Whilst their work is based on in-depth surveys and an extensive analysis, they convey the success factors to practitioners in an easy-to-read and understandable format. "Bottom-line" information is found here.

My MBA students (New York) are intolerant of all theory and no practical application - they love this book!

Reference books generally have a reputation of being full of facts, yet dry in prose. While a bio-bibliography may not be traditionally called "entertainment," this ambitious effort successfully breaches the limitations of such reference books. It is a thought-provoking history of the great Béla Lugosi (1882 - 1956). His career was as varied and tragic, both publicly and privately, as John Barrymore's. His legend remains secure, thanks to "Dracula" (Universal, 1931). The life surrounding the legend has been colorfully illuminated thanks to Gary Don Rhodes. His phenomenal research charts Lugosi's long voyage of fame and infamy, revealing details never before printed. His documentation is truly an achievement and a labor of blood, sweat and love.

Lugosi was a lover of style, sports, good living and women. Rhodes provides exhaustive examples of his exploits, both publicized and private. The wealth of photos alone display Lugosi out of his cape as a sociable creature, playful, enthusiastic, an avid reader and a cigar aficionado. A ladies' man, he was married five times. All five marriages are covered in detail - after all, there is curiosity about the love life of a vampire! There is documentation of his stage, screen and even court appearances; critical analysis of his career; and quotes and articles about or by Lugosi. The light side and the dark side are equally exposed. He was a man of strengths and weaknesses - perhaps the most notable and depressing of the latter was his long-term drug addiction. All of these elements are integrated to present a fascinating portrait of a complex artist. Those who are obsessed by the great Hungarian actor will find a sumptuous feast to satisfy their hunger. Even the mildly intrigued will be drawn into this unique individual's world. Lugosi never lost his dignity nor his offbeat sense of humor. His proud Magyar heart kept his spirit intact despite efforts to break it. Rhodes' book unflinchingly sees all and tells all - with intelligence, compassion and devotion.
- Copyright, 1997, Diane MacIntyre, "The Silents Majority" (http://www.mdle.com/ClassicFilms/)

Dunn offers a detailed contrast between the lives of the planter elite and the enslaved majority. This is a landmark work in the history of plantation agriculture in the West Indies.

The work should also interest readers of Southern history. Dunn compares the rise of a cavalier elite in Barbados to the same development in Virginia. Planters from the West Indies, especially Barbados, dominated the early years of the colony of (South) Carolina.

Other works on this period of West Indian history are Richard Sheridan's Sugar and Slavery and Gary Puckrein's Little England. Works by Hilary Beckles examine the lives of women and Blacks in this period of West Indian history.

For those who like the relative safety of their reading chair, we get a step-by-step process of the so-called "hit men" of the mob. They are so-called because most members who have reached any decent level of leadership have all done at least one hit, so the true full-time professional is not that common. For this profession though, we do get an evolution of the man, and his general techniques.

The stories here are excerpts from other works, so if your a mob junkie, you might have read a lot of it already. I previously had read the Sammy Gravano book that contributed this excerpt. You not only get a sample of the self-admitted bad man, but also a taste of what I didn't like in the full-length book, which was a constant jabbering of what a decent, honorable guy Sammy really is. This book, was, of course, before the guy got busted out West for running meth labs while in witness protection.

My favorite of the "true life" stories was the one that inspired the movie "Donnie Brasco". Here we have the story of how a guy had to sacrifice a lot of family time over a period of years to do his undercover work, even once having to spend Christmas with mobsters when he promised his own family some quality Holiday time. The book I'm reviewing is good because now I want to read the whole "Brasco" saga.

In the history part, we do get a brief glimpse of how this whole type of society came about. True, the people of Italy were extremely oppressed at the time of it's formation, but it also tells how the local culture first establishes male "honor", then expects him to prove it via competition, and if you won by using your own rules, that made you that much more of a worthy opponent. To his credit, the editor of this compilation does not glorify this behavior, and makes it clear to the audience that any honorable "codes" only last as long as is convenient for anyone involved.

A sign of this book's huge success is that it truly leaves you wanting more. You'll be so fascinated that you'll DEFINITELY want to go to each of the primary sources and read them too. It's a fast, fascinating read: chapters comprised of well-edited excerpts from books, magazine articles and two works of fiction.

I was especially fascinated (and motivated) by the excerpt from the fictional (I think) Godfather. I read the book when I came out, saw the flicks a zillion times but realized in reading this excerpt how great the original book was and how it differs from the movie (the Michael character actually seems stronger in the original story). I'll be re-reading that book soon.

Every chapter is a gem and there are too many to go into here. My favorites included Peter Maas' excerpt from Underboss, the story of Sammy the Bull Gravano; an excerpt from mob hitman "Joey's" book Killer (the code of honor, precisely how he makes a hit with such efficiency and low risk); part of Nicholas Pileggi's Casino, describing how a horrified businessman one day found himself cemented to mob-connected business partners; Defending the Mafia, the eye-opening and ultimately sad story of mob lawyer Gerald Shargel's use of his considerable talent to keep mafiosos out of jail; part of Boss of Bosses, the bittersweet saga of aging Don Paul Castellano, eventually murdered by ambitious John Gotti's skilled associates; and the saddest and most poignent piece of all, Jeffrey Goldberg's The Don Is Done, about the lives of children of bigwig mafiosos.

This book MOVES. And it'll send you scrambling to read more. A MUST to read or to gift.