I read the Thoroughbred Legends book on Exterminator and in it, the author mentions a book that she enjoyed in her earlier days about this old time racehorse, written by Mildred Pace. I found it had been reissued and was available on Amazon. However, this new version of the book was re-edited to be suited to adults who were just learning how to read, which I believe is a great idea. Long syllable words are replaced by short syllable words and sentences are very short. But understand that this is early elementary level reading.

The concept of the new version is great, but if you are interested in learning more about Exterminator, this one probably won't be satisfying to you.

This is the only book I remember reading as a young child. I probably read it 20 times. I have no idea where my old copy is, but I'm ordering one for me and one for my nieces. It was a GREAT story! Both happy and sad.

I first read this book as a child of about 8. Throughly enjoyed the story then. Remembered that it brought tears to my eyes each time I read it. Although it's been many years since I've read the story, I'm sure it still has the same impact. Waiting for the book to arrive so that I may enjoy it again. Great read for all ages.

This book is a disappointment to the serious scholar of the ceremonial traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. While the sections on current etiquette and papal knighthoods are rather handy (at least if you're planning to have dinner with an Archbishop anytime soon), the large section on clerical dress is inaccurate beyond belief, particularly when it is realized that the author had been a seminarian who studied in Rome. Besides a lack of knowledge of pre-Vatican II usages, there is a certain tone of disdain or impatience taken toward them that this reviewer, an experienced Master of Ceremonies at two churches that offer the traditional Latin Mass with full approval from Rome, does not consider to be a very "catholic" attitude in any sense. Much more useful, fully accurate information on Catholic clerical dress, insignia, and ceremonial will be found in the classic and easily-found (though out-of-print) manuals of Nainfa and McCloud, and the rare (but well worth it) "Ius Pontificalium" of Mgr Nabuco. To sum up, this item will be an expensive, pretentious, mostly misinformative waste of money for the average reader who wants to know more about the externals of Catholic worship and protocol.

Fascinating work detailing the sometimes bewildering and archaic sights, sounds and ceremonies of the upper echelons of the Roman Church. A "must-read" for Vatican watchers and liturgists. This book describes the proper forms and protocols of upper-Church functions and rites and relates the history and proper usage of the emblems and insignia. This book is decidedly traditional... if you're looking for expressions of post Vatican II liturgical experimentalism, you will not find it here.

"The Church Visible" is not about Catholic theology or doctrine, but it does concern an area of no less fascination and interest: the ceremonial life, protocol, and ritual of the Roman Catholic Church. Although late 20th century Catholics might tend to think of the Church as a purely spiritual entity, for nearly 1500 years it was also a political powerhouse and the source of almost all of the culture and customs of Western Europe. "The Church Visible" examines the present-day incarnation of the Church in her external life: ceremonies, traditions, vestments, insignia, protocol, and temporal and spiritual governance.

The book is divided into five sections: the Vatican itself, papal honors including orders of knighthood, Church protocol, vestments and insignia, and a brief history of the papacy. A glossary, a name and subject index, and a variety of appendixes including several Church documents are included. Several impressive Catholic figures also have brief forewords including John Cardinal Krol, John Cardinal O'Connor, and Archbishop John P. Foley.

Noonan has done a wonderful job of answering those niggling questions that never seem to be answered in the standard Catholic Q and A books, such as the reason why cardinals have their title placed in the middle of their name and how exactly a papal election is performed. For the latter, the author leads the reader step by step through the protocol that follows the death of a pope, citing examples from recent history, and then to the elections process and then enthronement of a new pope. He even includes sample liturgies and ceremony programs that have been used in the past. The chapter on the College of Cardinals is especially a gem.

Moving on, he examines the different papal honors, who may receive them, how they should be worn, and their relative precedence to other honors. He then studies the two major equestrian orders, the Knights of Malta and the nights of the Holy Sepulcher. For any readers entranced by the idea of knighthood and chivalry as this reviewer was starting when he was a child, these chapters are a joy to read as they reveal that true knighthood, that which begins with Christ, still exists in the world today, and that chivalry does have a place in the 20th century.

