Grover Cleveland's wife's dairies, ledgers and letters were loaned to the author for the writing of this book which sheds new light on the more intimate side of the Clevelands as a couple.
The book provides a biography of Cleveland's life and political career along with quite a bit about his youngest son, Francis Grover Cleveland.
The main drawback to the book is that there are no footnotes or indexes, making it much less useful for historians.
Nonetheless, historians and history fans should enjoy the rare entries from PRIMARY SOURCES revealing the thoughts, and feelings of a 20 year old future First Lady being romanced by the President of the United States. I particularly enjoyed excerpts from Mrs. Cleveland's ledger during Spring Break, 1885 which she and her mother spent at the white House when she was 'unsure of Cleveland's intentions' before ultimately marrying in 1886.
The author's style which includes vivid descriptions of objects, settings and individuals makes reading about Cleveland brisk, enjoyable, light fare.

Robert and the Great Pepperoni by Barbara Seuling is a hiliarous story about a boy and his love for a dog. Robert Dorfman has been trying for years to convince his parents to buy him a dog. As luck would have it, Robert is offered the opportunity to housebreak a dog. Robert agrees from the beginning to give the dog up after he is trained. Through many funny trials and tribulations, Robert and Pepperoni grow very fond of each other.
Second to fourth grade students will appreciate this chapter book of a boy and his devotion to his dog.

I am using this text for a graduate level class I am teaching about reading in the content area. It seems to be a very large overview of all of the issues facing secondary content area teachers.

Once again, Ash-Tree press has resurrected a set of ghost stories that should not have gone out-of-print. I read some Somerset Maugham stories at the same time I was reading this collection, and there were many moments when the voices of the authors sounded the same. Wakefield is very polished in his story-telling. This is not his complete works, but the contents of this book may be his best. "The Triumph of Death" will have to be read twice to catch all of the subtle hints left before the climatic death scene (it's alwasy great when the author can close a story with the climax - no "wrapping up" needed). "The Middle Drawer" is a predictable murder/ghost story, but the telling of the misery of the protagonist is fantastic. The book is rounded out with 4 never before published stories. These are as good or better than the more well-known stories preceding them. "Appointment With Fire" is a story of criminals getting their justice that rivals Robert Bloch's best work. The price is worth the possession of some of the finest ghost stories of the early 20th century. You won't find any of these stories outside of a few ancient Weird Tales anthologies. And who likes to buy an anthology only to find they already own half the stories inside ?

I read this with an excited blessing, as if the world was about to open up to me and it helped me contact what iwas curious about, my past lives. It is full of advice and wonder, i would reccomend this to everyone, it will fill your spirit with blessing.

Many people would like to say that Shakespeare did not write this play. But this is hardly fair. Even with the world's finest writers such as Marlowe and Dickens, not every single thing they write can be a masterpiece. But what makes "The Two Gentleman of Verona" worth reading? Well, Shakespeare presents us with a valid theme. (Conflicts often exist between romance and friendship.) There is also beautiful language. Launce and his dog offer some interesting comedy as well as a beautiful and memorable passage in 2.3. The scene where Valentine is accepted amonst the outlaws is memorable. This is Shakespeare's first play where a woman (Julia) disuises herself as man to do some investigating. It is also easy to see that several elements of this play were used in "Romeo and Juliet." To be sure, this is not a masterpiece like "The Comedy of Errors," "Richard III," or "King Lear." But it is still an good study that is worth some interest.

Although few would claim that Two Gentlemen of Verona is one of Shakespeare's greatest plays, it is well worth reading in order to serve as a reference for the best of his romantic comedies. In essence, Two Gentlemen of Verona gives you a measuring stick to see the brilliance in the best works.

The play has the first of Shakespeare's many brave, resourceful and cross-dressing heroines, Julia.

Shakespeare always used his fools and clowns well to make serious statements about life and love, and to expose the folly of the nobles. Two Gentlemen of Verona has two very fine comic scenes featuring Launce. In one, he lists the qualities of a milk maid he has fallen in love with and helps us to see that love is blind and relative. In another, he describes the difficulties he has delivering a pet dog to Silvia on his master, Proteus', behalf in a way that will keep you merry on many a cold winter's evening.

The story also has one of the fastest plot resolutions you will ever find in a play. Blink, and the play is over. This nifty sleight of hand is Shakespeare's way of showing that when you get noble emotions and character flowing together, things go smoothly and naturally.

The overall theme of the play develops around the relative conflicts that lust, love, friendship, and forgiveness can create and overcome. Proteus is a man who seems literally crazed by his attraction to Silvia so that he loses all of his finer qualities. Yet even he can be redeemed, after almost doing a most foul act. The play is very optimistic in that way.

I particularly enjoy the plot device of having Proteus and Julia (pretending to be a page) playing in the roles of false suitors for others to serve their own interests. Fans of Othello will enjoy these foreshadowings of Iago.

The words themselves can be a bit bare at times, requiring good direction and acting to bring out the full conflict and story. For that reason, I strongly urge you to see the play performed first. If that is not possible, do listen to an audio recording as you read along. That will help round out the full atmosphere that Shakespeare was developing here.

