What I like about this book is that it touches on all of the most interesting parts of the Grand Tour and things connected with the tour without belaboring any of them. It covers anxieties about the tour; the influence of the tour on art and architecture; the differences in the tour in Venice and Rome as reflected in portraiture; and the development of the tour over time as reflected in poetry and prose. It is an even-handed and fair explication of the vast body of literature, poetry, art and architecture connected with the tour. Instead of trying to force a narrow thesis on this wonderful diversity, it leaves the reader to draw many conclusions for herself. It is written in Bruce Redford's inimitable and impressive style. Every time I read a book by Bruce Redford, my vocabulary increases by at least 100 words, and my appreciation for the english language and english heritage increases 100 fold. This book contains beautiful paintings-- especially the magnificent Cannalettos. I highly recommend reading and owning it to anyone interested in the Grand Tour, scholar and layperson alike. This book would be especially interesting to a young person embarking on their own grand tour to study abroad in Europe.

Sturat Walton's expertise both as a journalist and wine conoisseur shows in thei beautifully produced tour around the world of wine. Each country, and each grape type, is discussed in some depth, with suggestions for tasting and travel. It makes a great gift for someone interested in wine.

This book was awful. The author can write, I'll give her that, but where is the sense of humor? The emotion? All we get is: got on the plane, got the rental car, checked into the hotel, went to the venue, the band arrived, went inside, found our seats, here's the setlist. Sure, she does go into detail about the shows, but I never got the feeling that she was THERE. My opinion is that she doesn't want to appear to be a freaky fanatic so she stops short of getting really invested in the feeling. I was expecting something more personal. How about her family? What do they think? What about her non-U2 fan friends? She never once says she missed her family while on the road, nor does she bring any real emotion to her experiences. What about her fellow fans/travelers? Who are they (other than Sue, Sharon, etc.)? What's it like being around people you barely know for days on end, all because you share a common love of a band's music? I could have used less of a travel guide and more of a personal and emotional view of following a band you love.

What can I say? There's some great stuff written about U2. "A Grand Madness" is definitely one of them. And it's different. When I first read it I was in my second year of fandom - when the one thing I still hadn't experienced was seeing my favourite band in concert.
"A Grand Madness" took me on a journey ... not quite like witnessing U2 life, but the closest to this adventure I could get. And it wasn't only about the concerts. I felt like Dianne Beeaffs "life on the road" experiences could have been mine; they seemed to express my own engagement, my own dedication to this wonderful band, my own feelings about the music and the people behind, all the feelings that only a fan can have.
Now that I finally *have* seen U2 on tour (and found some great new friends along the way) I feel even more related to this extraordinary book than before. Because this is the best thing a fan can experience. A Grand Madness indeed.

Having been a U2 fan for MANY years and having done a few road trips, myself, I found this book to be a WONDERFUL tale of life on the road following a band. For anyone who has loved a band enough to want to see as many of their shows as possible, this book will bring back great memories as you relate to the author's stories. For anyone who has wondered what it would be like, here is the detailed insight you need. This book has inspired me to keep my own diary of my next Rock and Roll road trip!

This book is loaded with convincing and picturesque details of life at sea in a small fishing boat, and details particular to the time. But these are the book's best points.

Characters are 2-dimensional and relatively unconvincing, the prose is loaded with jargon (interesting and picturesque jargon, but still jargon), and the story line, though believable, is uninspired.

The basic tale is this: a spoiled rich brat falls off a luxury liner, and is saved from death in the depths by a small fishing boat. On the boat, for the first time in his life the brat must follow orders, and do some real work. It's a good basis for a story, but done unrealistically. (If you want to see the same basic idea done well, read "Sand", by Will James) The supposedly incorrigible brat converts overnight, and begins doing his best to learn the ropes. The conflict is over instantly, and all that is left to the book is the details of day-to-day on the fishing boat, with an occasional adventure.

It's not terrible; it is believable in most ways, loaded with interesting detail, and has a satisfying ending. But it has little or none of Kipling's more typical tales' whimsy and grace of language.

Captains Courageous is a wonderful story of a pampered and indulged boy, the son of a millionaire, named Harvey Cheyne. He has no responsibilities and is given anything he wants. He lacks respect for anyone and that includes himself. He is washed overboard from a luxury liner while on a trip with his mother and is picked up by a fisherman. The fishing boat can not return him immediately because they have a crew that needs to earn a living. Harvey's family presumes that he is dead, drowned at sea. The story of Harvey's growing up involves responsibilty, hard work, trust and honor. Rudyard Kipling tells the story marvelously. The story is brilliantly crafted and a pure delight to read. The language of the story gives it the feel of the times and helps illustrate the rough lifestyles involved. This is a grand morality tale of adventure, human nature and the value of real love. I read this as a young teenager, but now (many years later!!) I see what an awesome author Kipling truly was!!!! This is a book to be read again!

