When we first looked at this map, we didn't think it would be accurate. Once we arrived in Scotland, we realized that it was extremely accurate, there are just not that many roads there as we are used to in the US. I would recommend this to anyone traveling in Scotland.

Set to the same scale as a lot of the very good Michelin maps, this map covers all of Scotland with enough detail to make traveling the country easy. It can give you a sense of how far Loch Ness really is from Edinburgh, points out the scenic roads, main roads, back roads; has good detail on the islands; and covers from the border with England up to the top of the country. Any specific city like Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, etc, will require a more detailed map, obtained locally, but this map is very good for planning and getting around. Main thing to remember, you can end up going much slower in the Highlands than you think, in some areas 25 mph average speed because of the roads twisting or being single track. On the other hand, I was going 70 for a while, keeping up with traffic, in a glen above Loch Lommond. The roads are in good condition, and driving on the left is not the hardest thing about driving in Britian; it is getting used to how narrow the lanes are.
The roads are safe, the countryside more beautiful than you think, even if you rent a car only for one day to head out it is worth it, and this map is excellent.

Get this - you'll need it.........

I have many personal feelings about this book, which I have read at least 3 times. I grew up with and am best friends with his youngest son and met Mr. Petrov countless times. On many occassions I had the unique priviledge of being able to discuss his book and the events which took place with the author in person. Still, had I never met Mr. Petrov, I am sure I would not have enjoyed this book any less. This book ranks with such books as 'Papillon', and 'To Live and Die in Shanghai', as one of the greatest true life prison stories ever told. Calling the ordeals that Mr. Petrov survived 'Kafkaesque' is an understatement. If you can find a copy of this book, I guarantee you will be forever satisfied.

This is the collection of tales edited by Stith Thompson, one half of the team responsible for the Stith-Thompson classification system of folktales. Thompson pulls tales mostly from European sources and includes source and classification notes in the appendix. The tales are classics or often derivatives of well-known tales. They are also suitable for all ages. I have had this book for years and still pull it off my shelf on a regular basis.

Richard Wallin and company have prepared the definitive history of the Chicago & Illinois Midland Railroad. This 1979 publication is illustrated with 355 black and white photos and maps that document this short railroad (121 route miles). This book has rare and valuable photos of the locomotives and industries of the C&IM as well and extensive and informative text. If this is your railroad, you must have a copy. 240 pages, hardback.

This is a terrific over-view of the major proponents of the Japanese New Wave. Taking chapter names from film milestones of this important, overlooked movement, EPM is a smart, concise look at a complex area of cinema.

I really enjoyed these plays. They are beautiful and well written. I highly recommend this book.

This book was required reading for my History of Russia- The Stalin Years class. As I began to read this book, I began to feel for the people and all the pain and terror that they were experiencing. This book shows the true horror of the time and reminds us that this is a time that we never wish to be part of or experience ever again.

I found this book in the stacks of our local Public Library.

Written in 1983, it details a trip made in an old rowboat from Wales to London via rivers and canals. The author's dry wit--much of it directed at himself--is delightful.

I found this book especially refreshing as I have recently read a couple of the Extreme Adventure books that are so popular now. This book reads like a parody of such works, though written long before them.

I'm glad to see that the author is still writing and appears to have a good readership.

