In _Portfolio of a Dragon: Dunkelzahn's Secrets_, the great dragon Dunkelzahn was assassinated on the night of his inauguration as president of the UCAS. The murder shaped much of later Shadowrun history - in large part due to the Big D's will, the full text of which can be found in _Portfolio of a Dragon_.

As with the other really great Shadowrun sourcebooks, this volume is organized as an electronic document from the fictional Shadowrun world, as posted at that spiritual home of shadowrunners everywhere: Shadowland. Captain Chaos (sysadmin extraordinaire) begins by pointing out the massive turmoil caused in the underworld by the sudden appearance of so much valuable stuff (and subsequent legal and illegal redistribution of wealth) - art forgery, for instance, got a big boost thanks to all the treasures turned loose by the Big D's will. Captain Chaos begins with the newly-murdered Mafia capo of Seattle and ensuing power struggles within the Finnegan Family of La Cosa Nostra. Of course, the Mafia in Shadowrun Seattle has to compete with the Yakuza, the Seoulpa Rings, and the Triads...

The subsequent Shadowland chat takes the form of articles interspersed with commentary, primarily between X-Star (an ex-Lone Star employee from their orgcrime division) and the Chromed Accountant, between them making the point that in terms of money, most crime is organized crime. (A druggie might get a few bucks in a holdup, while a Seoulpa Ring decker could use the same store's computer system to divert a few million nuyen; the organization gets more bang for its buck.) And, of course, the Chromed Accountant helps explain financial aspects such as fencing and money laundering. (Most if not all fences will be affiliated with an organization, since they need information networks to find buyers and sellers; the same for fixers.)

Each major organized crime entity receives its own analysis: the Mafia, the Yakuza, the Triads, the Seoulpa Rings, including organization charts, where each is dominant, and how their areas of influence have changed over time. The Seoulpa Rings are solely a Shadowrun phenomenon. (In the game universe, the Yakuza put aside some anti-Korean attitudes for the sake of expanding its territory and opportunities, and absorbed various Korean organized crime entities. In Seattle in the mid-21st century, however, one bigoted Yakuza chief so mishandled the various Korean leaders within his organization that eventually they were purged from the Yakuza for "disloyalty". The survivors split into lots of tiny groups with a classic cellular organization and went underground, and thus the Seoulpa Rings were born.)

After the 4 major organized crime groups, there are lots of little pieces about various gangs, concluding with a section about various under*ground* - rather than under*world* organizations - policlubs, eco-terrorists, and rebel groups. (The final section advises the GM on how to run all of the above in a campaign.)

Lots of ideas for GMs here, but no pre-packaged adventure scenarios. However, the commentary from Shadowland users scattered through the formal articles often gives examples of "yeah, that kind of thing happened to me" - e.g., somebody's friend (now deceased) ripped off the Yakuza and didn't bother to check who his fence was affiliated with, somebody else did freelance work for the Yakuza in exchange for a first-class cyberdeck (but are they *really* free of the obligation?). In one such story, the Yakuza began shaking down a small company, but when it was bought out by a bigger, tougher company, the bigger company hired shadowrunners to teach the offending crime group an object lesson, which appears to have worked - for now.

Richard Henry Dana suffered from measles while a student at Harvard in 1834. Rather than suffer a slow recovery from weakened eyesight, he shipped out as a common sailor, rather than as a passenger, on a long sea voyage. After becoming a lawyer, he published his recollection of his voyage in 1840; it was an immediate success. He became an active member of the Free Soil Party, and represented fugitive slaves. This first and greatest book shows his sympathy for the suffering and the oppressed, and his courage, unselfishness, and fair-mindedness that characterized his life. This important book describes California before statehood and the gold rush, and life in those times. RHD hoped this book would promote religion and moral improvement for seamen, and diminish their hardships.

Chapter IV tells of being chased by a black hulled ship that flew no colors. They were able to outrun this ship, then lost it in the dark. Chapter V tells of the bad weather while rounding Cape Horn. They passed a whaler from Poughkeepsie NY. Chapter XIII gives his impressions of the Californians. RHD knew that local officials were appointed from the capital, but didn't ask if they controlled the local economy as a colony: produce raw material, buy finished goods. Chapter XVII tells how their captain, known for his flogging, could not hire any new seamen. Chapter XVIII tells of Easter celebration in California. The crews of Catholic vessels get about three more weeks of vacation in a year, and "Yankees don't keep Christmas". Chapter XXI tells more about California politics. Since the independence of Mexico the missions and their lands became the prey of administradores, and became diminished and decayed. RHD describes the lack of common law, and the private morality. It was a rich country waiting to be exploited.

