I PURCHASED THIS BOOK AND IT IS A EXCELLENT WAY TO KEEP RECORD OF YOUR DOG AND ALSO STAY ORGANIZED. THE COVER IS VERY NATURAL AND BEAUTIFUL. THIS BOOK MAKES A GREAT COFFEE TABLE BOOK AND IT'S ABOUT TIME YOU CAN REALLY KEEP TRACK OF YOU DOGS HEALTH AND VET BILLS. I CHANGED MY VET AFTER REALIZING I WAS BEING OVER CHARGED. BUY THIS BOOK! IT'S FULL OF TERRIFIC INFORMATION AND TIPS. YOU CAN'T GO WRONG WHITH THIS BOOK.

Our family recently purchased a puppy, and the Pet Tracker. Our whole family has made entries to the Tracker. We are planning a weekend getaway before school starts, and will do well to leave the Tracker with our pet sitter! A very ingenious way to keep track of records, receipts and certifications.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925) is one of the most famous silent films ever made, and this book follows the making of the film from beginning to end. Riley starts with the story of the Paris Opera house, Gaston LeRoux, and the novel. Then he follows the complicated production, with problems over Lon Chaney's participation, many rewrites, previews, and re-edited versions. When sound films came along, it was re-cut and opera sequences were added. This book has reprinted the entire pressbook, the original script, plus sections of the different script versions. Riley interviewed heroine Mary Philbin and several of the technical crew-members for this book. If you are a fan of Lon Chaney Sr., you will want this book.

I have always been a fan of Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera, and have considered the 1925 movie version the best of all versions. I was highly intriqued and mystified when I heard that the movie actually had been filmed more than once, with the first version filmed forgotten. Then there was this book. Well I must say, Philip Riley has done an EXCELLENT job compiling every bit of information as to all the different versions of this film, and makes it truly an interesting read. With terrific background on Leroux's novel too, this book has instantly become one of my favorites of all time!

This is a philosophical and psychological look at why people love to experience the horror film (and novel). It teaches people how to understand the dynamics of film making and how simple techniques are used to fool our conscious (and unconscious) mind.

This essay attempts and succeeds at explaining why horror literature fascinates our culture. I myself had wondered why people write in this genre,and why is that we can enjoy a seemingly strange area of fiction.

I espically recommend this book to any person who is new to horror,and would like to learn about it. Even thought this book is written in a scholarly manner I think the language is down to earth for most any person to read.

... this book is where it all began, and it is imperative to anyone who calls themselves (or is trying to, for that matter!) a motorsport professional. As Mr. Smith says, there is absolutely no reason for any mechanical failure on a racecar. But improper preperation rob great drives of wins and championships repeatedly because OBVIOUSLY, THE ENGINEER DIDN'T READ THIS BOOK.

Motorsport involves a lot of common sense - like regularly replacing 50c parts that have important functions to the car. Mr. Smith details these parts in this book and in "Nuts, Bolts, Fasteners and Plumbing Handbook". Read this one to get the gist, though. AND TAKE IT WITH YOU TO THE TRACK. It may mean the difference between winning and losing a championship, and thus valuable sponsorship dollars...

I'm building my own, Lotus Seven inspired, sports car.
I've always done my own mechanical maintenance, and have customized my own cars and trucks. That's why I drive 'older' vehicles, with technology I'm comfortable with.
Now, building a high performance, road registered sports car, I'm on a steep learning curve. I've spent a lot on books, and I've learnt that a good book is an investment, and a so-so book is worse than just lack of value for money, it's a liability. I need accurate information. I need to be able to trust my source. And I need to be able to use the information I find to do the right thing the best way,...once.
My kids are going to travel in, maybe even drive this car. I want to sleep easy at night.

