It is too bad that a big name critic has not reviewed this book. So many more people would have the opportunity to read this exciting, fun story. Get a copy while it is still available.

Didn't think it could be done, but the author did it; a mystery story, with lots of romance, without violence and swearing. It was a pleasure to read. Thanks, Robert!

On the cover of the novel, the beverage being poured into the glass represents the dozens of characters in the story, each with an intoxicating name, that is mixed together in a spirited mystery thriller which includes touches of humor in every chapter. An exciting, fun book to read. Give it a chance! You will love it.

The story of Eduard and Helene was so emotionally charged and passionate! I accidentally managed to miss a crucial passage in the book telling Helene's real backround which made the revelation Eduard has at the end all the more heart wrenching. Very emotional book, keeps you there and is so hard to put down. You really live in the hearts of the characters and really feel their emotions. A grand passionate love story with riches, intrigue, lots of steamy moments, and filled with real life feelings. An absolute MUST read book!

Wow. Yes, this book reminded me of Sidney Sheldon's "Masters of the Game" because, like that book, it contains many characters, whose lives are interwoven by chance. It's a huge book with so many many many characters, you'll need to stop and reassess them all, but it's a delight to read. A love story between a French baron, Eduord, and an English misfit, Helene. How they are joined together is a mystery I will leave you to find out for yourself. The book details the lives of Eduord and Helene, together and apart, and a love that is amazing. How they came together was just a matter of destiny. Pure pleasure, this book was, and I just loved every bit of it.

At first I thought this book would be boring, but as soon as I started, I couldn't stop reading it.I've experienced emotions that were totally alien to me. The story has been written in such a manner that you immerse yourself completely into the role of the main characters: experience their pain and happiness. I could even feel the heat emanating from the dusty streets! I have read extensively and have still not managed to find a book that could surpass the excellence of Destiny. The ending is so unexpected and heart-stirring. When I had finished with this book,I swore to myself never ever to read this book again, until I felt more confident that I deal with the emotional experiences generated from reading it. THE INTENSITY OF THE EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES ONE GETS FROM THIS BOOK IS INCREDIBLE - YOU MUST READ IT.

I ordered the book after visiting Paul's website which has many of his beautiful paintings online and I was really delighted to receive my copy yesterday. The book is done on a very professional level, filled with gorgeous step-by-step projects, and it serves as the door to the Paul's spectacular watercolor world. I've recently realized (I'm a beginner watercolorist) that a painter needs to train ones vision the same way as a musician needs to train fingers, and Paul gives many valuable hints on such perception development, seeing beyond the still life objects and taking them to life by help of light effects. The many projects in the book are very interesting and tempting, earlier I used to sigh when seeing some amazing paintings depicting colored glass, crystal and metal objects, but now I'm sure I'll be trying to paint them myself by using Paul's instructions! Also the architectural paintings demand special attention, painted Paul's way, the churches, monuments and city buildings create a special mood and they become messengers to the viewer. I really recommend this inspirational and at the same time very practical book to watercolorists of any level.

I have read a great many watercolor books, but Paul Jackson's book "Painting Spectacular Light Effects in Watercolor" merits special attention. This is not just a book about watercolor techniques, but teaches the reader how to REALLY look at a subject so he can accurately depict it. Once you can really see something, you can then paint it with your own style. Paul Jackson's style is spectacular. He uses both his own paintings and colored photographs as examples, and give us several step by step guides to his painting style. I am delighted to include this book in my library of watercolor books, and I recommend it to watercolorists of any level.

The stunning cover on this book was enough for me to pick it up...almost every watercolor pictured in the book is a course within itself, but the book contains wonderful detailed instructions about painting in all kinds of light. As an intermediate watercolorist, it is difficult to find a book that doesn't dwell on the basics and gives me new techniques in an interesting, exciting and executable fashion. Bravo to Paul Jackson!

