Several works have currently been released to capitalize on the public fascination surrounding the discovery of George Leigh Mallory's remains in 1999. Most are by members who took part in that expedition and I suppose we can't begrudge them for cashing in on their moment of fame. Many are unaware that previous exeditions have been mounted to find out what happened to Mallory and Irvine. In 1986 Tom Holzel reignited interest, if not generally then among the climbing community, in the posibility that evidence may still exist to prove that Malllory and Irvine beat Hillary to the top of Everest by 30 years. Thanks largely to Tom Holzel that interest has never flagged. This work THE MYSTERY OF MALLORY AND IRVINE should be the starting point from which those interested should embark. If one is merely interested in oggling pictures of a corpse then by all means skip straight to Ghosts of Everest by J. Hemmleb but for those more interested in the man rather than the cadaver there are few biographies as exhaustive as this one. Although delving into speculative arts (questioning sexual orientation seems a bit tacky) there is much use of correspondence between Mallory, his friends and family, which assists in giving flesh to a mere biography. Those interested in the adventure of the Everest expeditions will also appreciate the thoroughness of Mr Holzel's research. Much of what is presented is not speculative as it is presented with the corroboration of personal correspondence. It is only the events of summit day June 8th, 1924 that speculation takes over. We know more now than when this book was first written and subsequent editions will no doubt fill in the missing data. Is Irvine still out there clutching the Kodak? I doubt it but till he's found the debate will continue as will our fascination.

Holzel's name is mud among the British Climbing establishment, ever since he managed to corral a genuine Everest historican--his co-author Audrey Salkeld--and write this book. Actually, it was mud long before. In the early '70s, this American businessman and amateur climber had the audacity to spring a theory on the British public that one of their greatest heroes--George Mallory--might have succeeded, rather than failed to have climbed Mt. Everest in 1924. The British Climbing Establishment, a number of who knew and revered Mallory, were outraged. Had this foreign interloper no sense of history, no shame?

The statement that proved his total lack of knowledge of this epic saga, the critics patiently explained to the media, was his claim that proof could still be found on the body of one of the climbers--he said it would be Irvine-who should still be found on a snow terrace on Mt. Everest at 8200m. If somebody would only go and look, the camera Irvine was carrying would hold pictures of the fatal climb, perhaps even showing a photo from the summit.

The clamor rose a few decibels more when in 1979 Holzel reported to the NY Times that the body of "an English dead" had been found on Everest's North Face at 8100m by a Chinese porter who--get this--died the day after reporting his find. Another "Everest Ghost" the British public exclaimed. "How convenient" the establishment elders muttered.

In 1986, Holzel and Salkeld mounted an expedition to the north side of Everest to search for the body at 8200m. They failed in all respects save one. On literally the last day of their three-month expedition, Holzel managed to meet with the tent-mate of the person who claimed to have found the English dead. This claim had been strenuously denied by the Chinese Mountaineering Association, and other government officials. But the tent-mate admitted that Wang Hung-Bao had said he had indeed found "a foreign mountaineer."

This classic book contains two exciting stories: First there is the story of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine who were last spotted seemingly a few hours below the summit of the world's highest peak, which raised the glorious possibility that they had perhaps reached the summit before perishing on the descent. Salkeld in particular has tracked down and discovered a trove of unpublished letters, and theirs is the first modern reading of Mallory the man, a reading much necessitated in view of the previous biographies, many of which verge on hagiography.

And there is the second story, equally fascinating, of the authors' heroic efforts to find out what did happen. It is this story, a modern tale, that shows how large a role is played by luck when the ambition is there to pave its path.

There are now a slew of new books on this stirring subject-most based on the Simonson Expedition of 1999 which discovered the body--not of Irvine--but of George Mallory himself, and--astonishingly--discovered it exactly where Holzel had predicted nearly 30 years earlier. The Simonson book "Ghosts of Everest" is also required reading for anyone interested in this famous saga.

What I found the most interesting in "The Mystery of Mallory & Irvine" was the acuity of their theorizing and their genius at selecting certain facts from amidst a welter of conflicting data, facts that seemed strange selections at first but which then turn out--10 or 20 years later--to have been exactly correct. Holzel's ideas about who Wang found (Mallory and not Irvine) once again go against the current wisdom; but his description of the deductive reasoning by which he arrived at his latest conclusions are alone worth the price of the book. As for the rest of it--well, it was an instant classic when it came out in 1985. With the several new chapters and a forward by Expedition Leader Eric Simonson, it certainly deserves a central spot on every adventurer's bookshelf. As historical detective work-THE central spot.

