I beat "Half Life" before even opening this book, but I still found it to contain plenty of useful information and tips even for the experienced gamer. If you're getting this book for the walkthrough only, then you'd probably be better off not purchasing it. You can find many detailed walkthroughs online (albeit not quite as detailed as the one found here, but still detailed enough to understand.) On the other hand, if you want to pick up a few new tricks to beat enemies, or load yourself with information on the weapons, beasts, levels, and tactics than this book is definitely for you. The walkthrough itself was very good, although, as I said before, not worth the price of the book. It includes clear pictures and precise details about where to go, what to shot, what to do, and how to do it. Other sections include information on all items you can pick up, and all enemies you will face. There is also a "tips and tricks" section of the book for the game, explaining various tactics that are useful for different situations. Near the back of the book, as well, there is a chapter dedicated to tactics for multiplayer games. Even though I haven't tried playing online or over a network yet, the advice seemed to be quite sound and reasonable.

I enjoyed the book immensely, and it's a definite must for any serious "Half-Life" player.

This book has many helpful hints and cool pictures! If you buy Half Life you are lost without this book! The game is also very neat so if you buy the game you need this Book! Don't wait buy it now!

Very helpful. But the book doesn't tell you everything, so you sill feel some suspense about playing the game. The book doesn't give the whole game away, but it keeps you from ripping your hair out.

Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) is a genre that, unlike other musical genres, is defined solely by its lyrical content, as opposed to musical style. Thus, it has been relegated to the evangelical subculture, which is tantamount to locking it in the basement of the entertainment world. Mark Joseph takes a very opinionated view that the "ghettoizing" of Christian music into the CCM substratum has had a severely detrimental effect on Christianity's influence in the wider marketplace. Some artists have been content to remain in the subculture, relying on the evangelizing efforts of their fans to bring the unchurched to their concerts and to spread the word to the mainstream. Others have longed to break out of CCM straightjacket into the world at large, to bring positive values to pop culture. Some have succeeded at this, with varying degrees of success. And some never were in the "straightjacket" to begin with. This book gives an excellent overview of artists in all these camps.

Joseph never tries to hide his opinion about CCM. He believes that, in its present form, it basically shouldn't exist. He believes that there should be about 20% of these musicians ministering in churches and to youth groups, and about 80% out in the mainstream, and he has some practical solutions to bring Christian music to that point. Will it ever happen? It's doubtful that it will, or that it even should. After all, to me, CCM is valuable as wholesome entertainment to the modern and post-modern generations who would have no interest in, say, Southern gospel. I think 50-50 is a better, more realistic ratio. He does address the problem of Christian musicians going out into the world and "backsliding" by the proposal of creating a "traveling pastor" ministry to go on tour with the musicians. All in all, a very thought-provoking book.

If you're reading this review then you probably should read this book. Reading the review implies that you have an interest in the subject(s) of faith and/or rock and roll which means that this page-turner is for you. Mark Joseph has accomplished an astounding feat here by amassing this information. Welcome to Faith/Rock 101. Prepare to be educated. You should understand, though, that as Mark Joseph begins presenting two opposing viewpoints on a debate that may be new to some, his mind is firmly made up. When Joseph allows the artists to do the talking, the book shines. He does, however, engage in some editorial-izing at times from his own point of view. He has weighed Contemporary Christian Music in the balance and found it wanting. The book is about two points of view regarding the relevance of C(ontemporary) C(hristian) M(usic) to the world at large as opposed to the Christian sub-culture and its quality when judged as art. The basis for Mark Joseph's conclusion that CCM serves no useful function is that the artists perpetually "preach to the choir." It's a matter of Christians making music for Christians who already agree with them. Thus, CCM has none of the tension and angst-and presumably fun-that are associated with real life. CCM is safe and sanitized. It would be inappropriate for me to offer my observations, points of agreement or disagreement with the author. I'm reviewing the book, not the premise of the book. Do you want to discuss it? Email me. It's a fascinating and controversial topic. If you read Rebellion with an open-mind, you will find that it provides some answers even as it produces more questions. Consider the different responses of the members of Kansas. We see the argument set forth in Rebellion in its purest form in the section chronicling Kansas. Faith split the band into Christian and non-Christian camps. We learn that bandmates even segregated themselves on the airplane based on belief! The irony of it is that, after the breakup of Kansas, Kerry Livgren and John Elefante espouse differing views regarding CCM. Elefante embraces CCM, adding a strong voice to the contention that the popular music machine will not accept songs about Jesus. (Michael Been of the Call also elucidates on the pop music machine-the "current power structure, the ones who right now are making the rules and creating the values and ethics of the country.") Livgren, however, is more a proponent of the author's viewpoint, indicating that CCM is far removed from the "real world" where hurting, sinful people never hear it. A complex issue, don't you think? If I go on, my review will be too long and you won't read it. Let me just add this. As far as quote of the day, be sure to see the section on Atomic Opera and their observations of Christianity as it is commonly practiced by adherents and perceived by bystanders.

