Dr. Samuel A. Jones (1834-1912) was a physician and Thoreau scholar who lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Horace Hosmer (1830-1894) was a small businessman in Acton and Concord, Massachusetts. They formed a friendship when their paths crossed in 1890, and they exchanged letters from that point on until Horace's death in 1894. Much of their correspondence dealt with the then-contemporary image of Henry David Thoreau, who had been popularized in an 1888 biography by F. B. Sanborn. Dr. Jones was a devoted fan of the naturalist; Horace was a family friend who had once been a student in Henry and John Thoreau's school. Both set out to refute details revealed in the Sanborn book.

Enter George Hendrick, an English professor who in 1974 discovered this collection of Horace's letters in the attic of Dr. Jones' daughter-in-law. While the doctor's replies have not survived, Horace's side of the conversation is revealing enough, and we can fill in the blanks. We get a general idea of what life was like in Concord in the 1890s, especially regarding politics. And we learn a great deal about the personal life of Horace Hosmer, of course. He gives specifics about his own health condition, which seems natural enough because he was speaking with a doctor. He talks about his own pencil-making business and compares it to the Thoreau family operation. He dispels rumors that Henry's cabin was a stop on the Underground Railroad. He glows with respect for Henry's brother John and for their parents, John and Cynthia. Just as we come to know and nearly understand this common man, we read a final letter from his daughter, who writes to Dr. Jones the day after her father died.

An informal but revealing and sometimes amusing glimpse of life at a certain time, in a certain place.

Unfortunately, I could not disagree with my fellow reviewer more...

I was introduced to this text while a student in Dr. Malacinski's own molecular biology class at Indiana University. While I learned a great deal from the class itself, I found this book to be utterly disappointing in more ways than one. While he is undoubtedly a great teacher, Dr. Malacinski is a terrible author. His explanations of even the simplest concepts are confusing at best and downright confounding at their worst. Often, the book uses long, languid syntax to explain basic ideas, and in doing so, loses track of the fundamental basis of the concepts it is trying to elucidate. It seems to me as though Dr. Malacinski's purpose in writing an introductory textbook would be better served by offering his readers short, direct, and to-the-point explanations (such as those offered in the "Student Companion.") The trichromatic layout of all the book's diagrams make their interpretation difficult, and do little to provide the reader with relief from the bland nature of the prose. The text's lack of detailed color photographs is equally maddening - more than once when attempting to study one of the book's photographs, I felt as though I were staring at a "magic eye" collage rather than an electron micrograph. Additionally, Dr. Malacinski's attempts of to interject his personal opinions and imbibe his readers with enthusiasm for the subjects being treated feel trite and unnecessary. The text skims over many fundamental issues relevant to the study of molecular biology - most notably in its almost non-existent coverage of proteins and their role in molecular biology. I was equally disappointed in the book's total lack of coverage (or even introduction to) more advanced concepts in the field, particularly eukaryotic molecular biology. Although aptly titled "Essentials of Molecular Biology," students intending to pursue more advanced studies in the fields of biochemistry and molecular/cell biology will be poorly served by the book's complete omission of these advanced concepts. Altogether, while this book is one of the few molecular biology textbooks specifically designed for use in a one-semester undergraduate introductory course, many of the "more advanced" textbooks available provide a more comprehensive and easily understandable treatment of the material covered in this text. To those with a sincere interest in learning about both the concepts and breadth of molecular biology, I recommend "Molecular Biology of the Cell" (4th ed.) by Alberts et al, "Molecular Cell Biology" (4th ed.) by Lodish et al, and "Biochemistry" (5th ed.) by Berg and Stryer as alternatives to this book.

I read this book at the library and was highly impressed with the mode of explaination and representation. The book is highly informative giving the explaination with the best lucid way and the figures too are at the right places. How so ever the book would have been still more better if the method given at many places would have been clubbed with the major draw backs and precautionary steps.

All in one it is a very useful book to be obtained by the biologists working on the field

Vishal Shah

A waste of time and money - could not get past the second chapter before totally giving up on this one (I really did give it a shot)....

