And he writes well. It's true the books are somewhat obscure, but so what? Firbank doesn't take anything seriously. Everything is a fantasy. You float through a world of handsome choirboys, old ladies talking scandal, schoolgirls preening for marriage. Corruption is everywhere, and no one points a finger. I think his best novel is his last, "Concerning some eccentricities of Cardinal Pirelli." His earlier works ramble a little. "Cardinal Pirelli" is set in Spain and is sort of a satire of the Catholic Church. If you take certain things seriously, Firbank is not for you. But if you are open minded and would like to read something different from most novels, you may enjoy him.

Some of these novels are incredibly funny -- _Vainglory_, in particular, is a comic masterpiece. Firbank had a skill for writing fools' dialogue: imagine an Austen character who always says the wrong thing at the wrong time, then imagine a novel populated exclusively by these types.

Of course, this all gets a little tiring after a while. Firbank seems to have been a fervid misanthrope, and I can't think of an appealing character in any of these novels. Still, they're great, quick reads -- perfect, I would say, to pass the time while on vacation, or sick in bed.

Firbank is seldom considered a serious novelist, or a major literary modernist. It's easy to see why he's underrated; most of his writings are quite brief, and infused with a daring sense of high camp. But Firbank's terse narration and elliptical dialogue require as much sophistication from readers as the novels of James Joyce or Virginia Woolf.

This anthology contains most of Firbank's best work -- the outrageous _Flower Beneath the Foot_, the sublimely scabrous _Valmouth_, and his rueful final novel _Concerning the Eccentricities of Cardinal Pirelli_. (Cardinal Pirelli, a closeted boy-lover, is probably the single strongest character in all of Firbank's fiction.) Even at his campiest, Firbank acknowledges the possibility of tragedy -- and this awareness distinguishes his novels from mere social whimsy.

The absence of _Caprice_ from this particular collection is a bit of a letdown, because this short novel is probably the best introduction to Firbank's skewed world view. (On a separate note, the regrettably racist title _Prancing N----r_ was not Firbank's own. Firbank actually called the novel _Sorrow in Sunlight_, and his American admirer Carl Van Vechten retitled the book to titillate U.S. audiences. Although Van Vechten's gambit worked, and _Prancing N----r_ was the only one of Firbank's novels to achieve substantial U.S. sales during his lifetime, the original British title is much better, and ought to be restored.)

I bought this book based on the great reviews here but was disappointed. While being concise about what is fun to do, see, etc., the author unfortunately feels the need to write comments in a sarcastic manner that almost put me off the entire place!

I've noticed this with other Frommer's guides - watch out for the one on the Bahamas. After reading that book I asked myself why anyone would ever want to visit the place.

Although it's nice to get honest opinions about a vacation destination, who wants to read something that essentially makes you feel like not going there?

I recommend "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World" instead. Although honest in their reviews, they're much more concise, complete, and positive about Disney.

After all, I buy guide books because I'm already planning on visiting the place, not to make me decide not to go there!

If you're planning a trip to Walt Disney World and Orlando, this is the book to guide you.

Easy to use, fun to read, you'll feel like you're already there. There's a wealth of information to help you decide where to stay, where to eat and what to do.

And the accuracy is astounding. So reliable in fact, that I used an earlier edition for checking facts when I worked as an editor.

You won't miss a thing unless you run out of time.

If you are planning a trip to Walt Disney World, this book is for you. There are so many things in Disney World to do and see that if you do not have a plan, and some idea of what you want to see, you will waste your trip. Frommer's helps you make heads or tails of what there is to see and do. The reviews for everything are very honest and unbiased. I used this book to help me plan my whole trip.

I bought this book because my stay in Boston would be short and i wanted the latest info. I found a lot of the infomation supplied not correct. The boston computer-museum has been closed since june 1999, but the 2000 version of this book still knows it. Entry-prices and telephone-numbers are often wrong. Prices on accomodations are way off, and the people who wrote this seem to focus at expensive locations, lower budget accommodations are hardly mentioned. The included map has no clear markings for subway-stations which makes it ill-usable. The book contains no structured historical information on Boston, I know, it's the information people tend to skip, but for a foreigner with little knowledge of american history it is very handy when you can look up what the Boston Tea Party is. On the whole I did not like this book. The layout and photo's are good, but the info is out of date, despite the 2000 in the title. Travelers on a stricter budget should not read this book, because budget choises like greyhound busses, bycycling and hostels are not mentioned or are given bad remarks.

