It will take you far, far into past, into the very heart of India, the land of jungles, of love, of true simplicity,

Jim Corbett will accompany you into the past with you and lead you into the future, this is a book that reiterates, that nature has no beginning as it has no end..., a revealing insight into one remarkable man, a britisher who was in India to live with its wonderful people and animals and who richly deserves the honour of being remembered even today, in the land he loved, and the place he tread, bears the call, CORBETT NATIONAL PARK.

This an autobiographical book is about a turn of the century British Citizen growing up in India, who becomes fascinated about the Jungle and the inhabitants that live there at a very early age. He is mostly self taught by observing nature around him. He is also a great tracker and develops his awareness to a extraordiary level. He is motivated to increase his awareness and tracking abilities by his respect for the Leopard, Tigers and Cobras that fill his jungle.

this book gives an accurate unbiased account of the life & times of aleister crowley, a thoroughly enjoyable read, you can make up your own mind whether you think he was a conman or a conjuror. all the facts are there...you decide!

This is a solid and very readable biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. All of the elements are here: growing up poor in Edinburgh, with a disillusioned, distant and alcoholic father and a strong and loving mother; going to medical school and getting started in a medical practice; his growing success as a writer of short fiction and historical novels; his first marriage, to a woman who developed tuberculosis early on and who died in middle age; Conan Doyle's falling in love, while still married to his first wife, with Jean Leckie, the woman who became his second wife (the relationship wasn't sexual until Conan Doyle's first wife died and he had married Jean); his fascination with, and public enthusiasm for, spiritualism. Some of the information presented is well-known, such as the interest in spiritualism and Conan Doyle's growing tired very early on with writing the Sherlock Holmes stories. But I'm guessing that, unless you are a rabid Sherlockian who has read tons of material on the creation and his creator, you will find much of the information the author presents to be interesting and fresh. Mr. Booth shows the adventurous side of Conan Doyle- his early hitch on a whaling ship and another trip, as a medical officer, on board a merchant ship which travelled down the western coast of Africa. We learn about the difficulties involved for a young doctor in setting up a medical practice. You had to spend money to make money, as the practice had to look like it was flourishing even though it was just getting started. With his limited funds, Conan Doyle did a nice job of furnishing his consulation room. He had to hang up a curtain, however, so patients couldn't see into the rest of the house- which was pretty much devoid of any furniture or decoration. We learn that Conan Doyle was physically fit and an avid athlete- playing cricket, rugby, soccer, golf, etc. Mr. Booth tells us of Conan Doyle's meetings with other writers, such as Oscar Wilde, Robert Louis Stevenson, and P.G. Wodehouse. While not a fan of Wilde's unorthodox lifestyle, Conan Doyle admired the man's intellect and work, and was charmed by his personality. (Both men were wined and dined in August 1889 by the editor of "Lippincott's Monthly Magazine," and agreed to write something for the magazine. Conan Doyle came up with "The Sign Of Four" and Wilde's entry was "The Picture Of Dorian Gray.") Mr. Booth sprinkles abundant examples of Conan Doyle's humor and with throughout the book- regarding the heat along the African coast,Conan Doyle remarked "(It was) hot enough to render the weight of a napkin upon your knee at dinner time utterly unbearable."; and on hitting upon Reichenbach Falls as the place to kill off his famous creation, Conan Doyle wrote "(It was) a terrible place, and one that I thought would make a worthy tomb for poor Sherlock, even if I buried my banking account along with him." Mr. Booth is very good at describing Conan Doyle's contradictions and character flaws: he was stubborn and would never admit he was in error about anything; he believed the white race to be superior to other races; he wanted to liberalize divorce laws to make it easier for women to obtain divorces, but he was vehemently against women being allowed to vote; he was extremely curious and adventurous- he embraced the newfangled motorcars when they first appeared and made an ascent in a balloon- but was very conservative in his attitude towards women ( he felt their job was to maintain the home and that they needed to be "protected") and he was horrified by any kind of modern art. Conan Doyle was very generous with his time and money. Throughout his life he wrote many letters and articles in support of causes he thought were right and on behalf of people he felt had been wronged, plus he put his bankbook where his mouth was. Many people know that Conan Doyle grew tired of writing the Holmes stories and had to have a lot of cash waved in front of his nose to convince him to bring the character back. What I didn't know, and which Mr. Booth explains, is that Conan Doyle was a prolific writer of short stories (horror, fantasy and science fiction) and historical novels. He wanted to be remembered for his historical novels- he did a lot of research and worked hard to make those books realistic. He gradually had to face the fact that posterity was going to remember him for Sherlock Holmes. (The money helped. It gave him a comfortable living and enabled him to support spiritualism and all of the other causes.) With all of the above going for it, you might wonder why I'm giving the book 4 stars rather than 5. There are 2 reasons. Although the style is fine and certainly not boring, things seem a bit hurried. An awful lot of material is crammed into 350 pages. And although we get a very good picture of Conan Doyle, the book is a bit weak on his relationships. We don't get to see much interaction with his spouses, children, friends, and colleagues. Still, this is a very good book about a man who was charismatic, energetic, funny and very interesting.

This biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle tells that he was far more than the creator of "Sherlock Holmes". He was trained as an MD, and started writing to supplement his income. His literary skills brought him great wealth and fame. He had enormous self-confidence, the courage of his convictions, and was never afraid of controversy. He vigorously campaigned on behalf of prisoners wrongly convicted. This book is well worth reading about this paradoxical and versatile man.

His experiences in the Boer War showed him the British Army was antiquated and in need of immediate and drastic reform. The cavalry was outdated; artillery should be diversified and camouflaged; rifle drill was more important than parade drill. Officers should not wear distinctive uniforms, and should end their luxorious habits that made it hard for a poor man to accept a commission (p.237). He advocated a civilian military reserve of well-trained citizens, and nationwide rifle clubs. By 1906 there was a national federation of rifle clubs. The British won the Boer War thru a scorched earth policy, and placing Boer women and children in concentration camps. ACD defended the British in a pamphlet that was widely distributed. He was later made a knight bachelor and Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Surrey (p.241).

ACD introduced Norwegian skiing to Switzerland in 1894 (p.172), memorialized in a plaque in Davos. When he visited America he just missed meeting Oliver Wendell Holmes, who he admired (p.200). He introduced golf to New England (p.201).

In 1886 he got the idea of writing about a detective who would solve cases by his scientific methods, and not by the folly of the criminal. He was inspired by the works of Edgar Allen Poe and Emile Gaboriau, and the vast number of murders and crimes reported in the national press. Page 107 discusses the possible origins of the names of his heroes. "Sherlock" is Old Norse for "fair-haired". Page 190 discusses the possible models for Moriarity. "Vintage Victorian Murders" by Gerald Sparrow (p.40) tells of a Sayers, the barrister who ran the London underworld for twenty years; his profession gave him the world's most wonderful cover.

ACD was raised as a Roman Catholic and educated in a Jesuit school. He later became an agnostic, then a believer in Spiritualism. G.K. Chesterton once remarked that a man who believes in nothing could wind up believing in everything.

I have been fascinated by this well written biography of A. Conan Doyle. The account of his difficult childhood and poverty reminds me of Charles Dickens life. However,he was helped to get a formal education and became a successful doctor. Doyle's father was an alcoholic who ended his days in an asylum. It seems that Doyle inherited some of his father's creative ability. Doyle was a man of wide interests-unfortunately we only know him for Sherlock Holmes. His historical novel, the White Company,was very popular. This is an impresssive account of an unusual man, who rose from a disadvantaged childhood to become one of England's most popular authors.

This thoughtful and loving tribute to the human spirit begins with the lines: "It is the industry of the soul, to love and to hate; to seek after the beautiful and to recognise the ugly; to honour friends and wreak vengeance upon enemies..." Here and elsewhere throughout the book, Booth uses Biblical parallels to advance his message about the human condition: "[There is] a time to love and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace [Ecclesiastes]..." In quiet, thoughtful tones, the main character, 80-year-old Alexander Bayliss, called Shurik, reflects on his life, a life which we would consider intolerable but in which he has found satisfaction and, remarkably, much joy. At eighty, he is a man completely at peace with his world, celebrating the love, endurance, and forgiveness which have made his life not only bearable, but ultimately, happy.

Shurik was a 40-year-old Englishman doing business in the Soviet Union when he was summarily arrested for espionage and sentenced to hard labor in the gulag, spending the next twenty years in a coal mine. In the hellish darkness and depths of the mine, however, Shurik finds enlightenment. One of seven men in his labor group, he and his companions become a family, fiercely loyal to each other, accepting life moment by moment, with no thoughts wasted on a future they cannot afford to contemplate. Eventually released, Shurik lives a quiet life in a small Russian village, where he becomes much beloved. When Communism fails and the Soviet Union dissolves, Bayliss, at eighty, finds himself faced with his most difficult decision.

