Actually, they practically are read by Gilbert himself, since actor Jim Broadbent will for a long time be associated with that role. His readings are marvelous, especially because he manages to use a different voice for each new character--and there are many, many of them. It is fascinating to catch so many of the concepts Gilbert was to recycle in the later Savoy works. "The Bumboat Woman's Story" is rich in pre-hints of "HMS Pinafore" and was indeed the inspiration for the ballet "Pineapple Poll," which uses only Sullivan's music for the operettas (with a snatch of his Da Ballo Overture thrown in). Doubtless the funniest of the lot is "Etiquette" on the last side of the second tape in which two men thrown up on a dessert island cannot converse because they had not been properly introduced aboard the ill-fated vessel. Not all the poems are comical-- some are darkly pessimistic--but there is many a laugh that will educed by Broadbent's delivery.

"Bab," by the way, was Gilbert's baby nickname; and his use of it tells us a lot about his personality.

Dove Audio, however, has packaged these two cassettes with no table of contents at all; and so there is no way to tell ahead of time exactly what Bab Ballads are recorded, which is really an intolerable situation for an item like this. Also the use of "unabridged" at the top of this Amazon.com page is misleading. While each poem is in fact complete, there are represented here only a very small portion of Gilbert's BB output. What we do have is excellently done, but the 3 hours on these tapes do not hold an "unabridged" collection by any means.

W.S. Gilbert was the master of the perfect phrase, the sly aside, the cutting quip. Jim Broadbent is the actor who portrayed Gilbert to perfection in the film "Topsy-Turvy." Now Broadbent brings his smooth delivery to these colorful ballads, some of which can be recognized as the inspiration for Gilbert & Sullivan's most popular operas. If you have even the slightest appreciation for G&S, buy this and learn why so many of us love them so. If you're as much of a fan as I am already, you *OWE* it to yourself to get the Broadbent Bab Ballads. Click on BUY NOW and run, don't walk, to the checkout. And be prepared for ecstatic rapture and unmingled joy.

William S. Gilbert (of Gilbert & Sullivan fame) was a master craftsman of the English language. He was renowned as a poet, playwrite and author long before his association with Sir Arthur Sullivan of musical renown. The "Babb Ballads" show the crafstman at his best with sparkling rhymes and funny stories. If you truly love the English language and the skill with which it can be used to amuse and entertain, this book is one that you should not be without.

Robert Ellis Smith colors the historical settings for the many pivotal developments, cases and treatise related to privacy. From a description of the Puritan "Tythingmen", who were charged with keeping their eyes on ten families (including the right to inspect the inside of homes), through Madison's early drafts of the First Amendment, forward all the way to the "DoubleClick" controversy, "Ben Franklin's Web Site" covers the myriad of privacy related issues with great elan.

With more than 25 years of experience writing on privacy issues in his newsletter, Privacy Journal, Smith has written a clear, readable history of privacy in America that weaves the various threads of and threats to privacy together in a well-documented fashion. From Americans' insatiable curiosity to the tabloid press, from mistrust of the census to the endless collection of personal information we face today, Smith examines it all thoroughly and cogently. Certainly the best book on privacy I have read. Highly recommended both for those who know something about the area already and those who would like to know more.

Robert Ellis Smith brings the privacy debate back home and to an understandable level in "Ben Franklin's Web Site : Privacy and Curiosity from Plymouth Rock to the Internet." Many privacy books dwell on obscure legal cases that bore the reader to a near state of torpidity. Not so with Mr. Smith's common sense descriptions and explanations of privacy issues throughout the American experience. Aside from giving the reader the ability to understand the importance of privacy in a number of critical facets, this book is just plain fun to read.

If you're tired of the typical thriller/mystery paperback rehash, give this one a read. Refreshingly original and very well written. Impressive that this is Mr. Oglesby's first book (or so I believe). Look forward to the next one.

I finished Blow Happy, Blow Sad this past week. I've never read a book that could make my heart pound as if I were watching an action adventure movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A most impressive first effort by Mr. Ogglesby. Strong plot, good characterization, great attention to historical detail. Always ended up reading more of it than I planned in any one sitting, which is about the highest praise I know.

