This book had great stories in it and very good illistrations although few in book.

The Second Mrs. Tanqueray was first performed on May 27, 1893, at the St. James Theatre, London, with Mrs. Patrick Campbell as Paula. It was a success in its own time, and was recognised as Pinero's greatest work. It is an absolute must-read for all students of Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan, as an alternative and contemporary example of a play about a fallen woman.

More developed than Victorian Melodrama, Pinero's best known play is a tragedy of a "a woman with a past". However, unlike Wilde, Pinero does not treat at the issue of adultery as a social discussion, but as a crime that must be punished. His female protagonist, Paula, cannot be forgiven, nor understood, until she takes her own life. It is only with this death that the other characters understand their own fallability.

Aubrey Tanqueray, on the eve of his second marriage, entertains his three closest male friends at dinner. The dinner is designed as a farewell, as he believes that married friends' wives often do not get on. However, this is a masque for the real problem: his wife has "a past".

His bachelor friend, Cayley Drummle, remains after the others leave and to him Aubrey confesses the truth about "Mrs." Jarman, his future wife. Shortly after Drummle, too, has gone, Paula Jarman arrives bringing Aubrey a letter confessing certain details of her past, a letter which he chivalrously burns unopened.

We see the marriage a few months later, as Aubrey and Paula are struggling for happiness in his country house, "willowmere", in the company of Ellean, Aubrey's convent-reared daughter. She has returned to live with him, having faltered as she was about to take her vows. It becomes clear that the second Mrs Tanqueray has complex feelings for this step-daughter, and that Ellean cannot love her new step-mother. Paula is jealous of Aubrey's and Ellean's love for one another, and is anxious to win her confidence. However, this repels Ellean, who remains aloof.

To add to Paula's unhappiness, the neighbours, although old friends of Aubrey's, have conspicuously refrained from calling.

Finally Paula insists that if the neighbours will not visit, then she is going to invite Lord George Orreyed and his wife, also a notorious woman and a chorus girl, to be their guests. Horrified, Aubrey insists that she should not deliver the invitation.

To compound Paula's sense of being snubbed, their nearest neighbour finally calls, but to gain permission to take Ellean to Paris and London for the season. This inflames Paula's jealousy and sense of their precarious position in society's eyes. When Aubrey gives his permission, admitting that they themselves cannot give Ellean the social background to which she is entitled, Paula defiantly delivers her letter to the Orreyeds.

Paula finds herself utterly bored with her guests, but refuses to make up with her husband. Into this atmosphere, Ellean returns to ask her father's permission for her marriage to a Captain Ardale. Paula feels impelled to confess to Aubrey that the man who now wants to marry his daughter has been her lover and former "husband".

Ellean comprehends the situation and taunts Paula with the sort of "past" that she has already condoned in Ardale. In a final realisation that for a woman with a "past" there can be no future, Paula kills herself.

As the cutain falls, Ellean understands that her own lack of friendship contributed to the tragedy, and wails "But I know--I helped kill her. If I'd only been merciful!"

The second half of this book is the play: "Two for the See-Saw". In itself the play is fine reading but... the real entertainment is the first half of the book. We are able to discover the reality that takes place in order to get this play produced. For any "soon to be produced" playwright, aspiring playwright or just us theater lovers who enjoy reading about backstage goings on, reading this book is a must. I was totally immersed into the stops and starts and changes that the playwright had to endure just to please all those involved in the process. How much of your art and soul are you willing to give up to see a production of your play?

Written in 1870, when Trollope was at the height of his powers, Sir Harry Hotspur is a moving story of greed, courtship, and conflicting emotions. The story is simple. Harry Hotspur is immensely wealthy. He has lost his son, leaving him with just a daughter for as heir to his fortune. His daughter loves a low life cousin who wants her money. The financial troubles of the cousin, and the emotional conflict between father and daughter create the drama of this fine short novel.

Notes are at the back of each play, signalled by asterisks in the text. This is slightly inconvenient, but it allows the inclusion of most of the tragedies usually taught, in up-to-date texts (Faustus is A-text), at a very reasonable price. There is some space for annotation. The paperback is perfect-bound, which is nice.

This book is a great introduction to animal rights issues for children and their parents. The subtitle is: An Action-Packed, Fun-Filled Book to Help Kids Help Animals.

There are lessons and suggested activities for kids to make a difference in the lives of animals. Everything from building birdhouses to protesting the use of animals in circuses. There is a vast array of subjects, and this book is absolutely loaded with information. There is probably not a single animal welfare issue that this book does not cover.

Parents should be aware that there is some deep and unsettling subject matter here. It is presented in a way that is certainly suitable for children. But parents may want to use this book interactively with their child, so that they may be there to answer any questions.

Though this book is now out of print, I certainly recommend buying a used copy.

I'm still pretty new at recording, so this book was pretty good fro me. It's not very thick. I read it in one sitting. I did learn quite a bit, but it's not too in depth like I'd hoped. It comes with a cd that was only somewhat helpful. I did learn a lot, though, but it wouldn't be good if you weren't a beginner like me.

In this bleak novel Elizabeth Gaskell deftly weaves a dark thread of history into her narrative tapestry. While war hovers on the margins of the novel, no one is left unaffected by its horror. After a sometimes painfully slow setup of domestic life in the seaside town of Monkshaven in the first third of the book, the sense of doom grows increasingly palpable. Sylvia, the novel's heroine, is isolated by her supposedly protective domestic sphere, but Gaskell shatters the delicate domestic circle that surrounds her. While Sylvia is left to bear emotional scars, becoming an impassive, hardened woman, Charley Kinraid, her true love, returns from war a ghost, haunting the margins of Monkshaven to hide his terrible physical scars. The full realization of the blight on Sylvia's life comes when the novel spirals down to its inevitable conclusion, where even reconciliation and understanding brings a powerful sense of loss.

This is a comprehensive look at the many components of the Bard's work. Lots of detail and very little is left out. It could prove to be a valuable source for English and Theatre Arts teachers. It is so all-inclusive that teachers can choose to focus on certain sections or keep it as a worthy resource (which it is).

It's for the serious teacher of Shakespeare. Gibson is the man. He knows his stuff and he wants your students to know it too. But could you teach it all? Hardly. But you could teach some of it.

The book is user-friendly and it's a good companion to the Cambridge School Shakespeare series.

I used this book to help plan a trip to the Southwest. I found it pretty informative with accurate information. The descriptions were accurate as well and it helped to get the most out of the days. I do wish it listed more in the way of hotels but it is really more of an activity book than a complete planner. All in all it was a good book and I would use it again. The suggested schedules were helpful as well.