Frequently fascinating but at the same time tedious and repetitive. There is no question this is a thorough in-depth history of the Troubles from the mid 60s to early 90s. Fascinating in history of terrorism in Ireland and its complete ruthlessness to gain political advantage. But also bogs down in places and becomes confusing in describing the numerous political factions and leaders involved which I guess is inevitable with the Troubles. Bell also tends to be overly dramatic by continually ending paragraphs in threes, e.g.,page 93 "It was a right that must be exercised to be effective, a right to be seen, to be dominant" or page 758 "What did 1989 have to offer but horror, no political progress, the decay of hope in the agreement" and countless other similar endings throughout. Overall, a fairly good read but you have to stay with it.

Accounts of the Battle of Gettysburg always seem to focus on who is to blame for the Confederate loss. Dowdey's version happens to blame Longstreet, primarily. However, Longstreet fans shouldn't avoid the book on that account. Dowdey gives a clear, well-written, though inevitably at this date somewhat old-fashioned, account. As no other author that I'm aware of does, he discusses the preparation for the invasion: the way that Davis refused Lee the reinforcements he'd requested, the way that Lee failed to rethink his method of dealing with subordinates after Jackson's death. I think Dowdey is a little scanty on Culp's Hill, but then I think that about everyone but Pfanz. Overall, this is a good basic analysis, definitely worth reading.

Richards is a physician at Cambridge, not a social historian. So although he could expound at length on the etiology of Mycobacterium leprae, his attempts at historical reconstruction of the leper settlements of Scandanavia-- a fascinating topic-- smacks of undergraduate thesis. The book does provide a glimpse into the life of these poor outcasts, but the reader is left upon finishing it with a desire for a full portrait, not just a glimpse. I would still recommend it, but in conjunction with other, more well-researched works.

Native Plants for Northern Gardens is a basic reference title compiled from notes taken by Leon Snyder, longtime head of the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, before his death. The book lacks the polish you might see in comparable hardcover gardening titles. Its pictures are more those of an academic reference rather than a loving gardening book. I hate to say it, but it's less inspiring for that absence.

I would recommend this title as a reference for anyone in the upper midwest who's already into gardening with natives. For people considering native plants for the first time, there are some other nicer presentations that'll get you more worked up. (C. Colston Burrell's book on my review page, for example.) You might come around to needing this one, but it's not the one to get you started.

The collapse of the Soviet Union has made ancient areas once again visible, both because information about them is newly accessible and because their many conflicts put them in the news. The Caucasus fits this description unusually well, for only a handful of specialists know anything about this very turbulent region. The North Caucasus Barrier contains outstanding studies by Chantal Lemercier-Quelquejay on Russia's cooption of Caucasian elites; by Moshe Gammer on its strategies of conquest; by Paul B. Henze on the Circassian resistance; and by the editor and Abdurahman Avtorkhanov (a historic Chechen figure) on the Soviet period. It also contains a final chapter on developments after the 1991 putsch attempt. Broxup and her five colleagues provide an important service in bringing to general attention (and especially to Russian and Middle Eastern specialists) the scope of the North Caucasus's two-century war with Russia, the longest going between any Muslim and Christian peoples. The conflict's significance for Russia lies in the immense impact-psychological, literary, political-of the Caucasian wars. For the Middle East, that the martial peoples of that mountainous region "stood guard and protected the Muslim world" made it possible for Turkey and Iran to retain their independence.

Middle East Quarterly, June 1994

I found this book from another book seller. I was so excited to see and read about all the stars and see some special behind-the-scenes activities that you only dream about. Pictures are only in black and white, but the information is great although not enough personal stuff about each star, everything said was very filtered. I also bought the book of photos taken by Rob Morrow and they were all black and white and not much of any information at all about the series and people us NX'ers cherish. Still I am a push over for anything "Northern Exposure". I suggest you keep looking and you will find the book somewhere. A must for any TRUE NX'er!

While the pictures are a fabulous representation of Alaskan wildlife and scenic wonders, the information printed in the daily boxes of the calendar portion is lacking in accuracy. For instance, on April 6th for most of the U.S. we go on daylight savings time, however this calendar shows this occurring on April 27th! Not helpful if one depends solely on this calendar for this sort of info as we do up here on the mountain. This holiday season I will find another calendar producer!

I first purchased this book last year, and have now ridden two of the major areas in the book. #1 Elizabeth Furnace ( rides 1,9,22 ) #2 North River (rides 14,16,17 ) For the most part the author has done a very good job of preparing his maps ( est. the distances, showing landmarks, stream crossings ) although the maps are not made to scale (according to author). The maps I used I would rate as 90% accurate. The problem with this book, is how the author rates the difficulty of the different rides. The rides that he rates as moderate, I would rate as difficult or very difficult. The Hankey Mountian ride (#17) involved a five mile climb up a fire road. The author fails to include this in his ride description, saying only that the ride up is smooth, with a few steep pitches. ( more like 10 steep pitches, some you just have to walk).In Elizabeth Furnace, the Signal Knob ride(#22) rated very difficult by the author, involved a one mile plus portage up the mountain over boulders. Wearing cycling shoes with cleats, this was not easy. Once you make the ajustment in ride difficulty the book was very useful.( note: I am 46 yrs. young and have been mountian biking for 8 yrs. and am height/weight proportionate )

I first saw this little book on the shelves at my local library. When I got it home, it was obvious that all Ms Mansfield had done was travel from tasting room to tasting room, meet with the marketing staff, and collect the recipes they provided. (Each recipe has a copy of the wine's label facing it so there is no doubt where it came from.) Instead of a bound book, CelestialArts could have gone to Kinkos and had the whole ensemble published/stapled for a lot less. * sigh * That being said, the recipes themselves are fairly easy for an experienced family chef (read Mom) or anyone who loves to cook and knows the difference between saute and sauce. The pasta dishes are elegant and the ingredients can be picked up at the local market. There is no nutritional analysis information available, but reading through the recipes one notices lots of cream, butter and soft cheeses so it doesn't take a Susan Powter to realize these dishes should be reserved for an occasional, special meal. I decided to buy the book just for that reason- these recipes (there are no photos of the finished victuals)are good ones to have in your repertoire (filed under "dinners that Wow 'em"). As much as I disliked all the obvious gushing over the winemakers, the recipes sound wonderful and I will probably cook lots of them!

The good news about the book is that it just gets over 100 pages thus you can finish it in a few hours. The first thing that struck me when starting to read this book was that it seamed like a report created for a government Agency that they decided to publish as a book. That is not all bad, it just makes for somewhat flat and dry reading. I really enjoyed the discussion on the current (as of 1999) political and economic issues of the Gulf States. With the current focus on this part of the world it is interesting to read about some of the underling factors to how and why they act the way they do.

The book was not the one source for your Middle East education, but it could be used as a primmer for Middle East reading. It gives the basic facts that many other sources scan over or skip. I especially liked the details on Iran, which proved to be very interesting. The authors made Iran look to be more of a threat then Iraq, with all the trouble they have caused during the 90's via Hezbollah. One hole in the document seams to me to be the complete lack of mention of Al Queda even though the test covers Non State sponsored security issues. I think they were mentioned all of tow times even though the attacks on Americans in Africa and Saudi Arabia were discussed a number of times. Overall the book is interesting but not the one and only book to read on the subject.