The Forgotten Highlander

The facinating insights into a by-gone era of Aberdeen's pre-war dance halls are the simple backdrop to this story of a simple man yanked out of his life at the point of reaching manhood to have it changed forever.<br /><br />This was the lot of Mr Urquhart's generation, but The Forgotten Highlander is no hackneyed World War Two memoir, and I've read a few.<br /><br />A reader may be familiar with the events that Urquhart found thrust upon him, but never have they been laid so bare as here. The joyous, simple life of dancing away his evenings with the girls of Aberdeen cast a depressing shadow over the man as he fights so hard to suppress these memories to survive.<br /><br />The Forgotten Highlander is not a book for the faint-hearted yet it demands to read by all. Mr Urquhart never fired a shot, he never asked to be involved in the events in which he found himself and a warrior hero will not be found here. This is a story of an ordinary man who survived some of humanity's most atrocious acts of barbarity and destruction in a century littered with them. <br /><br />That the man is still alive to again dance the evenings away is a miracle for him, but it is an opportunity for us. The reader will gain an insight in to what man is capable of both in terms of evil and what is required to survive it - for Alistair's war was not one of battles but of the conflict's most grim example of raw physical and emotional endurance. What this memoir offers is an unflinching account and it pulls no punches.

Not worth it!

You have to wonder about Mark Urban's sources! I doubt that any serving soldier would put their stamp on this. Books like this are about self-promotion, not about doing what is right to help these guys do a difficult and dangerous job into the future. And if you admire the Special Forces then do them a favour, let them maintain their operational effectiveness. Save your money, go out for a run and buy someone special a present instead. Truth is hard to separate from fiction.

OPERATION MINCEMEAT

Yet another unputdownable treasure from Macntyre. He has the gift to lead the reader down various paths before unleashing the plot in full.Agent ZigZag was excellent and this ranks right up there with it.<br /><br />Compelling.

A Though Provoking Book

A thought provoking book that illustrates how Germany got to its position today. Some rather controversial ideas are contained within about possible alternate histories. Food for thought perhaps. Its a hard and difficult read. To be truthfull anyone who buys this book can't expect this to be a breeze to get through. Intersting and challenging?! One persons idea and interpretation, not everyone will be in agreement.

The need for sunglasses

For someone as unscientific as me I found on the first reading that I was 'blinded by science. It is a beautifully produced book with wonderful illustrations. It is quite staggering to see how various subjects have developed in what is,after all, only a short space of time. I believe it was Newton who claimed to have received his vision by standing on the shoulders of giants. One can scarcely imagine what vision will be granted to those who stand one the shoulders of to-day's giants. It was good to struggle with the more obscure articles although the use of a mental telescope would have been useful. I would encourage others to read this book and even, if like me, they found hard going at times, just to hold the book and enjoy its quality is sufficient to provide the impetus to begin.

reads like a novel

I really love history and this is a real treat. It reads like a novel but having the advantage of knowing that it all took place. The historical detail is fascinating. If you like social history then you should love this. I also thought it is very well written and very easy to read.

excellent history of yachting

A great story well composed. Could see it becoming a film. The book gave me a history lesson and placed the modern era of sail into perspective. I know a fair bit about boats yet this book filled in many blanks. The title is perfect. If anyone harbours a desire to sail solo non-stop around the world then this book might help one get over it and grow up. That's a good thing. It deserves 5 stars.

A"must read" for health professionals

Atul Gawande is a great communicator, but first is a physician, second a surgeon, third a scientist, and finally a writer.<br />His three books are great books. Probably the less"literary" is the last, but it should be read and applied by health professionals, health politics, and scientific medical organizations. Read, but not only read, APPLY

Fantastic

I am only halfway through this book but am thoroughly engrossed. The pace is excellent, the writing style a perfect combination of factual detail, insight and intrigue. Anyone with even only a passing interest in the '08 elections will love it.<br />Thoroughly recommended. Am already not looking forward to finishing it!

Poor print!

This is an excellent text but this particular copy is a poor print run.<br /><br />There is no biography, no reference to the original Chinese text, no information on the translator, in fact, it is literally just a print off from the web! The cover sucks as well.<br /><br />I recommend you pay a bit more and get a proper text.

History brought to life

A brilliant book. Don't rely on me, check out the great reviews in the Sunday Times, The Observer and the Telegraph.

Superb tourist guide for the past

Many of the other reviews appear to be full of fulsome praise for this book, and so I don't really need to add much more. Medieval History is one of my specialisms, so I am always on the look-out for good new books on the period. I have always been frustrated in the past because of the lack of a digest of the minutiae of everyday life in Medieval England - but not any more, because that is just what"The Time Traveller's Guide ..." provides. <br /><br />I was astonished to find that, in the 14th century, there were only three types of conifer in England. I was intrigued to discover that ricketts was a rare disease, and that ergotism was unknown. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the tidbits of information turn up on QI in a future series - it's just the sort of resource their researchers would die for!<br /><br />My criticism? Well, this is a personal one, which is that I wanted much more information, much more detail, many more examples. Of course, that would have made the book much bigger, which wouldn't be to everyone's taste; but much as I think the book was superb, I still came away feeling undernourished.

