So you pick up this book and read on the back cover the exciting quote about Hemingway's ghost and you're ready to drop some cash, right? Guess what--there's zero information about the Hemingway haunting in this book! In addition, old Ataulfo of Madrid has less words wasted on him than an asthmatic's version of Handel's Halleluja Chorus. Instead, what's offered here is a rehash of old stories (and old theories about what ghosts could be) with insipid, comic book illustrations. Why this is called a "field guide" with its connotation of an exhaustive reference to every kind of manifestation of a particular phenomenon--be it birds, plants, or mushrooms--is yet another part of the mystery of why this book exists. If you're a serious researcher of this subject, then pass this book up and seek Hem's fetch elsewhere.

The authors did a great job of categorizing the different types of ghost: haunter, poltergeist, revenant, harbinger, and time-slip.

There's plenty of helpful illustrations as well. I highly recommend this book.

This book tells you everything you need to know about ghosts.

Hilary Evans clearly knows a lot about the UFO phenomenon, at least in terms of history, theories, etc. He has written other, similar works. This effort, however, is puzzling to me. Although not referenced in the title or subtitle, much of the material deals with such phenomena as ghosts, angels, demons and the like; the apparent connection with UFOs and aliens is the "otherworldly" aspect. Also, even when focusing on UFOs and related issues, the reader is left scratching the head. Some of the more well-documented cases are dismissed (Roswell was a mogul balloon [no mention of the crash test dummies as aliens, although already published]);the Belgium triangular craft sightings, witnessed by hundreds, shown on radar and chased by military pilots was most likely U.S. "stealth" planes; abduction claims are looked at very skeptically (typical of the European view), especially the use of regressive hypnosis, popular with American researchers. Stangely, however, some of the more fringe ideas are considered as possibly true (i.e. Trevor Constable's biological UFOs, Nazi saucer bases in Antarctica, etc.). One could get the impression that this work was an effort to further discredit and confus; it did not elucidate. Add to this the excessive use of garish photos and graphics, and the fact that Reader's Digest was the publisher, and the reader is left even more befuddled than ever. All in all, a mixed bag, but is not really recommended for the serious student of the subject ( or for anyone, for that matter).

I had delved a bit into current UFO lore before reading this book. I enjoyed this book because it touches upon most of the ideas that I had previously encountered. In that respect, it gives a very good overall picture of UFO ideology. I also liked the alien/spirit/ghost connection, although it does nothing to strengthen the UFO case.

The thing that I did not like about this book, however, was that the cases presented were not current. Most of the examples were from the 1950's and 1960's and even before that. With all of the UFO phenonmenon currently being reported, one would think he could get more current information! I also felt that the author dwells too long on the "Martian hysteria" which has its roots in science fiction, while glossing over events such as Roswell, which may be science fact.

Although the author's conclusions are anti-UFO, I would still recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a general overview of the current thoughts surrounding UFO's. We are all capable of creating our own opinions without being swayed by the author's views.