This is a very well-documented book on astral lycanthropy and vampyrsm. The listing and definitions of the many words for "vampyre" become a bit tedious but it's all worth the read. The book addresses the subject in terms of shamanic work. If you're interested in magick, pagan religion, shamanism, etc., or if you are a practicing mage get this.

this is a detailed, well written and well researched work, which is admirable in its attempts not to rely upon the more draculaesque aspects of vampyre mythology. undoubtedly, the most valuable book i have ever come across on the topic.

Have you ever wondered about the thirteen colonies decided to fight for to become an independent country in 1776 while other British colonies in the Caribbean such as Trinidad and Tabago and Jamaica did not? O'Shaughnessy attempts to explain these differences by look at the conditions of the 13 colonies and the British Caribbean such as trade, slave populations and cultural differences. He also looks at how American independence affected the British Caribbean by cutting of vital trade roots and reducing its influence in London Parliament.

A thorough treatment of a topic that few people (or at least me) had ever considered. Far from being insignificant islands, the Caribbean colonies were just as important to the British as the American colonies, and O'Shaughnessy makes a convincing case that the difference in the colonies' attitude towards Britain (and indeed, the principal reason for the American Revolution in the first place) is principally due to economic factors.

I really enjoyed this book; I am an economist so my interest in such a topic may not coincide with the typical reader, but I thought I learned a lot about something I had never really thought too much about.

Reviewed by: Shaun Williams

F. Ray's "The Wish"

A visit to the grocery store turns handsome bachelor Nicholas Darling upside down. Word gets around about his chatting with Mrs. Augusta Evans and suddenly he is bombarded with attention from every eligible female in town. Upset he goes to confront Mrs. Evans only to come face to face with Andrea Strickland, the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. As he gets to know her he believes she can help him stop all of the attention her aunt's wish has caused him. Setting up a scheme Andrea pretends to be his intended. Both enjoy the time they spend together under pretense of being a couple. Dreading the outcome of the wish Andrea hides her true feelings for Nicholas. Nicholas on the other hand continues to battle the validity of Mrs. Evans gift wishing that his dream girl were Andrea. Before its too late he has to make a choice for the future and for love.

B. Jenkins "Homecoming"

On her way home Lydia Cooper runs into her old flame handsome Gray Dane. Seeing one another again bring back feelings from a long time ago. Lydia and Gray work through regrets from the past, pain and mistrust, binding together ties that will build a new relationship. Homecoming is intense passion, romance, the power of forgiveness and understanding that brings everlasting love to Lydia and Gray's doorstep.
Beverly weaves this historical romance in her renowned style. She gives us a glimpse of a time when strong black men and women still found love in the midst of hard times during the 1800's.

M. Jackson "The Way Back Home"

This is a romantic story about a biracial woman who has never known her African American filiations. A seminar given at her school has invited handsome Dr. Trey Fraser whom Anne Donald secretly admires. His speech is the catalyst that spurs on her need to find the other side of her family. In her search to find her estranged family members she develops intimate feelings for Trey. As Trey's feelings for Anne escalates they run into extreme opposition from Trey's family about their relationship. The passion becomes too overwhelming to deny as Trey and Anne pursue their relationship with vigor. As Anne overcomes her low self-esteem and need to fit in she finds love everlasting in the arms of Trey Fraser.

G. Guillaume "The Seventh Principle"

Distance has taken its toll on attractive Paul Barrett and beautiful Kirby Kayin's relationship. Kirby is home visiting for the holidays and both are at wits end as to what to do about the relationship. Paul doesn't want the distance anymore and Kirby is unsure of where the two stand. Racial issues at the school where Paul is the principal are running high and Kirby's professional expertise is needed to bring some order to things. Working close together they try to hurdle the stormy weather of their relationship. The two decide too incorporate the seven principles of Kwanzaa to accomplish the tension at school as well as with their personal lives. Paul and Kirby know their relationship is worth preserving and look forward to a lasting future together.

"Homecoming" by Beverly Jenkins. In 1883 Lydia travels from Chicago to her home, but stops at a Detroit boarding house where she meets Gray, the man she loved as a teen. The next day they travel together towards their hometown with each in denial that their respective hearts still believe they belong together forever.

"The Way Back Home" by Monica Jackson. Graduate student Anne has never fit in anywhere even as an orphan raised by her deceased white mother's family. She has never met her black father's kin. Author Trey encourages her to search for her roots so Anne seeks her African-American heritage, but she also wants her professor's love.

"The Seventh Principal" by Geri Guillaume. Mississippi high school principal Paul struggles with teen problems and racial trouble caused by the debate over celebrating Kwanzaa. As he tries to do the right thing yet adhere to the rules, Paul dreams of his beloved, former counselor Kirby. When she returns home, Paul tries to persuade her that they belong together even as the racial controversy nears the explosion point.

This quartet of African-American holiday romances are all stalwart stories with anyone of them capable of being a feature length novel due to the hearty characterizations that provide a Happy Kwanzaa and a Merry Christmas to all.

