This Book is Great. Every page of it makes very insightful and intresting reading. It can hardly be bettered in the Subject its dealing with. But, I guess he may not be wholly impartial in his assessments and retains i guess some "Mlechha" attitude. I know the authors reputation and this might appear silly but at a few places he makes some sweeping statements which appear to be made without much proof.

Following are some such sweeping statements.

1. Comparing vedic culture to a culture that bears a generic likeness to that of 'Beowulf' who were semi-barbarians.

2.'and was somehow less advanced than that depicted in the Iliad.

3."BUT IN GENERAL THE MUSLIMS WERE REASONABLY TOLERANT "
Its tough to find any scholar agreeing with this view point. This is almost exclusively of AL BASHAM.

Lot more like this but believe me!.

This is a classic work on pre-Muslim Indian history. The author's scholarship is evident on every page. While the preface specifically states that the book is intended mainly for a Western audience, South Asians especially should find this book salutary reading--it is an account of their history that is both objective and respectful, a healthy contrast to the unscientific views of history that are often put forth by right-wing politicians in India and Pakistan. The book is a little dated when it talks about the Indus valley civilization.

This is the "standard introductory textbook" that is also a true joy to read for any layman who wants some accurate information on early India. At the time the book was first published (1954), Professor Basham was teaching at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London.Later he moved to the chair of Asian Civilisation, at the Australian National University, Canberra. His book remains a perennial despite his passing.

An excellent survey of Arthur and his legacy from ancient Rome to modern Hollywood. Anyone interested in seriously looking at Arthur should begin with this very readable book. Also - lots of great pictures!

This book is hailed as the most complete book ever published on the subject. The cover claims: "A new history of Arthur and the Arthurian legends" and "The latest archaeological discoveries at Glastonbury, Tintagel, Cadbury 'Camelot,' Wroxeter and Hadrian's Wall."

I bought this book expecting to learn that new evidence has been uncovered which caused the history of King Arthur to be updated. Instead, I found this quote: "...indeed it is not my goal to unearth the 'real Arthur.' Rather, I hope to show for all those interested in Arthur that there was a very real and vibrant historical era at the beginning of his story. Whether he existed or not, this period would produce the stuff of legends, legends that would become the basis for one of the most important and lasting literary traditions in the West."

Was I disappointed? Definitely not! I read the entire book in one sitting and relished every page. I have to agree with the author: if we ever prove that he existed, we are surely in for a disappointment. No man could ever measure up to the one that ten centuries of romantic writing has built. We would all be disappointed.

If you are interested in history, especially of the Britons, Celts, Druids, or the general period between AD 100 and 1000, this is a must read! Just do not buy it thinking that it will give you a definite answer about Arthur's existence.

It gets my highest recommendation as a source of entertainment and as a vital reference tool.

Excerpt reprinted from Rambles.net

I am new to the Arthurian Legend, and I found this book to be an AMAZING resource. It tell the history brilliantly. It is really thorough in following through history the different authors that have contributed to Arthuriana.

More importantly to me, it has given me a roadmap of books to read so that I can learn more about King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table.

The pictures that he has chosen are amazing. I would have like to see some clarification on some of the pictures of the maps that are included. But some of the pictures from some of the older versions of Tennyson's Idylls of the King, and some of the originals that Claxton used in the original Le Morte D'Arthur area really amazing.

Overall, a GREAT resource if you want to learn about some of the historical aspects of Arthuriana.

Journeys of exploration have always been risky ventures. When the trip involves several years over millions of kilometres, the odds of unblemished success grow enormous. Engaging in such a venture in the realm of space, almost beyond the reach of human control suggests hazards beyond imagining. This book describes such a venture, perhaps the most ambitious ever undertaken. That the measure of success achieved was so great is a tribute to all those who planned and implemented it. Michael Hanlon gives us a ringside seat in his portrayal of the journey of the Galileo Mission to Jupiter. Although not a participant, he ably captures the dedication and skills of the Mission Team. Further, he's able to place us in the space vehicle as it traversed one of the most bizarre journeys ever undertaken.