Rats in the Grain is a tale of corporate criminals from Asia, Europe, and the U.S. whose price fixing conspiracy was finally exposed by a government witness working undercover for the FBI for over two and half years. The FBI tapes and documents sow ADM was involved in fixing prices, technology theft, prostitution, systematic campaign voilations and the transfer of corporate funds without the proper signatures to senior executives' overseas bank accounts to avoid taxes. ADM paid a $100 million fine and was allowed to keep the USDA business worth $85 million, which was unprecededented for a corporation who pled guilty to a criminal felony. THe second conspiracy involved ADM, the Department of Justice and ADM's lawyers working together with the media to paint a picture of Mark Whitacre, the government witness, as the real criminal. Whitacre who worked undercover for the FBI was also receiving illegal bonuses. Records show ADM was aware of this, yet the government and ADM claimed that no one except those around Whitacre were involved. The FBI agents with whom Whitacre worked while recording the crimes at ADM turned their backs on him. All the departments of government in place to administer justice for the people were administering the wishes of ADM's chairman Dwayne Andreas. ADM and the Andreases have spent millions in donations over the years. Adding that to the millions spent on lawyers clearly showed that justice was for sale. Part IV of the book the cover-up is a real eye-opener. It tells of people who sold their souls aiding and abetting in the obstruction of justice which included sending the government witness to jail at the request of ADM. Lieber's book serves notice that all is not well in the heartland and conditions are even worse in Washington.

Lieber writes about a company that taught its employees to fix prices, steal technology, dispose of waste by mixing it with feed, hire prostitutes for corporate espionage, use shareholder money for illegal campaign donations and other crimes.

Mark Whitacre, president of the bioproducts division, was a very good student and also the FBI's cooperating witness for two and half years. During this period Whitacre was also helping himself to illegal bonuses. Lieber shows the company was aware of the bonuses, yet they denied any knowledge or involvement. Whitacre underestimated the power of ADM's Chairman Dwayne Andreas and landed in federal prison for 10 years. Dwayne Andreas got immunity for himself and other executives for the above mentioned crimes, except his son Michael Andreas and Terrance Wilson who were indicted on one count each of price fixing. They received only 3 years in federal prison camp after bilking ADM's customers out of $100s of millions over the years while the FBI witness got 10 years.

Lieber shows how the government and the powerful Washington law firm of Williams & Connolly worked together to hide all the crimes and make an example out of the FBI witness so no one will ever think about standing up against ADM in the future.

Every American should read this book to realize it is the corporate criminals who operate with impunity and immunity that are the real threat to democracy, yet we are loading our prisons with the young who have made minor mistakes compared to the enormity of ADM' crimes.

"Rats in the grain" is a powerful story of how publicly traded ADM was controlled by the Andreas family and its iron fisted chairman Dwayne. He showed that being white, well connected and greasing politicians for decades was very helpful when he got in trouble.

Lieber also writes about shareholder activists who decided to expose what the media was afraid to write about. They published the ADM shareholders watch letters that infuriated ADM and its Washington law firm Williams & Connolly. They were relentless in there pursuit of justice, and for that they paid a price.

This powerful book is also a must-read for anyone who feels they would like to become a government witness. You just might change your mind after you read what happened to a top executive who got ten years in prison for playing that role. It is beyond belief how the FBI agents who handled the witness could stand by and do nothing to help him after he worked with them for two and half years. He exposed the largest price fixing cartel in the history of the United States, and then was sold down the river.

About Corruption, Greed, Cowards and Courage. Worth reading.

I consider myself a connosieur of the classics, so when I heard of an ancient novel concerned with sex, illicit sex, and illicit donkey sex, I decided to take a closer look.

And I'm glad that I did. At the back end of the classical Western literary tradition of silliness, which includes such hallowed humorists as Chaucer, Bocaccio, Rabelais, Cervantes, and, in its divine form, Shakespeare, we find the one tale that may have excited them all--Lucius Apuleius's Golden Ass.

The Golden Ass is filled with adventure, suspense, humor, and nonsense. I had a grin on my face most of the way through, and I got the feeling that the author did too. Tip o' the hat to Robert Graves for delivering an authentic translation that brings us Apuleius in his bawdy best.

The only thing I found occasionally irritating was that, like Cervantes, Apuleius has a tendency to digress. Big time. He inserts the entire myth of Cupid and Psyche right into the middle of the narrative, for example. Does this add to the mythological message of the whole? Probably, but it subtracts from the fantastic flow of the story. My urgent plea to Apuleius, were he alive today, would be, "Stick to the ass!"

