OK, so I bought this book on the recommendation of the author himself. Yes, I know him. Yes, the book is good. Buy it. I expected nothing less than a masterpiece from Colin he has delivered. At the moment I can't remember too much about the book other than the fact that memory loss had something to do with the plot. Read it over the course of a couple of days last year while sitting on the beach trying to get a tan. The book was read, the tan did not materialize. Oh yes, not to be too vain, but I think I made an appearance. Thanks Colin, keep me on the mailing list. Got anything else about elves and New Ro?

Colin McFadden-Roan has written a delightfully intricate short novel in which each character--fascinating, annoying, puzzling, deceptive, honest--has a distinctive voice. This book grabs your interest and evokes intellectual and emotional responses that stay long after the last page has been finished. One of those rare gems that gives enjoyment even with many re-readings, The Woman is Dead offers new ideas and interpretations as well as remembered delights with each reading. McFadden-Roan is a gifted writer and I can't wait for his next work!

Ok, I know that was a stupid title for this review, but I like the cover. I just wanted to say that I haven't read the book yet. Although, after reading the summary I would really like to get the book. Plus, Colin, if you are reading this good luck with the book.

This is one book that deserves all five stars! Mr. Colin White knows his subject well. Even great heroes such as Nelson had downfalls as we all do. Mr. White brings out the long ordeal that Nelson suffered after the loss of his arm and his ability to "bounce" back once his infected stump was healed & showes the humour that Nelson & his family used to overcome the tragidy. It reads so well I finished it in a couple of days. Mr White highlights information that isn't in other books on Nelson. Excellent work, Mr White.

Admiral Lord Nelson plays such a central role in British naval lore that any decent library - including those here in the USA - will have a good amount of shelf space dedicated to his career, his personality and his world. To presume to add more to an already worthy pile of volumes requires that an author has new information, takes a new focus or has something otherwise fresh and vivid to say about the man. Colin White, a Director of the Royal Navy's own museum that lies alongside Nelson's HMS Victory at Portsmouth, stylishly accomplishes all of these aims in his new book.

Already a Nelson scholar of some repute, White makes extensive use of newly discovered documents, and of course well-tested older sources, to take the reader closer to 'Nelson the man' than ever before. By concentrating on Nelson as a fully-formed senior commander, now on the very cusp of greatness if only he can find and seize an opportunity, White produces a relatively short, intensely readable work that nobly resists the common temptation to spend an introductory 75-pages re-hashing well-known anecdotes of his hero's early life and career. White cuts straight to the chase yet has a style of presentation that in no way would leave the Nelson novice floundering: the great man is seen in full, but not at inordinate length!

In short, this book - even with its single-year focus - would make an admirable first port of call for readers who know something of Nelson's general fame - perhaps from the great naval fiction writers such as Patrick O'Brian or C.S. Forester - but do not necessarily fully appreciate 'what all the fuss is about'. Readers wanting more depth will appreciate both the new material and the clarity and intelligence with which it is integrated into the known record. From growing up in an English naval family, I thought I already knew quite a lot about Nelson - now I can't wait to know from White 'what happened next'!

A professional review I read of this book says that it "reads like a Patrick O'Brian novel". I would echo that. Mr White tells the familiar story of Nelson at the battles of St Vincent and Teneriffe in a new and exciting way that really brings the events to life. It is always easy to visualize the scene he is describing and his abundant use of pictures (many of them never published before) helps with this.

He has also done a lot of scholarly research into original sources, many of them only recently discoved. As a result, his view of the battles, and Nelson's role in them, is very different to the traditional one in the older books. He makes it easy for the reader to follow all these new insights, by explaining them in special 'boxes;' so as not to interrupt the flow of the main narrative.

This is without doubt one of those books that changes our idea of great events. If you are at all interested in Nelson, get it!