Many people say this is a boring book, or has no story line, or is just about someone working their b---- off, but I found it to be a *wonderful* book.

Harvey Cheyne is a spoiled brat who falls off a ship and is picked up by a small fishing boat. Since the boat can't possibly go back to port without getting a full load of fish Harvey will have to wait. Meanwhile, since he _is_ eating their food (the man who does not work shall not eat...), they quickly have him join in on the work aboard ship. He goes against it at first, but gradually comes to see what really matters in life. It's not how much money you have- but how you affect those around you. Harvey learns diligence and plain, hard work. Sure- it's not always a ton of fun, but no one said life was pure fun. He learns many lessons through different experiences. I found this to be *very* enjoyable. I also liked reading about the different descriptions of how fishing was done back then.

All in all, this made for a very fascinating read, and I recommend it to anyone!

I plan to hike from one rim of the Grand Canyon down into the Canyon and ascend to the other rim. Having recently seen Colin Fletcher's book on a list of the "100 Greatest Adveture Stories" compiled on behalf of National Geographic Explorer Magazine, I thought it would be a worthwhile read. Captivated by his initial view of the Grand Canyon in 1962, Fletcher developed a well conceived plan and completed his two month trek the following summer. Not a "how to book," there are useful insights about hiking and backpacking in the Grand Canyon to be gleaned from the book. Though Fletcher clearly faced danger and hardship, he could have escaped the canyon if necessary, he had regular supply drops along the way, and people knew roughly where he would be on his journey. Fletcher's story is not a tale of desparate survival such as Shackleton's "South" or Krakauer's "Into Thin Air." Those looking for a story of that genre will be disappointed. Fletcher's journey would be better viewed as a spiritual pilgrimage as he contemplates the age of the earth, the web of life and man's place in all of it. At times, Fletcher's ruminations seem a bit contrived and grasping, but the overall message that man is a bit player is thought provoking. Though man may be a bit player in the spectacle of earth's natural history, yet we have quickly developed capabilities to wreak havoc. Fletcher's closing ideas about the importance of protecting special places like the Grand Canyon are compelling.

Colin Fletcher's THE MAN WHO WALKED THROUGH TIME is as alluring as the Grand Canyon itself. Why? It successfully fuses human spirit with rock, water, bush, and animal. We walk the Tonto plateau above the Colorado River with Mr. Fletcher and even beyond because our senses are stimulated to wonder, sometimes worry, about what's around the next bend. We feel the heat, we experience the spiney shaft of a cactus plant, we see the ravens soar above in desert skies, and we pray that we will make it to the next cache of supplies and cool water. For those of us seemingly locked into the corporate world of time, pressure, and demands for productive performance, this book provides necessary relief. And yet, there are different pressures, different times, and different demands for productive performance in the midst of that incredibly alluring Grand Canyon far below the world of the rim. Time is measured in penetrating silence. Pressure is felt on the feet and in the stomach. High performance is demanded in scaling a steep angle of loose and crumbling rock

Colin Fletcher makes you feel you are by his side walking the entire length of the Grand Canyon National Park from border to border, West to East, over an entire season. The solitude and peace of this jouney is still with me after reading this story 21 years ago! You will be entertained throughout the trip with Colin's wealth of knowledge on Hiking, Nature, Geology, History, and his ever-dry sense of humor! I felt like he became an old friend with whom I wanted to visit again and again. -- Those who like this book will likely enjoy 'The 1000-Mile Summer' (California trek) and 'The Winds of Mara' (set in Africa) also by the author.

Any reader of the period will have probably yearned to know more, much more about Alexandra Feodorovna's elder sister the Grand Duchess Elizabeth and this is the reason I bought the book, despite reading the several poor reviews. In fact the author succeeded in giving a much stronger picture of the Tsarina than the saintly Elizabeth, a picture much at variance with, for example, Robert Massie's Tsarina, with her passion for mauve. Mager's Tsarina is a harpie and her quoted notes to her husband about 'Ella and her clique' are chilling in their venom and arrogance. On the side of lack of detail: Mager mentions Nesterov but hardly. He fails to tell us that Elizabeth, forever the supremely elegant Grand Duchess, actually got Nesterov to design her order's religious habit - Nesterov was the leading religious artist of the day. In effect Elizabeth's habit was as much 'couture' as were any of her former gowns. There are many other details, perhaps less frivolous (but also perhaps less telling) that he would have done well to include. Just as Wilhelm II must have irritated almost everyone with whom he came in contact, it's annoying to find him so much in this book too. The section of Elizabeth's life from her taking the veil is taken at a tremendous lick. Perhaps there is little documentary evidence available, but the lack of meat - reminiscences, quotations from letters and contemporaries bar Felix Youssupov - is sad. For a non-contemplative order - the first in the Church - Elizabeth's nuns appear to have been silent all the same. There are no names, no relayed conversations, nothing of Elizabeth's doubtless frequent talks to her community. For a woman that inspired so many around her, was so much a public figure and a venerated one that the Bolsheviks feared her, this latter part of her life lacks definition. The transfer to Ekaterinburg and Alapayevsk flashes past so quickly, but again no relayed conversations and so little detail (and as Princess Helen escaped there must have been many reported). I was much irritated by the indifferent grammar and 'typos' with which the book is littered.

