It is unusual for an author whose field is business and finance to write a book about a member of the British Royal Family; it is also unusual to see a book which focuses on Prince Charles' working life -- primarily his efforts to help disadvantaged young people. Given the constant media fascination with the Prince's private life, one might have feared that the Prince's obituary would have to be published before anyone thought to write such a book. Improving the lot of disadvantaged youth has been one of the Prince's primary causes since the 1970s, when he was a young man himself. The author estimates that the Prince has, through the Prince's Trust and related ventures, helped some 600,000 individuals to date -- including ethnic minorities, the disabled, and even youth with criminal records -- and that he spends over half of his working time in this cause. Morton describes the training courses, volunteer activities, grants, and other programs involved, and gives fascinating case histories. The Prince of Wales described by James Morton is a caring man who hates to see young lives go to waste, and has spent years using his position to do something about it. His position has not necessarily always made the task easy; he has often faced opposition from various sectors of society, and even from members of his own staff, but persisted nevertheless. Morton tells of the Prince's savvy at coaxing well-to-do individuals and successful businesses to give of their wealth and their time to his charities. The resulting picture is a far cry from the clueless cold fish of popular perception; indeed, the author reports that many of those interviewed for the book wondered why the Prince has been so misunderstood. I would heartily recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about what Prince Charles is really like, and to anyone who wishes to see an example of how the monarchy can make a positive impact on modern society.

Harry Tabor's personal biography is so closely intertwined with the last 50 years' development of solar energy technology that this selection of his papers can serve as a veritable history of solar research. The sobriquet "Solar Energy Pioneer" is certainly no exaggeration in view of his groundbreaking work in almost all fields of the discipline: He developed applications in the areas of selective surfaces and structures for collectors, as well as optics, solar ponds, cooling, concentrators, and more. Tabor served on the Research Council of Israel (RCI) and in this capacity was instrumental in making Israel one of the leading countries in applied solar research. He also helped move the entire country towards using and implementing these technologies on a large scale. This book offers fascinating reading for renewable energy professionals who want to know more about the early stages of their discipline. It offers insight into the development of the fundamentals of solar technology from the early 1950s up to 1998, and as such will be of interest to the general public as well. The papers are not concerned with technical aspects exclusively - essays such as "Solar Desalination - A Technology for Peace" show that Harry Tabor is a visionary and a pioneer in every sense of the word.

This book was an astonishing biography about Princess Diana. It gave you insight into the life that she led both privately and in the public eye. The Princess of Wales had a good heart, even from the time she was young. She enjoyed being with people and helping those in need. Diana was also a very generous person and she liked to have fun and laugh. She seemed happy, but underneath she was suffering from depression. I was shocked at what I learned while reading the book. Whenever I pictured The Princess of Wales,I always thought of her smile, but she was really hurting inside. It all started from the disappointment that her parents expressed when she wasn't born a boy, to her bulimia nervosa, and her numerous suicide attempts. Not to mention, she was constantly being criticized by her own husband, family, and the media. I can't imagine being put in the position she was without any words of encouragement or guidance. The author did an excellent job giving examples and supporting his stories with quotes from friends, family, and the Princess herself. His style of writing gave you a greater understanding of what she was going through with very detailed stories and descriptions. There were also pictures throughout the book showing the Princess with her children and doing the things she loved. If you are at all interested in learning about the life of Princess Diana, this book is well worth reading, though at times it can be difficult to follow. It gives you a greater comprehension of her life as well as greater respect for her as a person.

This book has been called "the longest divorce petition in history", and when you read it, you would have to agree with that statement. But what you have to remember is that at the time when Diana agreed to co-operate with Mr Morton, she was feeling sad, lonely, and unhappy, but she was never allowed to express that publicly. She was unhappy with her life, unhappy with her royal image, and most of all, unhappy with her marriage, yet she couldn't do what anyone else in that situation would be able to do - she couldn't visit a local solicitor and obtain a divorce. Poor woman, she couldn't even go to the gym without being followed by a throng of photographers.

When this book was published in 1992, it was dismissed by the establishemnt as being a pack of lies, but ultimately they, and the public too, discovered that it wasn't when Charles admitted his infidelity with the redoubtably ugly and gauche Camilla Parker Bowles, and when, in her astonishingly frank Panorama interview, Diana candidly shared the harrowing details of her eating disorder, bulimia.

This book succeeded on many levels. It certainly exposed the shocking truth about the Royal marriage and portrayed the Royal Family, for the first time ever, not as cherished icons but as ordinary individuals with more than their share of character defects (and this means Diana, too!) But it ultimately succeeded in its portrayal of an immature twenty year old girl, who won the hearts of the world when she kissed the Prince, only to have him become a toad, to the beautiful, compassionate symbol of kindness, caring, and humanity that she was when she was so tragically snatched away from the world. For it was the publication of this book that enabled Diana to seek a new life for herself, and in doing so she developed the character traits that enabled us all to fall in love her, this time more completely, again and again and again.

I have read all of Andrew Morton's books on the life of Diana, Princess of Wales. I believe them to be the most accurate accounts of the real story surrounding her life. The fact that he had her approval meant to me that his books were not meant to hurt her but to tell the real truth. They are a tribute to her and her sons. Had Prince Charles not betrayed her from the start, she would be alive today and would have made him a good queen and queen mother to his son, the future king of England. In searching for the happiness she was denied, she met with trajedy, which could have all been avoided had her life not been devastated by him. My heart was saddened as I read this particular book, thinking all the while if Prince Charles will ever accept any responsibility for her death. It was a wonderful book, I highly recommend it.