Average customer rating:
- Rituals of Reassurance
- The Best Dessert You Ever Had
- Splurge on the Hardcover Edition
- "Isn't it a lovely ride."
- Fantastic! Makes me want to travel NOW!
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Take Big Bites: Adventures Around the World and Across the Table
Linda Ellerbee
Manufacturer: Berkley Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0425209733 |
Book Description
Laugh-out-loud funny and salt-of-the-earth wise, celebrated journalist and producer Linda Ellerbee leads us on a gastronomic journey from Italy to Afghanistan, Mexico to Massachusetts, with some very entertaining detours along the way-plus photos and recipes.
Customer Reviews:
Rituals of Reassurance.......2007-10-08
Linda writes just the way she speaks and when you read this you feel like she's talking directly to you. This is a book that you never want to end. It's a memoir about travel and food and friends and lovers and misadventures - and she has done it all.
Most of the time she travels alone - she prefers that so she's forced to talk to the people where she's visiting. Occasionally she goes with a family member or friend to revisit a place from their past. She's been to some places that you've never heard of but want to go to after she describes it. Linda says that `our travels are not always the voyages of discovery we say we seek, but rituals of reassurance.' What fun!
When Linda gets together with her girlfriends, she reminds us that to women girlfriends are not a luxury they are a healthy necessity. They sit around and talk-talk-talk and even though they are now women, they feel like a girls again. And her holidays will remind you of your own and others when she describes how despite tradition, love, hope, passing time and sweet memories the holidays will always be messy.
She tells us about becoming a grandmother and says she will be available, understanding, and weird - because as a mother she was mostly weird. She plans to take her grandchildren places and show them things and give them wings. We all wish we had a mother/grandmother like that. I especially related when she talked about giving her children cookie dough to eat. My girls still keep a roll of cookie dough in the refrigerator for emergency sugar fixes.
And the food - she makes it part of every story and it all sounds so good. She even provides you with recipes.
One delightful thing she tells us (and she tells us quite a lot) is that `sometimes in life, if you're lucky, you are where you most want to be at that moment'. And wouldn't we all like to do that at least once.
[...].
The Best Dessert You Ever Had.......2007-06-05
Ellerbee creates in words the literary equivalent of the best dinner, the best trip, and the best dessert you ever had. Whether heartwarming or heartbreaking, her adventures around the world making strangers into friends (and meeting herself in the process) are truly memorable. She makes you long to break out of the tedium of your own life and discover the world as she has. A delight.
Splurge on the Hardcover Edition.......2006-10-06
Perhaps my favorite aspect of Linda Ellerbee's work is what it lacks: whining.
In the months since I read this book, I've found myself quoting from it and recommending it regularly. I hear myself repeating things like "well written," "the best-written book all year," and "really fine writing." I wish I could add a few stars to my rating.
Optimism is a dominant gene in Ellerbee's coding, and it glows in her prose the same way it glows on her face when she appears on television. That optimism gives her the gumption to take those big bites--at times eating her own words--and savor every flavor, then to sit down and tell us all about it. She writes with wit, craftmanship, and poignancy.
Included with the adventures Ellerbee volunteered for (the sort none of us have experienced) are stories of some ugly surprises life threw at her (the sort none of us would volunteer for but all of us have experienced). Ellerbee's travels through these events are every bit as engaging as her journeys to exotic places. Her willingness to share her set-backs and stumbles as well as her successes is endearing and inspiring.
Linda Ellerbee is a virtuoso with language. She knows how to get your attention and hold it. She uses mere words to carry you along with her to uncommon places and common emotions, and to make you glad you accepted her invitation.
This book makes me profoundly grateful I know how to read.
