This book has received the kind of reverential reviews that haven't been seen since Moses handed down tablets from Mount Sinai--and those didn't even have recipes! So with recommendations from the press in mind, I happily and blindly purchased this book.
The editorial comments in Saveur treat the book's editor as an infallible icon of publishing, but I see a lot of irritating problems in the book's production. Photos are haphazard, photo identification nonexistent. Is that Lane Cake on page 260? There are many repeated photographs throughout the book--two of Tea Cakes, two of Cornbread, just shot from different angles. This isn't a huge sin, but it isn't the way to show a publisher's confidence in a high-profile book.
Overall, this isn't Southern Cooking, but rarified Southern Cuisine. Many recipes require expensive or hard-to-find ingredients. Here's an example or two: The culinary pleasures of lard are extolled, but you won't find a recipe for homemade lard here. Why not? This is a serious flaw. The authors talk about good lard as if you can get it around the corner. In my neighborhood market, I have a difficult time even getting fatback to render into lard for the few recipes I have that require it. If they want to reach a new readership, they should not assume that everyone is a seasoned cook who knows how to make lard. Not to be rude, but if the authors spent more time outside of the South, perhaps they would have a better idea of what ingredients are truly available to their readers.
Pork Stock, an ingredient of many recipes, they ask you to simmer up 2 pounds of smoked pork shoulder (similar to expensive Smithfield ham). While they suggest using cheaper packaged ham bits, that grocery item is really only available in the south. There is a "Substitutes for Pork Stock" box on page 153. What this important information is doing over one hundred pages away from the Pork Stock recipe is a mystery, but it shows that someone was asleep at the wheel. (Or that, like many cookbooks these days, the Art Director is king, and that design considerations overrode simple common sense of what goes where.) Not that I relished the idea of turning pricey meat into stock, I went to the only website in the mail-order section for smoked meat, only to find that the link was incorrect and the new site only had hams.
Like many other chefs, they have fallen in love with the concept of brining, which adds eight hours of prep time to a simple dish like curried Country Captain. I am one home cook that questions the validity of bringing--I have been making fried chicken and roast chicken for years without brining and without serving dry food, and I find that it give all food a similar salty flavor.
All this is 'jes fine and dandy if you approach the book with realistic expectations--I fell for the hype. If you need yet another recipe for buttermilk biscuits (I learned about using soft wheat flour and homemade baking powder years ago, probably from one of Miss Lewis' other books), cheese straws, fried okra, and the like, then this is your glass of iced tea. While there is a certain amount of déjà vu, perhaps unavoidable in a Southern cookbook, I admit that I can't wait to make the Chocolate Cake, Braised Short Ribs and Thyme-Scented Loin of Pork with Muscadine Grapes and Port. Miss Lewis and Mister Peacock are clearly extraordinary cooks that deserve our respect, but they also deserve some editorial support.

I cannot express how excited I am to have this wonderful cookbook. Having grown up in the north with southern roots, we had "southern" dishes when we visited my grandma who had grown up on the farm. But things being how they are I never really got into southern cooking thinking it was a diet consisting mainly of fried dishes and cornbread. They're both wonderful things but not to eat every day.

I guess I would have to say, like the reviewer from NY, that I fell for the hype. However, I couldn't be happier. Granted, there isn't a recipe for lard. But if you're reading this review right now, you could go onto an internet search engine and find out how to render lard. Additionally, any grocery store worth its salt will provide pork fat to customers. I can pick it up for free at my local butcher. And I think anyone in any reasonably-sized city would be able to contact a butcher and figure something out.

The stories that Miss Lewis and Mister Peacock share at the beginning of each chapter and at the beginning of each recipe drew me in, and I couldn't put it down. Dishes that have been successes in our house so far--Breakfast Shrimp for Supper, Creamy Grits, Bay-studded Pork Shoulder, Butter Beans in Cream with country ham and chives, Baked Eggplant with Peanuts, and the cornbread. I haven't tried any of the desserts yet, but am plannin on doing it soon.

The index is also quite useful. You'll see, for instance, that they list substitutes for pork stock on a page among recipes that utilize it. Perhaps it should have been included nearer to the pork stock recipe, but if one has questions, the reader is directed to the correct page when he or she flips to where we were taught to look in elementary school when we had questions--the index.

