Edwards does give a reasonably comprehensive treatment of the topic but does avoid making the tough calls in his conclusions.

NGO accountability is a huge problem, far greater than Edwards is willing to admit.

I use Beyond the Magic Bullet all the time in my work with NGOs and students studying the NGO sector. Since this book was published in 1996 some of the case studies seem a bit dated, but the overall message is still fresh and the conceptual frameworks among the best available. Unusually in books about NGOs, this one is clearly written, rigorous and balanced, with no axe to grind either way and a genuine desire to help NGOs understand and deal with the problems of accountability and performance evaluation they face. For an update I would recommend some of Edwards' more recent work, especially Global Citizen Action (edited with John Gaventa) and NGO Rights and Responsibilities (which I bought from Amazon-UK).

For anyone wanting a comprehensive review of the lastest developments in the global voluntary sector with plenty of interesting case studies. Starts with a great introduction and ends with a brilliant conclusion, which saved me reading what would have taken hundreds of hours research. This book should be available to any student, practioner or academic because it applies to all

I have been a fan of Mr Howard for nearly 12 years now, which in my opinion, makes me a bit of a connoisseur, and frankly this book was a bit of a disappointment. Undoubtedly the contributing writers are well-respected and immensely able but their writing lacked the Howardian flavour I have come to love. Ghor's sudden personality shifts are hard to follow and the various ideas in the story lack sufficient depth. This book is not the way Mr Howard would have written it. Nevertheless, this should be read because the original idea belonged to the great REH.

Ghor is a nice blend of Conan and the Cthulhu Mythos together. Abandoned as a child because of a deformity, Ghor is adopted by a pack of wolves. Raised by them, he adopts the ways of the wolf, yet when he meets up with humanity joins them. Constantly struggling with his wolf upbringing and his human surroundings, Ghor becomes a mighty war hero wherever he goes.

This is an excellent adventure book that takes a Conan like hero and plots him against all sorts of evil (and good), including some Cthulhu creations as well.

Originally Ghor was an unfinished story by Conan creator Robert Howard. Upon finding this unfinished story, a magazine decided to finish it. What they did was have a different chapter every month written by a different top fantasy writer. It made the reading interesting.

While most of the chapters were great. Some were excellent. Unfortunately there were a couple chapters that I just wanted to get through to reach the next writers' chapter. Overall a really good read.

I WAS VERY SUPRISED ABOUT HOW WELL THIS STORY CAME OFF. THE VARIUOS WRITERS DID AN EXCELLENT JOB IN WRITING AN EXCITING BOOK THAT FLOWED SMOOTHLY. IT DID NOT COME OFF AS A SERIES OF SHORT STORIES. THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK FOR ROBERT E. HOWARD FANS, AND FANS OF FANTASY IN GENERAL.

Problems have been reported in the Teacher's Guide for the 1997 Edition of this textbook. ...

Completely pleased. Book in great condition-just as advertised. Arrived quickly. Will use again.

This book is a truly inspired work of genius, created by the fine minds of three nobel teachers, men who are experts on the smallest building blocks of our lives - the very atoms and molecules that define us and all that surrounds us. As a young girl, an earlier edition of this book revealed to me many secrets of the universe. Even now, I can't help but grin when remembering one particularly fine analogy, using cooking a pot of chili to explain the more difficult concepts of dimensional analysis. As an adult, I consult this outstanding text to clarify everyday questions about chemical reactions and other scientific information. Encourage that special child in your life. Give them the gift of knowledge and understanding of the world around them.

if a train watcher of any kind you need this book but the black and white pix, or lack of many pix as well as lack of any maps at all shows a distinct lack of effort by Kalmbach; very dissappointing

American Shortline Railway Guide is a great help for any train buff. Over 500 short lines are described: history, current status, number of engines (some lines with full listing), cars, as well as address of owner and radio frequencies. I especially liked the many pictures accompanying the text. There is really one drawback only: The book does not contain any maps. You will need a train atlas or a Rand Mc Nally on the side, unfortunately. Other interesting details are lists of abandoned and non-operating lines as well as addresses of ownerships companies. A must-have for US train buffs, especially in conjunction with the Train-Watchers Guide to North American Railroads (also by George W. Drury).

