I found this book was a really good introduction to the subject - really clearly explained and laid out, unlike some other books I have read, which start of simple and then suddenly leap off into degree-level maths! However, it does tend to simplify a little bit (would have liked a little more information on the types of discrete and continous logistics that can be used).

All in all a really good book to buy to keep your feet on the ground when learning

Four and one half stars.

Dr. Gotelli's book is the most successful which I am familiar at "demystifying" the mathematical concepts in ecology. "A primer of ecology" is very well organized and written so as not to frighten off the uninitiated, but covers the mathematics well enough to be an adequate refresher for those that have slipped in some areas. The inclusion of ecological succession in the 3rd edition is an important addition and not merely a reason to put out a new version. I highly recommend this text to anyone who is interested in learning about ecological study, and I think it would make an excellent senior undergraduate or supplemental graduate text.

Gotelli's primer is an extremely easy to read and understand guide to population ecology. It leads readers through the trickier mathematical derivations, and provides useful problems to illustrate the concepts

I have always liked this author; I can always count on him for a good story. I was a little disappointed in this effort. Maybe it is because of the high hopes I had after reading some of his other works, but this book just did not hold my attention. He did a good job with an interesting story, one that I think he had to work more on due to it getting away from his standard fair. The characters drive this book and are done well. I guess I was not looking for a sea story and that is what this book is.

As a fan of naval adventure fiction, I usually follow the Forester, Obrian, Kent novels of nautical derring-do in the Age of Sail. Thus the jacket blurb on this Higgins book attracted me. I was not disappointed. Briefly, the book involves the fates of passengers and crew of a 19th century three-masted barkentine as it tries to return German nationals from Brazil to the homeland as Germany faces certain defeat. It's a five-thousand mile journey to round the Shetlands to enter the Skageraak and head for home. The Atlantic is controlled by the British and American fleets. This danger, however, is not the main enemy, which is the sea and the weather. The amazing seamanship exercised just to hold the creaking 60-year old vessel together in the teeth of terrible storms may stretch credulity; however the nautical exploits are convincingly described and it's obvious that Higgins knows his naval details down to the way in which sails had to be reefed, masts lashed, hulls braced, etc. The passengers include an admirable collection of nuns who must abandon the order in Brazil due to the fact that Brazil has just become a formal ally of the United Nations effort to defeat the Nazi regime. The stifled romance between a wavering novitiate nun and a strongly etched member of the ship's crew is well drawn, not too maudlin and deftly handled. So too are the British and American characters on a remote island in the Hebrides, who are to become entangled in the fate of the imperiled _Deutschland_. Even the captured U-Boat commander Gericke avoids the usual black and white "German = Nazi" stereotyping.

I would have liked to see the subsequent fate of the surviving main characters brought to light. Any screenplay based on this novel (which is a natural for the cinema) should try to tie up these loose ends.

Highly recommended.

This is a reprint of a novel originally published in 1976. The story is set in August-September 1944. A group of German naval officers and seamen, stranded in Brazil, steal the aged 3-masted barkentine "Deutschland" and, using false Swedish papers, set out on a voyage from Belem, Brazil, in an attempt to reach Germany. They have unexpected passengers - a group of five German nuns from a nursing order attempting to return home. Their biggest danger is the weather as storms batter the sailing vessel (they neglected the fact that September is the peak season for Atlantic hurricanes). The voyage becomes an epic battle against the elements, and leads to heroism, sacrifice, tragedy, and unexpected compassion. I personally believe that this is one of Higgin's best novels, if not the best. There are some intertwined plots as events come together to reach a final climax to the story.

The author's of excessive last word rhyming annoys the reader after the third poem or so.

I haven't read the book myself, but I knew the author from high school and college. I've read some of his poems and short stories from then; they were raw, real, deep, very powerful: he's truly an exceptional writer. Wonderful work, Simon! I wasn't at all surprised when I saw your book, it was inevitable. Will be getting a copy of it for myself.

Best Regards, an old friend

For those interested in a poetic expression of life's spiritual journey, this is the book for you. This book paints a honest portrayal of a soul's spiritual pilgrimage to God, conveying these experiences through the use of poetry. The author uses vividly descriptive and poignant images that leave impressions that are often boldly expressed, yet communicating honest emotions that are simultaneously down-to-earth and masterfully poetic.

