I love tales of King Arthur and I generally like science-fiction. Ms. Kennealy combines the two poorly. The Celts come from outer space. they have psychic powers and faster-than-light-travel. They fight with swords and spears. This probably explains why the Romans beat them... These tales are a wonderous amalgamation of a bit of reading of the poorer end of Arthuriana, New Age literature, a liberal dose of odd drugs, and a sense of light fantasy. The characters are, at times, interesting, but for the most part incomprehensible. Again, this may explain why the Romans drove them off earth...

The Athurian legend has been done and redone so many times that no one quite knows what's historical or not any more. Ms. Kennealy has built a mythical universe in which the Athurian legend is told with new flavor and color. She mixes traditional elements with aspects of a deeply spiritual nature. I found myself thoroughly engrossed the entire time. It is a mark of her talent, that even though I had foreknowledge of how the story went (it's written as a journal account), I found myself moved to tears in certain points. Her characters are vivid, three dimentional beings and as they move about her universe I feel for them. While I do not think this is quite as good as her Tales of Aeron (there isn't much that is), The Hawk's Grey Feather is a solid beginning to a completely enjoyable trilogy. I highly recomend it.

The Hawk's Gray Feather is the opening of an unusual and masterful retelling of the Arthurian legends by Ms. Kennealy-Morrison. Her graceful prose style has always reminded me of having my own Celtic bard retelling an ancient Celtic legend. Her use of connections are amazing and completely orginal. Of the 26 different versions of the Arthurian legends I own, this is my all time favorite.

This was the first book on Java that I bought and it provided a reasonable introduction to the language. There were lots of details about Java that it did not cover and I did not find it well organised for reference, so it was not long before I found myself buying other books on Java to make up for these problems. Still, as an introduction it is quite approachable and it certainly communicates the authors' enthusiasm for the topic

It says "Hooked on Java", you will be. It's subtitled "Creating Hot Web Sites With Java Applets", with this book in hand, you can. This is one of those books that you keep on the desk while you are building your pages. Even though it is written by Java experts, the basics are never overlooked. A fair amount of sample code and example HTML pages are incorporated in the book, with lots more available on the included CD.

This book fits its short description on the cover perfectly. "Creating Hot Web Sites with Java Applets." It describes the process, and the ideas behind Java, and also the integration of Java into web pages. In short, the book fit its purpose perfectly. I was disapointed in the description of Java programming at the end of the book, and when I had mastered the integration of Java into my web pages, I was still longing for more.

As one who has had a number of attorneys over a long lifetime, I found the book disappointing. I was looking for "something new" and did not find it.

This book helps you to put attorneys into a solid perspective that can ensure that you not only don't get screwed financially, but also get an attorney that is qualified to do the job you hired him to do. An excellent book. The only reason that I didn't give it a 10 was that I got depressed reading about all the ways attorneys screw their clients. But in spite of that, the book was rather fun to read. It had many interesting anecdotes and illustrative stories.

my experience with lawyers was greatly enhanced by having read this book. OK it may be elementary to those more experienced than I was at the time I read this, but if all I learned was that lawyers work for you and not the other way around, it was worth it. Now the lawyers should read it. MY experiences with lawyers can be summed up by what one told me. "I won't do what you ask because it is an unusual thing to do." With the help of this book, I found a lawyer was willing to try something "unusual" and it turned an adversarial situation into a win-win one. This book made it easier for me to have a good working relationship with a responsive lawyer.

The best quote is on page 67: "Your lawyer's only duty is to advise you of the legal risks involved in a deal; it's your call whether to ake those risks."

This book may be of use to a high school or college student but was of no use to me, living in Japan and looking for some tips to improve my fluency.

I recommend to read this book before even starting your foreign language class. Some of the tips are about things obvious that you do not notice. Most of the advice is very useful and comes from someone which a vast experience in the area. I will use all his experience and wisdom when I take Italian and Russian next semester. It has helped me so far with my English. Thanks to the author for such a great tool for the student

This book is great for taking advantage of any language course. The vast experience of the author helps you to recognize the most common difficulties you will face when learning a foreign language. I have used many of his tips for my English and I will use them also when I take Italian and Russian next semester. A MUST HAVE !

