A series of short stories, tales told in a bar (the White Hart) among a group of scientists, writers, and laymen. The central story-teller is one Henry Purvis, an obnoxious fellow with a trick of pausing at the climax for a new draught beer, whom no one has yet managed to prove a liar. He tells almost believable tales of science and wouldn't-it-be-nice science. One learns of a silencer that silences more than guns, a carnivorous orchid with a secret, a ballistic computer with a sense of humour. Much of the delight in the tales arises from the fact that they were written in the 1950's, and it is amazing how much Clarke could see of the future. I suspect Clarke may have felt he'd written himself into a corner, because the series of tales and the book end rather suddenly, with a hint for the future but no real hope that Purvis will be back. A delghtful find, to be read by all who enjoy Clarke, bar stories, science fiction, and humour.

"Tales From the White Heart" brings some true fun into science fiction reading; a break from the deadly serious which is so often the hallmark of sci-fi. Like tall tales of the old west, the stories here are almost believeable, which makes them perfect for the English Pub background. Presented in short-story form, the book makes easy evening reading. I highly recommend "Tales From the White Heart" for both serious and casual sci-fi readers, from adolescent up.

Welcome to the White Hart, where every Wednesday night features a gathering of scientists, writers, and interested on-lookers who come to drink tepid beer and be regaled by the Tall Tales of one Harry Purvis, a man of uncertain origins, profession, and education, who claims to know so much about so many subjects of scientific interest. These tales were originally published individually, but together they are 'bookended' by "Silence Please" and "The Defenestration of Ermintrude Inch" to create a kind of frame story. Purvis' deadpan declamations of yarns that range from all-too-believable to patently absurd, combined with the fictional Clarke's own pointed comments about the White Hart, its clientele, and Purvis' overall credibility, make this perhaps the funniest science fiction book ever written. Using analogy in place of logic, Purvis posits wildly improbable advances in a number of different directions that in some cases have paralleled actual scientific developments that have taken place in the decades since these stories were written.

More serious-minded fans should take pleasure in the not-always-easy task of finding the precise flaws in Purvis' stories, which usually include just enough hard science to be credible to the casual layman. "The Next Tenants" is the only story in this collection that has any really serious message to it, and while the story is chillingly effective despite its absurdities, this book is really about laughs. From that standpoint, "Moving Spirit" is probably the best, featuring an eccentric millionaire, his illegal distillery, and a hilarious courtroom scene in which Purvis testifies as an expert witness with devastating results.

Despite the occasional slapstick moments, Clarke's humor is generally on the dry side, so this book may not please everyone. There isn't a lot of action in the traditional action/adventure sense, and female characters are usually absent or antagonistic. Still, if you're comfortable in a males-only, scientific atmosphere, there's plenty of good clean fun to be had at the White Hart.

My wife and I had some extra time on a combination work/pleasure trip recently. We picked up this book before leaving based on the reviews and found several places that had exactly what we were looking for. Wish Sue would publish a version for Colorado!

The Great New Jersey Shopping Guide has been very helpful for me. I have lived in New Jersey all my life and I still learned new places to go and new sources for shopping. This book is not only good for the serious shopper but also for those who want to try someplace new.

As a seasoned shopper, I thought I knew just about every worthwhile retail destination in the state. I was pleasantly surprised when I picked up this book and discovered interesting locales even I wasn't aware of. Everything is included--from shopping malls to museum shops to gourmet food stores. Best of all, The Great New Jersey Shopping Guide isn't written in standard guidebook form, but rather includes personal anecdotes from the authors, which are quite enjoyable to read. I especially liked Sue Bruskin Clarke's tales of mall shopping in the '60s and '70s and I related to her downtown shopping experiences in towns like Hoboken and Princeton.

This book is a must have for all New Jersey shoppers.

It was a brief comment (surprisingly, a review of a different book) that caused me to seek Lindsay Clarke's *The Chymical Wedding;* so, during a recent trip to England, I haunted the bookstores. My wife grew frustrated ("This is a vacation!") and I grew frustrated ("Where is this danged book?!") but frustration became success, and then pleasure.

Based solely on the (English edition's) cover art and blurbs, I thought this novel would include some measure of the fantastic, of magic. There is magic, but it is in author Lindsay Clarke's prose - limpid, lambent, poetic - and in his wonderful, bewitching tale.

