Among it's era, Spiral Bridge stands tall as the best book in the series. It was a rather unique volume with the first 50 pages being a volume in itself and the remainder a subsequent to the opening. By page 50, the chapter "Dead End" is well named. The brothers were at a stand still in solving this case. After a brief 15 pages of little activity they head to Kentucky undercover at a construction site under assumed names using "jailbird language". I absolutely loved this book. It captured your imagination. They were in the great outdoors among the enemy (Sleeping With the Enemy) working side by side with the very criminals they intended to bring to justice. The book is packed with action & suspense. RATED B+

Frank and Joe set out to find the group of criminals who kidnapped their father while he was working on a case of sabotage for Tony Prito's father at a construction site in Kentucky. After Mr. Hardy's miraculous escape, Frank and Joe, along with their friends, Chet, Tony, Biff and Phil, arrange to have themselves hired on at the construction site to work undercover. Unsure of who they can trust on the crew, the Hardy's and their friends face numerous dangerous situations before they bring the criminals to justice. This was probably the last of the hardcover volumes that I really enjoyed and none of the higher volumes come that close to being as good as this one. The book was surprisingly well-written and was interesting right from page 1; although, the final 100 pages, once the Hardy's get to Kentucky, are particularly good. I really liked the fact that the Hardy's friends were included in the book and were used very well. I think that most Hardy Boys fans would enjoy this book.

book review
by torrey v. chrisman
The book I like is the hardy boys. Its about to brothers that go on detective cases. They have 53 books in the series and they live in the town of Bayport. They have a bud named Chet.
I like this book vary much. It has spy work and spenceful stuff like going to a rocky shore and climing it. I would give this book a ten because it is vary cool! by the way the brother's name are Fred and George. That's why I like this book. I am now reading book 45, it's called mystery of the spiral bridge.

This novel has received less attention in the U.S. than some of Hardy's other works, such an The Mayor Of Casterbridge, w ith its theme of the individual in tragic conflict with fate. The Woodlanders dwells on the needless sufferings and unhappiness brought on by class privelege. This is a subject always sure to raise suspicions of membership in the Khmer Rouge or the North Korean Secret Police here in the holyland of capitalism. But it is a beautiful work of art. Henry James and Jacques Barzun sneered at it because of its attacks on the upper classes. But that is a mark in its favor. Anything opposed by those two must be on the side of progress and human emancipation.

Unlike some of Hardy's other classic works, such as The Mayor of Casterbridge, with its theme of "the individual" against "fate," The Woodlanders has received little attention in this country. Perhaps that is because it deals so strongly with the themes of class privelege and class conflict, usually associated in this holy land of capitalism with the Khmer Rouge and Stalin. But it is a magnificent and rewarding work of art. Jacques Barzun and Henry James sneered at it because of its hostile treatment of the upper classes, but that is a mark in its favor. Anything opposed by those two must stand for progress and human emancipation.

This is one of my favourite Hardy novels. As some others have noted, it's not one of the "big 5" but certainly worth reading. Hardy's descriptions of the woodlands are beautiful, and I found the ending to be one of his most unpredictable. I wouldn't recommend reading it if you are feeling down, as the ending is sooooo wonderfully tragic (hehe), or if you're not a fan of Hardy's prose style, but otherwise it's a wonderful read. Very personal as well. I got the feeling it was written just for me :)

Camped in a cabin beside Black Hollow the brothers become involved in a mystery surrounding the strange happenings within the hollow. I give the setting for this book an A+. Imagine - inside your four walls - knowing that danger lurks outside. The setting is brilliant and the knowledge that "something evil is lurking" makes for a suspenseful read. Reminds me of a setting for a horror film. I would have named this "The Witch of Black Hollow" or "The Secret of Black Hollow". Either would be better than the Screeching Owl title, but in any event this seems to be a favorite on most people's lists and I am no different. The Hardy's travel about the local town located in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania and occasionaly dare to venture down in the spooky hollow. This was the best volume in the series among the higher volumes in my opinion. Great interior artwork (The early 1960's interior artwork reached it's zenith) and a well written suspenseful action packed mystery rank this volume among the series elite. RATED A-

Frank, Joe and their pal, Chet, are in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountain country to visit a family friend who lives next to spooky "Black Hollow". When he turns up missing, it's up to the Boys to find him and solve the mysterious goings-on in Black Hollow.