"Isn't it a lovely ride.".......2006-03-23
Ms Ellerbee has been one of my favorite storytellers since NBC News Overnight, when she would speak the news in such a way that it woke one up, made me curious about the world, and encouraged me to check out the facts for myself firsthand. This fine book is just an extension of her verbal skills. It is full of lovingly written vignettes, worldly experiences, spiritual beauty, salty character, and really tasty recipes from her travel adventures so you can live vicariously, gastronomically, alongside her. Her greatest plotline is to seize the day, day after day, every second of every day. It took me months to finish this book because I didn't want it to end, but during the last few chapters I just couldn't put it down. I'm so grateful to her for sharing these travel stories, these details, these colors and sights and scents of the world. I would recommend this book highly to school librarians, to book clubs, fellow travelers, lovers of the memoir and adventure story, womens' circles, those feeling their years and mortality. It is truly a beam of sunlight.
Fantastic! Makes me want to travel NOW!.......2006-02-01
A friend heard about this book on NPR. I was looking for a book to read over the holidays--usually I don't splurge on hardbacks, but after hearing how excited he was about it, I decided to get the book as a treat for myself. And what a treat is is!! Linda Ellerbee is a magnificent writer--she is articulate, funny, experienced--and motivating! As a single female who has always been intimidated by solo travel, I was captivated by her adventures. I found myself wanting to set out alone--finally, I understand how satisfying travel by oneself can be! The other fun part of the book is that while it is not a Food Book, it is also about food. The recipes at the end of each chapter are worth the price of the book! When it comes out in paperback, I will use this book for my turn at Book Club. After my copy, I bought three more as gifts. Ellerbee is an inspiration!!
Average customer rating:
- With Apologies to the Author...
- A different perspective
- Very enjoyable read
- Needed British Perspective
- America's First Long War Through British Eyes
|
Redcoats and Rebels: The American Revolution Through British Eyes
Christopher Hibbert
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0393322939 |
Book Description
The story of this war has usually been told in terms of a conflict between blundering British generals and their rigidly disciplined red-coated troops on the one side and heroic American patriots in their homespun shirts and coonskin caps on the other. In this fresh, compelling narrative, Christopher Hibbert portrays the realities of a war that raged the length of an entire continenta war that thousands of George Washington's fellow countrymen condemned and that he came close to losing. Based on a wide variety of sources and alive with astute character sketches and eyewitness accounts, Redcoats and Rebels presents a vivid and convincing picture of the "cruel, accursed" war that changed the world forever. 16 pages of illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
With Apologies to the Author..........2007-09-05
This reviewer made an erroneous initial assumption about "Redcoats and Rebels": He thought that since RR was authored by a Brit that the final product would be a snide, avuncular, anti-American treatment of the Revolutionary War. Wrong! Nothing could be further from the truth. Author Hibbert is far tougher on his fellow countrymen than on the American colonists. With the author's able retrospect, one could almost state that the British effort was doomed from the start. Among the factors burdening the British Army were the following: >Uncertain military leadership made worse by some truly surprising infighting. >Difficulty raising a sufficient number of troops to fight a foreign war in a large, distant colony > Very poor communication among the commanders (John Burgoyne, William Howe, Henry Clinton) once they encamped in America > The mistaken impression that many American Loyalists would rally under the Union Jack. Relatively few did. > What this reviewer would term concentration on the "good life". General Burgoyne took 30 carts (!) of personal goods on his fateful trek to Saratoga. And during the fateful Winter of 1777-1778, General Howe remained closeted in the comforts of Philadelphia-with his mistress! Not 30 miles away, Washington's men were enduring the cruel season at Valley Forge. Why didn't Howe attack? > The Brits allowed themselves to be trapped in a war of attrition in which they won most battles but were sucked dry. >Lukewarm support for and even opposition to the war effort in Parliament. Author Hibbert lays bare all of these factors squarely for the reader to absorb. The author has little use for the squabbling, halting British leadership; only Charles Cornwallis receives his due. Yet Cornwallis was hung out to dry by his boss, General Clinton, to be trapped on that peninsula on the York River: "Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown". A review of R&R would not be complete without due mention to the MAPS! Most military works treat such as historical stepchildren; here they are quite useful, placed strategically throughout the text. Also, poignant quotes head each chapter. The most remarkable is from American General Nathanael Green: "We fight, get beat, rise and fight again". If the author truly believes, as he seems to, that England lost the War as much as the Americans won it, that is fair enough for this reviewer. R&R is highly rated historical reading for anyone seeking a fresh view on the Revolutionary War.
