Slowly but surely the Nic Bracewell-mysteries are changing tack.
The inevitable murder more and more enters late into the story and seems to be somewhat less important. In a book of 273 pages the one and only murder is committed on page 181 and it is not even clear (and even not important) why it's done. Moreover one of the heroes comes three times near death because there were some spells in the play he was rehearsing. The reader waiting for a logical explanation will wait in vainly. The author of the play changes the spells and that's it. Therefore we are left with a hugely sympathetic cast of by now familiar characters, very witty dialogue and a story that concentrates almost completely on the adventures of actors in a visit outside London where they are not very welcome. As a historian I like it very much but the hardcore mystery fan will feel somewhat cheated.

The Nicholas Bracewell Elizabethan Theatre series is hands down my favourite Elizabethan mystery series. Edward Marston (the authour) does a masterful job of combining broad humour with an intriguing plot and an in-depth look at the workings of a theatre troupe in 16th century England. Another plus: this series is almost always consistently good.

England is currently blanketed with horrendously bad winter weather, and the Westfield's Men face a season of being out of work, when good fortune practically leaps into their laps. They are offered the chance to give a weeek and a half' s worth of performances at Silvermere, Sir Michael Greenleaf's country house in Essex. There are however two conditions that must be met: 1) that they perform at least one entirely new play, and 2) that they take on an apprentice -- 10 year old Davy Stratton, the son of merchant Jerome Stratton, a friend of Sir Michael's. On the surface, these conditions seems completely easy ones. But little do the Westfield's Men know what is in store for them!

From the very beginning Nicholas senses that there's something not quite right about Davy's relationship with his father. Nicholas's suspicions prove to be correct when, on a reconnaissance trip to Silvermere, Davy runs away the very first chance he gets. And when Jerome Stratton returns his errant son to Nicholas, both father and son claim that Davy's horse ran away with him. Nicholas doesn't buy the story, but cannot get Davy to open up to him. Soon after, Davy's begins to pull some rather nasty pranks on the other apprentices, and earns himself a rather unappetizing nickname with the players: the devil's apprentice. Nicholas cannot quite make out what's wrong with Davy. He sense that the boy is an innately a good and nice child, but that Davy is also very unhappy. And he is quite disturbed that he cannot get Davy to trust him enough to tell him what is wrong. But soon other matters to do with the company takes up all of Nicholas's time and concern. To begin with, Laurence Firethorn, the company's leading actor falls victim to a mysterious illness that incapacitates him at the most inconvenient of times. Then the players receive word that a group of Puritans who reside near Silvermere have declared their intention to make sure that the players never make it to the manor, and who are bent on sabotaging the performances. The havoc and mayhem that the players face culminates with the death of an audience member during one of their performances. Firethorn is sure that the company is accursed and that sorcery is at the root of all their problems, but Nicholas is sure that all this is the work of an intelligent and cunning mind, and he is determined to discover what exactly is going on at Silvermere.

Why does Davy keep running away? Was the audience member murdered, or did he die of natural causes as the local doctor claims? What illness has befallen Firethron? And are the Westfield's Men truly accursed as Firethorn believes? These are the strains that hold this particular Nicholas Bracewell mystery together. The resolution of this particular mystery was a deceptively simple one, but right up till the end, when all is revealed, you can be sure of that this mystery novel will provide you with some truly enjoyable reading. "The Devil's Apprentice" is a really fun read from start to finish; Edward Marston has set just the right tone -- Elizabethan England and the world of the players comes to life before your very eyes. Definitely an interesting and intriguing read.

It has been one of the coldest winters that Elizabethan England has ever known so it's not too surprising that the poor freeze to death on the streets of London. The theatre company of Westfield's Men has been out of work because most of their acting takes place outdoors since they're a traveling troupe. When Sir. Michael Greenleaf of Essex invites them for a ten-day run of six plays, the offer is almost immediately accepted.