The action in this book is almost non-stop and this story ranks among the best of the later tales.

A "must read" for all Hardy Boys fans.

Frank, Joe and Chet travel to Black Hollow in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains to help a friend of their father. However, when they arrive, he is nowhere to be found and they are told an almost unbelievable story of a two hundred year-old witch that emerges from the hollow at night to steal dogs and terrorize the people of the village with her screaming. Frank, Joe and Chet try to solve the mystery of the witch, the disappearance of their friend and what connection, if any, a deaf, mute boy has to the strange happenings in the hollow. This book is excellent, it is one of the best books of the entire series and is easily the best book of the hardcovers from 39-58. The action starts in the first chapter and it never lets up. This book is probably the best written and most descriptive of the later volumes. This is a great book and should not be missed by any Hardy Boys fan.

This is the perfect follow up to Klinger's annotated "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." It is exhaustively researched, beautifully printed, and tastefully illustrated. The scope of the annotations are awesome, and truly enhance the appreciation of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Both die-hard fans and casual readers will absolutely love this book!

In spite of the fact that I have all the stories, this book made me want to reread them all again. It is a hoot. You'll discover fascinating facts that will make the stories brand new and interesting all over again. This is a MUST HAVE for Holmes fans.

This is a good collection of Sherlock Holmes shorts. The first offering is what is generally considered one of the best stories in the entire Holmes canon: Silver Blaze. "The Musgrave Ritual" is very cool also, but of course, they're all good. This collection also houses the infamous short "The Final Problem" where Doyle originally tried to kill Holmes. So popular a character was Holmes (even then) that after the story was released there was a riot in the streets of London, so mad were the people at Holmes's death. Needless to say, Doyle brought Holmes back. Imagine if he hadn't...

McNeill belongs to that category of historians who not only bring an enormous treasure chest of knowledge, but who present it in a writing style so direct and compelling that the reader cannot help but admire their work. "The Rise of the West" is a monumental book. McNeill's knowledge of histroy, of facts, his erudition--all leave the reader in a kind of suspense and disbelief. Can one man know this much? Apparently he can. McNeill's vast lore is a proof of commitment to scholarship and historical discovery. Whether or not the West has a special status and a claim to a special place in human civilization (as I believe it does) is something that is for you, the reader, to decide. McNeill makes his arguments and then reasses them years later in this new edition; and he is less upbeat about the special position of the West. But that is theory, perspective, possibility, interpretation. Whatever interpretation you embrace, you won't regret reading this book for its facts, its comprehensive narrative, and its gift of widening historical perspectives and imagination.

This epic magesterial volume deserves no less than to be required reading for all citizens of the Western World. McNeill employs deft understanding and sensitivity equal to the herculean task. The author is no Western apologist, but shows how global civilization is developing into a mosaic largely driven by Western ideas.

Beginning just before the dawn of the agrarian transormation and spanning its eventual blossomings (and fadings) into civilization, McNeill takes the reader on a journey that answers questions you never knew you had. The Western way eventually remade the world, and McNeill shows why and how and when. Using evidence from art, archaeology, anthropology, politics, commerce, science, and religion he paints confident, broad strokes that nevertheless are rich in detail. It is a masterpiece of staggering scope, rendered in a noble voice.

The only important criticism is an undeniable Eurocentric bias (readily admitted by the author). But this becomes understandable and quite forgiveable as the reader follows the author wrestling enormous epics of civilization into a readable form. Regardless of this necessary perspective Rise of the West can certainly stand as comparable, perhaps even superior to similar works by Spengler, Toynbee, Braudel, or Diamond.

