This is one of my all time favorites!! I got into the gaming craze at an early age and quickly tired of singing burds and happy elves. This game takes a long hard look at where were headed as a society and allows you the player to take part. It has one of the more versitile character creation systems and is not hard to follow the logical progression to modify equipment! Oh, and not to forget it supports two of my favorite philosophies: 1)Knowledge is power! 2)Attitude is everything! So don't lose any cool points chumbada, buy the book!

I was stationed in Vilseck Germany with the 2nd of the 63rd Armor when I friend told me about Cyber Punk. It was almost a year before we found someone with the books, and immediatly set up a game. It was a game that I have never forgoten. It sits in my mind like the begining of Secret of Mana, forever a defining factor in my oppinions.

This game does tend to drag with its role to hit/role to dodge rules, but it is more believable then any other game I have seen or played. The setting for Cyber Punk is OURT world, with OUR history. It is science fiction. We can look at our own lives, make few changes to the timeline, and see that it IS possible. In reality, these things would never happen, but in the game, it is easier for us to adapt to this new world because it is so close to our own. Realy, what has changed? The world has met a sort of anarchy, like in Mad Max. The government is now run by Corporations. Bionics are common enough that you see people with mettle limbs on a regular basis. This world is more real then any other I have seen, and this makes more believable. Since it is more believable it becomes easier to enter your charactor and enjoy the game.

If I had to rate all the games I have played, I would put this on tope, even with its long combat and ineffectiveness with machine guns.

I am 22 year old girl from northern Europe. I have played many games. I am GM of cyberpunk and i have found it's game system exciting, flexible and open. Cyberpunk it's self is facinated me many years. In early days in my life i read only science fiction books. I definetly want courage girls play roleplays, their insight is so different than mans.

When I was becoming vegetarian in 6th grade, I read a lot of books, but none delt with it from the teenagers viewpoint. They discussed what to shop for and how to plan large elaborate meals,and lots of other things that were of no use to me at that time.

That's this books strong point. It is written clearly for teenagers, dealing with the issues they need to know about. It covers nutrition and the likes wonderfly, in a way that can be easily understood, but also deals with uniquely teenage concerns such as how to discuss this with your parents and how to deal with going out with friends, school meals, etc. In addition, it covers the basic reasons for become a vegetarian, and the different types of vegetarians there are. It's a great resource for any teenage considering vegetarianism.

This book about vegetarianism is the most informative and easy to understand book for teens and with teens imput. I enjoyed this book emensly because I'm a teen myself and after reading this book with all it's info on nutrition, how to deal with parents, friends and how it helps the world. The author does a lot to get REAL teen's opinon on why they became vegetarians. The book was so good I read it in 3 hours (my record). I would highly recommend this book to teens or adults wanting to explore the options and information on becoming a vegetarian and why you can help the world by not eating meat. I now am a vegetarian it is fun and kinda special to tell people 'yes I'm a vegetarian I don't eat meat ' read the book you'll be very interested . Happy reading and happy meatless meals.

This is a great book for teen vegetarians, or teens thinking about becoming vegetarians. This book has 13 chapters, each full of information.
1. What is a vegetarian, anyways?- This gives straight forward answers, and describes different kinds of vegetarians and why people are vegetarians.
2.For The Planet- About how being a vegetarian benifits the planet.
3. For The Animals- You guessed it, all about how being a vegetarian helps animals.
4. For Your Health- About how being veggie helps you. This part also dispels many myths not-vegetarians have about a vegetarian diet.
5.Making The Switch- About going from meat-eater to vegetarian.
6.What will your parents say?- I think this is one of the best chapters, as it gives lots of information about what parents may be thinking and how to convince them without being rebelious.
7. What will your fiends say?- Yet another concern to teens, this chapter deals with dealing with friends.
8. Sticky Situations- This is another great chapter for teens, that answers all those nagging questions. What about at friends houses? How about when I'm traveling?
9. Surviving at School- All about cafeteria blues, science class diesection, and ways to make changes in your school.
10. Some Nutrition Basics- Another great chapter. All the nutrition you need to know, written in a clear way for teens to understand.
11. Fabulous Vegetarian Foods- All about vegetarian foods to try.
12. The Makings Of A Meal- About what to include in yummy and healthy meals.
13. Some Recipies To Get You Started- I'll be honest, I haven't tried any of the recipies yet, but they sound great. They are written in a ay great for beggining cooks.
This book is written in a non-judgmental, just facts way, but after reading it you will probably want to be vegetarian, if not vegan. I love the way the author talked to real teens, and included their quotes, knowledge, and tidbits of information about being vegetarian. This book includes a good concrete basis on all information nessecary to a teenage vegetarian, and is written in a engaging, interesting, funny, and informative way. I wish I could give this book 10 stars, it is such a great reference for the teenage vegetarian.