Initially, as I began to read Rock and Roll Rebellion, I was cynically skeptical. Oh no, not another contrivance of someone's opinion about "the deepest inner-most" of superstars like Lenny Kravitz, Bono, Bob Dylan, etc. Then of course the question,"who is this guy Mark Joseph, and what gives him the right to be an authority on such a subject anyway?" Well to my ashamed suprise, Mr. Joseph took me on a musical time machine where I found myself chained to the bathroom (where I do most of my reading if you know what I mean), my mind nostalgically reminiscing about all the artists I grew up on, conjuring up pictures from my childhood forward, forcing me to answer the riveting questions and statements posed in this book. Mr. Joseph points to the re-emergence of spirituality forfeited by these great artists and the need for a return to the very soul that gave them their admitted inspiration. He also takes us through a journey of the Christian Contemporary sub-culture which he points out has divided this country in an unhealthy backlash of prejudice and pontification from both sides of the culture, while all the while creating an even bigger chasm of undertsanding of Christianity in entertainment. Without giving away too much of the book, in addition, Mark Joseph effectively challenges the "Christian Market" for what it has become and provides very honest, simple, direct answers to the state of the artists and the industry, coupled with resolution. Well Mr. Joseph, I must confess, you made me a believer. -ROBERT HART/Newport Beach, C

Nabokov, in his Lectures on Russian Literature, suggested that Dostoevsky be knocked off the canon of Russian writers, especially in favor of Turgenev, whom Dostoevsky hated. The reason was that Nabokov was against the "novel of ideas" because, he would say, it managed to achieve neither.

Demons is, of Dostoevsky's novels, the most ideological, yet still it is masterfully pulled off. Let it be known, however, that at times, the plot suffers at the expense of ideology, just as one has to expect, BUT THE IDEAS!

This book, although in my opinion it has the nuance of neither, is a perfect bridge between Notes From the Underground and The Brothers Karamazov. The intelligentsia, you suspect, are trying to build the positivistic paradise that the Underground man railed against, but as the novel progresses, you realize that the idealist vision has already been lost by Stepan Trofimovich, that all that remains is his desire to feel alive, even if that means inflicting every sort of pain. This is the same type of monster that Ivan warns against, and identifies himself with--if he were to act--in the Grand Inquisitor.

Also, please note, I tried once to read it in an older translation, and gave up somewhere in the 100s. This one I plunged through with little trouble.

