This was the only resource that I used to prepare for my GROL exam, and that was all I needed. I studied for a week and a half and passed with flying colors. This book is also a great reference to keep in your technical library.

GROL Plus purports to provide the information needed to study for and pass the examinations for the Marine Radio Operator Permit (MROP), the General Radiotelephone Operator License (GROL), and the Radar Endorsement for the GROL. Based on my personal experience, it does an outstanding job of meeting this goal!

What is special about GROL Plus is that it not only includes all of the published questions and answers, it also explains why the correct answer is the right one and provides easy ways to remember which answer is correct.

I most strongly recommend this book for anyone who wishes to earn the MROP or GROL. In preparing for the GROL examination, I purchased several books, GROL Plus is the one that did the job and was the only one I needed.

Reviewed by Mike Powers, Radideo.com Guide, October 2002GROL Plus purports to provide the information needed to study for and pass the examinations for the Marine Radio Operator Permit (MROP), the General Radiotelephone Operator License (GROL), and the Radar Endorsement for the GROL. Based on my personal experience, it does an outstanding job of meeting this goal!

What is special about GROL Plus is that it not only includes all of the published questions and answers, it also explains why the correct answer is the right one and provides easy ways to remember which answer is correct.

I most strongly recommend this book for anyone who wishes to earn the MROP or GROL. In preparing for the GROL examination, I purchased several books, GROL Plus is the one that did the job and was the only one I needed.

Reviewed by Mike Powers, Radideo.com Guide, October 2002

I study one week and pass. Just remember the answer. That is all.

I attended a reading of one of Maile Meloy's short stories from "Half in Love" at the Getty Museum and was swept away. The title was "Red", a captivating tale of aloneness. While each of the stories takes the reader along swiftly and emotionally, there is a beautiful sparseness to Meloy's writing that takes the reader into her world before you realize it! And within seconds you are invested emotionally. I purchased this book immediately after the reading and planned to read one story a night...can't do it....One a night is impossible. They are too good to keep!

My only complaint about Maile Meloy's collection of short stories, Half in Love, is that I wish there were more of them. These stories make an immensely enjoyable read, in particular those that take place in the western U.S. One that stands out in my mind is Ranch Girl, a story told in the second person about a young woman fulfilling her destiny as a ranch girl in Montana. These are all strong stories--full of heartbreak--perhaps all the characters can only be said to be half in love.

I was extremely surprised to find myself reading "Travis," a short story based in Glendive, MT, in the October 28 issue of The New Yorker, in between stories about the Hezbullah, and new New York. Never mind that I had just been in that remote, rural community for two weeks.

However, Montana has not yet discovered it's own writer. Nobody in Eastern Montana that I've asked knows anything about Maile Meloy.

Maile, please contact the Director, Gail Nagle Librarian at the Glendive Public Library to set up a reading of your works. They are waiting to meet you and discuss your stories.

I bought this gift as a present for a friend who lives in LA. What a great guide! Very thorough, but brief and to-the-point, summary of every beauty service you could need. My only wish is that they would give a price range for the salons, not just a low/medium/high rating. I hope they come out with one for the Detroit area!

while i do not live in la, this is a useful tool to have when traveling for work/pleasure, etc. similar to a zagat guide for dining, this is excellent. the summaries are short, sweet and to the point. women & men can trust that the research is accurate & reliable. please come out with a nationwide head to toe - we need seattle, dc, chicago, nyc, boston, miami, minneapolis, dallas and many more!

head to toe is incredible. I just have moved from New York to LA and use the book all the time. I found out about the book from an article in Vogue's August issue. It breaks down every beauty service by price with a review. No need to wonder anymore about the best beauty places just for you.

Great book! If you're a big fan of The Wild Wild West as I am, You'll love this book.

"Inside the Wild Wild West" is simply a marvellous book. I have ordered it in September 1999, and keep reading extracts from time to time. It is so easy to pick up the best articles or find the ones you would like to read again. Everything is indexed, classified & presented in a beautiful manner, with previously unpublished photographs from Richard's private collection. Cangey has a talent for writing, he's passionate, and each word is very adequately chosen. It is almost as if we can re-live the action now (the show dates back from the 1960's). I would highly recommend this book; it is a bible for all the Wild Wild West fans. It is a privilege to be able to live the experience through the eyes of one of the most talented stuntmen. Cangey is a very busy man, but he is spending a lot of time replying to fan mail, questions, gives more details about the stories, which I find quite remarkable from him. I am forever grateful to him for communicating his thoughts on the Wild Wild West through his book, but also for the time he devotes caring about the fans. It is a masterpiece from a genuinely kind & dedicated individual."

