The earlier addition (1989) was tremendously useful during a consulting assignment in Cameroon in 1992-94. Isolated in Bamenda among the small coffee plantations of the Northwest Province, I drew upon Wunnicke to understand SLCs in detail and draft a master UCP standby letter of credit that served as a framework to enhance lending to a privatized coffee industry by a consortium of local banks. The book has good explanations of the rights and obligations of the various parties, different sections of the LC and legal points of a SLC and some useful templates. Had the book contained more cases and some descriptions of operations and processing flow at issuing banks, it would have been even more illuminative. Cary Wingfield Raditz, CFA

A subtle collection of poems exploring the photographs of E. J. Bellocq and the author's own creole family history. The poems about Bellocq were, for me, the best part of the book, wonderfully intelligent accounts of these mysterious and surreal portraits of 'Storyville' prostitutes. Bergen's insights are far more sophisticated than those of any other writer I've come across. The section on Creole identity I found less convincing, as it seemed, at times, arbitrary and rather academic. Often, though, the lyrics about the photographs, the imagined 'voices' of Storyville characters and the discursive explorations of the past all worked together to create a resonance worthy of Bellocq's originals.

You will get the most from these poems with the photographs in front of you as you read.

I was totally overwhelmed by the lives of these two Yakama women and the struggles they had to overcome at the turn of the 19th century. The poetry is absolutely stunning and it includes all kinds of anthropological references that further helps in understanding the Yakama culture of the northwest. Brooke seems adept at making the stories come alive. One of the most profound moments of the book is when Kwona is given a hummingbird heart by Chaw-mwn. It is a wonderful moment.

By all means, read this little book. It's fantastic.

Time In, Time Out provides historical data and cyclical information on market trends. The best buying and selling days are given for the month. Even though the author states no system is perfect, losses will be minimal compared to buy and hold. The book is well illustrated and easy to read. I believe this book will be a valuable tool when used with composite ratings and fundamentals.

Madeleine L'Engle is a wonderful woman who has her own thoughts about faith and religion that prove to be close to the heart. I recommend this book if you are open to learning about your own faith potential, if you love children's books, or if you love eating chocolate jelly beans. Please take me seriously! This book is one I want to have for myself so I can be reminded over and over how children's authors take special care to incorporate faithful things for children to consider.

When people see me on my Triumph Bonneville Special or 825cc Tiger they say things like:

"Great bike, must be hard to find parts for..."

or sometimes you'll get:

"I used to have one of those..."

Which is really the more appropriate response since Triumph and American motorcycling go hand in hand. This book really made it clear to me why I love Triumphs. It gives detailed descriptions of models which were constructed specifically for the American market. There are great pictures of cross country races in the California desert and road races at Daytona. The author really captures the competative relationship between the East coast and West coast Triumph dealers (who had seperate race teams) with biographies of the riders, mechanics and team managers who made motorcycle racing from the 40's to the 70's so exciting. I learned as much about the racers as I did about the modifications they made to their bikes (and now I can make to mine).

Great book for anyone who races vintage bikes or just loves the sound of a parallel twin!

Having never read Brooke's A Telling of the Tale, I cannot say whether or not this one was a disappointing sequel, but on its own, I thought this collection of short stories was wonderful! This was the first set of stories I read that took the traditional fairy tale and turned it completely upside-down. I absolutely love this book.

Three of the four stories contain reworkings of Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, and the Frog Prince. In Beauty and the Beast, Beauty is a truly hideous-looking woman with a gentle, loving heart, and the Beast is a stunningly beautiful man with a heart of ice. The ending is definitely not traditional. I was almost disappointed with the ending, but it fits:0)

The story of the Frog Prince takes place years after the princess kissed the frog and turned him into a prince. Now, married and middle-aged, the magic seems to have gone out of the relationship. The queen wishes her husband were a frog again, and the king wants desperately to tell his wife he loves her, but is too busy, too harried, and too afraid to say anything. The plan that the king comes up with is definitely original! A winner! Once again, the ending is far from a conventional fairy-tale's.

The third story, a remake of Sleeping Beauty, also takes place long after the princess is released from her slumbers with a kiss. Her husband long dead and the princess herself settled into almost-middle age, the princess opens her door one day to find a middle-aged prince standing on the doorstep, determined to kiss her. What ensues is a very funny story, and leads into the last tale, which is so different you must read it for yourself. Enjoy!

