As others have said this is a great book to have if you are going to take a golfing vacation to Scotland. Mr. Finegan provides wonderful information about many diferent course. I enjoyed reading it before I went and even more after I returned and played a number of the courses. Would love to return some day to play the ones we missed!!!

Blasted Heaths is a true gem of a book. James Finegan literally knows the country - its golf, its people, its nature - like the back of his hand. You get expert, finely crafted, hole-by-hole reviews of over sixty courses. As a added bonus, there are restaurant reviews and lodging suggestions.

The book is divided into geographical regions and is helpful in helping you lay out your agenda. Sure, you know to play St. Andrews, Troon and Turnberry, but the book helps you go beyond the usual brand names.

An example of how 'Blasted Heaths' can pay off: Gleneagles is quite the amazing golfing experience, but perhaps a bit too steep in the wallet for this 20+ handicapper. Finegan points out a course right next door (Auchterarder G. C.) that, while certainly not in Gleneagles class, has a 'handful of first-rate holes' at about one-third the cost. A great recommendation! Not the holy, near-religious experience Finergan associates with Royal Dornoch, Cruden Bay, and Machrihanish and others, but it shows that the book can be used for all levels (skill and monetary) of golf.

My one recommendation (seconded by Finergan) is that you spend a couple of days in St. Andrews and soak up the environment. There's enough golf to keep you there for 3+ days, and the town itself has a real university feel and exudes charm and history. I suggest staying out of the hotels and setting up in one the many cozy guest houses a block or two from The Old Course. My wife and I stayed at the Craigmore House (ph: 334-472-142). You'll need a reservation, but it's well worth your planning ahead.

A friend gave me this book as a gift just before my first golf trip to Scotland. I played 10 of the 40 courses he reviewed. I read the entire book before the trip but enjoyed it much more after having played the courses. Many great tips in the book, as well. For example, we stayed in a Bed and Breakfast in Gullane and the author mentioned a restaurant there which he considered the best in Scotland. He is correct and we would have missed this wonderful experience without his book. His descriptions of many of the golf holes on the courses he covered were just great. For the golfer who enjoys the British Open and the Ryder Cup, this book will be delicious.

this book was very good. It was a compeling story of a cat named lord gort who tries to find his way home. He is many miles from home and he makes his way throught many sad and rough parts of the war. On his way he meets many people of all ages and shares his story. I would recomend this book to many people of all ages.

This is one exrodinary book. This book combines the tragedy of WWII with the humor of several odd europeans. The cat is merely another character that joins together the basic outlines of True stories. Even if you aren't a cat lover or aircraft fanatic you can still enjoy the odd (and sometimes drunken) europeans. I am not usually such a book worm, but this book has turned me into such (only for this particular book though). Though I am in only jr. high this is by no means a kids book. It will most adults guessing at the constant flow of long past and forgotten terms and phrases. Yet this book does not include the graphic descriptions often related to wartime stories. The thing that most interested me was that all the stories were based around true ones. Sam

No, this book isn't about a cat who can think or talk. It is more about the people who this cat come in contact with. I found this book in my grade school library, and it is the first book I found there worth reading. Beautifully written, this book talks of the pains of war, the emotions of its characters, and a cat who is just trying to get home. This is a must read for anyone who enjoys a smoothly paced book with a wonderful plot.

not just about Budapest but about any city. Passionate, opinionated, deeply in love with his subject, Torok introduces the reader both to the soul of one of the world's most soulful cities and to its haunts, dives, corners, and backwaters. Read it a week before you go, brush up on the way there, immerse yourself in Torok's Budapest, and yopu will experience the city in a way that none of the other available guides can begin to convey. This is , in fact, more than a guidebook, it is a work of travel literature, a genre that has perhaps been subordinated to eensy weensy full color photos and plastic covered pull-out maps. It is almost as much of a pleasure to savor the book's flavor as it is to travel the paths it recommends.

