This was rather informative on the actual workings of the UN. Firstly, how it functions - six principal organs established by the Charter: General Assembly, Security Council, Secretariat, International Court of Justice, Trusteeship Council, Economic and Social Council. Secondly, its attitude towards force and conflict - it will intervene if there is a threat to international peace (Chapter VII); states can only use force for individual or collective self-defence (under Articles 2(4), 51); in practice, general support for national liberation movements and self-determination struggles (Zimbabwee, Namibia); in practice, growing humanitarian intervention since 1991 (Somalia, Rwanda, Bosnia). Thirdly, the means by which it responds to conflict - peacekeeping operations (an ad hoc mechanism - maintaining cessation of hostilities as well as postconflict peacebuilding); sanctions (under Article 41) - versus how it's supposed to - to have armed forces on call (under Article 43); to have an effective Military Staff Committee (under Article 47).

Where it falters is on the actual analysis. It brings up the idea of the self-interest of states limiting the UN (nothing new); and the UN working within an inter-state system instead of superceding it as a supranational government, but does not provide elaboration or explanation. It also brings up the idea of the symbolic role of the UN and the conference of legitimacy to the principles it espouses. Otherwise, this book is prone to sweeping statements and rhetoric about the 'fundamental divisions' in the world, the greater variety of problems the UN will face post-Cold War, the need for 'streamlining and rationalization within and beyond the UN system'. All general terms - which tell us nothing about what the problems are and how they arise; how they can be solved; what reform should be undertaken, how and why.

Being a fan of comic book art, video games, and zombies, I figured this graphic novel would be a unique treat... but I have mixed feelings. The art in this book is very nice and interesting, especially in the action sequences. It remains faithful to the game, in that the characters randomly find weapons, ammunition, puzzle keys, and herbs... although this adds to the choppy storytelling. Overall, the story is bland and uninteresting, much of it being told through Claire's non-stop self exposition. If you're a huge fan of the game and comic book art, you will probably enjoy this graphic novel. But, if you are looking to be engaged in a great zombie story you should look elsewhere.

I was hoping that Simon Millar's latest Osprey Campaign series title, Rossbach & Leuthen 1757, would be as good as his previous title, Kolin 1757. Alas, it is not. Whereas Kolin 1757 offered incisive military analysis of why Frederick the Great suffered his first defeat, Rossbach & Leuthen 1757 has much less to offer. Osprey Campaign titles are intended to be stand-alone volumes, but Millar has short-changed the readers of this volume in regards to background material, analysis and maps. The author's writing style is also far more plodding and passionless than in his previous volume; for example, Leuthen is presented as a bland recitation of units marching and firing, rather than a desperate winter battle (was there not a single eyewitness account that might have been incorporated?).

Rossbach & Leuthen 1757 begins with a short section on the origins of the campaign, a chronology and a section on opposing commanders. Unfortunately, there is no section on opposing plans as is normal in the Campaign series and the section on opposing armies is woefully inadequate. The author states that, "I am not going to discuss the uniforms, equipment or typical tactical formations of the combatants at Rossbach and Leuthen" since these subjects are detailed in various Osprey Men-at-Arms titles (11 other volumes to be exact). Instead, the author offers brief blurbs on the Prussian Guard, the Imperial Army, and Frederick's oblique order. Frankly, this was the first time that I ever felt cheated by an Osprey Campaign series title. The author partly redresses these omissions with two detailed order of battle tables for both battles. It is also highly questionable whether two battles separated by a month and 150 miles can be efficiently packed into the thin space of an Osprey title. Indeed, the campaign narrative appears to suffer from trying to cover too much; the author spends only 17 pages on the Rossbach campaign and 47 on Leuthen. The volume includes three 3-D "Birds Eye View" maps (one on Rossbach, two on Leuthen) and only four 2-D maps (Invasion of Hanover & Prussia, the road to Rossbach, the campaign in Silesia, the flank march at Leuthen). At least the three battle scenes included are good: the French and Prussian firing lines at Rossbach, the initial Prussian attack at Leuthen and Driesen's cavalry charge at Leuthen. The bibliography is also a bit disappointing since 50% of the sources listed are either Christopher Duffy's various titles (which are good but tend to recycle the same information) or Osprey Men-at-Arms titles.

The crux of both these battles comes down to Frederick's favorite tactic, the oblique attack. Unfortunately, the author fails to mention that this tactic required an excellent tactical picture of the enemy's disposition, convenient screening terrain and a fairly incompetent enemy commander; when Frederick held these advantages, the tactic worked. The author has little to say about the Battle of Rossbach. The French and Imperial forces were unprepared for mobile warfare and attempted a lethargic effort to flank Frederick's smaller army, but which blundered directly into the Prussian "kill sac." Millar blames the Austrian defeat at Leuthen primarily on faulty leadership, noting that, "once again the direction of the Austrian forces in the field would be decided by dynastic interests and pride, rather than ability." Certainly one major factor in the Austrian defeat was the premature commitment of virtually their entire reserve force to the wrong flank, in response to Prussian feints. Commitment of the reserves when the enemy's intentions are not yet clear is certainly an egregious error, but it doesn't suffice as the sole reason for the Austrian defeat. Other factors include the early defeat of the Austrian cavalry covering force, the low quality of the Imperial German troops that caught the brunt of the initial Prussian attack, the sluggish tactical response of the Austrian commanders and the collapse of Austrian morale. However, Napoleon's dictum that in war the morale is to the material as three is to one must surely have derived from his study of both these battles (Napoleon was much enamored of Leuthen), since Frederick was badly out-numbered in both battles but still won handily. Frederick's tactics were successful in both battles because he was able to disrupt his enemy's deployment (defensively at Rossbach and offensively at Leuthen) and this knocked his foes off-balance, but these same methods were much less effective against foes like the Russians who simply stood their ground even if flanked. One could say that Frederick's tactics were meant to take advantage of the faint-of-heart. Nor was Frederick particularly effective at exploiting his victories and pursuing a defeated enemy to destruction, since his style was geared toward highly centralized war making. The author also fails to mention that Rossbach and Leuthen, while victories, did not lead to any long-term advantages for encircled Prussia.

