I have lived here for 9 years and this is the first map that does this wonderful city justice (besides the historical maps!). While it does not look like the 'old Charleston' maps of the Civil War, it has everything any tourist, resident, or map enthusiast must have. If your visiting Charleston, bring it along as a up-to-date guide to the city. If your a resident, this is actually a contemporary map that is perfect for a wall in your office or home. If your a map enthusiest, take notes on what Morris and Bailey have done to put the Holy City on the map!

Having grown up in Charleston, I looked at this map first to find the details of the places I knew best. It was almost shocking to find the dormer window of my old bedroom in the upstairs half of the house we rented on South Battery St. Details like this make this map amazing, and the map is filled with them. Hidden gardens, oddly shaped roofs, tiny carriage houses are all revealed in stunning detail. For anyone who loves Charleston, this map is a work that reveals her beauty through the details. For anyone just getting to know the city, it will give you insight to hidden treasures that even locals would normally miss. The overall presentation of the map is first rate. Even the package (a clever heavy paper sleeve that opens like a book) is thoughtfully designed and beautifully executed. I strongly recommend this map to anyone who is visiting Charleston, or to anyone who lives there and loves the city.

As a Christan, I certainly know and have seen the power of prayer in my life and in the lives of people around me. Sometimes, though, I fall into a rut, start doubting, etc. Well, this book did a great job of reminding me how real and tangible God is and how much He wants the best for us all. We need only to ask. A truly refreshing book. I suggest it to Christians and also people who doubt the existance of God and His reality in today's modern world.

George Mueller

By Faith Coxe Bailey Reviewed by Lindsay Woods

This is a really cool book. I read it all in two sittings, which is not a regular occurrence for me. It's about a young man living in Germany, who struggles with authority and feels that everyone wants to dominate him - his father, the police, even a publican who had him arrested. On leaving School he attends the University of Halle, where he is a divinity student - (his fathers wish), he has no great interest in God. A chance reunion with an old acquaintance eventually leads to his acceptance of Jesus at a prayer meeting.

From here he has notions of mission work, meets with a missionary to the Jews, decides thats what he should be doing, learns Hebrew, prays very fervently, tells his dad, dad says it's dumb and cuts his finance, George says "go ahead and cut it, I'm not taking any money from you again". From here the story develops of George's total dependence on God and no one else. He needs money to get through his studies, and when he prays God miraculously provides for him.

He travels to London where he is starts a probationary period with a society that reaches Jews for Jesus. However George is frustrated by the emphasis on study, when people could be getting saved, so he leaves. From there he takes up a position as minister in a small church in Teignmouth, gets married to Mary, and the idea of financial reliance on God develops. The church paid George's salary by renting the best seats in the church to those with cash. George wanted God to finance him, and his conviction was that he would ask no-one else but God for money, the point being to prove that God answers prayer. God did support him, as he prayed.

He moves on to Bristol where he starts a chapel with good friend Henry Craik, and they minister to the slums, and endure disease outbreak, which actually takes George's son. On seeing a child caged into a children's home, he decides to start a school for the poor children. Lack of money is always the perceived issue by George's associates, but George proves that by praying and being patient God brings the money. He opens his school. But many students were so poor, they were shipped off to the home, where there are unable to leave to goto school. George believed God wanted him to start an orphanage for these children. He prayed very specifically, with an exact sum of money in mind, and for people to help with the work, and for clothes for the children, and so on. Then he read in the bible in the book of Psalms, and a verse struck him, that confirmed what he was doing was right. It was God's promise to him, and he remembered it when he prayed. God provided people to do the job, and brought finance from nowhere to his doorstep. He opened the orphanage, packed it out, prayed for more, and opened another 3 orphanages over a period of time. There was never an abundance of cash, but day by day, God provided, as George prayed. Eventually, George bought land, and built a huge orphanage out of town, then four more over the years until he provided for over two thousand orphans. As he asked God for more, God gave more, donations went from shillings to pounds, to hundreds of pounds to thousands of pounds at a time - and George only asked God for it.

This is a great book about the reality of God and his ability to work, and do more and more than we can imagine

Lissak and Bailey have more than 40 years of experience in consulting business and you can tell that from this book. Really interesting case studies and insights into HP, Ford and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Absolutely worth reading! Great book!

This book is a great read, and the Amazon price makes it affordable. If you are a manager, I recommend buying a few copies and passing them around the office. What a refreshing idea to quote real live examples of business change as it is evolving, rather than theoretical, conceptual possibilities. Hearing first-hand from leading corporations provides sample roadmaps to other organizations who would like to do the same thing. Fabulous. Definitely check it out.