This wonderful book has gotten me excited about cooking in a whole new way. There are simple dishes. There are more involved dishes. But not one that I have tried has been a loser. I can't wait to try the tomato aspic, Country Captain, and lamb shanks braised with green tomatoes.

Get cookin'!

Just when it seemed there was nothing else to be said about southern cooking, Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock print this outrageously wonderful book. All your favorite Southern recipes and then some are here-- from pimento cheese to pigs' feet to pecan pie to pound cake. This book is far more than a collection of recipes, however. There are tips on everything from the best cornmeal to use for different cornbreads to the use of peanut oil versus homemade lard. Most importantly, this book is the story of a friendship that transcends generations and race and distance.

The color photographs by Christopher Hirsheimer are exquisite. Many of them approach art--particularly the photos of fruits and vegetables-- and should be enlarged and framed. This cookbook opens with the famous Scarlett O'Hara line: "As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again." She would if she read this cookbook.

A great book to give to both those who cook and those who don't or to anyone interested in the rich heritage of Southern cooking.

Spending my "coming out" years in Atlanta allowed me to relate to this book from the start, hence my initial reason for purchasing it. Set in Atlanta, it is an interesting and honest account of a boy's life as a reluctant prostitute. His humble beginning, noble attempt to define himself, and his subsequent downfall are chronicled with finesse and candor. While I can see why some have labeled this book "erotica," it really is more of a narrative with erotic moments. The story itself revolves around the sex but focuses more on the character's predicaments. All in all, it was a quick and enjoyable read that definitely delivered what it promised.

From the safety of his parent's home to the intoxicating streets of Atlanta, young Justin is rapidly thrust into a world of sex and sin. The events that unfold are told from the perspective of this "reluctant" callboy, and it's through Justin's singular interpretation and frank observations that we are delivered a fresh narrative revolving around a common theme. But beyond the basic story we find an underlying deeper message, rare with these kinds of tales. By providing a unique and thought-provoking study in duality, Christopher Scott Sarno blurs the boundaries between right and wrong in an attempt to understand the ways in which gay men behave. He forces us to examine our choices, our needs, and the consequences of our desires. A fine first novel.

As the name says this book gathers an array of essays,papers and chapters of books in the american born "new" science of regulation.It is made of hard to find materials.Even in this internat era is not easy to find material from out of stock book,or university published journals,or old papers.Perhaps ,you will be disapointed for the fact that the newest articles are 1995 papers.But the scope of the book seems to be put at hand the material not avaialble in the net. For americans and wordlwide readers will be of interest the mixed euro american origin of articles.The SHRADER FRECHETTE article will allow american to understand or to see an alternative explanation of the EU reject of biotech meat.Someone like the reviewer will not like the State regulation friendly approach by some of the author.But it remains usefull ,because to advance deregulation is necessary to know the counterreasons.If you like it you can also like Studies in Political Economy by Stigler(ed).And Ogus Regulation.

In the last decade or so, regulation has been a growth industry both for practitioners and academics. Robert Baldwin, Colin Scott and Christopher Hood have put together a collection of some of the most important readings on regulation. The text will be an invaluable accompaniment to university courses in regulation (perhaps alongside Baldwin & Cave's textbook 'Understanding Regulation' (Oxford University Press, 1999)

The collection of readings is prefaced by an introductory essay by the authors which merits careful study. Controversially, they question whether, as regulation grows into a mature science, it may be entering a 'mid-life crisis' as regulation research risks losing its focus and direction.

The readings are organised around five themes:

1. Regulatory origins, development, and reform

2. Standard setting and rule choices

3. Varieties of regulatory styles and techniques

4. Varieties of regulatory scale

5. Variety in accounting for regulation

A sourcebook of around 500 pages in length has to make hard choices about what to leave in and what to omit. Obviously the authors have put a lot of thought into what A Reader on Regulation should contain. A particular strength is that all the readings are to some extent 'timeless', focusing on concerns that will continue to cause regulators headaches for the forseeable future.

Nonetheless, hard choices mean that some people are going to be disappointed. Personally, I would have liked to have seen some attention to the peculiar problems of regulation in developing countries, and more of a focus on accountability of regulators. More attention might also have been given to what happens when regulation goes wrong, particularly because the introductory essay draws attention to the need to look at the consequences of regulation.

Baldwin, Scott and Hood have done the regulatory community a great service by bringing together these readings into a convenient, affordable volume.

What a pity it is now out of print.

