For those of us who aren't lovers of golf, John Logue's golf mysteries are a revelation. And for those of you who are, don't miss out on this wonderful series. This is the best volume yet -- it's funny, engaging, engrossing, well-plotted, and much better written than the usual run of mysteries.

I'm working on writing a guidance document on developing quality systems for use by the Environmental Protection Agency. In the process, I've reviewed a lot of books on quality (e.g., Deming, Juran, Crosby, Goetsch and Davis, Beckford, Dobyns and Crawford-Mason, and Oakland to name some). Discussions of quality can get pretty abstract quickly. Sometimes it feels like I'm in a quality fairyland that's mostly separate from everyday life. Oakland and Morris have presented this very complex topic in terms that most people can understand. The abundant graphics explain as much about quality as does the clear text. This book serves as a good starting point for understanding how quality concepts and tools can be applied in everyday workplaces. If necessary, one could then read other books for more detailed information about quality systems. My only quibble is that this book needs a list of suggested reading for more detailed information about quality concepts and tools. Oakland's other books are pretty useful themselves and could have been mentioned.

For those who have a keen interest in Texas history or the early istory of the Texas Rangers, this book is a must-read. For those with a general interest in American history, "A Private in the Texas Rangers" offers an intriguingly honest and informed focus on the life of a 1880s lawman, one that is only possible by a diarist of the past and a skilled historian of the present.

Morris's second major work is a solidly based insider portrait of the Texas Rangers in their transition from the Old West (exploited by Hollywood) to the New West -- an industrial and agrarian society which reshaped Texas. Indeed, the transition has been so thorough that for many denizens the conflicts between plains indians, incursive Hispanics, and Anglos prior to the coming of the railroad are probably only known through cinematic references. The laconic entries -- by the only 19th century Texas Ranger who kept a diary -- provide Morris with the structure for a wide-ranging history.

The book expands from the diarist to the fellow rangers of Company B, then to the surrounding land and communities. There are informative and broader references to government, both State and Federal, and to social movements such as labor disputes and historical forces. Most mportantly the laying of railroad track through the Texas Panhandle and Rolling Plains region sewed it into the fabric of the national community.

The daily life of Private Miller, despite incidents of drama, is more convincingly focused on the drudgery of the effort required to impose order and the rule of law where it had been relatively rare. As one proceeds through the entries and the accompanying annotations, the slowly accumulating details of the life and times of the diarist begin to provide a richness of vicarious experience, a recovery of a "lost world," and one that is rarely achieved in historical writing.

This excellent book studies the career of John Glubb Pasha, the most influential of the British 'orientalist' corps of officers and officials serving in the Middle East until 1956. He commanded the Transjordan Arab Legion from 1939 to 1956 and played an important part in setting up modern Jordan by helping King Abdullah to establish his rule. In 1948 he led the Legion to a limited victory in the first Arab-Israeli war.

Benny Morris, a leading Israeli historian, has based his book on extensive study in the archives of David Ben Gurion, the Israel Defence Forces, the Israeli State, the UN, the Haganah and St Anthony's College Middle East Centre, including the Glubb Papers, and in the Public Record Office.

Glubb retained the typical imperial contempt for both Jews and Arabs, especially for educated or urban people. But his opposition to Zionism was not based on his anti-Semitism, any more than his support for Arab aspirations was based on his anti-Arabism. He believed that opposing Zionism and supporting Jordan were policies that would strengthen Britain's hold in the Middle East. He was always a loyal servant of the British Empire, acting in what he saw as its best interests.

Morris supports the contention, made most notably by Avi Shlaim in his 1988 book, Collusion across the Jordan, that Israel and Jordan collaborated during the 1948 war. He shows how Israel and Jordan came to a secret understanding in November 1947 to partition Palestine and not to attack each other. Since the Transjordan Legion was much the best Arab force opposing Israel, the agreement showed that this war did not really threaten Israel with annihilation.

Jordanian forces invaded Palestine not to attack Israel but to annex its Arab-populated eastern regions. The Legion did not attack any area that the UN had planned for Israel. Israel broke the agreement by attacking the Legion in May, July and October 1948. The Legion took over the West Bank and East Jerusalem, saving them from Israeli conquest. King Abdullah had done what the British government wanted, strengthening Jordan at the Palestinians' expense.

This book shows his master of the darkroom, making all his works unique to themselves. If you are into black & white photography and printing this book is a revelation of what is possible.