There are a number of reasons that traditionally bring people to this book: to study Classical Rome, classic literature, mythology, psychology... maybe you're curious about the intimate lives of donkeys. Whatever has brought you to this novel, now that you're going to read it, perhaps the best thing to do is to take the advice of the author himself, who says, "Read on and enjoy yourself!"

I thought only cats were supposed to have nine lives, but this donkey has at least that many. This book is great fun, I couldn't put it down for too long, and it is incredible that something written so long ago (18 centuries?) can be so accessible, captivating, and hilarious to a modern reader. The events in The Golden Ass resemble the ribald, bawdy exuberance of the Decameron, and no doubt Boccaccio was somewhat inspired by the writings of Apuleius. According to the introduction, the adjective "golden" in the title implies "the ass par excellence" or "the best of all stories about an ass." The story follows the misadventures of Lucius, an enterprising young man who gets far too close to the world of magic, is transformed into a donkey and is constantly thwarted in his attempt to procure the antidote to his assness. It's human mind trapped in donkey bawdy! Totally imaginative, classically written, hilarious fun. As a writer, Apuleius was MILLENNIUMS ahead of his time! (Note: my review is based on the Robert Graves translation, rather than the William Adlington).

I read The Golden Ass for a Classic art course I took while at university I loved it! It is fun, entertaining and comical- not your typical dry Roman read. It is a great story and a great look into history.I highly recommend this tale to anyone who not wants to laugh but is interested in an important text from antiquity.

"The Informant" reads like one of the better John Grisham novels...it is an exciting account of a company whose internal credo was "customers are the enemy". Influential chief executives knew how to bend the rules, but were bested by the rising young executive, Mark Whitacre. As it turns out, he was playing the best con game in town (and sometimes trying to play out the lead role in a true version of "The Firm"!). With his large cast of real-life characters including many from the Archer-Daniels-Midland Company and the federal government, I wasn't sure how Kurt Eichenwald was going to pull off such a gripping, cohesive story about a major corporate scandal in 564 pages, but he did it. I will be astounded if this book doesn't morph into a movie. A gripping book for anyone with an interest in corporate America and one that is certain to be especially eye-opening for graduate students and post-docs in the biological and agricultural sciences. Highly recommended.

This book should be required reading in every MBA school in America. Every student who wants to work for Corporate America needs to read this. If nothing else than to see how their decisions can affect even the most powerful companies.

This book details an incredibly complex scheme by what is, in essence, the most politically connected corporation in America to fix prices in the lysine market. Lysine is used by the livestock industry to grow animals larger and faster. But, the conspiracy hardly stops there. ADM used similar price fixing techniques in other food additives they produced.

This is just the beginning of the criminal and unethical behavior of the Archer Daniels Midland Company and the management of that company, not to mention the behavior of the companies that ADM is doing "business" with.

Mr. Eichenwald has done an excellent job of detailing this complex conspiracy and telling an incredible, and often entertaining, story. You'd swear that this was a work of fiction. When reading this book, don't be afraid to go back and even put the book down for a few minutes to consider what you've just read. This is a very complex book. Which isn't to say it is difficult reading. It is not, but there are many details to sift through and the details sometimes become more mind-boggling as you go on.

This true story of the fall of ADM is engaging and captivating. If you have any interest in big business and how it impacts on everyday life of everyday people, you will enjoy this glimpse inside ADM. The overarching story about a vast international conspiracy to fix prices is a gripping story of personal and corporate greed run amok. Ultimately, the actions of Mark Whitacre detailed here by Eichenwald affected many different people who never heard his name or knew his story. The story told here shows how much can go on in the world of corporate America to affect the lives of every person. Told in a straightforward manner, the story here is easy to follow and would be a great book if it were a piece of fiction. That the story is completely true makes The Informant all that much more gripping.