I quibble with some of Read's inferences - I don't think that Churchill was in favour of the broader trend of Globalisation - he was too nationalistic for that. However, Read writes well, with enthusiasm and with a lot of detailed research. His analysis of Churchill's skills is unbiased and quite on the mark. I have read many books on Churchill and this is one of the better ones with some insight, passion and common sense.

Good effort - some of the facts i quibble with. But thankfully this is no hagiography. Read has done a good job of detailed background research, proper analysis of events all contained by a fluid, effervescent and lucid style. A good read and a must read for those interested in perhaps the 20th century's most important person.

Interesting approach to Churchill Discusses leadership, philosophy as well as Churchill's role in this century and why he is important Read has done a detailed analysis of Churchill's skills including his demerits. The result is pretty objective. Most facts seem right. Twist on world government is interesting and subtle. Should be read by anyone interested in Churchill.

I liked the book, but, it was written on the reading level of a 10 year old. It is very hard to take a book seriously that is this basic. There are better choices for Nascar books.

Everybody, a beginner or pro NASCAR fan, should have this book! Very detailed. Learned things I didn't know. Five stars all the way!

Very simple and down to earth, but fun, informative and really quite interesting. Yes, I am sure there are books with more detail, more "stuff", but this book gives you the basics of what you need to know to make all the pieces fit that much better when watching or attending an NASCAR event. A fun little book with some good information.

Winston Churchill wrote this book when he was still in his twenties ; this intrigued me enough to read the book. It is a novel that focuses on the life of Richard Carvel ; a wealthy young man from a prominent Maryland family just before and during the Revoloutionary War. Although sweeter and more sentimental than the modern approach itis still a captivating and exciting story.

Book was written by Winston Churchill, an American from St Louis. He also wrote The Crossing, The Crisis, and a nukmber of others. Richard Carvel may be his best. Highly recommended.

I read this book just after I got out of college in 1976. My father read it when he was in prep school in the '30's and had been pestering me for years to read it. After I finished it, I scoured every antique shop and used-book store to find other titles by this American author. Three of his books: Richard Carvel, followed by The Crisis and then The Crossing, team up to form what could be one of the first trilogies in American fiction.
This is the story about a young Marylander in pre-Revolutionary America and his journey to independence. Anyone who likes historical novels will love reading this author. I will advise you, however, to have a good dictionary nearby as some of the words are archaic and need looking up - but that's half the fun of it.

"Teleny" has long been an outlawed book and in many senses still is. The fact that it is only published by the occasional gay press is symptomatic, and only its presumed author has rescued this book from oblivion I fear. Its subject matter obviously excludes the book from the mainstream of literature, though in my opinion it is well worth reading for any open-minded lover of literature (as the unusual heterosexual female reading this book I think I can afford to say this). "Teleny" is a bizarre and confused book (due to its diverse authors) but never quite lets go of the storyline. The Victorian coyness of the many euphemisms used is quite touching in so explicit a book, and as a story "Teleny" is quite charming and tragic. The style may not be consistent, it is never banal and often witty (how otherwise could anyone even think it was Wilde's?). It is definitely the sort of book that if you start reading it -unless you're a prude- you'll finish. However, if you want to read this book because you think it is Wilde's, and you like his work, you'll find it is never quite up to his standards. If on the other hand you like Wilde and think he was fascinating, read this book: whoever wrote it gives an interesting outlook on the darker side of that famous life. If you love Wilde and are gay, well, read this, you won't have had so much fun reading a literary pornographic novel for a long time.

For anyone who has slogged through the artificial and self-conscious world of Victorian 'erotica', Teleny will seem both familiar and surprising. Written around 1893 by several anonymous writers of uneven ability, the novel claims our attention for two reasons. While the possibility that one of its writers was Oscar Wilde, an idea that grows more intriguing as one reads on, will probably remain its primary draw, it is also one of the first books to transcend its pornographic trappings and explore the emotional life of its protagonist. This progressive point of view, and the appropriately unaffected prose used to tell the tale, validate Teleny's position as the fountainhead of the modern approach to gender and sexuality in literature. Editor John McRae has succinctly summed up the circumstantial evidence of Oscar Wilde's authorship in his scholarly introduction to the only complete reprinting of the original text. This is not a case where the cheap edition just substitutes pulpier paper--for half the price you get half the book. Nor is Teleny for the weak stomach or the faint of heart. On the way to plumbing the depths of our human origins in our animal bodies, the book describes some extreme behavior. Readers who are offended by graphic descriptions of body parts and vividly imagined sex acts should look elsewhere. ON the other hand, those who would enjoy erotica more if it paid more attention to the sensuous and subjective experience may find something to celebrate.

