Without a doubt, the best serious book around on bodybuilding. The information is intelligently ordered and precisely delivered. Most bodybuilding books consist of glossy pages with lots of white space and nice big pictures of roid-filled freaks posing; this book is the very opposite. It contains serious detail geared toward the drug-free hardgainer and tons of useful, workable and practical advise on routines, technique and exercise selection.
The author is a very decent guy too. I wrote to him and, a few weeks later, I got a hand-written reply. Such gestures are not commonplace and I never expected it.
This book and the follow up title, is worth every penny: it's about training smart and how to avoid wasting your time and energy on useless exercises. Buy it!

For a mind that is dominated by the "more is better principle" with regards to weight training,this book will eliminate that mind set with sound and honest advice for the typical trainer. The training methods espoused by some of the "guru's" in the fitness industry,namely, programs thrown together based on high volume training, will not yield any meaningful results for the typical trainer who has a life outside of the gym. McRobert's advice for abbreviated training and cycling alone are already well worth the price, but this book is more. McRobert has a unique motivating style and talks about his training experiences when he was younger.He talks about the desire that everyone who wants a better physique has, and his lack of progress when following routines of the top "champions". He shows that desire is not always synonymous with results. Only desire and training based on rational principles can bring results. This book simply can't be ignored for those who are serious about building the physique they have always wanted. This is the book that you want by your side when you begin training. It will save for you the most precious thing of all: time.

Want to get big and strong? Want to stop wasting your hard earned cash on fad supplements and tricky training gear? Get this book and it'll change your idea of what weight lifting and strength training are all about! I too began lifting weights at a young age. I never consistently stuck with it because I was discouraged. No matter what I did, I couldn't get the kind of physique I was seeing in all the major magazines. WHY NOT?... I was doing precisely what they were telling me... I was working hard and training like a fool, yet I couldn't get ripped and big and muscular like the guys in the mags. I tried everything short of steroids and nothing but NOTHING worked. That is, until out of sheer frustration (and spending literally thousands of dollars on supplements, training gear, fancy machines and memberships to designer gyms) I decided to order a book I saw advertised in the back of one of the more respectable 'Natural' Muscle building magazines. I read Stuart McRoberts book and it blew my mind. After all the hype, all the crap that is shoved down the throats of weight training enthusiasts... this book spoke the truth. The simplistic, natural, sane truth about bodybuilding. Follow the simple precepts of this book and YOU WILL succeed. McRobert explains in easy to grasp way the amazingly non-complex path to acheive your goals through his credo of "Basics, 'Breviated and Best". Don't get me wrong... McRobert also blows the lid off the weight training myths that anyone can acheive the body of Arnold, Corey Everson, Lee Haney or whomever the latest 'hot' bodybuilding star is, if they just work hard enough and buy a certain magazine and every freakin' bodybuilding product said magazine has to offer. I KNOW this book works. Several months after being on one of the routines from Brawn, I was working out in the local gym with my nephew. We were doing military presses with some impressive weights when one of the local bodybuilding legends walked by... he stopped dead in his tracks. Eyes bulging and jaw dropping he blurted out "What kind of 'juice' are you guys doing!!??" We laughed and shook our heads... that was confirmation enough. My first copy of Brawn is trashed so I'm back to order my next copy. I'll probably end up buying the rest of the series too. Yes! It's that good! WHAT?... you haven't ordered it yet?

Because I enjoy medical thrillers, I decided to see what newcomer Stuart Rice had to offer. I was blown away by the intricate plot and the depth of the characters. Molly could be any person at any time facing the great monolith of managed care. At a time when our nation is considering moving toward more managed care in health care, this book gives the reader an inside look at the mechanisms of managed care.

I love to read and discover new authors. I wasn't disappointed by Stuart Rice's first novel. In fact, his is a career I expect to follow and enjoy for many years to come. I can't wait to read his next one--Covenant with Eternity.