This book flows from beginning to end like a born-again conversion experience. It paints a picture of a life at first shackled by self-destructive desires and passions but later set free by God to a life of meaning and joy.

This is the author's first published work, a rare "diamond in the rough" in the field of poetry. I hope you like it as much I did!

Something I didn't see mentioned before buying this book is that it's about ENGLAND in the 1950's. If that's what you're looking for, I'd give it four stars. But since that's not mentioned anywhere I only give it two.

Though this book has a lot of pictures from England, etc., it definitely includes the U.S., Russia, and other European countries. I believe these books are a fun and informative slice of history for those of us who weren't there. They are definitely worth more than they cost.

This book, and the others in the series--1920s through the 1970s--are remarkable for their vast array of photos depicting just about every aspect of each decade. They are MORE than worth the price! The photos are accompanied by descriptions and these "little" books are BIGGER than you think when you start them!

I got this book when it was brand new, when I hadn't even bought an AKC dog yet. (Apparently they never updated it, though.) TFH put out just a few "Book of the..." series, and for the sake of other breeds, I wish they had done all! The GSD version is an excellent photo-gallery, giving a nice synopsis of the breed history, and numerous references to contemporary dogs via photos and also numerous pedigree pages. This was a superb reference if you wanted to get boned up on top American show dogs and lines in 1985. No other breed book ever did that. Thus, I learned alot about pedigrees which helped when checking out prospects. In fact, knowing the top dogs and top pedigrees is really the only major difference between breed discussions. Minor differences may be work/sport focus, and diseases/conditions typical for the subject breed. At best, other breed books cover the minor differences. My disappointment, on reflection, is that Nicholas is AKC-oriented, and unfortunately AKC GSDs leave a bit to be desired. (The dog I got was half German and American.) I would love to have a book like this based on "German" dogs so I could get a foothold in the contemporary German side; what are the top bloodlines, who are top dogs, what do they look like, etc. Also, the date on amazon still says 1985; TFH should update it after 15 years if it's still published and sold new!

if you're looking for a lot of pictures of champions both good and bad then this is the book for you. the section naming the different kennels in the USA was very informative.

Provides a comprehensive history of the breed in Germany, America, and throughout the world, while discussing such essentials as breeding, training, puppy selection and care, veterinary advice, grooming, showing, obedience and more.

Primarily, I wish I had read the description more carefully - this paperback runs to 128 pgs. So I was somewhat dissapointed on arrival. I do understand that these tiny-press Euro books cost a lot in the US...

AS to the content, it's pretty good. There is a minimum of self-congratulation about how much cooler the system is than more traditional methods, and a fairly close focus on actual practice. The author mixes and matches from cultures freely, now from Africa, now North America. he has managed, nevertheless, to compose a pretty coherent system, based primarily in the symbols that have come to be associated with 'chaos' magic as a school. If you're interested in practical spell-work and magical power, with little regard for conservative occult ethics, this is a good book if you can afford it.

Most people would probably be offended by this book but this book was not written for most people- even in the magickal community. This work outlines a fairly complete system of practical sorcery for a wide range of magickal activities. Hall draws from traditional African, Haitian, and shamanic teachings with a chaos magickal twist in his approach. He does an admirable job of explaining both malicious and beneficial doll magick, magickal attack, healing and cursing through a variety of methods, and other necessary workings that anyone who lives in the real world will need some time or another. He treats his readers as being intelligent and sensible enough to use these techniques as they see fit without all of the moralizing that clutters other mainstream works on magick. It is a little pricey for such a short book but there are very few other resources available for the student if you are interested in these topics.

This book is dangerous. True to the amoral nature of Chaos Magick, Nick Hall has exceeded the limitations of mainstream ethics. And true to amorality, he does it in matter-of-fact manner that neither shocks nor comforts the reader. This book was written by a master of the art.

Mr. Hall's presenation of his magickal principals are at once simply and eloquently stated and immmensely practical. This work is not your run of the mill "contact you holy guardian angel" tripe, it is a practical manual of post-modern sorcery. I respect most is the cander with which he discusses subject matter that is normally taboo in more mainstream occult literature.