Harriet Klausner

This book covers more than just the lumber. It explains how trees grow, how forests are managed, how lumber is cut, and some basic woodworking techniques. Endangered trees are discussed and marked throughout the book. Traditional woodworking woods, plywood, and man-made woods are covered with characteristics, common uses, workability, and finishing tips for each. There are many beautiful pictures and drawings throughout.

A few things could be improved. The wood descriptions are arranged by scientific name so a better index is needed to help locate common names. For example "Walnut" and "Black Walnut" are not in the index, but "American Walnut" is. A section of the book shows pictures of each tree species (20 per page) but instead of having the name by each picture there is a "from left to right" list in a small box at the bottom of each page.

This seems pretty close to an ideal introduction to the world of wood and woods. After the succes of the British version of this book ("Collins_Good_Wood_Guide") there now are US, French and German versions (and perhaps some more in other languages?).

The great thing about the book is the quality of the illustrations which convey a very great deal of information very effectively. I am not entirely sure of the quality of the text, which dips into a very wide range of topics, but owing to the quick-in quick-out style the authors certainly manage to avoid saying anything stupid.

My favorite part is the 74 individually photographed wood samples (also including a bit of end-grain and a bit of side-grain, occasionally including the bark) which are faithfully reproduced at an ample size and in glorious color.

This 128-page book may not completely satify the wood buff, but it is pretty close to an ideal introduction to woods for anyone starting out doing anything with wood. Great value for money!

The illustrations are fantastic and my son really loves to look for all the hidden objects (some of which are very hard to find). The text is really good also and we very highly recommend this whole series.

Gave this series to a 6 and 9 year old last Fall. This is their favorite book. Educational, entertaining, and fun to find the "seach for" items. PLUS - they learned an incredible amount about Sea Life and Sea Animals - that they rememeber MONTHS later.Adults and children love this. Wonderful "hands on" book for kids!

This book does wonders for a far future GURPS campaign. The world and ship generation techniques are excellent. Lots of cool gadgets too. The weak point of Space is it's lack of detail on creating alien races. But if it were more detailed they wouldn't have needed to make GURPS Aliens right?

Ahem ...

This is one of the best roleplaying books I have ever read and certainly among the best for GURPS. If you want to create a pace-based science fiction campaign, this is the book for you whether you play GURPS or not. Everything is in here: spaceship design, alien races, solar systems, planetary governments ... all organised in a take-it-or-leave-it fashion. If something seems to techy to you - leave it out! If you want hard sci-fi with colony ships and no aliens, GURPS can oblige. If you prefer Flash Gordon to Carl Sagan, GURPS has the reactionless thrusters (scientifically divided into slow and fast) primed and ready for take off. If you are desperate for a REAL hard sci-fi setting, then GURPS Traveller maybe a better purchase but if you're itching to create your own strange new worlds, this is the book.

Generic in the best possible sense.

This novel, this thriller exposes the medical implant controversy in a real and telling manner. You can actually feel Lenore's pain and frustration caused by Dr. Gleeson in particular and the medical establishment in general. Mrs. Gause-Jackson, a TMJ implant victim herself writes a plausible thriller. You get a clear understanding that whole families suffered when medical negligence happens.

The plots thickens and twists as you go along with an ending that has the reading shouting "she did it" Hooray!

Like TMJ medical implant device survivors all over the US I've been waiting to get my hands on this book for over a year. I've just finished reading it. It was fantastic. Howling Against the Wind captured what we survivors have been going through with clarity. The author exacted revenge for the estimated 175,000 survivors of TMJ medical implant device failure. Personally, the revenge felt damn good. Arlene Gause-Jackson is a gifted, expressive, writer. Howling Against the Wind belongs in every library!

Susan

A good book that describes in some detail the development of wild weasels, associated gears and tactics. Traces development through veitnam to more current times. Good coverage of topics related to WW history and development and some Airforce / Navy politics. Good for the casual readers with no engineering background to follow and understand. For engineers or researchers this will provide a good general background and introduction into this field.

I worked in the field of EW for 9 years, and so I am very biased about this book, but I am also a harsh critic on books about this topic. I found the book to be a great intro to what exactly electronic warfare is and how it is used on the battlefield. Stories abound, terms are explained, and the writing is in a friendly style. I did find it strange that the book is called "Iron Hand", the term the USN uses, and the front cover photo is of USAF F-16CJs. The USAF uses the term "Wild Weasel".