A Three Five-StaR-rating....ER Riveting, OR Ratcheting, doctoR Reviving, HMO Racketing, gReed Retching, health-caRe Revolting, blood Rushing, action Rousing, lawyeR Rivaling, couRtRoom Rattling, tRuth Riddling, stoRyline Raving, attention Reeling, ReadeR Reveling and finally....FRagile X syndRome Refuting! A humbling lesson for legal and medical ethics. Dr. Rice, I presume? Or perhaps, CEO Rice? Or possibly, Atty. Rice?....ah yes, the writer portrays a young woman victimized and nearly devoured by a health maintenance organization we normally trust today, yet so sinister and profound to conspire a wave of future "cleansings" targeted at the care dependent. With the support of a small troupe of various skills, this story gives the famous chronicle in the Old Testament a new angle of significance. It's not the pebble....it's the sling!

I think Fragile X is an awesome piece of work. The description of the "business" of managed care is very enlightening. The frightening practices of denying claims, accumulating market share, physician incentives and cutbacks to improve profit margins are presented candidly. The plot thickens with an adequate mixture of religion, politics and relationships as the story unravels amid the legal consequence. The characters are realistic and identifiable. Molly is the perfect "Plain Jane" heroine. The computer whiz (Reggie) seems like the next door neighbor's rambunctious teenager. We all wish for a few more humanitarian, rebellious Dr. Colder's in this world. The novelist, Mr. Rice, writes with the medical insightfullness of Robin Cook, the riveting suspense of John Grisham and the Midwestern flair of Tami Hoag. I predict for him a bright future in the literary world.

Lessons of the Game is truly an amazing book. Although a non-avid reader, I recently picked up this book and read it within two days. Derek's writing style is very easy to understand. His choice of words to describe things made me know exactly where he was coming from and what it was like at points in Derek's life. I found myself laughing out loud several times as he described scenes as well as almost shedding a tear. This book gives the reader an inside look into Derek's life and true test of character. I believe this book is for the young, old, athletes, non-athletes, or anyone who is ready for an excellent book to read! It is a must read and won't be put down until finished!!!

READ IT, BUY IT, PASS IT ON! This is at best what I can say about Lessons of the Game. Derek Sparks submerges his readers with scandal and corruption which leaves them baffled. His profound, unfortunately true, story of manipulation and lies within our society is well written. If nothing else, it will provoke readers(athletes or non athletes) to see what is truely important: God, Family, Love, Education, etc.

This is a definite must for student athletes as well as parents of student athletes. I am a parent and my child will most likely be involved in school athletics as he gets older and this opened my eyes to the troubles that can emerge. His honesty was refreshing and much needed in the world of sports where secrecy and the "curtain of silence" prevail over any truth telling. This book needs to get out to young athletes to show them how much education is needed and not to get caught up in all the hype that coaches, family and friends can feed you about sports. Keep up the good work!

Now here is one of these books that you just GOTTA have. If you only buy one or two books a year, this is one of them. Remember how enthused I was about the original "Hacking Exposed" in W2Knews? Well, they have done it again, but now with an all-Windows 2000 focus. This is the end-all of hacking into your W2K servers. A must-read if you want to secure your networks and a 'Stu's Warmly Recommended!' I'm holding a fresh copy just off the presses in my hot little hands. I know what I'm going to do this weekend! It's a treasure trove of information no W2K sysadmin should be without.

Quite honestly, I believe that the material covered in Hacking Win2K Exposed should be covered in the MCSE 70-220 exam -- but it isn't. These guys not only cover all the tricks of the Black-Hat society, ranging from screening and enumeration to password cracking to privilege escalation exploits, but they also give the reader important information on how to implement countermeasures against these attacks.

Out of the box, Win2K will do a better job of protecting the OS than NT -- for example, the default domain group policy settings will prevent user enumeration, even though they permit null sessions (stand-alone systems, by contrast, are just as vulnerable to enumeration as NT 4.0). However, by default, the system is just as vulnerable to to attacks against legacy LM based password hashes as was NT -- this book explains how to avoid this while still maintaining compatibility with legacy consumer Windows products. And the named pipe impersonation privilege escalation exploit was one that I had not heard about. SP2 fixes it, but it's definitely something that you need to be aware of.

This book is a treasure trove of security-critical information for Win2K administrators. You will learn how to apply group policy to effectively lock down your Win2K systems against many of the attacks commonly used against Win2K. You'll get links to all kinds of freeware ranging from hacking tools to intrusion detection software so that you can assess the security of your own Win2K network. You'll learn about the vulnerabilities of IIS, SQL Server, and Terminal Server as well as how you can deploy these services securely.