My 32-year-old sister lent me this book to read over Christmas - our first Christmas without our mother, who died recently of cancer. I am 36, and at a crossroads in my life as I consider career options, children, etc. I found this book compelling and uplifting, despite the fact that in the beginning, I did not particularly care for the author's style. By the end, I was hooked by the message, and it's been rolling around in my mind ever since. I've enjoyed discussing it with my sister, and there are four women friends I'd like to buy it for - immediately!

This is a marvelous book. Not only is it a breeze to read, but it has made my life easier in contributing to altering my perspective on existence. I sent out a mass email to my enlightened friends, highly recommending this wonderful fable.

I have purchased a minimum of ten copies of this book and given it to friends, co-workers, patients and family members who needed to "find" something missing from their lives. "Their" review was one of true thanks, not only for the book, but for the insight of recognizing the "void" in their life and helping "them" find it, understand it and fill it with love. I just gave away my last hardcover copy and was suprised to find that it is now out of print.

If there were 6 stars, that is what I would give this book. I read the other reviews after I had written mine and oddly (or perhaps not oddly) they seemed similar. Oh well.

I was very interested in how this book would be revised to cover this quickly growing and changing subject. How do you take the overwhelming explosion of products and ideas about backpacking that have developed over the last decades and try to write about them? Well, Fletcher and Rawlins start by discussing that very subject. How do you keep 845 pages on gear and technique from being a long pedestrian trudge? I'm not sure, but somehow they combined personal experiences, wry humor and charming illustrations to do so. The book abounds with illustrations that are as beautiful as they are functional. Mostly though, they used their own unique writing styles to accomplish the task and completed a remarkable compilation of facts about backpacking gear and technique that reads like a novel. The two authors take turns writing about each subject, sometimes each idea. They seem to have similar philosophies (e.g., get out and do it, and gear is only a means to that end) yet the juxtaposing of ideas gives the book a fresh, and I think, healthy flavor. With many fine (and some not-fine) books available on the subject they still managed to write a remarkable, complete, and interesting book that is not just a rehash of what has already been said. Some of (the late) Vanna Price's familiar illustrations from the original edition again bring the subject to life. There is also some of the original text where appropriate. Hannah Hinchman's illustrations do a nice job of taking up where Vanna Price left off. More than just a "how to" book, the authors have managed to embrace "why to" appreciate the wilderness on foot. Reviewers often say things like "nothing comparable" or "Without a doubt a classic". This time it might be true.

i dragged my feet before buying this book. i thought "i've already read plenty of books about backpacking." i wasn't exactly satisfied with any of them, but i learned a little from each different title. i finally bought this book 5 days ago from the Lodgepole Ranger Station bookstore in Sequoia NP, on a crazy impulse.

