This book is a review of a very successful real estate company in Canada. My more then exciting introduction is about how I felt about the book. There were facts, lots of them but overall no real excitement or much to get the normal reader interested in the book. I got through about 175 pages before I gave up. The author tried to punch up the book, but the subject matter did not lend its self to it, there is just noting scandalous or exciting about a well-run company. This is more of a 400-page case study best left to a university class on management. Unless you work here or are related to some on that does I doubt you would find much value in this book.

This is the unvarnished history of the Hudsons Bay Company. Extremely well researched and a pleasure to read this is the story of the founding of the company that opened up Canada and the Artic to trade. Filled with stories of exploration, adventure, hard headed business and hardship on the frontier. This isn't just the story of the founders, but the nuts and bolts of survival at the edge of the known world. If you enjoy history and adventure this will be hard to put down. Vol. 2 is Caesers of the Wildnerness.

Lovers of adventure, I implore you;read this book! I picked this one up on a whim several years ago and was completely awestruck! I could not put this one down to save my soul! Believe me, my friends, I would not steer you wrong on this one.

Distant Replay is a good book for it's background and anecdotal information regarding the Packer's super team of the 60's and early 70's. I found their "life after football" stories to be interesting when you consider what happens today when pro atheletes transition from the locker room to private life. Not sure how much of this writing is Schaap or Kramer but it's obvious Jerry hasn't lost his Packer sized ego. Didn't really understand the significance of whether or not retired packers were "wearing the super bowl ring or not" and if they had gained or lost weight. Lot of references to how people looked physically and what they were wearing at the 86 reunion. Money, divorce, appearance seemed to be the measuring stick. The most interesting part of the book was Lionel Aldridge's bout with mental illness. Kramer and Schaap should have spent more time on that matter and potentially how the NFL was shafting players after they were retired. Best book about the Pack is "When Pride Mattered". Get that one for the scoop on the greatest coach ever and how he built America's team from the ground up.

I had been something of a Jerry Kramer fan as a child and I must say that I looked forward to this book with considerable anticipation. After all, I'd really liked "Instant Replay" and was curious to see what had happened to my heroes since they moved on from football. If Kramer had stuck to a review of "where are they now" it would have been a much better read. Unfortunately, he seems quite self-absorbed...This was a disillusioning read for me; it made me look at Kramer's previous works in a much harsher light. [Maybe that's not so bad!]

A must read for any football fan. Dick Schaap knows how to bring out the best in ex-jocks. I tore through this book in a few nights. I liked it as much as "Instant Replay".

"Fodor's Gay Guide to the USA," written by Andrew Collins, was superb, comprehensive, and sensitively written, so when the company decided to break out some of the individual chapters into separate city guides with additional material, there was a lot of reason to be hopeful. But consider: at p. 50 of "Fodor's Gay Guide to San Francisco," Collins says that that many of SF's gay bars cater "mostly to old drunks." He then describes trying to meet someone at one of these bars: "You give him a quick tap on the shoulder, just to see if anybody is in there. And crash! He falls off his bar stool." Later Collins says that there's a bar stool in SF with your name on it, and "all you have to do is try not to fall off it."

It's incredible to encounter such blatant ageism. Having just spent time in SF, I can report that one of the city's most refreshing aspects is the diversity of both age and body type in its gay population, a diversity which I've never encountered in any other American city. It's possible to feel comfortable in the Castro and other neighborhoods without being a 22-year-old man with a gym body. Collins may not perceive that as being a strength.

Someone should sit Collins down, show him "The Times of Harvey Milk," and make him read "The Mayor of Castro Street." Then he may learn that those "old drunks" in some cases gave up their lives so that he'd have a bubble of tolerance to play in.

Overall Collins' travel guides are good for quick lookups of gay/gay friendly spots. And he gives HIS OWN OPINION on these places - whether describing them as "seedy", or "uneven", or "mostly old drunks", these are his opinions and his takes on the places he's reviewed. The reader from DC needs to get off the gay PC bandwagon and realize, as an author, Collins books are not objective, and he plainly states so in the introduction. Don't like his take on a place? Then hop on the barstool with your name on it, pal.

I found this book usefull for my stay in SF.

The book was wonderfully written and makes you want to try each of the shops described. However, of the shops I wanted to visit, only one seems to still exist.

Lisa's Tea Treasures: phone number no longer in service and website removed

Tea & Company (now Mighty Tea Leaf) closed down their storefront 15 months ago and only does business over the phone and catelog

A'Cuppa Tea moved from the Crocker Galleria in SF to Berkeley (510 420-0196)

English Rose - no one answered the phone

I wonder if the author will publish an updated version of the book.

