The Mysterious Lands: A Naturalist Explores the Four Great Deserts of the Southwest

Book Description

With growing concern about the protection of soil quality and biodiversity many countries have established regional and national programmes to monitor soil quality. This book reviews the theory and practice of a range of the various microbiological methods used within these programmes. The
first section gives an overview of approaches to monitoring, evaluating and managing soil quality. The second section provides a practical handbook with detailed descriptions of the methods. The methods are described in chapters on soil microbial biomass and numbers, soil microbial activity, soil
microbial diversity and community composition, and plant-microbe interactions and soil quality. Finally, a census is given of the main methods used in over 30 European microbiological laboratories.

Average customer rating:
Daytrips Holland, Belgium & Luxembourg: 40 One-Day Adventures by Rail, Bus or Car, Fourth Edition
Earl Steinbicker
Manufacturer: Daytrips Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Belgium | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books
General | Netherlands | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books
General | Travel | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Travel Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Daytrips Germany, 6th Edition: 60 One Day Adventures by Rail or by Car in Bavaria, the Rhineland, the North and the East (Daytrips Germany)

Daytrips France: 48 One-Day Adventures by Rail, Bus or Car--Includes Paris Walking Tours, Sixth Edition

Frommer's Belgium, Holland & Luxembourg (Frommer's Complete)

Top 10 Brussels & Antwerp Bruges, Ghent (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

Daytrips Switzerland: 45 One Day Adventures by Rail, Bus and Car (Daytrips Series)

ASIN: 0803820623
Release Date: 2005-09-12

Product Description

With this guide, travelers can take an intimate tour of the picturesque Low Countries of Europe. Starting with Amsterdam, there are 23 do-it-yourself tours in Holland, 13 in Belgium, and 4 in Luxembourg. A total of 47 maps shows you exactly where everything is, while a comprehensive menu translator makes dining at the recommended restaurants a pleasure. Websites, phone numbers, travel information, and glossaries aid in getting you around without fuss.

Daytrips Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg (2nd Edition) (Daytrips Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg)

Average customer rating:

The Most Useful Book!
Excellent way to see a Western Europe that is undervisited
Accurate maps, good driving directions.
A practical way to chart a course through the Benelux region

Daytrips Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg (2nd Edition) (Daytrips Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg)
Earl Steinbicker
Manufacturer: Hastings House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books

Luxembourg | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books

Guidebooks | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Travel Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 080389368X

Book Description

one day adventures

Customer Reviews:

The Most Useful Book!.......2001-10-26

This book rocked! We made last-minute travel plans to Brussles with no idea of what we would find once we got there. The book contains practical and interesting walking tour maps of plenty of towns worth visiting. This came in quite handy when we began taking the trains throughout Benelux using Brussels as our hub.
Of all the books we brought with us on the trip (Frommers, Fodor, Time Out and others), This book turned out to be the most useful of all and was the most dog-eared by the end of our two weeks.
We only used one of the restaurant reccomendations -- no great shakes, but then again, that was not what the book was for.

Excellent way to see a Western Europe that is undervisited.......2000-01-12

Daytrips has everything you need to be a do-it-yourself tourguide. Trips are based on major cities in each country with estimated distances and times, so you can see what you want on your schedule. Each trip has at least one, and more often several, walking tours all of which begin at the train station (or bus stop if the area doesn't have one). The maps are detailed and clear; although I would recommend stopping at the local tourist information center and acquiring a map-locations for information centers are always highlighted. Each tour has some historic background on the area, places to visit and some dining suggestions. As a previous reviewer has noted, take prices and opening times with a grain of salt-they can and do change. I was a tour guide in this region (including Germany) for three years, and this book was always in my backpack. Without a doubt, Luxembourg, Belgium, and rural Holland are under visited by tourists. Luxembourg is probably the best-kept secret in Western Europe. The people in Benelux are friendly, especially towards Americans, prices are not outlandish and the scenery is excellent. HIGHLY Recommended.

Accurate maps, good driving directions........1998-08-24

I have made 3 trips to the area covered by this book, and it is the first resource I reach for when looking for ideas on what sights to see. Steinbicker orients his tours to train travel, so if you drive, and park at the train station, which is always easy to find just by following the Station signs in any city, you don't have to worry about finding parking in the right end of an unfamiliar town.