OH MY GOSH. 800+ pages of the most useful, precise information i've ever read anywhere (and i've read a lot). these two guys know their stuff, and are eloquent, realistic, CLEAR, and mildly humourous when they talk about it. this is so far above & beyond the quality of other books on the subject - i'm blown away. i've been reading it nonstop for 5 days. it covers everything: shoes (from full-scale boots to trail runners to hiking sandals & tons in-between), socks, packs, tents, clothing, weather, food, cooking, stoves, lights, hats, animals... the authors have EXTENSIVE experience and it really shines through. there is an extensive listing of additional reading material on every subject they discuss, plus gear lists from various trips of their own. this is a treasure trove.

as a HUGE plus, the book is fun to read. witty, wry humour and their very honest accounts of their own dumb mistakes help readers not to feel like we're begging at the table for crumbs of their vast banquet of knowledge.

if you feel like you could stand to learn a little more about ANY aspect of backpacking, this book will totally exceed your expectations. it's THE MOST useful book i've read in a long, long time.

I first started reading Colin Fletcher at the dawn of my backpacking experience over 30 years ago so have a certain affection for the book. Of course, I would rather not carry a copy of this voluminous work in my own bag for leisure reading! The book is at its best in developing and sustaining an appreciation of the philosophical and truly basic aspects of backpacking. I think there are better works on any aspect of traveling with a pack, and certainly the various journals on outdoor traveling have some advantages over this book, but you are unlikely to find a single work as good. Where the book can come under serious question is the authors' opinions of various products -- given the rapid onset of technology and product changes, the equally rapid efforts to minimalize and downsize, and the sometimes rabid opinions of various gear-heads (for instance, I happen to really like the Stephenson Warmlite products which he trashes and I think anyone who doesn't share my opinion in every way is....). This is a rather large part of the volume. In addition, the authors tend to be a huge bit wordy as well (of course this makes it easy to skim, and they are enjoyable to read). Having said that, this is a classic work in a rapidly evolving and re-evolving field. It's good to see it again and may it be edited and re-edited and carried on long after we all hit the Geezer Trail.

Just finished reading it (little hard to find copy) and once again Colin Wilson doesn't disappoint. I'm truly amazed at the amount of research the author put in. Recommended to readers who like true crime.
There are others who have said the same thing but Wilson's perspective makes all the difference.

I had read only one book by Colin Wilson ("The Outsider", of course) when I found a paperback in a used-book store. There followed a month of fairly intense reading, because "A Criminal History of Mankind" is fascinating from beginning to end, and many sections I read over again. Wilson divides the book into three main sections: 1) The Psychology of Human Violence 2) A Criminal Outline of History 3) The Age of Mass Murder. In the first section, Wilson notes that criminal actions have been motivated by the "hierarchy of needs":food, shelter, sex, and the need for admiration. (In recent years, we have seen those who commit murder in order to gain fame.) Wilson describes what he calls the "right man", a sociopath obsessed with image and self-esteem. Most of these people are life's losers, but not all. A startling exception is the successful comic actor Peter Sellers, whose son's biography shows Sellers to have been almost criminal in his manic, morbidly obsessive nature. The second section is, by Wilson's own admission, H.G. Wells' "Outline of History" from a criminal point of view, everything from ancient Athens to Victorian London. Interestingly, Wilson writes: "This book is centrally concerned with crime; but if we ignore the creativity, we shall not only fail to understand the crime: we shall miss the whole point of human history." The third section goes into our own era, the Bundys, the DeSalvos, the Mansons. Wilson spends a full 50 blood-drenched pages on the Mafia. The book, published in 1984, touches only briefly on the disturbing increase of children who kill. Along with the horrors, there are pages of incisive philosophy: "It is true that we cannot live without an ego; a person without an ego is little more than an idiot. Another name for ego is personality, and in artists, saints, and philosophers, the personality is a most valuable tool. Neither St Francis nor Beethoven nor Plato would have achieved much impact without their personalities. But the personality is a dangerous servant, for it has a perpetual hankering to become the master. Every time we are carried away by irritation or indignation, personality has mastered us."Violence will always be with us. A casual glance at yesterday's New York Times finds the coverage of a man who threw his baby from a 15-story window while bickering with his wife. But Wilson ends his riveting book with cautious optimism: Referring to the criminal as a distortion of humanity, he writes (and quotes the German poet Novalis) that when humanity itself is aware that this is only a nightmare, we are close to awakening.

if you have ever read anything by colin wilson (certainly youve read "the outsider") then definetly read this book. The things this book can teach us about society and humanity is unparalelled in a 'simple' true crime fashion. One of our centuries greatest philosophers has an intriguing view on many things, yet quite often you will find yourself agreeing with much of what he says about us all.