Nicholas Bracewell, the book holder who sees to the arrangement of the scenery, thinks the invitation is just what the company needs. Sir Michael insists that one of the plays should be original and that the company takes on Davy Stratton as an apprentice. However, Davy seems to be a catalyst for trouble and always runs away, while terrible things happen to the actors during the new play. Some say it is witchcraft but Nicholas proceeds thinking there is a more mundane reason. He also intends to find out why Davy is causing so much mischief and why he keeps running away when its obvious he likes the theatre group.

THE DEVIL'S APPRENTICE is a fascinating work that spotlights an acting troupe in Elizabethan England. The new religion that the Puritans practice regards theatre people as devils incarnate and should be eradicated from the face of the earth. Edward Marston uses the theatre group as a bridge between the common folk and the gentry so the cast of characters is refreshingly diverse. This mystery is entertaining and a history lesson rolled up into one neat package.

Harriet Klausner

In the last decades, different theological theories have tried to give an explanation of God's action in terms of modern scientific advances. In particular, quantum mechanics and chaos theory are two physical tools preferred for this objective, the first because of the ontological determinism subjacent to some of its interpretations, the second as it entails an epistemological impossibility of making long-range predictions. We must remember, however, that scientific theories are always provisional, and using them for theological explanations means a certain risk.

Most of the theories discussed in this book have to do with a certain type of divine action. SDA (Special Divine Action) applies to concrete actions of God to change the cosmos, and may be divided into "interventionist" (miracles) or "non-interventionist" (providence). The latter may also be subdivided in "compatibilist" (indistinguishable from coincidence) and "incompatibilist" (where God causes independent causal chains). Finally, this last type may be "continuous" or "discontinuous." The book looks in depth at theological theories that try to explain non-interventionist compatibilist continuous special divine action using quantum mechanics and chaos theory.

Two chapters show inconsistencies in present theories, or point out errors of interpretation in the physical basis they use. The conclusion is pessimistic: in the state of the art, we don't have a valid theological theory that explains this type of divine action. Only Peacocke's holistic explanation escapes somewhat. However, the future possibility of a new theory is not excluded. Explanations of quantum mechanics alternative to the orthodox Copenhagen version are still appearing.

This book's analysis of theories based upon quantum mechanics and chaos theory is complete and scientifically impeccable. However, since it looks at a single type of SDA, others are not considered. There are a few loose ends in the analysis that would allow a discontinuous explanation of SDA, or one that makes use of randomness. Perhaps theologians don't like the latter because they are too influenced by the famous Einstein phrase ("God doesn't play dice"). In "The laws of nature" (1945), C.S. Lewis proposes another explanation for the efficacy of prayer: God could trim the initial conditions of the universe to take into account future prayers of human beings. This compatibilist explanation of SDA is not considered in Saunder's book.

In summary: "Divine Action and Modern Science" is useful, because it describes a set of recent theological theories that make use of scientific advances, but contain inconsistencies and weaknesses. Remember, however, that this book only addresses non-interventionist compatibilist continuous special divine action. Other possible forms and interpretations are out of its field of study.

I found this book really useful - I am currently studing religion and science and this book contains the best discussion of the divine action issue that I have been able to find. Excellent.

This is an excellent contribution to the continuing debate over the relationship between science and theology and should be of interest to philosophers of science as well. This is an important book and it has implications for the theology of miracles, the philosophy of the laws of nature, and other fields outside the classical locus of theology.

totally recommended, and for a CUP book not too expensive either!

Students at my school library are always asking for scary books, but appropriate stories are few and far between. This will satisfy many of them. Set in Colonial Massachusetts, the story, in which a dog digs up a bone from the body of Nicholas Greebe begins an incredible, hundred-year journey for that bone. Greebe's ghost waits and haunts his former home until the bone miraculously returns. The illustrations add just the right detail and mood to the story.

I wish I would have written this book! The language is amazing and fun to read over and over. My boys, 6 and 3, love this book, and so do I (which is great since I'm the one reading it). I'm sad that this book is out of print because it's a gem.