If you are going to Budapest for more than a day, you have to buy this book. I am a bit of a connoisseur of guide books, so I brought a few with me to Budapest. All of them included walks, but only this book had walks that made you feel like you were understanding what makes Budapest tick. All of the guide books talked about what to do, but only Mr. Torok carefully tells you what people in Budapest do, and what tourists in Budapest do. We carried this book around with us everywhere. I also carried the Eyewitness Budapest guide with me for its pretty pictures. If you buy one book, I suggest Torok's guide; and if you buy two, one has to be Torok's guide. Buy a couple books on Budapest, you can always sell it here on Amazon when you get back.

This is one of the best guidebooks I've ever encountered. Not only was it informative and enlightening, but it was extremely amusing and entertaining.

What a total delight this book is. After five years of visits to Provence, I decided on exploring the Dordogne. None of the guidebooks on the market connected me so much with an area as did this beautifully written volume by Betsy Draine and Michael Hinden. Their descriptive writing had me share their agonizing search for their dream house, slowly getting to know their neighbors, and especially their frustration of seeing the idyllic village turn into a tourist mecca. The ending came too swiftly. I could have enjoyed a few more chapters, a sort of never-ending story. Perhaps we will someday be blessed with a continuing volume.

A Castle In The Backyard: The Dream Of A House In France is a wonderful memoir of Betsy Draine and Michael Hinden (both of whom are Professors of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison), who found their summer dream home to be a little stone house in the shadow of a great French castle. A Castle In The Backyard is highly recommended reading as a richly textured remembrance of a home and a land steeped in centuries of tradition and lore, as well as the eclectic and diverse variety of the people who embody its spirit.

I savored every word, as if a delicious meal. I didn't want it to end. A very sweet and visual read. The village and villagers came to life in front of my eyes. I can't imagine a summer trip to France without a stop in Castelnaud, and a meal with Betsy and Michael. Two Thumbs up from me.

I think a book is good if it is thought provoking, enjoyable reading, written in an easy-to-read style. Although the style I found not so easy to read, I found this book very thought provoking and enjoyable. I was able to identify (somewhat tenuously) with this Nazi zealot. I was able to feel that "there but for the grace of God (went) I". This, despite the fact that his twin brother was not as zealous as he, that he saw his best friend taken away as a subhuman Jew, that even the people of his small town knew about concentration camps (what did he think went on there?), and that he witnessed a proud old German Jew WWI veteran, who had lost his leg in that war, punched in the nose till blood spurt forth merely because he complained that he could not get into the truck due to his missing a leg. I wish the author had written somewhat about how he managed to rationalize away these things he witnessed directly. But then, what can he say? We all want to see ourselves as superior to others and must work at learning that the ugly, the short,the blacks, homosexuals, women, the crippled, the retarded, the mentally ill etc. are just as good as we are. Certainly there are plenty of prejudices present here in the USA also and if we had gone through what Germany went through prior to Hitler's ascendancy, we might also be susceptible to a leader such as he. At any rate, I found this honest personal history very enlightening. One example: he says "I wish I could shoot the bastard who killed them (his dog and horse)" to which the General replies, "Nothing wrong with a desire for revenge." This sentiment seems so normal on the face of it, but he was a Catholic and don't they teach, "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord"? I'd like to think an American general would say to me, "My boy, war is hell. They kill our loved ones and we kill their loved ones". At any rate,I thought this was a great book. I would recommend it for a book group, so that members would be prompted to discuss the issues it raises.

I should have read this book first, but I stumbled onto Mr. Heck's Burden of Hitler's Legacy in my local library. Mr. Heck was 17 years of age when his country was defeated on March 10, 1945. It took him more 30 years to begin to come to terms with what Hitler did to Germany, Europe, and the millions of people who lost their lives, which includes the 6 million Jews, yes, but also the millions and millions of men, women, AND children who died because of Hitler's determination to be all powerful in the world. There were also those millions who lived on, after the war, who would have to adjust to the results of Hitler's need for power.