I read the 1986 edition of this book and I am completely attracted to the authors' dedication toward the subject and, in my mind, the heroes of mankind of the last century, namely, Mallory and Irvine.I read this revised edition of 1999 ( when Mallory's body was unearthed in May'1999 ) and I continue to be amazed by Holzel and Salkeld, and their total commitment toward the subject and the intricacies they have zeroed in. The sad thing is, the Camera of 1924 could not be found on the body of Mallory, nor any trace of Irvine. I do hope , in the near future,we could be so lucky to unearth the Camera and solve the enduring mystery i.e. Are Mallory & Irvine the first persons on the top of Everest ? I am waiting for the answer to come out and hope , by then, Holzel and Salkeld could put the puzzle together for us.

This is a beautifully and lavishly illustrated, textually rich book. ItS pages demand the reader's undivided attention and are sure to enthrall all mystery lovers, Everest aficionados, nostalgia junkies, history buffs, and climbing enthusiasts. This book is sure to provide the reader with many hours of enjoyment.

The book chronicles the search for George Mallory and Andrew Irvine by the 1999 Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition. It juxtaposes the dramatic turn of events during their expedition with those of the 1924 British Everest Expedition which saw Mallory and Irvine attempt a summit climb, only to disappear into the mists of Everest, never to be seen again. It makes for a spell binding narrative, as past events are woven through present day ones.

The 1999 Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition was a meticulously well prepared and well organized venture. With its discovery of George Leigh Mallory's body, it enjoyed much success. The research and analysis that went into its ultimate, well thought out conclusions were comprehensive and fascinating, with its strong reliance upon forensics and deductive reasoning. Their reconstruction of Mallory's and Irvine's last climb is riveting. Unfortunately, the ultimate question still remains unanswered. Did they or did they not reach the summit of Mount Everest back in 1924?

The beautiful photographs of the personal effects found upon Mallory's person underscore a certain poignancy about the discovery of Mallory's well preserved body. The photographs which memorialize this discovery are amazingly lovely and tasteful, considering its subject matter, and hauntingly illustrate the finality with which Everest may deal with mountaineers, no matter how accomplished.

The photographs also highlight how ill equipped for the harsh climatic conditions were the early Everest expeditions. It is amazing, and a credit to those early expeditioners' courage and fortitude, in braving such an inhospitable and harsh terrain with the inadequate clothing and equipment available to them at the time. Mallory and Irvine were certainly intrepid explorers!

This book is a fitting tribute to two men who sought to make a historic summit and, in their attempt, would forever be a part of Everest.

If you have ever wondered what happened to the best climber ever to set foot on this earth, and the brave wonderful man who disappeared with him, this is your book! A group of courageous men set out to solve this question in 1999, 75 years after the mysterious disappearance of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine. And what they find will chill you to your very bones! I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Mt. Everest and all brave but foolhardy ventures.

Starts with the basics and works logically up to more advanced concepts. Has problem sets that really serve to teach the material well. Get it, now.

George Andrews is the reigning expert on partitions in the mathematical community who has written many seminal papers on the subject over the past half-century! If you don't know what partitions are in the theoretical sense, don't worry, the text provides ample introduction. I don't think you can find a more elementary introduction to the difficult, but extraordinarily powerful and elegant theory of partitions. The book covers the basics of number theory well, but it is the chapters on partitions that make this text stand out. It covers the Rogers-Ramanujan identities as well as the Jacobi triple product identity. It is rare in the mathematical community that an expert in a subject also writes a ground-level introductory text - but that's what you have here. Thanks to the dover edition, it's now quite affordable.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION- Orwell, George 1984 - New York, NY: Penguin Books, 1950

AUTHOR INFORMATION-

George Orwell was the pen name of an Englishman named Eric Blair. HE was born in Begal in 1903, educated at Eton, once after service with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, returned to Europe to earn his living writing novels and essays. He was essentially a political writer who wrote of his own times, that a man of intense feelings and fierce hates. He hated totalitarianism, and served in the Loyalists forces in the Spanish Civil War. He was a literary critic. He hated lying and cruelty in life and in literature. He died at forty-seven of a neglected lung ailment, leaving behind a substance because of work, a growing reputation for greatness, and the conviction that modern man was inadequate to cope with the demands of his history.

