Hocking admits within a few pages that this guide is based on her experience only. And she's right. Most DID/MPD people and their families will sorely miss some of the staples concerning treatment (for example, Hocking has never been hospitalized and thus does not cover it in the book). Plus, the book does not provide any warning as to some of the highly triggering material in a few of the chapters- a must for being accessible to DID/MPD'rs. The book needs more pages to give more details about medications, other treatment possibilities, hospitalizations, and it needs "trigger alerts". There is also very little tangible day to day living assistance (how to entertain littles, how to prevent lost articles, relaxation techniques etc), something that the title "Survival Guide" leads the reader to believe it would have but doesn't. A bit of help is found in the therapist locator section, which goes over some questions to consider when finding a therapist, but like the rest of the book, there isn't enough depth. The book is okay as a quick-read memoir before bed, but for families and patients who want to confront this disorder well-armed, 80 odd pages is not enough.

Well-written and non-critical, this book approaches living with DID from the point of view of someone who has it. I found it very useful for some basic ideas...it would be a good book for someone just diagnosed.

I thought this would be an interesting read since I've visited Vietnam, not long as the author did. What I got was a bit-by-bit description of every tedious detail of everything she did on what was a typical tourist trip to Vietnam. Yikes! The pages turned veeerrry slowly. The only thing that kept me reading was my own curiousity about her reflections of the same places I'd been. If I hadn't, I would have given up.
I absolutely loved the country and had a great time. Yeah, sometimes I was hit-up to buy things and a major target for beggers but hello! that happens in most 3rd world countries. The food was so amazing, I was suprised she didn't talk about that much. I did manage to take the train she mentioned and it wasn't the luxury trip she had heard. The Reunification express was an adventure though! Vung Tau was great too. She really missed out by leaving right away.
I'm just afraid this book might put people off going. There are sharp contrasts between the experiences of those who have been only a few months apart. Vietnam changes so fast that this book is already dated. The history, the culture, the beauty and the warm friendly people, I could just list the reasons to go, plus, you wont have a bad meal your entire trip.
Buy a plane ticket, not this book.

A painless way to become acquainted with Vietnam. Through the author's travels we learn about key aspects of Vietnamese history and culture. However, the reader who is looking for deep insights may be disappointed, as the book is the account of a short trip in which there is little contact with Vietnamese people outside the touristic context. References to historical events are interesting, since they're usually explained in relation to current phenomena that are observable on the landscape. She left me with some unanswered questions about the customs and behavior of her hosts, especially how to interpret her many encounters with those who seemed dishonest and economically opportunistic. Her response to these difficult situations is an interesting study in intercultural relations: she doesn't hold back in describing her frustration, anger, and cynicism, yet she makes tremendous efforts to transcend her gut reactions. Maybe there is no cultural explanation for their behavior and she's being gracious by not calling it harassment and greed. To the degree that it is possible for a short-term visitor unfamiliar with the language to explain a foreign country, Schramm-Evans is successful.

This is a remarkable attempt to revise the accepted view of Cromwell in Ireland. For Reilly, a native of Drogheda, Cromwell was an honourable soldier who did not cause the death of a single unarmed civilian in his hometown. In Reilly's account Cromwell is a reasoned, enlightened "humanitarian" who has been the victim of his enemy's black propaganda. This is a startling thesis which, if it were true, would put generations of historians to shame.

It would be easy to ridicule Reilly's dreadful prose; his enthusiastic description of the McDonald's outlet in modern Drogheda will, unfortunately, remain with me for a very long time. Yet, the main weaknesses of this book are not stylistic, but historical. To be blunt, Cromwell: An Honourable Enemy owes more to Reilly's often expressed desire to "rehabilitate the memory of Cromwell in Ireland" than it does to any generally accepted rules of historical practice.

The author exhibits a profound unfamiliarity with the history of the English Revolution of the mid-seventeenth century. In his mind, Cromwell was a democrat, the leader of an oppressed nation which rose up against monarchical tyranny, thereby securing freedom and liberty. This was certainly the view of a number of historians writing in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but it is an untenable position for anyone familiar with an undergraduate textbook written in the last fifty years. In actual fact, Cromwell was no more a democrat than Charles was a tyrant, and the English Revolution was not an expression of the popular will, but the product of a civil war fought between two small groups which were unrepresentative of the wishes of the population as a whole.