This is real-world stuff. You just can't learn it by studying for 70-220. Hacking Win2K Exposed is probably the one book that I'd try to grab off the shelf if my library were on fire.

I am a senior engineer for network security operations. I read "Hacking Exposed Windows 2000" ("HEW2K") to learn how adversaries compromise Windows hosts. Like the original "Hacking Exposed" (now in a third edition) and the newer "Hacking Linux Exposed," HEW2K delivers no-nonsense, high-impact security information. I give all three books my highest recommendation.

Having read the original "Hacking Exposed" in Oct 99, I knew the authors possessed strong Windows security and administration skills. HEW2K gives the Foundstone crew a way to share their knowledge with the world. Thankfully, HEW2K doesn't repeat information found in the general-purpose "Hacking Exposed." For example, HEW2K covers Windows-specific denial of service issues, but directs readers to "Hacking Exposed, Third Edition" for a broader description of DoS. The same approach is taken with social engineering and dial-up security.

The "Hacking Exposed" series differ from the "Maximum Security" and "Hack Proofing" titles. While the latter are predominantly defensive-minded, HEW2K and its cousins are more offensive in nature. Vulnerability assessors and penetration testers will appreciate this focus. I was able to immediately apply tools and techniques in HEW2K to discover at-risk hosts on client networks.

HEW2K continues to offer the best combination of command-line examples, screen shots, and sample output of any security books I've read. I could literally read, type commands, and check results against the material in HEW2K. Furthermore, HEW2K covers topics given little attention elsewhere; these include attacking and defending SQL Server, Terminal Services, and client applications. HEW2K also gives enough background on each topic, like ISAPI filters or ASP, to give unfamiliar readers enough context to understand security implications of these technologies.

HEW2K is another must-buy from Osborne McGraw-Hill. As Foundstone principles, the authors ride the cutting edge of security developments. They recognize and communicate that application security (IIS, SQL Server, etc.) is the target of choice as administrators lock down layer 4 and below. With its clear methodology, expert explanations, and inside tips, HEW2K easily differentiates itself from the pack. We readers benefit, and hopefully our adversaries will not.

(Disclaimer: I received a free review copy from the publisher.)

I have previously written that Rhea's "Battle of the Wilderness" was the greatest battle history I have ever read. I need to correct myself. "The Battles for Spotsylvania Courthouse" has surpassed Rhea's previous work. This horrible battle of wills between Grant and Lee is brought alive by Rhea's wonderful prose. He has a very rare talent of being an outstanding writer and an exhaustive researcher. The combination provides for the most exciting exciting reading in history.

The book begins where "Wilderness" left off. Grant and Lee are staring at eachother from behind strong entrenchments. The narrative proceeds to describe the armies' movements to Spotsylvania Courthouse, and as a reader, you find yourself holding you breath occassionally, asking questions like: Will Lee's men get there in time? Will Sheridan break through? etc. Rhea's style makes it very hard to put the book down while at the same time you are getting all the information and facts that you would froma text book.

As Rhea continues, he describes the 5 days of fighting in and around the Courthouse in brutal detail. He discussion of the battle on May 12th for the "Muleshoe" salient is hauntingly similar to the trench battles of WW I. No other battle in the Civil War came close to the brutality displayed there on that day. In the space of 1/2 mile, 17,000 soldiers fell, and Rhea's description leaves and indelible mark on a reader's mind.

The book itself is well constructed. The chapters are a bit long, but not too bad. There are many maps that give a clear picture of the action. As an added bonus, there is also an in-depth discussion of the Battle of Yellow Tavern, where Jeb Stuart was killed. All these, plus extensive endnotes, combine to make "The Battles for Spotsylvania Courthouse" the very best in Civil War battle history. Definitely a must own for any Civil War buff, or military historian in general.

This is an excellent study of what must be one of the most horrific among Civil War battles. Though one reviewer's comments about sloppy notation are well taken, Rhea's scholarship overall seems solid, and he uses quotes to great effect to make the fighting come alive.

Not only Spotsylvania but the tragic cavalry battle at Yellow Tavern are covered here. Relevant to this, no other study I have seen, not even bios of Stuart, brings out Stuart and his troopers' role in initially forming the crucial defensive line on Laurel Hill and then deploying the infantry in ideal positions. Little known, but perhaps one of Stuart's finest hours.

