There will not be a better collected edition of these plays in English translation. For both casual readers and scholars unable to read Ibsen in the original Norwegian, Rolf Fjelde's translation and supplementary materials make this volume unbeatable.

Fjelde presents Ibsen's major prose plays (which leaves out, of course, beauties like "Peer Gynt" but includes "A Doll House," "Ghosts," "An Enemy of the People," and "Hedda Gabler," among others) in fresh new translations, often altering standard misuses. He explains, for example, that traditional renderings of "Et dukkehjem" as "A Doll's House" warp its real meaning, which is simply "A Doll House." Pedantic as it may appear, this care is necessary, and evident throughout.

Even better are the almost 100 pages of extras: detailed introductions to each play, as well as minutely researched production histories. Who knew, for example, that "Ghosts" premiered not in Denmark or Norway but...Chicago, in 1882? The production notes and introduction to the volume tell a story we don't often hear about Ibsen, a tale of difficulties in Scandinavia, followed by years of exile and, ultimately, international acclaim. Reading the plays, which seem to have become more and more specifically Norwegian in setting and theme while Ibsen himself became more and more cosmopolitan, conjures memories of another exile who only ever wrote about home: James Joyce, not coincidentally one of Ibsen's greatest admirers.

For the price, you can't do better for English translations of these pieces--many of which can't be found elsewhere--whether you're a scholar in need of the historical context Fjelde obligingly provides, or simply interested in plowing through some of the foundations of 20th century and contemporary drama.

These twelve plays, written in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Ibsen himself often referred to as a cycle. Each is complete in itself, but regarded together, they form a remarkable artistic achievement.

The earlier works in the cycle achieved notoriety because of their themes, which were considered daring in those days. Nowadays, we can view these works with a greater objectivity. It is clear that Ibsen was still developing what was then a relatively new form - the realistic prose drama; and there are elements - e.g. the attempted blackmail and intercepted letter in "A Doll's House" - where we may still see remnants of the older type of melodrama from which Ibsen was attempting to break out. But they are very fine plays nonetheless, dealing with the individual's relationship with the wider society. Ibsen always remained aware of the extent to which human characters are moulded by the society they inhabit, but from "Rosmersholm" onwards, he focussed more on the characters' inner lives. He also found ways of saying more with less: his later plays are so concentrated, that not a word, not a gesture, is irrelevant.

Instead of re-using old myths, like Wagner or Joyce in their fields, Ibsen creates myths of his own: the white horses of Rosmersholm, for example, or the Master Builder who had defied God, but who dares not climb as high as he builds. A powerful poetic imagination is apparent in these plays, filling them with images of unforgettable intensity. The last play, "When We Dead Awaken", appears in part to forsake the realistic drama that Ibsen had so painstakingly developed, and return to the world of those earlier poetic masterpieces, "Brand" and "Peer Gynt".

"Hedda Gabler", "The Master Builder", "Little Eyolf", "John Gabriel Borkman" - these late plays are worthy to stand alongside the tragic masterpieces of Shakespeare or the Greeks. But a Nordic chill runs through them.

There are distinguished translations by, amongst others, Michael Meyer (Methuen), Una Ellis-Fermor and Peter Watts (Penguin), and here, usefully collected in one volume, by Rolf Fjelde. They all bring out different aspects of these works, and they are all eminently readable. (Having seen many of these translations in various performances, they also work well on stage.) Until I learn Norwegian to read these works in the original, these translations will have pride of place on my shelves.

In answer to reviewer "Patricia", there are 5 companion videos to "How To Paint Portraits From Photographs" available. They total nearly 10 hours on 5 VHS cassettes in NTSC, PAL, or SECAM formats. For details, send an email request to the author at kaolink@msn.com

The author also gives free painting advise. He welcomes "help" questions from budding portrait painters and professionals alike.

Happy painting!

This artist's instructions are the best that I have seen. I just started painting in 1993 and one of my passions is portrait painting. I did not know how to start and when I found this book in my local library I immediately purchased it. The artist takes you step by step with very detailed pictures. I only wish I could purchase his videos; however, I have been unable to find a source from which to purchase them. I would like to see more books from Mr. Du Toit!

I visited Londolozi in 1997. I ordered and received the book almost a year after I returned home. It captured everything I remember from the animals and the landscape to the wonderful people themselves. I am able to pick up the book, now 2 years later, and still get the same feeling.

After visiting Londolozi and purchasing this book there, it was wonderful to learn about the background and evolution of this very unique game reserve from the founding family. This book is a must for those planning a trip to the "bush" as well as for those fortunates that have been to Londolozi or anywhere to share space with the magnificent animals of the transvaal.

