This book is a tremendous work of story-telling. Winston Groom brings the allied armies WWI experience in the Yres salient alive through use of personal letters and journals, but still keeps us abreast of the larger picture at both the command and theater levels. I have read few accounts that so effectively balances both of these objectives, and I thoroughly enjoyed putting such a small, albeit crucially important, part of the western front under the microscope.
Historically speaking, I am troubled that this book reads like the official British history [read propoganda] of the war. The position that the war was the result of German militarism, and that England and the U.S. were forced into the war by German barbarism are not so much argued as asserted. At every chance Groom seems to take the opportunity to point out the brutality of the German armies and their commanders, but understates or calls into question the same on the opposite side. There is little to no investigation of the German soldier's life in the salient except for the few references to Adolf Hitler, which itself carries a clear connotation, which leaves a vision of the German soldiers as nameless faceless killing machines. This is interesting because it stands in direct contrast to the wonderful photographs contained in the book, which shows the German armies mired in the same desolate wasteland as the allies. I would have even been satisfied with him focusing on the allied soldiers, if not for the clear biased for the allied official history of the war. Since this book was basically a character study of the allied armies in the Ypres salient, rather than a detailed analysis of the war at large, I don't think this was the place for such value-judgements. As a junior arm-chair historian, with a great interest in the broader issues of the Great War, I found this detracted from the overall experience.
In the end I would enthusiastically recommend this book, with the usual historical caveat of know your author, so that the wheat can be separated from the chaff.

I have a long-standing interest in history in general and military history in particular. After reading dozens if not hundreds of these books, I have found that the ones that stick with me are the ones that are beautifully written.

"A Storm in Flanders" is such a book, focusing on the British experience in the Ypres Salient during World War I. Groom wrote "Forrest Gump," as well as several history books. He knows how to put a sentence together and how to tell a gripping story. Once I picked this book up and started reading, I was hooked.

Much as Stephen Ambrose has done in his elegant books about World War II, Groom moves seamlessly between the generals in their chateaus and the grunts in their trenches. He makes use of diaries and poetry to tell the human story of a struggle that is all too often reduced to an abstract description of maneuver and battle. And he is very fair in his assessments--he acknowledges the criticisms of General Haig and many of the other leaders of the war, but he is always careful to balance these views with other considerations. The result is a well-told tale, fair and sympathetic to everyone involved.

The story of the Ypres Salient is not pretty. Groom does not pull his punches and does his best to give the reader, sitting in a comfortable armchair, some sense of just how horrible the Great War was. In a passage that I found especially memorable, Groom quotes Lieutenant Alfred J. Angel of the Royal Fusiliers during Third Ypres: "The stench was horrible, for the bodies were not corpses in the normal sense. With all the shell-fire and bombardments they'd been continually disturbed, and the whole place was a mess of filth and slime and bones and decomposing bits of flesh."

How anyone could live and fight in this hell on earth without going mad is simply beyond my comprehension, yet many British, French and German soldiers managed to do just that for four years running. Groom doesn't delve too deeply into the psychology of the soldiers, observing that "the search for 'why' and 'how' remains elusive and any effort to reason it out is to fashion a mirror of hell itself." He is probably right in saying that "[a] truly sobering thing would be a glimpse of what was actually going on in their minds during the fighting. That would not only be sobering; it would be perfectly frightening."

If you like a "A Storm in Flanders," I would recommend two other books. The first is "Face of Battle" by John Keegan, which tries to explain how soldiers keep fighting despite the horrors of war and the threat of instant death. The second is Sir Martin Gilbert's "The First World War," which describes the entire war using a relentless chronology that is truly compelling. Neither of these books is as well written as Groom's "A Storm in Flanders," but both are well worth the effort to read.

Winston Groom's "Storm in Flanders" succeeds in attaining its own express goal: to write a popular history, instantly accessible to American readers of the earlier 21st century, concerning one of the most brutal battle sectors of the Western Front: the notorious Yypres Salient (or Passchendale). This was the strip of coastal land in Belgium - Flanders, to be precise - that was assigned to British, Irish, Canadian, Australian and other Imperial troops, and which consumed men by the thousands in four separate, equally grisly, battles.

