It is astounding that in such a short time the world can change so dramatically. The events in this book are a little over 40 years old yet so much has changed and so much may be lost forever. Maxwell documents the lives of these wonderful people and a land that is rapidly disappearing now. The roots of the 'otter' books are also here in the eventual arrival of Mijbil. Sadly, even the status of Mij's sub-speciation has now apparently disappeared too. Anyone with an interest in the lives of other people should have a copy of this book in their libraries.

Maxwell is one of the lost breed of British travelers who raised their adventures in unknown lands (and recordings of the same) to an art form. Like the better-known Wilfred Thesiger, Maxwell spent part of his life among the ma'dan, the Shi'i marsh Arabs of southern Iraq. His book is, like Thesiger's "Marsh Arabs," an awe-inspiring treatment of the life, work, recreation, physical environment, and culture of the ma'dan at approximately mid-century, when Baghdad had yet to extend its political governance and physical infrastructure to the marshes. Until recent decades, the economy and lives of the ma'dan remained similar to the ancient practices of their Sumerian forbears, according to other writers. These people, whose habitats, villages, and very lives are being progressively snuffed out by the Iraqi government since 1991, are one of the forgotten peoples of the world, and this book is a moving, impressive testament to what they were.

Gavin Maxwell's Ring of Bright Water is a much-deserved classic. It tells the tale of the author's time on the coast of Scotland devoting the first half to his learning to live in this isolated paradise and the second half, slightly better, to his time consecutively with two otters (as well as other creatures, my favourite being the geese). As anyone who loves animals will know, tears will factor into this tale, but never at the expense of the joy and laughter. They are some very funny bits. It would almost be enough to get me to exhange my cats for otters (almost, but not quite enough). Some of the writing is a litte florid at times, particulary the brief section on killer whales, but, otherwise, this is an astounding and beautiful example of nature writing.

Despite being a book written 40 years ago, the delightful stories are perfect to read over and over. If you only know it as 'the book about the pet otter', it also has dozens of other little vingettes in it. Marvelous, a classic!

This book has been a favorite of mine for years. Maxwell exceeds at conveying deep personal emotion, and this book is suffused with the joy he felt during his first few years with his otters Mij and Edal.

Fans of this book should take pains to search for the two out-of-print sequels: "The Rocks Remain" and "Raven, Seek Thy Brother". Neither is as joyful or cohesive as "Ring", but you will indeed find out what the life of a reclusive-yet-famous nature writer can be like. I also highly recommend Maxwell's autobiography of his childhood, "The House of Elrig".

This curious book is a cross between a coffee-table book and a real book meant for reading. It is visually stunning -- beautiful layout and magnificent photographs, both historical and current. As a history, the book is patchy. Sometimes it seems pieced together from bits of disconnected information. Large portions are quotations from a 1912 book by Walter Harris, who lived in Morocco and was a friend to sultans. The book relates the rise and fall of the Glaoui family. Two brothers, Madani and T'hami, ruled Marrakesh and southern Morocco as warlords from the early 1900's until 1956. Eventually, T'hami El Glaoui became a tool of the reactionary French colonial powers, until they abandoned him in the face of the inevitable movement toward independence. The book is full of fascinating and odd facts. You'll be able to amaze your friends with little known facts -- why the Jewish quarters of Fez and Marrakesh are called "mellahs," which means "salt;" what anatomical tidbit showed up in a restaurant stew during the massacres in Casablanca in the early 1950s; what Moroccan prostitutes sometimes have tattooed in special places. One negative comment -- the book is very badly proofread -- there are numerous typos from the dust jacket throughout the book. I highly recommend this book -- it's not your usual dry narrative of events.

Lay readers and any with a general interest in history will relish this survey of the rise and fall of the house of Glaoua from 1893-1956: Lords Of The Atlas provides an epic story of Moroccan history which reads almost like fiction but which is packed with facts. Add the unusual attribute of modern color photos of the region throughout and you have an unusually inviting coverage of a little-covered area.

The fact that the first half of this book draws extensively and almost exclusively from the work of Harris, should in no way detract from the achievement of Maxwell. He has presented a very complex period of history, in an accessible and entertaining format. At times it is necessary to remind yourself that not only is this a true story, but that most of the events portrayed took place this century. It is a fantastic account of the power behind the French Protectorate, and a reminder that politics has always been a filthy business. Anyone planning a visit, or who has been to Morocco, especially the Glaoui kasbahs of the High Atlas, should read this book, as should fans of bloody, political intrigue.

An authoritative account of the rise and fall of the Glaoua bosses of Marrakech. Maxwell presents a factual and entertaining view of this fascinating period in Morroccan history. Essential reading for anyone travelling to the High Atlas.

