This book was originally published by Bicycle Books in San Francisco. I would hope that it would still be available, even though 5 years ago hardback copies were selling at chain bookstores for as little as $4 a copy. The Ritchie book is written not just from the perspective of bicycling history (although it is well-researched from that point of view), but as an important social history. In addition, it reminds us of the history of the development of transportation and how bicycles were eventually pushed out of the public vision of having right-of-way to being relegated to the closed track of the velodrome so they wouldn't get in the way of the growing automobile culture. Major Taylor's career is important in the history of racism and attempted and often effective exclusion of Blacks not just from racing opportunities, but from the subsequent business opportunities that followed on the heels of the age of the turn-of-the-century racers. The largest reason that Major Taylor died a pauper was because he was not allowed to participate on an equal level with White businessmen in the developing automobile industry, according to Ritchie's research. Turn of the century bicycle racers, as Ritchie points out, were instrumental in contributing to the design of the shock system and the use of pneumatic tires, among other features, of the emerging American automobile. They also were some of the large investors in the industry upon their retirement from active racing status. Taylor wanted to participate in the design process and applied to a university for formal education in engineering, but was denied access, despite his hard-won efforts, previous inventions in bicycle design and testing, and celebrity status. The fact that the man died early of a stroke and alienated from his family and community in the end can only speak of a man who, after putting out his entire life, had finally been broken by the pressure of living in a racist society. Yet, writing his autobiography and selling it door to door evokes the phoenix-like quality of many members of the Black community who survive and thrive in spite of great hardship, even in our present times.

This is a very enjoyable book. Very well researched and documented (almost to a fault). Anyone who is serious about the history of bicycle racing in the USA must add this book to their library. After reading this book one must wonder how great Major Taylor would have been if the playing field was equal. Highly Recommended!!

I found this story of a black man in this early 1900 era extremely fascinating. His beliefs in fair play, extrodinary dedication to his faith and his hobby made him a role model for any and all to follow. his persistance in perfecting his beloved sport despite all of the negativity of this era, to me was unbelieveable. I read few books cover to cover but I have had the pleasure of reading this one 4 times. Ritchie has this book so well documented that anyone reading it would have no problem of becoming totally engrossed in it. A well done from me.

This book goes way beyond the usual movie companion book genre or the groupie can't get enough photos of the leading guy (or gal) genre for a very simple reason - its terrific design.

After flipping through a few pages, I knew I was in for a visual treat. Great layouts - the more powerful images rightly stand alone in a spread, while background and other less important photographs appear side by side. Creative use of color - Black and white photos are often on wonderful purple or red backgrounds that make them jump and don't distract. Great graphic and type choices are everywhere. Congratulations go to the book's creative team. The credits from Vision On Publishing list "Book Design by Nuisance" and "Reprographics by AJD" - great work.

Of particular note was the well-balanced choice of photos and interviews to include. Normally, movie books have way too many shots of the name-brand stars. Of course we hear from Guy Ritchie and Brad Pitt in Snatch, but great coverage of extras, production people and even Holly the Dog (who gets a two-page spread) make this more than the usual fanzine. In fact, its more like a coffee table art book.

If youv'e not yet read this book, you need to do so now, to put it simply, although difficult, is that it is an amazing insight into the creation and the characters that star in the film, from their character traits to their own personalities comming through into the making of the film. The comical attitude of each character is an exception to the book, giving it a humorous yet serious and 'real' content. This book is definately a must buy for Snatch fans, and espcially for those who have not yet seen the film.

This is a well-produced book and was worth the wait (I first placed an order for it in October). This book features many photos I had never seen before on nice thick pages. Some of the photos were full page and some covered two pages. There were over two dozen pics featuring Brad Pitt. Most of the photos are pretty good resolution though some are a bit blurred. Overall, a pretty good book. As for what it says ... the text was very little but always very amusing. Since I bought it for the photos, this did not matter. Buy it while you can!

I HAVE BEEN RUBBER STAMPING FOR ABOUT TWO YEARS AND HAVE YET TO FIND A MORE WONDERFUL BOOK THAN THIS ONE FOR RUBBER STAMPERS, PARTICULARILY THOSE JUST GETTING INTERESTED IN THIS HOBBY. IF YOU NEED A BOOK TO GET YOU STARTED, (AND EVEN IF YOU THINK YOU DON'T) THIS BOOK (ACTUALLY, IT IS A KIT) IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST! IT IS EASY TO USE AND IN VERY SIMPLE LANGUAGE TO UNDERSTAND. EVERYTHING YOU NEED IS INCLUDED AND THE CHAPTERS COVER EVERYTHING YOU WILL NEED TO KNOW ABOUT RUBBER STAMPING. I CAN'T RECOMMEND IT HIGHLY ENOUGH!!!

I bought this kit for all my craft friends for christmas. I liked it so much I had to get a copy. It gives you ideas that you might not have thought of for use of your stamps. It comes with what you would need if you had never stamped before. It gives you stamps, pens, pencils, paper, ink pad, and full color ideas this is great for any one who likes to create things.

