Howard is a great historian and he manages to boil the First World War down to 135 pages. This is an informative work for those who do not have the time to invest in a more detailed book.
It breaks down the war into an introduction, and the years of the war, plus the results of the war. If one is looking for specific information about battles, then this is not the book for the reader.
As Howard relates in his introduction, there is still a lot of controversy about some aspects of the war. Howard relates the most popular versions, but the reader can still chose to second guess. This is good starter book for those interested in the First World War.

This book is a quite good very brief introduction to World War I. All aspects are covered, though concetration is on military events viewed from a high strategic level. Thus, only about a page is spent on the Battle of the Marne and surrounding events, but the reader is made aware of the basic movements and their importance. And, in one paragraph, the author conveys a better feel for the ebb and flow on the eastern front in 1914 than usually happens in more detailed histories. One is never going to lose sight of the forest for the trees in this book! There are spare but useful maps, some photographs, and a table of casualty figures. There are a few misprints, and some awkward syntax on occasion. Also, from a style viewpoint, I felt the author overused the phrase "as we have seen". But those are minor quibbles about an overall excellent book.

The book is small and very short. That means it cannot discuss things in details, and thus one cannot expect to be an expert by reading it.

The book does explain most of the major events, all very briefly, all very well.

The word "ordinary" can be used quite frequently to describe certain aspects of Michael Knight's stories in GOODNIGHT, NOBODY --- ordinary people leading ordinary lives, doing ordinary things. The stories in this collection aren't wrought with thick drama that seeps through the pages and there are no wild turns of events here. These stories are quiet and unassuming yet, even so, have a richness permeating through them that makes the entire book somewhat powerful.

The collection is a tapestry, with different topics and different kinds of people. In "Birdland," a subtle romance, an ornithologist tracks the migration habits of African parrots --- and is lured to the town's resident carver. In "Blackout" there are two couples, a downed power line, a dead neighbor, some miscommunication and night vision goggles. In "Killing Stonewall Jackson," Confederate soldiers contemplate the man who sent them to the battle. From India to Alabama, Knight serves up characters who have bad luck from time to time but do their best to roll with the punches, to believe in love and family and to trust that everything will turn out okay (sometimes less than okay) in the end.

At the beginning of one of the better stories in the collection, "Feeling Lucky," Knight writes "Midnight, and Bruce Little was hunched against a pay phone under the awning of the Saint John Divine Hotel, shivering with cold and dialing collect to Mississippi." It's an ordinary scene and an ordinary sentence, but he brings that scene into immediate focus and our burgeoning thoughts of Bruce Little quickly into view. He spins stories out of such scenes and characters like Bruce Little, run-of-the-mill people who lead run-of-the-mill lives yet, nonetheless, have a story to tell.

These toned-down and mellow characters, however, may not captivate readers who want something more out of their stories --- something snappy and sizzling that a T.C. Boyle or a Thom Jones might produce. This is not what readers will find when they open Knight's book. The plots turn slowly, the words fall on the page like whispers and the tone is subdued. Instead of, say, a carnival, Knight's stories are nights by the hearth with a blanket thrown over and scratchy jazz records playing on the turntable nearby. Carnivals are fine, but so are quiet nights.

--- Reviewed by Jonathan Shipley

Knight combines wonderful characters and incredibly tight plotting in these compelling tales. The stories are sprinkled with moments of sadness, hope, and grace. This is an author to be enjoyed and studied.

I loved Knight's previous collection, Dogfight, and I'd run across a couple of these stories in Esquire and GQ, but reading all his new stories together made it clear that he's one of the masters of the form. "Birdland" blows me away everytime I read it and "Killing Stonewall Jackson" rises to the level of myth that only Barry Hannah can reach. I don't know how Knight pulls them off, but he does--with heart, humor and fire. If short stories are your thing, this book is a must have.

A Wizard's Dozan contained some interesting stories that were thought provoking, touching, or sweet. But some of the stories were a little imature and silly. Over all, however, the majority of the stories were satisfying and the book makes a good purchase, if only for the splendid illistrations and cover.