Maxwell's wonderfully meandering prose continues to outline the evolution of Camusfearna from the cocnlusion of the halcyon days of Ring Of Bright Water. The curse of the rowan tree and the powerful magic that invoked in Maxwell's life and those of his acquaintances. The epilogue is haunting and provides a sad precursor of later events, Teko was also to meet and unfortunate end and the author himself barely survived a year beyond the epilogue. Edal's tribute serves as a fitting message to those of us who ascribe to a paradise that never really exists.

God Bless Gavin Maxwell's soul. Always with the best of intentions, this book, continuing after his 'Ring of Brightwater' and 'Rocks Remain' chronicles Maxwell's increasingly depressing, tumultious life. The dream that Camusfearna was, grows tarnished, his otters resentful of any human contact, Mediterranean enemies from the past, come to haunt him, and a series of physically disabling accidents strike him.

On the good side, Maxwell's definite good knack for writing help pull the reader into the book. His visuals about the life on rugged but beautiful Scottish Isles, are absolutely appealing, making you want to be there, more than anything.

Tom Brokaw wrote about the American experience in his acclaimed 'The Greatest Generation' Gavin Maxwell is no doubt is a giant of the 'Greatest' British Generation. Those young boys who grew to responsibility, and manhood in the days of WWII, and the fading light of the British empire. You will be amazed at what these people went through, and what we would consider high adventure, they consider quite routine.

Anyway, read the book.

Botting's personal knowledge is extremely useful in this overview of Maxwell's life. However, for fear of muddying the waters, Botting stops short of discussing Maxwell's sexuality in detail. In my opinion this may well be a mistake and may in the future re-open debate about what role this played in the relationship with his employees. Maxwell himself, often alluded to his repressed homo sexuality but little of its role in his marriage breakdown is apparent. Not withstanding this slight criticism, this book is absolutely essential in filling in the autobigraphical gaps as charted by Maxwell's own books and the Richard Freye biography. Today, Camusfearna has gone and the Skye Road Bridge has been built across Kylerhea island (Eilean Ban). Maxwell passed away in 1969 and his long-time critic, TV presenter Johnny Morris in 1999. In the 30 years between, much has been lost forever yet the decendents of Maxwell's ottersmay still play in the shadow of the Cuillins and the Sound of Sleat. One can dream as I once did 8 years ago on the north coast of Skye whilst watching an otter fishing in the sea below.

Maxwell's attempts to set up a Basking shark fishery based on what was then his island, Soay. The reader does not need to venture out into a small boat off the coast of Skye to get a feel for this experience. The writing lacks a little of the delicate wistfulness of the 'otter' books yet there is no doubting his style and beautifully descriptive prose. Being born into nobility was no guarantee of a successful life and it shows great tribute to the man that he was willing to get his hands dirty in this way. A lot of useful research on Basking sharks came from this venture and provides a rare window into an age that is past.

Gavin Maxwell writes movingly of his attempt to start a shark-fishing business off the coast of Scotland in the post-war 1940's. He mixes great descriptions of people and place with the honest account of a failed business enterprise. Maxwell is excellent at making a good story from his life experiences. An interesting read even if you don't like shark-fishing!

Although this book covers other palm development tools, my main focus was to gain a better understanding of satellite forms and I was not disappointed. The author steps you through every step of application development so you can create your first SF application. There is also an excellent chapter on using the Satellite Forms Activex for syncing your palm data with your desktop. The author is very active on some of the Satellite Forms disccusion forums and has help me and countless others on more advanced issues that are not covered in this book. I can't really comment on some of the other sections, but if you are looking for information Satellite Forms, you won't be disappointed!

I liked the format of this book (as with all the STY in 24 Hours books). The introduction to the Palm platform were interesting and revealed some information that I never really knew before. The book covers Satellite Forms, Codewarrior and Pendragon Forms in detail - with a little teaser at the end for CBasPad (BASIC on the Palm). The author contributes to a number of forums that I'm a member of, which I think is a very good thing. He helped me with a few problems I had getting everything up and running - which was very impressive. I used to think that authors wrote books then skulked away, hiding in the shadows. I'm a bit of a C hacker, so will likely purchase Codewarrior and build my project with that. To sum up, I think this book was a good buy, and has definately helped me on my travels in the Palm Economy.

I've purchased a number of STY books in the past and have always found them very helpful. STY Palm Programming was no different. It got me up to speed very quickly, and I especially liked the tone of the text - it was very easy to read and comprehend. The fact that it covered in reasonable detail a number of development environments was welcome as I had no idea initially what was available. I'm a reasonable C programmer so will likely go for Codewarrior - but I like the look of Satellite Forms for prototyping (and the fact that it's extensible with C functions)