One of the best things about the consistently good Robert Barnard is his ability to delve into unlikely venues as the settings for his mysteries. In this case, he juxtaposes a Roman Catholic parish in the north of England with the world of small-time tabloid journalism. Barnard peoples his parish of St. Catherine's with a variety of eccentric and believable characters and adds a masterly repugnant villain -- reporter Cosmo Horrocks -- to stir up a pot of parochial passions and hidden crimes.

Some of the more memorable characters in "Unholy Dying" are the beleaguered and persecuted Fr. Pardoe, the primly observant Miss Preece-Dembleby, the malevolent Doris Crabtree, and the frighteningly dysfunctional Norris family. My only quibble with the novel is that some of these characters are so finely drawn that I regretted not learning more about them after they made their all-too-brief appearances.

The book has two scenes that are Barnard at his absolute best. The first is the interview between Superintendent Mike Oddie and the Bishop of Leeds. This passage is must reading for anyone who has ever suffered from the arrogance of power and longs to see what happens when it's deflated and derailed. The other scene is the climax of the novel. Although I could see where the investigation of Horrocks' murder was leading, Barnard's terrifying and shocking conclusion caught me unprepared and left me riveted.

While riding a train, West Yorkshire Chronicle reporter Cosmo Horrocks overhears two people discussing the scandalous behavior of the local Catholic priest. Apparently, Father Christopher Pardoe had an affair with nineteen-year old single mother Julie Norris, a parishioner, leaving her pregnant. Also Somebody stole parish money with the Father being the most likely thief. Cosmo, a nasty gossip-mongering "journalist" who would distort any lie to spice up a report, sees a great story in Shipley, England.

Cosmo heads to the small town to confront the various players such as Julie, Father Pardoe, Julie's estrange parents and brother, and other parishioners. After exposing the priest and the teen, an unknown assailant kills the odious Cosmo. Police Inspector Mike Oddie and Sergeant Charlie Peace begin to investigate the homicide. The only problem is anyone who ever met the disgusting man including his family, his staff on the newspaper, and the impacted people in Shipley have motives to wanting Cosmo dead.

UNHOLY DYING is a great police procedural that shows why Robert Barnard is one of the top mystery writers around. His latest work is fabulous because the quaint cast makes the entertaining police investigation so much more fun to follow. The tabloid journalism that attacks Father Pardoe based on rumor and no substance augments a great plot in which everyone except the police are suspects, but the real killer is in plain sight yet impossible to identify.

Harriet Klausner

The dead butler was not the only one who did it.

Central to the plot is the femme fatale Shirley Brown. Unlike her uncharacteristic name, Miss Brown has caused quite a stir at two manor houses in an otherwise quite English countryside. Because of her, three people have been murdered, and she herself was a near victim. Needless the say, she has induced the Upstairs and Downstairs subjects, two dogs, and the local constables in a highly excited and distracted state of mind. All except Frank Amberley,of course.

This delightful Heyer mystery has the youthful barrister, Frank Amberley, sleuthing for clues as to the personage of Shirley Brown and the reasons behind the homicides.

Justice was meted out to the just and unjust. Shirely Brown has received hers all because of Frank Amberley's devotion to duty. And the latter couldn't have done it without the assistance of his butler, Peterson.

A lot of fun, written tongue-in-cheak. Not the way most mysterys are done, but this one works. Cocky young barrister on his way to visit family finds a young woman standing next to car with a dead butler in it. The plot involves him solving the murder but only after he is begged by the local police. Good fun.

To find out, you'll just have to read the book! A typical Heyer, with a delicious hero, resourceful heroine, and an happily resolved ending, with a few murderous twists on the way. A must-read for any Heyer addicts.

This book follows a black cat on his way throughout a city. The book is dedicated to all children of the city - a group the author apparently associates him-self with. The format is appealing and interesting, especially the artwork which was created by using pastels and collage techniques over actual photographs of Harlem and Brooklyn, New York. The text is a poem that describes the cat's journey. So many books today are set in a middle-class neighborhood; this one shows images of more diverse settings that are most likely from a lower socio-economic class. Some slang words are used as well. For instance, "tag" is a term for graffiti gang symbols, and "projects" when speaking of housing projects and "bodega" are all words that appear.

