This is another boonie dog book review from Wolfie and Kansas. "Just Mutts: A Tribute to the Rogues of Dogdom" by Steve Smith and Gene Hill remedies a serious gap in the genre of coffee table dog books. As Mark Derr noted in "Dog's Best Friend", we mutts and boonie dogs are far superior to cognitively impaired, hip-displaced show dogs. At last some noncanine animals of primate derivation have produced a coffee table book featuring us rather than some AKC-recognized breed.

There are many highlights in "Just Mutts". We liked the picture on the left side of page 48, which looks like Kansas, and the narrative description of a trip to the vet, which reminded us of Wolfie's last trip to the chamber or horrors and needles. Our only complaint is that, despite the subtitle, "Just Mutts" seems to feature trainable pets, rather than true rogues and boonie dogs.

Pirates, naval warfare, ship wrecks and sunken treasure...this book has it all !

While archeology (even the marine variety) can be a dry subject, Roger C. Smith does an excellent and workmanlike job of extensively documenting the maritime history of the Cayman Islands.

As the son, grandson and nephew of a long line of Cayman Island mariners (my ancestors were among the first permanent settlers) I found the documentation of many of the stories told by my elders to be fascinating.

Today the Islands are best known as a tourist destination and a major player in the world of off-shore banking.

This was not always the case. In the distant through relatively recent past the Cayman Islands were a significant supplier of manpower to the regional and even the world maritime industry.

Mr. Smith documents the maritime evolution of the Cayman Islands with extensive research in the Islands and Europe.

Coupling the research with detailed field work and an ability to write in an informative and entertaning fashion results in a GREAT READ.

I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in maritime history, pirates, treasure or the Cayman Islands.

This book is great if you appreciate both the little guys along with the superstars that make baseball such a beloved game. Not only does it have some recent developments in baseball, but also bookmarks key happenings from the past that have evolved the game. A very readable book for the baseball lover.

Ive heard bad things about some of the previous E:FC books but this one was the first I decided read. I must say it was very well done. The premise was very Season 1' ish for those of you dislike subsequent seasons of the show. Although Boone is absent in this one the story features Auger and Da'an heavily and Dr. Bellman makes a cameo as well which was a nice touch. I dont want to get into the details too heavily but Ill say that this would make a great episode of E:FC and leave it at that. There were a couple of inconsistancies but nothing important. Overall an excellent read and E:FC fans will enjoy it. I hope Heritage is half as good.

I know zilch about the series Earth: Final Conflict, but I immensely enjoyed this book. It isn't at all confusing, and there's a lot of suspense, action, and fun. The main character, Cecilia, is a middle-aged teacher in Los Angeles. Her serene life is shattered to pieces when she receives an ominous summons to speak with a Taelon official (the Taelons are a race of highly advanced aliens who are quietly taking over Earth). Cecilia runs, seeking shelter from a resistance group to which one of her former students belongs. Cecilia doesn't like the Taelons, but when the rebels ask her to assassinate the Taelon leader Zo'or, she refuses--only to be locked up. Hours later she's sprung by Augur, a member of *another* resistance group, and they go on the run together. The plot quickly blossoms into complexity, with mysterious attacks, would-be assassins, sinister plots, and teenage hackers. This book is a romping adventure anyone can enjoy, and which I highly recommend. Buy it, read it, and then go check out some of Sherwood Smith's other books.

The best one yet, and it has all the main characters in it, though the real main character is a teacher, not Augur. It's funny, lots of action, and I especially loved Da'an. Fans like me will see lots of references to eps, but I think it could be read by anyone.

If I had to say anything negative I would only say that there aren't as many details about Augur's past as I'd hoped, but I couldn't put it down. I pulled an allnighter reading it.

Definitely recommended.