As a former camper, this book brought back wonderful memories of my experiences as a camper in l949 andl950. It contains a whole section of pictures of the camp , the counslers and campers from the very begining of the camp until the present. It also contains a listing of all the campers for each year and their tribe. I had forgotten so many of the names of my summer friends and this book gave me all their names! I only wish I knew how to get in touch with them today. There is a wonderful history of the camp, a detailed account of many of the counslers, how tribal customs were established and in general,a meticulously documented record of the camp since it was started. I spent one whole weekend day reading the book and my happy summers of '49 and '50 were mine again ! I highly recommend this book to anyone who has attended Waldemar If you would like to be reunited in memory with people like Doris, Shannon, Johnny, moments on Tribal hill, the Ideal girl ceremony, field days and old long forgotten friends, this book will take you back to them!

I really enjoyed reading Lord Alanbrooke's War Diaries -- six years of daily impressions from the fellow who managed World War II for Britain. I now have a much better understanding why the British and Americans were fighting the Germans in North Africa and why the first Allied invasion of Europe took place in Sicily and southern Italy. Although Britain was already at war and had broken the German military code, it seems unlikely its leaders had any advance warning of the Pearl Harbor attack. In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, Britain sustained devastating defeats in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Burma leaving India and Australia vulnerable. Of course, Hilter's invasion of the Soviet Union was the turning point.

As Churchill's principal military advisor, Alanbrooke kept a daily account from September 1939 to August 1945. He describes the Dunkirk evacuation in May 1940; the nightly German bombings of London that continued for many months after September 1940; the defensive measures Britain took to guard against attack; the German defeat of France; and meetings with American allies to plan the invasion of Europe and the defeat of the Axis powers.

Alanbrooke dined with military and political leaders virtually every day and attended many meetings with Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, Eisenhower, Marshall, Dill, and Montgomery. In a typical entry (January 24, 1944), he tells of Churchill

". . . discussing Stalin's latest iniquities in allowing Pravda to publish the bogus information that England was negotiating with Germany about a peace. He said: 'Trying to maintain good relations with a communist is like wooing a crocodile, you do not know whether to tickle it under the chin or to beat it on the head. When it opens its mouth you cannot tell whether it is trying to smile, or preparing to eat you up.'"

Alanbrooke described the major role he played:

"The whole world has now become one large theatre of war, and the Chiefs of Staff represent the Supreme Commanders, running the war in all its many theatres, regulating the allocation of forces, shipping, munitions, relating plans to resources available, approving and rejecting plans, issuing directives to the various theatres. And most difficult of all handling the political aspect of this military action, and coordinating with our American allies."

He struggled to keep military strategy intact at Allied war conferences held in Washington, D.C., Casablanca, Teheran, Quebec, Moscow, Yalta, and Potsdam. Later, Alanbrooke inserted the following after one of his diary entries:

"According to [Eisenhower] when we stood on the bank of the Rhine on March 25th, I said to him: 'Thank God, Ike, you stuck by your plan. You were completely right, and I am sorry if my fear of dispersed efforts added to your burdens. The German is now licked. It is merely a question of when he chooses to quit. Thank God you stuck by your guns.' I think that when this statement is considered in connection with what I wrote in my diary that evening, it will be clear that I was misquoted. To the best of my memory I congratulated him heartily on his success, and said that as matters turned out his policy was now the correct one, that with the German in his defeated condition no dangers now existed in a dispersal of effort. I am quite certain that I never said to him 'You were completely right', as I am still convinced that he was 'completely wrong', as proved by the temporary defeat inflicted on him by Rundstedt's counter stroke, which considerably retarded the defeat of Germany."

Alanbrooke also took time to ponder the meaning of war:

"The suffering and agony of war in my mind must exist to gradually educate us to the fundamental law of 'loving our neighbor as ourselves'. When that lesson has been learned, then war will cease to exist."

His perceptive remarks ring true today. If you have the time, this book is definitely worth reading. The editors provide a useful introduction (including short descriptions of friends, comrades, politicians, and soldiers), a carefully prepared index, a handy list of abbreviations, and 8 pages of photographs.

Don't waste money on multiple lesser books. Buy this one! You won't regret it. Especially if you want a natural look, such as plants to the edge of the water or easing into the water. This is my key reference for constructing my water garden. Excellent construction techniques for natural edges - no necklace of rocks - and stream flow and finishing to mimic natural creeks and streams. Very inspirational photos of water features that will surprise you that they are man-made, and sized for average gardens as well as larger acreages. Line drawings detail construction techniques showing placement of liner, underlayment and structural (concrete) support for heavy rocks, etc. Several options shown for each. Written such that homeowner could do it themselves. Only caveat is that the designs are based in Britain and may (or may not) need adjustment for severe winter regions. Although primarily a construction guide, excellent photos of completed gardens provide inspiration for plantings. There is a brief review of major species adapted to this sort of garden. I am looking forward to the new edition, due out in Fall 2002, which promises inclusion of some U.S. information. Don't accept less. Raise your expectations of what your water feature can look like. Buy this book.