Many stories take one away from the day to day. "A Small Country Living Goes On" takes one away from everyday. The reader is unknowingly transported to a time not of fiction or fantasy but one of reality. A daily routine which many readers wish will, one day, be their own. We find charm in the mundane, whimsy in the daily flow. Back breaking yet delightful. I found myself viewing my dog within a new light. A wonderful read!

I found this book at my Jewish boyfriend's mother's house. She checked it out of the library as part of a Sephardic reading group. I started skimming through it and couldn't put it down, had to buy my own copy here on Amazon! Trudi Alexy and her family fled Czechoslovakia to escape the Germans and were chased through France and finally Spain before they felt safe. Spain, in spite of its history of ultra-conservative Catholicism, Inquisition, expulsion of the Jews, etc., was one of the few safe havens for Jews fleeing the Germans during WWII. I was surpised to find this out, since Franco was a part of the Axis powers, a rigid ultra-Catholic, a dictator, and a Fascist. But I guess he wasn't an anti-Semite, because he basically looked the other way when Jews began pouring into Spain illegally to escape being killed in the concentration camps of Occupied Europe, especially Vichy-controlled France, which practically did all they could to deliver the Jews over to the Germans, nasty anti-Semites that the French are. In contrast, Spain not only looked the other way when Jews came pouring over the border, in many cases Spanish diplomats would demand that arrested Jews in other countries be released to them as Spanish citizens, even in cases where the Jews were Ashkenaz, not even Sephardic! The Spanish Red Cross also made a great effort to get food, clothing and letters shipped to Jews in concentration camps in the rest of Europe, even as the International Red Cross did absolutely nothing to help. There are horrific stories from the survivors themselves, tales of fleeing the Nazis with only the clothes on their backs, of escaping concentration camps and struggling over the Pyrenees in mid-winter without even a proper coat. Tales of getting to Spain and turning themselves in to the police to find warm beds, food and even money provided for them by kind hearted Spaniards from all walks of life. Then there are stories from the people who smuggled them into Spain, the risks they took to save thousands upon thousands of people from certain death. And tales of the Secret Jews, or Marranos, or Crypto-Jews, who were forced to convert during the Inquisition, or who were expelled from Spain, and the constant threats that they faced. Many of them continued practicing their Jewish rituals in absolute secrecy, in most cases not even letting their children know that they were of Jewish blood until age 12, when they were less likely to slip and give the secret away to outsiders. Many Crypto-Jews live in Mexico and New Mexico today, their ancestors having arrived in the 1500's after the expulsion from Spain. The Inquisition follwed them to the New World, however, so they continued practicing the most minimal Jewish traditions, such as ritual prayer, in absolute secrecy. Trudi interviewed some people who only identified as Catholics, but had listened to an NPR show on the Crypto-Jews and identified ancient and distorted Jewish traditions that their own family practiced! These people were utterly shocked to find out that they were of Jewish ancestry. I don't personally see the big deal, but I guess if you're a major Christian, then you might think it's a bad thing. In most cases though, the families were not only aware of their Jewish ancestry, but fostered it in secret while living a public life of Catholicism. They would intermarry only amongst one another and kept to fairly tight-knit communities. I liked the stories of the people who escaped to Spain during WWII best, since they were so full of heroism and drama, but really the whole book was fascinating.

This is a good book, all the stories gathered and told really paint the picture of what people went through trying to escape the Holocust, and how Spain really did help them.

Once you read this book,the title makes sense. The author was a holocust survivor and was so grateful and impressed with Spain that she felt compelled to go back to see if others felt the same. Lot's of interviews in this book regarding that perticular era. What a twist for Spain!

Excellent Read!

This is a ... and good way how to start read some things about the marriage of math and music. Hovewer, don't think that you'll find here all you need. This is a guide for beginners. If you fit in this boat, buy, if not - it is worth to spend this symbolic price at leats for a few very interesting examples (like for instance, the appearance of Fibonnaci numbers in the Beethoven's 5th symphony).

This book is well-crafted and interesting. It should hold the interest of all beginners in this topic.

It is not without its faults, however. As discussed in my book Fractals in Music, the analysis of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony as based on Fibonacci numbers is not correct.

I found this book full of very interesting data for a math report. I loved the bit on the comparison between the piano and Fibonacci numbers. Truly amazig. It has a lot of cool facts..

