This is a great book for any guy who wishes to meet a female from another country! Any of your questions or concerns will probably be covered somewhere in this book. Just to mention several of the many topics discussed are: Placing & responding to international personal ads, culture differences, international introduction services, visas & marriage & making the most of your trip. The author also discusses in detail the women & environment of over a dozen countries including Thailand, Brazil, DR, Scandinavia, Cuba and others. Besides being informative, this is also an entertaining read. I mainly read this for entertainment purposes and can definately relate to it as I have travelled to a couple of the countries mentioned in the book. I recommend this book to those who are serious about starting on the path to meet an international mate or to those just enjoy international travel and meeting people in the places they travel to.

I never had troubles meeting women, but they always seemed to want to be with other men. So I bought this book so that I could meet women that maybe I wouldn't say the wrong things, or maybe because I was famous that might like that. Let me say, I really liked it. Anyone that can read it, and wants to find women that won't right away leave them, should read it. The woman that I met had to move back, but there will be many more, thanks to Fantasy Islands!

I think that Fantasy Islands is a great source for the international bridebusiness for I Agree with the book and other sources 100% that the international Marrages work out much better then our domestic Marriagesanytime.

We started reading this book to our son at 3 months and he's now a year old and he still likes reading it. It's bright colors
and clown fish make him very happy. Bab Barner's illustrations are set apart from many other childrens books. We love it at our house.

My daughter is 2 and a half and she asks me to read this book to her every day. She loves finding the orange fishy on each page as well as identifying all of his friends. How many 2 years old know what a sea anemone is? Well thanks to this book she does. I am sure that this book will be the foundation of a life long love of the ocean. I just hope that when she is grown there will be some coral reefs left for her to explore. On a quick side note, if your child likes this book try I Saw the Sea and the Sea Saw Me by Megan Montague Cash. The two books are great when read together and will give your child a real appreciation for the creatures that inhabit our oceans.

Colorful collages made from cloth, paper, buttons, seed beadsand tin foil decorate the pages of this simple story about a boys wishto be a fish. The book starts with, "If I were a fish..." and travels through the coral reef to show dolphins, jellyfish and sea anemone. The back of the book highlights and gives a brief background about each of the animals pictured. A beautiful book and a great learning tool.

This review concerns the new (revised) Doubleday edition of the book, published in 1999.

Here is a book that is quite unique in my experience. I don't think I have ever read a book that has offered so much initial frustration, which has ended up turning out quite so well. In the first couple of chapters I was sure I was not going to be able to finish it. I put this down largely to poor editing, but I think there may be the added factor that this edition involved a major revision of an earlier work and that the two were not married very happily together. Yet the book soon strikes out on a new path, and on another level, as we leave the Manx and Cumbrian origins of Fletcher Christian behind, and begin to learn some of the details of that murky event known to history as the "Mutiny on the Bounty." One thing is obvious and it is to the author's credit, as he is a direct descendent of Fletcher Christian (and, something which will appear obvious given the nature of life on Pitcairn at the time of the first settlement, of several of the other mutineers): he makes a very bold attempt not to hoist Bligh on too high a yardarm, in spite of the man's obvious and well-established shortcomings. Indeed, he allows Bligh to hang himself in the book, which is something he seems to have tried very hard to accomplish in real life.

The book's last section of three concerns the personal odyssey by author Glynn Christian back to Pitcairn in search of traces of Fletcher and a greater understanding of some of the legend which grew up around him and his fellow conspirators of over 200 years ago. It is well done, and if we are a bit frustrated by the results, it's not because the author didn't try hard enough. In fact, this is a very successful project from every point of view, even if I did think at first that it was going to be "another island book," like the one on St-Kilda I read many years ago and still haven't digested to this day. Anyone interested in the Bounty story must read this and all those interested in the history of the Pacific, or even just plain family history, will probably enjoy this very much. After initially wanting to almost burn it, I now find myself giving it my highest recommendation. It's quite unique. By the by, it's interesting to reflect on the book's title. Ordinarily, one would think it referred to Pitcairn, the ancestral home as it were; but I rather fancy it refers to Tahiti instead, that fabled place from which some of Glynn Christian's other ancestors sprang.

