I found this hard to put down. It breaks down financial choices into the lowest common denominator. The larger print makes it a nice read. My favorite parts include the cost of smoking analogy and the true price we pay for buying a shirt, shoes, etc. There are some solid tips on retirement planning too, which is refreshing. It's one of the better books I've bought so far this summer. A great value.

I found this hard to put down. It breaks down financial choices into the lowest common denominator. The larger print makes it a nice read. My favorite parts include the cost of smoking analogy and the true price we pay for buying a shirt, shoes, etc. There are some solid tips on retirement planning too, which is refreshing. It's one of the better books I've bought so far this summer. A great value.

This book will motivate the average Joe to re-think monetary decisions. It is filled with good advice, and the tips are easy to understand. This is a great book for college age readers too. We really liked it, especially the large print.

If you've never been introduced to the 3 Investigators, you have no idea what you're missing. They make Nancy, Frank, and Joe look as exciting as an unbuttered piece of stale white bread. And parents, don't overlook these books for your daughters! I loved them as a child and I'm delighted to find my children are as enthralled today as I was then. I recommend starting here, with #1, to introduce readers to the 3 Investigators' start. As an added bonus, main character Jupiter Jones uses a vocabulary most English professors would be delighted with. It's nice to have a series of books that doesn't downplay its wording. Your kids can have a grand time reading, and actually learn at the same time! Most especially, I recommend Terror Castle and all the 3 Investigators books for any parent trying to find something to motivate their children to read more. These are genuine page turners. Exciting, thrilling, puzzling- everything a good mystery should be!

At one time I used to own the first 23 titles of AH & The Three Investigators. As I've grown older, I've lost titles until I recently realized I only had two left. I've lamented to my wife, after searching used book stores high and low for the other titles and not finding them, that this was a great blow against childhood reading. I was so glad that they are still being printed and read! The format may be different and Alfred Hitchcock is lamentably missing, but they are still as readable and enjoyable as they were when I was a child!

I highly recommend this series for young readers who dream of adventure and suspense. They invigorated my youth and helped interest me in reading and writing. I hope to God that there are more coming out!

And for those of us who remember Alfred Hitchcock, maybe Random House could put out a collectors series of the books as they were originally released - covers, illustrations and all. I would certainly snap them up!

Wow. I'm 33 years old and thought I am probably the only adult who would pick up a Three Investigator's book and read it. I am here looking for some of The Three Investigator's books for my girlfriend's son. I saved a few of the books I had as a child, a couple of them in hardback, with the intent of saving them for my children. Most of the books I read in the series I checked out at the library. Reading these books provided some of my fondest childhood memories. The young man I am buying these books for has just discovered a love for reading and I believe that these stories will hook them just like they did me. Amazon, please act upon the suggestions of others and release the entire series if possible.

When I was eight, I was a book worm. I am ashamed to say, however, that I wasn't reading exaclty the most edifying books around. My library consisted mostly of RL Stein, Hardy Boys and the likes. (Which I'm nto trying to put down, but to be honest, they're not that well written and they have very little plot.) So one weekend, my mother and I went to visit my aunt, and she noticed what I was reading. She was less than impressed and kept trying to intrest me in some of the different books she had. (She has a fabulous collection of children's books, I might add.) I turned down every one, either saying they looked boring or too young for me. So finally on the eve of our last night there, she convinces me to read this old tattered book. (You guessed it, it was Swallows and Amazons. The origeonal Johnathan Cape Edition, something you just can't find any more...) Being int he middle of "The Secret of the Old Mill" (For the third time) I put it off until I had finished. I assumed I'd read a chapter, not like it and then go to bed. Needless to say I got no sleep that night. By the time I got to the last page and put the book down it was well into the morning. After that I had to get the book for myself, and my (very patient) mother and I scoured the bookstores for it until finally we found one that could order a copy. I counted the days until that book came (One of the Penguin Press Editions, god knows where they exhumed an old edition like that from). When it came I had to read it again and again. The worst part though, was this little listing at the end of the book. It was a listing of all the other books in the Swallows and Amazons serries. It was horible because here were all these tantalizing titles and little blurbs about these books and I couldn't find them anywhere. In a heroic feat of book-shopping, my mother was actually able to find most of them (Thi was before the Goodine edition, so they were out of print), though she had to special order from England and Canada for a few of them. When they came, I don't think I did anything except read until I had read them all. It was horibel, though because some of them refered to event that happened in the books I hadn't read. Finally, however they were re-published and I was able to make my collection complete.