Dostoevsky's tackling political novel is given new life in this fresh translation. This work has been unilaterally been praised for capturing Dostoevsky's power and subtlety. This story is about the political and philosophical ideas that swept Russia in the second half of the 19th century. These demons, then, are ideas, that legion of -isms that came to Russia from the West: idealism, rationalism, empiricism, materialism, utilitarianism, positivism, socialism, anarchism, nihilism, and, underlying them all, atheism.'' Dostoevsky, taking as his starting point the political chaos around him at the time, constructs an elaborate morality tale in which the people of a provincial town turn against one another because they are convinced of the infallibility of their ideas. Stepan Trofimovich, an affable thinker who does little to turn his liberal ideas into action, creates a monster in his student, Nikolai Stavrogin, who takes his spiritual father's teaching to heart, joining a circle of other nihilists who will justify any and all violent excesses for the sake of their ideas. Stavrogin aims for a systematic corrupting of society and all its principles so that out of the resulting destruction he may raise the banner of rebellion. A chilling foreshadowing of Stalinist years. This is a work of art in literature!

Dostoevsky, as the great historian of Russia Richard Pipes notes, hated Socialism and Socialists more than all else under the sun. This is a continuation of his bombardment of collectivists and utopianists that began with "Notes from Underground" and continued with "Crime and Punishment." Dostoevsky, a Christian and a Russian patriot (in the best -- Roger Scrutonian -- sense of the word) -- rejected anything and everything that would make men and women into mere social ciphers, cogs in the machine of history, into "means" rather than "ends" (to use the terminology of Kant).

Dostoevsky's primary inspiration for this novel came from an absolutely horrid novel by one Nikolai Cherneshevsky called "Chto Eto", or "What is to be Done?" An early bit of Russian utopianism, it was a precursor of the vicious theories Lenin/Stalin would deploy to "drag" Russia into the 20th century (indeed it was Lenin's favorite novel). The fact that some 66 million would be killed on the grand march to utopia was irrelevant (as the lunatic Shigalyov states in Dostoevsky's novel, "from unlimited freedom, I ended with unlimited despotism. . ." the solution] to the problems of mankind is to grant absolutely freedom to one-tenth and turn the remaining nine-tenths into a herd).

This echoes, of course, the magisterial "dialogue" between Christ and the Grand Inquisitor on the nature of human freedom in The Brothers Karamazov. But this novel is relevant for more than its attack on socialism and communism -- both of which, outside of Cuba, China, and a couple of bookstores in New York City and maybe California -- have collapsed precisely because they could do no more than create misery and murder. What makes The Demons -- indeed, the entire Dostoevsky corpus -- particularly relevant in this first decade of the 21st century is his take on the Russian intelligentsia/liberals of the 1840s -- a group characterized by out and out hatred for their country, which created the conditions for the rise of nihilism, terrorism, and bolshevism in the 1860s-1890s. Those 1840s intellectuals, like the "intelligentsia" of today's America, adopted a "blame Russia first" attitude toward all internal and external problems -- glorying in Russia's humiliations, and cursing her victories. It's not a far leap from Dostoevsky's Stepan Verkhovensky to the likes of Lapham, Vidal, and Moore. The real threat to one's community, Dostoevsky argues, is not the farmer or the factory worker who attends church, votes Republican, and drinks his beer in a tavern, whose sons and daughters march to war because they believe it their duty to the country that bore and sustained them, but those who, cloaking themselves in the false-prophet mantle of "dissent," spit and sneer at the foundations of community, or what Russians would call sobernost -- the things that makes Russia Russia, the things that make America America. Dostoevsky's work is both warning and antidote. It's no wonder he was banned by Lenin; one doubts he is discussed around the smart parties of Manhattan today.

I read Bad Boy with great anticipation and came away with mixed feelings. "If only we had another Lee Atwater" is a sentiment that resonates with today's too-often clutzy, tone-deaf GOP. But the Lee Atwater presented in Brady's comes off less as the strategic Messiah lionized in Republican circles and more like a go-getting prankster. The truth is probably somewhere in between.

Typically, Brady obsesses over the Willie Horton episode, even though he does dislodge the pervasive myth that Atwater was somehow the prime mover behind this over-hyped episode. Still, these pages would have worked better as a more detailed account of the strategy behind the '88 campaign. (That's why I bought the book -- not to read more re-hashing of the Horton claptrap.) After enjoyable and vivid accounts of Atwater's early South Carolina campaigns, Bad Boy starts to disappoint and doesn't shed much more light on the politics of the 1980s and beyond.