It is easy to be excited by the promise of this little book. Its austere but stylish cover displays an old, rare, beautiful instrument. The instrument was created by a sublime craftsman. In recent years it has been played by another, and now it has been restored by a third. The cello has an intriguing name and the cover notes suggest a history to match. Alas, seduced readers will be left unfulfilled. The story is simpler than the promised romance. Ardent admiration is obvious in descriptions of the knowledge and skill of the craftsmen, but little of any depth is revealed. Even the illustrations disappoint. It's a beautiful package and will look well on any shelf. However what might, with more control, have been a delightful article in Vanity Fair is, instead, bloated, swollen and grandiose.

Though I admire and look forward to Nicholas Delbanco's fiction, it always seems to be his non-fiction work that delights me the most: the Provencal travel portraits in *Running in Place*, the fictive non-fiction of *The Lost Suitcase*, the affectionate documentary eye of *The Beaux Arts Trio* all make fine and lasting use, I think, of his exacting language and sharp senses.

Along comes this book, which again finds Delbanco handily making journalistic use of his gifts for words. A combination of history, reportage, memoir, biography, and technical explanation on virtuoso Bernard Greenhouse's Stradivarius cello (named, after a previous borrower, the Countess of Stanlein), this short read--which appeared originally as an article in Harper's--is a marvelous (and surprisingly exhaustive) explanation of the cello's past and its recent and extensive restoration.

The chronological account of the instrument's ordeal (and Greenhouse's ordeal in relinquishing it to his luthier, an engaging portrait in and of itself) provides a scaffolding against which Delbanco builds a fascinating explanation of the history of cello-making, instrument repair, and Greenhouse's career with the instrument. Most interesting to me, however, is the cello's own biography--its past lives and incarnations, over centuries, in the hands of famous and unfamous musical figures. Delbanco moves through these histories, data, and narrative with enviable, trademark fluidity.

I've played the cello now for more than 15 years. And though I'm no professional, I feel confident in saying that I'm familiar with a great deal of the "cello lit" currently in print (books, to name a few, by Pleeth, Potter, Walden, Cambridge's fine reference). And while the cello community is rightly grateful for these authors, Delbanco's modest addition to the genre is really worth celebrating, I think. It's a *story*, after all, with virtuoso surprise guest stars, emotional conflict, even a fair amount of suspense (as Greenhouse, fearfully, must test his cello after its repair). This crafty narrative trajectory only makes the writing tighter, the subject more engaging, and the reader perhaps more covetous of the work of art that is a Strad (I certainly hope to play on one before I pass).

The book should appeal, as a result, to both cello devotees and neophytes, and will hopefully receive attention from even the passingly curious. I heartily recommend it.

If you are like me, you have never before heard of the word "luthier." Nicholas Delbanco defines the word as "one who makes and repairs bowed string instruments." It is an old, old word, and much of the craft of the luthier "feels nearly medieval in it hierarchy of apprentice, journeyman, laborer, master craftsman." Delbanco knows that we don't know the word, and we don't know the craft of the luthier, but after reading his book, _The Countess of Stanlein Restored: A History of the Countess of Stanlein Ex Paganini Stradivarius Cello of 1707_ (Verso), we can at least appreciate in small the stratospheric levels of expertise in the luthier's craft. The visit to this world is exhilarating.

Delbanco tells of the history of the cello, one of a few dozen that Stradivari built. It eventually came down to Bernard Greenhouse, who has owned the cello for almost forty years. He says, "I've traveled the world with that instrument. It's been my companion for 40 years. It was my career, my friend." He played in the Beaux Arts Trio, two hundred times a year. He was never separated from his dear instrument. But as he got older, and concertizing became less pressured and less frequent, he thought he owed his instrument and posterity a favor. In 1998, he turned it over to the luthier, René Morel in New York City, who took it apart and reworked it, over almost two years. Morel says, "To start with, we take it apart. Even so fine a lady as the Countess of Stanlein must be opened for examination; you insert the knife carefully, carefully just here into the glue - you must know how to do it - and then you just go _pop_!" You can believe he was that cavalier about it, if you like. Delbanco details the incredibly complicated steps in the renewal, and Greenhouse's fretting about being without his old friend and fellow performer. The restoration complete, the instrument was just as good as he wanted it, which is unexcelled.