If you are into Rubber Stamping, then this book is for you! It opens like a book but is a complete kit and makes a wonderful gift. Versatile stamps have indiviual word stamps like Happy, Birthday, Mother's, Father's, Valentine's, Day, and more; so, you can mix and match to make your projects special and unique. You also get 21 other fun shapes, pens, pencils, cards, envelopes, ink pad, glitter glue, and a terrific book that offers all kinds of how-to tips and ideas to help you create the most professional rubber stamp creations. Happy Rubber Stamping!!!

This book is very insightful on both, aspects of tourism and travel, as well as the financial affects that tourism can play on a country's economy. The authors seem to know what they're talking about and they're very good at relaying their knowledge to their readers in a concise way.

This text provides a great overview of the tourism industry, from what tourism is to its organization to the theories that help fomulate such a diverse industry. This book should be studied by every student studying tourism.

This book offers a fusion of theory and practical advice that is directly relevant to managers - an area where many current tourism texts fall short. It is both strategic and tactical, providing readers with a broad overview of the tourism environment as well as implementable ideas for improving business performance. I have read and enjoyed the original version by McIntosh, and the new insights from Ritchie and Goeldner add new depth to an already exceptional read.

Look around. You'll find no book in the field as thorough and well written as this.

This is probably the strangest, most completely unknown Greyhawk adventure ever made. Dave Arneson's legendary Blackmoor (the first D&D campaign, predating Greyhawk itself) is infamous as the dreaded lost land beyond the icy realm of Iuz. Here, its secrets are revealed as the heroes (levels 10-14) travel through time back to its vaunted golden age, when technology and magic brought unbelievable wonders to life, leading to the Cataclysm that ended it all thousands of years ago... oddly, TSR decided to uproot Blackmoor from the World of Greyhawk (1986 was when Gygax & Co. were in extremely ill favor), and shoved it into the world of Mystara. It works there, but this was truly intended as an adventure series for AD&D! Easily converted, and definitely worth the effort.

I will be very brief - of the hundreds of modules produced by TSR throughout the years, I have to think this is by far the best. It is a 64 page module with about 40 of the pages devoted to history, culture, and personalities of an entirely new kingdom. Highly recommended for those who wish an example of how to add more "role" and less "roll" to RPGs. Excellent background material and does a good job fleshing out characters. The adventure itself is somewhat limited but still very good - the adventure surrounds a hotel that has a gate leading many directions in time and the heroes must travel through the gate to a number of different times to help spoil a plot of intrigue foisted on the kingdom by an old enemy.

I've been frustrated for a while now in trying to find a good tree identification guide. I'm a birder, I do know how to use field guides! --but all the tree guides I've tried had one photograph, or one line drawing, which might have been my leaf or it might not have been... and after staring at a few of these in confusion I'd just give up and decide to enjoy my walk.

This guide is different. First of all, there are both drawn leaf outlines and color photographs (lots of them, quite beautiful) as well as verbal descriptions. And the photographs almost all include MANY leaves of that tree, so you can see how much the leaves actually vary from each other. I thought this was a brilliant idea. Best of all, all of these trees were photographed in the fall, so the color really helps you out too!

This guide only covers some 150 species, but it does that very well. I might have preferred it to be about 1" narrower side to side, but with a bit of care it did fit into my coat pocket. Because of how colorful and easy to use it is, I imagine this guide would be an especially satisfying one to take along on walks with the kids.

Fall Color and Woodland Harvests by Drs. C.R Bell and Anne Lindsey is a comprehensive reference book for the serious naturalist. Stunning color photographs by some of the regions leading nature photographers adds incredible richness and detail to the book. Bell and Lindsey are particulary adept at presenting technical information in an easy to read and very understandable narrative form. The authors have spent years exploring the eastern forests and giving seminars and talks on its flora. Dr. Bell is the Director Emeritus of the North Carolina Botanical Garden. Your autumn leaf watching trip will be more enjoyable and more rewarding when you take along this excellent book.

I would like to take a moment to correct a very common misconception about E.T.A. Hoffmann...in all fairness to him, Hoffmann should not be known for writing The Nutcracker on which the ballet is based. The ballet is based on the version of the story written by Alexandre Dumas NOT Hoffmann! Hoffmann's version (the original, and the version Tchaikovsky thought he was writing the music for, until Petipa, the choreographer, decided it was too dark and strange to be made into a ballet and went with the sweet and fluffy Dumas version), is far superior and definiately worth reading even though it is one of his lighter tales. It's more fantasically strange and wonderful than dark and scary. It's also not as thought-provoking as some of his other works. If you're planning to read it I recommend the copy with Maurice Sendak's illustrations, as they set off the tone and mood of the story perfectly.

In regards to this particular book (The Golden Pot and others), I have found that everything Herr Hoffmann wrote is worth reading...it's just unfortunate that there aren't more collections of his works available. I've had a devil of a time trying to find a good hardbound copy myself!

