This was a good book but out of date on many topics. It is a great all around reference or start-up and go book. I decided I wanted to learn about cars so I found this book at a tag sale and now I know the basics. I would suggest this book for its no-nonsense and in-depth approach.

I'm an automotive engineering student and I use this book as a reference. It provides information on virtually everything on or related to a car, tools, brakes, suspensions, fuel systems, just to name a few. Besides that, it also provides service and diagnosis information on every system of the car it covers. The language used is simple to understand, and yet blends well with layman's terms. There's also a dictionary on automotive terms in the book. Recommended to motoring enthusiasts and automotive students.

While I initially found this story entertaining, I have to argue that it really isn't a mystery at all. It's more of an illustration of the feminist politics of the characters. In other words, the killer is exactly who you expect it to be. I kept waiting for an entertaining twist and there was none. And even as a feminist, I found myself unable to swallow all the pronouncements of certain characters.

Don't read this for the mystery. Read it, if at all, for the politics. They are the real reason for this novel's existence. And don't say you weren't warned.

Nora Kelly is a native Easterner who is now living in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she teaches part time. She has been involved in writing her Gillian Adams mysteries for several years, and has won the 1999 Arthus Ellis Best Novel Award awarded by the Canadian Crime Writers Association.

Using a University as a backdrop, where old buildings reek of sinister motives; strange chemicals are used in obscure experiments; and cutthroat individualists fight over diminishing federal and private grant funds is a recipe for intrigue and mayhem. Gillian Adams is a department head of the History Department at the University of the Pacific Northwest. Her boyfriend, Edward Gisborne, is a Deputy Chief Inspector for Scotland Yard. Both have demanding jobs and have let their relationship wind around their crushing schedules. Gillian is in Cambridge, England on Sabbatical, thinking about her next career move, when the murder of Wendy Fowler, a research fellow strikes uncomfortably close. Gillian's friends are involved in a nonprofit organization called the Pregnancy Information Service where Wendy volunteered. It is up to Gillian and Edward to sort out the murderer's motives, and to tie the murderer in with the PIS office:

" So you think he might have burgled the PIS office?' Irene said. To steal the cards? That's silly. What good would it do?' Maybe he wanted to see what we said about other doctors. Maybe he thought he could sue if he had the evidence.' No. But he might have taken the book. Who else would? He probably thought the information he wanted was in it. Or something else he could use against us. And then he took the money so we'd think it was an ordinary burglary."

Not only does Kelly create a labyrinth of clues; her characterizations have the reader seriously considering almost every character she introduces as a suspect. Her particular form of feminism is well articulated through the characters, and their relationships strike a chord in the reader. Wendy Fowler is pregnant, and when a second body turns up that is connected to the PIS, Gillian and Edward take the reader through a well constructed plot that keeps the pages turning.

Bad Chemistry is great fun and is a cozy that will be embraced by the mystery reading world.

Shelley Glodowski, Reviewer

Perhaps if Judith Merril had lived to complete her memoirs, they could have rivalled Isaac Asimov's In Memory Yet Green and In Joy Still Felt. However, we will never know; she died with her life's chronicle barely begun, leaving grand-daughter Emily to salvage this book from her notes. The result is a sump of anecdotes and letters, giving a tantalising glimpse of this prominent female member of the early science fiction writing community.

Although Merril takes an early pop at sanitised SF autobiographies (presumably referring to ex-husband Fred Pohl's The Way the Future Was), editor Emily openly admits to cutting some of her juicier revelations; yesterday's ex-husbands are still today's cherished grandfathers. Instead, she tips reams of cliquey, fannish correspondence into the text, while neglecting all but the briefest glimpse of the inner workings of Merril's mind as an author or editor.

I was open to the possibility that Merril was an influential SF author, or even, like Gardner Dozois, a talented writer who sacrificed her own career to help others. It was this possibility that led me to buy this book, since Merril was conspicuous in her absence from Fred Pohl's own memoirs, and I suspected something untoward was going on. However, in a book that seems to spend more time singing the praises of Toronto as a tourist destination, there is only one point at which the text devotes any significant amount of space to Merril's craft, and that only succeeds in making her look like a naïve buffoon. Her muddled musings on Japanese linguistics left me aghast, as did the realisation that this darling of the SF world had taken several months to stumble upon the realisation that a good translator should speak both the source and target language. In layman's terms, this is akin to discovering that the words you're reading are best approached from left to right.

