Everyone knows Robert Louis Stevenson; everyone has at least one of the myriad books of his poetry. There are some stunningly illustrated collections of his poetry out now, notably two by Thomas Kincaide, among others. But how many of us have actually read all or most of his work? I'm guilty as charged.

This smaller, quieter version of Stevenson's poetry helped me finally, actually read all the Garden poetry. True, the illustrations are spare, but delightfully accurate. My children (7 and 10) were not as mesmerized by this book as they are by others with fanciful graphics, illustrations and larger type to accompany the poetry.

Still, this small book found its way into my purse to be used for waiting moments, e.g. at the orthodontist, doctor, and also to my bedside, where it's shear diminutive size did not dissuade me from reading "for only a minute or two." And within Stevenson's words and language lie the ferment of creative pictures. I liked to have my children close their eyes while I read short poems to 'force' them to use only their mind's eye.

I thoroughly enjoyed the adventures, moods, and images Stevenson conjures and at long last can understand why his poetry remains so classic.

Most everyone knows that Robert Louis Stevenson was sickly, both as a child and as an adult, and the happy result for the reading public was his nearly feverish flights of imagination. Here, in an edition of his classic "A Child's Garden of Verses," that fever is complemented in spades by the fantastical illustrations of English artist Joanna Isles.

Isles uses an arsenal of utterly frivolous flowers, borders, insects, birds, kings and queens, fairies, and more to expand upon the imagination exhibited in Stevenson's poems. The children in these pictures are depicted as being in charge, being at one with their environment, and being delighted to be alive.

Some of the illustrations hint at the influence of artists more famed than Isles (Henri Rousseau appears to be a special favorite of hers--see the illustration for "The Unseen Playmate," in which a boy lies down in weeds that might have sprung from the edge of Rousseau's painting "The Dream"). Using both primary colors and pastels, Isles creates a world within the world of Stevenson's verse. The marriage of the two is a happy one.

When I was younger, well 5 actually, I had the chicken pox. This was one of my mom's favorite books. The words in the poetry just soothed me. It seemed like the author, Robert Louis Stevenson, knew exactly what I was going through.

You can't forget about the little toy soldiers (a poem) at your feet because when you are sick for days, you can imagine all kinds of things in your mind. The curtains billow like sails, the bedpost is your anchor. I sat there in bed and just floated away with the fun of having someone to share my illness. It seemed like a had a friend right there with me.

I loved the pictures too. The little kids are old fashioned and it made me laugh because the boys wore silly clothes, but they fit the time period, my mom said.

I love this book and keep it by my bed when I need to be relaxed.

Hayley Cohen

A timeless classic, written by Robert Louis Stevenson was a great book for those of us who like adventure. The book begins at the Admiral Benbow Inn, which Jim Hawkins, the main character works. Suddenly, from out of the blue a rough sea faring man appears named Billy. That is when the real adventure begins!! Jim and his mother find a treasure map in a dead customers sea trunk. Jim got a couple of respectable people together and they bought a ship named the Hispaniola and set of sail for Treasure Island, not knowing the problems that lay before them. I think the author wanted the them to be, be careful whom you trust. I fully enjoyed this book and I think you will too. To find out the rest read, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.

"Treasure Island," written by the 19th century novelist, Robert Louis Stevenson, is the timeless story about life on the high seas with pirates, treasure, murder, and treachery.

When young and naive Jim Hawkins is given a treasure map from the mysterious old pirate, Billy Bones, adventure and trouble are not far behind. Soon Jim finds himself aboard a ship with a villainous crew led by the cunning and mendacious pirate, Long John Silver. Greed and the lust for gold driving the pirates, they have murder in mind when they reach the dubious Treasure Island.

Skillfully yet simply written, Robert Louis Stevenson gives us an alluring tale that sparks the imagination. With its dastardly plot and mothly crew of rogues and villains, it entrances the reader, and keeps them wanting more. "Treausure Island" is the perfect read for anyone just wanting a good, exciting story.

