Wallace is as important as Darwin in evolution, but less famous. "Island Life" is a great book in species distribution. not never an introduction. If you want a book of introduction, you can try Edward Wilson's "The Diversity of Life" or David Quammen's "The song of the Dodo". The former half of the book is the theory of species distribution. Some are still useful and basic for now, but some are too old to be true. But the later half of case study is worthy of reading. There are many details in comparison of difference island. If you are major in biology or ecology, it is easy to read. But if not, I suggest you should read some introduction book first. The most interesting thing is that you can realize the nature world one century ago from this book. Some place are still natural and not damaged by human activities. This book is definitely a science study, not a general science. That's why I don't recommend it to everyone, but the naturalist.

Wallace is most remembered for his independent discovery of the theory of natural selection, but he was also the father of the modern approach to biogeographical studies, and history's foremost tropical naturalist. This is one of his most important works. In it he extends work begun in another of his classic studies, "The Geographical Distribution of Animals," to two subjects: the influence of the glacial epochs on organismal distribution patterns, and the characteristics of island biogeography. Many students of Wallace's career consider this book his finest scientific effort, both for its joining of theory and empiricism, and for his attention to detail and breadth of study. Included is a full working out of history's first theory of continental glaciation based on a combination of geographical and astronomical causes, a discussion of island classification, and a survey of worldwide island faunas and floras. I give it a "4" rating only because it is now primarily of interest to historians of science and those environmentalists who might want information on the late nineteenth century state of island biotas around the world.

For a one line summary of this work I am hard pressed to find anything better than Robin Wood's summary in his superb 'Hitchcock's Films Revisited'. Spoto's book is, without question well researched (although it does include a large amount of material already contained in John Russel Taylor's authorised biography). But the style of the book makes it incredibly hard to read. I will constrict myself to just two of the major sins of this book. Firstly Spoto looks at every fact or event and puts the most nasty spin he can find on it, leading to incredibly spurious interpretations of Hitchcock's life, and due to the lack of validity makes for very dull reading. The second point is that many of Spoto's readings of the films lead to a set list of doubles which appear in the film, these end up taking large amounts of space for very little gain, again draw your attention to how little enjoyment you are gaining from the book.

There are some plus sides, as already mentioned, the book is very well researched, and there are a few nuggets of interesting information. But all in all not a very interesting or pleasant book, and all I can say is that we are still waiting for the definitive Hitchcock biography.

Took a little time to get going but once it did I read the book in two days. Extremely well researched and insightful. Have always been a Hitch fan, but was never aware of what a disturbed and internalized individual he was. The depth of this portrayal of the subject is surprising. Typically, a story like this will delve into relationships in the subject's life but Hitchcock really didn't have any. The author does a nice job of explaining the probable reasons for this. I recommend this book to fans of Hitchcock the man because it goes a long way in explaining why he made the films he did. Not to be confused with a technical "anthology", it's more like a psychological analysis into the twists and turns of the inside of Hitchcock's head. He was a strange dude!

Spoto's life of Hitchcock, originally published in 1983, is one of the best biographies of a film director we have in English. It's a warts and all portrait, but instead of pitying or disliking Hitchcock for his idiosyncrasies and meannesses, we come to admire him even more for his singular dedication to the art of movies (and he was an artist, not merely "the master of suspense", to use an essentially narrow and insulting characterization). And as far as sheer technique goes, sheer mastery of the medium, Hitchcock probably was/is unsurpassed among modern day filmmakers.

Spoto gives us detailed accounts of the making of each of Hitchcock's major films. He really did dislike actors, calling them cattle, but he of course had a fascination with blonde actresses. The book's most poignant segment is the episode invovling Hitchcock's infatuation with Tippi Hedren (a mediocre performer at best who should have been grateful for a great man's attention and adoration), which ultimately ended in humiliation and unhappiness for both of them. Spoto is wrong, however, about MARNIE. It is one of the director's greatest movies, as moving and sad a depiction of desperation as has been committed to celluoid. It fully deserves its late revival in critical favor.

This is a clearly written, highly entertaining biography, and one of the closest glimpses we are liking to get straight from the director's chair.

