Lauraine Snelling does it again--fails to keep her characters straight! The first three of the four novels in this collection are decent books, not up to Snelling's usual quality, but quite readable. The first, especially, which introduces the Moen family--Ingeborge, her husband John, and their children, 7-year-old Mary, 5-year-old Knute, 3-year-old Grace, and 5-month-old James. The fourth novel describes the same family ten years later . . . only Snelling made some serious errors! We have 17-year-old Mary, Knute, Grace, but James has disappeared and in his place we have 10-year-old Daniel, the youngest Moen. Okay, so James died in his first year and Daniel was born that same year . . . I guess that makes sense (that's my theory--the book fails to offer one!). Oh, but wait, Mary also has a sister named Clarissa who is younger than Grace but older than Daniel. Which is not possible. And then a few pages later Clarissa's name is Beth. Oh, good grief. Can we say "dashed off in a few hours"? What a dreadful ending to a mediocre book.

While the Blessing series is the dearest to my heart, this is still a wonderful collection of stories. The characters are real and bring life to the stories of the settlers to this area of the country. A definite need to read!

While other reviewers mentioned the female main characters, I enjoyed other characters whose lives were changed by the influence of these women. In the first book, Carl was very bitter about his first wife's death when he married Nora just so she could take care of his children. It wasn't until the end of the book that he realized he had been wrong and asked for God's forgiveness. In the second book, Nora's sister Clara becomes a live-in companion to Mrs. Norgaard, who has lost interest in life since her husband died. Mrs. Norgaard is much happier with Clara in the house, and together they help the local blacksmith, Dag, who has been persecuted by his younger brother Jude since childhood and as a result feels he isn't a worthwhile person. The third book is about Jude; he accidently kills his wife and mother, then drifts to where a schoolhouse is being rebuilt, and he meets and falls in love with the schoolteacher, and is ready to ask forgiveness from the Lord, his brother, and others he has hurt along the way. The fourth book is about a young girl whose father is the local pastor, and her experiences while waiting for a young man called to fight in Germany. Sometimes the character's stubbornness makes you want to scream at them, but everything works out in the end.

A good book by Dillon. He covers all parts of the Northern Irish Troubles, including British Army and security forces undercover actions and the way in which the IRA use devious "honeytraps" to tempt British Army men to their deaths. It also gives a section on the little known Loyalist paramilitary forces. I Liked this book as it was easy to read and gives a good insight into the past 30 years of the troubles. Anyone who is just getting into Irish history and is unsure about what to read, The Dirty War is an excellent starting point as, from the start, it gives you no illusions, even the title tells the truth.

There are many reasons to buy and admire Martin Dillon's 'The Dirty War,' which is nothing less than a monumental achievement in investigative journalism. Dillon peels the lid off a very large can of worms--two decades of undercover conflict between the IRA (Official and Provisional), British Army, RUC, Loyalists and assorted other players in Northern Ireland from 1969 to 1990. The author's painstaking research (including many first-hand interviews with participants) and scrupulous objectivity should make this book required reading in newsrooms and journalism schools everywhere. But it's not some dry exercise. A lot of 'The Dirty War' rivals the best non-fiction crime and detective writing. Dillon knows how to tell a story. He also has a knack of involving the reader in his exhaustive analysis of individual incidents and themes. When answers aren't evident, his not afraid to admit it; rather, he asks questions and draws us in. This book is an absolute must for anyone interested in the modern British Army and its counterterrorist tactics. But it's not an anti-British book and it's not an anti-IRA book. It IS continually fascinating and, refreshingly, has a strong moral compass in the author's value set to help the reader through the unpleasantness.

