An anonymous review of Almost Unseen in Frogpond (Journal of the Haiku Society of America), 2001, Volume XXIV, Number 1, p. 78.

A major collection of the haiku of one of our most significant poets. You'll find all the poems you expect here, and some less expected as well.

A review of Almost Unseen by Robert Spiess in Modern Haiku, Fall 2000, Vol. XXXI, No. 3, pp. 102-103.

George Swede of Canada is a worldwide household name for persons who are involved with haiku. . . . A "you can't go wrong with this one" book.

A review of Almost Unseen by Caroline Gourlay in Blithe Spirit: Journal of the British Haiku Society, December 2000, Volume 10, No. 4, pp. 54-55.

Of the better known haiku poets. George Swede is probably the one whose haiku are most instantly recognisable. He has made the study of human behaviour his own territory, exploring its complexities and contradictions with subtlety and sensitivity in some truly memorable poems. . . . George Swede is never dull. Why is he so compelling and entertaining? Partly, no doubt, because his haiku tell us about ourselves (and we're all interested in how we tick) but mainly because he does it with a skill that gets to the heart of the matter without superfluous words.

Global Haiku contains 325 haiku by 25 English-speaking poets. The goal of the editors has been to select the 25 most noteworthy poets concerning quality and quantity. The result is a volume that presents a great variety of high-quality haiku by some of the most notable haiku-poets. The only drawback is that few poets are represented with more than 10 or 15 haiku, which is slightly at odds with the fact that quantity of work is one of the criteria for the poets selected.

Global Haiku begins with an excellent introductory chapter, "Towards a definition of the English haiku", where George Swede methodically goes through eight different criteria in order to encompass the English haiku and, finally, he boils it all down to five very sensible rules for haiku poets. Towards the end of the volume there is an equally interesting and very readable "History of the English haiku". After that follow brief biographies of the 25 poets.

At the current price, "Global Haiku" makes a very good buy. Personally, I also value the somewhat odd format, 11 * 21 * 1 cm, which makes it easy to pocket when commuting.