Rhea seems even-handed ideologically speaking, and his criticisms of Grant and Sheridan seem well supported by the facts. I would recommend this book not only to scholars but to amateurs who want to know why the Civil War was a horrible conflict. This is not light reading. It is a story of appalling human suffering, courage, and unbelievable sheer endurance.

With the year only four-and-a-half months young, it would still be a safe bet to put your money on Gordon C. Rhea's "The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern-May 7-12, 1864" for "Best Civil War Book of 1997". Rhea, who gave us his "Battle of the Wilderness" in 1994, has only improved upon that award-winning volume with his latest effort. "The Battles for Spotsylvania" covers the vicious and nearly-disastrous engagement between Grant and Lee during the middle weeks of May, 1864. Here, near this sleepy little village southwest of Fredericksburg, Grant's bluecoats met Lee's butternuts in a mortal maelstrom of some of the most bloody fighting the Old Dominion had yet seen. Long neglected by Civil War writers, this pivotal and oft-confusing series of continuous combats was brought to the modern Civil War buff's attention by William Matter's fine "If It Takes All Summer" in 1988. Rhea, however, takes the torch from here and weaves a masterful narrative, both highly-detailed and smooth flowing at once, to give us, perhaps, the best coverage of this engagement we shall ever have. How so, one might ask? First, Rhea adds to the records and histories, a plethora of unpublished accounts from diaries, letters, memoirs, newspapers, and the like to give this book the comprehensive personal side of battle. Yet, the strategic and tactical concerns of the fighting do not suffer at all. To be sure, the author, once again, has found that special touch in blending the larger and smaller "pictures" into one without detracting from either. Nearly every imaginable aspect of the battle is covered in deft fashion, always maintaining the easy-reading flow in the text. Especially inviting to buffs and important to historians is Rhea's coverage of the concurrent cavalry operations between Phil Sheridan and JEB Stuart, including a riveting account of "Little Phil's" Richmond Raid and Stuart's subsequent death at Yellow Tavern. From the initial fighting at Laurel Hill, through Upton's heroic charge and the battering assaults against the "Bloody Angle", the reader will find and feel that they are seemingly in the midst of the battle itself. I just got my copy and read it in two days--you will find this one very hard to put down! Theodore C. Mahr Dayton, Ohio ------------------------------------------------ Former Seasonal Historian Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania Natl. Military Park Author: "The Battle of Cedar Creek: Showdown in the Shenandoah, October 1-30, 1864"[1992]

The Black Dog Opera Library Series had outdone themselves once again. In this 1972 recording of Mozart's last opera, we are treated to a fine performance by fine singers, a fully illustrated book with liner notes and commentary, as well as information useful in biographies on the composer and his time. Mozart was close to his death bed at the time he composed The Magid Flute. He made an opera that could be enjoyed at many levels. At one level, it is a comic, brilliant fairy tale for children, at another level, it is deeply symbolic and layed with Masonic ideals of universal brotherhood and love. Mozart and his librettist were both Freemasons, a religous "sect" that was under hot water in 18th century Vienna for its pagan origins and its advocation of ideas of the Enlightenment. The story is about Tamino, a prince who is lost in a strange land (originally, a mystic Egypt), who is rescued from a serpent by three mysterious women and promised the hand of the daughter of the Queen of the Night if he saves her from the wizard Sarastro. Together with the help of the comic bird-catcher, Papageno, he sets out on his adventure. But halfway through the opera, he discovers that he has been deceived. The Queen of the Night is the true villain and Sarastro is really a holy man. After many trials, the forces of evil are defeated and the opera ends blissfully with a victory.

Musically and dramatically, it is Mozart's greatest opera. From the striking Overture to the use of dark strings, trumpet and soaring flute passages, the individual arias which express intense emotions to the neverending theme that good triumphs over evil, the Magic Flute stands out as a great opera to begin with for newcomers and a favorite for old time opera fans.