BOOK REPORT AND/OR PLOT SUMMARY-

The year is 1984 in London- the place is in the largest population center of Airstrip One. Airstrip One is part of the large political unit of Oceania, which is forever at war with one of two other large units, Eurasia and East Asia. At any moment depending on current allies, all current records show either that Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia and Allied with East Asia, or that it has always been at war with East Asia and allied with Eurasia. Winston Smith knows this, because his work at the Ministry of Truth involves the constant "Correction" of such records.

THEME OF THE BOOK-

The main idea of this particular book is that George Orwell is telling us what he thinks will be the future of man. He thinks that if man does not change his ways, the world will end. George Orwell is explaining to us his vision of nineteen-eighty four is nineteen-forty-nine. It's very convincing. It is an original novel. He is trying to explain to us the fate of the world, which (as everyone knows) didn't happen in nineteen-eighty four but by reading it almost convinces us. ANALYSIS-

I think that the author actually does have a biased opinion. This is because the whole book is based upon his theory of the fate of man. Orwell assumes that man had better change his ways or else he is doomed for all eternity. In my opinion the book was okay. Some parts in the book gave me the vision of actually being there for instance when Orwell talks about Winston Smith as he is writing in his diary/type book, he put a lot of emotion into the internal conflict of this man. He really maintains his focus throughout the book. Especially with the fierce emotions that are displayed. A historical figure that was included in the book was "Big Brother". This man had a different name in reality but was referred to as " Big Brother" throughout the book. He was the totalitarian ruler in the book. He ruled with a party, but he enforced all rules to the party, but he enforced all rules to the party. They did not have any say in the rule of Oceania. A belief of the party was " Who controls the past" ran the Party Slogan, "controls the future: who controls the present controls the past." Orwell tells the story in a third person perspective. He described the world around Winston Smith as " outside even through the shut window pane, the world looks cold. Down in the streets little eddies of wind where whirling dust and torn paper into spirals, and though the sun was shining and the sky a harsh blue, there seemed to be no color in anything except the posters that were posted everywhere! I would recommend this book to someone who likes to dream and has a very vast imagination just because people like me who have an imagination and always dream about the future would like to see others' views. I admit it has a very slow start. But it gets a lot better later on. The slow start is worth it for the powerful display of imagery in the book. I also like the idea that Orwell is visualizing the year of my birth in such a manner that you'd think it actually happened that way. In conclusion I think that anyone with visions of the future should take the time to read 1984 by George Orwell. It's a very good book

So you think that there's no problem. 1984 has come and gone and society is doin' just fine. Read this book. You'll see how our government is subverting the essence of human in order to keep things under wraps. Hmmm...Elian Gonzalez being taken from his home by a swat team who watched his every action for months before making a move? People being grown in-vitro? A map of the human genenome? Cameras studying all our daily liaisons? If you have any sense, you'll be a bit frightened. If you're not intimidated by these happenings, then maybe you're in the right place.

Rolex,BMW,VERSACE,DKNY,LACOSTE,RR,... tHINGS... WE'RE SLAVE TO THINGS... IDEALISM IS DEAD... 'CAUSE WE'RE LIVIN' IN SYNTHETIC TIMES...

POST-CRITICUM: PAINFUL...'CAUSE ýT'S TRUE

We tend to forget,in our "rat race" for things that money can buy, that happiness can only come from within. We may race for the things that money can buy, but very often we forget to enjoy the ride.

So many translations are either painful transliterations, coming from someone who knows the language better than his mother tongue; or they arwe car-crash renderings into a stale "academica-eese." Andrew George manages to avoid the Scylla and Charybdis in this translation. I hope more people with the "gift of tongues" can add some honey like Seamus Heany did in his beautiful rendfering of Beowulf a few years of god. These stories are beautiful, and we need to transpose that beauty in to English.

I love the format of this book. It has the standard text of Gilgamesh, but has copies of all the alternate texts and readings, so you are getting the full whammie with the book. George also included maps, "dramatis personae," helpful chronologies, a glossary of the oddf names you read in the story, adn a publication history. His essay on "from tablet to stone" is helpul in expalining all the lacunae and the gaps in the poem.

I love the illustrations which seve as a sweet spice to the text you are reading. You can actually picture Gilgamesh moving in the ancient Babylonian realm, going forth conquoring and to conquor.

