Ok, first off...no where on the front of the book did it indicate that these were short stories, rather than a full mystery. That is my major complaint. I grabbed the book thinking that since it was Reginald Hill, it was a full mystery. After I read the first story, then I read the back! If the reader prefers a full mystery, then don't get this book!!!

Other than that, and the fact that short stories do not have the time to well develop a mystery plot (my own opinion), I enjoyed Hill's writing. He may not have the plot time in here, but he does develop the characters. Pascoe and Dalziel are a hilarious couple in many ways. Dalziel is an old British curmudgeon, who never ceases to surprise the reader and Pascoe.

The first three stories were pretty good, the last with a mystery based on the moon wasn't as well done. Part of it is trying to write what we expect the future to be like, and that is hard to do. If you base your expectations on science fiction writers like Wells, Verne, Orwell, etc. we are already behind on some things and ahead on others (establishment of space travel versus communications and information retrieval). I am not crazy about mixing the two genres (mystery and science fiction).

But Hill is a good writer. For those who run out of other stuff to read, this book is good enough for a glance...
Karen Sadler

this is a great collection of short stories from one of britain's leading writers.

It is more laden with humour than many of the novels, but that is mainly due to the capacity for some hilarious in-jokes which Hill includes.

"The Last National Service Man" is a more a comedy than a crime story. There are elements of crime, but imagining Dalziel (pronounced "Dee-ell") jogging up and down on the spot in army regalia is just side-splitting! It's a taut, well written story, and does have some great suspense in it at times. The solution is also quite clever, but a bit of a cop out, i feel.

"Pascoes ghost" is another good story, it is well plotted, with more than it's fair share of well drawn characters with interesting and varied motives. Here, the mystery is first class, enough, really, to support an almost full-length novel. The solution is satisfying, in typical Hill style. The climax is also very exciting.

"Dalziel's Ghost" is not so much a crime story, as just a story. It's very much a ponderance upon the characters of Dalziel and Pascoe (but to a lesser extent). There is little real mystery to it at all, but it is still intensely interesting, cleverly plotted, and has another great and somewhat amusing twist at the end!

"One Small Step" is perhaps the best in this collection, offering us a Hill's-eye look at what he thinks life may be like on the future, and the events which have caused the first murder on the moon. (As a crime-fiction concept, it is so original as to deserve a standing ovation.) Again, there are loads of in-jokes, but this time we are treated to a first class mystery story. This is another one which could well support a really cracking full-length novel. The solution is satisfyingly convoluted and multi-faceted, until you really realise what's going on (God forbid taht anyone should underestimate Dalziel! Pascoe should have known better!) Excellent.

All in all, if you like good short stories, give this a go. If you are a Dalziel and Pascoe fan, give this a go. (especially as it catalogues their first meeting.) If you like a good yarn, of any kind, give this a go. If you like good writing with great characters, give this a go.

The other short stories are fine but the moon visit is laugh-out-loud terrific. Andy D. never fails the reader.

Is this book worth reading? Yes. But beware of the author's biases. Robertson has written several excellent books (e.g., biography of Stonewall Jackson), but this book is NOT one of them. Yes, it contains much new and interesting information about Hill. But the author goes too far in blaming others (e.g., Longstreet, Jackson, Lee, the man on the street corner!) for Hill's own failings. And when Roberston does so, he usually simply states something like, "But of the course the true blame belonged with X." without explaining why he thought so. Robertson does present some of Hill flaws. But he is seldom willing to admit that Hill, whom the author obviously admires very much, made some major blunders - e.g., the 600 yard gap at Federicksburg, which Meade and Gibbon used to effect a temporary breakthrough. So read the book and enjoy. But do not take its portrayals of Hill comrades as accurate - too many other sources tell us otherwise.

My forebears served under Hill from his assumption of the III Corps until their end and his. This work is the best I have found, but Hill remains an enigma in the end. One must wonder why Lee promoted his most impulsive and contentious Mj.General to Corps command, and must conclude that Longstreet was right when he concluded that the three corps arrangement was "too much Virginia." Robertson aptly titles his 2nd Day at Gettysburg chapter "Bystander to Defeat," but offers no real explanation for the usually agressive Hill's uninvolvement on this pivotal day. One is left to conclude that the unfinished grudge with Longstreet and rivalry with R. H. Anderson led Hill to malicious obedience to his orders and noninvolvement in the battle. Similar accusations caused the vilification of Longstreet, yet Hill escapes unscathed. Robertson does do what few others have by showing Hill's conscientious defense of the Petersburg lines. This portion of The War, so much like WWI, is the least covered and least understood period. Robertson is very helpful here. A good read and a valuable addition, but much is left unsaid.