The Galileo Mission was spurred by the preceding Pioneer and Voyager missions of the 1970s. These four robots cruised through the outer solar system, returning stunning views of the largest planet and its associates beyond. In doing so, they raised numerous and unanswerable questions about our neighbours in space. Unlike the previous probes, Hanlon takes us through the planning that led Galileo's flight to Venus, back past Earth to its final destination far out in the solar system. The efforts put into the flight brought Galileo to within 5 km of its intended position when it arrived at Venus - a staggering achievement.

All the planning and engineering couldn't prevent problems, however. NASA's attempt to open the main transmitting antenna failed when some minor pins failed to release. When Galileo arrived at its primary destination, the antenna looked like an umbrella wracked by high winds. NASA used other methods to maintain communication, resulting in the stunning images seen here. It was a frustrating experience for the mission team, yet Galileo added a treasure house of new information about our neighbours in space.

We are so accustomed to the notion that we are the sole home of life, that the problems surrounding Galileo's termination render this issue the most bizarre of the trip. Europa, the ice-coated satellite of Jupiter, may contain living organisms in its hidden sea. In order not to contaminate that life, if it exists, Galileo had to be purposely sacrificed. Hanlon describes the options and why each was considered worthwhile. Galileo went to explore the Jovian system and was still transmitting images as he completed this vividly descriptive work. He is to be commended for a gripping account. We may be the only life in this group of planets, but Galileo's records give us a major argument to continue our search for life elsewhere. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

The Worlds of Galileo tells the story of the American space probe that, five years ago, began studying Jupiter and its moons. The history of the NASA probe, Galileo, and its long space odyssey to the most dramatic corner of the Solar System is an account of a unique journey. Packed with first-hand testimonies from the men and women who made it happen, we go behind the scenes to learn just how many times the project was saved from disaster before its ultimate triumph. Illustrated with over one hundred color images straight from the NASA archives, the book reveals the harsh beauty and remarkable landscapes of the Jovian system.

In 'The Worlds of Galileo', Mike Hanlon, one of Britain's leading newspaper science editors, relates how NASA's Galileo spacecraft overcame a series of severe problems and went on to revolutionise our understanding of the Jovian system.

Drawing upon interviews with the key participants, Hanlon explains the project's origin in the cash-strapped 1970s, the political travails of the early 1980s, and the redesign in the aftermath of the Challenger accident. After the spacecraft's epic voyage out to Jupiter, he focuses upon the astonishing 'fire and ice' moons of volcanic Io and Europa, where there appears to be an ocean beneath a thin shell of ice.

Hanlon handles the geological discussion with ease, so this is a highly readable account. Certainly, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, who contributed the foreword, was impressed. Finally, St Martins Press is to be congratulated for having produced a very handsome volume with colour imagery throughout.

Great, a bunch of short stories about the troubled adolescence of Keill Randor, interstellar ninja. Just kidding! Actually, it was a pretty good book...especially the first story, "Ordeal."

This is an excellent kids book full of fantastic action. This man gives Bruce Lee a run for his money! The other Legionary Quartet stuff is equally great. Enjoy!

I think that this book is great I just finished reading it. My faveriot part is Games the games are like the olympics but way way more dangerious

A good quick read with helpful illustrations. The book consists of fundamental suggestions on how to improve specific shots when problems arise. I skimmed back over this short book during my busride to our hometown golf course...armed with this knowledge, my golf clubs and my seasonal bus-pass I was confident that at the end of the day my score would put me in the drivers seat "so to speak" in our foursome. Sure enough it did---I ended up over the last ten holes shooting one over par, having the longest drive in our group and also closest to the pin. It mainly talks about squaring the clubface and slices and your backswing. Do not let the date of original publication concern you.