I had heard of Alzheimer's on the news but never read a novel about it until The Graduation of Jake Moon. When Jake's lively and heroic grandfather Skelly is diagnosed with Alzheimer's, it changes everything, though his mother says she will try to keep his life normal. At first it seems like nothing can harm Skelly, but bit by bit Jake's life is spun around, reversing the roles of grandfather and grandson. This is a read which will make you feel for those who live with Alzheimer's patients and the utter helplessness which accompanies it.

I feel this is a very good book it is about a kid who has a very weird and lively grandfather. Then he finds out his grandfather has Alzheimer's. This Changes everything in jakes life especially because he has to live with him. Jake's mom say she will make his life as normal as everyone else's. But it just doesn't work out every time he has a friend over something weird happens and Jake doesn't play sports because he is embarrassed to take his grandfather anywhere. This book will make you want to help other with the Alzheimer's Diseases.

This book is a VERY good book because it has different things that happen. Jake Moon came to live with his grandfather when he was just a little boy. He was so in couraing and helpful. When Jake was about 8 yrs old, they found out that he had Alzheimer's.
This really changed Jake's life.Jake cannot have friends over or anything! I recomend this book for anyone all ages.

At first glance Waiting in vain looks like just another love story that it seems every body is writng these days. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. But waiting in vain is more than a simple love story of boy meets girl. It deals with multi-faceted story that deals with a variety of issues; class, homosexuality, and child abuse. Waiting in vain is essentially an novel about a group of artists, their hang-up's, confusions, passions, pains and insecurities. It's main charaters are Fire the jamaican born writer and Sylvia a succesful magazine editor. Channers writing is the true strength of Waiting in vain. He writes a lot like a painter, with broad strokes of words he paints a beautiful word picture. The novel shifts locations from the strets of brooklyn to the beaches of jamiaca with a stop in london in-betwen. Another thing i liked about Waiting in... was the fact that it dealt with issues in the west indian community. It's something you don't regularly read about in a mainstream novel. So why no five stars, well it's small nitpicky things like the fact that the main character Fire was a little too perfect. I liked the relationship between Fire and Sylvia, there should've been more interraction betwen them. Also the ending while satisfying nded a little too neat. Real life usually doesn't come together in nice neat little corners. But all in all Waiting in vain is a very good read. It's better than your average "love story" because it dealt with much more than just the love aspect of it. It's very good debut novel. Colin Channers writing is a pleasure to read and hopefully I wont be waiting in vain for his next novel

Waiting In Vain is both lyrical and magical. At first glance, Waiting In Vain appeared to be an easy romance read to help me ease into my Negril, Jamaica vacation. The poetic prose proved to be so much more. Although digestible in a couple of days, I chose to linger over the words for weeks and allow Brother Channer to paint for me an intricate portrait of love and loss and self-awakening.

Fire meets Sylvia . . . first they bump into each other, then they fall into each other, then they fall apart . . . the rest will enthrall you till the blessed end. Set in and between Jamaica, NYC, and London, Waiting In Vain will allow you to visualize each venue with incredible clarity.

Waiting In Vain has been featured in Essence and has received the highest praise from E. Lynn Harris, Diane McKinney-Whetstone, Time Out New York, New York Daily News, the Library Journal . . . and now lil ole me.

RUN, do not walk, to the nearest bookstore and purchase this book. You won't want to share your copy, so encourage your friends to GET THEIR OWN.

