The Ironclads of Cambrai consists of fifteen chapters, beginning with several on the creation of the Tank Corps and early actions in Flanders. The author provides considerable detail on the development of the plan for the attack at Cambrai, beginning with the efforts by tank enthusiasts to mount an operation that would validate the combat effectiveness of the new weapon. Interestingly, the British chose the Cambrai sector where the German Hindenburg Line defenses were thickest but the ground was suitable. Apparently, the Germans had begun to believe that their defenses in this sector were indeed impregnable and did not react seriously to indications of a British offensive. The Ironclads of Cambrai provides a clear example of the Clausewitzian dialectic in action; the Germans dug extra-wide trenches to inhibit tank attacks but the British developed "fascines" to fill in the trenches. Indeed, the Germans were so smug about the ability of their wire and trenches to stop British tank attacks that they neglected to issue much armor-piercing ammunition to the front-line units near Cambrai. The author's narrative is also supported by many simple, but effective sketch maps.

Obviously the author's main argument is that Cambrai demonstrated that tanks offered a way out of the deadlock of trench warfare. Cooper is fervently pro-tank throughout the book and delights in exposing the numerous British officers who criticized tanks before Cambrai. There is little doubt that the first six hours of the British attack on 20 November 1917 stunned both sides; three front-line German divisions were routed at small cost but the British had not really anticipated such rapid movement. Unfortunately, the British plan began unravel from the start due to a variety of factors. Foremost, one of the British division commanders (Harper of the 51st) - a tank-hater - mis-used his armor and his unit was held up long enough to interfere with the units on either flank. Although Cooper doesn't attach much importance to it, the British failure to adequately plan for engineering assets to help get tanks across the Canal de l'Escaut was a major factor inducing culmination in the British attack. However, Cooper does differ from some other accounts of Cambrai that cite the lack of sufficient reserves as the reason the attack failed to reach Cambrai. Cooper notes, "the lack of reserves was undoubtedly a vital factor at Cambrai, but it can be over-emphasized...there were more reserves available; but the Higher Command were not willing to make use of them for the initial attack." Rather, Cooper believes that, "the mistakes made were mainly due to an inability to understand and exploit a fight in open country...after three years of stagnant trench warfare."

Easily the best part of The Ironclads of Cambrai is the number of first-person accounts from tankers. Despite their terrifying appearance to the German defenders, the early Mark IV tanks were virtually deaf and blind. One commander noted that, "once we started there was no co-operation between tanks, no tactics, no external command - only the objectives we had been given and the method of attack we had been taught during training." Visibility outside the tank was extremely limited through tiny slits and some of the armor was not entirely bulletproof. Oftentimes, German fire produced "spalling" or scabbing of the armor inside the tanks, requiring the crews to wear chain-mail face masks and body protection. Cooper also describes the various German ad hoc anti-tank tactics developed at Cambrai, ranging from throwing sandbags full of grenades under the tracks (successful), to jumping atop the tanks (fatal), to infantrymen attempting to hang on to the barrels of the tank's weapons (foolish).

Finally, Cooper spends the last couple of chapters discussing the German counterattack on 30 November 1917 that threw the British back on their heels. Most of the tanks were withdrawn by this stage, but those remaining played a major role in preventing a British catastrophe. Cooper is particularly scathing in detailing the whitewash effort by the court of inquiry after the battle, which blamed junior officers for the collapse instead of the complacent 3rd Army Commander (Gough). While Cambrai's glory turned sour for most in the wake of this turnabout, Cooper sees the battle as a vital step in establishing the credibility of the Tank Corps. Without Cambrai, the tanks might have remained a marginal weapon, used only in small numbers. Instead, Cambrai showed what large numbers of tanks could achieve under favorable circumstances and is best viewed as a successful experiment.

The fact that the tank was comming to the Western Front in ever increasing numbers would prove a death knel to imperial Germany. Whilst the comming arrival of American troops (who never really contributed to any overwhelming defeat of Germany) was on the German high command's radar; it was this opperation that forced the Germans to launch the disasterous "Kaiser's Battle" before British warfare adapted to a point where Germany could no longer defeat them. The book is packed with detail on who supported (Winston Churchill amongst others) this new method of warfare and who opposed it. An interesting addition to a military historians collection.

This particular episode of "Avonlea" is based, in part, on the short story, "The Hurrying of Ludovic" from Lucy Maud Montgomery's short story collection "Chronicles of Avonlea," which tells the story of Theodora Dix and her long time beau Ludovic Speed. In the original an older widower is employed by Anne Shirley to make Ludovic jealous and finally get him to propose. Obviously little of Montgomery's tale remains in this version, but the original is really a trifle and not one of the author's better works by a long shot. This storybook is written by Amy Jo Cooper, based on the teleplay by Marlene Matthews. To my mind Cooper improves on the episode by giving full form to the various unvoiced thoughts and feelings of the characters. I never warmed up to the character of Pigeon Plumtree when I saw the episode and Cooper manages to make her a more sympathetic figure, not to mention working out the inner turmoil of Sara Stanley and the other characters.

The 'Red Angora Dress' is one of my very favourites - about a girl whose boyfriend Andrew is going off her but takes her to a party where she makes the mistake of wearing a red angora dress. A Pressing Engagement takes a refreshingly fun look at a false engagement Cooper writes in her introduction that 'Square Peg' is one of her favourites, and it does rate as one of the funniest - its about a slightly ditsy secretary who can never quite get things right.

Lots of fun.

Don't expect deep emotional insights or earth-moving intellectual revelations but in the entertainment genre it's very enjoyable. Reminds me of O.Henry or L.M. Montgomery short stories.