After reading these books, I became enchanted with the sea and sailing. My library has becaome a lot more nautically oriented, and I take partial credit for my local book-store stocking the S&A serries. =) Even today, I still will read them occasionally... Just to allown myself to forget about the present and be drawn into the most wonderful past imaginable. These are a must for any young reader, I have yet to find one that hates these books, and wonderful for adults, too. All I can say is buy them, you won't be disapointed. I just wish Ransome had written more.

I am an eleven-year-old girl who first found Swallows and Amazons at a library booksale - even before they were republished! Don't let the title fool you - Swallows and Amazons are two groups of siblings. One group has a boat called Swallow.The other group has a boat called Amazon. The Swallows and Amazons start out enemies, but become friends rapidly. Their adventures are similar to what I have often dreamed of - getting a boat and having adventures on and around an island!But their adventures are not limited to the island, they evenvisit "the natives" back home. What's best about their adventures is that all of them are possible! They don't do impossible things like ride on drangons or become invisible. Their adventures really could happen! I loved this book from the start, and have read it again and again. I would also reccomend the other books in this series. They are all super, and will become treasures to pass on to later generations. Thank you, Mr. Ransome, for writing such a wonderful book!

This series appears to inspire fanaticism in those of us lucky enough to read them as children. Included with a bunch of Enid Blytons from my grandmother this was one of my favorite books of childhood and has become an odd literary touchstone in my older friendships. An interesting adventure story that remains rooted in reality yet gives life to the childrens' fantasies this is a book I can always retreat into. I only wish my vacations had been like those of the Walkers and Blacketts. Their camping and sailing adventures in the English Lake District are not overly dated(considering they were written in the 1930's) and probably the least sexist childrens books from that era and from today- the girls and boys have equal responsibilities and the most charismatic character is Nancy Blackett, captain of the Amazons. I don't understand how these books have remained in such relative obscurity for so long.

We have an inexpensive paperback version (see our reviews) of this classic poem, and we said that's enough for us. That was before we looked through this beautifully illustrated (by Bruce Whatley) edition of The Night Before Christmas.

The lyrics are the same, from book to book, but the fanciful illustrations in this one are enough to engage adults and children as they read this book together.

The perfect gift for any family whose Christmas tradition includes reading this classic!

I discovered this book 31 years ago, for my daughter and it is still loved by all the family. The illustrations are wonderful, warm, charming and delightful and bring a special meaning to the story. We still read it to all the young children on Christmas Eve and for adults we read the story and pass a grab bag gift every time the word THE is mentioned. It would not be Christmas without this book. It is magical.

This beautiful book was in my family as a hard cover edition for many years and was a Christmas Eve tradition for my four sons when they were growing up. It's poor battered body disappeared some time after the last of my little ones went off into the adult world. I am so delighted to see it back again, though this time as a nicely affordable soft cover. Clement C. Moore's enchanting story poem already provides an atmosphere filled with warmth and joyful expectation and with the addition of Tasha Tudor's quaint, nostalgic water-colors from an antique New England the Christmas magic is complete!
The winter landscapes fill our senses and Tasha's own gray tabby cat and Welsh Corgi welcome us into this charming world.
Tasha's Santa that you will meet in this book has been portrayed as the poem describes him...a right jolly old elf. He's not that much larger than the corgi and his team really consists of eight "tiny" reindeer. His pointy ears and his Eskimo mukluks add to the delightful ambiance of the book. He dances with the toys and with the happy animals and we can truly believe it will be a happy Christmas for all.
I hope this book becomes a Christmas Eve tradition for many, many more families.

