Most efficient, effective and fun Italian self-study course of half a dozen I've seen. No accordian music of the sort they only trot out for tourists, and no insipid "Now it's YOUR turn" cues that wear thin the fiftieth time. The grammar alone beats any specialized "grammar in a nutshell" book. Available on CD; insist on CD's if this is your preference

I've tried a number of Italian self-study courses over the last few years. This course is the best one I've ever seen. The material is very well structured. The dialogues are useful and the conversation patterns are in accordance with the actual everyday language norms. I've used many of the conversation patterns suggested in the course in Italy and it worked! The grammar section is excellent. It is not overloaded with the special lingistic terminology and, again, it is very well structured and kept reasonably short. One will find the audiomaterial also very helpful. I, personally, found the "on the go" cassette set to be extremely efficient. The material is carefully presented in the form suitable for listening while you drive without turning your attention from the road altogether. In short, the course is excellent and highly recommended.

I am a Foreign Language Teacher. For my Italian classes I have been using Italian All The Way for the past 4 years. The material is perfectly structured. My students are adult, highly educated people, and they all liked and like this textbook. For them the Chiave per gli esercizi is very valuable too. I enjoy teaching Italian with this book so much that I do not feel any more that I have to write my own textbook! Bravi! Dott.sa MMG

Unlike the other reviewers, I found this particular collection to range from truly awful to good; there is nothing spectacular here, though. Troy Denning, an FR author I usually enjoy quite a bit (and whose first two books in this particular series are excellent), delivers a plodding, predictable story that degenerates into standard fantasy fiction stereotypes without any significant characterisation. This is atypical for Denning, and for this reason I am likely more disappointed than I might have been had another author penned the tale. Salvatore and Cunningham, as usual, deliver satisfying tales with memorable characters. Jessica Beaven is, to me at least, a new contributor. In my opinion, this should be her last attempt. Her tale was disjointed, stylistically pretentious and without any storytelling merit whatsoever. While this may tide one over between "The Siege" and the forthcoming "The Sorcerer," it would be best to not bring too much hope for an overall satisfying FR experience with this particular anthology.

This book provides an entertaining read even with the occasional poor story thrown in. The Theme of the book is interesting and several of the stories more than do it justice. The story by Paul Kemp was exceptionally entertaining, and the Lisa Smedman story was also very good. Salvatore's characters are always interesting and, although short, his story was a fun read. There are several others that make the book worth purchasing also, just accept that there will be some stories that will leave you shaking your head in disbelief. This book does prime the pump of interest in the return of the Shadovar adequately to make this an anticipated FR event.

From Lisa Smedman's Netherese mystery tale to Peter Archer's Indiana Jones-esque reprise of a character from Realms of Mystery, Realms of Shadow offers a nifty tie-in which stands effectively apart from the polarizing Return of the Archwizards trilogy (personally I like the trilogy a lot, but plenty of you don't -- do not let that discourage you from buying this anthology). I particularly like Paul Kemp's story (watching this guy. He's going to be Salvatore-big some day), Elaine Cunningham's comedy and Richard Lee Byers' adventure tale set in the ruins of Tilverton. Ed Greenwood's story sets some kind of "sets of villains in one story" record with four - phaerimm, malaugrym, shades and Bleth/Cormaeril renegade Cormyrians.

R.A. Salvatore, creator of the beloved drow warrior, Drizzt Do'Urden, from the D&D Forgotten Realms universe, is at once a fantasy powerhouse and a symbol of what is wrong with the genre. When he gets it right, it's remarkable stuff that combines elements of Tolkien and Robert E. Howard. When he gets it wrong... well, it's just boring, predictable, and trite. "The Woods Out Back," part I of the Spearweilder series, is somewhat remarkable in that it is a Salvatore effort that is neither wondrous nor dull.

