David Zeni has done a superb job in telling the sad story of the Empress of Ireland. His rich styleof writing kept me wanting to read the entire book with out stopping. He has dug out facts that earlier works on this forgotten steamer never touched, and he did it with extreme detail. If you like stories about the other lost liners of the turn of the century, this book should be on your list.

I've read this book many times and each time, I discover more things that I didn't realize the first time around. The book is both incredible and beautiful. It is a wonderful tribute to a terrible tragedy that never should have happened. Unfortunately, it did happen.

Each chapter is unique and different from the one before it. Yet, they all tie in together to make a story of such intrigue that I have found it hard to put down each time I've read it!

I'm certainly glad that Mr. Zeni wrote this gripping story. It is obvious that a lot of research and detail went into its preparation. I would like to thank Mr. Zeni for writing this magnificent book.

The book is captivating. David Zeni doesn't miss a beat and tells the reader the story of Empress of Ireland as it happened in a way that paints a vivid picture of the true horror. May 29th, 1914 should live as much in our memory as that April night in 1912. David Zeni's "Forgotten Empress" is a fitting tribute to the Empress.

Robert E. Howard was great fan of the ring. He loved the action and the shear power of the men who fought between the ropes. This respect for manly strength shows in every story he wrote, from his westerns right up to his most famous creation, Conan. Here in this book he writes about the real thing. These are men here. Real men! Howard was a life time fan of boxing and these stories are based on men he actually watched trading blows in the ring. If you think these men are larger than life, think again. For each fictional character found in this book there was a real man behind the character. Real men lived the lives presented here. While it is true that these are fictitious accounts it is also true that boxing really was once like this. It was brutal. It was bloody. It was all about fighting. The boxers of today, with their polish and their fancy footwork would not have had a chance in the boxing ring of old. Only an iron man could get through a match in those days. An iron man was a man who didn't duck and dodge but, rather, took each blow to come his way and never faltered. An iron man could take any amount of punishment and still win the fight. An iron man was the toughest of the tough. In this book you will find four such men. These are the men who inspired the great barbarian, Conan. Read this book and enjoy, but beware. No matter how tough you think you are you will feel weak and helpless compared to the giants found in these pages. This is Howard at his best. This is Howard writing about that which he loved most. This is The Iron Man!

Even I, a REH fan, was wondering how a boxing yarn could be any good. I was expecting just a bunch of in-ring action with the only differences from story to story being the fighters and who won. Far from it. This book starts off with an essay entitled Men of Iron, where Howard asks the question: "What freak of nature makes an iron man?" I personally didn't find the essay all that interesting==but the rest of the book makes up for that. The first story is The Iron Man. In my opinion, it's the best in the book. While I read it, I couldn't help but think of the B and W movie Champion with Kirk Douglas. Iron Man has got one whopper of a storyline. Next up is They Always Come Back. This is the second story in the book, and the second best. There's a few nice twists in this story, though. Finally, there's Fists of the Desert. After reading that story, I really felt like I'd been punched in the stomach. That one is the third best of the bunch. This is a hard book to find--even in paparback--but if you see it, pick it up--you won't be disappointed.

This is a must for all Howard fans,especially the newer ones who may have only read his sword & sorcery stories.Iron Man is about boxing pure and simple;the men who took untold punishment in the ring before usually winning their bouts by knocking out their fatigued opponents.Howard wrote this using some of his personal experiences following the fight game in Texas and has based some of his later and well known characters like Conan and Kull on the fighters in this book.They all share the same characteristics of toughness,incredible vitality and endurance.Iron Man is a good guide to how Howard thought and how he shaped his future characters

This is one of the nuttiest, funniest books I've read in some time. Feherty takes a boring game and makes it seem interesting. What a character! For more laughs I also recommend WHO'S YOUR CADDY, STUPID WHITE MEN and NO ONE'S EVEN BLEEDING.

By far, the funniest golf book you will ever read. Feherty can write better than Tiger can play. One word of warning, do not read this book in a libary, hospital, or anywhere else you will get in trouble for laughing out loud. I believe that I woke my neighbors the other night at 3 AM as I kicked the common wall while I rolled over with laughter. I'll get over the stubbed toe, but I hope my neighbor does not hold a grudge. Happy reading :o)

easily the funniest book i've ever read. i started it last night at 11 pm, and by 3 am my wife and dog had deserted me to sleep elsewhere. it's crammed full of toilet humor as well as some great golf trivia, but who am i kidding? if i want pompous golf info, i'll read... who cares. if i want to laugh til i cramp, give me feherty.

Save your money and buy some comic books, you'll get more realistic plot development and characters. The writer has evidently never been inside a real police department or embassy or has any knowledge of how the real world works outside of Dublin pubs.

If you like accuracy and reasonable plots -- forget this. If you wander into mystery to totally escape from the real world, then you might enjoy it.

I will also admit that I did not finish it. After the third or fourth female character was introduced, every one of which was a contender for Miss World, I decided to just trash it.

Cheers,

In a crowded Dublin street, a bomb goes off, killing several innocent people. The police investigation is headed up by detective superintendent Blade Macken, whose personal life is as tattered as the bomb area. Blade quickly learns that the deadly blast was detonated beneath the street, making its trail ice cold because the bomb had to have been planted when the street was dug up several months ago.

However, Blade is soon contacted by the deranged Angel, who tells him more bombs have been planted beneath the city's streets. They will all go off to coincide with the American president's visit if he does not receive $25 million very soon. Blade begins to investigate the case from the one clue the killer did leave in his phone call -- he knew Blade. Looking into his past to try an uncover the identify of a crazed murderer, Blade does not particularly like what he sees about himself and his dysfunctional family. Still, he has a bomber to catch with little time remaining so he must stop his nightly drinking and his introspective outlook to seek out the killer.