A different perspective.......2007-07-10
The reviews for this book already cover quite a bit as far as subject coverage and style. I will just add that what I really appreciated was Hibbert's integration of fairly substantial primary sources. The lengthy quotations from letters and personal correspondence who fought for the British were excellent. I also enjoyed Hibbert's depictions of Clinton's rather fragile state of mind and his inability to get along with any of his officers, especially Howe and later Cornwallis.
The pacing of the chapters was excellent for reading and putting down. There no chapters that seemed to go on forever. It read more like a series of connected essays arranged chronologically. This was a nice break from standard historical writing.
Finally, the book overall was great to read and offered a refreshing take on a topic that has an obscene amount of scholarship. Just a quick note that this is written in a British/European style so there are no footnotes or in-text citations.
Very enjoyable read.......2007-01-04
Christopher Hibbert is a very fine writer and, as a historian, has covered an extraordinary range of topics. Redcoats and Rebels is a perfect introduction to the events leading to the War of Independence and of the conduct of the war itself, and shows an even-handed perspective from both the British and colonial perspective, although it is meant to be more through British eyes. A serious student of the War of Independence may find the book a little superficial. Hibbert's books are always hugely enjoyable to read.
Needed British Perspective.......2006-12-27
While there is nothing really new here, this book does provide a needed British perspective. For a change we read of British troops campaigning in rags and harsh conditions. Washy and the rebels don't have a monopoly on suffering. So often we read US historians rattling on about the martydom of the Rebel cause. Reading this book will give a different perspective. The book also displays how the British defeated the Americans over and over again in countless engagements small and large. For every Saratoga and Cowpens there was a Savanah and Camden.
The main strength of Hibbert's book is that it shows how dysfunctional the British command structure was. Relationships between ministers and generals was ill-defined and often strained. Most of the British generals did not get along with each other. Clinton was probably the best over all, but he was hampered by severe personality defects. Howe in the beginning of the war had the best opportunity to crush the ametuer American war effort. When one reads of the British campaign in and around New York in 1776 it astounds what opportunities were thrown away over and over again. Added on top of this was the meddling influence of Lord Germain in Whitehall pitting each general against the other. The Saratoga campaign is a classic example of this situation. Logistics, uninspired generalship and insufficnet resources all doomed the British war effort. Spirited leadership does show on occasion what could be done. Archibald Campbell's brilliant Georgia campaign illustrates how effectively British forces could be employed against poorly lead rebels.
Rev War battles were often extreme affairs. Because of the small numbers involved in most battles a single set-back for one side usually ended in its total defeat. Limited cavalry resources meant that no decisive follow-up for most victories could really be employed. The Revolutionary war was a limited conflict, fought with small armies and raiding parties. The British adapted to this mode of warfare with amazing alacrity, but in the end it was logistics, politics and weak leadership that doomed their cause. Readers that have only consulted American historians will find a lot that is surprising here, even if in the whole most of the material is not new. While not strong on details of battles, the author is good at showing who actually fought the war and what their motivations were. Recommended.
America's First Long War Through British Eyes.......2006-12-12
"Redcoats and Rebels" is American Revolutionary War history at its best!
This extremely well written and compelling history of the Revolutionary War is presented from the British perspective, thus adding a new dimension to that conflict.
British historan Christopher Hibbert has made good use of British sources, especially the papers and documents of those who participated in the war, in writing "Redcoats and Rebels". His focus on the key individuals of both sides makes this an interesting read. Especially interesting are the parts played by men such as Nathanael Greene, Benedict Arnold and Banastre Tarleton in the war.
The American Revolutionary War was America's first long war and first civil war. Between 1775 and 1782, the Colonies raised some 80 regiments to battle the British, while Loyalists raised some 40 American regiments to fight alongside the Redcoats. It was a war in which a small and extremely militant and even violent minority imposed its will on both the one-third of the American population that supported the British and another one-third which cared little about either an independent America or remaining under British control. Indeed, many American militia formations were used to intimidate Loyalist and keep them from openly supporting the British.
