A new edition of this handbook is now available and it can be found by searching for "Moon Handbooks: South Pacific" on this site.

As president of Sea For Yourself Snorkeling Tours, it¹s my professional obligation to remain attentive to both the world¹s best snorkelingsites and the logistical infrastructure that facilitates our group visits. For thesepurposes, (as well as my personal travel) David Stanley¹s travel handbooks have been a valuable and trusted ongoing source of reliableinformation. For travel planning, it¹s critical to use reference material that is accurate, up-to-date, and complete. The South Pacific Handbook satisfies all these criteria, and more.I was especially interested in the description of coral reefs. David does a superb job condensing this complex biological system ­ revealing it¹s essential ecological ingredients in the context of how we can responsibly interact with the fish, coral, and resident human communities.David¹s book is filled with the practical (and accurate) nuts and Bolts information so essential for planning your trip to the South Pacific. The extensive section of general advice (currency, health, food, recreation, visas, etc.) is then followed by detailed regional descriptions of virtually every inhabited island group in the entire South Pacific, including evaluations of restaurants, accommodations, and transportation issues.If I had to pick a single book, either to use in planning my South Pacific Odyssey or to take with me on the journey, it would be David Stanley¹s South Pacific Handbook.

South Pacific Handbook Review ... By Garry Hawkins

If you're thinking of travelling to the South Pacific (and go you definitely should), then David Stanley's 'South Pacific Handbook' is THE travellers bible for the region. It's the only guidebook that covers every single inhabited island in the region in one single volume, yet at 908pp remains sufficiently comprehensive to give you all the background information you could ever possibly ask for.

My first odyssey to the South Pacific came in 1991, at the end of a round the world trip. While total war was raging in the Gulf, here was I, languishing at the Royal Hotel in the old Fijiian capital of Levuka. But what a place to languish! I'll let David Stanley describe the scene to you:

"For the full Somerset Maugham flavour, stay at the 15 room Royal Hotel... In the lounge, ceiling fans revolve around the rattan sofas and potted plants, and the fan- cooled rooms upstairs with private bath are pleasant, with much needed mosquito nets provided. At US$8/12/14 for single/double/triple the colonial atmosphere and impeccable service make it about the best value in Fiji.... Everybody loves this place."

Well, I can vouch for that! Meanwhile however, cruise missiles were performing flybys past the Baghdad Hilton, but outside the Royal Hotel it was merely raining cats and dogs. Well - it was the wet season you know! But while I sat soaking up the colonial ambience, I had plenty of time to delve into my trusty South Pacific Handbook.

I began to realise that were so many different places to go in the region. You may have heard of Western Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga or even the Cook Islands? But have you ever heard of Tuvalu, Tokelau, Niue or Futuna? No? Well not many people have but from Solomon Islands to Easter Island - you'll find them all in David Stanley's book.

Even if you never get to visit some of these far flung and exotic sounding names, you can learn an awful lot about this splendidly diverse region of different cultures and customs. Plate tectonics, Darwin's theory of atoll formation, the greenhouse effect, French nuclear testing, fauna and flora, economics, politics, conservation and the environment. I could go on....

Since my initial visit to Fiji, I've managed to visit Samoa, Tonga, Niue, Tahiti, Cook Islands and Tuvalu - and still there's more to see. I'd love to visit the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Wallis, Futuna, New Caledonia, Easter and Pitcairn Island - so many islands to visit and so little time (and money!) to do it with.

Next time I'm headed for the South Pacific, I'll be sure to take David Stanley's South Pacific Handbook with me. Why carry a multitude of travel guides for different islands, when you need only take the one?

When I first began to read "When Paradise Died" I could not stop until I had finished it from front to back! It truly captured my fullest attention. It was truly a great piece of work and I look forward to reading many more by this wonderful author! "When Paradise Died" is truly a spectacular novel full of incredible stories with a fantastic ending!!!

Non-Stop action, fantasy, and adventure.

This is a Harry Poter Book on seriods!!!

For most of us, the dream of going to Africa and hunting with the classics of the past will always remain that. However, if one has hankering for the great guns of the past and a by gone era, this book will fill that niche. If you are lucky enough to ever be able to travel to Africa, this book would be essentual reading as knowledge- practocal knowledge - of the big guns is very hard to find and full of misconceptions.

If you fall into the latter catagory, Taylor had several lifetimes of practical hunting experince, and his knowledge shines.