A new edition, by the same author, is due out in 2000. New research gives a clearer picture of the tension aboard BOUNTY after sailing from Tahiti, there is more evidence about Bligh's method of captaincy and, for the first time, a full chapter on the Tahitian women, who they were, how they thought and how, even though overlooked for two centuries, they are crucial to the survival of Christian's remote settlement on Pitcairn Island.

I found FRAGILE PARADISE to be one of the best biographies I have ever read. The amount of research GLYNN CHIRSTIAN gathered about his famous descendent was just mind blowing. I often wonderd about FLETCHER CHIRSTIAN'S life before his days on the bounty. Having seen all of the movies based on the mutiny I never really felt that hollywood told his story with any accuracy at all. We never really get to know who CHIRSTIAN was and why he did what he did and the price he had to pay for his actions. Also I discoverd while I was reading this book the information about his family in ENGLAND and thier roots which hollywood often chooses to forget about when telling the story about the bounty muntiny. All in all if you like the story of the mutiny on the bounty you'll love this book.

I usually don't write my opinion about photo books but this one left me in shock, i've never seen anything like it before,I buy alot of photo books and i already own more than a hundred photo books from the best and most famous photographers and there are plenty that i like and some that i love,but this one Oh this one is so very special to me because the first time i looked at the pictures of this book i had tears in my eyes of enthusiasm and this is something that never happened to me before and as i said i looked at many photographs in my life,the subjects and the way they were shot ,the way she played with the colors ,it seems so natural and yet very unique and special every one of the pictures of this book could be hung on my home walls as a poster . many of the photo books are big and expensive but this one is the real thing without being a monster with no place on the shelf. if i had to go with one book to a desert island there's no question this is the one.

This book clearly deserves more than five stars. It contains much better photographs of the geology, and plant and animal life in the Galapagos than I have seen any where else. The images here evoked memories of my trip to the Galapagos, and exceeded those memories in revealing the underlying nature of the islands. Further, the essays are extremely good in explaining what is portrayed. Only 60,000 people visit the Galapagos each year, but the islands are suffering from their visits and the growth in permanent population. Hopefully, this book is not preserving something that you will never see.

Ms. De Roy brings a special sense to these photographs, having moved to the Galapagos at the age of 2 and lived most of her life there. She learned to be a photographer working on scenes such as these. This gives her a knowledge of where to go, what to look for, and when to be there. Many of the images capture rare moments and scenes that you could miss during 100 trips to the Galapagos.

Her images are always colorful, stunning in their contrasts, dynamic, and inspiring. I felt overwhelmed by many of the images. It was like looking into the face of God, to me.

The Galapagos Islands are part of Equador, and are located several hundred miles west of the South American coast. You get there by flying first to Equador. I recommend Quito as your way point. There's much to see there.

The islands are volcanic, being the tops of shield volcanos (much like those in Hawaii). They are desert islands which receive little water except during the rainy season. Each island is separated by enough water that species have developed differently on their unique habitats.

Darwin first chronicled this with his visit in the 1850s over 5 weeks in which he noticed that the finches had developed beaks to reflect the food supply on their respective islands. For more on this, be sure to read the outstanding book, The Beak of the Finch, that describes experimental measurements taken on the evolution in the finches. Many call the islands, "a natural laboratory of evolution" as a result.

The photographs are organized around themes related to the type of natural environment. In these images you will see the desert islands, volcanic eruptions, giant tortoises, sea turtles, marine and land iguanas, Darwin's finches, flamingos, pelicans, all kinds of boobies, penguins, cacti, owls, rails, flycatchers, albatrosses, gulls, frigate birds, storm petrels, sea lions, crabs, herons, hawks, flightless cormorants, fish, sharks, dolphins, orcas, sperm whales, and coral.

