Not your every day tour guide to London, that's for sure. Roy Berkeley's meticulously researched book reads like a spy novel. But this is no work of fiction. The author takes you on a tour of of more than 130 places where some of the more notorious spies plied their craft. Non-descript flats were the home to the likes of double agents Kim Philby and Donald Maclean who betrayed their country. And while Baker Street will always be known as the home to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, a whole stretch of Baker Street during WWII was home to the British espionage and sabotage organization known as SOE (Special Operations Executive). Berkeley even touches on the home and workplace of the most famous spy writer in history Ian Fleming. Complete with photos and diagrams to get you around the espionage haunts of the city. A real gem! Bruce Edwards

Mr Berkeley has accomplished what few guidebooks do well, in my opinion. That is to combine the sights with a narrative tying them together. Over 130 places are divided into short walking tours taking in most of London. The narrative itself is authoritative and, just as important in a book like this, entertaining. If you have an interest in Intelligence/Special Operations both during the World Wars and Cold War, and are looking for an unusual tour to do yourself,this is a book to consider. I probably ought to mention that it is unlike traditional guidebooks in another sense as well: there are few recommendations on eating-certainly none on lodging. But, another inexpensive guidebook should suffice to cover those areas. NB: Although published in 1997, I used the book July and November 1999 and all the sites I wanted to see are still there.

I think this book is a wonderfull thing for typofreaks and i recommend it full heartedly for any typographer out there.
As for the rest of us mortals in the design cummunity, i dont believe there anything of interest in this book ( or should i say - large notebook) because it has no 'eye candies' of any sort, printed in two colors (black and ochre), has too much text in it and in general- looks bad.

The Emigre story traces the fascinating development of a magazine that introduced digital typography to the design world.

Rudy Vanderlans created Emigre in 1984, the year in which the the Macintosh computer changed graphic design and typography forever.

In its early years, the brilliant experimental type/design publication featured fonts designed Zuzana Licko, a pioneer in designing typefaces on the computer for the computer. Her early bitmap fonts, designed to be used on dot matrix printers, created an uproar in a design community that was already reeling from the drastic changes in typesetting and production methods. With the introduction of high res PostScript outline technology, Licko's designs became more sophisticated and designers began to appreciate the ability to design with typography in ways never thought possible.

This book traces the journey of digital type from shocking to mainstream and contains fascinating quotes from influential design professionals. Of special interest are many examples of the best work from the early Emigres, including all of the bold, memorable covers.

A must for every graphic design library.

The emigre magazine in one book, is cool, a impresive book, with a great size, like a big magazine shows the innovative design of the rudy vanderlas magazine trough the years, is a lovely book, buy it!

This is an excellent reference book you can use practically every day for yourself or your family. Instead of spending a fortune going to a podiatrist, I treated my own ingrown toenail. I have learned so much from this book that I would recommend it to every parent and person interested in good health without spending a fortune. We can stay well without having to go to doctors all the time. As for the rude review about jumping on the fitness bandwagon, well, the University of California's School of Public Health is a reputable and highly-regarded institution out to help people stay well. They are not a bunch of half-baked quacks only out for the money. And anyone who has ever seen the Wellness Letter they produce every month knows they always offer excellent advice for everyone. If you want real experts who know what they are talking about, buy this book.

Full of all sorts of practical ideas that you can use at home. Though it is written by 2 top doctors, it is easy to read and use. I have managed to treat myself and my family with all of the fantastic information, and since it is from the School of Public Health, you know these people are not out to sell your stuff or glorify themselves the way some doctors on ego-trips do. An essential reference book that everyone should own.

If you need a clear, well-organized, and up-to-date guide to your health , this is the perfect book for you. Almost all the general medical knowledge a person needs is covered here. On one page, for example, you learn how to evaluate your blood pressure. On another, you get a quick lesson on glaucoma - its symptoms, its causes, and how to deal with it. Should you have to consult a doctor, you will have instant access to some crucial information. Do yourself a favor and put this handbook in your reference collection.