This is a lovely book, but several of the shops our family traveled to (all dressed up) had shut down. This may simply be an aspect of the volitility of the Silicon Valley Goldrush.

The author caught that the shop in Stanford Shopping Center had closed, but it has not reopened at the parent restaurant as she had been advised. The Butler's Pantry was barred and the building cleared out of furnature. A third had left a note, "no tea today".

The tea shop in Mountain View is a real gem. Its late hours make it a favorite with locals. The tea is absolutely wonderful, and very unique.

Buyer beware! Be sure to call first.

This book is a well-written and informative guide to tearooms in the Bay Area. The author is obviously passionate about her subject, and communicates her enthusiasm with great sensitivity, persuasiveness, and subtle humor. I recommend this book to anyone who loves tea, likes tea, or is thinking of investigating "the new coffee."

This dark fantasy does not approach Lunn's superb THE ROOT CELLAR, but proves an interesting read all the same. Two cousins in 19th century Scotland, born the same week, grow up inseparable. Despite their different temperaments and appearance, Mairi and Duncan are two halves of one coin; they vow at age 11 to remain of couple for ever. Then Duncan's family decides to emigrate to Upper Canada, a move which threatens to tear assunder the unique bond that links their destinies. When the story opens, Mairi has agonized for four years; can their devotion to each other triumph over ocean, time, distance and death itself?

Mairi endures the incredible hardships of emigrant travel, as she struggles on her personal quest alone. She has sacficed everything she knows and loves to be reunited
with Duncan. Unfortunately, the folks in Hawthorn Bay on the St. Lawrence River first treat her as a heroine, then as slightly daft, but they ultimately consider her suspicious. With her spirit talk and dire predictions, even the children turn against her. Will she be branded as a witch in this Puritannical New World? Persecuted by worse than ignorant colonists, Mairi realizes that she herself is being stalked by
evil--using Duncan's voice to lure her to disaster. She is terrified of the forest, yet morbidly attracted to a special flat rock which is linked with Duncan's disappearnce. After her physical and emotional pilgrimmage, how far must she travel to ultimately join him? Which path will she choose to meet her beloved? A mysterious read about a brave young woman who wants to control her own destiny.

I read it when I was grade school. Today, after some 15 years, it is still my favorite book.

it taught me alot about listening to my heart and listen to your beliefs don't let anyone try to change them for you.i will read that book over and over

I was very disappointed to find that this book doesn't include any significant instruction or commentry from the author. The nearest thing to a discussion on technique is a very brief section on 'rasqueado' with ridiculously tiny photos. The CD is practically useless as there are no introductions before each track to indicate which pieces they relate to in the book.

Not recommended.

My own experience studying first from this book, then with an actual teacher, David "El Poeta" in Jerez, Spain, is that the latter brought my playing on in leaps and bounds that I would never have achieved with the book alone. The book tries with the best intentions to explain the basic techniques etc. but at the end of the day if you want to learn flamenco you should put some time aside and take a trip to Spain, preferably the south where flamenco originated and continues to flourish. There you can see the flamenco guitar played in its proper context, i.e. accompanying singing and dancing, and this will help to clarify a million little details which are puzzling and frustrating as presented in the book. It's as good a printed introduction to this unique, challenging and passionate way of playing the guitar as any, but be prepared to venture into flamenco territory to really get to grips with this thing called flamenco guitar.

I am taking flamenco guitar lessons and this is the book my instructor has me use. While I am fortunate to have a gypsy-taught flamenco teacher I have done my share of self-teaching (particularly for classical guitar). Thus, I understand some of the special considerations that need to be addressed when attempting to learn a new style of music on your own. First of all, unlike the 1-star reviewer I think this is a good book to begin learning flamenco, although I do recommend additional aids for the self-taught student which I will detail in a bit.

Strong points about the book -

1) Each exercise, study, song is written in both standard notation and tablature.

