This is the story of Hugh Koehler, scion of the St. Louis brewing family, and reputed illegitimate son of the crown prince of Austria. (Remember Mayerling.)
He grew up in society, attended Harvard, and then the US Naval Academy. Upon graduation he served in China, then in the Great War commanded a subchaser group based in Ireland.
He became noted for his incisive reporting and after the war, visited Germany, sat in on the peace conference, and then went via the Black Sea to Russia where he observed the fighting in South Russia during the Russian Civil War.
This period was the highlight of his life. He died at a comparatively young age in his fifties as did his father and grandfather before him.
Many of his reports on the situation in the Balkans read as if they were written ten years ago, not eighty, especially the conflict between Greeks and Turks.
Well written and well worth the reading. Belongs on the same shelf as the books by the British agents who operated in Central Asia during the same period.

This book follows an American Naval Officer on his assignment to observe the White Russian forces on the Crimean penninsula. Hugo Koehler arrives when Baron Vrangel is in charge and the war is winding down, but is not yet concluded. Interesting insight and observations are made; this book is a must for those with an interest in this part of Russian history.

HUGO WILLIAMS IS THE MOST TALENTED POET THET EVER LIVED. THIS BOOK EXPRESSES HIM WELL!!!!!!!!!!!

Just finished reading this book... every story was a winner! From the back-cover: Two annual awards - the Hugo and the Nebula - stand as the twin pinnacles of achievement in science fiction. Now science fiction fans can enjoy the finest award-winning short fiction in a single volume. Stories that fill us with awe, push back the frontiers of the possible, and inspire us with the greatness of the human spirit. 17 stories in total spanning from 1981 to 1992.

I remember its like a deep dive into the men's and women's soul, pointing their main similarities and their many diferences as long as they are really equals and different at the same time.

This is a good book. It won the TS Eliot prize. That was surprising, but perhaps not very surprising. It is, after all, a good book. It would be a shame if people were lead to believe there weren't any better books though. Which there are. Lots. But this is still a good book. Maybe worth four stars. Not worth five.

Magnificent poetry. Read it straight through, as a story of the rise and fall of a love affair. The economy of language is truly startling -- Williams tells the whole complex story through little glimpses of his life. He reminds me of Elizabeth Bishop -- if you like her poems, my guess is you'll find Williams a treat.

The poems seem to form a continuous narrative telling the beginning and end of a love affair. If you took away the line breaks it would be a readable story. In fact I think Williams has previously written "poems" that are continuous blocks and is interested in pushing the edge of prose. Anglicisms, such as silver paper and day return and local London references add obscurity for an American reader and detract from an apparent intent to avoid poetic language. For example Trivia is about the way small things can hurt that remind of a lost love. Francis Thompson wrote "the scent of the rose is bitter to him that loved the rose" but Williams wants to avoid things like roses so he brings in names that sound (I think) prosaic and everyday to an English reader.

I had the opportunity to study the life of St. Francis of Assisi through this workbook, and I was very pleased. In each manageable chapter on either an event or a theme from the life of St. Francis as it comes to us from his early biographers, the beginning student is encouraged to study (and demytholigize) the life of the saint. Fr. Hugo presents in each chapter related citations from the Franciscan sources for each episode in the life of Francis of Assisi, questions for consideration and guidelines for discussion.

Fr. Hugo encourages the student to use the historical-critical method and the book not only helps one to a serious introduction to the life of the saint, but also to the use of this method of historical, textual hermeneutics in general. Even with all of this, though, the book is not overly academic. It seems to often capture a certain playfulness and down-to-earthness that perhaps is one of the great charms of St. Francis himself.

The book is somewhat geared to Franciscans themselves, and has much to assist them in appropriating the ideals of St. Francis for themselves in our own time. Indeed it seems to me that this is one of Fr. Hugo's purposes.

I would recommend Studying the Life of Francis of Assisi to anyone who is looking for a serious, critical, source-based introduction to the study of the life of Francis of Assisi.

I love disaster books, and have since I was old enough to read chapter books. Early in my relationship with Amazon, I did a subject search on different disasters, and was suprised by the meager selection. There really are very few readable first-person/journalistic book-length disaster accounts available. We are indeed fortunate to have first-rate books like "The Perfect Storm," and "Isaac's Storm" come out so close together.

It is also the reason I must be kind in this review. These books remind you that you read books like this for two reasons. One is to participate vicariously in an intense experience. The second is to further our understanding of science--both social and physical. How does a disaster develop? How do we react to it? Were the right decisions made? This book, written before the others I mentioned, does not fufill any of these purposes very well.

"Lunatic Wind" is essentially a first-person account of the passage of Hurricane Hugo through South Carolina and how it affected a man, his two teen-aged sons and their grandmother. The account is very parochial and not very insightful.

Perhaps the most memorable passages are the descriptions of the two young men, doggedly ignoring and resourcefully dodging all attempts to keep them from surfing in a hurricane off a barrier island. If anything proves the late development of judgement skills in the adolescent this is it!

One hungers for comprehensive journalistic accounts of important disaster events like Hurricanes Hugo and Andrew: "How did the storms develop?" "Were they predicted accurately?" "How did people (and institutions) survive?" "What was the long-term impact?" But they are apparently rarely attempted. Which makes books like "Lunatic Wind" valuable.

"Lunatic Wind," should be seen as a primary source, a building block, to an eagerly anticipated comprehensive treatment of Hurricane Hugo.

Hello....what book is this? Is it about hurricane Hugo? I need lots of info about hurricane Hugo! Now!

This incredible book is the novelization on actual incidents that occurred during Hurricane Hugo. You will be unable to put this book down, in fact, you may very well fall off the edge of your seat!