ANGEL TAPE is a well written, extremely exciting novel, starring a new anti-hero, performing a heroic task. The story line is action packed and, for the most part, moves forward rapidly. However, Blade's personal life, though needed for a motive, tends to drag the tale a bit. Readers, who enjoy thrillers, should skim through those passages, because overall David Keily has written a remarkably exhilarating police procedural.

Harriet Klausner

Castles of Britain and Ireland by Plantagenet Somerset Fry is the most important and most used book in my library. Not only is it a great read front to back but is invaluable as a reference when reading any history book about Britain and Ireland. It covers every aspect of Castles; The History, the people, the construction, the defenses, and even the art of attacking a castle, including seige engines. When I travel to Britain this book will be in my backpack.

A very good book, Castles of Britain and Ireland: The Ultimate Reference Book contains exelent quality photographs, and contains information of almost every known castle on Britain and Ireland. It talks about their evolution through the years and about the people involved on their construction. I greatly recommend it to anyone interested on knowing more about british castles, its information is very clear and easy to understand. If you are a castle fan, this is a must-have book.

Mr. Zeni has somehow reached into the murky depths of the St. Lawrence River and retrieved the details of the sinking of the Empress of Ireland. Bringing out many small details that were never mentioned in earlier works, David Zeni does so with a style that keeps one reading on page after page. A truly delightful book to read, on a subject seldom written about. If you collect works on shipwrecks or great ocean liners, this is a must for your collection.

THE LOSS OF THE EMPRESS OF IRELAND HAS ALWAYS BEEN OVERLOOKED. IT WAS NEVER THE MOST FASHIONABLE SHIP, BUT IT WAS A FASHIONABLE SHIP. IT DID NOT CARRY " THE " ELITE, BUT IT CARRIED SOME ELITE. THE HORROR OF THE SINKING CAN ONCE AGAIN BE SEEN THROUGH THE PASSENGERS EYES. AN ABSOLUTE MUST FOR SHIPWRECK LOVERS.

Perhaps the best tribute possible for the people whose lives have been wasted over the last 30 years in Northern Ireland.

The only pity is that the sheer numbers make it impossible to also tell the stories of all of the victims who who survived but had their lives shattered.

This book should be supplied as an antidote to those who find terrorism 'romantic' or seek to justify violence from any side in Ireland.

Many of the stories would make a stone weep; this is not an easy book to read. Nevertheless it is essential to anyone who wants an insight into the real cost of the troubles.

This is not a book for the faint of heart. Lost Lives is basically a compiled list of the victims of the Northern Ireland Troubles and gives the detail of their actual death, who they were, and what they were doing at the time. It would be easier to read the writings of Dante in a single sitting than it would be to spend more than a half an hour reading these most tragic tales.

If you care at all about people, this book will affect you deeply, because the majority of people listed here are merely guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time or perhaps their beliefs shading differently to their neighbors.

If you have ever endorsed or supported any form of discrimination, bigotry, or military action, and you consider yourself a rational individual, this book will surely make you reconsider your views on such matters.

The authors of this massive and heartrending work will be seen in the course of time to have made a most worthwhile contribution toward consolidating the Irish Peace Process.

Essential and worthwhile reading for any scholar of History.

Finally, the PM profession has a follow-on to Linn Stuckenbruck's "The Implementation Of Project Management: The Professional's Handbook." Lew and Dave have packaged the esentials of the PM profession in one excellent book. The only thing lacking would be some templates for examples. I now have a replacement text, to accompany the "Guide to the PMBOK," for the PM courses I teach. This book is where the PM profession is going.

David and Lew and achieved a great deal in project management. Now, they are practicing what they preach. This book, much like a Work Breakdown Structure, is a thoughtful, logical (and very readable) decomposition of the work to be done in establishing and maintaining individual projects or a vast project management enterprise.

The Best Feature? The annotated bibliographies are peerless in terms of adding value and pointing toward other quality project management information.

Good detail from the work package to the program level.

I found this book to be a little bit dry at times, though on the other hand, the descriptions of the violence at the hands of both the IRA and other republican groups and by the Unionist/loyalist groups were quite graphic. Still, it was quite easy to keep up with who was who and who was on which side, something that can sometimes be a problem in a history book. The authors gave a pretty balanced perspective--I do think they were a little more on the Catholic side, but overall, it was balanced. I do wish they had gone more into the background. Why did the British send the Protestants to Catholic Ireland in the first place, and how did the two sides get along before the 20th century? This is glossed over, though I guess what information is given is sufficient. It does whet my appetite to know more, however.

David McKittrick and David McVea present a thoughtful, excellent overview of sectarian strife in Northern Ireland since the 1960's, giving a balanced look at both the Protestant and Catholic communities. They begin with a superb brief historical sketch on the origins and early history of Northern Ireland, chronicling its major events from its inception in 1921 through the 1960's. They offer many fascinating portraits of prominent British, Irish and Northern Irish politicians and terrorists, ranging from the likes of diehard Protestant minister Ian Paisley to former IRA member Gerry Adams. This is quite simply one of the best books I've read on recent Northern Irish history and may be the best historical overview on the origins and current state of "The Troubles".

If you are like I was before I read this book knowing only that Northern Ireland was about some kind of Religious Conflicts and the IRA then you have so much more to learn about Northern Ireland as I have learned with this book. This book covers everything in an informative way to help one absorb the information and yet not feel inundated. The book also features a chronology of events for quick references, tables and a glossary section that serves as a refresh section for the mind when the abbreviations of political parties and organizations become to much to remember. I recommend this book highly for personal or academic reasons in learning about the troubles in Northern Ireland.