This novel could be coined the X-files of the 1850's. There is suspense, intrigue and lots of action. This book is well written and tickles the imagination of any history buff.

When compared with 'Steps to Reading Proficiency', by Anne Phillips & Peter Sotiriou, the former has a greater edge. Nevertheless, this book is definitely still worth reading.

In terms of text organisational (writing) patterns, it has seven, namely:

- definition;
- exemplification;
- cause & effect;
- comparison & contrast;
- sequence;
- classification;
- division;

There are some slight variations to those illustrated by the former book in comparison.

Understanding these patterns can improve both your comprehension and your retention.

What I like about this book is that it introduces MAPPING (it can be mind-mapping or the use of graphic organisers & other visual tools e.g. clustering) as a PRE-READING as well as a POST-READING activity. These are very good reading strategies.

Mapping BEFORE YOUR READ gets you thinking about the topic, and more important, gets you thinking about what you already know about the topic. This helps you use what information you already have to your best advantage.

Mapping AFTER YOU READ helps you to process the information more deeply than you would if you did nothing to review the material. It helps you find relationships among ideas and terms; it helps you determine the organisation of the material, it forces you to pull it together in a way that makes learning more efficient for you.

Another interesting approach introduced in this book is the concept of synthesising ideas i.e. the pulling together pieces of information into overall ideas. This is often one of the most difficult skills for readers. The author addressed the skills you need to learn to synthesise information by using both PRE-READING and POST-READING MAPPING activities, in conjuction with the formulation of questions. On the issue of questions, the author also addressed it very well, with the formulation of questions BEFORE/DURING/AFTER reading. She gave an excellent hand-holding application example, and plenty of exercises to help you build this important skill.

Just like the other reading technique books, it has also excellent reading practices and assignments.

If you are looking for better and more ways to boost your reading performance, this book is still worth your time and effort.

Practical Merchandising Math is a very enlighting book. The Practice Questions are very helpful in learning the basics. From start to finish I found this book well done. I would only hope for deeper explanations. I devoured this book in about a week. Very well laid out. One chapter leads into another chapter very well. Again, my only hope (not a complaint) is to find a book just like this one with more advanced discussions based on real world scenarios. That's not to say that the examples used in this book were not real world scenarios ... they were simplified examples of real world scenarios. I recommend this book to anyone learning the art of inventory management, ordering systems analysis and planning for sales.

Being a tremendous fan of EM Delafields "Diary of a Provincial Lady", "The Provincial Lady Goes Further", and the two subsequent novels, I was very excited to discover this previously unknown book in the series.

However when I read it, I discoverd that "The Provincial Lady in Russia" is NOT a novel and it is NOT about "Time and Tide" magazine's "Provincial Lady".

It is, actually, a fascinating factual account of EM Delafield's visit to communist Russia in the 1930's. It has been re-titled in the last 20 years by the publisher, presumably to cash in on the current popularity of "The Provincial Lady" series.

Please DO buy this book if you are interested in social history, English attitudes to communist Russia in the 30's, and witty, erudite, informative writing.

But do NOT buy this book if you are looking for more tales about the Provincial Lady, her husband, their two children, Mademoiselle, the vicar's wife and Lady B!

I find it insulting to the memory and work of EM Delafield (and tremendously insulting to us, her readers) that this book has been "re-branded" in such a cynical way.

"The mystery of the rescue phenomenon will probably always elude us. As the recuers' narratives in this remarkable volume shows, the acts of saving Jews seemed spontaneous and natural, and thus the mystery of the rescue act begins to unravel radiantly. The insights which this interdiciplinary collection of sessays subtly pieces together show in unique fashion the preconditions, or the possibilties, of collective courage." DENNIS B. KLEIN

PLEASE Note: Unlike what it sais above, this book is available again. It is NOT out of print!

In this intelligent work, Melson studies the role of revolution in the promulagtion of genocide. His theories cover political, historical, cultural, and psychological rationales, and lead to a concrete answer to a fluid question. The Armenian Genocide and the Jewish Holocaust are systematically disected, studied, and put back together, and a rational theory about revolution's role in genocide emerges. A definite requirement for anyone studying modern genocide.

Rumpole of the Bailey, one of the best known and loved lawyers of British history does it again with this funny tale of daily life. Being forced into Retirement without knowing it, by his wife "She who must be obeyed" Hilda, and his son. It seems that everybody knows it but him!

Guthrie Featherstone, a red judge and former member of Rumpole's chambers, acquires a case of tennis elbow and visits a massage parlor for some deep rubbing therapy. Massages aren't the only thing sold at the parlor, but Featherstone is oblivious to the other goings on. He gets only a massage and then pays with a credit card.

When Rumpole undertakes to defend the owner of a chain of massage parlors/bawdy houses, he learns of Featherstone's visit. Featherstone learns the true nature of the place he visited, and Rumpole contrives to get Featherstone selected as the judge to hear the bawdy house case. Featherstone has visions of disgrace and divorce dancing in his head, and Rumpole does nothing to allay his fears. The denouement is quite entertaining.

Leo McKern does a rousing good job of reading the text of the short story.

John Mortimer wrote the Rumpole screenplays for Leo McKern, who portrays the portly barrister on the BBC TV series. On this audiotape, McKern reads two short stories from "Rumpole's Last Case." The chosen stories are "Rumpole and the Blind Tasting" and "Rumpole and the Old, Old Story."

In "Blind Tasting" Rumpole gets invited to an elegant blind tasting. As I understand it from the story, a blind tasting is a gathering at which a bunch of egotists gather to taste wine, guess what type the wine is, and otherwise attempt to impress each other with their erudition and sophistication. Being used to nothing better that Chateau Thames Embankment, Rumpole becomes an enthusiastic but unorthodox participant in the tasting. The tasting leads to a case, and the case leads Rumpole to uncover some lowbrow goings-on in the highbrow world of fine wines.

In "The Old, Old Story," Rumpole embarrasses She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed. She harasses Rumpole, and Rumpole leaves home. While the course of love runs not so true at Casa Rumpole, Horace gets an out-of-town case defending the odd man out in a lover's triangle. Things are looking rather bleak for the client, and Rumpole is not encouraged when he enters court for the first day of the trial and finds She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed sitting on the bench as a guest of the presiding judge. With his wife's help, Rumpole finds his way through to a fabulous victory, and nobody lives happily ever after.

Leo McKern was born to play Rumpole on the stage, and he gives it his all as he reads the stories, but an audiotaped reading is not the best way to enjoy any form of literature. If it is impossible to read the stories or watch McKern on video, this tape will slake your thirst for Rumpole.

Enjoyed the book. Heard some of the authors read last night at a local travel bookstore; went home and read some more. It's light-hearted; some of the essays, inevitably, are better than others. One, by Leslie Quinn, is especially delightful. It takes place in a French airport, as she and her thirteen-year-old daughter are about to fly home. Leslie desperately wants to leave her daughter with all their luggage and dash to a bookstore to make a last-minute book purchase for the flight back to the U.S.; the daughter resists being left alone. The conflict is told in wonderful, funny and understated dialogue--but what I found especially moving was the way the mother alternately viewed her daughter as both old enough to....and then, as a child. Underneath my laugh-out-loud enjoyment, I found myself moved by this subtle portrait of a mother coping with a daughter coming of age.