This book replaces all the videos, all the little red and green books, all the magazines... Golf has simple building blocks that golfers must attend to on a continuous basis... Review this book before bedtime & wakeup to your best round of the year... From 96 to 94 to 84 in my first three rounds of the year. 84 tied my best round ever... This book's copyright date should not dissuade... Ageless and priceless... Your visualization skills are truly exercised... Scan the pages before every round and forget about your pregame stretch...

New Managers and experienced managers alike can benefit from this book. Lots of good ideas to become a better balanced and "empowered" manager.

There's a plethora of books and articles available to anyone who wants to learn about the principles behind activity-based management (ABM). What is somewhat harder to find are practical tips and proven strategies for implementing ABM. The recently published second edition of Activity-Based Management: Arthur Andersen's Lessons from the ABM Battlefield, edited by Steve Player and David E. Keys (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1999), offers advice from professionals who've seen action in the ABM trenches and lived to tell the tale.

Lessons from the ABM Battlefield identifies what kind of organization should employ ABM and why, and explains how to link ABM with other initiatives to further enhance management performance. The first secion offers details on how to overcome 30 pitfalls commonly encountered at three stages of ABM -- starting an ABM initiative, developing a pilot program, and moving from pilot to mainstream application. This section includes topics such as lack of clear objectives, poor communication, poor definition of activities, and lack of project management.

Section Two features twelve firsthand accounts by members of Arthur Andersen's cost management practice who have successfully implemented ABM initiatives at various corporations. These case studies cover a wide range of topics, including storyboarding customer profitability analysis, benchmarking and target costing. The last section of the book addresses the next wave of tools for use in ABM environments, designed to provide readers with a solid practical framework for deploying ABM. These techniques are on the cutting edge of cost management theory and practice.

Lessons from the ABM Battlefield is a clearly-written, accessible guide to the fundamentals of ABM, offering valuable advice and insights from individuals who have "been there, done that."

As the new director of a small but growing public library I have found this book very helpful. I go back to it time after time. Chapters cover everything from history of the public library and structures of library boards to director and board responsibilities and the day to day operations of a library.

I particularly appreciate the tone of the book and the short section on the new library director. There is a realistic and reassuring quality about it.

The copyright is 1994. There is a bit of out-of-date information, such as refering to WILSON LIBRARY BULLETIN. I am hoping for a new edition soon.

I teach a course in public librarianship to graduate students in a large library school. I used much of this book as required reading for my students and found it very helpful in organizing the semester long class. It provides valuable information about numerous aspects of public libraries in a clear and concise manner. It is a helpful tool for not only library science students but also new librarians and experienced administrators.

I like most of the stories in this book (a merger of 2 seperate anthologies) but some are quite bad. Still tho, I like Holmes and he gets plenty of room here to show off his skills.

These stories are presented in chrological order of their publication in 'Strand' magazine and follow immediatly after 'A Study in Scarlet' and 'The Sign of Four'. Tho their timelines bounce around all over the place and it's hard to keep track.

My fave stories would be 'The Speckled Band' or 'The Engineer's Thumb'. Both of which are from 'Adventures'. The only story I really enjoyed from 'Memoirs' is 'The Silver Blaze'. Many of them seem to be rehashes of his older plots.

Tho highly regarded in the literary community I find Conan-Doyles writing style to be confusing and inappropriate. As most of you know the stories are told from the point of view of Watson, Holmes' sidekick. But his narration of the events takes a backseat to very, very lengthy dialogues (which are mostly overwritten monologues). The narrative shifts back and forth and all over the place. It's not uncommon to see '''" before a typical line of speech. If you get lost, don't worry...I did too. The story 'The Musgrave Ritual' especially is badly told, plain and simple.

Plus Watson's function in most of this hardly ever reaches out of 'The Casual Observer'. All he does is witness Holmes' crime-solving techniques. Which usually only last a couple of pages as most of each story (typical length 21 pages) devotes about 13 pages to set-up. Hardly well balanced is it?

The last story 'The Final Problem' isn't even a mystery at all and just seems like a badly thought-out excuse for Conan-Doyle to kill of a character he felt totally indifferent about. Even tho the public loved Holmes. Why Moriarty is seen as a massive villain is beyond me because he hardly does anything at all.