Furthermore, Reilly has chosen to write about perhaps the most controversial period of Irish history without consulting a single book or pamphlet dating from the time of the sack of Drogheda. Instead, he bases his thesis on extracts of contemporary sources reproduced, with varying degrees of accuracy, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As such, he makes a number of serious blunders, the most important of which concerns Cromwell's letter to the House of Commons after the battle at Drogheda. The original letter does not survive but the official printed version confirms that "many inhabitants" were among those killed by Cromwell's forces at Drogheda. If this pamphlet is authentic, Reilly's thesis is in ruins. He, therefore, latches onto a nineteenth-century, pro-Cromwellian book which claimed that these words do not appear in the original pamphlet. When it was subsequently pointed out to Reilly that they do indeed appear in the pamphlet in question, he was forced to fall back on another argument from a nineteenth-century defender of Cromwell; the incriminating words must have been added without Cromwell's knowledge, possibly by the printer of the pamphlet. Yet, Reilly provides no evidence for this assertion and does not explain why the printer might have done this or how he avoided punishment for accusing Cromwell of killing civilians.

Even among the limited range of nineteenth and twentieth-century books which he consulted,Reilly found a number of contemporary references to the slaughter of civilians at Drogheda. As such, he is forced to adopt a number of disturbing sleights of hand. He dismisses all accounts of the massacre which were not written by eyewitnesses. At first glance this is entirely reasonable, but when one considers the nature of the sacking of a town it seems churlish to discount all testimony written by individuals who spoke to eyewitnesses or survivors. For example, Reilly dismisses Anthony Wood's testimony that his brother Thomas, who served in the Cromwellian forces at Drogheda, had spoken on numerous occasions of his part in the killing of women and children in the town. Reilly denigrates Anthony Wood as a gossip, buffoon, and drunk, and suggests that we would be unwise to put much faith in him. Yet, if Anthony Wood is unreliable why does Reilly accept his description of the royalist governor of Drogheda, Sir Arthur Aston, as a reprehensible tyrant? The only logical answer is that Wood's description of Aston's character helps Reilly to explain away the fact that Cromwell's men beat his brains out with his own wooden leg after he had surrendered.

In other words, anything which tends to lessen the enormity of Cromwell's actions at Drogheda is accepted uncritically, while any evidence which implicates him in the murder of civilians must pass the highest possible standards of proof. Reilly explains away eyewitness accounts of civilian deaths by magnifying slight inconsistencies between them and by attacking the character and motivations of the witnesses themselves. Once again, Cromwell is innocent until proven guilty while his opponents are guilty until proven innocent. Finally, having, to his satisfaction at least, demolished the evidence against Cromwell, Reilly asserts that there is no contemporary evidence for the massacre of civilians at Drogheda. At times one cannot but feel something approaching admiration for Reilly's ability to deal from the bottom of the deck, but one cannot get away from the fact that he has done too little research to support his extravagant claims. He is completely unaware of John Evelyn's diary entry for 15 September 1649 which tells how he received "news of Drogheda being taken by the Rebells and all put to the sword." Neither is he familiar with a report in a newspaper named Mercurius Elencticus, dated 15 October 1649, which tells how the Cromwellians at Drogheda "possessed themselves of the Towne, and used all crueltie imaginable upon the besieged, as well inhabitants as others, sparing neither women nor children." Had Reilly been aware of these sources he would, undoubtedly, have found some grounds to dismiss them, but when they are read in conjunction with the numerous other accounts of civilians deaths at Drogheda there can be no doubt about what happened in that town in September 1649. This is, in short, a painfully bad book.

Jason Mc Elligott, St John's College, Cambridge.

Right from the start this work grips you and keeps you interested as it describes the movements by the 17th Century Parlimentarians; Monroe and Inchiquin & Co thoughout the country and also describes the sometimes uneasy alliance of the Irish Confederates (Eoin Ruatha O Neill) with the Royalists led by Ormond right to the defeat of Ormand at Rathmines in Dublin by the Parlimentarian, Michael Jones, which was indeed very welcome news for Cromwell's upon his arrival.

Just when you think you are getting to grips with the already complex story, there are betrayals, turn-coating etc to keep you on the edge of your seat.

A lot of light is shed on the figure of 17th Century History and for someone interested in History and fact and uninterested in emotional opinion, O Reilly, at one stage nearly had me feeling sorry for this man - though I would doubt that that had ever been his objective.

Having grown up - and admittedly not knowing a whole about Cromwell prior to reading this book - there must have been something embedded in my psyche, as there would be with many others here, in that when anyone mentions the name, you might automatically think, "That .... Cromwell" in what he had done in Ireland in 1649/50 and the legacy he left right up to the present.

