"The Survivors" is equal parts suspense, horror, and tawdry romance. At it's best it is a story of a haunted house told through Luanne's point of view. The novel is most lucid when describing her memories of her family. In these portions it reminds me of Tanith Lee's "The Dark Dance." The suspense provides a meaty hook for the beginning and last third of the story. Unfortunately the book bogs down in the middle third which concentrates on Hans and Luanne's relationship. The detailed passages often seem pointless in this section and much of the suspense and mystery is dropped completely. It is somewhat of a relief when the book finally resumes it's original path to solving the mystery of the Woodrow murders. Even though I have read some romance, in this particular novel it felt completely out of place. As if Edwards had dropped it in as a nice side-thought to what is otherwise a compelling mystery.

I think that Anne Edwards is a very good author, i have read her bookds on judy, vivien leigh, shirlet temple etc. I think that there is a bit of hero- worship going on in her Judy book though. I dont see it as terribly accurate, but its quite a good read so if you want to get it,. But if you wabnt a detailed account of her life i would recomend grold franks book.

Like several other biographers (most recently Gerald Clarke), Anne Edwards makes the mistake of taking Garland herself as the ultimate authority on her own life--and since Garland never let the truth get in the way of a good story and frequently recast the facts in order to justify her excesses, this is a very serious mistake indeed.

Even so, the book is written in a very readable, slightly romanticized style, and while you have to take it with a whole shaker of salt it does a very good job of presenting Garland as she herself wished to be perceived--and in that sense Garland fans will find it quite interesting. But for a serious biography of Garland, I recommend Christopher Finch's RAINBOW and Gerald Frank's JUDY.

The title is extremely misleading. Very few of the 1001 items in this book are actual activities, and most of the suggestions are impractical for one reason or another.

Very many of the entries are things a child doesn't really need a book to suggest ("Is there a dandelion in your garden? Put it in a glass of water and place it by the windowsill.")

Some of the entries are simply random questions (Have you ever seen a beaver dam?)

Some of them are pretty much totally impractical, like asking your mailman if you can help deliver the mail, or asking a 'friendly butcher' if you can come into the back of the butcher shop to see the meat being cut. Not much chance of either these days.

Others are situationally specific, like asking your parents to take you to see a famous old fort (nice if there's one in the neighborhood) pull out the weeds in the vegetable garden (if you have one, know what a weed looks like, and it's the right season) or helping your parents polish the silverware (How many people HAVE actual silverware these days?) or going to your older brother or sisters swim meet (if you have one and if they happen to be in the swim team and their school has swim meets.)

Other things you wouldn't necessarily want your child to have a try at, at least without supervision. (Can you leap over someone who is in a crouching position? Do you know how to use the fire extinguisher?)

Other things are simply sugary reminders to wash your hands, wipe your feet, and pick up after yourself.

The general tone of the book is pure Christopher Robin and Little Lord Fauntleroy, and many of the suggested activities seem anachronistic and completely out of touch with reality and modern times.

There are a some activities in the book which are useful and workable, but the title would be more accurate if it were 101 Activities rather than 1001.

I was very disappointed by this book. I was looking for something that would provide creative ideas for projects/activities for either my 2 year old or my 9 year old. For example, # 217 When you drive past a cornfield, go slowly to admire their beauty and think about the hard work that went into growing the cornstalks." My 9 year old could care less and my 2 year old would be interested for about 2 minutes. At what age would that be interesting to a child????

As a preschool teacher, I am always looking for fun and creative ideas and activities for my classroom. Although there are a few interesting ideas in this book, overall it is a big disappointment. Parents won't find many activities that will keep your child busy or interested for long and many of the ideas are not developmentally appropriate.

Throne of Gold opens with a historical section on Islam and Isma ilism which is replete with errors and misconceptions and reveals the author' s less than full knowledge of these matters. A few examples will suffice. The Abbasids did not descend from the Prophet's brother, but from his uncle; the author's discussion of the beliefs of the early Isma ilis reflects the stance of the medieval anti-Isma ili polemicists; the Nizari Isma ilis did not use hashish as reported in the Assassin legends of the European sources; and the term Assassin did not enter European languages via the writings of Marco Polo. The author's carelessness also finds expression in many of the less technical and more biographical and descriptive aspects of her book. For instance, the birth dates of Aga Khan IV and that of his brother Amyn are both incorrect (pp. 137, 148). Aga Khan III did not visit Cairo in 1937 to see his Egyptian followers (pp. 157-58); he never had followers there and, in fact, Isma ilism had disappeared from Egypt soon after the collapse of the Fatimid dynasty in 1171. The Aga Khan Foundation, responsible for promoting and financing projects in the areas of health, education, rural development, social welfare and humanitarian aid, was not established by Aga Khan III (pp. 262-63); it was founded in 1967 by Aga Khan IV. Indeed, Anne Edwards' book is permeated throughout with factual errors and inaccuracies.

Like the Crusaders, who, though ignorant of the basic facts of Islam, yet claimed to possess reliable information about the secret practices of the Isma ilis, Anne Edwards, too, readily resorts to her imagination in order to enhance the "sensational" appeal of her book - which is, of course, also filled with details about the secret, anonymous mistresses of Aga Khan III and his generous gifts to them. The author is truly in her own element in describing the romantic activities of Aga Khan III's son, Aly Khan (1911-60), devoting a large part of her book to him. However, Edwards adds nothing to the several biographies of this popular figure. Needless to recall that Aly Khan was bypassed by his father in the succession to the imamate and never acquired the title of Aga Khan. In the final chapters of the book (pp. 217-314), the author deals in a superficial, though more sympathetic, way with the activities of Aga Khan IV.

Anne Edwards's Throne of Gold is a poorly researched and ill-conceived book that almost completely ignores the Isma ili context within which the Aga Khans as imams have unified and led several million Isma ili Muslims in turbulent times. This is perhaps the book's most serious shortcoming. The last two Aga Khans have indeed been very successful in combining their spiritual leadership with numerous modernizing policies of a secular nature. As a result, the Nizari Isma ilis have entered the modern world as a progressive and prosperous community with very high standards of education. The same Isma ili context would also explain the strong devotion of the Isma ilis to their imam and their extraordinary communal solidarity. Anne Edwards, of course, misses all of this and, therefore, implicitly portrays the Isma ilis as a group of naive sectarians who somehow share a blind obedience toward their leaders, very much reminiscent of the earlier Assassin legends and the curious hold of the Old Man of the Mountain on his followers.