This excellent book is hard to put down but I am afraid that in going from a hardcover edition to a smaller paperback that the maps have become very hard to read. The letters are so small on some of the maps that they are nearly impossible to read. Hope the editors do something about it but I doubt it will happen. Minor flaw in a great read.

Here is one of the most precise book ever written on the whole campaign, starting with the drift to war in Burma and ends with the Japanese surrender. The book is loaded with tons of information on relatively small skirmishes to battles of epic proportions such as the Sieges of Imphal and Kohima, and there are many qoutes to go with the narrative. The book also covers Orde Wingate and his Chindits, Operation Thursday, and the lesser known participation of Chiang Kai Shek's Chinese forces.
This is a must have for history buffs and wargamers alike! I absolutely suggest you to read the whole thing, which may seem impossible at first, but once you have opened it you just can't put it down!

This is an outstanding book that must be considered the definitive single-volume account of the campaign in Burma in WWII. The author is a veteran of the campaign in the British Army where he was an intelligence officer. What is especially enjoyable about this book is that it includes many firsthand Japanese accounts in addition to Allied. The author speaks Japanese and drew upon official Japanese histories and personal interviews with participants. I have read several other books about this often forgotten Theater in WWII ( including Viscount Slim's "Defeat Into Victory" ), but this is the first book that includes Japanese sources. The author starts with the Japanese invasion of Burma and discusses the political situation in Burma prior to the invasion and how the Japanese used this to their favor. It includes the retreat of the British into India, their recovery, the British offensive in the Arakan, and Wingate and the birth of the Chindits. The author goes into great detail about Kohima-Imphal and this is where the Japanese perspective is so interesting. It follows with battles of North Burma and Stillwell, Mandalay/Meiktila and the race to Rangoon and the Japanese breakout of the 28th Army and then the surrender of Japanes forces. The book has good maps and it is not to difficult to follow forces on the battlefield. The most daunting task is trying to remember the Burmese and Indian names for places and trying to remember all the names of the Japanese sources and officers. But all this helps to add to the authenticity of the book. This book is a must read for anyone interested in WWII. It is well written, easy to read and very enjoyable. I highly recommend it.

Louis Allen was a Japanese interpreter in the British Army in the Burma campaign. He has written this book with more of an understanding of the Japanese mindset. The description of the bloodletting of the Japanese armies at Imphal and Kohima give an insight into both the tactics and the attitudes of the, hitherto, undefeated Japanese armies in 1944. It is salutory to read the deprivation suffered by the Japanese as they tried break out from the Pegu Yomas to cross the Salween River and escape into Thailand. It is interesting, almost mandatory, to read this book in conjunction with Slim''s "Defeat into Victory".

This is an excellent book for pediatric residents and medical students in pediatric rotations. The book is organized by symptom e.g. abdominal pain, chronic cough, and it provides a comprehensive list of differential diagnosis, flow charts for diagnosis, as well as short discussions on most common diseases associated with that particular symptom. A must for pediatric rounds.

This book covers all the basics and is as clearly written as The Cat in The Hat

In a nutshell, its a how-to book for real businesses (Dot Coms don't waste your time) written by a WWII veteran, Harvard Business School grad and early pioneer of SBICs and Venture Capital.

Great book if you can find it.

This is a well written sequel to Hoffman's first book. I found it interesting, but at times confusing. His reintroduction or reference to characters in Small Worlds are not always clear, especially if it has been some time since one read the first.

Now that the Krimsker Jews we met in Small Worlds have emigrated to St. Louis, Hoffman can explore questions of what makes a people? How are a religion and its religious to adjust to new surroundings? The novel's invention and humanity are matched by Hoffman's great skill in the craft of writing. Scenes work so well, and his denoument is fitting and intriguing. I'll look for the third in this series.

Set against the backdrop of the Wars of the Roses, The Black Arrow is an intriguing look at the life of young Richard Shelton. Richard's life is shaken when he realizes that those he had thought to be his friends are really his enemies, and he is forced to make choices that will determine the course of his life. Although the characters are well-developed and the plot is fascinating, this book is not for the squeemish or lazy reader. The description is not only vivid, it is often gorey. The language is sometimes difficult and a dictionary might prove quite handy. But anyone looking for a well-written, action-packed classic should read this book.

This book is one of the best I've read. It is what every book about the middle ages should be and more, with suspense, action, disguises, escapes, and of course, the occasional love scene. Robert Louis Stevenson lived in the mid-1800s, and is renowned for his many works, includingTreasure Island, Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, andKidnapped. The Black Arrow, written originally for a magazine, was written after a serious illness in Stevenson, and was published right after Treasure Island.