I've read this book 3 times so far. The history given here is very different from the version I learned in school and in church and from my parents.

The information in this book forms much of the basis for many of my basic morals, beliefs and opinions. As a broad history, McNeil necessarily discusses many cultures. The extraordinary diversity of those cultures has given me much to think about, particularly about the effect on each person's beliefs of when in history and into which culture he/she was born, e.g., a person born into the original Assasins culture would probably believe that murder was good while the same person born into most other cultures would probably believe murder to be evil.

This book has made me more tolerent of and open to other people's ideas.

(Reading this book also helps a lot in Trivial Pursuit :-).)

I am still waiting for a perfect horror reference guide and this one comes pretty close. It is still missing dozens of titles that are elusive, but not THAT elusive! Most of the missing titles are still available on video at most video outlets! For anyone mildly interested in the genre, this should make you a hardcore addict! For those already hardcore addicts, you will probably cringe at some of the films missing but enjoy the extensive research put into the films. Yes, some pictures would look better in color, but the book's already a fortune, why have the price raised? Don't let the price discourage you, this is the best guide I've seen in the past few years (besides Michael Weldon's exhaustive PSYCHOTRONIC books). If you're still wary about buying it, look at the measurements of the book and how many pages it has. Nuff said.

The fact that this encyclopedia has not been updated since its last reprinting in 1995 borders on the offensive. That's because it is simply the best reference of the genre I've ever encountered. The book is filled with short to medium length reviews of horror films from every period in film history (up to 1992) and every nation which dabbles in the genre.

The fact that the encyclopedia is that complete is not necessarily its biggest asset. The reviews which compose the book do not simply provide summary, a quick line or two of evaluation, and a useless star rating a la Leonard Martin. Instead, each review examines its subject in relation to other similar works by subject, studio, director, actor, etc. It refuses to provide star ratings, favoring a more detailed explanation of a film's strengths and weaknesses. Also, and this pleases me the most, many films are examined through a critical lense, looking at how the film explores gender, culture, politics, economics, etc.

Combine these strengths with the inclusion of just about every horror film ever made and you have a book horror fans will leave by their bedside.

This encyclopedia treats the horror film genre as it should be treated, an important and vital field of art with a history and voice to be heard. Any causal or serious student of horror films must own this book. It will deepen and enlive their enjoyment of horror, from the absurd and esoteric, to the classic and mainstream.

This book has it's flaws, there is no doubt about that, various films are missing, the writing is overly politically correct, almost every film is considered either racist or homophobic and every time a women is killed it is because the director either hates or fears women. Did they ever think that maybe the reason there are beautiful women in these movies is so that there is something to hold the viewers interest between killings rather than having them nod off because of the inane dialogue. Then there are the racist cannibal films. Most of these films are little more than a chance to show some extreme gore and nothing more should be read into them than that. I must say that I am surprised that they missed the right wing political views that are rife in ZOMBIE. They also give away the ending to half the films.

Still, it's a great book, and I'm not beiing sarcastic. As a reference guide for the horror fanatic it's second to none. I have certainly never read anything with as much information on each individual film as this, as I mentioned before there is sometimes too much information, ruining twist endings and giving away key plot elements before you have had a chance to discover them for yourself, but you just have to be careful how you read it. I've owned this book for a few years now, and have read it through about twenty times and I am still picking it up often and going over old ground and discovering new information. Any horror fan must own this, no two ways about it.

The Shore Road Mystery re-write wasn't nearly as good as the original, wherein Frank and Joe bought a used fancy car, fixed it up, and hid in the trunk. Their Trojan Horse technique carried them right into the lair of the auto thieves; after numerous exciting brushes with danger, they were able to escape and bring back the police.