Having just read 'The Dirty War', I realised the charachter of the conflict in Ireland which was fought away from the headlines. Martin Dillon presents an account which is now proving correct. He objectively reveals the practice of secret burials, a story in the headlines currently, with families demanding the whereabouts of the bodies of the "disappeared". Dillon also -- without predjudice -- shows how all the combatants fought this dirty war. In particular, it is interesting that his revelations are part of the on-going discussions in the British media, especially pertaining to the role of the British intelligence agencies. Consequently, I was astounded by the review written here by Phil306@aol.com. Apart from the fact that he confused two of Dillon's books - The Dirty War and The Shankill Butchers -- it appears that he did not have a sufficeint grasp of the material. In response then why should we believe Phil306 about Sgt. Oram and not Mr. Dillon, who does not hide behind an e-mail address? Significantly, the author's revelations in both books are such that when he does not name people for legal reasons, those reasons are obvious to the intelligent reader. In his comments, Phil306 offers us a seminal awareness of a national trait which is something that Dillon clearly rejects in his balanced portrayal of all the players in both books. If phil 306 had fully digested the material in The Shankill Butchers, he would have understood that Messers. A and B were never charged with their crimes. In that context, the law in the United Kingdom would not have permitted their names to be published. Did Phil306 recognise the obvious risks to the authors' life in even giving us the insights in the facts that A & B existed? Since Phil306 appears to be the oracle in these matters, let him name A & B publicly in the British Isles, and explain his 'closeness' to Sgt. Oram. The Dirty War is an excellent book on the undercover war, and The Shankill Butchers is a stunning account of mass murder. If Phil 306 had properly read the Post Sript to the Shankill Butchers, even he could have made reasonable deductions about the identities of A and B. Perhaps, he should re-read both books and next time, avoid confusing the facts when writing a review. I am an Englishman living in the United States, and Mr. Dillon enabled me to grasp the complexities of a conflict which found its way onto my shores. I applaud Mr. Dillon for his investigative skills and his unbiased approach in his writings.

I've never read any of Bonnie Leon's books before this, and I wasn't disappointed. I thought for sure it was going to be a "survival story" like I read in school, you know, unbearably dull. I was pleasantly surprised!

Anna, a young Aleutian girl, watches in horror as everything and everyone dear to her is swept away in a terrible natural disaster. Only she and her small sister Iya are left, and they must struggle on alone. A white-skinned, blue-eyed outsider seems to want to help, but Anna mistrusts Erik and his God. He is her only hope, though, and so the two Alaskan girls and the Norwegian form an unlikely bond. They face a long winter, hungry grizzlies, starvation, and rejection. Erik seems to believe in the white man's God, the God that crushed Anna's hopes and dreams. Can she accept Erik and his God, or will she be alone forever?

Again, it was great. I highly recommend it. Like the person below said, it's one of those books where you think you're going to read just one mroe chapter, just one more chapter, then you'll go to sleep...until you're finished with the book! I stayed up past midnight reading it. Bonnie Leon is excellent!

Excellent book. Counldn't wait for the next book to arrive. I have read almost all of Bonnie Leon's books and just love them. She keeps the reader interested and makes it hard for the reader to go to sleep because "just one more chapter and I'll turn out the light" turns out to be I'll just finish the book and THEN sleep. Thanks Bonnie for your great Northern Lights Series. .......

this is a great book i recomend it to all experinced reader

For a topic as lovely (powerful and mystical) as this - the Northern Lights - its really sad how quickly the author reverts to sappy science drama writing. I was really disappointed by this book and am baffled by the other glowing reviews. All I can think is that this format - the Ken Burns approach to narrative drama in an actual historical event - has become so ubiquitous that people expect it in their science writing too.

Dear Lucy Jago,
I really enjoyed this book! I read the complete title so I knew it was about the MAN who unlocked the secrets of the Aurora Borealis... not about the "powerful and mystical Northern Lights". What an amazing man he must have been. Thanks for showing us his human side, strengths and weaknesses. I'm still left wondering what else he might have been able to accomplish if he had lived longer (and had a more healthy life style!)
I thought this book had a good balance between the technical aspects and storytelling. I didn't want a physics book about Aurora, if I did, then I would have gotten one. I wanted a history of science book, I wanted to know the "story", I wanted to meet the people, I wanted to know the community reaction at the time. I got all that and more.
Thanks for your fine work, I had an enjoyable few hours reading it.

