A racy,raunchy but immensely readable autobiography of Frank Harris.Harris is a consummate story-teller & raconteur with a vivid style.An energetic and accomplished dilletante he recounts his childhood in stuffy Victorian England groping underneath a skirt at the first available opportunity ("her bottom was like a warm marble"!) to his trip across the pond to America ,where he worked as a cowboy,clerk and lawyer among other things.He had an amazing memory and acquired a lot of erudition,seemingly effortlessly.Anecdotes of Ruskin,Randolph Churchill,Rodin among a score of others are sprinkled liberally .His refreshing honesty,contempt for humbug & hypocrisy along with boundless energy and optimism makes this a great read.It makes for a leisurely read and is best savored during the hot, long summer after dinner___ over a cigar!

I really don't know how many of My Life and Loves volumes have been sold worldwide but it seems to me that most of my friends in different countries all found this book in their dads library and usually well hidden behind other books.....

The five volume book of almost 1000 pages is a faboulous look into 19th century world and a compendium of famous and not so famous people of the era ,,,

Not only does the author deal with socio-economic and religious thoughts and beliefs of the time but he takes the dryness out of historial perspective by peppering the book with numerous erotic escapades of the tenderest nature ....

If all history books were as good as this one I would have certainly gotten a PHd in History .....

This book is a MUST HAVE for your erotic library ... AND it's one of the few classic erotics that will NEVER go out of print!

Frank Harris' tale begins with his humble origins and voyage to America culminating in financial reward and subsequent return to England. His bravado and financial capability open Harris to a world of erotic pleasure, voyage, gourmandise and to a number of encounters with interesting people of his era. Frank Harris stood by his friend Oscar Wilde until the latters' demise. Faithful both financially and compassionately, Harris is a hands down man of the world and lover of humanity. I read this book thirty years ago to much pubescent excitation and reread it a while back as a father of four and earnest husband. The effect was the same; interesting lives make for interesting people and VICE versa.

The Frontier Issues in Economic Thought summaries, along with the overview essays, provide a markedly different service from the standard collection of abstracts. The series will benefit not only scholarly work but the application of our best thinking to the problems of the times.

Kenneth Prewitt, President, Social Sciences Research Council

The book is written by a two-term, eight years, former Governor of Georgia. It is more a personal story than a political story. As such, the reader gets a view of what inspired a very private individual to take on a very public political office. This is a book which can dispel the common belief that all politicians are crooked and just in politics for themselves. It is also a book for those who seem to be demanding a theocracy. As a Christian, Harris made some decisions which advisers told him were not "politically astute" but which he believed to be right. Yet, he steered clear of the "hot-button" religious rights issues, such as abortion. The book reveals a great deal about the family upbringing of Harris and the values that shaped his life. The same values he would carry into public life. He was not a darling of the media and given very little chance for success when he announced his race for Governor. He had only a 2% name recognition among voters, but broke from the crowded field to win the democratic nomination. The book doesn't expose any scandal, is not shocking in any way, and makes no enemies. It is just an easy read about an unassuming individual that wielded tremendous power. Nice guys can finish first.

I loved Star-Spangled Eden. This well researched history reads like a historical romance. Simmons covers 50 of the most critical years of American History, 1830-1850, through the eyes of eight British men and women who came here, traveled widely, and had marvelous adventures. Each traveler plugs into a major theme of the era when the country developed from raw frontier to a modern industrial state and provides a unique perspective on important events of this period - the Southern slavery system, the Civil War, the exploration and settlement of the West, etc.

My favorite chapter is the last one on Oscar Wilde's witty eleven-month cross-country American tour. To quote the author, "Here was the leading British snob, an effete poseur of highly refined sensibilities, lecturing American audiences from Boston to Leadville on the principles of aesthetics and becoming a popular celebrity in the process. Wilde found himself growing inordinately fond of Americans. A less unlikely love match could scarcely be imagined."

Simmons writes great history-of-travel books. I first discovered him with Castaway in Paradise: The Incredible Adventures of True-Life Robinson Crusoes. I recommend these books to anyone looking for a great read that's based on fact.

