this activity book is a must for any parent or teacher of pre-school aged children. don't be fooled by the badly illustrated cover; the drawings and stories are both easy to use and talently executed. i look forward to using the other books in this series.

Its a shame that its out of print , and a shame for his other books, too... He combines real facts and historical events with a love story and I find that very interesting and educational at the same time... I enjoyed this thoroughly and also "The Woman of Cairo" was excellent...

This book provides a very good overview on Daum Cristal, its origin and development in France. The information included is well presented and since I love collecting Daum Cristal items, I use it very often to check on Daum designs. I have not found any other book in the market covering this subject so extensively. A great reference book for people that collect art expressed in glass!

Annan provides memorable portraits of many Oxbridge dons, even as he shows how different from our own were the eras in which these men (and, far too belatedly, women) worked. For example, consider the following:

** The two opiates to be avoided at all costs were love of success and a preoccupation with money. Lowes Dickinson's most famous pupil was E. M. Forster, who in his novels tooks Dickinson's ideas a stage further; and he summarised the King's [College] ethos by saying that it was a place that "taught the perky boy that he was not everything and the limp boy that he might be something." **

Alas, this is not _our_ era . . .

The book is also packed with amusing quotes from the dons themselves, such as the following message from one don to another:

** On our return last night I found as I thought that a spider had crawled out of the inkstand over a piece of paper; but it turns out to be a hieroglyphic from which I so far interpreted as to perceive it was an invitation to meet some professor whose name as you wrote it looked somewhat indecent. I shall be happy to wait on you and take the opportunity of learning the Eyptian mode of writing. **

Annan's book is ultimately an elegy because Margaret Thatcher, among others, did so much to ruin the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge.

Yes, censorship is alive, even in the Land of the Free. Perrin's terrific book is essentially a history of censorship in the UK and US. In the US, the censorship appears primarily as "bowdlerization" in which the rougher edges of a written work are edited out to avoid offending sensitive readers or arousing witch hunters.

The "Dr. Bowdler" of the title refers to the guiding light of a printed version of Shakespeare that was popular in the US in the 19th century. Bowdler and family produced this edited version for "family" consumption, since "raw" Shakespeare was deemed too raw for popular sensibilities, and for children in particular.

For this paperback version, Perrin included an update to report on more recent events. The most incredible story had to do with Bradbury's famous anti-censorship SF novel "Fahrenheit 451" and how the complete edition was supplanted for a few years by a censored edition.

The above editorial reviews of Eco Homo are all more insightful and articulate than any review that I can write so what can I address that the others don't? A reason why you should read this book. "Did you ever wonder why people walk upright? Why some people have dark skin and some have light? Why our early ancestors left Africa and started wandering the globe?..." The author examines the forces that shaped humanity and writes interestingly about his conclusions and methods for reaching them.

Gordon Turner has written a worthy tribute to Canadian Pacific's flagship RMS Empress of Britain of 1931. This splendid looking vessel was the first large liner built for both crossing and cruising and the author has done an excellent job of telling the ship's story from inception to construction and then a year to year account of her world-girding cruises and Atlantic crossings (from Quebec to Southampton) and her glamourous passengers. The book is extremely attractive with superb photographs, many never published before. The illustrations of the ship's magnificent public rooms are of special interest. Fascinating appendices give all of the ship's technical details. The saddest part of the book, of course, is the complete account of her tragic loss during the early days of the Second World War when she was bombed by the Luftwaffe. Empress of Britain was the largest Allied merchantman sunk the war. The likes of her will never be seen again and Mr. Turner is to be congratulated for telling her story with such affection and attention.

Life and its twists and turns at its best. I loved Annette Bening in this play.

Tim, Carol, and Bill Johnstone had always lived a normal kind of life, living in London with their dog, Jelly, and their parents. But all that ends when Mr Johnstone is hit by a car and put in the hospital, unable to speak or recognize his wife or children. The family moves to a smaller flat to save money, leaving Jelly behind of necessity. Mrs Johnstone takes a job as a stenographer and feels a fool because she's inefficient, Bill feels a fool because his new school is tougher than his old one, Carol is unhappy because she has to share a room with her mother (and what makes it worse is that her mother is being so nice about it), and Tim is upset that a)they couldn't take Jelly and b)he's not allowed to see his father in the hospital. He decides to sneak into the hospital, and does, but gets lost and ends up visiting an old woman instead, who writes Tim into her will, leaving him Caldicott Place. From here, things take a different turn indeed. The Johnstones move into their new home and take in as paying boarders: Freddie, a timid young baron; Sophie, an egocentric child whose adoptive parents no longer want her; and Athene, a girl who loves housework. I will say no more about the book except to add that I have read it more frequently than any other book (I think) and that I held two siblings hostage and read the entire thing aloud to them and they both liked it--high praise from finicky critics. A superb book from one the finest writers for children of all time.