Hibbert also shows clearly that there were many in the British Parliament and among the population that openly supported the Americans and did everything they could to undermine their own government's pursuit of the war.
And the author does not hesitate to show how long lines of communications between England and the colonies and a scarcity of resources, especially men and military equipment, hampered the British conduct of the war. As did the long and extremely arduous theater of operations, which allowed defeated American armies to rise repeatedly from the ashes of defeat.
Hibbert writes that the British Army was forced to lower its standards in order to fill its ranks in America. And many British soldiers and German mercenaries defected to the other side, while many Colonial soldiers and even some leaders, such as Benedict Arnold, had no hesitation in switching their allegiance from the Continental Congress to the British Empire. It was indeed a strange war!
Hibbert also depicts the major role played America's military allies - France, Spain, and Holland - in ensuring an American victory.
This book is recommended for any student of that conflict - young and old. And those wishing to understand the war in Iraq better might do well to read "Redcoats and Rebels" and contemplate the ability of a people numerous and armed and supported by allies both near and abroad to defeat a much larger, better armed, better equipped, and better disciplined force over the course of a long war.
Average customer rating:
- A guide forged from realism and worldwide experience
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Taming Intractable Conflicts: Mediation in the Hardest Cases
Chester A. Crocker ,
Fen Osler Hampson , and
Pamela R. Aall
Manufacturer: United States Institute of Peace Press
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ASIN: 1929223552 |
Book Description
The authors of this provocative volume argue that intractable conflicts are not impervious to effective mediationif the mediator knows what to do and when to do it. Written from the mediator's point of view, Taming Intractable Conflicts lays out the steps involved in tackling the most stubborn of conflicts. It first puts mediation in a larger context, exploring why mediators choose or decline to become involved, what happens when they get involved for the wrong reasons, and the impact of the mediator's institutional and political environment. It then discusses best mediation tradecraft at different stages: at the beginning of the engagement, when the going gets very rough, during the settlement negotiations, and in the postsettlement implementation stage.
Customer Reviews:
A guide forged from realism and worldwide experience.......2004-12-13
The collaborative effort of Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hampson and Pamela Aall, Taming Intractable Conflicts: Mediation In The Hardest Cases is a resource written by expert mediators and social scientists, persuasively arguing that even the most stubborn conflicts are not immune to mediation - if the mediator knows what to do and how to do it. Explicitly spelling out what is vital to make peace stick and what is a recipe for disaster - for example, the absolute necessity of hammering out a framework of negotiation or a declaration of principles, in addition to maintaining a secure home base, being on guard for peace spoilers, setting a realistic timetable for disarmament, and a solid sequence for which core issues fueling the conflict will be addressed - Taming Intractable Conflicts is a guide forged from realism and worldwide experience. Scrutinizing conflicts from the Rwandan genocide to violence in Ireland, wars in Afghanistan, turbulence in Sri Lanka and much more, Taming Intractable Conflicts grounds its principle in the lessons of history itself, especially twentieth-century history. An absolute must-read for anyone with a personal or professional interest in global diplomacy and peacemaking.
Average customer rating:
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Taming Intractable Conflicts: Mediation in the Hardest Cases.(book)(Book review) : An article from: International Journal on World Peace
Tisa M. Anders
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
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ASIN: B000FAPC7G
Release Date: 2006-04-06 |
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This digital document is an article from International Journal on World Peace, published by Thomson Gale on September 1, 2005. The length of the article is 942 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Taming Intractable Conflicts: Mediation in the Hardest Cases.(book)(Book review)
Author: Tisa M. Anders
Publication:
International Journal on World Peace (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 22
Issue: 3
Page: 87(3)
Article Type: Book review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
- A Fine Resouce For NY Area Hikers
- Surprising Finds Within a Short Distance of the City
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60 Hikes within 60 Miles: New York City: with northern New Jersey, southwestern Connecticut, and western Long Island
Christopher Brooks , and
Catherine Brooks
Manufacturer: Menasha Ridge Press
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ASIN: 089732546X |
Book Description
New Yorkers grab your boots and get outside! Using clear, concise, and entertaining narrative, 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: New York City will eliminate doubts about where to hike and what to expect when you get there. To easily locate and assess the best hikes around the Big Apple, this guide is indispensable.