My first regret came when I found the book was pubilished by Que, from whom I had got few useful books before. The majority of the book is full of the author's wordy opnions about computer data security and things that your are most likey already familiar with. Why do you need to pay $30-40 to learn how to set a password for Windows' screen saver? I ordered this book expecting to collect enough information for building a secure web-based transaction system for our small business. I tried to get some advanced and practical information about how to encrypt a mail message with PGP; all I found in the book were an explanation that PGP is based on a public key system and the FTP URL to download more information, both of which I had already known. I could find nothing practical or useful on other subjects, either. I was completely fooled by other three reviewers' five-star rantings. They are probably the author himself or his family members and/or friends. Now I understand why they are completely anonymous. If your aim to buy a book is to learn about something new to you or to get more information about something you already know some about, don't waste your time and money by considering this book. Thanks to Amazon.com's tolerant return policy. I am now returning the book.

This is by far the best, most well-written book on securing privacy on the Internet. It's very appropriate for newcomers with security concerns or WebMasters with more hands-on interests. Mr. Goncalves makes a potentially difficult subject easy to understand

Marcus Goncalves was able to focus in a lot of new incidents and threats making the news lately. His coverage of PGP Cookie.Cutter and other tools to protect our privacy on the Internet was great. As with his previous book on Web security, he continues to address the reader in a very conversational style, which makes us feel as he is talking directly to us. Great job Que!

Prof. Zuckerman appears to be ignorant, perhaps intentionally so, of certain concrete facts which render his hypotheses invalid. First, the father of William of Toulouse (aka Guillaume de Gellone) was the Burgundian Count Thierry (Theodoric) of Autun, who had no ancestral roots or ties to Southern France whatsoever and who was never the Count of Narbonne. Second, Makhir Natronai ben Habibi, the "Resh Galuta" or Exilarch of the Jews did not flee Baghdad nor arrive on French soil until 771, when Thierry of Autun was forty-one years old and his second son, William, was in his teen years. Could Prof. Zuckerman truly not be aware of these facts, or has he specifically chosen not to be aware of them?

I have read this book and used it extensively in research together with 'The Templar Revelation' and 'Holy Blood and Holy Grail'. It is a fascinating work of medieval POSSIBILITIES. The author is at pains to point out both the scarcity of reliable medieval docummentary evidence which hinders all medieval research, and he therefore admits to the speculative nature of much of what he writes. So at least one of your reviewers should take note thst there is no such thing in medieval research as absolute certainty.

Having said that, the author's speculations about the possibilty of a Jewish princedom in France at that time are truly worth considering. Given the historical context of Moslem expansion, Jewish international and trans-continental trading networks 'the Radanites', the Caliphate at Baghdad as the centre of Jewish life and culture, later joined by the Caliphate at Cordoba, and the similar deveopments in Jewish Spain, to have a powerful Jewish presence in the Pyrenees makes a lot of sense.

It opens up many cans of worms with regard to the Church's real influence in Europe at this time, its inability to trade without Moslem acquiescence through Jewish mediation to name just one.

It ultimately begs the question of whether the Albigensian crusade supposedly directed against some poor pacifist Christian sect wasnt in fact directed to exterminate the Jewish presence in the Pyrenees by a vengeful Church.

Wonderful, absolutely unique book, much food for thought.

This book should be read by everyone interested in Medieval French History and/or the "chansons de geste". It solves the scholarly mystery of why Charlemagne, a strictly Christian/Roman Catholic monarch, had such a good relationship with the Jews of the Carolingian Empire to the continuing fulminations of the ecclesiastical authorities. The author uses sources not generally referred to by European Medievalists, such as the famed Cairo Genitza and synagogic correspondences from Byzantium and Kairouan. The chansons provide useful accompaniement to this volume, and it is absolutely fascinating how "al Makhir" became "Aimeri" became "Thierry" became "Heimrich". The clan of the Narbonnese was celebrated by every one of the surviving chansons de geste, and the mystery now is: who was "Garin de Montglane", perhaps GAON OF MARSEILLES? The mystery of the illustration on the cover of the Penguin Paperbacks edition of Wolfram von Eschenbach/s "Willehalm" is now expalined -but see it for yourself; Wolfram knew of whom he was speaking. In the Sidney Painter translation of Einhard's "Life of Charlemagne" (1994 ed.Univ of Michigan Ann Arbor Paperback)the translator remarks on Einhard's curious "ommission" of the archbishopric of Narbonne in the Emperor's will (page 64 footnoted #83), claining the contemporary account is wrong; I beg to differ as there may not have *been* an archbishop there at the time-if it were the seat of the Jewish Principality. I always hoist a toast to St Guillaume de Gellone on his Feast Day, May 28th, and his "monastery" is now located in upstate New York and available for tours since the last Century; it is the CLOISTERS.
Thank you Dr. Zuckerman.

