This book, combined with the companion volume Akiba Rubinstein, The Uncrowned King, are the definite works on one of the greatest chess masters of all time. There are hundreds of games, many of them deeply annotated by top players. Rubinstein was an endgame virtuoso and studying the games will increase the playing strength of players at all levels. There is also interesting historical research, including accounts of how the Rubinstein family survived the holocaust in Brussels during World War II. This book is an excellent work of scholarship.

Besides Capriccio Espagnol, opus 34 (1887), this volume contains the two following works of Rimsky-Korsakov: Dance of the Buffoons from Act III of the opera Snow Maiden (Snegurochka, 1887-82); and the overture Russian Easter, opus 36 (1888). From Dover's Bibliographical Note: "This Dover edition, first published in 1998, is a new compilation of three works originally published separately in early, authoritative editions, n.d. Notes and lists of contents and instrumentation are newly added."

This inciteful look into the life of Punin is quite a page turner. From references to his affair with Akhmatova to reflections on the politics of the time, the diaries provide a rare chronicle of the early Soviet era. The tactful translation is smooth and easy to comprehend. Jennifer Greene Krupala is a very talented translator and does great justice to the diaries of Nikolay Punin; it is obvious that she has a deep understanding of the work and a strong command of the Russian language.

It was a serendipitous moment when I discovered Orlando's Little-While Friends sitting on the bookshelf at my sister's place. I assumed it had been thrown out or given away along with all the other cherished objects of our childhoods. I was yet more surprised to discover the book was still in print. It was over twenty years ago in Canada, as a boy of four or five, that I first read this beautiful story, and its appeal remains strong even today.

Orlando sets off with his parents in his super-shiny-travel-anywhere van for the summer. He doesn't share his parents' happiness, however: He must leave all his cherished friends behind. Will he be lonely? How will he make friends? How will he overcome his shyness? Will he risk everything, push the boat out and find some little-while friends, or will he let his bashfulness get the better of him and hide away from the world? The author explores Orlando's vulnerability, loneliness and how he confronts his fears to make little-while friends. These themes are treated in a way so touchingly human that even I, as a twenty-five year old, could relate.

The scrapbook style, with its many lushly coloured illustrations, is what takes the story the extra distance to make this into a true classic. Its value lies not just in it being great fun, but in exploring in a highly accessible way some very important life issues. Snap this up while it is still in print.

If you are an experienced French Player, this is an excellent book to get a few new ideas, and also to learn some of the opening mistakes that most other French books don't cover. Most of the miniatures end up won for White, so there are MANY traps that Black can fall under in the French in the first 15 moves. There are also a few that White can fall into as well, and a couple of abondoned lines that could very well be sound. I wouldn't, however, recommend this book to a French Newbie, but get about a year or 2 of French experience under your belt and you are ready to dive into this book.

After one reads Rimsky's autobiography _My Musical Life_, there isn't much left in English translation for those who want to know more about one of the greatest Russian composers. Thank God for Yatrebtsev. Yastrebtsev's biography provides a wealth of information Rimsky did not remember (since he wrote his autobiography years after the events happened), remembered incorrectly, or chose to omit.

_Reminiscences of Rimsky-Korsakov_ may well be unique in that it is a day by day record of Rimsky's words and deeds. I enjoyed the refreshing immediacy of Yastrebtsev's first-hand accounts of his visits with Rimsky not only for the candid comments, but also for an intimate look into the composer's daily habits. Their conversations help the student of Rimsky to put his works in context, for Rimsky and Yastrebtsev discussed others' works along with his own. It is a must-have for the student of Rimsky-Korsakov or of late 19th century Russian music in general.

Dostoyevsky has written a macabre short novel. Throughout the book there permeates a dark sense of menace - the nameless characters mental unrest is captured with great prose style. The characters mental indecision is also expressed clearly, with rather confused and verbal lines.

There are two chapters in this novel. The first deals with the philosophical aspects of Dostoyevsky's own opinions, summed up generally as: A rather idiosyncratic kind of existentialism, and ultimate angst at a society laced with custom and stifled social stratification. While the second section deals with events in the characters life which have led to this philsophical stance. We are exposed to the pernicious, and obbsessive behaviour of the character, as he is driven into fits of rage and anxiety of the tritest of events.

Dostoyevsky has written a compelling book: sinister, unstable and in-depth. Each page casts a shadow. Each line is filled with sharp nihilism. Read this book with a light on!

Quick read? I finished Crime and Punishment and thought I'd zip through Notes like a snack before going on to the Brothers Karamozov, afterall, it's barely over 100 pages. Quick read? Think again.

Imagine being locked in a very small room with a verbose, insane, brilliant, jaded, before-his-times, clerk-come-philosopher....with a wicked sense of humor, and a toothache that's lasted a month. Pleasant company....are you searching for the door yet?

For the first hour, he's going to rant about his philosophy of revenge, the pointlessness of his life, his superiority, his failure, oh yeah, and his tooth. FOr the second half of the book, he's going to tell you a tale, with the title "Apropos of the Wet Snow". Because of course, there's wet snow outside on the ground.

I will leave you with this encouragement. If you can get through this book, you will appreciate Doestoevsky more, understand Crime and Punishment better, and probably enjoy a good laugh more than once.

Notes from the Underground is not light reading, but it is well worth the effort. And the translation by Pevear, including the translators notes at the back, is excellent.