Clarke's conflation of poetry, magic, alchemy, relationships (strong and closely bound; failed and lacking the ties that bind), and time (as expressed via the parallel stories, and the demi-bridge between them that aging and reclusive Edward Nesbit manifests) simply fascinates the reader. Protagonist Alex Darken (clever name!) intrigues: the success he enjoys as poet is insufficient to overcome his failings as teacher, as husband, as person. His maladroit handling of his life leads him to 'take a retreat,' the better to reassess the shambles. Once ensconced in Pigthle (the name of the rented cottage), he goes out for a walk and espies Edward and Laura, and then meets the town locals; there went his planned retreat from life...

I dare you to click on the link above and read the sample pages; I dare you to stop reading. I clicked the link, and found myself once again enchanted, bewitched, and down from the shelf came the novel to savor once again its heady brew. Highest recommendation.

I just wanted to add another comment on this extraordinary book. I highly recommend it, and hope that you take it upon yourself to invest.

If you read this book, be prepared to change your life.

The authors received 138 responses to a survey about favorite photography books. The verbatim replies and brief commentaries are arranged by respondent; a bibliography lists the respondents who cited each book. A special page is devoted to "The Americans" by Robert Frank, and another special page to the 10 other top vote getters. Some of the choices were idiosyncratic (e.g., some authors touted their own work which no one else mentioned), but overall this book is indispensable. I especially liked the selection of books ABOUT photography (as opposed to BY photographers), such as "Camera Lucida" by Barthes. Although I would agree with the other reviewer below that books on non-artistic genres (e.g., news, sports, nature) are underrepresented, that's not an important issue for me.

The Texas Photographic Society cornered 100 people who have a connection to the photography world and said "hey, what are your 6 favorite photo books and why?" The result is this nice little book, a compilation of all those lists with a handy bibliography of all the books mentioned at the end. It's a great little reference. It would have been nice to have a few more selections from the world of documentary photography (important photographers such as James Nachtwey and Eugene Richards are barely mentioned, or even not at all), but I guess that's a reflection of the tastes of those who were surveyed for this book.

This book is a great compulation of over 100 recognized photographers and the books that they go to for inspiration. It's also a great buying guide for any photographers on your list that might be hard to buy for.
A great book, great ideas and a very interesting and unique concept in photographic book publishing.

WOW!! This is my first visit (finally) to Amazon.com, and the very first thing I did was to search for the three investigators. What a wonderful surprise to have found them -- I'm so flooded with memories I don't know where to start.

I was introduced to them as a kid in Buffalo in the early '70s by my best friend's copy of "The Secret of Terror Castle." The first one I owned was a scholastic book services paperback of "The Mystery of the Green Ghost," and I can actually remember exactly where and when I received my first hardback, "The Mystery of the Talking Skull." Sadly, my set disappeared when my parents moved. The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew are fine in their own way, but they were NEVER a match for Jupe, Pete, and Bob!

Any one of the books in this series is the perfect gift for a child these days -- it will capture their imagination and help infuse them with a lifelong love of reading. The writing and pacing is just right, there are funny and scary parts that any kid can relate to, and the characters are developed in a way that really makes them come to life. I know Alfred Hitchcock is gone from the new versions, but his presence in the original issues as a real person had us convinced that if we could only get to California we could find Rocky Beach and the Jones Salvage Yard! I don't know how many 3x5 cards we went through as we made business cards for our own detective agency!

Thanks, Random House!! I can't wait to give every book in the series to the kids in my life (and I'll have to get copies for myself, too). I'd love to see a re-issue in hardback of the old versions with Hitch in them, but I guess I'll just have to keep searching used book stores for those. It's sure great to see The Three Investigators back!

At one time I used to own the first 23 titles of AH & The Three Investigators. As I've grown older, I've lost titles until I recently realized I only had two left. I've lamented to my wife, after searching used book stores high and low for the other titles and not finding them, that this was a great blow against childhood reading. I was so glad that they are still being printed and read! The format may be different and Alfred Hitchcock is lamentably missing, but they are still as readable and enjoyable as they were when I was a child!

I highly recommend this series for young readers who dream of adventure and suspense. They invigorated my youth and helped interest me in reading and writing. I hope to God that there are more coming out!

And for those of us who remember Alfred Hitchcock, maybe Random House could put out a collectors series of the books as they were originally released - covers, illustrations and all. I would certainly snap them up!

Wow. I'm 33 years old and thought I am probably the only adult who would pick up a Three Investigator's book and read it. I am here looking for some of The Three Investigator's books for my girlfriend's son. I saved a few of the books I had as a child, a couple of them in hardback, with the intent of saving them for my children. Most of the books I read in the series I checked out at the library. Reading these books provided some of my fondest childhood memories. The young man I am buying these books for has just discovered a love for reading and I believe that these stories will hook them just like they did me. Amazon, please act upon the suggestions of others and release the entire series if possible.

