A very exciting book visually, "Whambamboozle" has almost too much to look at! The illustrations appear to be composed using several computer programs, and they are dazzling, but the computer's ability to pile on information results in images that are sometimes too busy to comprehend, with no central subject to focus on. The pull-tab mechanisms, too, are difficult to operate (and very easy to damage!), and are sometimes so well-hidden that the search can be irritating. Having said all that, I still love the book for its stylish brashness, its many fun surprises, such as a tiny, pull-out "Revolting Recipes" book; goulish sound effects (really!); a scratch & sniff pot of... what IS that Smell?; a hologram eyeball, a jumping spider, etc., etc. I recommend it for bright kids over 10 years and any adults who appreciate a funny gross-out and sometimes exceptional-looking paper engineering. (For the Record, the paper engineers, listed only in tiny print, are Jeff Newland andAlan Brown.)

My 3 year old daughter absolutely loves this book. It is one of her favorites. What's great about it is all the neat things you can do. You can smell icky things, see icky things, travel through a scary house, etc. [Someone] said they had problems with it, but we have not. It is a sturdy book. There are a lot of different kinds of things to find in it. I am looking for others like it. Definitely a great buy!

This book is a must for lovers of the cantatas, but I hope it's not whining to say that we deserve much better. The subjects of the various essays, by various scholars, are all exactly the ones I have been hoping for--most notably the chapters "Bible, hymnbook and worship service" by M. Petzoldt, and "Choruses and Chorales" by D. Melamed, but the book as a whole reads very much like a conference proceedings volume rather than an introduction to the "world of the cantatas." Some individual chapters are excellently written (esp. C. Wolff's, but that should go without saying), but many are at the very least poorly translated. What we really need is A. Duerr's magisterial introduction (available at fairly low cost from amazon.de, for the reader of German) in English translation (though I would hope not by those who translated this volume!).

this clear account of the early cantatas is a must for all lovers of Bach and his choral music. Written by acknowledged authorities in the field, this book complements Koopmans on going CD cycle of the cantatas but can be used with great benefit with other cycles as well. If you love the cantatas this is a must have book

Although bits and pieces of this book sound familiar at times--Gaslight? All About Eve? Deathtrap?-- it's a really fun read. Short chapters and steamroller plot make it a perfect on-the-bus-to-work book. You don't exactly like any of the characters, but they're always doing something interesting or unexpected. And you can't really predict how the plot is going to turn out. I had it figured all wrong. The book is creepy one minute and bitchy the next, so you're always in for something entertaining. It's the ultimate quick read. I don't read a lot of "thrillers" but this one seemed much better written than the few others I've sampled. Maybe not great literature, but great entertainment.

None of the main characters in "The Mentor" are "good" people, beyond approach. On the contrary, they are significantly flawed, which lends to an interesting story.

Charles Davis is a once-heralded novelist, whose recent works have received progressively less-glowing reviews. His wife hires a temp who she met at her office to assist her husband organize his office. When Charles discovers that the efficient temp is writing her own, promising novel, he takes her under his wing, and simultaneously pries into her hidden past.

While some elements may seem predictable, the twists and turns make this a tight, fast-paced read. You are not sure with whom your sympathies lie at various points in the book, which, to me, made the book very interesting. This is definitely a very good read if you like psychological thrillers.

S. Stuart's The Mentor is a fast-paced, sharp-edged thoroughly enjoyable thriller set in the ego-driven world of New York's literary glitterati. It has enough twists and twisted characters to keep you hooked from the get-go. Since there's no real hero in the book, you never know who's going to emerge victorious... which is why I had to stay up all night to finish it. This is a really fun holiday read-- and if you thought your family was bad, get a load of these people. And kudos to the author for a great surprise ending!

Birdsong was given to me by a colleague who said it was "a GREAT book". Judging by its subject matter (World War I) I wouldn't have normally touched it let alone read it (..war novels/films are either too depressing or a thin excuse for some flag-waving). Well I am delighted to have read Birdsong. It's not a great book (in my judgement); it doesn't cover new ground in re-telling the horrors of war. But it is well-structured, moving, and keeps focused on finite (and often forgotten) aspects of the Great War - specifically, trench warfare. Mr. Faulks leaves out nothing in describing the unspeakable horrors our forefathers (..from both sides) have suffered. Absolutely shocking and nausating, yet it's really compulsive reading.

