If you deal in or collect antique English pottery and/or porcelain this is the only book on marks you will ever need. It is worth the money. It is known in the trade as the 'Bible on English marks' and its authority is never questioned. The maker and historical notes included with every identification, give you direction if more research is desired.

This book is a must reference for all pottery collectors. It has all the marks and makers in an easy to find format. Trilogy Antiques

Geoffrey Godden's concise and comprehensive volume is universally recognized as the cornerstone of the serious student's refernece library. Identifying and dating decorative and utilitarian wares fashioned through the prior 300 years by the English is a fulfilling occupation. A grasp of the history and of the people of England brings with it a reverence for the spirit of the times captured and made tangible by these links to their makers. Godden's work is the "bookmark" directory to those links.

Ever since 14 July 1988 when I read Chronicle of Youth with absorbed attention and keen feeling I have been fascinated by Vera Brittain. This fine work, without duplicating Chronicle of Youth, sets out the letters written by her and her brother and friends till all her correspondents were killed in the war. This is a poignant work, well worth reading. One stands amazed and impressed by the eagerness of these Englishmen to serve their country, even though they knew the hell that the Western Front was, and though so much was repellant about the condition under which they soldiered.

Anyone who is interested in WW1 and the men and women who lived it, should read this account of the war first hand!

This is what the war really meant to people, both in and out of the trenches, for these are the letters written from and to them.

A thought provoking book, that it is true, is even more shocking.

It is about a generation of people that we should never forget.

I have been interested in Vera Brittain since her autobiography, Testament of Youth, was featured on Masterpiece Theatre in the 70s. I came across this new book by chance when looking for Testament, which my book group is reading and enjoying this month. This collection of letters not only recaptures Vera, her brother, and three close friends, it adds great dimension to their WWI experience. This is a book I will treasure a long time.

I AM GOING TO KEEP UP TO DATE WITH THIS ONE

Geoffrey A. Godden did it again! A book highly recommended for collectors of pottery. Very informative & from a legend of marks. Plus its in a handy paperback form. If you collect, own your own shop, or write collector's books this is a must have for you! Thank you for writing this wonderful book!

This illustrated biography of one of America's most memorable and beloved authors holds quite a few surprises for the unsuspecting reader. Anticipating anecdotes from Mark Twain's life that would portray him as a kind, altruistic, and loving man, I was shocked to learn he was also an irrascible, guilt-ridden, tight-fisted lover of alcohol and cigars who was often looking for ways to get rich.

He was born in 19th century Missouri and raised during a time when major political, economic, social, and cultural issues were forging America's identity. The rugged 19th century also molded Twain into an outspoken critic of those forces, providing him with an unending stream of material for his cogent and waggish observations.

Amid a collection of excerpts from his novels and speeches, articles and essays, as well as numerous pictures and illustrations, the authors present an insightful analysis of the man best known for writing TOM SAWYER and HUCKLEBERRY FINN. What becomes obvious is the relevance, creativity and importance of all his work, not just the books we were assigned in high school.

This book is a treasure; the kind of book that can be referred to often. It can give food for thought for hours of reflection. It is Highly Recommended.

Finally! A "coffee table" book that has top-quality photos and an excellent text.

MARK TWAIN: AN ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHY is a companion to a two-part, four-hour documentary film, directed by Ken Burns, on the life and work of Samuel Langhorne Clemens and his "famously, irrepressibly rambunctious alter ego Mark Twain."

Ernest Hemingway once said that Twain is "the headwater of American fiction" and called THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN "the best book we've ever had. There was nothing before. There's been nothing as good since."

George Bernard Shaw referred to Twain as "America's Voltaire."

William Dean Howells described Twain as "incomparable, the Lincoln of our literature."

Susy Clemens once wrote of her father: "He is known to the public as a humorist, but he has much more in him that is earnest than that is humorous. He is as much of a Philosopher as anything, I think."

In this reviewer's considered judgment, Twain is the greatest literary genius America has produced, a thinker of remarkable depth and substance.

Twain's life was filled with many travels, adventures ... and tragedies. Born in 1835, when Halley's comet made its appearance, he lived for 75 years, until 1910, when Halley's comet returned. He survived, and suffered, the death of his beloved wife "Livy" (Olivia Louise Langdon), and three of their children: Langdon, who died in infancy; Susy, who died of spinal meningitis at age 24; and Jean, who died of a heart attack evidently brought on by an epileptic seizure.