His walking tour maps are excellent! On more than one occasion I haven't even bothered stopping at the visitor information office for a local map, as those he provides in the book are quite accurate. He does give the location of the tourist information office in each city/town, along with some history, currency informtaion, eating suggestions, European train transportation information (rail, bus, and Metro pass info), and a driver's glossary (translations) for each country, that are quite helpful.

Two words of caution:

1) He lists the days of the week and times that sights were open and closed in 1995, when the book was published. Check the current schedules; I have found his information to be dated sometimes. 2) If you buy this book, anyone you know who's planning a trip to this part of Europe, who takes a peek at it, will literally BEG you to borrow it. I've taken my copy on 3 trips, but it has actually been on more than a dozen with friends and co-workers.

A practical way to chart a course through the Benelux region.......1997-06-16

This book can take the place of a tour guide, allowing you to chart your way through a day's touring and make sure you don't miss the high points

Daytrips in Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg: 40 one day adventures by rail, bus, or car

Average customer rating:

Daytrips in Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg: 40 one day adventures by rail, bus, or car
Earl Steinbicker
Manufacturer: Distributed to the trade by Kampmann
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books

Book Description

They number barely a million today, less than one-tenth of the world Jewish population. But long ago, on Iberian soil, they were the magisters of their people, and the leaven of Mediterranean civilization altogether. Such were the Sephardim, and in Moslem Andalusia they were renowned prime ministers and army commanders, distinguished scientists, belletrists, and religious scholars. In Christian Spain and Provence, their translators ignited Europe's twelfth-century renaissance, their revenue agents funded the economies of Aragon and Castile, and their astronomers and navigators plotted the explorations of Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama.

From the late fifteenth century onward, in exile from their Spanish and Portuguese homelands, the Sephardim made their mark as viziers and intimate advisers of Ottoman sultans, as vastly esteemed physicians of Renaissance dukes and popes, and as dynamic importers and exporters in the Dutch maritime traffic. Whether as professing Jews or converted "New Christians," it was this protean minority that functioned as a self-contained international trading network, spanning the seas and oceans, pioneering the gem industry of Europe and the sugar and tobacco plantations of Brazil, and flourishing as merchant ship captains amid pirate-infested Caribbean waterways.

Farewell Espana transcends conventional historical narrative. With the lucidity and verve that have characterized his numerous earlier volumes, Howard Sachar breathes life into the leading dramatis personae of the Sephardic world: the royal counselors Samuel ibn Nagrela and Joseph Nasi, the poets Solomon ibn Gabirol and Judah Halevi, the philosophers Moses Maimonides and Baruch Spinoza, the statesmen Benjamin Disraeli and Pierre Mendes-France, the warriors Moshe Pijade and David Elazar, the fabulous charlatans David Reuveni and Shabbatai Zvi.

In its breadth and richness of texture, Sachar's account sweeps to the contemporary era of Mussolini, Hitler, and Franco, poignantly traces the fate of Balkan Sephardic communities during the Holocaust -- and their revival in the Land and State of Israel. Not least of all, the author offers a tactile dimension of immediacy in his personal encounters with the storied venues and current personalities of the Sephardic world. Farewell Espana is a window opened on a glowing civilization once all but extinguished, and now flickering again into renewed creativity.

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic introduction to Sephardic History.......2003-06-19

If you are at all interested in the history of the Sephardic people this is the book to get. Sachar takes you on a journey from the plains of Al-andalus to the deserts of the Ottoman Empire, the thriving metropolis of the Dutch, to the modern state of Israel. The book is utterly readable and reads less like a dry history book and more like a novel where the central character is an entire nation. There is relatively little in the way of books about the Sephardic experience, and those that do exist for the most part are stiff and scholarly. Sachar makes it palatable while at the same time showing an incredible breath of knowledge and research that went into this book. BUY IT NOW!

Half a Story.......2000-01-05

The lack of information on Sefaradim in Arab Lands is deplorable. The author perhaps lacks knowledge of these languages to adequately research the matter. His assesment of these people seems to be limited to those today in Israel. What about those that went to Canada,the US, France, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina?