I love the viking trilogy, but this one(3rd)never seemed to get off the ground. Selig wasn't convincing as being sooo upset with Erika. Erika was in turn too weak for my taste. And I loved Hearts Aflame, but Kirsten from that book took up way too much space in this one and was nasty. i was wondering if it was the same Kirsten or a new one. I didn't understand how Selig's mother could even tolerate her son doing the things he did to Erika, being how strong she was in Fires of Winter. She of all people should understand how Erika felt, but she didn't. Even Garrick, you'd think he would've said something. this was a boring Lindsey read. If you're not an avid Lindsey reader, pass this one up. She seemed rushed to make a 3rd book for this trilogy, and it shows.

The first two books of this trilogy are wonderful. I've read them several times since getting them. I always wanted to hear Selig's story, and feel it probably should have been told before Kristen's. This book seems to center around dialogues between Selig, Kristen, and Brenna, instead of focusing on the relationship between Selig and Erika. I don't like weak female characters, but not all women are strong so it makes since that not all characters will be. Of course, Erika started out that way and then seemed to sort of die in her enthusiasm to be free of Selig. Though it's not one of the best stories Ms. Lindsey has told, it's not as bad as Captive Bride. I would recommend this book, though it does seem a little chopped up in places. If you can get passed Kristen's temper, it's a good read.

i read all of johanna lindsey's books and i found this to be one of my favorites.i loved the other two books in this series and found this book hard to put down.Selig and Ericka were wonderful characters.They started off on the wrong foot when selig was held prisoner.then when the tables turned and selig held ericka prisoner it started getting interesting.although he tried to hate her he had a hard time.this is what made the book so interesting to me,the hate that consumed him until he realized he was falling in love with ericka.yes,kristen got a little nasty but she was trying to protect her brother .and seligs mother brenna knew not to interfere.this is definately worth the read!!!!

This book reveals more about its insolent author than about Hitchcock. I do not take issue with the notion that Hitchcock was suffering and struggling in his final days, but I do take issue in this largely disrespectful account. There is enough of historical value here to make the book worth reading, but barely. The first hand accounts make for some interesting reading, but it seems as if the author is stretching to increase his page count. As a result, he pads with uninspired analysis of Hitchcock's previous films including sections on such commonplace information as Hitchcock's cameo appearances. The bulk of the book is the script for "The Short Night" which is underdeveloped, having been cancelled as a project before a final draft was completed. The author describes what some of the changes may have been for the next draft.

After having years ago started and abandoned Donald Spoto's dry, psychologizing biography of Alfred Hitchcock, I found this book by Hitch's last collaborator a welcome surprise. It offers a far more tangible and intimate portrayal of the actual, day-to-day functioning of Hitchcock's genius, thrown into sharp--and often comic--relief by the old man's inexorable decline. This often poignant, always clear-eyed memoir examines Hitchcock's working methods in illuminating detail: his exploratory process of developing the screenplay, his focus on the minutiae of his characters and the topography of their environment, his views on editing and image size, shock vs suspense, "horizontal cinema" vs "pure cinema," and his use of rhythm and tempo to elicit detailed performances that help audiences identify with his characters. The author's penetrating analyses of Hitchcock's films, and his insightful behind-the-scenes commentary on the included screenplay made me want to go back to view again films I've watched a dozen times. This book is a treasure for Hitchcock fans, and required reading for working or aspiring writers and directors.

I've read "The Last Days of Alfred Hitchcock" with pleasure. Before saying why, I want to comment on a review posted by another reader. It's a misguided attack that cries out for a response. The objection seems to be that the Hitchcock that emerges isn't the one the reader wanted him to be. So? The book is a balanced and nuanced portrait of a great artist at the end of his life. Hitchcock was in bad shape. The pleasure of this book and the reason that people should read it is that we can see his struggle from day to day. Far from being "tabloid commentary" it's an immensely moving story. There's sadness in Hitchcock's deterioration, but there's inspiration in his refusal to quit. This book is about Hitchcock's humanity.

This book gives a standard treatment of Alfred the Great's history and the unpleasantness visited upon England by the Danes. It's focus is on the strategy and tactics employed by Alfred in his campaigns, his guerilla war directed from Athelney, organization of a navy, and fortification of the strategically sited burhs.

It's a fast read and written by a veteran of the Burma campaign in World War II so it is chock full of soldierly insights regarding logistics, terrain, and morale. Although focused on Wessex, the Danes, Franks, Mercians, East Anglians, Northumbrians and the Welsh are not ignored as participants in the various Viking raids and eventual settlements occurring in Northwest Europe. There is a great deal of emphasis on the routes by which various forces moved across England and the trackways, Roman roads, and waterways used are given detailed descriptions.

I enjoyed it as a sort of Pop military history of Alfred.