Customer Reviews:
A Fine Resouce For NY Area Hikers.......2004-11-30
Christopher Brooks surely did his homework in writing 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: New York City: with northern New Jersey, southwestern Connecticut, and western Long Island. The details on the many hikes in the Tri State area are very helpful. One can easily trace around the suggested trails that Brooks provides. Also Brooks adds a little history to many of the recommended trails.
He gives equal emphasis to New Jersey, Connecticut, Long Island, and the Hudson Region. Also a comprehensive index is provided so the reader can easily distinguish flat hikes from vigorous climbs to ones to bring the children on. Every base is covered as this book is a fantastic guide for anyone looking to explore new hiking trails in the New York area.
Surprising Finds Within a Short Distance of the City.......2004-09-17
You would think that a hike in New York City would take you from say Central Park to Battery Park along the sidewalks. To my surprise, the Brooks have found all of these hikes within a reasonable distance from the city. As a for instance, the Pelham Bay Park is 2,766 acres in size with 13 miles of shoreline. It's also reachable by public transport. (Take the #6 train followed by the Bx29 bus.) The hiking there is flat, shoreline and all that. Or there's Norvin Green where you'll need sturdy hiking shoes, and find multiple deep-water streams to cross in a 9.3 mile up and down trail. Other hikes include wildlife refuges, state forests, national recreation areas, swamps, mountains, rivers, waterfalls, ocean shores. You can get away from the concrete.
As a book, the layout makes it easy to find things. The overall maps lead you to the general area you may find interesting. The descriptions of each of the 60 hikes includes a description, a detailed map of each, elevation profile, and directions - usually by automobile and public transport. As the back cover says, If you live near NYC, get it.
Average customer rating:
- thoughtful natural history with a twist of personal reflection
- great experiences in water
- Still trying to complete this one...
- A Passion for Place
- An Extraordinary Book
|
The Island Within
Richard Nelson
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 067973239X
Release Date: 1991-04-23 |
Book Description
Here is Nelson's luminously wise account of his exploration of an unnamed island in the Pacific Northwest. This book revises our own relationship with nature, allowing us to observe it and also to participate in it with reverence and a sense of wonder.
Customer Reviews:
thoughtful natural history with a twist of personal reflection.......2006-02-22
This is a well-written, thoughtful account of the writer's personal encounters with part of southeast Alaska. The natural history descriptions are beautifully written without being trite. The personal reflections provide insight into the author's relationship with his own culture as well as others in which he has lived.
If you enjoy natural history writing, this is the book for you.
great experiences in water.......2004-09-05
Although now more than a decade old, this work by Nelson continues to reward readers through his descriptions of many wonderful encounters with water surrounding his island home. I quoted The Island Within 5 times in my recent review of contemporary nature writing about water - Deep Immersion: The Experience of Water (nominated for top environmental book of the year). Nelson, in his book, revels in getting wet and would certainly agree with Thoreau when the latter wrote "That part of you that is wettest is fullest of life" (quoted in Profitably Soaked: Thoreau's Engagement With Water; Green Frigate Books, 2003).
Still trying to complete this one..........2002-07-03
The title drew me in and the subject sounded great. But to be honest it is still on the shelf as I just couldn't get motivated with this one.
I will have another look but after half the book is read I am still not very interested. Sorry.
