Book Description
New editions of Elspeth Huxley's stirring account of her childhood in Kenya and her novel of the destructive forces of colonization.
In an open cart Elspeth Huxley set off with her parents to travel to Thika in Kenya. As pioneering settlers, they built a house of grass, ate off a damask cloth spread over packing cases, and discovered--the hard way--the world of the African. With an extraordinary gift for detail and a keen sense of humor, Huxley recalls her childhood on the small farm at a time when Europeans waged their fortunes on a land that was as harsh as it was beautiful. For a young girl, it was a time of adventure and freedom, and Huxley paints an unforgettable portrait of growing up among the Masai and Kikuyu people, discovering both the beauty and the terrors of the jungle, and enduring the rugged realities of the pioneer life.
Customer Reviews:
Nostalgia for Happy Valley.......2007-06-23
This is by now a revered classic of a young girl's childhood in the Kenyan countryside under British rule. One reads this and instantly identifies with the colonial family. It's a kind of Swiss Family Robinson story about that magical time in Kenya and thereabouts before World War I when the world seemed to be at the feet of the British King and all globes glowed pink under the Empire. Were people ever so free and happy as the colonialists in Africa who instantly had countless servants, nearly free land, and the British fleet for protection? This is Out of Africa for the middle class, as opposed to Isak Dinesen's aristocratic take on things. Still, the going was good, as Evelyn Waugh once said. Ms Huxley is a charming writer. Required reading for lovers of things African.
The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood.......2007-02-02
The Flame Trees of Thika is a wonderfully written book giving the reader a glimpse of what it must have been like to grow up in Colonial Africa. It is an experience most of us will only have through reading and can only be compared to what it must have been to be one of the early settlers on the American Frontier.
Love this Author.......2007-01-10
I loved this book. It is beautifully written and is a gripping story on growing up in Africa.
Truly A Classic.......2006-02-16
In 1913, a little English girl named Elspeth relocated with her family from their native country to begin a coffee plantation in the wilds of Kenya. Similar in a way to Laura Ingall Wilder's adventurous and sentimental "take" on what was surely a very difficult experience for her family, Elspeth remembers Kenya as a wonderful place and tells us with lingering excitement of her experiences there in the short time before the First World War changed nearly everything. A delightful memoir that is a pleasure every time it's read.
When can I get a plane to Africa?!.......2004-10-18
If you are interested in other cultures and ways of life, this book is a treasure. Yes, there has to be a bit of willing suspension of disbelief that this would be the way a child would see and describe things, but if you can live with the fact that this is an adult looking back on her childhood, it's a small thing to get over. The descriptions I found perfect--very vivid, yet not so extensive that they became boring and slowed down the story. And just in what happens and isn't even excused (her parents leave her with neighbors, she accompanies the neighbor's worker to the city, where he leaves her with some more strangers--we'd be calling the police, and her parents are just slightly inconvenienced! And everyone else there has just left their small children at boarding school, not seeing them for years!), the book gives a lot of food for thought about the realities of life in that time and place.
Book Description
Elspeth Huxley, who spent her early years on a small farm in Kenya in the early 1900s, recreates for us a vanished Africa, and shows it to us from the magical and arresting viewpoint of a perceptive child. It is an Africa of plentiful big game, rich tribal culture, and white settlers striving to wrest fortunes from the unforgiving bush.
The book ends with the start of WW I and the breakup of this relatively untroubled phase of colonial life. Happily there is a sequel,THE MOTTLED LIZARD.
"A vivid evocation of the ways and landscape of antique Africa...Can well stand in comparison with Isak Dinesen's OUT OF AFRICA." (Atlantic Monthly)
Customer Reviews:
Here it is, the RIGHT one!.......2006-02-17
Wow I don't believe it, Amazon has the same wonderful edition I borrowed from the library. I've been looking everywhere for this big 8 tape set read by Wanda McCaddon. My daughters and I felt this was just an incredible story, and the reader they picked made all the difference in bringing it to life. I think this is unabriged version, so don't settle for anything else, especially if your family is going to listen to it. The story is just so interesting it just moves along fine, don't worry about it being too long, you will wish it was longer!
It's like being there.......2004-03-05
A wonderful book about everyday life in Africa around 1914 through the eyes of a young child. Every page is filled with wonderful details of the customs of the African tribal people, the English characters are very well defined and interesting. The love of the animals, the tribulations of English settlers who have to deal with lazy unreliable workers,the lack of medical services, everything is so real, it is like being there. Humour is also part of the wonderful, sometimes poetic style of the author.
Book Description
In America’s battle against al-Qaeda and their allies, the goal of the Navy SEALs is to be the best guns in the fight—stealthy, effective, professional, and lethal. Here for the first time is a SEAL insider’s battle history of these Special Operations warriors in the war on terrorism.