   Susan Rogers Cooper, a mystery writer who lives in Austin, Texas, is the author of Funny as a Dead Comic and Funny as a Dead Relative.
   Lying Wonders is the eighth novel in her Milt Kovak Series, which includes Doctors and Lawyers and Such, Chasing Away the Devil, and Dead Moon Rising.

   Milt Kovak, "looking the barrel of sixty right in the eye," is the high sheri
ff of Prophesy County, Oklahoma. He and his new wife, Dr. Jean McDonnell, a psychiatrist at Long Branch Memorial Hospital, are the proud parents of a toddler called Johnny Mac.

   The Kovak's small-town life is relatively quiet until Milt finds the corpse of Amanda Nederwald, 18, at the "retreat" of a religious sect called The Seven Trumpets. The girl was lying beneath a mesquite tree, her long blond hair entwined on the hooklike feet of a vulture.

   The headquarters of this weird cult in situated in the northwest corner of Prophesy County (page 11). Or is it in the county's northeast corner (page 15)?

   Basically, the Seven Trumpets is a mishmash of pseudo-Eastern religions, a little Judaism, some Christianity, and a whole lot of Star Trek.
   
   The self-appointed prophet, guru, and spiritual leader of The Holy Temple of Seven Trumpets is one "Brother Grigsby," a sleazy con man "as slimy as a squashed bug."

   Revered by his gullible female acolytes as "The Source" and "The Light," Brother Grigsby is dedicated to disseminating the seed of Gospel Truth and populating the  New Age that is dawning."Religion," muses Sheriff Kovak, "is a tricky business."

   Amanda's boyfriend, Trent Johnson Marshall, also 18, who was with girl when she disappeared, has vanished. Assisted by his four deputies--Emmett Hopkins and Dalton Pettigrew (the day squad) and Jasmine Bodine and Hank Dobbins (the night squad)--Milt not only has to find Trent and identify the killer, but must also save his niece from the same fate.

   The best feature of this novel is Sheriff Milt Kovak, a down-to-earth and likable character. Although Milt is not exactly a Sherlock Holmes, his dedicated pursuit of justice ingratiates him to readers. The author also paints a convincing picture of small-town politics.

   Roy E. Perry

Milt visits the Seven Trumpets estate, but before he sees anyone, he finds the corpse of a young female that is later verified is Amanda. Trent remains missing. Milt visits the church where he notices that most of the flock consists of pregnant women. His interview with the founder Brother Grigsby goes well, but also leaves Milt feeling a bit creepy. He returns with his wife, psychiatrist Dr. Jean McDonnell, so she can provide him with a quick assessment of Grigsby. As Milt and his department investigate the homicide and missing boyfriend, his niece becomes a recruitment target of the Seven Trumpets.

LYING WONDERS is an exciting police procedural that readers will enjoy due to the clever interweaving of the overflow of Milt's past personal life into the murder investigation. The story line never slows down even when the hero's sister and niece go at it. Milt is a strong character that makes the rest of the cast seems real because he comes across as a person with complex relationships. Though his sarcastic behavior in his second encounter with Grigsby seems out of character for the calm sheriff, Susan Rogers Cooper provides a delightful who-done-it.

Harriet Klausner

This is what essays are all about. It's a fun, informative, and smartly written jaunt through a culture and individual life.

Wonderful!

Trish is persuaded by her friend, Anna Grayling, to take a look at the case against Deb Gibbert. Four years ago, Deb was convicted of murdering her very sick father in a fit of anger. The whole case against Deb seemed to hinge on the somewhat hostile evidence provided by her father's attending physician, Dr. Foscutt, and Deb's sister, the "perfect" Cordelia. Both Dr. Foscutt and Cordelia painted Deb as a very angry, violent and unsympathetic indiviual. Even Deb's barrister believed her to be guilty of the crime. However Anna believes differently. She believes that Deb was convicted on circumstancial evidence; and that the prejudiced testimony of Cordelia and the good doctor, together with Deb's barrister's inept handling just added more weight to the Crown's shaky case. Anna is an independent TV producer who wants to do a documentary on Deb's case, and she asks Trish to take a look at the case -- to provide legal advise, as well as to see if she could help Deb in any way.

This case hits home with Trish, esp as her estranged father is now in hospital, seriously ill. And as Trish begins to read the trial transcripts and take a look at the evidence, she becomes convinced that Deb was short changed. So, out of a sense of seing justice done, Trish begins to sift through the evidence to see what she can further dig up. And then one of Deb's strongest advocates is shot in front of his house. Could Trish's investigation have been a trigger to murder? Trish is afraid but she is resolved to see the case to its end and to obtain justice for Deb.

This book was compelling reading. As with the other two Trish Maguire mysteries, the reader is treated to a look at the British judicial system -- a system that seems to have as many problems as any other. The chilling reality that the fate of anyone facing trail is truly in the hands of the lawyer handling the case really hits home with this mystery! Trish seems to have mellowed a little in this novel, but she hasn't lost her edge (thank goodness). I'm definitely looking forward to the next Trish Maguire mystery.

After reviewing the case files, Trish realizes that the case against Deb is extremely powerful. Besides having the means, motive, and opportunity, her loved ones and the attending physician believe patricide occurred. In Trish's opinion Deb's barrister put up only a half-hearted defense. Only Anna and a former lover of Deb give credence to the woman's innocence.

PREY TO ALL is an exciting, well-written British legal thriller. The story line belongs to the charcaters, especially Trish and Deb, as readers understand their feelings. That insight along with close scrutiny into the thoughts of the doctor and Deb's lawyer augments the entertaining plot that looks carefully at the price of a weak defense. Anyone who has tried a Natasha Cooper novel (see Willow King books) knows that the author is one of the best writers of the British psychological legal thriller.

Harriet Klausner