Carroll Smith inspires confidence.
He's a professional who has been described as fanatic in his desire to win.
I'm not planning to race; so why would that (understandable) aim of a race-team manager reassure me that his advice is going to make my car safer? It's because his approach is pure logic. His books are structured to introduce the reader to the processes involved in a logical, prioritized order. He shows why it would be pointless to cut expensive metal to build a chassis if you don't have the abilities or the technology to join the bits so they stay joined.
And it's not much good having a car that will go like stink, if you can't be confident it will follow your control inputs to go where you decide and stop where you want it to.
He designs and prepares a car to win by loading the probabilities in his favour. He adds lightness for performance and to de-stress the chassis by decreasing the forces acting on it. He selects the best components available, within the budget, and he doesn't take shortcuts. He ensures that every attachment is the strongest fabricated and installed that is possible. He prepares them to finish, and super-tunes them to finish up front of the field.

In "Prepare to Win", Mr. Smith tells us about the nuts and bolts of technology. He explains why it's no longer necessary to 'nurse' the brakes to prevent fade or rapid wear or drum fracture and lockup. Disc brakes, he advises, properly selected, fitted and maintained, are a simpler, more compact, and more efficient system than drums, and their effectiveness has facilitated many other innovations in race-car technology.
(Imagine the drums required to slow a 300mph F1 car for the chicanes. How big would they be? Where would they fit? Inside the wheel rims? How would the tremendous heat generated be disposed of? What materials would last the distance?)
Carroll tells us why this is all, happily, now irrelevant. He tells why and how you should design and assemble the best braking system you can afford, a system you can rely on when the scenery threatens to re-arrange the body-work. He contends that while better brakes may not increase your top speed, they can assist you to significantly reduce lap times. He treats every system and major component with the same critical attention to detail. You won't find here how to fit the biggest engine to your car. You'll find instead, how to install the engine and all the other systems so they'll complement each other, and keep on working.
A firm believer in "Murphys' Law", he has developed strategies based on experience, hard work and dedication, to deny it any opportunity to interfere with his teams' success.

In this book, he has assembled much of what I need to know to ensure the success of my project. His logical, clearly descriptive text is made even clearer by some of the best illustrations, diagrams and charts you'll see in a lot of book-browsing. I wish I could show them to you here. Brilliant! There is so much here, it defies belief that he has since been able to write four more books on the topic: all equally as riveting, (sorry, it slipped out) informative, and thoroughly entertaining. Buy them, use them, and banish the D.N.F bogey.
If I could have only five books related to my project, two of them would be by Carroll Smith. This is one of them.

Ronald Hoffman is an excellent historian who has brought great knowledge of Chesapeake social and cultural history to this biographical work that places three generations of the Carroll family within their colonial context. It is a wonderful biography that gets the reader into the minds and lives of these three Charles Carroll's. But for me the best thing was the number of times it made me think, "Oh, that's how it was." I have read enough colonial history to know that there were lots of tenant laborers and not just slaves in the region, to know that Catholic Maryland quickly became Anglican Maryland, and to know that the Revolution was not just about ideas but also about social change. Ronald Hoffman's narrative, however, really brings these facts home. His book is not about any one of these issues in particular, but in telling the story of three generations of Carroll's in Maryland he brings home the greater circumstances of the colony better than many historians who have set out to make a case for one of the above arguments, or many of the other fascinating takes on early Chesapeake society contained in this highly readable book. I have not read any book lately that I enjoyed more.

I was originally attracted to this book out of a simple curiosity about the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence (Charles Carroll outlived Adams and Jefferson by about six years, or about 56 years after 1776!). On a deeper level, I hoped to learn more about the kind of early capitalist that would be attracted to signing on to the American Revolution in general. What this book helped me discover was a family that had over time become focused, almost obsessed, with making a buck under fairly adverse circumstances (namely, continuing in their Roman Catholic faith that made it difficult for them to thrive, even in an enclave as seemingly sympathetic as colonial Maryland, with its relatively large Catholic population). But when the time came for this family to rise above its simple wealth building and to champion the cause of the Revolution, it did indeed rise to the occasion, however brief and painful the process might be. (Hoffman attends to both the private and public lives of the Carrolls.) The history of the Carrolls is a part of the history of the magic that was the American Revolution. It is not surprising that the book ends abruptly with the death of Charles Carroll's father and his wife, about 10 days apart from one another in 1782 (though there is a brief summing up of Carroll's remaining 50 years and the attention attracted by his death in 1832). The story is told, the dynasty pretty much complete.