I read the book straight through -- just couldn't put it down. While I agree with some of the criticism that the writing is unpolished and unprofessional, I found that overall the collection gives outsiders important insight into the state of education today-- particularly in California after Proposition 209. For the benefit of prospective readers who may be put off the book by the arrogant review by "kanandume" on April 29, 1999, I would like to offer a few remarks. This review is evidence of what so many of the essayists in "Diversity Hoax" complain about. As is so common with hyper-postmodernists, this person assumes that if somebody doesn't agree with the position of the left, then they must just be dumb; that if the essayists do not agree with affirmative action, then they are dualists, and are simply missing the truth that all enlightened beings have come to know (through their great mystic father Derrida and his crew) that "meanings and values are contextually contructed". Well, of course, not everyone believes that meanings and values are ONLY contextually contructed. I believe that any value I hold is informed by my cultural and historical position, but I also believe that there are certain values that are trans-historical and precede culture. And, in contrast to this reviewer's charge that the essayists are unable to transcend their dualisms (because they're so dumb) and hence fail to see that they can choose the best from among multiple alternatives, I believe that most of the writers in the book give evidence that they examined the alternatives and simply do not find affirmative action to be the best answer to the problem of "minority" underrepresentation at Boalt. So, in short, I applaud this book as an important wake-up call to all of us who care about the future of education, and are tired of being terrorized by radicals who cannot sit quietly long enough to listen to alternative arguments, to weigh opposing arguments carefully and thoughtfully before assigning labels. Indeed, if our ultimate goal is enlightenment and intellectual growth, we need the resistance of all well-argued viewpoints to shape our own viewpoints.

"How many Asians currently play in the NBA? Are they under-represented? If so, why is this tolerated, and what must *WE* do to remedy this grievous situation?"

These absurd questions are not so absurd, at least according to the Leftist PC-police who rule the roost at Boalt Hall (UC Berkeley's prestigious law school). A straightforward, powerful, often-disturbing collection of essays by Boalt students, "The Diversity Hoax" questions the self-serving notions of "diversity," "minority," and "racism" from the ultra-liberal perspective. Readers lucky enough to pick up this volume are left with little doubt that far too many students--and far too many educators and administrators--at Boalt view any opinion or individual outside of their narrow view of "tolerance" with extreme intolerance.

Why does Boalt's definition of "diversity" refer only to racial diversity? Why do Boalt professors and administrators turn a deaf ear and a blind eye in the face of blatant personal attacks on those who have the 'audacity' to express themselves from anything but a ultra-liberal perspective? Why is the eternal message of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ignored by those who hold his words most sacred?

The answers to these and other questions contained in this powerful little volume, though certainly debatable, make this collection a fascinating read. Compiled by David Wienir (a second-year law student at Boalt) and Marc Berley, "The Diversity Hoax" is as provocative as its title. After reading this book, I am far more aware of the close-minded intolerance practiced by those who most vocally preach "tolerance."

I heartily recommend "The Diversity Hoax" to anyone who has ever had the courage to express their "minority" views (take that either way) to a hostile crowd, to those who have been shamed and silenced by the same, and to people of all ethnic backgrounds who want a fresh perspective on the true meaning of diversity and racism. Don't pass this up; it's a keeper.

Caveat Emptor: This collection of essays is not for the weak or feint of heart! In these short, lucid (though mostly unpolished) essays, the student-contributors candidly expose the styfling intellectual environment at Boalt Hall. As a fellow student, I can attest that the student leftists employ terror tactics, so as to control and, thus, seriously limit the parameters of discourse at Boalt. There is nothing exaggerated about these contributions. Three cheers for these brave students!!!