This book is designed for college level reading, and it more than delivers with all of the goodies. You rarely see a book this good, that hits all of the targets in tyhe right way. I hope that other ancient texts get a similar five star treatment.

A very interesting story of the flood that predates the Bible. The Bible's version of the flood most likely came from a older source, the Sumarian version of the flood came first.

You wouldn't think a 4000-year old story about a dead king would be that interesting or exciting, but actually, I enjoyed this book. The story is the archetypal heroic epic, and has been useful for learning about everything from ancient Mesopotamian beliefs and customs to tracking changes in the traditional scribal curriculum in ancient Akkadia and Sumeria.

Speaking of people getting excited, the translater, Andrew George, says a dignified and emminent 19th-century British archaeologist ran naked through his lab when he realized he was the first person in perhaps 2000 years to read an original copy of the story of Noah, once thought to be part of the Epic of Gilgamesh (we now know this isn't true).

George also makes the interesting claim that the text is the oldest written text accessible to a modern reader without special archaeological or scholarly knowledge. I found this was borne out by the actual reading, as Gilgamesh's actions and motivations are very easy to understand--he is concerned with fundamental issues of life and death--honor, loyalty, friendship, fear, loss, happiness, and so on.

I also enjoyed some of the historical details George provides in the introduction. By 1800 BC, during the time of Hammurabi, Sumerian, which had once been the dominant language in the more advanced, urban south, had died out, leaving only Akkadian, which had been more prevalent in the more rural north. Up till that time, most citizens in the area were accustomed to speaking both languages in their day-to-day affairs. Sumerian still retained the prestige of the scholarly and historical language, however, and in the written scribal curriculum.

We actually have clay tablets that go back as far as 2600 BC, according to George, but he points out that these texts are very difficult to translate and understand. It's thought that this is because the language was still making the transition to a full written language, and that this process was incomplete at that time, an interesting theory.

An interesting character George discusses is the ancient King Shulgi, who lived around 2000 BC. Shulgi prided himself on both his educational and cultural accomplishments, as well as his athletic and physical prowess, bragging about about his excellence as a student in the scribal schools and as the patron and creator of important public libraries. Shulgi is reminiscent of Gilgamesh and perhaps the king consciously modeled himself after the legendary hero of the famous epic.

Anyway, the introduction and epic made for more interesting reading than I had imagined.

It is no doubt MLK's speeches are great and did alot
to shape American thinking. Unfortunately, I can only
play the first 2 CDs on my CD player. I have a friend
who has a CD player that can play all of them. Apparently
it has something to do with the index numbering on each
CD. Instead of each CD starting at 1 it starts where the previous CD left off. I wouldn't take a chance that this
product won't play in your CD player. I think it is very
unfortunate that I paid so much for the complete set of speeches
and I can't listen to most of it.
I WOULD WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT VERSION COMES OUT THAT CORRECTS THIS
FLAW.
It would have been also nice to have some text to accompany the
audio CDs.

An outstanding history of the Civil Rights movement through the most famous speeches of MLK. I particularly enjoyed his final speech which we hear words from but was full of inspiration and foresight as to what would become of America and its black citizens and their victory in the struggle for freedom.
A must for every buddding philosopher, peace activist and politician.

Reviewer: Mark Lamendola,... author of over 3500 articles.

Inspiring, informative, and soul-stirring, this tape brings to life the original recordings of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Having grown up in the era of the Vietnam war and civil rights demonstrations, I got this tape thinking it would help me remember some of the key issues of the time and compare them to where we are now.

What I was not expecting was the emotional and spiritual journey this tape took me on--it was a journey at a speed that made me look for my seat belt.

Let me interject a personal note here. I am not an African American. I am not black, but neither am I white. My family name is an "Americanized" version of a Sicilian name. While my family did not emerge from slavery on southern plantations, it did emerge from near slave conditions in Sicily. I would also like to note that Sicily was invaded by the African Moors, as is evident by the curly hair and nose structure of modern Sicilians--and by the fact we get sickle cell anemia (whites do not get this disease).

Italian-Americans, who make up 6% of the USA population also underwent an era of extreme prejudice and discrimination--as did African-Americans, who make up 13% of the American population.

Some people malign Dr. King as "that nigger who riled up all the niggers." Others said he was moving too fast. Others said he was asking for too much. And on and on. What these people fail to realize is Dr. King wasn't riling up anybody. He was not an agitator. He made a call to love. When you listen to his speeches, this all becomes very clear. I am not comparing King the Man to Christ the Lord, but to condemn his call to love does compare him to Christ and does condemn both King the man and Christ the Lord. To my mind, that is hypocritical and presumptuous.

