Library Journal's review of this guide: "Combining encyclopedic coverage of destinations with loads of practical information and atlas-type maps, the series illuminates the wonders of nature but emphasizes the peculiarity of a place's people and their folklore."

I read this book over five years ago and it was so powerful that it gave me nightmares. I hope everyone in the world reads this book. If you have any interest in Australia or Tasmanian this is a book that will make you smart if you are dumb. Soak in the richness of the literature and hold your eyes wide open to the facts! No book is better. Time well spent.

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...

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, written in the height of the Crockett hysteria in the 1950's, attempts to present an objective view of the real David Crockett. Most of the book deals with Crockett the senator, not Crockett the backwoodsman or Crockett of the Alamo. In this, at least, the book is valuable, because it portrays a David Crockett far different from the Davy Crockett of Walt Disney or John Wayne.

The book is valuable in this respect, but it is poorly written. The author skips from one subject to another, making obscure references to events which are never explained and about which the reader is apparently supposed to be familiar. The argument is not well organized, and bounces around so much it is very difficult to follow, and the narrative is just as fragmentary. Inappropriate euphemisms and ill-fitting metaphors further clot this work and inhibit the flow of the narrative. Shackford, who was a professor of English and should have been a more capable writer, makes this account of Crockett's life very, very difficult to read.