very good, very informative, and written in plain english. it is a good book because it focuses on small independent retailing, not service or production like most "start your own business" books.

A very interesting book that grabs the reader due to its combination of historical fact and flowing narrative. A lot easier and enjoyable to read than the common historical "tome" - with the content more memorable as a result! Great read.

For some reason, English-speakers seem fixated on the regent Elizabeth I and pay scant attention to the infinitely more enjoyable Empress Elizabeth, daugher of Peter, enemy of Prussia; she of the 300 lovers, whose favorite was nicknamed "Emperor of the Night." Elizabeth's handling of her family affairs, especially her selection of the young German Princess Sophie of Anzalt as future Tsarina - and her DIRECT manipulation of her reproducitve activities - makes Henry VII's domestic life look placid. As we know, Sophie the German changed her name to Catherine and became Empress/Tsarina of Russia when her idiot husband was finally offed. Couglan's book is a wonderful retelling of this epic yarn, focusing exclusively on court politics. (This is NOT a military history of the Seven Years War or the Russo-Turkish wars; Potemkin's and Orlov's goings on are limited to their interaction with Catherine.) Coughlan is particularly strong at explaining the historical pretext for Russian expansion throughout Poland and Tartary.

Catherine's story is the first in this double story book of the Calhoun women. I enjoyed C.C., as she is nicknamed, because she is such a "tomboy". C.C. and Trent are complete opposites who fall in love with each other anyway. Their story is an enjoyable one. Second is Amanda and Sloan. I liked this story best, out of the two. They bicker back and forth just to get to each other. It is quite amusing and funny! Both stories, were quick to jump to the "love" part of it, but they were good romance reads, which I enjoyed. Next comes Lilah and Suzanne's, the last two sisters, stories. I can't wait to get started, espically to see how C.C., Trent, Amanda, and Sloan are doing.

This is a collection of two stories. Both are very good in typical Nora Roberts fashion.

However, because both of these stories are shorter than the normal Nora Roberts books, the characters tend to fall in love faster and it is much less realistic than her longer stories.

The added drama of a missing jewels is what ties these two stories (and the others in this series) together.

In the first story- C.C. and Trent are fun to read about. They are opposites and prove that love can conquer all. The second story about Amanda and Sloan I found very enjoyable because of their constant sniping at each other.

As an added note, it is best to read these and all of the Calhoun Women books in order.

"The Calhoun Women: Catherine and Amanda" is a wonderful introduction to a family of 4 feisty, determined, and beautiful women.
This book contains the first two stories from the Calhoun series. In the first one, "Courting Catherine," tomboy C.C. Calhoun meets Trenton St. James III. C.C. is a mechanic and when she fixes Trent's car for him, she soon discovers that he's the man who is trying to buy her home, a wonderful but dilapidated mansion called The Towers, and turn it into a hotel. C.C. immediately tells Trent just what she thinks of him, but as these two spend time together the sparks begin to fly. This first story also introduces the mystery of the missing emeralds belonging to Bianca Calhoun, great-grandmother of the 4 Calhoun sisters. This is a lovely romance with an intriguing mystery added to the mix.
The second story, "A Man for Amanda," tells Amanda Calhoun's story. C.C. and Trent are now an item, and they have decided to turn one wing of The Towers into a special getaway, while keeping the rest of the home for the family. Enter Sloan, the architect Trent has hired for the renovations. His first meeting with Amanda doesn't go too well, but he finds himself completely taken with the obsessively organized and beautiful Mandy. The romance between these two is wonderfully written - when they aren't steaming up the windows they are arguing and taking shots at each other. However, Amanda soon discovers that she can't live without this handsome southern gentleman and wonders how she managed to lose her heart to him. The unbalanced and dangerous thief, Livingston, who is intent on stealing the Calhoun emeralds for himself, is introduced in this book. He causes all kinds of trouble (and danger) for the Calhouns.
C.C. and Amanda's stories are sure to please readers. Nora Roberts does a fantastic job of weaving the present day romances with the mystery of the emeralds and tying them to the long-ago story of the unhappily married Bianca Calhoun and her true love Christian. I truly enjoyed this book and I'm sure that you will too.

This book is a very good introduction to the history of Macedonia (which, by the way, has nothing to do with the so-called Slavic country of FYROM "Macedonia" today) I found the reading enjoyable. This book is a great buy!

