This is an excellent book reviewing the battles that took place from Chattanooga to Atlanta in the summer of 1864 in the Western armies. The authors, working independently, have chronicled much of the strategy and and battlefield drama that characterized such engagements as Dallas, New Hope Church, Pickett's Mill, Kennesaw Mountain, Ezra Church, Resaca etc.
As a layman, I was not bogged down with too much military lingo, and was able to get a good grasp of the strategy used on both sides. Maps and pictures add to the clarity. The authors seemed to start out being favorably disposed to Joseph E. Johnston's command, then, as they analyze all the historical and geographical factors from hindsight, they bring the reader to wonder at his failure to maneuver into a decisive victory over Sherman's advancing army. With the ensuing command of Gen. Hood one senses the nearly frantic contrast to throw men into battle as Atlanta becomes ever-more threatened, at great sacrifice of Confederate lives.
If you had ancestors that fought in the Atlanta Campaign, this is a very good book, with details drawn from numerous sources. The writers have added soldiers' and officers' comments from diaries and letters that detail the morale, the terrain, the weather, and attitude towards the events of the day. These add more interest to the sometimes dry, official commentaries so often quoted in other works.
Good history for layman or scholar; Union or Confederate.

Robert Hawks, a hydrologist, finds himself caught between the FBI and a Native American group in a mystery that deals with treaty rights, civil rights and water rights. Sounds a bit heavy doesn't it? But Everett pulls it all together in this book. Interspersed with actual treaty information, commentaries on peyote use, hydrology tables, this book moves effortlessly from the central mystery to Hawks' own past, filled with a distrust for authority, to Hawks' disastrous love life, Watershed seems to have a bit too much going on to be successful, but it is. Everettt builds the tension well and only the slightly pat ending interferes with the enjoyment of this book. But the journey is definitely worth your time.

I enjoyed this book because of the author's pagan themes. Christianity and the Old Religion of the area seem to rub together well enough. While there is an evil sorceress, Margaret, who is trying to indirectly kill her daughter, Elinor, witchcraft has its positive side in that the people of Albian relied on their hedgewitches to scry the future and cure their ills.

Elinor, who disguises herself as a man in order to find employment in the King's kitchen, is an interesting figure. She is not a great warrior queen or lightning-fingered mage. She is a middle-aged woman just trying to survive after having everything taken from her. What Elinor lacks in humor or liveliness of spirit, Sherman suffuses her with discipline, focus, and total devotion to the tasks at hand. This makes for a rather grim character, but all the more compelling.

While I wished that the book could have been more "gay positive", the story would probably have rang less true. The young king is struggling to cope with his sexuality while, at the same time, trying to provide for the needs of his kingdom and subjects. His resolution at the end of the tale, while not the most satisfactory, is perhaps more "realistic" because of it.

Recommended.

I can't really find anything bad to say about this book! The ballad that provides its story-line has always been a favorite of mine, and has all the elements you'd expect from such a thing -- tragedy, perseverance, mystery, magic, revenge, love... and Delia Sherman makes use of all of these, sometimes in unexpected ways. The historical details are flawless (as you would expect when the author has a PhD in Renaissance Studies), and even the magic has the feeling of alchemy and medieval grimoires and herbals, rather than the overly simplified or overly cutesey styles so prevalent in the fantasy genre. And I appreciated the author's courage in devising an ending that was not the conventional happily-ever-after scenario.

My only complaint is about the introduction to the Circlet Press edition. Don't get me wrong -- I am all for queer-themed fantasy and SF, and in fact the description in the introduction was one of the things that led me to buy the book -- but it telegraphed a bit too much about the story! I think I would have liked the introduction to be a little more vague so that I wouldn't have had the expectations about the king, and made some premature assumptions that diminished the impact of what should have been a dramatic revelation.

Other than that, I have no complaints, and I plan on loaning this book to four or five friends, by which time someone will have kept it and I'll need to buy another copy. So please, Circlet, keep it in print!

When you think about it someways, this book is more historical fiction than fantasy. That is, if the reader can accept a past where vengeful witches release plagues, murderers and assassins. I've read Christopher Marlowe so the king who is not very secure in his heterosexuality is not fantastical. The Elinor/ William character: again not very fantastical, it's what she needed to do, so she did it. I like fantasy, I like historical fiction. What is difficult about this book, is the language. Sherman wanted us to know so much about the medieval setting that she uses medieval vocabulary. For me, who reads voraciously it's not a problem, for my high school students to whom reading is decidedly _not_ a pleasure, it is a barrier to refer to cows as kine and vespers and matins as times of day. I could wish this very good story were more accessible to more readers.

