After 6 + years of playing my favorite world is Birthright. I wish they bring the line back, so that the new gamers can see what I mean.

...be part of a cancelled product line? I dunno. TSR has done some amazing work in rising from the ashes of bankruptcy, so it mystifies me that they cancelled the Birthright line despite it being a high quality, high concept idea. This collection of short adventures for regents and future heroes of legend is good enough to justify Birthright's continued existence.

If you don't want to wade through a large tome on Charles II, this is the book for you. It's fairly short, filled with illustrations, and yet hits all the important points of England's most popular rex. Charles II was a happening dude, with a love of life and people, and his ability to overcome his tumultous childhood and adult intrigues is truly amazing. This isn't just a pure bio, however, because as the title implies, this is also about the times of Charles II, and what amazing events took place. Plague, devasting fire, wars, regicides, you name it, the times they were amazing. So was Charles II, a magnetic leader, if there ever was one. The monarchy has been all down hill ever since.

No historian writes history like Antonia Fraser does. The lives and times of Charles the Second were quite remarkable and both his predecessor and sucsessor were ousted from their crown but Charles II managed to gain the crown and keep it until his death. The odds were against him and he had to flee fatherless (his father Charkes the first was executed for treason) and penniless to the continent chased by Cromwell and his spies. Charles II was a complex person but one thing that can not be taken from him is that he was a consumated survivalist in a very dangerous political climate. Lady Fraser does an excellent job of recounting his lifespan and it is not often that history books read like a thriller. "Life and times of Charles II: Kings and Queens of England" is a page turner in the truest sense of the word.

I have a number of bibles and this is the one that I turn to them most. The various study notes, profiles, and other features really help to explain things. They also help me to stop and think about how the scriptures relate to my every day life. I definately recommend it.

The Life Application Bible from Tyndale House publishers is one of the best Bibles I have read. It has a timeline showing the chronology of Bible events along with important world events. This allows you to understand how the Biblical events fits in the World history.

Each book of the Bible has a book introduction with Vital statistics that describes the purpose of the book, author, historical setting, key verses, key people and a blueprint which gives a summary of the book. There is a map in the beginning of each book, showing the key places of events in the book. Also you will find character studies of different Biblical characters like Moses, David,etc. All over the Bible there are foot notes throwing more light into the verses. At the end of the Bible, there is an index to the notes and there are few colour maps. A carefully organized cross-reference runs along the margins of the Bible text.

I find this Bible easy to read without straining the eyes, with large clear print. Also the foot notes are not disturbing when you want to skip them and focus on the Biblical text. This Bible is little heavier than the slimline version. But the clear, easy to read text and the notes definitely outweighs the weight.

I read this masterpiece while serving in south eastaisia in 1970 28 years later it still haunts me with its vived portraill of a planet enslaved from the frozen waist of the northern continet through the mutated men and women enslaved to the living wall deviding the planet at is equater the hunt in the well for the super brain to that moment on the last page when you learn the the name of the alien race that has done all the damage and the hero is in the forgoten cavern with all the old missels and is about to lite that last candle to start a chain reaction the action never stops a thriller that binds the minds eye to the pages to the last minute.

Light a Last Candle By Vincent King. The term classic SCI-FI is often used to discribe the great Techniques used in this genre during the 50's and early 60's.Light a Last Candle is a classic in this manner but it also punches the reader with a hypnotic blend of action and the bazarre in a way i have never seen equaled in any other work of fiction. Literally , by the end of the first page you will find yourself hopelessly involved with the cynical hero and his resigned sence of humour, the atmosphere created by Mr King will surround you with a literal fog of inventive creations and his observations of the most ridiculious aspects of human nature will make you gasp with a delicious horror at the depths humanity allows itself to plunge if thats what it takes to remain popular. Still ahead of it's time.... Beyond the ability of most actors to convey....( Maybe Richard E. Grant?) Utterly brillient.

Morgan is descriptive, historacly accurate, tuning this book into it's fine detail. It really makes you feel like you are part of the action, you cheer when Brian conquers and cry with all his suffering and loss. You get to know the main characters, and sence Ireland and the way it was when Boru reigned.

Absolutely incredible is how I would describe this book. Morgan Llywelyn's descriptions of Brian Boru and life in his camp bring the subject alive. It was like being there! You HAVE to read this book!

This is the story of Richard the Lionheart as told by himself, his mistress Blondelza (fictional), Mercadier of Fouquenbrun-Knight, Queen Eleanor, Berengaria, Princess of Navarre later Richard's wife, and Alexander the Monk. Each person, who, by the way really existed (with the exception of Blondelza and other minor characters), has their own chapter or book in which they give their personal view of Richard and his life and how these events affected both of them.

The horrible, gruesome battles and seiges of the Crusade are well defined here. Almost too much so, however, it gives a more realistic picture of what both sides suffered in the name of God. Richard is portrayed here as a complex prince and ruler who tries to do the right thing but being human sometimes fails in that endeavor.