Emily Pohl-Weary's rescue job appears to have been a heroic effort, but ultimately self-defeating. I can only assume that there was so little of the true Merril left to work with, that the best Emily could hope for was a basic chronology of her grandmother's life, with a couple of asides on the way. I don't doubt that Merril is worthy of a book-length study, but this volume failed to provide any evidence of why. More about why her writings were so highly thought-of would have helped greatly.

This book is juicy (there's gossip about famous sci fi writers!) and Merril has insteresting views on important political and cultural events. It tells the story of early science fiction from the perspective of an independent, unique, fascinating woman. It made me think about how history is recorded and that the only stories that seem to count are the ones that are written down.

While I have found this book to be of some use in my research, and in creating my web site, I have also found it to be somewhat flawed. First I think it is a mistake to think that Dan McCaffrey is an Historian. As it says on the back cover, at the time he wrote the book, he was a newspaper man. That, does not an historian make.

Also, I don't believe a real historian would take something that someone told them was 3rd hand information and present it as proof. He did that in at least one part of the book, and that information comes from a respected air Historian, the Late Phillip Markham.

But, I did find some of the information in the book interesting, and helpful in various ways. As long as you're willing to live with printing errors and take this caution, I believe the book is worth the time. Though perhaps not the money.

Billy Bishop, the highest-scoring Allied fighter pilot of World War I was a man that gave a new face to Canadian pride and patriotism. Having shot down a total of 75 confirmed victories (72 planes and 3 German balloons), he broke the records of other prominent fighter pilots, being second only next to his German counterpart, Manfred von Richthofen (who shot down 80). Bishop was a man of fame, but he was certainly not without controversy. Many critics and historians have since launched attacks on the man, denigrading him and leaving his legend in tatters and surrounded with uncertainty...until now.

In this excellent and superbly-written biography, historian Dan McCaffery has not only examined Bishop the man and his fast-growing legend, but also has set the controversy to rest in light of new and previously untapped interviews with comrades and extensive readings of primary and secondary sources on the topic. Was Bishop truly honest about many of his victory claims? Find out for yourselves! Reading like a fast-paced novel, Bishop is depicted in a very well-deserving light characteristic of a hero and living legend. What more can readers and aviation history buffs seeking the truth behind the man and his amazing deeds in the skies over the Western Front ask for?

As a Canadian, this reviewer sees the lack of heros and an identity crisis that the country of Canada is experiencing. Bishop is the type of individual that stirs pride and patriotism, and certainly represents the Canadian youth that were among some of the best fighter pilots of the Great War.(1) Should these great and brave individuals not be acknowledged and remembered with pride as Canada's history grows? Form your own opinion (as you will), but Canadians are doing an unbelievably shoddy job of remembering and acknowledging, all sense of pride being lost amid attacks and accusations of hero-worship and pro-war propaganda. McCaffery and his work is the little bit of acknowledgment and pride-stirring history that Billy Bishop fully deserves.

This book remains the definitive work on the subject, and Mr. McCaffery is to be congradulated for writing and exposing the truth behind this Canadian legend and icon. Let Bishop go down in history as a Canadian Hero, and by reading this book, one will gain tremendous insight into what made Bishop tick, and what a true hero is made of.

Edition which was reviewed: Dan McCaffery, "Billy Bishop: Canadian Hero." (Toronto: James Lorimer & Company, 1988).

________________

1. For an excellent discussion of this issue, see Denis Winter, "The First of the Few: Fighter Pilots of the First World War" (London: Allen Lane, 1982); and Dan McCaffery, "Air Aces: The Lives and Times of Twelve Canadian Fighter Pilots" (Toronto: James Lorimer & Company, 1990).

This book was not what I expected. As a Canadian who has been living in the United States for almost 10 years, I was looking for advice on questions I have been thinking about recently. However, this book did not cover any subjects in enough depth for me, and simply told me things I already knew. Perhaps for basic cross-border information, the book would be helpful, but for someone in my situation it certainly was not. I have returned it.