In his speeches, Dr. King presented such concepts as:

*African-American slaves are not rightful property and never were. These people were kidnapped from their homes in the area of the Gold Coast.

*The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 declared all men (grammatical convention makes the pronoun gender-neutral in this context) equal. Yet, 100 years later, American people of color had actually moved backwards in relation to "white people." King presented incontrovertible evidence of the nullification of the Emancipation Proclamation and the abandonment of law and order that allowed suppression and oppression of an entire race of people.

*The segregation movement was part of a "divide and conquer" strategy to keep poor whites--especially poor Southern whites in their place by creating an even lower class.

*As a unit, African-Americans have more wealth than most countries--including France!

*No violent uprising has ever succeeded, unless it had the support of the general population. African-Americans did not have, and could not possibly have, such support in the USA.

*A violent uprising by African-Americans could never come to any possible good. At the outset, it would increase fear and mistrust. The government would be duty-bound to squash it, and had the power to do so. Violent uprisers would have to defeat the local police, then the county police, then the state police, then the state militia, then the National Guard, then the US Armed Forces--not exactly the recipe for success.
But non-violent action could succeed. This is what Dr. King espoused.

Dr. King said two conditions existed:
1. Power without love--this characterized the white system .
2. Love without power--this characterized the black community.

His goal was to combine power with love--not for black people, but for the brotherhood of mankind. His vision was that people would be judged by their character, not by the color of their skin.

This tape concludes with an incredibly moving speech, given to an audience of 10,000 in Tennessee. ...

It was Dr. King's last speech, given the day before a killer stopped Dr. King's campaign of love and brotherhood by severing Dr. King's spine just below his chin.

Readers should note that this site does not distinguish between the various editions of Shakespeare, so the reviews you read may be for audiotapes, modern translations, etc. I am reviewing the Kenneth Branaugh BBC Radio recording of Hamlet. It is adequate, which I consider high praise for this challenging play. Like Branaugh's movie a few years later, it includes the entire text of the play, which is a nice way to remind yourself of some issues you may have forgotten.

The performances are pretty good, and include Branaugh (of course) as Hamlet and Derek Jacobi as Claudius, giving us a hint of the performances they would later give in the movie. No one's performance really blew me away, although Jacobi was excellent.

Ultimately, the play loses quite a bit when transferred to audio only. There's a lot to be conveyed with stage placement, physican action, expression, etc. Somehow, listening to the play limited my imagination on those issues, preventing my from using my "mind's eye" to the fullest.

Hamlet is considered, by many scholars, the pinnacle of Shakespeare's dramas. If you haven't read it yet this this Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism edition would be a great place to begin.

The text notes that are included with the play are very helpful to understand some of the more difficult language nuances that are inevitable with any Shakespeare. The structure is well laid out and conclusive. It complements the complexity of Hamlet very well.

Of course Hamlet is one of the great paradoxes and mysteries every written. The search of finding yourself and what it is that fuels the human spirit. Hamlet can be a very confusing play because of the depth of substance. However, the critical essays that suppliment the reading make it very accessable.

Each of the critical essays are of different schools of literary criticism: Feminist Criticism, psychoanalytic criticism, post-structuralist (deconstuctionist) criticism, Marxist critism, and finally a New Historicist criticism. Before each critism there is clearly written introduction to explain the motives and histories of that type of criticism.

This edition of Hamlet will not only introduce the reader to more Shakespeare, but also explain the play and help to familiarize the reader with literary criticism too. It is a beautiful volume that cannot be more recommended if you are wanting to buy a copy Hamlet.

Hamlet has always been thought of as one of the classics of literature. I could not think of another book which deserves this title more. The story of a Danish pricne who learns from his fathers ghost that his father, the king, was murdered by his brother, Hamlet's uncle, who then went on to marry Hamlet's mother. Hamlet is overcome by a longing for revenge, but also indecisive. Shakespeare creates a great amount of tension between the chatacters with powerful confrontatoins and biting language. It is a suspenseful tragedy, filled with anguish.

William Shakespeare was a genious when it came to breaking down the human psyche, and Hamlet is perhaps one of the most complex plays when it comes to human emotions. It is undoubtably one of his finest works, full of very complex, interesting characters, and a wonderfully chaotic plot. There are innumerable theories on Hamlet, why he is so indecisive, and if it all comes down to an oedipus complex. whatever way you interpret it, everyone can get something out of it. I feel like I am priveleged to have read such a wonderful play.