While Faulks succeeds in telling the human anguish of those who suffered during the war, he fails in one minor aspect of the novel when he "fast forwards" to scenes of the late 1970s where the granddaughter of a soldier feels compelled suddenly to learn more of her departed grandfather. While the author's heart was in the right place, this minor aspect of Birdsong comes off a bit contrived.

Nonetheless I fully recommend Birdsong. It makes for gruesome reading, so it's not for the squeamish. But I hope others will give it a try and, like me, feel as though they learned something new by it.

This is a book that doesn't know what to do with it's self, or rather Sebastian Faulks doesn't. When writing of relationships or the effects of characters actions on others outside of the immediate conflict zone, Faulks is staid and immature and only the glowing reviews of this book got me through the first 90 pages. They are truly diabolical.

However, once you are done with this scene setting drivel, then you are treated to a magnificent tale which is full of the tension and fears of the trenches of the first world war. The claustrophobic scenes with the tunnelers were to my mind so vivid that they caused me to use my asthma inhaler and the closeness one feels for the characters is acute. I was truly moved for their plights and read on deep into the night.

The trenches come to life as somewhere where men lived and died with the same day to day emotions aswould be found if working in an office. The sight and the prospect of death are the stuff of everyday life and the loss of feeling for self and others apparent. These pages begin to explain how people charged over the top in broad daylight, how live with themselves when they had taken someone elses life.

The same sort of toss, universal meanings and unrequited love affairs that destroyed the first 90 pages appear at intervals throughout the rest of the book, but one tends to scan over these, and only when reviewing this book is it obvious to myself how poorly writtens these parts were.

In summary, if only Faulks had been bettered advised by his editor and had listened to that advice. He does not write well on large universal emotions, he proves it in his other books, but when he settles down to write about a single person in the confines of their immediate surroundings, then he is an outstanding author.

This is genuinely a story of love and war - and the extremes about what humanity is and means. This is not a romance, nor is it exclusively a WWI novel. It is a true literary work that engages the spirit. I am hard pressed to recall a book that gave me such a sense of sound and sensation. Many of the tactile and visual descriptions were so fresh and new, yet true, that I found myself re-reading the passage for the sheer beauty of the language.

It is heavy reading from an emotional standpoint but the narrative itself straightforward, pretty much linear and easy to follow. Unlike other reviewers, I did not find that the multigenerational passages disturbed the flow of the novel. Nor did I feel that the "parts" created an incongruous whole. Nevertheless, it is not a quick read - it is to be savored for all of the emotional impact and sensation it evokes.

Birdsong is not just about the degradation of humanity under the grotesque conditions of trench warfare, it is also about the elation of human beings, and their real-life struggles, as well as the restoration and continuity of humanness across generations. Rarely have I encountered such masterful characterization - the people and their stories and beings pull you in and grip you to the very end.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD(if you don't know the outcome of this story-it was well covered by all major news sources-please stop reading. Trust me, this book is so suspenseful, moving, and well written that I would hate to spoil the end for you)

It's difficult to explain the wide range of emotions you'll go through while reading this book. There's a building excitement as the men of the Andrea Gail, a small(compared to most other boats of the Gloucester fleet)but sturdy fishing trauler rigged for nearly a month's stay at sea, set out from Gloucester on their season's final trip to the Grand Banks, a rather unpredictable but verile breeding ground for swordfish. The crew, led by Captain Billy Tyne, consists of a likably haphazard group of local Gloucester men who demonstrate an impressive understanding of deep sea fishing and the dangers it presents, especially when the vessel one works aboard is nearly 2000 miles from the nearest North American shore, not to mention the nearest emergency hospital. Unfortunately, as the name of the book implies, things turn bad quickly for the ship and its crew. A series of storm fronts collide almost directly over the Andrea Gail as it makes its way home from a prosperous run, and the ship finds itself beneath the most powerful storm in recorded history. Waves crest at nearly 150 feet and wind speeds reach 100 mph before the crew finally realizes its sad fate. The book doesn't deal exclusively with the Andrea Gail, but also cuts between a few coinciding stories of endangered boats and the rescuers assigned to remove them from harm's way. The author makes sure that each of these individuals is given their due credit and presents them as professional and courageous. As silly as it sounds, I couldn't help but feel connected to the men and women unfortunate enough to weather "the perfect storm." Sebastian Junger does such a thorough job of fleshing each character to its emotional fullest that it's impossible for this naive inlander not to feel an unfounded empathy at their struggle.