Given that David Wienir asked for "diary-like submissions," I find it laughable that a fellow Boalt Hall student who has also reviewed the book on-line has the audacity to criticize the quality of the writing contained therein. One must query, why did this "learned reviewer" fail to contribute an essay? Why did this charged review rate a book endorsed by the likes of Ed Meese a One Star? Furthermore, one might expect a well-written review from such "a critical mind," with substantive issues raised and debunked; instead, however, its author provides the reader with a rambling, unreasoned diatribe, replete with grade school solecisms--an insight into the type of second-rate mind about which the essayists in Mr. Wiener's "Diversity Hoax" eloquently write. Unlike second-rate review suggests, outsiders should rest assured that student conservatives at Boalt do not fear or disdain diversity; rather they champion a more complete and modern notion of diversity, one in which philosophical viewpoints are adjudged irrespective of the speaker's skin tone. Also bear in mind that many of the essayists in "The Diversity Hoax" are in fact for racial preferences and self-indentify as liberals. So for the bitter multi-culturist reviewer, I say, "E Pluribus Unum!!!"

Considering the purpose the of "The Diversity Hoax," I give it FIVE STARS.

Male, Boalt Hall, 2000

I was really expecting much more from Ain't Gonna be the Same Fool Twice than I received in Coffee will make you Black. I enjoyed Coffee up to a point, but towards the middle of the book the story went downhill. April Sinclair vacillated too much concerning her confusion about bi-sexuality. I was expecting the main character, Stevie to have worked out those issues and to have moved on with her life in the sequel; that did not happen. In addition, I am a native of San Francisco, and Sinclair's romantic illustration of life in the foggy city was too cliched -- the book could have been a tourist guide. I couldn't wait to finish the book because I was totally irritated with her obsession about sexual orientation, rather than telling what could have been a fairly interesting story. It reminded me of an African American female version of Tales of the City. There is something about Sinclair's writing style that draws you in, but she doesn't seem to have the ability to sustain the reader's attention. If you are hoping to find out what Stevie chose to do in Ain't Gonna be the Same Fool Twice, then you will be sorely disappointed. It appeared that Sinclair was attempting to leave room for a tri-quel. Let me tell you -- I for one won't be the same fool three times!

I almost didn't read this book, because I couldn't get into "Coffee". However, after reading it, I was really impressed. I always read the the first few pages of a book to see the writers style and to determine if I will like it or not. After reading the first couple of pages, this book really caught my attention. Although I hate period books, this book being in the 70's didn't bother me. It rang of culture and style. Great Job Ms. Sinclair. I will definetly buy the next!

I read this book after reading "Coffee Will Make you Black." April Sinclair is an excellent writer. She really dives into some of the issues confronting African American women in the 70's. Stevie must find the courage to find out who she really is. Then her struggle becomes that of her acceptance. I recommend this book to all women, whether they are black or not! Very good reading!!

Although I share Berkeley's concern for the people of Africa, in my opinion he is way to eager to prove an initial thesis - that Africa's basic problem is "outside" influence. Like many young idealists who care passionately about their cause, Berkeley is highly selective about what is included in the book, although he does make an admirable effort to give targets of his criticism an opportunity to state their case (no small concession).

Over one-third of the book - nearly 100 pages - is devoted to Liberia, a tiny country with less than three-tenths of one percent of the continent's population. The reason for this is that it is simply not chic to criticize the West unless you can find some way of demonizing the U.S. in the process. This is hard to do in the case of Africa, since the U.S. was never a colonial power there, but Liberia is a country in which the U.S. has had a special interest over the years, which makes it a juicy target. It doesn't hurt that Liberia's worst problems began just as the Reagan administration was being installed, although connecting the dots becomes a bit of a stretch (Berkeley criticizes the U.S. both for supporting the Doe regime in 1986 and then failing to support the regime three years later).

This touches on the main problem with the book, namely that it is a long litany of skin-deep complaints without any exploration of alternatives. Certainly it is easy to criticize the U.S. for supporting the kleptocratic Zairian dictator Mobutu, but how would the country have been any better without Mobutu? Zaire would most certainly have fallen under Soviet influence (if not outright anarchy) and, as we see in places like Guinea and Ethiopia, this would not have been any better for the people or the economy. Failure to hold the line in the Third World would simply have prolonged the Cold War, and the Marxists were far less supportive of human and political rights than was the West.