Another thing I could wish for: this book is so long out of print and recently re-printed. Why was it re-printed as an expensive trade paperback? This forced me to look for it for years used. (It was well worth the wait...)

this collection of stories contains some gems and some that are pretty bad. it's tough to judge sherman alexie on this collection. "Assimilation" is a story that had a lot of potential until it started to become choppy and just ended. "toughest indian in the world" was a good story until the end, when it took a homosexual twist for no purpose at all. and in the closing words of the story alexie seemed to be trying to say something, just not anything the reader will pick up. "south by southwest" made some sort of attempt at being profound gay fiction but failed almost as miserably as the plot. "the sin eaters" is by far the best piece in the collection. it's what kafka would have written if he were indian. this story is a rarity in the collection, it starts off well and doesn't fizzle out. "saint junior" is a sweet story about love that just isn't interesting. "dear john wayne"...it's tough to figure out just what alexie was trying to do here. "one good man" is another sweet story about the love between a father and son, that, like "saint junior" just isn't interesting, though the candy hunt passage was good. i can't say not to purchase this collection, because you should read "the sin eaters" but maybe you should borrow it if you know someone who has a copy.

Sherman Alexie's narratives in "The Toughest Indian in the World" combine the author's matter-of-fact, understated style with his edgy humor, irony and passion. The result is a collection of short stories (with numerous subplots) which will always make you think, sometimes make you laugh, and sometimes make you get angry. Alexie's heroes come from different tribes and all walks of life, but whether they themselves like it or not, they are all Indian - not: "Native American." ("You ain't Indian," the Spokane father of a Spokane student thrown out of class over the question "What is an Indian?" tells his son's mixed-race professor in "One Good Man." "No. You might be a Native American but you sure as hell ain't Indian.") Not all of these stories are light fare - "The Sin Eaters," which reflects on the darkest chapters of American Indian history, is strongly reminiscent of Huxley's "Brave New World." (Not recommended reading before you go to bed, at least if you have a vivid imagination.) But whether hilariously funny or dead-serious, you will not be able to put them down until you've read the very last page - and you will be sorry when you have.

"Writin' is fightin'!" poet/novelist/essayist Ishmael Reed has declared. No doubt. Saying the pen (or the word processor) is mightier than the sword recognizes that literacy and literature are heavy weapons. Writers I respect and cherish wield words effectively to combat ignorance, bias, prejudice, limited expectations, all sorts of social and intellectual short-sightedness. A writer throws down a gauntlet to the reader-"Deal with this!" A really good writer will likewise challenge himself.

Sherman Alexie steps up with his second collection of short stories. Here are only about half as many stories as THE LONE RANGER AND TONTO FISTFIGHT IN HEAVEN, but they're longer, fuller. They evidence his growth, maturity, in craft and imagination. Though he's not above old tricks like narrative sleight-of-hand - his ironic sense of humor is, if anything, even wryer - his style, while still lean, is now not quite so spare.

THE TOUGHEST INDIAN IN THE WORLD reflects Alexie's and his characters' journeys in "the adult world." They must make choices about who they are, where they live and what they do, and especially, who they're with. Then again, just as journalist Louis Lomax noted, every writer ("like every preacher") has "one great theme" that he returns to over and again. Alexie's is (to borrow from James Baldwin) "the price of the ticket," that two-way cost of modern Indian assimilation - forward and outward into "American" society, while yet attempting to bridge the disconnection from tradition and heritage.

These stories range in emotional resonance from resigned sigh to primal scream. They depict, often, people at personal crossroads. In fact, love and choice (with "love," particularly, in the sense of M. Scott Peck's landmark THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED - the expression of a will and commitment to enable spiritual growth and respect uniqueness - not to be confused with "romance") are the source of their drama - and the elusive solution.

There are the Coeur d'Alene woman high-tech executive and the city-bred Spokane corporate lawyer, each living "the American dream" life while harboring inner rage at the choices they've made, their self-reflective rage literally finding stereotypic Indian figures to help shatter their "civilized" boundaries. There's the feckless poet looking for love in all the wrong people. The pudgy teenager willing to be the hostage of an inept, alienated holdup man. Most harrowing (and deliberately so, since it's a literal nightmare) is the protracted horror of a young boy swept along in the cascading events of "the final solution of the Indian problem."

There's some wistfulness also: The recollections of the woman loved by John Wayne on the set of "The Searchers." The adult son who extends himself to ease the last days of his diabetic amputee father. And my favorite, "Saint Junior," where the recognition that a married couple achieves strikes me as being, really, about anything you truly hold dear in life: Affection is helpful, maybe essential, but will and commitment get the job done...

