In terms of finding a wild, uninhibited introduction to the radical and mindspinning worlds of Breton and friends I can assure you that this is a challenging but rewarding read. However, take note that those who feel prose must have structure and communicate linear thought, please leave your textbook at the door. This is work that burrows deep into the subconcious and festers like a tick.

This book is money well spent, especially if you are a fan of BB King or the blues. Not only is it well-written, but the selective editing of Anson Pope keeps the focus concise and delightful. One of the best music books I've read in a long time.

Experts find this a very good book, and I rate it on their advice. But others need to understand that Weil is making a bit of a joke with the title. This book is "basic" in the sense that it proves the theorems that Weil feels organize and clarify all of number theory--the "basic" theorems in that sense. It is an introduction to class field theory.

As Weil says at the start of the book, it has few prerequisites in algebra or number theory, except that the reader is presumed familiar with the standard theorems on locally compact Abelian groups, and Pontryagin duality and Haar measures on those groups. This part is not a joke.

If you want to really understand class field theory this may be a good book. (I am reliably told it is.) But Weil deliberately avoids using many ideas that are now standard: geometric ideas such as group schemes, and especially cohomological methods.

Beginners studying algebraic numbers do not need this book. Weil recommends Hecke ALGEBRAIC NUMBERS for such readers, and that is a terrific book. To learn class field theory today you'd probably do better with and Cassels and Frohlich ALGEBRAIC NUMBER THEORY, which Weil also recommends in a note to the second edition of this book.

I have really grown to like Wrox books. The beginning series lets me get a basic knowledge and the pro series lets me delve into details when I want to learn more.

I bought this one as I wanted good examples of code, a good overview and specific information about web services security. It covers web services security well, is suprisingly up to date is well written in my opinion.

My wife and I used this book to plan our honeymoon to Hawaii. We stayed at one of the hotels Gayot's recommended, and it was better than described. This book is extremely accurate yet a little conservative, so you won't be disappointed by reality. The restaurant section is excellent. This is a superior guide without all the filler of other guide books.

I'm reviewing the stories in order of publication, rather than their order within this book (a.k.a. _The Many Worlds of Andre Norton_, incidentally). Note - the bibliography at the end of the book is comprehensive up to 1974, which may sound as though it must be short, but Norton's career began in 1934, so it takes 11 pages.

The Gifts of Asti (1948) - Varta, the last priestess of Asti, lives alone with Lur, a telepath of the lizardfolk, in Asti's isolated mountain retreat. Decadent Memphir has long since drifted away from the austere paths of Asti, and now the barbarians of Klem are sacking the city, and the smoke of its burning drifts up to the temple. Asti's followers, however, foresaw that this day would come to Memphir, as Varta has learned from her study of the ancient chronicles...

All Cats Are Gray (1953) - "Steena of the Spaceways - that sounds just like a corny title for one of the Stellar-Vedo spreads." Steena is a computer programmer who spends her life in the background, a woman in plain gray clothing who speaks little - but her knowledge of odd bits of spacer's lore has saved lives and made fortunes...

Mousetrap (1954) - The "sand monsters" of Mars are mysterious statues in the desert, that have withstood time, storm, and extreme heat and cold - but they crumble into dust at a touch. The tourist bureaus (and the Space Marines) now have the surviving statues protected from everyone trying out his personal version of superglue (since the museums and scientists have gigantic standing rewards for anyone who can get one to Earth). Any would-be hero will have to find an undiscovered sand monster to get a chance at the reward...

Long Live Lord Kor! (1970) - Survey discovered the world of Vallek, burned to a cinder by atomic war. Useless? Not at all - enter the Bureau of Time Exploration and Manipulation, with their machines that can send agents' minds back in time to influence critical points in history by taking over the bodies of people in the past...