Berkeley does not mention any Communist countries or African disputes that fail to fit the model, such as that between the Shona and Matabele. His foray into South Africa is an amazing piece of gerrymandering that manages to portray the ANC as a victim of Inkatha aggression. He accomplishes this by focusing only on the Natal area, an Inkatha stronghold in "Zululand." Tough questions are put to the Inkatha leadership on the violence in their district, yet there is no mention of what was happening in the rest of SA. ANC atrocities, such as the Shell House and St. James's church massacres, are neatly sanitized from Berkeley's version of events. One wonders if he ever heard of the Black Consciousness movement and why it no longer exists in SA.

Perhaps instead of trying to fit Africa into a politically correct cliché, Berkeley would have done better to challenge his own preconceptions and educate the reader in the process. There is no harm in providing the total picture, but a dedication to do otherwise, simply for the purpose of influencing the audience, insults those who feel that they can be trusted with the true details of a complex situation.

I bought this book along with Michela Wrong's "In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz." Both are must-reads for anyone interested in Africa. The difference is that Wrong's book is a straight-forward narrative of Zaire's descent into anarchy, whereas Berkeley considers several instances of anarchy and goes one step further by attempting to explain how and why these grim situations came about. His central thesis - that anarchy is a tool used by tyrannical "Big Men" to secure and enhance their own power - helps to dispel the myth that Africa's problems are the result of "age-old hatreds" or "tribal conflicts." Berkeley does a great job of explaining the motives and methods of a diverse array of players (ranging from Mobutu to South African generals to American politicians), thus demonstrating their complicity in creating so many of Africa's past and present problems.

Best of all, Berkeley handles all this weighty material in a very user-friendly manner. The book is well-organized, the points are made clearly and strongly, and his first-hand accounts are vivid and fascinating - more than enough to keep you turning the pages. Highly recommended for anyone looking to understand modern Africa.

This oft quoted remark the president made last year is the epitome of what Berkeley calls the "conventional American conception of Africa as a unitary landscape of unremitting despair." The president and his conventional...wisdom? is not the target of Berkeley's book though. The author says that part of the purpose of THE GRAVES ARE NOT YET FULL is a "pointed rebuttal" to Afro-pessimists, the prime example being Robert D Kaplan and his book THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.

Similarly to Michela Wrong and her book - IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MR KURTZ, Berkeley sees a lot of the problems in Africa as having foreign origins. Much moreso than Wrong though, he develops on the theme that violence and ethnic warfare are not the results of some "ancient tribal hatreds" in the words of Kaplan, but are in fact organized, manipulated, or orchestrated devices used by various African leaders as a means of exerting control and maintaining power. Ethnic conflicts in Africa he plainly says "are all provoked from on high."

He illustrates this point by developing a series of profiles on the manipulative leaders and tales about the victims of their crimes. Berkeley is pretty blunt in his reporting and with his words. He starts off by saying that "this is a book about evil". It should be no surprise then that he is willing to put names to these "creatures of evil". Mobuto Sese Seko of Zaire is here, but again, this book is broader than Wrongs', - hers stopped there, but Berkeley looks at South Africa, Liberia, Angola, Sudan and Rwanda. He names Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Samuel Doe, Charles Taylor, Jonas Savimbi, Hasan Turabi and John Garang. It's not just Africans that are responsible though and in an entire chapter devoted to the role of former Assistant Secretary of State for Africa in the Reagan administration Chester Crocker, we see Berkeley's thesis developed to the full. While not calling the man a war criminal he nevertheless says that he was "the kind of figure many war criminals depend on: an articulate front man, capable of putting an intellectual gloss on otherwise crude power politics." Berkeley believes Crocker is morally guilty of crimes against humanity for supporting the despotic and murderous rule of Samuel Doe in Liberia in the late 1980's.