What's the book like? At times it seems downright willfully prosaic, and the story proceeds much like a carefully written doctoral dissertation - all conclusions fully supported and made in as logical a context as possible, all contentions politically correct for our time. Hoffman's goal is of course to be scholarly and thorough, not to be entertaining or controversial. Thus the sweep of this history must emerge and coalesce in the mind of the reader. Leave being beaten over the head with the broader conclusions inherent in the narrative to more popularly written histories.

Suffice it to say, if you're a municipal library and you need to beef up your Revolutionary War material, this is a prime buy. If you're a true history buff, this would be an excellent choice to work into your reading list. It has the effect of immersing you into the spirit of the times and providing you with detail you could not have imagined you would find interesting (but you do). If you're a casual reader, just be advised - this is heavy stuff. It's not an easy read, but it is ultimately a rewarding one.

No one knows Woodrow Wilson as the late Athur Link knew him. Link, a Princeton historian, was chosen to edit The Papers of Woodrow Wilson, perhaps the largest collection of presidential documents and references ever assembled. From 1963-93 he and a team of researchers cataloged the collection. Toward the end of the project, Professor Link had an extended conversation with journalist James Robert Carroll who recorded, edited and presented the result in this fascinating short volume.

Link shares many insights with Carroll. We learn that Wilson typed many of his own letters; that most of his speeches were not written in advance, so that staff members had to scrambled to recreate copies afterward. Wilson taught himself shorthand, facilitating note taking. Link believes Wilson sustained small strokes very early in the century and that his obstinacy over accepting modifications to the World War I peace treaty stemmed not from ideological animosity toward Senator Henry Cabot Lodge and others, but rather from typical after match symptoms from his major stroke of October 2, 1919. He contends also that Edith Wilson did not make policy decisions for her ailing husband. Rather, she regulated who could see him and for how long, in an effort to provide him maximum rest and a calm atmosphere.

This book is not only interesting, but also useful for students of the presidency and for learning about the work techniques of a famous historian.

A fascinating behind-the-scenes view of Woodrow Wilson's life and afterlife, via a freeflowing conversation with Arthur Link, the late great Wilson biographer and editor of the amazing Wilson Papers. Link knew more about Wilson's life than anyone - perhaps more even than Wilson himself - and here he tells engaging and revealing stories about Wilson's rise from scholar and college president to New Jersey governor and president of the United States, culminating in his heroic fight for the League of Nations in 1919. We get rare glimpses of Wilson's childhood, loves, marriages, his intellectual life, and the impact of illness - including a series of strokes - on his presidency well before his dramatic collapse at the height of the League campaign. Link also describes his own leading role in one of the greatest editorial feats of all time - the nearly 70 volumes of the Wilson papers - documents written by, for, and about Wilson - which give us as complete and rounded a picture as we have of the life of any president - indeed of any human being. From their modest origins in the late 50s, when Link had little inkling of the scope of the task he'd rather casually undertaken, to their waxing with the publication of two massive, brilliantly annotated volumes a year, to the end in the early 90s, with the image of Link at his desk editing the last volumes almost singlehandedly (and by hand! - no computers), Link tells us in entertaining style how it was done, both the careful planning and the serendipity - including the thrilling discovery of a lost trove of papers from Wilson's childhood and early career in a forgotten upstairs closet of his Washington house. Tedium at times there was, Link acknowledges, but his unflagging enthusiasm and devotion shine through this conversation, as does his admiration, tempered by real discernment and almost infinite knowledge, of Wilson's character, achievements, and legacy. Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in history and in how it's made - how leaders live it and how scholars write it.

If you have read the book with Mr. Crisps droll, flat voice in your head....you can begin to imagine how much fun the audio version of this book is. His dry wit is very much in evidence here as he shares his unique perspective on life in the "smile and nod racket".

I think this recording belongs in the Smithsonian Archives.

Crisp has done it again! Just when you think you're a maven on things-BOOM- he publishes his diaries! What a scandal, although I am sure some blue nosed puritan proofreader somewhere omitted some of the more "Corrupting evidence", Mr. Crisps personality and always charming style and wit still manage to rise above the parchment at every turn. This is an ideal "Holiday" gift for a freind to take along when on a long flight or travel to make the time seem to "Fly by", as it did for me when I enjoyed it the first time...My Word!,...I think I shall go and read it again now. Mr. Crisp is timeless and indefatigable... and like "Miss Jean Brodie", still in his "Prime"time! Kudo's once again and, Bravo, Mr. Crisp, You are "La Divine'" indeed!

