Like Shakespeare, this book is as strong on comedy as it is on the serious stuff, and like Shakespeare it's very rarely dull. The American Library Association have awarded it a prize as one of the best reference books of the year, and you can see why -- it's very up to date, very handsome, very easy to use and has lots and lots of really unusual and enlightening pictures. It's particularly good on Shakespeare movies, and is really international -- lively North American scholars cover Shakespeare's presence in Canada and the US beautifully, and it's really bright and surprising about Russia and China and about everywhere else. It's a book that will help explain to high school students why Shakespeare matters and that actually shows how much fun can be had around the plays and poems in so many different ways -- quite apart from telling college students all sorts of things that their professors had better be up on too. I didn't agree with everything it said about the shows at the rebuilt Globe, sure, but then I like seeing guys in tights.

This guide is beautifully illustrated and carefully written by many of the finest Shakespeare scholars alive (there are entries by Helen Vendler, Park Honan, Jonathan Bate, Stephen Orgel, and many others). It is a joy to simply open it to a random page and read. There is an admitted and fairly strong bias toward British Shakespearians and productions, but this helps focus the book and give it a depth many similar guides lack. That doesn't mean it's a provincial book, however, for there are numerous entries surveying Shakespeare across the world and in a variety of contexts. One of the most helpful aspects of the book is an outline of categories and entries at the beginning, a remarkably useful aid when terminology or names slip your mind. It is helpful, but not necessary, to have a copy of the Oxford Shakespeare to refer to, since titles, chronologies, and line references are all keyed to it.

Here's a book about Shakespeare that isn't written as if the only people who had ever cared about him were graduate students -- not that graduate students won't use it all the time, or that it isn't written by the top Shakespeare experts in the world (the contributors include the likes of Stephen Orgel and Helen Vendler), but unforced, unpretentious enthusiasm for Shakespeare and all sorts of things done in his name breathes from every page. It's beautifully illustrated and what's more the research is all fresh -- there's lots of stuff in here that has never been in a Shakespeare reference book before (eg some of the images, lots of stuff about Shakespeare on recent film and TV and radio and in popular culture, newest finds in textual studies and biography). You can read it from A to Z and it's a good read. Fabulous present for anyone studying Shakespeare at any level and especially for anyone who just likes reading the stuff or seeing it acted. It'll help you fall in love with Shakespeare all over again.

How do you challenge the most powerful adventurers of all time? With the greatest adventure of them all! This HUGE module will take your demigod-like PCs (levels 18-100!) on their ultimate quest - to destroy the power of demons over the worlds of mortals, by stealing the Wand of Orcus from the covetous clutches of its owner! On their way to confront the Prince of the Undead, they'll quest across a nightmare spectacle of the Abyss, slice by slice... from the cities of the dead to the endless jungles of Demogorgon, there to strike an horrific bargain; your PCs will face more monstrosities and demon lords than they ever knew existed! But, the most wonderful thing of all about this epic module is that it's not just about fighting; your heroes must prove themselves as puzzle solvers, diplomats, and roleplayers as well, delving their way to the ultimate challenge. The Throne of Bloodstone - the perfect way to end a classic campaign!

It seems to be made for DMs who like to kill pcs frequently and make sure they are dead for good. I am having a great time getting my 40 level Psionicist killed by the pansy death knight!

Azrial

¿Can you believe your caracters batteling Orcus, Thiamat and about 500 other demons in one adventure? Well, in the throne of bloodstone you do it. It is one of the best hi-level adventures I have played. Once you enter de abyss, ther's no turning back.

A game with 3 system! A standard role-playing rule, War Machine rule from Companion Set, and AD&D BATTLESYSTEM rule.

A landmark in D&D product line. It is great, unique, incredible.
If you have Wrath of Immortals boxed set, PWA series, you may learn that this is a great event in D&D Mystara History.

As players and DMs, it is a little bit complicated. Firstly, You have get AD&D BATTLESYSTEM boxed set and study its rule. You then also need to study War Machine rule (included in this module, which originally for Companion level). After you have learned the rules, DMs can run the module, and players play the adventure. Both players and DMs may now find how an exciting, challenging, and wonderful adventure (and also war game!) it is!

