note that it was the combination of the two aforementioned factors that changed the tactical equation. Furthermore, barbed wire - one of the critical components of trench warfare - is never addressed. The author should have addressed how it was incorporated in defenses, how it was laid and the difficulties in penetrating wire that defeated infantry assaults. Another related factor of trench warfare is the issue of non-battle casualties, of which there were thousands in the muddy lice-infested trenches; it was the non-battle casualties that necessitated unit rotation even more than combat casualties. The main part of this volume consists of a 19-page section on the new weapons and tactics required by the transformation to trench warfare. In the weapons section, the author details the various grenades, mortars and bomb throwers introduced to deal with the siege conditions at the front. In the tactics section, the author covers the use of these new weapons and ends with a interesting example of trench warfare, "during a period of little more than 48 hours of defensive action 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers threw 8,000 grenades, and lost 93 men killed or died of wounds, 13 men missing, and 274 wounded. During their ten week tour of duty casualties amounted to 50 officers and 2,300 rank and file, or more than double the initial strength of the battalion."

The last 10 pages of this volume consist of an overview of new tactics in 1915 and the 1916 Battle of Verdun. There is little mention of the Battle of the Somme, which presumably will be addressed in the next volume, or of changes in artillery tactics. The section on 1915 tactics is quite good and includes the introduction of poison gas and flamethrowers. Dr Bull succeeds in demonstrating that 1915 was not a static year of mindless trench assaults but rather, a period of experimentation and transformation as both sides sought to find solutions to the indecisiveness of trench warfare. Hurricane bombardments, infiltration and mixed assault groups were all introduced in 1915. Unfortunately, while the author points out that not all attacks were not futile, he fails to highlight some of the battles in 1915 - like the initially successful French assault on Vimy Ridge on May 9, 1915 - where well-prepared attacks succeeded. Indeed, it was the lack of sufficient heavy artillery that greatly inhibited Allied offensive action in 1915.

As usual in an Osprey title, the section of color plates in the center of the volume is excellent. These plates include: French bombers in 1914-1915, British bombers in 1914-1915, British snipers in 1915-1916, a German machine gun team in 1915, British bomb catapults in 1915, mine warfare in 1916, Allied gas masks, a Russian trench garrison in 1914-1915, German trench raiders in 1916 and French mortar troops in 1916. All of these illustrations are excellent. The photographs and diagrams throughout the volume are also quite good.

Am I the only who noticed that not a single jedi disappeered when they died in this book? I understand that there's a "secret" meaning behind who becomes one with the Force & who just plain old dies (e.g. - Qui Gonn vs. Obi Wan or Yoda), but glaring inconsistencies drive me crazy! Overall, this book really drew me in and while I don't like all the choices made(like a major character's death),that is the writer's choice. I can't wait until Feb., but agree with many others that this series seems stalled out. Please bring back Zahn!!! It was nice to see Lando as the Solos' true friend, but also his regular wheeler-dealer self. Luke, Mara, Han, & Leia,I thought, were well portrayed, and as for all the young Jedi I can accept that they are still maturing, so their personalities would most likely go through some changes (though let's not get carried away!)I'm also looking forward to finding out where the story line with Vergere is going. I am getting tired of Kyp and his childish attitude. There seems to be the impression that he's a "young" Jedi one minute and a Master the next. Which is it? Let's see Vong personality AND our fav Star War storylines.

Star By Star by Troy Denning has to be the best incarnation of the Star Wars series I've read yet. In the New Jedi Order series, our typical star wars heroes are joined by their now full grown children in a battle against a dark menace, The Yuuzhan Vong. This book is highly emotional and very real. The author makes you care about these characters and then they drop them into unthinkable situations, and your emotions get pulled along for the ride. If you are a star wars fan, you'll love this book. It's highly representative of all the things that make the movies great, because it is harsh, depressing and real. However if you aren't a fan, this book isn't for you, for you will not understand all of it and all that has happened since the original films. A must buy for all fans, this book is, to put it simply, breathtaking.

...