Many of the animals are extremely colorful, having no natural enemies in the Galapagos. Color helps in mating, and you will see mating rituals well catalogued here. Some of the evolutonary adaptations are fascinating too. For example, the marine iguanas live from drinking sea water and are able to exude the excess salt through their skin.

After you see these images, I suspect you'll agree with these quotes from the essays.

"Galapagos is perhaps the only great natural paradise remaining in the world in a near pristine condition."

"Our responsibility lies in finding a balanced development concept . . . ." "No one in Galapagos, in Equador or in the world wants to see the Galapagos perish."

"What must be . . . realized . . . is that a far greater commitment than exhibited in the past will be required . . . ."

Ask yourself what you can do to help the Galapagos. Reading this book, and realizing the treasure the world has there is a good starting point. Sponsoring environmental activities there is another. Encouraging others to do the same is a third. I'm sure you will come up with your own ideas that will be better than mine.

May our children in generations to come continue to benefit from a pristine Galapagos!

These photographs are "nature photography" at its best -- technically flawless, brilliantly composed and put together . And then, there is much more here. The grandeur of the planet, the dignity of its inhabitants, the imperative that all lineages be allowed -- by us, damnit -- to continue: all of this is eloquently, hauntingly, unavoidably inherent in Tui De Roi"s art.

This books gives a detailed history of the island of Galveston from it's first inhabitants to present day. Unlike some historical accounts this book is a real "page turner," completely absorbing the reader in each different time period from hostile indians to mafia men. The author lays out areas on the island to explore as well as important historical landmarks. He helps one understand the rise and fall of the island's fame and fortune along with it's leading families. I highly recommend it whether you are visiting Galveston or you are just interested in history.

This is simply the best and most entertaining historical study that I've ever had the pleasure of reading. It literally made me laugh out loud as well as tear up several times. I can't say enough wonderful things about this book. It reads like a very well written novel whose topic is endlessly fascinating. I've given it as a present several times since I first read it about 10 or 11 years ago and the recipients have all been as thrilled with it as I've been.

I rarely read history for pleasure ( I lean more towards murder mysteries), but I read this on the recommendation of a stranger in the local library. I was pleasantly surprised at the breadth of content which the author managed to cover in a way that reads like a popular novel. It never gets boring, but I'm sure that I irritated my husband by laughing out loud a time or two and insisting he listen to a few paragraphs. Since I grew up near Galveston and spent days on the beach from infancy to last month, I'm probably biased, but I think this book would appeal to many. Enjoy!!

What a horrible life these people had to have in Yugoslavia, struggling for their life under Tito's communist killers.

The book shows the view of one of the creators of the Macedonian alphabet, who was sentenced to 5 years in the concentration camp Goli Otok (Naked Island) in Yugoslavia between 1956-1961. It gives dark but truthful description of the conditions in which the POLITICAL prisoners were held. A book one must read before visiting ex-Yugoslavia

a fascinating book which deals with the suffering croatians faced during Tito's regime, a subject few contemporary writers approach. an insight into the heart of communist darkness.

After the other reviews in this column piqued my interest, I picked this CDrom up in one of the Mansions stores a couple of weeks ago,and boy, am I glad I did! Great insight to the construction of the mansions including, the materials used, styles used, builders etc.. There is a brief narration for each one that gives dates & facts , along with 8 classical tunes that play at random as you wander about. The only constructive criticism is that you don't get narration for each room as you enter, just at the beginning of each VR tour. I'm sure it would've been too costly and time consuming to do that anyway. But, you can even do an auto tour where you sit back and relax, while the camera pans to different rooms, or you can do the manual tour at your own pace. Great quality! Runs smoothly with no popping or skipping, and the picture quality is terrific! You can zoom, spin, look down, up, to get a closer look at that special vase, or to look at the gilded ceiling tiles. Great for those who have never been to get an inside look, or a great momento for those who have visited the 10 mansions from the preservation society. You'll feel like you've wandered back in time to the Victorian age on Bellevue Ave.......................