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson is by far one of the best adventure stories I have ever read. This book deserves all five stars, it has everything you could ask for such as, suspense, comedy, action, drama and a great plot line. R.L. Stevenson puts a lot of detail into his main characters such as Long John Silver and Jim Hawkins just to name a few. He describes the scenes with such great detail that at times I had to remind myself that it is only a book. I spent more than 2 months reading this book and I enjoyed every part of it. I could RARELY find a paragraph that was dull, the book was very exciting overall. This book is fairly easy to read and I would recommend it to adults and children of all ages. The book moves at a very good pace, not too fast, not too slow. This book is anything but boring, something new happens in every chapter for instance, when Jim witnesses a murder and when he gets into bar fights, those are just some of the many things that happened. I was very surprised myself when I read this book because it seems a little childish but in fact it's quite the contrary. I highly recommend that you go out and read this book!

Enjoyed reading this book that I remembered from when I was younger and now I'm reading it to my daughter.

This book was so great it gave all the information I needed.Did you know Annie Oakley's real name is Pheobe Ann Moses. She was a sharp shooter. If you need a good biography this is the one to read.

I happened upon this wonderful biography and overview of sociologist C. Wright Mills written by the eminent sociologist Irving L. Horowitz several years ago while browsing through the stacks in a Cambridge book store, and spent the next weekend glued to my easy chair reading this quite interesting, sympathetic, yet still very objective biography of a very controversial academic. Mills was a towering, even legendary figure in American academic sociology at mid-century, and just about everything he did was provocative, trend setting, and often downright outrageous.

This iconoclastic motorcycle-riding monster of a man (he was well over six feet and quite imposing physically) refused to be typecast, constrained, or politically correct even in the depths of the straight-laced '50s. There is an amusing story about him most graduate students have heard various versions of regarding Columbia University's vain attempts to get him into line. Mills love to teach sans tie or suit coat in an open white collared shirt and slacks. Evidently someone complained he was not meeting professional dress standards, and the Dean told him he must henceforth always wear a coat and tie in classroom. Sure enough the next day Mills showed up to teach class attired in a suit with tie dutifully tied around his neck, but with no shirt on!

Mills' prolific published work was also very controversial, from "White Collar", a well documented description of the nature of the emerging affluent American middle class, to "The Power Elite", a hard-hitting critique of the nature of wealth, status and power in the United States, to "The Sociological Imagination", an articulate and approachable appeal to a return to classic sociological perspectives and avoiding the twin horns of what he termed to be a foolish and pointless excessive focus on either "high theory" or "research methods" rather than on important and cogent sociological analysis.

Horowitz threads through Mills extraordinary life and times, and paints a not altogether glowing personality behind the bravado, brilliance, and boldness. Mills sometimes was thoughtless, tactless, and cruel to those around him, and could be close to egomaniacal about getting what he felt was his share of the credit. Yet no one can deny the sheer laser power of his piercing intellect, or his willingness to take on the establishment and tell things the way he saw them, often to the great detriment of his academic career. This is a worthwhile, carefully researched, and absolutely entertaining biography and overview of a man and his work. Enjoy.

A short but encompassing summary of Lindbergh's life. Unlike Berg's biography, it omits all but the most important details but gives an accurate overview. Well written and interesting.