For most of us, there are very few hunters and shooters who have not dreamed of owning a Purdy, Holland and Holland and others of the past, in such lovely calibers as 375 H&H, and .600 Nitro. This is a book to own and dream with.

Incidentaly, despite its comparative age, much in here is still current, although much more recent calibers are not really discussed.

Grade: A+

Timeless writing! A treasure trove of literary delights for anyone interested in the ambience of a bygone era of action and adventure ala Hemingway, Selous and Bell. Something for everyone, whether an enthusiast of shooting, safari, classic cartridges and rifles of legend (doubles and single action sporters) or a mere naturalist. John Pondoro Taylor was clearly a genius in his given profession, albeit politically incorrect for his time.

Taylor is one of the most competent gun writers I have ever read. He has tremendous practical experience with almost every large calibre rifle of his time, including the spell bounding numbers like 600, 577s, 500s, 450s, 450/400, 375 etc., with a nostalgic term of Nitro Express..! When discussing a calibre, he talks of taking literally hundreds of elephant, buffalo & other big game with it. So who can question his authority on African rifles. He has also covered every possible aspect of sporting rifle, which can be questioned, with respect of African hunting, e.g., doubles versus magazines, barrel length, weight, sights, triggers, ejectors/non-ejectors, etc. A must read book for the person who wants to know about large calibres, double rifles and nitro / black powder express. Excellent drawing of each cartridge is also given with details i.e., bullet weight, powder charge and pressure.

Hosmer and Lemeshow point to the massive growth in applications of logistic regression over a ten year period from the time of publication of the first edition of their text. They found over 1000 articles that used logistic regression during that time frame. There also have been many software advances that make it easier to apply logistic regression. The authors do their computing mostly in STATA. But they also acquaint the reader with many other useful standard packages for applying logistic regression. They also provide a web site from the publisher where data sets can be found.

New topics include the use of exact methods in logistic regression, logistic models for multinomial, ordinal and multiple response data. Also included is the use of logistic regression in the analysis of complex survey sampling data and for the modeling of matched studies.

The book is intended for a graduate course in logistic regression requiring the student to be familiar with linear regression and contingency tables. Similar in spirit and objectives to the first edition, this text also maintains the clarity of thought and presentation that these authors have a history of providing.

This is an important update to the first edition and is worth having on the bookshelf in any biostatistics library. I have my own personal copy and I think many others would also benefit by having it as a reference.

This is an excellent beginning and intermediate text on logistic regression analysis. Avoids the thorny details, but provides a wealth of references for those who are interested.

Anyone who is serious about doing logistic regression analysis should have this book.

This is a very popular and well written text on logistic regression. The topic is very useful to biostatisticians. Hosmer and Lemeshow have taught some short course out of the text which have been well received. The authors are knowledgeable and thorough. The book is very much oriented toward real applications and does not require advanced mathematics.

This book provides a good, clear, concise explanation of Cox's proportional hazards models. For someone seeking a non-mathematical description this is a great guide. The original datasets from the text examples can even be downloaded and you can go through the same process yourself. Because of some mistakes in the text, I would recomend looking at other sources as well.

I enjoyed the authors' book on logistic regression analysis in 1989, and this book is just as good, or better, with many extremely practical suggestions on building regression models for survival data. Happily, the authors summarize, compare, and contrast several major texts on survival analysis which have appeared in the past 10 years. For example, they discuss different names used by different authors for score residuals. They present a helpful appendix on the counting process approach to survival analysis, which will make more advanced texts accessible to students; thus, anyone who wants to use survival analysis, at any level, should consult this book, even if he has already studied books by Miller, Lee, Collett, Fleming-Harington,Andersen, et al, etc. An unfortunate drawback to this book is that the first printing contains many careless errors, some of which may affect student learning: for example, the definition of a survival function is misstated. I recommend that you insist on the second or third printing when buying this book, and you will be quite satisfied.

Hosmer and Lemeshow have given us a clear, nontechnical introduction to using survival models. The book strikes a good balance between covering the basics and addressing the most recent, state-of-the-art techniques, including repeated events, frailty models, and others. They also do a good job of addressing practical issues, including estimation details and available software. While most of the examples are drawn from medicine and biostatistics, this book could also serve as a useful starting point for social and behavioral scientists interesting in learning the fundamentals of these models, as well as a useful reference for applied researchers.