The section on protocol is very interesting and especially helpful for Americans who are not used to matters of rank, protocol, and etiquette. Here Noonan even provides sample dinner menus and invitations from past functions. The chapter on forms of address is also a practical guide for anyone who may have an opportunity to write to any clergyman. Overall, this section is will be mainly interesting for those who are curious about orders of precedence and etiquette, even if most will never have the chance to be part of formal pomp and circumstance.

The final section that will be of general interest is the coverage of vesture and insignia. Do you know what a zuchetto is? Do you know when it is worn? Know you will know. A nice addition to this section, and the whole book, are a series of color plate pages on heavy stock that illustrate the various vestments, insignia, awards, historical occasions, and other illustrations that bring to life the written descriptions.

Bottom Line: "The Church Visible" is a fun, interesting, and educational experience that any Catholic interested in the temporal life of the Church should pick up and peruse. It is a fascinating introduction to what might otherwise be an intricate web of inscrutable customs, but are now clearly illuminated as the logical product of the Church's long history as the centerpiece of Western civilization.

Barbara and Stillman Rogers have created a guide to Atlantic Canada that is comprehensive and critical, yet never diminishes the charm of this too little explored area of Canada.

This "adventure" guide is for both the novice and experienced traveller. Very practical -- including tips on how not to get stuck on a muddy road.

If the Rogers haven't found every nook and cranny in Atlantic Canada, then there isn't one worth seeing. I wouldn't leave home for Atlantic Guide without this book tucked into my backpack.

Although the 1st edition of this book was terrific, the second one is even better. We've used this guidebook to plan several trips to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and other Atlantic Canada destinations, and the authors' write-ups have steered us in the right direction each time. The book is well organized, with a comprehensive index, and coverage is detailed and well-written, with a touch of humor. We highly recommend it!

A very thorough guide.... This is definitely the book to take with you to Atlantic Canada.

This dual language edition of Baudelaire's revolutionary work is an excellent addition to any poetry lover's bookshelf. The translations are well thought out and can be read as works on their own if you do not speak French. However, Baudelaire's poetry is best read in the original French if the reader really wishes to appreciate the gravity and depth of poems such as 'Le Cygne' (Andromac je pense a vous) or marvel at the streets of Paris in the middle of Haussmann's redevelopment plan.

Baudelaire allows us to explore our own emotions and leads us on a journey from this world, to the classical world and then on to the next. We see love in many guises, from Baudelaire's various 'amantes' to sex with common prostitutes. We cannot help be amazed by the poet's versatility of subject matter and even of style, particularly in 'Harmonie du Soir'. This collection can be read on many different levels and every time one rereads a poem, there is always something more.

I would recommend 'Les Fleurs du Mal' to anyone who has been entranced by French literature all through the ages. You will see love, hate and Paris as you've never seen them before.

This is a magnificent edition of the seminal Fleurs du Mal, printed in its original French and a sympathetic and incisive English that retains rhythm and form in a way rarely seen in recent Baudelaires. For poetry lovers, and lovers of literature, Baudelaire is a first-stop: all of twentieth century poetry is in his debt, yet he is often overlooked in contemporary analysis of influences on poets like Eliot, even Heany. The stark, startling honesty of poems like De Profundis Clamavi, or The Balcony, wipe away the years and bring this rebel visionary of the soul full-dimensionally into our twenty-first century living-rooms. This is an important work, as important as anything in French literature. The frame of "poetry" distracts: Flowers of Evil is life lessons, a handbook more stimulating and life-affirming than any top-ten self-help manual.

This edition of "Flowers of Evil" contains all of the poems, not in their original order. However, ample introductory material and two tables of contents allows the reader to see what the work was when it was first published.

The poems themselves cover many subjects in traditional symbolist style, from cats to gypsies to corpses to a whole section on wine. A must for any student of poetry.

However, if you're looking for a translation that is true word for word and does not attempt to preserve the meter and rhyme, this is not the book for you. Mcentyre does a fabulous job tweaking the enlish to preserve poetic structure, but for students of French, and those interested in doing their own translations, other editions are preferable.

A must have book for anyone hiking in the desert and anyone even just interested in the desert. Packed full of info about "everything" you will find in the desert .

A most comfortable-to-use guide with a great layout & excellent quality in illustrations. Too bad it is out-of-print. Waterproof covers and sturdy cloth backstrip, made for prolonged use, we love it.