One immediately gets the sense that this is a very personal endeavor for Salvatore (the lead character is named Gary, after the author's brother; his girlfriend, who appears later in the series, is named Diane after Salvatore's wife; the dwarf, Geno, shares his name with Salvatore's son, etc.). The premise is certainly a winner. A disenchanted fantasy addict from 'Real-earth' (aka, our world) happens into a fairy tale world (or, in other words, a generic Middle-earth clone), and winds up embroiled in a Hobbit-like quest to slay an evil dragon. Unfortunately, for everything "The Woods Out Back" gets right, it gets something else quite wrong.

On the positive side of the coin, Salvatore delivers some vivid characterizations (all save Gary, the somewhat bland everyman of the trilogy). His action sequences, while overused, are up to his usual standards. And, as per Salvatore usual, the writing is colorful, even if his prose is sometimes awkward. It's also clear that Salvatore was passionate about this work, and it shows. "The Woods Out Back" is definitely endearing, and fantasy buffs should find it instantly relatable.

However, it is a flawed novel. For starters, Salvatore often has his characters dispute J.R.R. Tolkien's classic, "The Hobbit." "If your Mr. Tolkien knew anything about trolls, he'd know that sunlight doesn't turn them to stone!" says one of the leads (though not in those exact words). I find this unsavory, for it seems, despite his obvious respect for Tolkien, that the author is trying to convince the audience that his world is the TRUE Middle-earth. Forget that "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" are far more believable and enchanting than "The Woods Out Back." On top of this, despite being a fairly brief read, "The Woods Out Back" seems overstuffed with useless segments - the action scenes, while superbly well-crafted, are repetitive, for instance. Salvatore is often in the habbit of repeating himself as well, and he does so here as per usual.

"The Woods Out Back," like others in the series, suffers from an unbalanced tone. For example, one moment the death of an enemy goblin may be intentionally comical - but the next moment finds Gary lamenting such a kill. I also feel Salvatore missed a golden opportunty to insert some underlying message, given the premise of the tome - and while one feels that Salvatore is attempting such a message, it's muddled at best. To top it off, there are small annoyances such as Gary's manner of speaking, which is completely unrealistic for a 22-year-old American. And what of Faerie (or the generic Middle-earth, so to speak)? Is it truly a place of fantasy, as Salvatore implies one moment, or a place of brutal reality that rivals our own, as he also implies?

In the end, though, "The Woods Out Back" is Salvatore's finest work outside the Drizzt Do'Urden novels (which will forever be his magnum opus). It's a good, solid read, although not without its glaring flaws. Still, I recommend it to fans of the writer, and fans of the genre in general. It's no ground-shaker, but it's good for a vibration or two.

'the woods out back' by drizzt do'urden creator r.a. salvatore is a light-hearted adventure with salvatore's custimarily colorful characters. the storyline is every fantasist's dream: discover a fantasy realm similar to tolkien's middle-earth, and it's up to you to save the day. this is what happens to gary leger, the story's disillusioned main character from 'real-earth.' it's good stuff, but not great - which is no surprise, really, as salvatore hasn't been great since 'the dark elf' and 'icewind dale' trilogies. it's all standard fare for the most part, and salvatore's trademark action sequences are annoying now rather than riveting, as they offer nothing that hasn't been done before - wow, more goblin attacks. oh my, let me contain my joy. still, there's a certain appeal to the novel's concept, despite some cheesy dialogue and bland action segments. it's a good diversion, but little else.

Unfortunately for books like this, they are always compared to Salvatore's Drizzt novels. In my mind, it's tough to compare to the Drizzt novels, this book is not that good, but I still liked it. This book was very original and very different from the rest of his novels. It still had a lot of action like most of Salvatore's book, and it still had Salvatore's unique and fun characters. The story starts out with a normal guy being taken to a fantasy world. He meets a leprechaun and an elf and they try to reforge a famous spear. They go through many trials through a creative world with many references to "The Hobbit." The leprechaun was my favorite character, the rest of the characters were enjoyable too. This book reminded me a lot of "Magical Kingdom for Sale: Sold!" by Terry Brooks, I don't know which one was better. This is not the most advanced of books, but what do you expect from a 290 page first book. There are a lot of better series out there (LOTR, A Song of Fire and Ice, the Drizzt series, act.) but if you are looking for a simple and enjoyable book to read, this would not be a bad choice. I liked it, but it has too tough of competition to compete against. Hardcore Salvatore fans might want to give it a try, it's definitely better than "The Sword of Bedwyr."