Hamlet is a character that I can relate to in some ways, being a very indecisive person myself. I felt I could connect with him better than many Shakespeare characters, MacBeth, Ceasar, Juliet, Helena or Hermia. That is one of the reasons that I enjoyed Hamlet so very much. I wish that everyone could love Hamlet as much as I did, but I know, especially being a high-school student, that it is a little much for general reading. For high school students, like me, I very strongly recommend this book, if you really like Shakespeare, and aren't looking for a quick read. Otherwise, it might be a little to much to tackle, if you don't really enjoy Shakespearian tragedies. For anyone who has time required to comprehend such a complex work, and is looking for a masterpiece of literature that will keep them thinking, Hamlet is the book for you.

and this novel makes for a neat twist on the "locked-room" mystery style that is Blackie Ryan's forte. One of the biggest problems an established author has with an on-going series is to make sure that the stories don't become too "formula," like the last couple of Bond films with Roger Moore did.

Greeley avoids this with his Blackie Ryan novels by going for interesting locales...he takes Ryan out of Chicago without taking the Chicago out of the good bishop.

So, without giving the story away (a sin for a reviewer of a mystery novel), suffice to say that Blackie Ryan has a wonderful time in Paris, with his boss, the more-than-formidable Sean Cardinal Cronin. My only major complaint is that the love-story-subplot in this novel is a bit formula.

Greeley's descriptions of Paris are excellent, giving the reader a good feel for the neighborhoods and the metro without being a Fodor's book. _Beggar Girl_ doesn't tackle any serious hot-button issues of the modern Catholic Church, but the author still throws out tidbits that make those who are interested in church politics and such say "hmmmmmm."

Reading Greeley is like drinking champagne: a frothy concoction that perfectly complements an evening of escape. Here Greeley's customary Irish charm competes with Gallic savoir-faire. We are introduced to the Paris of the protected visitor with translators, tucked-away hotels and famous restaurants.

Greeley's series hero, Bishop Blackie Ryan, is on a mission for "Cardinal Sean:" find Jean-Claude, a young Dominican priest who vanished without a trace while conducting visitors around cathedral ruins. Jean-Claude had a popular television program and was much admired by the students and nuns who were his ministry, yet everyone saw him differently, and all agreed he had mysterious depths and a magical smile.

Bishop Blackie has a gift for unearthing hidden depths in people as well as clues for his investigation. Befriending a young woman who seems out of place as a Cathedral beggar, he enlists her help in tracing the young priest who often seemed equally out of place as a Dominican priest.

The story line has the fascination of a moderately difficult crossword puzzle, the kind you know you can solve if you just put in the time. It also has about as much action and cliff-hanging action -- and short-term satisfaction as the Sunday crossword. Greeley gives us the world as we would like it to be, where problems are solved by a convenient phone call to Chicago and a couple of FedEx packages, and even the Cardinal benevolently distinguishes the Christian from the Church.

As Greeley is careful to note in an afterward, this is a tale of fiction. Unlike many readers, I was surprised by the ending, which fit the clues but seemed highly implausible. I will say only that Greeley gets the chance to share his very politically correct, enlightened views of the Church and the world. And he might encourage us all to beware of reading our own beliefs into situations that are not what they seem.

I'm not usually a fan of Bishop Blackie -- but I liked this one!

"The Bishop And The Beggar Girl Of St. Germain" by Fr. Andrew M. Greeley, Audio book Version narrated by George Guidall. Recorded Books Productions, New York 2001.

The author, Fr. Andrew Greeley, moves the venue for this Bishop Blackie mystery to Paris, and it seems that he certainly knows Paris: at least the Cathedral of Notre Dame, the subway system, many subway stops and the little bistros on the Left Bank. Using this as backdrop, Fr. Greeley has Bishop John Blackwood Ryan accompany his Cardinal, Sean Cronin, of Chicago, to Paris, where Bishop Blackie is impressed as a detective in the service of the local cardinal. "Blackie" is requested to find the young television priest, Jean-Claude, who had disappeared during a TV shoot in the 3rd Century basement of Notre Dame.