I bought this because the book touted itself as a way to find those out of the way places that the usual travel books don't tell you about.

I have read this book, and I learned nothing new -- no restaurants, accommodations, attractions, etc. that I hadn't known about already. So in this regard it was a disappointment.

However, it is a good basic primer about things Barbadian. There are, however, some good, detailed maps. It is also a "pocket" book, small in size, so you could easily bring it with you to Barbados and use as a reference.

However, I also read Harry P.'s book on Barbados. It is much more thorough and also pretty portable. In my opinion, if you need one book on Barbados, this one probably wouldn't be it.

"Holiday Stud"!! This was fresh, funny, original, and tons of fun to read. the heroine is tired of the pitying looks from her sisters, and the copies of biographies of lesbian celelbrities from her mother. When her underwear model boyfied dumps her right before Christmas, seh goes to a spa to recharge, and there she meets a new friend with a recommendation. Hire George, a "professional companion" who promises a climactic experiece. On the other side of the story, George is double booked for the holiday, and sends his recently out-of-work airforce pal to do the job. once the job is on, though, the reader gets to meet all of Kylee's other crazy, mixed-up characters.

Lisa Plumley's story was a great read also, but Lisa Jackson and Elaine Coffman's stories were re-prints. Kylee's short story was worth the purchase price of the book on its own, but I was disappointed to find that I'd already read 2 of the 4 stories! Buy this book, Kylee and Lisa will make it worth your money, but be warned that it is only half new.

This book could have been yet another book about a big misunderstanding, or it could have been yet another amnesia book, or it could have been yet another book about a nice heroine mistaken for the hero's evil wife.

It escapes all those traps. The hero and heroine's marriage is falling apart. She is no longer the free spirit who liked making love in their cabin. She now wants to go out to fancy parties -- but he doesn't want that at all. Then, after an accident, she gets amnesia and returns to her old ways. The hero falls in love with her again, but is was afraid she'd soon return to her "chi chi froo froo la-di-da" ways. And he wonders why she changed so much during their marriage.

While I liked the twist, I wasn't crazy about the reason for the change. It made the heroine seem weak, and at times, not very bright. Not to mention highlighting some communication problems.

Still, making this novel start after the marriage has hit the rocks makes it fresh and interesting. I would give it 3.5 stars if I could.

A book about the demographics of Canadians? Although the title doesn't immediately suggest it, that is what Sex in the Snow is all about. Michael Adams has delineated the divisions of modern Canadian society into three generational groups and a dozen "social values tribes." What makes the book especially interesting is the way he highlights connections and tensions between the various tribes and then extrapolates what it all means to Canadian society. The central message is that "demography is no longer destiny," that the contribution/influence of any group or tribe is not intrinsically tied to their numbers, and that self-determination and self-identification plays a powerful role in constructing society. Although the thrust of the book is Canadian demographics, those south of the border will find the comparison between Canadians and their counterparts in the U.S. quite enlightening, too.

I usually cannot stop reading a book in Adam's hilarious Hitchiker series. It takes me about a day on average to read one of these (usually) 200 page books. So Long and Thanks for all the Fish didn't succeed so well. It's probably because of the editing necessary to make an abridged version. It is my opinion that books shoudln't be abridged. A half size Adam's book is worth about as much as a 500 page Les Miserables. If you want a good reading experience, go out and get the full version!

Stryker needs a wife to get the town's husbands off his back. Seems he's the handsomest guy in town, not to mention the marshall, and all the ladies are besotted. Jacey Forester is in a peck of trouble. Not only has she been falsely accused of stealing an expensive necklace, her twin sister has answered an ad for a mail order bride in Jacey's name. Jacey realizes that appearing to agree to the marriage will get her out of town and away from the accusation of theft. But she doesn't realize what she's getting into. Stryker has been burned at love before, and he's not planning on falling again. He never expected to be so drawn to Jacey. As events unravel, both Jacey and Stryker find that they've been duped, and both find they're in love. A series of unlikely events set Jacey on her road to her destiny in Stryker's Bride. A deft talent for description livens up this familiar mail order bride story.

This book is there mainly to show westerners what sumo is really about. It goes through the rules and rankings of sumo wrestling and how the competition actually work. It has insights into sumo wrestlers lifes how they live, train and eat. The book helps to show what sumo is all about.