To all Parents,grandparents, of whatever stripe: this book is the Quintessence of a Children's Book!!!!! Since my Husband found this Volume: I let him compleat the Review.
Quite by chance, I found this Book on a Sale Table and was 1st struck by the Quality of the Artwork. A quick review of the contents was then in order. The Text was so well written, that I found the nearest chair, and read the entire (unnumbered)15pages!
I am also an amateur historian: and the fellow you might see at Colonial Williamsburg(VA) in a cocked hat and kneebreeches: so I was also interested in the details of the Artwork. In brief, they are superb,and add immensley to the value of the story line.
If you but buy just One Book for the Child in your Life: MAke it this One Book"The Ghost of Nicholas Greebe". You and the children will be most satisfied with it. I cannot rate it highly enough, in this day of 'computer english' and the Degredation of the English Tongue.
Mrs. Harriett Anthony& "Squire" Charles Anthony

This book by wells takes you step by step through the installation procedure and covers basically from history of Linux to maintaining it. But because this book is only about 700 pages, its only covers the most basic. As computer person you are, you know Linux is far more complicated yet powerful for users and require a much deeper explaination and usage on the OS. For beginners, this book is for you. This book is probably good for a textbook in college for introductions and maybe just a simple guide to yourself. For administrators, you may want this to compliment your vast library of Linux books.

When I decided that I wanted to learn about Linux I started out by buying one of the "Linux for Dummies" books. The only problem was that it did not cover all the topics and what it did cover seemed more like a light overview. So I ended up signing up for a Unix (Linux) class at a local college and Wells' book was the textbook. It's an excellent book for beginners. It assumes no prior knowledge of Linux/Unix and explains everything you need to know. All topics are covered thoroughly. If you are not lucky enough to have access to a Linux class that you can take at your local college, you could probably just read this book and learn a great deal by self-study. By the way, we used this book to learn the general concepts, but also used "Linux In A Nutshell" by Ellen Sievers as our reference for all of the commands. Both books together will definitely cover most everything you need to know in order to become Linux-literate.

i've just finished reading this book and i consider it as an A book for poeple trying to get the LPI level 1 and the 2 examens of the GNU & Sair linux crtification, and in fact i've just start teaching this book for the 2 certifications mentioned above. it's a good book and it takes you step by step for the certification. But as NET ADMIN you can use it as a reference in you library.

I really enjoyed reading the book. I'm a Christian so I can really relate to the Biblical principles in the book. The book was well-written and inspiring. Keep up the good work!

Pella and Phillips never seem to disappoint with this series. I recommend all seven books with five stars.

The saga of Anna Yevnovich and her family and friends continues. The fourth book centers around Anna's adoptive daughter and niece Mariana, so there is plenty of "new" to this story. However, there is a lot of dwelling on past events, so I beleive someone who hasn't read the first three of the series may be able to follow it - and perhaps find it even more interesting for that reason. I, too, enjoy Pella's writing style, and how she incorporates Anna's strong Christian faith into the story without it seeming intrusive.

This is interesting but other than the timespan not that moving. Good for Nick Nixon that he uses a 8X10 view camera. So what? Good for the Brown sisters that, over time, their relationship with each other changes. I hope it contunues to follow a happy and loving course. The book is a real snooze though. Sorry gang, I left this one on the MOMA bookshelf and suggest you do the same.

Many of us are called to do this kind of project. Few of us choose to do it because we fear we can't.

Several years ago I saw two of the "Brown Sisters" and never forgot them. "I hope he keeps this up, but I doubt he can. Relationships change. People's goals change. People are vain." So I thought until I read the dedication and thanks in the front of this book years later.

This work ranks with Stieglitz's accidental portrait of Georgia O'Keeffe. Stieglitz, however, makes you want to know a beautiful and unique woman through his poetic intimatcy. Nixon makes you want to know someone as well as he knows the Brown sisters, perhaps as well as they know each other, through a simple directness that few of us have the courage to see or show to each other.

Photography is about time. The Brown Sisters remind us that the value of time is measured by the respect we give each other. This work is direct, primitive and undeniable. It has what Malraux called the sense of inevitability.