This is a very cool CD showing you the various Newport mansions. You can pan around inside the rooms, looking at all the walls, even the floor and ceiling.

I like it because when you visit the mansions there isn't time enough to see them all, and with this CD I can see them all. Also, I can go back to the rooms that I like and study the details in that room. It is very interesting.

Anyway, I would recommend this CD. It makes great use of new technology and is fun and easy to use.

I just love the Newport Mansions. This CD is great because I can never remember all the details when I visit the mansions, and this CD lets you pan around and up to the ceiling and down to the carpet, also zooming in. You can see all the details that give the rooms their luxurious feel.

Also, it's great because I haven't been to all the mansions and through the virtual tours I can see which one I most want to visit next.

Now, if they could just figure out a way to get the CD to give you that musty dusty smell of the actual mansions...

Seriously, this is very cool and if you are only visiting Newport for a short time, it's worth it to see which mansions you really want to see in person.

Jilla

This book is about four children and a dog who help an elderly woman fix her house which was partly destroyed during a hurricane. While helping her fix her house, they discovery pirate's gold in a gate on the front yard of the house.

The children are brother and sisters. They are Benny Alden who is six years old, Violet Alden who is 10 years old, Jessie Alden who is 12 years old and Henry Alden who is fourteen years old. The dog's name is Watch Alden. He is a terrier. The elderly woman's name is Mrs. Ashleigh.

The children were know as the boxcar children. They were called this because after their parents died, they didn't realize that their grandfather James was looking for them, and they lived in a box car until their grandfather found them. The grandfather took the children back to live with him and brought the boxcar with him so the children would feel comfortable.

While fixing the house, the children hear tales that the island that the house was on contained pirate's buried treasure. The house was located on Sullivan Island which is off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina.

The gate to Mrs. Ashleigh's fence was known as the Pirate's Gate. It was called that because her great great great great grandfather who's name was Mr. Fitzhugh was supposed to have been a pirate. During the hurricane, the gate landed in a neighbors yard. When the children looked for the gate, they saw that the neighbor who's name is Jackie James was trying to put the gate in her car. The children quickly told her that the gate belonged to Mrs. Ashleigh and they had the gate brought back to Mrs. Ashleigh's yard.

Because the gate had been broken, Mrs. Ashley arranged for a gate repairman named Mr. Farrier to fix the gate. During the time that this was being done, the children found some papers in Mrs. Ashleigh's home which contained a treasure map. They took the map outside the house to try to follow it and find the treasure. While Benny was holding the map, someone came and stole the map. The theif was wearing a grey jacket.

While the children were looking at more papers in Mrs. Ashleigh's home, they found information about the gate. It turned out that Mr. Fitzhugh ordered the maker of the gate to make it hollow. The children thought that gold was inside the gate.

When Mr. Farrier brought back the gate, the children told him what they thought. Instead of attaching the gate to the fence, he brought it back into Mrs. Ashleigh's house. The children now decided to set a trap to catch the thief who stole the treasure map. They put the gate against the fence and went into Mrs. Ashleigh's house. In the meantime, a hurricane began and Mrs. Ashleigh closed all the windows and doors. The children could not see outside. After the storm passed, they told their grandfather about their plan. When they looked outside, the gate was missing. As they looked around, they saw that someone was taking it. Watch ran and grabbed the person's leg. It turned out to be Mike Carsen. He was the same person in the grey jacket. The other person helping him was Jackie James. They were trying to steal the gate so they could sell it.

Mrs. Ashleigh decided to donate the gate to a museum on the island. The gate was displayed at the museum information about how it was found and how the children solved the mystery.

As you can tell by the title, this is a mystery book.

The setting of the story is in an island called Sullivans Island, and all occurs in a neighborhood.
Sullivan's Island is small and plain. The neighborhood is full of old houses. In the oldest one of these houses is where the mystery occurs.

