A great book for those who want to spend a few months covering the entire region. Though a few geographical and historical errors are there, the good tips and listings give a great start for the intrepid traveler.

I am stationed in Germany and therefore have the opportunity to travel frequently throughout E. Europe. For several years now I have been looking for a travel guide that offers detailed travel info as well as historical and regional information. I finally found it all in Lonely Planet's E. Europe. Although it was an older version (1995) with often outdated prices, it provided an excellent source of maps, key sights, as well as a good, country-by-country historical brief. This book was so good, in fact, that someone in Ljubljana, Slovenia, decided they needed it more than I did, forcing me to buy the latest edition. I'm looking forward to seeing this updated edition.

The Lonely Planet guides are excellent for any locale..but this edition (covering Italy, Spain, Greece, France, Portugal and even Morocco) is a must-read for the quintessential backpacker jumping on a plane for Europa. These guides excel at recommending lodging of many price ranges (from youth hostels to 5-star hotels) and meal choices of the same range (excellent recommendation for outdoor markets.."buy a loaf of bread, a block of cheese and a bottle of wine here"..which is a plus as many guides catering to this area focus on only older travels with large budgets..or persons seeking to spend only a dollar a day or some insanity..it's always good to have the most information possible..and it's included here. Entertainments ideas from free plaza and park visiting to museums, discotechqes, architecture, boat rides etc. etc. are included..good for young and old. It even lists culture-sensitve information such as appropriate dress for visiting churches and monasteries as well as travel-safe tips for women. Book your Eurorail pass and get going.

Lonely Planet has great books and this one certainly was. It's very thorough and tells alot about things that interest travellers. They are up to date and tell you the pros and cons of the different countries. I liked it alot and I know that other people will too.

A great deal for a unique little book. A must-have for PNG if you can find it. Recommended for both the traveler and the curious.

Lonely Planet's "Pidgin Phrasebook" may be the only show in town when it comes to a traveler's language tool for Oceania. In Spring 2000 my wife and I traveled to Papua New Guinea for a highland teachers conference. This book was our companion along with Lonely Planet's Papua New Guinea travel guide (highly recommended!)

This compact book (3.5 x 5.5 x 3/8's inches) is small enough for a shirt pocket, but packed with the language basics-- grammar etc. for 5 or 6 of the island creoles, and much more. Each section contains a mini-travel guide for culture, history, business, travel. It also include a few basic maps. The only drawback is the lack of any kind of dictionary.

Pidgin is the people's language of PNG. You will actually be able to get along fine without a phrase book since English is the language of tourism, education and business. However, if you want to get off into the highlands or another local area, this is a great resource to talk to the everyday folks. As with most countries, a little effort goes a long way in good will.

My two-year-old son first discovered Look Out, Patrick at the local library several years ago. The charming story immediately captured all of our hearts, as my son would constantly ask, "Read Patrick, Mommy! Read it again!" Having read and re-read numerous books to my four children, "Patrick" (as we affectionately nicknamed it) stands out among the best of them. Such a sweet and clever story is refreshing. Highly recommended by this family!

My two boys loved this book. The mouse is adorable, and the children loved the fact that they could see the dangers Patrick couldn't. My youngest had a lot of fears, and I used the book to point out to him that many things are only scary if we let them be, and that a positive attitude saves you from a lot of worry. Patrick's happy outlook and sweetness in the face of the evils in his world provides a great message, and not just for kids! Exciting without being scary. Absolutely gorgeos illustrations and the cutest little mouse I've seen in any book.

I've only run through few books in my life that has captured my mind and imagination, "Lossers Wheepers" is one of them. I often felt lost like Russel Miller, lost in a vast sea of dis-trust.
"Loosers Wheepers" is a great thriller, and I suggest you get a copy today.

Right away you'll wonder why are those guys trying to track down an old Army buddy? The PI wants to know, too. LOSERS WEEPERS characters will lead you on adventures, some even dangerous, but you'll want to keep on reading to find out what's next. Buy this one for a well-told story.

Indeed, this is a good book. But to get even more out of it, read The Illuminati Manifesto.

This book is an excellent guide for the newly-made Master Mason and the Mason who's sat on the sidelines for years watching raising after raising. It explains the symbols of the Craft and gives the meanings behind them in a clear manner. It gives plenty of food for thought, and should be read by all Master Masons that our Craft may be re-invigorated. Priced far below its worth, it is definitely worth the read. Symbols and meanings well put and applicable in your life _today_, regardless of religious belief or personal creed. Definitely Worthy.