This wonderful children's novel tells the story of eight year old Princess Irene. Cared for by her nurse Lootie, she lives in a mountain farmhouse while her father rules over the region from a mountain top castle. The local folk work as miners but are beset by the Goblins who inhabit the underground. Irene is saved from the Goblins by Curdie, a thirteen year old miner, and she in turn saves him. The whole thing is told in a pleasant conversational style and is filled with humor, word games, magic, derring-do, and pure wonderment.

George MacDonald, a Congregational minister turned novelist, who seems nearly forgotten now, was one of the seminal figures in the development of Fantasy. His influence on other Fantasy authors is obvious, he was a childhood favorite of JRR Tolkein, who especially liked this book, and C.S. Lewis named him one of his favorite authors. His own stories draw on many of the themes and characters of classical European fairy tales. But where they were often merely horrific and meaningless, MacDonald adds a layer of Christian allegory. Thus, Irene and Curdie are eventually saved by a thread so slender that you can't even see it, but which leads them back to safety, teaching Curdie that you sometimes have to believe in things that you can't see.

The book would be interesting simply as a touchstone of modern fiction, but it stands up well on its own and will delight adults and children alike.

GRADE: A

whenever I find a used copy of this or MacDonald's "The Princess and Curdie" I buy it and give it away. Both books are full of religious symbolism if you think about it, and old other-worldness if you don't. "The Princess and the Goblin" can be enjoyed by early elementary school children, while the language of "The Princess and Curdie" is more challenging and suited for 5th grade and up, though anything is possible with a bit of extra effort. Worth trying. George MacDonald (deceased) has a loyal following as do, of course, Tolkien and C.S.Lewis who were his friends. These are lovely books to read aloud.

I cant believe I haven't read this untill now, its such a great book! A princess lives in a castle all her life, never knowing of the great dangers that go on in the mountain. One day(being about 7 years old) she finds a stairway in her house that she has never seen and it leads her to her great, great grandmother. After she meets her grandmother she is shown the dangers of the goblins and meets a boy named Curdie who mines in the mountain with his father. Throughout the book Curdie and the princess have many encounters with the goblins. This is a great book I highly recommend it for readers of all ages.

THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES is an anthology of every Sherlock Holmes story ever written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This single volume is an absolute treasure; it reveals to us one of the most influential and powerful characters conceived of in the history of literature. Holmes' many adventures manage to transcend the boundaries of the mystery genre and set their permanent mark on the fabric of Western society. The now cliche "Elementary, my dear Watson" reveals how both the sheer genius of Holmes and the unwavering loyalty of Watson have been forever integrated into our collective memory.

If you have ever read Sherlock Holmes in your life and have enjoyed it, please pick up a copy of this book. Reading it again will merely add to your enjoyment. The astounding revelations and brilliant logic of Holmes never lose their novelty.

If you have never read Sherlock Holmes, you have truly missed out on one of the memorable characters in English literature. I urge you to purchase this book immediately. You will not be disappointed.

In summary, THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES is a must buy for those who do not already own it. I give it my highest recommendation!

This book, a compilation of every original, published Sherlock Holmes story written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is a joy for all fans of classic mysteries. Although many other detective stories are also excellent, there is nothing quite like the original Holmes stories. As we read through the many adventures of Holmes and his ever faithful companion Dr. Watson, we are also led through their colorful, albeit enigmatic, lives including Dr. Watson's two marriages and the time in between them (lodging at 221B Baker Street, naturally). Holmes' life includes his opium addiction, and subsequent recovery, his encounter with Irene Adler and finally, his retirement to the English Channel coast as a beekeeper.

Whether already a fan for years or a new Holmes reader, this collection is perfect. My copy is one of the most treasured volumes in my library.

