Firstly, I've read many versions of The Art of War by Sun Tzu and they all seemed to be translated by someone with Chinese as their native language, rather than English. This translation is as clear as they get. Napoleon's maxims are short and sweet. The other works contained herein are also easy to read and are packed with simple, eternal principles of warfare.

... I just finished reading this little book. ... Yeah, I've come across some of this stuff before in my life: during music class in grade, middle, and high school; while taking guitar lessons at age 11 for a few weeks; while taking piano lessons at age 13 for a few months; while trying to teach myself guitar with books at age 14; while taking drum lessons for a few months at age 20; as well as what you come across while reading music magazines, music books, or jamming with your buddies. ... Compared to ALL of that combined exposure, I learned MORE from reading this little book than I did from all of my previous lessons in music. That's saying a LOT for a little book.

... Look, I'm a DRUMMER. I don't REALLY need to know all this THEORY stuff. But let me tell you: the next time I get together and jam with my friends, for the first time in my life, I am going to have at least SOME understanding of what the hell the guitar players and keyboardists are talking about. Yeah, allright, you might play by ear like Paul McCartney and Jimi Hendrix, too - as do I. ... But if you want to UNDERSTAND what Zappa KNEW like the back of his hand, then you NEED to know some Music Theory. You can start with this cool litle book! It makes a handy reference, especially when you can brag to your Music Major friends that NIRVANA were the masters of the art of "Fortepiano" ( "Loud, immediately followed by soft." ) ... YOWZA! - The Aeolian Kid

I have searched high and low for a good and easy russian course at libraries and book stores, have tried at least 5, and this is by far my very favorite! The voices on the tapes (there's a man and a woman who alternate) are very pleasant, unlike the others, which has annoying/grating voices and accents. The speakers on the tapes are native to Russia, of course.

Each lesson is easy and fun, and each chapter has a vocabulary list, folllowed by a realistic conversation between the speakers, which uses vocabulary words from the list. The conversations are connected, creating a kind of story line as you go through the book. The last chapter is an epilogue in Russian describing the fate of the characters you've come to know throughout the book.

I would listen to the lesson on the tape and follow along with the book a few times, then I could listen to the tape in the car a few times. When I felt confident, I'd move on to the next lesson. It is very feasible to finish this entire course in three months, and feel ready to travel to Russia and hold normal conversations!

Simply put: an essential survey/guide to the 1926-1936 era of (mainly) American sf. Bleiler has read _everything_ published in the magazines during this time period, gives a synopsis of the story, offers historical notes, and quite often comments on the importance (or lack thereof) of the story. David H. Keller comes in for some deadly bone-crushing comments. Bleiler has also tracked down biographical information, going so far as to search Social Security death records. And there's much more, far too much to list here.

Having read a fair number of these stories, his comments are quite accurate (most of what was published by Gernsback is awful dreck, but there were a few important stories published too).

If you have any interest in the this early era of SF this is an essential book for the shelf. And it's fun to read the plot summaries of some absolutely dreadful stories!

Nonminated for the 1999 Hugo for Best Related Book (previously the Non-Fiction category).

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The << Seashore>> is an essential member of the First Discovery series and deserves to be put back in print. There is no doubt many people (and libraries) would like to have a complete set of these titles.

These First Discovery books never cease to amaze. They pioneer the innovative technique of the "double sided overlay", a brilliant illustrating tool which brings excitement and almost dynamic movement to story telling.

The concept of the Seashore book is to emphasise the interface between land and sea, and that place where man and nature interact. The environmental message is strong eg. " Always replace the stone in the same place when you look in rock pools".

The overlays allow us to see the top and bottom of a crab in great detail. We also see inside the hermit crab's shell and the time he does his house-moving!

If you love to eat shell-fish, you will adore the pictures of the oysters, mussels and scallops. By turning the page you see inside the shell. They look good enough to eat. By the way, why do so many chefs discard those gorgeous roes on scallops?

The scene of the wading birds (curlews and oystercatchers) is done particularly well, We get an "underground view" of the burrowing molluscs and the long curving beaks of the birds at the surface hunting for their supper.

The illustrator's art is at its most brilliant when we are looking at a curtain of brilliantly colored seagrasses. There is something lurking behind here. Turn the page and you are face to face with a moray eel.

Track this book down or lobby the publishers to re-print it. It deserves to get a wider audience.

Moving and brilliant poems. Of course any English translation will leave much to be desired (the "language centers" of Hugo's brain were apparently intrinsically French), but this volume captures much of the imagery and emotion of the original poems, despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that these are free (unrhymed and unscanned) translations. Fortunately, the original French is given on the adjacent pages.

The selection is judicious, but ungenerous. The volume should have been three times this length. As it is, we get fewer than 30 poems on 118 pages, and most of the poems are short. Worse, "L'expiation" is excerpted - and even this excerpt is cut! I guess space was the publisher's overriding concern. SARCASM ON. After all, why should a publishing house give much more than 100 pages to the greatest poet the world has known, when there is such a demand for 200-300 page volumes devoted to [insert name of contemporary no-talent here]? SARCASM OFF.

Credit to Haxton for his generally sensitive work. Why more people aren't translating Hugo, I don't know. All we have now are Haxton himself (sensitive but quick to cut), Harry Guest (intellectual but a little prosaic - and out-of-print), and the Blackmores (pedestrian). Allons, poets!

After viewing Hugo's art displayed at his home, I was surprised at the lack of material I could find to read about it. This book has been a great find for me, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Hugo or the history of modern Western art.

Great book, I totally recommed this!

This is a great book about wildlife researchers who rescue and raise a wild dog pup and then successfully release it into the wild. It was produced as a wildlife film under another name. The pictures are wonderful and it is well written. Overall a very enjoyable book and a pleasant way to learn about the wild dogs of Africa.

get bang for your buck. quite informative with heavy emphasis on vocabulary. excellent book for beginners and travelers. although 99% of swedes speak excellent english you are sure to get a smile when you belt out..jag tala svenske!