The words and images of the book may appeal to some, but could leave others wondering. Children, and teachers, who have never lived in the city, may not be familiar with housing projects or playground cages. The book may help others to understand how city-life is different, but at the same time, it may drive a wedge between them. I did not see how this book would help people to integrate these societies in any way. If anything, it just showed what the differences between urban and rural or suburban living are without attempting to show any similarities between the areas.

Why 3 stars?:
The illustrations were interesting and the poem well written. However, this book, when compared with other children's literature on the market, simply does not stand up to its competition. It has a target audience and I don't feel that it would really apply to students who were not in an inner-city school. Therefore it loses appeal for me as a teacher.

We checked this book out at the library for my 2 year old son who loves cats and at first read, I was blown away by the incredible artwork and the jazzy text. Although the book is intended for slightly older kids, my son enjoyed it the more we read it and loves to point out where the cat is in each picture. I really appreciated the way that my son is able to see another way of life in America, that is the "urban life," and to see it through the positive lense of this lovable cat. We need more authors to celebrate and make positive the experience of kids growing up in the city which also helps suburban kids (and parents) to see another way of life. Isn't that what Sesame Street was all about? GET this book, it's truly an excellent piece of children's literature!

I first saw this book when I was visiting the Art Institute of Chicago where it was being featured. The entire book is visually intriguing! I've never seen a book quite like it. Although the book is classified as a children's book, I think that anyone would enjoy it. Myers' book is a poem that takes you through Brooklyn by following a seemingly mysterious cat accompanied by wonderful and colorful collages. The book has become a favorite of mine, so I would strongly recommend it!

I haven't read Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby' in almost two years. I picked it up again, to-day, though, and realized the truth of the notion that one learns something new each time one returns to a book. 'The Great Gatsby' just is a novel that must be returned to periodically to appreciate it properly.

While the characters in the novel remain ultimately unknowable at their indefinite cores, Fitzgerald does a great job tying his characters to their historical setting. The protagonist of the novel, to my mind, is Nick Carraway, the narrator. The hero of his story, which frames the novel, is the legendary Jay Gatsby - a legend in his own mind. Although Carraway's narration is often heavily biased and unreliable, what emerges are the stories of a set of aimless individuals, thrown together in the summer of 1922. Daisy Buchanan is the pin that holds the novel together - by various means, she ties Nick to Jordan Baker, Tom Buchanan to Jay Gatsby, and Gatsby to the Wilsons.

The novel itself deals with the shallow hypocrisies of fashionable New York society life in the early 1920's. It is almost as though Fitzgerald took the plot of Edith Wharton's 'The Age of Innocence' and updated it - in the process making the characters infinitely more detestable and depriving it of all hope. Extramarital affairs rage on with only the thinnest of veils to disguise them, the nouveau-riche rise on the back of scandal and corruption, and interpersonal relationships rarely signify anything permanent that doesn't reek of conspiracy. The novel's casual allusions to beginnings and histories often cause us to reflect on the novel's historical moment - when the American Dream and Benjamin Franklin's vision of the self-made man seem to coalesce in Jay Gatsby, a Franklinian who read too much Nietzsche.

No matter how you read it, 'The Great Gatsby' is worth re-reading. M.J. Bruccoli's short, but informative preface, and C. Scribner III's afterword are included in this edition, and both set excellent contexts, literary, personal, and historical, for this classic of American literature.

Although published seventy-five years ago, Fitzgerald's masterpiece remains as fresh as the day it appeared. It could have been written yesterday. It is as perfect a novel as one is likely to find in American literature; not a word is wrong or out of place. The choice of a second person narrator gives the reader wider and greater appreciation of the characters and events. At the center of it all, of course, is Jay Gatsby, bootlegger, liar, party-giver, doomed romantic. His love for Daisy Buchanan, his "incorruptible dream", is the only genuine emotion felt by any of the characters (excepting narrator Nick Carroway, whose loyalty to Gatsby is touching), all of whose superficiality is buried beneath the glitter and gaiety of the Jazz Age, the endless parties, the extramarital affairs, the endless-flowing booze, the accumulation of wealth and things.

This edition of the book features critical commentary and notes from Prof. Matthew Bruccoli, the world's foremost Fitzgerald scholar.