Atwater may be called the master of negative politics, but after watching the latest episode in Florida and recalling the impeachment ordeal, I doubt that this is what will distinguish him in the pantheon of political masterminds in years to come. Atwater's legacy will be that of a strategist who had a unique sense of what was really going on in his generation, and one of the first to recognize the current transformation of politics from a battle between left and right to contest between libertarian-minded thinkers who relish progress and freedom and traditional populists who want to control it.

Like Lee Atwater himself, this biography is entertaining, and quick-and-dirty. Also like Atwater, it is essentially skin deep, offering little assessment on how a figure like Atwater could arise and become so powerful within the Republican Party so fast. There's also not much about Atwater's innovation -- "oppo" research-based politics that turned the nascent 24-hour news cycle to the advantage of the savvier campaign. Atwater invented the style of "war room" campaigning that was enhanced by another southerner, James Carville, four years later.
Still, the book is well-crafted and does an excellent job of chronicling Atwater's life. It is especially admirable for revealing the truth about Atwater's alleged deathbed renunciation of hardball politics -- which never really happened. The real story is far more interesting.

Lee Atwater knew politics and how to work it. This book gives a compelling look at the transformation of a good ol' boy into the man responsible for the election of the most powerful man in the world. Mr. Brady does a fine job of showing all sides of Lee. From the insecurities that drove his attitude through the frailities of a man on his death bed,this book does justice to the real man. Lee Atwater set the trend for the future of politics. This book is a must read for anyone in the business of getting people elected.

A brilliant piece of writing. I truly enjoyed this book.March has created a vivid world with a minimal amount of words and a very interesting style of poetry. I don't know that I've ever read an extended poem (for lack of a better word, it doesn't really qualify as an epic) that had me so involved and so interested in the story being told. The illustrations are amazing in this edition of the book as well. Highly recommended!

This wonderful narration of one truly wild party sparks the imagination of unforgettable nights. It is written in a style that lends itself to being read aloud, as the dramatic content is high. Art Speigelman's illustrations make this night one book to remember, and add to the collection. This book will remind everyone of the night that they let their hair down and partied like the never had before, only to have to face the consequences.

The wild party is a brilliant poem that pre-empts the beats' sense of rhythm and love for the low-down and dirty elements of modern life. Even though it was written six decades ago, it is fantastically modern. With a pulsuating, driving style that includes violence, humour and excitement, The Wild Party grips the reader from beginning to end. Spielgelman's illustrations, although nice and evocative, do not match the pure intensity of the writing. Well done to Spielgelman for finding this 'lost classic' and re-publishing it (although on the spine his name gets top billing which seem a little self-centred seeing as the books power lies entirely in the words, not the pictures. Indeed the writing is so bitingly vivid that the pictures are unneeded). I have read this book over a hundred times and it never fails to quicken my pulse and ressurect my love for poetry.

This book is an invaluable resource for any serious practitioner of molecular biology. Content is detailed and comprehensive. Highly recommended reference source. All credit to the authors for what is a thorough revision of this latest testament of what is undoubtedly the revealed scripture of molecular biology. The website gives you access to all the printable protocols from the book and is perfect for lab bound grad student.

Molecular cloning has been a lab staple for years. Now reprinted so you can update the old lab copy worn out by years of student use! Its a must have for any lab serious about molecular biology. Its also useful for student training. Many times there are simple explanations for the lab techniques we have adopted as dogma, but are unsure why. Molecular cloning has the answers and is a great resource. I highly recommend this book for its depth and breadth of protocols and guidance in the complicated realm of cloning!

So few and so much to say about this bible of Biology at the bench...
You'll really find everything you want in it, including the composition of all the buffers and solutions, the new protocols for high-tech biology (FLIM-FRET), some paragraphs about bioinformatics and more.Incredibly precise, this book is consequently a big book (3 huge volumes), so better know exactly wath you're looking for before opening it!
The must have of every lab!