"The secret source of humor itself," wrote Twain, "is not joy, but sorrow. There is no humor in heaven. ... [Our] race, in its poverty, has unquestionably one really effective weapon--laughter. Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand."

Laughter and sorrow: Twain was well acquainted with both. Known superficially to many admirers as merely a humorist or funny man, Twain was essentially, as he described himself, "a moralist in disguise" who preached sermons to "the damned human race."

Twain's literary corpus abounds with excoriating criticisms of racism, anti-Semitism, religious hypocrisy, governmental arrogance and imperialism, petty tyrants, and Philistine culture. His often deadpan humor bristles with barbed satire and withering sarcasm.

In addition to its narrative text, this volume includes five bonus essays: "Hannibal's Sam Clemens," by Ron Powers; "Hartford's Mark Twain," by John Boyer; "The Six-Letter Word," by Jocelyn Chadwick; "Out at the Edges," by Russell Banks; and an interview with Hal Holbrook, "Aren't We Funny Animals?"

MARK TWAIN: AN ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHY is a rich and rewarding book.

I wonder how many people could have led the life that Samuel Clemens did and kept their sanity. He went from riches to rags (even though it was his own fault...he spent money like it was going out of style and made some horrendous investments), which forced him, at the age of 60, into making a 10 month long physically and mentally draining around-the-world lecture tour. The tour enabled him to pay off his debts and regain his financial footing. Unfortunately, money was the least of his problems. The authors do not specifically state it, but it is clear (to me anyway) that Clemens suffered from manic-depression. At various times, and not coinciding with anything bad going on his life, he considered suicide. He had lifelong moodswings, as well as a volatile temper. (His daughters were afraid to be alone with him, as his behavior was so unpredictable. They made sure to visit him as a group.) The authors recount one incident where Clemens, angry over a missing button, opened an upstairs window and tossed all of his shirts out into the street. Saddest of all, Clemens outlived almost all of his loved ones. His beloved wife, Livy, who was almost 10 years younger than him, predeceased him, as did 3 of his 4 children. His one surviving child, his daughter Clara, suffered a nervous breakdown when Clemens was almost 70. A heavy load to bear, indeed, but somehow Clemens bore it and carried on. One thing that helped was his worldwide fame. Clemens was hungry for fame, even as a young man. He became well-known early in life, and remained famous and popular right up until he died. (He was a bit of a "ham." He would purposely time his walks for when people were emerging from church, and would then saunter past in his trademark- pun intended- white suits.) This book is an absolutely perfect blend of narrative by the authors, liberal excerpts from Clemens's many writings, "guest essays," and page after page of terrific period photographs. (The research done for the photographs, alone, must have been backbreaking.) The narrative and essays made this a good book. The addition of the excerpts and the photos turned it into a great book. The excerpts are not just from Clemens's well-known works, either. He was once asked to address an organization which consisted of descendants of the Puritans. The written text is reproduced in the book. Twain skewered the original Puritans for killing Native Americans and for kicking everyone who wasn't a Puritan out of Massachusetts, even though, as Clemens makes sure to emphasize, they left England under the banner of religious freedom. (You have to think that when the organization invited Clemens to speak, this wasn't quite what they had in mind.) One of the many interesting items included in the book is a list of the famous sayings "Mark Twain" supposedly uttered....but didn't. (He was so famous that it was assumed that anything clever originated with him.) Unfortunately, one of my all-time favorites was included in this list: "When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years." On the bright side, he DID say "The rumor of my death has been greatly exaggerated." One caution: the excerpts will make you want to read or re-read all of Twain. I've already ordered a copy of "The Innocents Abroad" as somehow, in my youth, I missed that one. Hats off to Geoffrey Ward, Dayton Duncan, and Ken Burns for this wonderful book!

A great system for Live Action Role Play, although it is not as great a system as the actual Role Playing books, it is a good system and can run upwards of 5 to 100 people. Great work White Wolf, Keep at it.

I have yet to read this Edition, however all other editions have been wonderful. This game has been great from the get-go. The book is easy to understand and a lot easier than the dice form of the game. Thumbs-up for a job well done

This book provides you with all the background information and rules you need to start or play a live-action role-playing game in White Wolf's World of Darkness. White Wolf has produced the best RPG to date, with hundreds of expansion books and tons of stories, art and resources. This game is the BEST!!!

