I always knew that there were other monarchies in the world besides the ones in Europe. The author goes in depth examining the systems of chiefs of the various islands and then the Royal Family of Hawaii. This is an important book for extra knowledge to be gained about the various systems of monarchy.

Although born in England, I knew very little about Rudyard Kipling. This book covers Kipling's life from childhood thru death and shows how his character influenced his only son into joining the Irish Guards at the beginning of the Great War. His son was killed on his first day in combat and his body never recovered. Now, 77 years later, they think they have found him - or have they ? All the evidence is presented for the reader to decide. A good read.

Get this if you already live in NYC or intend to visit, you will not be disappointed. I loved the detailed info on the architecture of the Woolworth building and the history behind the folks in buried in Trinity Cemetary. I enjoyed the facts of who used to live in what buildings in the Village. When covering the 5-Points Section, what is now the Federal &State Courts area & Chinatown, was absolutlely fun trying to hunt down these old sites still visible for myself. All the info on the history of some of the street names was curious such as Mott, Pell, Bayard & Baxter streets were named after the butchers in the area when that area was a stinking mess. The lore surrounding Wahington Square Park, especially the "Hanging Tree" was fascinating. I'm still trying to figure out which tree it is! All the semi-hidden small cemetaries mentioned in Manhattan is worth a look; knowing that these still exist especially when the real estate here is so astronimical in price. I hope people make good use of this guide when showing off the City to visitors & I'm sure tourists will get a kick out of an insiders tour of NYC.

As the second in a line of four regents of the South India derived Nayakkar dynasty that succeeded the last of the ethnically Sinhalese kings in 1739, Kirti Sri (1747-1781)'s linguistic heritage was Tamil and his given religious tradition was Hindu Saivism. The last of the ethnically Sinhalese rulers of the Kandyan kingdom Narendra Sinha (1707-1739) had died without a legitimate heir to the throne. His chief queen was a princess from Madurai , a practice that had been inaugurated during the 11th through 13th centuries in the Polonnaruwa period. The first of the Nayakkar kings, crowned Sri Vijaya Rajasinha in 1739 was the brother in law of Narendrasinha. Kirti Sri, the object of this book, was the brother of Sri Vijaya Rajasingha's chief queen, also a Madurai princess. He was only 16 when he was selected and for 4 years the affairs of the kingdom were handled by his regent father. Holt's stated aim in writing this book is to offer an 'interdisciplinary examination of what is meant for various people, lay and monastic, to be Buddhists during the advent of European colonialism and before what has become known as a modern Buddhist religious perspective, qualified by some as 'protestant Buddhism'. To say things simply Holt asks the following question: what was it to be a Buddhist before Olcott and Dharmapala? This slim book of 147 pages is neatly organised into 5 tightly written chapters. Chapter 1 provides the necessary background for a reader unfamiliar with Sri Lankan history and goes on to explain why KS was so concerned about articulating his religious identity as a Buddhist Chapters 2 to 4 which form the heart of the book explain how KS articulated his understanding of Buddhist religious thought and identity through the expression of his religious works especially the temple wall paintings that have become such a remarkable icon and legacy of his reign. In Chapter 3.entitled A Visual Liturgy. Holt argues that KS's efforts directed at the performance of rituals gave form or rather reformed the public articulation of Buddhism. Through an identification and analysis of the religious meanings symbolised in the pictorial art that KS had painted by his highly skilled crafstmen on the walls of many temples he restored, Holt aims at ferreting out the principles and substances of this classic sinhala weltanschauung or world view. For this he looks in detail at temple wall paintings and this is in my view the most interesting section of the book Chapter 4 deals with one other element of the liturgy which is the jataka paintings. The Jatakas relate the anterior life of the Buddha as a Boddhisatta before his final birth as Gotama Siddharta. This chapter that relates what Holt considers were the 4 most important jataka stories is helpful to a reader who wishes to interpret the murals by himself. Chapter 5 is concerned with the necessity for students of religion to focus on materials other than literary texts. On Chapter 6 that attempts to relate KS predicament in the 18thc to the current ethnic conflict I shall not comment except to say that it adds little to the book.

