I've received the book yesterday. It is not the first related to Fountain Pens that I see, but this one is really nice. It is not written as the others but as a review of the history and the kind of pens. I've read almost a half of it last night!

I work in the US for a Swiss company. Switzerland is unique in Europe and it's hard to figure out why. This book does a very good job of explaining the origins and dynamics of modern Switzerland. I should add that this is not a travel book, rather an examination of Swiss politics, history and culture. For a another, more irreverent, condensed but also insightful book on the Swiss, read the "The Xenophobe's Guide to Switzerland"

This work, first published more than a quarter-century ago and twice revised, most recently in 1996, succeeds because the national Swiss characteristics which it explores are essentially timeless and unchanging. While tracing the begrudging and belated enfranchisement of women and the gradual integration of Roman Catholic and Jewish minorities who once were isolated, the author conveys the underlying tensions beneath a remarkably successful experiment in coexistence. As one who lived and worked in Switzerland for more than eight years, and whose own memoir, Living Among The Swiss, was published in January 1999, I can attest that Mr. Steinberg's generalizations ring true to my own experience and observations, and that they are supported by a myriad of political and sociological details that one would normally expect to learn only from a highly educated native. The prose, though scholarly, is highly readable, and evidences deep thought and mature reflection.

This turned out to be an utterly fascinating book, and it explained quite a bit about Swiss behavior and culture. While I of course can't vouch for everything in the book, I've tested a lot of it by observation and questioning the natives, and it seems consistent with reality.

Switzerland turns out to have a number of unique characteristics that aren't obvious to the outsider. For example, the government consists of an extraordinarily complex nested set of committees with a rotating presidency. The author makes the case that virtually all Swiss institutions, including government at all levels, the church and major corporations, are strongly influenced by an 800-year tradition of committee organization. In spite of having the most stable government in Europe (which my Swiss co-workers do not dispute), Switzerland has one of the most malleable constitutions in the world (which my co-workers do dispute).

I'm personally fascinated by language issues, so I read ahead to that chapter before finishing the lengthy chapter on politics. Again, Switzerland is unique in its treatment of dialects, which have very different social implications and practices in the French, German, Italian, and Romansh areas. According to the author, the urban Swiss Germans gave serious consideration to aligning themselves with 'greater Germany' in the 19th century. This obviously did not take place, and one of the unique results is that the local versions of Schwyzer Tüütsch (choose your spelling depending upon the valley you're in) are universally spoken without significant class variations. In other words, this chapter explains why the Italian Swiss are more likely to be comfortable in standard Italian, and the French Swiss are more comfortable in standard French, than the Swiss Germans are speaking standard German. As any outsider who speaks German is painfully aware, the Swiss Germans read and write standard German (Hochdeutsch), but generally prefer not to speak it.

Swiss seem more willing to discuss politics than religion, but the chapter on religion was enlightening. After all, Switzerland was at the heart of the reformation, with Zwingli in Züri and Calvin in Geneva. Again, the Swiss are unique among European countries in their treatment of religion and the extraordinary compromises they have made to allow the peaceful co-existence of roman catholicism and protestantism.

The Swiss military is, unsurprisingly at this point, another unique institution. Virtually the entire male population is expected to belong to the reserves for most of their working years, and they keep their weapons and ammunition in their homes. It was only recently that 52 year olds were no longer required to serve a short annual duty. I've found that the military intrudes regularly when you are working with the Swiss, so besides being interesting, the chapter on the Army is helpful in becoming more aware of some of the workplace dynamics.

How can a country with 4 different official languages have and maintain a common culture? What do the different regions have in common? Quite a bit, actually. Anyone who deals with the Swiss on a regular basis or spends over a week here would find this book a helpful start on building an understanding of Swiss institutions and culture. This would also be an excellent book for students doing cultural area studies of Europe or Switzerland. It is a good read, and anyone interested in contemporary Europe would enjoy it and find it educational.

Anyone who enjoys the beauty and mechanics of fine fountain pens will enjoy this volume. The book contains dozens of beautifully photographed pens, most from 1900-1940, a golden age for fountain pens. The intricately engraved and filigreed metals and hand-painted plastics are well presented, with brief descriptions of each pen. Most of the pens are beyond the budget of anyone but the most serious collector, but their allure is captured well.

The emphasis on collecting rare pens limits its scope and appeal: Interesting (but less valuable) pens of the post-World War II period are largely ignored. However, this is one of the few book s on pens, and the beautiful merging of form, function, and fanciful embellishment is evident on every page. There is a brief history of fountain pens, focusing mainly on mechanical advances. Some of this description is too dense, and the inclusion of diagrams from the period is interesting but not very instructive for the non-collector. Includes names of dealers (and even fountain pen clubs), a guide to what is repairable in a used pen, and histories of pen manufacturers. Recommended especially for collectors, and generally for people interested in how design and craft can elevate the aesthetics of an everyday object.

I have been collected fountain pens for 7 years, and I always would like to find some books which can improve my knowledge and skill of collecting. This book is compendious, but contains every basic concepts that a pen collector must have. It is usuful and beautiful. Some firends of mine want to buy this book, but it is out of stock for a while. I hope it can back to stock soon.

Small hardback book contains some description of fountain pens made by some companies. I was surprised that Conway Stewart pens were left out. Personally, I believe that Conway Stewart pens were very important in fountain pen history. It is a good book for amateurs collecting fountain pens, but not so great for people with more knowledge in the field. Warmly recommend.

This book is fun to look at and I hope you love pens.

This is a book written by a guy without a college education and no real experience in the financial industry. He was unusually lucky during the bull years of the 90's picking stocks on paper - and I should emphasize "on paper" because his one venture into money management ended disastrously. Since the market crash, his media "empire", along with the investments his company made, have been completely wiped out.

If you want to take investment advice from a notable failure, be my guest. Be aware that whoever wrote the editorial review probably got paid handsomely to write it.

Midas Investing tells the average investor how to prosper in the market. It tells how to use strategies like insider trading, earnings, momentum and updates to beat the market averages. For beginning investors a must read book