Thanks largely to the works of the "war poets," the Yypres Salient has become emblematic of the worst excesses of WWI: war by attrition, massed human wave assaults, catastrophic loss of life, gas, barbed wire, shell shock, mud when it rained and a horrendous lunar landscape when it wasn't raining. The fact that the Belgian watertable lies only inches beneath the ground made for a brutally muddy combat area; the military technology of the day favored attritional warfare; the diplomatic machinery meant there was no hope of an early peace.

While these are all totally accurate - and vividly brought to by Groom - there were myths: there were very few true "chateau generals"; most lived near the troops and many died bravely; men did not live in perpetuity at the Front: they were rotated there in 48 hour shifts. This is not a complex analysis of high diplomatic or military strategy, it is a straightforward and terrific piece of storytelling.

The cover claims that the book has been "revised and updated for the digital age," but Winston's information on technological tools is both superficial and already dated. The term, "PDA," does not even appear in the index.

Even if you are an accomplished executive, take a few moments to browse the pages of this organizational classic. In short, this book is everything a time-management system should be; it suggests scores of simple-to-implement strategies that can quickly improve your efficiency and effectiveness. This revised edition has been updated to incorporate electronic advances, even if some of the tools mentioned have already been rendered obsolete. We [...] recommend this book to anyone who has ever complained about having too much work or too little time.

I first listened to these tapes in 1994 or so, and they were very helpful then. I return to them every so often to remind myself of the techniques and ideas. Little of "office life" is left untouched: file organization, interacting with staff, managing crisis in your day. The examples are real world and helpful, and she reviews the important points at the end of each section. I liked this so much, that I bought the paperback (for a whopping $6 or so) in 1995. The tapes and the book work well together. You might want to consider getting both. You will not be wasting your money.

As a longtime fan of Piers Anthony, I wasn't overly impressed with this book, or the remainder of the series (although I haven't read it all yet, and I do intend to finish it). I didn't feel drawn into the characters, and the story itself didn't enthrall me. However, this may be mainly because I am not the target audience for this series; judging by other reader reviews I have read, adolescent females feel a very strong bond to the lead character, and the book seems to touch thier emotions on a very personal level. I feel this is one of Anthony's strengths, the ability to write very specifically to his audience, and reach them completely, even if this lowers the appeal for others. If you are not an adolescent female, or have not been one, this may not be the book for you. However, it may provide some insight into what motivates and interests today's female youth.

Virtual Mode is one of those novels that really blow my head away. Colene is one of the most realistic characters that I have ever encountered in my life. Her pain and suffering are something that I can relate very well. For those that think that the things that happen to her doesn't happen in real life, well I have bad news for you, they do happen too often for my taste. Rape, depression, suicide, dyfuntional families, etc... are part of the reality of many people right now. Horrible to hear but truth, but what makes Virtual and its main character so humane and wonderful is her spirit to fight in adversity, even though she still is depressed and want to die.

Also the world of the Virtual Mode is amazing!! Piers really create a world full of multitude of realities.

I can't wait for DoOon Mode, the last novel, to know what will happen to Colene and Darius!! I really want them happy!!

I think this is the best series that Piers has written. And it is not a surprise considering that most of the inspiration of Colene come from real life suicidal teenage girls, asking him for help.

So if you haven't started reading this series, do so!! You will never regretted it.

I have read all of Piers Anthony's Xanth sieries and I liked them. So when my friend recomended my reading Anthony's Mode sieries, I was willing to give it a try. I'm glad I took her advice because I absolutely LOVED it.

The Main character, Colene, was very life like. She wasn't TO perfact. She had flaws. The hero, Darius, was somewhat boring. He didn't really have any flaws. Other than being to stupid to try to get Colene to go with him in the first place. He could have been slightly better. The secondary characters, Seqiro and Prothos, were very well written. I think that Anthony's portrayel of Prothos' memory of the future was very good. I think Anthony's portrayel of Seqiro was also very good. He made Seqiro have some human qualities, but kept some of his horse qualities.