"The Fall of France: The Nazi Invasion of 1940" by Julian Jackson is very well written and interesting book. It represents an excellent analysis of the complex of reasons which lead to the catastrophe of 1940 and of the consequences of the defeat of France.It must be noted that this book is virtually free of typographical errors--a very seldom success even for a university publishing house.However, few remarks about the Soviet Union in the Professor Jackson's book spoil the owerall good impression. Julian Jackson is a specialist in the history of FRANCE, and, sadly, these remarks are based on a received wisdom instead of recearch.Professor Jackson writes (pp. 2-3): "The fall of France was an event that resonated throughout the world. [. . .] There was panic in Moscow, where Stalin was only too aware that the defeat of France made it possible for Hitler to turn his attention to the east. As Khrushchev recalled in his memoirs: 'Stalin let fly with some choice Russian curses and said that now Hitler was sure to beat our brains in.' He was right."Even if Stalin did say it, which, given the source, is highly doubtful (Nikita Sergeevich had his own agenda), it was hardly a panic. Panic is what J. Jackson has all too vividly described in his own book: thick smoke of burning documents above the Quai d'Orsay, weeping French commanders, government fleeing its capital, etc. Had the Peoples Commissariat of Foreign Affairs (NKID) burned in May-June of 1940 a single document BECAUSE of the fall of France? Yes, there was panic in Moscow, but in October 1941, and for a different reason.P. 74: "Although this seems remarkable in retrospect, one must not underestimate the extent to which Stalin's purges had undermined western confidence in the fighting qualities of the Red Army."The key word here is 'western.' This underestimation eventually lead Germany to unconditional surrender and its Fuhrer to suicide. And it seems remarkable indeed that many of Pr. Jackson's colleagues, including himself, still hold on their old views.We find the "alarm in Moscow" again on page 237. Stalin's "immediate response" to this "alarm," according to author, was the annexation of the Baltic states, Bessarabia and Bukovina, which, in turn, worried Hitler . . . If Stalin was so panic-striken and alarmed, it would be better to try hard NOT to worry Hitler in any way, right?A book comparable to "The Fall of France" about the Red Army defeats in 1941 is still not written. Let's hope.And, of course, Germany invaded the USSR on June twenty second (22nd), not on 21st, as J. Jackson states (p. 237). Here again, he shows what his area of expertise is: on June 21st of 1812 started another invasion to Russia, lead by Napoleon Bonaparte.

This is an excellent book by a distinguished scholar of French history. Relatively short at about 250 pages, the book provides a narrative of the fall of France, a thoughtful analysis of the pre-war French politics and society, a very nice concise history of the French Army leading up to the War, an insightful study of Franco-British relations, and a study of the response of the French populace to war. The book concludes with a short section on the consequences for post-war France of the conquest and some historiographic analysis. Jackson is a clear writer and the book is organized well. Jackson is concerned particularly with examining prior explanations for the Fall of France. One is that the Frence Army was overwhelmed by the superior Germans. Jackson provides an excellent analysis of the weaknesses of the French Army, which are shown to be more organizational and doctrinal than technological. It is clear also that the French Army suffered from poor leadership and spectacularly poor communications. The best French formations fought German units to a standstill. It was the French misfortune, a combination of luck for the Germans, bad judgement and intelligence on the part of the French, and excellent German leadership in the field, that the worst French units bore the brunt of the initial German assault. Jackson deals with the question of whether defeat was preordained by the strains and divisions experienced by French society in the 1930s. This is the so-called 'decadence' argument, a favorite of right wing ideologues, both during and after the war. Jackson shows that despite the considerable difficulties imposed by the Depression and an unfavorable international situation, successive French governments did fairly well in re-equiping the French Army. If the Germans had been stalemated in Belgium during the opening months of the war, which was the French plan, and which could have happened if the Germans hadn't altered their plans, French and British military production would have outstripped German armaments production. The fault lines in French society and politics really mattered after the collapse of the French Army, resulting in a collaborationist government composed of reactionaries bent on purging French society of undesirable elements. Jackson makes a series of interesting comparisons with the opening weeks of WWI and shows that, if anything, the government and military of pre-WWII France were better prepared for combat. A combination of poor leadership and the speed of events prevented the French government and military from recovering after the initital setbacks. If anything, Jackson is too- easy on the leadership of the French Army. Not only did the French High Command botch the war, but with defeat looming, General Weygand and his fellows took the line that the Army embodied the real heart of the French nation and put maintaining the Army in some form above the civilian republic. It is interesting to compare this book with Ernest May's Strange Victory, another recent book on this topic. This is a much superior book. May's book is longer, has less actual historical detail, and quite a bit of it is devoted to tendentious theorizing about decision making. Jackson's nuanced account and analysis gives a much better view of the events and their background.

Julian Jackson comes to an interesting thesis in that it was the strategic mistakes and flawed organization of the French army and not the corrupt Third Republic that was reponsible for the French defeat in 1940. Julian supports his point by stating that the British were just as passive as the French in the thirites and the Germans were reluntctant to go to war in 1939, and lacked trucks and ground support planes needed for an modern army. Jackson also compares the French nation's response to the Germans in 1914 with that in 1914, in which the French suffered from similiar poltical problems and had a flawed military strategy, but the French in 1914 were saved by Von Kluck's turn east. Jackson places overall blame on Gamelin's decision to position his forces far north into Holland in order to prevent the Britich from escaping to the sea, but this led to the Ardennes area being poorly manned by third rate divisions. While the French divisions in Holland fought valiantly,the doomed divisons around the Ardennes quickly crumbled. Jackson is also critical about the amount of training received within the French army. The French trained their conscripts for a only a year and that this made the French army loose cohesion and mental flexibality in battle. The only problem with Jackson's arguement is that it was the political divisions in France that prevented the French army from expanding the term of conscription and forming a more effecive army. Despite this flaw, I would reccomend this book to anyone interested in a new and interesting thesis about the fall of France.