It is a very worthwhile read and there are many interesting viewpoints from the most common of people, traveling entertainers to the Queen of England, Eleanor. Each offers unique insights as to what life must have been like in medieval times. This novel is out-of-print but should be found, read and treasured.

I don't think there is anything about this book that I didn't like so it will be hard to get it all in a few sentences, but I will try. The way that each major charactor in the story is given an individual story to tell makes the book even better than it would have been otherwise. I love the way the author gave the wonderful true life of Richard I even more excitement by adding a few fictional characters. It is nice to finally read a fairly true story and not be bored to tears. Quite the opposite, I could not put it down the first time I read it. I have read it several times now and have laughed and cried every time all over again. I could never praise this book enough.......YOU MUST READ IT!!!!!!!

The Lonely Planet guides are excellent for any locale..but this edition (covering Italy, Spain, Greece, France, Portugal and even Morocco) is a must-read for the quintessential backpacker jumping on a plane for Europa. These guides excel at recommending lodging of many price ranges (from youth hostels to 5-star hotels) and meal choices of the same range (excellent recommendation for outdoor markets.."buy a loaf of bread, a block of cheese and a bottle of wine here"..which is a plus as many guides catering to this area focus on only older travels with large budgets..or persons seeking to spend only a dollar a day or some insanity..it's always good to have the most information possible..and it's included here. Entertainments ideas from free plaza and park visiting to museums, discotechqes, architecture, boat rides etc. etc. are included..good for young and old. It even lists culture-sensitve information such as appropriate dress for visiting churches and monasteries as well as travel-safe tips for women. Book your Eurorail pass and get going.

Lonely Planet has great books and this one certainly was. It's very thorough and tells alot about things that interest travellers. They are up to date and tell you the pros and cons of the different countries. I liked it alot and I know that other people will too.

Well, I can't really add too much to what I said about the other Tolkien stuff here, however, this is quite a nice little collection.

I have never read a more incredible story about fantasy, every page has more adventure and is all perfectly filled with power.Tolkien knows how to make us feel in harmony and in darkness too, this story goes from the most beauty and peacefull to the last places of doom and shadows. A must read story that will always remain among the fantasy classics.

If you ever read C.S. Lewis when you were a child, this is for you. If you ever wished that you could find a wardrobe and step inside and find yourself in Narnia, this is definitely for you. In my life of reading and exploring, I've never read a more exquisite and beautiful work; Michael King is to be commended and thanked for sharing his wonderful imagination with the rest of us. I'd give it ten stars if I could.

Michael and I were childhood friends and we were practically inseperable from kindergarten up until junior high school. Sadly, Mike moved away, and his life was no longer the idyllic one that we shared as kids. I was most pleased to receive a letter from him proclaiming the completion of his first novel. I feel that in the trials of his life he has really prevailed in finding his niche in writing. It has been a long time since I have read a book imbued with so much imagination and written with such a mastery of the English language. As Mike describes it, it is the perfect book to read on a rainy day with a cup of tea. It's a book meant to be treasured for years and by succeeding generations. I know how much pride and work Mike has embedded in this novel and I give it my highest recommendation to anyone wanting to escape from reality with a good yarn.

I rate this book so highly because of its unique standing as both skillful work and historic artifact. Given the fact that even King Babar is forbidden in some circles, people who look on literature as political porridge for babes might pass this one up. Its propaganda is out of date, and for a small elite: many of the tales were smuggled into the captive children of the Tsar in Siberia. If we allow ourselves to be transported to another world, where the monarchy is as benign as that seen through the eyes of the children of the Tsar and Tsarina, and through the eyes of the young son of their heroic Dr. Botkin, then we can enjoy these amusing tales.As in sets of colorful toy soldiers, the characters are male. Whimsy animates these teddy bears, monkeys and rabbits in military dress. The teenaged Botkin, full of Russian artistic soul, drew his clever animals, created their uniforms, and put them in the sort of jeopardy in which their young readers lived. The children were a captive audience, literally, to whom he tried to give hope. His father, Eygeny Botkin, like the gentlemen who stayed behind on the Titanic out of a sense of duty, was shot with the Tsar's family. Unfortunately, the tragedy does not end there, because some die-hard monarchists (not the same thing as monarchs) would separate his bones, if they could, from the royal ones they wish to venerate. Gleb escaped the Reds, and went on to raise a family in New York. When various claimants to Anastasia's identity came on the scene, he was asked to give an opinion, informed as he was by real intimacy with the family circle. Earlier Botkin's had been court physicians; now they had to make it as immigrants. That in itself is another tale. We must be content with this one for now. It is an engaging hint at the profound effect of history on individual lives, not least those of cultivated people in the Tsar's court. Thoughtful children might enjoy this book. There are now many Russian immigrants in our society once again. I wonder how this book would be viewed by them. It is indeed a piece of the puzzle of what was the Soviet Union, and now has become Russia again.

A beautiful book that stirs back a lost time and the tragedies of the last Tzar, Nikolai Alexsandrovitch Romanov II.