Mr. Heck shows us that Hitler prepared the children of his "beloved" Germany to fight for his vile beliefs and thought nothing of the impact his hatred had on these kids. One of the saddest things that I thought about as I read this gifted writer's treatise about the Hitler Youth movement was the waste of this man's talent. He should have been writing all his life. He should have had the FREEDOM to develop the talents he was born with. Read this book and weep, as I did, when I read Mr. Heck's final paragraph in this powerful, true story of the Hitler Youth. For me, what Hitler did to the children of his country, there are no words to describe what I felt. Just writing this review makes me cry.

Mr. Heck, if you are still with us, I hope you will continue to write and publish. And I hope you have peace at last.

As a student of the Second World War I am very critical when it comes to the books I read over the subject and their sources. Heck's account is nothing short but a must read on the subject. I believe this work is as important as "The Diary of Anne Frank". Most books over this period usually concern themselves with portraying the Germans as monsters and sadists but Heck really gives us an inside depth into the Nazi mentality, especially the Hitlerjugend. In the end he makes the assertion that most regular Germans were the other victims of Hitler besides the Jews and as you read the book you begin to see on what he grounds he bases this claim. The book is a fast read, easy to follow, rich in detail, and very touching. As my German title suggests, "one must read this book"!

Amazing.

The author comes from a family of Russian emigres who fled to the West as a result of the Russian Revolution. Before the Revolution, they were part of the minor nobility that supplied the Tsars with military officers in time of war and high- and mid-level government officials in time of peace. The book is mainly about how this family lived through the tumultuous period before, during and after the Revolution. The descriptions of Russian life during this period are vivid and engaging. The family portraits of people struggling to serve and save their country (and ultimately suffering the cruelest repudiation by it) are poignant. And the pages sparkle with objective analysis and insight. In spite of his family background, he does not grind axes or pine away for what was lost. And yet, although much was lost, his love for Russia and its people is clear. He sees clearly that the old order that was swept away in 1917 had its shortcomings, shortcomings that he warns may yet undermine contemporary Russia's latest experiments with constitutional democracy.

Serge Schmemann has written a terrific book about his ancestors on his Mother's side, the aristocratic Osorgin family. He traces the estate in Sergiyevskoye (now Koltsovo) that Mikhail Osorgin acquired in a card game in 1843 to the present day. It is a facinating tale interspersed with a history of the country from monarchy to communism to today. Schmemann, the son of an noted Russian Orthodox priest, is emminently qualified to write such a book. He spent many years in the Soviet Union as a reporter for the New York Times prior to winning a Pulitzer for his reportage on the fall of the Berlin Wall. The book is well researched and balanced with little tears shed over how his family lost everything to the successors of Lenin. This is his first book and it is written as what one would would expect from a newspaperman. The balalaikas do not strum and the book does lack the flavor that a book writer would bring. Never-the-less, it holds ones interest for all 333 pages. Unfortunately, Schmemann is currently an editor at the Times, so one misses his excellent columns. We look forward to his next book.

The first half of this book is both leisurely and entertaining, giving us a rich and at the same time penetrating look at the life of a wealthy family, its estate, and the villagers who were their neighbors. The second half, concentrating as it does on post-Bolshavik experiences, both in the rural village area and elsewhere, including a gulag on the White Sea, cannot be more riveting. It's hard to remember that all this really happened; it is no fiction, or creative dramatization. At the same time, there is the sweep and intellectual vision that one does associate with the great Russian novelists of the early part of this century and before. I have sent this extraordinary book to friends of mine, and I am its ardent publicity agent!