“Down range” is what SEALs in Afghanistan and Iraq call their area of operations. In this new mode of warfare, “down range” can refer to anything from tracking roving bands of al-Qaeda on a remote mountain trail in Afghanistan to taking down an armed compound in Tikrit and rousting holdouts from Saddam Hussein’s regime. It could mean interdicting insurgents smuggling car-bomb explosives over the Iraqi-Syrian border or silently boarding a freighter on the high seas at night to enforce an embargo. In other words, “down range” could be anywhere, anytime, under any conditions.
In Down Range, author Dick Couch, himself a former Navy SEAL and CIA case officer, uses his unprecedented access to bring the reader firsthand accounts from the warriors in combat during key missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Couch creates a pulse-pounding, detailed narrative of the definitive engagements of this war, while painting an unusually intimate portrait of these warriors in the field. The performance of the SEALs in difficult, changing environments—in the heat of the Afghan desert, in the snow-packed Hindu Kush, on the high seas, and in the urban chaos of Baghdad—has been nothing short of extraordinary. The SEALs, coordinating with other American forces, the CIA, and foreign special operations units like the Polish GROM, have once more shown their genius for improvisation and capacity for courageous action in leading the fight against this new and vicious enemy.
The first battle history of its kind, Down Range is a riveting close-up of some of America’s finest warriors in action against a deadly foe.
Also available as an eBook
Customer Reviews:
Not up to snuff.......2007-08-07
I thoroughly enjoyed "The Warrior Elite" and everything I enjoyed about that book was gone from this one. Dick Couch did a good job of making the trainees of BUD/S Class 228 personable, but "Down Range" is a very dry read. It might be due to increased security concerns and classified operational details, but I did not enjoy this book as much.
the filler thriller.......2007-06-21
Well, I picked up this book because I thought, "Sweet. SEALs, middle east, covert ops, what's not to love??" Well the book was more like a documentary or briefing most of the time. It focuses far too much on the development of a SEAL and their organization. If I wanted to read about that, I would've picked up a book about the making of a Navy SEAL. I was disappointed. The story really only had a few exciting parts and those tended to come towards the end of the book. Let's put it this way, he spends around ten pages telling what should've been an exciting mission aboard a ship, only to tell us that the men on board were not dumb enough to carry weapons. Hmph. If you are looking for enemy contact, look elsewhere.
Decent primer for casual military reader.......2007-05-19
Like some of the other reviewers here have commented, based on the background of the author and the notes on the book's cover, I was expecting a much more exciting read. The reality, however, is that Couch hides behind the excuse of "classified details" for most of this work. The early pages are all extremely redundant if you have ever read anything at all about the SEALs; there is nothing new there. And much of the mission details are very sparse and vague. I do "get" that the very nature of the work these men do requires secrecy, but I always feel a little taken when a book promises to divulge some of this information and then ultimately fails to do so. Couch hints more than once at a seething tension between the different service branches by taking every opportunity to make sure many pats on the back are handed out all around. It starts to feel very plastic and forced after a while. Overall I would not recommend this book to anyone who has done much reading in this genre. Frankly it's just boring, light on operational nitty-gritty, and way too easy to read. It took me about 4 hours to read cover to cover, and for $15 for the paperback I feel a little ripped-off. It's an okay way to get an overview for what these incredible men do for our country, but a waste of time for anyone who has a few books under their belt. I won't be reading any of Couch's other works based on this piece.
Depends on what your read first..........2007-05-18
If this is the first Dick Couch book read, it's a good one. Other people have commented that it seemed fluffy and not authentic (leaving out the bungling of bureaucrats and the inter-service rankling). I see that differently, I appreciate the way Couch focuses on the positive. There's no denying that those things happen but when you read Down Range, you get the best of who "we" are in this elite arm of the military. If you have read Warrior Elite or other Couch books, you will see plenty of overlapping detail. Bottom line: this is a good book by an author I really like, but not his best.
A good book, but not great..........2007-02-14
Down Range reads like a Pentagon de-brief, with little action. Couch, a former SEAL with extensive street cred (mainly Viet Nam) is a terrific writer and even gives over-due credit to the Air Force Combat Controllers, who are often overshadowed by SEALs and Green Berets. This book is detailed, but with the wrong details. I'd much rather read about the men on the tip of the spear, the real war fighters with guns in the fight, than the brass back at HQ calling the shots. Problem is, many of the brass are Couch's personal friends or former students.
The Warrior Elite is a great book, this is just good.
Book Description
The first complete investigation of the most hunted man in the world.
Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi has now assumed the role of successor to Osama Bin Laden. This Jordanian terrorist has been designated Public Enemy Number 1 in the United States, with a bounty of over twenty-five million dollars on his head.