The Toads of Grimmerdale (1973) - The only Witch World story to appear in this volume; also to be found in _Lore of the Witch World_. In the chronology of the Witch World, the Invaders' War ended during the Year of the Hornet. Hertha, the sister of the lord of Horla's Hold in Trewsdale, had been sent for safety to the abbey in Lethendale in the last months of the war, but never reached it. A band of enemy raiders ambushed her escort on the road, only to be caught in turn by a band of renegade Dalesmen, so that Hertha suffered rape not at the hands of the enemy, but of those who should have rescued her. Three months later, on the last day of the Year of the Hornet, the last straw is that her brother expects her to quietly have an abortion and be grateful in his 'generosity' in continuing to keep her in his household. Hertha is now making her way to Gunnora's shrine to ask two boons - that the child to be born in the Year of the Unicorn take nothing from the one who will not stand as its father, and to call her attacker to account...

In case anyone gets the idea that this story's ending is too pat, please note that it has a sequel, "Changeling", to be found in _Lore of the Witch World_. Also note that in her travels, Hertha meets Trystan, a former Marshal who plans to end up Lord of a Dale, now that High Hallack is in a state of flux. "Legacy from Sorn Fen" in Lore of the Witch World deals with another man with such ambitions, but a very different character.

London Bridge (1973) - This story was expanded in 1974 to create the longer story "Outside". "London Bridge" is told exclusively from the viewpoint of the older brother, where "Outside" concentrates on his younger sister. In this version of the future, the last remnants of humanity sealed themselves into domed cities to protect themselves from the polluted world outside, only to be ravaged by plagues. The only immunes were too young to remember the world before the cities were sealed; the city is now a patchwork of gang territories, reflected in the slangy speech of Lew, the narrator. A strange Rhyming Man has appeared from nowhere, and has been luring the youngest children away from gangs all over the city (overtones of the Pied Piper of Hamlin). The children have not been seen again, so the gang leaders are organizing a massive hunt for the Rhyming Man. Then Marsie, Lew's little sister, disappears... Apart from the revised version "Outside", if you like this story you might like _The Girl Who Owned a City_ by O.T. Nelson, in which a worldwide epidemic has killed everyone except the children.

The Long Night of Waiting (1974) - In 1861, Lizzy and Matt Mendal, aged 11 and 5, began crossing their father's field to take him his lunch - a journey that would not end for 110 years. Before their father's eyes, the children vanished into thin air; their parents never saw them again, and put up a marker on the spot where the children disappeared, to mark their long night of waiting. In 1971, three other children - Rick, Lesley, and Alex - on their way home from school meet two scared, lost strangers their own age...

"On Writing Fantasy" is a 1971 essay by Norton. Last (and least), is a second essay by another writer (Rick Brooks), titled "Andre Norton: Loss of Faith" (also 1971). If you haven't read many of Norton's works yet, skip Brooks' essay for awhile; his opinions are open to question (especially since the information on which the essay is based is now 30 years old.)

Having just completed a wonderful exploration of Elizabethan England, and as a lover of animals, I was intrigued by the combination of these two themes in this book. The characters, human and bear, are unforgettable. The scenes of mistreatment are haunting, especially since they are based on fact. As a school librarian, I would recommend this book to kids older than 5th grade who want a gripping adventure that shows what it was REALLY like in Shakespeare's England. But beware--the powerful depiction of callousness and savagery is NOT for everyone. This book will stay with you long after you have read it.

This book had to be one of the best books I have ever read. The journey that Vandenbroeck takes the reader on, is a unique one and will definitely result in a "breakthrough". Started reading his other book "Al-Kemi", and I must say I should have been reading them at the same time. A lot of things from Breaking Through become clearer in conjunction with the other book. Enjoy the journey!

Andre Bustanoby has put together a brief (165 pages) and excellent synopsis of the issues when a divorce is forced upon a spouse. Chapters 2 (Letting go of your spouse), 8 (Lonliness), &9 (Loving and respecting yourself) are especially helpful when the couple's children are older and on their own. This is not a technical book, it's a practical book. Those going through an unwanted divorce are telling me they benefitted from reading it. It's a great 'Open Door' for discussion when both the counselor and client have read it. The focus is on rescuing rather than excusing or blaming. I highly recommend this book to be a part of anyone's repertoir who has an interest in this subject.

Andres Caicedo is arguably the best author Cali, Colombia was created. His books will take you to the Cali of the past, as well as the Cali of today. Immerse yourself in the Cali that only we natives know about.