This text is a broad-based approach to audio for radio/TV/film, and music recording. The emphasis is on audio for production students rather than for engineers, and the text covers informational, perceptual, and aesthetic aspects of sound as they apply to each stage of the production process-from planning to post-production.

This was my college text for Broadcasting in 1984/85 and I taught Radio Production from this book. I am a video editor (Avid) and a freelance audio engineer having mixed/recorded over 500 music performances. I STILL reference this book. It is easy to understand, direct and thorough; maybe the only textbook you might keep.

I have had Stanley Alten for a professor and he knows what he is talking about. He is the know-all be-all of sound. His books are easy to read and to understand and great for people learning sound techniques.

Hi! guys. If you are gonna buy this book, it is the best thing you are going to do. This book is the greatest of all the criminal and courtroom books i have ever read. This book is the perfect example of the ingenuity and imagination of its author, Erle Stanley Gardner. It is due to books like this, that he is listed in the Guiness Book Of World Records as the highest selling author of all times. I personally give this book, the highest rating possible.

This is the fourth Perry Mason books written in 1934 and I think it is one of the best. The story was very well plotted; at the beginning a strange and tense relationship between two couples attracted me; and the ending was surprising! And Mason's characteristics, "a cross between a saint and a devil" was written remarkably in this early book.

a client calls for a will and a howling dog . the next day he runs away with his neighbors wife leaving behind the CORPSE of her husband and perry mason in a very embarrising position.or did he? must read . on of the best gardners book.

I was given your great book for Christmas this year. It is a terrific concept and even better execution!

However, as a confirmed and dedicated Westerner, I have to tell you that you need to study up on your geography. Your first book section is the beautiful West, and most of you second section (mislabeled Central) is of the beautiful West.

Credit needs to go where it is due, and there is no place on earth to match the American West.

Your other obvious mistake is missing Oregon. It has more variety of land forms and natural beauty than any of the other 50 states. And I'm not prejudiced! From the rugged coast to the Cascades to the Columbia Gorge to the great high desert and ponderosa forests of eastern Oregon, it is unbeatable.

About my outdoor life in Oregon, I'll excerpt your quote on p 59 of the book.

"all my days...each one holds its surprises and I have seen almost more beauty than I can bear."

In my Oregon experience that beauty has been a pigmy owl, a black bear at 20 yards, an eastern Oregon rainstorm that swept by us raining 20 feet away while we were dry, elk feeding along a forested slope with the herd bull bulging, the majesty of Steens Mountain and its 5000 foot eastern drop-off, a flock of 300 swans migrating south over the Blue Mountains, a pair of great horned owls high up in an old ranch barn along the edge of a high desert miles long lake, the multi-colored layered rock of the John Day Fossil Beds Monument--for miles and miles.

You gotta come to Oregon where you can do a book just on this great state!

Thanks for your book...really.

Lee Findley

I have collected many works in the genre over the years. This particular one by Fortney I find especially compelling. I gasped in abject wonder at the first facing photograph when turning the page following the author's introduction. Extraordinary imagery. Captivating perspectives, rich in composition. Handsomely reproduced so the printing effectively achieves resonance. Definitely one for the coffee table. If you've had the opportunity to drink in aerial vantage points when flying commercial airliners, you will be in for a treat because of the immediacy inherent within most shots. Thoughtful commentary into the context of certain photographs enhances the overall appreciation for what ultimately contributed to the finished product. I truly hope more works of this stunning artform emerge. What's next, Mr. Fortney?

Bill Glenn & Wesley Fortney's book America At 500 Feet contains superb photography (one could only expect that from Bill Fortney)but contains an equally important sub-story--one of a unique father/son relationship. Every father who views this book will be jealous of the unique adventure that Bill and Wesley shared. Here is a son who was willing to quit his job to pursue a new identity and, in the process, becomes an accomplished photographer. Bill's reward is deep seated in strengthening the bond with a father's most precious possession--his son.
The pilot's logs personalize this book and bring the adventure into your living room. I don't know when I have enjoyed a book like this so much! This is must for anyone interested in outstanding landscape photography and a story of a unique father/son adventure of the highest level!

