I knew the author personally, but am estranged from him. I think he could have done so much more, but this is perhaps his best work... Still this book is an interesting curiosity. I'd say it's more for the layman than the hardcore scientist, and some of the book takes more of the form of travel writing, and unfortunately tries to generate excitement where it needn't be... The style isn't great, but the subject matter is, and one's glad Davies did write this book... I haven't come across many others like it.
It concerns mainly one village, where some of the population were claimed to be 140, even 160 years old (in the 1970s). Davies claims these ages are verifiable by the baptismal records... As for that I leave you to decide for yourself... while not as accurate as census records, they do provide some backing. Davies also laments the passing of the old ways, and mentions that he considers that this may reduce the lifespans of their descendants... through pollution, a change in diet etc. Interestingly Davies mentions three factors that seem to repeat themselves in such places - high altitude, clean air and strangely enough the presence of the mineral Selenium in the soil...

WHETHER THIS IS, AS IT CLAIMS TO BE, THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE LEGENDARY FRONTIERSMAN OR NOT (IT INCLUDES ENTRIES UP TO THE DAY BEFORE THE ALAMO FALLS!), IT IS AN ENTERTAINING NARRATIVE IN SIMPLE LANGUAGE TOLD AS THOUGH FROM FIRST HAND KNOWLEDGE. CERTAINLY A GREAT AMOUNT OF RESEARCH WENT INTO THE BOOK, AND IT MAY VERY WELL BE THE AUTHENTIC ITEM WITH A "GHOST" (NO PUN INTENDED) WRITER SUPPLYING THE FINAL DETAILS. WELL WORTH THE TIME FOR ANYONE WHOSE INTEREST TRAVELS ALONG THESE LINES, BUT BE WARNED, THERE ARE SOME VIOLENT AND RACIAL DESCRIPTIONS THAT MAY OFFEND THE SENSETIVE. OTHER THAN THAT, IT'S A LOT OF FUN.

Required reading for all sea-lovers
What a great book! I wish I'd read it before I started reading any naval fiction (or fact, for that matter).
Not as detailed as Dr.Roger's 'Wooden World' but much more readable, with lots of snippets of info and descriptions of procedures that are taken for granted in most books - like 'what is a messenger and how is it used?' - most buffs have a vague idea, but not in the detail that is shown here.
The text is lively, flows logically from one subject to an allied one, keeping one interested as one is taken through the construction, manning and working of the ship. Then we are treated to remarkably un-jingoistic descriptions of the famous battles of the Napoleonic era, with blow-by-blow diagrams showing the positions of the opposing fleets throughout the action.
My only complaint is that not quite enough space is given to shipboard life, and a little too much praise is heaped on Nelson (after all, that's what Nelson expects....) but not a mention of Cochrane, whose tactics, gung-ho zeal and inventiveness were the epitome of what a fighting captain should be (at least, in the eyes of the public - and Patrick O'Brien).
However, a damned good show

Patterns in the Sand is a racy introduction to a wide cross section of the ideas which comprise "Complexity Theory". Barely a stone in this ecclectic intellectual landscape is left unturned with examples drawn from mathematics, computation, genetics, ecology, and social dynamics to focus the reader on the relevance of systems approaches of understanding complex behaviour, and how even very simple everyday phenomena are rich with complex detail.

The book is generally well written, with only the occaisional paragraph leaving the reader begging for relevance; though the pace of ideas is frenetic, sometimes moving through an entire chapter without two paragraphs on the same topic. The style is readily accessible but sufferes somewhat through lack of conclusive discussion. One gets the impression that the impact of the book could be improved by a more detailed development.

Still, there is a wealth of material here, and it serves as an excellent introduction to the trandisciplinary nature of complexity theory and it's applications. I read the book in conjunction with a number of other, less popularly oriented works and found this combination brought the ideas in "Patterns..." to the fore. The strength of the book I felt was in sketching the relationships between a large number of ideas rather than in exploring any of the ideas per se.

If you are looking for a mathematical treatment, or an in-depth discussion on the foundations of complexity, I'd recommend you shop elsewhere. But if you are looking for an intellectual brainstorm to cross-fertilise your own ideas on complexity, this may be the book for you.

Out of 112 pages, only five deal specifically with what to say in order to talk your way out of a ticket, and the rest of the book deals with general commen sense explanations of why officers are people too, all the instances where you CAN'T talk your way out of a ticket, and very brief explanations of some courtroom defenses. While the author has good intentions and provides some basic information, this book will NOT show you how to talk your way out of a traffic ticket unless you just have dumb luck. Check out the Internet for better "scripts" and ideas. ...