With all these examples of criminal regimes, evil rulers, and morally corrupt and culpable supporters, it's possible to believe that this is an unremittingly bleak book and that the author holds out no hope for Africa. Not so at all. Berkeley says that "not all the news from Africa is bad, and much of it is hopeful." Yoweri Museveni and Uganda are put forth as an example of what a peaceful, democratic, African future might look like.

All told this is a well researched, broad ranging book which develops an interesting thesis on the causes of what seems to be such an unyielding problem. Berkeley's rational, well written and very plausible argument does offer hope for Africa. While it is true that despotic regimes and evil rulers are a significantly widespread and sometimes well embedded sore, the truth is that once identified and named, a cure can be sought for any disease. This is a much more manageable (and realistic) beginning point than the hand-wringing, non-solution offered by viewing Africa as a single entity plagued with irrational violence and unfathomable tribal slaughters.

This is Tracy Grant's 1st hardcover novel - that's why they are calling it her "debut".. Even though it's not the first book of hers that I've read, it's certainly my last, that's for sure. In Daughter of the Game, Melanie and Charles are a young, handsome, exciting couple in love. Life is a dream until their 6 year old son is kidnapped. Then shattering lies surface and their relationship starts to unravel. This sounds great, doesn't it? Such potential! But Grant drags and drags and drags the story out until I had to skip from about pg 300 to the end (book is 483 pgs long!) I just couldn't stand it anymore. I felt like screaming - Move it ALONG!!! I wasn't crazy about either the hero or the heroine but I really loved Colin, the little boy. But most romance/adventure readers like myself cringe when children are hurt in stories and there was a very horrific part in here that turned my stomach. So, as you can tell - I was disappointed. I think I'll stick to "sweet" authors for awhile like Barbara Freethy and Pamela Morsi. I doubt I'll try another Tracy Grant.

The first sentence ("It was the sort of night that cloaks a multitude of sins.") may be infelicitous, in the "It was a dark and stormy night" tradition. But it WAS that sort of night, and we're transported into that world of sins and darkness. While this book seems to be lumped together with Romance Novels (yuck!), it's actually more a mystery-thriller in the Caleb Carr mode.

Charles and Melanie Fraser are fully-realized characters, subtle and complex. Their actions, revelations, and reactions are convincing and true-to-life within the framework of the plot. While some of the dramatic twists may be predictable, as mentioned in the Editorial Reviews, they are still attention-grabbing and necessary to propel the action. And the action never stops! We're treated to introspection AND adventure, precisely blended, in appetizing helpings. The pace is rapid. Grant has a good touch with flash-back and fast-forward, and with switching from one character to another without being jarring or tedious.

It's not Dickens or Thackeray, but it's not a read-by-number Romance, either. Think of it as a well-told tale that you don't have to write a Theme about!

In sum, I found this a thoroughly meaty Good Read; Melanie, Charles and their children and connections are depicted with such skill that the reader cares about them and what happens to them. I plan to get the second book very soon, and hope I will once more sink my teeth into a satisfyingly guiltless Guilty Pleasure.

The hardcover debut of Tracy Grant is all I expected.

Her previous books, including those written with her mother, prepared me for the skilled use of historical background material. Her last three paperbacks showed me how clever her plotting could be. This historical suspense is a masterwork

Previous Grant books have been romances with the requisite happily ever afters. While Charles and Melanie seem to have one, the initial actions in this book strip it away in such a manner that it doesn't seem it could be regained.

Over a period of three days, the couple search for a particular ring with which they can ransom their son. Grant knows her historical background and it shows. This isn't prettified London and regency England. Much of this story takes place in the layer underneath the pretty. Grant's characterization skills are also exemplary. Her characters aren't simple and the experiences that shaped them aren't easy ones. Her secondary characters are given life too and each of them had untold stories trailing behind them.

Because both Charles and Melanie played a part in the later Napoleonic Wars, flashbacks to their actions and experiences also show us the underside of war. The flashbacks are a necessary part of the story and aren't intrusive. At one point Grant's book invites comparison to Carla Kelly's stunning One Good Turn and she doesn't suffer in the comparison. Grant's characters aren't blindly patriotic. Those in the book who worked for the French cause are not portrayed as villains but as reasoning human beings.