In this recording, conductor Wolfgang Sawallisch leads the Bavarian State Orchestra in a highly effective, thoroughly dramatic and sentimental, full interpretation of Mozart's score. Tenor Peter Schreir as Tamino is exceptional, passionate in his aria "Dies Bildnis" (This portrait), and again as he plays his flute in "Wie Stark ist Nicht dein Zauberton" (How powerful is your music, magic flute), his individual lines in the ensembles and his duet with Pamina as they undergo the final trial of fire. Annelise Rothenberger, a sublime German lyric soprano, is moving in her portrayal of Pamina. She has her moments in this recording. Note how her high, melodic voice seems to come from nowhere as she confronts Sarastro and Tamino for the first time "Herr! Ich bin zwar Verbrecherin ! (Sir! I am the transgressor). Her aria "Ach Ich Fuhls" (O, I feel that happy days have passed) is the finest interpretation, full of pathos and a kind of melancholic madness, as well as her lines in her suicide attempt, finally, she is sublime as a strong woman ready to face trials with Tamino, especially striking when she sings the line "Tamino!".

Kurt Moll's Sarastro is without question the best. His voice is suited for God. So divine and sonorous and full of grace, his voice is especially noticeable in the aria "O Isis and Osiris " and "In deisen Heilen Hallen"( In these holy halls). Finally, and not to be missed, is Edda Moser's incredible interpretation of the Queen of the Night. You have not heard the true Queen of the Night, until you've heard Edda Moser. She has a Wagnerian intensity and neurosis in her lines, apt and effective for the role of a Queen bent on deception and the murder of her rival, Sarastro. Her aria "O Zittre Nicht, Mein Lieber Son" (O tremble not, beloved son" is full of lyric dramatic passages and coloratura at the end. The vengeance aria "Der Holle Rache Kocht Meine Herzen "(Hell's Anger Burns Within My Heart) is full of fire. The way she attacks the dramatic, powerful lines is out of this world and the high F's she escalates are unsurpassed.

The re-release of the legendary 1972 recording of Die Zauberflote, conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch, is a great blessing to all who know and love this great work. Edda Moser's interpretation of the Queen of the Night is justly celebrated, achieving not only transcendently perfect delivery, but also a chilling portrait of pure evil. All of the other cast members are excellent. The spoken role of Papageno is particularly striking, sounding sufficiently pungent to remind us that the role was originally played by Emanuel Schickaneder himself. The tempi are, for the most part remarkably well-chosen. In addition, the Masonic gravity of the subject matter is constantly respected. The chorus of the armed men is properly alarming, the cantus firmus stridently insistent above the counterpoint of the strings. Even more uncommon is the treatment of the secondary scenes of Act II, especially the chorus Welche Wonne, in which the evocation of the candidate's future "new life" is infused with the trepidation inevitably attendant upon any trial of life and death. All too often, this work, which is gravely serious in its intent, is presented as a fairy tale. This recording successfully conveys the philosophical context, and does justice to Mozart's attachment to Masonry. [The only flaw which I could detect is the inclusion of a very questionable musical fragment, inserted into Act II, Scene 11 {"Pamina, wo bist du?"). I could locate no reference to this anywhere in my extensive library on the subject, and can only speculate that it might be some unacknowledged retention from one of the infamous "reworkings" of the opera which occurred after Mozart's death....At any rate, it requires an explanation....]

In view of this, it is sad to see this beautiful recording issued in association with a perfectly vile and disrespectful book about the opera. The author has the temerity to liken this work to "a Broadway musical", "a rollicking entertainment for the common man" simply because it was composed as a Singspiel, or German opera with spoken dialogue. This is equivalent to likening one of Shakespeare's comedies to a street farce. The book also suggests that Zauberflöte was composed for purposes of pure entertainment, unless it is, perchance, a "work of profound insight" dressed up in the trappings of a "cartoon". Obviously, the writer is ignorant of the significance of the Egyptian setting in the time of Mozart, when it was a clear symbol for rational ideas and liberal politics. The details of the setting delineate the struggle which was then taking place in Europe, over the true nature of Masonry, philosophy and music, and which soon came to a terrible end, for that time at least, with the banning of Freemasonry in Austria, and the loss of much of the learning about ancient philosophy which had been so laboriously gathered in circles such as that frequented by Mozart. It is largely on account of Zauberflöte, which alludes with precision to much of that learning, that it was not entirely annihilated in the chaos of the revolutionary and Napoleonic periods. Rather than misrepresenting this vitally important work, those who have the privilege of coming into contact with it should do all in their power to contribute to the very difficult, vital, and continuing attempt to understand it. While the availability of this recording is of great value, it is scandalous to see it associated with a contribution to the generally prevailing ignorance about this extremely important, and very difficult, work.