Needing an interpreter, Bishop Blackie "stumbles" on Marie-Bernadette, an accomplished musician who is begging outside the Church of St. Germain. Greeley's fascination with thing Celtic (pronounced as KEL-tik) means that Marie-Bernadette's accomplishments are in Celtic music, whether from the Celtic region of France or the Basque region of Spain, or, of course, from Scotland and Ireland. This makes a nice little sub-plot, with Bishop Blackie officiating at Marie-Bernadette's marriage at the end of the book.

Of course, Blackie solves the mystery of the disappearance of the television evangelist priest, Jean-Claude, and while doing so, Author Greeley comments on the loneliness of the celibate clergy, their trials and temptations. I couldn't help wondering if there was some autobiographical issues buried in those comments. The story's main plot had a nice little twist that I should have been able to catch earlier than I did!

Narrator George Guidall was again excellent. I have listened to him as the voice of Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee in the Tony Hillerman mysteries, and it is amazing how Mr. Guidall can range from "flat" Navajo tone in those books to an excited French accent for the exalted cardinal of Paris in this book. I enjoyed the book and listening to Mr. Guidall as I commuted on I-495, the ring road around Boston... Five Stars.

More an engaging history of early Everest exploration than a record of the expedition to find Mallory & Irvine, this book still will be of interest to climbers and arm-chair mountaineers. A few proofing errors in the later chapters detract from the quality and several of the photos could use arrows and annotations. It seemed as if the author and publisher rushed this book through to get it on the shelves before Christmas.

All that said, the plates are the best collection of early Everest illustrations that I've seen. I found the account readable and enjoyable. When the text finally got the search team on the mountain, it was captivating.

Of course, their findings raise more questions: where is Irvine and the missing camera, what happened to Mallory's watch? I'd like to know how close they were to the original camp when Mallory fell. And after they found Mallory, why didn't they spend more time looking for Irvine?

I'll probably read the other titles about the search for Mallory & Irvine just because of my mountaineering background. I'll be curious to see how they compare.

Peter Firstbrook presents, essentially, a two-part text. The initial (and, overwhelming) content of the book deals factually and thoroughly with the history of the various climbing expeditions with the emphasis appropriately placed on Mallory's involvement in the whole process. The detail and insight offered by Mr. Firstbrook seems to have been genuinely and thoughtfully researched, although, I found it strange that more wasn't mentioned about Mallory's apparent disregard for his young family. Romantic letters aside, Mallory's actions clearly placed his wife and children a distant third behind his own ambition and the "chaps" with whom he fraternized. Evidence of this inconsistency in the book is liberally found whenever Mr. Firstbrook describes, in great detail, the trists that developed among Mallory and his fellow alpinist cognoscente. I suspect the omission of detail regarding Mallory's relationship with his family was a choice of the author rather than a lack of available material on the subject...

The book takes a turn towards the superficial, however, when Mr. Firstbrook suddenly transitions the reader along with the expedition which found Mallory's body in 1999. Given the level of detail he was able to provide about the early expeditions, I was amazed at how little was provided about the 1999 expedition, its team members, the discovery of the body and actual clues provided by Mallory's remains. How did the team members go about the excavation of the body, for example. And, certainly, some of the dialogue among the climbers back at base camp was worth publishing, wasn't it?

Similarly, the paucity of the (only) black and white photos of the 1999 expedition left me wondering why Mr. Firstbrook bothered to include them at. I suppose one can speculate that he either didn't have rights to the photos, or, omitted them out of respect for the families, or, that he was (somehow) bound by contract to Eric Simonson? Again, no explanation was offered.

It appears, unfortunately, that Mr. Firstbrook was under presure to complete the work before the next guy(s) did; that may account for the (somewhat) flimsy detail and discussion provided in the last couple of chapters of the book. Doesn't the title of this book suggest an emphasis on what the search team was able to ascertain in 1999? Hell, I learned almost as much about this subject matter by watching the damn NOVA presentation!

Peter Firstbrook, the author of this book thinks that it's possible. Ironically however, if they did make it, it might have helped cause their deaths. By the time they would have got there it would have been early evening at the earliest. Then tiredness, exhaustion, dehydration combined might have caused Mallory's fall to his death. The irony being that they were at that point quite close, less than 200 ft, from Camp VI, from where they set off that morning. This book is divided into two parts. Part one is a biography of George Mallory, and a brief history of Himalayan mountanerring expeditions up till the 1920s, the second is an account of the expedition that found Mallory's body earlier this year. Worth reading, if only to look at the possible scenearios and evidence