This is just the gift I've been looking for! Ms. Ellis has an uncanny ability to find just the right words to express the feelings in all our hearts. I highly recommend this book!

I have been a fan of Ms. Ellis's poetry for some time now. ("The Dash" is my Favorite)
I don't know how she does it, but each new work or project just gets better and better... This book "A Bouquet for Mother" is no exception. The book looks fantastic and the words will melt your heart. All those feelings you always wanted to share with your mom, but just could not put them into words... they are here Thank-You AGAIN, Linda Ellis! Another Phenomenal piece of work!...

Ms. Ellis has wrapped up for children everywhere the perfect gift for mom. The book is very well written and packaged. It seems that she has reached into all of us and written about all those little things we take for granted with regards to "mom". Thank you for this wonderful gift!

This book guided me through one of the greatest challenges in my woodcarving experience. After a couple of readings to become familiar with the process and sequence of operations, I began a project which has brought me more pride, and sense of accomplishment than anything I've ever undertaken. From the design stage through materials and tool selection, technique of workmanship, to the final painting and displaying of the project, instructions are clear and include many tips and tricks of the trade. Professional results are assured. For the first time carver, no clearer and concise guide is now available in my opinion. My interest in Carousel Carving encouraged me to gather many books on the subject. After reading them all, I return to this book for its store of relevant information and instructions on carving an Animal. My daughter is the proud owner of an authentic hand-carved Carousel Horse thanks to Bud Ellis and Rhonda Hoeckley's efforts in creating this fine instruction manual. An excellent companion to this book is the "Atlas of Animal Anatomy" by W. Ellenberger et al.

If you cannot get to the Horsin' Around Carousel Carving School yourself, this is the next best thing! Bud is a retired art teacher with a gift for helping you understand what needs to be done! The book has every element and every step needed to complete a carousel animal from start to finish. Lots of pictures. A must for the aspiring carver and excellent for the experienced carver as well. There are traditional patterns included, and information to customize your own animal. Whether you want to carve a horse, goat, zebra, rabbit, or something of your own design, this book is a great resource!

I think this is a great book. Bud Ellis provides precise information from how to have the wood prepared for carving, to tools needed to complete the carousel animal. The carousel in Chattanooga Tennessee is a wonderful example of some of Mr. Ellis's work. His book can't be beat.

Without doubt this is the most beautiful and fascinating compendium of antique golf clubs you will ever come across. It is well worth every penny. The illustrations are superb and the content flawless. You will be amazed at the splendour of the Clubmakers Art.

I recently recieved this book as a gift for my birthday from my wife. I was highly impressed with the fine quality and craftmanship of this work of art. I plan to give this book to my friends that are as interested in golf as I am, and even to the ones who don't like golf! No one could ever be displeased with this book! My compiments to Jeff Ellis on his accomplishment.

The Clubmaker's Art is a magnificent example of hard work and dedication to the golf industry. I received the book recently, and I couldn't be happier with what I got. The pictures are so life like, and they pop out at you. This is the best example of quality in the writing industy, and I think that every golf collecter, lover, and player must get this book!

I love Goethe's creative works and his scientific theories, but most of all I love this book. I travel with it, look in it for advice and conversation. As an artist Goethe was incomparable; as a scientist he was curious, alive, observant, questioning -- but as a man who lived a life with a conscious intention to make his life a work of his own mind and heart he is the master and that master is found in the pages of this book. When I need a wise friend, I turn here and find, beside the wisdom, a silly person who thought spectacles were an affectation, an attempt on the part of someone to be something he was not. . .

While in graduate school in Australia I happened in a pub (which is not extraordinary in itself) and got to talking with the bar-tender. It turns out that he was a student at the Univ. of Queensland too and was getting his MA in German. I told him how much I enjoyed Nietzche, who was the focus of his thesis, and eventually we got around to Eckermann's Coversations. I told him it was one of the best books that I had ever read: so quaint and yet probing. The reader sits in the drawing room and hears the most extrodinary discussions. In this way it reminds me of Sherlock Holmes and Watson. It is so civilized that it is almost nostalgic--but far too potent for that due to the genuis involved (Eckermann's mind ain't to shabby either). The newly made friend expressed amazement that an English major happened on this book; he said that I had been the only person outside the German dept that he had met that had ever read the book, or even heard of it (and this in a much more literate country than here). This is truely a shame we agreed. Ease-drop on a better time when scholars were gentleman, and in search of the truth not some PC BS, and were enamored with ideas. Goethe's Maxims is also highly recommended--as Faust and his other better known works. A Western classic, like the subject.