Any book is worth the price if I pick it up and never want to put it down. Such was the case with Richard Cangey's "Inside the Wild Wild West", a subjective behind-the-scenes look on one of the most offbeat yet fun-to-watch series of the 1960's. As a fan, it's a must-read, a thorough and honest account of Cangey's career from boxer to bumps-and-bruises man on this classic series. Cangey treats the writing as a labor of love, there is a sense of fun and admiration in the company of people he kept, from stuntmen to the series's stars, Ross Martin and the action god himself, Robert Conrad whom Cangey had the privilege of working closely with for nearly ten years. Clearly, this is a book that gives every fan a look into the people who put the show together but it is also a careful look into what it takes to keep such a vigorous show going. As a fan, I must say Cangey and his fellow stunt performers were the unsung heroes of WWW, the series simply couldn't be what it was without them and Cangey clearly makes note of that. The book is also indepth at giving a close look at the complex man that is Robert Conrad, a honest and appealling look at this diehard performer with whom competition was practically a religious experience. I urge any fan of WWW to purchase this book, for the insights, the humor, the appeal of the comraderie that made this show work, the overall story behind the story of this not-quite western that continues to entertain so well after more than thirty years. Good job, Cang.

The complex domain of US - Cuban relations is changing every day, with new developments on both sides in terms of policy, which in turn affect the Cuban economy, society in Cuba, perspectives for future change, etc. Nevertheless, this book already back in 1997, managed to set an excellent framework on the theme of US - Cuban relations on the long term. Contrary to what one might expect, the fact that five years have now elapsed, has not made this book outdated. On the contrary, we can see indeed that some of the author's predictions became reality. Altogether, even today this remains a great book as a starting point to approach and study this fascinating and ever-changing topic. For sure, a new edition could add some interesting information to this study. Yet, for the purposes it sets itself, this book is still very very up-to-date and topical, and will likely remain so even after Castro is gone. While being an academic book in the field of political sciences and international relations more specifically, this is also a book about history, and as such will be invaluable for scholars of Cuban history at any time.

In such a short book, with indeed only three chapters besides the introduction and conclusions, the author has managed to put together, in a concise and excellently presented way, the facts and data of which the reader must be made aware, the various possible interpretations of these facts, as well as the author's own interpretations and analysis. The book is an excellent review of existing material on the subject (a great amount of research and critique has obviously gone into it), as well as a wonderful analysis of this material, with the addition of original material from the Cuban media and interviews, and the author's own points of view, which are always presented against any possible counter-arguments. All in all, a great start for anyone who would like to explore the exciting subject of US
- Cuban relations.

In this brief yet dense academic study, the author manages not only to expose data and propose his views on the issue, but also to capture the reader's analysis in a way that few very academic books can. While it tells of the intricate relation between the US embargo against Cuba and what happens in the island, the book also tells a lot on the repression of Castro's regime over. With crystal clarity and even some razor-sharp sarcasm, the author manages to identify some crucial features which make Cuban society unique, which can in fact be traced back to the horrible effects of US policy on the Cuban people, ensued by Castro's manipulation of this. All in all, Cuban policy can often be regarded as a big farce. While we condemn Castro's dictatorship or / and the US embargo, and in either case we share the suffering of the Cuban people, this book helps us see all this in a thrilling new light, filled with some witty humour and a good deal of sarcasm, making the book wonderful reading altogether.

The reader becomes mesmerized and impressed by the thorough and meticulous process of constantly checking witness testimony with known topography and horse/walking/etc. mph rates, then time/motion studies with all possible data examined to see what plausible explanations can be more pushed forward as likely scenarios.

At the center here is the infamous Indian scout, Mitch Boyer and the testimony of the young Curly, survivor with Custer.

Amazing how the evidence Gray presents turns Custer 180o around from what is historically bantered, an aggressive disobiendent hawkish leader. Gray's reconstruction reveals soldier who emphasized and implemented what orders were given to him, to pin the Indians from left flank escape, and all the time awaiting Benteen's company and ammo train, which never arrived in time.

Disappointed that no chronology chain here shown how the followup takes place to discover the battlefield. Possibly Gray's other books on this subject cover that.

Remarkably well written, able to keep this reader's attention easily even with all the careful calculation checks, etc.