I began reading Waiting in Vain and could hardly stop until I had read this magnificant book from cover to cover. Channer makes the characters in the book come alive with his writing. He literally paints a picture with his words that makes one visually see the character as if they were standing in front of them. His choice of words flows like a stream. His characters were not just fictional, they had qualities that one could easily relate to no matter what thier ethnic bacground or gender maybe. Channer takes us to many different places (New York, London, Jamaica) and sets the stage for what is a romance, mystery and drama all packed in one book. He creates positive images of the characters even though they all have their flaws. Most of all his story let's one know that they must always follow their dreams be it in their personal or professional lives. Way to go Channer! Thanks for sparking the FIRE in my eyes. I can't wait for the next novel. How about a sequel?

I have read 4 or 5 other books about Flash, in the search for knowledge of how to use Actionscript, the programming language that ships with Macromedia's Flash. Colin Moock is the first writer I have found to take Actionscripting seriously.

And I mean SERIOUSLY; he doesn't treat it as some kind of mysterious and superfluous aspect of Flash that Web Designers will never have the wherewithall to cope with, as the other writers have done. He not only suggests good and well thought out general programming techniques, applicable to most programming languages, but he also picks apart every single aspect of Actionscripting. This is an awesome task; not even the documentation that ships WITH Flash is useful for a real Actionscript programmer. Indeed, it is as though Macromedia somehow didn't WANT us to use Actionscript effectively, or wanted to make money by selling some aftermarket handbook to Actionscript that they never ended up producing, their documentation is so bad.

Anyone who has delved deeply enough in any other Actionscript book has almost certainly lost hope for programming Flash. The other books I've read have been fine for the casual programmer; they touch upon the possibilities of Flash, but never have the guts to go on in and get dirty in it. Do they talk about how to organize your code to make it legible, reusable and object oriented? Do they tell you the execution order of actions when the .swf is actually RUNNING? Do they talk about creating Objects and using those objects effectively (and I don't mean graphical objects). Colin Moock's book does.

This book could singlehandedly create a wave of sharp Actionscript programmers, so that the world at large takes it seriously as a programming language that's capable of great things; not just lukewarm lead-the-mouse-to-the-cheese type computer games. And stupid Anime wanna-be intro movies that anger website customers.

One thing I wanted from the book was a delving into which aspects of Flash movies tax the processing power of the computer most, and what techniques exist to avoid them. We all know alpha-ed out graphics and moving large, intricate pictures slow things down, but I wanted to know the real nittly-gritty on which things do it and how. Admittedly, though, this would be looking a gift horse in the mouth. This book has changed me as a Flash programmer forever.

I bought this book with a vary basic understanding of ActionScript, and now I would feel comfortable doing just about anything in it. I've got my copy stuffed full of post-its for quick reference because I'm always coming back to this wonderful programming reference.

Colin Moock starts you off easy with a gentle introduction of programming, but it quickly becomes a very steep learning curve after chapter one. The non-technically literate may want to try another book first. That said, it's brilliant and a must-have for anyone that's serious about learning ActionScripting.

This book is highly technical, and after learning to code with it, I suggest you give Flash Math Creativity a look to see what cool tricks you can do with your newly aquired AS skills.

I have been going to Colin Moock's website for at least half a year or so and I was eagerly anticipating his O'reilly book!

At first blush when flipping through the book at the bookstore, I thought that it was only a reference book -- due to the small number of screenshots.

But after I spent more time reading the book, I found that all of the OTHER Flash books were giving me fluffy pictures and ActionScript: The Definitive Guide (ASDG) had the "meat"! Colin hasn't regurgitated stuff from the web/other books. He actually has well-formed opinions based in experience.

For example: I understood the concepts of layers and loadMovie's _levels. But I (mistakenly) assumed they were basically the same. Then with the advent of attachMovie with its own layers, I was confused. ASDG has a great section describing the difference and how they work (or don't work) together. Here, he created non-official classifications: Manually-created Layers (via Flash Authoring Tool), Programmically-created Stacks (via attachMovie et. al.), and LoadMovie (.swf) _levels. (Sorry I don't have the book with me...) This crystallized what the difference was and it was clear to me.