Harold Bayley's work will imortalize this scholar. His global linking of myth, legend and fact is a milestone. This wreat work was written long before the word "diffusion" was outlawed from scholarly endevour. Bayley correctly points out the global scale and diffusion of myth, legend tales and symbolism. The sections concerning Lugh, Hu, Stonehenge and Avebury are must reading for every scholar of the ancients.

A weird, wonderful and cranky book. The author advises you to skip the first few chapters because they are a bit obsessive and not very interesting to most people (they are actually fascinating, but it's great to see modesty in an author). The symbolic meaning of watermarks is explained, but that's just the start, soon the book gets in full swing going off on fascinating tangents left right and centre. Ancient myths, the masons, rosicrucians & templars .Lots of highly speculative etymology of words like "cucumber" (translated as "mighty-fire-father" if I remember right). Smashing stuff. Read it and be confused

This is a marvellous novel from the late fifties, which deserves to be better known. Set in Malaya after the second world war, it is narrated by Tom Brent, who is still in the British army after having served throughout the war. Throughout the later part of the book, the jungle itself becomes a brooding symbol of Saxby's tortured mind. The book is superbly written, and contains passages of searing intensity. The end is desolating. If I had to choose ten books to take to a desert island, this would certainly be one of them.

This is one of the 10 all time best books I have been lucky enough to discover.

From Bombay to Malasia characters are viewed in transcendental clarity as a supernatural thread connects Tom Brent to Brian Saxby, a mysterious British seeker of truth.

When Saxby's predictions of Tom Brent's life and personality inadequacies become realized, a search for Saxby in Malasia begins. The voyage of discovery leads to some remarkable encounters with a Eurasian prostitute, some British soldiers and a band of Chinese and Malasian guerilla fighters.

The search for the elusive Saxby continues into the Malasian Jungle. His desire for revenge against Japanese collaborators haunts those left behind after the occupation, as does Saxby's own spiritual evolution . The influence of Saxby on the lives, loves and consciousness of those he has touched becomes their final fate in this remarkable story.

The fragments themselves are quite beautiful, but I found the commentary much more interesting. Since so little is known about the subject, the translator provides notes along with each fragment that lets the reader know from where the fragment came. The commentary also includes citations from many writers of Greek lyric poetry. The result is not a work that gives one man's perspective of Sappho but a work that says: "here -- this is what scholars today say about Sappho and her native Greece." The book also includes an interesting essay by the translator, cute sketches, and a glossary of people and places.

Sappho was the greatest lyric poet of Greece, and any modern reader of her poetry can easily see why. Although she admittedly suffers in translation, one must learn to ignore the frustration caused by the occasional awkward translation. One must also try to ignore the fragmentary nature of her poems. There was once a definitive edition which consisted of nine books, but it was burned in hte Middle Ages because of the lesbian love poems. The poems we have now are just papyrus fragments or quotations. However, even in English, even with only a few extant pieces, Sappho's poetry is vibrant and beautiful.

It's been a long time since I have enjoyed a book as much as this one. This is 100% storytelling at its best, juts the plain story of teenage love between Mohamed and Mina. It happens in Tangier (Morocco) probably in the 50's, just after or before Morocco's indepedence. The end is amazing and I wont spoil it for you.

In many ways, Marbet's simple style reminded me of Richard Brautigan. But while Brautigan strives to be simple, Mrabet just does it as a matter of fact.

Mrabet is a Moroccan man who literally tells stories. The American author Paul Bowles (THE SHELTERING SKY, etc.) tapes these stories and translates them into English for us. Lucky us.

This debut novel (published when Mrabet was 25) certainly has the slightly rambling but totally captivating force that we expect from the oral tradition. The prose is utterly simple and almost child-like, but the deadpan tone merely underscores the brutal motivations and rather amoral goings-on in the novel. Fret not: There's sorcery, lust, bisexuality, violence and all sorts of other goodies in store.

Fans of Paul Bowles' short fiction, like A DISTANT EPISODE and PAGES FROM COLD POINT, will certainly know what I mean -- and will certainly not want to miss out on Mrabet. This man deserves to be a star.