2) Introduces rasgeado at the very beginning and the accompanying cd makes if very clear the sound you are aiming for. The down side is that there is very little suggestion of how to GET to the level of playing you hear for the first exercises on the CD. It has taken me 2 months to begin to sound like the first 2 pages of exercises on the cd. My teacher had me start out each exercise - 2 per month (I take 1 hour lessons twice a month). I started out just practicing each single finger-stroke in succession at 40 bpm. Once I could perform each exercise for 3-4 minutes with no flaws I'd move the metronome up 5 notches. Right now I'm at 65 bpm. Using this technique and practicing like this every night a beginner will eventually be able to perform these rasgueado techniques flawlessly at over 300 bpm. My teacher can play such techniques even faster and says eventually I will be able to also as long as I keep practicing with the metronome. The photos, while not the best I've seen on rasgueado, are still understandable. For better pictures on the rasgueado I recommend Flamenco Guitar Method for Beginners (ISBN: 0769261434). In fact, that book is what I recommend for someone who has never ever picked up a guitar and wants to learn flamenco as their first music. In fact, it makes an excellent primer to the Basic Techniques book.

3) Strict finger alternation, scales, tremelo studies and thumb studies rounding out the first chapter. Believe me...to get really accurate and sound like the cd (all the exercises,studies and songs - if it's in the book it'll be on the cd) will take several months of dedicated daily practice with a metronome using the technique I described above. Once you've done that it's time to move on to the first flamenco solos and the first introduced is the Sevillanas I,II,III,IV (track 23 on the cd) - one song with 4 movements that seque into each other. And it will sound great - very simple actually - all the notes are within the first four frets - but wow! EVERYBODY will know you are playing FLAMENCO when you play it! And when you finally do it's going to be a great moment. All those months of diligent practice on rasgueado, compas (rhythm) and tremelo will suddenly have been worthwhile. Also, the speed at which these beginning songs are played are slow enough for a beginner without sacrificing sounding like flamenco.

The remainder of the book introduces songs of each of flamenco type - Soleares, Alegrias, Fandangos, Rumbas, Bulerias. Each form having chapters with songs of each type. The back of the book introduces 2 regional flamenco versions of the Malaguena and a beautiful flamenco version of the classical guitar standard Romance de Amor.

Weak points -

1) This book does assume you have some knowlege about playing the guitar. If you are truly a rank beginner - have never picked up a guitar before and don't know how to play open chords or standard notation get the Anita Sheer/Harry Berlow Flamenco Guitar Method for Beginners primer (ISBN: 0769261434) first. I highly recommend it as well.

2) It does not give any instruction on how to properly hold your hands in relation to the strings, the angle of the attack of the strings by the fingers and arm, nor proper thumb rest-stroke technique (it is used almost exclusively in flamenco) or strum techniques. There is enough difference between proper flamenco right hand and arm techniques that using classical guitar techniques will be the wrong way to play flamenco and will effect the over-all "flamenco-ness" of a piece you are practicing. Neither does the Basic Techniques book go into detail the variety of rasgueado styles that have evolved over the centuries. For self-teachers to learn all of the things I mentioned above please be sure to pick up Oscar Hererra's 3 video set (I just found they're also available on DVD! Unfortunately I don't yet know the ISBN for the DVD set but will soon be ordering them. Email me if you are interested in the DVD ISBN) "How to Play Flamenco Guitar Step-by-Step" (video 1 ISBN: 0786646705, video 2 ISBN: 0786646721, video 3 ISNB: 0786646705) and Ioannis Anastassakis's The Art of Rasgueado (ISBN: 0786649224). Each of Herrero's videos come with a booklet of all the exercises and instrumentals in tablature. There is also a book which is purchased seperately that goes with the above video set (ISBN: 0786659416). Herrero's video series and book along with Anastassakis' Rasgueado book are superb complements to go with Serrano's Basic Techniques book for those trying to learn flamenco but have no access to a teacher.

All in all, this is a great book for a beginning flamenco player and is filled with historical commentary about each flamenco form. Definitely 2 thumbs up.

This is the type of book that demands regular updates. It's informative, yes, but presents itself as something it no longer is.

This book when I first read it as a young analyst seemed like fiction, but as the events in especially Africa have unfolded in the last decade, it seems now almost prophetic in its nature. I have read this text again and again, each time I extract something that is relevant today as well as possibilities for our world tomorrow. I also reccomend Race to the Swift, by Simpkin.

This is a book about future wars. Who will fight, where, over what, how it will probably turn out, and when it might happen, for fifty or more perpetual hots spots around the world. People fighting in the Balkans have been repeating the same war for 1300 years and nobody ever wins. Roughly the same for Iraq and Iran, England and France, France and Germany, Japan and Korea... you name it. Peace is only an interlude while the endless war sleeps for a while. It will break out again, in the same place, over the same issues, with the same results. It is only a matter of time.

I wish they had taught us about this in high school. Every American should read this book and keep it handy.

Unfortunately, this book breaks little new ground, and tends to glamorize the participants in the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion of Castro's Cuba.