Twilight: 2000 was first developed in 1984 by the late and lamented Game Designer's Workshop (GDW), better known for the Traveller Role-Playing Game. In the game, the characters are soldiers in the US 5th Infantry Division, stranded when a Soviet counter-attack over-runs their unit in the last fitful offensive of WWIII. Suddenly alone -- way behind enemy lines -- the soldiers are forced to survive and attempt passage back to the receeding friendly lines. .....T2000 quickly became one of their core products, with many modules and supplements published ... The basic premise of the game was badly out of date by 1990, the time of this 2nd edition listing. The rewrite also incorporated numerous rule changes, streamlining play. (1st edition modules and supplements can be used with this edition with little trouble.) Watch out for "Version 2.2," with a 1993 copyright date. It is the last version of the game, and minor rule changes bring it in line with the other "House Rules" games, such as Traveller: The New Era and Dark Conspiracy (also fine games as well).

In Anne Frank's Diary " The Diary of A Young Girl", she not only gives an account of two Jewish families in hiding during one of history's most horrific events, the holocaust, but also takes us into her true feelings and critical outlook on others around her. The most remarkable part of her diary is that she is only thirteen years old, who quickly matures because of the circumstances. This book may be written by an adolescent person but Anne Frank is much more capable of understanding her faults and strong characteristic than many adults today. She is able to touch many different subjects; politics, war, sexuality, religion and in every one she captures you with her deep philosophical thoughts, which are well expressed for a small child. On top of that she writes in her diary several movements against the Jewish people by Hitler. She also gives us her hypothetical scenarios like how the authority given to German soldiers by Hitler would be abused. For instance when soldiers had the authority to shoot his officer if he knew that the officer had anything to do with the conspiracy on the attempted assassination of Hitler's life, she wrote that this authority would be abused at this point by an angered soldier. Through all her ordeals she is still able to maintain her good nature. She wrote in her diary that she would like to become a journalist, which she accomplished with this book. This book gives us just a small sample of what she would have been capable of offering journalism would she have survived such turmoil in history.

I recently read a book titled Anne Frank: Diary of a young Girl. When I first started reading it I couldn't put it down I read it night and day, day and night. It is a perceptive journal that was written by a young girl during the time of the Holocaust. She received this journal on her thirteenth birthday; it was a gift from her father. This was about two weeks before her family went into hiding. The people that she lived with were her mother and father, her sister, another family of three, and a young dentist.
I absolutely fell in love with this book. It showed haw hared it was for a thirteen-year-old girl and her family (along with some others) hid from the Nazi's during the Nazi Occupation of Holland. Her personality really surprised me, because she had such a positive attitude through everything that she went through. In her diary she expressed her thoughts and insights about her environment. She described her feelings and all the occurrences that took place everyday on fears that she lived through.
I enjoyed this book because it taught me a great deal about myself. It showed me that I didn't have as hard of a life as I had thought I had. Anne Frank never had the chance to lead a normal adolescents life... The book brought me to tears, and I have a lot of respect for Anne Frank. After reading the Diary of Anne Frank I appreciate my life and what I have a lot more!

Anne Frank's diary has moved millions around the world, past and present, with it's honesty, depth, and poignancy. (Personally, it was Anne's diary that motivated me to write my own journal as a young girl and I continue to write faithfully, ever since. It is one of the few books that I've read which has had the greatest influence on my life.) Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl living in Amsterdam, along with her family, went into hiding along with her family during WWII, when Holland was annexed by the Nazis Regime. During the long years of secret captivity in the building's attic, Anne captured her hopes, loves, fears and thoughts on life in her diary, where she affectionately addressed her entries to an imaginary friend she named "Kitty".

Despite the horrible reality of war just outside her window, Anne was a person who could see beyond man's inhumanity to man, and perceive true beauty and the gift of life. Tragically, nearing the war's conclusion, the family's hiding place is mercilessly betrayed to the Nazis...which ultimately culminates in the final chapter of this lovely young girl's life, just prior to liberation. This is a true story...a diary of a young girl....and her voice from the past. It's a memoir of a brilliant and deep being who wasn't afraid to hope for something better, beyond the misery surrounding her. In my opinion, it is a book that every person should read.