This book is classy. Gives the history with really posh photographs of both ads and cocktails. Recipes are listed in simple English. Colorful. Fun.

Salvatore Calabrese has complied a stylish and helpful cocktail book. The drink facts are fascinating and the pictures are top quality. Of course you get drink recipes and instructions on how to make them, but it is presented in a way that even if you never prepare one drink from the book, it is worth a look.

A must have for any cocktail or pop culture fan. See what this great American pleasure is all about. This gorgeous little book delivers recipes for, as the title reads, truely CLASSIC cocktails--ones you've heard of or had before, with old advertisements, posters, pictures, etc. from the earlier half of the twentieth century to along (and photos of drinks). The book's presentation is excellent and would make a great gift for someone new to cocktail culture (or already appreciative of it), or for yourself. Even if you never get around to making the drinks, you would be satisfied just looking through the book. Small size, hard cover, quality paper, good reproductions of pictures--nice for the coffee table where guests can take a peek at it.

Although it's not easy to criticize a book which the author says took four years of his life, and I believe him, shoppers should know that at times this book would be better titled "The Late 19th Century Including a Few Vignettes From the Life of John Montgomery Ward." Yes, this book is symptomatic of the modern trend to make them at least 25% longer than they need to be. The author thinks nothing of spending page after page describing oddities of Ward's hometown which really tells us nothing more about him than the single line "he grew up in the middle class of a small town in Pennsylvania" would have. The entire first chapter is devoted exclusively to speculations on various pictures of Ward without even putting the pictures next to them. There is at least one chapter which fails to mention Ward at all. The narrative wanders off the path often, even in the early going when the reader's attention is most at risk, and stays off for long periods of time. I would have much preferred it if this book had been one of those tall affairs with a great, wide margins and little info boxes along the side. Then one could read or not read the boxes at one's option. Or, it could have been a hypertext document and then if one wanted to read more on some of these topics, click and read more, but no reader should be forced to wade through some of this material, especially as some important details are buried in the middle of it, risking the skimming reader missing it. I suppose the fault is with the editor, but it's difficult to say as words like "faro" and "turnverein" are included without explanation -- maybe originally that wasn't the case. Please note that there are 32 pages of footnotes as well. On the other hand, entirely at the author's door are some very big questions left completely unfielded. Why is there no speculation, for example, about why Ward never participated in that most common of human activities, creating children? Also, in this connection, I am surprised that the possibility that he was tricked into his first marriage by a possible false pregnancy is never considered. His wife was after all an actress and must have been familiar with the trick from the Dramatic tradition. Another important issue: who was Ward actually? What were his politics? He seems a very unlikely revolutionary. Rather, like Aristophanes and W.S. Gilbert, he seems to criticize the system from the right, not because he fails to believe in it, but because he finds those in charge to be no-talent hacks and, significantly, because he can. His "revolution" seems to have been accomplished more by cleverness and opportunism than by principle and reality so naturally it was only a matter of time before the cards came crashing down. A little more of the author's or others' judgement on this would have been welcome, or even just a more inside look at how Ward went about his recruiting and alliance building, but all we get are two sentences. Other than these issues, I did enjoy the book quite a lot and although I cannot recommend it as highly as some others, I feel no doubt that on a research basis at least no stone has been left unturned. Certainly its topic is both rare and enjoyable.

