Exalted: the Lunars is the second hardcover sourcebook for White Wolf's exciting Exalted RPG. The book starts with an introduction vignette, featuring several characters from the main rulebook. Next are two chapters of background, one about the Lunar Exalted themselves and their society and the other about the barbarian tribes they usually come from (and, in some cases, lead). I particularly enjoyed the shapeshifting Charms, numerous amounts of which are detailed in the book, along with two-page write-ups for each Caste similar to the Solar Castes in the main rulebook and the Dragon-Blooded Aspects in Exalted: the Dragon-Blooded (which is also a superbly-written book that I highly recommend). The book also contains an entire chapter of storytelling ideas (for those of you who aren't familiar with White Wolf's games...the Storyteller is similar to a Dungeon Master or Game Master) with info on how to possibly integrate the other types of Exalted into a Lunars story.

The one thing I didn't like about this book was the fact that it's a slight bit shorter than Exalted: the Dragon-Blooded, although it does cover the Lunar Exalted in much detail.

An excellent read. This is the life story of one of the Greatest marine geologists and explorers of our time. From top secret navy submarines to luxurious ocean liners to deep sea marine life this man has seen it all, this book helps to explain what wasn't in the other great books he has written, it is a personal account of everything he went through to get where he is now. It was one of the best books I have ever read and a must have for all fans.

Fiat 500

For many, just another microcar for others the best italian car of this century. First of all let can you imagine that almost 3.000.000 of these cars were built during the 50/60 decades.

In my opinion this book gives a very good overall overview of what are the 500 and 600. There are good pictures and ilustrations. I definetily consider this book as a basic book to buy or restore a 500

The only thing missing is more detail on the special versions that were made by abarth and giannini

Best regards

This is an extremely well-written account of a very unusual crime -- the killing of a banker by a farmer he foreclosed upon. It does a fabulous job of showing the monetary links between farming and banking, and of delving into the personalities involved. The story line is maybe a bit thin -- two guys killed by a father-and-son who blame the bankers for their troubles -- and the author really makes the most of it.

For anyone who likes true-life, non-fiction stories, this is a good one.

I recently finished this book, which is a collection of five rather long "short" stories, and found it to be fascinating. The author is practically unknown though, as I never heard of him before reading one of his other books, "The Golden Crane". Apparently, he's self-publishing. But he's a very good writer. I really liked the science fiction fantasy, "Techno-Wizards". It was a science fiction take-off on the legend of King Arthur. Very cute and original. I also liked some of the other stories, but didn't really care for "Out of Time". I think he could have re-worked that one a bit. I will definitely read more by this new author.

Osprey's Production Line to Frontline #5, Focke-Wulf Fw 190 by Malcolm V Lowe, is an exceptionally good volume for military historians and aviation enthusiasts alike. This series is "meatier" than most Osprey products (144 pages) and is probably too technical for most casual readers. Malcolm V Lowe uses the Production Line to Frontline format to good effect and delivers an excellent compact history of how one of Germany's most important fighter programs in the Second World War was brought from the draft table to the battlefield. There is a wealth of information about how the Luftwaffe managed its fighter programs in this volume.

After a short introduction, Focke-Wulf Fw 190 has chapters on the design of the prototypes, initial production batches, improvements to the basic design, fighter-bomber variants, a new engine, other prototypes, the Fw 190D "Dora" variant, the Ta-152 variant, armament of the Fw 190 series, and an overview of Fw 190 production. Final chapters address the aircraft's introduction into frontline service and foreign users. The author provides an excellent bibliography that includes Internet references and three appendices (principal aircraft plants involved in Fw 190 production, Fw 190 production batches by work number, the code system for German aircraft manufacturers, and selected Fw 190 specifications). There are many interesting and unusual photographs complementing the text, many taken by employees of the Focke-Wulf Company. For example, the author provides a rare photo of a Fw 190 equipped as a torpedo bomber. The volume also includes four pages of line drawings of the principal Fw 190 variants.

Lowe discusses at length how the Focke-Wulf Corporation discussed the Fw 190 as a complement to Germany's primary single-engine fighter - the Bf Me-109. In fact, the Fw 190 ended up being far superior to the Bf Me-109 in many respects and turned out to be the Luftwaffe's primary fighter after 1943. The Fw 190 went from initial requirement to first production in about 36 months, with the first aircraft reaching operational squadrons in August 1941. The Fw 190 was built as a radial engine fighter, as opposed to the in-line engine Bf Me-109, and offered enormous growth potential. Lowe discusses the many variants of the main "Anton" version of the fighter, followed by its "F" and "G" fighter-bomber versions and finally the "D" and Ta-152 high-altitude versions. One insight that this volume provides is the tremendous talent resident in the Focke-Wulf design team; many of its members were test pilots as well as aeronautical engineers.