I think this book was well written. It had only a few bad places and tose were fixed in his next mode books. I can't WAIT for Anthony's Next book in the Mode series, DoOon Mode. I expect it to be just as good as all his other books.

This time last year, appropriately enough, I was reading this book of Churchill's epic escape from the States Model School in Pretoria, an event that had happened 100 years earlier to the very day.The 12 December 1999 was also a day in which I lost a friend in a road accident, thus, the centennial anniversary date becomes etched with the personal. Churchill was clearly a larger-than-life figure all of his life as his grandaughter and author Celia Sandys clearly shows in this historical work in which she followed in his footsteps, visiting campsites, battlefields etc and speaking to descendants of friends and foes alike. Contrary to the assertions of some other reviewers it is a well written and enjoyable book. Some of the interesting vignettes include the detective work the author did on tracking down the gold watches that Churchill had sent to various people for their assistance in his escape from the Boers (or Afrikaners as they are known today). At the time of publication Mrs Sandys had located 6 of the 8 watches. Mrs Sandys is not afraid to challenge Churchill's assertions that he was captured by Gen. Louis Botha himself (later the Union's first Prime Minister, 1910-19)and she rightly dismisses talk that there was ever a romantic entanglement with Helen Botha , the General's daughter. The author is partly correct when she records that Churchill's "huge political ambitions demanded a wife who would be a political asset..." However, that would cut both ways, something Helen Botha alluded to 60 years later when she said it was unlikely that she could fall for him as she was "a Transvaaler." Her father and Churchill may have "got along famously" but it is the author who is disingenous, not Helen Botha, in considering that a personal political rapport could see the leader of the Afrikaner volk, or a member of his family, contemplate such a marriage -particularly after the deaths of some 26,000 Boer women and children in the world's first concentration camps - British concentration camps. Nevertheless, this is a good read about a remarkable soldier-stateman in his younger days. Enjoy.

The author, Celia Sandys, is the subject's granddaughter. As such, she had access to papers, people, and places that few individuals have. She presents a view of the early Churchill (age 20-25) that gives one an objective glimpse of his early life, ambitions, and personality. She has done much field research by access to original papers, actual locations, and descendants of those who knew Churchill in his early 20s. Much of her research is centered in South Africa where the young Churchill had a yen for being where the action was in the Boer War, and having an inordinate amount of luck escaping death and danger. Additionally, she gives detailed maps of his movements, and tries to bridle some of his self-sustaining writings that could not be independently verified. This work should give any reader an understanding that Churchill's early years were a prelude to his more famous leadership role during the dark days of World War II. An excellent read.

In an era when many of our political leaders are intellectually challenged, it is wonderful to learn more about the most challenging intellect of the last several centuries.

Winston S. Churchill is one of the finest statesmen, writers, and historians of our age. He was also a skilled and brave soldier, a perceptive analyst of human nature and world affairs, and a talented painter. His granddaughter's marvelous book about a brief but exciting period of Churchill's early life gives us a fascinating glimpse into this great man.

A correspondent sent to cover the Boer War, he also fought in it. Captured, he escaped. Ms. Sandys takes us on a personal tour through Churchill's route, talks with the relatives of those who helped Churchill escape, and gives us intimate insights into a man who seems to have, like Minerva, come into this world fully armed with wisdom and valor.

The World-War-II Churchill who most of us know is a mere coda to the sixty some-odd years that preceded it. Celia Sandys makes her grandfather come alive for us ... it is a remarkable book.