First you'll want to browse the beutiful photos, then read through the naratives. The book is comprehensive, covering plants, trees, insects, frogs, birds, even mammals. The photo section has a photo, a drawing, common and latin names, and area found for each entry. Photos are great and not too small. The book has narratives for the entries plus lots of general information about each of America's deserts. Good reference for desert lovers.

-6 Stars! Superb, intricately plotted and riveting story.

...If you havent read P.D. James....it might be better to start with "Death of an Expert Witness". However, for a taste of P.D. James- this is an excellent choice!
Newcomers would still enjoy it, but may miss a little of the depth of character of the key players: Adam Dagliesh, a Scotland yard Detective with his own tragic past, who is also a published poet; and Sgt Kate Miskin, newly assigned to replace Dalgliesh's previous longtime assistant, wanting to make an impression, but plagued with problems in her personal life.

As a dedicated P.D. James fan, I would say this is even a step above her usual fascinating, exquisitely crafted stories!
Beautifully written and carefully plotted as usual.
This book is notable for the wonderful glimpses into the life of Dalgliesh's Sgt.: Kate Miskin. These personal moments dont distract, but further the story, and converge with the mystery plot to create a moving and exciting climax.

James always creates characters who are complex and beautifully described, but in this book she outdoes herself. She has created a rainbow of personalities ranging from the most endearing to the most odious characters.
In brief, a well-crafted, imaginative, wonderfully absorbing mystery. Only caveat would be a fairly bloody crime scene encountered by the detectives. Hopefully this wont put you off, as James never throws in gratuitous gore or violence. This was my absolute favorite P.D. James novel. If youve heard the authors name, and want to see if you like her without starting "at the beginning": This is a great choice.
In short: If you love mysteries, and dont own this book- RUN, dont walk to the "add to shopping cart" link!

3/5/02 edited 3/19/02

This ranks as one of P.D. James' finer achievements. One of her longest novels both in scope and number of pages, A TASTE FOR DEATH once more proves James' talent for devising an intricate detective story and filling it with well-crafted characters and some of the most beautiful prose ever written. The story revolves around Commander Adam Dalgliesh's investigations into the murders of two men who have been found, their throats slit, in the vestry of a church. The plot is complex and, in addition to the intrigue of the mystery, explores questions of politics, society, and morality. This is a wonderful novel with an explosive climax, certain to be a treat for both Dalgliesh fans and lovers of contemporary literature.

If you havent read P.D. James....it might be better to start with "Death of an Expert Witness". However, as a P.D. James fan, I give it ***6 stars***! Beautifully written and carefully plotted as usual. This book is notable for the wonderful glimpses into the life of Dalgliesh's Sgt, Kate Miskin. These personal moments don't distract the reader, but add to and advance the story's plot. James always creates characters who are complex and beautifully described, but in this book she outdoes herself. We encounter the full range of personalities from the most endearing to the most odious characters she has ever created. This was (nearly) my absolute favorite P.D. James novel. If you love mysteries, and dont own this book.. *Run, Don't walk: to the "add to shopping cart" link!

Notwithstanding its ominous title, this book is a reasonably conventional professional autobiography of a career diplomat. Author Richard Butler served as executive chairman of the United Nations Special Commission ("UNSCOM") charged with disarming Iraq from 1997 until 1999. Prior to that, he was Australia's ambassador to the United Nations and Thailand. Most of the book is devoted to disarmament issues, especially efforts to enforce U.N. Security Council resolutions requiring Iraq to destroy its weapons of mass destruction and to forbear rebuilding them and the subsequent decision to abandon those efforts. These issues must concern anyone interested in global security because, in Butler's view, the post-Cold War "new world order" may be every bit as dangerous as the frostiest years of the United States-Soviet Union confrontation.