This book is written in a very sophmoric text and was really down right boring. With the exception of one or two interviews all the info can be found in any music magazine. I was at times embarrassed for the authors "attempting" to interview these ladies. Don't waste money on this one, borrow it or go to the library.

Alan Kulwicki fall in love with Cassy Kulwicki and married on December 22, 1989. Kulwicki said if he's a winner at Rockingham, Britsol, 2 times, Phoenix and Pocono. He's a champion in 1992. He hang out his movie "Apartment #9" is named after Tammy Wynette song. Starring Alan and introducing Rusty Wallace's son, Stephen Wallace. His son, Tracy Lynn is born after Dale Jarrett wins on Aug. 19, 1991. Alan died at the plane crash on April 1, 1993 at 38 over 3 years of marriage.

Very badly done. The author uses technical terms many pages before explaining what they mean. He includes numerous examples, but often does not explain the examples adequately. He blows past complex concepts with scant regard for the confused reader. The explanation of figured bass is completely incomprehensible. Some of these problems can be explained by the brevity of the outline format, but for others there is no explanation other that the author's cluelessness on how to teach.

Most books found on this subject are designed for beginers and are frustrating for those who want to learn more. This book is for those who want more and accomplishes that feat.

There are many complaints below concerning this book's rapid introduction of more complex topics. If the book in question were intended to teach theory from the very beginning, this might be a valid denouncement; but, frankly, such was not the intent. It is a "college outline," and, in fulfilling the expectations for book in such a series, it does a relatively good job. It is true that some of the examples could be more thoroughly explained (and a small handful are even mislabled), but if you are already generally familiar with the material, this book serves excellently as a source from which to review. If you are looking to refresh you memory quickly after a breach in study, I cannot think of a better choice. Moreover, the book provides rather good guidelines for getting a start in more advanced topics. In short, I thoroughly recommend it.

I recently returned from a 3 month tour of Europe and took this book with me. While it did have a number of major European cities in it the actual information about them was definetly lacking. I found my self usually better off with out a book at all as opposed to only having this one. Several other travelers we met felt the same way and some were lucky enough to have Lonely Planet guides. For the money spent I'll stick to them or Rick Steves in the future. i.e. This book would take you to the train station/ subway but then fall short on what the heck to do to get a ticket!!! Which is important information stranded in 20 different stations/ subways a month each with different customs. Frommer's did do an excellent job of pointing out all of the gay and lesbian districs and bars in each city and the gay friendly hotels and shops... but they also have a strickly gay guide to Europe as well. The amount of space used for this information could have been better allocated for more pertinent information. I'll have to give a thumbs down on this book. Take something else with you or take nothing at all.

Frommer's does a good job with the general hints on travelling cheaper, but unless you plan on visiting only the major cities and capitals only, look for another book. There are 24 major cities and surrounding areas covered from Ireland to Budapest, but that's not many cities in comparison with all of Europe. I only will have a short time in Europe and that means that I will only be able to visit two of the cities listed and have to use another book for everything in between. Lonely Planet is much more inclusive and definitely covers the lower price scale.

Just returned from a 2 month trip using the 2002 guide. I found the recommendations for the restaurants to be excellent. After realizing that the Frommer's writers and I had the same tastes, I made it a point of seeking out all of their 'starred' recommendations for restaurants. The sightseeing descriptions and recommendations were also quite good. The hotel recommendations were not as good. A few of the hotels we stayed in that were not 'starred' or listed as a 'Find' were not as comfortable as hotels in other books.

We traveled with this Frommer's, Rick Steves, Lonely Planet and Rough Guides through France, Belguim, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Italy. We liked Rick Steves' recommendations for lodging, Frommer's for restaurants and both for sightseeing. Lonely Planet and Rough Guides were not used if in a Frommer's city. If in a Rick Steve's city (but not Frommer's) we used Lonely Planet for restaurant recommendations (not as good a Frommer's but better than Rick Steves).

Background: Two travelers, professional, early 30s with enough money to stay out of the hostels, but did not want to blow the bank of 5 star lodging. Rick Steve's packing philosophy. Both traveler's love to eat!!