Dr. Robertson the historian teams up with VA. Tech's former atheltic physician Dr. Bullock to determine the cause of AP Hill's famous decline after promotion in regards to health and action after he was promoted to Corps Commander after Jackson's death. While many though of Hill as a case of the "Peter Principal" it is apparent from the descriptions of Hill's physical decline and symptoms that Hill was slowly dying of syphllis. The inability of his kidneys to function properly caused Hill sleepless nights and left him virtually unable to command. This book is the first to determin ethecause of Hill's physoical collapse. Some very good descriptions of the impulsive Hill who starts the 7 Days campaign prematurely when Jackson is late or lost, his famous role at Harpers Ferry, his mercruial temperment with Longstreet and Jackson and his severe failure at Bristow Station where he launches his corps into a virtual ambush without any reconnoitering. His role at Gettysburg is somewhat of a mystery but his illness may have contributed. Best parts of the book center on Hill and his corps at Petersburg where his divisions would swing out of the trenches and into the woods and hit Grant's probing left flanks from vitually any angle. Interesting fact that Hill was burried four times after death due to some unique circumstances. Hill's legacy survives with less criticism than Lngstreet because the south was always kinder to their dead heroes than the living.

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great one of the best to have if you own a gameboy couldn't put it down

This is a GREAT book. It includes information, cheat codes, hints and tips for games like Animaniacs,(My personal favorite) Kirby's Dream Land, and a whole lot more. It's a great for Christmas presents.

The inside back cover of the 1990 edition demonstrates what you can do with a vocabulary of difficult words. "Don't let your nolition about noegenesis keep you nolens volens from your nomic noesis." For those of us dummies who don't understand some of the difficult words, the translation is provided: "Don't let your unwillingness about production of knowledge keep you willy nilly from your customary cognition." If you like these kinds of sentences, you will like this book. If you want to be taken seriously, use your American Heritage.

I do a lot of travelling and always bring books when I travel. I like to read literary novels and biographies. Quite often when I am reading period pieces, I come across words that are not commonly used and have always wanted a dictionary that I could slip into my bag. Most compact dictionaries do not include more difficult words and I certainly don't need one that defines commonly used words so this is a perfect one to travel with. The last word I looked up was "pinchbeck"!!

I have a 1971 copy of this dictionary which I am still using. Why? It is compact, the size of a typical short paperback novel, but it has more entries then many of the very big, but not easily handled dictionaries. The author just uses very brief definitions which most of the time is all I need. The result is that I have consistently used this dictionary since 1971 leaving the big dictionaries on the shelf.

I liked this anthology but I only gave it 3 stars because I thought it could have been better. There are 15 stories, an introduction and an epilogue. My favorite story was The Piano Man/by Robert Vaughan. The stories just didn't have enough tension to them, but they were OK, just not great.

BOOT HILL is Robert J Randisi's BEST WESTERN ANTHOLOGY to date. A collection of stories from some of the best well known authors today including, John Jakes, Elmer Kelton, James Reasoner Robert Vaughn and Richard S Wheeler. Throw in stories by lesser known but equally impressive authors such as Tom Piccrilli and Marcus Galloway and you have a very impressive western anthology. Come along as the Gravedigger tells us the tales behind the head stones of Dodge City's BOOT HILL. This is a tour you won't want to miss.

To make the long story short, when I started to work as a CSR in a bank, I kept this book as a reference on my desk. Before that I tried to ask the branch manager - he didn't have a clue. In the end, I put it in bank's "Better Practices Manual" binder and used it it explain products to the customers.

I used this book for an online course that I took from BYU. It was very informative and interesting.

My stereotype of accounting texts before taking an accounting class and using this book was they were all focused on the mechanics of accounting, which are dull to most students. This textbook, on the other hand, emphasizes the usefulness of accounting in the real world before delving into all the rules and regimentation. Therefore, some subjects, like debts and credits, receive less attention than they might deserve, especially for serious accounting students. The textbook's diagrams are quite colorful and useful, and its language is simple enough for your average student to understand. Hence, I recommend the book to any introductory-level business student, but I think that more serious accounting students might prefer a more advanced or in-depth textbook.

Robert Collin is a wonderful teacher, an his books never fail to communicate the necessary details with both practical examples and with all of the underlying theory.

Marion Smith has a wealth of information here, but her organization is weak and she repeats herself. Is this a collection of individual articles? This book isn't for the casual reader; he/she needs patience and digging skills. As it's out of print, it's also very expensive (not Marion Smith's fault). Still, anyone interested in the Shaw family will find here, what with Shaws, Lowells, and other collaterals, a geneological history of New England, together with material on Robert Gould Shaw not found elsewhere.

This rare species on the topic of FEPI will probably be used more than ever before as we look towards web enabling the legacy systems. This book gives excellent coverage of the required topics for working with FEPI in CICS, and on how to use it as a communication facilitator from CICS