Average customer rating:

Prague Farewell
Heda Margolius Kovaly
Manufacturer: Orion Publishing Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Czech Republic | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Star Of The Sea - Farewell To Old Ireland

Average customer rating:

Star Of The Sea - Farewell To Old Ireland
Joseph O'connor
Manufacturer: Harvest / Harcourt, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000LX23BU

Farewell, Revolution: The Historians' Feud, France, 1789/1989

Average customer rating:

Farewell, Revolution: The Historians' Feud, France, 1789/1989
Steven Laurence Kaplan
Manufacturer: Cornell University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0801482712

Book Description

Steven Laurence Kaplan reconstructs and analyzes the loud and bitter arguments over the meaning of the French Revolution which have consumed French intellectuals in recent years. Kaplan recounts the contemporary debates over the meaning of the Revolution, tracing the impact of the historians' bitter quarrel, from Parisian academic circles to the public arenas of the bicentennial celebration. He considers the roles played in those arguments by three of France's most influential historians: Franois Furet, Pierre Chaunu, and Michel Vovelle.

A Farewell to Arms?: Beyond the Good Friday Agreement, Second Edition

Average customer rating:

A Farewell to Arms?: Beyond the Good Friday Agreement, Second Edition

Manufacturer: Manchester University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

War & Peace | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0719071151
Release Date: 2006-02-02

The Charitable Infirmary, Jervis Street, 1718-1987: A farewell tribute

Average customer rating:

The Charitable Infirmary, Jervis Street, 1718-1987: A farewell tribute

Manufacturer: Anniversary Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Average customer rating:

Farewell Dublin, But Never Goodbye
Donal McKenna
Manufacturer: The Pentland Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Irish | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Average customer rating:

Farewell European History:
Weber
Manufacturer: A Greenwood Press Reprint
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Civilization & Culture | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0837194474

Average customer rating:

Farewell Forever
John Malone
Manufacturer: Trafford Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1412067022
Release Date: 2006-06-30

Product Description

Farewell Forever is John Malone\'s first novel, a fascinating page-turner based on the lives of his Irish ancestors, set in pre-Famine County Cavan and ending in 1843 in Western Pennsylvania.

A Farewell to Arms: From 'Long War' to Long Peace in Northern Ireland

Average customer rating:

A Farewell to Arms: From 'Long War' to Long Peace in Northern Ireland

Manufacturer: Manchester Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

War & Peace | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Terrorism | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

The last decade has been the most momentous in Northern Ireland's checkered history-a 30 year war finally and painfully began to wind down, starting in August 1994 with the first Republican cease-fire and concluding more than three years later with the historic Good Friday Agreement. But what brought the war to an unexpected end? Why did the IRA decide to abandon the armed struggle? And what are the chances for a permanent settlement of the Irish Question? These are just three of the questions this wide-ranging study seeks to address.

Book Description

Chemoarchitectonic Atlas of the Rat Forebrain, featuring 242 fully labeled, large photographs, is the most comprehensive atlas of the rat forebrain ever published. It identifies brain structure not only on the conventional Nissl-stained sections but on additional six stains of interest to neuroscientists. This authoritative atlas provides comprehensive information about the location of chemicals in the rat forebrain, while redefining brain regions on the basis of the distribution of these substances.

Key Features
* 242 fully delineated photographic plates in a large 13" x 14" format
* Sets new standards of accuracy in the delineations of brain regions
* Based on a single brain sectioned in the coronal plane
* Presents at regular intervals photographs of sections stained for parvalbumin, calbindin, calretinin, neurofilament protein (SMi32), Nissl, tyrosine hydroxylase, and NADPH/diaphorase.
* An excellent companion to The Rat Brain in Stereotaxic Coordinates, Compact and Fourth Editions, and Chemoarchitectonic Atlas of the Rat Brainstem

The Chemoarchitectonic Atlas of the Rat Forebrain

Average customer rating:

The Chemoarchitectonic Atlas of the Rat Forebrain
George Paxinos
Manufacturer: Academic Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OH8KZQ

Book Description

Volumes 3a, b and 4 focus on polyesters synthesized by bacteria and eukaryotic organisms as well as all aspects of the biosynthesis and metabolism of these biopolymers together with their production and isolation. In addition, these volumes treat various synthetic polyesters and related polymers synthesized by the chemical industry for the manufacture of biodegradable materials. Topics include: polyhydroxyalkanoates, pha granules, non-storage phas, poly(malic acid), cutin, suberin, polyphosphate, polylactides, polyglycolide, polyanhydrides, polyesteramides, aliphatic organic polyesters and related polymers, in vitro synthesis of polyesters, chemical synthesis, biotechnological production by fermentation, isolation from plants, production in transgenic plants, biodegradation.