An irate Mozartian

The re-release of the legendary 1972 recording of Die Zauberflöte, conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch, is a great blessing to all who know and love this great work. Edda Moser's interpretation of the Queen of the Night is justly celebrated, achieving not only transcendently perfect delivery, but also a chilling portrait of pure evil. All of the other cast members are excellent. The spoken role of Papageno is particularly striking, sounding sufficiently pungent to remind us that the role was originally played by Emanuel Schickaneder himself. The tempi are, for the most part remarkably well-chosen. In addition, the Masonic gravity of the subject matter is constantly respected. The chorus of the armed men is properly alarming, the cantus firmus stridently insistent above the counterpoint of the strings. Even more uncommon is the treatment of the secondary scenes of Act II, especially the chorus Welche Wonne, in which the evocation of the candidate's future "new life" is infused with the trepidation inevitably attendant upon any trial of life and death. All too often, this work, which is gravely serious in its intent, is presented as a fairy tale. This recording successfully conveys the philosophical context, and does justice to Mozart's attachment to Masonry. [The only flaw which I could detect is the inclusion of a very questionable musical fragment, inserted into Act II, Scene 11 ("Pamina, wo bist du?"). I could locate no reference to this anywhere in my extensive library on the subject, and can only speculate that it might be some unacknowledged retention from one of the infamous "reworkings" of the opera which occurred after Mozart's death....At any rate, it requires an explanation....]

In view of this, it is sad to see this beautiful recording issued in association with a perfectly vile and disrespectful book about the opera. The author has the temerity to liken this work to "a Broadway musical", "a rollicking entertainment for the common man" simply because it was composed as a Singspiel, or German opera with spoken dialogue. This is equivalent to likening one of Shakespeare's comedies to a street farce. The book also suggests that Zauberflöte was composed for purposes of pure entertainment, unless it is, perchance, a "work of profound insight" dressed up in the trappings of a "cartoon". Obviously, the writer is ignorant of the significance of the Egyptian setting in the time of Mozart, when it was a clear symbol for rational ideas and liberal politics. The details of the setting delineate the struggle which was then taking place in Europe, over the true nature of Masonry, philosophy and music, and which soon came to a terrible end, for that time at least, with the banning of Freemasonry in Austria, and the loss of much of the learning about ancient philosophy which had been so laboriously gathered in circles such as that frequented by Mozart. It is largely on account of Zauberflöte, which alludes with precision to much of that learning, that it was not entirely annihilated in the chaos of the revolutionary and Napoleonic periods. Rather than misrepresenting this vitally important work, those who have the privilege of coming into contact with it should do all in their power to contribute to the very difficult, vital, and continuing attempt to understand it. While the availability of this recording is of great value, it is scandalous to see it associated with a contribution to the generally prevailing ignorance about this extremely important, and very difficult, work.

An irate Mozartian

Alison Weir does a fantastic job of bringing each of Henry VIII's wives back to life. By tracing the lives of these women through childhoods to their deaths, this story truly centers on them, rather than the fact that they married a king. Weir also does a nice job in remaining fair to each, although at times her biases come in to play, the information given in each case is balanced, or at least attempts to be. Furthermore, Wier is complete. In one easily read volume, a wonderful framework is given which one not familiar with the content can be comfortable with. But then she goes further, giving detail upon detail, making this book not simply an overview, but a complete study. While Weir often repeats herself from one chapter to the next, the overall product is still excellent. For anyone interested in knowing about Henry VIII and his unfortunate wives, I suggest you read this book.

The story of Henry VIII's rule can only truly be told once a reader understands the vital importance attached to begetting an heir to the kingdom. Alison Weir, as usual, offers this thoroughly-detailed, sometimes amusing, sometimes heartbreaking portrait of a man who, thwarted at nearly every turn from getting a queen who could produce strapping male heirs to the Throne of England, descended from a jolly, back-slapping prince to a fat, cruel and nearly despotic king, whose final wish to be buried alongside Jane Seymour must have cut his final surviving wife, Katherine Parr, to the quick.