After you finish Two Gentlemen of Verona, think about where you would honor friendship above love, where equal to love, and where below love. Is friendship less important than love? Or is friendship merely less intense? Can you experience both with the same person?

Enjoy close ties of mutual commitment . . . with all those you feel close to!

"The Two Gentlemen of Verona" is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays. Maybe that's because it's one of the only one's I understand. My youth Theatre did a wonderful production of this play. I was not in it, but I saw it twice. It was set in the 60's, peasant-shirted and bell-bottomed. I think it's a wonderful story, although a bit unrealistic because of all the forgiveness that happens at the end of the play. But I think that it's a play everyone should read. This edition of the play is, I think, a very good one. If you are planning to buy a copy of "The Two Gentlemen of Verona," I would advise you to buy the most current edidtion printed by the Folger Shakespeare Library. They have lots of information in the book, and many definitions of the more difficult Elizabethian words.

Personally,this book may be on the extreme side. Some of these suggestions might be nice, but many of them are unpractical. The media gives people what they want essentially, in order to make a change in it, it does not need to become an issue in political debate. It needs to become an issue in the hearts of people. People need to be educated enough to find for themselves what is the truth. If the people seek the truth, the media that provides it will be the most successful. Its a simple business, supply and demand.

I have just finished this book for an Electronics Media class I am taking at USF.

Although I agree with most of the complaints that the authors expound about the problems with global corporations and the current state of the media today, I do not see their Socialist fixes as any kind of real solution. In fact, in many instances, they are just power grabs by the Left to get you to pay for their programs (ie National Public Radio and Public Television, which are dominated by the Left).

I agree with the concept of microradio stations to help spread media access around, but not their demand for government subsidies to help the "less fortunate" pay for their stations. They are not that expensive to buy and maintain.

I believe a more Libertarian approach to open media access would be more productive than the authors brand of Socialist "fixes"... which in the end would probably just lead to abuses by the Left.

But it is a good read from the point-of-view of defining all that is wrong with the current state of the media today and why it is out of control.

This indepth analysis should put an end to the myth of liberal bias in the media. As the Left has been saying for years, the media is only as liberal as the conservative corporations that own them. We seem to be tumbling towards a world in which everything is owned by a relatively few number of conjoined companies whose activities are reported on by a handful of aqenda-driven media giants all bent on diseminating a particular view of predigested news aimed at the lowest common denominator. There has to be another way although, like a previous reviewer, I'm not sure all the solutions in this book will work. I would also like to point out that 90% of National Public Radio's funding comes from donations made by listeners and from corporate underwriting. Only 10% of the NPR budget comes from the federal and state governments and all of that is in the form of grants used for specific programs (science, history, music, literature, etc).

This method of learning German is not for beginners! Having had previous German study, I was able to understand the concept and process of this course, but with difficulty. There are no English translations on the tapes. The course is more book intensive, and there are two booklets that accompany the tapes. They must both be used simultaneously, which is cumbersome. The rules of grammer are not introduced or discussed; reliance on a separate grammar section is required, and could be understood only by individuals who have had previous study in a foreign language. Sometimes the speakers' voices trail off, and occasionally pronunciation is not distinct. While this is how we will probably hear the language, it is not helpful in the learning process. I think many of us expect to use tapes for learning a language in a more passive way, i.e. in the car. The neccessity to have both books at hand during each lesson makes this kind of learning impractical.

I am attempting to learn German on my own. I'm a native english speaker who has learned a moderate amount of Spanish; I've learned how to learn. I bounced from one "system" of learning to another--tapes, books, etc, and had found nothing useful. They all had greivous flaws: one obsesses over lots of obscure nouns, another fails to provide a reasonable audio track / book material matchup, etc.. This system is a bit cumbersome; one must have two books open and the finger on the CD pause button.. but it is workable.. enough so that I'm going to purchase it (it was checked out from a library). The speakers have REAL German accents and reflect what you can expect to hear. Additionally, the situations presented are very poignant.. the phrases you memorize by going through the dialogues are among the most pragmatic I've seen yet. Bottom line: if you are SERIOUS about learning and are willing to WORK for it, this is good material *in my opinion*. This plus a German dictionary and maybe a German computer language program (for all basics like hours, money, numbers, days.. the endless repitition you need to do to " get" the sound and mimic) are all you really need.

I found this book, like all of the books in the Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers series, very interesting to read. Davis and Rinvolucri always write books that are full of unusual ideas. This book is, too. However, I found it less useful than their other books as a source of things to do in class, because most of the activities in this book are simply too unusual, and will require an exceptionally charismatic teacher to make them work. I teach English in Asia, and I have found that the students here are much less willing to accept new or strange techniques than are European and North American students. To sum up, the book may open up to you a new and fruitful way of designing activities for class, but I don't think that you will be able to use many of the specific activities that they present.