A charming little book, telling of the mastery of the luthier and the musician, _The Countess_ is obviously written with love by a fan, but the awesome story of the history of the cello and its dismemberment and resurrection is full of quietly told facts. It is a fine work for general readers who know nothing of this world, and it is a delightful introduction to two elderly artists at the top of their form, and whom it is hard not to love.

The fourth Ramage carries on with the tradition of highly entertaining naval action . The dialogue, descriptions of scenes and actions, and character behavior are first rate. The hurricane scene is what reminds me of Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt. I've not read a better account of existence in the middle of a hurricane, rivals the best Pitt action scenes.

This 4th volume picks up the events in the eastern Caribbean following Lt. Ramages's FREEBOOTER adventure. You really should read this series in order, if only because at first opportunity some character will recapitulate the previous volume's heroics. In this fast-paced story Ramage endures 1797 convoy duty, suffers from his family's nemesis again (RAMAGE #1), sees a new heartthrob, spots a skulking privateer, is terrorized by a hurricane, hunts treasure, obtains a prize of no interest, is subject to another court martial, and pursues an ugly vendetta. This time out Pope teaches us about convoying, the muster book, hurricane colors and frights, estimating distances at sea, ship weights, and the then value of gold.

Pope writes pretty well, with great pace, plot, and crystal clear action. The structure of the stories is dramatic, moving from small to large troubles with pauses for strained humor. Scenes are dead on, but the overall plot is so improbable you don't want to think on it. His characters are interesting but so predictably one-sided you soon learn to recognize the clues who will turn out good or bad. An authorial tic is interrupting long climactic action sequences with dry disquisitions on naval minutiae that could easily have been put in the slow parts instead. Or perhaps Pope is trying to show the thought processes of a somewhat naive leader who is at his best only in angry action (vide his model, Hornblower). Pope doesn't give away upcoming events in his chapter headings (none), unlike Kent's stories of Bolitho. The language is unoffensive; the blood and guts of battle is simply not strongly felt, and we never learn whether Ramages's new infatuations actually betray his first love. The characters' emotions are restrained, like a contemporary painting by Ingres or David rather than the horror of Goya or Blake. The book design by Paperwork is a fine job. (368 pp only.) Hardback copies of Ramage are way up in value.

This book is very similar to the first three books in this series: some good action, so-so dialogue and characterization, and a couple of brief (fortunately) romantic scenes that are so bad that it is hard to believe that Pope's editor and friends did not give him the advice to either change these scenes dramatically or ditch them altogether. Maybe they did and he just didn't listen. Anyway, there is some good action in this book, although there is less battle action than in the previous books. There is a truly great scene where Ramage and his crew are fighting to keep their ship afloat during a hurricane. The hurricane scene is one that has been done many times in this genre, but Pope does it very well in this book. Pope spent a lot of time sailing around the Caribbean and he obviously accumulated a lot of knowledge of the area; he does a great job describing the islands. Ramage makes some clever legal and political moves to try and defend himself from the attacks of his enemy, the evil Admiral Goddard. At times this book almost reminded me of an episode of JAG (which isn't really a bad thing). In summary, this is a pretty entertaining read, but I hope that in future installments Pope stops having Ramage fall in love with a new girl in every book only to completely forget about her and fall in love with a new girl in the next book. (I know Ramage is supposed to have a bad memory but give us a break!)

Having read Kerry Downes' standard monographs on Hawksmoor, Du Prey's "Architecture and Theology" is very disappointing. Du Prey does not, to begin, bring the book to its logical conclusion; despite commencing with a gushing account of Anglican Divines in Augustan England (Atterbury and Aldrich, though not, rather surprisingly, Sacheverall), the way in which contemporary religious thought might have conditioned the form of the churches built is inconclusive and not argued with the conviction that made an old article on the matter by Du Prey himself (ie., 'The Basilicas of the Primitive Christians') worthwhile. Furthermore, broad, out-of-context and misleading generalisations (such as a description of the Tory party of 1711 as 'right-wing') mixed with pockets of narrative make the book extremely irksome to read. As if that were not bad enough, Du Prey proves himself a brazen and misguided name-changer: St. George-in-the-East becomes 'St. George's-in-the-East', whilst St. Alfege, Greenwich, is nicely modernised as St. Alphege (which is, in fact, in dioscean records, a completely different church!). These observations might seem pedantic, but such mistakes are quite surprising from a Professor of Architectural History. Du Prey does not mention the churches of Gibbs (St. Mary-le-Strand, St. Martin-in-the-Fields), Archer (St. John Smith Square, Westminster, St. Paul, Deptford) or John James (St. George Hanover Sqaure), even though the latter collaborated on St. John Horselydown and St. Luke Old Street with Hawksmoor himself! Neither of the churches, not surprisingly, are studied at all. This is a flaw which Kerry Downes highlighted in a review of the book; it ought to have elicited a little caution on my part, because "Architecture and Theology" is definately not worth the asking price.