But, as the title suggests, the primary thrust of this book is not so much Henry VIII as each of his unfortunate wives. One learns a great deal more about them than the usual lines given by armchair historians. For example, "saintly" Jane Seymour, usually depicted as a meek and mild young thing, was just as much a deliberate factor in the downfall of Anne Boleyn as her royal husband-to-be. And as one reads about Anne Boleyn's temper, one teeters between sympathy for her and ... a vague feeling that perhaps Henry beheaded her not so much for failing to produce an heir as to get her to shut up and cease her constant nagging and ill-tempered outbursts. (Of course, then you swing back into Anne's camp, figuring anyone living with someone like Henry would be ill-tempered ... or perhaps worse!)

And so it goes ...

Fascinating, chock full of details of court life and rife with facts from many primary sources, Alison Weir's account of Henry VIII and his wives remains a standard of its genre.

I have one word to say-WOW! I am thirteen years old and last November my family took a trip to London over Thanksgiving break. While in Westminster Abbey's gift shop, I noticed this book about Henry's the Eighth's wives. The book looked HUGE and I jokingly told my brother I was going to read it. I started looking at it and it looked so interesting I really did end up buying it. Once I got started reading it, I couldn't put it down. I had heard about a King named Henry with six wives before, but this book completely changed my view of him AND his wives. Weir shows us their thoughts and feelings and brings every character to life. After reading the book, I reccomended it to my best friend's mother, who read it and loved it also. After reading it, I began to look for more books on the Tudor period in Great Britain and have become an absolute fanatic on the subject. I learned more from this one book than from all my other history classes combined!

I enjoy Anne Stuart's books. She has a really twisted mind, lol. Her heroes ranged from spies, sorcerers, heretics, conmen, and even the Grim Reaper himself! If you want a ride to the darker side of love, where lust, danger, and obsession blend into one exciting shade, read this book.

The mystery is very good. I never know whether Alex is really Alex or not until the very end. And Anne Stuart writes very well.

And I find the characters memorable as well. The dear heroine initially is a doormat, but gradually she regains her backbone. The hero is an intriguing rogue. They make me smile.

Tired of the same old romantic suspense written by once favorite authors that promise much but deliver little? If so, read SHADOW LOVER, cleverly crafted by Anne Stuart who never lets her devoted fans down. Alexander MacDowell, morally bankrupt, degenerate and beautiful, has returned home after eighteen years to reclaim his place in the bosom of his spiteful, sniping family. Or has he come after the sizable fortune he will inherit from his terminally ill mother? Or will he instead claim Carolyn, the MacDowell family's own Cinderella? Would you recognize your first love were he to return to you after almost twenty years? Carolyn believes she would. And this Alex is not the boy who tormented her as an adolescent and who torments her now as a charming and all too sexy man. While falling under his spell once more, she nonetheless tries to unmask him as a fraud. And while she longs for this man to be Alex, she knows he can't be. Because Carolyn saw Alex murdered as she hid behind an abandoned boat the night he was shot to death at the family's beach house. Yet this impostor knows family secrets so private that he must be the resurrected Alex. Could some miracle have spared his life, or is someone in the family plotting with him in order to gain a share of the inheritance? Surprising, sexy and suspenseful, this novel is another in a long line of winners from Anne Stuart. You won't want this great read to end, but you'll be compelled to race through it to discover the truth of Alex's identity. If you enjoy this novel, try Stuart's other more recent novels of the same vein, MOONRISE, NIGHTFALL, or RITUAL SINS. You won't be disappointed.

Ever since reading Anne Stuart's Ritual Sins, I can't seem to get enough of this author.

Shadow Lover was another Anne Stuart masterpeice. Dark, powerful, with many twists and turns. Eighteen years earlier, Alex MacDowell ran away leaving a distraut mother and Carolyn, the foster child. Now that his mother is on her deathbed, he's back. Is it the real Alex, or an imposter?

Throughout her childhood Carolyn Smith idolized Alex, even though he tormented her. On the night he left, Carolyn followed him to the beach and watched as someone shot him and murdered him. Now another Alex is in the picture and Carolyn has fallen in love with him. Has she fallen in love with an imposter?

Anne Stuart's Shadow Lover is one of those books that grab you from the beginning and you can't put it down until all questions are answered. This is a hands down must read!