In preparing our list of Christmas books to share with others, we had to search far and wide on amazon to find this particular book, a paperback edition of the classic Night Before Christmas.

This is the book I've used for years when reading this story to my own children, passing on Tasha Tudor and other illustrators. Why?

Although we can find the same poem and pay a lot more, with award winning illustrators, the illustrations provided by Douglas Gorsline are surely the best. They are quite colorful, and offer details little children love looking into...cats lie sleepily on the window sill, we see an overview of the town, the presents spilling from the open sack are intriguing and plentiful, and Jolly St. Nick is -- well, quite Jolly (as you can see by looking at the cover!)

The story is an "abridged version" - I'm not sure about other parents, but we read this on Christmas Eve, and we only have so much time and energy. Everything we remember from the classic poem by Clement Clarke Moore is in this version.

(From "'Twas the Night Before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse" to "He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,"HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!" In between we have everything, from the names of the eight tiny reindeer, to a belly that shakes like a bowl full of jelly, including dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky".

In other words, don't be scared off by 'abridged'!)

Perhaps a hardcover edition might be more appropriate if you're giving a gift (unless you're giving to more than one child), but this book is one of the best offers we've found!

A classic done simply and inexpensively!

We have an inexpensive paperback version (see our reviews) of this classic poem, and we said that's enough for us. That was before we looked through this beautifully illustrated (by Bruce Whatley) edition of The Night Before Christmas.

The lyrics are the same, from book to book, but the fanciful illustrations in this one are enough to engage adults and children as they read this book together.

The perfect gift for any family whose Christmas tradition includes reading this classic!

This beautiful book was in my family as a hard cover edition for many years and was a Christmas Eve tradition for my four sons when they were growing up. It's poor battered body disappeared some time after the last of my little ones went off into the adult world. I am so delighted to see it back again, though this time as a nicely affordable soft cover. Clement C. Moore's enchanting story poem already provides an atmosphere filled with warmth and joyful expectation and with the addition of Tasha Tudor's quaint, nostalgic water-colors from an antique New England the Christmas magic is complete!
The winter landscapes fill our senses and Tasha's own gray tabby cat and Welsh Corgi welcome us into this charming world.
Tasha's Santa that you will meet in this book has been portrayed as the poem describes him...a right jolly old elf. He's not that much larger than the corgi and his team really consists of eight "tiny" reindeer. His pointy ears and his Eskimo mukluks add to the delightful ambiance of the book. He dances with the toys and with the happy animals and we can truly believe it will be a happy Christmas for all.
I hope this book becomes a Christmas Eve tradition for many, many more families.

Vladislav Tamarov is barely nineteen when he is drafted into the Soviet army and sent to Afghanistan. His immersion in Soviet propaganda does not prepare him for what he will find there. His training has little to do with his assignment as a mine-sweeper. He serves his two years, somehow survives, and returns home to Leningrad. His life becomes chaotic. Somehow his Afghan experiences seem more real than the life he is living. Later he emigrates to the United States where he lives now, thirty-eight years old. But really, he never comes home from Afghanistan. In his spirit, he is still trapped in that war.

As luck would have it, Vlad (as he likes to be called) is a talented photographer and writer. Somehow he manages to keep a journal and take pictures during his entire tour of duty. Now he shares the pictures with us. Plain pictures of grim, haunted young men. Men who will never go home. Men who will die within hours of being photographed. Men resting briefly before the next battle or ambush. The book is built around these photographs, with accompanying text that is simple and spare.

Vlad serves his time, but really, he never comes home. In his spare, simple writing, his consciousness wanders back and forth between "home" and Afghanistan, never at peace. For him, only the war experience is real. The only people he can really feel at home with are Afghan veterans, and--interestingly--veterans of Viet Nam.

Afghanistan is not a sentimental book. It is a simple, plain-spoken account of a very bad time. It is a powerful statement about war, all war, yet it does not lecture the reader. It is not a book you enjoy, but it will make a deep impression on you. It is exquisite photo-journalism. I recommend it highly. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber

This is the extremely poignant story of a young Russian from Leningrad by the name of Vladislav Tamarov who at the age of nineteen was conscripted into the Soviet Army knowing full well his destination upon completing his basic and airborne training, Afghanistan. Rarely if ever have I read a story such as this, told with the full depth of emotions over what someone has seen and been forced to participate in.

After his conscription, Vladislav went to basic and airborne training, where by his description the training was wholeheartedly inadequate to the task at hand. But then, armies can train basic trainees in the very basics of soldiering but they can never fully prepare them for the realities that lay ahead when facing actual combat. Of note is the fact that he and his fellow trainees spent a lot of time on the airborne training only to never use it in Afghanistan.