"He loved her, of course, but better than that, he chose her, day after day. Choice: that was the thing. Other people claimed that you can't choose who you love--it just happens!--but Grace and Roman knew that was a bunch... Of course you chose who you loved. If you didn't choose, you ended up with what was left--the drunks and abusers, the debtors and vacuums, the ones who ate their food too fast or had never read a novel. Damn, marriage was hard work, was manual labor, and unpaid manual labor at that. Yet, year after year, Grace and Roman had pressed their shoulders against the stone and rolled it up the hill together."

The best thing I can say about this book (keeping in mind it was like "dessert," the third Alexie book I read in one week - yes, that taken by his work!) is that a year later, I can still feel the stories. Know what I mean? They "live" with me! Like someone's children you've grown fond of, you may forget the names but you don't forget the shape of the faces, the outline and texture of their personalities, your emotional response to them. And you're sure that you'll carry the memory with you for the rest of your life.

This book is not the book you need if you are trying to get pregnant. It isn't plainly written and even wastes your time talking about animal reproduction. The book you MUST read is Toni Weschler's "Taking Charge of Your Fertility." It gives you the right information and is very easy to read. Toni's book lets you feel more in control by showing you how to understand what your body is doing during your cycle and how to use it to get pregnant.

While this book may contain a lot of medical & factual information, it lacks the hands-on personal touch of other books on the market such as Toni Weschler's excellent book Taking Charge of Your Fertility (which I would re-name the Fertility Bible). If I were to recommend one of the two books it would be TCYF. Not to mention the book fell short in keeping my interest. Don't waste your money!

I have to disagree with some of the poor reviews. After trying to get pregnant for 2 years, I got this book and began following some of Dr. Silber's advice, on my own thought I had figured out what my problem was after charting my temperature and reading the chapter on that, and sure enough went to the Dr who diagnosed the problem I suspected I was having. I was started on Clomid and was pregnant a few months later!

I just couldn't get into this book, as for the most part it was so boring. The superb characterisations were almost a redeeming feature, namely Spock, Uhura and Captain David Rabin, but that alone does not make for exciting reading. Some interesting set pieces. Commander Uhura left in charge of the USS Intrepid goes up against a Klingon ship. There is some insight into Spock's background but it was far from engrossing and left you gasping for some in depth anecdotes about his Starfleet Academy years and not about his sketchy reasons for joining Starfleet. There's his well established prickly relationship with his father Sarek but there was little else of interest. David Rabin's suggestion of Starfleet as a career not withstanding.

I'm sorry we've yet to see the definitive Spock novel, this is not it.

Star Trek: Vulcan's Forge written by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz is a book that has a primary goalof filling in some of the holes in the life of Spock.

The book takes us from a time period just over a year when Captain James T. Kirk was lost in the Nexus string after saving the U.S.S. Enterprise 1701-B from sure destruction. But, that is not all as we go back further in Spock's life. We go back to when Spock was a teenager... his friends and one certain Captain David Rabin.

As an attempted coup was being played out on Vulcan these two became very close. The people of Vulcan would not have been who the are now if the coup succeded. Later David Rubin was assigned to a planet much like Vulcan... harsh, desert, and hot.

Sabotage is the foe on this planet and Rabin with Spock's help trry to get to the bottom of this unknown force. The destiny of this planet is a stake. These are just some of the stories that are recalled while Spock was reflecting on his youthful adventures. The dialog is true to the characters and their development is apparent and the authors work the story.

This is a fast read and a very engaging narrative making you read ill the end. This is a book with a dramatic tale and to know Spock this is a must read.

This book is highly enjoyable, well written and comes in the chronology at a painful time - just after Kirk's "death". Some people will nit-pick the details, or the addition of new characters, but on the whole this is an excellent piece of science fiction writing that can stand on its own outside the Star Trek genre. I really enjoyed this book.

Always knew Uhura had it in her. When does she get her own ship?

Why do we have to have a definitive Spock book anyway? He has evolved over time: science officer, first officer, captain, diplomat, ambassador, idealist working for unification. This spans an important gap in Spock's life and I can't wait to find out more.

Don't feel ashamed to recommend this one to your non-Trekker friends. It's just a smashing good read!

After looking at the book and reading the reviews I agree most with the reader who said you must have interest in the subject matter. In the last review the reader rated the book as very good but in his own words he had stayed on a reservation and had a great interest in and a super knowledge of the subject. I can see how someone with interest would enjoy it but for me,as someone without the above after 30 or so pages this book became a chore to get through.

I met Cates at the Native American Music Awards in 2001 and many of the artists photographed for her book were there. All of them were beaming at the how beautiful the book is, and Cates was even getting autographs! She captures a lot of the truth - good and bad- about modern Native America.

When I opened the first page of this book I was totally mesermized with it and did not put it down until I looked through the whole thing. I have been all over the Southwest and have many Native friends and this book brought such warm feelings to me. I like the way it shows the different ways the people live, and diminishes the sterotype that so many think about when they think of "Indians".