I'm not a big fantasy buff. Those series' are way too hard to follow, but I usually read short stories. When I picked this one up at the library, I liked the cover, and I had read a lot of other books by authors who had written stories for it. So I though ' Why not?'. I have to say that my favorite story was ' The Sixty-Two Curses of Caliph Arreenschaad. All the stories were fantastic and I kept reading because they were all different and unique. I'm planning on reading 'A Nightmare's Dozen' and 'A Starfarer's Dozen' as well!

"A Wizard's Dozen" was an excellent book of fairy-tail like stories, but they were more or less like a tangled web, much more complicated and exciting than "Cinderella" or "Aladdin". Each story had a sort of lesson to teach, explained inside of the story. All the stories told tales of fantastic beings or places, or of lessons taught to others by spirits. I highly reccommend this book to anyone with a good knowledge for fantasy.

As much as I hate to bring down that 5-star rating, I simply couldn't ignore the apostrophe abuse that didn't get edited out of the first several stories. Even a major pet peeve like that, however, could not keep me from thoroughly enjoying Michael Mallory's tales of Amelia Watson's adventures. Each story can stand on its own merits quite well, but they are especially effective collected into one volume. Having read only a few recent MIMM publications, I was pleased to be able to go back and start from the beginning, and I look forward to Vol. 2 with a great deal of anticipation.

Attention Sherlockians! The soul of Arthur Conan Doyle lives in the brain of author Michael Mallory. There are many takes on Sir Conan Doyle's characters, some more skilled and intriguing than others (such as The Seven-Per-Cent Solution or the Wilder/Diamond film The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes). The Mrs. Watson mysteries presented regularly in each issue of Murderous Intent Mystery Magazine rank at the very top of the Sherlock subgenre.

Reading the stories in a package like this is sheer, undiluted, hedonistic pleasure. Taken together in a bunch, the pieces form an episodic whole, much like those that comprise the original tales about the master-sleuth Holmes himself. Amelia's aventures are impressive. She is a woman very much of her Victorian time. She retains her femininity utterly, yet has a strong and well-formed individuality. These admirable traits enable her to pair with Holmes as well as her own dear Watson, showing the men a thing or two about ultra-intelligent forensic deduction. More tolerant and more compassionate than Holmes, Mrs. Watson is equally strong-minded and relentless in pursuing justice. Brava Amelia.

Even those faithful MIMM subscribers who have closely followed the dering-do of Dr. Watson's second wife will want to buy the current collection. The stories do bear reading a second time, and even a third, revealing more of their inner life and breadth on each go-round. This little volume is thoroughly pleasing and it's time Mrs. Watson's work was made known beyond the MIMM inner circle. Here's a holiday present that will last--Sherlockian short mysteries so authentic you'll breathe the very fog of London and startle to the baying of the Baskervillelike hound. By Jove, Mallory, you've done it now.--G. Miki Hayden

This book is worth finding. Not a name you're going to hear thrown around a coffee house, but definately worth discovering and sharing. Collins short stories are rich, dynamic and interesting. One is handed a photograph of words in which the people of Ireland, and their culture, are placed in facinating situations. Not may know of this work, so be one of the few who do.

Michael Collins' stories are not for the faint of heart, nor for the simple of mind. They are emotionally complex without being stylistically opaque. He finds good compromises between writerly and readerly concerns, between brutality and deftness, between sensitivity and senselessness. A wonderful collection from a fine writer whose work should receive the attention here in the U.S. that it has abroad.

There's much to give away about this book, but it is hard to get the plot straight once you've finished. Although the prose itself is quite straightforward and not experimental, the first-person narration seems to jump from the conscious to the under- or sub-conscious. It tells the myth of the Golem, an artificial creature created in the XVI century by Rabbi Loew in the ghetto of Prague to protect the Jewish community from destruction and injustice, but the myth is told from a very original perspective. Athanasius Pernath is a jeweler and restorator with faint memories of his past, who lives in the ghetto and experiences a series of strange (very strange) adventures involving crime, romance, estranged relationships and contact with the Golem himself. The most wonderful thing about this book is the atmosphere, the dark, tense environment and the beautiful depictions of Prague and its different neighborhoods, especially the ghetto.