I found a little bit of myself in the neurotic, obsessive boy, Lillelord!

Take a look; you will be surprised at what you discover...

can't add anything to written above, but You have to read the whole trilogy(lillelord,Dark Streams((?),not sure,title translation might be wrong-I read it in Russian version,and same could apply to the third book-Now There's No Escape(?)),to get the whole picture.

This is an exceptionally important book. Johan Galtung (b. 1930) graduated from The University of Oslo, and soon after started PRIO -the peace research insitute of Oslo, the first such research institution in the world. Since then he has been travelling the world, writing more than 50 books and 1000 articles, and doing groundbreaking work within peace research. He has also been professor at numerous of universities around the world.

In this book Galtung shows his talent for conceptual innovation and introduces the student of peace research to some basic aspects of this discipline. Galtung is conceptually creative and challenges the reader's perspecetive. He introduces such concepts as structural violence, cultural violence and the idea of studying "deep culture". He explores different economies, and political ideologies such as Reagenism. He outlines his approach: diagnosis- prognosis-therapy.

The book is empowering because it gives the reader many concepts and knowledge. A writer can, however, always be criticized, and Galtung is no exception. I do for instance miss some more references and empirical evidence in his treatment of Reagenism, and I think his outlines of different cosmologies in somewhat superficial. He critical to the American's manichean world view, where the Soviet Union was labeled as "evil" and the States as good. Occassionally however, Galtung seems to do something very similar, when he creates an enemy picture of USA.

Still, this book is written by a visionary and creative thinker. Peace by Peaceful Means integrates knowledge from different fields. Most of all, it can make you think! Read it, be inspired, think, and make up your own opinions!

It's the main theoretical play of the first athor in peace theory. If you are a new reader surely need begin with "Theoretical researches" (same author) to get the basic concepts: 'Direct' and 'structural' violence. In this play it is developed a third and definitive 'cultural' violence for a complete theoretical frame (suitable for making a work on this matter). All is clearly explanated.

"Perl Pocket Reference" has the dense information content of "Perl in a nutshell" with extra readability and decreased size. However, in it's subject matter it more closely resembles "programming perl" (aka: camel), because it only covers the language itself. I own all three of these books, and even when they are all within arms reach, I still use this pocket reference more than the other two books, for two reasons:

1)As a beginner (in Perl), many of my questions can be answered with a small book such as "Perl Pocket Reference".
2)I don't have to sift through a lot of extraneous information to get answers quickly.

This pocket reference is no substitute for the Camel, (or for a more complete reference such as "Perl in a nutshell") but it's a great solution for
-finding succinct answers quickly
-reminding yourself of the basics of some feature that you don't use much
-serving as a beginner's reference, or
-bringing to an open-book exam. ;-)

Buy this book if you have another perl book and you want to get answers more efficiently.

If you are not one of the great Perl Wizards that know the syntax for every commands by heart, you should by this very handy book. This booklet is a reference book. Do not expect to learn Perl from scratch with this booklet (although I learned a lot of details :-). If you do not know Perl I recommend "Learning Perl" first.

The 4th edition of "Perl Pocket Reference" has been enhanced to cover Perl 5.8. It adds some small enhancements for the new IO libraries, regular expressions and Unicode handling. The basics are still as good as in the 3rd edition (although a bit more cleaned up).

I love this book because it is without any useless overhead. The information density is very high so make sure that you read this book slowly.

This book covers "only" the Perl language (which is quite big compared to e.g. "C") It does not cover your favourite Perl module (e.g. DBI, LWP and so on). There are almost no examples in this book. If you look for examples I recommend e.g. "Perl Cookbook" from O'Reilly.

I really like this book. What it tries to do, it does very well (small reference book of the Perl language). I have it always on my desk at work and I already gave away more than 20 copies (German and English versions) to my coworkers.

This was an interesting introduction to Australian prehistory. I'd not come across a similar general text on the subject before this one, although I've read some of the data as passing references in other books on prehistory. Some of the discussion on the flint technology was a little slow-going because the differences in technique, stone sources, and styles among the various periods and regions were less apparent and less engrossing to me than they obviously are to the authors. In other respects the book is an excellant starting point for anyone with an interest in Austrilia or in prehistoric culture in general.