Book Description

This complementary text provides detailed solutions for the problems that appear in C.A.J. Fletcher's treatise Computational Techniques for Fluid Dynamics. The solutions are indicated in enough detail for the reader to complete any intermediate steps. Many of the problems require a computer program to be written, some of which are completely new; their listing forms part of the solution. Many problems are substantial enough to be considered mini-projects, and they should encourage the reader to explore extensions and further developments. Although targeted at instructors, the manual should be of considerable interest for mechanical engineers and fluid dynamicists.

Eigenwertprobleme und ihre numerische Behandlung, (Mathematik und ihre Anwendungen in Physik und Technik. Reihe A)

Average customer rating:

Eigenwertprobleme und ihre numerische Behandlung, (Mathematik und ihre Anwendungen in Physik und Technik. Reihe A)
L Collatz
Manufacturer: Chelsea Pub. Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Ginzburg-Landau Phase Transition Theory and Superconductivity (International Series of Numerical Mathematics)

Average customer rating:

Ginzburg-Landau Phase Transition Theory and Superconductivity (International Series of Numerical Mathematics)
K.-H. Hoffmann , and Q. Tang
Manufacturer: Birkhauser
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Mathematics | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

Mathematical Physics | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Medicine | Subjects | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Engineering | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Medicine | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Professional & Technical | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Science | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Medicine | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 3764364866

Book Description

The theory of complex Ginzburg-Landau type phase transition and its applications to superconductivity and superfluidity has been a topic of great interest to theoretical physicists and has been continously and persistently studied since the 1950s.In this monograph, we collect, rearrange and refine recent research results in the complex G-L theory with or without immediate applications to the theory of superconductivity. The purpose is to present as many mathematically sound results as possible on various aspects of the PDE system, including rigorous mathematical analysis, formal asymptotics as well as numerical analysis.The book starts with some physical background material and discussions on the modelling and theoretical studies of physicists that invite further mathematical research. We then treat the mathematical scaling in a systematic way and analyze the implications on various limit problems. After addressing the mathematical foundation and formal asymptotic analysis of vortex motion we move on to rigorous results on existence, regularity and long-time behavior of solutions, as well as the vortex location and law of motion.Furthermore, we look at various ways of deriving lower-dimensional models from higher-dimensional ones and study rigorous results for the pinning of vortices.The book is meant to provide an authoritative reference for applied mathematicians, theoretical physicists and engineers interested in the quantitative description of superconductivity using Ginzburg-Landau theory.

Average customer rating:

Numerische Physik (Springer-Lehrbuch)
Harald Wiedemann
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Mathematical Physics | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

German | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Nonfiction | German | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books

Professional & Technical | German | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books

All German Books | German | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 354040774X

Book Description

In diesem Buch führt der Autor den Leser in die faszinierende Welt der numerischen Physik ein. Anhand einer Vielzahl von Beispielen aus den Bereichen Mechanik, Elektrodynamik, Optik, Statistischer Physik und Quantenmechanik werden nicht nur die wichtigsten Techniken dargestellt, sondern auch aufgezeigt, daß mittels Numerik neue Einblicke ermöglicht werden, die konventionelle Zugänge nicht bieten.

Auf der beiligenden CD-ROM befindet sich neben allen Quelltexten zu den Programmen im Buchtext eine Zusammenstellung frei verfügbarer Software, die sowohl dem Windows-Anwender als auch dem Linux-Freund alle Werkzeuge an die Hand gibt, die er zur Bearbeitung anspruchsvoller physikalischer Fragestellungen benötigt - von Compilern über Numerikbibliotheken bis hin zu Visualisierungstools.

Problems and Methods in Mathematical Physics: The Siegfried Prössdorf Memorial Volume - Proceedings of the 11th TMP, Chemnitz, Germany, March 25-28, 1999 (Operator Theory: Advances and Applications)

Average customer rating:

Problems and Methods in Mathematical Physics: The Siegfried Prössdorf Memorial Volume - Proceedings of the 11th TMP, Chemnitz, Germany, March 25-28, 1999 (Operator Theory: Advances and Applications)

Manufacturer: Birkhauser
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Mathematics | Science | Subjects | Books

Mathematical Analysis | Mathematics | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

Mathematical Physics | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Medicine | Subjects | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Medicine | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Professional & Technical | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Science | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Medicine | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 3764364777

Book Description

This volume presents the proceedings of the 11th Conference on Problems and Methods in Mathematical Physis (11th TMP), held in Chemnitz, March 25-28, 1999.