The characters are all strange and enticing, but the plot is superbe, difficult and mysterious. It is a fascinating book even if could not be considered strictly a literary masterpiece. It is gloomy, spooky and enigmatic, indeed very gothic, and lovers of literature with strange, mystical situations will enjoy it.

The legend of the "Golem" had its origin in Jewish folklore and mysticism, and its reading ranges from a methaphysical interpretation to a child's tale. From the first perspective the Golem is seen as a mystical attempt to experience "imitato dei," God's power of creation and the transcendental nature of the ritual; on a more legendary perspective the Golem is seen as a man-like creature who was created by rabbi Loew from Prague, to protect the ghetto community from persecution and injustice. In Meyrink's novel, the Golem is used as a symbolic device, in an exploration of the problem of identity.

Considered a masterpiece of fantasy and expressionism, Meyrink's "The Golem" is an oneiric novel with a strong religious gothic tone, a mirror of Meyrink's intellectual pursuit and involvement in occultist movements. The main character and narrator, Athanasius Pernath drifts in a state of hypnagogia, his memory blocked from the past, desperately in search of his own identity -- "Who am I?" In his quest, the Golem will take Athanasius into an inner journey, in a shift from consciousness to unconsciousness. Meyrink also introduces the mystic and cabbalist concept of the "secret of intercalation" (Ibbur), a combination of God's determinative and guiding hand and of man's freedom of choice and responsibility.

It is a novel with a phantasmagorial plot and visionary settings, where characters are drifted by a reality outside their understanding. Some readers might find the journey altogether weird, abstract and surrealist. However, the magic of Meyrink resides exactly in an artistic vision which embodies infinite interpretations. His own words best illustrates his own perspective of life: "when men arise from their beds, they think they have shaken off sleep and they know not that they have fallen victim to their senses and are in the grip of a much deeper sleep than the one they have just left."

I spent last several days comparing Mitchell's and Pemberton's translation to the German original for a project I'm working on and I strongly recommend Mitchell's version. Pemberton's is quite inaccurate and contains many errors which dull the impact of Meyrink's prose. There is not enough space here for a detailed comparison but as an example just try to figure out the layout of Pernath's and Savioli's apartments (that iron door!) based on Pemberton's translation: "if one unlatched the iron door to the basement - quite easy from above - it was possible, through my room, to reach the staircase..." In fact the door is quite easy to unlatch not from above but from the other side (that is, inside Savioli's studio) and then it is possible to reach the staircase by walking a corridor along (or past) Pernath's room, not through it.

This is your standard garden-variety academic treatment of Heidegger, alright so far as it goes, but rather dry reading. One interesting feature is its short 4-page Glossary of Heidegger's German terminology. It also has an index in which one notes the total absence of any mention of Buddhism, Mahayana, Zen, or the 'Tao Te Ching' (a text which Heidegger worked on), despite the fact that Heidegger's thought quite often reminds one of the great Taoist and Buddhist thinkers.

Anyone new to Heidegger who is looking for a good Introductory survey of the man and his thought would do much better to take a look at George Steiner's 'Martin Heidegger.' In contrast to Inwood, Steiner writes with real passion and leaves one with a desire to know more about this amazing thinker. In fact, Steiner's book is so good that you'll probably want to read it again. I was left wishing it had been two or three times longer.

This your standard garden-variety academic treatment of Heidegger, alright so far as it goes, but rather dry reading. One interesting feature is its short 4-page Glossary of Heidegger's German terminology. It also has an index in which one notes the total absence of any mention of Buddhism, Mahayana, Zen, or the 'Tao Te Ching' (a text which Heidegger worked on), despite the fact that Heidegger's thought quite often reminds one of the great Taoist and Buddhist thinkers.

Anyone new to Heidegger who is looking for a good Introductory survey of the man and his thought would do much better to take a look at George Steiner's 'Martin Heidegger.' In contrast to Inwood, Steiner writes with real passion and leaves one with a desire to know more about this amazing thinker. In fact, Steiner's book is so good that you'll probably want to read it again. I was left wishing it had been two or three times longer.

