Brooke's heart-stopping good looks are the essence of this epistolatory account of the romantic friendship between James Strachey and England's eternal Golden boy. He who penned the heroically mawkish yet strangely thrilling:'If I should die/ Think only this of me/That there is some corner of a foreign field/ That is forever England' is here revealed through Strachey's eyes in the guise of romantic muse, love object, sex god. Unfortunately for Strachey, his passion was unrequited.

Strachey is be-dazzled by Brooke during their first year at Cambridge, and the subsequent correspondence betrays all the hallmarks of adolescent infatuation: in turns importunate, with Strachey's 'declaration' early in 1906; adulatory:'You were so beautiful tonight';desperate: 'I suppose you know what's wrong with me...I'm in love with you'; ever hopeful: 'Why not come quietly to bed with me instead?' in response to Brooke's request for contraceptive information; finally hopeless: 'The sudden sight of him across a room made my heart...bound ... it's no use...' But it is with a start that one realises that this is no adolescent, but rather a scion of the Stracheys - long time members of the intelligentsia, darlings of the Bloomsbury set - assistant editor of 'the Spectator', putative translator of Freud.

And herein lies the fascination. Keith Hale's painstakingly edited and annotated edition of the correspondence vividly presents Strachey's personal drama of unstinting adulation of the man seemingly pursued by a host of admirers of both sexes, but also features most of England's literati and glitterati in supporting roles. Here are Vanessa and Clive Bell, Virginia Woolf, Maynard Keynes, society hostess Lady Ottoline Morrell, together with representatives of an older order - Thomas Hardy, not to mention Henry James who, for goodness sake, Brooke cycles off to call on at Lamb House as casually as if he were the man next door! And interspersed with these semi-mythical figures are the domestic details that form an integral part of Brooke and Strachey's lives. The trivia is engrossing, with its train timetables, motorbuses and postal orders: 'I'll enclose the tickets and a postal order for 10/6.'

But we never stray far from the central motif - that of Strachey's heart-sickness for Brooke. Coupled with our fascination, though, is also the uncomfortably voyeuristic sensation of being privy to Strachey's intimate yearnings and his longing makes for painful reading: 'It is You and my love that makes the universe magical....' and one finds oneself wishing that Brooke could have been kinder.

Hence it is with a start that one reads Brooke's own account of his seduction of a former university acquaintance. One wonders what the besotted Strachey could have made of his graphic and lengthy account of the physical details of his night in bed with Denham Russell-Smith. Brooke's literary executor Geoffrey Keynes vowed that the uncensored Brooke letters would be published 'over my dead body.' And such has certainly been the case as it is only since Keynes' death that the letters have been released.

Brooke's image makers certainly knew how to 'spin', and it is really only now, nearly 90 years later, that we have a clearer view of Brooke the man as opposed to the legend. Perhaps Strachey's words on Brooke , many years following his death, are the most revealing: 'He was not nearly as nice as people now believe him, but a great deal cleverer.'

This is simply a must-read for Brooke fans and anyone else interested in the aesthetists and their times. It's absolutely fascinating. By the time you finish the introduction, you will be hooked.

This is quite an achievement in editing. Brooke and Strachey comment on so many of the prominent figures of their time that, coupled with Hale's impressive footnotes and other editorial material, the book serves as a virtual history of Edwardian England. I personally am not crazy about Brooke's poetry, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading this work.

I've never seen a travel book quite like this one. I enjoyed the adventures and the writer's voice.

Holobaugh, an ROTC cadet was dismissed from the program and ordered to repay his scholarship once he admitted to his superiors that he was gay. Through legal challanges, the order to repay was withdrawn, but he was not reinstated in the program. This is the story of a very decent and intelligent young man with integrity and sound values. Certainly someone that would represent us well in the service of our country. Yet once again, someone with an infinite capacity to serve is lost to us because of the Dark Age, senseless reasoning that has created these regulations. Ironically, those who enforce them, with their bigotry and ignorance...still serve.

There are two books in gay romance fiction that I consider to be the Holy Grails of that genre: E.M. Forster's "Maurice" and Patricia Nell Warren's "The Front Runner." All other gay romance novels, whether they are "coming out" stories or not, must be weighed against those two stupendous novels.

Cody is not either, but it is certainly a worthy, well-written, and believable romance. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and found them real and believable. Oddly, I found myself recapturing my own youth while reading the book, because so much of the story rang true to my own experiences. This is not one of the most multi-layered character driven novels I've ever read, no. It's a very good quick read though and one I do recommend. The ending is definitely not predictable and THAT alone is worth spending a couple of hours getting to know these engaging characters.

I loved this book. It is the most down-to-earth gay novel I've ever come across. I fell in love with both of the main characters and a couple of minor characters as well. I could feel the love on every page. The plot's great, the writing's excellent, but what makes this one of my favorite books is the characters. I didn't want it to end because I didn't want to say goodbye to Trotsky and Cody. Fantastic book. I hope Hale writes another novel soon.

A very recommendable book about two young boys falling in love. This book left a big impression to me after reading it. It's one of the best Gay novels I ever read

I found Vw Beetle Performance Handbook by Keith Seume the perfect book for a beginner. It has valuable information on all aspects of building a car Suspension, Brakes, Transmission, and Engine. I will definetly use much of the upgrades he described. Yet I find many of his engine modifications dangerous. What I mean by this is he says for the ultimate motor. Get an 84x94 engine, 44x37.5 heads, MSD 6AL, merged header with turbo muffler, and Weber 48 IDA's. This is all in all good advice yet he completely neglects valvetrain geometry and connecting rods. Without strengthening the valvetrain you will most likely suck a valve putting a piston through the case and wrecking the rod. Without stengthening the rod the most likely reaction to this would be a snapped connecting-rod effectivley wrecking you crank, head, and case. His vague descriptions could ultimately wreck YOUR case, connecting rods, piston, heads, and your bone-stock valvetrain geometry. In summation a good beginner book but his vague descriptions could paint you into a corner. I would definetly recomend you read a more specified book like VW Interchange Manual before attempting any major modifications.

I found VW Beetle Performance Handbook a very informative book especially for a beginner. It had musch usefull information that I will surely apply to my car. Yet I feel this book lacks in description. It lays out the preliminary knowledge but in no way talks about wether larger carbs or cams will affect driveability. It's engine enhancements advice are definetly dangerous for example it tells you for the ultimate motor an 84x94, 48 Weber IDA, 44x37.5 heads, large cam, MSD 6al ignition, and merger header with a turbo. He left out such important things such as the valvetrain geometry and the connecting rods. With this combination an engine could easily make 3 times its original output yet with no modifications to increase the valvetrain strength the most likely recourse would be for your engine to suck a valve and shoot a piston through the case effectively wrecking the piston, rods, head, and maybe even the case. So in summation good information yet a little vague I would suggest this book to gain a preliminary knowledge but consult something a little descriptive like the VW Interchange Manual.

This book is great, it deals with most of the issues surounding Beetle perfomance. There are a lot of books around detailing how to uprate your engine, but this book also deals with suspension and more importantly braking systems!