I have read many Catherine's books and trilogies and have thouroughly enjoyed most of them. However, this book made me so angry that I wanted to hurl it across the room! The only reason I didn't is because I could not put it down. Kassia is so abused by the so called hero, Graelam, that you will weep for her, pray for his death and hope she ends up with any of the men he accuses her of being with! If that was your intention Catherine, then I applaud you for the convincing character. I will recommend this book, if only to give the reader another reason to be disgusted with some men's behavior and find sympathy in the sisterhood that puts up with them, I being one of them.

This is a story that you cannot put down until you finish. The hero, Graelam, was introduced in a preceding novel by Catherine Coulter called Chandra. I read Chandra before Fire Song and read about the way Graelam ruthlessly raped a young woman who was a virgin. He did it out of some sort of power trip, and it made me thououghly disgusted with his character. After reading that, I could not see him in any sort of heroic light and it sort of ruined fire song for me. A man who commits any kind of rape, is no hero and I don't like how the author makes him out to be one in this novel. I believe it gives the message that rape is okay and it makes me sick. I do not care what century this book takes place in, rape is wrong.

I really love this book. Graelam de Moreton is a very ... rogue and Kassia is so cute and fragile. As I read it, I now and then secretly sent my encoragement to help Kassia prove herself innocent from betrayal and deceit and I felt relieved when the plot straightens and Lord Graelam eventually relizes that he loves Kassia and his love for her is so strong that he cares not whether she is a liar or not. This story has many exciting twists and turns to keep you turning the pages. Fire Song also introduces Dienwald de Fortenberry who will appear as the main character in the next book 'Earth Song'. I would highly recommend this book to all of you who are strong fans of historical romance.

I have read several books on the history of Russia, like Peter the Great, and the Romanovs, but this book frankly bored me. The author definetly knows his stuff about Catherine, but I got so tired of reading about all the political stuff in this book. I wanted to know more about her personal life, more details about her comings and goings, not about how she ruled her Russian cabinet officers. Also the use of vocabulary was way over my head, so it made it hard to enjoy reading because many times I needed to get the dictionary, and I feel I have a fairly good vocabulary. I would not recommend this book unless you want to know about Russian administration in her time.

I have read history books more interesting than this book. When i purchased the book i thought that it would be an interesting work. The book started off interesting. Then, as it progressed it got worse. Rent the movie. It would be much better. Trust me.

This is a good book to read to get a handle on the reign of Catherine the Great and late 18th C. Russia. Alexander covers the court intrigues, the attempts at reform, the complexities of foreign policy. He also avoids treating Catherine's personal life in a sensationalistic way.

So if you read this book, you will learn a lot. On the other hand, the book doesn't really come to life in the way Massie's "Peter the Great" or Avrich's "Russian Rebels" did. It is recommended only to those with a serious interest in the time of Catherine, such as students, and not the casual reader.

I liked this book initially, as I had never read a romance novel before I was somewhat dubious. I had heard good things about Catherine Coulter so I decided to give her a try. The beginning was good, the firey Chandra made me laugh and I could identify with her. I also liked the sexual tension between her and Jerval, but as the novel progressed I became dissappointed, what happened to Chandra's spunk? Why did she all of a sudden become so easily dominated by Jerval? I realize that would have been realistic for the time but it was still a little dissappointing. I also found several typos throughout the book, things that should have been taken care of during editing, but I suppose getting the book on the shelves supercedes grammatical accuracy. I didn't give up on Coulter yet, however, I read The Deception which I really enjoyed, even with the incorrect conjugation of her french verbs. The Deception was a nice, exciting read and I would reccommend that. Feeling hopeful, I read The Courtship; what a waste. I didn't like the characters nor the general plot. Don't get me wrong, I like a good sex scene just as much as the other girl, but I don't want a pathetic quickie, I'm reading an "escape" novel to do just that, not to be reminded of the crappy sex I've had. Oh well, I liked Coulter enough to read three of her books, but not enough to read any more, I would reccomend Theresa Meideros or Marylyle Rogers.

I have been a big fan of Ms Coulter for 5 years. Warrior Song was most recent book of Ms Coulter I read. She really did it again. I liked it very much. Today I came here to buy other books in Song Series. Ms Coulter is gifted in storytelling. I love the way she writes intimate scenes explicitly. Jerval and Chandra were truely hero and heroine. There were many excitements from time to time in the story. In addition to pleasure, reading Warrior Song (and other historical romance novels by Ms Coulter) gave me insight of history because her creation of historical novels usually based on real events of the past.