Most historians would be happy, nay overjoyed, if they located a diary, a journal or a set of letters by a participant in some historical event. In tracing some relatively unimportant activities, Gray is not satisfied unless he can find three or four itineraries, four or five journals and diaries, and two or three sets of letters! Another reviewer commented that the writing of this book took 25 years! I can well believe it. With the well-known fallibility of eyewitnesses, this overwhelming mass of documentation is barely enough to allow Gray to sift event from confabulation.

What we have here are two books in one. The first book, in 180 pages, traces the life and career of guide and translator Mitch Boyer. At first one might dismiss such a goal as impossible, but Gray is equal to the task, and Boyer emerges as a convincing, consistent and competent historical personage.

The second book, in about 200 pages, uses what Gray calls "time-motion studies" to trace the troop movements from June 9, 1876 to and through the culminating Battle of the Little Bighorn. His "time-motion patterns" are what physicists call "world lines," with one space dimension as the vertical axis, and time as the horizontal axis. Where these diagrams indicate the interactions between a dozen separated groups they virtually amount to the classical equivalent of Feynman diagrams--- tools used by theoretical physicists to disentangle the various processes occurring in the realm where relativistic quantum physics hold sway.

The Mitch Boyer connection between the first and second parts of the book occurs because Boyer was the only scout who chose to stay with and die with Custer's columns. Much of Gray's reconstruction of Custer's movements and strategy depends upon Gray's extraction, from the mass of confused interviews with Curley, the 17-year-old Indian scout who was the last to get away alive from Custer's troops, of a fairly consistent and highly plausible set of events.

There is one place, at the book's end, where Gray's thought patterns betray him. With no documents to guide him, he chooses a completely absurd counterclockwise movement of Army forces, from Calhoun Ridge, to Custer Ridge, to Custer Hill (where Custer was found), on to the "South Skirmish Line" (where Mitch Boyer's body was found) and thence to the "West Perimeter," where the last survivors (Gray assumes) died. But this movement actually takes the troops TOWARD the river and the Indian camp, from which braves and even squaws were literally boiling, like thick clouds of hornets from a disturbed nest, in the last half of the battle!

In this case, I think the reconstruction by Gregory F. Michno, based on a collation of a vast number of Indian accounts, is infinitely more plausible. It shows Custer's surviving companies driven roughly northwest, parallel to the river, along Battle Ridge to Custer Hill, with companies on Finley Ridge and Calhoun Hill being cut off and quickly destroyed, leading to a traditional "Last Stand" indeed being made on Custer Hill. See Michno's LAKOTA NOON for details. I might mention that comparison of all accounts of troop movements in the six or so "Little Bighorn" books I have read is made incredibly difficult by a complete lack of consistent nomenclature for the topographic features of the battleground!

Grey is remarkably even-tempered in his discussion of the many command problems and highly questionable command decisions that arose in this campaign, including the inexplicable behavior of Gibbon and Benteen. Somewhat ironically, it is Custer who comes off best from this all-around debacle. He was about the only commander who made any effort to follow orders, and about the only commander who tried to strike a balance between total inaction and suicidal total commitment of his forces.

I can't praise this book highly enough.

I absolutely agree with the other reviewers on the quality of Gray's work--it is astounding. I would like to emphasize what I took away from the book: a new picture of G.A. Custer. For a hundred years it has been the "customary wisdom" that Custer, being a flamboyant, egocentric, arrogant commander, rushed into battle at the LBH because he wanted the glory of defeating the Sioux all to himself, and met his doom because his hubris blinded him to the Indians' superior forces. Part of this "customary wisdom" came with an implied view that this hubris was due to a belief in racial superiority of the white soldier vs. the Indian. As is so often the case, the "customary wisdom" is superficial, and when held up to rigorous analysis, proves wrong. Gray's trenchant logic make it clear that Custer was attempting to follow his orders from Terry, found himself in a battle situation that was not favorable, but due to the perception that the 7th Cavalry had been discovered, had no alternative but to attack. His battle plan was improvised at the moment, and was thwarted not because of Custer's hubris, or his false belief that his soldiers were fighting "only Indians", but for the reason many battles are lost: the failure of one of his unit commanders (Benteen) to follow orders and coordinate his actions with the actions of the remainder of Custer's command. I expect, however, that the old, comfortable, politically correct view of Custer will die hard, if at all--to some, logic means naught.

When you first start reading Tarot, people tell you that eventually you will find "YOUR" deck--the one that suits you perfectly and feels "right." While I was in, of all places, New Orleans (a favorite city) I found this deck. I adore everything about the deck. Using Hallowe'en symbolism to represent the classic Tarot elements is a work of incredible "rightness." Even though Kipling West substitutes the "traditional" elements (balls=pumpkins, for example) she still uses appropriately similar Hallowe'en type things that match up with the "archetypes."

