I am frequently called upon by community groups to give a talk on the British royal family, given that I have worked in parliament, studied history in London, and have met several of the royals. This is rare among persons in midwestern America. Fortunately, there is no lack of material, and my talks are never the same.

One of my sources for interesting side notes and comic relief for these talks is 'The Oxford Book of Royal Anecdotes', edited by Lady Elizabeth Longford. Had there been tabloids throughout history many of these stories might have featured prominently (albeit probably with the occasional alien thrown in for good measure of sensationalism).

Longford does not commit the sin of most historians of the royals of beginning with William the Conqueror--there was a Britain before 1066. She includes Celts, Danes, and Saxons. Alas, she does not include Scots or others explicitly after 1066, but their stories are woven into the stories.

Longford's sources include histories, biographies, poems, newspaper accounts, diaries, and personal correspondence in library and museum collections. Many anecdotes are pulled from other histories--those bits that are neglected because the substance of the weightier matters overpowers them. Thus, this collection helps the hidden jewels to shine.

One example of Longford's treatment would be in recounting the shifting image over time of the reign and fate of Edward II. She gives brief details of biographers from 1313 (during his reign), 1327 (the year of his deposition), a seventeenth century biographer, and a modern biographer. In this we see that while the verdict of history holds sway, it needn't stay constant. Today's hero becomes tomorrow's villain, and yet later tragic character.

Here one can also see various bits about John Brown, friend and servant and supposed lover (even, some speculated, husband) of Victoria--their relationship is presented from many sides, and Longford resists jumping to conclusions herself.

From her epilogue, Longford states: 'This has been the story of many dynasties and one royal line. That line goes back a thousand years, yet it has shown infinite variety rather than recognisable family traits. Indeed it seems to cover the whole human spectrum, though in heightened or exaggerated form because of the royal ambiance.... The hushed abdication broadcast from Windsor Castle has replaced the crunch of the axe on Tower Green. Even anthologists can have no regrets.'

If you've ever had a hankerin' for knowledge, trivia or just an insight into the kings and queens of England, this is the source. Dame Longford has provided historical and contemporary references, sotries and tales of the British royals from Boudiccea, the Warrior Queen to Alfred the Great, from Aethelred to Victoria to Elizabeth II. the Book opens with a detailed genology, including the Saxons and Danes, Normans, Plantagenets, Yorks, Lancastrians,Tudors, Saxe-Coburg-Gothas and Windsors. Each dated entry

A very much needed book. Finally updates "Whitewater/ Quietwater" with much better information and maps. Written extremely well with lots of interesting tidbits of river info. This book has become the one must have book for paddling in Northern Wisconsin. Mike's Paddling Illinois is due momentarily.

I checked this book out from our local library in Green Bay and have subsequently asked for it for my birthday. This is a wonderful compilation of information, maps and helpful hints on a wide variety of northern Wisconsin rivers.

Having just bought a canoe last year, my wife and I have poured over these pages looking for new possible places to explore in this wonderful state of ours. A trip that we've taken the past few years is noted in incredible detail in this book. It includes notes on remote islands which we camp on to which rapids are worthy of portaging around. (We're amatuers!).

The author has done a wonderful job appealing to both rookies and more advanced paddlers by not taking anything for granted and explaining each bend and turn in superb detail. He also provides fascinating information on the history of the rivers and flowages he comments on.

Overall, I must say this is a must for serious (and not-so-serious) paddlers. A great gift. (Hint, hint mom! )

Just got back from five days in Paris; this is the guidebook we referred to again and again. The walking tour approach to getting to know neighborhoods is great to read in advance, and great for choosing a hotel (Cheap Sleeps in Paris for that task). The book is small in size so easy to carry. The best of the lot.

Elizabeth Morris's Travel Guide to Paris, written under the auspices of Thomas Cook, is a wonderful and clear guide to the neighborhoods, museums, churches and monuments of Paris. It includes several day excursions out of the city as well. I would like to see it restocked because I don't believe I have seen a clearer depiction of what Paris has to offer anywhere else. Ms. Morris's walking tours are superb and informative. It's just a really good resource.

If it is possible to secure The Paris Review - Interview with writers published by Penguin through the 1970's and 80's

The Paris Review is the best literary magazine around (even though they've rejected all of my stories). But anyway, the interview and stories are top notch. I love the blend of unknown writers and famous writers. This issue is especially good, for it's a concept issue, "New British Writing." The forum is excellent, with each author asked to give their opinion on, of course, the state of "British" literature. Furthermore, George Plimpton is very inspiring. Just reading an issue wants to make you write better or start your own magazine.

This book is a great help in deciphering Brazilian customs and subtle cues. I would also recommend "A History of Brazil" and "The Brazilian Sound: Samba, Bossa Nova and the Popular Music of Brazil" as essential works that also give vital background.