"The human race, without intending anything of the sort, has undertaken a gigantic uncontrolled experiment on the earth. In time, I think, this will appear as the most important aspect of twentieth-century history, more so than World War II, the communist enterprise, the rise of mass literacy, the spread of democracy, or the growing emancipation of women." (J. R. McNeill)

Over the past few years there have been a spate of histories of the 20th century. Most of them have been written from traditional, often Eurocentric, historical perspectives that focus upon political history set in the context of socioeconomic development and ideological and military conflict. J. R. McNeill's *Something New Under the Sun* replaces the political narrative, usually found at the center of histories, with an environmental one. It invites readers to reevaluate the legacy of the 20th century.

By any measure, the 20th century is, as McNeill characterizes it, "a prodigal century." In terms of growth of population, economic development, and energy production and consumption, it is a case of 'quantity having a quality of its own.' On the one hand, it is a triumph of the human species. (McNeill suggests readers consider that over the past 4 billion years of human history, 20% of all human life-years took place in the 20th century.) On the other hand, this prodigal century - this triumph of human ingenuity - has also exacted an unprecedented environmental cost. It is this trade-off that McNeill's book explores.

McNeill's approach is interdisciplinary, and the book is divided into two sections. The first section is organized around transformations to the lithosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere, and the resulting pollution and resource depletion. Each topic includes a (very) brief conceptual introduction, case studies from around the world, (black and white) photos, maps, and tables. This section also includes the best example of unintentional environmental consequences. McNeill introduces Thomas Midgely, the inventor of leaded gasoline and Freon, "[who] had more impact on the atmosphere than any other organism in earth history."

In the second section, McNeill introduces the 'engines of change" - 1) population growth, migration, and urbanization, 2) energy, technology, and economic growth, and 3) politics and environmental awareness. The pulses of 'coketowns' and 'motowns' take place amidst the tumultuous social, economic, and political events of the 20th century. Environmental awareness doesn't take root until the 70's - a critical period for women as well. (His examples of Rachel Carson and Wangari Maathai were well chosen - and gendered.) In his epilogue (So What?), McNeill's history portends an environmental crunch, a change of circumstances - a dilemma unlike the world has witnessed so far.

"With our new powers we banished some historical constraints on health and population, food production, energy use, and consumption generally. Few who know anything about life with these constraints regret their passing. But in banishing them we invited other constraints in the form of the planet's capacity to absorb wastes, by-products, and impacts of our actions. The latter constraints had pinched occasionally in the past, but only locally. By the end of the twentieth century, they seemed to restrict our options globally. Our negotiations with these constraints will shape the future as our struggles against them shaped our past." (J. R. McNeill)

*Something New Under The Sun* is written in a popular style well suited to both non-fiction readers and students. Readers of environmental historians like William Cronon, William McNeill, or Alfred Crosby will certainly find McNeill's book interesting. Personally I think that McNeill's global perspective of the 20th century will stand the test of time.

For a throughly researched, densly written , book of facts to be readable is almost a contradiction. Yet this is exactly what J.R. McNeill has accomplished. He is a Historian, most interested in change, objective in his assesment of those changes (Who and What benefits, Who and What doesn't), anthropocentric(a viewpoint too often missing in environmental studies), and broad-minded concerning possible approaches to problems (the shark has done very well for a very long time).

What makes this such an important book aside from its readability and penetrating analysis, is perspective. J.R. McNeill considers history without consideration of the life-support system of Earth or ecology that neglects social forces, incomplete and capable of leading to dangerous conclusions. Further, "Both history and ecology are, as fields of knowledge go, supremely integrative. They merely need to integrate with one another."

Having grown up in Pittsburgh, Pa., I can attest to the author's history of Pittsburgh and to his grasp of the complexity of problems there (for instance: Andrew Carnegie found the level of pollution intolerable, later some unions fought smoke-control). In today's world, no matter where we live or what work we do,environmental issues will arise.

This book by elucidating the processes and trends that underly today's world, gives us a foundation on which to base our opinions and choices, working toward the day when we , in the author's words, "Make our own luck, rather than trusting to luck..."