O Reilly compares and contrasts very well the eye-witness and non-eye-witness accounts of the sieges (massacres) at Drogheda, Wexford, Ross and the rest of the New Model army's Campaign. For an Irishman it was difficult at times to hear that the only humiliation Cromwell really felt during his nine months stay in Ireland was given to him at Clonmel. So it could be dismissed that O 'Reilly - who himself, I believe hails from the lovely town of Drogheda is not out to vindicate Cromwell's actions, but he does show that Cromwell was indeed an intelligent soldier who carried out his orders to the letter. And also from the information in the book, if anyone had the idea that This New Model army were a bunch of sword swaggering morans that systematically slaughtered any moving thing in their way, one can see that he ran a very tight ship with a reference made throughout the book about his instructions to his regiments, 'that none of his troops are to steal food from local people.'

Great book, my only criticism of it would be its lack of maps.

Too academic and philosophic. I could not finish the book. If you want to know about Tito, read West's book.

It hardly needs to be said that anyone interested in studying the life and times of the famed Yugoslav dictator Tito cannot avoid reading this book. Milovan Djilas was one of Tito's most trusted deputies during the communist-led antifascist resistance during World War II, and one of Yugoslavia's most influential politicians during the immediate postwar years (considered one of the regime's chief ideologues). Even after his break with Tito in the early 1950s and general fall from grace, Djilas kept abreast of Yugoslav political events at the highest levels, as well as the personalities standing behind them. Here he offers a relatively candid and often critical view of Tito, and provides many insights into his actions and motivations. At one point in the text, Djilas also inadvertently repeats some of the rationalizations used by Tito and other Yugoslav officials for the often brutal political repression of opponents (both real and imagined), especially after the 1948 Comintern crisis. All in all, this is a very readable and illuminating insider's account of Tito and his leadership style.

Jean should have stayed dead. If you read the original stories after she became Phoenix there were many things that she still did as Jean Grey that meant a great deal. Her and Wolverine had an odd relationship together as he grew to love her and she grew closer to Scott (Cyclops). She formed a psionic rapport with Scott where they could keep in constant touch and share their love for one another. They had adventures and the newer team members (at the time) became closer to Jean and fought side by side with her. She sacrificed herself in issue #137 of the Uncanny X-Men and the readers really felt an emotional loss. She had been someone we and the new X-Men came to know and care about. The whole Phoenix Rising storyline and Jean coming back just cheated everyone of that investment in her character. It wasn't really her that we were caring for and blah blah blah. That's a bunch of crap because some of those stories from issue #101 (1st Phoenix) to issue #137 (death of Phoenix) were the best in Marvel history. Jean, the person, was a big part of those stories and saying that it was not really her is just the biggest farce that a comic series has ever pulled. I know that a lot of characters die and then come back but her death was so well done and played out and led to many other things (Scott leaving, team remorse, etc...) that bringing her back just really left me feeling cheated. Basically it means Wolverine didn't really love Jean, but some clone or piece of her or whatever. That's just dumb. This all leads up to the Inferno storyline that was dismal. A very weak conclusion to Mr. Sinister/Jean Grey/Madelyne Pryor storyline. It was a poor poor poor (have i mentioned poor?) decision to raise Jean from the dead. We had all moved on and had our memories of her and the glory days of the X-Men title. The decline of the X-Men as a title is a whole other story. The book stayed good for a few more years after (prob up to the early #200s), and had splashes of brillance here and there (Jim Lee art), but after Claremont and Byrne parted ways there was definitely a decline in the title culminating in the horrible Inferno storyline and the eventual splitting into 2 teams (another bad idea). So are Captain America's original sidekick Bucky and Spidey's old flame Gwen Stacy coming back too? Jean Grey coming back to life was/is a BAD IDEA!! A bunch of baloney! I still call myself an X-Men fan, but I am a fan of the large box full of back-issues I have. All you younger fans out there (I'm 27) need to read up on the old school and see how great this series used to be.

These were a series of stories that not only saw the return of Jean Grey but also the birth of the Goverment backed-mutant team X-FACTOR. The manner which Jea is brought back is about as far fetched as anything the X-Men comics have ever attempted and the formation of X-Factor was just a marketig attempt to get a new mutant title going, as if we need anymore.

You know, Jean Grey was never MEANT to die. The X-Men's editor at the time insisted Phoenix die for her actions as Dark Phoenix. This story, in a way, sets things right by bringing her back in a way much less contrived than many superhero resurrections. Far-fetched, yes, for the real world; but let's face it, these are comic book superheroes we're dealing with.

This collection features the (almost too) dramatic reunion of the original X-Men from X-Factor #1, as well as guest appearances by the Fantastic Four and Avengers. It sets up many more great moments later down the road (in X-Men: Inferno for instance), not to mention all the year of stories featuring Jean Grey since then. That alone makes me excited about it. A great follow-up to the Dark Phoenix Saga and From the Ashes.