Dick Shelton, a boy of sixteen, is quickly thrust into the conflict of the War of the Roses. He battles against almost any kind of evil - bloodthirsty pirates, a murderous priest, and even his own legal gaurdian - Sir Daniel Brackley. Through the whole book Dick strives to become a knight, and to rescue his true love. The Black Arrow is a sure winner for 6th graders and up.

The Black Arrow is, without a doubt, one of my all time favorite books, just as Robert Louis Stevenson is one of my all time favorite authors. I find it hard to believe that The Black Arrow is probably the least well know of his great adventure novels (the others being, of course, Treasure Island and Kidnapped), as it is certainly the best as far as I am concerned. As far as the story goes, it is one of the most entertaining plots that I have ever encountered. It is filled with more twists and turns than I would have thought possible, but remains very clear and fast paced. The characters are wonderful, as is the description and the writing itself. Granted, some of the language is a bit archaic, but I feel that this adds a lot to the authenticity of the story.
The Black Arrow is not a very easy read at first, but once you get into it it really flies by. It is as entertaining, exciting, and intriguing book as you will find, and I would recommend it to anyone.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a very special book. It is about a doctor, named Jekyll. He is known as a gentleman who works quietly in his lab. What no one knows is that Dr. Jekyll has invented a sort of medicine that changes your whole body. When the medicine is taken, your personality becomes evil and your body turns into an ugly hairy man. When Dr. Jekyll drinks the medicine he, turns into Mr. Hyde. Hyde does everything that Jekyll has ever dreamed of but hasn't had a chance to do. Suddenly things go too far. Hyde murders an old man and there is a witness at the place of the death. Now, the police want Hyde and Dr. Jekyll decides that he shall continue being Jekyll and only Jekyll. But can he really keep away? It is so tempting to live the life of Hyde.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is one of the best books I have read. Even though it has a very dull setting, it is amazingly exciting. You always want to know what happens next. The changing between Jekyll and Hyde is made in a very good way, when the main character is Hyde, he always lives in danger, but when he's Jekyll he can live a perfectly normal life. One of the main points in the story is that you shouldn't use drugs to achieve things that you have always dreamed of, because you can really reach them by yourself. This theme really had an impact on me and got me thinking. Almost anyone can read this book because it is a classic and has been published in so many different versions. I would recommend it to almost anyone.

Sometimes the man who does it first does it best, and in Stevenson's case I think that's true. Anyone who's ever known or been an addict will find The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde terrifyingly familiar. Stephen King called this the archetypal werewolf novel, but that description only scratches the surface. Read this book. Then look closely in the mirror, if you dare.

"I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial discovery I have been lead to this dreadful shipwreck: that a man is not truly one, but truly two." This book travels deep into the heart and soul of one man named Dr. Jekyll. The book will give you a full sense of personality. It not only helps you understand the characters, but it also helps you see which side, your good or your evil, is more developed. The ending will send chills up your spine. Dr. Jekyll is the basic good in the story. He has devoted his life to scientific studies and helping people. The basic villian is Edward Hyde. He is every Evil in existence put into one person. Although Dr. Jekyll is good, his curiousity drove him to unimaginable evil. He decided to explore the evil in himself. He made a potion and drank it. He changed into the horrible Edward Hyde. So you see that what separates this book from the ordinary category, is that the good and the evil exist in one.

While the book is an interesting and entertaining read, most of it is untrue and horribly researched. The one star review lower on this page got it right. The facts that Mr. Allen gave as the boy's identity, his father, and where this all happened are all dead wrong. Nothing ever happened in the town or house that he said it did. It was apparent that Mr. Allen did minimal digging into the subject and just took what he found and threw it on the page with nothing to back it up with. What's even odder about this is how easily the real information(from the "Strange" Magazine)was found by that reporter. That Mr. Allen didn't take enough time to see that what was in front of his face was horribly wrong and what was right was not hard to figure out. When Mr. Allen was even contacted by the other reporter, he seemed to not care or answer any questions as to why he didn't go further to find the real truth. Everything he has stated about the boy and the location, is all wrong. Even the possessed boy himself stated that he never lived there and didn't know why people thought that. While the book is an interesting read, it can only be categorized under 'fiction', because that is what it is.

When I first read this book in its previous edition, I, too, was impressed with its supposedly accurate and dispassionate account of a true-life exorcism. That was before I read the extensive "Strange" magazine article debunking the case, which shows up the shoddy lack of research conducted by Allen. (In fact, Allen ends up looking like the Erich von Daniken of exorcism scholarship.) "Strange" magazine's investigative research discovered a whole lot that Allen apparently did not (or did not wish to reveal), such as the fact that the case did not take place in Mount Rainier, Maryland, as press reports stated, and the fact that the boy's father did not believe his son was possessed. The "Strange" magazine researcher not only tracked down the identity of the "haunted boy," but interviewed former neighbors, friends, and classmates -- basic research that Allen failed to do. The actual facts are quite different from those claimed in Allen's highly sensationalized and fanciful account.