McNeill's basic thesis is that in environmental terms, the 20th century has been unprecedented in human history and planetary history in general. He points out that the impact of humankind's breathtaking technological advancements in the last 100 or so years can be likened to a major cataclysm, like an asteroid hitting the planet. The book provides a wealth of background information on a number of major technical/technological developments, and how they have improved the lives of many people but also damaged or imperiled the air, water and soil that sustain all life. McNeill is hardly a Luddite or a primitivist, but he does make some reasonable calls for restraint and, perhaps, a worldwide assessment of where human economic/industrial/technological activities are taking the planet. Interesting in this vein is his consideration, toward the end of the book, of how the economic thought of the last century, with its adherence to the concept of unlimited growth, has played a key role in preventing such an assessment. As he points out, overcoming this way of thinking represents a daunting task, since these (Anglo-American) economic doctrines have assumed the status of irrefutable dogma - like any system of religious beliefs.

My main objections to this field guide were the illustrations. Artistic renderings are often beautiful, but fail to portray the animal in question with accuracy. Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius)is a case in point. Although I have not observed this animal at sea myself, I spoke with a number of fellow fishery biologists who have spent time at sea as marine mammal observers and no one has ever observed a bright yellow Ziphius in the field. All observed a base color of grey with this genus, at least in the northeastern Pacific. The Tasmacetus rendering is most likely based on the J. Mammalogy (1976) paper by Watkins wherein an unidentified ziphiid whale (probable Tasmacetus) was observed from a bluff overlooking the sea in New Zealand. Useful plates were those showing all similar cetaceans together; eg. all oceanic dolphins without prominent beaks, all oceanic dolphins WITH prominent beaks etc. The ziphidae plates show male Mesoplodon characteristics, but that is to be expected since solitary female ziphiid whales, especially Mesoplodon sp., could be virtually impossible to identify. My own field guide preferences use photographs rather than artistic renderings. Other problems: The distribution maps to not reflect the full distribution (extralimital observations/strandings) of many species. An example: Psuedorca is shown as a species with a distribution much further south than observations/stranding records indicate. The text does suggest that 'numerous records' exist outside of the more tropical distribution shown in the map. Note also that many of the dolphin renderings are positioned so that the dorsal fin is right where the pages meet. We did get a chuckle over the photograph showing what you should wear when watching whales, but that can be explained by our 'silly scientist' bias. One note for potential whale-watchers: do not allow your binocular strap to lie right on the skin of your neck while at sea as you can wear painful wounds into your neck through a day of whale-watching. Make sure your shirt collar or other clothing lies under that silly strap! Voice of experience!

This book clearly deserves more than five stars for the great joy it will make available to you in the future by encouraging you to do more cetacean watching.

One of my pleasures is planning and taking trips to the various whale, dolphin, and porpoise rich areas in the world. When there, I spend as much time as possible on the water enjoying the views. I was particularly delighted to see that this book opens the doors to locales that I did not know about. As a result, I now have three times as many places to visit as I thought I did. Having seen the unusual species that I have missed, I now see the world much differently. That's a great gift to receive from a field guide.

Most people are unaware of the fascinating and beautiful mammal life in the oceans and rivers (yes, some dolphins live in rivers) around them. Although I live near one of the world's best cetacean watching areas, I would estimate that fewer than five percent of the people I meet have ever gone to observe the wonderful sights that are just a few minutes offshore. This guide can help change all that.

With a heightened sense of our aquatic co-species, I think that all people will have more respect for them and interest in preserving their habitats and populations.

Many people have a chance to go boating on the ocean, and see something that interests them. What is it? How should they approach it? I hope that all ocean-going boaters will buy a copy of this book to address those questions.

This is a beautiful book to hold and behold. The drawings are luscious in their subtlety of color and shape.