It's about time someone got this story right. These stories completely shatter the myths created by Castro's propaganda machine and his U.S. boot-licks over the years. Far from being Batistianos, the men of Brigada 2506 were overwhelmingly pro-democratic Cuban patriots, many of them former revolutionaries, who were exercising the only choice Castro had left them. What these men did was perhaps the purest and noblest act of self-sacrifice on behalf of human liberty in the Twentieth Century history of the Western Hemisphere. Thank God someone thought to put these stories down for the record before it was too late. In the future, when the people of Cuba are free to inquire into their history, they will be able to discover who the real Cuban patriots were.

Bay of Pigs: An Oral History of Brigade 2506 by Victor A. Triay

This important new work about the Bay of Pigs was written by Dr. Triay, a prominent Cuba scholar from Miami, Florida and living in Middletown, Connecticut. Dr. Triay's work captures the poignancy of the interviews with the individuals whose personal stories were the primary sources of Triay's research. As with his previous work, Fleeing Castro: Operation Pedro Pan and the Cuban Children's Program (University Press of Florida November 1998), Bay of Pigs incorporates Triay's trademark style of weaving historical context with personal stories.

In the book, Dr. Triay relates the stories of several members of Brigade 2506, the volunteers who united in exile to form the American-trained invasion force that went into Cuba in April 1961, after it had become clear that Castro would not live up to his promise to restore democracy in Cuba. Their stories reveal the men's conviction and the democratic ideals for which they fought. In addition, the book includes stories from the CIA's top man at the invasion, as well as the touching personal histories of some of the Brigade members' loved ones.

The stories are told from the point of view of the individuals interviewed by Dr. Triay, who introduces each chapter with an excellent synopsis of the relevant historical context. While the book is sure to gain a tremendous amount of notoriety among Cuba scholars as the first work of its kind, this fast-paced, hard-hitting, and absorbing book is a "must have" for anyone interested in the history of the Bay of Pigs invasion and the uncommon warriors who made up Brigade 2506.

The book traces the story of the volunteers who made up the Brigade, beginning with some Brigade members' early anti-Castro activities and their recruitment into the Brigade. This is followed by a section on their training in Retalhuleu and Base Trax in Guatemala and their journey across the Caribbean to the invasion site. Capturing the invasion's drama in an almost breathtaking manner, Triay relates the landings (by air and by sea), advancements, and major engagements of the Brigade.

Throughout the book, the reader never loses sight of the Brigade's courage, tenacity and determination, despite having been abandoned by their American allies. Also told in riveting detail are the stories of the defeated Brigade's retreat into the swamps, their capture by Castro forces, their wretched twenty-month imprisonment, and their ultimate joyous release. Perhaps the book's greatest surprise is an entire chapter dedicated to the women the Brigade members left behind.

Triay's book is truly an outstanding piece of Cuban history.

As a rank beginner who can't read music or play any other instrument, I bought this book hoping for a quick, friendly intro to the fiddle. But it doesn't really seem to be written for self-teaching; instead, it offers a series of "exercises" (i.e. not music!) for teachers to assign. What little text there is (the book is mostly music and a few pictures) is pedantic and unfriendly, and even in the illustrations the model never looks like he's enjoying the instrument. The material itself, while skimpy, is useful -- you learn how to play four notes on each string. I haven't found a better alternative, but this is not an encouraging place to begin.

When I recently decided to teach myself how to play violin, I bought several "beginner" books, but liked this one the most. I already knew how to read music, but had absolutely no experience with the violin. The Violin Primer begins by identifying the parts of the violin, showing you how to properly hold the instrument and the bow. The book teaches you how to finger the first four notes of a major scale originating on each open string. It then presents some simple melodies using these notes. All this book needs to be perfect would be a section on how to rosin the bow and how to finger chromatic scales. The book does not teach you how to read music, however all melodies are based on quarter notes, so all you need is note recognition skills. If you already know music, you will complete this book quickly and be ready to advance.

This is an excellent primer. As an adult beginner with years of piano experience, what I needed most was something to explain the violin in basic terms. This book does that -- and with many well-thought, straightforward photographs showing the reader exactly how to hold the instrument and bow. A video I had bought frustrated me. The video moved too fast, and hitting rewind constantly was distracting. But this primer is a BOOK! I could take my time (in front of a mirror -- highly recommended, by the way) and compare my position with the photographs. When I find a teacher, the book will still be an excellent reference until I learn instinctively how to hold the instrument and move the bow. If you're a violin beginner, this violin primer will be the best handful of dollars you spend.