I don't know how to write a book review, but I do know that this book has been worth every penny to me and my husband. We have each avoided getting a ticket on two separate occasions. It has also really opened our eyes about the sensitive issue of drunk driving and how a policeman feels about it and what he will be looking for when he stops a car and smells booze on your breath. Whether you are a new driver or have been driving for 30 or more years, please read this book!

I just became aware that this book is available on Amazon.com and felt compelled to comment about it. I first bought this book about 5 years ago and some time after reading it, I was stopped for going 40 mph in a 25 mph speed area. I followed advice I remembered from the book regarding what to say and what not to say and was let go by the Highway Patrolman. On another occasion, I was not so lucky and received a ticket. (I guess I shouldn't have made a U-turn right in front of a police car). I followed the instructions in this book about "How to win in court" and the judge ruled in my favor. This book is full of advice, tips and inside police information not available from other sources and I highly recommend it. It has certainly made me far less fearful about being stopped by the police.

Out of the 200 pages in this book, 174 are all question pages.But the 26 pages of info are superb, from Regis first hearing of theBrittish show to ABC buying the rights from Britains ITV, it's all here. But there are no pictures which is a bit misleading from it's glossy cover, not so much an official guide but more of a quiz book. My advice, go and buy the Brittish guide, lots more show info and laden with glossy pictures.

The book of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" is rather well done and worth buying. The authors put in a good mix of both simple and challenging questions, and the book has an organized and easy to read layout. I liked the fact that the answers are in the back, and that the lifelines are located so that a reader doesn't immediately flip to the page with the answers.

In addition, the beginning of the book has interesting facts about the game show, including its development and how the show is run. It was a great idea to put the history of the show into the book, and this portion certainly made the book more enjoyable.

"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" is a very pleasant book, and if you finish answering all the questions, there's always the online game at abc.com for you to try. Either way, both the online game and the book are entertaining enough to make you feel like you've won a million bucks.

This book is as good as the CD-ROM! It goes "behind the scenes" of the best game show of all time. Michael P. Davies gives us a sneak peak of what it is like to be a contestant with the phone game, answering three increasingly difficult questions in the fastest time, how they get to the next round, the Fastest Finger question, to that Hot Seat with Regis, and when the contestants actually receive their winnings. In this edition, there are 6 sample "fastest finger" questions, and there are 20 sample games with 15 questions each. These questions are very well prepared and written by the writers and producers, which provide ways to create your own "game show" at home. The possibilities are endless, which is what I was so impressed with. I also like how the "50-50"'s are presented on different pages with the other lifelines, so that you don't immediately see the possible answers accidentally. The answers to all of the questions are strategically placed on the final pages of this edition, for example, "Game 1"; "$100"; "B", etc. This is another great way to learn new things that I never knew before. What an experience! I feel like "a millionaire" when I pick it up. Enjoy the ride to that virtual Million Dollars!

This book is presented in the Report form. Though its not an Exhaustive work, authors have tried to assimilate privacy laws of many countries. The style of presenting information could be improved, though its quite an informative book and a good attempt to bring together (in one book) the privacy laws of many countries.

Basic synopsis: Holmes & Watson find a drunken Stamford and suspect there's more to it than just alcohol. Some research gets both attacked and Holmes hynotized and in the power of an evil Baroness. Watson asks another hypnotist to cure him before the split ways to kill the Giant Rat of Sumatra. (Plague involved.) It's OK, but for this price I expected more horror and stuff. The Rat isn't all that scary. Try borrowing before buying.

This Sherlock Holmes pastiche matches the great detective against Count Dracula. It's set just after 'Hound of the Baskervilles' and refers to that book quite a lot. Holmes and Watson are drawn back to the moors of the Hound and find that Dracula has set up shop there in his bid to spread vampirism across the world.

Unfortunately the book suffers a great deal by comparison to Loren D. Estleman's brilliant 'Sherlock Holmes vs Dracula' (or The Adventure of the Sanguinary Count), written some 20 years earlier. The idea has also been covered in Fred Saberhagan's ' The Holmes-Dracula File'.

'Tangled Skein' offers nothing really new on the idea and has little of the 'authentic' feel of other better pastiches (Estleman's Dracula and Jeckyll & Hyde books, Nicholas Meyer's novels, Larry Millett's first book and some of the better short story pastiches). Although the author has cleverly woven Dracula into the story of the Baskervilles the tale lacks any real narrative drive. I found myself skimming the last few chapters. Although the author quotes from Conan Doyle there's little feel of the original stories here.

The Estleman is not only much closer in tone to Conan Doyle's (or should I say Watson's) writing but cleverly interweaves Holmes into Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' making Holmes appear to be, as it were, between the chapters of Stoker, and easily explaining away why Holmes never appeared in Stoker's book.

All in all this is a solid attempt at an interesting idea but one that falls short of the mark left by others. It's not bad, it's just not memorable. Try Estleman instead.