This is a busy book.There's lots of action and movement. And in the small quiet spaces, Charles and Melanie are reacting to the death of their happily ever after and slowly working towards a new way of living with each other.

All the books Tracy Grant has written on her own and with her mother (as Anthea Malcolm and Anna Grant) are on my keeper shelves. This one will join them. At one point in this book, the family name Lescaut is used. This is a name that figures in Tracy's previous books and gives me hope that we may see more from her using this particular world.

This is the central question explored by Conrad in Lord Jim. Jim is ultimately a character who inspires our sympathy due to his inability to find reconcilliation for his one tragic moment of weakness. In him we find a person of tremendous potential that remains unrealized as the tragic circumstances of his abandoning his post aboard the Patna continually haunt him and the associated guilt drives him to isolation.
Conrad successfully explores the concepts of bravery, cowardice,guilt and the alternative destinies that an individual may be driven to by these qualities.
The narrative can be a bit confusing at times as Marlowe relates the tale by recalling his encounters with Jim. The book reminded very much of Somerset Maugham's THE RAZOR"S EDGE" in style. However I believe that Maugham did a much better job of incorporating the narrator into the flow of the story. Overall LORD JIM is a wonderful classic novel that I highly recommend.

This is the fifth book I have read by Conrad, and through these readings I have come to deeply appreciate his literary power and the perfection of his stories. Conrad has the skill to border about several similar subjects, without repeating himself. "Lord Jim" is truly a Shakespearean tragedy, mainly because of the Shakespearean nature of the main character. Jim is a young naval officer with high hopes of heroism and moral superiority, but when he faces his first test of courage, he miserably fails. While 800 Muslim pilgrims are asleep aboard the ship "Patna", Jim discovers that the boat is about to sink. There are not sufficient lifeboats for everybody. Should he wake them up or not? He gets paralyzed with fear and then sudenly jumps into a boat being set up by the rest of the officers. He is taken to trial and disposessed of his working licence.

Ashamed and humiliated, Jim dedicates the rest of his life to two things: escape the memory of that fateful night, and redeem himself. This agonizing quest to recover his dignity in front of his own eyes leads him to hide in a very remote point in the Malayan peninsula, where he will become the hero, the strong man, the wise protector of underdeveloped, humble and ignorant people. Jim finds not only the love of his people, but also the love of a woman who admires him and fears the day when he might leave for good. The narrator, Captain Marlow (the same of "Heart of Darkness") talks to Jim for the last time in his remote refuge, and then Jim tells him that he has redeemed himself by becoming the people's protector. Oh, but these things are never easy and Jim will face again the specter of failure.

Conrad has achieved a great thing by transforming the "novel of adventures" into the setting for profound and interesting reflections on the moral stature of Man, on courage, guilt, responsibility, and redemption.

Just as in "Heart of Darkness" the question is what kinds of beings we are stripped of cultural, moral and religious conventions; just as in "Nostromo" the trustworthiness of a supposedly honest man is tested by temptation, in "Lord Jim" the central subject is dignity and redemption after failure.

A great book by one of the best writers.

After reading this book (along with several other of Conrad's books) I am under the impression that Joseph Conrad may very well be my favorite author. Here is another masterpiece, a deeply incisive study of character of the motivation and the ultimate failure of all high-minded ideals. Granted my own personal world view falls directly in line with this realization and therefore prejudices me towards anything the man might write, but, when considering such a lofty title as 'favorite author' one must regard other aspects of the novelist's creation. As with the others, Conrad wins by the power of his stories.

Lord Jim is my least favorite of the the four books I have read by Conrad. The story is rather scattered: a righteous young man does something wrong that he holds himself far too accountable for and the public shame the action brought him exaggerates the reality of his failure and makes him believe the rumors swirling around about his so-called cowardice. He spends the remainder of his life trying to reclaim his self-regard, mostly exaggerating his own importance in matters he hardly understands. His goal is to liberate the primitive people of the jungle paradise he inadvertantly finds himself in (due to an effort to escape every particle of the world he once inhabited) and his once high-minded ideals and regard for himself lead him to allow those people to consider him almost a God.

