This book takes place in England in the eighteen-fifties and sixties. It is about a well brought up little girl named Millie whose father "died" and whose mother was forced into prostitution. One day a rag seller Raggie Aggie was on her way home when the mother pushed the waif towards her and ran, being followed, presumabley, by the police, or polis. She reluctantly takes the aggravatingly polite little girl to her home, a use to be farm house, now surrounded by slums. A stunted young man, Ben, who she took in when he was very small lives in the back. Ben takes a liking to Millie and convinces Aggie to keep her until her mother gets out of jail. But unfortunetly a pimp pays her bail and she is taken to the brothel where she proceeds to hang herself. Aggie adopts the girl, grumbling the entire time about it. But both Aggie and Ben fear for little Millies safety after the pimp who took her mother takes an interest in the girl. So the girl is sheltered and she grows up and longs to find hapiness and the truth. She finds the truth and she doesn't like it.

A great story with likable characters and a surprising plot. It was made into a very good mini series on the romance channel, which sparked my interest. Eli@

As someone brought up on western music and untrained in indian music, I was able to follow what the author was saying. This book is an important piece of the puzzle, in understanding the expressive power of music in gerneral and intonation in particular. Aspiring composers should check this book out. Probably best for instrumentalist with continuous control of pitch, (violinists trombonists etc.) and singers accustomed to singing against a drone.

Eickhoff manages to transform one of the great epic poems in Western literature into a solidly-written novel. What it loses in poetic form it makes up for in immediacy. Not for the delicate of sensibilities, but a good introduction to the piece for those who have a hard time dealing with poetry in translation.

This book is great for anyone looking for a starting point for historical and geographical information on the railroads of northern New England. Maps of each railroad (as well as certain regions) featured in this book make it easy to locate where a railroad was located, what cities it connected, among other things. I highly recommend this book for model railroaders and railfans, as well as anybody just interested in general history of the New England region.

This book covers N MS, N AL, and Middle TN from 5 Sept. 1864 though 6 Oct. 1864. Events preparing the attack of CS General Hood on Franklin and Nashville, TN in late 1864. In great detail you will understand the feats of CS General Forrest's, "The Wizard of the Saddle", conquest of Union forces with only 4500 men (3500+ Union troops captured). You will discover why US General Grant and Sherman moved 30,000 troops into this area to stop Forrest's success over an area of 200 sq. miles. This well written book also explains several acts of bravery by USCT (Black Troops) along US General Sherman's supply lines and the avenue for advertising the 600 captured Black troops return to slavery. The reader will understand why US Generals Grant and Sherman offered rewards for this Confederate General's capture either dead or alive. General Sherman preferred "devil Forrest" dead. The history is written in an exciting and concise manner with unit actions and commanders view points given from both sides of the conflict. Several individual accounts of escape, daring, and determination by both Union and Rebel soldiers are told in a honest and honorable manner. The book is very interesting reading for the Civil War history reader.

Transportation in southern British Columbia faced some formidable obstacles. So why bother? Well it seems the region was also blessed with mineral deposits.

Early developement started with trails, steamship and a few miles of tracks. By the turn of the century, the railroad developed a complete second (CPR) mainline through the Rockies. Other companies also added to the network. Much of this southern route eventually found itself abandoned.

Railway Mileposts (there are two volumes)documents the southern British Columbia routes (Vol. 1 documents the mainline). Author Burrows gives a brief history of the various operations, along with interesting features (tunnels, bridges, grades and stations). Each operation shows maps, some of which are in great detail.

Today, there is a growing rail to trail movement. Many hiking enthusiasts are well aware of the many special abandoned rail segments available to them. This book will provide them with a great overview of the past and present rail lines.

I recommend this book to rail enthusiasts and to those interested in hiking these old abandoned lines within the southern British Columbia wilderness.

A comprehensive map of the trails (including roads and tracks closed to cars) of the northern part of the East Bay Hills. Good detail, including property jurisdictions, topographic (20 foot contour intervals), ground cover, points of interest and conveniences like bus stops. It also includes a good index (of trails), mileage marked on trails, rules and regulations for the various parks, general and contact information for each.

Map is printed one side only, on regular paper.

A great resource for finding and enjoying hikes of any length in the area.

There is also a Central Section map of the area.

There is a famous portrait of Katlian, Chief of the Kiksatti Clan of the Tlingit Indians of Sitka, Alaska, that shows him wearing a blanket of a design otherwise lost. Weaver Cheryl Samuel spent around a year trying to replicate the pattern, which she named "Raven's Tail." It is a bold black-and-white symmetrical design completely unknown today. The book is a result of Ms. Samuel's research. It is well-illustrated with photographs of her work. She not only finally managed to weave a blanket but since has traveled within Southeastern Alaska and down to British Columbia to demonstrate the technique to other weavers. There is an up-date to this; only a few weeks ago (July, 1998) a tiny sample of an actual blanket was discovered during an archaeological dig in Sitka, Alaska. To add to the excitement, another, larger piece has been discovered nearby. These show, on preliminary examination, a complete vindication of the author's technique. The only drawback to the book is the sometimes confused writing. Overall, an important book in the study of NW textiles, affirmed by the discovery of actual pieces.

The thirty stories that make up THE RED BRANCH TALES come from twelfth century Ireland translated into modern English with the beautiful lyrical prose that Dr. Randy Lee Eickhoff has brought to all his previous translations. The tales provide common themes of life among the various clans with the title providing an obvious clue as to what to expect. The stories vary in content with many dealing with heroism, war, and romance.

The anthology is entertaining though like much of medieval literature, formal language is sprinkled with baroque eloquence and comically lewd capers. Also included are "Fragments" of incomplete tales and proverbs. As usual Dr. Eickhoff provides a marvelous collection, that will be of interest to English majors and those readers who recently savored The Canterbury Tales or Beowulf.

Harriet Klausner

A very good book providing a clear understanding of the UDA / UVF