I use the Lightning Rounds series as class starters for my high school gifted students; students crave these games. The quizzes function in a Jeopardy-like format, with topics ranging from letters of the alphabet (all the answers to today's quiz begin with the letter B, for example) to Women Writers of the Twentieth Century to Famous Quotations. The topics include a variety great enough so that they will appeal to virtually any student--as long as the person is fairly knowledgeable in some field. Personally, I enjoy the quizzes myself, but the book is much more interesting if used in a social context with one person asking the questions and others volunteering answers.

Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman was born in 1836 near Glasgow, entered Parliament in 1868, became Prime Minister in 1905, led the Liberal Party to its stunning victory in 1906, and died April 22, 1908, having resigned as Prime Minister on April 3 of that year and been succeeded by Asquith. After reading this book it might be wise to read Roy Jenkins' superb biography of Asquith. While I did not think this was as exciting a book as Jenkins' biography of Asquith, that is due only to the times that each was Prime Minister--Asquith's time was far more momentous. But I enjoyed this book thoroughly. One cannot but help admiring Campbell-Bannerman, even he was not a very hard worker. He customarily spent six weeks each fall at Marienbad. He was rather against the Boer War, and when he came to power he made peace with Botha and Smuts, to Lord Milner's disgust. The book has an excellent bibliography, listing books which I would like to read. When I read this book I noted from said bibliography three books to read: Arthur James Balfour, by Blanche Dugdale; 25 Years, by Viscount Grey, and Haldane, 1856-1915, by Maj. Gen. Sir Frederick Maurice. But since I have only read 25 Years. The other two remain on my to be read list.

Wellman was one of the great American fantasists, and this series is pretty much the definitive Wellman collection. John Pelan has done a great job selecting the stories, and the book itself is of high quality. It will look good on your shelf, it will last through many readings - and you really aren't going to be able to find the original stories in paperbacks and pulps. You just want to read, and the price is quite reasonable when you think about how much time and money you'd spend on the first editions. Even reprints of this stuff are hard to track down.

It's kind of like the horror equivalent of the NESFA Press collections, like the three-volume Hal Clement omnibus - great stories that aren't easy to find, collected and presented.

Kudos to Pelan and Nightshade for giving us a great edition of hard-to-find, high quality horror. Let's hope they keep it up with other authors, I'll keep buying them.

Dry Rot in the Ivory Tower is described in the foreward as a "angry call to arms". It is that, and much more. Through a series of vignettes describing life at the fictional "Omnibus University", John Campbell (former professor, dean and university president) describes the light and the dark that exists at universities throughout the country. The stories, though fictional, have a ring of truth to them that makes one suspect that the only fiction is the names, which have been changed to protect the guilty (and the occasional innocent as well; see the vignette about the Heisman Trophy winner which seems to be a barely disguised story about Barry Sanders). Nobody in the university, from governing boards, to administrators, faculty, alumni, and even a few greedy students, escapes unscathed. Thoughout the book, the author's love for the university comes through loudly and clearly, even as that love is challenged by the unending bureaucracy, personal agendas and political vendettas that, unfortunately, exist in universities. If you also love the ideal of the university, this book will make you angry. Your anger will be aimed at those who, by their actions and attitudes, prevent universities from accomplishing as much as they should. Additionally, some of your anger will be with yourself, for failing to do more to help.

This is a first-rate study of an underrated figure who is in danger of being overlooked by future generations. John Campbell makes a compelling case for Heath as a good prime minister who was overwhelmed by the economic crises that beset the West in the early 1970s. As a result, his is a political career that is defined by its failures (losing three of four elections while the leader of the Conservative Party) and is being overshadowed by those of his contemporaries -- Harold Wilson and Margaret Thatcher -- rather than for his critical role in the most important event of Britain's post-1945 history: entry into the European Economic Community and the European Union that followed. This book is an important step towards according Heath his rightful place in history.

John Rushkin originally published this little volume in the winter of 1856/57. It promptly sold out and went into multiple printings. It is surprisingly still relevant today. Rushkin gives the reader many exercises beginning with a dip pen and ink and later moving to pencil and then watercolor (which in the 19th century was classified under drawing). I was so intrigued I actually bought a speedball dip pen and some india ink and began to practice the many exercises he gives. They work. By the time I finished the ink exercises I noticed a definite improvement from my early attempts compared to the later ones. And I am continuing the exercises.