Zarqawi's group, Tawhid wal Jihad, has imposed a reign of terror in post-Saddam Iraq, a bloodbath running the gamut from deadly street attacks to the beheading of hostages. Emerging in the Iraqi conflict as the new leader of Al-Qaeda and casting a shadow throughout the Middle East and Europe, Zarqawi is now the dominant force in the jihadist network.
In Zarqawi: The New Face of Al-Qaeda, Jean-Charles Brisard, international expert on terrorism and terrorism financing, traces Zarqawi's career from its origins to today's headlines, detailing the unprecedented threat he poses to the world. Brisard presents a disturbing and challenging view of United States policy in the Middle East and the war on terrorism. Against the background of an intensive on-the-ground investigation, he reveals the astonishing details of inside intelligence sources, including previously unpublished official documents and photographs, and witness testimonies. 8 page 4-color insert with photos and maps.
Customer Reviews:
Bio of a Thug.......2007-01-06
Very helpful in identifying the sort of man we were looking for in 2005. It establishes a very firm timeline for Zarqawi's involvement in al-Qaida and talks enough about his background to give you a "feel" for his mindset.
It also gives you a very good idea of the sort of animal we put down for good in 2006.
This would have made a great novel.......2006-03-27
I think Brisard should try his hand at spy thrillers. There is a market for them and they don't have to be true.
Brisard has a problem with truth. He gets facts wrong and pushes his own agendas. I've read about the libel actions but this book sure shows why he has problems, he just can't deal with the idea of getting facts and presenting them clearly.
I read his other book and this is more of the same, cut and paste with a bit of wild commentary thrown in.
If he were freed from the need to even appear factual, this wild stuff would make for great novels or even films. Would be fun to see all of the terrorists conspiring with world leaders and rooms full of gold and jewels and so on. He could even throw in some sexy Russian girl spies to keep it interesting!
But as a factual account of Zarqawi I have to say no way. Brisard has never met Zarqawi, apparently has never even met anyone who has met Zarqawi so where are the facts?
You do not need this book!.......2006-03-22
This is one of the few books I have ever returned.
I do not have a lot to add to the other reviews. I really got upset when I learned that his Senate Testimony had been removed AND that he never really wrote a report for the UN.
The writing is not good, and it is obvious that you can't trust anything he says.
If you need to learn about Zarqawi, go to the BBC site and read their profile. It is not full of conspiracy theories like this book and they don't lie about what they have done.
About the only good thing I can say about the author is that is blog is entertaining. Nothing to do with terrorist money but a lot to do with how much time he spends in court getting sued by rich Arabs.
Self Promotion.......2006-03-04
This book is by a man who said he wrote a report for the United Nations. The United Nations said he gave them a report he already wrote.
I get the idea he had his answer in mind when he wrote this book and made whatever facts he happened across fit this answer.
This book is really pretty useless. The author is not reliable and the book reads like it was translated in about an hour. There are conspiracy websites with better information, and at least you know not to take them too seriously.
No wonder the library got rid of it!.......2006-03-03
I got this at the library sale. I was surprised to see them selling such a new book but after reading it I know why.
Brisard writes by cutting and pasting from French websites and then he gets someone to translate. This book would not pass in high school!
The book jumps from point to point and it is confusing. He says he backs up what he says but in the back all he has is news reports.
And what's more Brisard is something of a con man. People are always suing him and he lied about his United Nations report. His blog doesn't tell you anything about terrorism it is his history of lawsuits.
He spoke for the US Senate but if you look at that page it is full of complaints from lawyers saying that he is wrong. It also looks like his company was closed because he kept losing these court cases. The man needs to learn to tell the truth!
The book is useless. I wanted to understand what I see on CNN and this book just made me more confused.
Average customer rating:
|
Birds of West Africa (Collins Field Guides)
W. Serle ,
Gerard J. Morel , and
W. Hartwig
Manufacturer: Harpercollins Pub Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Reference
| Subjects
| Books
| Almanacs & Yearbooks
| Atlases & Maps
| Audiobooks
| Books on CD
| Books on Cassette
| Business Skills
| Careers
| Catalogs & Directories
| Consumer Guides
| Dictionaries & Thesauruses
| Education
| Encyclopedias
| Etiquette
| Foreign Languages
| Fun Facts
| Genealogy
| General
| Job Hunting
| Large Print
| Law
| Publishing & Books
| Quotations
| Spanish-Language Reference
| Study Guides
| Test Prep Central
| Words & Language
| Writing
General
| Birdwatching
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Reference
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Ornithology
| Zoology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Outdoors & Nature Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Reference Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Science Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0002192047 |
Book Description
This new field guide uses all 147 color plates from Princeton's A Guide to the Birds of Western Africa, with concise, authoritative text on facing pages, to create a compact, lightweight field reference covering all 1,285 species found in the region--from Senegal and southern Mauritania east to Chad and the Central African Republic and south to Congo. It is the first field guide to cover this region exclusively and in such comprehensive depth, and will enable birders to identify any species found in any of the twenty-three countries and territories covered.