This Sherlock Holmes collection remains an enduring classic that for those who love this take on Victorian England can be read and reread with great pleasure. A good part of that pleasure is the language and the mystique of the time and place, but most of the pleasure, I suspect, comes from the way Holmes's mind works. It is especially fun to view that mind through the stuffy fog of Watson's narration. No matter how hard he tries to figure out what is going on, Holmes is always several steps ahead of him - and the reader as well.

The most fascinating aspect of these stories is the strangely modern character that Conan Doyle created in Holmes, a mystery man with an ill defined past, who plays the violin, possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of odd minutia that only the FBI labs could fully appreciate, thinks blindingly fast and always outside the box, is addicted to drugs and strangely indifferent to sex (as far as Watson knows, anyway). A far cry from what we have come to expect a detective to be, but SO entertaining in these very artificial melodramas. These stories are so far from what any kind of police or detective work have ever been that one could dismiss them, except then we would miss the fun.

LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF THE MASTERS OF THE FAR EAST caused me to search into the deeper realities and meaning of Life. After reading these books, I realized that I was living in the mundane world of religious doctrine and dogma. I was given what I wanted to hear, not what I should be hearing. In 1966 I left the world of organized religion and I will never return to that again. I was a dedicated person to the church and the bible studies.

I have read the Life and Teachings six times, not just reading, but studying. What made me think that this is a truth? There is no scientific evidence to back this up? There is no mention of these things in the Wall Street Journal or in the New York Times? No matter where I looked none of these things were mentioned. Could it be a something within us that intuitively draws a searching person? The skeptics, critics, "unbeliever," that I knew did not stop my spiritual resolve and I persevered. For the first time was I thinking for myself.

In 1991 a book called "The Kybalion" and "Divine Pymander" came into my life and was a major puzzle in resolving the mystery of Life that revealed the laws and principles that enabled the Masters of the Himalayas to do the things they were able to do. My path in Life was forever changed because of the greater awareness that gave me mental poise and a firm direction in Life. For the first time was I able to live in the now and not be swayed by misinformation, skepticism, or even the malicious conduct of other people. I am not affected by political opinion. I can read and understand between the lines. Yet, I am able to maintain a flexible mind and not have to defend my opinions. My past was left to history and I was looking forward to the new teachings of Spirit. I am experiencing true freedom for the first time.

Why am I writing all this? It is not in the reading of books that a person will benefit, but what a person will do with it. Some people will read and life goes on in the usual manner, while others will take it to their heart and increase their Spiritual Knowledge and acquire true freedom and they experience true Spiritual development. They become changed persons. To the skeptic and "defender of opinions," Life will always be a mystery and they will always be stuck in their mundane world of materialism as a self made person and continue the struggle in their unawareness.

"LIFE AND TEACHING OF THE MASTERS OF THE FAR EAST" will give a person a reason to look into the greater realms of reality and if they will but "look," the answers will be surprising and refreshing. Scientific evidence and verification of these things is not possible at the moment because it has not completely unfolded in their field of awareness. However, science has made tremendous progress in revealing the structure of the Universe, which to the Spiritual aware person indicates that our "material" world as we are able to perceive it, is not as "material" as we think it is. In this view, we can understand why the Masters of the Himalayas travel effortlessly through the "invisible." They used a higher LAW that that for the most part escapes the collective race consciousness....

J. R. Seydel

Baird T. Spalding takes you on a wonderful, remarkable journey to meet the Masters and see the Truth they live in their everyday lives. As a Christian, I find these books to be in complete agreement with Jesus's teachings in the Holy Scriptures. Though the Masters are not Christian, they profess that Christ IS the Way. The Masters take off the "religious" hat, and put on true Spirituality. No New Age mumbo jumbo, just timeless Truth. We are Children of the Living God as the Saviour taught, and the Masters teach and exemplify this in their day-to-day living. Spalding's writing is superb. I felt as if I were there on location with him. After reading the Masters, I read the Bible in a whole new light. Christ's teachings come to life in these short, easy-read volumes. I would like to have some contacts and exchange ideas with other readers of these books and perhaps start a discussion group.

