...Which pave the road to mediocrity, a writer's hell. Though it isn't terrible, "Democracy" is little more than a could-have-been in all respects. It has interesting ideas and competent writing, so the potential was there. The problem, as is so often the case, is in the novel's execution.

The idea that power corrupts is an old one, and it is obviously the main point of Henry Adams' novel. His intention seems to be to portray the lengths to which those in power will go to acquire more power, and how the lust for power is certain to deaden one's sense of morality. Unfortunately, Adams would have done better to write an essay on the subject rather than attempt to weave it into a fictional novel, for the author waxes too moralistic on his theme, rather than stepping back and allowing the characters to make his point for him. This does more harm than simply annoying the reader with value judgments; the story itself becomes so transparent and predictable, that it seems a mere vehicle for what soon becomes a tiresome refrain.

Perhaps this is why the characters are so lamentably flat. The descriptions Adams writes for each character seem to foreshadow complexity and development, but this soon is proven to be a false impression. Interesting as the characters might have been from their descriptions, when push comes to shove and the story continues, they remain utterly devoid of personality. Ironically, the main characters, Madeleine and Ratcliffe, are probably the most thinly developed of the entire bunch; the supporting cast is slightly more interesting, but not by much.

Another annoyance is the implausible thinking and actions of so many of the characters; for Madeleine to contemplate marrying Ratcliffe for her sister's sake is simply ridiculous. The fact that she considers her life at an end at age thirty is equally implausible, as is Sybil's attitude of careless youth at age twenty-five: in the nineteenth century, any woman of that age who was yet unmarried would have been considered an old maid, yet that is never even hinted at.

Perhaps the worst of it all was the pacing: this 300+ page book could have EASILY been half its size. It drags along without character development and without even any plot development. Worse yet, the book is centered entirely around politics, yet Adams seems hazy as to the details of those politics. Perhaps Madeleine learned a lot about American politics from her stay in Washington, but very little of this is shared with the reader. As such, the book does not even have an interesting setting to recommend itself.

In the end, it is obvious what Adams was trying to say, but by making Madeleine so careless with regard to Ratcliffe, the author fails utterly. With no temptation, there can be no sacrifice. It is unclear why the reader is expected to admire Madeleine, yet this expectation is clear enough.

To sum up...for a book about government corruption, look elsewhere. There must be something out there better than this. Anything.

"Democracy" is what "Primary Colors" would have been if the latter had been well-written. Like Joe Klein, Adams published his book anonymously and skewered a number of contemporary politicians (including President Rutherford B. Hayes). But Adams goes two steps further: his novel is a scathing commentary more on the American political system in general than on one administration in particular, and his characters are iconic and recognizable in any era.

In "Democracy," the nation's capital "swarms with simple-minded exhibitions of human nature; men and women curiously out of place, whom it would be cruel to ridicule and ridiculous to weep over." But Adams is not hesitant about being cruel in his portrayal of Washington's residents, and he saves his weeping for the true victims in his novel: the American people. The typical American senator combines "the utmost pragmatical self-assurance and overbearing temper with the narrowest education and meanest personal experience that ever existed in any considerable government." (Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose!)

The story concerns Madeleine Lee, an intelligent and well-meaning (if somewhat naive) New York widow, who, bored with her cosmopolitan lifestyle, travels to Washington to learn what makes the nation tick. She and her sister are quickly surrounded by a diverse group of politicians, lobbyists, and foreign diplomats, and she finds herself courted by Silas Ratcliffe, a senator with presidential aspirations whose talent "consisted in the skill with which he evaded questions of principle." During one heated (and humorous) argument about George Washington's merits, Ratcliffe sums up his view of politics: "If virtue won't answer our purpose, then we must use vice, or our opponents will put us out of office."

Adams's prose is almost Jamesian in its measured pacing (and this may simply bore some readers); the initial chapters are unhurried as he weaves the web of the plot and sketches his all-too-believable characters. Along the way he tosses barbed zingers at every target. The climactic passages are among the most comically riveting, emotionally intense, and morally satisfying finales I've read in a satire: as you might expect, nobody gets exactly what they want, but everyone gets what they deserve.