The main characters in the story are Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny. They are the box Car Children. Other characters are Mrs. and Mr. Asheligh, Jackie, Mike and Mr. Farrier.
Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny are brothers and they love to solve mysteries. Mrs. Asheling is a nice woman who has a not so nice son called Mr. Asheling. Jackie and Mike seem nice and good, but at the end of the story they are totally the opposite. Mr. Farrier is an expert on things like iron and also about a buried treasure.

At the beggining of the story Mrs. Asheling tells the Box Car Children, about a special gate: The pirate's gate.
Sice that moment on the children wanted to find the treasure.

The problem begins when, in the middle of the treasure hunt, they fall in a mystery. The mystery was that someone was trying to steal the pirate's gate.

The resolution to the problem happened when the Box Car Children made a trap and trapped the thieves. Then they noticed the gate was the treasure because it was made of pure gold.
At the end of the story, to make sure the gate was safe, they donnated it to a museum.
I recommend this book to everyone because it is an exciting story, full of mysterious things and action.
It is an excellent book. Buy it now and read it! I hope you do it. You won't be sorry.
ALEX

The Boxcar Children went to Charleston to help Mrs Ashleigh clean up her house after a recent hurricane had messed it up. But someone had been trying to steal one of Mrs Ashleigh's valuables, the Pirate's Gate. Why? Read this book to find out.

I have read all of Russ Hall's books. They are all very good; this one is the best of the bunch. Hall mixes mystery, suspense, intrigue, and a minor revolution in the Bahamas with full characterizations and a true novelist's treatment of important existential themes. What is a good person? When does might make right? When is turning the other cheek merely cowardice? What is love and why do we even bother? All important questions. . . . Hall does not preach them. He weaves them into a thrilling narrative and character development. And the book has a truly wonderful character in it, a fellow named Rolf. Rolf is every bit the 20th/21st century Shakespearean Falstaff. A character of immense joy and mischief.

Rolf alone is character enough to merit reading this book. He's the Falstaff and potentially dangerous comic relief to a narrator who's as overwhelmed as we would be by the situations these people face when a paradise grows teeth and turns ugly. Read this book, and get your friends copies too!

This is Hall's best effort yet. The reader is swept into the tropical Bahamian world and a memorable, although eclectic, collection of characters. The action quickens as the trio set out for a day of fishing, wind up battling the elements and bad luck, only to return to the island where things have taken an unexpected turn...and not for the better. Hall writes with the authority of one who knows the Bahamian locale first hand, and has experienced many of the hardships his charactures endure. Great read.

Island Boyz is a collection of short stories that is sure to delight readers young and old alike. More then just stories told with a Hawaii flare, these stories could take place in any young person's life, and I believe some of them have.

Some make you chuckle, such as the story 'Mrs. Noonan', some make you wonder(Forty Bucks) and yes there is at least one that left this reader a tad sad (The Doi Store Monkey). Isn't that what a good read is all about?

A good mix for the mind and soul. A recommended read, one I feel you will truly enjoy!

Shirley Johnson/Reviewer

These short stories reflect the author's love of Hawaii and its culture and atmosphere, providing very different viewpoints and experiences of Hawaiian culture and dreams. From a dead boy and a ravine's hidden beauties to images of the shark as a family protector, this captures perfectly the diverse cultures and concerns of Hawaii's youth.

These stories are fantastic, varied, vivid, subtle, captivating, engrossing -- I'm running out of breath to describe them. Nearly every narrator (and certaingly every speaking boy)in these stories uses the pidgin dialect of the Hawaiian Islands, and as you grow accustomed to reading it, the rhythm of the language begins to feel like music in your ear. Few writers have created as detailed and heartfelt a portrait of a place as Salisbury does here for his beloved Hawaii. The stories are full of fishing, diving, flips flops, green mountains and soaring birds. The stories, and the island boyz, will stay with you long after the book is closed. Waiting for the War is the standout story among a whole collection of fine pieces.