I can't encourage you enough to buy this book. It's a fantastic read.

Who hasn't dreamt of leaving the safe confines of terra firma, for the endless mystery of the sea? Who has not wondered what would it require to leave the endless responsibilty of the "real world" behind, to set out upon the water? The answers to these questions are for more complex than one would hope, or even expect. On the eve of a major motion picture, Sebastion's Jungers harrowing tale of the everyday hero against a very angry Mother Nature, will probably see a renewed interest at the bookstore. Even for those who read it when it first appeared, a second look is well worth the effort. The Perfect Storm is almost a perfect book. It is not the most artfully drafted composition, nor does it carry an earth shattering message. Rather, it is a simple tale of working men who set to sea to earn a living, and in doing so, risk their lives every time their boat leaves its dock for another expedition. We are introduced to the families of these men, and we learn firsthand the anxiety and trepidation that comes with loving someone who risks death on a daily basis. Yet, The Perfect Storms truly comes alive when the Andrea Gale (the boat at the heart of the tale) encounters a tremndous storm. The reader is then taken on a ride of breathtaking proportions. The description of what takes places during a hurricane at sea, as well as the mechanics and actions during a Coast Guard rescue mission are simply fascinating. Not to be overlooked is a short but unforgettable description of what happens to a person when they drown. It will leave you breathing deep and savoring every breath fromn that point on. The Perfect Storm does what any adventure should do...it makes you care about its characters; it makes you care about what they care about, and in the end, it makes you mourn their loss. This is a book that should find its place on any landlocked boater's bookshelf, as well as any family member of someone who looks to the sea to earn a living. It will bring true understanding to such a demanding line of work. I can only hope that the movie can do the book justice. And I look to the next investigation that Junger will so elegantly share with us. Kudos to Men's Journal Magazine for running the original story that became the premise for The Perfect Storm.

By now most have seen the movie... so we have the gist of the story of the men of the Andrea Gail and their friends and family back in Gloucester.

Their doomed battle against nature out over the Flemish Cap is described in much more detail than even the graphics of the movie could convey. But what I liked most about this book was the impressive research Sebastian Junger put into this true story!

With splendid clarity, he describes the physics behind water wave mechanics from tiny wind-generated capillary waves to powerful towering monsterous walls of green water. He also describes in morbid detail what really happens to the human body when it drowns, and it isn't from getting water in the lungs!

The author does all this without getting into difficult scientific jargon that the laity may not appreciate. Many parts of this book read like an exciting field course in oceanography! Junger really takes care to provide the reader with a strong understanding of just how amazing the unification of those 3 storm cells was... the kind of power it generated!

A well-written book that I've seen as mandatory reading material for university geomorphology courses because of its finer details!

My English not being my mother language has attracted me to Nabokov. And I admire him enourmously.But this novel was almost a disappointment, because, though it is so good at times, the almost plotless tale reaches a climax of the futile and bore when (we are already somewhere in the middle of the book)he narrator, who is by then in search of a lady, indulges in a series of inane dialogues whose aim eluded me. And the eighteenth chapter is wonderful, though I disliked also the final chapters, this simulacrum of impetus and parody of revelation on the very point of dying.

Nabokov intension, until he discovered for himself the wonderful world of pop-culture (cf. Lolita and Ada), was really to describe truth and beauty (see 'Luzhin's defense', 'Gift' etc.) in the tradition of the Old World, and play less with cheep riddles and collective phobias. His dealing with the issue of death, as in 'Ultima Thule' etc., appears also here; the last book written by Knight is, however, written about in a pale and uninspiring way (Nabokov could not make his vision clear?), and, surprisingly for Nabokov, is not free of commonplaces and dejavous. All in all the book is original and interesting, as nearly everything Nabokov wrote. And, by the way, the treatment of the relation narrator-genius (commonplace in itself, unfortunately) looks better than in Mann's Doctor Faustus, where it is taken quite heavily (one does not see the traces of the hammer blows).

Side remark: the stars practice is really annoying: isn't there a way to write about books without grading them?