Teleny is undoubtably the finest example of an erotic novel that I have ever had the pleasure of reading. It flows smoothly and easily throughout the plot without becoming redundant or boring. The passion and conflicting emotions portrayed in these men are both riveting and timeless. I particularly enjoyed the subtle way in which sex and death, the two great constants, were so skillfully entertwined. The permanence of death serves to highlight the immediacy of our need to live life to the fullest extent. This is not a creampuff romance. It is a story of a passionate driving need to reach out and touch another human soul.

This book has really great pictures in glorious color. That is just about all that can be said for or about this book.

The text is so-so: The worst offense appears (p43) "bansai trees" where they mean "bonzai trees", but the rest of the text is not nearly that bad. For a book on trees there are remarkably few trees in it. Something like half the book is palms.

The oversized pages make this a somewhat clumsy book. But the pictures are really, really great!

This is a great photo guide to Florida's trees. I wanted to identify some of the trees that we see on our annual vacations to Florida over the years and this book did the trick. It's not a technical horticultural guide but just a book with lots of pictures of hundreds of different species with foliage, flowers, shape, color and anything else you need to sucessfully identify tropical trees.

This biography lets you on the inside of not only a great writer but on the inside of a close friendship between two writers and friends. It's written in a rather relaxed way, the way only good friends can be with one another. I read a biography on Kafka many years ago and it left me a bit indifferent about Kafka. This biography lets you feel the warmth and exuberance of the man, the everyday of this extraordinary writer. You can almost imagine yourself in his childhood home, meeting the family, understanding how Kafka became Kafka, how the seeds for his stories were planted and evolved. This biography had all the intimacy of an autobiography. Anyone who would like to know the tender underside of the beast, this is the biography you're looking for.

When one considers Kafka has had so much influence on literature that the word "Kafkaesque" was invented to describe his thoughts and effects on us (how many writers can claim their "own word"!),it is surprising that only three notable biographies on him exist. This one is by a man who knew Kafka closely for the last half of his life.When they met Kafka was 19, he died one month short of his 41st birthday.The author's reverence makes the reader become passionately attached to the subjects of Kafka's inner feelings; his reserved,taciturn approach to people, his obsession with pure thoughts, his sensitivity to noise, his devotion to the the earth,its humans,animals and plants. Even now, three quarters of a century later, the reader feels the exasperation, the frustration, the torment Kafka suffered under his materialistic, social climbing father who dominated and eventually ruined his son. The book cannot be called lively,Kafka's lifestyle was not frolicsome. However, it is never dull. His clandestine trysts with the sleazier side of Prague nightlife takes the reader by surprise.Then comes Brod's stunner of a revelation only unearthed in 1948, twenty-four years after Kafka's death.??? The last quarter of the book is the best.Intense and sorrowful, just as Kafka would have wanted it. For those looking for the intellectual side of Kafka the book offers insights into his appreciation of Goethe (his idol),Thomas Mann, Flaubert and Dickens, among many others. Brod's ace is his ability to quote the sensitive Kafka; viewing the fish at a Berlin aquarium after Kafka became an ardent vegetarian he is quoted, "Now I can at last look at you in peace,I don't eat you anymore". Also his reverence for all life as when a nurse placed flowers near his deathbed," One must take care that the lowest flowers over there, where they have been crushed into the vases, don't suffer. How can one do that? Perhaps bowls are really the best." And then the "humorous" Kafka on hearing that he had TB," My head has made an appointment with my lungs behind my back." When Kafka died tragically young he joined the likes of the Romantics Byron (36),Shelley (29) and Keats (25) as a group who had dedicated their lives to the betterment of mankind and had all died when life should have just been beginning. As with the Romantics,one is left wondering what Kafka would have achieved given another forty years. One will never know, but for an interesting observation of his 40 years,"Franz Kafka-A Biography" is the book.