Lucys book was such a joy to read.
It is great to find someone who writes with a searing passion that forces the reader to locate the nearest needle and thread and then proceed to frantically sew their eyes OPEN just to finish the entire book in one sitting.
This book was impossible to put down and there was no way something as inconvenient as sleep was going to keep me from finishing it.
The end result being that I now have an insatiable craving for cloudberries, reindeer milk cheese and Glogg. And I want to move to Norway and spend the rest of eternity staring at those lights.
The Northern Lights will take your heart and soul right up into the heavens and force you to question your very existence on mere terra firma.
There is the most wonderful Norwegian saying by Sigbjorn Obstfelder that reminded me of Bierkeland...
"Jeg er visst kommet på feil klode."
(I seem to have come to the wrong planet.)
A Perfect metaphor for the man, who thanks to Lucy Jago is finally a star.

"Norrøna-folket det vil fare, det vil føre kraft til andre." (The Norse will travel, they will give strength to others.)
-Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson.

I've read all of Bateman's work, and this is the palest of the pale. Takes much longer to get into, and you're left with a disappointing taste in your mouth after the investment put into getting through it. I'm always entertained by the randomness inherent in Bateman's work, but in this one, much more so than the others, the randomness is used to cover bad plot holes and lacklustre characters. If you're reading chronoligically, skip over this one and come back to it when you wistfully realize there's nothing more available (yet!). If you're looking for "good" bateman, look for Divorcing Jack or Empire State, give this one a miss.

One literary critic describes Colin Bateman as Ulster's (Northern Island's) equivalent of Carl Hiaasen. Being a fan of Hiaasen I can see his point. Bateman has a way of delivering great satiric humour is his (relatively) light mystery novels. But unlike Hiaasen, he doesn't seem to be overly negative and bitter (..sometimes Hiaasen seems to hate most everything).

In Cycle of Violence we have the story of newspaperman being exiled to a rather nasty outpost (a town called Crossmaheart) to cover the usual reports of rape, murder and gang warfare. He is actually filling a post left vacant when some ambitious journalist disappears and is presumed dead. Things get interesting when he by chance develops a relationship with the missing journalist's girlfriend, and he discovers this woman has a rather bizarre past (, present ... and the future seems dubious too).

Bottom line: a funny, breezy read. I hope its USA publishers decide to issue it in paperback. It's every bit as good as Bateman's earlier (and more famous) Divorcing Jack.

Colin Bateman has a simple way of thinking: He can take you wherever he wants if you want to go along. Death or "The Angel of Death" is a central character in this novel. It keeps you waiting, it keeps you feeling, but above all, it keeps you thinking. It's hard to say weather we are capable of having a political view.In this book, what matters is What is personal? and What is social? This division makes the whole story worthwhile.

Barry Cunliffe has made other contributions, but this one pertains to ancient navigation and was therefore of great interest to me. Other takes on Pytheas' voyage include the rather uninformed view that his trip was entirely mythical (I've seen the same said of Marco Polo's sojourn).

Like the much briefer _Periplus of Hanno_, accounts based on those of Pytheas have survived to reveal a much different picture of navigation in ancient times. The prejudice that no one sailed out of sight of ancient coastlines accounts for the rejection such accounts often get.

Try a web search for _Periplus of Hanno_ along with "Livio Stecchini" for more information. Stecchini was neither a nationalist, nor a nut, as one alleged scholar on the web claimed.