Culture shock is sometimes taken for granted, however to be cosmopolitan, is to have experienced a culture shock and being able to fully utilize it to your own benefit. Brazil is one of these places in the world were the unwritten rules are as important as the air you breath, if you intend to successfuly journey through this country, it is imperative that you learn about the culture, the history and the economy. Yet the most precious commodity you can come accross, is a friend... Because doors will be open to you in ways you've not yet experienced before. This book is a friend.

I loved it! Tough, real, sweet and caustic, like life. Highly recommended to anyone who wants fiction that deals with reality rather than fantasy.

This is an edgy story about the love between two brothers, one a cop, the other a small-time crook, and how far the good brother will go to help the bad. The women are powerful, the pacing intense, the characters realistic, and the ending satisfying without being pie-in-the-sky. I look forward to a sequel.

Peace is Everybody's Business focuses on the peace making efforts of Elizabeth Baker and her husband, peace advocates and educators who proved pioneers in the field in the last part of the 20th century. Readers receive both an excellent biography of Baker and a focus on the establishment of peace studies in higher education. The latter is especially important as few books have examined this process.

THIS IS MY FINAL REVISED VERSION OF THIE REVIEW. SORRY FOR THE PREVIOUS ATTEMPT. jack troy wrote: Elizabeth Evans Baker's Quest for Peace Reviewer: jack troy from Huntingdon, PA USA

Elizabeth Evans Baker (1902-1990) led a full life as First Lady at Ohio University, founder of the Monomoy Theatre on Cape Cod, as an actress, mother, patron of the arts, and poet, but her inner tuning-fork vibrated for the cause of peace. She struggled with an ancient human dilemma - how to discover and use moral imagination as an alternative to violence in resolving conflicts. Because she and her husband were in a position to put their ideals into action, they were instrumental in funding peace studies programs at a number of colleges, but Elizabeth was the driving force, as Marta Daniels documents in her well-organized, and clearly-written book. Elizabeth Baker was in a position to do something about the sad fact that America has a War College, but no Peace College. Her response was not only personal (as Daniels shows, through excerpts from EEB's diaries), but far-reaching, since she helped fund and organize peace-studies programs devoted to what has become known as "irenology" - the systematic, interdisciplinary study of the causes of war and the conditions of peace. Her dedication helped establish and enlarge an awareness that has materialized so that nearly 200 U. S. colleges now offer courses and undergraduate degree-granting and certificate-granting Peace Studies programs. As I read this book I was struck by the degree to which Mrs. Baker's idealism found pragmatic expression with enduring effects, as authenticated by her persistence for 20 years to make possible Maya Lin's Peace Chapel at Juniata College in central Pennsylvania. Visiting the site helps me realize what this book documents: that art and peace can be as linked in locale as they were in the mind and spirit of Elizabeth Evans Baker.

Recent English royal biographies, perhaps following the success of Fraser's "Mary Queen of Scots," remain fixated on the Tudor era, Elizabeth I in particular, with less frequent mention of Mary Tudor or Mary Stuart, and/or perhaps Henry's wives. The romance of the Stuart queens, however, didn't end with Mary Queen of Scots - it reached its apogee with her grandchild, Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia. Married to the hapless Frederick, Elector Palatine, in 1619 she and her young family were brought to Prague as the newly elected (and Protestant) King and Queen following the deposition (defenestration, to be exact) of the previous Catholic regime. In power for little more than a few weeks, they were chased back into Germany after the disastrous Battle of the White Mountain, following which Elizabeth languished in exile in Holland for the best part of the next 40 years. Oran's 1930s bio is the standard work on Elizabeth - she pays particular attention to the life of a woman in the 17th century European court: hobbies, clothes, sports and the ubiquitous letter-writing. Elizabeth turned the damsel-in-distress cliche on its head, being a furious rider and outdoorswoman as well as a supple European politician and skilled linguist. Despite competition with the other women in the Stuart family (e.g., Charles I's and II's respective wives), it was Elizabeth's genes that won out - under the Act of Succession, every English monarch since 1713 has been required to prove an ancestral link to the Winter Queen. Classic biography and a useful bridge between Antonia Fraser's four Stuart books (Mary/James I/Gunpowder Plot/Royal Charles) and C.V. Wedgwood's numerous 17th century histories (e.g. Thirty Years War, Montrose).

Elizabeth, the daughter of King James VI of Scotland and I of England, was widely acclaimed as the most beautiful princess in Europe. Her hand was sought by many, but James selected the Protestant prince of a small German state, Frederick of the Palatine, to counterbalance the intended match of his eldest son with the Catholic royal daughter of either France or Spain. It would prove to be a true love match, as well as a political disaster.

This history follows the eventful life and tumultous times of Elizabeth of Bohemia, known as the Winter Queen for the brief duration of her husband's reign. The research is solid, the writing scholarly yet engagingly annecdotal. The narrative is particularly strong: settings are described with unusual care and color, and telling bits of cultural detail help evoke a sense of time and place.

