Lytton Strachey, a member of the Bloomsbury group, altered the way biographies were written with this volume of four well-known Victorians. At the time the book was published, it skewered the hypocrisies and self-assured nature of the Victorians. Even today, when we are so far removed from the Victorian age that it seems quaint and even attractive, this book's attack on the deadening effect of much of that time still rings true. And it is as readable now as it was then; Strachey was one of the wittiest men of his time, and this book is his most successful work. Interestingly, he became less iconoclastic as he grew older, and his later biography of Queen Victoria (not one of the four figures contained in Eminent Victorians) is rather respectful. If you enjoy this book (and almost anyone would), you might want to try to see the movie released several years ago titled "Carrington." It is based on a biography of Strachey by Milchael Holroyd, but is told from the point of view of a woman who fell hopelessly in love with Strachey; unfortunately for her, he was a confirmed homosexual, but she loved him anyway. Emma Thompson plays the title roal and Jonathan Pryce is an excellent Strachey.

Most of us here in the old "colony" have probably never heard of General Gordon. For Brits, he's a legendary eccentric military man of the late 1800's who died a hero in terrible circumstances.(At least that's what I think many Brits think..) After a brilliant career in many parts of the vast Empire, and beyond, Gen Gordon was sent to control some Islamic revolutionary jihadist types (sound familiar) led by a charismatic Mahdi (messiah). By all accounts the general was a man worthy of this assignment, and brought his small force to Khartoum to free the slaves, and rally the locals...The rest is bizarre and insane in the extreme with the good general suffering breakdowns of sorts, including having dinner with some rodent friends...When word gets to London, after political maneuvering and bickering, the people damand an expeditionary force to save Gordon and his men.Too late!! A great tragedy ensues. If there's a better short bio out there than this one, I'd read it ASAP...Florence Nightingale has a great story too, and her experiences show once again the horrors of war (this time the earlier Crimean one), and indifference of the comfortable few sitting at home by the fireplace in willful ignorance. No doubt she was a force to be reckoned with, and her ideas about clean hospitals and nursing helped change the world...This book is recommended to those looking for a different historical perspective on current events, and for nurse everywhere! The other two bios are good, but may be put aside for later.

The most famous anecdote about this book (and the one that made me aware of it) is the scene of Bertrand Russell in his prison cell incarcerated for his Pacifism during WWI laughing hysterically while reading the work. (And being henceforth rebuked by a guard for doing so in what was, after all, a penal institution.)-The other reviewers are pretty much on the mark in that Strachey set a new standard for biography.-But the piece on General Gordon surpasses all. I can see myself on death row laughing over this section.-It is in part a sad reflection on what years in the Sudan can do to an orthodox Englishman's mind. It is indeed uncanny to hear Gordon aver, on his famous expedition to save Khartoum, nearly the exact words of Baudelaire as he gazed across the perhaps too familiar desert landscape:"It is necessary to be drunken always. This is everything. This is the unique question." (my translation)-This is the aged General the sober English sent on this perilous quest. This is the man who daily battled with the question of what God's Will was for him.-What the Gordon section and the others show, of course, is that man (or woman) is not one-dimensional. Far more often, he(she)is multi-dimensional to the point of being paradoxical. The hypocritical Victorian mindset was pushed over the edge by this book.

With the completion of Glinda of OZ, I can now claim to have read every one of L. Frank Baum's OZ books, including the short story compilation.

After glancing at Glinda's Magic Record book, Dorothy notices war has been declared in a remote corner of OZ no one has ever visited. Being the good, just, and noble queen she is, Ozma decides to travel there with Dorothy and the wooden sawhorse in order to implore her people to solve their differences without violence. The journey there is practically uneventful (Ozma and Dorothy adroitly find themselves out of only one misstep), but once they visit Evil Queen Coo-eh-oh they find themselves imprisoned under a globe. Glinda, alerted of their peril by an enchanted ring she gave to Dorothy, sets out immediately with all of OZ's favorite characters in order to rescue the two girls and make peace between the Flatheads and the Skeezers.

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this story as much as I did the others; perhaps that is because I've grown up and lost my ability to see the playful fun in Baum's books-although I certainly hope not!