Obviously, this book is not fireside reading and should be seen more as a reference.

Nevertheless, as the authors argue, whatever theory of international relations you subscribe to--clash of civilizations, multipolarity, etc.--the Middle East remains square in the middle of it all and needs to be better understood by the average citizen. If Sept. 11 didn't drive that little lesson home, I don't know what will.

It was fascinating to see how the lay of the land shapes a region's history and even the attitudes of its residents. The book gives ample attention to not just topography, but climate, resources, migration, and how all these factors shape policy and the movement of armies.

Overall, this is a much needed book. There's a lot of data to plough through, but it's worth it.

Stratefic Geography and the Changing Middle East came out in 1997 so some information about the region has changed since then but the book provides a sueful introduction into the issues of the middle east such as the importance of oil and gas in the region and these issues have influenced attempts to control the region. The book also focuses on military planning and operations such as the Gulf War and Weapons of mass destruction.

First lemme say I am a huge sitcom fan and I think Lucille Ball is the #1 queen of TV. This book included a detailed description of every episode of I LOVE LUCY and all the other sitcoms that Lucy stared on. I enjoyed a lot of the book. But I felt like it was missing something. Some of the details were very boring such as the furniture being changed constantly on I LOVE LUCY. I wanted to hear more commentary from Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance, but for some reason their comments in the book were rather brief. THE LUCY BOOK was written almost like a textbook. It would have been more interesting if it were more fan-oriented. Some months back I read an excellent book COME AND KNOCK ON OUR DOOR about the sitcom Three's Company. And I think THE LUCY BOOK would have been much more interesting if it were written in the same manner. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in getting factual accounts about Lucy's TV sitcoms (such as dates and times). But I do not recommend this book to anyone who wants to have an entertaining reading experience. However if you do want to read a really good book about Lucy I recommend the book LOVE LUCY which was written by Lucille Ball. And if you're interested in books about sitcoms in general then I recommend: COME AND KNOCK ON OUR DOOR, GROWING UP BRADY and ARCHIE AND EDITH MIKE AND GLORIA THE TUMULTUOUS HISTORY OF ALL IN THE FAMILY.

I disagree with the reviewer who said this book is not for the "true Lucy fan." I consider myself to be a pretty true Lucy fan, and I have read almost every book written on her, and I have to say that this book is one of the very best. Geoffery Mark Fidelman has put a lot of time into this work, and it shows. He offers fascinating insight and/or critique on nearly every episode of "I Love Lucy," "Lucy Show," "Here's Lucy," "Life With Lucy," and a host of other television appearances Lucy made over the years.

Does Fidelman say Lucy looks tired at times? Yes. Does he critique her performance sometimes? Yes. She didn't always do a blockbuster job in every performance of hers, due to any one of a number of reasons (troubles with Desi, overwork, stress in her life, and just plain tiredness). And though I've seen few episodes of "The Lucy Show," "Here's Lucy," and "Life With Lucy," Fidelman's overall feelings on those series reflect what critics have been saying for years. Just because Fidelman tries his best to offer objective viewpoints (which I think he does, more often than not), it doesn't mean he's not a true fan, or that true fans shouldn't read this book.

This book is short on biographical information, but it was never designed for that. Frankly, that's a good thing, because there are so many books out there about Lucy and/or Desi, another one wouldn't have been necessary. But for the ardent Lucyphile out there, this is a must-own. I find myself going back to this book constantly, after each "I Love Lucy" episode I see, even if I'd seen the episode many times before. Go, buy this book!

what can i ad to the glowing comments above except to say that i've read everything on lucy since bart andrew's original, but this book is just amazing for the depth of information, the scope of the interviews and fact that its all presented so entertainingly. this is not a book you'll put on your shelf and just pick up to find out info on a specific episode of I LOVE LUCY. you'll want to read in from page one because its a fascinating biography without rose-colored glasses. this is the perfect gift for lucy fans! and it is sure to be the most sited reference tool for any lucyphile.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and give this book a negative review. It's not that I don't like Kafka, I've read most of his fiction and I think he was a brilliant writer. But this book just disappointed me. It's a few hundred pages too long--he pretty much makes most of his main points in the first part of the book and the remaining narrative seems superfluous and, well, tedious. Although his other two novels are also "unfinished" I think he expressed himself much more clearly in them. I agree with the other reviewers that this novel was about many things, i.e. the quest for truth, the frustration of the invididual facing the state and society itself, etc., but I think it could have been done better, especially by someone like Kafka. While reading "The Castle" I couldn't get over the impression that I was reading the first draft of something the author probably would have refined and improved had he lived longer.