This book tells you exactly what you need to know to pass the MS certification exam. When the author says to remember an important point for the exam, you can take her at her word. However, there are a couple of functions (Goal Seek, Scenarios) not covered in this book or the exam that you will need to know in the real world...

This book is an excellent review for taking the Excel M.O.U.S. test! I received the book about a week ago, spent approximately two full days reading and doing the exercises, and passed the Excel Expert Exam with no problems. Material is very hands-on, easy to understand, and provides review exercises to reinforce learning.

Just by browsing through the table of contents and then the Introduction pages, in the shop where I bought my copy of Trudi Reisner's Microsoft Excel 97 (Exam Cram), I knew this was the book I needed for my Mous Certification(Excel)Exams even though I still checked out other books. My decision to buy this book for my Excel Exam was not only because it had straight to the point notes and tasks to reinforce what I already knew but also because it had sample tests for which ever level test one was preparing for. The confirmation of my feeling towards this book came a few days ago when I passed my Proficiency level Exam with a score of 926. My only regret is that I did not go straight for the Expert Level Exams which this book would have been perfect for. But as with every new thing, there is some level of skeptisim. A few of my friends have already bought this book due my results on the exam. This is the book to buy and study for your Excel Mous Excel and I'll recommend this book to anyone and also to go straight for the Expert Level. You are sure to pass the Exams. Thanks not only to this book but also to it's Author Trudi Reisner.

I am a beginner German student, doing home study as well as using a private German tutor three hours a week. I found this book to be too confusing to use for a beginner. The Grammer sections are fantastic and have many useful examples, but the written and oral practice are too difficult for someone without a strong vocabulary base. It was especially dissapointing to realize that the answers are not included and you have to purchase the answer key in a seperate book. I recommend this workbook for any student who has intermediate level vocabulary skills... and don't forget to buy the answer key!

This book is a wonderful text on German grammatical forms. It's in-depth enough to be informative to intermediate students, yet covers the basics like definitive and infinitive articles, and noun and adjective declension for beginners (like myself). The only negative is the absence of an answer key (why 5, not 4); purportedly sold separately, though I've yet to find it.

I used this book with my third year students as a review of grammatical structures already learned and for the excellent activities. The activities were well thought out and support the prevalent theories on second language acquisition and using the communicative approach. It offers an excellent way to fine tune all grammar points learned in a first and second year course and goes into some detail concerning the finer points of these grammar concepts, giving the interested student a challenge, if desired or needed. Subcategories are well divided so you can pick and choose which areas to highlight or ignore if you please. I myself have used the activities extensively and would say it is definitely a good supplemental tool for the intermediate and advanced German student. Another German teacher in my district intends to use it based on my recommendation.

A good intro book on Fibinocci numbers, but not what I was looking for. This book is geared toward middle school students.

This book is a good starter. It provides a good introduction on what is a Fibonacci Series, the analysis of such and where Fibanacci numbers occur in nature and our lives. It even has a decient introduction on Lucas Numbers. However, it is just that, a good starter which I would whole heartedly recommend for a high school student that is just about to discover how wonderful math subjects can be. To get a more in depth presentation, one will have to refer to a receintly published paper on the subject or refer to a graduate text.

As an undergrad. math major student, I've encountered Fibonacci numbers so many times all over text books... However, this book gives me a lot more insights of this amazing numbers interestingly. This book's especially good at exploring fibonacci numbers in nature as well as its mathematical aspects.

Microsoft 6 in 1 is a guide to using Excel, Word, Access, PowerPoint, Schedule+, and Windows 95. It is a very lengthy text that states it offers short and easy to follow tutorials. However, I found the section on PowerPoint to be anything but short and easy. First, the short and easy tutorial is 93 pages long. Now if a person as myself who is still a beginner when it comes to computers, can be overwhelmed when seeing that you have to get through almost a hundred pages to learn how to put together a PowerPoint presentation for a school project. Secondly, the PowerPoint section of the guide was not easy to follow. You can say it is overly consise that you again become overwhelmed when you try to follow along with the tutorials. Thirdly, it really wasn't even a tutorial as the book stated on the back cover. It was more like 2 million directions that didn't make any sense. I tried to follow along exactly with the book as I attempted to create my own presentation but soon ended up quitting because I didn't understand the text. This book may have been helpful for someone who had some working knowledge with computers, but it isn't for anyone who shutters at the sight of computers. I had more success without using the book, basically by just playing with PowerPoint.