"In which are related the Exciting Experiences of Princess Ozma of Oz, and Dorothy, in their hazardous journey to the home of the Flatheads, and to the Magic Isle of the Skeezers, and how they were rescued from dire peril by the sorcery of Glinda the Good."

Always one of my favorite Oz books, Glinda was Baum's last and posthumously published. I can't count how many times I've actually reread it over the years-- that should be enough of a review in and of itself.

Excitment surged through me as I browsed the bookstore shelf, I had found the long-forgotten OZ shelf of the childrens section. I read most of the OZ books long ago, but I had noticed that there were a few that I didn't recall reading, so I ventured into the corner were Frank Baums captivating stories were held. I bought this book, excited about Dorothys adventures that I had yet to experience, and when I opened the cover, I noticed a note stating that this was Baum's last book, and that the publishers were going to try to create another book about OZ. I obviously noticed that this never came to be. Baum seemed to know this would be his last book, because the world of Oz went out with a bang. Every loved character was mentioned, or brought back into the wonderful tale of Dorothy, Ozma, Glinda, Flatheads and Skeezers. In a tribute to the amazing wizard of literature, this was one of Baum's best books about everyones favorite fairyland...OZ.

Captain Marryat's "THE CHILDREN OF THE NEW FOREST" is a wonderful tale in narrative, historically rich and quite fascinating. This story of adventure, treachery, and love takes place during the English Civil War, when fellow countrymen are found enemies, and are set against each other, Roundhead and Cavalier, Parliament and the King. Many hoped for the same thing: justice. But, for a long time, neither could find it. In the midst of all were the Beverlies, the family of a faithful Cavalier, who died in service of the king. His four children were left orphaned when their mother died of grief. Then, word came to them that the Roundheads were going to burn down their estate, Arnwood. Fate sent them into the hands of an old forester, Jacob Armitage, and they escaped to his cottage. From there, the story unfolds. It is a classic worthy of shelving in libraries, in private or in public collections, recommended by many educators, and by me, with all due praise.

The Children of the new forest is a brilliant insight into what england was like in the 15th century. It tells how four wealthy children are without warning suddenly plunged into poverty, when the roundheads fire their house looking for the king. It tells how the heir of the burnt house and his brother and sisters strive to become what they should have been without the roundheads. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get hooked on something, but is not too hard. It is an excellent book to learn from and look at carefully, and is gripping to the very end.

This is a unique book with a quality and style that is timeless. True classic that every child would greatly benefit from reading.

This is a very comprehensive collection of Gibson's photographs, spanning his career right up to 1999. There are some notes on the collections, but it concentrates on the photos. It includes "Chiaroscuro" and "Days At Sea" among others - all very cool shots; his use of contrast is amazing! My only disappointment is the format of the book - it is paperback-sized but incredibly thick, I hope the spine will last! I love his work and enjoy browsing through the book (be warned for many nude shots though).

Gibson was one of my early favorites when I became interested in photography back in 1973. I have always found his work to be thought-provoking and inspiring. This is a huge collection that covers his work from the beginning. If he has produced one indispensible book, this is it. My only complaint about the book is the format. It's just too many pages to be presented in a paperback. As much as I return to this volume, the binding is showing rapid wear.

I can recommend this book-brick sized, jam-packed with some 800 pages of mostly black and white (but some color) photographs on such things as street and travel photography, portraits and a few nudes.

It's interesting to witness the progression of Gibson's style since the 1960s, up to the late 90s. At first, he was more interested in photojournalism and took those kinds of shots-wider, more encompassing. Later, he became more interested in the abstract, usually singling out one subject/idea and getting very close in. I find it particularly interesting that the vast majority of his photos are shot vertically. This is Gibsons signature style and he does it quite well. And for a black and white photographer, his color stuff is sure great! All of this is in this book.

As to as the size of the book, I have no complaints. It's very think and feels sturdy so I feel like I got my money's worth. I have opened it up all the way, spreading the pages out nearly flat so that I can study the photographs better. Doing this creased the spine, but so what? I think the spine is supposed to be like that and the book has held up well, especially for the price paid. ... This book would make a neat gift for someone who is interested in photography and doesn't mind some bit of sexual content (ie. probably not for a child).