This is the best short introduction to Heidegger's philosophy. The appendix covers a small dictionary on some of Heidegger's terms, which is very helpful for readers.

The editor seems to have been more interested in collecting authors than collecting good short stories. The quality varies from fast-paced action to the long-winded writing style of Melville's "Billy Budd" which can put a reader to sleep. Both the title and the cover are misleading as not all the stories are about men o'war. Some stories are original to the collection, and some have been previously published. A few are extracted episodes from longer books, and can leave the reader adrift, having walked in on the middle of a longer story not knowing either the setting or the cast of characters.

The stories are in chronological order, and the collection should have ended with the next-to-last story which concerns the Battle of Navarino in 1827, the last major sea battle between sailing ships. The last story does not belong in the collection (being about a steam powered ram on the Mississippi River during the American Civil War). The editor would have done better including one of the Dr. Dogbody short stories.

From the late 18th century to the American Civil War this book covers the glory days of sea going warfare and adventures. Rare treats from old favorites and stories from some of the greatest authors of Maritime adventures make this book a must read for all lovers of historically based maritime fiction. The book also provides a handy guide to the authors' other books at the end to provide the reader who just couldn't get enough of the action the information to continue following the exploits of some of the characters. These storys are some of the best short stories I have had the pleasure of reading. Mr. Ashley has truly chosen some jems for publication in this book.

This terrific collection of short stories is a nautical gem. Each short story is alive with thundering cannon, snapping sails, crackling sea battles, splintered mizzenmasts and foaming waves. Each adventure is rich with characters and packed with unique information about life in the age of sail. A few lofty stories in this massive anthology rise above the others, Hornblower in a curious and dangerous adventure with stranded French sailors, Drinkwater coming to the rescue and with an introduction by the grand master himself, Alexander Kent. A worthy assembly of tales for those that follow the wake of adventure on the high seas. Check it out.

New Traditions In Terror is a new and ambitious horror fiction anthology. Why ambitious? Because the whole of the book is comprised of stories dealing with subject matter already much overdone: we're talking vampires, werewolves, vengeful spirits, ghouls, demons, and evil people here. A risky proposition indeed, as nowadays I dread reading vampire or werewolf stories for knowing that while the characters may change, the basic storyline is one that I've read hundreds of times before. That in itself would be acceptable, if not compounded by the fact that I usually also will have gotten absolutely nothing out of the story by its conclusion: no emotion, no involvement with any of the characters, not even the consolation of knowing that while nothing new may have been brought to the table, at least I'd had the pleasure of reading a gripping, page-turning story.

And so, New Traditions In Terror delivers sixteen stories and one poem, by authors the readers of Horror-Wood may not be familiar with. Seventeen fresh voices accepting the daunting challenge of writing tales containing characters that are increasingly looked down upon in the field as being passé.

For the most part, the authors vindicate themselves extremely well. While admittedly, few stories really do break any new ground (a story concerning a cyber werewolf is a notable exception), as a whole the stories are well-written, and do manage to sweep the reader up and carry them along for a short, but enjoyable ride. Many evoke a well-defined and appropriate atmosphere, almost tangible, as well as creating developed characters that I came to care about, hoping they would come to a good - or deceivingly bad - end. On at least one occasion I compared a story (favorably) to some classics I fondly remember from my decades of reading.

A few stories in this collection deserve mention. "Afraid Of The Water", by Robynn Clairday, does such a good job of evoking concrete images in her tale, that it brought back some very unpleasant memories of my own fear of water as a young child. "Monster", by Peter N. Dudar, is a great example of a tale that can build suspense and keep a reader on edge through merely hinting at the horror, rather than through any blatant or graphic depiction of it. A wonderful example of "less is more." The ending has a wonderful, Lovecraftian/Cthulhu feel to it. Lastly, there is "Kiowa Wells", by R. A. Cox. The highlight of the book, Cox's tale takes an old idea (vengeful Indian spirit), and weaves it into an enthralling classic. Heavily atmospheric, well-developed and written, perfect pacing, ever-increasing chills. I predict a deserved, enduring popularity for this one.