I never heard of this title before though I purchased this book only because I saw 'Catherine Coulter' on its cover. I just finished reading Warrior's Song and I loved it so much that I didn't want it to end. Chandra and Jerval were both full of pride and Chandra didn't seem to present any womanhood she always had intent to fight like a warrior but as the story proceeded Jerval little by little learned to accept her the way she was while Chandra was gradually changing. There were some twist and turns just like Graelam de Morton who had appeared in the first chapter as a villain and a raper eventually became their friend at the end of the story. I highly recommend that you purchase Warrior's Song and I'm sure you will enjoy the story as much as I did.

A biography of Catherine the Great that looks suspiciously optimistic. We glanced at it, and found juicier stuff in other works, notably Troyat's Catherine the Great. [HistoryHouse.com]

Her contemporaries -- men of the caliber of Volaire and Diderot among them -- called her the Star of the North, Minerva, "admirable autocrat, conqueror, peacemaker, and legislator"; she was the "Mother Tsarina" of all the Russias, mother of her country, mother of her people, Catherine the Wise; she was the friend of the Enlightenment or, more modestly, an "enlightened despot". She was also the Messalina of the North, the gross et vieille Cateau of the revolutionary pamphleteers. To history she will always be Catherine The Great, one of the three of four women who have ruled in their own right, for any length of time, over a great nation and who have left behind them a glorious memory of their reign.

She was more than simply a great ruler, and more than a remarkable woman: already she belongs among the half-legendary figures whose lives have been popularized and vulgarized in films, plays, and novels with little regard for that they were really like.

Catherine has had no lack of chroniclers, and all of them, objective and impartial scholars, dedicated admirers and passionate detractors alike, have found abundant material in the records left by her contemporaries and by Catherine herself. Few historical characters have, in the course of their lives, been so thoroughly observed, judged, and described by their contemporaries, and there are fewer still who have left so much written testimony about themselves.

Catherine the Great, written by Katherine Scherman, is a very interesting book about the life of Catherine and the accomplishments she had with the people of Russia and the country's affairs. I like this book because it goes into great detail about the historical events that happened during Catherine's rule and the ways she helped the Russian people. It also goes into the personal life of Catherine, such as her love life and her family life. After I read this book, I was impressed with Catherine because she did so much with her country and did it with a great attitude all during her rule. I would recommend this book to whomever likes learning about history and the people who made history.

This book appears to contain a selection of recipes from an earlier book on Eastern European cooking by the same contributors.

It contains recipes for the better known dishes of the region with some introductory prose. An attractive gift as an introduction to the Polish/Russian kitchen but less useful as a reference work for the serious slavophile cook.

I have never prepared any of the recipes and cannot, therefore, comment on their workability.

I bought this book to find out what was the American English for words I use everyday here in the UK. The book, written by an American gives a completely distorted and inaccurate view of life in Britain today. If you as an American used many of the phrases, supposedly said by us Brits, you would be stared at in amazement. Someone has either deliberately fed the author mis-information or she has contacts living in a timewarp. We do not call a railroad a "grid iron "(sic) or a "teakettle"(sic) funnily eniough we call it a "railway". Shopping centres are normally called just that, not "shopping parades". Most places accept credit cards as payment. Petrol is sold in litres. We do not say "in weal and woe" (sic) just like you we say through thick and thin. And sorry "afternoon tea" is merely for the tourists or outdated upper classes. If you are British and like a good laugh buy this book, all my friends want a copy it is so entertaining "Listen to this " they say "apparently we call wellington boots or wellies "india rubber boots"!" or "hey, did you know we say "bad cess to them" and mean bad luck to them" and everyone laughs and says "never heard that before". Seriously, if you want to come to Britain do not read this book first - it will put you off, which is a pity because the people here will make you welcome. I say this especially for those Americans who came here during the war - sorry we have moved on a bit since then, although if you read this book you won't think so.