The author provides a wealth of information and insight into the Fw 190 program, including mundane (but often omitted) information like the price of a new-build Fw 190A (about $61,000 in 1940 US). One of the major values of this volume is the section on "building the Anton," which provides 17 photographs of the aircraft in sequential stages of construction, along with detailed captions. Later in the volume, the author also provides information about each of the factories that built Fw 190s (although production was gradually spread all over Germany) and the various production batches. While these sections were very informative, I was disappointed that the author provided no information about the number of man-hours it took to produce an Fw 190 or its key components, or the essential materials required for construction. The author does mention that material shortages later in the war forced the Germans to substitute parts of lower quality but these are not specified; it would have been nice to get some idea if he was talking about something critical like the engine or only the landing gear. The author also provides some interesting information about the foreign users of the Fw-190; few readers will be aware that the French Air Force continued to produce 64 Fw-190s in 1944-5 or that Turkey flew the Fw-190 alongside the Spitfire.

By 1943, the Fw-190 was evolving into a formidable fighter-bomber, which the Luftwaffe was using for "tip and run" raids against England. In particular, the author goes into detail about the daylight raid on Bournemouth on May 23, 1943 by 22 Fw 190s. These aircraft swept in and killed 51 military and 77 civilians for the cost of two aircraft. The success of such tactical raids should be contrasted with the failure of so many RAF strategic raids against German cities in 1943, which killed mostly just handfuls of civilians in exchange for dozens of British aircrew. On the other hand, the author mentions that the US daylight air raid on the Focke-Wulf Marienburg plant in October 1943 was, "one of the finest examples of daylight precision bombing during the whole war'with the bombers placing 83% of their bombs within 610 meters of the aiming point'"

This volume also gives great perspective on how the Luftwaffe managed a premier fighter program. While the basic Fw 190 was churned out in quantity, the Luftwaffe dithered about the need for high-altitude variants to deal with Allied heavy bombers; only a handful of the Ta-152 variant was produced in the final months of 1945. The Focke-Wulf designers also had "a strange love affair with the idea of using the Fw 190 as a torpedo carrier," and wasted considerable time and effort on this tertiary capability. In the end, this volume demonstrates that the Germans had produced a very potent multi-purpose combat aircraft fairly early in the war, but that mismanagement and poor decisions greatly affected the impact of this weapon system.

This readable work gathers the research, theories and opinions of his predecessors and presents his own opinions as well, giving arguments on both sides. Sections on determination of coat color were especially thoroughly done, relying heavily on Little's work, though differing sharply on a couple of points.

An exhaustive and comprehensive guide to the works of the late, great Edward Gorey. Well worth it if you are a collector of Gorey; it covers his own works, works he's illustrated, magazines he's appeared in, prices for all, and even resources to locate collectibles. This volume may not appeal all that much to the average reader, but Goreyphiles will enjoy the details.

This was not at all what I was expecting... I thought that I would be getting a book with just text about Greek and Roman mythology. What I found instead was a picture/coffee table book. It was a pleasant surprise made even more pleasant by the fact that the text was not disappointing. Since I do not know much about mythology, this book is a great start for me and perhaps others wanting to more about the mythology that permeates literature and art. The pictures, art and drawings within are fun to look at, if not sometimes misplaced, like instead of Artemis near the text that speaks of her, there is another drawing of a young male god.

Lipietz makes a cogent and compelling case for the sharedglobal and revolutionary nature of both the "red" (worker's,Marxist, socialist) movements and "green" (ecologist, environmental) movements. He draws clever analogues to demonstrate that "green" thought has reconciled the final "alienation", of man from his natural environment. In fact it is quite clear on examination that all utopian visions, from the Marxist anarchic end-state to the Paradise of Islam to the Garden of Eden that many Christians interpret as the Kingdom of God, share this vision of natural surroundings and a healthy ecology. Green positions range from very rational to very emotional, but all have in common (with the "red" revolutionary predecessors) this commitment to re-integration with nature itself, and most importantly, a commitment to represent those beings that cannot represent themselves.

So, in the green ethic, the representatives are not representing the Green Party, but are rather representing the voiceless and helpless beings - the ecosystems themselves, the higher animals we share our emotional nature with, current children growing up in danger of pathogens and crowding and future generations which may not be able to grow at all. There is a new and natural "proletariat"!

The book's only flaw is failing to demonstrate that these principles are scientific in nature, and that they are not an ideology but a set of naturally-derivable causalities. We have bodies: this is what red and green know that blue does not!