I suspect that the older you are the more you will get from this portrait. If you are young, yow will remember it it 10, 20, 30 and more years from now.

If this book doesn't move you, you are either in denial or you should seek some new line of work that doesn't require you to be alive.

No words can describe the work of this photographer. He is in My humble opinion the greatist photographer of the century. Im honored to have been part of his instruction.

This successor to The Natural Step for Business is essentially a set of four extended case studies, preceded and followed by statements of principles derived from The Natural Step framework and case study experience.
Your reaction to it will depend on your appetite for case studies - mine is not great. The wider exposition of principles is mainly a restatement - and sometimes an elaboration - of principles that can be found elsewhere, including on the Internet sites of The Natural Step.
Those who are working directly with the framework as consultants or part of an internal team will pick up useful ideas and tips. The general reader would do better to start with the authors' first book or with Karl-Henrik Robèrt's The Natural Step Story: Seeding A Quiet Revolution.

'Dancing with the Tiger' is a useful and well-written contribution to the growing body of literature that attempts to answer the question so many of us are asking today - what can I do about creating a sustainable world? A world in which we give back to life instead of just taking. This book is particularly helpful for those people within organizations who want to change consciousness from what Paul Hawken has called the 'take-make-waste' culture, to a self-regenerating and life-affirming way of being.

The authors compare this process to 'dancing with a tiger', hence the title. The tiger takes many forms, for example the intensely competitive business environment many companies find themselves in. They give case studies of companies they have worked with as 'sustainability consultants', including Nike and Starbucks. It is encouraging to see the distance these multinational corporations have gone in their efforts...a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, and steps are being taken on the long journey to real sustainability. They emphasize the complexity and interconnectedness of the challenge, and at the same time give credit to the many people within organizations who are passionately committed to creating a better world.

Brian Nattrass and Mary Altomare's work is a helpful and informative counterbalance to the often critical reviews of corporate behavior. Their work is based on 'The Natural Step' framework, an enlightened and straightforward approach that any organization can use in their efforts to align their purpose and mission with sustainability.

It is inspiring to read quotes from employees and executives who have participated in this process within their organizations. I highly recommend this book to thoughtful readers who want to discover how to take responsibility for healing the planet.

I'm more optimistic about the future, and inspired, after reading Dancing with the Tiger, which profiles sustainability measures introduced by - get ready for it - Nike, Starbucks, Whistler and CH2M Hill, a worldwide engineering company.

Dancing follows on the heels of The Natural Step for Business (NSP, 1997) in which Nattrass and Altomare profiled The Natural Step, a Swedish-rooted initiative to improve corporate environmental and social practices. In that first book, I was titillated to learn about the efforts of companies like Ikea to improve working conditions and reduce the scale of their environmental footprint. Nonetheless, I remained deeply skeptical that other corps, and suits in general, were even remotely interested in grokking social and environmental problems and lining up on the solution side of the equation.

Well, kudos to Nattrass and Altomare (and New Society) for titillating me again. In the first three chapters Dancing provides a current, comprehensive overview of environmental degradation while illuminating the beguiling, complex nature of so many environmental problems. One reason we are befuddled by sustainability problems, the authors say, is because the problems are generally systematic and characterized by uncertainty. In order to overcome problems, we must think systematically and evolve beyond conventional scientific thinking.

Nattrass and Altomare assert that we must also develop a new vocabulary and story-culture linked to sustainability to supplant the warrior-take-all mentality that presently guides much of our thoughts, actions and business. This leads into the remainder of the book, with subsequent chapters profiling the corporate actions on behalf of sustainability taken by Nike, Starbucks, the municipality of Whistler and CH2M Hill Engineering.

It is in this section where I found the biggest surprises. For example, I have longed linked Nike with all-too-common practices of environmental and social exploitation in service of corporate profits. Some of Nike's exploitative practices were revealed years ago, but clearly, the company has made efforts to evolve in more progressive directions. From cutting energy emissions to reducing pollution to helping improve educational opportunities for foreign workers, Nike is evolving, driven in large part because many of the suits, including CEO Phil Knight, instituted policies following the tenets of the Natural Step.