To act with entire honesty and self-respect, one should always live in a pure atmosphere, and the atmosphere of politics is impure. -Senator Silas Ratcliffe, Democracy

In his own lifetime, Henry Adams was famous first for being the grandson of John Quincy Adams, thus the great grandson of John Adams; second for his epic History of the United States During the Jefferson and Madison Administrations. It was only upon his death, in 1918, that his third person autobiography, The Education of Henry Adams, was published and that his publisher revealed that Adams had written the previously anonymous novel Democracy. It is The Education which has sustained his reputation, having been named the number one book on the Modern Library list of the Top 100 Nonfiction Books of the 20th Century, but Democracy is still considered one of the better novels of American politics, though surprisingly it is currently out of print.

The novel is both a fairly typical 19th Century comedy of manners--with the widow Madeleine Lee decamping from New York to Washington DC, where she instantly becomes one of the Capital's most desirable catches--and a more serious meditation on the nature and pursuit of power in the American democracy. The widow Lee is specifically interested in Washington because it is the seat of power :

...she was bent upon getting to the heart of the great American mystery of democracy and government.

. . .

What she wished to see, she thought, was the clash of interests, the interests of forty millions of people and a whole continent, centering at Washington; guided, restrained, controlled, or unrestrained and uncontrollable, by men of ordinary mould; the tremendous forces of government, and the machinery of society at work. What she wanted was POWER.

Mrs. Lee's most likely pursuer is Senator Silas Ratcliffe of Illinois, widely considered a likely future President : he sees her as a perfect First Lady and she sees him as her path to power. Through an elaborate courtship ritual and several set piece scenes (in the Senate, at the White House, at Mount Vernon, at Arlington Cemetery and at a dress ball) Adams puts his characters through their paces and affords the reader an intimate look at the rather tawdry political milieu of the 1870's. The theme that runs throughout the story is that access to power comes only through compromising one's principles, but Adams is sufficiently ambivalent about the point that we're uncertain whether he's more contemptuous of those who make the necessary deals or those who, by staying "pure," sacrifice the opportunity to influence affairs of state. Suffice it to say that the novel ends with Mrs. Lee, assumed by most critics to represent Adams himself, fleeing to Egypt, telling her sister : "Democracy has shaken my nerves to pieces."

Like his presidential forebears, Henry Adams had a realistic and therefore jaundiced view of politics, even as practiced in a democracy. The Adams's did not subscribe to the starry eyed idealism of the Jeffersonians. But they were all drawn to politics, even realizing that it was a moral quagmire. This is the fundamental dilemma of the conservative democrat, we recognize that we have to govern ourselves because we know we can't trust unelected rulers, but we also understand that our elected representatives are unlikely to be any more honest than the tyrants we threw out. This attitude is famously captured in Winston Churchill's (alleged) aphorism : "Democracy: the worst of all possible systems, but there is no other which would be better." And the unfortunate corollary is that unless relatively honorable men like the Adamses and the Churchills pursue careers in politics, the field will be left to the real scoundrels. Henry Adams doesn't offer any solutions to the dilemma, but he offers an amusing take on it.

GRADE : B

It really was. The whole idea of Professor X going mad clearly came from Bob Harras, not Lobdell, and if you're editor in cheif at the company you can do anything you want, even if it only succeeds in angering more readers then it actually attracts. Another story like this one, and there won't be a Marvel Universe anymore.

Well this chapter of the Onslaught war sees Spider-Man, the Punisher, and the good Green Goblin trying to save New York city from a fleet of Sentinels which Onslaught has send to control the city. But the heroes are badly choosen for the task here. Spidey can only do so much aganist the Sentinels, the Green Goblin is knocked out of action, and the Punisher has to rescue Shield agents from a downed heli-carrier. It would have been more intresting if Nick Fury and Dr. Strange had led the charge against the sentinels on the Front Line, but they were never used for this story and it's a shame.

I've just a few things to say of this book. Superb. It keeps the pace, but, nevertheless, it asounds me how much suspense you can go through with all that going on. 'WillNate & franklin get out?' or, simply 'How's it all going to end out?' or even 'Won't hate for mutants rise again?'. I consider this to be the best chapter of the 6, although, all are worth reading. In closing, I have to say, The watcher's presence add's a touch of finesse, and Apocolypse's statement brings me to believe that he'll have something up his sleeve, and could pop up anytime (but I have a feeling it will be in Cable between '99-2000).

although this book has lots of pictures (but not as many as you'd think, as some appear more than once), it has practically no content. it's very cute but not worth the 18 bucks. i wish someone would write a real history of catwoman, but this book is not it.