When a friend of mine gave me this series of books as a gift, he made me promise that I would read them. He knew that I do not have much time to read. He also knew that these are rather "deep", and therefore could not be properly read in ten minute segments fit into a busy day. I waited until a recent vacation, and I took the set of books along. Once I started, I could not stop. It took me over a year to fulfill my promise, and I blame myself for losing this year of my life. These books are absolutely incredible. No matter what faith you have, or do not have, you will be inspired. Although the content is amazing and sometimes incredible, it is presented with such honesty and straightforwardness that it is believable. I found that I WANTED to believe it. And I NEEDED it to be true. All limitations have now been removed from my life, and I cannot fail in my renewed mission to serve others. Thank you, Baird T. Spalding. And of course, thank you, My God.

I think this is the best book Verne has ever written. It has adventure, mystery, suspense, survival, and science fiction all mixed up into one book. It is about Cyrus harding, the engineer, Neb, his loyal servant, Gidion Spilett, the reporter, Jack Pencroft, the spontaneous sailor, Herbert, a 13 year old boy, and the faithful dog Top, who get dropped in a hot air ballon on a remote island. The soon begin forming there own "mini-america" on the island. But strange things start happening - like when top is almost killed my a strange animal, but the animal suddenly dies from a knife wound, and when Pencroft finds a bullet in a wild pig. Who did these things appear on a uninhabited island? Hint- Read 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea first

How he used to make an engine run with duct tape and a shoe string, or make a bomb from bleach and a rusty nail?

He kept coming to mind as I was reading this incredible book, as the characters, stranded on an island with absolutely nothing, accomplished such amazing feats as draining a lake, making a home, building a ship, making an elevator, and a great many other things. There is excitement, suspense (what IS going on on this mysterious island??), and wonderful, likeable characters. Not a real well-known Verne book, but fortunately still in print, and one of his best and most entertaining.

(Incidentally, if you want a children's version of the same story, try to find "A Long Vacation" by Jules Verne, which is extremely similar in plot, but with younger characters and for a younger audience - very charming!)

By the way, please do read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea first, if you have not already done so. Evidently, Verne assumed that everyone had when he wrote this novel.

Great reading!

I had never read Jules Verne's wonderful book, The Mysterious Island. I was delighted that there was a new translation available, so I happily bought a copy and dove into it.

Imagine my shock and disappointment to find, in reading Caleb Carr's introduction, that he tells me the secret of the island! I could have reached through the pages and slapped him silly! My heart just sank. It was like reading a movie review of the Sixth Sense that flat out tells you the twist in the story! Thus, all through the book, I knew what the colonists did not. I felt cheated. Even in the short introductory piece on Jules Verne there is vital information given that is best avoided unless you have already read the book. My advice to you is to go straight to Chapter 1 and skip all the preliminaries until you have finished the book.

With that caveat, I just loved the book. Jordan Stump's translation is breezy reading, which makes this 600+ page book just glide by. The colonists, which is what they become after crash landing on the island, are all "upright, energetic, and bound by brotherly affection". These are not a bunch of modern hunky narcissists or brooding, introspective hand-wringers, my friends. These are men of good cheer who, with faith in one another and a healthy respect for the Almighty, turn this most fascinating (and surely improbable) island into a new land.

This takes place in a time when the world itself still held mystery and adventure, and there was a boundless optimism in what man could achieve when honest and civilized men pooled their efforts and added a little scientific knowledge to their endeavors (well, a lot, actually). Most certainly, because of the time in which it was written, it is not politically correct. The "negro" Neb, though a free man, still calls Cyrus Smith "Master". However, there is every indication that Neb was given equal and fraternal treatment and was respected by all, blunting somewhat the inherent offensiveness of such a situation to modern readers.

In the end, this is a rich and wonderful story that, with this new translation, is a joy to read and a treasure to keep.