Housey Housey! Here it is, a phrasebook to get you through the UK. Find out what are snorkers, stalls, and swedes mean on the other side of the Alantic - some you eat, some you sit on. Also includes helpful hints for driving: "I must stay on the left side of the road. " Thundering Good! Cheery-

My rating of this book as one of "the worst" does not refer to its academic prowess. The footnotes are all there, and the style is passionate and intense, typical of most anti-pornographers' heady intellectual indictments of one genre of media for all our gender woes. It is the worst, to me, because it is the ultimate gathering of the forces of illogic which drive the anti-pornography forces. The most extreme example of how far these people will go to attempt to prove their points comes in Itzin's own contribution, in which she relates the story of a South-African farm worker who was murdered for the amusement of the farm owner's dinner guests. Because pictures of the gruesome undertaking were shot and passed around, Itzin compares these pictures to pornography such as centerfolds. Surely this would enrage the family of the murdered man to hear his death trivialized in this way. Itzin goes on to claim that the "free speech" defenses of pornography imply that such photos (of Kasire's death and of naked women, who supposedly could not willingly choose to pose so graphically) are not only comparable, but that the distribution of both are similar crimes. Never mind that Marcia Pally has pointed out that if photos and descriptions of a rape are destroyed, the rape remains while the evidence does not. Never mind that the horrific descriptions of graphic pornography included in this book would be illegal themselves under such laws as the Proposed Minneapolis Pornography Ordinance, written by MacKinnon, who seems to be Itzin's mentor and contributed to this collection of essays. Never mind that Nadine Strossen has pointed out that women do not experience any particular freedom from rape or domination in cultures in which the production of pornography is a punishable offense. Never mind logic when we can tell by looking at pornography that it's nasty. Why not stigmatize women even more by pointing out that they're too helpless and deluded to make their own choices about whether to read or participate in pornography--good God, do these creatures even have enough sense to VOTE? I think that at least some of these anti-pornography crusaders are more obsessed with porn than any of the porn "addicts" they describe. True feminists would be out helping sex workers to get better working conditions rather than marginalizing them in the way to an even greater extent. This anti-pornography view is not "radical;" it conforms to the traditional perception of women as requiring virtue in order to lead meaningful lives. It seems to me that they ought to be attacking the concept of female virtue (oh, fate worse than death!) rather than the existence of male sexuality!

Whether women willingly participate in pornography or not, itis still trash. This book simply show the effects of porno on malebehavior. Is a South African female being murdered for pleasure the same as Pamela Anderson Lee posing nude for playboy, no, of course not. BUT the fact that women like Lee pose nude to gratify their own greed for money, and men's selfish lusts creates an environment where women can be objectified to the point where a female servant can be murdered for pleasure. This book very nicely presents the research that suggests that pornography has a profound effect on how women are viewed and treated, and that there is a connection between women who willingly participate and those that do not. For example perverts that are steeped in the garbage of pornography use women like Pamela Anderson Lee and other porn stars as an excuse for victimizing women, they say, "well if Lee likes it then this girl must". The above reviewer in New York takes a very liberal view towards porno. The book was well written and well researched. Did some of the connections seem strained (i.e. those that are willing participants and those that aren't? Maybe to the liberal mind who is afraid of offending anyone by taking a stand on a moral issue. Should feminists marginalize those in the porn industry? No, they should speak for all women and should work for the betterment of all women. Yet, the research clearly shows that women are harmed by pornography as well as men, that is why feminists fight so hard against the porn industry. This book is a VERY zealous effort in that direction.

The illustrations are the best part of this book. Beautifully detailed, in rich colors, they do a better job of telling the story than the text itself. The text is disjointed at times, and when I have read this book aloud to children they often get confused with the story.

My wife and purchased this book as a guide to our March, 2000 trip to England. Many of the listings are out of date due to the rapid changes in restaurant and accomodations businesses. (The book was published in 1995 so the information is about 6 years old.)

The listings in the book are almost exclusively vegetarian restaurants so if you have a hankering for something that had a face (as my son's vegan ex-girlfriend put it) you'd do better to call ahead and reserve a table "as far from the smoking area as possible"

Thankfully many Londoners and the folks we met on our tours of the countryside have cut back on smoking. There are places where you can expect to get a blast of the nasty (Underground exits, storefronts, and in milling crowds at rush hour). Some of the places really are disappointing (Vendors at the National Home and Garden Show smoked on the arena floor.) The book is silent on these important points.

Happily all of the larger hotels I contacted had nonsmoking accomodations. Their numbers can be secured from a website such as www.lastminute.com or other broker.

While our trips to the countryside were too few to give a realistic trial of the merits of the book it did seem the author's information might be more accurate once well outside London because things don't change as fast in these areas.

In sum, significant decreases in the practice of smoking in public and enclosed places have rendered this 1995 guide well out of date.