This is probably the finest historical novel that I've read. I admit that I like this type of novel. And I admit that I am a little familiar with the Scottish history of the period. But, even without those advantages, I found the book to be outstanding.

The author brought the characters to vivid life--both the good guys and the bad guys. He provided a realistic description of the ways of life in Scotland around 1300. And the story line was fast paced, humorous and exciting throughout the book.

For fans of all things Scottish - or anyone else who enjoys a fast-paced, richly textured story - this is a must have book!

This book is rich in true Scottish history, political turmoil, intrigue, and fierce patriotism. It is told with an impeccable command of language that is both poetic and concise. But above all, it's an epic story of a love that transcends class, age and all boundaries and conventions. William Thomson's protagonist and his heroine are not the shallow, breathless characters that populate most historical novels. They are complex, deep people whose passion and devotion for one another will no doubt inspire the envy, admiration and compassion of readers. Elizabeth and Robert deserve a place in literary history among unforgettable lovers like Romeo and Juliet and Nick and Daisy. I'm a true romantic at heart and look forward to what surely begs a sequel!

In Data Analysis Methods in Physical Oceanography, Emery and Thomson have drawn together a broad range of information on data analysis methods in a single volume. It is an excellent book for the experienced researcher as well as upper level undergraduates and graduate students. It could either serve as a textbook or as a reference handbook. The focus of the book is on application of methods and not just theoretical description. The material is presented in the same fashion that data is approached, from collection to analysis. Particularly useful is that each chapter provides background for the topics presented; setting a context for understanding the material.

The first chapter reviews the basics of statistical sampling and how various oceanographic data elements are collected. It describes in detail the various methods used for collection and their inherent strengths and weakness. The second chapter moves from collecting the data to processing and data presentation; including calibration, interpolation and a variety of presentation formats. The third chapter presents the standard statistical methods and procedures for error handling. The last two chapters cover the range of methods used for spatial and time series analysis of data. This includes not only long established methods but more recent methodologies, such as wavelet transforms, as well.

A bibliography and set of appendices complement the text, making the book an all encompassing reference work. The authors have created an extensive bibliography that enables readers to follow up with more specific readings. The appendices include units in physical oceanography, a glossary of statistical terms, statistical tables, and non-uniform numbers.

We have no similar books in Physical Oceanography. It puts together the description of many useful techniques (including the modern ones) and it also considers pratical aspects of data collection and analysis. The text is easy to follow. The figures are very clear. Useful references are cited. Other geophysical areas can also benefit from it. Do I need to say something else !

Not only for the young economist, I would consider this is an essential guide for those preparing economic papers to submit to academic presses. Thomson's style is warm, clear and engaging, and his advice sound. Anyone who has ever gotten a headache working through the notation of a working economic theory paper will be tempted to buy the author a copy of this book. Highly recommended.

This excellent book contains many humorous annecdotes, which ease the reading of a semi-technical book. Any academic student looking to write a paper can read this and gain helpful tips to make their paper a sucess. Again, this section of the book is for anyone, and is understandable to the non-economist, although examples are sometimes economically related. The second part of the book focuses on giving talks, and how to get your messsage across in the best way possible. Again, this is for any one looking to enhance their abilities to give a talk in front of people. William gives advice as how to better your communication skills and how to talk to large audiences. The third part of his book, writing referee reports, is more catered to the economist, or the types of people who need to write referee reports. Aagin, he gives helpful tips in a humorous fasion, making it an enjoyable read. If you are looking to enhance your abilities to write papers,(any high school, college, or graduate student), give talk, or write referee reports, this is an excellent source to turn to.

Being an EMT and working with Law Enforcment and a licence plate enthusists, this book provide me with the ability to look up a plate to help out the local PD and also the fun of reading threw the book for my own personal intrest. It provides infrormation for Emergency Service Personel, the begining licence plate collector and the experenced. It provides you with the addresses of state DMVs where you can write to request sample plates. I would recomend this book for anyone with an intrest in licence plates. Also, no police department should be with out this book, espically one that is a big tourist city and gets alot of out of state cars and plates!