'Popular' Naval History

Not very much about the empire and a odd view of the Royal Navy. Certainly not up to the standard or depth of Lavery's previous books. Excellent illustrations but very shallow coverage of the hugh subject, obviously aimed at the TV audience. Very little of interest to a serious reader of naval or empire history.

The Miracles on the Hudson

After reading"Fly By Wire" on a recent trip, I find it interesting to visit Amazon.com and see a recapitulation of the passionate debate that Langewiesche describes in his book. On the one hand, there are those who feel that"fly by wire" technology is overrated and perhaps even dangerous--these reviewers tend to give the book low marks and hard reviews, some of which strike me as a bit unfair. Other reviewers--admirers of Langewiesche's journalistic style or the cogent explanations that he offers--give him high grades. On balance, I enjoyed"Fly by Wire," but I can understand how it will hit some raw nerves.<br /><br />For the record, Langewiesche has nothing but high praise for Captain Sullenberger and his crew. He agrees that they did a superb job under incredibly difficult conditions, and the fact that they did it in an Airbus A320 takes nothing away from their accomplishment. As near as I can tell, the crew of US Airways Flight 1549 are real heroes and deserve the praise they have received.<br /><br />"Fly by wire" technology combines electrical control circuits and digital computers to replace traditional hydraulic and mechanical flight control systems. Langewiesche really"pokes the bear" and elicits a strong emotional response from many of his readers when he suggests that"fly by wire" was a major contributor to the Miracle on the Hudson. Readers who want their heroes to be like Beowulf, brave and omnisciently skilled, dislike the suggestion that Captain Sullenberger and his team may have been helped by the revolutionary design of the A320. Pilots who are concerned about losing control over their aircraft to computers are also bound to take issue with Langewiesche's core theme, which is that the revolution in"fly by wire" technology pioneered by Airbus has saved lives and will continue to save them. It's not unreasonable for people to argue with Langewiesche's thesis, but I'm glad that he and others are having this debate--I suspect that in the long run many air travellers will be safer for it.<br /><br />Regardless of your views on this hot topic, the book is worth a read. The author is an experienced pilot, so he is able to offer more insights than most journalists who covered this story. He does a good job of discussing bird strikes (especially the somewhat unusual one that crippled Flight 1549), the development of the A320, several crashes where"fly by wire" technology might have saved hundreds of people, and other examples where highly skilled pilots"pushing the envelope" in passenger aircraft have confidently done things that are amazingly dangerous, with disastrous results. <br /><br />At the end of the day, I'm sympathetic to Langewiesche's argument that even great pilots can make mistakes, and that computers can help them accomplish things at the edge of their skills and experience that they would have a hard time doing on their own. Whether the computer or the crew was the decisive factor in The Miracle on the Hudson is at some level beside the point--not every pilot will be as skilled or capable of concentration as Captain Sullenberger, and computers can help prevent mistakes by crew who are pushing the outer edge of their experience and abilities. <br /><br />For those who are convinced that"fly by wire" can never outperform a great pilot, consider two things. First, the question is not really whether fly by wire can outperform Captain Sullenberger, but whether it can outperform the average pilot with the average level of experience and savoire faire. Put another way, the next time you board an airplane, ask yourself whether the pilot flying your aircraft is one of the greats who will act like Captain Sullenberger, or one who has less skill or experience (the law of probability suggests that on any given flight, you are more likely to have the latter at the controls). Second, if you believe that"great" pilots are superhumans who never make mistakes, read Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior, which describes how KLM's famous and accomplished chief pilot made a series of errors that resulted in the worst air disaster in aviation history. Everyone, no matter how skilled, makes mistakes--"Fly By Wire" helps us to understand how we can harness our technology to avoid errors at the edge of the envelope where the skills or experience of most people gets spottier.

Dreary waffle

A rather dreary account of what purports to be the defining events and memories of a man standing on the brink of entering politics that just happened to do quite well at the whole American dream thing. To my mind it reads rather like the opening manifesto for a presidential nominee (and not a bad one acually), full of anecdotes that seem to have no other purpose than to seek to differentiate him from the next candidate. I was expecting more, he is after all an interesting character, but the events read as contrived and I can't help but think a great deal of embellishment has been allowed to creap in. Dissapointing, I'd wait a few years till he publishes his memoirs - now that should be an interesting read and a half.

A Great Read. Highly Recommended.

This is the kind of book that you can dip into whenever you want, because each narrative is so concise. It contains seven short stories about some of the most famous so-called traitors who were executed at The Tower of London, three of them Queens of England, Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, and Lady Jane Grey. I found it very interesting and easy to fall into. Highly recommended.

A History of Christianity

Like many people I enjoyed Diarmaid MacCulloch's television programmes, and was left wanting more. This book provides plenty. It has filled in many gaps in my view of history that have been skewed by living in western Europe and being quite ignorant of how other strands of Christianity one occasionally encounters, such as Coptic Christians, fit with the western traditions I know. It is not a quick read, at over 1000 pages, but it is accessible to a non-specialist.

Gift

This was purchased as a gift but having looked at it before passing it on it certainly looked very good and exactly what I had expected.

Somewhat amusing

While this book is not exactly what I would call a reliable source of historical information, it is a rather amusing description of scientists throughout history, their achievements, failures and various odd behaviour. Pretty amusing to read, once anyway.