I have always been fascinated by the events of WW II. No other incident in modern history has left us with such a dreadful, and far reaching legacy.
"Born into Turmoil" will offer the English speaking reader something different and fresh. Mr. Lange chronicles his experiences as a child growing up in Germany during the Second World War. Together with Mr. Lange you will experience the dreadful bombing raids, and the daily struggle to survive during an unbearable hardship. The theme which keeps surfacing throughout his book is his families love, and how this love managed to preserve the family through the war.
When the war ends we witness the resourcefulness of Mr. Lange and his family as they try to survive while being threatened with starvation, and roaming hoards of "liberated" criminals. As time progresses we are given an insight into what things were like in post war Germany through Lange's eyes.
No serious student of these times should be without their copy of "Born into Turmoil", It will give the reader a better understanding of the "other sides" story, and a more complete picture of a larger whole.

I just finished reading Bruno Lange's book, Born Into Turmoil.
The book is universally appealing in its portrayal of young boys in search of adventure in a world of chaos and/or peace.
Reading it reminded me of the many stunts pulled by Tom Sawyer as written by Mark Twain.
Bruno gives a refreshing, yet solemn biography of what it was like to grow up as an indoctrinated, Nazi youth. His father was drafted into the German Army as a medic in Poland while Bruno, himself, was drafted into the Hitler Youth movement. Hiding Jews and helping Poles were only a few examples in the book of the kindness of his parents.

Bruno gives examples from a Nazi propaganda book, The Poisoned Mushrooms, in which Jews are depicted as animals and thieves and slaughterers of innocent animals...not to be trusted. One can only imagine the effects it had on the minds of young German youth at the time.
Luckily, with the advance of the Allies into Germany, Bruno's family is captured and re-indoctrinated...able to let go of the hate that was sown into a country so full of beauty and promise.

As a German teacher, I will make it a must read for my students. I feel it is a story they would be able to relate to on a personal level.
Bruno tells of having lied about having appendicitis in order to skip school, and ends up with his appendics actually being removed! He finds a bazooka in the woods and fires it into a tree...knocking him and the tree to the ground and setting the surrounding grass on fire. He is starving for food and invents ingenious ways to feed his family, including making himself potato pancakes. Lacking lard or butter to fry them in, he resorts to using Singer sewing machine oil...only to discover that it turned out quite delicious.

From leaping onto a moving Allied train to steal coal to keep his family warm or bicycling with a buddy across Europe on $3.85, he keeps the reader intrigued and squealing in delightful laughter the whole way through. It took me six hours to read and I recommend it to anyone who wants to see war from the German side.
This is a MUST READ for those who would believe that HATE is the only way to resolve conflict.

Bruno Lange's story of a child caught up in the ravages of WWII and his struggle to survive the deadly bombings and the war's aftermath, will touch your heart and lift your spirits. The account of this young boy's wartime experiences will make you laugh, smile and cry, but is never boring. And like a bird fluttering against the wind, young Bruno's struggle moved him upward and onward. With the strong will and determination of a Rhinelander, Bruno emerges from his wartime experiences a whole person; a person who leaves the normal scares of hatred and resentment behind. Bruno Lange's book, "Born Into Turmoil" will inspire and strengthen all who read it.

Perhaps this review isn't justified (I have only read the section on Camus), but this book is a marvel. Tony Judt has created perhaps the most endearing written portrait of Albert Camus I have ever read. If you are interested in the artist's life, please do yourself a favor and read this book (then read Olivier Todd's full biography). Albert is presented here in a most proper fashion: ambiguous but dignified, somewhere between Pascal and Nietzsche. (Much like the characters in his works, no?) FYI: Judt has written a forward for the new translation of "The Plague" - due out soon, I hope. To summarize: Thanks, Tony.

Though this book is not intended to offer three character sketches per se, it has done more to bring these great twentieth-century Frenchmen to life for me than any other work I've read. Judt is able to bring some continuity to the idea of intellectual integrity by not only describing what each of these men stood for but also what they stood against. Yes, they all stood against Communism (with a big C), but each of them stood against elements of political and intellectual fashion in defense of their own convictions as well. Blum stood against malice. Camus, against moral relativity. And Aron, against intellectual ignorance and conformity. Together they did more to defend the human condition from political and intellectual tyranny than all other twentieth century French intellectuals. This is a powerful look at how the temptations of intellectual and political affiliation need not take the place of rigor and conviction. And, to be honest, it's lucid presentation of each character nearly brought this one to tears. Deserves to be read by a general audience, or anyone who continues to be mystified by these great French figures.