I had looked forward to reading a book by Terry McMillan because she is such an acclaimed author. I chose Mama because the synopsis sounded interesting. I wouldn't have believed it possible that someone with as much obvious writing talent as Ms. McMillan has, could create such a wealth of morally-bankrupt, patently unlikeable characters. The only person I thought was even partly decent was her oldest daughter, Freda. Mama was a heartless, vicious, opportunistic person who treated other people (including her own children) like garbage. And I'm sorry, but all these other reviewers talking about a woman trying to rise above her poverty and disenfranchisement? She spent the entire book drinking, and looking for a man that she could get to buy her things, and take over her financial responsibilities. This is someone we are supposed to be rooting for? The fact that so many readers purported to relate to Mama, and to have shared the same experiences as single parents, I think bodes for the end of the world. I was raised by a single parent who actually worked, and treated me with love and respect. I thought this book was an insult to any loving mother. I can only hope that Ms. McMillan's other books warrant the high praise they have received. This one did not.

I must have read this book about ten times. I really liked it. The characters will really touch your heart. Mildred is a strict mother who is trying to have a life of her own while raising five kids. She is humorous at times and other times, she can bring tears to the eyes. I have a lot of cousins, aunts, and uncles. I understand the importance of a tight-knit family. If you are a family person, then read this book. You won't be disappointed.

Mama was one of the first books I ever read outside of school. I enjoyed this book very much. It was a page turner. While reading the book I felt like I was right there. Everyone of the characters (in the family) reminded me of someone in my family.
Mildred was a hard person but felt she had to do what she thought was best. You want to hate her but you can't. This book will have you up all night and you won't care what time it is, you just want to know what happens next. I recommend this book to anyone.

Basically, what all those 5-star reviewers say is true, but they either didn't really work through the book or they are leaving out some critical information. I found errors in this book and when I tried to report them, the website listed on the back was no longer active and there was no response to emails. Months after reporting the problems, their site still said there were no known errors.

Upon reaching the halfway point in the book, I found the project would not run as given in the text. I went to their website (which, like I said, appeared to be abandoned) and found some different code for the chapter I was on, but that wouldn't even compile! Luckily, I also had Geary's Graphic Java book and was able to get past the error using his approach. I felt that errors like this, along with the complete lack of support, were quite unacceptable from a second edition. Now they have a follow-up edition which appears to be simply rewritten for Java 2. The website referenced no longer exists and you now get redirected to Winston's book site, which does not even pretend to support this book! The last update to the known bugs was in 1997!!! I've sent him at least two emails on his errors since then!

I also found the segment numbering scheme to be distracting and strange. The "segments" are 1 or 2 paragraph subsections; they are numbered sequentially throughout the book. The author will say "please refer to segment number 238..." and I see this more like a GOTO in programming and therefore a cop-out by authors that didn't want to bother with numbering sections in the normal manner. This is just a personal peeve and I would only take off one star at most for it.

This is probably the best introductory text on Java that I have read. First, what this book is not: It is not about beans, servlets, applets, J2EE, etc. This is a book about the Java language, much the way the orginal K&R was about the C programming language, pure and simple. On To Java does not attempt to go to the same lengths to instill an OOP mindset as does Bruce Eckel's excellent Thinking In Java, but it teaches just enough OOP along the way.

I REALLY liked this book because each concept is covered in a very succinct manner in a chapter just a few pages long. No long-winded discussions here: each paargraph has been distilled down to the fewest sentences necessary to get th epoint across. The author has also taken the unique approach of numbering each paragraph so that locating referencs to earlier material is easy.

When it comes to learning a new programming language, I'm a hands on kind of person. On To Java uses a simple movie rating application, and builds it chapter-by-chapter. The book provided me with just enough hands-on to be useful, and the example code was short and to the point (a complaint I have about Eckel's book, by the way).

I heartily recommend this book to anyone who has already been introduced to the concepts of programming and has some previous programming experience.

1999 Edition, Java 1.2: If you want to learn Java, get this book and get it now. I wasted my money on 10 other Java books before I bought this one and not ONE of them even came close to getting me to understand the Java language like this book did. It's easy and exciting to read as you learn more and more in each subsequent "how-to" section. If you want a book full of Java applets then buy one of the other 10,000 books out there, or visit a web site. If you want to learn Java, do yourself a favor and go buy this book.

"Zelda:A Biography," by Nancy Milford, is a depressing story about a woman (with a few bats in her belfry) torn by the never-ending clash of her husband's career and her own talent. A story I could have lived without!

