In his straightforward adaptation of his own script, Paul Erickson brings us a story where the TARDIS arrives on a spaceship and explores, but gets into trouble when Dodo accidentally infects the crew with the common cold, a disease so long eradicated that they have no immunity to it.

While the Doctor saves the day by inventing a cure, the TARDIS crew then journey on and arrive 700 years in the future to see the consequences of their actions.

This story features an alien race called the Monoids, who are initially depicted as working in a subservient fashion with the humans. (There is some claims that they are partners, but it is plain that it is the humans who are in charge here.)

What sets this story apart from the majority of Doctor Who is that it looks at the impact of the TARDIS crew on the lives of groups of people. It is, perhaps, unfortunate that it is done in such a heavy handed way, although it would probably have been much harder to have produced a story based on a more subtle impact when the original version was broadcast back in 1966.

One of the difficulties in writing a book of this nature is the lack of resources. Most of the primary sources are long out of print and many of the conflicts outside of Europe were not well documented in the first place. I commend Fregosi's attempt but there simply isn't much that can be said with authority about the battle for Senegal, the attack on Djakarta, or the raid on Manila. I'm fascinated by these more obscure engagements and how they have affected our world but the outcome in this case is a rather disjointed book that never quite flows.

I often enjoyed this book and there are sections that go into far more depth, such as the British siege of Toulon. Furthermore, Fregosi has been absolutely complete in at least touching on every venue of the Napoleonic conflict and this encourages one to delve further into other sources insofar as they are available.

However, the final nail in the coffin, that which made me give this book three stars, was the authors inability to refrain from making a personal jab at Reagan and Thatcher in the epilogue. After reading along for hundreds of pages in the historian's frame of mind, this barb unexpectedly comes out of left field and leaves me wondering what other bias has crept into Fregosi's book.

As much as I liked the concept, you would be better served going elsewhere for a more rigorous and better documented history of the extra-European aspects of the Napoleonic Wars.

There are a few songs here that don't seem to be many other places, and the piano arrangements are, for the most part, simple and ready for ornamentation and adaptation to other instruments. Worth getting if you're a blues fan.

While his books provide a historical viewpoint that presents pertinent background information about each subject, one is certainly better off with books such as The Elegant Universe, by Brian Greene which does everything Strathern tries to do but with much more substance (and all in just the first few chapters).

Strathern's "Big Idea" books, with their large 14-pt print are elementary\middle-school level reading; and while they would probably make great educational gifts, they don't have much value outside that age group.

Final verdict: If you're interested in physics and relativity, there read "Relativity Visualized" by Epstein or "The Elegant Universe" by Green; or better yet, spend some time browsing the net and you'll be surprised at what you can find.

So if you can traslate in your mind that the "age to come" was consumated when the old covenant age ended (AD70) you'll do well. This book does great job at explaining Pauline theology and the tention of two ages in which the writters of the new testament lived. It unfortunately makes the leap of assuming that modern Christians are in the same boat. 5 stars for clearity and exposition. 0 stars for failing to adequately support his foundaition with scripture.

Buy this book for a summary of Paul's eschatology. Don't buy this book if you want to understand your place in God's redemptive plan. See David Chilton's "Paradise Restored."