For those who do not know anything about Goethe at all, 'Conversations' may not be a good place to start - but for those who are a little familiar with Goethe, 'Conversations of Goethe' makes for fascinating reading.

Very rarely do we have the life of a genius so well and closely documented. This book is not a record of formal interviews; it is a record by Eckermann, Goethe's good friend, who took the trouble to write down the great man's words almost every day, it seems. The book reads like a diary of Eckermann's, filled with Goethe - there is one entry for almost every day for a few weeks, then a break, and so on.

Eckermann seems to have written down almost everything he remembered from his conversations - and some of what Goethe said here may be edifyong, some not so much; but all of it is significant for one trying to get an insight into Goethe's mind - how it worked, how he thought, how he did things - right from the grand projects down to the simple pleasures.

One comes away from this book with an "insiders glimpse" of the Goethe's mind and world - and that really helps when reading his works.

The idea of Goethe as the complete, the perfect man, the universal genius - sticks with the reader years after reading this book. We live in an age when the really good things do not matter; Goethe reminds us of all the things that can, and do matter - and those things that can refresh, change, and enliven.

Nietzsche called this "the greatest book in German there is".

Excellent for beginning CD counselors. Has a vast amount of useful information for the beginning and the seasoned counselor.

This is the best text for a course in Chemical Dependency Counseling that is available. It a great deal of information that a beginning counselor needs to work in the field. It even includes a chapter on how to deal with the reluctant to recover and one on how to servive in a chemical dependency agency, most useful!

Covers (exhaustively) the 12 core competencies specified by the ATTC and required for certification by any state. It is excellent.

I purchased a copy of this several years ago and have used it almost on a weekly basis! Not often do you add something to your library that is of such value that you'll refer to it in your studies but also you'll copy it's pages as handouts in your Bible study classes and Sunday School! Many facts, figures and charts are in one handy place which saves you time in research. I highly recommend you get a copy now and you'll wonder why you've been without one as long as you have!

As a teacher of the Word of God, I love using charts that help the visual student see what I am talking about. And in this chart book, which is completely done in color (visually very appealing), both the Old and New Testaments are covered, including maps and reconstructions of historically significant times and places. I am planning to lead a trip to the Holy Land this summer, and I'll probably have this book with me when we tour the places reconstructed here. The wire spine is appreciated because it makes it easier to turn the pages and lay the pages flat when making overheads. All in all this book is a "quality" production, and I can only say "well done!"

This collection of charts, maps, and reconstructions is a pleasant surprise. The editors have used attractive color, clear contrast, and readable format to provide useful information to Bible students at an amazingly affordable price. This is a good value.

George A. Goolde, Professor, Bible and Theology

Between the Giant Twin Oaks is a passionately written, and entertaining novel that presents a powerful message about family bonds, pride, love and conflicts that arise in families and other significant relationships. Ellis-Maxwell is clearly a great storyteller with a bright future as an author.

Sweeping from the eighteen hundreds to the present, this novel of one black family from Arkansas is beautifully written. The emotions contained in these pages will grip you from the beginning and hold you in their thrall until the very end. The Riley men did not look at the ground when in the presence of whites like their brethren. Because they didn't kow tow to racists they earned a reputation for being uppity or crazy (from whites) and brave (from fellow blacks). Riley women were strong, they had to be to support such strong men. Charlotte Ellis Maxwell is an author to watch. She is a storyteller with the power of the African griot. You know you're reading her words but, somehow, it's almost as if she's personally whispering the tale in your ear. I certainly hope this story gets wide recognition because it deserves it.

This is superb first by a wonderful up and coming artist with a vivid imagination and a true sense for details.