Another great thing about this deck is that even though she uses the Halloween symbols, they are very clearly based on the traditional placements & elements from one of the oldest decks ever-- the Rider Waite Tarot--the one commissioned by the Society of the Golden Dawn over a hundred years ago. But unlike the Rider Waite-- which many people dislike for being bland and boring, the Halloween Tarot is new and interesting. Those of you who started with Rider Waite will find a lot of similarity in the decks, but enough difference to make your second Tarot more "you" and less "everyone else."

One of my favorite things about this deck is a very personal one-- the cat on every card, who acts as a sort of guide to the emotion/meaning of that card, looks just like my cat, Tituba. So this deck seems to have been made for me.

STILL-- even if you aren't lucky enough to have a curly tailed black cat, if you like colorful, vivid Tarot cards which are a little different from the "new age" style that takes over so many Tarot decks, and if you like a good, bright spread, and if Hallowe'en is one of your favorite holidays, GET THIS DECK. I promise, it will become your favorite too!

The Halloween Tarot Deck is amazing. I am a huge fan of hallowween and halloween art. The illustrations on the cards are a lot of fun; very whimsicle and cute. The book is well written. It offers full details on the symbology of ecah card along with the divinatory and reverse meanings. The author also goes into the history of halloween and how it is celebrated in different cultures. The author also tries to offer some insight as to how certain images have become associated with halloween like jack o' lanterns and black cats. Overall, it's a heck of a lot of fun, but also very educational! Buy it!

I kept blowing this deck off; but then I realized. Tarot. Halloween. Duh. Two favorite things in one, with a "classic" approach. I looked a bit more into this set; everyone all over the Internet has given the Halloween Tarot great reviews. When I saw such things as the Bride of Frankenstein, the Werewolf and a Hearse for the Chariot, I knew I had to have it. If you are interested in Halloween from a "Nightmare before Christmas" point of view, are just learning Tarot and/or prefer a Rider-Waite background, then this deck is for you! The book that comes with it gives a little more details to the cards and a history of Halloween. I was impressed with the History the authors gave us. It sounds like they put some thought into it than just regurgitating stuff outta books. The author and illustrator both love Halloween. I confess I found the cat on every card a bit tedious, but I know I am a bit picky---get it before it goes out of print!

A friend gave me a copy of The Last Days of St. Pierre, so I figured I'd at least read the first chapter or so, even though disasters aren't usually my thing. WOW! WHAT A SURPRISE! I had a hard time putting this book down!

The first chapter begins with the personal journal of a sailor who passed some fifty miles from the volcano on the day of the disaster in 1902, then docked on another island to find the burned out hull of a large steamer that had escaped the eruption while 18 other ships sank. Then the scene shifts to Washington, New York, Philadelphia, and Paris, where the first sketchy reports of the disaster are arriving by telegraph. Then the preparations of the scientist and journalists who head off to Martinique to unravel the mysteries about what happened there. No reader can possibly stop here; you have to go on the Chapter 2.

Even though you think you know what's going to happen next, there is one surprise after another. And I found myself really caring about the many of the characters, trying to guess who will die and who will escape in time.

This true story is what I call a "MUST READ!"

perhaps the debate "is zebrowski's book a scientific account or a novel?" is best understood when we look at a simple fact: it has a human side. no writing can be strictly an "account" if it takes on the brutal task of touching on not just the facts but the sociological effects of such a disaster, as zebrowski's story does. and the humanization of a scientific fact of life is not a fault.

a novel or an account... why can't it be both? after all, what is a great story if not a wonderful descripton of a point in time, with characters and dialogue-and truth, at that.

and spelling geographical terms in a different way than we are used to is not a "liberty," it is a choice.

this is a truly phenomenal book. dr. zebrowski is clearly a scientist-and a writer.

This book is that rarity - a page turner about geological phenomena. I had no previous interest in or knowledge about volcanoes, but The Last Days of St. Pierre was hard to put down. The tragic history of Mount Pelee, its fatal eruption and horrific aftermath, come alive in the words of contemporary witnesses (and many who did not survive). I could see how Zebrowski must have identified with the adventurer-geologists who investigated the volcano after its initial eruption, for he describes their travels (and travails) vividly.

But this is not just a book for earth scientists. It deserves a wide general readership.