Ditto for Starbucks, CH2M Hill Engineering (with more than 9,500 staff worldwide) and the municipality of Whistler. That's right, Whistler. Evidently, if you can look beyond the SUV-choked parking lots, the groomed hotel ashtrays and some of the most garish displays of conspicuous consumption seen since the decline of the Roman Empire, something remarkable is going on at Whistler. In fact, Whistler now ranks as one of the most environmentally sustainable municipalities on earth.

Naturally, embracing sustainability didn't happen by accident here but falls out of the Whistler Environmental Strategy, crafted several years ago. Like the other examples, the WES was inspired by The Natural Step, and now guides municipal legislation. Addressing pollution reduction, landscape design, water use, environmental conservation, bear management and other issues, Whistler municipal practices are increasingly recognized as among the most progressive worldwide.

Common to the examples cited by Nattrass and Altomare were "ordinary people doing the extraordinary", visionary leaders and staff who persevered in service of sustainability and a core set of principles. The authors refer to them as "evolutionary pioneers, the forerunners who are exploring and drawing the maps of previously uncharted territory, making it easier for others to follow with more certainity." These people have the courage to look beyond the fear of disrupting corporate culture and strike out in a direction not commonly found in the world of business suits and bottom-line profits. This book makes a welcome and significant contribution to nudging the corporate world in the direction of a more sustainable world. I recommend buying a copy as a gift for the corporate executive or municipal planner of your choice.

- Michael Maser; Gibsons BC Canada

- END -

While the pictures are wonderful, for an aging dinosaur like myself they are just too small. It is very hard to see the pictures!

Would have given it 10 stars if it was just a larger book. Some of the flowers are only one inch high, much too small for me to appreciate the detail.

Where can we find this in an 8.5 x 11 version?

A picture is worth a thousand words; and one hundred pictures that happen to be O'Keeffe's are priceless. The works accurately portray the artist's keen eye for the beauty found in the smallest of mother earth's gifts: the flower. The book is an overall thorough and concise summary of the artist's most prized achievements.

O'Keeffe can magnify the beauty of flowers magically in her paintings. Her perception allows the everyday art lover to escape into God's garden and visualize the serenity found in heaven.

Happy Valley is a book that you won't want to put down as it takes you through the many adventures of the colorful colonialists who came to Kenya. Its strength is that it is a riveting work that captures the main events of an incredible story. Its main weakness is that it sometimes lacks depth, but it remains a great introduction to a most fascinating subject.

This slim volume ..... The book covers several episodes in the colonial history of Kenya. It's not suitable for research historians, but it will entertain you on a flight or on the beach. Some of the anecdotes will make you laugh till you cry.

This is not a review. It's the only way I can find on your site to ask a question. I just ordered Happy Valley by Micholas Best. It's out of print and I ordered a used one. However, I only want a hard back copy. Please let me know if that is possible. There was no way to indicate I only wanted a hard back edition.

Thank you, William B. MacIver

Doing a review of Keats' work is impossible, his merit has already been established, his work is mastery. Now the question is this, is the book well done? For a small sample of the genius's work, this is a great edition, for a more experienced poet, this one isn't for you. The poetry is genius, the book is not great.

Doing a review of someone like Frost, Keats, Rilke, or Shakespeare is like reviewing the Bible, it is impossible. It has already been established that this man's poetry is mastery. Now the question is thus, what book should you purchase? If you want a small taste of his work at a good price, this is it. With this small, under $... edition, you can decide if you want to purchase anymore of his books. I say it is a great book for a poetry shelf in anyone's library.

What a wonderful anthology of John Keats' poetry. The selections in this book range from his well known and loved pieces like "Lamia" and " To Autumn" to less familliar but still gracefully written "On the Sea" and "To Leigh Hunt, Esq." The timeline in the front of the book is helpful, giving an overview of what the world was like in Keats' short lifespan. Many critics wonder what he would've accomplished had he lived longer, and by reading this collection of his poems, one can only image the brilliant works he might have given us to further his powerful legacy.