As a way to identify cetaceans, I cannot imagine a handbook that could be any better. The book is filled with dozens of clues for each type from length, shape, coloration, presence of typical parasites, behavior, breathing patterns, and other physical characteristics (like the shape of the teeth or baleen, blowholes, tails, heads, etc.). With so many observational points to consider, it would be very unusual to make a mistake. So the casual cetacean watcher can quickly be able to perform like an expert.

After you have finished enjoying this wonderful book, I suggest that you plan your next trip to watch cetaceans. If possible, I suggest going to some location that you have never been to before. Even if formal party boats are not available there, you can go out in the least expensive way and rely on your handbook to guide you into a better understanding of what you are seeing.

Appreciate the natural grandeur and beauty of the cetaceans . . . always!

This durably jacketed guide to all known cetaceans contains easy to use identification information and illustrations. This is THE take-along field guide to use if you are going whale watching or traveling anywhere you want to know about the whales, dolphins/ porpoises you are seeing, as well as some explanation of behaviors and how they live. We used it in Antarctica; it's field tested. José Kirchner

This is an exciting book for anyone who wants to learn about the "cold war" following the Korean conflict, and before and after the Vietnamese war. This book gives an account of the life of a man who served his country. Paul Adkisson does not hide his feelings behind false bravado or add inflated deeds to impress us. His story is told simply but profoundly in the language of a sailor doing his duty at a time when few of us cared. Paul Adkisson's story is the story of many of us who served during that time. There are no great flashes of adventure nor is the destruction of the world thrwarted by a single act of bold daring-- as one reads in popular fiction. Yet, on every page one learns of the quiet heroism of men doing their duty and living their daily lives. There have been many men like Paul Adkisson but he has taken the time and effort to share his life with us. His personal odyssey is a truly great adventure and should be read by everone. Thank you Paul, for your years of duty and sacrifice. Your life and your story enriches us all.

Paul Adkisson has for the first time to my knowledge placed in print the way it was in a Navy defending the Republic in the 50's, 60's and 70's. It is hard hitting and pulls no punches. He writes from the perspective of a steam engineer. Totally believable. Early on in Adkissons book I could smell the stack gas and fuel oil, hear the scream of forced draft blowers, feel the unbearable heat in the main engineering spaces that was borne by all, the heaving/rolling deck of a '2100' FLETCHER class destroyer and the feeling of no privacy in cramped/close living quarters. In a way that no other author for me has been able to, Adkisson describes life in the Navy as experienced by all who put to sea for foreign shore in those three decades. I said all!

Did I say totally believable? Well,.....I was reading about myself, I lived it! I salute a fellow engineer and a brother Chief. 4.0! BRAVO ZULU! On a scale of one to ten; 9.95.

Master Chief Adkissons book, Anchors and Eagles; is about a Navy that I married and came to love. A Navy, a sailor and an era that will never exist again in the annals of future naval history.

I found Paul Adkisson by reading the reviews of this book. I took a chance, wondering if he just happened to serve with my father, Richard Wooton, Chief Master at Arms. When he wrote me back, not only did he surprise me by indicating he knew my father, but told me he knew him well, and told me stories!! My father passed away in January of 1994, and Mr. Adkisson brought him back just by the stories and the e-mails I received from him. He sent me a copy of his book Anchors and Eagles, and I have read it from cover to cover. This is the most truthful, true-to-Navy-life book I have read, and it also reminds me of the years spent traveling with my father throughout his 26-year Navy career. Like my father, Mr. Adkisson has served his country well, and he should be extremely proud. Thank you again...[sincerely]

The integrity of this man is absolutely astonishing. Out of a possible 10, he gets a 15 from me!