This ambitious novel entertains at the same time that it conveys a strong message about man's enduring spirit and the need to forgive. The symbolism is clear and easily understood--the miners digging up a completely preserved wooly mammoth, then roasting and eating part of it, Shurik acting as teacher to the children of the village and sometimes speaking in aphorisms or proverbs, the story of the fox in the cage, the making of bread in the village, Shurik arguing for the historic preservation of the local church, etc. The language is simple, the images are unforgettable, the prose style is both musical and urgent, and the characters are admirable and sympathetic. A memorable and thoughtfully constructed novel, every detail of which advances Bayliss's message.

Alexander Bayliss, Englishman, is arrested by the KGB and sent to the Gulag for 25 years. These he spends in a coal mine near the arctic circle. After his release, he spends the next twenty years in the small village of Myshkino on the Volga, where everybody calls him Shurik.

The book opens on the 80th birthday of Shurik. A good time to reflect on the past and to think, perhaps of the future. Shurik tells us about his years in the coal mine and his work mates, who become inseparable friends. In the worst of adversity, they are there for each other, united especially in their disdain for the communist regime. At times, the story sounds like Solzhenitsyn's "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich". Survival becomes a matter of attitude, and the author describes it well. It is not so much the brutality of the camp as the spiritual emptiness of thousands of days with only the same manual labor.

In the village of Myshkino, Shurik teaches English at the local school. He opens the children's eyes to the world beyond and teaches them how to think on their own. Shurik is much beloved by everybody and, on this birthday, he is content. It is a truism that, as life goes on, one tends to repress the bad things but to revive the good ones.

Mr. Booth has written a beautiful book, full of charm and loving detail. The language is superb, and the flow of the story riveting. Maybe he gets a bit too sugary at times, but that can be overlooked.

Many written works, like their video or film counterparts, demand to be consumed voraciously by those eager to learn outcome(s). This powerful book, desires to be read reflectively and savored, one page at a time.

The life of the main character, Shurik, unfolds slowly and wonderfully, like the metamorphosis of an unusual butterfly. Originally from England,he will soon celebrate his eightieth birthday, after spending most of his life in the gulags of the former Soviet Union. His family has found he is still alive and wish to visit him. How will Shurik deal with this? Does he wish to go home or stay in Russia? Why would he go or stay?

The author, Martin Booth, uses the birthday concept to "anchor" his plot. The birthday is but a metaphoric excuse to study a lifetime interwoven with inexorable pain and unexpected beauty.

We are the recipients of these unique gifts as we begin to understand the life of one, very special, man. Highly recommended.

I just finished an old paperback of this book. It is currently out-of-print, and I hear it is about to be reissued. It was recommended to me as I prepared for a holiday in Hong Kong and Japan. Martin Booth's extreme detail can be tedious at times, but more often than not, he vividly recreates places and situations through sensory details, compelling language and rich characterization. Despite the protagonist's relentless downward spiral, I remained hooked until the end--an ending that is inevitable, but somehow I maintained some tiny morsel of hope, perhaps as Hiroshima Joe himself did.
I must repeat a concern from another post, since it exactly mirrored my own reaction. I did not know in advance that the main character was homosexual, and I was surprised at how matter-of-factly it was revealed and how convincingly it became a part of our understanding and compassion for Joe--THAT IS until near the end when he grossly attempts to seduce and assault a young boy. It did not ring true to his character--however unhinged Joe had become--and it does not ring true to accepted understanding of child molestation. It runs the risk of perpetuating the falsehood that all gay men COULD be pederasts.
That serious concern aside, I think the novel is a masterful achievement. It deserves to have renewed exposure.

Like Steve Rosse, I found this book abroad. I came across it at the British Council library in Mexico City, and was also deeply effected. I think of it often, and it really came to mind after reading John Lanchester's "Fragrant Harbor" which seems very soft edged next to "Hiroshima Joe".

You can really feel Hong Kong in this book--and not the usual high end of the city where you would expect to find an Englishman like Joe. He is clinging to the very edge of the respectability that his Englishness gives him, and the fact that others know how close he is to falling gives him a scary vulnerability. He has lost all face. He is an addict and a thief, and his loss of control leads him to abuse the only person he can imagine is weaker than he is--a child.

Taken prisoner by the Japanese during the siege of Hong Kong, Joe never goes home when the war is over. Martin Booth so convincingly sets up Joe's past that we ache for him as he is now.