Gene Smith's Lee And Grant was a well-written documentation of the lives of these Civil War generals. The way the book was set up kept it interesting and almost fun to read. The format was such that consecutive chapters paralleled each man's life. For instance the first chapter pertained to Lee's father and his childhood while the second chapter was about Grant's Father and childhood. One warning I have to potential readers: this is a great book for those interested in the Civil War and these two men. If one doesn't have any interest in the topic, then this book is not for them. There aren't and underlying driving plots or surprises that make the book suspenseful. This is a historical piece highlighting two great men in our country's history. It's a great book for those who want to read specifically about these two men, not for a reader just looking for a book to read.

I enjoyed this book very much. The contrast between Grant (who led a hard scrabble life, even resorting to selling firewood by the side of the road to make a living) and Lee (perhaps the greatest man of the South) and Grant's triumph was a great story. You get a great introduction to the Civil War, even though there is a focus on the Virginia campaign because this is a biography of these two men, not an overall history of the Civil War. Highly recommended.

I was enthralled by the unique view that this book afforded. I have read many histories of the Civil War from many perspectives. This is the first time that I was introduced to these two pivotal historical figures from the human side. The juxtaposition of each of them to the other was very helpful to put the time and sequences of the war into perspective and give true scale to all that happened.

Of the varioius guides we used to plan our trip to Paris, this guide was absolutely the most useful for prioritizing what to see. In includes several very good self-paced walking tours with sites marked along the way and self-paced tours to the major museums of Paris, with lots of interesting historical notes.

While this book is extremely helpful in deciding what to see in Paris, it is much less useful in determining where to stay and where to eat. The eating/sleeping areas of the book are limited and focus on three neighborhoods, leaving out many other good options.

In addition to taking this book to Paris, I recommend the Michelin Green guide. While Rick Steve's book gives a lot of information about a relatively small number of Paris sites and is very helpful in organizing your trip, the Green Guide contains encyclopedic information about every neighborhood in the Paris area, but provides little insight into organizing and prioritizing for your trip, so these two books complement each other well.

Additionally, Michelin Map #16, which is a pocket-sized spiral bound map book makes up for the vague maps in Rick Steve's book.

I have used both the 1999 and 2000 editions of this excellent guide, and can only say that it is the best of the lot, closely followed by the Lonely Planet and DK Eyewitness guides.

What makes Steves' guides so useful is that he addresses himself to Americans who are not used to foreign travel with the principal goal of eliminating their fear by helping to get their feet wet. To this end, his guides are more PRESCRIPTIVE than DESCRIPTIVE.

For a good DESCRIPTIVE guide, I would turn to another guide such as Lonely Planet or Rough Guide, supplemented, perhaps, by Rachel Kaplan's excellent "Little-Known Museums In and Around Paris."

A PRESCRIPTIVE guide like this will urge that you avoid the Madeleine, Opera Garnier, and Pantheon because they aren't worth it -- and don't bother with the Bastille, because it was torn down over 200 years ago. Steves concentrates on accommodations and restaurants in only three parts of Paris: Rue Cler (near the Eiffel Tower), the Marais, and the Rue Mouffetard area. That saves perhaps a hundred pages and makes the book more compact and easy to carry during a trip.

One of the strong points of the book is the merging of material from Steves' useful "Mona Winks" art guide into his Paris book. "Mona Winks" shows how you can visit the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay, the Cluny Museum (highly recommended), and Versailles without killing yourself. For the Louvre, as an example, he concentrates how you can devote your attention to parts of the Sully and Denon wings and see the key works in about 2-3 hours. (Okay, if you're a purist, don't flame me: You and I would, of course, devote more time -- but that's not the issue here.)

For the most complete info on Paris, I would suggest you supplement Steves with two fantastic Internet resources: the postings on the rec.travel.europe newsgroup (especially by JACK), and the website of the RATP (which runs the Metro and buses in Paris) at http://www.ratp.fr

...and I've read quite a few of them. This seems to be the best for the "common-man" trip to Paris. The information is very practical, honest and concise. Rick knows what is possible and worthwhile in Paris, and clearly sets it forth here. Rick is not trying to cram every last detail into a guide, but rather includes the more significant sites as well as the "back doors" he's well-known for finding. In addition, this guide is so readable, it reads more like a (sometimes tongue-in-cheek) travel narrative than ordinary travel guides (that often read like history texts!)