Cocktail : The Drinks Bible for the 21st Century by Paul Harrington and Laura Moorhead may not be the biggest book about mixing drinks around, but it certainly is one of the best. With 275 recipes, it certainly does cover its fair share of drinks, but fans of the shooter beware, you'll find no such drinks in this book. Harrington is focused on bringing back the classic cocktail, and while some may find him pretentious, or even snooty, no one can say he doesn't know what he's talking about. The most refreshing thing about this book is that it doesn't just give recipes, it give background on the cocktail, the time period it was created, and even who some of the more famous imbibers of the particular drink were. There are even well done pictures of some of the cocktails. So, if you're looking for more than just a recipe book, and you want to create some classic cocktails, check Cocktail out. However, if you're looking for Atomic Bodyslams and Sex on the beach, find another book.

This book focuses on "classic" cocktails -- for the most part, those that were around before Prohibition. You won't find Sex on the Beach, but you will find a bunch of almost-forgotten morsels like the Pegu and the Mojito.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part is a primer to mixing and stocking a bar, with lots of background on various ingredients and techniques. The second part, my favorite, focuses on 64 cocktails, mostly old-school drinks like the aforementioned Pegu and Mojito. In addition to these recipes, there is also a nicely-pretentious discussion of each drink, including its history (as near as can be determined). The third part is the reference section, with a couple hundred recipes -- again, still fairly old-school -- and a nice glossary.

This book is very highly recommended. After buying this, you'll want a couple more books for your bar shelf, but you'll find yourself returning to this one again and again.

I first learned of Paul Harrington, "The Alchemist," from the Cocktail website at HotWired. His classic descriptions of drinks, their histories, and the nuances of mixology (NOT bartending) made me an instant devotee.

As much as I love the website, it's not the most practical reference (i.e. few people have a computer in their bar). I was thrilled when Paul released this book with all the wonderful aspects of the website, including the gorgeous and inspirational illustrations, intact. I've browsed through a number of other drink related books, purchased a subset of those books, and use even fewer. When I want a recipe or a history, I turn first to this book.

While Cocktail doesn't claim to have recipes for every drink known to man, it does have all the classics. Let's face it, do you really want to know how to make a "pink squirrel" or "slow comfortable screw"? If so, this book is probably not for you. Take heart, though, for Paul does provide direction for countless other, less classic, drinks at the website.

If you're serious about exploring cocktail culture or expanding your libation repertoire -- both as a mixologist and an imbiber -- you'll find this book infinitely useful and a joy to use as well as peruse.

"Good News for Bad Days" is masterfully composed, flawless in its writing and wise in its message. For what it is -- a guide to the use of the spirit in coping with the adversities of life -- it's perfection. If that's your interest, you'll enjoy it and perhaps even be a better person for having read it.

Good News for Bad Days - a great title for a book which gives such a deep look into the life of the author. Father Paul shows me in this book that it is possible to be fully human and fully in touch with God. In fact, to be fully human is to live a soulful - a soulfilled - life. It is rare these days to have someone share so much of their own struggles and joys of life. In all of the struggles, there is a lesson to be learned. That lesson is grounded in a deep faith in God. I only wished that Father Paul had written this book years ago!

Sometimes, books like these can become too heavily optimistic and, therefore, alienate the reader that really needs comfort in a time of suffering. When I purchased this book, my older sister had just died at the age of 27 and I was desperate for some kind of comfort. My friends and family, though they tried, only seemed to make me feel worse. This book, however, was just what I needed.

Good News for Bad Days takes a sober and uplifting look at life without making your problems seem mundane or unworthy of notice. It is a book that is full of empathy and not pride or guilt. Father Keenan does not push Christianity down your throat or even try to convert the reader, rather he uses modern day situations to show the different ways one can look at life and times of need.

If you are looking for a friend to be compassionate and there is no one in sight, this book is just what you need.

Did you think it was impossible to heal without drugs? The author, Wider who lived Depression & Manic Depression has healed! A practical, hopeful, consoling and solution filled book in lay person's language. Highly recommended to anyone, especially those who cannot or will not take meds or those for whom meds don't work. Wider's "tools" can be used by those taking medication as well as those not taking it.