It was an overcast day on Saturday, March 9, 2002. I stood just outside of Anne Frank's final dwelling place, the "Secret Annex," at Prinsengracht 263, Amsterdam. I was overcome with great sadness as I gazed up at the small attic window where she must have looked out...a tree-lined canal just across the way. Perhaps she watched the ducks in the water, swallows overhead, the steady sloping of the rain, or the cloud formations....day in and day out. I imagined what it would be like to be a young girl in confinement, yearning to enjoy life amidst the free, only to be shut up, and kept quiet for fear that an audible breath would betray my family's whereabouts and terminate our lives. I wept at the great waste of life, the cruelty, the plundering of innocent lives, and how this amazing young woman maintained the inner strength to endure those years...and had the courage to capture it all with such delicacy, calm candor and beauty.

Space: 1889 was a really cool game back in the late 80s. At first, I was delighted to see it back in print. Now that I have a copy, I'm not so sure.

See, the original was a sewn-bound hardbound work with glossy full-colour pages interspersed throughout. Very nicely done. Some of the art was lacking, but that was GDW in the 80s. It was still put together wonderfully.

This version, however, leaves a lot to be desired. Almost twice the original price of that beautiful book they put out, this is simply a collection of xeroxes of the original book with Heliograph's logo stuck in it im places over where it used to say GDW. Further, the cover is a pseudo-laminated colour laser print of the original work's cover.

All this low, low quality for the price of a brand new D&D book or other top-shelf work (I don't like new D&D, but the books are put together beautifully).

It's a good thing Frank Chadwisk isn't dead -- if he were, he'd be rolling in his grave over this shoddy production of a great game.

Go buy a used copy of the original.

This is a fairly easy roleplaying game to learn with an interesting premise. Unfortunately, the adventures written for the game are horrible! Plan to devise your own. Conklin's atlas of the worlds in an invaluable resource for this game, giving you much greater detail on Mercury, Venus & Mars. Too bad they thought Victiorian Earth was "boring" to give it much detail.

I was lucky enough to find a copy of the original rulebook at a convention several years ago and have managed to aquire almost all the supplements and books that were issued. I think the game world is very creative, interesting, and adds new dimentions to the swashbuckling type RPGs, which are becoming more and more rare as D20 infects the gaming industry.

Rants aside, I found the game system in this book to be rather weak when compared to other systems. That's certinally not a problem, there's more then enough source material in this book and the others to keep a group entertained for years. Personally, I very easily adapted this world to GURPS and had a great time GMing a campaign on Mars.

Please don't think I'm making a negative review, I'm not. I love having this book. It's a very creative world and lends itself to many fun campaigns, but experienced role-players should be aware that the author concentrated more on background then on game mechanics. It's a great setting, lots to explore, just do it with a different gaming system then the one printed in the book.

Michael Lander is an ex-POW from Vietnam, who has taken up a civilian position flying the Aldritch blimp for the football each Sunday. However, his time as a POW has left him emotionally scarred and he embarks on a deadly plot, enlisting the help of an Arab terrorist group. Through the book, the details of the plan are gradually unveiled, where he plans to blow up the Superbowl, killing 80,000 spectators, including the president. In the first half of the book, sympathy is built up for the terrorists, by concentrating on the relationship between Michael and terrorist Dahlia Iiyad, adding an extra dimension to the book. Another thing I liked about the book, was the way Harris has continually referred back to how the incident relates back to Middle Eastern politics, which is the motivation for the terrorists' involvement.