This book talks about living in the present. To do that, don't focus on planning your life away, and let go of the things in the past. It tells you that all stress in your life is a result of thoughts, and that sometimes you need to relax and let the "free flowing" mode of thinking take over. Nothing new, but it certainly shows you how to spot things and make the necessary adjustments. Overall, worth reading.

The age of self-improvement promises to bring us happiness if we......this book reminds us that we already posssess what we are searching for and that our busy lives are really a reflection of our busy minds. "Slowing Down" is a clearly written, non-mumbo jumbo explanation of how we create our reality of life via our thinking..the implication being that peace of mind is just a thought away. It contains concrete strategies for living in the moment and ways to reclaim what is ours at birth a built in capacity for health, wisdom, commonsense, and the enjoyment of life. "You cannot solve a problem with the same thinking  that created it" Einstein

An excellent book with very practical resources for taking charge of your own life. The title is a bit misleading in that the principles discussed can be applied to many problem areas, e.g., depression, anger, communication, relationships, not just stress or anxiety as the title implies. Another odd thing about the book is that the principles described are, for the most part, lifted straight out of Buddhist teachings, but the words Buddha or Buddhism are never mentioned, nor is much other specific information as to the "school" or "philosophy" of the book's ideas. So, if you'd like to learn about the psychology/philosophy of Buddhism without wading through the dogma, rituals, and other religious trappings, this book is a wonderful and practical place to start!

I am continually captivated by THE SOUL. I have read the book many times, and each time I sense I am reading something new that touches me on a very personal and profound level. As a professional in the investment industry, I don't have extensive knowledge of the literature or lexicon in the field of spiritual development. Yet I found THE SOUL completely within my grasp. Mr. Jaidar addresses the reader in a very direct, practical, and uncomplicated manner that the layman can understand. But make no mistake about the content, the reader will be challenged (and in the most wonderful ways!). Mr. Jaidar makes this most important subject accessible to all without reducing or trivializing any concepts. THE SOUL has imparted a truth to me, which has forever altered my understanding of my life.

In checking back on reviews of some books I've loved over the years, I laughed aloud when I read "A reader from Santa Fe" 3/11/00 review of Jaidar's book. And my second reaction was sadness for that person.

Never was there a clearer example of the necessity of having the eyes to see and the ears to hear!

Readers, take a look at what some of our best thinkers and researchers in the fields of consciousness studies and spirituality have to say about this book:

Larry Dossey, M.D.: "All truly great and enduring spiritual documents are jewellike - luminously clear and radiant....Anyone who reads THE SOUL will have found a precious gem, a treasure of immense worth. This book is about the Great Constants - those insights that have changed lives throughout human history."

Joseph Chilton Pearce: "For generations we have needed a new framework and lexicon for talking about the human spirit, and HERE IT IS. Everything that I (and others of similar bent) have written has only groped, at best, toward what is spelled out here. With the power and assurance of personal knowing, rather than conjecture, and with an admirable simplicity and clarity of style, George Jaidar shares with us a revelation he experienced nearly a quarter of a century ago..."

Professor Charles Tart: "....George Jaidar's book is one of the clearest, most sensible guides I've seen to real development. I strongly recommend THE SOUL to those seriously interested in finding and growing that deeper self."

Read through the other reader reviews. Don't miss this book. For those who do have the eyes to see and the ears to hear, and who are ready, THE SOUL holds the keys to transformation - not just thinking about it, or reading about it - but actually living out this unfolding new mutation in human consciousness.