Caleb Carr does deserve a trip to the woodshed, however.

Review of first book in the series:

Overall: Spectacular fun. A plot that makes up for its lack of believability / lack of development with the sheer volume of its ideas and its droll British humor. We follow along with the persistently boggled Arthur Dent and along the way find out how to mix a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster, the answer to the question of life, the universe, and everything, and the true purpose of both little white mice and the Earth. What more can you ask for?

As a cult classic, it falls firmly into the "you love it or you hate it" category. This first book in the series presents an easy way to spend a few hours with a quick paperback and determine which category you fall into. If you love it, there's 4 more books and a few other Adams works to explore; if you fall into the "hate it" category you've only lost a few hours (though apparently at some previous point in time you lost your soul, but oh well).

I thought this book "The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy" by Douglas Adams, was amazing. I have never laughed so hard while reading in my life. Adams has a unique style of putting the extremely bizarre into fairly common language. He also has a witty humor that will get you rolling with laughter. The books center around two main characters, Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect, and their adventures so to speak around the galaxy. The two are faced with many bizarre and life threatening events throughout their journeys. They do varies tasks from finding the meaning of life, to saving the galaxy, and watching as the universe is destroyed as they eat a cow which they had had a conversation with a few minutes before hand. The whole book is full of mind-bending contradictions and hilarious out of the blue humor. The plot that I derived form the book, I doubt it is right, is don't sweat the small stuff. The events that happen to Arthur Dent are far worse then the petty stuff we complain about in life. If you read this you need to be up to laughing the whole way through, and a little time to decipher what Adams is saying in the book.

This collection deserves to be read in one continuous read. It refers to itself backwards and forwards, sideways and down, so it's a real treat (and quite a convenience) to have the whole tangled mess between two covers. However, each of the six sections deserves its own sub-review.

'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' is the name of both the most popular portable comprehensive galactic encyclopedia, and the book that begins Douglas Adams hilarious space saga. It neatly sets up the tale by giving away the answer to the meaning of life! Don't panic, it's not all it's cracked up to be, because they don't have the question! We meet a great cast of eccentric characters, get to fly around on the 'Heart of Gold' (powered by the ludicrously simplistic Improbability Drive), and discover that planet Earth will be destroyed to make way for an interstellar roadway.

'The Restaurant at the End of the Universe' builds on the logic of the first book, and tweaks it enough to keep things really interesting. Milliways (the aforementioned restaurant) is a great comic creation, walking a grossly absurd existential tightrope to become a fascinating setpiece. There's a great moment about how Zaphod Beeblebrox's great-grandfather is named 'Zaphod the fourth' while he's 'Zaphod the first' ("An accident involving a contraceptive and a time machine"). The whole gang narrowly escapes flying into the sun, and are saved by a piece of specious bureaucracy. The whole mess ends with Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent landing on a familiar planet, and discover that evolution ain't all it's cracked up to be.

The strength of the first two books is that when Adams goes off on these incredible leaps in logic and flights of fancy (two of my favourite modes of transportation) they always seem to follow some kind of narrative thrust. In 'Life, the Universe, and Everything', they seem like non-sequiters, or at most just interesting tangents. I enjoyed the concept of the poem that was never written due to a reckless time travel expedition, and the guy who was injected with too much truth serum and now told The Truth. But they seemed more ornamental than consequential to me. Maybe I just didn't understand the plethora of cricket references (although I did get a kick out of them). Furthermore, the installment was hurt by a serious deficiency in Zaphod Beeblebrox.

A grand comeback is made in 'So Long and Thanks for all the Fish'. This manages to be a really touching love story, interlaced with grand questions about the nature of existence and what happened to all the dolphins. Arthur Dent and Fenchurch (don't call her Fenny) slowly but surely realize that the universe has a higher purpose for them, and they have no choice but to fall in love. And the scene describing their first consummation of that love is actually quite original, and very beautiful. That all being said, the story still manages to be a strong link in the overall chain of events, periodically keeping track of Ford Prefect until it becomes necessary for him to swoop in near the end (deux es machinas-style) and save the cosmic day. Adams also manages to include several more comic illogicalities (probably not a word, but whose rules am I following here?), the standout being the description of Wonko the Sane's inside-out house. A great little interlude, that.

