The fact that I have never heard of either of the authors should have been my first clue as to how ineffective their techniques are.

Throughout the book so many names are dropped that the reader nearly trips over them at every turn. How are those of use who don't know Michael Musto and the like supposed to apply the advice of these two authors? The fact that they do have friends in high places and still couldn't become well-known speaks volumes.

There is, in truth, very little advice contained in this book. It is mostly filled with anecdotes of the authors' exploits with very few practical tips for fame-seekers.

In the authors' quest for fame they missed the mark. It wasn't fame that they achieved, but rather the ability to be anonymous free-loaders.

The perfect escape from reality, this book will teach you how to find your red carpet moment and inner celebrity diva. The authors reveal their hilarious tales of success and failure as they attempt to grab the limelight, which is not just about who you know, apparently, but who you pretend to know. If you ever wanted to walk the red carpet and have a bit of glamour in your life - even if it means getting the best table at the crowded restaurant and living in a community where everyone knows you and wants to befriend you - read this and read it now. You will laugh nonstop. It's also a very poignant and smart commentary on society in today's age of reality tv and people who are famous just for being famous. A MUST!

Such a tongue-in-cheek, celebratory, ironic look at life in the fame lane. These girls really get it and offer the most laugh-riot tips for pulling the wool over society's eyes and making yourself into a star. Becoming famous, especially today, in the age of reality tv and hot blooded hotel heiresses who are famous for nothing more than wearing short skirts, is a bona fide business - and Melissa and Karen show you how to manipulate the system and grab the limelight. J'adore!

Paul Johnson will anger many, deservedly, as he presents this short book on the life of Napoleon for the Penguin Lives Series. It is a brief and easy read presenting clearly and emphatically the conservative view of Napoleon (directly blaming him for Hitler and Stalin did seem stretching things, even amongst the other vilifying). The story is all there and it should interest readers and entice them to learn more and discover for themselves all sides of this complex character in history. With a subject like Napoleon there is no limit to the viewpoints and books out there and this particular book should lead the eager reader to search them out but no where will this specific view of Napoleon be found so succintly and engagingly written.

This work by Uber-historian Paul Johnson is short and direct. To write about such an interesting character as Napoleon in a double-spaced 186 pages means that much will be left out, and that indeed is what has occurred. However, for the reader who appreciates being stimulated by history this is a terrific book for learning the salient points in the timeline of Napoleon's rise and fall.

The overarching theme for me is: How did one man starting at 16 years old become ruler of France by the age of 28, terrorize most of Europe, change the geopolitics in North and South America, and do it in such a short span of time? Beyond his military deeds Napoleon also established the French civil code known as the Napoleonic code, created consistancy in weights and measures, instituted major revisions by centralizing the administration of France, created the bank of France, and also the university of France. To say that he could multi-task is an understatement. He was born with uncommon talent, and a will and determination to use it to its fullest.

To merely allege that he was power mad would belie his skill as a military commander, arguably the greatest in world history. He was also a master at using his human resources by virtue of excellent leadership and an unusually keen mind. The book recounts the names and dates of his major battles and campaigns without offering too much extraneous information. The inquisitive reader can take this blueprint and read of each in the many books already in print citing his forays with the seven coalitions which were formed to align against his Grand Armee.

Johnson outlines Napoleon's behavioral and operating characteristics, plus and minus, Within that context it's notable how Napoleon achieved that which made him an enduring historical figure and what in turn brought him back to earth. He is not the first nor the last great man, for good or evil, who will change the balance of power in the world. Looked at through that lens this is an excellent primer on Napoleon and I highly recommend it to the would-be scholar who hasn't the time to study him in depth, but wants to find the nexis of Napoleon's connection to historical events.

Johnson's thesis here is that Napoleon is the precursor of such later totalitarians as Stalin and Hitler, whose names recur throughout the book as fellow meglamaniacs interested only in consolidating and centralizing power.

Since this is part of the pithy Penguin Lives series, NAPOLEON of course can only go into so much detail about the life of this enigmatic and fascinating little tyrant, but it is an excellent miniature with many indelible moments. I especially like Johnson's portraits of some of Napoleon's subordinates, including Joseph Fouche, his chief of police, who was so terribly arthiritic by the end of his life that he was buried sitting up, and Hudson Lowe, the misunderstood Brit who had the daunting job of watching over Napoleon during his final exile on St. Helena. The battle scenes, encapsulated here for the sake of brevity, are also well done, with Napoleon's defeat by Wellington at Waterloo particularly vivid.

Johnson does a good bit of myth-busting here and finds very little actually to admire about N. Of course he was a military genius on the level of Alexander. Of course he was a charismatic figure who won the allegiance of the French people. Otherwise he comes off in this book as a man without a soul who lived only to accrue power.

A good book to argue over and very entertaining.