The re-write wasn't nearly as tense. It's possible that was purposeful. At the end of the original, Fenton Hardy muted his pride for his sons' accomplishment with the admonition that their tactic had simply been too dangerous, and they could have been seriously injured or worse.

But that's what made the book good. Kids enjoy stories of that nature because nothing like that ever happens to teens in real life. Really, how many teams of teen-brother detectives do you think are operating in the USA just now, solving crimes and mysteries every other week (while owning cars, motorcycles, ice boats, airplanes, you name it)? Zippo.

This review concerns the revised 1964 edition. Jack Dodd, a schoolmate of the Hardy's, asks Frank and Joe to solve a family mystery involving a treasure hidden during Pilgrim times. However, after Jack and his father are accused of stealing cars along the Shore Road, they disappear. Did the Dodds go onto hiding so that they could search for the treasure? Did they run away because they are guilty? Or were they kidnapped to make it look as if they ran away? Frank, Joe and Chet work to find the answer and solve the mysteries. This book was quite good; it has a realistic plot, plenty of action and was generally enjoyable. Nonetheless, I prefer the original edition to the revised. The original edition was better written as to the flow of the book and the language used. The Pilgrim mystery, which was not a part of the original, felt tacked on and was not woven into the story very well in my opinion. Both editions are worth reading and since they are only similar in their basic plot and only slightly similar in their endings, I think that most fans could read one and then not feel bored reading the second one later. However, if you're only going to read one, I'd say to go with the original.

This book was Super! I liked pretending I was one of the Hardy Boys. I also tried working out the mysteries with the book. I liked it when they found the Hidden Hideout. I also liked when they spied. I like spying on people myself. I also liked their motorcycles. I loved it!

This review concerns the revised 1966 edition. Frank, Joe, Chet and Biff receive permission from Elroy Jefferson to spend their Christmas holiday at his cabin on Cabin Island. Mr. Jefferson also asks for the boys' help in finding his missing grandson. While staying at the cabin, the boys find clues which lead them to believe that a valuable medal collection, stolen from Mr. Jefferson two years ago, is located somewhere on the island. However, before they can find the medals, they must deal with an unscrupulous criminal intent on finding the collection himself and a strange ghost inhabiting the island. This is probably one of the better revisions (I'd give it 3 1/2 stars, if they gave half star ratings); the story closely follows that of the original volume and, while the excellent writing of the original is gone, the book still wasn't written badly. The mystery isn't bad; although, the whole ghost part wasn't very interesting and could have been easily left out. I would recommend reading the original, if possible, but the revision wasn't bad either.

This review concerns the original 1929 edition. While spending the Christmas holiday on Cabin Island with their chums, Chet and Biff, Frank and Joe Hardy stumble upon a mystery surrounding the disappearance of a valuable stamp collection. The mystery related in this book, though interesting, is average. It is the writing that makes this book a joy to read. The scenes are so well described that one could almost picture oneself there at that time and the language used hasn't been dumbed down like in many of the recent volumes. The action is well-paced and it didn't feel as though the mystery was solved too quickly. This was a great book, definately worth reading.

This was my 3rd book and my best. I like the plot, and it's hard to tell the outcome of the ending, even though I found out. I got this book from Boise's library, and it was dirty, old, but terrific. No wonder so many people liked it if the book's the way it is now. The ghost part is the least exciting, I'd have to say. But there are so many good parts it's hard to choose which one is the best!!! So if you want a good mystery and action book, this beats all other mystery and action stuff, guaranteed!!!

I never had much inclination to read Thomas Hardy, who struck me as bleak, melodramatic and angry, but I'm glad I did. I hear this is one of the happiest of his books, but having been so delighted by the sheer quality of writing I am tempted to try even the heavier ones.
Not that there isn't tragedy to be found here. Perhaps the most upsetting incident in the book occurs near the beginning with the death of a flock of sheep. And the human tragedy gets much worse from there on in; however, all is not entirely lost, and I was glad to find a relatively positive ending.
Bathsheba Everdene is a very well drawn character, and who could fail to like Gabriel Oak? Hardy is great at naming his characters, too. Every name seems to fit its owner perfectly--Francis Troy, Fanny Robin, Cainy Ball, Liddy Smallbury.
Yes, he's a master writer, after all.