This book, written in the early 80's, correctly surmised that the Western Democracies had already won the Cold War. The Soviet Block's demise on the economic and and military/industrial fronts has been well documented elsewhere, but that is not the point of this book. The author correctly pointed out The West had won the cultural battle, perhaps the most important one. Second and Third world consumers wanted Western art, movies, music, fashion, etc. not those of the Eastern Block. This book makes fascinating reading 12-15 years later and many of it's observations apply to China today.

If Christopher Bell's 'Portugal and the Quest for the Indies' is written as popular history, in an adventurous style, and if C.R. Boxer's masterpiece, 'The Portuguese Seaborne Empire' excels in synthesis and displays a breathtaking grasp of world history, then Diffie and Winius have produced a 435 page 'history by the numbers'---a methodical, step-by-step story of how Portugal began to explore the Atlantic coasts of Africa, how it outmaneuvered its rivals, settled Madeira and the Azores, and developed a system of trade and control that lasted over a century before succumbing to more powerful, better organized rivals and to the consequences of a small nation's being overextended. Puncturing the various balloons of myth and legend, the authors' down-to-earth, but highly detailed approach to the history of Portuguese exploration and penetration of the trading world of the Indian Ocean and the Far East is an extremely useful and interesting volume, probably required reading for students in the field. FOUNDATIONS OF THE PORTUGUESE EMPIRE sticks to the period 1415-1580, at which later date, Portugal entered into a sixty year period of absorption by Spain. (Note: the title as listed on Amazon is incorrect.)

The strong point about this book is the documentation, so useful for further research or inquiry. Footnotes have been placed at the bottom of the page, not in the text, thereby allowing smooth reading for people like me, who are unlikely to need to know the exact sources. There are some good maps and a section of illustrations. Not only are the voyages and battles in the East covered, but the authors also keep track of what was going on back in Portugal; the royal follies, the intrigues and battles with Spain, the rivalries among the Italian city states, the fruitless attempt to conquer Morocco, and the energetic trade with the Flemish ports to the north. We learn how the Portuguese got their information and see how, though mercantile reasons seemed to be by far the strongest motivation for their exploits, they often made huge sacrifices for reasons of faith too. From Ethiopia to Japan, from Persia to the Moluccas, soldiers, traders, and priests spent their lives in the quest for riches and in (mostly vain) efforts to save souls. The authors point out that the Portuguese domination of trade in the Indian Ocean during the period under discussion was no accident. Rather, it was the result of a geopolitical plan to strangle Muslim trade, and control trade routes through strategically placed forts (Sofala, Mombasa, Ormuz, Goa, Malacca, etc.) and a strong fleet. Rivalries among Portuguese commanders in the East, as well as the Portuguese king's distrust of his far-flung lieutenants, led to many a disaster, but time and time again, Portuguese naval power and unbelievable bellicosity overcame huge odds. The last chapter of the book, entitled 'The Balance Sheet', tries to decide whether the whole thing paid off---if in fact, aside from individual fortunes made, Portugal benefitted from its explorations and conquests.

The weakest point in FOUNDATIONS OF THE PORTUGUESE EMPIRE is that the authors seem far more comfortable and authoritative when dealing with Europe, with the Portuguese side of the story. When, on a few occasions, they attempt to describe Asian societies, their explanations are weak. Some errors creep in. They hardly mention any African societies at all'the Africans are acted upon, never actors. For an extremely thorough story of Portuguese methods of expansion and economic domination, however, I would recommend Diffie and Winius' work to every interested reader.

Mr. Wilkins was my principal at Bruce Drysdale Elementary and what a wonderful man he was! He has captured a side of education that all of us need now and then, light-hearted comments from children and their parents. Whatever the subject, children are brutally honest and often see the world more clearly than we do.(As some of the notes from parents show, we often know where the kids get their ideas about things!) As an educator myself, I enjoy picking up this book when I need a reminder of why I am in the profession. It reminds me of the joys I experience daily with my own students and their parents!

I began reading this book while watching a movie and didn't stop for a few days. I was hooked after the first chapter. I enjoyed Tampa Boy from cover to cover and found myself to be very amused with the teenage boys' adventures in Florida in the early 1900's. The author did a wonderful job of keeping the reader intrested while throwing all sorts of events at you to absorb and relate to. I would reccomend this book to anyone who likes adventures with a dose of reality.