This was an excellent guide for deciding which places to visit in and around Boston during our stay. The walking guides he suggested were especially helpful. I found Frommer to be very honest about the places he reviewed, and the most charming places we visted were off the beaten tourist track and we would not have found them without the help of this book. I recommend it to anyone planning a trip to Boston.

I just returned from an extended weekend in Boston because I'm considering moving there in a couple of years but had never spent significant amounts of time there, so I bought this book because I couldn't find the current Fodor's Gold Guide, which is the usual travel guide that I purchase when I visit new places. LET ME TELL YOU HOW GREAT THIS GUIDE WAS! So much more user friendly than the Fodor's!! My favorite part is the chapter on Boston Strolls, where Frommer's has selected four different walking tours that you can do on your own with suggested stops. That was GREAT! On top of that, the chapters on dining and lodging were most helpful in planning the trip and there were also throughout the book little interesting blurbs of information about Boston, like what movies have recently been filmed in Boston and other tips and tricks that you need to know to navigate Boston. I took the book everywhere!! The maps are great and helpful too. If you're planning a trip to Boston, BUY IT!

I've just returned from my first trip to Germany, and the Best-Loved Driving Tours was among the three books I toted along. This book was an excellent tool for planning our trip -- the photos are beautiful, and the tour layout helped us figure out where we should go and what might be worth seeing. Its short descriptions of each stop helped us grasp what a place was about, and as a result we budgeted about the right amount of time for each stop.

As a tour book to take along, though, it's not nearly as helpful. On the plus side, it's the only book I encountered that imagines you might actually be *driving* through Germany (the rest of them start describing a city beginning with the train station, with no clue for car drivers on how to get downtown). Also, most of the other books don't quite grasp that you might explore outside the big cities; this one does just the opposite, which I appreciated. However, the directions from place to place are a bit sparse, and it provides almost no useful information about lodging or dining.

This is a good guide book. But don't let it be the only one you carry.

An extremely useful guide. We managed to followed most of the tours in the Bavaria region and picked up on some along the Romantic Road. These tours take you both on and off the beaten track, with recommended stops etc, whilst avoiding heavy traffic. I believe that without this guide we would have missed many of the smaller off the beaten track areas, which made the trip so much more enjoyable.

My wife and I know Germany pretty well, but this guide was an excellent addition for our next trip there. It is very upbeat and informative, with just the right amount of detail.

Dr. Ide should be given credit for his very easy-to-understand writing style. However, if you're looking for a fair and balanced portrait of Bush, you won't find it here. I was disappointed that Dr. Ide was apparently unable to look past his political views. What a pity he should conduct what seems to be very expansive research but chooses to litter his writing with personal sentiments. As an Independent, I picked up this book hoping to learn more about Bush, but realized its design was to "add fuel to the fire" of those who already dislike him.

This is a very well written book made up of short, well-researched, topic-based chapters. These chapters cover a broad range of public policy issues (environment, education, tax cuts, religious right), which Mr. Bush acted on during his short but turbulent career in Texas. For anyone stunned by recent ultra-conservative administration policies that seem at odds with Bush's 2000 campaign rhetoric, this source illuminates the historical origins of America's most recent resident of the White House. It may also suggest that the most dramatic policies are yet to come. This book is an especially good reference work for studious journalists and a thorough primer concerned citizens.

Doctor Ide is a truly gifted writer,and he writes what he deeply knows. No wonder his latest stunning work is so accurate,precise,flawless.

Doctor Ide's book is very detailed and punctual,as in Ide's style,and there are pelnty of useful information.

Go buy this important book. You will not regret it!