Too often local history is limited history: it is so concerned with the details of a particular time and place its fails to contextualise, to analysis, to grasp the bigger picture. Good local historians ought to "see the world in a grain of sand", as William Blake would have it. The Little General and the Rousay Crofter is my history book of the moment because it suceeds wonderfully in linking the local with capital 'H' History. Okay, I'm basis - I come from Orkney and am interested in the place. But I am sure that folk with no Orkney connection would find the story of the debt-ridden General with an empire career behind him and his struggle with the crofters and Free Kirk Minister on the Orkney island of Rousay compelling. Thomson never falls back on stereotypes of the bad landlord exploiting poor crofters, but instead picks through the evidence with great care. The result is a detailed and (I think) gripping study of the break-down of old bonds of patronage between the land-owning class and crofters, of the complex allegiances and tensions across a whole community this breakdown suddenly throws into sharp relief, of the politicisation of ordinary people such as the remarkable James Leonard, leader of the crofters. And there are one or two remarkable twists in the tale. Highly recommended, and I've never met William Thomson.

I borrowed this book from a fellow Language Arts teacher and was happy to find fun poems, sample essays, activities, and notes on the play itself.

It was at the Nubble Light on one of those soul-searching weekends when I realized my girlfriend (also my best friend) was "the one." Several months later, as a surprise to her, we flew to New England so that I could propose to her at the Nubble Lighthouse. We found this book as a reminder of the new beginning we would have together. This book captures the history of the Cape Neddick Lighthouse in a wonderful (yet small) "coffee table book" style, with great pictures and fascinating stories about the lighthouse keepers and their lives -- in a fashion that makes the reader feel as though these people are friends. Always itching to return to Cape Neddick to re-create our bit of family history there, we can always pick up this book (always within the sight and reach of our house guests) and feel like we are right back at the Nubble Light. Based on one of the most photographed lighthouses in the country, this book is a must-have for anyone who enjoys the history, beauty and mystery of the lighthouse.

I have been teaching Introduction to Engineering Vibration for many years. I find that this book is the best and difficult to be replaced with other books. I used other books as second references but I keep the Thomson's book as the main reference. Problems at the end of each chapter and answers to the selected problems available at the end of the book also help students to learn easier.

"Much Ado About Nothing" is a beautifully made, performed, and directed film by the incomparable Kenneth Branaugh. This film includes an all-star cast that give wonderful performances and draw you into the lives of the characters. The plot is somewhat complicated, so I'll give a general version. The film is basically about love, misunderstanding, scandal, revenge, virtue, and bravery. That's a lot for one film, but believe me, it's all in there!

Kenneth Branaugh, Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington, Keanu Reeves, and Michael Keaton give excellent performances in this film that you wouldn't want to miss. Although the film is a period piece and the Shakespearean language is used, you will have no difficulty understanding it perfectly.

The scenery and landscape in this film are exquisite as well. I never thought there could be such a beautiful, untouched place like that on earth. I would suggest watching the film just for the beautiful landscape, but it's the performances and the story that you should really pay attention to.

Anyone who loves Shakespeare would absolutely love this film! Anyone who loves Kenneth Branaugh and what he has done for Shakespeare in the past 10 or 15 years will appreciate this film as well! There isn't one bad thing I can say about this film. Definitely watch it, you won't be disappointed!!!

One of the problems with Shakespeare's comedies, an English professor once told me, is that they are not funny. Now, this is not to say that Shakespeare was a bad comedy writer, or that this professor had no sense of humour. In fact, quite the opposite--he had turned his sense of humour and love of humour into an academic career in pursuit of humour.

What he meant by the comment was, humour is most often a culture-specific thing. It is of a time, place, people, and situation--there is very little by way of universal humour in any language construction. Perhaps a pie in the face (or some variant thereof) does have some degree of cross-cultural appeal, but even that has less universality than we would often suppose.