Having said so many negative things about the book I do wish to thank the author for having at least written about her. It was long overdue. However, just as Michael Sullivan's book on Victoria Melita - another granddaughter of Queen Victoria - adds much to the earlier Van Kiste biography I fear we must wait for a further biography on the elusive Elizabeth to satisfy us. We must however thank Mr Mager for whetting the appetite.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it well researched. Ella was a complex woman living in complex times, and her strange and cold husband, combined with her sister Alexandra'a increasing madness and dependency upon Rasputin, proved to be two huge crosses of the many she bore in her life. I wonder how different things might have been had Ella not been murdered as so many of the Romanovs were. Ella's story is good follow-up to Nicholas and Alexandra. The Massey book started me on my Imperialist Russia kick, which still continues, and I am continually fascinated with this family, whose members included so many tragic figures, some mad, some stupid, others noble, and others trying to be. I believe Ella wanted to be a saint and she actually got her wish. She has been canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. I found it satisfying reading and believe it will lead the reader to other Romanov biographies.

Elizabeth, Princess of Hesse and Grand Duchess of Russia, led a life which can be divided into two very different parts. In her first years she led a privileged and pampered existence as the beautiful daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt and, more importantly, the granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She could have married her cousin, the future Kaiser William II, but refused him in order to marry a rather strange and enigmatic figure, the Grand Duke Serge, younger brother of the Tsar. This marriage is the first hint of mystery in Elizabeth's (Ella's) life. Serge was a difficult, overbearing, probably homosexual man, and it is strange that Ella loved him as much as she evidently did. She lived an opulent life in St. Petersburg and Moscow until January 1905, when Serge was assassinated. Ella visited his murderer in prison and forgave him, then devoted the rest of her life to charity and good works as the founder and head of an order of Orthodox nuns. During the Revolution she was arrested and cruelly murdered at about the same time as her yonger sister Alexandra and brother-in-law Nicholas II. This book is interesting because of its insights into the inner life of this deeply spiritual woman.

Grand Theft Auto 3 is a fun game to play. It's not as great as Vice City, but it is still one of the better games out there. But, unlike Vice City, which I enjoyed reading about, GTA3 isn't as much fun to read about. The missions are fairly simple, and there are multiple ways to complete them, so the guide isn't the end all be all that it is in games like Metal Gear. You do get good desriptions of weapons and vehicles. And what I find most valuable are the maps to the hidden treasures, rampages, bribes, armor, life, etc. If you are having trouble completeing the game because you can't find all your hidden treasures and rampages, then this guide will solve your problems.

Before I go into the review, what you have to understand about the game is that most of the missions have more than one solution (which is one of the best things about the game.) If you think that the guide will give you the only, or even the best, solutions for the missions, you will be disapponted. Besides, the fun part is to come up with your own unique solution, and to learn from your mistakes.

That being said, the book offers some great things. The maps were very helpful, especially for finding rampages, hidden packages, weapons, and other goodies. Also, in certain missions, where getting around quickly is a must, the strategies included maps of where to go and how to get there the most quickly.

I did notice a few bits of wrong information (such as, what time the BF Injection Buggy would be available,) but overall, it's a worthy purchase. Just don't buy it thinking it will solve all of your missions for you.

This guide is somewhat helpful. Some of the information is commom sence. They didnt over do anything because gta3 is a very comples game. The only reason why i gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is because some of the info is allitle off, and the maps arent detailed enough. In the mission "Bomb Da BAse" this book says that i need to pay 50,000 in expenses, and the payoff is 100,000. The real informarion is that i need to pay 100,000 in expenses, and the payoff is 200,000. Also, at the end of one mission in the first Island u get a wanted level of 3. I couldnt find pay and spray (it was my 1st day playing). I turned to this book. The maps are terrible. U have to match the north side with the radar and then find out at whcih altitude ur in which is too complecated when ur heart is beating SO hard because u dont want to lose the mission. So.. i say buy this book as a back up if u cant pass a mission, but dont depend on it.