My only gripe is that I felt the ending was a little weak, after such a brilliant book. This seems to be a feature of Thomas Harris' writing which is also apparent in The Silence of the Lambs. Nonetheless, I would recommend this book highly

Tom Clancy, Fredrick Forysth, all are rank amatures compared to Mr. Harris. Black Sunday is a exciting thriller full of plot twists. The difference between this book and most other of its genre is that the characters are actually intersting and the dialouge is not wooden but belivable. Their are no carbon cut out villians in this novel who are evil just because they were born that way. Instead the reader is introduced to people damaged by events beyond their control who have chossen to become evil. The villians in this book are symphathatic and the readers will be disgusted with themselves becasue they will find themselves rooting for the bad guys despite their distate for them. At the same time the hero, Kabakov, is also likable and the reader will also root for him as well. This novel is about a diabolical plot to inflict the worst terrorist attack in history on U.S. soil. Only one man can stop it, Kabakov, an Israil intelligence agent and assassin. Palestian terrorists, specifcly a beautiful but deadly woman named Deliaha, have formed a bizzare and twisted alliance with a Goodyear blimp pilot named Michael Lander. Lander pilots the Goodyear blimp over sporting events all across America. However, he is a sick and twisted individual who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for many years. He wishes to share his pain with the world by using his blimp to kill as many people as possible. He seeks out the PLO and asks for their assistance. They agree and send Delihia. Their plot is brillant and evil, on Superbowl Sunday they plan to dentonate a huge plastic explosive bomb filled with rifle darts over the staduim crowd. The bomb is designed to shoot the darts out at such an angle as to ensure an average of three darts for each seat in the stadium. Oh, did I mention the President of the United States of America will be in attendence and is also a target. If the terrorists plot succeds, 50,000 American citizens along with the President will be killed in one fell swoop. Kabokov has other plans however and relentlessly dogs their trail. He and his friend and fellow agent are willing to do whatever it takes to stop the terrorists but they dont know about Lander or the specifcics of the plot. All they know is that the PLO is planning something big and that a palistian woman is involved. Tension between Lander and Deliaha's fellow PLO operatives threatens to derail the plot before it can get started. This novel is all about death, death, and more death and as the novel nears its conclusion the tension continues to rise as the bodies continue to pile up. The suspense climaxes in a exciting but totally realistic shoot out between Kabokov and the terrorists. The final outcome will shock you. This novel is very realistic and the violence is not over dramatized or cartoonish in the least. A mature suspense novel for mature minds. Harris's most underated work.

This is the book that began the terrorism genre, and yes, many of the elements have been done to death over the years. (In an odd hommage, in Tom Clancy's The Sum of All Fears, the terrorists set off a nuclear blast at the Denver Superbowl because they've read Black Sunday!) Still, 26 years after its first publication, it's still one of the best of the lot -- though Nelson DeMille's The Lion's Game is a brilliant updating. I just read it for the fifth time and loved it as much as the first. In The Silence of the Lambs, Dr. Lecter tells Agent Starling that Jame Gumb's "pathology is a thousand time more savage" (than the average transsexual). Well, Lecter never doctored blimp pilot Lander. He's one of the great villains in popular fiction, mainly because Harris makes him so comprehensible.

The novel, while well written, is a bit dry and observational. However, the ideas it presents, notably what discourse an oppressed people has, have parallels with situations in the West Bank and Sept 11.

I bought this Feral House paperback reprint of The Bomb because it was the only one readily available. I'm now tempted to track down an older edition from one of the many used book sellers on the Internet, because Feral House's edition is very poor. The text is riddled with typographical errors to the extent that it is occasionally hard to be sure exactly what a sentence is supposed to mean. (Feral House likes to call themselves "the publisher that refuses to be tamed"; I prefer to think of them as "the publisher that refuses to hire a proofreader".) The new afterword by a modern anarchist "thinker" is, to be charitable, witless, doctrinaire nonsense. It adds nothing to the book. John dos Passos' introduction (borrowed from an earlier edition) is mean-spirited and rather contemptible, but its capsule biography of Frank Harris may be useful to those who know little of his life.

The novel itself is very good, though the novel's focus, the semi-fictitious anarchist Louis Lingg, is a bit too perfect to be believed. He's really not so much a believable character as an author mouthpiece in the style of Ayn Rand's John Galt or Robert Heinlein's Jubal Harshaw. The book is a compelling read nevertheless, and I recommend it highly.

I really liked the way this book was written. Full of descriptions, it tells a story of love, a great friendship and a life that immigrants had and in some ways still have to live in a new country. The book is written in such a way that it makes a reader think that the author, not the protagonist, threw the bomb. It is worth of your money and of your time to read it.