More people should read this book, particularly those (like me) who have a difficult time understanding how communism could have had such strong popular appeal around the world in the past two centuries. The book is a compelling drama of the Spartacus rebellion against Rome, but at heart it dwells on the theme of man's doomed efforts to live in harmony and equality. Spartacus' attempt to build a Sun City for freed slaves and anyone else who would live as brothers, a sanctuary of shared work and shared property, is the tale of so many failed utopian efforts. It may not be fair to compare Koestler's Spartacus to Fast's Spartacus, but while Koestler's made for slower reading it was much more moving. The opening pasages I believe are there to build the sense of Roman decadence, so stick with the book. There is action and desperate heroism to come later (friends of mine to whom I've recommended the book put it down too quickly, owing to the dreary start.) Despite the bloodthirsty times, Spartacus yearns for decency and brotherhood in a way that helps one to understand the emotional appeal of communism as an alternative to decadent tyranny. Koestler's realism keeps the portrayal of Spartacus' attempts at proto-socialism honest, that is, one of the book's themes is the incompatibility of human nature with the dictum "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need." Spartacus fails, though one wishes dearly that his dream would live and succeed.

Spartacus is all of us when threathened in our human dignity, in our right to live, when we think we must fight oppression,the menace of terror and the tyranny of corrupt men of power. The Spartacus in this book is not as scintillating as Kubrick's Spartacus. He's more grim, much more conscious of the problem of restraining, in the rebellion to the tyranny of terror, the temptation of wreaking even more terror, and to give vent to the less rational and more violent and predatory instincts in human soul. Koestler's book poses problems who are far from resolved in the wake of the death of "the God that failed", of Communism. His questions are today's questions.
Besides that,this is one of the more rigorous historical books I've read, and even if some speculations are a bit hazardous,they are entirely plausible.A good historical novel,

This is a deeply disturbing novel about the failure of mass revolutionary movements. It contrasts the conscious self-interests of privileged elites with the self-interests of the masses and observes that there is only one fundamental 'law' that operates beneath the facades of 'order' and 'patriotism', namely the fatalistic assertion of the sad leader of the fierce and melancholic Celts, the gladiator Crixus, that the law is simply 'Eat, or be eaten'!

Every ideal of human progress is punctured in Koestler's often unnoticed and underrated novel, yet -- as asserted in the chapter in which 'the man with the bullet-head', an Israelite Essene, inspires the Thracian gladiator Spartacus with a vision of universal justice from the latter Jewish prophets -- the tattered nobility of this defeat is reminiscent of the Christian version of a death on a cross that was also to lead to some final victory over brute nature. And Spartacus, at the end of the book, walks post-mortem, like a resurrected Jesus, among the devastated; his vision they refuse to let die.

Based upon the historic revolt of 73-71 B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) this actual event was one of the great revolutions of ancient history, a slave revolt that threatened the power of the Roman empire; a revolt -- if it had succeeded -- that would perhaps have mirrored the triumph of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia in 1917-20. Lenin's favorite character in history is said to have been precisely the gladiator of the school in Capua, Spartacus, who emerged as the primary commander of the slave forces; however, the real leader, in Koestler's novel, is the gladiator without ambition or ideals, 'the man with the seal's head', Crixus.

Crixus is the expression of vengeance as justice and indulgence as the compensation for privation and exploitation, understanding that the rich and the powerful always win in the end so the only sensible response is to take everything you can while you can. It is an ignoble, even ignorant, attitude, but the cynicism of the fat, equally self-indulgent (and also deeply unhappy) Roman banker-become-general, Marcus Crassus, quite reflects Crixus' own. (In a scene of a pre-'last battle' interview between Crassus and Spartacus, the latter actually notes even the physical resemblance between the rich man and the proletarian slave-gladiator which of course is a recognition of kindred motivation, the union of 'eaters' from 'above' and 'below', so to speak.)

There is plenty of mayhem in this book but essentially it is for those who are willing to ask questions about base human nature and live with the results. The characterizations are finely drawn, complex and varied, and the novelized history is fascinating. This is a much less romanticized version of the Spartacus story than the better-known book by Howard Fast (made into an even more romantic movie by Kirk Douglas in 1960). Koestler's would best be serialized by the BBC, similar to the excellent treatment Robert Graves' 'I, Claudius' novels received in the late 1970s. But don't wait for that (for it may never come): if you long for intellectual nourishment (rather than superficial escapism) from your historical novel-reading this is a book -- as the cliche goes -- to read again and again.