This book is informative, elegantly written and precise and fulfills its aim of capturing in a nutshell the changes that too place in Buddhism, art and politics in the late medieval period and defining what consitutues a Kandyan style of painting. It is far less successful in its attempt at recreating a worldview. KS's world view is reconstructed from an analysis of what he did and proclaimed towards the revival of classical Buddhism. But I feel Holt misses an entire dimension of KS's character..... what I would call the hybrid nature of his cultural being. Indeed how did he live this condition of being born a Nayakkar and having to adopt the customs of the Kandyans for his own survival. The complex personality of the king who was versed enough in the Sinhala language to compose love songs in Sinhala but who until a rebellion was hatched against him continued the practice of annointing himself with ash does not come out in this book. We know for instance that after the rebellion - KNO Dharmadas mentions this point- not only did he give up the practice of annointing ash but he went so far as to ban the use of ash in the preparation of ola leaf manuscripts. Such clues exist and if one were to follow them a more complete and complex personnality would emerge. Even less convincing is Holt's analysis of the worldview of the common people whom he promises in his introduction to draw into the picture. The kings worldview and the people's appear to be interchangeable. Surely the Kings perception was not the same as that of the common man who visited the temples refurbished by the King. This book does not really investigate ways of thinking in 18th c. Sri Lanka. What I feel as a student of history is that Holt has overlooked the fact that the religious worldview of the common people cannot be looked at without relating it to the surrounding world of significance. But these failings apart, for a lay reader, this book has the merit of presenting very briefly many arguments and weaving all the important strands of scholarship on the late Medieval period into a comprehensive and coherent whole. For a more specialised readership, the unanswered questions and the loose ends in this book may open up new avenues of research and interest.

The book portrays a little focused on time & place: the frontier in the early 1800s (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois). The author depicts William Henry Harrison as a manipulative, greedy & sometimes untruthful individual. Most people are aware of the native American treaties that the government negotiated & broke with the Plains Indians later in the century; the book details the interactions between the government & Indians in an earlier time period. The author reveals the impact of Tecumseh on Canadian history & portrays him as a complex & charismatic individual.

As a history student whose interests are in the Colonial period to the Civil War I was intrigued with this book on Tecumseh. It was well written and very informative of the Shawnee Chief's career. Not only was this a wonderful resource guide but most importantly it was an easy read, which is essential for college students. True, Tecumseh spread a lot of blood on the plains of Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky but his teachings along with his brother Tenskawatawa are the important keys to understanding the will of Tecumseh.

John Sugden's "Tecumseh" is more than a well researched biography of the great Indian chief; it is also a moving story of the clash of cultures in the Old Northwest in the late 18th and early 19th century. At no time are the Indians portrayed as the "gentle children of nature" oppressed by the wicked white man...a portrayal that has become all too common in our era where history is too often written from the viewpoint of the underclass. Instead, the Indians are portrayed as human beings ( at times noble and at times savage ) struggling to survive the whirlwind of the white world that was destroying their way of life.

Tecumseh's life and character are well documented and his dream of an Indian confederacy, united to resist the American seizure of Indian land, is the centerpiece of the book. Other Indian leaders, as well as Tecumseh's brother The Prophet, figure in the narative, as do the different approaches the various tribes took in dealing with the Big Knives. An understanding of Tecumseh's life is not the only reward derived from a reading of this book. One also comes away with a much deeper understanding of the divisions within the Indian world and the various problems they faced within a way of life on the road to extinction. At the end, one senses the true depth of the tragedy, and gains an admiration for a man of great character and nobility, who gave of all his energy, in an attempt to save his people and their way of life.