The conference was dedicated to the memory of Siegfried Prössdorf, who made important contributions to the theory and numerical analysis of operator equations and their applications in mathematical physics and mechanics. The main part of the book comprises original research papers. The topics are ranging from integral and pseudodifferential equations, boundary value problems, operator theory, boundary element and wavelet methods, approximation theory and inverse problems to various concrete problems and applications in physics and engineering, and reflect Prössdorf's broad spectrum of research activities. The volume also contains articles describing the life and mathematical achievements of Siegfried Prössdorf and includes a list of his publications. The book is addressed to a wide audience in the mathematical and engineering sciences.

Average customer rating:

Classic plot-driven entertainment from an earlier era

Erle Stanley Gardner at the Height of His Powers

An Erle Stanley Gardner Sampler

Erle Stanley Gardner: Seven Complete Novels
Rh Value Publishing
Manufacturer: Random House Value Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Classics | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Perry Mason Casebook: the Case of the Sulky Girl; The Case of the Careless Kitten; The Case of the Fiery Fingers (A Mystery Guild Lost Classics Omnibus)

The Case of the Deadly Toy (Perry Mason Mystery)

The Case of the One-Eyed Witness (Perry Mason Mysteries (Fawcett Books))

The Case of the Stuttering Bishop (Perry Mason Mysteries (Fawcett Books))

Perry Mason - Season 2, Vol. 1

ASIN: 0517293641
Release Date: 1988-12-12

Customer Reviews:

Classic plot-driven entertainment from an earlier era.......2007-01-25

If you are a Perry Mason fan, buy this volume now or check it out from your library. This 821 page collection of novels from 1955-59 will keep you entertained with non-stop action. Note: The publisher used a font that is smaller in size than some aging eyes might prefer and the line spacing is a bit tight.

Erle Stanley Gardner published his first novel at age 44 and he still managed to author 82 novels featuring Perry Mason. Under the pseudonym of A. A. Fair, he wrote 24 novels featuring Bertha Cool and Donald Lam. These are delightfully light entertainment, and have more repartee between the main characters (undersized detective Donald Lam and his overweight boss, Bertha Cool) and a bit more descriptive text than was Gardner's style in the Mason novels. The irreverent Lam might remind some of Craig Rice's John J. Malone, but Gardner's plots are always better constructed than Rice's.

Gardner was a man of energy with an amazing work ethic who became the most read mystery writer in the world. At age 32, Gardner, a practicing attorney, began writing fiction for the pulps for a very minimal amount per word. His output was in the range of a one million words year - a stunning level by any measure. By the time he started writing the Perry Mason novels, he had the right systems and support staff to allow an incredible output.

Gardner dictated his prose, and that in part explains his preference for dialogue over description, action over analysis. Gardner's novels emphasize physical movement - running from one place to another, full-throttle car trips, chartered airplane flights.

Gardner's clients in these works are innocent, but usually do not reveal the full truth to Perry Mason. The highlight of each novel is in the courtroom, where Perry Mason with flamboyance and audacity not only proves his client innocent, but also reveals the identity of the real murderer. Mason's novels are plot driven, and the plots grab your attention - even though there is seldom an immediate danger to either the client or Mason. Plausibility and consistency in the plots are quite good. The crimes and their solutions hold up well to scrutiny.

Buy and read this volume if you enjoy classic American entertainment. Part of Gardner's incredible popularity was that he never added the extensive descriptions that most readers skip in detective novels. Gardner's novels have tight plots, snappy dialog and an abundance of action.

If your only exposure to Perry Mason was from the television show, you are in for much more rapid and exciting entertainment than you could possibly expect. Each of these novels is a quick and fun read. I also recommend that you explore some of the earlier writings of Gardner, where the testosterone and energy are even stronger. You might also enjoy the insightful biography of Gardner, The Case Of The Real Perry Mason, authored by mystery writer and critic Dorothy B. Hughes.

Erle Stanley Gardner at the Height of His Powers.......2005-03-15

Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970) wrote some one hundred novels over the course of his long career. He was at the height of his powers during the late 1950s, and this collection offers seven of his best works featuring Los Angeles attorney Perry Mason. Writing in a dialogue-heavy, almost staccato style that calls to mind the likes of Hammett, Gardner leads the reader through complexities of the law with considerable skill--and if these tales are genre-fiction pure and simple, they are nonetheless enjoyable for that.