Butler repeatedly demonstrates that he took a narrow, fundamental legalistic approach to his duties. He insists that the Security Council's decisions are binding on all of its members and that the Security Council has the ability "to enforce its decisions by military force, if needed." According to Butler, Security Council Resolution 687, which codified the terms of the cease-fire of the Persian Gulf War required Iraq to destroy all of its weapons of mass destruction - nuclear, chemical, biological, and missiles. Resolution 687 also set up the UN Special Commission - UNSCOM - as an organ of the Security Council to conduct the actual disarmament work, and the Security Council made completion of the disarmament work a prerequisite to the lifting of the economic sanctions imposed on Iraq in 1990. Butler clearly believes that Iraq never intended to cooperate with UNSCOM. As a pretext for reusing to cooperate, Iraq systematically blocked UNSCOM inspections, and this sparked a crisis that continued for 18 months. While Butler and UNSCOM were involved in an increasingly-bitter dispute with Iraq, Secretary-General Kofi Annan visited Iraq in February 1998 and proclaimed that Saddam Hussein was a man "I can do business with." In early August 1998, Iraq notified the Security Council that it had "decided to suspend UNSCOM's disarmament work." This led to a serious division in the Security Council, with the United States and the United Kingdom pitted against Russia, China, and France, which sought to end the disarmament work and discontinue the economic sanctions. UNSCOM was eventually disbanded and replaced by a body more sensitive to Iraq. Butler's outlook on the future is pessimistic. Butler asks: "Is Iraq as dangerous as it was a decade ago? And he answers: Elementally yes."

Although it is a cliché, I believe that this book is an extended exercise in preaching to the choir. Readers concerned with international-security issues already know and probably will agree with Butler that the UNSCOM period revealed "the real shape of the post-Cold War world," and they will share his criticisms of Russia, France, and China for having "clearly defined, separate interests in addition to their obviously shared concerns about a unipolar world." Much of this book is a detailed, sometimes tedious, narrative of Butler's two-year tenure at UNSCOM. After a while, it is mind-numbing, but, to the extent that Butler sought to make a historical record, he succeeds. This is an important book which ultimately asks: Can anyone have confidence in the United Nations if it allows cynical self-interest and endless palaver to prevail over principle and action?

This book is exceptional on so many levels I scarcely know where to begin. Richard Butler former Executive Chairman of UNSCOM is very definitely a man of deep integrity driven by an equally deep concern for the issue of arms control not solely in Iraq but throughout the world. This book is his story and how during the course of two years he battled to achieve the complete dismantling of Iraq's stockpile of weapons chemical biological and nuclear.

He describes in detail the stand-offs between himself and the Iraqi authorities and how ultimately the united nations through weakness and division have allowed Saddam Hussein to hold onto much of his deadly arsenal. He charts the use of these weapons by Iraq in its war with Iran as well as the use of gases on ethnic minorities inside the country itself.

The reader gets an incredible look at the UN Security Council attempting to apply a, geo-political rules as usual approach, to the problem of Iraq's non-compliance with UN resolutions. The role of the Russian diplomats along with the French and Chinese come in for close scrutiny. If Butlers understanding of Israel's defence posture during the gulf war is accurate then the reader can take it that if Saddam were to use a chemical weapon or worse against a city like Tel Aviv then almost certainly and without consultation Israel would respond with tactical nuclear weapons against Iraq. During the gulf war Israeli Jets sat fuelled and ready to fly against targets in Iraq following the deployment of some 39 Scud missiles fired at Israel during the conflict. This analysis and so much more is contained in this sober but authentic look at how dangerous the world has become. Worst of all is the ongoing capitulation by the United Nations in terms of forcing Iraqi compliance with its own resolutions.

...

Book Review: Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory by David Isenberg Thursday, May 18, 2000

...

There is no way to say this delicately so I may just as well come right out and say it. This is a painful book to read. Why? Is it badly written? No, it is both informative and engaging. Does it deal with an unimportant topic? On the contrary, it deals with a critically important issue: the effort to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. Why then the pain?

This book is essentially the story of a failure, one that has consequences for the entire world. Specifically, it is the telling of the undermining and destruction of UNSCOM by Saddam Hussein. The West set up UNSCOM, short for the United Nations Special Commission, in the aftermath of the 1991 Persian Gulf War to disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction.

Rolf Ekeus, a Swedish diplomat, headed UNSCOM for its first six years. In 1997, after Ekeus left to become Swedish ambassador to Washington, Richard Butler took over as executive director. Butler was an experienced Australian diplomat who had previously worked on many other disarmament issues. This book is the story of the final two years of struggle with Iraq in accordance with the original U.N. Security Council Resolution 687 of 1991. This struggle more or less ended -- unsatisfactorily -- when the United States and Britain bombed Iraq in Operation Desert Fox in December 1998, an event that marked the end of UNSCOM inspections in Iraq.