Another fascinating aspect of this book is the snapshot it gives into the mind of a prominant 19th century art critic. Rushkin not only was a master draughtsman and painter but a widely respected art critic in his day. Monet was quoted by a British journalist to have said, "90% of the theory of Impressionist painting is in Rushkin's Elements of Drawing." A young George Seurat obtained a copy and admitted to having read it carefully. Now I'm no Monet or Seurat but I figure if these guys valued Rushkin's instruction I should certainly pay attention to what he had to say.

Rushkin explains exactly what the goal of each exercise is. He also recommends specific paintings or drawings to examine along with critiques of why this or that area in the drawing/painting is superior or lacking. He strongly believed it more profitable to study in-depth a few highly superior drawings/paintings to a wider assortment of middling/average execution. And he believed this even of famous artist's work - famous or not he advises to ignore for the moment their less masterful work and focus on the truly great ones. Rushkin pulled no punches. The entire treatise is full of his opinions right along side the exercises - yet I would say they are not opinions without merit. He gives you something to think about when looking at works of the art masters and something to strive for in your drawings and paintings so that you can become more than just technically competent. He addresses the heart and soul of drawing and painting. It made me think of why this or that particular line, shading or painting technique in an art master's drawing/painting touches me the way it does.

This is the best marriage between technical competence and artistry. And you grow in understanding that all the exercises he gives are only in service to the spirit of art. It is an emphasis that most modern how-to books don't touch. Analysis this deep in modern art books are left for books that are advertised as art critiques. Since almost all my art books fall under the "how-to" category (as anyone who's read my other book reviews will see) I found this critique aspect rather refreshing and wanting to read more such types of books.

I strongly recommend this book. Despite the lack of photos or modern step-by-step illustrations (the illustrations are line art - the most up-to-date technology for book illustration then available in an affordably priced book) I think it is very worth getting and reading. Perhaps artists who have been formally trained in universities or art academies will find this kind of instruction typical. But for someone like me who is entirely self-taught from the books he/she buys it is a great investment into expanding boundaries and knowledge of art in general.

Having been raised on a ranch, I was very impressed with this book. It is something that a child or an adult can enjoy. Very well written book.

I ordered this book expecting a lot of computer jargon that I would not understand. I am new to programming and this book really helped me learn a few things about VB5 and web development. The instructions were very informative and really explained how everything works. There were lessons to follow that made everything easier for me. The CD that comes with the book was very helpful and made the location of the code in the book easily accessible for reference. I would recommend this book to anyone learning VB5 and web development.

Buckley's work on the agonizingly long and complex courtship of a distinguished Presbyterian minister (and later Confederate officer) and the divorced daughter of a Governor of Virginia is extraordinary.

The number of letters contained in this volume, PAINSTAKINGLY transcribed from handwriting that is (at least 50%) illegible, is astounding. The story told is compelling for even a cynical 21st century observer of love and life . . . and a rare chronicle of the political and personal impact of 19th-century Presbyterian varying "insights" into the mind, will, and intent of an sometimes angry and always fearsome God.

The notes and bibliography are priceless. They alone make the book a must-have resource for anyone interested in the 19th century history of southern Presbyterian protestantism, women's rights, religious bigotry, Rockbridge County, Lexington and most of the rest of Virginia. . . . . not to mention the geneaologies of perhaps half the population of the entire valley of Virginia.

Detailed, execellent, and pound for pound . . . no better value.

A credit to an editor's labor of love . . . and to the University of Nebraska Press for publishing it.

Oswald's Closest Friend: The George De Mohrenschildt Story

In the last couple of years under the JFK Assassination Records Review Board Act our government has spent millions of dollars into the research of the assassination of our 35th President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. As a former Federal employee, on several occasions I have offered all of my research under the Whistleblowing Act to the Clinton administration without receiving replies. President Clinton's former Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, in the past (1992), had supported this author's research as a former Congressman for the County of Santa Cruz. This author believes that it was certainly unethical and boardering upon fraud when President George Bush signed into law The JFK Assassination Records Review Board Act and did not disclose that he knew George de Mohrenschildt since 1942. In order to understand the conflict of interest George Bush played in the JFK assassination investigation in 1963 and in 1976, one needs to look at his entire career with the CIA and Zapata Oil industry.