Richard Stern writes in a clever, entertaining way, and is excellent at describing the characters in his novel. However, his descriptions often seem unnecessarily cruel and disrespectful. He is not a father whose words I would wish to hear.

It is another work in a long series of fictional war novels which offers an alternative ending to the lives of the bunker dwelling leaders of the Third Reich at the end of WWII. The elements involved in plot for Joseph Goebbels' (and as we find out later Hitler's) escape from the surrounded city of Berlin are quite unoriginal. Things like doubles, secret passages, fake suicides tablets and etc has been pretty much done to death by others. The superweapon Phoenix is highly unprobable for the science of biological weapons possessed by any side in 1945 and the workings of it are never quite explained. Even today with all the advancments in field of bioweapons of massive capabilities, the Pheonix microbe is still in realm of fiction!!
The plot of the escape of villans is highly unlikely and complicated. The worst part comes of course when we find out that Goebbols' escape was cover for Hitler's and that is when the storyline unravels all over the place. The personal emotions and actions expressed by charcters involved in the escape plot comes in contradiction with the all telling explanation in the end. The tell all chapter bears striking resemblance to a combination a Scooby-doo/James Bond confronting the villan scene.
Anyway, for those interested in fictional work on this subject (alternative endings of the chancellory bunker crew) i would suggest "The Berkut" or "The Knight's Cross".

This book has the makings of a brilliant WWII techno-thriller with personable characters and a fairly well thought out plot. Sadly the story loses momentum and the characters take on a very stylized formula which muddles the plot and becomes preditcable. It doesn't seem like the author did much research before undertaking this work, either on biological warfare or Nazi Germany. It is interesting reading, but had much more potential.

I was sad to find this book a complete waste of time and money. I was hoping for some more in depth info than what I could find elsewhere. I was certain that, as an "expert" on this topic, I would learn something new. The quality of the book was also disappointing. In short, this book only scratches the surface. Something that any good mehndi web site could do for you, at far less expense.

I was very upset, when I got that book. Not only is the price for a book which looks like it has been made on a photocopier, far too high, but also the quality of the informations and pictures are in no relation to that price. Check out "Mehndi - The timeless art... from Loretta Roome, that's how a book can look like, when it is made with love and professionalism.

This book is a review of all the basic information available about henna. It is not anything you can't find out from the various web pages on the same subject. I was dissappointed to find that it was a cheaply made paper back full of info that I could have found on the internet. I would only reccommend it to someone who has no internet access and is looking for some basic information on henna. Overall, I thought the book was going to be an in-depth guide to henna featuring some patterns for traditional designs. It was not.

This book is little more than a historical review of old newsletters from the Phoenix Bonsai Society. I sincerely doubt it would have any appeal to a non-member. It is not a book on techniques for growing Bonsai in a desert climate. Rather, it is a trivia and date laden, difficult to follow, historical overview/ramble on garden societies, Asian-Americans in America, with vast and (to my mind, uninteresting) lists of old members, who's plant won at what competition, and reminiscences of old meetings. If there are any tips on actually growing Bonsai in a desert environment, I was unable to find them in approximately thirty minutes of effort, and frankly, after skiming the book I had no desire to actually attempt to read it cover to cover. Good Luck.

The book would have general interest for those who belonged to the Phoenix club and wanted a record of its history. However, I purchased the book based on the "review" provided by Amazon.com, in which it was implied that desert bonsai techniques were discussed. After much digging through the book, I found nothing on what it takes to grow and maintain bonsai in desert environs. If there was any cultivation information, it was well masked by the historical text. In summary, both the title and the "review" were misleading. All in all, very unhelpful. I have sent the book back for a refund.

In Roger Elwood's final book in this 6 part series he attempts to tie together all the various plot lines in the past 5 books. Unfortunately, this book as the others falls short in literally every aspect. Elwood continues to place characters from the middle ages into the 1990s. What do I mean? The characters talk and react as if they are in King Arthurs court. This is confusing when you realize that the book is primarily about the evils of biological warfare and the internet. Why are there knights on horses fighting with longbows and swords at the end of the second millenium? Equally frustrating is the scant attention to detail. Europe has been decimated by a genetically engineered plague. Yet, we are given no details as to how this occurred and only the vaguest of descriptions of government(s) response. This is a confusing, frustrating, and very unsatisfying book and series. Unreal, one dimensional characters and plotlines, and poor theological treatises on evil make this an amateurish book to be avoided. I have enjoyed Roger Elwood's books in the past. But this is probably one of the worst books I have ever read by him (or any other author). I hope his next book will be a vast improvement.