Booth builds up real suspense in telling Joe's story, something that few novels manage these days when you have no doubt that the protagonist will triumph for the sake of the sequel. Joe is threatened from so many different sides that you cannot imagine how his story will end.

I found a battered paperback edition of Hiroshima Joe in a crummy guest house in Chiang Rai, Thailand, in 1990. Read it cover to cover in one sitting, then walked around stunned for two days. Threw away the copy I had, and I regret it to this day, because I haven't ever met anyone else who's read this book, and for a while I thought I might have imagined the whole thing. How wonderful to find that others have read it, and liked it, and I wasn't halucinating. I hope some day I find another copy so I can read it again. Mr. Booth, thank you so much.

Booth's book about the history of the Triads gives a decent account of the lore and background. However, it reads kind of dry- I'm not sure if it's because after awhile all the Chinese names all seem to run together, or what... The book reads like a very academic endeavor, which is fine- I've read a number of criminology books that take that approach. While very informative, "The Dragon Syndicates" isn't a gripping page turner by any stretch of the imagination.

Martin Booths "The Dragon Syndicates: The Global Phenomenon of the Triads" is a very comphrensive account of the Triads which starts with study of chinese history, and works its way all the way up to modern day Triad activity. This is a very informative type of read, at times may find it lengthy, but the author provides a very detailed account of the history of the Triads. The numerous accounts of secret societys of many types is fascinating, whether it be merchants banding toghether to protect themselves, or others fighting for patriotic causes, or as more recently criminal groups working to build wealth and wealth alone. I was surprised at how deeply involved these societies were/are involved in chinese politics, culture etc and at the extent to which the Triads have spread globally. I also liked the picture inserts in middle of book, which among other things showed Triad Cermonial ware, Weapons, surveillance pictures. Martin Booth's " The Dragon Syndicates: The Global Phenomenon" is a book worth having, one that you can reread many a time.

This is an excellent book, giving a great insight into Triad culture and its history, and how both are intrinsicly linked to the Chinese mindset. At times it is a little dry, and especially for a Western reader, the names and locations can be introduced so expediently that you have to take a breath and put the names into perspective. However, it is a very solid background read and will have you wanting to read more into the subject matter and the particular persons of historical importance that are discussed.

Booth deals with the suject matter of this book in a logical and tactical manner. The focus of the book is not mainly the mystery of the subject at hand but also its influence upon British and American society as well as artists and writers who used or were addicted to it in their time. It also covers a history of heroin (a morphine derivitive) and its place in the society of arts. Anyone reasearching this subject need ONLY BUY HIS BOOK, for it provides a multitude of other sources to browse. I must say that I am very impressed with the information given, the quality of the writing and the overall book itself. This is what I had been looking for.

Patrick Norman Feild

Sleep and his brother Death figure prominently in Martin Booth's "Opium - A History." His subject is a two-headed god---bringing surcease from pain, but also addicting and killing its too-faithful followers.

Booth writes a truly fascinating and detailed history of opium's influence on the world's history, economies, and cultures. According to the author, opium has been used by man since prehistoric times. It was already under cultivation in Mesopotamia by 3400 B.C. He describes the wars that have been fought to control the opium trade, and nowadays the multi-billion dollar heroin industry. Nor does he neglect the social implications of an addicted population:

"For many addicts, heroin is favoured because, whilst allowing them to maintain full consciousness, they can withdraw into a secure, cocoon-like state of physical and emotional painlessness. Heroin is seen as an escape to tranquility, a liberation from anxiety and stress: for the poor, it is a way out of the drudgery of life, just as laudanum was for their forebears two centuries ago."

If much of your recent reading has been driven by current events, this book will open your eyes to the cultivation and processing of 'papaver somniferum' throughout the 'Golden Crescent' - a geographical area from Turkey to Tibet that includes the mountains of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Here is what the author has to say about growing poppies in the Mahaban Mountains along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border:

"It is perfect poppy country with suitable soil, steep and well-drained hillsides, long hours of sunshine and the right amount of rainfall. There being no other forms of income apart from agriculture, it follows that the opium poppy provides an ideal cash crop."

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (10/03/2001) the drug trade is the primary income source for Afghanistan's ruling Taliban. U.S. State Department intelligence information on drug trafficking in the region indicates that the Taliban has collected at least $40 - $50 million this year through a tax it imposes on the opium poppy crop.

There are hazards to cultivating the poppy. "...Farmers can tell when the time to harvest is nigh because they wake in the morning with severe headaches and even nausea. Harvesters may absorb opium through their skin and excise officers and traders who come into frequent contact with it can also be affected."