The overall quality of the short stories is average. The full novels is where Holmes and Watson REALLY have something to other than fool around in low-level stories. You'll definitely be interested in some of the stories in this certain edition, but they lack meaning or purpose.

This particular edition comes with extensive notes at the back with numbers for each story to help clear up any confusion. Some of them are helpful for when you are reading and the rest give away plot points and ruin some of the developements.

As I am a Holmes completist I stuck it out and finished every one of these stories. If you are too then I'd recommend this Penguin edition over the others. They seem to always print the best copies of Holmes.

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES and THE MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES are here collected into a single volume in this Penguin edition. Two compediums of short stories published after the detective's introduction in the novels A STUDY IN SCARLET and THE SIGN OF FOUR, these are concise bits that are just as good a first exposure to Holmes as the novels.

Because the cases of Sherlock Holmes, dutifully chronicled by his companion Dr. Watson, may not appeal to everyone, I won't focus here on reviewing the stories themselves, as it is the features of this particular edition that are of note.

Iain Pears' introduction is quite enlightening, showing the tendency of Arthur Conan Doyle to make the troubles in Holmes' stories come from England's colonies, which is strange considering Conan Doyle's support of equality and respect for all peoples. Pears' also discusses the change in the style of the Holmes stories, from the rational youth of Conan Doyle to the latter days of his life when he was interested in spiritualism and mysticism.

There are footnotes to each story, compiled by Ed Glinert. An expert on literature set in London, Glinert explains the geographical settings of the Holmes stories, and defines anachronistic terms that are no longer use. He also points out the mistakes Arthur Conan Doyle frequently made in his stories, which are often quite amusing (Watson's wife calling him by the wrong name, contradicting timelines, etc).

Because of the illuminating introduction and the helpful footnotes, I'd recommend over any others this edition of THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES and THE MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

This book did not quite meet my expectations. Since I have more reason to criticize I shall start my review by listing the flaws.

First thing that strikes me as a mistake is the fact that the works are not arranged in any order, but rather just thrown in at random. Although the authors make it clear in the introduction that this was done deliberately it still strikes me as a poor decision.

Next, neither one of the two authors is an art historian. Too bad, because a lot of the works merit better descriptions.

In my opinion the authors included too many works by LeRoy Neiman, and at the same time failed to include some very important works of art that should really have been included to make this book complete. LeRoy Neiman also wrote the Foreword, which is fine, except that he made a big mistake in his description of the world famous painting "The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs" by Georges de La Tour. He says, "Women gambling pops up frequently in this collection. Georges de La Tour's painting of a woman being cheated..." The famous painting in question shows a young man being cheated by small conspiratorial group of two women and a man. How could such big mistake slip through the cracks and end up in print? Sloppiness?

While at the subject of La Tour's masterpiece, "The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs". The authors do mention that this painting is a virtual clone of another work by the same artist, "The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds", however they did not include a color plate of the other one. Why not? Furthermore the authors have totally failed to provide an accurate description of this masterpiece. According to the authors this painting is about a cheat switching cards. Yes, a cheat is seen holding out two aces behind his back, however there is more to it; the main foundation for this painting is a moral essay on the three main temptations of the 17th century - women , gambling and wine. A quick glance into a few art books would have made this fact known to the authors.

Although the authors did note that the above-mentioned work was strongly influenced by Caravaggio's "The Cardsharpers", they failed to include any paintings by Valentin de Boulogne, a celebrated artist, also influenced by Caravaggio, and the only one said to come close or even surpass Caravaggio's talent. The two masterpieces by Valentin that should have been included are "Cardsharpers" and "Soldiers Playing Cards and Dice" (aka "The Cheats").

Other paintings that should have been included are works by Theodor Rombouts, such as "Card and Backgammon players" (aka "Fight Over Cards"), and two renditions of "The Card Players". The exclusion of the above-mentioned works makes this book incomplete.

