Let me begin by noting my own orientation: as director of a humanities-based MA program in Media Studies, I teach a core course in Western Cultural History, and have been looking for sourcebooks in several areas -- English Romantic poetry being one of them, European Baroque painting, and Impressionism are two important others -- that would give students a profound and extensive immersion in the works of these periods (it being my job to put those works into context).

In that framework, I have found the New Oxford Book of Romantic Period Verse to be far and away the most useful in its area.

First and foremost, the selection is nearly comprehensive. Practically every important poem of the period is included, and a number of interesting but much less well-known works too.

This is generally a good thing, of course, but especially so when it comes to Romantic poetry, as what makes this period so powerful and engaging is the fact that so many crucial verse works appeared during this time, so the more the students (and others) can juxtapose them, the better sense of both the individual poems AND the period as a whole they will receive.

This is reinforced by the method of presentation, which is fundamentally chronological -- i.e., the poems are arrayed by the year in which they first appeared, and only within that year by author, if the writer produced several during that time.

This is quite innovative and tremendously useful, especially for my purposes, but, I would argue, even in general, as a chronological approach necessarily gives the reader (student or not) a strong sense of the historical relationship among these works -- an approach that I, at least, think is far more important than many others apparently do today -- and is valid for understanding painting and other cultural phenomena as well.

Having praised the near-comprehensiveness, and innovative chronological mode of presentation, there are certain flaws here.

The main substantive one is the way-too-abstruse tone and content of the introduction.

Having made such an advance by presenting the poems in roughly chronological order, the editor should have continued with the instinct towards accessibility and understanding.

Why write a stuffy and not very interesting academically-oriented introduction, when he could have written instead a clear piece that would help the uninitiated understand the chief issues involved in Romantic poetry, while, at the same time, offering within that framework insights that would be intriguing for experts in the field?

This is not that hard to do, although most academics -- Simon Schama and Michael Wood being notable exceptions in the cultural history field -- seem to have a problem with this approach.

From a methodological point of view, finally, it seems a little strange not to have included certain very important works -- notably Wordsworth's Prelude, but also others -- simply because they were not published during the period in question (1785-1832, a choice of years that in and of itself seems quite appropriate).

When dealing with well-known works like the Prelude, or Keats' "'Lear'," or Blake's "4 Zoas" or Shelley's "Epipsychidion," it seems bizarre not to include them during the years they were written, with little asterisks indicating that they were not published, but written, at that time.

These issues aside, this is a wonderful collection that will be incredibly useful for anyone with any reason at all to be concerned with English Romantic poetry -- which, in my view, should be all of us.

Highly recommended for anyone who wants some useful analysis of the effects of the new public management in the British health system. A very useful typography of NPM reforms and a good chapter on changing management-professional relations in the health system. Has resonances with New Zealand experience.

a real and faithful description of one of most important moements of the Histoy

A beautifully written book about Taxus Baccata covering history, myth and legend. Individual Yews throughout the United Kingdom are described. This is also a spiritual book, about one man's belief that the yew is the ancient tree of life and the importance of its being preserved and honored. A book written with love and grace.

Tom Steel has written an easy to read and comprehensive timeline of Scotland's history. His book discusses the various political, geographical, personal and economic events in Scottish history that make Scotland the land it is today. He discusses particularly how Scotland's almost continuous battle with English has contributed to the way we see Scotland and it's inhabitants and how they see themselves. This is not a greatly detailed book in terms of listing absolutely every date and event that ever occured in Scotland, nor does the author place Scotland in terms of what's happening in the rest of the world at any given time during Scottish history. However, this book is an excellent place to start for a broad overview of Scotland's long, proud and often violent history.

Students of folklore, those intrigued by tales of the Loch Ness monster in Scotland, and UFOlogists alike will find a thought-provoking text in Holiday's "The Dragon and the Disc." His pre-quel, "The Great Orm of Loch Ness," collects many of the Nessie stories and traces corresponding historic events. But "Dragon" takes these stories a step further and finds correlative folkloristic aspects as he introduces the idea that Nessie, the "Little People" of British folktales, and UFO's may have a lot in common. "Dragon" and "Great Orm" are both worthwhile additions to any "Loch Ness" collection.

Academically inclined readers will find this to be a highly useful and suggestive study of how and why technological change at work unfolds in particular ways.

This is an unfairly neglected study that is still worth reading. It anticipated the better known (and really important) study by Robert Thomas, What Machines Can't Do.

This is a very readable scholarly book about Captain James Moody of New Jersey. A man denounced by Washington ( he regularly swiped his mail) and all but forgotten in the parts of Nova Scotia where he was essential in civil development. Being a descendent of his compatriot, Lawrence Marr, I have an axe to grind, but if you have seen the movie "The Patriot" and find yourself distressed at the actions of the Loyalists in America, you owe it to yourself to read this. Moody, being aware of the usages of war at the time, was careful to wear his uniform and carry his commission on his adventures in the Delaware Gap area. His escapes were legendary and he became the subject of children's tales to the "patriot" third that remained behind when he and compatriots fled New York at the end of the Revolution. The first chapters reveal the situation at the beginning of the Revolution and the social web of the time. It is easy to understand his actions given the treatment of his in-laws and associates by the radicals, and one might suspect an element of class warfare motivated acts against the wealthy farmer class to which Moody, the Brittains, and the Marr families belonged. The later half of the book deals with his attempts to acquire a loyalist pension and his role in establishing a community in Nova Scotia. As such, the book is a valuable addition to the "Loyalist Studies" program of Canada's scholars. Nonetheless, it is also of great value to those of us in the States. It demonstrates the complex situation at the time of the Revolution with son against father, brother against brother. As one reads about denunciations and persecutions, one learns not only that "It could happen here" but that "It has happened here."

This is probably a bit of a cheat, because to be totally honest the market for this book is probably about 20 people across the world. However, as I am just starting a research MA on Australia's defence relationship with Great Britain in the immediate post WW1 period, any help would be gratefully received!

The book is pretty much the only one covering its subject, but thankfully is actually written in English, rather than academic speak. At the risk of revealing my complete daggishness, I almost enjoy reading the book.

Anyway - buy it if you are one of the demented few. If you're not but just interested in what went on 80 years ago, borrow it from a library.

Australia has an ambivalent attitude towards its expatriates, especially the more successful ones. This book pays due attention to those ones and also gives lots of detail on less well known ones. The speculation on cultural significance and change brings in many issues and ideas not considered before and the increased complexity is very welcome. It is a little hard to keep track of the themes and the people because of the format Alomes uses, but the material is there is you want to look for it. A very useful book if you are interested in Australia's view of itself.