This is a very scholarly and wonderful book about the history of Macedonia. For those interested in Phillip II and his son Alexander the Great, this book gives a general history of the period and of the people involved.

M Errington's review is both accurate and timely, given the attempts by countries that are Greece's neighbors to usurp the name and the history of this most influential northern Greek kingdom. It is, perhaps along with U Wilckens' and N Hammond's the most fact-based. I have read it twice along with Borza's "In the Shadows of Olympus" and find it the most objective. Readers can see for themselves. Errington clearly illuminates the political
-that is what they were-differences between the Macedonians and the other Greeks. But most importantly he underscores Phillip's skillful political manoeuvres by which he outwitted the Southern Greeks and finally divided and conquered them. (The Anglo-Saxons certainly have learned from him as can be seen in the last 150 years).

Dr. Nick Papanikolaou

They couldn't be more different: she was an automobile mechanic with no tolerance for Italian loafers; he was a driven businessman with a liking for sophisticated women who didn't expect marriage. It was hate at first sight, but the sparks were flying. C.C.'s aunt just knew they were perfect for each other. Roberts begins a quartet of romances about the Calhoun sisters, tying the books together with an ill-fated romance from the past and a missing necklace to find. C.C. was the type of heroine I most enjoy: a woman who works with her hands, feisty and sure of her own self-worth.

I loved listening to this audio book recording of Nora Robert's Courting Catherine, it is about a young lady named Catherine Calhoun who is called C.C. by everyone, she is a mechanic and meets a wealthy guy named Trenton St. James when he comes into her garage, it is a great story and as some spooky moments while they are looking for the lost necklace in the spooky old mansion and talk about the ghost and there is also a sinister villain who is up to no good! This audio book is a keeper!

Loved the characters, the reader and the plot of the story. I loved it all!

To say it politely, approximately 90% of Dark Valley Destiny is pure, subjective opinion. In fact, this book is not a biography at all (regardless of the author's claims), but is a pseudo-Freudian interpretation of Robert E. Howard's psychological state or mental "life" based on assorted, incomplete, and (in some cases) erroneous facts. De Camp's credentials as a psychologist, or even an amateur psychologist, are not only in question, but non-existent. Dr. Jane Whittington Griffin, whose name is presented as co-author and whose association seems to lend the book an air of respectability and authority, in fact had little to do with the writing of this book due to her untimely death while the book was in the process of being researched and written. Further, Dr. Griffin's credentials as a legitimately licensed psychologist have recently come into question as well.

In his own autobiography, de Camp refers to this book as a "psycho biography," and elsewhere de Camp admits that he had tried to sell the idea of writing a biography on Robert E. Howard to the publisher who considered the subject too dry and suggested that instead de Camp should spice it up a bit by writing a psychological examination and evaluation of Howard's work and life. This de Camp did, and the result is the eminently sensationalistic and yellow-journalistic commentary known as Dark Valley Destiny.

To top it all off, we find that de Camp is not remotely sympathetic toward his subject matter, and he takes pains to use his own moral and intellectual values and positions to criticize and condemn Howard at every step, while at the same time offering appeasing praise. The reader ought to be warned that de Camp's writing style is quite skilled and is meant to be persuasive. Meaning, de Camp will pull the wool over your eyes with statements of "opinion as fact" and unsupported leaps of logic unless you carefully read the book with a detached, critical eye. As a book that presents itself as a factual and authoritative biography, it is a farce and all but worthless. If you read this book, read it with a HUGE grain of salt, and be skeptical.

Although Dark Valley Destiny is not a definitive biography (or even a good one), it is unfortunately the only book yet published which claims to be a biography of Robert E. Howard. The memoir ONE WHO WALKED ALONE, by one of Howard's girlfriends, Novalyne Price-Ellis, is far more reliable and informative, but even this must be read with the understanding that the writer is drawing conclusions based on her own views and biases, which were sometimes made without complete information. Mrs. Ellis, however, had the good fortune of actually knowing Robert E. Howard and the information in her book is first hand knowledge, unlike that in Dark Valley Destiny. It therefore carries much more weight.