This "Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology" has an admirable practical approach. It depicted the characteristics of bacterial groups in a straightforward manner. Using a wide focus, it featured vivid illustrations, which will enable you to reason like a professional. The manual provided a good number of easy-to-master materials.
However, I felt that this 9th Edition, which first appeared in 1994, is just too old. The authors should give us a more recent update. Also, the high retail price of this book ensured that many people would go for a better alternative. There are lots of them out there! The choice is yours.

The book is big and heavy and is filled with useful information for the world of microorganisms. All microbiology majors must have this book in their libraries. This book helps you identify, compare, and understand microorganisms better. Every organism is descibed in detail: gram-stain reactions, fermentation reaction, morphology, etc.

Mapping America's Past is an attempt at using maps to portray American social, economic, military, and political development. The maps that are included are excellent, but what was included is somewhat puzzling. The general analysis of wars, expansion, and elections are useful, but maps of political party development in the Cleveland area or prostitution in New York City are not entirely relevant to the general American history student. Similarly, many of the accompanying texts offer little detailed insight into the topics the maps cover.

This book should be considered a general resource, but for an in-depth historical atlas, the reader must look elsewhere.

A highly satisfying review of historical topics.I'm often able to read only in 20-minute bites; every spread of this book is a self-contained history lesson, accessible in 20 minutes but worth revisiting many times. Most important topics and events of American history are covered well, and the rendering of complex information (e.g. the six gauges of railroad in 1850 and how this incompatablity affected commerce, population and political power) is truly inspired. This is a superb gift for an American history buff.

Ok, where do I start. The adventure was the only pleasing thing I truly found in this book. The proffusion of foul language turned me off from the start and the amount of un-called for sexual content has no place in the book.

Playboy meets the X-Files, the only thing that kept me reading is the fact that I never put a book down, no matter how bad, but once I finished this one, I said to myself, What?

The main character's lycanthropy in the end has nothing to do with the story and I can understand the detail needed in describing these rituals, but in the end, none of it was truly needed to further character development or plot. I felt ashamed that I had actually made myself read this book and sold it to the half price book store soon after.

It is certainly not without it's good points, though those are far and few. Shapeshifters have always been a favorite of mine and the few scenes where she does actual shift into her alternate form were slightly satisfying, though many were rushed and provided no detail.

Overall, if you're offended by foul language accompianied by vivid sexual acts, I highly dissuade you from reading this one. In fact, I would tell anyone that asked me, 'It's not worth it.' I've read good books and I've read bad book and this one certainly fits into the latter category. The plot is loosely strung, existing only to provide the sex scenes this author so obviously adores and halfway through, you forget what the book is about anyway.

That is all I have to say.

Not so much a book about lycanthropy as Luciferianism, the bonds of friendship, and family history. Ms Klausner's review below gives all you need to know about the plot. As for my opinion, I think what impressed me most is the way the book remained entirely credible all the way through. Too many modern day horror/fantasy stories fall into the trap of an over-the-top, unbelievable climax (if not before). This one doesn't; everything works. And it has a *perfect* ending.

This is excellent horror fantasy novel about a young woman who is a victim of a family curse to turn into a werewolf. She is the only one that can save her friends and the man she loves from cabal of satanists bend on destroying them all! This novel boasts scenes of eroticism and black magic, gruesome violence and a truly wicked final twist.

I was inspired by the compilation of bird dog stories found within this book. If you enjoy the excitement, fear, despair, and elation associated with the training, ownership and running of all breeds of bird dogs, you will enjoy this book. The authors help you relive the moments you have endured with your own dogs in addition to helping you imagine the hunts you have yet to experience. This is a definite must read for bird dog enthusiasts.

I borrowed this book from a friend and had a tough time putting it down. Great stories from writers who truly love their dogs. A few of the essays are sad, but all of them allow us to share a part of a fellow dog lovers life with his best friend. Definitely a must read.