As yet another person who was diagnosed as bipolar, and who is now living a normal, sane life WITHOUT medication, I can say that Mr. Wider's book has been of great use to me! The advice and techniques, as well as the personal experiences he tells about, are invaluable to people suffering from mood swings and to those living with them.

There is something that is not mentioned in the book---something that should give those taking medication for bipolar depression reason to seriously consider learning to use the things Paul Wider is talking about, rather than to continue medication indefinitely. It is the toxicity of those medications. Lithium can be positively poisonous. Deaths from overdoses can and do occur, EVEN in those who have been faithfully having their dosage monitored for long periods of time. Substitutes for lithium, such as Tegratol and Valproic Acid, are similarly dangerous. Tegratol can, for instance, permanently lower one's blood platelet count, and both Tegratol and Valproic Acid can cause serious harm and even death if an accidental overdose occurs. And again, overdose can occur in those who have been faithfully having dosage monitored. This happens when, for some unknown reason, the body's dosage tolerance goes down.

When doctors talk about "medication" to control bipolar depression, they are talking about making very serious and complicated alterations in body and brain chemistry. Some anti-depressants---MAO Inhibitors, for instance---can permanently alter brain processes, causing permanent dependence on MAO Inhibitors.

For these reasons, which are not even mentioned in the book, I believe people suffering from bipolar depression, as well as their families, should give Mr. Wider's ideas serious consideration, and should seriously question whoever is prescribing the medication about long term effects and consequences.

This book is wonderful. It offers people suffering from depression many ways to cope other than prescription medication. The author has put his own experiences into book form, along with his expertise and compassion. I hope that many people purchase this book and put the "tools" in it to work for themselves in overcoming the terrible disease of depression. Thank you, Paul Wider, for sharing your book full of marvelous coping mechanisms to help deal with depression!

Greenberg's book features pointed advice regarding the most common CRM topics(SFA, Marketing...). Another chapter I found useful was the chapter detailing the layout of CRM implementations. Although a good read, I have some criticisms: 1. The author is a bit biased to some vendors. 2. Not the best written book. The grammar and structure is not very conducive to "demystifying" CRM. Not a great pleasure to read this book (although quite informative).

Perhaps the best feature of this book is the great CRM business ideas that it features. It gets the reader thinking "maybe I should start a company and use some of these business ideas". Case in point: read the PRM and verticals chapter. Good for people looking to start their own CRM consultancy.

As a relatively new consultant in the CRM world its hard to know exactly how CRM fits in its broadest scope. Trying to decipher CRM piece by piece can cause migrains the size of Mount Olympus. Mr. Greenberg's book brings all of the components together and presents them in an easy to understand often times humorous way. If you want to know how the seperate disciplines of CRM interact with one another as well as the existing systems of a company and why this is of benefit to a company, then this book is a must read. Or, if you just want to know what the heck CRM is, who the major players are and where the future of the industry is going, it is an irreplacable tool. I recomend this book to anyone who remotely deals with the CRM industry.

When was the last time you read a business book written by an industry insider, and was so captivated by the book's content that you couldn't put the book down?? Well, author Paul Greenberg treats the reader to such a rare experience.

Whether you're the CEO of a company concerned about customer loyalty/profitability, a project leader charged with selecting and imlementing a CRM initiative, or a consultant within the CRM industry, this book is for you.

The biggest challenge the Business/CRM world faces today is understanding the delineation between CRM as a business strategy, and CRM as an enabling technology. No easy task! But Paul Greenberg clarifies this with incredible ease.

The author also, with zero techno-geek language, provides significant insights into areas of CRM such as: What IS CRM/What is it NOT?,Why your company needs CRM!!, ECRM versus CRM(a topic in the business world that seems to be strewn with much confusion), Who the real CRM players are....and why they are REAL, and What roles the internet and wireless applications are playing today, and in the future, and much, much more.

So if you're looking to become "CRM literate", or want to add to your CRM knowledge base, and want to actually have fun doing it-Paul's book is interspersed with humorous tidbits- GO BUY THIS BOOK!!