No one can argue with the credentials of the authors of this interesting and engaging book. It is certainly an interesting account of the life of a dermatologist and some interesting case studies. However, if you are looking for a book on the effects of sunlight on human health I would urge you to look elsewhere. The authors exclusive focus on pathology gives them a kind of tunnel vision which misses the larger health picture and their resulting advice (in a nutshell, wear SPF 30 sunscreen and stay out of the sun) may be harmful. While they give a passing nod to the health benefits of sunlight (allows the skin to synthesize Vit D), they seem to have not read the literature on the effects of sunlight in lowering blood pressure, lowering blood sugar, decreasing cholesterol, building lean tissue, increasing the production of sex hormones, and actually increasing the resistance to infection and cancer. None of these benefits are available to the person slathered in SPF 30 sunscreen. I would urge you to read Zane Kime, MD's book "Sunlight Could Save Your Life" or Dr. Downing's book "Daylight Robbery" before you decide to follow the advice in this book. Of course, caution IS well advised. The two books just mentioned help the reader to determine how to get the benefits without undue risks. Unlike the Balin's, Dr. Dowling says that sunlight actually stimulates production of antibodies and strenghtens the body's defenses which actually help suppress the growth of melanoma. The Balin's seem to totally ignore a several thousand year history of sunlight therapy in medicine and the fact that many human cultures haved lived under intense sunlight all their lives without the constant care of dematologists and SPF 30 sunscreens and without dying of melanomas. The Balin's should pay more attention to the abnormal conditions of modern life (indoor living, ozone depletion, high use of polyunsaturated fats & refined foods) which seem more to blame than sunlight for the current epidemic of melanomas. Sunlight can be a blessing to our health if we use it wisely but you would never know it from reading this book.

Very readable look at dermatology and why healthy skin is so important. It is told though cases where the authors were the physicians.

I learned alot about people and issues with skin that I never understood before. This book was both entertaining and informative and anyone who wants to learn more about their body and their skin should read it.

Bought it for images but not many. Students don't find book very interesting.

When I was writing my term report about dragons in different mythologies, this was one of my biggest aids. Whatever the culture, whatever the myth, it'll be sure to provide you at least with some information! If you're looking for certain things, this might have too short an entry, but that's the thing with encyclopedias. It will still provide you with starting information with anything related to myths!

The layout of this book is wonderful. I love mythology and I found a lot of information in this book. I highly recommend it to all mythology buffs out there!

This book is a good idea. But there is room for litterature that can tell the same in a more lively way with far fewer words. ...or can tell four time as much with the same number of pages. - The language of most of the authors is such that you wonder WHY they have chocen to say what they attempt to tell in such flowery ways. After a paragraph it's hard to remember "What did he try to tell me now." It's easier to think: "Yes. I can see that you have learnt a hole lot of words, and adjevtives in particular." - I have found litterature about the same topic, put in a different language that manage to do this far better. In fact I've found public reports that with regards to the ability to convey a thought is far more readable.

This is again an extremely full meal as a reading experience, though because of the uniformity of the culture - it does not involve such a fundamental transition as that from paganism to Christianity - it is somewhat less rich than the first volume though equally massive.

Nonetheless, there are huge changes going on: at the start of the Gothic era, there was an explosion of availability of materials on private life. Suddenly there were memoires, fiction, more realistic painted portraits (capturing real character and not just stylized), and sturdier surviving architecture, all of which offer a far more accurate picture of the times than was available during the dark ages. Piecing all of this together is utterly fascinating, as the reader is treated to detailed analyses of the costumes, customs, eating habits, and concerns that are reflected in them. You can get a wonderful idea about the texture of everyday life, though more from the standpoint of aristocrats than more common people.

Unfortunately, due to the overall goal of the writing on private life, the reasons behind these bigger changes are scarcely mentioned and hence little analyzed. While my disappointment of this reflects my own ignorance of the history of the period, it might also serve as a warning to non-specialists who want to know more. THe only chapter I found dull was a very very long one on the common themes of literary sources.

That being said, the book covers written sources, archaeology, and art extremely well: they seem to have been converging on the emergence of the "individual" that occurred just prior to the Renaissance. It is an amazingly interesting story. Indeed, there are so many strands in all of this that I found myself in awe of a period of history that I heretofore saw as far more uniform, as a precursor to the modern era or a disappointing sequel to the astonishing unity and sophistication of the classical era.

Recommended.

This book is a superior history of life in the middle ages. Duby's research is exhaustive and all sorts of interesting tidbits about medieval life are scattered through the book. Also there is a profusion of illustrations from the period which help clarify the social history. From castle architecture to peasant clothing, this book covers it all. I highly recommend it for readers interested in the middle ages.