I agree with Mr. Green in all respects except one. I would have (and did have) "Electrical Engineering Review Manual" by Yarbrough as a look up reference for the PE test. (ISBN = 0-932276-36-9)

Some context: I never met a test I didn't like, graduated with BSEE from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in 1982, and found the P.E. to be sophomore-to-junior level with low-to-moderate difficulty and depth - with no significant time pressure - one hour average per problem.

You can make the P.E. difficult if you only do the power problems. Electric Power only scratches a small part of the PE, which also includes:

Digital logic, Communications, Integration, Filters, Op amp applications, Control systems/application of feedback, NEC (my 1994 test had a grounding problem),

The EE Review Manual is much broader in scope and was written specifically for the P.E. It was the only book I actually used at the test (and I had "Electric Power Calculations").

I remember doing problems as follows: 1) A freshman-level problem relating power and energy (first page of the test and shockingly rudimentary) 2) An integration problem - find the RMS value of a sine-wave 10V peak-to-peak, chopped at 65% - another freshman level problem 3) An op amp problem - find the rise time, calculate the value of feedback resistors, draw bode plot showing frequency response 4) A grounding problem using NEC (I DIDN'T HAVE MY NEC! But did the problem anyway since I'd been doing a lot of commercial design) 5) A Control Systems problem - classic transfer function with feedback problem 6) A Sallen and Key low-pass filter problem. 7) A power problem - transformer regulation with non-purely-resistive load. 8) ?

A word of encouragement for prospective P.E.'s: Don't sweat that fact that you may not have prepared adequately - take it anyway. I delayed sitting for it because of this non-reason, and cost myself tens-of-thousands of dollars. Apply for it, don't tell anyone you're taking it, and go in with no pressure. Like Doritos tortilla chips "they'll make more" If you get a 69, you'll get to take the test again.

I took the test with no preparation, walked out of the afternoon session (multiple choice) with one-and-one-half hours to spare, and got a 76 (laughing when I got the notice). Real-world consulting and my classes at Rose were and are far, far, more difficult.

Go get 'em!!

Calculations for network analysis, instrumentation, dc machines, transformers, 3 phase induction motors, single phase induction motors, synchronous machines, transmission lines, electric-power networks, load-flow studies, power-system control, short-circuit computations, system grounding, power-system protection, power-system stability, cogeneration, batteries, economic methods, and lighting design are covered in separate chapters. The information is available, it's just not easy to find. Small type makes reading difficult for anything other than short periods.

I haven't found any errors in formulae or explanations. The organization is logical and, except for the spacing, easy to follow.

Each section has it's own table of contents. The Index is large and appears to encompass most of the important topics in the book.

I'm using it to prepare for and take my Professional Engineering Exam and it looks like it will be an excellent reference.... this is the book I'd buy to have a handbook close at hand for quick, look ups.

Calculations for network analysis, instrumentation, dc machines, transformers, 3 phase induction motors, single phase induction motors, synchronous machines, transmission lines, electric-power networks, load-flow studies, power-system control, short-circuit computations, system grounding, power-system protection, power-system stability, cogeneration, batteries, economic methods, and lighting design are covered in separate chapters.

The information is available, it's just not easy to find. Small type makes reading difficult for anything other than short periods.

I haven't found any errors in formulae or explanations. The organization is logical and, except for the spacing, easy to follow.

Each section has it's own table of contents. The Index is large and appears to encompass most of the important topics in the book.

I'm using it to prepare for and take my Professional Engineering Exam and it looks like it will be an excellent reference... this is the book I'd buy to have a handbook close at hand for quick, look ups.

June Thomson is a British mystery writer who has published about 18 novels concerning her own characters, and three pastiche collections of Sherlock Holmes short stories. What she seems to be doing here is getting another book out of her research and thoughts about the Holmes and Watson characters, as accumulated during the writing of the three short-story collections.