Bryan Di Salvatore has captured the early history of baseball with his fascinating biography of baseball's early days. His profile of John Montgomery Ward, a pitcher and later an infielder, provides a detailed look at the evolution of baseball in its formative years. This was a time of numerous rules changes from underhand pitching, walks counting as hits, absence of a fixed pitching rubber, changing rules on how many balls it took to walk. The author meticulously but always in interesting prose tells us about the many battles between owners and players, the reserve clause, poor playing conditions. Ball players were lazy, overpaid, carousing drinkers(sound familiar) said the owners. Owners were greedy, interested in squeezing players for every nickel(sound familiar) said the players. Clearly the era evoked has many parallels to today except the average player salaries were clearly more in line with real wages. The average ball player made 3-5X the salary of the average working man. Generally the players were more accessible to the public although in one scene John Ward complains about the annoying fan groupies. For the baseball fan this book will clearly be educational and is well worth reading. Very few books describe the pre-1900 era and this book is a rare and thorough glimpse on the emerging popularity of baseball.

A Clever Base-Ballist: The Life And Times Of John Montgomery Ward is the riveting tale of John Montgomery Ward's life and historical baseball career, from his expulsion from Penn State University for stealing chickens, to pitching baseball's second perfect game in 1880, to becoming a member of the New York Giants. More than just a biography for baseball history buffs, A Clever Base-Ballist also paints a bright, engaging picture of American life at the turn of the century. For baseball enthusiasts and millennium enthusiasts alike, A Clever Base-Ballist does not disappoint!

The book was clearly not written by an author, but by a researcher. The book has lots of info, but sometimes tends to get off subject, and is sometimes a bit hard to follow. A good read none the less. A very interesting man and that translates into a good book.

PG 203 & 208 reference Governor Davis H. Waite. The author mis-spells Davis as David, a very common mistake for researchers and historians.

Otherwise good information here on most Debs topics. Read more on Debs & Waite in my future book. Frank S. Waite

He was dubbed an undesirable citizen by so-called progressive Teddy Roosevelt. The best biography of Debs to date. It shows his working class background and radical roots in his family. You can see his evolution from democrat and trade unionist to socialist and industrial unionist. His frustration with mainstream politics leads to his trade union agitation. The failure of the AFL railroad brotherhoods to work together spurs him on to create an industrial union of all railroad workers called the American Railway Union. While in jailed in Illinois after the Pullman Strike of 1894 is crushed he becomes a socialist. He helps unites the various factions into the Socialist Party of America in 1901. That same year he merges the broken ARU with the Western Federation of Miners to form the American Labor Union, which adopts socialism. He helps form the Industrial Workers of the World in 1905 which seeks to organize all workers into One Big Union. He leaves the IWW when in rejects politics. During WWI while other socialists give in to nationalism he remains militantly anti-war. In 1917 he refuses to support America's enterance into the war and remains undecided on the Russian Revolution. While in prison for trying to subvert the war effort he recieves over a million votes for president. His party disintegrates in dispute between Hawks and Doves, and reformers and revolutionaries. A fascinating story.

The author covers interesting places in most of the Western states, with the noteable exception of Utah. After spending the past 2 weeks in Utah, exploring caves, petroglyphs, and cliff dwellings of the Anazazi and Fremont Indians, I referred to the book to see if any of the places I visited were mentioned. I was surprised to see that the entire state of Utah was ignored.

Field Guide To Mysterious Places Of The West by archaeologist, geologist, and experienced traveler Salvatore M. Trento is an exciting and unique tour guide to an impressive series of unusual and noteworthy locations throughout the American West. Ranging from the Turtle Rock Geoforms (granite blocks of Colorado which have eroded into recognizable shapes), to sacred sites, ruins, solstice sunrise petroglyphs, and so much more, Field Guide To Mysterious Places Of The West is organized by state, and complemented with black-and-white photographs and diagrams. Field Guide To Mysterious Places Of The West is very highly recommended an excellent supplementary guide for vacationers and travelers looking to see and experience something different in their journeys throughout the American West.

I loved this book. I was excited to read the different explanations about these strange things found in nature. It is even more interesting after you have seen some of these places for yourself. I think that the photos in the book added a lot to my understanding. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in natural mysteries!