A Passion for Place.......2002-01-13
Here is a book that you may have to digest in small bits. Nelson's prose is dense, descriptive and charged with an intensity that occasionally makes you wonder how he can stand to inhabit his own skin. His description of the day he spent deer hunting for example - the physical strain of stalking, questioning the "rightenss" of his mental and spiritual state, worrying about having enough meat to tide himself and his family over for the winter, trying to read the signs he perceives in the woods, remembering the teaching of the elders of the Indian tribe he studied with - is exhausting for the reader as well as Nelson. This doesn't mean it wasn't worth the work; just that you may need a break every so often to catch your breath.
The Island Within is about a special relationship Nelson has built with an island in the Pacific Northwest. When he is not there, studying the animals, hunting with his dog and exploring on his own or with his family, he is wishing he was and planning his next visit. The reader is treated not only to graphic physical descriptions of the island and its inhabitants, but to Nelson's ongoing internal dialog with himself, in which he seeks to balance three very different ways of life - the loner, the family man and the student of Indian ways.
Perhaps the greatest gift offered by this book is a fresh look at how a human being can relate to his world. As much as I came to appreciate the island, I also enjoyed Nelson's tales of his time spent away from it. His fishing trip with his son, the days he spends working in his garden picking berries, the long runs he takes with his dog, his playful attempt to sneak up on a family of seals and his description of the day he decided to open all his windows and let the winds of a large storm blow through his home are equally fun and revealing. Here is someone who has recognized that he is part and parcel of the physical world, and has dared to tear down preconceived notions in order to interact with it in new and playful ways.
The one thing you should not expect from The Island Within is a clear cut plot and story line. This book is all about sharing at an elemental level.
An Extraordinary Book.......2000-08-26
This book is full of detailed and entrancing descriptions of the natural world. The author is apparently driven to seek out atypical encounters with nature such as luring hummingbirds to perch on his finger, sinking his fingers into steaming bear dung, kayaking among whales, or placing his person in front of dangerous surf. He takes you on those trips and more. Many passages have an abstract, poetic or you could say even acid-trip quality, for example, as the author describes his body merging with the island or an eagle. Great writing skill displayed in these flowing sequences as well as with the grounded descriptions of flora and fauna, the author's family and their life in Alaska.
Average customer rating:
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And I will fill this house with glory: Renewal within a suburban parish
James A Brassil
Manufacturer: Living Flame Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 0914544195 |
Average customer rating:
|
Captain Paul Cuffe's Logs and Letters, 1808-1817: A Black Quaker's "Voice from Within the Veil"
Rosalind Cobb Wiggins , and
Paul Cuffe
Manufacturer: Howard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 088258183X |
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The Curtain Within: Haida Social and Mythical Discourse
Marianne Boelscher
Manufacturer: University of British Columbia Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0774803118 |
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Ferns of the vicinity of New York;: Being descriptions of the fern-plants growing naturally within a hundred miles of Manhattan island
John Kunkel Small
Manufacturer: The Science Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: B00085H3E8 |
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THE HISTORY OF ROCHFORD HUNDRED: (TOGETHER WITH THE PARISHES COMPRISED WITHIN THE UNION) FROM FORMER AUTHORS, ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS AND CHURCH REGISTERS. VOL. 3, NO. 61. SMALLER ISLANDS.
Lily E. Jerram-Burrows
Manufacturer: Rochford Hundred Historical Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000O9M6X6 |
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The Island from Within
Manufacturer: Island Anthology for Charity (A Robook Publication
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 095166140X |
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THE ISLAND WITHIN
Ludwig Lewishohn
Manufacturer: Modern Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000USD6EO |
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THE ISLAND WITHIN
Ludwig XXXX Lewisohn
Manufacturer: Harper & Bros
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J5Q0Z0 |
Books:
- Tantric Quest: An Encounter with Absolute Love
- Terry Funk: More Than Just Hardcore
- The Bolivian Diary: Authorized Edition (Che Guevara Publishing Project)
- The Camino : A Journey of the Spirit
- The Case Against Hillary Clinton
- The Diaries of Franz Kafka (Schocken Classics Series)
- The Emperor of Scent: A True Story of Perfume and Obsession
- The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)
- The Freedom Writers Diary : How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them
- The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln
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