My only complaint about this play is that Shakespeare should have had some dialogues where the characters discussed crucial history before the play opens. Gloucester (murdered or dead before the play but mentioned several times) had tried to usurp Richard's crown too many times. History itself is not sure if Gloucester died or was murdered. Bolingbroke for a while conspired with Gloucester and now sees another oppurtunity to usurp the crown.The virtuous John of Gaunt served Richard with honor and integrity and eventually moved parliament into arresting Gloucester for treason. This would of made John of Gaunt's rages all the more valid. Otherwise this play is outstanding! Richard shows himself to be capable of ruling at times, but gains our contempt when he seizes his the honorable John of Gaunt's wealth. John of Gaunt's final rage in 2.1 is a passage of immense rageful beauty. Also, Shakespeare moves us into strongly suspecting that Richard had Gloucester murdered. However, despite Richard's crime, Shakespeare masterfully reverses our feelings and moves us into having deep pity for Richard when he is deposed. The Bishop of Carlisle (Richard's true friend) provides some powerful passages of his own. I can not overestimate the grace in which Shakespeare increases our new won pity for Richard when Bolingbroke (Gaunt's rightful heir) regains his wealth and the death of Gloucester is left ambiguous. 5.1, when Richard sadly leaves his queen and can see that Henry IV and his followers will eventually divide is a scene of sorrowful beauty. 5.4 is chilling when Exton plots Richard's murder. 5.5 is chilling and captivating when Richard dies but manages to take two of the thugs down with him. The icing on the cake is that Bolingbroke (Henry IV) can only regret his actions and realize that he has gotten himself into a troublesome situation. But that will be covered in "1 Henry IV" and "2 Henry IV." We can easily argue that it is in "Richard II" where we see Shakespeare's mastery of the language at its finest.

Richard II was incompetent, wastefully extravagant, overtaxed his nobles and peasants, ignored his senior advisors, and lavished dukedoms on his favorites. His rival, Henry of Bolingbroke (later Henry IV), was popular with the common man and undeservingly suffered banishment and loss of all his property. And yet two centuries later Elizabethans viewed the overthrow of Richard II as fundamentally wrong and ultimately responsible for 100 years of crisis and civil war. Queen Elizabeth's government even censored Shakespeare's play.

Shakespeare masterfully manipulates our feelings and attitude toward Richard II and Bolingbroke. We initially watch Richard II try to reconcile differences between two apparently loyal subjects each challenging the other's loyalty to the king. He seemingly reluctantly approves a trial by combat. But a month later, only minutes before combat begins, he banishes both form England. We begin to question Richard's motivation.

Richard's subsequent behavior, especially his illegal seizure of Bolingbroke's land and title, persuades us that his overthrow is justified. But as King Richard's position declines, a more kingly, more contemplative ruler emerges. He faces overthrow and eventual death with dignity and courage. Meanwhile we see Bolingbroke, now Henry IV, beset with unease, uncertainty, and eventually guilt for his action.

Shakespeare also leaves us in in a state of uncertainty. What is the role of a subject? What are the limits of passive obedience? How do we reconcile the overthrow of an incompetent ruler with the divine right of kings? Will Henry IV, his children, or England itself suffer retribution?

Richard II has elements of a tragedy, but is fundamentally a historical play. I was late coming to Shakespeare's English histories and despite my familiarity with many of his works I found myself somewhat disoriented. I did not appreciate the complex relationships between the aristocratic families, nor what had happened before. Fortunately I was rescued by Peter Saccio, the author of "Shakespeare's English Kings". Saccio's delightful book explores how Shakespeare's imagination and actual history are intertwined.

I hope you enjoy Richard II as much as I have. It is the gateway to Henry IV (Parts 1 and 2) and Henry V, all exceptional plays.

The thing with Shakespeare histories is that almost no one reads them, as opposed to his tragedies and comedies. I don't know why that is. The histories that are read are either Henry V (largely due to Branagh's movie), Richard III (because the hunchback king is so over-the-top evil), or the gargantuan trilogy of Henry VI, with the nearly saintly king (at least by Part III) who much prefers contemplating religion and ethics to ruling and dealing with the cabals among his nobles.

So why read a relatively obscure history about a relatively obscure king? Aside from the obvious (it's Shakespeare, stupid), it is a wonderful piece of writing - intense, lyrical, and subtle. Richard II is morally ambiguous, initially an arrogant, callous figure who heeds no warnings against his behavior. Of course, his behavior, which includes seizing the property of nobles without regard for their heirs, leads to his downfall. Nothing in his character or behavior inspires his subjects so he has no passionate defenders when one of the wronged heirs leads a rebellion to depose Richard II. But Richard now becomes a much more sympathetic figure -especially in the scene where he confronts the usurper, Richard acknowledges his mistakes, but eloquently wonders what happens when the wronged subjects can depose the leader when they are wronged. What then of the monarchy, what then of England?

On top of the profound political musings, you get some extraordinarily lyrical Shakespeare (and that is truly extraordinary). Most well known may be the description of England that was used in the airline commercial a few years back... "This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle, ..."

If you like Shakespeare and haven't read this play, you've missed a gem.