The authors provide an excellent overview of what to expect when embarking upon the implementation of an enterprise resource planning system like SAP. They provide thoughtful insight on factors that should influence the decision to proceed with such a project as well as sufficient detail on the particulars of SAP.

An excellent introduction to SAP by people who live and breath it.

This book has excellent sections on Business Case, Functionality (showing the links between modules, not just functions)and Deployment Options. It really helped me understand what I was going into implementing SAP for my company.

The Book has only two dissappointing sections. The chapter on process reengineering could have been better structured and applied, Hammer has better material. The walk through of methodology in chapters 17 and 18 was dry, uninspiring and again unapplied. More could have been written on ASAP.

This book is designed for managers and deciders who are in an evaluation phase and compare different ERP solutions. R/3 is a world-class integrated ERP solution and the less risky possible choice. If there is any doubt left, this book will convince the reader. SAP is not just a piece of software, it's also a culture and a club. Belonging to it is a real asset in someone's career.

As I am very interested in the historical and mythological nature of Puck (aka Robin Goodfellow), best known for his role as the mischief-making fairy in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, I found these works by Kipling to be invaluable. These two novels are not only an excellent presentation of Puck, but an insight to British history. While considered children's books, I would recommend them to any adult in search of light reading. Truly two wonderful works of literature.

_Puck of Pook's Hill_ is a set of stories, somewhat linked, about the history of England, built around a frame story involving two young children, Dan and Una, meeting Puck in a meadow near their Sussex home. Puck somehow arranges for a series of historical people, ghosts, I suppose, to come and tell stories of events near their home in the past 2000 years. There are four stories told by Sir Richard Dalyngridge, one of William the Conqueror's men, on the theme of assimilation of the Normans and Saxons into one people: the English. There are three Roman stories, set in 375 AD or so, about a Centurion from the Isle of Wight who holds Hadrian's Wall against the Picts and the Norsemen while Maximus, his general, declares himself Emperor and takes Gaul then heads into Rome (where the real Emperor had him killed, understandably enough). The three other stories deal with the rebuilding of the local church in Henry VII's time, a rebuilding project menaced by smugglers, with the flight of the fairies from England at the time of the Reformation, and with the role of a Jew in forcing John to sign the Magna Carta. (This last an uneasy mixture of anti-Semitism with an apparent attempt to not be anti-semitic.)

_Rewards and Fairies_ presents eleven more stories told by Puck's agency to Dan and Una. We meet some familiar characters again (the church builder, and Richard Dalynrydge), and even some major historical figures: Queen Elizabeth, George Washington, Napoleon. On the whole the stories aren't quite as good as those in _Puck_, though "Marklake Witches" is very good, very moving.

Both books include a number of poems, usually closely associated with the themes of the stories.

These are generally fine stories, but for my taste not up to the level of my favorite Kipling stories, such as "Mrs. Bathurst" and "'They'" and "The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes" and "The Story of Mohammed Din". Still, the plain craft of the stories is as ever with Kipling remarkable.

Kipling's prose has a very special quality - quintissentially English, proud and very robust.

I asked a scholar of English and a Buddhist meditation teacher to recommend a good book for me and she thought briefly before mentioning this.

The poems in it are sometimes dated - the one about queen and country but this is a warm and pleasant read containing many important and esoteric aspects that few care to appreciate.

Ideal to communicate something about being a whole human being and this earthy realm with some of its hidden and ancient forces.

This is an enjoyable mystery in the classic mode with some deft turns. But it is completely unedited and riddled throughout with type-os and silly mistakes. Surely no person at the publishing house read this book before it was released; I'd go so far as to say no one bothered to use spell-check to detect ludicrous errors. In most cases, the correct spelling or usage is fairly easy to figure. In one, a "Mrs." should have been a "Mr." and that caused a bit of confusion. Readers appreciate these budget-priced editions, but couldn't someone at the publishing house give them a look after they've been scanned into the computer? Surely a summer intern in the editorial department might even have a good time reading this pleasant little mystery.