Caught cheating

Bear in mind that the various global arms-control regimes are based on the presumption that if those being inspected are found breaking the rules, some sort of enforcement will take place -- usually through the U.N. system and specifically thorough the Security Council. When enforcement fails, as happened in Iraq's case, the consequences are critical. As Butler notes: "Saddam's cheating has been detected, but it has not been stopped. Nations that could take action have chosen not to. The implications of this for the maintenance of the strictures against weapons of mass destruction, built so painstakingly over almost half a century, are dire. If Saddam finally gets away with it, the whole structure could well collapse."

Butler's is a story of many disappointments. He faced lack of political will and crass appeasement on the part of member nations of the U.N. Security Council. Constant obfuscation and deception by Iraq are the main themes, highlighted by vignettes of pettiness on the part of U.N. bureaucrats, such as the advisers to U..N Secretary-General Kofi Anan, and brazen lying by such Iraqi functionaries as Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. Butler had a reputation as a plain-spoken man. It is a reputation that is deserved. It is refreshing to see a diplomat use words like "outrageous," "appalling," "word witchcraft," "blackest lie," "phony" and "facile."

Back to Iraq?

In the first two chapters, Butler briefly describes his childhood and later working for the Australian Foreign Affairs department and the work he did prior to taking on his position as head of UNSCOM. But the remaining chapters constitute the core of the book.

Much of the book details the two wars that UNSCOM waged. Sadly, it lost both. The first and the better known is the daily war of attrition it fought with Iraq, which used ceaseless tactics of cheat, retreat and cheat in order to thwart UNSCOM. As Butler explains, Saddam Hussein did not believe he lost the Gulf War. Though Saddam was driven from Kuwait, he viewed the Dessert Storm coalition's real aim as to remove him from power or turn Iraq into a vassal state. Thus, for Iraq the battle with UNSCOM was simply the last battle of the Gulf War. And for Iraq to "cement its "victory" in that war they had to defeat both UNSCOM in general and Richard Butler personally. In fact, Iraq paid Butler an ironic compliment when it demanded his removal as item 9 of a list of demands presented to the Security Council in November 1998 in its attempt to forestall the Clinton bombing.

The other war UNSCOM fought with the U.N. to both preserve its independence and to get the Security Council to support its documentation of Iraq's continuing refusal to live up to its pledge to allow UNSCOM inspectors to carry out their work.

One of the more intriguing sections of the book deals with the allegation by Scott Ritter, former UNSCOM weapons inspector who resigned in 1998, that Butler had taken direction from the U.S. government and that UNSCOM had allowed itself to be a conduit for U.S. intelligence collection in Iraq. Ritter's view was detailed in his book Endgame published last year. We may never know the exact truth of the matter, but Butler musters a good case that his charges are false.

As Butler makes clear in his conclusions, we cannot expect UNSCOM's successor organization, UNMOVIC (United Nations Monitoring Verification and Inspection Commission), created in December 1999, to accomplish anything worthwhile. To name just two flaws, unlike UNSCOM it will be under the direction of the U.N. secretary-general; its staff will be U.N. civil servants instead of technical experts.

The conclusion that Butler leaves us with is both dismaying, and even worse, true. "When a determined criminal flouts international law under cover of the principle of state sovereignty, the world system, as currently constituted, appears able or unwilling to stop him," he writes.

In short, we should be afraid, very afraid...

If you can get this book used for under $10 dollars

AND...

You are interested in the whole workings of the Vatican National Geographic sytle, buy it it, is a great book from that perspective.

It is not an over $20 dollar art book because a large number of pages which could have been used for images are wasted on oversize text. Five pages of the books text could have fit on one page.