The suggestion below that all is opinion and the truth shall never be known is, in part, true. As de Camp mentioned, but quickly ignored, posthumous biography is a somewhat foolish endeavor. There are many points about Howard's life which will simply never be known. Yet, to state that all is opinion and therefore equal is specious and misleading. There are conclusions and opinions which hold up to and are supported by the known facts, and then there are conclusions and opinions which are not. There are conclusions which adhere to standards of validity, and there are conclusions that do not. The task of scholars, and a definitive biography, is to achieve the highest level of factual reliability possible - not to present one's own views or opinions. Where a conclusion is uncertain, its uncertainty must be noted and alternatives offered and explored. In all this, Dark Valley Destiny fails miserably.

If you're interested in reading one author's distorted and biased OPINION of another author, then this book is for you. If, on the other hand, you want to read about the life of Robert E. Howard, look elsewhere. To start, I'd recommend the "Short Biography" of Howard on the REHupa web site, ... and then I'd recommend reading Howard's "Selected Letters" (which are unfortunately out of print but can be found in used book stores). For additional biographical sources on Howard, try The Barbarian Keep web page. ...

L. Sprague de Camp's biography of REH is a very credible (if admittedly somewhat opinionated) account. Frankly, I don't understand the nonsense that some reviewers spout about this book. It is plainly evident that de Camp conducted a good deal of research, being especially diligent to seek out and interview virtually everyone that had known REH. All in all, de Camp based his research on oral and literary sources as well as visiting and studying the places where REH had lived. The value of such was recognized long ago. One need only read Herodotus, Thucydides, or the greatest historian of antiquity, Polybius, to appreciate this. Ultimately, de camp's bio reaches tenable conclusions based upon his research.

At this point in time, a more definitive bio seems somewhat questionable. There are probably very (if any) acquaintances of REH still living. This of course doesn't mean that future bios cannot be written, only that they will find it incredibly difficult to obtain any new material. Very few can ever approach an understanding of REH as de Camp did. After all, he spent a large part of his career as a fiction writer in editing and expanding the Conan series. Instead, future biographers will be sifting among the stones that de Camp has already quarried for them.

Finally, while de Camp was not a professional pyschologist, that in itself does not necessarily disqualify him in analyzing REH's state of mind. The fallacy of expert opinion comes to mind here. Most biographers hold an area of expertise in only one or two fields, and often their subjects will carry them into sundry fields of exploration. That's one reason why professionals published their work, so that others can benefit from the fruits of their research. Geez, excuse my getting off track here a bit, but some people have the lamest, sorriest reasons for not enjoying de Camp's work and appreciating it for the fine work of scholarship that it is. (Accusing de Camp of writing articulate prose with the intention to deceive, as one reviewer suggested, only demonstrates that they are unfamiliar with his prose style.)

Is D.V.D. perfect and without the occassional error found in most bios? By no means, but de Camp isn't trying to hoodwink anyone, and anyone with any critical faculties can disagree with some of his conclusions. That in itself is a sign of scholarship as de Camp has provided enough material to allow the reader to independently verify whether or not s/he agrees.

DeCamp describes Howard in his "Dark Valley Destiny" book, and Novalyne Price describes him in her "One Who Walked Alone" book.

Both are probably right and probably wrong. Read both.

If you want to understand REH, read his writings (and those of his biographers) and make up your own mind.

His was a tortured soul.

I could defend or criticize Howard on many different levels. The truth is (and I hope you agree)is that we've all lost something because his potential had never been fully realized.

I was surprisingly disappointed with this novel, partly because so much is left in the air. The relationship between Archie and his father (a finely disguised mix of RLS' father and Lord Braxfield- whose portrait actually appears on the cover), is perhaps one of the most interesting features. Christina or Kirstie (the younger one) appears part way through and although she is obviously going to be a major character in the novel disappears (because the MS cuts off) at just the least appropriate time. I suggest with the notes that you read a chapter and then read the notes for the next one, otherwise it can be a wee bittie piecemeal reading the thing. Don't be put off by the Lowland Scots dialogue if you aren't Scottish, Miller has listed the more important words at the back and most appear several times. What is there is well written (although pretty wordy by today's standards), but it's not good to be left in the lurch like that.