This is Mary Roberts Rinehart at her best. The author tells a haunting tale which is on a par with The Yellow Room. Rinehart is a master at setting the stage and draws the reader in with her unique stlye of mystery writting. She expertly developes the plot and her character descriptions are flawless. A real page turner and a great read.

For decades Mary Roberts Rinehart was the queen of mystery thrillers -- the American Agatha Christie. The Circular Staircase was Rinehart's first published novel (The Swimming Pool was her last), but it is a well-constructed work in ever way. Rinehart's special gift was in the evocation of an overlying and unremitting atmosphere of unease and potential danger and it is under such an atmosphere of apprehension that she spins her stories. For some time it has been fashionable to dismiss the novels of Mary Roberts Rinehart as old fashioned. This may apply to superficial details -- such as gas lighting -- but it definitely is not true of the novels themselves which are timeless in their ability to hold the reader in a grip of mystery and suspense. The Circular Stasircase is one of the finest mystery novels ever written.

This was an unusual little book but I thoroughly enjoyed it. There were a few quirky points I could nitpick about -- the characters are a little mannered and Mr. Mifflin, the eccentric but charming bookseller, is at his best discussing books and less interesting as an anti-war crusader, but these I wrote off to the time period the book was written. For me, they didn't distract much from the overall enjoyment of the book. Even the mystery to the plot turned out better than I'd expected. I haven't read the prior book, "Parnassus on Wheels" but I've added it to my future reading list.

Published at a time when booksellers were concerned that "speechless movies" would destroy the book trade, and the action hero of the day was Tarzan, The Haunted Bookshop stands up to any modern novel of political intrigue. The story line revolves around the events at the end of World War I. President Wilson, the upcoming peace talks, and a disappearing copy of Oliver Cromwell's speeches all come together in a mystery that is full of surprises.

Roger Mifflin, the proprietor of the Haunted Bookshop, is saddened to think he shall die with thousands of books unread. Yet, he finds the time to uncover a plot by a group of German thugs and prevents a tragedy that could have changed the course of world history. Allow yourself some time to stick with this book and like a visit to the Haunted Bookshop itself, you will find yourself exploring a fascinating place with many twists and turns just waiting to be discovered.

It's been years since I read The Haunted Bookshop, but it's one of those books that really stays with you. The proprietor of the bookshop has the proper attitude about selling books and has the sign posted right up on his wall: "We sell no fakes or trashes." I first read the book when I was in 9th grade, and remember thinking wistfully that I would love to visit the Haunted Bookshop. To my immense delight, I've discovered a few over the years, where I've made wonderful finds I never would have discovered at [local stores]. When you run across one of these bookstores, they are a joy to remember forever.

Leroux's story, in this writer's opinion, truly tops those of Doyle. It's a seemingly impossible case to solve, so complex that a diagram of the house has to be inserted in the book, and the outcome is surprising. Do not be thrown off by Leroux's seemingly clunky writing -- a complaint many have had with his other famous novel "The Phantom of the Opera." Leroux was originally a journalist, and even as an author, found it more comfortable to write his fiction as though they were written by a journalist, perhaps for a newspaper.

There are a couple of odd things that I guess just don't translate into English. One, throughout the entire novel they discuss "the murder of Mmme. Stangerson" -- though in fact it was simply an attempted murder. For many chapters I was trying to figure out how Mmme. Stangerson could be talking if she was murdered.

Also, my diagram seems to be missing a crucial number explaining where one of the windows is. While this is frustrating, it is fully possible to enjoy the novel anyway. I highly recommend this book, whether you're a Leroux fan, a mystery fan, or a fan of early 20th century fiction.

Harika arkada$lar, tek kelimeyle harika. Son sayfaya kadar sizi içinde tutabilen bir kitap. Olaylarin bi açiklamasi olabilecegini dü$ünmüyosunuz bile. kitabin sonuna kadar meraktan çatlamazsaniz gerçekten çok $a$iracaksiniz. (Duydunuz mu adnan & inci ?)