When I was little I used to watch the T.v series, The Animals Of Farthing Wood, and I loved it!!!!!!! It contributed to my love of animals and when I read this first book I found it even better!
This story of how the Animals OF Farthing Wood find their home being destroyed and have to leave is a remarkable tale of love as they have to learn to trust each other, including sneeky Adder. I love all the charcters, especially Fox, Vixen and extremly funny Weasel. This book made me laugh and cry (especially when the hedgehogs got run over!) and I stayed in my room reading for hours. It is definatly a must-read for anyone who loves animals. If you have kids, then read them this book! I benifited hugely from it! I still have the T.v series on tape, even though I hardly ever watch it I won't let anyone tspe over it!
The next books are just as good as the first, and I thouroughly enjoyed the prequel (The Animals Of Farthing Wood, The Adventure Begins.) The next books are great as we learn about Fox and Vixen's cubs (Bold, Friendly, Charmer and Dreamer). Bold runs away from the animal's new home White Deer Park seeking adventure and Charmer typicly falls in love with Scar Face's son Ranger. (Scar Face is her dad Foxe's arch enemy) It's an ace tale and I hope that Colin Dann writes some more books as I've read most of them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!xxx

This is a great book and is the best book I have ever read. The book is about a group of wildlife from Farthing Wood who,s homes are being destroyed. The animals do nothing about it untill the humans filled in the pond. Then they all meet in Badger,s set to discuss the problem together but nobody has any ideas untill Toad (who has been missing for over a year) returns and tells the animals that on his travels he came across a Nature Reserve called White Deer Park. The animals agree and the next night they leave led by Fox. But the creatures face many dangers and some die. I realy recommened this book. It is a wonderful tale.

The animals of Farthing Wood is a short but very amusing novel told from the view of a small group of woodland creatures intent on finding a new home. There arn't many books on in this type of category and I must say I fully enjoyed it. The tale goes of how Farthing wood, home of around two dozen creatures is in danger of being destroyed by man. Distraught, the animal's only way of surviving is by reaching a nature reserve - White Deer Park. Led by Fox (a main character)the group takes an oath to not eat each other and travel through danger after danger on their long journey. There are many sequels stemming from this book and the entire story has been adapted by a cartoon under the same name - one of the best I've seen at that. All in all this book is worth reading. An adventure of a different kind.

International Master Colin Crouch has a lot of good books to his credit and 'Attacking Technique' continues that admirable trend. Weighing in with a "mere" 105 pages, one is tempted to think there simply can't be that much Chess knowledge to be had within but this book is a poster child for the oft-repeated maxim of not judging a book by it's cover. Crouch approaches the topic like an arrow would a target. He starts with a chapter titled 'Basics of the Kingside Attack: The Three Piece rule" which outlines what I think is a unique but very sensible approach to formulating and coordinating an attack on the enemy king. He surmises, correctly, that "...In general, a successful kingside attack will need at least three pieces participating; one to be sacrificed and two to give checkmate." What a succinct and logical statement that will help a lot of novices understand what is necessary to have on deck before conducting an attack! In addition to such an erudite summary, he goes on to annotate a series of instructive games that serve to buttress his 'rule'.

One excellent chapter follows another. Chapter two details his characterizations of the game as having two "personalities": fighting chess and technical chess. This brings to mind the usual strategy versus tactics argument. Strategical operations seem to be what the author likes to term "fighting chess" (the jockeying for a better position) and once that is achieved, launching tactical operations (his "technical chess"). Crouch does a very good job of explaining the differences and goes on to give examples with well-annotated games. The wonderous thing is the precise brevity with which he explains that which some other authors have wasted reams of paper on. He is to be commended. After these come the following chapters: Sacrifices and Combinations; Piece Mobility: Breaking the Symmetry; Piece Mobility: The Center and the Flank; The Initiative; The Attack Goes Wrong and finally, Quizzes. In all these chapters, Crouch, to show proper attacking technique, uses the games of (then and still) rising superstar Alexander Morozevich as he hacked his way through the 1994 Lloyds Bank Masters tournament, ending with a 9.5/10 score against titled players!

The whole book is dotted with good advice on how to carry out attacks (and importantly, without prejudice to either the kingside or the queenside, a point he stresses and one that is well worth remembering). He highlights each important point with italicized text, a nice addition to an already superlative effort. In all, I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to start playing clean, surgical but imaginative chess. The kind of chess that creates tournament winners. The final "Quizzes" chapter enables the reader to show how well understood the text was (or wasn't!). A fitting companion to the attacking Bible: The Art of Attack by Vukovic.

Anything written by Crouch can be bought sight unseen; quality is assured. This book is no exception. A number of topics are presented which other writers have glossed over. One example is the fight for piece activity, which is a goal in itself, regardless of whether the opponent has weaknesses or not. Another example is the use of initiative. Though the book is thin, the density of ideas is high and there is much to ponder and digest. I'm now waiting for his book on defensive techniques.