Chapter XXIII tells of the advantages of a bigger ship over a smaller ship: more hands make lighter work. But a smaller lighter ship can catch a slight breeze that becalms a bigger ship. Chapter XXV tells how the heavy import taxes of Mexico are handled. A vessel puts in to declare a moderate cargo, then sells a large part. It then sails to another port; but on the way it gets other goods to replenish its cargo. RHD describes his visit to a whaleship, whose crew resembled fishermen and farmers. [Whalers got a share of the profits, not a wage.] The chapter ends with a description of a 3-day gale. Chapter XXIX tells of preparations to sail home: ballast is dumped, the ship sealed and fumigated to kill vermin. Then the hides are loaded, then steeved to pack in more. This hard work was fueled by a constant diet of fresh beef. Chapter XXX tells of the return trip by a shorthanded and inexperienced crew; they would round Cape Horn in the dead of winter, the worst possible time. Chapter XXXI tells of the sailor's need for rum or hot coffee in wintertime; and what it is like to have a tooth-ache at sea. Chapter XXXII describes the terrible times in the iceberg fields. Chapter XXXV tells of the haste to get home by keeping sails aloft. Scurvy had broken out on the ship due to no fresh provisions. They met a brig and got potatoes and onions for a cure.

The Concluding Chapter tells that drudgery and hardship is a sailor's life, not romantic fantasies. The captain must control everything, and be responsible for everything (mistreatment of seamen). Passengers on board (independent witnesses) result in better treatment of seamen. The lives of merchant seamen are shortened by a lack of sleep. RHD would not abolish flogging: most seamen are foreigners, the cast-offs of war vessels, and unknown to the captains. Force is needed to control them. Gradual improvement will correct this, he claims. RHD strongly objects to the practice of granting leniency to a convicted captain or officer because of previous good character, or a family to support. First, they don't know what it was like there, and this excuse is never granted to seamen! It is just a reward for class differences. Moral improvement is the seamen's best friend. RHD visited California 24 years later and writes about this in the last chapter.

After finishing this book, I am amazed that this book is not more prominent in famous literature. Much of US and Sailing history can be learned through this true firsthand account of a Harvard student gone temporary salty dog. I am not from California or even the west coast but still found the stories contained throughout the book fascinating. Dana did an excellent job of describing the life at sea in the early 1800's without a moment of boring reading. I would recommend (and have been recommending) this book to anyone and everyone.

I really enjoyed his perspective on this voyage - the things he notices and comments upon to us, his readers. He offers us a marvelous view of a land that no longer exists. An intimate view of a sailor's life in its exciting - and mundane - details. I read it as an adult and/but I think this is the book they should give kids to read in high school literature classes. A book that shows life for the adventure that it can be. Not always easy, of course, but always an adventure. I recommend that you relax with it, take you time, go there. You can trust Richard Henry Dana. He tells a good story.

Like most of the other reviewers, I have to say that I am enjoying this little book. It stays true to its title, and focuses on the script, both printed and written. I also have the Awde book, which gives more complete stroke direction, but it's short on actual handwriting. Mace's book is full of examples of real handwriting, which I think is great, especially for those trying to learn without a teacher.

I think it's a great idea to introduce rudiments of grammar, so that you're not just stuck on the alphabet all the time. The grammar also helps shed light on the script and pronunciation (e.g., the one-letter prepositions that are tacked onto the start of the words they govern).

My only disappointment with the book is that it's full of words like engineer, ministry, passport, permit, representative - not the kind of words typically associated with a learner's book. What about 'table', 'door', 'hand'? Still, I understand that his target audience is people who find themselves in an Arab country, and need to read road signs, newspaper headlines, maybe fill out paperwork. They're likely to be engineers, I guess, so it makes sense. But for those of us who are just curious, it makes it a little more boring.

Overall, I've found it useful and engaging.

This book's a good introduction to the Arabic script, and is easy for those unfamiliar with the language or alphabet to use to get to grips with it.

This book is probably the place to start learning Arabic, not just the script but the language itself, especially for those who give themselves the task of learning the literary language and not one of its spoken forms. I came to this book after first having tried Smart's "Teach Yourself Arabic" (in the same series as this one), which also has the aim of teaching the literary language. The problem is, Smart doesn't spend any time on how to write the letters of Arabic, yet the very first exercise in the Smart book is a script recognition exercise--much harder than it sounds. The Mace book teaches you the script step by step in its first six units and, in the following nine units, gives you a basic grammar, a listing of Arabic-speaking countries in Arabic, and a final test where you get to show your stuff "under field conditions." Arabic is a fascinating language and doesn't have to be completely intimidating. Do yourself a favor; get Mace's charming book first, and then "get Smart."

An interesting book, but there are definitely better ones to learn how age of the sail ships were manoeuvered.

To get a vivid account of how all these tasks were done during a round-cape-Horn cruise, you'd better read "Two years before the mast" of the same author.

It's Richard Henry Dana, Jr