This atlas is very comprehensive and contains colour maps showing the religious composition of the various regions of the United States from the pre-colonial days down to the present.

The atlas is also very useful for those who are interested in the emigration of the various ethnic groups to America as religious affiliation is closely tied to ethnicity and country/area of origin (especially in the colonial period to the 1800s).

It can be observed from these maps that different ethnic groups arrived during different periods and that their settlement were concentrated in specific regions.

For the period before independence (ie. 1776), there are maps showing the emigration of the Puritans/Congregationalists from the counties of Eastern England to New England, the Anglicans to Virginia and other Southern states along the Atlantic coast, Northern English and Welsh Quakers to Pennsylvania, Scotch-Irish Presbyterians to the Middles colonies and thereafter, onwards to the backcountry. There were also the Dutch Reformed (and some French Huguenot) in New York who settled there when that state belonged to Holland, and the Lutherans, Reformed and Mennonites who emigrated from Germany to the Middle colonies. Meanwhile, Louisiana was mainly Catholic due to French and some Spanish settlers.

A phenomenon which I found interesting was the transformation of denominational affiliation in the Southern states from Anglicanism and Presbyterianism to Baptist (and Methodist)and later, the emergence of Unitarians and Universalist among the Yankees in New England. All these showed regional trends.

This religious affiliation can be traced as migrants moved Westwards from the original colonies. Hence, the Yankees brought with them Congregationalism to the Midwest whilst Texas, Arkansas etc. had large Baptist and Methodist groups due to settlers from other Southern states.

In the 1800s, one can see how America was transformed from an almost exclusively Protestant Anglo-Saxon/Western European civilisation with the immigration of Catholics from Ireland, Germany and continental Europe. Orthodox imigrants form Eastern Europe in the late 1800s to early 1900s added even greater to the diversity.

And of course, in the late 20th century, America became a microcosm of the world with immigrants from Asia, Africa etc. [with large numbers of Buddhists (of various sects), Hindus, Bahais, Sikhs and Muslims (who enjoyed a phenomenal growth in part due to the large-scale conversions among African-Americans)].

This atlas also has maps showing the religious transformation in the African-American community i.e. from having their own Methodist and Baptist denominations to the formation of Black Hebrew organisations and the Nation of Islam and quasi-Muslim sects (such as Moorish Science).

The last few maps showed that despite the change in ethnic composition over the years, the various regions are still unique in their concentration of various denominations.

Brett Carroll's Historical Atlas of Religion in America provides a focus on the history and geographic development of American religions, providing maps and visual details to bring alive the connections between American political and religious history. From parts played by religious groups of Europe to the development of sects in the country, this provided a well-rounded survey.

This book is a wonderful continuation of the story begun in Winterbourne. There are just a shade too many historical details for me, but it was still great. And it's a bit different from the typical romance. But not so different that it's not enjoyable. I thought it was well worth paying a bit more to get it, although it is out of print.

SHADES OF WINTER is the long out-of-print sequel to Susan Carroll's WINTERBOURNE, published under the name the author currently uses in real life, Susan Coppula. This 1988 novel, which is categorized as historical fiction, excels at bringing English feudal society to life with page-turning entertainment.

As SHADES OF WINTER opens, Genevieve de Macy, daughter of Sir Jaufre and Melyssan, is 16 years old. Her mother died seven years earlier from childbirth complications while delivering her third child, a stillborn son. After Genevieve receives a marriage proposal from the flighty Henry III and is intrigued by a wastrel knight, Sir Jaufre sends her away to her brother's French keep, the Chateau Clairemont le Fleur. Smitten by the lusty, blonde Amaury de Launville, she returns home to find her father has arranged a marriage for her with Sir Hugh of Bassenport, grandson of a wealthy merchant.