Included are some great tips on how to avoid lines and crowds as best you can, great opening times and days of all sites; logical, detailed walking tours; and hints on where clean and convenient restrooms are! What more do you need? While the others (Fodors, Frommers) focus on what is the best regardless of cost, Rick uncovers some gems that others may never find on their own, and lets us know that they are good and less expensive while helping us logically "attack" Paris as a tourist! This book is WELL worth the money!

If you are visiting Paris to go to museums, this is the book for you... otherwise, look elsewhere. There is very little information for travelers who just like to explore this wonderful city, i.e. neighborhood flavors, interesting shopping areas, and great restaurants.

I have now used this book on two trips to Paris including one I returned from last week (yes still using the 2002 version since I was spending most my time in Reims). The weather was remarkably good and I'll think of returning again this time of year since the city is not flooded with tourists. Rick makes alot of very good points - like be aware that even in February the line into the Orsay can be very long on Tuesdays since the Louvre is closed that day.

This is a very good general information book and it works well as a sole guide. If you have it and a good map (I got a very good and thin one from Amazon.com which I don't recall the name of) and you are pretty well set. Take a Green Michelin guide if you must for the museums as the info here is very general although good - especially for the Orsay and Versaille. I for one are puzzled over the comments from the one reviewer that the book was a museum guide Forget Rick's suggestion that traveller's checks are preferable to ATM's. ATM's are the way to go for sure since you have no transaction fees (I just got back and used them in several different cities in France and not once was I charged any fees), the exchange rate was very favorable, and you don't have to carry around traveler's checks.

Rick's hotel suggestions, at least in the Rue Cler area (which is an excellent place to stay) are dated in the 2002 version. He condemns the Hotel du Cadron as being overpriced yet it was the same rate as other hotels he recommends and the rooms were actually nicer in the Cadron. It is also on a quieter street. Just watch out for the elevator which was spotty in its performace. My feeling is that many of Rick's recommendations are based on his personal relationships with some of the recommendees which may or may not carry over to you.

All in all this is the best overall book I have looked at for Paris and I have and have seen many.

I used to live in Paris but I find I still need a guide book to get the most out of a visit there. I'm lucky enough to be going on a long visit to Paris this summer and I wouldn't think of taking along any guidebook other than Rick Steves'.

Rick Steves' guidebooks are always up-to-date and he writes in the friendly, down to earth manner that characterizes his extremely popular television program.

I found this book to be as great as all the other Rick Steves books I've been lucky enough to use. In it, Rick tells us the best places to eat and sleep. Not the most expensive; anyone could do that. Rick goes one step further and details the places that have the most charm and character, the places where we'll get the most for our money, the places that will help to make our visit one we'll remember fondly for the rest of our life.

Rick talks about the places no one should miss, but he also talks about the places almost everyone would miss...if they didn't have this book. I love discovering new, little, out-of-the-way shops, cafes and museums and Rick is the best there is when it comes to detailing places like this. I admit, I am an incurable shopaholic, and, in this book, Rick tells us the very best places to shop in Paris, one of the shopping capitals of the world.

I usually prefer to wander around a city or the countryside on my own, sans tour guide. In a huge city like Paris, one could easily get lost if he or she weren't armed with this book. One of the most invaluable and charming sections of the book, at least for me, details self-guided walking tours of Paris. Included are historic sections, the Champs-Elysees, the Marais district, the rue Cler and Montmartre, a favorite of mine.

Rick loves museums, like I do, and he certainly gives us our fill in this book. In it you'll find detailed information regarding the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay, the Orangerie (my favorite), the Rodin, the Cluny and even Napoleon's Tomb and Les Invalides.

Sometimes we need to get away, even from a wonderful city like Paris. Rick has included a wealth of day trips one can easily make from Paris. Not only does he give us invaluable information regarding our destination, he also provides a wealth of great tips on getting there. Some of the day trips I'll be taking, with the help of this book, are to Versailles, Chartres (my first time there) and the place I have dreamed of visiting all my life, Monet's chateau and garden at Giverny.