This book has 8 chapters, totaling 105 pages, that cover attacking fundamentals as demonstrated through complete games from older, "classical" masters to current Grandmasters. The chapters, (Ch.1 Basics of the Kingside Attack, Ch.2 Technical Chess & Fighting Chess, Ch.3 Sacrifices and Combinations, Ch.4 Piece Mobility: Breaking the Symmetry, Ch.5 Piece Mobility: The Centre and the Flank, Ch.6 The Initiative, Ch.7 The Attack Goes Wrong, Ch.8 Quizzes) are clearly written, and the author emphasizes key points, lessons to be learned, and how one could do the same in one's own games. From the back cover: "This book will teach you to... * Exploit your opponent's weaknesses *Force home your advantage *Launch standard attacks *Handle desperate attacks *Know when and how to exchange off into a winning endgame " Personally, I think Attacking Technique may be of more long-lasting value than books on "opening x, y, z," in that at some point, in some position, everyone must attack.

If you really want to see Tuscany, this it: this book will take you to places you wouldn't find any other way, from charming villages that are way off the beaten track, down colorful streets and staircases to hidden piazzi that you would have walked right past, into courtyards, and out to ancient country churches with masterpieces on the altar. The Blue Guide to Tuscany is 510 pages long, plus two indexes: the author, Alta Macadam, has apparently combed every city, town and hamlet in Tuscany, traveled every road and lane, wangled her way into every locked church and described its treasures, and surveyed every provincial museum. She includes practically everything of any interest at all in the entire province of Tuscany, including the provenance of every work of art and the programs of the frescoes and carvings in every church and abbey, and notes on the contents of every museum. She gives extensive information on the architecture of Tuscany's buildings, including many floor plans, and good notes on local history. It is organized geographically, with town and city tours, and lots of maps. I heard many guides giving their talks on our visit, and very few of them had more to say about anything that Ms. Macadam or were more informative; many of the places she described exhaustively had neither guides nor tourists besides ourselves, which in Tuscany is unusual.

Her directions can be a bit cryptic at times, but if you read carefully, you'll get used to them. As in all of the Blue Guides, she is prone to understatement: when, for example, speaking of the old town in Certaldo, she says that "the upper town has considerable charm", what she means is that it is ravishingly beautiful, will charm your senses and lift your spirit, and your friends and family will envy your photos and your vacation forever.

Caveats: some people will find this guide to be overwhelming. Because it is so dense and exhaustive, use it to plan your trip before you leave or you'll be buried in minutiae and miss things you'll have wanted very much to see.

I just returned from a trip to Italy which included 4 days in Umbria and 8 days in Tuscany. I found the Blue Guides for both regions outstanding. Not surprisingly, both are quite worn (the best sign of a useful guidebook).

What makes this guidebook stand out is the incredible breadth of coverage of all tourist sites in Tuscany, making it quite thick, but not particularly heavy. (The only guide that I have seen that even comes close in terms of coverage is the Michelin Green Guide for Tuscany.) Each chapter represents a tour which covers either a town and its vicinity or a driving circuit. Within each tour, every conceivable tourist destination is identified, including small towns, churches, squares, public buildings, museums, archeological sites, etc. For significant museums and churches, the guide directs you through the works in a logical order. For the most part, individual works/objects are listed but not discussed, but notable works are identified with asterisks. Particularly remarkable works, such as Cathedrals and great fresco cycles, are discussed in more detail.

If you are interested in Italian art, architecture, and ancient history, then this book tells you where to find it in Tuscany, and provides brief descriptions. The guidebook does not teach you the history of art and architecture in Tuscany, nor should it. For this, you will need to do some additional reading.

Fine maps and a brief history are provided for each significant town. Parking advise is provided for most towns, and I strongly suggest you follow this advise. (I learned this the hard way.) Also pay close attention to the opening hours, which are quite accurate. The guide's hotel and restaurant recommendations seem quite good; they overlap significantly with the Michelin Red Guide and Frommers. Unfortunately, no descriptions or prices are provided, so most people will want another guidebook for this use. Some of the site closure information was out of date, but I expect this to be updated with the 2000 edition.