Sir Jaufre's health is teetering and he worries for Genevieve's future welfare. Without a legitimate son, Winterbourne will be bequeathed to her. The wife of his French illegitimate son has other ideas and looks to make Winterbourne theirs. In the meantime, Genevieve realizes she's pregnant and is at her wit's end wondering what she is going to do.

Not only does Coppula convincingly portray life in a medieval castle, but Genevieve's arrogance fits the character well. To portray her as sweet and submissive would be inconsistent for a successful noble during this period. Her arrogance is combined with the naiveté of a 16 year old, and her character growth as the story unfolds is well done.

One aspect this reviewer frowns on in both this novel and its predecessor is its pairing of women with men who are so much older than them. A thirty-something man who falls in love with teenagers is either emotionally unstable or looking for someone he can easily manipulate. In one case, Sir Tristan, knew his wife before she was even born, and he was over the age of 30 at that blessed event. However, during feudal society, marriage was not about fulfilling emotional attachment. For royalty, nobles, and gentry, it was about alliances and procreating. (Such train of thought even affected the lower classes, to a smaller degree.) The average life expectancy for a woman was half that of a man's because childbirth was one of the deadliest risks women took at the time. In explaining Melyssan's early demise, Coppula used the most likely scenario for a woman's premature death of the period. As distasteful as the age difference between the lovers is, it's unacceptable to fault Coppula's storytelling for this detail. Older husbands were a common practice in the 13th century because wives were so "dispensable." And today's women forget that wives were expected to be obedient in the days of yore. Despite this, Genevieve is still a strong, yet believable protagonist and the attachment she develops toward her husband does make this relationship more palatable. On the other hand, it be wonderful to see more writers defy genre conventions and make more women a little older or more experienced than their lovers.

Coppula does a great job exploiting the dangers of living in a fuedal society, especially when the people interact in court. There was always intrigue around the reigning monarch (which still occurs today to some extent, with less fatal consequences). A king's popularity was extremely critical to avoid rebellion. If their people's attention wasn't focused on an unpopular king, courtiers would plot against each other for the merest slight or royal favor.

Coppula has also done her research describing castle life. Sir Jaufre was supposed to be wealthy and indeed he must have been to have a fortress made of stone when the kingdom still had several castles constructed with timber. Terms such as a castle's bailey, donjon, oubliette, et cetera, are used as required by the story, although it's questionable whether the jailers would courteously provide their prisoners a ladder in the case of the latter. In Ireland's Leap Castle, an oubliette was found with a large spike embedded upright from its floor, indicating the cruel fate of captives thrown down these deep, narrow shafts.

SHADES OF WINTER is an excellent continuation of the de Macy saga. Too bad there is only two novels. Susan Coppula's British history, characterization, and plotting is, as always, impeccable. Fawcett is overdue in reissuing this book as it did WINTERBOURNE.

Nothing piques the morbid fascination of a dinner guest quite like a platter of veal frappuccino. Top it off with a decaffeinated stock reduction and you're a host whose meals will be recounted for decades. This book has afforded us years of excellent in-home dining, as well as cheap laughter. My wife also once used it to great effect in ridding us of an in-law babysitter that she considered too sultry and promiscuous for duty. She merely left Carmen (her young cousin, who served briefly as our sitter to my unbounded delight) with a tray of Chicken Satay Latte that she had secretly made with thrice the active ingredient. Carmen dutifully served it to the twins at dinnertime, and by the time we returned she had permanently sworn off of babysitting - as well as motherhood, marriage, and quite possibly the male gender, which she rightly surmised was in large part to blame for the scourge of children.

Okay, being the quintesential lefty feminist, I theoretically had better keep a distance from major multinational corporations, but I just can't abstain from Starbucks! Even if they are part of the "corporatization" of America, I proudly declare my love for them.

Since it first came to my hometown (to somehow tie in with the "Alterna-rock" facination with all things pacific NW) I fell in love with their coffee--and related concoctions. Following a stressful (but adventurous day) there is nothing more relaxing than drinking one of their numerous creations and feeling the world melt away.

The recipies in this book continue the romance by providing easy to follow recipies to satisfy the coffee lover in everybody. Little to no previous cooking experience is required, as the point of this cookbook is to help everybody wind down in a deliciously rich way.