I bought this book in 1996, and I've lost count of the number of times I've read it. It spoke to me at once and has become a great friend over the years. For me it is the most profound of his books, from which I get something new each year. There are hidden depths that appear only when you have experienced enough and reflected enough on that experience.

Wilde's style, as ever, is populist and jokey, but the message is uncompromising: you have to take complete responsibility for your life if you want to avoid repeating old patterns that cause suffering, if you want to put ego in its rightful place. He is very good at exposing the ego-gratifying and change-inhibiting nature of (most) organized religion. Wilde uses ancient Daoist teachings and insights as his starting point, but gives them a contemporary flavor. His idea of the God Force may sound New Agey but, in spite of first appearances, this is no milk-and-water spirituality.

And yet, even as I continue to cherish Wilde's work, I come increasingly to the view that he is one-sided in discussing what he calls the God Force: the Dao, the Divine Essence, God, etc. Although he is not a conventional New Ager, he strikes me as naive in assuming the universe to be necessarily benign. Single-mindedness and purity of heart (difficult as they are to achieve) are not enough; we often do not get what we bargain for. One should approach the living God with fear and trembling and limitless humility. The tone of this book is a too light, too bright, too self-regarding; there is not enough of the otherness of God (even the God-within-us), of the shadow we do not see and most certainly do not want. Perhaps Wilde knows more from his spiritual explorations than he tells the reader here, and maybe this book already serves a valuable purpose. I am certainly grateful for it.

If you like Stuart Wilde, this is a must have. I have read this book twice and discove new ideas each time....it will change your life!

From an "in love" woman's point of view, Stuart Wilde gives the reader the ability to find an amazing amount of courage and quiet innerstrength to deal with the emotional ups and downs of new relationships. As we all know, men and women function extremely differently on emotional levels, and I for one would have reacted wildly during the difficult times had I not read Stu's book. Instead, for the first time in my life I have discovered that silent observation can be an immensely powerful tool enabling sensible discussion to follow after the heat of the moment! The strangest thing is that I read it through quickly once (with lots of chuckles by the way), and without even a thought back to the book, I am aware of having become a much stronger woman.

I hate to be a spoil sport since so many comments about Dunnett have been so effusive- however, I have to be honest and admit that I just don't get it. The plot lines are very confusing and the characters are not well enough developed to identify with. In Game of Kings Lymond communicates solely by spouting erudite witticisms in various languages. Every uttered sentence is either joking, tongue in cheek or nebulous in some way. I never felt for one moment that I understood this character. In fact, there is almost a comical aspect of the larger-than-life adventures that undermines the historical accuracy. Another problem is that Dunnett uses a lexicon that is so archaic and erudite that it becomes annoying after a while. I never thought that I would ever feel this way about a book since I love a good challenging read. This is over the top! I started reading this series in the sincere hope that I would discover something as wonderful and entrancing as the Patric O'Brian novels, I have been sorely disappointed. To tell the truth, I had to stop reading Queen's Play after the first few chapters.

QUEEN'S PLAY was the first Lymond book I read--stumbled across it at the public library about 20 years ago. I then had to ransack the rest of Washington,DC's branch libraries to get my hands on the other books in the series, and ever since, Dorothy Dunnett has been my favorite historical fiction writer. She is not for the faint-hearted: you must be literate (in several languages if possible)and well read in history of the period if you are to appreciate the books to the fullest. Or, if you come "cold" to the book, the kind of person for whom a novel opens a door through which you begin to learn about the real contemporary history. Her characters are so well-educated and well-bred that I have no problem picturing them at the various European courts where Mrs. Dunnett places them. Modern politics seem very dull indeed in comparison (Tony Blair vs. Mary Tudor!) Mrs. Dunnett writes a beautiful, lush English--one of my major fantasies is inviting her to tea in ! order to find out if she's anything like one of her creations.

I love Dunnett books because the characters are so well developed, and the plot so intricate yet discernable, I read in awed admiration. I have been fooled by the plot twists so many times, I have now come to expect it, and just smile when I see that I had been totally wrong yet agian. Dunnett has such a profound understanding of history and the human nature of both her characters and readers, that the story lives in my mind stronger than any movie that I have ever seen. I recommend this series to everyone, even if you don't speak French and Latin. It's worth the effort.