Looking for something with more substance than the entry-level inspiration of the CHICKEN SOUP books? Deeper than the plethora of books out there on the soul, which offer repackaged tradition and conventional wisdom?Joseph Chilton Pearce (CRACK IN THE COSMIC EGG, MAGICAL CHILD, EVOLUTION¹S END, etc.) wrote in the Foreword to this book, "For generations we have needed a new framework and lexicon for talking about the human spirit, and here it is. Everything that I (and others of similar bent) have written has only groped, at best, toward what is spelled out hereŠ." Truer words never written.George Jaidar offers a challenge to those of us who feel that impulse to something more ­ there¹s just got to be something more in this life. This invitation is to those who have thoroughly explored ­ and reached the limits of ­ religion, philosophy, and sciencing. This book can take the thoughtful reader on one heck of a romp through what Jaidar calls the "mind process." Examining enculturation and the worldview that we¹ve all agreed upon as "reality," Jaidar traces how fear and hope are used to enforce allegiance to the reality we¹ve created. The fear process and the hope process are, as he writes, "the twin foundations of religion" ­ not to mention the twin foundations of mental illness.Jaidar speaks to the Yearning that so many feel, that little inner nudging that keeps reminding us that there¹s got to be something more in this life. And then with a passion and beauty of writing style uncommon in philosophical discourses, Jaidar lays out a spiritual practice, that if adopted, can take the reader beyond the mind process, with all its limitations, and into the Soul process, where that "something more" is not only found, but becomes transformational.Jaidar frankly acknowledges that "This book was not written for a mass audience, but rather for a vanguard who will serve as a Œsaving remnant¹ of our species. These people quite uneasily know who they areŠ.." If you are one of those who has never been able to squelch the uneasiness, the itch for something more, this book was indeed written for you.

In the opening prologue of Senator Lieberman and co-author Michael D'Orso's book "In Praise of Public Life," Lieberman tells about a lunch that he had with his interns and how his interns described how disenchanted many of their classmates and cohorts are with public officials and public life. Lieberman further describes how this conversation motivated him to write this book, in defense of politics and public life. From this opening prologue I expected to read about the "success" stories of Lieberman and others in passing legislation, helping a constituent, or making sweeping changes that would motivate people into running for office.

Yet, this book is much more realistic, it provides the 'real' spin on public life. Lieberman's style of writing draws upon many of his own experiences to aid in the understanding of what it takes to be a public official. From these examples Lieberman hopes that the reader will understand the sacrifices, long hours, partisanship, sacrifices of family and personal freedom required to live a life in public office. Lieberman further hopes that this book will motivate people to take a part in public life in varying degrees- from voting, contacting elected officers, or perhaps running for office. In all, this slim book is a decent read and very interesting in understanding a different side of politics.

Joseph Liberman isn't like other politicans, but it many ways he personifies exactly what we desire to elect into office: personality, honesty, and integrity. In his most recent novel, Senator Liberman opens with a preface and first couple of chapters that are second to none in showing how a powerful university education and lofty aspirations has helped him in his accention to the top of the political hierarchy. Through his grass-roots foundlings as the first individual to attend college in his family, I've gathered an aura of self-determinism that's seemingly very important in the world of politics. No one was driving him to seek the offices he did more than himself; he was his own political machine. His experiences in attending to the necessary evils of campain raising and meeting with disenchanted voters, the Senator delineates how an ordionary individual may look upon the life of a politican's day-to-day hussle and bustle. The constant struggle to gain leverage in a power-hungry Congress while not compromising morals is notably difficult.

"In Praise" has given me a taste of politics in a witty, succint view, and I would reccommend to anyone who has two hours to be enlightened.

This book was written before Senator Lieberman's nomination for Vice President, and it remains a valuable read now that Election 2000 is over. Whether you're a Democrat, Republican, third party member, independent or undecided, this book has a great deal to recommend it. It should be required reading for anyone considering a career in politics, and for citizens who want an accessible account of what the life of a modern politican is like.