This is a rare, glorious adventure for the world of Mystara, and it is a critical piece in any serious D&D collection for a number of reasons. One, it extends the outstanding Master of the Desert Nomads adventure (X4 & X5) into an epic trilogy, culminating with huge, dramatic battles that make the entire thing unforgettable, and heighten player passions until it's downright personal! Two, it includes a gorgeous poster map of the Known World of Mystara, in full color with numbered hexes, complete with roads and borders. It's the equivalent of the Greyhawk maps for expert D&D! Three, it greatly expands the political and military lore of all the countries featured in the GAZ modules, with troop types, leaders, political motivations, and more. Invaluable source reference for a Mystara campaign. Four, it shows DMs how to artfully integrate PC adventures with an ongoing campaign's epic world stage; it's the ideal intro to high-level campaigns that truly *matter* in the hearts of the players. And five, it's just flat-out fantastic!

I have used this book for two years during Advent to read aloud to my family as we finish dinner. My 12 year-old at first thought it was silly, but she is always captivated by the stories. I like the blend of fiction, nonfiction, sentimental, and compelling selections. We have learned about Christmas for some Civil War soldiers, read some old classics such as The Gift of the Magi, and discovered some new authors we like. I highly recommend the book as a way to combat the secular focus of Christmas, without being preachy.

The DL series was a huge leap forward for TSR - these modules featured a new emphasis on drama and storytelling that made the gaming MUCH more fun and involved for the PCs and the DM. Of course, at heart, being TSR modules from the 80s, they're still dungeon crawls! In this chapter, the heroes are finally unveiled - this is a huge sourcebook featuring the heroes, myths, culture, and wondrous realms of Krynn! A beautiful compendium of lore for anyone interested in the realm of dragons.

This is a dazzling piece of cultural history about all the things people have wanted to be true about Elizabeth I whether they are or not, with fantastic pictures drawn from the plays and novels and movies in which her endlessly glamorous afterlife has been lived. It's a great book about why this enigmatic, dangerous woman matters and has mattered: it's funny, it's heartfelt, and it's scholarly too. Perfect for the thinking Glenda Jackson/Bette Davis/Cate Blanchett fan in your life, and a penetrating, witty meditation on fame, womanhood, and history.

This book isn't by 'Michael S. Dobson', it's by plain Michael Dobson.

This book is not just a biography of Rolf Armstrong, it is also a commercial art history and fashion history of the first half of the 20th century. The book takes the reader through the decades in text and pictures. It is extremely well written-I got so caught up in his life story that I even got a little teary-eyed when he died. Especially interesting to me were the pictures of the advertisements of the time. Rolf Armstrong was beginning his career when color printing was starting to be used for magazine covers. The pictures of Armstrong's work are fabulous! Due in good part, I'm sure, to the fact that Armstrong's work itself was fabulous. The pictures of his 3,000 pastel palette were almost as interesting to me as his artwork, although most of the pictures he posed for, he posed with a brush and paint palette because he thought it looked better. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in art and/or the early 20th century.

Kathryn , thanks for writing the 2nd Edition of the Federal Resume Guidebook. It is helping me greatly in my resume writing for federal jobs. I never knew it could be so simple! Thank you for such an informative book.

Kathryn Kraemer Troutman's "Federal Resume Guidebook" is a must have for anyone seeking a position within the Federal Government. Not only does Ms. Troutman review the steps and procedures necessary to obtain employment, but she assist users in the process. This book makes getting a Federal job a breeze. The books "user friendly" approach leaves little territory uncovered. Kudos to Kathy for making the job search much easier. Watch out Federal Government Kathryn's book may just make your forms much more palatable. A must have for those seeking employment within the Federal Government.