This book is cute. Yes...I said cute. I love Catwoman, she totally hot, and this book does a good job at pointing out that she is one of Batman's most recognizable and famous villians...but it's really all just pretty pictures. The book only skims the surface of Catwoman, with little blurbs about her history from decade to decade--not nearly enough info for my tastes. But as a coffee table book it works quite well. Beautifuly designed and ultimately fun, "Catwoman" is well worth the price to enjoy just a glimpse of what made this chick so darn sexy.

A great-looking, fun book. Not much text, a quick read. Similar format to the "Complete History" compilations of Batman and Superman, but less material. Call it "Complete History Lite".

The Harrison family move into their new house and James wants the attic turned into his bedroom but whilst they are cleaning out the attic they find a bottle with a message in and they accidentally smash it and what they don't know is that a spirit is released.After this there is lots of messages being left around.No one believed james and no one ever did until things got too bad and they all wish they had believed him. It is written by Penelope Lively who is a very affective author.

The ghost of Thomas Kempe is a spooky story written by penelope lively. The Harrison family have strange things going on in their new house. Messages are being left in places in werid writting and odd things have been happening. James Harrison is sure there's a ghost haunting the house but no-one will beive him until things start to get too out of hands........ This book makes a good read and is suitable for anyone who is willing to sit down and get engrossed into solving the mystery of the Harrisons house.

The Ghost of Thomas Kempe is a very good story of which the Harrison family move from their old house to a new Countryside Cottage but they dont knpw that a 300 year old bloke is trying to haunt them. The family recieved letters and messages as if the GHOST was trying to haunt them.The atmospheric detail and Archaic language used,was to a good effect. The book was quite good but the ending was not very well thought out!

After reading several great reviews, I approached this book with keen interest, only to find myself bored, and struggling to finish the last forty pages. My time could have been saved if the author had simply said he thinks the KJV is better than all modern translations and have done with it, nevermind that in the 21st century the KJV is hard going, its musicality lost in the ancientness of its language. Even Mr. Nicholson's work is hard going with his insistence of reproducing all quotes in their original 17th century spelling. I found the book little more than a series of personality profiles with precious little actually devoted to the KJV and how its translation came about--something I was far more interested in than whether or not one of the Translators married for money. Sorry, but for me this Emperor wears no clothes.

REVIEWED BY LARRY WITHAM...