I am one of those "freaks" who makes sure to read this novel at least once a year. It brings me a sort of solace.
This is as close to a Salinger novel as one can get. Moral lessons spoken thru New York City in the early 1900's.
In this case we have the author and his 2nd cousin, a worldly woman who steals hearts and refuses to let go.
Gatsby accomplishes everything he can create in his mind, but he cannot compare to what Daisy demands. She is noy human it seems, and Gatsby cannot keep up, no matter how hard he tries.
This novel was required reading in high school, and thank God for that. Even after my 12th grade english teacher pounding into my head the symbolism of the eye-glasses on the billboard in the city of ashes. And also why Gatsby was a "heroic figure".
Basically, this novel ends the only way it can. Death is necessary and we all will perish. But sometimes we die a bit too soon.
No matter where I am in my life, this book always sets me straight. What will be...will be.
Gatsby could not have lived any other way. It's all good.

Lindsey Davis is no Steven Saylor - which is both good and bad. On the one hand, Davis crafts a better mystery, with excellent attention paid to dropping just the right amount of clues at just the right time, keeping us guessing til the very end as to who is to blame for what. On the other hand, Saylor is far, far more effective in evoking ancient Rome. Davis' Falco, to quote a previous reviewer, is "a modern mystery in togas." Ancient Rome is the backdrop, but it could just as easily be ancient Greece, or medieval France, or Victorian England. So, which is better: Saylor or Davis? That depends on your tastes, obviously. For the mystery, go to Davis. For the history, go to Saylor. Or, better still, read both!

This was my first foray into the Falco series, and I did not feel any loss from missing the first two volumes. Almost the opposite, in fact. These books are very difficult to find nowadays, so do not wait until you find book one to get started.

I enjoyed this third book in the Falco series. It was as entertaining as the first one - The Silver Pigs. I think Ms. Davis gives her readers a rare view of ancient Rome, and Falco is a treat! The books are funny and there is a good mystery in them. In this one Falco has no shortage of suspects, and he gets in his usual scrapes trying to suss them out. Helena plays more of a role in this book too, and I think she's going to be a real asset to Falco to help solve his crimes. She can get into places and into households that he can't and helps him get the information he needs. It's almost like Thomas and Charlotte Pitt set in an much more ancient era. Only this hero gets into a lot more scrapes, and gets beat up a lot more than poor Thomas ever does. Read this series if you're looking for light-hearted, funny mystery stories.

With Venus in Copper, Lindsey Davis is continuing her Didius Falco series in fine style. As a fan of mysteries and especially historical mysteries, I was ecstatic to find an author who can write a great story, not just mystery and who injects both fact and humor into the mix. Venus in Copper also adds a lighter note to the Falco storyline. You'll get an insight into everyday Roman life of 2000 years ago and you'll cheer for Falco and his friends (and even for his enemies) in this charming and addictive book. It can stand on its own, but it improved by having read Silver Pigs and Shadows in Bronze first.

'cause I turned all the pages and read most of the words on them, but _Shadows in Bronze_ is a poor whodunit, because the reader knows that before the halfway mark and the whyfors soon thereafter.

Amazon recommended this book to me because I have exhausted all the Stephen Saylor _Roma Sub Rosa_ series and Michael Dibdin's modern Italian detective novels. The action scenes in Saylor's recent books and the last Aurelio Zen mysteries are far superior to Davis's and both Saylor and Dibdin draw more interesting characters than Davis does.

Davis tosses in many characters -- it takes two pages to list the cast of characters. "Informer" Didius Falco is very similar to 20th-century detectives, with a despairing wit, badly paid and badly used by those who hire him. His primary employer is the new Emperor Vespasian, who is an interesting character... Falco's nephew Larius has some charm, too, but I don't buy the patrician lady Helena Justina and ... Didius Falco.

There are interesting details about life across Italy in AD 71, and the book provides some entertainment -- but not enough for detective fiction. A Roman romance novel, perhaps, but that was not what I was looking for. Unless you have exhausted Saylor and Dibdin, I can't see any reason to try Davis.

Lindsey Davis does it again... and better! Didius Falco returns in this second book of the Falco series. Having helped the Emperor solve the plot from SILVER PIGS, Falco is now engaged to do some follow-up work -- disposing of a body or two -- but discovers that things are far from over.

Before he knows it, Falco is off, once again, pulling at the threads of rebellion that threaten to unravel the just-settled state of Roman affairs. --And it not just affairs of state that threaten to unravel.... Didius must carefully negotiate his developing relationship with socialite Helena Justina while at the same time assisting his teen-aged nephew (send along to look after Falco) negotiate love and life.