The Blue Guide series focuses on art. If you are looking for hotels, shopping, restaurants, or for entertaining reading, rely on something else. If you're looking for a serious guide to history, art, and architecture, both the well-known and the quietly tucked away, a list of hours and days open for musuems, holidays (often to be avoided!), as well as addresses of libraries and research insitutions, the Blue Guides are for you. They cover almost every artwork in the various regions, and do so accurately. The books guide the reader systematically through churches and museums and include accurate floor plans. Towns are grouped into touring areas, as are neighborhoods in the large cities. Town maps, even for little places, are plentiful and precise, even for the winding streets of Siena. City maps, such as Florence, are equally precise and inclusive, but they are split among several pages, which can make them harder to follow --- a minor flaw. I use Blue Guides as a textbook for my college students, and I never go to Italy without at least one!

An adorable story about Preston the Masked Avenger who sneaks throughout the town scaring his neighbors with his bellowing "Boo!" All is fun and games until Preston decides to scare his father and is sent to his room with out dinner. Children will love the suspense and comedy of the story. Adults will enjoy the subtle humor; such as Mr. Wolf's house having a posted sign "No Wood Cutters" or a red riding hood sticking out of his trash can. The illustrations are bright, colorful and eye-catching, perfect for storytime.

Although this book is recommeneded for younger children, my 5-years-old son really enjoys it. Simple and fun from beginning to end. When you think a mischievous piglet has learned his lesson, you better watch out. If you are not great at story-telling and still want to read with your child, this book is for you.

the pace is fast
the BOO!s are flying
the characters are super
will preston's dad be able to stop him from
scaring everyone in town? don't bet on it.
this one is a favorite any time of the day or night in our house.

The amount of information in this book is absolutely overwhelming. Colin Hemer has left us with what I consider to be the greatest historical examination of Acts written in the 20th century. Authorship, date, historical reliability, and many other details are covered in as detailed and thorough a fashion as is possible.

Hemer defends a pre-70 A.D. date for Acts, along with presenting a strong case for authorship by Luke, the companion of Paul. He also presents an excellent argument for an early date for Galatians as part of his overall historical reconstruction. An extremely careful comparison of Acts and Paul's letters is studied in order to glean as much information as possible. Apparent discrepancies between Paul and Acts (chronology, historical details, etc.) are handled well.

If you have an interest in Acts and its historical reliability, then you need look nowhere else than right here. Colin Hemer has given you all you could ever want in this field.

Ok, for all you researchers and apologists of the Christian faith, this is a necessary tool to add to your library. I cannot even begin to explain the enormous amount of detail that Hemer has produced in this work. This book covers everything from the historicity, events, people, dates, and details of everything that has occurred in and around the Book of Acts. Hemer's evidence is so concise and overwhelming that anyone who read this text and walked away still doubting his assertions would definitely need to get their head examined. Hemer has put together a very thorough chronology of events in the history of and before the Book of Acts. He has very painstakingly proved that the Book of Acts would HAVE had to have been dated around 66 A.D. or possibly even before. Of course, this places a date for the book of Luke even earlier if Hemer's conclusions are correct (and his evidence is so iron clad it is really hard to doubt). His assessment of the author of Acts (i.e. Luke) is wonderful. Hemer explains the type of historian Luke actually was by describing the pinpoint detail which Luke has included in his two pieces of work (i.e. The Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts). If you are a serious researcher or even just a cursory researcher who likes to gather great evidential works for the Christian religion then you cannot be without this crucial text. It is an invaluable tool to add to your collection.

I WANT TO BUY ABOUT MÝTOLOGY OF GREK HEMER

I love this book. I bought the paperback in an airport when I was living in the U.K. I was scheduled to start law school at Columbia the following fall. Because of the information in this book, I withdrew from the entering class, found a job in a completely different field and today I am happier with my life than I ever could have imagined. I reread this book from time to time, just to refresh my memory. I think it is great advice written in an intelligent way. It gave me a new perspective on life, one that I wish I had when I was in high school.

In Born To Succeed: How to Release Your Unlimited Potential, Colin Turner says that we all have "self-imposed limitations that have created a barrier to making a success of our lives." Turner, a Scotsman, has more than twenty years experience in the fields of human potential and spiritual growth. He is an internationally acclaimed lecturer, author, and advisor to businesses and individuals. He says that true success is measured by creative accomplishment, rather than material possessions.