The author of this book is my prof. at NYU and he is simply amazing. He is the best history prof. I've ever had, and words can't describe how intelligent this man is. I'm enrolled in his course titled "History of Europe since 1945" and I must say that the prof. is a walking encyclopedia, and really knows everything there is to know about Europe. I haven't had the chance to read any of his books yet, but I will look them up at the NYU library soon.. I have so much reading for his class I don't think I'll be able to do any leisure reading for the rest of the semester, but I'll pick up one of his books this winter break.

LONDON CITY SECRETS is a little book of good places to visit the next time you're in England. The authors describe their book as a "highly subjective" collection of recommendations, not an all-inclusive list of places to eat, sleep, visit in London. The folks making the recommendations are artists, writers, historians, and others who live and work in London. They share favorite spots to eat; favorite paintings, sculptures or museums; favorite walks, historical houses and other spots discovered over the years.

LONDON CITY SECRETS is divided into 13 areas: 1/ Trafalgar Square, Soho and Covent Garden; 2/ St James, Westminster, & the Embankment; 3/ Hyde Park & Chelsea; 4/ Oxford Street and Mayfair; 5/ Regent's Park & Camden Town; 6/ Bloomsbury & King's Cross; 7/ Islington & Clerkenwell; 8/ The City (of London); 9/ The South Bank; 10/ Notting Hill & The West; 11/ Hampstead & The North; 12/ The East End & Beyond; and 13/ South of the River.

Because the selections are subjective, the National Gallery and the Victoria & Albert Museum are mentioned, whereas the National Maritime Museum is not. Fortnum and Mason is included, Mark's & Spencer is not. Scrubb's prison is listed, the Tower of London is not. Plenty of good places to eat are listed, no good places to sleep are included. Never thought you'd visit Islington? You might find yourself eating at the Smithfield Market, Moro's, or the Quality Chop House. Think the East End is a dump? You might discover a science fiction ride on the nighttime tube.

Symbols are placed next to sites with London Underground stops and places to eat. Plenty of bars, pubs, and other assorted oddball watering holes are included. The various authors, artists, etc. also recommend plenty of additional reading material about favorite spots. LONDON CITY SECRETS is eccentric, esoteric, and entertaining.

LONDON, of the City Secrets series of travel guides, is a little gem that will easily fit into a pocket of your travel vest as you set out to explore what is arguably the world's greatest city.

This volume, small in size but rich in information, divides Britain's capital into thirteen areas according to a scheme that escapes me. However, no matter. Each area, e.g. Hyde Park & Chelsea, The City, Oxford Street & Mayfair, or The East End & Beyond, is preceded by a map on which is marked each point of interest included in that section. And what you will find are both famous and little-known museums, historic buildings, art galleries, libraries, shops, pubs, churches, eateries, parks, squares, streets, memorials, and gardens. Each includes, at least, an address or location and the name of the nearest Underground or rail station. If relevant, there's also a phone number and/or the date the place was founded or constructed. The core of each listing is a short descriptive commentary by a contributing journalist, architect, philosopher, playwright, professor, author, historian, poet, curator, or some other professional of similar dignity. At the end of the book are an Index of Recommended Reading and an Index of Contributors. What you won't find are budget hotels, American fast-food franchises, newsagents, or 24-hour chemists (pharmacies) reviewed by backpacking college students, traveling salesmen, lorry drivers, or tourists from the Midwest. This is a genteel publication.

LONDON is a delightful and uncommonly intelligent sightseeing resource for those of us who've been to the city often enough to have exhausted the usual tourist activities and are left with making silly faces at the Buckingham Palace guard to try and crack his reserve. And besides the information that might be considered usual for each of the listings, the contributors also provide tidbits of arcane information that the casual visitor would likely not know or learn, as in the following example.