Related reading:

-:- Pytheas of Massalia: On the Ocean: Text, Translation and Commentary by by Christina Horst Roseman (0890055459)

-:- North to Thule: An Imagined Narrative of the Famous Lost Sea Voyage of Pytheas of Massalia in the 4th Century B.C. by John Frye and Harriet Frye (0802713939)

Perhaps, Barry Cunliffe didn't name this book "What Little is Known About the Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek" because then the title might compete for length with the content. Granted, Pytheas' journey occured some 2,300 years ago so source material is spotty. However, I couldn't help but be a little disappointed in the lack of narrative one expects given the title Cunliffe did bestow on his effort.

To Cunliffe's credit, he admits as much and attempts to draw the reader in through an archaeological perspective of the people and places Pytheas might have encountered. And, since Pytheas' own writings are long since lost, Cunliffe spends much time on the works of his near contemporaries; portions of which are still surviving.

A lack of source material is something with which all books of ancient history must contend. Nevertheless, Cunliffe's enthusiasm for his subject is palpable and this brings it's own level of enjoyment to the reader. Cunliffe is careful to separate theory from fact and though this is, in itself, the prime reason that a narrative never really appears, one has to admire his integrity.

Bottom line, The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek is an analytical, clinical, dissection of what little is known of a Greek wanderer who stretched the envelope of the known world. It is short, informative, and, in the end, worthy of the reader's time.

I liked this book so much that I bought a copy for my Dad and one for my brother. Cunliffe does a splendid job of giving us a narrative that makes sense of Pytheas, a figure who has hitherto been quite mysterious. The idea of England being "discovered" is entertaining, and Cunliffe neatly presents Pytheas' journey from an ancient Greek world view.
Buy this book!

This could have been a very special book. The pictures were great and it was interesting to see some of the background work that went on during the filming. I especially enjoyed the photo of John Corbett's dressing room door. However, it seemed to be a rushed job and there weren't enough captions to go with the pictures. I would have appreciated it more if it were longer and more detailed. On the other hand, I know I'll peruse it often!

The book was enjoyable enough, but I was a little disappointed we didn't see more of the people from the show. Walt for example, Eve, Dave etc. All great faces. I'm sure the background people meant a lot to Rob, but I'd have rather seen all the characters I fell in love with. I still would have bought the book though. Publish another one Rob!

A great book for a Fan of Northern Exposure. Rob Morrow really captures the behind the scenes activity and personalities of the cast. I loved it!

A fascinating look at the complex relationship between two brothers, one of whom fought in Vietnam, Northern Lights also examines other issues. I enjoyed this book a lot, but O'Brien's other works are better. After all, this *was* his first published novel. In fact, O'Brien himself has said that he wishes he should have made intense revisions to this book. Regardless, read Northern Lights only after you have read O'Brien's other books. I am a true O'Brien fan who has read ALL of his books, and I DID enjoy this book. But save it for after you have learned to appreciate O'Brien and his literary style.

Excellent debut novel, but Tim O'Brien only got better. All of his tension and emotion in present in this novel, but he still had yet to develope his style and language that has made him, in my opinion, one of America's best writers today.

It's a story about privacy. Private lives at home and secret romances of sorts and the return of a Vietnam vet who has a constant reminder of his time In Country, but he never tells the secret of how he received the injury to his ear.

It's an excellent debut novel, but don't be discouraged if this is the first Tim O'Brien novel you read, he only get's better. I give it my highest recommendation.

It's adventurous and tense when the brothers are lost in the woods. O'Brien paints an impressive picture of the Minnesota woods when these brothers travel at the feet of these enormous snow covered trees in awe and reverence of nature.

O'Brien presents the tension between brothers in layers beginning with the vitnam war. As the story unfolds, O'Brien challenges the reader to think about their pasts and pending futures. The book kept me thinking long after I put it down. Even as I write this reveiw, I am considering new implications to their realtionship. Nothern Lights is a very thoughtful and enjoyable read.