Vladimir Nabokov is perhaps my very favorite author, and so I approached this work withthe mindset of "it must be at least good." It is. It contains the subtlety and puzzling qualities and droll humor of his great works and still manages to work in its own little bit of beauty. It also has its duller stretches, it lacks a real point, and it is more than vaguely pretentious, but nothing unforgivable. As his first full-length work in English, perhaps it should be treated more as an experiment in compositional workability than anything else.
The relative ease of reading this as compared to Nabokov's best, like 'Pale Fire' and 'Lolita,' may make it a good introduction to novices.

"If you love God," says J. S. Bach in Bach's Passion, "you do everything at the highest level of competency." And so should we all, if we all weren't so profoundly fallible.

RuthAnn Ridley's fictionalized life of "the greatest composer of church music" fleshes out many of the central conflicts faced by Christian artists and creators of all kinds. It is a novel of great inspirational value and good educational and historical interest.

Readers should be prepared for a long but engaging read, and, at the end, an excellent introductory glossary of terms, footnotes, a bibliography, and a "Word from the Author" regarding the novel's historical accuracy.

Ridley narrates Bach's life (1685-1750) basing each chapter and major character on true incidents and people. However, scholarship suggests that interpretation of Bach's personal life and motives is highly controversial. Although legends and anecdotes exist in abundance, personal correspondence and other acceptable documentation is scarce.

One recent source plainly states that there is no evidence that Bach's church music was especially important to him (Jan Koster, "Biography,").

Another source points out that even listening to the approximately 1,120 pieces Bach composed would still not reveal who Bach was (Sandberger, Bach 2000, Teldec Classics International 1999, p. 2).

Yet it is precisely Ridley's willingness to map out Bach's artistic and spiritual journey according to a faith in a personal God that affords this novel value. As a young man, Bach receives his summons while listening to a scriptural aria in a cathedral: "He would write a new and deeply personal music for the Lutheran liturgy, one that would woo a person into the love of the Divine Bridegroom" ( p. 50). We discover that the dark and eerie "Toccata and fugue in D minor" was an "effort . . . to deal with the heartbreak of losing their twins" (pp, 17-18).

Throughout his life, Bach encounters conflicts so common to many of us: professional jealousy; recognition of self disguised as the need for the recognition of God's glory; and perhaps, above all, the responsibility of vocation versus family. Bach is absent enjoying the intellectual heights of conversations with artists and philosophers while his first wife, Barbara, undergoes a miscarriage. Even more poignantly, Bach lingers on another such trip and misses her death and burial by two days.

Through this portrayal, Ridley also researches and gives us a snapshot of the lives of middle-class women in seventeenth-century Germany. Though she deeply loves him, Barbara grows estranged from Bach when he discounts her own spiritual struggles. Anna, the second wife, is encouraged by Bach because he recognizes her as a person and an artist in her own right, unlike the other male figures of her day.

As well researched and inspirational as the novel is, its still greater value is that it leaves readers wanting to learn more. Interested readers should thus consult recent biographies and scholarship, and certainly, listen to more of the music "that compels people to become involved, that raises them up into the God who became man" (p. 249).

- Andrea Ivanov-Craig, Christianity and the Arts Magazine

In RuthAnn Ridley's "Bach's Passion," the reader meets Bach, his family and his compatriots as living people. The characterizations and the descriptions of dress, customs and music of the time reflect exceptional research of Bach's life and times. An excellent glossary and bibliography relating to Bach are an added bonus.

- Herbert Colvin, Professor Emeritus of Music Theory: Baylor University

What you have done is to rescue Bach from the rationalists, even as you show him to be the greatest man of reason that the musical world has ever known. It is this apparent anomaly - the idea that this supremely reasonable man was also a man of faith - that infuses your writing and lends tension to it. This is also the Mystery that the seeking Christian must grapple with and come to terms with. It recalls Einstein's unshakable faith in God, and Aquinas's proof of God's existence based on the design of the Universe.

-William A. Kromer

Organist, St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Downsville, NY

This book covers all the new technologies and has its pulse on the new wave of web programming. The book is expertly researched and organized. I have not been able to find a text that covers all the topics (from HTML to XHTML to XML and including Java, JavaScript, CSS, DHTML, etc.). It's more of an Advanced Web Pages book or Beyond Simple HTML book. And it is very up-to-date.

My one complaint is that the publisher must have been rushed to get the book to press. It is team written and different chapters are written in different styles and don't relate easily to what is written in other chapters. It is much too verbose. The book could be about 2/3 the size without losing anything, but gaining some clarity.