Turner says the key to success is believing in yourself. He explains how to determine what is is that you really want from life, and why you don't yet have it. He offers practical advice on goal setting and achieving goals. Setting and achieving goals includes investigating why that particular goal is desirable, what obstacles may keep you from achieving it, and the steps you will take to overcome those obstacles. He then shows you how to commit to your goal and reward yourself for each step taken.

His success blueprint shows you "how to activate your thought processes--mental muscles--and to draw on your own form of genius." He adds that we each "have the ability of perform at exceptional levels in at least one area of your life if you can find it." He teaches you how to find and develop that area. Part of his training is a "30-day mental diet" that emphasizes thinking about your life's purpose and how to best accomplish it.

Turner also discusses the importance of spending quiet time with yourself and learning to listen to your intuition.

"How tall does a tree grow?" Turner asks, then answers: "As tall as it can." He advises us to imitate trees, and grow as much as we can. We all have unlimited potential for growth, and it is only our own way of thinking that keeps us pruned into shrubs instead of tall trees. Born to Succeed will help all readers achieve success in life, regardless of how they define that success.

This book helped me to help myself. I was always into positive, self help books, but when this one came along it grabbed my attention from the moment I first picked it up.

I read it from cover to cover without picking and choosing "whichever chapter I fancied" as with other books of this kind I have read before. I learned to "listen" to my hunches and got motivated to start my own business totally from scratch. Four years on.. I have now started to franchise my business and taught Colin's principals to my team of staff and franchisees. I keep this book on my desk for constant reference and whenever I need a "lift" a couple of chapters work on my attitude every time.

An absolute must for your personal life, or particularly if you are considering starting a business or new venture!

Ms. Colin has crafted a gem of a story. I was riveted by the characters and wanted to more and more about them as the story went on. Ms. Colin's ability to create and define her characters is fabulous. She is a natural and I look forward to reading more from her in the future

Author Erika Colin undrapes layer after layer of the vulnerabilities of the Auburn family until their personal problems and desperate dreams become everyman's hopes and dreams-acceptance, simple happiness. Running across the emotional geography of heights, depths, and flat out lost, Broken Branches is a gripping, brisk read that anyone who ever had any kind of family life (or lack thereof) will find rewarding.

This story is about three generations of a family. It's centered around Lisette Auburn--a young woman very close to her mother and cousins. When a very close relative of hers suddenly dies tragically, a chain reaction of bad things happens within the family. Secrets, bad feelings, fears, everything comes out, whether they like it or not, and she gets caught in the middle of the family's inevitable breakdown. (This is the best description I could give without giving away too much of the story). When I started reading this book I couldn't put it down. I was immediately drawn to the characters and their problems. I find myself telling everyone about it. The story is emotional and it affects you in more ways than one. It is fresh and intriguing, and the dialogue between the characters is VERY realistic. The author even puts the supernatural into the mix, giving it an intriguing flavor.

A friend gave me this book, and I utterly enjoyed it. I genuinely loved her style of writing and highly recommend this novel. I would really love to see the author do another book on this family; to continue the story. If not that, I look forward to reading another story from her, period!

Very good book! I was able to identify all of my previous "unknown" coins in a few hours! There is a chart with international numeral systems which came in handy for identifying my Middle Eastern and Asian coins. Also useful were the Monogram,Instant Identifier, and Illustrated Guide to Eastern Mint Names. The thousands of pictures also included are useful for quick identification of most coins. One last nice thing are the sections of info about each country before the coin listings start. Anyone with an interest in numismatics should own this book!

It may not have all the coins in the world, but darn near all of them. I've looked up about 300 of them and they were all there. It gives a little history of each country. It has a front section with some tables and charts to help you figure out what language is on your mystery coin. It's about the size of a big phone book and the pages are thin, just like a phone book. They have to be, otherwize the book would be huge. I don't know if the values for the various coins are exactly right, but who cares?

In fact there is no other book of its kind, for world coin catalogue. Surely I did not expect to find accurate values for all coins, but at least there is an indication. i.e Greek coins' values are very different in the Greek market. In general, it is an excellent book for beginners. For experts no book in the world, ever, will be good enough and this book will be used just for indication. Surely there are many mistakes in this book (even in name of countries) but still this book is one of a kind.