I absolutely adored this book. It is extremely depressing at times to read considering the life of the woman the book is based upon, but other than that, it was fascinating. Milford' writing style is unique as well as informative and quite objective. The details about Zelda's life could only come from an author who has done her research. I would definetly recommend this book.

Semi-brilliant because it was still a time when Zelda was explained as sick because of her ambition and lack of satisfaction in the demands of being a wife and mother. No one thought to tell her as a child she may have to make her own way and Scott only said it later because he was tired of her financial drain on him and already looking with desire at other women. She expected exactly what she was told would happen, and it did happen for a little while, until it all started falling apart.She wasn't prepared, but made a valiant attempt to succeed- Against a destructive jealous alcoholic genius husband, a snobbish daughter, and a world that wished she would learn her "place", could you have stayed sane? Granted she wasn't an angel, but F. Scott Fitz owes his very legend to her. This book reveals through her own words and those of others what she may have been, and frankly what she became as a writer and artist is more than many "sane" people will ever be.

The last review is title "the best book I've read" - could this possibly be the author himself or at least a relative? Evidence

1) From Nashville TN, which as another read points out is where the author is from.
2) "Best book I've read" is a little too strong even if you did like it. I mean its not exactly Catch 22 or Hamlet.
3) The author advises people to read "other books by Mansfield".
4) Knows a few too many facts about prizes "Amway book of the month" - wow what a recommendation. Amway, not exactly Nobel Prize in Literature (which actually Churchill won, so I think there are is a least one book on Churchill that is better written i.e. anything by the man himself).

Anyway, onto the review itself. I am an avid Churchill fan and have read almost everything on the man - I was therefore initially pleased to see an potentially interesting book on his leadership style. Unfortunately this is the first book in my entire life I have actually thrown in the garbage. It was that bad. Forget about the authors "intrusive voice" as one other reviewer puts it (quite rightly) - it is just poorly written and poorly researched. I urge you to read almost any other book on the great man apart from this.

This book can be divided into two main parts. The first half is comprised of short summaries of key events in Winston Churchill's life and political career. These include his adventures during the British/Boer war of South Africa to his more famous role as head of England during WWII.

The second half of the book is a group of short (most being 4 pages long) stories and descriptions of Churchill's perspectives on elements of human life and character. These chapters have titles such as: the Bible, family, loyalty, marriage, death, etc.

For an in-depth biography of this amazing leader, you will need to find another book. But for a short, interesting background on the mind and beliefs of Winston Churchill, this is the perfect buy.

This is a wonderful small book that describles how a man could overcome overwhelming difficulty and oppositions with a firm belief and an exemptional moral courage. In this book you will find Churchill was a fallible, ordinary man who mistakes, but yet achieved extraordinary things despite his limitations. The development of his life shows us how a weak, self-doubted, shy boy to become a strong, energetic, effective leader with nothing but a deep inside guidance to do good. Never give in is the main theme of this book and each chapter reinforces the theme. This is not a "self-help" book that usually tells you how to feel good about yourself. This is a book on character development that takes duty, pain, responsibilities, and more importantly, a deep inside moral guidance. These concepts are quite foreign nowsday and that's what it makes this small standing out.

This book is an overly-detailed, almost academic discussion of organizational theory. Some of the basic organizational principles include listing a project's "processes or system[s] into manageable parts" , breaking down projects into prioritizing projects by how aggravating they are, tackling the #1's first, etc. Her discussion of how to compose and analyze the daily to-do list is overly-detailed -- for example, calling a student's mother to determine why he didn't show up for class yesterday is an immediate task that just cropped up, while getting in touch with an equipment supplier is "a basic, medium range task." What does that mean?? And I don't think most of us struggle with figuring out what is really important and what isn't; what we need is something that will help us accomplish what is most important. The financial planning section is overly detailed -- assess income, analyze fixed expenses, prepare a budget, etc. I'm consulting a Getting Organized book because I need to get motivated and empowered to plow through the pile of clothes on the floor and the pile of papers on my desk -- This book is better-suited for folks who are already organized and want to be even more so. This book might be a good choice if you are already reasonably organized and are looking for detailed discussions of the processes that might enable you to become more organized in all aspects of your life. If you are currently at a lower level of organization, I recommend Don Aslett's books on clutter; for me, they have been much more readable and useful.