Birds of Western Africa also has an updated color distribution map for each species, conveniently placed on interleaved pages within the color plates. The plates, all original and painted by the same leading illustrator, comprise over 3,000 figures--including a number of new images painted for this field guide--and depict almost all the species described. The entries opposite the plates focus on key identification marks for all main plumages.
Both authors have gained extensive field experience over many years in western Africa. Their knowledge and expertise shines through in this unprecedented and outstanding field guide to one of the world's most exciting birding regions.
Customer Reviews:
Best West Africa field guide........2007-07-12
This birding guide is outstanding and a must have for any birder or nature lover that visits West Africa. The color plates of over 1250 species are excellent and the range mape are conveniently located. There is pertinent information for each bird that is helpful. This portable guide receives high marks.
Ted Peterson
Birds of Western Africa.......2007-01-19
Excellent feedback from the receiver as it was a gift. Clear, systematic and complete.
Book Description
Conference of the Birds is John Heilpern's true story of an extraordinary journey. In December 1972, the director Peter Brook and an international troupe of actors (Helen Mirren and Yoshi Oida among them) left their Paris base to emerge again in the Sahara desert. It was the start of an 8,500-mile expedition through Africa without precedent in the history of theater. Brook was in search of a new beginning that has since been revealed in all his work--from Conference of the Birds and Carmen to The Mahabharata and beyond. At the heart of John Heilpern's brilliant account of the African experiment is a story that became a search for the miraculous.
Customer Reviews:
The Conference of the Birds.......2000-05-06
I have owned - and read - this book for many years. For anyone who has had an interest in delving in to the world of theatre which is on the very edge of discovery, read this book. Take a group of ethnically diverse actors, a carpet, a pair of boots, a very rough idea and a collection of small African villages, some of whom have never encountered anyone from outside their own small community, and you have the perfect mix for rediscovering the true meaning of theatre. At one and the same time massively amusing and wonderfully inspiring, enter into the world and the mind of the 20th century's most creative forces - Peter Brook.
Average customer rating:
|
Son-Jara: The Mande Epic : Mandekan/English Edition With Notes and Commentary (African Epic Series)
John William Johnson ,
Fa-Digi Sisoko , and
Charles S. Bird
Manufacturer: Indiana University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Africa
| History
| Subjects
| Books
African Studies
| Africa
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Folklore & Mythology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Folklore
| Mythology
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Johnson, Charles
| ( J )
| Authors, A-Z
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
African
| History & Criticism
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0253343372 |
Average customer rating:
|
Birds of the West African Town and Garden (West African Nature Handbooks)
J H Elgood
Manufacturer: Longman International Education Division (a Pearson Education company)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Reference
| Subjects
| Books
| Almanacs & Yearbooks
| Atlases & Maps
| Audiobooks
| Books on CD
| Books on Cassette
| Business Skills
| Careers
| Catalogs & Directories
| Consumer Guides
| Dictionaries & Thesauruses
| Education
| Encyclopedias
| Etiquette
| Foreign Languages
| Fun Facts
| Genealogy
| General
| Job Hunting
| Large Print
| Law
| Publishing & Books
| Quotations
| Spanish-Language Reference
| Study Guides
| Test Prep Central
| Words & Language
| Writing
Birdwatching
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
| Excursion Guides
| Field Guides
| General
ASIN: 0582608503 |
Books:
- 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
- The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Alone 1932-1940
- The Last Tsar: The Life and Death of Nicholas II
- The Little School: Tales of Disappearance and Survival
- The Lobotomist: A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness
- The Making of The African Queen
- The Man Who Predicts Earthquakes: Jim Berkland, Maverick Geologist--How His Quake Warnings Can Save Lives
- The Medical Millennium: 1000 Pioneers Who Have Contributed to the Development of Medicine Over the Last 1000 Years
- The Naked Soldier: A True Story of the French Foreign Legion
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Modal and Tonal Counterpoint: From Josquin to Stravinsky
- History: Fiction or Science
- L'Etranger
- Fatal Voyage : A Novel
- Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Leading
- Investigating Biology Lab Manual
- I Have A Dream: The Story Of Martin Luther King
- The Story So Far: Play Therapy Narratives
- Geology of Carlsbad Cavern and other caves in the Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico and Texas
- Texas in Bloom: A Wildflower Guide for Children
West with the Night
Facing the Lion: Growing Up Maasai on the African Savanna (National Geographic)
Out of Africa and Shadows on the Grass
The Flame Trees of Thika
Out of Africa (Modern Library)