TRACKING THE JFK ASSASSINATION

Santa Monica College Corsair - November 17,1997, by Donna Lynn

As the 34th anniversary of John Fitzgerald Kennedy's assassination approaches, Bruce Campbell Adamson, a self-taught genealogist, historian, author and Santa Monica College graduate says that he is close to solving "the crime of the century." When his father died in 1980, Adamson applied for a job at the Santa Monica Post Office. He says he "wanted to work outdoors" because it seemed to be a "healthy" job with few problems. "It took me five years to get hired," he says "And I retired in five years." Adamson ended up filing a federal lawsuit against the Post Office in a worker's compensation claim. He was the case in 1991 and has used the money to research the JFK assassination. "I started researching it (JFK) because I was tired of the subject, said Adamson. When I began my research Oliver Stone's movie, JFK, had just been released and I was sick and tired of all of the theories generated by the tabloid news agencies." This motivated him to write and publish The JFK Assassination Timeline Chart, and eight volumes (now ten) of Oswald's Closest Friend; The George de Mohrenschildt Story. Each bit of information led to another, and Adamson soon discovered that some of his own family members were coincidentally associated with persons connected to George de Mohrenschildt in one way or another. In the past 14 years, Adamson's research has taken him through the government and the Central Intelligence Agency...In a trail that leads from oil fields to Wall Street to the sales of helicopters used in the Vietnam War, Adamson claims that he exposes evidence that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone. Everything that we are today exists today because of the past, he said "If historians don't get the story right, then our lives today are based upon lies." He also link's "alleged lone assassin" Oswald to de Mohrenschildt, an aristocrat who had ties to the rich and famous. Adamson asserts that these elites may have benefited financially from JFK's death. The wealthy "were also retaliating for their political as well as other motives," said Adamson. "Wealthy individuals having prior knowledge of the plans to kill JFK could sell short on the New York Stock Exchange and buy their company back for half the price after the assassination," Adamson aid. On the day of the assassination, the stock market lost 11 billion in paper." Adamson's main theory focuses on a U.S. oil depletion allowance, which grants oilmen a 27.5 percent tax break when reinvesting in their other corporation. Adamson says that Texas oilmen plotted the assassination of JFK to gain more power, and that the Warren Commission found Oswald guilty without a fair trial. He places de Mohrenschildt with a group of friends -- one of whose grandfather's chartered the oil depletion allowance in the 1920s."... De Mohrenschildt died on March 29, 1977, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Adamson, however, says de Mohrenschildt could have been murdered, since the CIA was on his back about his knowledge of the assassination. Adamson asserts that de Mohrenschildt, prior to his death, told a close friend that a number of oilmen, FBI and CIA agents were behind the JFK assassination. "De Mohrenschildt had complained to his friend, CIA Director George Bush in September of 1976 about being harassed," Adamson wrote. "Shortly thereafter, Bush contacted the FBI Director and it was not long after that de Mohrenschildt would find himself in Parkland Hospital receiving nine shock treatments." Were the shock treatments CIA-sponsored, Adamson asks? While Bush was CIA Director, more than 200 Top Secret documents came up missing, including the letters between de Mohrenschildt and Bush, says Adamson. Like Oswald, de Mohrenschildt went to his grave insisting that Oswald was "just a patsy," and that Oswald was not the assassin, according to Adamson. "That's a dying declaration," Adamson insists. "When someone makes a statement on their deathbed, they're likely telling the truth." Is finding the truth about JFK's murder Bruce Campbell Adamson's destiny? Is Adamson possessed by the genetics of his own distinguished American heritage, driving him to correct an error made in history? Is he driven by Hustler magazine's bounty of $1 million to whoever determines the murderer? "Circumstantial evidence does not lie," says Adamson. "And people should not be afraid to focus and speak of these associations in our society, which allows free speech, nor should they fear retaliation for alienating the rich and famous." "Adamson's fascinating bloodline hasn't gone to his head. He maintains that he's just "a simple guy. I'm nothing special," he says, but "here I am trying to solve the 'crime of the century,'" for which "there is no statute of limitations on murder."

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