"King Arthur - the Truth behind the legend" is not as bad as many books purporting to find the historical King Arthur. At least the suggestions for Arthur's location etc. are plausible.

However, it is not a work of scholarship. This became obvious in the second chapter "The documents" where Castleden makes the unbelievable howler of confusing the part of the Historia Brittonum (c. 800) concerning St Germanus with the "Life of Germanus" by Constantius (c. 470). You'd think he would have noted something wrong since he himself points out that the manuscript indicates 10 generations instead of one generation between the events described and the time of writing.

Obviously Castleden has not read the primary sources he quotes. He relies heavily on John Morris (as do many authors with similar books). Even though Morris is questionable sometimes in his interpretation, at least he knows his sources. As a reader, you are better of with Morris' "The Age of Arthur", or Alcock's "Arthur's Britain" or Snyder's "The Age of Tyrants".

Let me state up front that, yes, as another Amazon reviewer noted, Rodney Castleden did indeed mess up by confusing a passage from Nennius' 9th Century Historia Brittonum with the material in Constantius'5th Century Life of Germanus. I suspect the error lay in how Castleden assembled his notes, getting something in the wrong file, and it is disconcerting that the mistake was not picked up during the editing process. And I think that this error does highlight the fact that Castleden is something of an outsider in Arthurian matters, not a professional in the area like Ashe or Alcock or an amateur enthusiast such as those who reguarly churn out the latest "final answer" to the old mysteries. Rather, he is a writer on archaeological subjects asked by his publisher to write a book on this always intriguing subject. As such, he brings a fresh, albeit imperfect, eye to familiar ground, along with a certain degree of expertise.

Perhaps the most solid portions of "King Arthur: The Truth behind the Legend" are those where he is reviewing various books and theories on the subject, including quite a few from the last couple decades which produced "final answers" (none of them agreeing with one another, of course). At the same time, Castleden does present a good summary of the evidence (even if he does get that Nennius passage in the wrong place) and an even better tour of some of the major sites associated with Arthur.

Of course, Castleden has his own version of a "final answer". His Dumnonian Arthur, perhaps based in Killisbury/Kelliwic and Tintagel, falls in line with the theories of some who have come before him and is reasonably persuasive (always assuming, of course, that you start with the premise that there was a real Arthur), if not ironclad. His extension of Arthur's story beyond this, however, (that Arthur survived the Battle of Camlann and found refuge of a sort in a Galloway monastery seems to me to be something of a reach, more speculation than deduction.

I would recommend the book to persons strongly interested in the historical facts behind Arthur, not as a "final answer" but as a worthy enough attempt to supply at least some of the truth.

This book uses a detailed analysis of archaeological evidence and textual references in an attempt to reconstruct the world in which King Arthur would have lived and to try to determine if he really occupied it. Castleden constructs a plausible thesis: that Arthur was local king of Trigg in present-day Cornwall; that he became high king and war leader of the united Britonnic front against the Saxon conquest; that he was likely a first-generation Christian who retained some elements of Celtic and Roman influence; that his itinerant court occupied various castles including a site at Killibury in peacetime and the Tintagel stronghold in wartime and ceremonial occasions; that Tintagel's alternate name of Myrddin (sea-fort) was confused with a northern bard of the same name, leading to the legend of Merlin as Arthur's protector; that the battle of Camlan where Arthur's career ended was at the convergence of the Gamlan and Eden rivers, where he was attacked by the forces of Maelgwn, who succeeded him as high king; and that a crippled, defeated Arthur may have abdicated by retiring to a monastery, explaining the discrepancy in his reported death dates as well as the legend of his disappearance and inevitable return. It's a credible scenario, consistent with the evidence Castleden presents, and Castleden's grasp of that evidence is excellent. He shows some keen insights, for instance realizing that an contemporary reference seeming to state that Arthur bore a cross on his shoulders for three days and nights (a superhuman feat) was probably mistranslated, and that he actually bore the cross symbol on his shield. But his "biography" of Arthur can't be proven, and Castleden seems too willing to take it as fact, to the point of glossing over other theories. He mentions the possibility that Arthur was a composite of more than one figure, including an Arthmael whose wife was named Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere); but despite this compelling datum he dismisses the theory with a brief, unsatisfying argument. In the end, when he attempts to identify the specific site of Arthur's retirement and burial, he speculates much too far beyond the existing data. He spends much of the book out on a limb, but by this point his argument is hanging by a thread. Castleden is clearly far too convinced of his own thesis, and this damages his credibility. This work is a valuable contribution to the discussion of the historical Arthur, and raises many interesting questions which deserve to be debated; but it should by no means be taken as the "truth" its title asserts it to be.