Armed with this most minimal of training, Vladislav and his fellow basic training graduates headed off for Afghanistan. Landing in Kabul he saw the first of many dichotomies where the people of Afghanistan attempted to continue to live their lives the best they could despite rocket attacks and a constant shifting between the Afghanistan government's forces and the Mujahadeen. To add to his already cumbersome load of trying to learn how to survive in combat, he was also immediately picked out to be a minesweeper, the job that few soldiers of any army wants to have.

Vladislav goes on to tell us of the many strife's and hardships that both he and his fellow soldiers endured and some which who did not survive. I found the style in which he told his story to be quite compelling as he tells it with a great depth of emotion to include areas where he seems to almost be in a dream/nightmare state where in one paragraph he's home, he's made it and in the next paragraph he's still in Afghanistan running for his life or attempting to save a friends life.

Of interest is how for quite some time at the beginning of this war the Soviet people were not told what was happening and why young soldiers were coming home in zinc coffins. To us, as Americans, it would seem unthinkable for our government to commit so many assets to a combat action without telling the general populace. To think that the USSR attempted to do is almost inconceivable.

Overall this is a story in pictures and words that is very telling of the experiences young men go through in war and the author deserves high praise for bringing it to print and those of us fortunate to have read it! I myself am in the Army and I found that I learned a great deal from this person that today I call a friend but back in my early days in the Army I was told he and his fellow soldiers were my enemy, thank God that's a war that never happened. I hope for him today that the demons of this war do not still haunt him for he and his fellow Afghansti have seen enough demons!

I highly recommend this book to any and all for it will certainly enrich your knowledge of the Soviet Afghan war and bring you in touch with the author who a truly honorable man who when he was but a mere teenager was forced to grow old before his time. {ssintrepid}

Vladislaw Tamarov, the author of "Afghanistan: A Russian Soldier's Story" was a mere 19 years old when he was drafted to Afghanistan. Once there, Tamarov was 'selected' to be a minesweeper, and he served almost two years before returning home to Leningrad. Tamarov was one of the lucky ones; he returned to tell the story of his time through photographs and journal entries.

Tamarov describes the history--official and unofficial--behind the Soviet presence in Afghanistan, training prior to deployment, and the four types of military action that took place there. Weapons are also described, and there are also photographs of unexploded mines, minesweepers at work, and many photographs of the other young men who served with Tamarov.

The one thing that struck me over and over again as I read this book was the word "WASTE." The photographs of the young soldiers who never returned home stand as a monument to the utter ridiculous waste that occurred under the name "Afghanistan War." What difference did it make to the world or humankind? Has anything changed as a result? Did the world improve immeasurably or even measurably for that matter? The answer to those questions is a single, loud resounding 'NO'. And the only message that can be drawn from this book is the utter futility and madness of war. I would like to commend the author for creating a memorial through his marvellous photographs for the men who seem to be destined just to become empty statistics. The young men memorialized in Tamorov's photographs did not belong in Afghanistan, and neither did they deserve to die. I am glad that someone was there to record their short lives before they were stolen away forever--displacedhuman

During a time in my life, when I loved all things to do with Socialism, this book was almost my bible. Mr. Clarke preached Afro-Centric Socialism, to an extent that gave me new faith in myself. His views at time were extreme, but his insight into numerous topics gave me a strong respect for him.

The book is essentially a series of essays, detailing the problems in Africa, and to the other key areas of the Black Diaspora. For anyone interested in Black Nationalism or Pan-African movements, this book is essentially a bible for you.

His works are profound. although, he has many critics who would like to ... his legacy. When i first read this book it really opened me up to the problems facing black men/women right here in the belly of the beast "America". I would recommend this book to anyone looking to face the problems that lingers still in the black communities all over the world!!!

DR. JOHN HENRIK CLARKE WAS DEFINATELY A ELDER AND A WARRIOR IN PAN-AFRICANISM, AFRICAN-CENTRICITY, AND AFRICAN WORLD NATIONALISM. HE WAS A PROPHET AND A MASTER TEACHER. HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LIBERATION AND MOTIVATION FOR AFRICAN PEOPLE WILL DEFINATELY BE REMEMBERED. THIS BOOK IS A EXCELLENT BOOK THAT GIVES ALOT OF INFORMATION ON THE LIVES OF KWAME NKRUMAH, MALCOLM X, PATRICE LUMUMBA, MARCUS GARVEY AND WEB DU'BOIS. HE HAS CHAPTER ON THE HISTORY OF AFRICAN PEOPLE AND REVOLUTION AND ACT OF LIBERATION BY AFRICAN PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD.THIS BOOK IS DEFINATELY RECOMMENDED IN THE INVESTIGATION AND RE-AWAKENING OF THE AFRICAN MIND. MY THE GREAT GRIOT REST IN PEACE, HIS WORK AND LEGACY WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBER AND UNHELD BY FUTURE GENERATIONS