The relationships between Elizabeth and her many family members are vividly drawn. Most poignant among these were her strong sibling attachment to her oldest brother Henry, her passionate but disappointing marriage to the moody Frederick, and the sense of betrayal she must have suffered when her father all but abandoned her. She survived war and endured exile -- not only from Bohemia and her husband's hereditary Palatine, but also from England. Neither James nor his successor Charles I acknowledged her as a queen, or permitted her to return to England.

Students of history might be interested in Elizabeth's descendents, which, in 1938, included the ruling sovereigns of Denmark, Great Britain, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Roumania, Sweden, Belgium, Bulgaria, and Italy. By any measure, this is an impressive family saga!

The Postmodern Bible provides what is as close as anyone will ever get to a contemporary handbook on "postmodern" methods of approaching, reading, using and interpreting the Bible. One might ask why such a book is needed. I would reply that this book is needed because it implicates the readers of the Bible in the matters it wishes to bring to bear in biblical study. This book attempts to show (in my estimation) that reading the Bible is a social act, a personal act, a political act and a cultural act. And this book preaches what it practices for it is written by a self-styled "Bible and Culture Collective", a group of scholarly "young turks" no less, who amply demonstrate that projects worked on together need not end up being mish-mashes of the wants and desires of those composing them.

This book has both direction and drive. In seven compact yet thorough discussions we are introduced, in theory and practice, to seven contemporary approaches to the practice of biblical reading. Many, if not all, of these (reader-response criticism, poststructuralism, feminist and womanist criticism) are hardly novel outside of the biblical field but then that seems the point of this book; that is, to attempt (or continue to attempt) to intergrate biblical studies ever more closely with, or into, literary studies and cultural studies. This seems the pervasive agenda of this book.

I must admit that I have an interest in reviewing this book, however. I was taught for three years as an undergraduate by one of the "Bible and Culture Collective", Stephen D. Moore. I can confirm that the Collective, if Moore be an example, do indeed practice what they preach in this book. I have to say it sets the Bible on fire in new and exciting ways. If you want to engage the Bible from some new angles or just want to get up date and clear in your mind on contemporary methods of biblical interpretation then get this book. It has no serious challengers in its field to date.

If you've ever been puzzled by the formula of 'post-modern' and 'biblical studies,' then you'd be wise to pick up this exhaustive and personable piece of academic fervor. Among others, The Postmodern Bible fuses epistemological, religious, and cultural frameworks into a textual craft that will keep you poised with more questions. I recommend this book to anyone who takes the Bible seriously - whether you're a theologian, academic, or a heady poser, you'll want to have this book on the shelves of your mind.

I would rate this book ****** if it were possible. If you are looking for material on how to start a "software metrics program", look no further. This is the ultimate reference on software measurement initiatives. The PSM method is compatible with the CMMI (Measurement & Analysis Process Area) and the foundation for the ISO/IEC 15939 standard. All of the authors are recognized authorities in software measurement and process improvement. Dr. Barry Boehm (COCOMO author) has written the foreword. The PSM process is sponsored by the DoD and the U.S. Army. The book itself is comprehensive, well-written, and easy to read. It provides ready-to-use templates such as "Measurement Construct Template", "Project Measurement Plan Outline", and "Data Verification Checklist". Chapter outline:

1 - Measurement: Key Concepts and Practices
2 - Measurement Information Model
3 - Plan Measurement
4 - Perform Measurement
5 - Analysis Techniques
6 - Evaluate Measurement
7 - Establish and Sustain Commitment
8 - Measure for Success
Appendix A - Measurement Construct Examples
Appendix B - Information System Case Study
Appendix C - Synergy Integrated Copier Case Study

Note: Appendix A provides 14 detailed, complete examples of measurement constructs ("metrics"). Appendixes B and C provide 2 comprehensive case studies (approximately 60 pages).

It would require at least a 2-day workshop to address all the information provided by this book (probably at 10 times its price). You can't afford to miss it if you are more than casually interested in software measurement. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

There is a wealth of material available from the PSM site, including the PSM Insight application and PSM Guidebook. However this book is not redundant because it is structured as a clearly written introduction to practical software measurement, that includes excellent guidance for implementing it into your organization. In addition, the 304 pages that comprise this book manages to convey the information contained in the existing PSM documentation, and does so much more succinctly.

I found the most valuable parts of this book to be the clearly described measurement model, and the way the authors distinguish between data that is useful to projects and organizational data collection and analysis. This material places PSM in context and is a sound starting point for an organizational SQA initiative.

The case studies reinforces the mechanics of PSM, and also contain advice and pointers for implementing enterprise-wide measurement. Although I've been following the PSM initiative almost since its inception and have read all of the copious materials available, I still gained much from this book. If you're establishing an SQA function or striving for CMM level 4 or above you'll find this book invaluable. The URLs provided will lead to even more material, including a free Windows-based software tool that fully supports the practical software measurement process.