Regarding Oxford Street: "Plans drawn up in 1972 to transform Oxford Street into 'a tree-lined paradise' must have fallen down the back of somebody's sofa, because the busiest street in Britain can still ... make you lose the will to live - mainly at Christmas, when bright-eyed shoppers ... spill out of the ground at Oxford Circus and congeal in a fog of bus fumes and freshly roasted caramel nuts ... Nick Leonidas, blinded by yellow fever as a child, has busked here since 1981: five days a week, 52 weeks a year, 11am to 7pm with a half-hour break at three."

LONDON in hand, I'm ready to return to my favorite city - now.

This new series is indeed a revelation: I bought "City Secrets London" after being most impressed with "Rome" and "Venice, Florence and Italian Cities", and London edition did not disappoint.

In the world where simplification is all the rage, these little books seem like a welcome greeting from a bygone era. "No nonsense" books they are not: some people may call these guides unashamedly elitist. Most of the contributors seem so knowleadgeable that many readers may feel the whole content is too high-brow for them. I would be disappointed if this impression were to scare readers off. However, author's decision not to dumb down anything has to come at a cost, and if that cost is losing readers who expect a dumbed-down quick cheap-and-cheerful guide to London of Beefeaters and "Buckin'-Ham" Palace, so be it.

Please do not mistake this for a proper guide which will give you general getting-around, hotels, eating-out and tourist highlight guidance. For this, you'll be better off with Eyewitness London. City Secrets is for people who basically know the city but want to find out little quirky things that other people miss (quite predictably and justifiably, because not everyone has time for in-depth look).

City Secrets is all about the stuff that all really good human guides use: nuggets of information, crafty access to places, best-view routes and other things which make all the difference between an average guided tour and a really memorable experience.

Contrary to what many casual travellers believe, London - although not blessed with relaxed Parisian charm or haunting and menacing spell of Florence - can be very cosy, friendly and pleasing to the eye and to the soul. If you think you like London and if you are likely to visit the city more than once in your life, you'll definitely need this book.

This is like a Nancy Drew book only better. Vesper Holly is a young woman who is in the care of a couple - Brinnie and his wife Mary are friends of her deceased parents. Vesper is headstrong, courageous, daring, fun, exciting, smart and talented.

In this book her guardians are invited to a diamond jubilee and Vesper convinces them to go. So off they go only to run into their old nemisis who has tried to kill them in previous adventures. This time is no different. A kidnapping, traveling with gypsies, a bomb, and many other exciting things happen.

What an excellent book. I learned a little bit while I read this book and I totally enjoyed the read.

Enjoy.

"Look out Indiana Jones! Here comes Vesper Holly!"... how completely true in this fantastic book by the author of the Prydain Chronicles. Vesper's back, along with her insufferable guardian Brinnie and his suprisingly strong-willed wife, Aunt Mary. The dear girl has dragged them off again, this time to a diamond jubilee for the Grand Duchess of Drackenberg, where they promptly bump into the notorious Professer Desmond Helvitius. Naturally, Vesper wants to know why Helvitius is visiting Drackenberg, so off she goes, dragging Brinnie around with her like Sherlock Holmes dragged Dr. Watson about the streets of London! Like all of Vesper's stories, adventure is the key. Kidnapping, exploding sausages, and a portrait by Leonardo DaVinci follow, making this a non-stop action adventure! Move over, Indiana Jones! Make way for Vesper Holly!

This is a great book for all ages to read. Creative, original and not to mention funny, this book keot me reading until four in the morning. A girl named Vesper, a courageous, smart and strong girl, goes off to the country of Drackenberg with her aunt and uncle. Her dear aunt is then kidnapped, catapaulting them into a high-racing adventure that ends up with a DaVinci painting and guard dogs snapping at their heels. I could not put this book down. It was exciting, suspensful and funny all at the same time. It was a good change from all the books about courageous boys to find one about a smart, strong girl. This book is a great read for anyone.