Whether you are an Oscar, a Felix, or something in between, there is something in this book you can use. The book itself is neatly organized into sections about managing time, money, paperwork, and your home, and is indexed so that you can locate what you need to know without reading it from cover to cover. There are step-by-step instructions for setting priorities and completing specific tasks--however, the basic organization methods outlined are very flexible, so that they can be applied to almost any untidy situation, ranging from the annoying (such as continually running out of shampoo, or not being able to find your favorite shirt) to the potentially catastrophic (you have to itemize your tax return, and you always misplace your receipts and canceled checks). Even if you have it reasonably well together, this book can be quite helpful, since Ms. Winston also offers shortcuts for onerous tasks, suggestions for living within your means, and creative storage solutions--and who has enough time, money, or closet space these days?

I have read literally countless organizational books by some of the most famous authors and having just started reading this book, I am both surprised and thrilled at what I find! Stephanie really knows where we are coming from with our clutter! It's NOT so much a matter of straightening and becoming more organized...It IS about facing our fears of throwing stuff away! FINALLY! An organizing book that hits the nail on the head! It gets to the SOURCE of the problem so I can fix it permanently, not just temporarily with some band-aid techniques! :) I also want to take this opportunity to recommend what could easily be it's companion book, (also available from Amazon), called "Trading Your Worry For Wonder". It is an excellent adjunct to Getting Organized and helpful in overcoming the "What if I need it someday?" syndrome; the deepest source of the chaos in our homes and in our lives! I highly recommend them both and would give them 6 stars if I could!

This book is just incredible. At first, it's a bit difficult to the spelling and grammar of Winston Groom (AKA Forrest Gump), but as soon as you adjust to it, this book will make you laugh out loud. If I had to give it a movie-type appropriateness rating, it would probably be PG-13, the same as the movie's, because while any person young or old could enjoy it, there is some launguage and content that the young 'uns don't need to hear just yet. A very funny trip through history--too bad we can't read this in our history class instead of the dreary and boring text books that are forced upon us.

Even within the first 20 pages, I was laughing out as Forrest Gump describes his day out with Jenny Curran at a movie theater, and his experiences with his all-state football team.

An amazing book. I will soon start reading the sequel--Gump & Co--can't wait. Hope Groom writes a third book.

I first read Forest Gump when I was in the 6th grade! And now that I'm in the 10th grade it is still one of the most memorable books I've ever experienced. I read it after seeing the movie and the book surpasses it by far. Forest is a guy who when growing up didn't get it easy, he was considered stupid by almost everyone, except his lovin mama. Winston Groom writes the book hilariously! I found myself laughing out loud on numerous occasions and I still giggle every now and then at the embarrassing, goffy, and out of this world situations Forest got himself into. Now this book is more than a barrel of laughs, throught the book you will experience every emotion. From running through a torpedo of bullets in the war, to just kicking back and playing the harmonica. It's told from Gump's point of view and Groom never breaks character. At the end of this book you will have experienced a lifetime of memories, and you'll still be yearning for more!

Ok, I've studied english for 5 years. I saw the movie, that I got in DVD because it is really good, and then I discovered that it was based in the book by Winston Groom. I bought it, and that was my first ennglish novel- and it was awesome. I understanded almost all things (but Gump's narration is really bad-written, with ortography mistakes, but it makes it funnier), and I laughed a lot- its a really hilarious novel.
Forrest Gump is an idiot with a IQ of 70, and he tells us his amazing life- he becames to be a football player, a Vietnam-war veteran, a musician, a table tennis professional player,an astronaut, a wrestler, a chess player, a shrimp-bussiness tycoon....! It can sound impossible, but the book makes it real, and its a lot better (and different!) that the film. Read it!