Leroux stated in this book that his purpose was to creat something totally different from traditional detectives such as Poe's Dupin and Doyle's Holmes, his mission was very well accomplished. Not only the mystery is out of the traditional line, but also the solution.

Strictly speaking, Poe and Doyle never wrote locked-room, at least they did not intend to write. In this novel, we find totally fresh mysteries: murderer escaped from locked door and barred window; murderer disappeared when chased by people from several directions in a gallery. If a reader is very familiar with Carr's mysteries, the above poses no difficulties. However, DO remember, Leroux is the creator while Carr is just a good (or not so good) imitator, only by this way can one fully and truely appreciate Leroux's originality and great contribution.

Despite the plot, the narrative is Sherlockian style, which can keep readers thinking, and is much prefered to Carr's leaping style.

There is inevitably some weakness in the novel. The major one lies in the research paper, whose disappearance and return are not at all well explained. Since the plot can well stand alone without the paper, its presence is really excessive. Besides that, what I hate is the detective's from-nowhere remarks, which are purposely employed to show the detective's "superhuman" ability by making readers totally dumbfounded, and which then disappointly turn out to be something from his eavesdropping. And I hate the everything-is-possible-with-Mr.-super-villain explanation, why not just let the murderer be an alien, with whom everything is more possible?

In conclusion, this novel is worth reading, not only in its historical sense, but also as a detective story. One will not be disappointed if one can tolerate Carr's novel.

A first novel--and it shows. Has all the charm of Barbara Pym's best work (Excellent Women, No Fond Return of Love) but is marred by narrative clumsiness and (frankly) lousy technique: characters appear out of nowhere, conversations start one place and end in another, etc. Skip this and focus on her later, great work.

Some Tame Gazelle is an early Barbara Pym
novel, but her many strengths are fully in evidence. She shows that she knows her way with provincial village life, which she portrays in neither a fond haze nor quite in the harsh light of reality, but in some alternative dimension, like our own, but somehow a bit more kind. The protagonists are two "Pym women", middle-aged, content, educated middlebrows, shrewd, amusing, humble and yet quite self-possessed. The central joke--"spinsters" doting on the local clergy--is soon lost in the subtle but larger point: these are two women who live life largely on their own terms, affectations and all. This is a good read, not at all an "early" novel. My only real criticism is that the plot seems to spin a bit in mid-novel, but it rights itself again by the end.

In the early chapters of "Some Tame Gazelles" we are taken on a "Pym moments" romp through the day-to-day lives of the spinster sisters, Belinda and Harriet Bede. Timid, sentimental Belinda (one of Pym's "Excellent Women")elder of the two, a faithful church worker, has loved the peevish, married Archdeacon Henry Hoccleve ("dear Henry") for over 30 years. Belinda quotes 18th Century poets, wears "sensible" shoes and longs for "some sympathetic person to whom she could say that Dr. Johnson had been so right when he had said that all change is of itself an evil." Plump ("attractive in a fat Teutonic way"),jolly and style-conscious Harriet, in her middle fifties, has a fondness for young curates to whom she serves boiled chicken suppers and makes presents of hand-knitted socks and home-made jellies. We meet: The Reverend Edgar Donne, the latest in a long line of young curates fussed over by Harriet; Edith Liversidge ("a kind of decayed gentlewoman"), the disheveled, blunt-speaking neighbor with an interest in sanitation arrangements; the dreary, snobbish Connie Aspinall, who basks in the memory of her glory days when she was companion to Lady Grudge of Belgrave Square ("a kind of relation of one of Queen Alexandra's Ladies-in-Waiting"); Miss Prior, the touchy sewing woman, in a tender and humorous episode involving cauliflower cheese; the melancholy Count Ricardo Bianco, who on a regular basis offers proposals of marriage to Harriet. There is Archdeacon Hoccleve, the object of Belinda's devotion ("her passion had mellowed into a comfortable feeling more like the cosiness of a winter evening by the fire than the uncertain rapture of a spring morning"), whose standoffish behavior and proclivity for choosing unsuitable prayers and for preaching obscure literary sermons no one understands win him little favor among the people in his parish. And there are more matchless Pym characters set against a quintessential Pym story, touching and funny and quite wonderful.