Jim likes being a God and considers himself a just and fair one. He treats everyone equally and gives to his people the knowledge of modern science and medicine as well as the everyday archetecture and understanding of trade that those primitive folks would otherwise be years from comprehending.

Of course everything ends in failure and misery and of course Jim's restored name will be returned to its demonic status, but the whole point of the novel seems to me that one can not escape their past. Jim, for all his courage in the line of fire has tried to avoid all memory of the once shameful act of his former life and by doing so becomes destined to repeat his mistakes.

Lord Jim is far more expansive than the story it sets out to tell, ultimately giving a warning on the nature of history and general humanity that only a writer of Conrad's statue could hope to help us understand.

If there is a flaw it is not one to be taken literally. Conrad was a master of structural experimentation and with Lord Jim he starts with a standard third person narrative to relate the background and personalities of his characters and then somehow merges this into a second person narrative of a man, years from the events he is relating, telling of the legend of Jim. It is a brilliant innovation that starts off a little awkward and might lead to confusion in spots as the story verges into its most important parts under the uncertain guidence of a narrator who, for all his insight into others, seems unwilling to relate his personal relevence to the story he is relating.

Nevertheless (with a heartfelt refrain), one of the best books I have ever read.

Bhushan and Le have created a guide that is most useful as an introduction to the ward experience for medical students. They discuss particulars about each rotation and this information is certainly important for students to read before each rotation. Although I do recommend this book to my students, I also encourage them to use another book entitled the 101 Biggest Mistakes 3rd Year Medical Students Make and How to Avoid Them. This latter book is the only book I know of that helps students recognize the major mistakes that are made during clinical clerkships. By using First Aid for the Wards and 101 Biggest Mistakes 3rd Year Medical Students Make and How to Avoid Them together, students will place themselves in a position to do their best work during their clinical clerkships.

I bought this book to use as a review for the Clinical Skills Assessment (CSA)(the pratical texy that all the FMG have to do in Philadelphia). It was great because it helped me to practice writting clear medical hystories, in the same manner I had to write in the real (CSA) test in english. It was also very good because it list the major symptoms, signs and differential diagnosis of the more common clinnical problems. By the way, again useful for the CSA, because they request us to give the dif diagnosis in these test.

I highly recomment this book as an adjunt for the preparation for the CSA. Of couse, should be useful also for the wards.

Don't forget also to use: Mastering the OSCE/CSA: Objective Structured Clinical Examination/Clinical Skills Assessment...

I found this book to be quite helpful in alleviating those third year jitters. So much of the third year is spent trying to figure out your role on the team, and how to look like a star. This book gives some useful pointers.

If you have liked other books from the First Aid series, this book will also be well liked and used. Well written and to the point.

Each chapter gives pointers for a particular clinical rotation - explaining the role of a student as well as who the typical other team members will be. Also, gives a general breakdown of what to expect for a typical day.

Each chapter then has some vital clinical information that you need to know for each rotation. The chapters end with a review of which text books are most helpful for you to read.

Good book!

The book serves as an excellent reference for anyone concerned with improving their health and well being. The book includes very up-to-date information on nutrition and many common sense health issues such as, home safety issues, safe food preparation, child car safety seats, water intake etc.

I am a soldier in the US Army. I put a lot of stress daily on my body both physically and mentally. I constantly have health related questions. This book answers most of them and helps me get better insight on general health issues so I can ask my doctor the right questions. This book is easy to use and the index has every lookup word that you can think of for health insight.

We refer to this book regularly. It is a wonderful reference for general, health-related issues and gives good, sound advice based on the most recent medical research which is chronicled in the University of California Wellness letter. Another reviewer sited that it did not have many natural remedies...it does make mention of homeopathic remedies, when research supports it, but not otherwise. Save trips/phone calls to the doctor and get this book.