In his prologue, Higham tells us that much of the information he discloses has been drawn from hitherto sealed government files. Its more believable that he had long conversations with Howard Strickling, since Strickling was head of MGM's publicity department during the reign of Louis B Mayer, and the one responsible for the covering up of the secret lives of the stars. I guess the fun about gossip is in the discovery of the sordid details. Perhaps it's then only fair that I drop some of the names mentioned and let you discover the particulars. There's actually not a lot that was previously unknown to me. There's the death of Jean Harlow's husband Paul Bern, and then later the death of Harlow herself. The day of the lamentable shortage of knockworst in the commissary when no jockstraps could be worn under tights. The not too surprising inclination of Garbo's mentor Mauritz Stiller. Garbo's repeated no-shows for marriage to John Gilbert, and Mayer's dislike of Gilbert stemming from behaviour long before Garbo came into the scene. Why Garbo never bore a child. The fate of the footage of extras being drowned in Ben-Hur. The men killed by both Clark Gable and John Huston. Lee Tracy's forced retirement. How George Cukor nearly lost the job of directing Camille, as well. The supplier of drugs to Judy Garland. And Leni Riefenstahl's attempts to join MGM. The scandals seem to dissipate once we hit World War 2, or is that Higham's focus is more on Mayer's infidelities, and eventually his clashes with Nicholas Schenck and Dore Schary? Higham also presents a filmic history of the studio and it's output. I wish he'd only given us more dirt, because I get the impression that these scandals are just the tip of the iceberg.

Principles of Revival is a much needed book at this time. It seems that the church has not only forgotten what a revival is but also the things that help to promote them. Louis Parkhurst has done a wonderful job of bringing these timeless principles to a church that seems to be wandering aimlessly in regards to this topic. Many false understandings of man's role and God's role concerning salvation are addressed. Mr. Finney has a way of not only refuting false doctrine, but also of declaring truth in a sometimes humbling and embarassing way. If we would take time to really study the "Principles" of Revival, we would be able to hold Jesus Christ up as the "Saviour" of the world, with such results as has not been seen in many days. A correct understanding of just a few of these "Principles" will also help us in our walk. I especially think the section on sinners obligation to change their hearts is enlightning. That this is a voluntary change of the will, and not some magical transformation is something that is gravely misunderstood. That sinners need only make a change of preference, to hate sin and love holiness is very crucial to knowing whether a person, including ourselves, has accepted Christ into the heart. This is seen in the fact of a life change or a negation thereof. I would recommend this book to all those who desire to experience revival either in their own heart or in their church, or better in both.

This is a superbly written book, capturing the drama behind the discovery of the concept of the Ice Age. Bolles tells the story from the perspective of three different 19th century investigators: Kane, a gentleman adventurer, Lyell, one of the founders of modern geology, and Agassiz, one of the world's greatest naturalists. Using what is almost like a diarist method to tell the tale, the author interweaves the points of view of all three individuals taking the reader through the stages of the theory's conception and gestation. It seems amazing that what seems so abundantly apparent to modern students of earth history is blindly missed by many very astute 19th Century scientists. Furthermore, when a clear arguement with supporting data is resisted, it seems almost a willful desire to deny the existance of an Ice Age. Indeed such it may have been, as this was an era when strongly held religious beliefs, which had shaped much of the thinking up to that time, were beginning to crumble. In Ice Finders Bolles expertly creates an exciting and informative history of one of the intellectual adventures of science.

This is a wonderful little book about three individuals deeply involved in the exploration and discovery of the earth and it's origins during the 19th century - Louis Agassiz a Swiss Professor and politician; Elsisha Kent Kane, who spent two years trapped in the ice of Greenland and published "Arctic Exporations," his account of the ordeal; and Charles Lyell, a Scottish Geologist.

Bolles interweaves each figure's story and experiences as they work their way toward the discovery and acceptance of the previous Ice Ages and how they explain many argued about features of earth, such as erractic boulders and glacial moraines - many of which were accepted as the outcome of biblical events. And these primary explainations were a major hurdle to our ever-expanding understand of the earth, it's origins as ours.

The names of these three individuals will probably be familar to any reader of Arctic Exploration, Discovery and History.

Edmond Bolles book "The Ice Finders" is a real treat, perhaps the best I've read this year. In this tale of the discovery of the concept of "Ice Age", Bolles weaves together the story of three people of different times and places. We are treated to three biographies of people who played important but very different roles forming a new view and understanding of the world-a view we carry to this day to such an extent it's hard to imagine anything else.