I would not buy this book if it were your first forray into the realm of Kafka. But the short stories first, then Amerika, then the trial, and then, if you could make it through the trial, try this read.

The new translation is excellent (I've read both translations) and puts an even grimmer spin on life in the village of the castle.

Please note: Kafka died before finishing the book and he never really prepared it for publication. There are sentences that run half a page, and paragaphs that run almost a whole chapter. The final page ends mid sentence.

If you are a fan of Kafka then this book is a must read, especially if you read the Muir translation of The Castle.

Translation means everything! Over the years I've read much of Kafka especially during adolescence and into my early twenties when his worldview spoke most directly to my own attempts to understand how the world really worked. Of all his books only The Castle totally defeated me. I must have begun it five times in my life, only to abandon it partway through. Now I know why. It wasn't Kafka. It was the translation.

Mark Harmon's translation brought Kafka close to my ear and heart, the way he used to when I was younger. I could see the darkness of his interiors, feel the cold of his snow covered wind blown exteriors, smell the stale beer of the taproom, taste the small meals and strong coffee served, sense the animal []attractions of his characters. Most of all I could really hear the voices of his people as they simultaneously revealed and concealed themselves through their stories.

Sometimes I laughed out loud. Sometimes my hair stood on end at the dark realities which this book unveils. The Barnabas family stories in particular chilled me. Especially in this time of fear and shunning by powerful majorities of the 'others'in our societies and in the exhaustion of the 'cleansings' and genocides of the last century, the fall of that family made me feel like I was inside a hateful part of our past, present and future.

I've now lived part of my life within bureaucratic organizations, even as an 'official' and I understand as I couldn't as a youth how absolutely Kafka has gotten to the deepest truths about how our power structures work. What it's like to be enmeshed as part of them, and-or to be at their mercy. It is hard to find free space in the world.

I used to think Kafka was a genius and an artist of the highest rank. Now, reading him in an excellent translation I understand that he was also a prophet.

I used this book for my Con Law I and II course, so I feel that I know this book pretty well. For Con Law I, the book was absolutely TERRIBLE. The cases are edited down so much that they are borderline incoherent, such as in Marbury v. Madison and McCullough v. Maryland. There is a great deal of "commentary" in between cases from the authors regarding the information they edited out within the cases, but the structure of learning what was in the case AFTER reading through the case is confusing and time consuming, forcing you to retrace a lot of your steps needlessly. The bottom line on this book for Con Law I is to buy the Legalines supplement for this book, and read it religiously after every case. Chemerinsky's supplement is a great deal of assistance as well, because Con Law I is much more confusing for students using this book (from inquiring through other classmates using different texts). For Con Law II, the subject matter gets 100 times more interesting, but the content of the book remains the same. As a reviewer previously stated, the editing of Brown v. Board of Education is absolutely unacceptable. Such a landmark case fit into four pages? Ridiculous! However, there will be a lot of stimulating class discussion to supplement the extremely edited-down cases presented in Con Law II. My best advice? Buy supplements and keep yourself on top of what you're reading before you get too lost, and make notecards to keep the tests for different circumstances (like justiciability, commerce clause, dormant commerce clause, etc.) straight.

A good starting Con Law book, however, as the title of this review states, it was too well edited. Crucial facts surrounding key cases like Marbery were not included. The omission makes it easier to read through the voluminous pages, but it's not enough. The reader will *have* to supplement the text with strong in-class notes or a commercial text/outline. There are some key cases simply 'missing' and the coverage of prominent cases like "Brown" is simply insufficient. Comparison and analysis of how one case indirectly may overrule another is also lacking. Overall, it is not a BAD book, the authors probably need to cut some dead weight so they have room to include the missing pieces. Also -- a word to the wise -- since the current Supreme Court is the most active, it is essential for the student to keep up with the latest decsions.