The photographs are great, but they are of everything including wasted full page close ups of guards. If you want a general book on the vatican this book delivers......but if you thought that "Inside the Vatican" meant a lot of art you might not see otherwise this is not the right book for the price.
It is not an Art book like one thinks of with Konemann books, there are some good photos and enough for a general book like this but it does not have enough art to warrant the price, then again I guess no one really said it was supposed to be art book.
I have written this review just as a warning for some people who might think that there is a lot of art here.....it is not an art book. This fact is kind of a shame because after 65% of the book is finished and it finally does get to the "Treasures section" the photographs are decent, however it makes you wonder why did we need a whole page close up of a guards face and only a quarter page on some of the art.
The Wonderful frescoes of the Vatican are very few and most are the usual 4 token shots of the Sistine chapel.
The wonderful Hall of Constantine isnt covered at all. I agree with all the other reviewers, if you are a National Geographic format fan, this is one of their best efforts.

But....The wrong pictures are too big, the right pictures are too small, the really wonderful pictures never made it into the book, and way, way, too much space is dedicated to oversize text.

I bought it used, do the same, it is not a new full price book,
there is enough for under $10 even if your main interest is art but you will not get as "Inside the Vatican" as you might with other books about the Vatican Art.

Good Pope pictures, Pope-Mobile pictures, and that sort of thing
and good "Quick read history".

I was proud to be a Catholic anyway, but gee the wonderful stories, history and people behind this book makes it a must own for Catholics!

Jim Stanfield is one of the most accomplished photographers to work for National Geographic. I met Jim several years ago, and he's a fine gentleman as well as an outstanding photographer. He won one of the top photojournalism awards in the world, in 1986, based partly on this body of work as well as an essay on Isreal. Bob Gilka, who was Jim's boss at National Geographic, told me he thought Jim was the most technically accomplished photographer working for the magazine. When there was an especially difficult job to do, it was given to him. And Jim's technical expertise shows through, but there's more here than technically superior images. These are stunningly gorgeous photographs in their own right. But they are more than that, they give you an insight into life at the Vatican that will never be repeated. Buy it. I can't wait for more books by Jim Stanfield to hit the shelves.

Interesting but not definitive.
It was a marriage of convenience that had turned inconvenient for someone. In 1875, Florence Ricardo married Charles Bravo. He was after her money and she was seeking to cleanse her name after a lurid sex scandal by marrying respectably. After less than six months of married life he was dead and a cloud of suspicion hung over his wife and the servants of her home.
A Coroner's inquest determined that the death was murder by poisoning. But it was never able to solve who had committed the crime. The chief suspects were: The widow who resented his attempt to control her money, the groom who had been fired by the new master of the house, the lady's maid who was next line for dismissal, or the elderly doctor who was Florence's ex-lover embittered about her marriage.
This unsolved Victorian mystery has been the subject of numerous speculations for over a century. Investigative reporter James Ruddick feels that he has finally cracked the case with damming new evidence. He goes beyond the source material used by many authors and travels the world over to contact descendants of the infamous participants in the original mystery. He weaves together a narrative that he feels is the definitive solution to the case.
This book is, in my opinion, a little too concerned with showing off the intrepid exploits of the author than it is with reasoning out the evidence. While his solution is very plausible this book is by no means going to be the final word on the case.

In 1876 a young newlywed and Victorian aristocrat, Charles Bravo suffers a horrible death by a caustic poison in his London area mansion, the Priory. Murder! Despite four clear suspects, a Scotland Yard investigation, a highly publicized Coroner's inquest and 125 years of professional and amateur sleuthing, the murderer is not identified . . . until now!

James Ruddick solves an infamous riddle in "Death At The Priory". His book is divided into three intriguing parts. The events leading up to the murder and the inital inquest provides all the suspense and mystery of an Agatha Christie yarn. Ruddick skillfully weaves Coroner's inquest testimony into facinating dialog, adding color and spice to a brisk narration.

The second part enables the author to narrow the suspects and eventually identify the murderer by utilizing the wealth of research on the murder and a very creative perspective. The third part takes the reader through some of the dark secrets of Victorian wealth. In a society of double standards, even a wealthy woman becomes a prisoner within her own household. What can she do to stop being beaten, sodomized, robbed, verbally abused and nearly killed by an abusive husband? There are no help groups or laws to protect her.

In the end most of the charaters involved in "Death At The Priory" are poisoned by the notoriety. For the reader there is a great deal of satisfaction from this work and a greater appreciation that today's standards, no matter how flawed, are far more preferable than the good old days of Queen Victoria. Enjoy!