Davis proved that her first book was no fluke by crafting another intricate, enticing plot filled with characters that come to life with every word. Her dialog is sharp. Her narration (for the most part) witty and well-paced. Top it off with a lot of attention to historical detail mixed with a dash of anachronistic gumshoe-detecting and what you get is this page-turning delight.

I know, I know, the story is much more than Falco and Helena. This is the second book in the Falco series (see Silver Pigs for the beginning) and as usual, there is mystery, wit, humor and irony. The characters are very real and you are drawn into Italy (circa AD 70). The style of writing is so vivid that you can actually picture the streets of Rome, with men in togas, street vendors selling their wares, ex-gladiators hulking in the doorways and of course, Falco, going from one end of the city to the other. Falco takes care of another mission for the emperor and in so doing, Helena and he realize their mutual affinity for each other. Finally. After all those misunderstandings. And therefore, since I am a romantic at heart ... this book is about Falco "getting his girl".

I would doubtlessly recommend Ivanhoe to read. History may be often dull but Sir Walter Scott makes history extremely exciting by romanticizing his novel. It directly deals with hatred between the Normans and the Saxons, the discrimination of the Jews, chivalry, and politics--but it is a unforgettable tale of heroism, honor, and love. I felt that the characters were so fascinating and fun to read about. I was enjoying and cheering on the good characters like Ivanhoe, King Richard, and Robin Hood to beat the hated and evil villains. I liked the idea of love added in the story, like how Rowena and Rebecca were both in love with Ivanhoe. I even felt a little sorry for Brian de Bois-Guilbert who would do anything for Rebecca's love but is constantly rejected. I thought how it was appealing how the author questions Ivanhoe and Rebecca's feelings for each other. Suspenseful and action sequences also added entertainment to the story. This book may be a little too detailed for some readers, but I didn't mind. I felt that the details were brilliantly used to decorate the story in an outstanding fashion. The old English wording made me feel like I was actually in the medieval England. I have to admit that it took a great deal of persistence for me to finish this book and it was a challenge for me to read. However, I found Ivanhoe to be a wonderful pleasure. It is no wonder that Ivanhoe is such a well-loved tale!

I enjoyed this adventure yarn on many levels.

I was glad to learn about the Knights of Templer and that they were crusaders. I always wondered how Sam Spade in the Maltese Falcon knew that and it is because of this classic.

I was surprised that it talked so much about Robin of Lockesley. The story of Ivanhoe seemed to be the same only told by Ivanhoe's friends and not Robin's.

I thought that the DeBracyn and the Knight of Templer Brian de Bois Guilbert were pretty evil guys which made the story interesting. They were weasels when they had their backs to the wall but did preform with honor when required like when Richard gets DeBracy.

I guess I did not understand the prejudice of the time because they treated the Jews like dirt and they were so sterotypical. I really thought that the Jewish girl Rebecca was going to end up with Ivanhoe instead of that Saxon Lady Roweana. I guess you have to appreciate the times that they lived in.

It was a different look the Richard/Prince John history.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but this book, by Sir Walter Scott, was the progenitor of what was to become a venerable tradition in English letters (and in other European literatures as well): the historical romance. There have been many after IVANHOE, and frequently with a finer eye to the period in which the tale is set (for IVANHOE contains quite a number of anachronisms -- even Scott acknowledged it), but few have done it quite as well as Scott. He uses an archaic English to give voice to his characters, but one which is readily absorbed because of the speed & quality of the tale. So, though these people certainly wouldn't really have spoken as he has them speaking, they yet sound as though they should have. Peopled by many 'stock' characters and situations, this tale was fresh in its time & still reads well today -- a testament to Scott's skills as a teller of tales and a sketcher of marvelously wrought characters. In this tale of the 'disinherited knight' returning home to find the world he left turned upside down, young Ivanhoe, after a stint with King Richard in the Holy Land, must fight the enemies of his king and kinsmen anew. Yet the hero is oddly sidelined for much of the tale as events swirl around him and the brilliantly evoked villain, Sir Brian de Bois Gilbert, in the pay of Prince John, struggles to win treasure and the beautiful Rebeccah, who yet has eyes only for Ivanhoe, a knight she can never hope to win herself. There's lots of action and coincidences galore here and Robin Hood makes more than a cameo appearance, as does the noble Richard. In sum, this one's great fun, a great tale, and the progenitor of a whole genre. All those which came after owe their form to it. Worth the price and the read.