We often locate ourselves in history by memories of a dramatic day, from President John Kennedy's assassination in 1963 to the Challenger explosion in 1986. What were you doing, we will ask, the day the World Trade Towers fell?
In "God's Secretaries," the story of the King James Bible's translation, Adam Nicolson gives us another benchmark. What were we doing between 1603 and 1625, the reign of James I? Quite a lot. During that time, the bestselling Bible in history was minted, Puritan dissenters left for America, and literary genius spilled from the pen of William Shakespeare.
It was also the English era of "companies," or joint enterprises, that included the Virginia Company that arrived here in 1607. For our story, the important "company" was a group of about 50 men on six different committees who between 1604 and 1611 produced a new Bible for the king.
Mr. Nicolson argues that only the Jacobean age (Latin for James) could produced such a work - the age's landmark was not a painting or piece of architecture, but a book. Because of this unique chemistry of royalty and worthy scholars, "the greatest translation of the Bible could be made then, and cannot now."
The greatness, the author says, arose from the musicality of the verse. It used Elizabethan prose and when the final meeting of translators gathered, they read through it for final corrections on the principle that "if it sounds right, it is right."
Reared in Scotland, James was baptized a Catholic and brought up by Presbyterian governors. He was intellectually inquisitive, wanted "the medium in all things," had held a "dream of coherence" of society under his own kingship. "The Bible was to become part of the new royal ideology," Mr. Nicholson writes, part of a "large-scale redefinition of England."
The Reformation-produced Geneva Bible had been the favorite of English dissenters, who recoiled at the Church of England's bishops, crosses and ceremonies and its staid Bishop's Bible. When 1,000 Puritans appealed to James for a new translation, he used that momentum for his won purposes - he wanted a simple royal Bible to be read from every pulpit in the realm.
The cultural times lent to honoring hierarchy and pageantry, which would end up a quality of the King James. "Plaintiffs knelt in court, children to their fathers, MPs and bishops when addressing the king," Mr. Nicholson said. While the Geneva Bible used the word "tyrant" for ruler, the Jacobean text proudly used "king."
"For the strict reformers, only the naked intellectual engagement with the complexities of a rational God would do," Mr. Nicholson writes. For Jacobean royalty, the carnal beauty, passion and pageantry of the world also were prized.
When James set up his company of translators, separatists and Presbyterians were excluded, yet the text ended up a synthesis of verbal simplicity and earthy richness. The most famous of the translators was the Cambridge don and dean of Westminster Abbey, Lancelot Andrewes. A brilliant and pious man, he was far from saintly. He fled his flock during the plague and abetted the torture of a Puritan heretic. But he spoke 15 modern languages and six ancient. He was one of the great preachers of that epoch.
Other dramas enthralled the era. The plague of 1603 killed 30,000 Londoners, and two years later some estranged Catholics were caught in a "gun powder plot" to blow up Parliament. A real plot now is questionable, but amid the public hysteria the crown executed the innocent leader of the English Jesuits.
Meanwhile, the royal agents in 1608 had finally banished "a separatist cell in Scrooby in Nottinghamshire," namely the Puritans who left for Holland and then Plymouth colony to found the United States.
Through his splendid narrative, Mr Nicholson raises the ironies of such a glorious enterprise as he believes this work of sacred Scripture turned out to be. A skilled theological disputant, King James was also an active bisexual, which the author discretely hints at with comments about the married king being "vulnerable to the allure of beautiful, elegant, rather Frenchified men" and boys.
The Jacobean period was one of relative peace that preceded the bloody English Civil Wars, which tried to level royalty, but were defeated by the ultimate Restoration of the crown again. The wars had no little source in the corruption, moral and financial, of James' court. "The court was corrupt and everyone knew it," Mr. Nicholson notes.
Then there is the question of the prose itself, which Mr. Nicholson shows in many comparisons of Bible translation to be rhythmically superior, and not just sentimentally preferred. Indeed, the King James phraseology was so influential in the United States that it was almost believed that God spoke in Elizabethan cadences - and the fact that the lascivious King James was enemy to the Puritans is happily forgotten.
While the Bible's language is beautiful on tombstones, and it compelled great oratory down to Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy and Martin Luther King, this must also be said: The living-room Bible study of the 21st century can barely get through the King James without a commentary.
Mr. Nicholson closes his lively narrative by acknowledging that partisans of William Tyndale (the British Lutheran executed in 1536 for translating the Bible from Latin to English) call the King James Version a 94-percent plagiarism. Tyndale did indeed fashion most of the great biblical phrases. But he "was working alone," Mr. Nicholson said, and thus his prose lacked the "musicality" of the final King James masterpiece.
This book is a delight to read, and leaves us with wonder at the strange times of Jacobean England and the wonderful literature it wrought.

There are a good many churches in America who insist that the use of any Bible other than the King James Version is anathema. The joke goes that one of the members of such a sect declared, "If it was good enough for Saint Paul, it is good enough for me." The truth is that the KJV is good enough for any English speaker, more majestic than any other version, and that it is a foundation of the English-speaking world more than even Shakespeare is. How this astonishing book came to be composed is Adam Nicolson's story in _God's Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible_ (HarperCollins). It is a successful account of how diverse personalities, European history, and religious fashions produced a timeless classic.

There were English Bibles before 1611. The KJV grew out of a conference at Hampton Court where the new king took up grievances of the Puritans; the Bible was a byproduct of the conference. James was heartened by the idea of a new translation. He distrusted the widely used Geneva Bible because it had marginal notes about how people ought to view kings, notes he viewed as seditious. Less self-servingly, he thought an authoritative translation might bring religious peace to his conflicted land. The translation was his personal project. There are plenty of jokes about how committees invariably complicate rather than solve problems, but Nicolson shows that in Jacobean England, individuality was distrusted and "Jointness was the acknowledged virtue of the age." The KJV was a product of 54 translators, broken into teams and organized in a fashion that would befuddle a modern CEO, and they followed general or specific rules laid down by King James. The notes and directives generated by the translators have been largely lost, but Nicolson is able to tell us about a few of the translators themselves, a mixed bunch. A combination of puritans, prudes, drunkards, scholars, libertines, hotheads, and other eccentrics were perhaps just the crew to be involved in translating a work of such breadth. Among the most interesting parts of Nicholson's book are comparative translations. He gives a history of Luke 1:57, for instance, to show how it was rendered as "Now Elizabeths full time came that she should bee delivered, and she brought forth a son." Nicholson points out the richness of "full" meaning plump, perfect, or overbrimming. He also gives us another committee translation, performed over three centuries after the KJV, the New English Bible: "Now the time came for Elizabeth's child to be born, and she gave birth to a son." There is nothing at all remarkable in these flat words; they might have come from a social worker's report. Nicolson says of these translators, "Wanting timelessness, they achieved the language of the memo."

