This is a concise, well-written paperback (it's also orange =P) book that's easy to carry and user-friendly. Lacks the fluff and "entertaining" anecdotes; it very straightforward... Even so, this book accomplishes what it should accomplish, tells you everything that you need to learn, from the Greeks and beyond, all in outline format. It's accesible, and comprehensive. It even has quizzes at the end of each section to test yourself on. It's an entirely worthwhile buy for anyone serious about learning history.

I'm using this book for an advance placement European history class and it is great. The book covers the facts-plain and simple, from the Greeks to the present. Every sentence in this book is useful-not just boring bable as in other text books (i.e. A History of The Modern World). Great study guide for any history class-recommmended for all historians! And the best part: it's small and it's paper back.

This bok really helps a lot whether you are in an AP European History class as I am or if you are in a reglar World History Class. It takes difficult concepts and documents and greatly simplifies them making understanding tough material a breeze. It really helps doing homework or studying for a test. A great book for anyone that has a tough time with history concepts.

The full color illustrations and brief, interesting descriptions make this a great gift for young fish enthusiasts and a wonderful resource for reports.

This title is actually one of the earliest in a very successful list of Golden Guides. It quickly brings the reader up to speed on the subject of insects in general and proceeds to lure him onward with fascinating information about each of the referenced insects in turn. When I arrived in New England, after an early childhood of city dwelling, my forays into woods and field, guidebook in hand, were some of the most educational times of my young life. I still have my original, ragged, copy of "American Insects" and treasure it.

King's book deals with the performance of Arthur Conan Doyle's short play "A Story of Waterloo" by eminent Victorian actor Henry Irving and a devastating review of this production written by George Bernard Shaw in 1895. The play is about an old and feeble soldier who has played a heroic role at Waterloo and pathetically dies while reliving his finest hour, thereby bringing the house down (in the theatre, that is). King uses this intersection of two remarkable theatrical careers to consider the Victorians' retrospective glance at the Napoleontic wars, the nature of Irving's performance, which by modern standards would be inconceivably sentimental, Irving's relation to his audience, Shaw's development as a critic and playwright, Irving's leading lady Ellen Terry and her son, the theatre director, designer and Irving acolyte Edward Gordon Craig. An instructive and entertaining read for anyone with a broad interest in the theatre and (cultural) history. Highly accessible, but marred by some unnecessary excursions into academic obscurities that the opening chapters had led me to believe were going to be avoided. Still, fascinating stuff.

This is is a fine book devoted to famillar mammals of the US and Canada. It shows full-color illustrations and maps that show you where the specific critter lives for many different mammals. Plus it tells you what a specific mammal eats and wether it is dangerous or not. A must for all nature-lovers !

When I was a kid my uncle gave me a copy of this book and it opened up a world which still intrigues me...reptiles and amphibians. Even today I consult the book for info on some lizzard I don't recognize or to see if salamanders actually spend a lot of time out of water. In fact, I'm sharing it with my own nephew now--age 11--who's discovering this new world of life for himself. This book is well-presented and easy-to-use, as well as full of great illustrations that alone make it worth reading through. Profiles of each reptile and amphibian are thorough withough being overwhelmingly scientific. A timeless classic for young or old...one to share over the generations.

This was either the first or second guide that I started out with when I was very young. I will always have respect for it. It contains full-color drawings of the most common birds that a person is likely to see. A total of 129 of the most common American birds is included. Text and range maps are also included in this pocket-sized guide. The drawings display spring plumages of adult male birds, and normally females or young if they are very different. The text is good and gives the common name, length, description, behavior, verbal descriptions of vocalizations, and sometimes abundance. The text also points out the differences between males and females, and related birds that are similar. This guide contains some nice introductory information. Some of the information deals with how to use the guide, how to identify birds, equipment, where to look, bird classification, and attracting birds. There are also two illustrations that detail the parts of a bird. I find all of the drawings throughout this guide to be pretty good. Most of the drawings share the same page as the text and range map, but a few of the drawings are on the right page, while the text and range maps are on the left page. This guide has some very useful information that is located in the back. For each bird that is illustrated, there is information dealing with migration, eggs, nests, and feeding habits. The back of the guide also contains a listing of scientific names for the birds illustrated and an index. I used to take this guide out with me when I first started birdwatching. I still have the older and also the newer edition. Whenever I would identify a particular species of bird, I would write all of the important information about it on the page. Even though I don't take this guide into the field anymore, it's not because I don't like it. I feel confident with the organization, drawings, and information; however, this guide does not contain all of the birds of North America--only the common ones. That aside, I still think that this guide is a good choice and starting point for beginners.

This was either the first or second bird guide I ever owned. It's a birding guide that contains the most common species of birds that you'll see. The maps are good, the drawings are excellent, and the information on each bird is great. Greater starter guide for beginners and children.

This is an excellent starter book for stargazers, and fits into your pocket.