this appears to be the last book written by william h. whyte, author of the organization man. it's a lovely memoir about his days as a battalion intelligence officer on guadalcanal, serving under an amazing character named wild bill mckely, who was just a little drunk during the entire campaign. it's a warm, humorous, and at the same time deeply analytical account of one of the great decisive battles of world war 2. i loved it.

This is a short, but very powerful book. Filled with excellent examples that every business person should know. If you are in business, or own your own business and have wondered about how to make the Internet work for you, this little book will help.

Ever wonder where Ulysses really went? Ernle Bradford recreates Ulysses' voyage based on the time traveled, the currents and changes in the Mediterranean and the descriptions of the places. A mariner himself, and very familiar with that part of the world, he even has an eerie encounter with the sirens. A fascinating and exciting read, and a must have for students of Homer!

In this monograph are contained a plethora of poetic nuggets expressing wisdom and power. Though Mr. Mutwa fairly skims over a lot of territory, at critical junctures he dips into the fountainhead of traditional and experiential knowledge which he has become heir to during his long life.

There are items of spiritual knowledge that I came into contact with while studying to take initiations from Peruvian shamans of the High Altiplano eight or so years ago, which I found echoed in rather precise detail here. I have never seen them anywhere else. And this book was only published a couple of years ago.

Please note that there are less than 100 pages of actual written text (the rest of the book is filled with lots of color photos of his giant sculptural work and various other photos of his environs, himself, his friends and relatives.

On the CD (also 5 stars):

"Call of the Sacred Drums" 1:48 [inspired, traditional Zulu drumming/singing, medium tempo]

"The Incredible Credo Mutwa" 4:11 [speech honoring Mutwa, by Otsile Ntsoan, in English and Zulu: very beautiful & inspiring]

"Nduli" 2:11 [traditional Zulu drumming/homophonic choral singing, medium tempo]

"Isindawo" 3:43 [traditional Zulu drumming/homophonic choral singing, medium tempo]

"My Initiation Story" 38:29 [Mutwa tells part of his story, mentioning the severe purification practices one must undergo, and ritual dancing, 'kundalini' experiences, astral travel, unity consciousness and beyond, development of compassion and experiences of ecstasy, distant sensing. Note that this story is transcribed as part of the text of the book.]

"Umtchongola" 3:04 [traditional up-tempo Zulu dance drumming]

"Makhosi Asevukile" 2:59 [traditional Zulu homophonic choral singing with drum accompaniment, slow tempo]

"Sele" 3:27 [traditional Zulu dance drumming/singing; with a long, very slow recitative sung as an introduction, punctuated with drum rolls; and with a similar postlude]

"Blessing by Vusamazulu" 6:31

"African Friends" 3:05 (lighthearted music & lyrics by Keeney, in American folk-pop style, sung by the Wade Sisters)

Long before one might think it necessary to escape to the woods, Bradford Angier and his wife Vera did just that, leaving the bustle of New York City for the simplicity of the Hudson Bay area. This book describes their adventures and personal growth as the couple builds their own cabin in the Far North, and inspires me to dream of doing the same some day. Vera's experiences with cooking new foods especially were interesting to me.

I really enjoyed reading this book. There was quite a bit of good advice concerning wilderness living and survival. Also included interesting tales concerning Brad and Vena Angiers experiences living in the British Columbia wilderness. I found the style of writing to be quite easy to read and the explanations to be easily understandable. Would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in living in the wilderness or just enjoys reading about people who have done it.

I have all seven of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year portfolios. They feature all of the top wildlife/nature photographers; Mangelson,Lanting,Wolfe. If you like beautiful pictures of nature and/or animals, you'll love this book!

The Colonial Leaders series offers two different perspectives on the Plymouth Colony founded by the Pilgrims. One book looks at Miles Standish, the "Stranger" who was the colony's military leader, while this volume tells of story from the perspective of the colony's governor, William Bradford, one of the "Saints." So instead of focusing on military exploits and relationships with the Indians, this juvenile biography by Marianne Hering deals with the religious life of the colony and what they did to survive in the New World. Bradford was raised in an Anglican family who intended for him to be a shepherd, but the young boy insisted on becoming a Puritan, eventually joining the Separatists who fled to Holland to escape persecution. This book talks about the voyage on the "Mayflower," the Mayflower Compact, and the peace treaty with the Indians. Bradford was not the colony's first governor, but assumed the post when the first one suddenly died and it was then that the first Thanksgiving was celebrated. It was under Bradford that the colony expanded and Hering focuses on some of the basic democratic principles embodied in his decisions. This book is illustrated with historic pictures of the Pilgrims as well as contemporary photographs of the Plymouth Plantation recreation that tourists can visit. Even more than being a satisfactory juvenile biography of Bradford, this is one of the better histories of the Plymouth Colony that I have read. One of the interesting sidebars in this book dispels some of the myths about the Pilgrims that we remember each Thanksgiving.