A long over-due book with absolutely invaluable info for Canadians looking to go state-side!! It answered all my questions and then some. It almost seemed as if Robert Keats knew what questions potential readers would ask! A detail-oriented, well thought out and very thorough piece of work. ANY dual citizen of the US/Canada or Canadian looking to invest or move to the US MUST get a copy of this book!! Don't do anything until you read this book first!

While the first volume of "Canuck" is, in and of itself, far from being an exhaustive work on Canadian WW II militaria, it still provides an excellent overview for those with an interest this subject. There are plenty of pictures to familiarize the reader with some of the common items Canadian soldiers from this period used--these are further documented with an insightful "everyday life" approach not normally found in other works of this nature. The historical content, too, is well-researched and uses a honest, straightforward approach; far from being heavy-handed, "Canuck" succeeds in teaching a little light history about an otherwise dry subject matter. In short, this modest, yet well-rounded book certainly gives collectors and others similarly interested in WW II Canadiana a good bang for their buck.

Some interesting wartime photos (though not enough) and some good reconstruction photos give a good introduction to the subject of Canadian Army uniforms of WWII. There is not a lot else out on the market regarding this subject, and Dorosh has helped to fill the hole nicely. Some very rare insignia is nicely displayed, and it's nice to see an AFFORDABLE book come onto the market for a change, rather than the current trend of 100 dollar hardcovers that no one can afford. This is a dandy little volume of interest to modellers, re-enactors and collectors. Would have been better with footnotes, however, and better pictures of the weapons.

This manual is much better than the Hayne's version; however, it still requires some improvement in the details. A huge improvement could be made by separating this book into several different publications covering fewer model years.

Pretty F-U-C-K-I-N-G GOOD book. A lot F-U-C-K-I-N-G BETTER THAN THAT HANYNES PIECE OF F-U-C-K-I-N-G S-H-I-T BOOK. 2 MOTHER F-U-C-K-I-N-G THUMBS UP!!

Mordecai Richler is one of the greatest modern writers, and his Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz is a masterpiece; however, A Choice of Enemies falls short of being brilliant. It is, never-the-less, a very good book. Richler presents a great cold war story of divided and shifting loyalties. Richler also makes an insightful commentary about Canadian and European cultural and intellectual life.

This is quite the good book. Not so bad of a job mmmmmmmmmmmmm

The key to "Classic Hikes in the Canadian Rockies, Binder Edition" is the word Binder. Choose a hike, remove the page and insert it in the protective plastic envelope provided. Leave the book at home! Each hike outlines trail location, distance, and elevation. A knowledgeable description follows. Tastefully integrated are photographs and highlighted vignettes. For example, read the words of explorer Walter Wilcox upon his discovery of Paradise Valley in 1894! One is delighted by Graeme Pole's keen attention to detail: turn a page and see animal tracks padding across it, another page reveals a silouette of a mountain flower. The only way to improve Classic Hikes is to personalize it with your notes in the margins.

This is a really good guidebook if the hike you want is covered. The pictures really whet your appetite and are generally fairly high quality. The descriptions are good but sometimes only focus solely on the suggested hike. This can be a problem in some areas (like Lake O'Hara for example) have a lot of options and other trails that are not covered (on the bright side the suggested hikeis wonderful). If you want to focus on the highlights of the Canadian Rockies, this guidebook is a great choice. If you want a more complete guide of all the options available, you may need a different guidebook. Personally, I would buy both this and a more complete guidebook like "Canadian Rockies Trail Guide."

This is a unique book about the history of astronomy in Canada. The coverage is quite good but could have been enriched and is somewhat biased. Especially some aspects might have been explored in more details, like the astronomy in the French regime. On the other hand, a large coverage is given the the David Dunlop Observatory. The book looks a little outdated now as the astronomy has largely grown in many part of Canada in the last 20 years.

It is still the authoritative book about history of astronomy in Canada. A recommanded reading for a long cloudy winter night.

Certainly, the authoritative book about history of astronomy in Canada. Some aspect might have been more covered, like the astronomy in the French regime. The book looks a little outdated now as the astronomy has largely grown in many part of Canada in the last 20 years.