Joseph Gonsalves makes a distinct contribution to a Korean War genre that has multiplied during the conflict's 50th anniversary years (1950-53). This isn't a personal reminiscence or an exploration of personalities and strategies. Rather, Gonsalves uses his old outfit--Easy Company, 17th Regiment, 7th Division--to illustrate how it was to fight and survive, and sometimes die, in a backwater country that, while geographically significant, no one cared much about, save the North and South Koreans, the Chinese, and the United Nations forces sent there to oppose the Reds...
Gonsalves offers enough geopolitical background to put the conflict in context, but concentrates on telling of a rifle company's experiences during the last year of the stalemated fighting. It's a GIs' world of war, where the action in 1952-53 was a dug-in, frustrating, freezing, sweaty, muddy, bloody exchange of propaganda and lethal ordnance, with counterpoints of crushing boredom and mindless terror. For the American soldiers--18- to 21-year-olds made up the bulk of Easy's ranks--"the experience became a time that lived with them forever," writes Gonsalves.
Ex-GIs, whether or not they served in Korea, will find the book engrossing. It will serve others equally well: those who had sons, brothers, fathers, uncles and cousins in Korea. With textbook thoroughness, Gonsalves presents the makeup of a rifle company, its armament, combat assignments, and life on the line. Through the voices and letters of enlisted men and officers, the book reflects what they were thinking, how they were reacting, and echoes the ebb and flow of human spirit as peace talks droned on at Panmunjom only a few miles away from Easy's sandbagged bunkers...
This book is more about dogfaces than heroes ("grunts" is a Vietnam-era term). There were heroes, to be sure, and citations of their exploits are interspersed in the text. But the GIs of Easy were Everyman, and could be found in any regiment...
The back pages offer a chronology of the peace talks with concurrent front-line action and Easy's involvement. In July 1953, for instance, Easy was committed in a major battle over Pork Chop Hill, a month after the Communists had accepted a U.N. peace proposal! It's picky to say more maps would have helped; that's true of most books. But if you know of Pork Chop Hill, have read the book or seen the movie, there's a photo of it--a rare good one--on page 158...
In straightforward but gripping fashion, Gonsalves and the boys of Easy Company offer a book-full of reasons to remember a war we forget at our peril.

I have read a lot of books about the Korean War. This is one of the best. I read it from cover to cover in one day. It's an extraordinary account of the experiences of an infantry company in Korea during the last year of the War. The book is exceptionally well written by a veteran of Easy Company, 17th US Infantry Regiment, one of the most colorful and significant units that fought in Korea.

I was an infantry officer in H Company of the 2nd Battalion when most of the actions reflected by this book took place. I not only learned some things from the book I didn't already know about the actions there, but anxieties and feelings of forebodings encompassed me as nothing has since I left Korea some 49 years ago. If anyone wants to find out what was going on in the mid-section of Korea in the fall and spring of 1952-53, he should read this book. I think that most will agree that this was something more than a "police action".

The Zodiac Room, at the top of the legendary Neiman-Marcus Department store, in downtown Dallas was my first real exposure to how wonderful food could be...my Mom was an excellent Texas cook, my Texan grandmothers were wonderful cooks as well. Their repertoire was traditional Texas fare...chili con carne, chicken fried steak with cream gravy,cream pies, fried okra, cheese enchiladas and so on...and I loved their food. I grew up in West Texas surrounded by amazing, delicious food.

But the first time I ate Helen Corbitt's Guinea Hen Madeira,her Crabmeat Chantilly, her Poppy Seed Dressing, my life changed. Her food at the Zodiac Room was amazing...it changed my life.

For the last twenty years I have cooked for a living and Helen Corbitt remains my primary inspiration.

I am so thrilled to see Helen Corbitt's recipes back in print. I place her in the late 20th century Cooks Pantheon next to James Beard, Julia Child, Adelle Davis and Martha Stewart.

Stewart Wise

This cookbook reintroduces Helen Corbitt, though if you have lived in Texas for years you are no doubt familiar with her. She became famous as the head of the restaurants of Neiman-Marcus department stores, and many Texans know her through her texas "caviar", hot fudge pecan balls, retro molded salads, fabulous "potluck" recipes, poppy seed dressing, and other Texas favorites. If you cannot find the original editions, this is certainly one to own. You will find yourself using it over and over again.

Fans of Helen Corbitt have described her as the 'best cook in Texas', catering to the White House and others - this provides a new Helen Corbitt cookbook gathering over 500 favorites from earlier Corbitt cookbooks and including some never published recipes. No photos but the simple dishes don't need them.