This provides different kinds of examples as well as theories. It no doubt helps students learn about the real world. Particularly,the chapter on tariff policy is good enough to have a good grasp of the field.

I've found this book easy to follow, even if I'm not very good at Economics. Simple, with many examples and graphs. Case studies and good bibliography at the end of each chapter.

The book really brings an in depth analysis of the modern financial world, through a very simple and easy to access method of presentation. Good for students, interesting for any other reader...

Very engaging new fantasy world, with tribes of humans locked in generations of combat with lizard-like beings. The best stories in this anthology, written by many Forgotten Realms veterans, focus on the complicated relationships between the humans and the saurans. They have more in common that each race thinks, of course. Once again, Salvatore's story, the keystone of the book, is very entertaining, along with Golden's exploration of sauran identity in "The Ultimate Weapon." The other stories, sadly, leave little lasting impact, although they are worth reading to pass the time.

I was impressed by how well I seemed to "know" and "feel" the world of Tethedril after 294 pages; this book evokes a vivid and memorable picture of a unique planet, and for that reason alone it is worth reading. The individual stories are good too! My favorite's were the stories by Christie Golden, Elaine Cunningham, and R.A. Salvatore. The three seemed to be linked, thematically, really exploring the relative nature of morality, good and evil, and really giving some beautiful insight into the life of the saurans. "Family Tree" by Dan Parkinson has a wonderful idea, with the animated forest and its unique inhabitants. And "The Lazy Man" by Dan Parkinson shows that being lazy isn't necessarily a "bad" thing. I loved it! Douglas Niles gives us an interesting new form of magic, Mary H. Herbert tells a fine story of sacrifice that invokes Christianity with its title, and Mary Kirchoff presents us with a gift that appreciates and grows in value as time goes on. Finally, there's Ed Greenwood's tale, which won me back to Ed. I was quite disappointed with his novel SPELLFIRE, and hadn't read anything by Mr. Greenwood since that book, but "The Sword of Dreams" was an enjoyable read. This book is good from cover to cover, and I hope these writers (or others) do more with the world of Tethedril.

Tales from Tethedril is a wonderful creative idea by one of my favorite authors: R.A. Salvatore. The other authors in this book take something simple and full of imagination to a new and exciting level that is a pleasure to read and a page turner. Although most of the stories concentrate on the humans, their brutality and ignorance, their strength of mind and power of heart, all of the stories left me with wanting more. My first experience of Christie Golden, "The Ultimate Weapon," became my favorite story of the book. I urge everyone who knows of, or even doesn't know, these authors to pick it up and have a good read. I have a feeling that everyone will enjoy it.

Definately for the advanced speaker, this program is best when the book is used along with the tapes. The accents are easy to understand and a good variety of topics (shopping, travel, computers, wine, architecture) is covered, although there is a strong emphasis on business and technology. The 2nd set of tapes has portions of the conversations on the 1st set, with language review in English and Italian interspersed. My biggest problem with this series is the length and spacing of pauses -- some really long sentences are rattled off all at once with only a short time to respond (really inconvenient while driving) and are then followed by a one word phrase. My Italian has improved since buying these, though, so all in all I would recommend it as a thorough review and practice for the advanced speaker.

Listening to the tapes (unfortunately it doesn't come on cd yet) gets you thinking in italian and it is a great way to further your skills. Not only are the dialogs well spoken, they also present some funny material- not your usual dry, run-of-the-mill texts that you encounter in some other language books. The book that comes along with it is also very informative regarding the grammar that is used in the dialogs and has a nice dictionary in the back of the book. I highly recommend this to anyone that is looking to acquire the skills needed to engage in an-everyday-social conversation.

This set is great, and it's actually the only tape set that I found appropriate for advanced level Italian. I think a minor drawback is that the length of time in between some of the phrases doesn't give you enough time to practice repeating the phrase completely. However, I still think the set is fantastic. It puts idioms, different grammatical constructions and vocabulary in the context of realistic conversations.