I JUST WANTED TO LET EVERYONE KNOW THIS BOOK IS A MUST READ I COULDNT PUT IT DOWN.. MY HAT GOES OFF TO HOPE CLARK KEEP IT COMING

ALL I CAN SAY IS, THIS BOOK SHOULD BE A MOVIE. AUDIO TAPES OR CD'S WOULD WORK FOR ME. THIS BOOK IS A SURE WINNER. THIS IS DEFINITLY HOPES BEST WORK. LOVE, SEX,AND MURDER IT'S ALL THERE.

Pent Up Passion is filled with unexpected twists and turns at every corner - never a dull moment. Makes you wonder who your true friends really are.

The least expected person plots revenge on three unsuspecting acquaintances. Order your copy today and find out who's bent on ruining Keesha's (and Chris's, et. al.) life.

What always gets me with Wells is the forcefulness of his imagination -- his ability to construct powerful, symbolically resonant setpieces based upon the scientific ideas of his time. In the final pages of "The Time Machine" he gave us one of the great apocalyptic visions in all of literature. In "The First Men in the Moon," he gives us a magnificently alien setting, full of bizarre moments -- jumping about the lunar surface in 1/6 G; the Giddy Bridge and the Fight in the Cave of the Moon-Butchers; the bizarre lunar ecology, in which all the plants die every night and are reborn each dawn.

Scientifically, much of this stuff doesn't hold up after a hundred years. And the device he comes up with to get his characters to the moon -- Cavorite -- is without basis, an arbitrary magical tool not unlike the time machine. Even when Wells' science is iffy, though, he presents it in such a clear, convincing fashion that you are only too glad to suspend disbelief while the story unfolds.

In the Selenites we have a metaphor for a different type of society -- rigidly hierarchical, with the needs of the individual sublimated to the whole. The metaphor obviously comes from social insects; though it became a sci-fi cliche, it was still fresh circa 1901. In the remarkable last section of the book (Cavor's communications from the moon), Wells describes the Selenite society with delightful attention to detail. He ends with a haunting, unforgettable image, and probably the best closing sentence of any sci-fi novel.

Although it is not as famous as some of his earlier science fiction books (or "scientific romances", as they were then called), and is not an absolute classic like those books are, The First Men In The Moon is nevertheless a delightful and important satrical SF novel. Also, its importance in the development of modern science fiction cannot be overestimated. Although numerous books before had dealt with a story set on another world (let us here, for the sake of convenience, refer to the Moon as a "world"), Wells's book is the first to make it convincingly real. Although, one hundred years on, much of the novel's science is dated and Well's Moon is far different from how we now know it to be, nevertheless, Wells here created a world out of his own imagination, and describes it with such a convincing level of detail that one actually feels like they are there. And the science, indeed, was, in fact, quite up-to-date for the turn of the century. The structure and format of the novel also was highly influential: one will see immediately upon reading it just how much modern science fiction owes to this novel, and to Wells (and yet, Wells himself borrowed prodigiously from previous books on the subject.) The book was originally supposed to end at Part I: Part II was added later by Wells after the book was already in the process of serialization. I think that the addition of Part II is what makes the book good instead of great. If it had ended as it originally would, it would still be a good book - a rousing adventure, an interesting yarn - but it would not be great. The second part makes the book a full-on satire - something that the earlier portion had merely hinted at. It sharply and bitingly satarizes manking and his many follies, particularly war. This addition of satire and borderline philosophy makes the novel a truly great one. I read an essay on this book that said it differs from Wells's earlier SF novels because it is not grim. I beg to differ. The ending, to me, seems quite grim, indeed. Although it does not involve the imminent extinction of man himself as earlier works did, it is nonetheless quite pessimistic and grim. The addition of the second part of the novel and the ending also pave the way for Wells's later works - ... This is a true science fiction classic that deserves to be more highly-regarded than it is.

Cavor, a genius, invents a material that allows him to build a Gravity-Defying Sphere. Soon he and a young, and very greedy, businessman use it to go to the moon. They find not only life, but the Selenites, a culture who can change their shape to fit their jobs. In other words, form is designed for the function of their class or in this case their caste. Over them rules the Grand Lunar, a being whose large brain gives him awesome power and foresight beyond even the businessman who tells us the story. Both characters show their human merits and their very human flaws. Not science fiction as much as a book on society.