As I had already mentioned, the descriptions of the paintings tend to be a bit incomplete, sometimes inaccurate, and often tend to focus on irrelevant subjects. For example, in the description of "The Dice Playes" by Georges de La Tour, which was painted in 1650, the authors slip away to a description of an event that happened in 1984 when a Texan (unnamed) made a one million Dollar bet at the Craps table, at Binnion's Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas. Although this is undoubtedly a good story, what does that have to do with the painting that La Tour painted in the 17th century?

As an example of an inaccurate description I could mention the Carl Kronberger's "Surprised". At first glance one can see a scene in which three card players, seated under a bridge are distracted by a carriage that happens to be passing over the same bridge. The authors are attempting to guess which three-handed game of card the players could be playing. However, what they failed to notice is that the players are seated on top of their bags, around a make-shift table, and that there is an abandoned fourth bag over which the absent fourth player laid his hand of five cards to rest. Furthermore this fourth player left his wager (a few coins) on the card table. At the same time he is seen begging for change, hat in hand, on top of the bridge, as the rich man seated in the carriage in tossing spare change into the man's hat. The painting obviously shows an interrupted four-handed game, and not a three-handed game, as the authors are guessing.

On the good note, I still find the book interesting. It is probably the best gaming-related art book with good color reproductions. Despite its flaws it is till obvious that the authors did do a substantial amount of research and I do recommend this book for anyone interested in gaming and/or gambling, and art.

I bought this as a gift, and I only had time to thumb through it. I figured that I would write a quick note since it has not been rated and others might at least want an idea.

This book is full of interesting and colorful art work. From card games to horse racing it has it all. If you think you will be interested you will like it. I was very happy with the purchase.

This is a charming picture book with very little substance in terms of telling legends. What little snippets of storyline are included in this book are toned down to a G rating. There is no mention of violence or romance, though there are some sections that describe how the legends influenced readers in the past. These sections on historical influence would seem to be too boring for young readers, which is the audience most of this book is geared for. Other than that, there is little criticism of this book so long as you intend to give it to seven year-olds.

For those entranced by the magical stories of King Arthur, Excalibur, the Sword in the Stone, Lancelot, Guinevere, and the Knights of the Round Table, Kevin Crossley-Holland has written the quintessential book detailing the life and times of this charismatic hero and his court. Beautifully and painstakingly researched, and rich in history, trivia, fun facts, anecdotes, and legend, Mr Crossley-Holland brings medieval England and Camelot to life. Hear the many stories, among them Merlin, The Sword in the Stone, the Lady of the Lake, Sir Mordred, Marie de France, and Morgan le Fay. Learn the ways of the court and castle life, dressing, arms and armor, tournaments and tilting, love, quests and adventures, magic and magicians, troubadours, art, and so much more. His engaging and entertaining text is enhanced by Peter Malone's marvelously vivid artwork, and together these two transport the reader back in time to the enchanting world of chivalrous knights, lovely and fair maidens, and evil villains. Perfect for young lovers of the Arthurian legend, 12 and older, who have begun to ask the hard questions..."Did King Arthur exist? Was there really a court called Camelot? Where exactly was Arthur's kingdom? When did he rule? And what was he like?" Kevin Crossley-Holland gives the definitive answer..."To begin with, we scarcely need to know. When we first meet Arthur, we are caught up in a long dream we hope will never end." The legend lives. Believe and Enjoy!

The World of King Arthur is an outstanding companion book for anyone interested in the Arthurian legends. The beautifully written entries explain the who, what, when and where of the Arthurian world.,(like, the difference between the sword-in-the stone and Excalibur, or what is known of the historical Arthur.) Also, scattered through the book are delightful nuggets like Kiss Me, How to be a Butler, Verb that Carving, In the the Midnight Garden. Translated from original sources they are wonderful windows into the medieval world. The illustrations are rich, inventive and instinctive. An absolutely gorgeous book, a delight to read and to look at, a must for Arthur fans.