Additionally, the book has been reviewed by the actual Actionscript creators instead of being oozed out of some Flash sweatshop book.

His website has the code presented in the book like XML sockets as well as new tidbits of Flash5 information.

It is a shame that you need a book like ASDG to give you a decent ActionScript reference but I am very THANKFUL that Colin and O'Reilly gave us that reference book and much more.

If you are serious about ActionScript then pick up this book first. Then go pick up those Friend of Ed books or whatever... The funny thing is you might find out that you may not want to...

I purchased both of the How to Ace Calculus books: "How to Ace Calculus : The Streetwise Guide," and "How to Ace the Rest of Calculus: The Streetwise Guide: Including Multi-Variable Calculus."

Here in Boston, I went to several large bookstores and checked out all the "Calc Help" books. The "How to Ace" books are infinitely superior to the others. As a matter of fact, it is a whole separate species of book. The authors have an unusual ability to explain in a style that is crystal clear, and they make the subject a lot more hospitable with their wonderful sense of humor.

Most math texts are written by Ph.D. mathematicians who have absolutely no empathy or insight into the difficulties that non-math majors like myself encounter when setting out to learn subjects such as calculus. As a result, their textbooks are about as pleasant as viewing the aperture of a colostomy.

I just hope that the authors bless mankind with future titles, such as "How to Ace Differential Equations" and "How to Ace Linear Algebra." If they are so kind as to do so, I can assure you that the world will be a better place to live.

As with the preceeding book, "How to Ace Calculus..." the authors have again presented in this text something which is all too rare in the realm of undergraduate mathematics: Math for undergrads that is understandable by undergrads! I can't count the times I've had a math professor discuss something which made sense mathematically (we got the proof) but intuitively left me nowhere. Even if you understand the mathematics of a proof, it doesn't necessarily imply that you understand the concept or idea behind it. This happens a LOT in the study of statistics, that much I can attest to from personal experience.

I've discovered, due in no small part to reading both of these texts, that intuition is just as important as the actual mathematical process. I firmly believe you can't effectively learn the latter without a good helping of the former. This book does not fail the student of calculus in this respect, not by any measure. Intuition is presented, albeit with humorous examples, in a way that just about anyone can grasp. This alone makes it worth the cheap price.

Because of this book I was able to genuienly take in and understand the material of my calculus III (multivariable & vector calc) class. I've gained a tremendous amount of self confidence when it comes to math. What I used to fear I now embrace learning and eagerly study like any other subject of interest. This book, indeed both in the series, will above all else help liberate you from fearing mathematics. You will see, even if it has to be through some humor, that math is nothing to be afraid of and can be understood just as easily as any other subject in college. All you need is the desire to learn and a clear exposition of the material. Wanting to learn is up to you, but this book can and does provide the rest.

No book is a replacement for an instructor and a "raw" classroom text with rigerous exposition and gross detail. This text and it's authors explicitly state this is not their purpose. Instead they provide a much needed bridge between the depth of a typical classroom text, and the needs of the typical student to have the processes and ideas presented in a manner they can actually relate to. Once that gap is bridged, you can actually learn something form your regular classroom text and instructor.

Do yourself an immense favor and purchase this book. Even if you only use it once or twice you will certainly get our money's worth.

This book has been excellent! I'm using it for my Calculus class on series and vectors and it has great little tables and concise sections that make learning much more simple. I bring my book to class and pretty much know exactly what the teacher is going to cover that day and what kind of examples he will use. so hahai seem smart when i know the answers. but it is a good book very simple and easy to use.
I really must recommend it as I was hesitant at first to buy the book myself but it is really so much easier to read then the big nasty plain math texts teachers hand out...