Bolles displays for us an intellectual adventure I'd never thought about before, as well as ego trips, and quixotic expeditions. And what a cast of characters including Charles Darwin, the Lowell's of Massachusetts, Ralph Emerson and others who add great spice to the stories. The book is intellectually stimulating, entertaining and fun. Here is a piece of history I knew nothing about until reading Bolles book. What a bargain-all in one book.

The unabridged version was the first major work dealing with Hitler in the English speaking world. As such it was widely read for years and made compulsory for many university students.

Hitler is not that difficult a person to write a biography of. This can be contrasted with figures such as Stalin who was able to control the materials about his life and manufacture a range of untruths. The defeat of Germany and the discrediting of Nazism meant that little was hidden.

Despite that there are some things which have occurred since this book came out which date it a little. Kershaws recent book on Hitler is thus superior simply because of this but Bullocks work is by no means badly dated.

These are to some extent a matter of emphasis but they include.

(a) Hitler seems to have falsified some aspects of his background. He exaggerated his poverty in Mein Kampf which was the source of Bullers material. (b) Hitlers rise to power depended more on the circumstances around him rather than his own actions. Hitler seemed to be rather lazy (c) During his last years Hitler spent most of his time with military personal. They portrayed him as a man who was the archetypal mad dictator. A good deal of this seems to have been made up to shield military leaders from their own actions.

Despite that Bullers work is readable and comprehensive

Having read several books about the Nazis, I was interested in picking this title up for a couple of reasons. First of all, in William L. Shirer's book "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich," Mr. Shirer made a couple of references to Alan Bullock. And second, I couldn't pass up a book written by another of the "Bullock" type (ha ha).

I've got to say this was one of the better written books I've read that concerned the Nazis. He gave detail about the different players in the Nazi Regime (Goring, Goebbels, Himmler, etc) which was nice to finally put some historical information to the infamous people. His vocabulary was sometimes written in simple-man terms, which makes this a good read for people who don't know much about the "Thousand Year Reich."

Another thing Bullock did so well was spanning all of the history of the Third Reich equally throughout the book. Although the ending wasn't quite so extensively written as the beginning or middle, I still felt it was satisfactory.

In conclusion, "Hitler: A Study in Tyranny" is a great book for both beginners that are learning about the Third Reich and people who already know information about the Nazis.

Bullock's treatment is a little dry by today's standards but the material is very well covered. He almost seems to digress in chapter seven while indulging in an examination of Hitler's personality which made the book well worth the read for me. Although he's a somewhat detached orator, there are condemnations of various people/events which seem unnecessary at times, but, concidering the material, it's understandable.

This book is such a complete piece of antiscientific, ocultist nonsense that its continuing popularity in a highly educated country like France is really hard to explain. Only for those interested in cultural oddities from the 60's.

One of the most thought provoking and enlightened (if not unconventionally Gallic) examinations into the minds and motivations of post modern tyranny that you will ever read. This book literally abounds with new perspectives into the dark recesses of the Third Reich and it's principle architects and poses a number of uncomfortable questions about how such a sinister and repressive ideology could take hold so firmly in a modern, democratic state. A thoroughly compulsive read.

Co-authored by distinguished chemical engineer Bergier. Can be viewed as a work of fiction, yet also as a work of fact. Fact of the kind that's stranger than fiction. First impression was that authors were an interesting pair of cranks, as geniuses often appear to be. To illustrate, who could have suggested (before 1961, its publication year) that India and South Africa would acquire the A-bomb? Yet Pauwels & Bergier make no claim to being prophets. If, at first reading, you fail to find the promised enchantment, come back to it a few years later ... after you've lived a little more ... I think Pauwels and Bergier will help you see reality in all its strangeness. *Note: this book is out of print ... can something not be done about getting fresh copies into circulation? I've not been able to understand why something so simple seems so hard to do.