The plot of this historical mystery lurches from one improbable point to the next: Confederate women in drag, badly characterized famous people from Lincoln to Rose Greenhow to Oliver Wendell Holmes, and dei ex machinae up the wazoo. Timing and pace here are severely flawed, leaving the reader wondering what just happened and why it matters. The "who did it", when we find it out, is too obvious. Yet characters' behavior and motivations, throughout, are not well founded. The essential theme, that of the Southern Unionist (described by the author as "neutral", inexplicably) who works as a secret agent for the North and whose loyalties are torn, is an interesting one, but it's not enough to keep this rusty ironclad afloat.

Harry Raines is finding life in Washington during the Civil War difficult. A Southerner opposed to slavery, he tries to stay as neutral as possible, even with his new job in the Secret Service. But trouble seems to find him. Someone's shooting at him on the street. Then he's assigned to guard Colonel Edward Baker, one of President Lincoln's best friends. This is a nearly impossible task in the midst of battle, but when the Colonel is killed in cold blood, Harry finds himself accused of the crime. Escaping from jail, he must stay one step ahead of his former co-workers to clear his name.

This novel, like its predecessor, provides a fascinating look at life during the Civil War. Real people are liberally sprinkled throughout, and I greatly enjoyed meeting their fictitious personas. I especially like the way Lincoln is portrayed in his few appearances. The fictitious characters are interesting as well. The plot itself seems to loose its way at times, but all the pieces to come together for a climax that includes some interesting twists.

With the characters being agents and counter-agents, the book takes on the feel of a spy novel at times. Yet, the plot includes enough interesting twists to make it a good mystery as well. Anyone interested in this time period will greatly enjoy this series.

In 1861, the initial encounter of the Civil War is fired at Fort Sumter and the South wins the first real encounter at Manassas. Harrison Raines, son of a Virginia plantation landholder who owns slaves, broke with his family and now resides in the federally controlled Washington DC. Area. In order to prove his loyalty to the northern cause and his anathema towards slavery, Harry allows Pinkerton to induct him as a captain in the newly formed Secret Service.

Few know what Harry does for a living as he acts as if he is a southern sympathizer. When he is almost killed, Harry retreats to his horse farm to wait safely for further instructions, which comes from his friend Templeton Saylor. Harry must go to Ball's Bluff to guard Colonel Baker, who dies anyway in the heat of battle. Harry is accused of treason and jailed, but escapes. He knows he is a man without a country neither the Union nor the Confederacy wanting him unless he can prove his innocence or guilt.

Although this novel is labeled a "Harrison Raines Civil War Mystery," the tale is really more a spy thriller than a who-done-it, though detective elements are in the tale. The plot contains agents, double agents, traitors, and an assortment of support cast abetting the spies. Actions run the gamut with dishonor not uncommon. Michael Kilian's novel contain some of the most fascinating war drama scenes, vividly and authentically described so that the audience can picture Spielberg saving Harry Raines.

Harriet Klausner

This book has more errors than should ever be allowed in a professional product. There are typo's in both text and examples. The CD does not contain the source code from the book and I vote this the worst source ever of any computer based information I have found to date. It has left me very unsure of the publishers (QUE) standards and I may never purchase another QUE book again. I simply do not trust them. Spend your hard earned money on a different choice

"Special Edition Using Java, Second Edition" is an excellent reference to JDK 1.0.2. However, today (April 15), only a month and a half after being billed as "Computer Programming Expert Editor's Recommended Book, 03/01/97", it is a dated reference and the cover claims of JDK 1.1 coverage fall short--they are preliminary and peripheral to primary Java programming topics. For example, there is no coverage of the major changes in the Java event model of JDK 1.1, which permeate almost every application. I recommend waiting for better JDK 1.1 coverage, hopefully in Joseph Weber's new version, "Special Edition Using Java 1.1" which has not yet been released, but for which Amazon is taking orders today

This book is nothing if not large. This was QUEs attempt to capture the entire spectrum of JAVA and make it easy to understand (a task that they accomplished) but then the standards changed again. This is still a great book for learning Java; but, you will have to move on to other resources for news on the updates

This book is a wonderful example why tie-ins of action-movies do not work. There is no joy in reading brillantly choeographed action-scenes on the screen in a book. Furthermore, this book is very badly written. Avoid at all cost

I found this book to be interesting.Really! We must remember that films DO often come from books like these and are greatly rewritten for the movie audience.