I wouldn't travel anywhere in Europe without one of Rick Steves' informative and fun books, and I'm a continental European who's already done a lot of traveling. I've also missed a lot I wish I had seen. That won't happen anymore with the help of Rick Steves and his wonderful guidebooks.

If you're planning a trip to Paris, like I am, please don't go without this book. No matter how many times you've been to Paris before, and no matter how well you think you know the city, Rick can show you something new.

Rick Steves' guidebooks are the only guidebooks you'll ever need. They are certainly the very best. In my opinion, no one knows the "ins and outs" of traveling in Europe like Rick Steves.

The strange thing about reading history books written before one was born (in this case 1964) is that that biases are all different. This book laments the collapse of the League of Nations and Woodrow Wilson. Ten years later, no one would dare write about American intervention in the world stage in quite so laudatory tones. Issues that bother modern historians such as the unconstitutional incarceration of Eugene Debs, race riots, Wilson's racism including anti-German hysteria, the Imperialism of the other League Nations as well as the anti-sedition laws get swept under the rug.

Despite the bias, this is an amazingly personal look at a man who tried to sell a great plan to the United States only to be disappointed by Congress and the American people. It discusses his illness, his lack of willingness to compromise, his ineffectiveness as a leader. It also goes into great details about his wife's role in keeping the administration afloat, although it portrays her as a vindictive shrew. There's some interesting information about his daughters (true to WASP fasion, one of his daughters tried on several strange religions before taking off to India and dying of dysentry in the 40s).

While some of the material is lacking (see first paragraph) and while the enemies of America's involvement in the League are portrayed in a rather sinister fashion, this is still an excellent read and introduction to the post-WWI history.

this is a facinating period of history and the story of a man who was very disillusioned at the end of his life. Due to the stroke wilson did not understand what was actually happening to him. it is hard not to weep for him and not to feel admiration for his widow. a very personal piece of world history that was not explained in my college studies. i knew about his stroke and the bitterness he felt, but this book helped me to experience how it felt.

I picked this book up for $1, and would recommend it at thirty times that amount to anyone who loves history or biography. I was vaguely aware of Wilson's life and work, but after reading this book I feel as if I knew the man personally. Well-done, mostly fair, very human -- I cried more than once.

Ghost stories, in spite of their association with tales of terror (almost any scary tale told around a campfire is referred to as a "ghost story"), have lost much of their luster in the days since Poe and LeFanu. With the occasional exception of a work like Shirley Jackson's The Haunting or Stephen King's The Shining , few modern ghost and haunting stories are scary, and even fewer, frankly, are good. Peter Crowther, in his latest anthology, Taps and Sighs , has assembled a host of top-notch authors to reinvent the ghost story, and for the most part, he has succeeded.

Most of the authors in this anthology recognize that ghosts aren't that frightening in this day and age, so instead of an anthology of half-rate horror, this is actually a mixture of subtle horror and mythic fiction. Richard Christian Matheson and Michael Marshall Smith set the tone with the opening tales. Matheson's "City of Dreams" is a tale of horror, not because anything nasty happens to the protagonist, but because the best of intentions lead to true tragedy. And Smith's "Charms" is a touching (but not sentimental) tale of urban fantasy that could fit well among Charles de Lint's Newford tales.

Speaking of de Lint, he provides one of the two most pleasant surprises in the collection, as his "The Words that Remain," a twist on a classic urban legend, not only is sweet, but is a rare Newford tale that doesn't require the reader to be familiar with ten years of backstory. Setting the tale outside of Newford, and getting rid of the alternating first and third-person narration that had bogged down so many previous Newford tales has led to the most enjoyable de Lint story in ages.

The other surprise is Ray Garton's "The Homeless Couple," quite possibly the best piece of fiction Garton has ever written. Like de Lint, Garton's ending is utterly predictable, but the road he takes in getting there, and the parallel tragic lives of the protagonist (who morphs, over the course of 20 pages, from an unsympathetic archetype into a truly sympathetic hero). Garton, normally one of the best at telling novels of terror, makes a wonderful shift this time.