Deborah L. Mulligan, Instructional Designer/Curriculum Developer

Hi, Kathryn I have great news for you, feel free to post it on your website. I took your resume writing class in March, within a couple of weeks I had my resume ready. I applied for a couple of positions and guess what, I just got a promotion, outside of my area of expertise, just like that, and only within two months. I'm so happy! Thanks to your training, books, PC disks, tips, etc. I cannot thank you enough! The Resume Place, is the BEST! Maria

Niles and Dobson seem to know their stuff on World War II. Even though stories about what would have happened if the bomb did kill Hitler are nothing new, the story was handled in a way that made it hard to lose interest. The initial confusion and the conspirators' ineptitude came off very believable. I loved the way they handled Rommel's character. An honorale warrior in a country led by sadists. The conflict between him and Fuhrer Himmler was good, especially toward the end when the welfare of the Wehrmacht began to take precedence over Berlin's orders. Patton was Patton. I really liked the situation involving the production of the Me-262 jet fighters, from all the problems they had to the havoc they wreaked on the Allied air forces. Some quality combat scenes, especially when Combat Command A got plastered in a German counter-attack. That really affected its CO, Colonel Pulaski, for the rest of the book. The end leaves open a rhelm of very unique possibilities. I definitely will read the sequel.

The authors of this Alternate History have done a pretty fair job of tilling some virgin ground--World War II has not been explored or exploited as the basis of very many books in the AH genre thus far.

Overall the plot seems pretty plausible;the assassination of Adolf Hitler by Claus von Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators ends in chaos,leading to Heinrich Himmler becoming the new Fuehrer. At the time (1944) all seems to be lost for Germany;the Allies are bombing the Reich to rubble and both fronts are on the verge of collapse. Heinrich Himmler scores a diplomatic coup by concluding a peace treaty with the Soviet Union,and an injured Field Marshall Rommel is recalled to duty as the commander in the West. Rommel subsequently conducts a brilliant fighting retreat to the "Westwall" or Siegfried line while Adolf Galland,the brilliant General of Fighters, conducts his long planned "grosse schlag" or big blow against the American 8th Air Force with the revolutionary Me 262 jet fighters. The book title "Fox on the Rhine" is the code name for the alternate history version of the Battle of the Bulge led in this instance by Rommel.

Many fictional characters are introduced in the course of action, some of whom are not very believable. Oberst (Colonel) Krueger seems to be a pretty vile individual to be selected by General Galland as a wing commander. Krueger's behavior towards his crew chief borders on idiotic , since the mechanics are what kept the pilots alive in the air through thorough and careful maintenence of the aircraft. On the other hand Feldwebel (sergeant) Karl-Heinz Claussen was a thoroughly likeable sort of fellow.

My overall impression of the book was very favorable,although I was somewhat let down by the ending. It seemed to me that the failure of the great Ardennes offensive was based on an somewhat improbable scenario in Dinant, and based on all the previous actions taken by Rommel this ending would not have occurred.

On the negative side , the book needed a lot more thorough job of proofreading. Several small nitpicking errors were carried through the entire book; i.e. there is no "d" in Messerschmitt! Captains in the S.S. are not "Hauptmann" but "Obersturmfuehrer";and tanks are not steered by steering wheels,although half tracks are.

A better knowledge of German and German forms of address to superiors (not "Feldmarshall" , but "Herr General Feldmarshall") would have helped smooth out a few of the rough spots and upgraded this book to "5 stars".In the realization that this was the first AH book attempted by these authors, I look forward to even better efforts in the future.

The story is set up with what is likely the most used premise in alternate history, the premature death of Adolph Hitler. However, this book had Hitler staying alive until 1944 when the failed attempt on his life succeeded. With Hitler dead, the war unfolds. Hitler's inept meddling of the military is ended. For example, Hitler wanted to use the jet powered ME-262 plane as a bomber, when he desperately needed fighter planes to counteract the massive Allied air superiority. Rommell, instead of being forced to commit suicide is given the task to defeat the western allies. I would prefer not to give away the ending of this book, but I will say that this is a real page turner, I couldn't wait to find out how the war would play out. (There are a number of twists and turns to history as the story unfolds). The only reason that this book did not get 5 stars is that at the very end of the book, it was "tie up the loose ends" time. Usually I feel that most books could be written more tightly, however at the end the authors raced to finish it up. It was almost like "Hey we only have 5 pages to wrap this up". This book begs for a sequel. I only hope that it does well enough for the authors to attempt it. I for one will be eagerly waiting!