Booth gives his readers a very well-researched and fascinating look at the seductive flower whose pharmacological properties came to mean all things to all men: poets; farmers; soldiers; doctors; murderers; terrorists; kings; and cancer patients.

Sleep and his brother Death figure prominently in Martin Booth's "Opium - A History." His subject is a two-headed god---bringing surcease from pain, but also addicting and killing its too-faithful followers.

Booth writes a truly fascinating and detailed history of opium's influence on the world's history, economies, and cultures. According to the author, opium has been used by man since prehistoric times. It was already under cultivation in Mesopotamia by 3400 B.C. He describes the wars that have been fought to control the opium trade, and nowadays the multi-billion dollar heroin industry. Nor does he neglect the social implications of an addicted population:

"For many addicts, heroin is favoured because, whilst allowing them to maintain full consciousness, they can withdraw into a secure, cocoon-like state of physical and emotional painlessness. Heroin is seen as an escape to tranquility, a liberation from anxiety and stress: for the poor, it is a way out of the drudgery of life, just as laudanum was for their forebears two centuries ago."

If much of your recent reading has been driven by current events, this book will open your eyes to the cultivation and processing of 'papaver somniferum' throughout the 'Golden Crescent' - a geographical area from Turkey to Tibet that includes the mountains of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Here is what the author has to say about growing poppies in the Mahaban Mountains along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border:

"It is perfect poppy country with suitable soil, steep and well-drained hillsides, long hours of sunshine and the right amount of rainfall. There being no other forms of income apart from agriculture, it follows that the opium poppy provides an ideal cash crop."

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (10/03/2001) the drug trade is the primary income source for Afghanistan's ruling Taliban. U.S. State Department intelligence information on drug trafficking in the region indicates that the Taliban has collected at least $40 - $50 million this year through a tax it imposes on the opium poppy crop.

There are hazards to cultivating the poppy. "...Farmers can tell when the time to harvest is nigh because they wake in the morning with severe headaches and even nausea. Harvesters may absorb opium through their skin and excise officers and traders who come into frequent contact with it can also be affected."

Booth gives his readers a very well-researched and fascinating look at the seductive flower whose pharmacological properties came to mean all things to all men: poets; farmers; soldiers; doctors; murderers; terrorists; kings; and cancer patients.

A Review by James

When Jet, the dog, was in the army after his owner went to jail she was a great dog. She saved lives and helped the army. She got hurt once and awhile but immediately went back into active duty as a patrol dog. Soon Jet's owner that went to jail joined in the army and found jet. He didn't take over and was her patrol keeper but he did see her once in awhile. The book ended up the owner telling the class about jet and her heroism and her courage.
Well this book wasn't a joyful book for me but maybe for you. This book has dogs and also about war, how war is bad and such. It was hard to fallow, but I am a slow reader. This book was only a 133 pages but yet it took a long time for me. One thing that I did like about this book is that it set during the beginning of WW2. When the Americans weren't exactly in the war but had some Americans fight for the British army. The dog part of the book wasn't really a interesting thing for me, Boring.
If you really like dogs and like ww2 then this is the book for you, the book is WAR DOG and get it if you want, I give this book a 3 star rating.

If your like me and love dogs this book is an amazing book for you. The book is about an army that is going to war aginst Germany and there leting dogs be in it. This is how Jet, the dog, got in to the army. At the begening Jets origanal owner was a poacher, someone who hunts in a way that is aginst the law. One day when he was poaching with Jet the police caught him and took him to jail and Jet was put in a cage and Turnip was looking for a dog because he was in the army and he needed a dog and Jet had been turned down several times so Turnip took Jet and used her in the army. Turnip had'nt knoun Jet was a pouching dog so she was already trained. So one day when they were training the dogs the captian saw Jet and Turnip training and the captian was impressed so he said they were going to war. In war Jet and Turnip were both shot but they made it and Americ, after a long hard war, defeated Germany.

This novel was one of the best books I've read in a while. The main character is a black labrador named Jet who is seperated from her owner when he's arrested for poaching right before WWII. Jet is requisitioned by the Army and begins her adventure in Dunkirk where she and Turpin (her new handler) fight against the Germans. She is soon moved to England and then to Italy where she saves many lives and becomes a hero. There weren't any dull parts in the story, and I also learned a lot of history. I'd recommend this story to anyone, young or old, who loves animals and happy endings.