Senator Lieberman begins by explaining that "career politician" -- a term so often seen as negative -- does not have to mean someone who is entrenched in graft and dishonesty. Just as professionals in other fields have a responsibility to uphold the very best standards of their professions, so do politicians. Lieberman considers politics to be his chosen career, the same as a doctor, lawyer, teacher, or other professional. He strives to do his job with a strong sense of moral responsibility, fully aware that public life is, well, public. He writes: "I assume that everything I do in my life -- EVERYTHING -- could possibly become public and therefore I should not do anything privately that I could not justify publicly." (p. 51)

The Senator's arguments in favor of politics as a bona fide career also changed my own stance on term limits. Before reading this book, I thought term limits were a good idea, as a way to prevent bad politicians from becoming entrenched. But, as Senator Lieberman eloquently points out, running a country is a big responsibility that takes years of experience. Having a large portion of the Senate turn over every few years would be inefficent, because everybody would be relatively new to the job. Besides, Lieberman points out, we already have ways to remove bad politicians. They're called elections.

As a religious Jew, I also appreciated the Senator's openness about the role that religion plays in his life. There have been other Jewish politicians in high offices, but none, so far as I know, have been as open as Lieberman about their beliefs. All too often, American Jews are reluctant to discuss religion in public, giving the false impression that we don't believe in anything. Senator Lieberman brings some balance to this issue, while educating the public about Judaism in the process. When, for example, he was asked by the press, "How do you relax?" his answer was, "The Sabbath." This book he gives a good picture of how he balances Sabbath observance with carrying out his public duties. During national emergencies such as the Persian Gulf War, he votes on the Sabbath, under the principle of temporarily setting aside the Sabbath prohibitions in order to save lives. (For the benefit of Lieberman critics who ask "How can he be revere life and support abortion rights," let me point out that Jewish law permits and even requires abortion under certain circumstances, and these differ from the Roman Catholic stance. Those who are interested in further details should read David M. Feldman's book, "Marital Relations, Birth Control, and Abortion in Jewish Law," which I have reviewed here on Amazon.)

In conclusion: I heard Senator Lieberman speak at a rally in Duluth during the Presidential campaign, and was very impressed with him, both as an eloquent speaker and a mentsch -- that wonderful Yiddish word that his campaign added to our national vocabulary, meaning "a fine human being". Our government could use a lot more politicians like him -- whatever their party affiliations. This book really deserves ten stars!

This short book on life in a medieval castle centers around the history of one fortress on the border between England and Wales, and then relates that story to castles across Western Europe. The passages are divided into chapters on all facets of castle life, and are written in a clear, almost "novel" like way.

Some of the facts presented are well-known, but there were enough fresh tidbits and interesting anecdotes that I never found myself bored.

In addition, at the end of the book, is a list of historically important castles, ranging in construction from the 9th century to the 15th century, that can be useful if the reader is planning a trip to England, France, Spain or elsewhere in Europe.

All in all, an entertaining and well written book.

This book is an excellent start in study the workings of a Castle and how everyday life was in Medieval times. The starts with the Castle arriving in England, and then moves into the various aspects of Castle life, the function of the Lord and Lady, the running of a household, how hunting was not a sport, but a means of survival. It goes into how a knight was made, how the Castle function in warfare and then shows why Castles slowly faded away.

Excellent work for anyone interested in the topic and a must for Historical writers.

Life in a Medieval Castle is absolutely masterful! Extremely well researched, each chapter is a goldmine of information. The work not only offers a wonderful summary of the history of the development of the castle but also gives the reader a real feel for castle life. The text is engaging and very well written. Jargon specific to discussions of feudalism and castles is defined in concise tables at the back of the book. Liberally sprinkled with excellent photographs, the book provides extras, such as a schematic drawing of a castle and words and music to medieval songs (although I did find myself wishing that at least some of the plates could have been in color). The geographical guide to castles is comprehensive and examples are chosen with care. Bibliography is provided for each chapter for those readers who wish to study certain topics in-depth. Bibliographic selections are authoritative, current and comprehensive. The index is also well done and easy to use. The book is an excellent addition to reading lists for courses on the Middle Ages as well as an enjoyable read for anyone who wishes to learn more about medieval life.