Recently we have been treated to gender-free translations of the Bible, or the Ebonics Bible, as attempts to make the book relevant or up to date. There are also "modern" translations into American English that are as dull as they are easy to read. Such translations will quickly themselves be out of date curiosities, but the KJV will never be antiquated. _God's Secretaries_ is a fine tribute to the imperishable majesty of its words, and to the particular Jacobean circumstances that brought it about.

I think i've been spoiled by Elizabeth George. She's often compared to PD James, & so I picked up CHF to give her a try. I suppose it's not her fault that the book is poorly edited (I'm picky that way) - but the characters are never developed to any significant extent. Even at the end of the book I hadn't developed any attachment to any of the characters. I don't think it's my lack of experience with post-war England - but James doesn't go to much effort to describe the emotional underpinnings that help the reader unfamiliar with the social circumstances to feel an emotional bond. I feel more connected to Jane Austen's characters, centuries distant, than I do to James' decades distant characters. I may give her one more shot, but I will probably look elsewhere for a new mystery writer to enjoy.

Sally Jupp is unexpectedly attractive--and an unwed mother in an era when such still carries considerable stigma. After a sterling record at a home for "fallen women," she finds work as a maid for the aristocratic but somewhat impoverished Maxie family, and once installed shows another aspect of her personality: a perverse pleasure in creating unpleasantness for virtually every one who crosses her path. The Maxie family is largely impervious to her machinations... but when Sally goes so far as to tantalize a proposal of marriage from the Maxie son, her game of troubling the water turns lethal, and Scotland Yard's Inspector Dalgliesh is on the job.

This 1962 effort was P.D. James' first novel, and at the time it drew enough praise to immediately place among the foremost mystery writers of the day. And indeed there is much to be said for it: the story is well-constructed, the characters well drawn, and the crime is appropriately mysterious; on the whole it is a fast and fun read. But not all P.D. James fans will be impressed. Although there is more than a hint of the distinctive style and convolutions James will bring to her later work, it borrows a great deal in construction from Agatha Christie and not a little from Dorothy Sayers in terms of literary style, and Inspector Dalgliesh is not as well developed here as he will eventually become.

On the whole, I recommend the novel--but I recommend it to established fans of P.D. James, who will be interested to see her working in the "classic English murder mystery" style and enjoy comparing this debut work to the author's later and more impressive work. First timers would do better to select one of the many novels that find James at the peak of her form--with DEATH OF AN EXPERT WITNESS or A TASTE FOR DEATH particularly recommended.

This story takes place in the 1960's. It is about a British family who has two maids. The main characters in the story are Sally Jupp, Mrs. Lidell, Dr. Epps, Catherine Bowers, Deborah Riscoe, Felix Hearne, Dr. Stephen Maxie, Mrs. Maxie and Martha Bultitaft.
Dr. Maxie has just proposed to his housemaid, Sally Jupp. The engagement was very surprising and disapointing to all of his family and friends. Many people are even mad enough to kill Sally. Sure enough Sally is found dead the next day behind the bolted door leading to her room. Among a houseful of suspects Detective Adam Dagliesh must find her killer. Using only interviews and two minor clues see how Dagleish solves the mystery.
I liked this book because of how all the characters had a huge part in how Dagliesh figured out who the killer was. And another reason why I liked this story was because I liked to see how Dagliesh uses what he already has to track down who the killer is.
I really like this book and recommend it. But i do think it was more of an adult book because of the language and the vocabulary.I think this book would be appropriate for people over the age of 14. This was one of the best books I have ever read so if you see it somewhere go ahead and start reading!

Alas, Ms. McCaffrey strikes again. Throughout her writing, she is plagued by....bad writing. Her ideas are wonderful, and if only properly executed, could make up wonderful books. Too bad that she, and this book in particular (the early Pern books were not so bad) is predictable, inconsistant and sloppy. She might care to try reading her books and noticing the number of things that change from page to page. This is particularly infuriating, as it should not be so difficult to avoid. Unfortunately, she appears not to have made this one small effort. In this book, there was a) no character development worth speaking of, b) no surprises or involving moments, and c) much that rang false and superficial. Not worth reading, except on a desert island.