Thus, when I suggested to him that we go see this film when it came out, he was not enthusiastic. He confessed to me afterward that he only did it because he had picked the last film, and intended to require the next two selections when this film turned out to be a bore. He also then confessed that he was wrong.

Brannagh managed in his way to carry much of the humour of this play into the twentieth century in an accessible way -- true, the audience was often silent at word-plays that might have had the Elizabethan audiences roaring, but there was enough in the action, the acting, the nuance and building up of situations to convey the same amount of humour to today's audience that Shakespeare most likely intended for his groups in the balconies and the pit.

The film stars Kenneth Brannagh (who also adapted the play for screen) and Emma Thompson as Benedict and Beatrice, the two central characters. They did their usual good job, with occasional flashes of excellence. Alas, I'll never see Michael Keaton as a Shakespearean actor, but he did a servicable job in the role of the constable (and I shall always remember that 'he is an ass') -- the use of his sidekick as the 'horse' who clomps around has to be a recollection of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, where their 'horses' are sidekicks clapping coconut shells together.

I'll also not see Keanu Reeves as a Shakespearean, yet he was perhaps too well known (type-cast, perhaps) in other ways to pull off the brief-appearing villian in this film.

Lavish sets and costumes accentuate the Italianate-yet-very-English feel of this play. This film succeeds in presenting an excellent but lesser-known Shakespeare work to the public in a way that the public can enjoy.

I saw this movie when I was fairly young. I admit that I couldn't understand much of what was going on let along what was being said (I was nine, I wasn't exactly fluent in Olde English). Since then I've watched it many times. Not only do I understand it now, but I fully apreciate how good it is.

The movie is a very good adaptation of the play. The impressive lines that Shakespeare wrote were generally given new life in their delivery. Also, I must compliment Michael Keaton on his role. It isn't a very big one, but if you watch this movie, you'll understand why I mentioned it. Overall, this is simply a fully enjoyable movie, whether you're a fan of Shakespeare or not.

'As you like it' is one of those Shakespearean plays that is considered 'great' by critics, but never really found true popular acclaim, perhaps due to the absence of charismatic characters (the romantic hero is particularly wet) or compelling dilemmas.

It shares many features with the great comedies - the notion of the forest as a magic or transformative space away from tyrannical society ('A Midsummer night's dream'); the theme of unrequited love and gender switching from 'Twelfth night'; the exiled Duke and his playful daughter from 'The Tempest'. But these comparisons only point to 'AYLI''s comparative failure (as a reading experience anyway) - it lacks the magical sense of play of the first; the yearning melancholy of the second; or the elegiac complexity of the third.

It starts off brilliantly with a first act dominated by tyrants: an heir who neglects his younger brother, and a Duke who resents the popularity of his exiled brother's daughter (Rosalind). there is an eccentric wrestling sequence in which a callow youth (Orlando) overthrows a giant. Then the good characters are exiled to Arden searching for relatives and loved ones.

Theoretically, this should be good fun, and you can see why post-modernist critics enjoy it, with its courtiers arriving to civilise the forest in the language of contemporary explorers, and the gender fluidity and role-play; but, in truth, plot is minimal, with tiresomely pedantic 'wit' to the fore, especially when the melancholy scholar-courtier Jacques and Fool Touchstone are around, with the latter's travesties of classical learning presumably hilarious if you're an expert on Theocritus and the like.

As an English pastoral, 'AYLI' doesn't approach Sidney's 'Arcadia' - maybe it soars on stage. (Latham's Arden edition is as frustrating as ever, with scholarly cavilling creating a stumbling read, and an introduction which characteristically neuters everything that makes Shakespeare so exciting and challenging)

Anyone with a working knowledge of Shakespeare's plays knows that As You Like It is a light, airy comedy. It is clearly not one of Shakespeare's greatest plays. As You Like It is more obscure than famous. Even amongst the comedies it comes nowhere close to the popularity of plays such as A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, or Twelfth Night. That said, it is a treasure in its own right. This is so, if for nothing else, because it contains one of the greatest pictures of a woman to be found in Shakespeare's works, excluding the Sonnets.