I have always wanted to tell this story someplace, and here seems as good a place as any. I swear that what I am about to describe really happened. It was pretty scary.

Although we now live in Pennsylvania, my husband and I used to live in St. Louis. We know where the Alexian Brothers Hospital is and some of the other landmarks in the book. When this book came out it was released in St. Louis first, before it had a nation-wide release. I purchased the book with the intention of sending it to my father in NY State as he had liked the movie The Exorcist.

The first night I read 1/2 of the book. The following day while cleaning the livingroom I heard the distinct sound of rapping and/or scratching coming from a corner of the room, up near the ceiling. My husband laughed it off as either a mouse or my over- active imagination from the book, but later that night he heard it too. We had never in over 10 years had a problem with animals or mice in the walls, etc. In the book...the possession starts with rapping sounds.

That night I read the rest of the book, although by this time I was a little frightened. The following morning my mother in NY State called to tell me of an odd occurrance. The phone had rang the day before and when she answered it the person asked for "Sadie", my mother's name. When she said, "This is Sadie" the person started talking, according to my mother, "gibberish". She couldnt understand what they were saying or even if it was a male or female or what language they were speaking. When she asked who it was the person stated "Emily" which is my name. My mother said, "This is Emily, my daughter?" to which the person said, "yes" and then started speaking gibberish again. My mother hung up.

What is odd is that the phone number at the time was listed only in my father's name and I hadnt lived at home for almost 10 years. How did this person know BOTH of our names?

Because this freaked me out even more, that day I wrapped up the book and sent it to my parents. I didnt hear anything about it until about a week later when I asked my mother if she had the book, she said she did, and that my father would thank me for it but he wasnt at home. I asked where he was and she said that he was at the hardware store buying mouse traps as "We have heard scratching in the walls for a week now, so we must have a mouse."

This incident happened about 10 years ago. Nothing else happened after that, my parents never caught a mouse, the scratching stopped, and the book appears to be lost as I havent seen it when I have been over there. But it was very odd when it happened.

So...read the book, it is a fascinating story. But if anything odd happens to you or your family, please write a review and let me know. Thanks.

Allen Ginsberg used to joke that poetry was "the family business." These letters between the late author of "Howl" and his poet-father, Louis, are more than a series of poignant exchanges between conservative father and Beat son. They comprise a 30-year conversation between conflicting ideas of the role of poetic tradition in making sense of the difficult world. Allen calls for a "full-scale revolution" in poetry, while Louis - a philosophically minded punster who wrote in rhymed couplets - coyly observes that Allen's comrades seem to think they have "invented honesty."

As the landmark events of the 20th Century unfold around them (the Cuban missile crisis, the Vietnam War, and explosive confrontations in the Middle East), they strive to find a common ground in their craft. The elder Ginsberg's tolerance is tested by his son's rebellion. Louis instructs Allen to "exorcise" his muse Neal Cassady as a destructive influence, and he's outraged when his son's longtime companion, Peter Orlovsky, is listed as Allen's "spouse" in Who's Who. Along the way, Allen's fame as the bearded paterfamilias of the flower-power generation grows, and he becomes the most trusted critic of his father's work. Louis comes to recognize that poems like his son's "Kaddish" - a shockingly frank portrayal of Allen's mother Naomi - pointed the way to the future of the art.

Poet Louis Untermeyer once remarked to Louis, "You are good for Allen, and he is good for you." Tracing their journey toward a shared conviction that poetry has the power to change history makes Family Business important reading for us all.

This one is a real dog. The story line doesn't hold up. OK, St. Louis is wrecked. Where is the rest of the country? If S.L. is the only major city devastated why wouldn't it be rebuilt like L.A. after the quake? Don't any of the people in St. Louis have relatives in the rest of the country that they can go live with? Can ALL of the National Guard types be vicious thugs? Steele obviously has some unresolved issues with the military.

Gerry Rosen clearly has more problems than an ordinary joe should have to deal with. There's the wife he's lost, the deceased son's recurring memory, and the boss from hell. I enjoyed the characterizations, which are seen through Gerry's eyes. The images of St. Louis following a cataclysmic earthquake were compelling. And I was captivated by Gerry's palmtop which might well have been as wondrous as "Box" from "Star Cops" (except it didn't do searches quite so impressively). I'm most critical of Steele's choice of the military, first as rescuers, then as treasonous villains. Surely, there would be huge numbers of Paul Revere's out there to wise the public up to the coup about to happen. What's the Internet good for, otherwise?

Steele weaves an imaginative story of government corruption and corporate intrigue with The Jericho Iteration. I wasn't completely satisfied with his characterizations of the AI. It seemed a bit too human in it's reactions, but Steele's style and tightly paced writing delivered the goods in the end.