'Young Zaphod Plays it Safe' is a confusing little mess, that I hope gains some meaning in hindsight, once the entire book is complete (**I've just finished reading 'Mostly Harmless', and I'm still in the dark over this one. Oh well.)

'Mostly Harmless' is a little less frenetic than its predecessors are, and a little more assured in its narrative structure. Its story is one of those that begins with three different plots, and as time goes on the plots slowly begin to converge into one final conclusion (kind of like an episode of Seinfeld, now that I think about it). Arthur and Ford get into some seriously mixed up situations, but they are perfectly explained through some more of that demented Douglas Adams logic. Ford actually jumps to his death, miraculously escapes, and then jumps again. And he has a perfectly good reason for doing it both times. My one complaint is that the book doesn't give each plot equal attention, so when you haven't read about one of the characters in a while, you tend to forget what they were doing when last you met them. On a positive note, the whole enterprise actually validates the mess that was 'Life, the Universe, and Everything'.

The series can be read in two ways: as comic fluff (albeit high comic fluff), or as a satire on the nature of existence. A third way, and probably the most effective, would be to read it as both. Or neither. Just read it!

This is actually a presentation on de Tocqueville's life and times, centered on a general analysis of Democracy in America, but including much background on his family's history, his political career and accomplishments and a look at the historical context of France, Europe and the US in the mid 19th Century. The themes of DiA are reviewed with many quotes from the book and from commentaries by de Tocqueville's contemporaries. He is presented in all his glory: his hits (the brilliant insights into social character, the nature of democracy and his devastatingly astute, timeless analysis of our American identity) and his misses (his advocacy of war and his surprisingly traditionalist views of society's class structure). An occasional cheesy French accent in some of the characterizations is the only flaw. This is a _great_ commute tape, I look forward to "reading" more in this series on other great writers!

Democracy in America by Alexis De Tocqueville is by far an in depth view of America as seen by the traveling Frenchman. It is written so well that even today almost one hundred and fifty years later it is still apropos.

The translation flows very easily and is not distracting. De Tocqueville has a wonderful writing style that could pass today even though it was written long ago... so well readable and quotable that you get the picture of American life, morals, and an astute view of politics all rolled into one.

You get a view and meaning of American civilization, for America herself, and also for Europe. You can tell from reading. that this view is ever-present in De Tocqueville's mind as if he is a comparative sociologist. Yet reading this book you get the impression that De Tocqueville had generations of readers in mind.

As De Tocqueville noted, "It is not force alone, but rather good laws, which make a new govenment secure. After the battle comes the lawgiver. The one destroys; the other builds up. Each has its function." So true even for todays war. After you defeat your enemy you have to build up the infratructure just as Marshall and Truman both realized.

Reading this book you see the skillful eye of the author noticing and recording what he sees and he is impressed. I found this book to be of great import for the observations of America and hope that our educators use this book for teaching our children about the great country we live in.

De Tocqueville is every bit as brilliant and insightful as he has been said to be. The book is as relevant now as when written and is a must read for every american who is serious about understanding his country. What one realizes in reading the book is how novel and radical was the american experiment in creating a state that was both a republic and a democracy. De Toqueville's research was amazing, as well, he read the laws and constitutions of the various states, he didn't just observe the manifestation of american government and society. His assessments of the plusses and minuses of our government forms was incredibly astute and it is interesting to reflect on the changes that took place in the government after his time and how accurately he foresaw the advantages and disadvantages of those changes, as well. Given the short period of time that he spent in this country and the distances that he travelled one stands in awe of his work. His writing style is, of course, dated but one gets accustomed to it and learns to follow the rhythm.