There is not much that is original here, and Thomson leans particularly heavily on D. Martin Dakin's SHERLOCK HOLMES COMMENTARY. What is good is Thomson's refusal to speculate wildly. She hews in a Fundamentalist way to the letter of the Canon; and, her main interest is the changing relations between Holmes and Watson, particularly as affected by Holmes' increasing deteriorating mental stability, and Watson's two marriages.

Thomson's two claims of originality lie in her identification of the person Watson disguised as the "King of Bohemia"--- an identification I don't buy at all; and, her identification of Watson's mysterious second wife, an identification I find brilliant and completely convincing.

This 2001 ... edition seems to be printed directly from the plates of the 1995 British edition, and the type shows quite a bit of damage, with a number of missing letters.

If you are a lover of the Canon, and of Holmes and Watson, you'll find much to ponder in this organized review of what few hints the Canon gives us on matters of the actual dates of various cases, and on the day-to-day life and relationship of the Great Detective and his faithful Boswell.

June Watson has written several books of Holmes short stories (under the titles 'The Secret of Sherlock Holmes' - File, Chronicles, Journals) but here writes a biography of both Holmes and Watson, with especial attention to their friendship.

In writing this book, she draws heavily upon the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (things written by anyone else is ignored) and establishes a chronology of the stories, espouses her own theories and makes reference to those of other Holmesians and Sherlockians.

This is a well-trodden path - first treader, as far as I know was Baring-Gould - but Ms. Thomson does a good job. The whole thing hangs together wonderfully - she foreshadows future ideas, she refers back to her previous views, and has plainly thought this project through.

And, yes, she addresses the age-old questions - was Watson shot in the shoulder or the leg, why does Mrs. Watson call her husband John "James", how many times was Watson married and to who, who was Mrs. Turner, which university did Holmes go to, etc.

If you are interested in the Holmes canon (as opposed to the stories) you may want to read this one.

Excellent "biography" (originally published in 1995) of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson from an accomplished mystery writer and Sherlockian scholar. The details and discussions are drawn directly from the original Holmes stories and features none of the unfounded or fanciful speculations that clog so many other Holmes "biographies". Thomson does offer other scholars' differing or dissenting opinions and interpretations, conjectures, and so on, where appropriate for a well-rounded text. The writing style is excellent and eminently readable, avoiding the dry scholarly style of some other studies. Well documented and footnoted, this is almost as entertaining to read as the actual Holmes stories themselves. Highly recommended.

The book covers the accounting, legal, tax and financing aspect of international merger and acquisition activities. There are 15 chapters, with each chapter contributed by different author. The continuity is not good. The lack of real world M&A cases is the major drawback of this book. At the graduate level, the book is still useful as a checklist.

This is an excellent resource with helpful checklists and quick overviews on points to considering when structuring an international deal. Chapters on legal aspects of international joint ventures (Robert F. Ebin) and International Project Finance (Scott L. Hoffman) are top-notch. I highly recommend this to anyone "doing the deal."

A very useful companion to the main text. Provides a substantial amount of additional material, such as Q&A on the text, Q&A on real-life examples of mergers and acquisitions, sample forms, checklists, and an additional reading list. I highly recommend it.

This book was the required text for my first econometrics class. I found it unclear and ended more confused after consulting the text than before. It is very theory-based, and not very helpful if you're looking for a book about practical applications of econometric models. The only way I got through econometrics was using Pindyck and Rubinfeld's Econometrics book. Goldberger's book was short with too few examples, problems at the end of the chapter which were not discussed in the chapter. If you are buying this as a first econometrics book, don't, and if you're well versed in econometrics, then you don't need an intro book. This book caters to no level of econometric student.

I might be biased given that professor Goldberger taught at my undergrad school. But this book is quite nice. I can see how for some people it is not clear enough: this book is a rigorous, little, dense brick packed with information and no fancy/cute diagrams.

To really get something out of it, i could not just read it, but rather had to sit down with pen and paper and write down along the concepts. If you are willing to do that, then you will really enjoy it, as i certainly did.

This book begins with the simplest of concepts and gradually builds into more complex concepts by the end of the book. In the mean time the reader attains a better understanding of each issue while slowly broadening his scope at a pace that is very comfortable.