I read this book in England in October and considered it to be the book of the year. Ruddick's strength is his ability to take lots of disparate themes and thread them all together in a thrilling page-turner. On one level the book is a straightforward murder mystery - was Charles Bravo murdered by his wife, his wife's lover, his housekeeper or the stableman? The plot twists and turns like something from Patricia Cornwell or Elizabeth George. But then Ruddick begins sowing into the story other dimensions: he looks at the repressive nature of Victorian society, and particularly at the appalling way it treated its women. He reveals the shocking consequences of transgressing the moral codes of the time. He brings to life the atmosphere of London in 1876, the wealth and poverty, the strict social hierarchy, the conversations, appearances and personalites: his prose style is rich with the flavour of the period. Towards the end, the book changes gear and becomes a modern thriller, with Ruddick himself travelling the world in search of the proof he needs to unmask the killer. He knows who committed the crime - so do we - and the pleasure is in watching him slowly piece together the evidence. The last hundred pages were so compulsive I took the phone off the hook. Ultimately Ruddick succeeds in taking several genres - crime, romance, history - and weaving them into a masterpiece of suspense. This book was thrilling to read and will be selling for years...

once again, (OK it does not happen that often, otherwise we would stop trusting Amazon and shopping with them, would'nt we?) the description is not accurate : this version ISBN 1569945233, monterey media etc.... is an ADAPTATION of Dicken's novel by the St Charles PLayers, who record it with all due talent and spirit BUT as a play, in an "exciting Radio Theater style" quote, unquote.....

This is Charles Dickens' best christmas story. Only David Copperfield tops this story. Mr. Dickens teaches the reader that no matter how much money or position we have, no matter how important we feel, no matter how much cynicism we have, life will come right out in front of us with a big wham!! Tiny Tim is compassion, Mr. Cratchit is hope, Fizziwigg is happiness. And all these things are life at its best. A Christmas Carol is the true feeling and hope and love. Make this short story your hope.

The following review is for the version illustrated by William Geldart, not this version illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger. For some reason, Amazon mixed the two up.

This is it! These are the letters, words, sentences, paragraphs that made Christmas the celebration that it is today - the family parties, the feasts, the excitement, giving to the poor. Virtually every way we celebrate this magnificent Holiday (except the mall part!) comes from this book written by Charles Dickens.
First off, this is the unabridged version. Nothing added - nothing taken away. That's as it should be. (Unfortunately, as great as they may be, the movie versions truly do not do the book justice - although I must say the George C. Scott and Alistair Sim versions do come fairly close).
One thing that surprises me about this book is how few people I know that have have actually read it, but they've seen one version or another of the movie countless times! They don't seem to realize that when books are put to film, so much is taken out for length or for other reasons. A Christmas Carol is no different. In fact, if you watch all of the different movie versions available, you STILL would not get the complete book, even though each movie adds one thing or another from the original story that the others may not.
There are countless copies of this story available in various book form, but this particular version is probably one of the best that I have seen. The illustrations attempt in some part to keep in the same spirit as in Dickens' original. But the best, most interesting part of this version (besides the story itself) is all of the little facts, explanations, and trivia put into the margins throughout this book. They give the modern 21st century reader more of an understanding of what 19th century English life was like. A couple of examples: when Dickens writes of the Cratchit family taking their goose to the bakers to be cooked, I wondered why would any one take their food OUT to be cooked and then picked up later. This book explains that few poor people in this time period had ovens large enough to roast a good family sized bird. They were big enough to cook a small bit of meat and that was about it. In order to have one of those rare Holiday meals, they had to take it to the large baker's oven at an appointed time for cooking.
Another fact I did not know was that in the story, Scrooge's sister, Fan, was based on Dickens' actual sister in law, Mary Hogarth.
There are also a multitude of paintings, drawings, and sketches from Dickens' time showing his time. Now you can see, as accurately as one can considering there were no cameras, life of the rich, middle class, and poor as it actually was. There's a picture of Queen Victoria and her family celebrating Christmas. There is also a beautiful painting of a poor labourer's family Christmas celebration. There are sketches from the first edition of 'A Christmas Carol.'
If you plan on owning a copy of this most wonderful of all Christmas novels, this is the version to get.