The book is written at an intermediate/advanced level (I started using it in my advanced web pages class with great results). As a result, the reader should have a good grasp on HTML and how the web works before approaching this volume. For those individuals, it is an excellent reference.

I don't think an introduction to XHTML has to assume the reader knows nothing about HTML. I enjoyed this book, although a lot of it was review (I've been using HTML for several years, but nothing very complex). I find myself using style sheets a lot more after reading the book, and I'm using XHTML syntax for all my newly created web pages (and updating a few of the already-existing ones). The sections on JavaScript did not go very deep, but the book is not about JavaScript. There are lots of books available on JavaScript. I'll refer now and then to the appendixes on HTML, style sheets and JavaScript (until I get them memorized). I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to keep up with the move to incorporate XML and style sheets into web pages.

This book is absolutely wonderful when it comes to introducing XHTML to a web-developer or design student who is already familiar with HTML. It does contain several bugs and on ocassion its examples contradict what's been written in the text of the book. I wouldn't recommend it to the people who're just learning standard HTML.

To those beginners who've trashed a book on a fairly advanced web-design topic, get a book on basic HTML and actually learn it before you decide to learn something which assumes fairly fluent knowledge of HTML syntax, document structure, standards, and CSS.

A tutorial on webmonkey.com may be all you need to create simple HTML documents, but it doesn't cut it as far as being able to go on to more advanced topics and actually know when something may or may not be right in a book. Books aren't there to be the holy grail of they're there to give you a concsise, convenient introduction to whatever topic said book happens to cover.

For the rest of you, that know HTML, some CSS, and maybe a little java script and are wanting to move on to XHTML, buy this book. You may also want a companion text on XML. I recommend Elliotte Rusty Harold's XML: Extensible Markup Language. O'Rielly has some very good texts on CSS and JavaScript, which you'll probably want to check into after reading this book.

This book covers some topics such as code access security really well but others like ASP.NET security really badly.

The ASP.NET section is almost useless - so few pages and so little information.

It would have been better if the book had been called .NET code access security and didn't bother with the other stuff.

This book is an excellent starting point for understanding the .NET framework security mechanisms. Especially code access security.

Its only real failings are the lack of depth in a few obscure areas (details around simulating permissions that might be granted to an app deployed via the Internet and hosted in IE).

You could glean most of this information from the internet and spend a month doing it, like I did. Or spend $$$ and few hours reading this well written book.

Make no mistake,as you will get your hands wet programming Micrsosoft's "managed code" (C#, VB or ASP.NET apps), you will eventually encounter the all pervasive and extensive security system that is integrated in .Net.
This book is the definite security reference and guide to the new programming platform that Micrsosoft has shipped - and the only book of its kind on the market as far as I can see. It has been written by the people who have designed and implemented the security features and infrastructure in the .NET Framework that ASP.NET, C#, VB or Managed C++ applications run on.
Its stuffed with sample code and hands-on tips, and comes with extensive sections geared specifically towards developers and admins. Chapters are well contained and you get the kind of insider information only the people who have actually build and designed the system would be able to give you.
800 plus pages of security information for the Amazon price is quite a good bang for the buck,so I highly recommend this book as I think it will be a good learning aid in trying to understand .NEt security and remain valuable as a reference work afterwards.

This is the first book by Sebastian Faulks I've read but from what I'm told his others are better. I am relieved to hear that because I wasn't enchanted by this uneven tale. The story is moving but the style occasionally limps along.

In summary, Charlie is a British diplomat living in the USA with his wife Mary and their two children. They enjoy a rather high life in Washington characterized by parties and an envious lifestyle. Charlie is an alcoholic plagued by internal demons. It seems we are meant to believe that Charlie's drinking is justified because of his intelligent perceptions but most readers will see that he suffers from "terminal uniqueness" and uses his intelligence as a means of talking himself out of staying sober. Mary meets Frank, a bohemian reporter, and engages in a love affair. The affair runs its course. Mary's family needs her and so it ends.

One of the biggest obstacles to finding this an original reading experience is the exploitation of common 60s, Eisenhower and Kennedy mythology. Both amusingly and dully, these characters do little else but drink and smoke. I doubt there is one exchange between the principal characters which isn't fueled by alcohol, or during the aftermath of a rampant drunken spree. Between the lines, it's the story of how alcohol can affect the life of anyone within the radius of an alcoholic.

