A school history textbook has only so much space in which to present an event often trivializing them. A book like this written in the first person, albeit by a fictional character, makes a much greater impact on the reader because it easily removes their sense of disbelief and immerses them in the action.

A Time For Courage also contains an Epilogue that continues characters' lives after the story ends, a Historical Note about the time period with photos of those involved in the suffrage movement and a Timeline of Women in Politics. This is an excellent book!

There is no better way to expand or fill out your knowlege of the East Coast Punk Rock scene than this book. Packed with excellent photos that capture what DC was like when bands like Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Iron Cross, and Government Issue were happening. It's a glimpse into a scene that served as a blueprint for cities all over America in it's earliest, and yes, even New Wave-y stages. Most of the photos are of people/bands involved with two of the most influential organizations that are still part of the DC scene, Dischord Records and Positive Force. Initally, this could seem like an obvious editorial slant, but when you realize the photos are mostly from their personal collections, the book becomes enjoyable as an example of a bunch of kids who just happened to document the life they were leading. Through the comments that accompany the pictures from the various contributors you also get a sense of how it felt to be there, with them, as they created one of the most creative and long-lasting Punk Rock communities ever.

As top secret as federal agencies go, the Multiphasic Operations and Research Group known as MORG now knows that Eden has psychic abilities. MORG insists on owning Eden and her skills. They will do anything and everything to gain what they want. Eden goes on the lam as MORG sees her as rectifying the mistakes made when her now deceased biological mother escaped them (see THE FURY).

John Farris returns to the realm of THE FURY with this entertaining sequel. THE FURY AND THE TERROR is filled with non-stop action, but contains a sense of humor that at times satirizes the story line and the first book, and thus never allows the science to overwhelm the plot. Readers will relish much of the cast including the Lady Macbeth like plots of the First Lady. Readers will enjoy this novel, its predecessor (and the movie) and await the next book, THE FURY AND THE POWER.

Harriet Klausner

This required office space, housing, entertainment and above all people, people, people. More people than anyone imagined could be supported in our ten mile square federal district.

David Brinkley saw the transformation first hand. People and buildings could literally not be deployed fast enough in our nation's capitol city to keep up with the demands of World War. The effort to accomodate this change is an interesting story told well by the author. The pace and magnitude of change is fascinating to behold. One wonders how the bureaucracy that took a 250,000 man fighting force from wooden training rifles to the millions who had 50,000 aircraft alone to deploy against our enemies were able to undertake this phenominal expansion in reasonably good order. As Brinkley tells it, it was part good old American "can-do" attitude coupled with a near unanimous belief in our mission and dedication to winning the war.

Somehow the City, and the people responsible for running its only true industry (government) managed the task and its transformation fairly well.

Brinkley is a good story teller, and his chronicle of how Washington changed during the war years is also the story of America coming of age. He brings a fresh descriptive narrative to what turns out to be a pretty interesting story.

Each of these books covers a different aspect of America's involvement in World War II. Taken as a grouping, these three may be the definitive report of the social history of the moment, as impacted by that War. Obviously, Tom Brokaw's book of individual reminiscences, THE GREATEST GENERATION, must be included with this list as well.

In common with all of these others, David Brinkley, too, is an excellent writer who makes history lively and interesting. As with each of the other books mentioned in this group, WASHINGTON GOES TO WAR can stand alone on its own merits. Yet each of these books gains synergistically by being read in tandem with the others.

This was a fascinating moment in modern history, and David Brinkley tells tales that most readers would have no other way of learning.

In sum - if you are new to the world of thoroughbreds and racing this is the book to start with. By the time you are through, you will appreciate the history and understand the passion and love of thoroughbreds.

First off, if you don't understand anything about computers, this book may be a bit difficult for you. For example, you need to know what uploading is, downloading, chatting, instant messaging, etc. However, you thankfully don't need to be a programmer to enjoy this book. Andrews makes sure to explain some of the things that might be hard for the average computer user to understand, so, for the most part, the technical aspects of this book are easy to follow. The mystery itself was captivating. I couldn't put the book down, because I wanted to find out what Turing and her friends would uncover next.

I do have one problem with the book, though, which is why is got a four and not a five. Some of the book is from Tim's point of view, while other parts are from Maude's. A large part of the book is from Turing's point of view. Because Turing is a computer, she can't really interact with the physical world that much. She can look through security cameras, but, otherwise, there are lots of descriptions of her hacking into things or looking through data. Occaisionally, it got a little boring. Also, Turing spent a lot of time agonizing over herself - was she behaving in what humans would consider an ethical way, how does one go about having a sense of humor, etc. This sort of thing helped her seem more human, not less, and it was interesting, to a point. However, after a while of this, I found myself wishing that the author had written less of this book from Turing's point of view.

In spite of this, I do really recommend this book. I'm looking forward to reading the next book.

When her creator Zach mysteriously disappears, Turing seeks the help of fellow UL human employees Tim (a xeroxist who for part of the book believes that Turing is a human being-and he wants to ask her out)and Maude who is a secretary to a UL executive. Turing uses them as her legs since she is limited to where the computer system can take her. But Turing is an unbelievable sleuth and it is fun to watch her uncover the mysterious goings-on at UL.

My only problem with this book was that I found some of the lengthy thought processes of Turing to drag the story-telling just a bit. But I do believe that Donna Andrews has created a fantastic new character and I look forward to reading future books in this series.

When Turing realizes her programmer Zach hasn't reported in for eight days, she begins to worry a bit. When Mr. Smith from security tries to break into Zach's computer she really begins to worry. She contacts her two friends at UL, Maude a secretary and Tim the copier. Both have come to adore Turing and believe she is alive, and are willing to take risks to find out what is going on at UL and how it relates to Zach's disappearance.

Turing is one of the most original, adorable and refreshing characters to grace the pages of a mystery novel. Although the protagonist lives inside a computer (for the most part) readers will choose to ignore rather quickly that she's an AI and start thinking of her as human. She, with her partner's in crime, tries to save the world for sentient AI's of the second generation. This reviewer can't wait for the sequel(s).

Harriet Klausner