This book is written by two scientists who have played important roles in the rapidly developing subject of Australian prehistory. It is not simply a revision of the 1971 book - the picture archaeologists have of the prehistory of Australia has transformed in the past 30 years, and this book captures that exciting transformation. The archaeology of aboriginal occupancy of Australia is also a politically charged subject and the authors manage the difficult task of presenting this story with sensitivity. I think that the book is a fine example of how to present a mass of scientific evidence by weaving it into an engaging and moving story. The authors presentation of human response to the shifting Pleistocene and Holocene palaeoenvironment in Australia is excellent. The references are thorough and well organised and a useful glossary of archaeological, geological and biological terms is appended. The book concludes with three chapters on aboriginal rock art. Finally, the book is well formatted and easy on the eye. First rate - highly recommended to all literate Australians (given the wide ignorance of this important subject in our country) and to anyone with an interest in prehistory. I can't recommend it highly enough!

Mardy Murie is often referred to as "The Grandmother of American Conservation" and "The Grand Dame of the American Conservation movement, but somehow after reading her story, these titles barely seem adequate to describe such an incredible and personal woman. While we may liken Murie to women like Rachel Carson or Anna Botsford Comstock, Murie's journey is singular. We follow her from her childhood in Wyoming to graduation at the University of Alaska, through love, into the far reaches of the Alaskan North.
Murie successfully bridges the personal and the political, her own life and her life's work, her love for one man and her love for their work together. You will laugh with her, you will cry with her, feel scared for her, and come to love her. She will become your hero.
We must recognize Murie as an American treasure, but we must also recognize that Murie's inspiration is perhaps more important now than it ever was. The most obvious reason for this statement is the continuing struggle to preserve the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from growing oil interests. We must also recognize, however, that Murie could be the inspiration for the young generation of leaders in conservation-- a group of leaders that undoubtedly must include women. That there are very so few women leaders in conservation has caused the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women to recognize the struggle of women in their efforts to achieve leadership positions in the conservation movement. Other organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund, the Sierra Club, and the National Wildlife Federation have launched campaigns to attract more women into leadership roles. The lack of women in environmental leadership reflects America's view of rugged individualism in our collective imagination...nowhere has this myth been more prominent than in the discussion of America's last frontier-- a very personal discussion for Ms. Murie.
Not only is Margaret E. Murie a woman in the conservation movement, but she is an American treasure with a very personal and very political story to tell. Even as she approaches her 101st birthday in August, she continues to speak out for Alaska's lands, peoples, and wildlife. Her story is not one of fame, comfort, or glory, but it is her American story. Mardy Murie will become your hero, your inspiration and your friend. Take the journey with her.

I, first, heard of Mardy Murie and her husband, Olaus, while watching John Denver's The Wildlife Concert. He wrote A Song For All Lovers for their deep and abiding love for each other and for the state of Alaska. The song's beauty gave rise to my curiousity. And, recently, while watching a documentary of Mardy's life, I became determined to read this book about her life.

This book is a must have. Mrs. Murie paints with words, a picture so vivid of Alaska's tundras and plains, that I felt as if I were part of it. The lifestyle was hard, but satisfying, and this woman's life was nothing short of fascinating. Mardy Murie is a living testament to the strength and beauty of women, and she leaves a shining example of what a woman can do. In her assistance in Olaus' work for the ANWR and other Alaskan Land Conservancies, to her carrying on of that work, she is a beacon to us all of what we can do.

Buy it...read it. You will fall in love with Alaska and with Mardy.

I can highly recommend this book if you are interested, how things really work on the Web. It explains all the basics that are still - after 6 years - fundamental to most static and dynamic Web sites. The examples are very useful in the daily business of a Web master. Only a few books on this topic present really helpful information in a compact and easy to read way - this book does!

Many thanks to Christian and Johan :-)

It presents all and only the information needed to start a web site. It gives reader a transparent view on how web works, no added complication or subtracted information. Has elegant examples in Perl, covering most of the basic needs in web development, from form handling to log file analysis, even have a working example of shopping cart. Gives a concise descriptions of HTTP and HTML. I read the book from cover to cover over a weekend, while have practically no prior knowledge on CGI or Perl, and get a jump start on both. It seems that every word in the book is useful and helpful. It's bit "old" now, but still gives one a solid understanding of how web works. An excellent technical book.

Up to my experience as an RF engineer,I feel that book offers compact techniques that may help the RF engineers and the researchers to hit the target in designing analog circuits without much effort. The book presents an impressive design approach to get a low noise power amplifier.The easy language the easy mathematics, and the figures of illustrations make the book very useful for the engineers and technicians.

Dr.Al Bassyouni, PhD Senior RF Engineer