I purchased two guides for my trip to Yellowstone: this one and Moon Publications. I'm glad I did. Moon offered more in the way of maps and color photos. This book was a much more entertaining read, contained much information about the history of early settlers, interesting wildlife information, and the formation of features within Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park. If I had to buy one guide it would have to be this one: There are tons of heplful and free information available from the park service if you want lots of colorful photos. Pick up the free stuff and bring along this book for a deeper study of the area.

A personal and detailed account of Yellowstone and Grant Teton National Parks that not only describes the beautiful scenery and where to find the wildlife, but also informs you how this area evolved thousands of years ago. The writer also offers a distance and difficulty rating of each of the trails listed. While the trail descriptions are brief, we weren't concerned since it was noted in the book that these are some of the more popular and senic trails that the park has to offer, though not a comprehensive listing by any means. For that I would reccommend "Hiking the Yellowstone Back Country" as a supplement to this guide. This book will give any first time visitor a great idea what Yellowstone, Grand Teton and the town of Jackson has to offer!

It's obvious that the writer has spent considerable time in this part of the country. We hiked three trails that the book recommended. The directions to the trails, the descriptions and the level of difficulty were highly accurate. Best of all, we found dozens of insider tips. For instance: a certain upscale restaurant offers 20% off the price of your meal between 6-6:30. We learned the best place in the park for glimpsing a grizzly bear. The book told us where to find the cheapest bike rentals. You'll certainly find all the other information; where to stay, what to see, maps and other services. But what we found most helpful were all the tips that can only come from someone who actually lives in this area.

In the interest of accuracy to serious readers, I feel it necessary to respond to Roxanne Marcianti's review here. Ms. Marcianti makes a number of charges and assumptions which have no basis in fact. First, not a single sentence of "Forever and Five Days" is "padded" and the book contains not a single passage of "fictionalization." Everything in the work has been meticulously researched and documented with hundreds of hours of taped interviews, court transcripts, police reports and other proven methods of journalistic research. Furthermore, Ms. Marcianti's charge that I did not interview the two perpetrators in this book is simply careless reading on her part. The book's "Author's Note" makes quite clear the sources of all the material in "Forever and Five Days," including stating that the perpetrators were interviewed extensively. Apparently, she didn't bother to read it, or chose to ignore it completely -- which, by the way, makes her "review" libelous in that it maliciously ignores the facts. I would suggest Ms. Marcianti apply the same standards of research and accuracy she expects in my books to her own reviewing skills.

I just finished this book yesterday and it is set in my old hometown of Grand Rapids. It is interesting to read of places I know of and it is truly a interesting book that leaves you to come to some of your own conclusions as there are two sides to the story

At first I hesitated buying this book in a store because the cover had the rather cheesy, slap-dash look of inferior true crime books. It has been several years and dozens of other true-crime books since I read this one but the story and writing quality still stand out in my mind.

It's quite hilarious, what people will believe. I do not see why people contradict the DNA evidence and the fact that Anna Anderson didn't look at all like the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna. It's quite pathetic, this woman, a psychopath who grew into her role as the "lost grand duchess". There needs to be a better memoriam to the girl, not the crazy woman who said she was she. It's absolutely laughable.

Lovell's work is clearly inferior to Peter Kurth's on the same subject. While Kurth relied on archival material, Lovell apparently preferred to focus on more bizarre aspects of the Anastasia claimant's story - in this case, the possibility that Nicholas and Alexandra had a 5th daughter. The fact that there is no evidence of this does not stop the late Mr. Lovell.

This book is bound to disappoint both the supporters of Mrs. Manahan and those who accept the DNA evidence that she was not Anastasia. For the former, Lovell brings up matters and associations her supporters would have rather not seen published. For those who do accept the scientific evidence, this is a rather sad tale of a woman who wanted to be someone else.

Every little girl and teenager who is and was a history
lover can not help but be drawn in by the tale of the
youngest Grand Duchess and her possible escape. Lovell
however, tends to ramble in his book, when he could have
gotten to the point much quicker. He portrays her
as a semi nut case who went through so much trama she could
barely remember to brush her hair let alone her name.
DNA has supposedly proven that she was a polish factory
worker but there are still too many unanswered questions for
romantics like me to be satisfied. Why did the autopsy on
Anna Anderson reveal she had a child but the polish factory
worker never did? Did the autopsy also show the extensive
bone damage to her face as a young girl? How can you get a
scar exactly like that of a Russian bayonet in a explosion? (What are the odds) How come on Olga's death bed in Canada she
keep repeating, "my niece, what have I done to my niece".
All I know is DNA can say what ever I want it to, if it is my
lab and under my control. If everyone is so positive that
all were killed in the cellar why won't they allow
DNA testing and comparisons on the remains of others claiming
to be Romanovs, like Heino Tamov and his family.
With the laws in Russia as they are, they have a lot to lose.
If someone could prove they were a from the family of the
last CZAR then they have to give everything they confiscated
back. Pretty scary for them.