I am saddened and a little depressed at the turn of events in this book. I was looking forward to the next generation of jedi knights taking their place in the galaxy even though I had mixed emotions about the "older" crew not playing such active roles anymore.
After the events of Sept. 11 I cannot help but read this book and compare our own events in this country with the events taking place in this "fictitious" galxay "far, far away." If one rates a book by such things as making one think more about the world in which we live and one can't put the book down (as I couldn't) then even if we don't like the plot or outcomes the book has masterfully captured us. I cannot say how much it disheartens me to read this series - one planet after another destroyed. Major characters gone. I purchase each NJO book and can't bring myself to start reading because I don't know what horrible thing will happen this time. And yet, I do read.
I would caution people who do not know the Star Wars universe (pre-Republic, Old Republic, New Order, New Republic...) that this universe is and has always been undergoing good vs. evil battles. This is not the first time planets have been detroyed or peoples wiped out. But, as Leia said "We will prevail."
Keep reading we have not reached the darkest before the dawn.

People seem to have mixed opinions about the character "Random", Arthur and Trillian's (biological) daughter. Her presence in the story constitutes more of a Statement than a character as such, I think. She is Douglas Adams' way of saying "hey, we all feel lost, alone, helpless, overwhelmed, uncertain where we belong, etc etc etc" Even so, she probably could have been a little more fleshed out...

The "Guide Mark 2" is really pretty creepy. It makes you think about some of the big questions, unsurprisingly, if you have read any of Douglas Adams' other stuff... Also, although the plot just goes hogwild for 95% of the book, it really does all pull together at the end. The book is relatively self-contained, compared to some of the others in the series. In general this book is less wacky, and generally a bit darker, than the other books in the "trilogy". Reading this is a little like going to "The Cable Guy", when you are expecting a usual Jim Carey movie. It does make you laugh, but also makes you think, and not always in very comforting ways.

This fifth and final installment in the increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker's Trilogy is simply amazing. While it seems that a lot of people weren't satisfied with it, I am quite the exception. The tone of the humor in this book (as with SLATFATF) is much darker than the earlier books, but that's just fine by me. I prefer a little darkness.

While this book returns somewhat more to the zaniness of the first three books (at least in comparison to the fourth book), it is not entirely wacky. It seems that this book is, in many ways, quite "fannish," there to please fans of the series with cheap thrills and tips of the hat (one example would be the return of the Vogons, which I don't exactly think anybody was clammoring for). However, in the midst of all this, Adams tells a wonderfully adventurous story that ties together in an ending that will leave you stunned and breathless (I'll try not to spoil it, but it's reminiscent of something that happenned in the first book, HG2G).

The worst part of the book is that Fenchurch just disappears... literally! And we never see Arthur deal with it! Still, Adams provides us with yet another wonderful character to help reveal the human side of Arthur....

I think it is a wonderful, if unexpected and somewhat unnecessary, end to the series. Trillian returns (although thankfully Zaphod doesn't), but Marvin is depressingly absent. Oh and remember Agrajag, from LTUAE? Well, there's a wonderful tie to that whole thing that you just can't miss. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, go read LTUAE and then read this and laugh along with me. Read it. You'll be blown away.

People who read the book "Mostly Harmless" with a focus on the events of the book will probably end up disappointed. Adams continues his shift toward writing character centered novels (as begun in "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish", and continued in the Dirk Gently novels).

The story focuses on three characters: Arthur Dent, the perenially confused Briton; Ford Prefect, the manic Betelgeusian; and Tricia McMillan, a BBC television reporter who, had she decided not to go back to get her purse when she met "Phil" at a party, would have become Trillian.

Adams presents Dent as a wonderfully tragic picture, and mirrors the beginning of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" quite well. Dent is presented as a lost soul, desperately in search of a home and a place to belong. Of course, when he actually finds a place where he belongs and becomes comfortable, outside events tear his world apart. This is a theme that was present in three of the four previous HHGTTG books, but the presentation is probably the best in "Mostly Harmless" (and particularly intriguing is that Arthur's world is torn asunder by a person searching for the exact same thing as Arthur had: a place to belong).

The story of Tricia McMillan offers an interesting counterpoint to Arthur's troubles. Although she is a successful television personality, she is obsessed with the consequences of one of her past choices. Unlike Arthur, who is preoccupied with the process of finding a place to belong, Tricia is preoccupied with thoughts of what might have been.

Unlike his previous books, Adams allows the tragedy to come to a fitting end. The tone is certainly darker than the previous HHGTTG books, and the humor is perhaps less prevalent. Even so, it is a fitting end to a fine series.