What an amazing concept! My nieces loved the way they got to personalize the alphabet with everyone in their lives. It's real easy to do, and a great "quality time" project - we looked through pictures of people that they know and placed them in the slide-in pockets of the book. It's fun, it's creative and it's an incredible learning tool

Just having read Kathleen Winsor's magnum opus Forever Amber i must say that I was astonished at the sheer magnitude of the volume. Some small municipal phonebooks pale in comparison. I wish that I could say that I was equally amazed by the story even though I am glad that the Chicago Review Press published an affordable version of this now classic romance novel.

The story is predictable enough, country girl rises from prisoner at the infamous Newgate Prison to mistress of CharlesII, King of England by whatever means necessary. Through a succession of lovers and husbands she remains "faithful" to the one personthat she can never have.

The book is very well researched and the reader gets a picture of the many strata of Restoration society. Winsor has a habit of dropping the right names at the right times but after 56 years the novel seems a little dated and the characters a little flat.

A key problem is that there are no real characters that I could identify with. I found myself hating everyone equally. Amber comes off bad as does her principal love, Bruce Carlton. The feeling one gets is not of the decadence of Restoration London but of the despair engendered by the Court as a whole.

I'm somewhat sad to say that I did not enjoy this novel so much as read it to get to the end. The end itself is somewhat disappointing also. It is as if Ms. Winsor simply ran out of things to say and just ended it. That being said the novel is overly repetitious to start with and even though it may have started scandals and been banned in Boston in 1944 it is rather tame and mild now.

I first read the book when I was 18. Naively, I thought ALL books called "romance" would be of this quality, but of course, I was disappointed! Since then, I have read the book once during each subsequent five years of my life, most recently re-reading it at age 47. Ms. Winsor's recreation of Restoration London is accurate and her writing style much like that of Margaret Mitchell. It's an absorbing book, but not simplistic, not "light." It's an excellent introduction to the Restoration period. Forever Amber started my interest in this period of time and, many history books later, I can say that Winsor's depiction is accurate and complete. I understand Ms. Winsor filled about 40 notebooks with research notes before she wrote the book. Amber does it all! And while she's unscrupulous, she's young, and so real, I think every woman can see herself, only in part (I hope), in Amber's psychology. The most poignant part of the story, for me, was when Amber marries Lord Radclyffe and never realizes that Radclyffe was once engaged to Amber's own mother 20 years earlier, and Radclyffe never realizes that he has married the daughter of the woman of his dreams, whom he lost during the civil wars. When Amber tries on an old wedding dress, that was made for her mother and it fits her almost like it was made for her, I almost cried because she never knows. Amber also never realizes she is really of the nobility and one, just one, of the reasons Bruce Carlton doesn't marry her is because he believes Amber's parents to be farmers, when actually, they were of a higher station than Carlton himself. The irony was subtle but almost painful to me when I realized these things --(after the second reading!). I found the scene when Buckingham pays Amber 200 pound to have sex with him, and Amber is disgusted (although we never know why) to be one of the most creepily memorable "kinky sex" scenes I've ever read; much more effective than if the perversions had been spelled out. One reviewer says there was a sequel to Forever Amber. I would love to know the title! Although, I can't believe there could be a satisfactory sequel to this story. ... it's too sad to say how, just couldn't be any better. Just like when Scarlett loses Rhett. There can't be another ending, (despite "Scarlett"), but I'd love to know if Winsor had more in mind for Amber. I recommend, buy a copy of Forever Amber and enjoy! This is NOT a romance novel!

One day I wanted to research the famous Plague. I was so interested in it that my mother recommended this book, Forever Amber. After the first page, I couldn't put the book down and read the whole thing within a week and a half. What amazed me so much was the extraordinary historical time line the book followed. The book tells us of the different social experiences that happened in Restoration England, which is good entertainment, but also very true. Even the picture on the paperback book portrayed King Charles II as he really looked. Did you know that King Charles II had four sons named after him? Why would a person need History class when there is Forever Amber? As a 16 year old female, I believe that people of all ages should give this book a chance. You might learn something you didn't know before.