Alec Marquand never speaks. He never willingly communicates with another person. He is very old now, close to the end of his life, and incarcerated in a mental hospital. But it wasn't always like this. Once he was a young man, an archaeologist fresh out of college mapping the Stone Age in Scotland, and there, on the remote and much feared Island of Silence, he discovered a secret destined to haunt him the rest of his life -- a beautiful girl. Given time, their strange and fleeting relationship might have blossomed into something more, who knows? He never got to find out. WWI took him away, spit him out on a totally different sort of island under a rain of bullets, and baptized him in a carnage too horrible to remember. He has not spoken since, but he has never forgotten the girl.

Written from Alec's point of view in chapters alternating between his adventures as a young man and his life now as an old one, ISLANDS OF SILENCE is a strangely haunting novel. Although I found it slow going and in places was bored to the point of skipping whole paragraphs that seemingly had little to do with the plot, the prose was poetic, the details singularly perfect, and I worked my way through to the last page and was rewarded by an end satisfyingly appropriate for a story as mystical and sad as this one. Martin Booth has created here a horrific portrait of war, painting the devastation in chapters I will not soon forget. It would be hard to call ISLANDS OF SILENCE a love story; equally difficult to consider it a coming-of-age novel. Rather, it is a beautifully if sluggishly written account of one man's attempts to come to grips with a world that has hurt him too much.

Readers who enjoy complex, mystical tales of love and loss will most likely find ISLANDS OF SILENCE a brilliant addition to their collection.

Martin Booth's "Islands of Silence" is a very good read and an interesting love story. This novel tells the story of Alec Marquard, an aged, self-imposed mute and veteran of WWI who's winding down his days in a mental institution. It's told in first person narrative (with Alec as narrator) with chapters alternating between the present and past. Booth's writing is vivid and his pace perfect for the story as Alec's condition and the mystery of what caused it are patiently revealed through Alec's memories and thoughts.

The story begins in a mental ward where Alec has been a patient for a very long time. He's in possession of his faculties, but has eschewed speech for many years and as the story progresses the reader begins to understand Alec's motivation for this silence. We're given glimpses of his childhood and the memory-portion of the story really takes off when Alec puts his archaelogical degree to work investigating brochs off the Scottish coast. When researching ruins on an island off the coast, he sees a beautiful and mysterious young woman (note: I would not characterize her as otherworldly, she is very much human flesh) who is incapable of speech--although she is able to make sounds. Alec is mesmerized and eventually is able to meet and spend some time with her in an almost intimate setting. She allows him to make sketchings of her and there's even some minor physical contact. In spite of her inability to speak any language, she and Alec communicate during their brief time together and Alec either falls in love with her or becomes infatuated (the reader can be the judge). I found this part of the novel a bit of a stretch, but Alec is young at the time and the woman is very beautiful, so who knows? It is about this time that WWI is starting to heat up and pacifist Alec is incarcerated for his refusal to serve in the military (his military step-father is behind the charges) and taken from the coast and his incipient romance.

After multiple beatings and several months in prison, Alec is offered a release if he's willing to serve in the miltary with the medical corps. This section of the book is particularly riveting and revealing. Booth's depiction of the March 1915 naval assault on Dardennelles, Gallipoli is so well-rendered that the reader is almost transported to the beach (much like the opening scene on Normandy in the film 'Saving Private Ryan') and the horrible scenes and thoughts that follow. Alec shares his thoughts prior, during, and immediately after the assault and Booth provides the reader little chance to catch his or her breath. It's gripping stuff and brings the book much closer to its conclusion.

All in all, the writing is wonderully vivid and the alternating past/present chapters works very well in the context of the novel. I found the love story to be central to the story, but also a little difficult to buy into. I particularly enjoyed the war writing and the present day musings of Alec and how the author tied everything together. Part mystery, part war-novel, and major part love story, this is a very good read and one that's recommended.

This German-born Martin Luther was the most prominent of all the Sixteenth Century reformers (as well as counter-reformers). His life became his religious struggle. Though he won some and lost some, he became a symbol of religious defiance to his adversaries, and an anchor-point to his disciples.
This book did not detail us on the reason why some of his co-reformers parted ways with him; but I did enjoy the time I invested on reading it.

I picked this up at a Christian book store for half price. This is an abridged book in a series on famous Christians (mostly Protestant). The author, who is clearly sympathetic with Luther's cause, devotes more attention to Luther's personal relationships and political struggle than to his theology. However, this is probably appropriate for the intended audience (the book store located it near the young readers' section). I can't compare the book to others since this is the first I've read on the topic, but I've personally found it to be an enjoyable read.