Over the years I've read most of Hardy's novels and decided recently to re-read the great Wessex novels in the order in which they were written. This is the first of them and Hardy's first 'mature' novel.

In breathtakingly evocative language Hardy writes a paean to times he knew were changing. He is writing at a period when the old country ways are at war with the new. Bathsheba Everdene is, in her way, one of the 'new' people. And Sergeant Troy, out of harmony with the village of his birth and 'a man to whom memories were an encumbrance', is too. So one would think they were meant for each other. Hardy shows us, though, that there is something about the old ways that is worth saving; this is personified by Gabriel Oak, who is staunch like his name. His steadfastness symbolizes the old ways, the ways in which loyalty, integrity, modest ambitions and decency are lasting values. One is led to think, perhaps, in the middle of the book that the new ways will be a path out of the seemingly simple and ineffective country ways, where people live their lives by the seasons, know their rôle in their society, get along civilly with each other, all of which might seem to lead to a certain lack of excitement. When Gabriel characterizes his proposal of marriage to Bathsheba by saying '. . . at home by the fire, whenever you look up, there I shall be--and whenever I look up, there will be you', this is taken by Bathsheba as a recipe for boredom. She comes to understand with time that this sort of domestic harmony is a haven from the harms of the world.

And so, while writing about changing times, Hardy also writes a prose poem about married love. He was 33 when he wrote it and ironically it was the success of this book that gave him the means to finally get married to his dear fiancée, Emma Gifford. And it launched him on a series that was to become a dominant part of his life's work.

The book ends with a neat summation, quoted in the title of this review, by one of the farm laborers, Joseph Poorgrass, who proposes a perhaps unromantic means of accepting our time among our fellow-men: '. . . since 'tis as 'tis, why, it might have been worse, and I feel my thanks accordingly.'

While written and set in a time long past, Thomas Hardy gives a real sense of what it must have been like to live before vast industrialization. This book draws the reader into the lives of the characters, telling a story of a pretty woman, who doesn't quiet know or really care about the effect she has on the men who's world she has pushed herself into.
Hardy portrays Bathsheba as somewhat of a feminist, who at first only considers marriage as a means of raising her station in life. This becomes unnecessary when she finds herself inheriting a large estate. Although, not really interested in marriage Bathsheba begins to toy with the men around her. She meets and falls in love with a man who uses her to raise his station in life, this begins a complicated love triangle.
Hardy detailed descriptions of his characters, their emotions, and their surroundings are exquisite.

While the language may seem antiquated to some, I found it only added value to a story beautifully told.

While I was reading this book I was thinking about other things..I dont like it when books bore me and thats why I gave it few stars. I found myself trailing off and finding it hard to get to the next page..... Although the Hardy Boys and Nancy make quite a team..i still expected better..

"Royal Revenge" was my first book out of this series, and it was terrific! When Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys team up, expect much action and brainstorming of all possibilities! Mixed in with some teasing and joking, of course. At the end, the identity of the Haiduk is surprising. This is a book that you just can't put down, even the second time around!

This Super Mystery is just full of suspense and action-packed scenes that keeps you hanging on to every word. Nancy Drew and her loyal companions,Bess and George,combined with the help from the Hardy's give this book lots of humorous moments as well as character. The KGB asassin, the Haiduk, is creepy in the ending when he is loaded with an AK-74 machine gun and ordered to shoot the supposed heir to the Panaslavan throne as well as Nancy and her friends. The final ending scene will keep you glued to the page and to find out the answer to the mystery. This book is well-written and deserves,in my opinion, five stars and two thumbs up!!!!!! *****