As she approached her fiftieth birthday, author Melissa Walker found herself hostage to "hurry sickness," the halfhearted race to meet the demands of job, family, household, and friends. To reclaim her own life and authentic purpose, Walker sought out the wild places of this country in order to try living instead according to the natural world's rhythms of day and season. What began through a lifelong love of nature and a midlife urgency to reevalaute her personal life and priorities led Walker on a larger journey to a new purpose: claiming the American wilderness as her own cause and becoming an important voice in its preservation.

Living On Wilderness Time combines the best features of travel writing, the personal memoir, and a call to action. Along the way it is populated with fascinating people and wild places in the American West and the South. The interior landscape is as intriguing as the external world, as Walker must balance her zeal for exploring and saving wild places with the sudden inclination, for instance, to shop for a Chanel blush. Walker's writing is clear and spare, with flashes of insight and wit and steady good humor. One is somehow changed by reading the book, both through new understanding of the power of the wilderness, and new respect for the passionate work that people who dare to venture outside the fog and clutter of daily life can summon themselves to do.

A vivid and delightful description of Walker's 200 days alone in America's wild places. Made me want to go! The reader is treated to intimate details about her adventures in her solo trip through natural wilderness areas. One meets a variety of characters, not all of whom share Walker's desire to preserve the wilderness (and many of whom are surprised to find a middle-aged woman traveling alone and without a gun yet). Highly recommended.

This is an awesome book. I just finished reading Bill Bryson's book about hiking the AT, and I am preparing for my annual trek to Montana to spend 2 weeks in the backcountry. Being from Atlanta myself it is refreshing to know that there are people out there who feel the same way as I do. Not wanting to shun society, but feeling a need to get out by yourself in the wilderness to see what you are really made of. I am addicted to the wide open spaces out west and I cannot wait to explore some of the areas in South Dakota she described in her book on my drive out west. I recommend this book for anyone looking to get a first hand description of what it is like being on your own in new territory. What a remarkably brave and independant woman!!

I would have given this deck 5 stars just for the artwork, which is superb. The deck is really fun to look at, especially if you love Halloween & all of it's images. It's also very easy to remember what each card means, because they are so striking. However, this deck gives you a very sugar-coated reading; none of the negative or dark cards are very negative or dark. Unlike life, this deck is all happy readings; even if you get the Devil, the Tower & Death all in a row, the interpretations will tell you it's no big deal. So I found the interpretation possibilities a bit limited & unrealistic. This deck is for people who really don't want ANY bad news!

This is a real Tarot deck with carefully thought out imagery based on the familiar Rider-Waite pack. It has been delightfully "twisted, turned, and tweaked" to create a colorful, humorous, and fun-filled Halloween deck. The brief little pamphlet that comes inside the box with the "deck only" set explains that the imagery chosen by artist Kipling West encorporates not only old-tome Halloween archetypes but characters from old horror movies, circus images and from the German-made Vegetable People that were popular decorations in America in the 1920s and can be seen on vintage Halloween postcards. Mixed in with the Halloween symbols is a blend of ancient Greek, Egyptian, Hindu, Chaldean and biblical imagery. Kipling West knows her Tarot and she clearly loves Halloween as I do. This deck is so much fun, the illustrations so bright and colorful and detailed that I think most any Tarot lover will find it enjoyable. It is perfect for light-hearted, less serious readings that might be done at parties but can also be used by the serious student to broaden one's understanding of the traditional Tarot symbols.
The black cat that appears on each card is so true to life that a cat-lover will spot their own cat's behavior right away. The suits are Bats for Swords, Imps for Wands, Pumpkins for Pentacles, and Ghosts for Cups. While the symbolism on the Court cards and the Major Arcana is very faithful to the Rider-Waite vision it is at the same time enormously creative in working the Halloween symbolism into the cards. The images are all fun and so they are useful for working with people that are merely curious because they do not frighten, however, an experienced reader can easily transpose their own deeper knowledge of the cards onto these loosely veiled images and the deck is satisfactory for serious divination.
If you love the fun-filled and slightly freaky American holiday of Halloween with it's orange and black cornucopia of characters and symbols you will adore this deck as I do. Amazon carries the deck separately or sold as part of a set that includes a detailed book on The Halloween Tarot. Both are excellent depending on your needs. Don't miss this. It's so much fun.

Basically a rider waite clone, this deck would be excellent for a beginner. The imagery is fun and would also be excellent when reading for those not familiar with tarot. I don't think this deck would be good as a main deck, I find it hard to relate with the cartoon characters used in the illustrations. But it is beautiful, and for those who love halloween as much as I do, it's a great pick.