"Notes" is a true classic, with Dostoevsky at his most psychologically insightful. In this book you will find the roots of many of the ideas that Freud would later make common knowledge, particularly that of the contradictory impulses and emotions which unconsciously fight to drive the actions of each individual. To Dostoevsky, a human being can never be governed by reason alone despite popular views of his day. Upon reading this book, you will fall victim to some of these contradictory emotions yourself, as you are torn between loving and hating Dostoevsky's antihero. This nameless narrator is a man who believes to be the victim of excessive consciousness, but in reality, although no doubt a possessor of extreme intelligence, is consumed by desires beyond his control. At times this narrator serves as a mouthpiece for some of Dostoevsky's own philosophical views, at times he is an object of satire, but no matter what his purpose, he always holds our attenti! on and never fails to interest. The ending of the novel is particularly shattering.

This Dover publication is a very cost-effective way to get accustomed with this masterpiece by Rimsky-Korsakov. Scheherazade tells the story of 1001 nights, Rimsky shines his light over a number of this tales. The score is clear, well-readible, but lacks commentary and is not an outstanding reproduction.

Among Rimsky-Korsakow's most beloved works, this orchestral poem depicting select tales from Scheherazade and 1001 Nights.

The score is very durable and will lie flat nicely on a desk or music stand. The print is very large and easy to read, despite it's smaller size -- Dover opted for 8.5 x 11 in lieu of their more standard 9 x 12. The low price is a great attraction to the starving music student.

You'll love this colorful score for the Rimsky-Korsakov's lush orchestration and romantic writing (the score itself has many colorful pictures on it). This is a must for the music student, professional, or advid listener, alike.

Let's get one thing straght about this series by Alburt et al: it's not stellar in any way and certainly contains no scintillating discovery of a new method. There is one thing which does shine through these books: the hype is unsurpassed! The authors cannot contain themselves long enough in the pages before splashing someone's biography complete with their availability for lessons, their rates, their 'phone numbers and what they had for dinner last night! (just keeeedink!;-). People, I already BOUGHT the book, I don't require commercials while reading it. This was a disconcerting aspect of reading it.

On the other hand, it does contain the necessary material for the student to play the endgame at a reasonably high level of understanding. The layout is good and color is used to good effect to highlight important points. It would have received a fourth start but I don't think it's worth the price they're asking. A better book at a better price for beginners would be Silman's Endgame book, check it out.

I've read several endgame books, but none have the outstanding clarity and wit of this entertaining volume. Alburt starts with fundamental concepts of king and pawn endgames (opposition, triangulation, zugzwang, etc) and proceeds to more complex endgame situations.

One gets the feeling this will become a classic endgame text.

After reading the section on rook and pawn endgames I was in a game with a complex endgame where all the relevant principles applied. The clarity of presentation meant that it was easy to recall under combat conditions!

First of all, if things haven't changed that much by the time Amazon.com releases my review, and if this paucity of reviewers is any indicator of chesslovers interested in studying the endgame, I find it rather alarming that there are only FIVE reviews of this book!! With that said, and since I have carefully studied this book at TWO different periods in the past 365 days (May-August, 2000 [3 months] and January-March, 2001 [2 months]) I feel it necessary to present to Amazon.com my review of "Just The Facts". In the time before May, 2000, I spent at least two and half years straight studying the middlegame. My skill and knowledge increased, but not as much as when I studied this book!! Endgame knowledge is very necessary!!! What made it so easy for me to become eager to read this book was that I saw one phrase in the description on the back of the book: "endgame knowledge is IMMUTABLE." It's unchangeable!! That means that for all the volatility of the opening (which is where the majority of chessplayers direct their study attention) and the middlegame, [if and] when that chess game you're playing reaches the endgame, a great amount of guesswork concerning what plan and moves should be made has been eliminated (due to the immutability of the endgame principles). The key is that you have to know the principles. Once that word "immutable" sinks in, that should tell you that you don't have to go searching for any other endgame books to read to try to further enhance and improve your endgame skill; the way you tend to do when you study the middlegame and the openings. I really enjoyed studying through this book and I'll probably do it again at some time in the next three years. Going over this book again and again doesn't at all mean that it's difficult. This book is very easy and very enjoyable to study through. It is even attractive to the eye. You should keep a notebook on the endgame patterns and their page numbers while studying this book. You should also keep notes on the endgame material classifications (such as a "rook-and-knight-versus-rook-and-bishop" endgame) and their page numbers. My only complaint (and I'll admit it is trifling) is that there's no page number reference to the "blue bullets" (Alburt calls them "breakouts") of endgame tips; once you've read the whole book, it would be helpful to "review-at-a-glance" these tidbits of information just to help keep these tips fresh in your memory. (so I've taped my own page reference to the back inside cover of my book!) I have great confidence that using the knowledge of THIS endgame book (the "end-all" of all other endgame books) will increase your chess rating by a massive percentage. The only other thing I can think of to enhance your endgame play after reading this book is to see such APPLICATIONS of these principles in master games such as in "Extreme Chess" (Alekhine and Euwe-1935 and 1937 and Fischer and Spassky-1972)and in Pal Benko's "Endgame Lab" which appears in the monthly magazine, "Chess Life". ...And of course actually playing chess over the board over and over again, notating your whole game so you can review it (whether you win or lose).

To correct the previous reviwer's comment about this work being "just the way Mussorgsky wrote it", this reviwer would like to point out that the Dover score is a reprint of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's arrangement and orchestration. While a brilliant and deservedly popular work in its own right, Rimsky's arrangement was prepared about 5 years after the composer's death and bears only the most superficial resemblance to Mussorgsky's 1867 score (full title: St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain). The Dover reprint is very clean with a sturdy binding at a very reasonable price - certainly worth the 4 stars from this reviewer.

No arrangements, no alterations, no changes whatsoever to this beautiful work. It is left exactly as Mussorgski wrote it. For the musician who wants inspiration or anyone who loves beautiful music.

I had a presentation to do for my Music History class. In college everything needs to be exceptional. I looked at many scores and found this one. It is beautifully writen. Deffinately a must have, for Music teachers, and Mussorgsky lovers alike.