I liked this book, which was quite surprising since i never really liked science fiction before. im eager to read the next 2 books.

The idea is beyond wonderful, I REALLY want to live on this planet McCaffrey and Scarborough have created. That being said I've worried about McCaffrey for some time as her books in recent years have... well... Let's just say she may feel in a hurry or something. Elizabeth has written other books alone, that I have found enjoyable, and own, so this can't be all or even mostly her fault. I do read this trilogy over and over, but a good bit of that time is spent with the book face down and me daydreaming. And oddly enough only those darn cats, the planet itself, and the large beaming medicine woman from the novels feature at all in my daydreams...

It seems that everyone who reviews this book says to "forget the editing". Well, you CAN'T forget the editing, because it is so glaringly atrocious. Sentences chopped up, paragraphs cut in two, random (and not so random) misspellings, every instance of the word "crazy" capitalized. It was a chore to read, and if I hadn't been interested in the Rifts setting to begin with I'd have thrown it away after reading the first chapter.

My other complaint was with the writing itself. There is a very large cast of charecters with little to distinguish them from each other. Even their names are unmemorable: Mike, Dave, Dan, etc. I had to make up a "dramatis personae" list just to keep track of who was who. And please... military officers on first name basis with their troops?

The only redeeming feature of the book was that it did have some interesting descriptions of life in the Coalition States and the world of the Rifts role-playing game. But I've read much better gaming fiction for free on the internet. Sorry... two thumbs down.

Adam Chilson's first novel, Sonic Boom, is a must-have for all Rifts fans. Unfortunately, it's also a must-have for all copy editors, as it's what NOT to do when editing a book.

I had to deduct a whole two stars for the horrible and sloppy editing of the book, with all the spelling errors, fractured sentences, and misplaced words.

On the plus side, anyone who loves Rifts will enjoy the look into the Coalition States and the translation of the rules into a readable story.

The book also boosts a promising start into an exciting series and with many excellent and varied characters.

As any Rifts fan will tell you this book is a must have. What I would like to say is dont let the editng fool you. Once you have pushed your way through this title and on to the next in the series, you will be glad you did. The editing mistakes that are apparent in this title was due to a computer snafu at the printers (so it is said) and much editing was lost when this book went to print.

I still say this was an excellent book. The characters are true to the Rifts world and will bring new ideas to your game. read this and the other two in the series and you will not be disappointed.

Snoozer. Very self-indulgent.

From my experience, these kind of healing books don't work well to change my feelings and attitudes. They do have temporary effects, but do not last long. This book also was not the execption. There are many "Things To Do" which I should do right now to change my life. But I don't and can't do these "Things". Always when I read such kind of books, I am firm about trying to do these "Things". But I don't take a whim for reading these kind of books again and thus lose an opportunity to do good "Things" entirely. I think volunteering for building GESUNDHEIT INSTITUTE in WEST VIRGINIA and meeting PATCH ADAMS is much more effective than reading this book.

From my experience, these kind of healing books don't work well to change my feelings and attitudes. They do have temporary effects, but do not last long. This book also was not the execption. There are many "Things To Do" which I should do right now to change my life. But I don't and can't. Always when I read such kind of books, I am firm about trying to do these "Things". But I don't take a whim for reading these kind of books again and thus I lose an opportunity to do good "Things" entirely. I think volunteering for building GESUNDHEIT INSTITUTE in WEST VIRGINIA and meet PATCH ADAMS is much more effective than reading this book.

I was very disappointed in this book because I didn't do enough research to see that it was published in 1979 as a hardcover book. Material is more of a history of condo development. Included forms are dated. I couldn't find a date when forms were published.

The book doen't show a person how the author built condos. No proformas, financing projections, no templates. No computer disk is include for the forms!

This book has a deceiving title. One expects the content to be what it claims to be to an acceptable degree. It's only 175 pages with poor binding and presentation, when in reality it seems like a glorified type-written college term paper. I should have taken the advice of one of the reviewers who had a strong reservation and warning. I am very disappointed with the price I paid for the book. Do not make the same mistake.

When you want real advice on a real estate investment that can work for even a small investor, this is the book to turn to. Admittedly the get-rich-quick crowd are disappointed in the book, but for steady, conservative, low-risk investment, Adam Starchild presents the sort of guidance that most investors should have been following during the late 90s.