Although ancient by most people's terms, this is probably among the most wonderfully written novels ever to be produced. News From Nowhere gives insights into how the people of the late 19th century thought the future was going to turn out like, and is surprising the number of details which are relatively accurate. The novel itself deals with a year sometime after 2003 and, as can be expected, many details are now impossible, but others are likely. The story is also great and very believeable on the whole. The characters are indepth and all add some colour to the book. Basicaly, reading this book, it is fascinating to compare the people, society and technolodgy imagined to our own, and when you do this you see just how little socially we have changed from the 1800s, but how are technolodgy has progressed at a phenomenal rate. An increddibly fascinating book, it is a must read for everyone.

I have read this book several times. I have used many of the techniques described in it to my advantage. The authors explain how to develop your mental edge making you a more valuable asset to your employer. It also provides you some insight to the capabilities of the human mind. I would recommend this book for leaders in the military, law enforcement, and corporate business.

This is a brilliant example of good scholarship. The book is impeccably researched. Of course there are conclusions that are open to debate, but it is difficult to find an area where you could fault the writer's logic. This is the standard work on a very complex subject, and will likely remain so. If only every historian was so objective and paid so much attention to detail, think of how much we would discover. Maybe I'm being too naive.

This is THE original book about the sport of Ride & Tie by THE originator of the sport. Bud John's account of the history of Ride & Tie, from his conception of the sport in 1970 to the hay day of the sport in the 1980's is entertaining and inspiring. Many of the original "greats" of Ride & Tie are introduced in the book, and many of them are still Riding and Tying today! If you have ever been curious about the sport, or have never heard of it, or are an old hand at it (but then, if you are an old hand, you already own this book) this book will give you an enjoyable introduction to the sport and how it works...

This is the first serious novel I ever read. (Before that I was only reading Doctor Who tie-in's.) After seeing the BBC adaptation on TV I wanted to read this book. I got it when I was 11 and have cherished it ever since. This was the book that made John Wyndham famous: the overnight destruction of civilization by "comet debris", the world overrun by flesh-eating plants called triffids.

One could look at this book as a war between man and nature on a grand scale. When mankind was the species that dominated all others, nature was driven back, "suppressed", or killed in the name of progress. When the tables are suddenly turned, it looks as if mankind is in decline. As the years pass, dead cities are slowly disappearing, turning into jungles as nature takes hold. In a matter of time nature will take over completely and the triffids will be the new inheritors. Unless the human race can fight back and reassert itself.

I have lost count of how many times I have read this book. I am 23 and the story is just as effective now as it was when I first read it. I like seeing all the different cover artwork that people have done for this book. The fact that it's been reprinted so many times is proof that this novel shows no sign of losing its popularity.

When Bill Masen awakens from his hospital bed to a world bereft of sight he is certain all is not as it should be. This is later confirmed by genetically altered, walking, carnivorous plants running amok throughout London, followed by the emergence of a mystery killer plague.

This is a bleak, harrowing read with few moments of hope, heaps of dread and isolation, and a constant stream of terror. If the idea of walking killer plants doesn't sound overly engrossing and a bit too B-grade sci-fi, fair enough. However, it is an absorbing and frightful read. Frightful in that the situation doesn't seem too far away from what could happen. One reviewer described this book as humanity versus nature, which is one way of looking at it. I see it more as humanity at battle with itself. Humanity versus nature in our interference with it, but humanity struggling with itself, getting ahead of itself, the inability to cope with the monsters that we create.

John Wyndham was the pseudonym of John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (1903-1969). This novel is regarded as one of the classics of science fiction literature and was made into a film in 1963 (poorly made). The book was runnerup for the 1952 International Fantasy Award. It is one of the classic examples of the "disaster novel;" or, more specifically, the sub-genre referred to as the "cozy catastrophe" in which a world-wide disaster is depicted in such a manner that the reader doesn't feel too upset and roots for the main character to overcome all odds. This novel set the pattern for many later novels of other authors: a disaster occurs, a large city is depopulated, panic develops, bravery is seen in the main characters, and a small core of individuals strive to build a foundation from which mankind can reestablish his position. (The synopsis given above with the publisher's comments is wrong. Wyndham is not the father of the disaster nove. There were several prior to 1951.) In this particular story, a series of green showers from a comet's tail (we are later told that this may have been a weapon in orbit that had been accidentally set off by an Earth government) cause most of Earth's inhabitants to become blind. Only the few who didn't see the showers (such as the main character Bill Mason who was in a hospital) can see. Later, a plague (possibly originating from a biological weapon) kills many survivors. But, the main malevolent force in the novel are the triffids: carniverous plants that can walk. Bill Mason believes these plants to have been genetically engineered by the Soviet Union and were accidentally released. Now that mankind is blind, the triffids "day" has come. The word "triffid," first used in this novel, has even gotten into the English language as a term describing any malevolent or obnoxious plant.