There is so little available on the architecture of the eccentric architect Nicholas Hawksmoor, that this book on his wonderful parish churches in London would be welcome in any case. But the book is a gem--well written, elegant...and goes far in explaining the theological and cultural issues behind Hawksmoor's odd choices in designing these buildings. The book also served as a very useful guide as I traveled around London in search of Hawksmoor projects.

This survey of architecture and theology examines London church structures built by Hawksmoor from 1712-1731. From a review of the architect's education and designs to church politics and issues in structures, Hawksmoor's London Churches: Architecture and Theology provides a lively, involving account with plenty of color photos.

I thought the writing was good and you can't fault Nicholas Shrady's knowledge. I did learn from the book but I did not enjoy it as time and again the author's arrogance got in the way. When ever he meets another foreign traveller the sarcasm that creeps into his writing is subtle but unmistakable. This starts with Chandika - who he can't even bring himself to call by her chosen name and is later repeated with the Germans who are worried having lost a companion (though not worried enough apparently). His contempt for these people is barely disguised. Maybe they are not as holy as Mr. Shrady, but who is he to judge? At Varansi he refers to a 'horror struck audience of foreigners who didn't understand the ritual and likely never would' (p73)

I found it highly arrogant to dismiss people in this way. This behaviour unfortunately extends to his hosts who Mr. Shrady continually defeats in arguments which demonstrate his knowledge and broadmindedness while they are made to appear narrow-minded and ignorant. Maybe they are. But Mr. Shrady's self-satisfaction is embarrassing. Every prayer, every donation is described in case we don't infer it for ourselves. Amongst meditating Buddhists he decides he's not worthy (though 'I had, it's true, steeped myself in the sacred texts') and decides instead: '... Better to be overcome with humility.....than to be greedy for enlightenment' (p87). Leading me to think he doesn't a) understand the concept of enlightenment and b) know what the word 'humility' actually means.

Thee were many examples of arrogance and dismissive judgmental beahaviour in this book. However I suspect Nicholas Shrady is quite young (?) maybe when he's older he'll be more objective and less out for the reader's good opinion of him. I hope so because his writing style is basically good and I feel sorry I did not enjoy this book as much as I would have liked. I ask myself did he actually learn anything from these trips or did he set out simply to give us the benefit of his knowledge? It would be a better book if Mr Shrady had been open to learn from people rather than trying to make them learn from him.

...a bit estranged from our traditional religious upbringing without wanting to abandon it totally, open-minded to other possibilities. I found him candid. It's much more believable (and interesting) to portray religious devotees as real people with human shortcomings. Yea, he's sometimes judgmental and arrogant; I allowed him that under his circumstances. Though Shrady has, admirably, immersed himself in the local culture and history, I found some of the historical explanation lengthy and tedious.

Nicholas Shrady allows us to join him on an arduous quest for the spirit which suffuses the world's great religions. For those of us who are no longer young and cannot physically traverse the Sacred Roads he allows us to join him in spirit. The descriptions of the "Holy Places" from Medjugorje, through the rivertrip down the Ganges, the trek across Northern India into Nepal in pursuit of the Buddha's footsteps, the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, Palestine and eventually Anatolia are most vivid and so are the encounters with others of God's children on the road. His experiences in the "Promised Land" struck an especially responsive chord since I had undergone similar tribulations by El Al personnel, although I was spared a rectal examination. Finally I am grateful to Dr. Shrady for having introduced me to Rumi whom I had not yet counted among my acquaintances. Having said all this let me warn readers that this book is an honest account and as such may not be viewed with favor by some whose religion demands adherence to dogma rather than an inner feeling of God in all His manifold works.