The very title alone implies the idolatry of the Lost Cause. The loss of Thomas Jackson was indeed a great one to the Confederate high command but it ignores other more significant factors contributing to Confederate defeat. The huge disparity between the Navies. How about the disparity in population? How about the inability to replace line officers? The inferiority of the artillery ordnance? The disparity in cannon foundaries? A better explanation of what doomed the Confederacy can be found in Clark Gable/Rhett Butler's diatribe at the beginning of Gone with the Wind! Thomas Jackson was a talented but eccentric general. He had many great accomplishments but he, like other generals, made mistakes. He was a human being and he had faults. This blind worship and the perpetuation of the myth and legend of the war should hopefully open some eyes. The two essays on Longstreet lead one to believe that the perpetrators of the Lost Cause, Jubal Early, William Pendleton and J. William Jones have been reincarnated into Mr. Krick. They are the same character assasinations that has been going on since 1872 when Mr. Early, just returned from his Canada vacation, gave a speech at a Lee Birthday celebration accusing Longstreet of not attacking at dawn as ordered. A complete fabrication. The East Tennessee essay thrown in for that extra added bonus criticism. Hard to believe that Mr. Gallagher would be associated with such a project.

I've been a fan of Robert K. Krick ever since "Stonewall Jackson at Cedar Mountain" came out and to say that I eagerly anticipated the release of this volume would be an understatement. The combination of Mr. Krick's mastery of the facts and his engaging writing style makes the book pure reading euphoria for a true student of the Civil War. I cannot conceive of what "The Anti-Krick" was smoking when he wrote his less-than-informed review. Maybe he was put off by Mr. Krick's use of big words that he didn't know the definition of. Who knows? But to say that Krick is a disciple of the so-called "Lost Cause" is pure fiction. The man is from California for crying out loud! Anyway, I encourage everyone to read this book. Even if you're not a Civil War fanatic like me, the writing is so good that it would make Alan Nolan (possibly the Anti-Krick himself) wet his pants. I salute you, Bob.

The Smoothbore Volley That Doomed the Confederacy: The Death of Stonewall Jackson and the other Chapters on the Army of Northern Virginia written by Robert K. Krick is a well-written book with a fast throughly researched and dramatic writing about the Army of Northern Virginia, one of the best armies every assembled and fought on American soil.

Krick writes this book with a passion... often opinionated, but with profound insights and points of view, giving rise to controversy. There are only ten chapters within the binding of this book and hey are:

The Smoothbore Volley THat Doomed the Confederacy
The Army of Northern Virginia's Most Notorious Court-Martial: Jackson vs. Garnett
If Longstreet... Says So, It Is Most Likely Not True: James Longstreet and the Second Day at Gettysburg
Longstreet Versus McLaws-- and Everyone Else--About Knoxville
We Have Never Suffered a Greater Loss Save in the Great Jackson: Was Robert E. Rodes the Army's Best Division Commander?
Maxcy Gregg: Political Extremist and Confederate General
The Coward Who Followed J.E.B. Stuart
The Cause of All My Disasters: Jubal A. Early and the Undisciplined Valley Cavalry
Confederate Books: Five Great Ones and Two Bad Ones
Confederate Soldier Records: Finding Them and Using Them

The Essays in this book examine pieces of the army's history across a broad and diverse spectrum. Two deal with Lee's most famous subordinate, Thomas J. Jackson, one of them concerning a notable court-martial. Two others deal with Lee's most controversial subordinate, James Longstreet-- again, one concerning a famous court-martial. Gwnweral Robert E. Rodes appears as a superbly competent division commander; General Maxcy Gregg as a prototype of the successful politician-general; Colonel R.W.Carter as a failure; and the Shenandoah Valley irregular cavalry as a study in indiscipline.

Seven of the ten essays have appeared before in some form. Several contained no documentation in their first appearences. All have been substantially revised and expanded with new material, in some instanced to double their original size. I was glad to see these essays again and this time documented.