This was Stevenson's last novel and is unfinished, though it is known how it was going to finish. The main feature of the plot is the relationship between Lord Hermiston, a judge renowned for his stringency, and his more liberal (but still fairly well-behaved) son. The plot is of course a lot more complex than that, and the father is absent for most of even what Stevenson wrote before his death.

It is a very Scottish novel, with large portions of it taking place in the Scottish countryside, with clan relations, etc. and with most of the dialogue in Scots.

Some of the characterisation is excellent, and if it had been finished with Stevenson's usual ability along the suggested storyline, it would have been a very moving novel indeed.

The collection itself is mediocre, however, read the last story first. Diswell Crinkle's Bumps in the Night is a refreshingly witty and funny tale of a zombie. The tale sneaks in charming father/daughter interactions as an added bonus. A must read for fans of horror...and of great stories!!!!

This collection of photos are important for the sake of history but must be evaluated in the proper context: Capa and the Loyalists sought to establish a Stalinist state in Spain, not a "democracy". The creation of a Stalinist state would have brought terror, murder, etc. upon the Spanish people and would have destroyed the country. I believe that the record of history (and my own personal experience as a Spaniard) has proven that the Nationalist victory was the best thing that could have happened to Spain at the time. Just look at the atrocities (tens of millions of dead, terror, etc) the Communists committed in Russia, Eastern Europe, Vietnam, and on and on and on; who in their right mind would wish that on anyone? Franco punished some of the loyalists but the overwhelming majority were welcomed back into society. Now that the Soviet Union has fallen and that ridiculous "philosophy" of "communism" has been proven to be one of the worst disasters visited upon mankind those who tried to force that evil upon Spain during the Civil War should hang their heads in shame. Viva Espana!

Capa is considered one of the fathers of modern combat photography. These photographs clearly verify that fact. The modern combat photographers that have come after were all aware of Capa's work and if they didn't overtly copy his style, they certainly used it as a foundation. The potency of these photographs are not so much the action they sometimes capture, but in the faces set in the multitude of back drops of war. The viciousness and tragedy of this conflict hotly radiate out of some of these photographs. Others coolly reflect despair and fear. The book is at the same time a statement about war and a valuable historical document.

This book shows the heart of the Spainish people as they fought for their freedom. One could ask, "What Price Freedom?" Robert Capa lost his one true love when Gerda Taro was killed. To read through this book, to look at the pictures, is to look into the heart of Robert Capa.

Bob we all miss you.

Jerry Butler dishes the dirt on his male and female co-stars. Between his snitching on their sexual proclivities, he does unload some useful and scary information that really makes guys like me forget about ever wanting to become a porn star! For instance, he asserts that 70% of the actors and actresses have some sort of disease. Some actresses, he states, are so "professional" that they'll cover up the penile sores during fellatio scenes so the camera can't see them. Gee...how nice of the gals. Overall, the book is highly readable in the same way passing a car crash is highly watchable. Butler's apparent honesty about the "glamour" of the x-rated movie world is both scary and poignant at the same time.

Raw Talent is a nice juicy read BUT given the way Butler/Seiderman slammed a lot of his co-workers in the adult industry, I am not surprised that he is indeed now driving a city bus in Brooklyn!!!

While his occasional arrogance and tell-all tales are amusing, entertaining; one can also read between the lines and sense a man fast approaching a pre-midlife crisis with a sense of uncertainty as to what the next phase of his life should be post-adult filmdom.

I do, however, admire the honesty of one in a profession that so many folks openly slam...yet devour in private!!!

Well, what can I say. Being 31 years old, I grew up with this guy. I thought he was intense, uninhibited and added a comical element to the industry. Rent one of his movies and compare him to the other male actors around the same time period and see how boring they were compared to this guy. I will say this is no boring read and it is alot of fun to hear about all the people he worked with. Myself, like alot of other people out in the world have fantasized about what it would be like to work in the porn business, and this book is about as close as you can get without actually doing it. It is insightful to the ways of the porno industry, who is a skunk and who is not. He is very candid about sex and the risk of AIDS in the business and he is right to say those things.
However, the feel of the book is that he has an obvious chip on his shoulder and wants to get back at some in the industry with his somewhat vicious commentary. But if it is true, it is true, and if he did it just to sell books that is good too. Either way Paul (aka. Jerry Butler) if you read this review, I liked your book, and I've asked others to buy it and read it. You'll be surprised how fun they think it is.