E.T.A. Hoffmann is, in my opinion, one of the best and, sadly, unknown authors ever. I came across his name in a study of German Romanticism and even now whenever I want to escape this mundane reality I turn to his tales. Although known for the Nutcracker, his other tales are far more beautiful, moving and fantastic. The Golden Pot is perhaps the best story I have ever read. For anyone wishing so submerge him/herself in another world for a little while, a world of magic, beauty and horror, this is the best book one could choose. Each of his tales is unique, fantastic and exquisite.

Letter of Proceedings is a narrative of a life lived honestly, with humor and humility. But equally interesting to the general reader are Mr. Ritchie's meticulous accounts of the small details of life in the Royal Navy and the international corporate world. A well-written, fascinating volume.

Mr. Ritchie pulls you through a fascinating history of lessons he learned, most often from those who worked with their hands, and then applied them during four careers, a captain of a ship, a senior executive in an international company, a consultant and several directorships with puplic companies. His very well written autobiography captures with much warmth and humor the characters and events which helped shape his life's philosophy. His unique insights on managing people and making difficult decisions reveals a thoughtful and caring individual. Many would do well to read this journal for its win-win business and personal ethics.

Growing up as a Caucasian American I was always attracted to the disenfranchised, disempowered and misrepresented peoples of the world. My sense of justice was offended by the philosophy of European superiority, the philosophy that is based upon the idea that a person is basically born into an ethnic caste system of which Europeans where the lords. I started to befriend African Americans very early on, and I became deeply fascinated by their culture. One day an older African-American woman asked me about this, noticing me shying away from playing with white kids. At the time I didn't know how to respond so she scolded me. She told me that I was not 'black' and that I had no business pretending I was. She went on to tell me that I could never identify with what 'black' people experience, because like it or not, I was white. I would always have opportunities that 'blacks' wouldn't. She did have a point, or at least I thought. I went through a serious bout with my identity after that and decided to educate myself on what actually happened to these people. I started with this title, and it led me onto a serious engagement with our country's brutal fascination with chattel slavery.
Frederick Douglass was a slave on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, not too far from Baltimore where I live. His accounts of the treatment of slaves is indeed frightening. It is very important to note that when Frederick was young he was sent to live in Fells Point Maryland as a house slave. The wife of his owner thought it good to teach Frederick the alphabet. After Frederick learned the alphabet the woman showed her husband. He was furious with his wife, and told her that it you teach these 'niggers' to read they will want to know how to write. If they know how to wright, they might start thinking they are equal with white folks. He then ordered her to stop teaching Frederick anything 'that could interfere with his chores'. Unfortunately the damage was already done. Frederick became obsessed with reading and taught himself to read by studying newspapers in the streets and paying white kids to teach him. Slowly we see Frederick, through his own religion convictions, developing a liberation philosophy through education. Knowledge was his key to freedom, and it eventually led to his escape to the North.
One of the key points of this narration is that the slave owners used methods of controlling slaves which are very similar to the tactics employed by the propaganda machine. For instance, Frederick noticed that the slave masters made the slaves drink on holidays and observed them strictly to make certain that all of them spent their 'free' time drunk. They were always on the look-out for slaves that exhibited critical thinking attempting to hold conversations with their fellow slaves about their condition. Reminiscent of the fabled or not Willie Lynch manual on how to make and break a slave, these slave masters certainly knew what they were doing. The institution of slavery was highly developed, almost a science unto itself. Escaping this was the main theme in the first half of Frederick Douglass's autobiography. The second part deals with his efforts to bring slavery to an end all together by raising peoples consciousness to the inhumanities of the practice. I am indebted to Frederick Douglass for bringing me closer to the reality which African Americans live through day in and day out not only in this country, but also in apartheid South Africa. While I believe that the scolding I got was somewhat well deserved, I do believe that consensual integration is part of a God's work. Overall one finds it very difficult to account for all of valuable contributions this work can bring to the human heart. This is one of those books which makes you want to cry, then laugh, then explore new methods of pluralism and equality. Ironically I married an African American sister who teaches at Frederick Douglass Middle School in Baltimore City. She often tells me how the text books are over fifteen years old, and the computer lab even older. Most of the students see no benefit in the public indoctrination system anyway, but when they do go they are met with ancient resources and apathetic teachers. Another clear indication that we have a lot of work to do on this 'American' notion of equality.

This book, written in Douglass' later years, not only lifted my spirits but did a great deal to reestablish my faith in humanity. This was a man who had every opportunity, and reason, to be bitter and/or vengeful. He, instead, chose to fight, with his intellect and his golden tongue, for what he, and others chained in slavery and social subservience, rightfully disserved as a member of our human race. He was a man of conviction and inner strength who taught himself to write with an elegance that I have never seen equaled. I strongly recommend this book.

ciao guys
i can only describe ths book in one word which fabuolose.
the best book that you will ever fnd from the point horror series.it has all the twists that were ever known to mankind.
buy it (if you can) read it (if you want) all i can say to you is : Beware and dont ever call for help on the beach AGAIN

This book is the best! You never know what will happen and it was hard for me to put down! If you ask me you should deffinetly buy it! It has all these twists in it so you will be really suprised who the evil perosn is!!!