Ah, sweet Rosalind. In her are encapsulated so many ideas about the nature of woman. She is first pictured in a rather faux-Petrarchan manner. This quickly fades as an intelligent woman comes to the fore. While the intelligence remains, she is also torn by the savage winds of romantic love. Rosalind, in all her complexity and self-contradiction, is a truly modern female character.

Most of the women in Shakespeare's tragedies and historical plays are either window dressing (as in Julius Caesar) or woefully one-sided (Ophelia, Lady Macbeth). This is not the case with Rosalind. Rather than being marginalized, she is the focus of a good chunk of the play. Instead of being static and [standard], she is a complex evolving character.

When Rosalind first appears, she outwardly looks much like any other lady of the court. She is a stunning beauty. She is much praised for her virtue. Both of these elements factor in the Duke's decision to banish or [do away with] her.

Rosalind falls in love immediately upon seeing Orlando. In this way she at first seems to back up a typically courtly idea of "love at first sight." Also, she initially seems quite unattainable to Orlando. These are echoes of Petrarchan notions that proclaim love to be a painful thing. This dynamic is stood on its head following her banishment.

Rosalind begins to question the certainty of Orlando's affection. She criticizes his doggerel when she finds it nailed to a tree. Rather than wilting like some medieval flower, she puts into effect a plan. She seeks to test the validity of her pretty-boy's love. In the guise of a boy herself, she questions the deceived Orlando about his love.

Yet Rosalind is not always so assured. Her steadfastness is not cut and dried. Composed in his presence, Rosalind melts the second Orlando goes away. She starts spouting romantic drivel worthy of Judith Krantz. Even her best friend Celia seems to tire of her love talk. This hesitating, yet consuming passion is thrown into stark relief with her crystal clear dealings with the unwanted advances of the shepherdess Phebe.

Rosalind contradicts herself in taking the side of Silvius in his pursuit of Phebe. She seeks to help Silvius win the love of Phebe because of his endearing constancy. Yet the whole reason she tests Orlando is the supposed inconstancy of men's affections.

This idea of Male inconstancy has made its way down to the present day. Men are seen, in many circles, as basically incapable of fidelity. Though a contradiction to her treatment of Silvius' cause, Rosalind's knowing subscription to pessimistic views on the constancy of a man's love places her on the same playing field as many modern women.

Rosalind takes charge of her own fate. Until and even during Shakespeare's own time women largely were at the mercy of the men around them. This is satirized in Rosalind's assuming the appearance of a man. Yet she had taken charge of her life even before taking on the dress and likeness of a man. She gives her token to Orlando. She decides to go to the Forest. She makes the choice of appearing like a man to ensure her safety and the safety of Celia.

Rosalind finally finds balance and happiness when she comes to love not as a test or game, but as an equal partnership. Shakespeare is clearly critiquing the contemporary notions of love in his day. His play also condemns society's underestimation and marginalization of women. However, the Bard's main point is more profound.

As You Like It makes it clear that the world is never picture perfect, even when there are fairy-tale endings. Men and women both fail. Love is the most important thing. With love all things are possible.

"As You Like It" is bar none, one of Shakespeare's VERY best works. It is probably the most poetic of the comedies and contains perhaps as many famous quotations as any other of his plays. Rosalind is perhaps his greatest female character and this work, along with the equally (or even more) brilliant "Midsummer Night's Dream," is the best example of Shakespeare's theme of the "dream world" vs. the "real" world. This play, especially the scenes in the forest, is a celebration of language and the power of the freedom of the imagination. It consequently can be read as a criticism of the "real world," here represented by Duke Ferdinand's court. Like many of the other comedies, Shakespeare is mocking the "ideal" which many in his society would have praised. Though this play deals with some pretty dark themes (which of his plays doesn't?) it is a light-hearted and fully enjoyable read!