The only aspect of the book that I feel doesn't work is one story, only because it reads more like a "The Shadow"-type detective tale, with a monster casually thrown in at the end because one was needed, than as a horror story. It's a good tale, mind you, but definitely feels out of place with respect to the rest of the collection.

That said, New Traditions In Terror is a fine read, and a welcome addition to a horror fiction library. A collection of well-crafted and entertaining tales, from 17 talented writers from whom I hope we'll be fortunate enough to hear from again. It's encouraging to know that the future of horror fiction is in such capable hands.

Bill Purcell has collected many satisfying stories (about creatures thought to be passe or no longer frightening) in this book. Vampires, werewolves and ghosts are nothing new. But the stories in NTIT are not your granddad's WEIRD TALES stories. The authors of these stories get inside the monster and look out at the world. They do mre than go boo. Why do vampires drink blood? Would a werewolf even want to stop killing people?

Personal favorites: "Cargo" by Sean Logan, "Kiowa Wells" by R. A. Cox, "The Last Wolf" by Lester Thees and "Dogs" by Michael Beai.

If you are a fan of the old monsters, buy this book. If you are a fan of current horror, buy this book. If you are a fan of both, I envy you. (Oh, and buy this book.)

Usually when I pick up a themed anthology, I'm disappointed that all the stories seem the same. This book contains a good variety, loosly based around the theme of "traditional" monsters. The differant stories, and the unique writing styles, kept me entertained throughout the book. As I said above, some of the stories scared me, some just grossed me out, but all in all, I thought this was a great collection. My hat's off to the people who put this one together.

This book had been so built up by other people who had read it that I expected more. The writing is uneven and the first two thirds of the book seem to have almost no relation to the last third.
The first two thirds of the book gave a few interesting details of life in Russia just before the Revolution, but other than that I foundit very uninteresting. It is not until alomst the end of the book that the element of cocaine is even introduced and when it is the book quickly winds to its unsurprising end.

Having already been a fan of Dostoevsky & Tolstoy, it was Charles Bukowski who pointed me back to the Russians as being the only producers of literature that's worth reading. "A Novel with Cocaine" is a fine example of a novel that has something worthwhile on its pages.

Might we say that it's existentialist in it thinking? The individual caught in a universe that really doesn't give a damn about the individual... and the individual's struggle to find something to do, and a place to fit.

Camus and Sartre are puny little runts compared to Ageyev! Ageyev gives us the moment-to-moment REAL stuff that actually matters. One character goes up in front of his high school math classs to work out a problem... he sneezes and boogers are hanging out of his face while the class laughs. How does he deal with this?

Ageyev keeps his work as something regular folks can identify with. Not all of his situations deal with boogers (or things just as gross), but they're all common enough to keep a reader's interest without drawing the reader into pompous brain-teasers that few of us can access.

Conversely, Camus and Sartre take us into a high-minded realm which is interesting, but when will I ever have to think about whether or not to kill a wheelchair-bound guy because he doesn't have the nerve to do it himself? How many of our lives are impacted by such decisions?

Ageyev is much more interesting. He's a great writer. He's got a great sense of humor and he's FIRMLY rooted in common existence.

Though the book is titled "A Novel with Cocaine," sure there's a great deal about the main characters travels through the underworld of drugs and drug people and the activities between them. But, I think that this is more of a way for the writer to access his more interesting ideas--as opposed to writing a book that's really about cocaine.

Losing his "nasal virginity" in an adventure into the wonders and horrors of cocaine addiction, the central character finds his answer to insecurity and social ineptitude in a potent white powder as his peer in The Overcoat seeks the same comfort in a dark, tattered garment.

If the pseudonym doesn't give it away, this anonymous author provides another dim glance into nineteenth century St. Petersberg that seems a brushstroke within the same portrait alongside those by Gogol and Dostoevsky. Imagine the Underground Man not tormenting his maid, but out in the streets snorting cocaine, searching for a female companion.

Novel with Cocaine is not essential reading, but it is another worthwhile glimpse at the literary products of desperate and dark nineteenth century St. Petersberg. Glorification of drug use is a problem in the late twentieth century. Novel with Cocaine will force you to think again with grave reluctance that neither McInerney nor Ellis have been able to posit in the minds of their readers.