THE CASE OF THE GLAMOROUS GHOST (1955) finds Mason entangled with a young woman who claims memory loss, and her dead boyfriend is one of the the things she can't quite recall. In THE CASE OF THE TERRIFIED TYPIST (1956) Mason requires an office temp--who suddenly disappears from the job and may be implicated in both robbery and murder.

In THE CASE OF THE LUCKY LOSER (1957) Mason is asked to observe a trail by a mysterious client and finds himself more involved in the court case than he expected. THE CASE OF THE SCREAMING WOMAN finds Mason called upon to play marriage counselor when a skeptical woman demands that he get to the bottom of her husband's wild story.

THE CASE OF THE LONG-LEGGED MODELS (1957) finds Mason representing a casino heiress who is being strong armed to sell. In THE CASE OF THE FOOT-LOOSE DOLL (1958) a lovelorn woman claims to have committed insurance fraud, and in THE CASE OF THE WAYLAID WOLF (1959) an office worker's refusal of a young man's advances has unexpected consequences to say the least.

The novels include the supporting characters so much beloved--or loathed--by Gardner's fans: the witty and efficient secretary Della Street; the hard nosed detective Paul Drake; and, of course, such 'for the prosecution' figures as Police Lt. Trask and the urbane but none-to-swift attorney Hamilton Burger. Police processes and in some instances laws have changed in the half-century Gardner wrote these tales, but they are still good fun, fast and entertaining reads from the first page to the last. Recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

An Erle Stanley Gardner Sampler.......2004-10-11

Perry Mason Seven Famous Novels

These seven novels were originally published between 1955 and 1959 when Gardner was at his prime. They take place in 1950s Los Angeles California, an area where Erle Stanley Gardner lived and worked. Gardner never put dates in his novels to keep them from being dated. But after the devaluation of the dollar from 1971 on many of the dollar figures are long out of date. There were other changes in law and culture as well. Gardner was a trial attorney himself, and his experiences were not unlike that of Perry Mason. His novels economize on characterization, using dialogue to keep the story moving. Few of the people tell the whole truth to Mason. His job is to compare testimony to the facts gathered by his private investigator. Mason's clients are usually "middle class" or better; few clients have messy lives or cases. The stories involve some technical or scientific facts, and show some point of law.

Erle Stanley Gardner was the founder of the "Court of Last Resort" which sought to free many unjustly convicted persons. Gardner, among others, sought to use scientific means to find the guilty, rather than using hunches or guesses alone. Mason's clients are always not guilty, because few would buy a book where a defense lawyer let the guilty go free. An important lesson for the reader is to think about the facts, and not jump to a conclusion based on newspaper reports. These seven novels are often educational, like some novels of Dashiell Hammett, in teaching about the tricks of undercover detectives. You'll learn about a "roper", rough or smooth shadows, etc. and be able to identify the undercover operatives that you may encounter in your life.

* The Case of the Glamorous Ghost. A young woman was found in a park at night, nearly nude. She seems to be an amnesia victim. When her missing boyfriend is found dead she is accused of the murder.
* The Case of the Terrified Typist. A skilled typist shows up for work, then disappears. This typist matches a suspect in a burglary. Perry Mason's client is convicted of murder, but this is overturned on a technicality.
* The Case of the Lucky Loser. A young man is on trial for a hit-and-run. The investigation brings out hidden facts. Why did his step-mother and a company official testify against him?
* The Case of the Screaming Woman. A wife calls to have her husband's story checked. He had picked up a hitchhiker and taken her to a motel. After a nearby doctor was killed, the man is charged with murder.
* The Case of the Long-Legged Models. A young lady inherited shares in a Las Vegas casino. A man is pressuring her to sell out. When the man is murdered, the young lady is charged with murder.
* The Case of the Foot-Loose Doll. A woman runs away and assumes a new identity. But an investigator ties the new identity to a past crime. When the investigator is killed, she is accused of the murder.
* The Case of the Waylaid Wolf. A woman can't start her car, and is given a ride by her employer's son. She resists his advances, then runs off. When this man is found dead she is charged with murder.

Average customer rating:

Perry Mason : Seven Complete Novels
Erle Stanley Gardner
Manufacturer: Random House Value Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K3KHNC

Average customer rating:

Perry Mason Seven Complete Novels
Erle Stanley Gardner
Manufacturer: Avenel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RMTT7Q

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books