If this book were stripped down so that it only told George's story, it would be excellent. But it contains far too much fiction and flowers to be considered biography. I got thoroughly tired of the terms "prodigal singer" and "snake-oil" and I didn't see why the author found it necessary to insert his personal opinions of all the characters. The narrative portions were written like dialogue without quotes. It came across as a weak attempt to sound folksy, with the true result of sounding unprofessional.

The book had interesting content, but it could be fiction. The author only refered to sources that claimed that they had seen this or that they had heard that Mr. Jones had done that. All of the incidents were "hear say".If you read this book and read I lived to tell it All, you can see the incidents are not the same. Mr. Allen wrote an interesting book and if Biographys interest you, you should read it, but it needs to be compared with the autobiography. Actually if you would combine both books, one heck of a screen play could be developed from the contents.

i liked this book better than the one written by tom carter. they are about the same,this one has more un-flattering stories in it. stories that never made it in the authorized (tom carter) version. its the most incredible biography i've ever read. a must read. don't plan on setting it down!!!

Although this book is well organized and, generally well written, it is not a good course for the American woodworker. The book is written by a Welchman. He uses species of wood and walking stick designs that are Welch. There are some good ideas about the process. But the book is very narrow in scope.

Everything you need to know on how to make canes & walking sticks. What I like about this book is that it takes you from the beginning-- identifying trees and how to select the wood for your staves and handles. Sure, some of the species are found in Great Britain and not the U.S.A., but he tells you what characteristics to look for in a species that would be desirable for making a cane. The pictures are beautiful and the text interesting and clearly written so as to make his directions easily understood.

This is the first Elizabeth George book that I found frustrating, irritating and distracting. There were a few too many flashbacks, especially Gideon, and by the end of the book I could not tell whether I was reading in the present or in the past. Maybe this effect was intended by the author, but it spoiled the book for me. I didn't care about the endless sessions between Gideon and his psychiatrist or about his journal entries. I buy Elizabeth George to read about Lynley and Havers, Deborah and St. James, and the suspense of how the latest murder will be unraveled. I've actually written in the past about how well I thought George managed to bring all the different threads of her story together at the end to create closure, but I don't think she succeeded this time

I suspect Ms. George has been reading a lot of Rendell/Vine -- and to good effect. I was greatly disappointed in the two prior books and decided this one might be my last, but I'll stick with Ms. George, at least for the time being.

I have the impression that George has started writing with TV/movies in mind -- hence the cyber-sex (which goes no place) and the lesbian lovers. There are any number of minor story lines which seem to have been badly edited -- they should have been more fully developed or dropped (Pitchley's family, for instance). Perhaps most of these started as red herrings, but they ended up as distracting detours. We all know how well the BBC does minor characters, and I suspect some of these folks were just stuck in for their character-actor potential.

The book could have done with a REALLY good editor -- it shouldn't have been more than 500 pages and Gideon's journal (albeit very interesting) isn't in a consistent style (roaming back and forth between an informal-1st-person style and an omniscient author style). I found this disconcerting.

I'm very bored with the Haver/Lynley/Helen/Simon/Deborah cast of 2-dimensional characters, so I was pleased that they're more in the background. As a "technique" they're fine, but they can't stand on their own.

The story itself is fascinating and and most of the characters are interesting too. I found the ending inspired. I was grateful that George didn't tie everything up in a neat little package -- I took it as a compliment that she trusted me to make inferences and grasp implications.

What a wonderfully perceptive book. George's ability to draw characters that are real is exceptional. She understands psychology so well, and this is such an important part of a well-written book. In fact this was a book I have lived in for over two weeks. It had my attention the whole time, even when I was doing other things, I would be wondering about things I'd read. At the end it all hung together in a complete way. I discovered Elizabeth George's books last year (2000) and read all of them in subsequent months. I have been waiting ever since for her next book. Unlike Ruth Rendall, who writes in the same genre, and whose books never have any hope for something better in them, George balances hers. In Traitor to Memory, hope is held out for several characters. Justice is done in the main, although for one character who is severely penalised unjustly, it is not, but this is a reflection on her character. Keep it up Elizabeth George. For serious readers, who are not shallow and simply looking for thrills, your writing is perceptive, gripping and satisfying.