Krick has uncovered a wide array of unpublished material on Rodes to sketch hin in a fresh perspective, as well as Colonel R.Welby Carter as a rogue. Those of you who read about the Civil War should have this book in your library as it is deeply researched using as impressive selection of primary materials. The author tells it like he sees it... if the particular figure measures up or fails to meet expectations... Krick is fair in his assement. This book is hard to put down, making it an enlightenment with profound insights.

This is a book that examines the events leading up to, and encompassed by, the infamous Bloody Sunday incident in Derry, Northern Ireland. One of the book's strong points is the level of detail with which the events of the day are examined. However, the analysis seems to be biased in favor of the nationalists. Still, there is alot of valuable content in the book as long as one recognizes that it represents but one point of view and is not necessarily impartial. For some additional information, there is some valuable commentary on Bloody Sunday in Tony Geraghty's book "The Irish War: The Hidden Conflict Between the IRA and British Intelligence".

In terms of sheer body counts, Bloody Sunday was not the worst day of the Troubles, as a number of IRA and Loyalist atrocities were to kill more people. However, the negative impact of Bloody Sunday on the course of the Troubles was incalculable. The assault on a civil rights march of Derry Catholics by the Parachute Regiment was intended to round up "Derry young hooligans," with the expectation of a few exemplary Catholic casualties, while reasserting the rule of English law in the "no-go" Catholic ghetto of the Bogside. Instead, 13 unarmed youths and middle-aged men were killed, and the British Army found itself in an operational, logistical, and public relations disaster. Political means toward achieving reform in Northern Ireland were discredited for the next 25 years, and 1972 was to become the bloodiest year of the Troubles. When the British Army arrived in the North in the 60's, they were often welcomed by Catholics as protectors from Protestant pogroms; after Bloody Sunday, every British soldier in Northern Ireland was to lead the miserable and paranoid existence of an unloved army of occupation, a constant target of unseen bombers and snipers.

The strength of Pringle and Jacobson's book is in its detail, stomach-churning at times. Although their style is journalistic and their prose plain, I supposed it must be effective, as I frequently found my eyes welling up with tears of rage. Most accounts of Bloody Sunday focus on the out-of-control nature of the Paras, but Pringle and Jacobson appropriately detail the command failures that led to the tragedy: the ill-conceived use of an elite, lethally-armed regiment to perform a police function; the decision to place civilians at risk; the lack of any overall political strategy to deal with the North; the failure of radio communications that placed the Paras beyond control of headquarters.

Aside from the political significance of Bloody Sunday, the drama of that day illuminates human nature at its best and worst: the teenaged first aid worker Eibhlin Lafferty, preventing a rabid soldier from finishing off a wounded man, asking him, "Are you mad?"; Barney McGuigan, waving a handkerchief to come to the aid of the dying Paddy Doherty, saying "They'll not shoot me" moments before his head was blown apart; Alex Nash, grievously injured running toward his dying son, Willie; the priests who braved gunfire to administer the last rites; the hapless Catholic businessman McKinney, stuck in the march on his way back from meeting an associate, shot by the army with his hands up.

I would have given the book 5 stars, but the account of the political aftermath of Bloody Sunday is perfunctory, and more follow-up on some of the participants would have been interesting. What happened to Alana Burke, who apparently had a spinal injury after been struck by a Saracen? What happened to the young soccer player whose leg was shattered by a bullet? How did the tragedy affect the lives of those involved in years to come?

There is a decent map of the Bogside included, which could have been more detailed, and might have been labelled with the location of exactly where the fatalities occurred.

Pringle and Jacobsen, the reporters who broke through the governmental code of silence to get to the truth behind Bloody Sunday, present a highly detailed and thoroughly engrossing report of the events of January 30, 1972, where 13 unarmed Catholic protesters were shot dead by British paratroopers. The authors provide an unflinching look at the chaos and horrifying events of that awful day. They also detail the events leading up to the incident, and pull no punches in looking at the causes and fallout from the indident. This is a must read for anyone interested in the events currently shaping Northern Ireland.