It is a wonderful idea to make available recordings of great speeches. I hope we have more of this in the future.
In the case of older speeches, the selection is very good, considering the restraints of time, and the readers are uniformly excellent.
As for the modern speeches, it is a marvel of technology that we can hear these speeches as delivered. It is incredible that we can hear the voice of William Jennings Bryan. I can listen to Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" a thousand times and never tire of it! How I wish I could listen to the voice of Patrick Henry! But this selection is too heavily weighted to the modern, and many of those do not deserve billing as the GREATEST speeches of ALL TIME. Also, some of the modern speeches which are included are abridged, e.g. Reagan is cut off in the middle of a sentence, while lengthy and undeserving speeches are played out in their entirety.
Also, with only a few exceptions, the selection is almost entirely American. It is hard to understand why Jimmy Carter's lengthy speech on energy policy is included, while Pericles' funeral oration is not; or why only a small portion of a single Winston Churchill speech is included; why while Bill Clinton's complete 1993 pulpit address, in excess of 20 minutes, is included.
It would be helpful if the complete list of speeches were available to online buyers, as it would be to shoppers in a brick and mortar store.

I have listened to this collection twice now, both times with pleasure. Hearing the acutal voices of Amelia Earhart, Rev. Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill and Neil Armstrong made a deeper connection than simply reading their words. The collection showcases different subjects and many times contrasts opposing viewpoints of the ideas. This volume is a fantastic introduction to the moving ideals and sometimes sad truths that have influenced Western Civilization.

I HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK JUST THE BASIC COMMENTS ABOUT WHAT THE AUTHOR STATED. I REALLY CAN'T RATE ANY OF THESE BOOKS.

I love this book and have given away oodles of copies.
Its advantages:

1)It is short.
2)It is rather comprehensive despite its shortness, and gives one terminology, some inkling of other people's practices, and introductions to outlandish behavior which just might intrigue you.
3)It has a mix of theory and story
4)Unlike many other publications which do the same, the fact that the Lesbian S/M manual assumes a female bottom does not offend me in the least.
5)It was my first S/M book and if it was good enough for me...

Not just for lesbians, this book has great info for everyone at all interested in kink.

Highlights this time out: "Interrogation" and "Pledge" by "The Hun"-- as usual, his anatomy is seriously exaggerated, but his rendering this time seems more refined than usual, and he threw in a lot of details to "read" as well. "Hawk: Service Station" by Greg Garcia, in which his biker hero pushes himself on a smaller guy, only to have it done in turn to him by a BIGGER guy. "Coley And the Polynesian Dragon" by John Blackburn takes the blonde voodoo boy to exotic climes again; ironically, this episode isn't quite a violent as the one in Vol.17! As usual, the Coley installment is probably the BEST part of the entire book, in both writing AND artwork. 3 short episodes of "Johnny Leatherhead" by Stephen Clarke show a lot of potential in the art & visual storytelling. "The Buddies And The Bastards" by Sean is a fun romp in which a couple of guys stumble into the WRONG club initiation-- but the guys who take advantage of them get paid in kind by the end. Gerald Donelan contributes another 12 cartoons, including the back cover.

"What makes Meatmen so popular with gay readers, myself included? For starters, the men of Meatmen "live" in a homoerotic paradise where there is no disease or bigotry, and where every man is hot, hung and willing. Furthermore, comic characters "can" do things that real people cannot or dare not do, not even in adult videos. Everything goes in the world of Meatmen, just so long as the characters "are" over 18 (not even Meatmen can defy that taboo!) In other words, Meatmen act out most cherished, deepest fantasies." - text from Badpuppy's Gay Today

More of the same, for better or worse! Highlights this Volume: "Hot Shot Seamen" by "Joe", whose art is more "pin-up" than "sequential storytelling" in nature; "Jack Masters Private Dick: Love" by Joven, in which the P.I. (P.D.?) is hired by a jealous wife, only to find it's not other women her hubby is cheating on her with; "The 23rd Century Lovers" by Farraday continues the "Cryogenics" story from Vol.15-- as usual, the story far outshines the amateurish art; "Coley: Riverboat Boy" by John Blackburn, in which the blonde voodoo boy loses at cards-- AND loves it; "Little Red Riding Crop" by Kurt Erichsen-- more fun, humorous work; "Gang Bangers" by Sean-- in which a lost biker runs into a wild bike gang; and 12 more cartoons by Gerald Donelan.

"What makes Meatmen so popular with gay readers, myself included? For starters, the men of Meatmen "live" in a homoerotic paradise where there is no disease or bigotry, and where every man is hot, hung and willing. Furthermore, comic characters "can" do things that real people cannot or dare not do, not even in adult videos. Everything goes in the world of Meatmen, just so long as the characters "are" over 18 (not even Meatmen can defy that taboo!) In other words, Meatmen act out most cherished, deepest fantasies." - text from Badpuppy