This book was a great reading experience. Thoroughly enjoyable; and it had extra scenes and charcaters' thoughts that were not in the great movie. There should be more books on Robocop.

Totally disappointing - it is nothing but a cartoon book. Avoid!!!

Some readers may not see the importance of a book that tells a story in "comic" or sequential art form, but this tale is a great way to introduce youngsters to the history of the Irish. For a teen, this "comic book" might spark the curiosity to want to learn more. Both the story and artwork are excellent.

I am sorry for a harsh judgment on this book that I have to deliver. This novel is indeed an amazing piece of incompetence.
It presents a remarkable mixture of dozens of the learned Greek words and total ignorance about certain basic things which constitute our knowledge of ancient Greece (it suffices to point out the reference to gladiators - and this is in the context of VI B.C. Hellenized Asia Minor, while the gladiatorial games were introduced, at least a centure later, in Rome by the Etruscans!). Even more astonishing is the author's onomastics: almost all the names (with the exception of the narrator Bias who was indeed a historical figure, one of the Seven Sages of Greece, and a couple of others) are notoriously un-Greek; in classical times, the Greek alphabet did not have a letter to connote the sound V, so a character called Valato is a sheer impossibility; no more possible were the names like Bilassa, Ossadia or Ustius. Why the author had not taken trouble to select for his characters any of hundreds Greek names historically attested? This is a magnificent example of sloppiness, increasingly characteristic of many present day practitioners who write historical fiction. Furthermore, I fear that a greater historical accuracy might have destroyed, or at least damaged, this novel's plot (in itself, neither inventive nor especially exciting). In any event, the author should have been advised, befor submiting it for publication to his, I fear to say, equally incompetent editors, at least to consult a professional classicist who could have helped him to remove numerous anachronisms, and only then perhaps make an a try at salvaging the book

Michael Edwards presently teaches at Garinger High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was a career officer and retired as a Army Lieutenant Colonel. He traveled widely, thus inspiring this mystery written about the Ionic League. Murder At The Panionic Games is his debut mystery novel.

Set in Priene, Greece in 650 B.C., Murder at the Panionic Games opens with Bias, a minor priest assigned to solve a murder that is shadowing the Panionic Games and casting what is called a "miasma of death" on the proceedings. Priene's best athlete has been poisoned and died in Bias' arms. Because he touched the unfortunate man, it is up to Bias to set things straight. Having no investigative abilities, Bias decides to use his best tool...his logic. But he doesn't have much time, and other than a warrant to give him authority, he doesn't have backup:

"It is not whether you will obtain answers, but rather whether you will even be allowed to ask questions in many cases! Even with your so-called warrant, the citizens of this and the other League cities are under no obligation to cooperate with you.' He paused, and added quietly, All I am saying is that you need to conduct your inquiries in such a manner that the possible witnesses or suspects will either want to cooperate or will feel obligated to, at the very least.'"

Edwards uses Bias' point of view to share the world of ancient Greece to the reader. We are treated to a collection of sights and sounds which make up Bias' world, even as he works his way through his first investigative assignment...an assignment in which he must not fail, for the sake of his family and his standing in society. Edwards develops Bias' character in a subtle, understated way which speaks volumes in a society in which stronger men are sacrificed in silly games for the sake of pride and vanity.

The murder itself turns into a perplexing tangle of possibilities, with fair maidens who may not be so fair or innocent as they seem at first glance. Edwards succeeds in covering the trail until the final explosive chapter, which is an inversion of the first chapter. Murder At The Panionic Games is a historical delight and a great whodunit. Bias is a lovable, clever detective.

Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer

This book serves as a prequel and sequel to a film classic. Perhaps THE film classic of all time. Why would such a book be necessary?

****The answer relies on three things. First of all, "Casablanca" is a story that the audience fell into. A wealth of backstory exists that we only caught glimpses of. Second, the audience has an innate desire to know that Rick and Ilsa see each other again. Third, a film sequel is no longer possible with its original players (principally Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Rains). The book allows their irreplaceable images to remain intact while giving the characters new things to do.

****Walsh is mildly successful in not making a complete travesty of his assignment. He picks up on hints imbedded in "Casablanca." From Rick's comment to the Nazis that there are certain sections of New York they shouldn't try to invade, Walsh rumminates that Richard Blaine was originally Yitzhak Baline, a Jewish gangster and speakeasy manager in New York.

****Louis Renault's curiosity and remarks about Rick's past is also useful: "Did you abscond with the church funds? Did you run off with the Senator's wife? I like to think that you killed a man -- it's the romantic in me." In the film, Rick replies that it was a combination of all three reasons and Walsh draws on that idea as well.

****The down side to this novel involves the characters of Victor Lazlo and Ilsa. Victor carries on like a self-righteous man blinded by "the cause" and revenge. Walsh has Ilsa go undercover in an attempt to portray her as more active in the war intrigue and her destiny. However good the intent, the scenario plays out poorly.

****"As Time Goes By" does give food for the imagination -- if only how you would've written a better story. But you can easily live your life without ever reading Walsh's book. The best advice, really, is to see "Casablanca" again. The original never disappoints.

Michael Walsh writes very readable prose and I am impressed with this grammar, syntax, diction, descriptive ability, and overall use of the English language. He writes far more well than I ever could. Nonetheless, I think he undertook an impossible task in writing "As Time Goes By," which, ultimately, was disappointing to a lover of the nearly film "Casablanca."

Walsh's efforts are clearly a labor of love and I don't know that anyone could have produced a better novel. I like the concept of "As Time Goes By" in terms of its being both a prequel and a sequel to the movie.

What I didn't much like were what he made the characters to be. His reasons for Rick Blaine's inability to return to the United States made me dislike Rick Blaine way too much. I just didn't want Rick to be a reformed mobster and I just couldn't picture him as a renamed Yitzak Baline. Walsh gives all his reasons for the character backgrounds he invented for Rick Blaine, Ilsa Lund, Louis Rénault, et al. and, while I appreciate his reasons, the characters he creates just didn't ring true for me.

The sequel plot doesn't cut it for me, either. It just isn't the sort of thing the Victor Laszlo we saw in "Casablanca" would do.

"Casablanca" as a film is a wonderful thing, far surpassing the play upon which it was based (so I'm guessing, from what I've read about the original plot of "Everybody Comes to Rick's"), one of those amazing experiences in movie-making where everything came together -- cast, writers, director, etc.

When something is that good, who could write anything by way of a prequel and/or sequel that would satisfy.

I did finish the book. I had to see where it went and how it ended. But, frankly, I had to get out my video of "Casablanca" immediately afterward as an antidote for the whole thing, to reacquaint myself with the originals of Rick Blaine, Isla Lund, Victor Laszlo and Louis Rénault because I didn't like the ones left in my mind from having read "As Time Goes By."

As I said, Michael Walsh can write and I'd be happy to read other works of fiction by him, hopefully ones with characters he originated himself.

This is not "Casablanca".

That's pretty obvious. I am going to be completely honest here: this is a fun novel that is clearly a labour of love by the author. However, it's more to do with action than the bitter romance of the original movie.

This is not a sacreligious text in any way to the movie: it's a fun continuation that is worthy of a read. So long as you don't go into it expecting a perfect novelisation of "Casablanca" you'll enjoy reading this - it's well written, lively and the sly winks to Bogart's character in the movie and Bogart's career are used well to flesh out the story and develop the characters.

Walsh has taken a brave step - he was bound to get into trouble for writing a sequel to "Casablanca". I would agree that a few too many loose ends are tied up in this novel, but on the whole Walsh's grasp of the ambigious past (and future) work well without making Rick an open-book character.