The actual tales of terror in this collection are no less impressive. The always-amazing Graham Joyce, in "Candia," provides his own nasty little tale of folks trapped in their own personal hells. Ian McDonald and Mark Morris take the same twist in two different, but equally horrific, directions. And Terry Lamsley's "His Very Own Spatchen" is a fun little tribute to the classic DC House of Mystery comics.

The cream of the horror crop is Gene Wolfe's "The Walking Sticks," a tale that presents as untrustworthy a narrator as in any Edgar Allan Poe tale. Wolfe's tale nicely mixes personal madness with ancient hauntings. Like Garton's story, expect to find this one reprinted in any number of "Year's Best" collections next year.

There are a few stumbling blocks. The McDonald and Morris stories, given their similarities, really should have been placed far apart, not next to each other. Ramsey Campbell's "Return Journey" is almost deliberately bad (the only horror being the reading experience itself), and Poppy Z. Brite's "Nailed," although completely readable, simply fails to break any new ground (a bit of a disappointment from such a consistently groundbreaking author). Still, Crowther (who contributes a very nice story with Tracy Knight) has assembled some great authors, and Taps and Sighs , added to his earlier Touch Wood and Dante's Disciples , establishes Crowther as one of today's top editors.

In Douglas E. Winter's introduction, he qoutes a poem about the sounds a ghost makes...tappin and sighing, hence the title. Like nearly all anthologies their are some good stories, some bad stories, some horrible stories and, gratefully, some top of the line stories. This collection is about 25% of each. The bad and horrible stories, however are outweighed by the good and great ones.

I found that I championed the more Twilight Zone/trick ending stories over the more experimental ones. An example of this is Thomas F. Monteleone's contribution, "The Prisoner's Tale, versus Graham Joyce's "Candia". Monteleone excellently delivers a straight ahead tale of one prisoner's chance at freedom. Joyce just delivers a confusing nonlateral tale of deja vu.

Poppy Z. Brite shows why she is a favorite among the horror sect in "Nailed". A revenge tale with some voodoo thrown in is precise and perfectly laid out and ended. In Ramsey Campbell's "Return Journey", we get a time travelling train that is convuluted and unclear.

Graham Masterton gives us a look at what happens to the past if you dare forget it in the terrific, "Spirits of the Age". ; scary as well as thought-provoking is Ray Garton's "The Homeless Couple" where a man who ignores cries for help from people in need in turns needs help. Ed Gorman's "Ghosts" is a tale of caution about reprucussions.

All in all a recommended collection of differring takes on ghost mythology.

I would not buy this book because the Monitor fought a Confederate Ironclad called the C.S.S. Virginia. The Virginia was built upon the salvaged hull of a union ship called the Merrimack (with a "k"). There was another ship built by the union, called the Merrimac (without a "k") but it was a paddle wheel boat and it never fought the Monitor.

This is a very well-put-togther, informative book about the ironside USS Monitor and its Confederate counterpart, the CSS Virginia. The title of the book was obviously off-putting to one reader, since it referred to the Merrimac (the name of the Virginia before it was re-fitted and re-christened by the Confederacy), but don't let that stop you!. This book delves into a fascinating part of American military history. The battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac changed the course of naval history, and had repercussions all over the world. This book is a great introduction into that period in history.
For those who are still concerned about the use of Merrimac as opposed to Virginia: 1) the US gov't never formally recognized the Confederacy as a sovereign state, therefore the Confederacy would have had no authority to re-christen the ship (ergo, the original designation of Merrimac is, in fact, correct); 2) even during the Civil War, in both the North and the South, the name Merrimac was still widely used to describe the ship -- and remains the more widely recognized and acceptable of the two.

The story of these two ironclads is one of the most famous incidents in naval history. As stated in the Ken Burns Civil War Series, "for a moment, every other navy in the world stood obsolete." This book is very effective in chronicling the story of these ironclads, and should be viewed as such, instead of focusing on petty details.