Gentle reader,

Five stars for the book, provided it is in the LATEST edition.

Why does this outmoded edition come up when I enter the title here, 2-04-2003?

You need the latest edition, with the latest forms! 2003 was the beginning of new form listings for all California Dissolution of Marriage forms! So the forms used since 1997, are no longer used as of the first day of 2003.

I bought this 25th edition in mid January, 2003, at a local bookstore, paying list price, because I thought I was in a hurry, then called for the free updates, as mentioned inside. I was not informed by that bookseller that all the California forms have been changed; some a little, some quite substantially, as of 1/1/2003! Also, I didn't know then that the new changes would be coming out in the new *26th * edition, coming available at the end of January, 2003.

Every one of the forms has been changed in some way, and so the old ones are obsolete. The author asks us to make sure the edition is the latest, and be sure to call NOLO Press for free updates, if the edition is more than 6 months old.
I returned this edition, as it is more historical than informative. I am about to get the latest one as soon as I finish this review.

If the forms are all being changed again, NOLO may refer you to the (California Courts: forms) online, which are available through browsers, on the net.

I would Strongly recommend you be sure you are getting the latest edition of this work. The 26th is discounted here and now, so get that one, or whichever updated version is available when you read this, and I wish for you the in life, and the best possible results with your divorce.

The book and its structure is very, very helpful. Unfortunately the CD with all the forms is disappointing. The forms are old (you can update over the web (in-consistent, in-complete, hard to find) and the 'save' function of the forms is miserable. You have to save after EVERY line you edited and open it again not to loose your entry. Com' on guys, you can do better.

I bought this book and did the entire paperwork in ONE DAY. Previously, I hired a lawyer, paid $$$, just to get the wrong forms. This is so simple and it has the correct forms! and it shows you how to fill them in!

Michael Fellman writes an outstanding account of General William T. Sherman's private life that is essential to understanding the mind of the famous general. The book is not a thorough biography of the commander of the Army of the Tennessee, but instead, an analysis of the Sherman's state of mind in his official and private correspondence. Fellman highlights the important episodes in the general's life and correlates them into a firm portrait of Sherman's flaws and personality quirks. Although the author does not indulge in psychobabble about his subject matter, he does present several analytical theories that readers might find interesting. Citizen Sherman best serves as a supplement to other studies of the general in understanding this complex man.

Some of the above reviews have merit, Fellman definitely puts Sherman on the couch, and, I also don't usually like this, as it takes some liberties that may not be entirely correct. However, it will take more than one source on Sherman to help the reader draw their own conclusions about the man. This said, I very much enjoyed reading Fellman's analysis. I did find it light militarily, however, I really wasn't looking for that kind of bio on Sherman. A history teacher, this was my first exposure to "Cumpy" the man, as opposed to military commander. I found myself wanting to research him more as a result of reading this book, as I feel it inspired me to learn more about him. There is an implication here that the book did not tell me everything I needed to know, but, as stated above, I found myself not really minding as I enjoyed Fellman's ease with words and the simplicity of the smooth flowing text. Therefore, I didn't critique it so much for being a bit on the lighter side of research work. I found that I would need to consult other sources for more information anyway. Having read Grant's bio and Foote's Civil War trilogy, I found this to be a good introduction to Sherman as an individual, especially after hearing Grant's praise of the man in his own work. I'm interested to read Sherman's own book after reading Citizen Sherman, can compare some of Fellman's analysis with Sherman's own. I very much enjoyed the section on Sherman's women, and the way that the text was oriented less chronologically than in the different departments of Sherman's life.

I have read dozens of autobiographical accounts of the Civil War by its leaders, both Northern and Southern. Most of these accounts were, of course, written in the sentimental, shielded, "polite society" style of the post-civil war/turn of the century years. Although these books offer valuable insight into the author's actions and reactions, philosophy, and basic moral structure, they leave the modern reader without a real knowledge who the author was as a person. It is only through a thorough understanding of the subject of a biography/autobiography that the reader can truly appreciate the way in which a subject continues to influence us years after that person made his mark on the world. For example, everyone knows that Sherman was a hard-headed, all-out warrior whose unwavering determination helped the Union win the Civil War. But not everybody knows about the Sherman who, during the war years, was an unhappily married man whose heart died when his favorite son did; a man who, years after the dust and gunsmoke settled, sought to recover dormant emotional feelings by seeking the companionship of women half his age. It does seem that there are a few very minute points in this book that are historical misrepresentations, most likely caused by oversight. But despite its few flaws, it gives a full and complete portrait of Sherman, the human being - someone we must see for all he was in truth, before we can truly understand his impact on American History.