It must have been wonderful growing up in the Tampa Bay area 80 years ago! (I've only been here since 1955, when I was 7, and we moved to Clearwater from Detroit.) This is GREAT book for all ages. The escapades of the author were so believable and so funny. I read it to my kids a few years ago, much of the time through tears of laughter! Too bad this isn't still in print so more folks could enjoy a good read.

I am a 30yr old Tampa Bay native of 5 generations. I read Tampa Boy at the age of 12. Out of sheer bordom I pulled it off of the shelf in my grandmother's library. Of all of the books I have read about the history of growing up in the Tampa Bay area, this is the one book that has stayed up front in my memories and captured my heart. I tell everyone I know about this book and I feel that in the Florida school system this book should be included. It is both realistic and extremely, enduringly entertaining. I am currently trying to find a copy of this book for my son and my daughter to have when they are old enough to enjoy it.

Pretty much every English speaker who studies Japan acquires a copy of Sansom. Consequently, if you are interested in Japan, you probably already have a set. I am giving this collection four stars instead of five simply because its scholarship is now a bit dated and it is not the Cambridge History of Japan. But, who can afford the Cambridge History? I wish I could. In terms of being affordable, this is most likely still the best introduction to Japanese history around in English.

The period from the split of the nation into two dynasties (north and south) to the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo (modern day Tokyo) is often overlooked in Western studies of Japanese history. Sansom, in contrast, devoted an entire book to the subject, and rightfully so. The complexity of these times may be a turn-off to casual readers or people with only a minor interest in Japanese history, but for those that wish to start on a journey into the heart of one of the greatest turning points of Japanese history, as well as get a glimps at the starts of the tea ceremony and many other aspects which have become part of that which is "Japan" should hold this book, even as a reference.

I just re-read this book for the first time since I was living in Berlin, Germany (S.O. 36) through most of the 80's. (My copy of this book is a dog-eared Avon paperback, fallen to pieces and carefully saved by means of rubber bands.) Like the book's author, I am multi-lingual (German, Dutch, French, with some Spanish, Wolof and Eve). So, his attempt to get more understanding of Germans from the German language itself makes all the sense in the world to me. I also appreciate his notion of what he calls the "polyhistor." This is the only book in which I've seen this term. I recommend the book highly, but it is not easy reading (pleasurable, yes, but not easy). I doubt that I could get any of my engineering friends (I am also an engineer) to read it, because they wouldn't get the jokes. You almost have to have lived in Germany, as he did and I did, for it to make any sense.

I wish this book were back in print, just as I wish Charles Beard's books were available. It repays the effort of reading it, something that can't be said of many books these days.

My father handed this to me when I left to live in Germany ten years ago. My entire experience of the country turned out to be colored by Bailey's mixture of autobiography and profound linguistic and historical knowledge. This man knows the peoples and history of Central Europe inside out, to a degree that one can only envy. The book veers back and forth: from tiny specific details of Bailey's own experiences in military intelligence in the Second World War (and his life in a German family afterwards), to sweeping views of what the German national character is and how it came to be. It's all written in a clear, vigorous style, sort of like George Orwell as a bon vivant. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the subject.

Growing up as an "Auslandsdeutscher" (German raised in foreign countries) I early on came to understand that NOBODY understands the "Germans," not foreigners with their cultural/ethnic/political biases (even if they are positively inclined), much less the Germans themselves with their "unbewaeltigte Vergangenheit" (unprocessed past).

So, it was amazing to find that the person who got closest to the German essence, soul, substance, what you will, was someone who discovered the people in his adolescence and then pursued this interest into adult life. His view is loving and critical at the same time, as it should be. That he is of Celtic ancestry surely helped him in acquiring insight, because I have found tremendous parallels between the two peoples. 'Nuff said - I'll be accused of something....

THIS BOOK SHOULD BE RE-ISSUED !!!...

While there were some stories and information of interest, the book is very often dry to the point that it's unreadable. I skipped some sections.

There's also a tendency to self-aggrandize. Several time, the authors take a few moments to criticize other works, and then say "here for the first time" is the real story. While undoubtedly they do have some never before seen information, I think they spend a little too much time beating their chests.

Somewhat interesting, but certainly not spellbinding. Reads like a textbook.

The most interesting aspect of the book may be the insight it gives on the interworkings of the Soviet State. While some passages go into detail much beyond what the general reader will want to know, it is worth trudging through the slow passages.

This is the first time a thorough review of post war Berlin intelligence activities has been published. For the professional this is a good compilation of operations (collection, defection, analysis, etc.). For the novice the book is a difficult read - chock full of details but not written in captivating language. Students of history need to add this to their collection of books to keep and use as reference.