I have read this Cambridge edition of Sir Steven Runciman's great three-volume "History of the Crusades". I can only say that the narrative is excelent, and that in my opinion it is difficult to find another book that describes so well, and in both detailed and concise ways, the two centuries of history of the Frankish states in Syria. The first volume comprises the whole first Crusade, from its origins to the establishment of the four Latin states: the Principality of Antioch, the counties of Edessa and Tripoli, and the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The second volume tells the history of those princedoms for almost a century, including the fall of Edessa, until the great defeat of the first Kingdom of Jerusalem, that for a long time had been an established Christian power in Palestine, extending well beyond the Jordan river. The third volume speaks of the last century of Outremer, reduced only to coast defenses, no longer powerful, and always in peril, until the fall of (St. John of) Accre in 1291. Two centuries where the main characters are the Frankish and Norman lords of the first Crusade, the Eastern Roman emperors of Constantinople (especially Alexius, John and Manuel Comnenus) and the now weak though organized Byzantine armies, the Counts of Edessa and Tripoli, the Princes of Antioch, the Kings of the Jerusalem (especially until the end of the first and mighty Kingdom), the pious Christian crusaders and the evil adventurers, the great and wise Saladin, Richard the Lionheart and the men of the Third Crusade, the shamefull venetians and Frenchmen who pillaged Constantinople in the so-called "Fourth Crusade", the fighting monks of the three great military orders (Temple, Hospital and Teutonic Knights), the Palestine-born barons who kept what remained of the Christian Holy Land, the Nestorian Mongols, the native Christians of Syrian or Greek stock, the Arab neighbours, the Armenian princedom in Asia Minor, the Moslem Turks and other related stocks, the cruel Egyptian Mameluks. It is a history of great achievements, brave and pious actions, great and doomed expeditions, treasons, cruelty (on both sides), great honour (Saladin is a good exemple), terrible defeats, a sudden resurrection, religious tolerance and also intolerance, etc. In summary, these three volumes include a wide range of developments, always seen from an independent and critical standpoint. Two hundred years of the history of a whole world that once existed and now is forever gone. Today its only remants are those Arab-speaking eastern Christians who due to the Crusader's activities turned to obbey the Roman Church, some Latin churches and castles, and the remembrances (brought again to life by this work) of one of mankind's greatest adventures.

This book, often published as three volumes is the definitive history of the crusades. It is at once a tremendously entertaining and gripping story, and an academically accurate account that stimulates one to further enquiry. His account is so alive it is as if one was reading events unfolding in a newspaper day by day and the destruction of Constantinople was only yesterday.

Runciman tells the story of the West's response to the fall of Jerusalem to the Arabs, and their unexpected success in reconquering it. Throughout the story the Christian west, the Byzantine Empire, and the Arab world are painted with all their good and bad points.

No one comes out of this story without fault, but Runciman points out that there was a tremendous invigoration of western civilization through its contact with the Byzantine and Arab world. The short lived Kingdom of Jerusalem became in a way an experiment in East-West civilization that ultimately was destroyed by the arrival of later crusaders whose enthusiasm for attacking the Arabs (with whom the earlier crusaders had learned to live in relative peace) was not matched by their numbers or competence. Runciman notes that Arab distrust of the West had its roots in this time.

A great introduction to Byzantine, Arabic, or Latin history. See also the work of JJ Norwich on Byzantium and the Normans in Sicily

Runciman gives a comprehensive, panoramic account of the Crusades, from the unlikely success of the First Crusade to the final, inevitable defeat of the Crusading movement. He analyzes the reasons for the success and the causes of the ultimate failure of the Crusades, and therein lies a lesson for modern times.

Runciman speaks of the many causes of initial victory and ultimate defeat, and catalogs the grievous injuries to all concerned resulting from the Crusades. His analysis is sobering, and some of it is not inapplicable to the current state of affairs in the Middle East. The Crusader States were looked on by the native Moslems as interlopers to be driven into the sea. That final victory was achieved, but at what cost? Given the fiat accompli of the First Crusade, and the centuries of existence of the Crusader States, couldn't they have achieved a modus vivendi which, if not completely satisfactory to either side, at least allowed the parties to live in harmony without doing further mischief to each other. If all sides of the current conflict in the Middle East would read this book, it might expedite the peace process.