Nevertheless, certain passages and descriptions are deeply moving and original. Mary's emotional dilemma is tangible and upsetting and the final separation between the two lovers is excruciating. The family ties between Mary and her parents and children are beautifully drawn. It's certainly worth reading if you're trapped inside with nothing to do on a rainy Sunday evening.

I loved Sebastian Faulks' trilogy of novels set in Vichy France: "Girl at the Lion d'Or," "Birdsong," and "Charlotte Gray," so I thought I would love "On Green Dolphin Street" as well, however something is definitely missing that was present in abundance in the earlier books.

While I know France well, I don't know New York at all. I have to assume that Faulks, a wonderful writer and a wonderful chronicler of detail, portrayed New York accurately, for even though I am not at all familiar with the locations detailed, they did come alive for me; I felt as though I were really there as well, right alongside Mary and Frank.

"On Green Dolphin Street" is the story of a troubled marriage and a troubled couple, the very, very correct Charlie and Mary van der Linden. Charlie, a Washington-based diplomat, is the first character in the book to display signs of discontent. On the surface, his life is serene and any outsider would think he had every reason to be deliriously happy. He's witty, he's charming and he's smart, but he's also frequently drunk, at loose ends, and feeling the beginnings of depression.

Enter Chicago journalist, Frank Renzo, a longtime friend of Charlie's, one he met in Vietnam. Frank is everything that Charlie is not (or not longer is) and, he just happens to adore Mary. Frank and Mary are good, honorable people and both of them care deeply for Charlie, but, Charlie's duties keep him away more and more and Mary finds that filling the empty hours is easier in New York...with Frank as her guide. Frank shows Mary the real New York and, as he does, Mary inevitably falls in love with him, a love that is most decidedly returned.

Love triangles are nothing new in the novelistic world and, unfortunately, Faulks brings nothing new to the cliche. "On Green Dolphin Street" is as wonderfully written as Faulks' previous novels, but even his superb writing skills can't make up for the lack of a fresh and convincing story. Mary and Frank's discussions often seem stilted and artificial. As much as this pair swear they love each other, they lack passion and tension. No, they aren't cardboard cutouts, Faulks is far too good a writer for that, but something is definitely missing.

This is not to say that the book doesn't have its moments. It most definitely does and the best ones occur in flashback, during moments of high tension. This is, of course, Faulks' forte, pitting characters in flux against tumultuous times. Part of the reason for the relative tepidness of this book may be due to the relatively tepid times in which it is set.

It is not giving anything away by saying that Mary's life eventually begins to unravel and she is forced to make some very difficult choices. While the first two-thirds of this book may be lukewarm, the last third is quite moving. The final chapters even border on heartbreaking.

The 60s era is not an era I find intriguing. Those who do will no doubt like this book more than I did. And those who like their novels firmly rooted in the affairs of the heart will find more than enough to enjoy here. "On Green Dolphin Street" is a good book and one that is well-written. I just didn't find it up to the very high standard Faulks, himself, set with his previous work.

Looking at a highly significant part of American history, Sebastian Faulks, the best-selling author of Charlotte Grey and Birdsong, chose to set his new novel in America. Unlike his previous novels, which focus on British history, On Green Dolphin Street focuses primarily on American politics and life in the 60's.

It is 1960, the end of the comfortable Eisenhower years and the beginning of the ruthlessly competitive Nixon/Kennedy presidential campaign. Mary van der Linden has recently moved from London to Washington D.C with her two children and her husband Charlie, who is posted to the British embassy. In her forties, Mary is a loving mother, wife and friend who has loyally devoted her entire life to other people. But when Frank Renzo suddenly appears- a handsome down to earth journalist- she seems to forget this and is drawn into the Bohemian world of Greenwich Village. Mary is drawn to the rawness of New York City; after all it is the swinging sixties and what is better than jazz clubs, Miles Davis records and gritty bookstores? Mary finds excuses to be with her lover in New York while back in Washington her alcoholic husband drinks to forget his paranoia with the interfering Russians, his absent wife and his state of depression.

Faulks breaks new grounds with this novel. Unlike his previous works, this is not a war story and is not set in Europe. Faulks has an easy, approachable writing style and explores the themes of the 60's beautifully. Although not as enthralling as Birdsong or Charlotte Grey, this is great novel and will easily entertain all readers. Just be warned: the political jargon is rather heavy so if you're looking for a love story this is probably not it.