When Money Isn't Enough

Mr. Wallace has produced a great read that is interesting from a historical prospective while it harpoons the very wealthy whose pursuit of money is no longer satisfying. Nope, these folks have to pursue a type of collectable that they cannot have any provenance for, which experts in the field can only hope to guess at what the bottle contains. Wine that is a century younger than the bottle on the book cover might at best be"recognizable as wine", unless of course it has become an ingredient for salad dressing.

The central charlatan in this tale is a master at exploiting the wishes of collectors and even the experts that should know better. Or perhaps that do know better and just let their own egos persuade them that in spite of zero evidence the product is real, and worse, valid sources that explain there is nothing to suggest the wine's legitimacy, never slow down. On with the auction!

The book is not just about human nature and its dimmer moments, there is a great deal of information on wine production, wine history and enough wine tasting descriptions for the most avid connoisseur. Or if you find the whole field a bit pretentious and tedious you might still be entertained by the likes of what follows"the art of drinking the very oldest rarities required an extra degree of connoisseurship-almost a kind of necrophilia".

I look forward to many more from the pen of Mr. Wallace. This is a very good offering that should find a wide audience whether you are an avid wine drinker or you feel the 18th Amendment was a great idea.

Still the best wine book, but some silly typos

N. Stewart's comments are spot on. This is the best source of wine information in terms of fact per pound (pound weight or pound money), containing more useful facts than most large glossy coffee-table style wine books. Coverage is best on the old world wine regions, especially Bordeaux, giving helpful info on recommended producers, which vintages are good and which are ready to drink. I think it's worth buying a new copy every 2 or 3 years.
Unfortunately there are several very blatant typographical errors in the 2008 edition, such as 'You have to had vines' in the new essay on Italian wines at the end, and several references to a Medoc classification table allegedly on page 96 but in fact non-existent.

Coin of the Realm

Well presented, good value and well worth the purchase. Unlike some books on the subject it's not stuffy, pretentious or academically challenged. Give it a try. I believe the author does a good book on Roman coins as well e-books.

Good, But Not Great

I have a number of books on Tropical and Marine fish and am always on the lookout to add to my collection. However I am always wary of books with Encyclopedia in the title. The subject if tropical fish and fish-keeping is vast and a book that covers every part of it would cost a fortune and probably break the table it rested on.

It is a nice enough book and with it by your side you should be able, not only to keep your fish alive but see them thrive. It gives the more common food that is available and these days that is a great deal of food. What to do if your fish become ill and also a little about the habits of different fish.

Find the Power, Live the Legend!

Ever wondered what a ’Mio’ is? Ever wanted to know what Bionicles use as currency? If there is anything you don’t know about Bionicle, this is the book for you!
This detailed encyclopaedia includes everything you need to know about the mechanical world of Bionicle, from ’the Rahi’ which inhabit the City of Legends, to the legendary Toa Metru.
Inside you will find out what the Rahagas’ past was like, and go face to face with the monstrous Zivon.
The book also includes charts stating what the different Rahkshi can do as well as plenty more.
Large format, 128 good quality pages, clearly laid out in alphabetical order interspersed with pictures, and includes 30 colourful stickers.

Bushido: Legacies Of The Japanese Tattoo

This was a fantastic book, with some very interesting viewpoints and information. I found the relationship between the samurai honour system and traditional japanese tattooing particularly intreguing, and the photography and sketches provided a great insight to the visual elements described in this book. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to know a bit more!

Best for the mature collector.

Once you've past the point of just collecting dates, demoninations, and heads, this is the reference work you simply must read if you wish to become a numismatist, not just a collector or accumulator. Of course, the coins are divided into reigns, metals, and coinages (eg 1816). While this may be tricky at first, any adult familiar with the style (which is shared in the philatelic world by Gibbons)can quickly become adept at locating whichever coin they need to research.
Very well bound, handsome volume that I leave in my sitting room all the time. Plenty of accurate data on pricing, and a good summary of British auction activity--even collectors who will never spend more than five hundred quid on a coin should keep up with the market!
I may be convinced that this isn't the best book for a child, but this should be in any adult's library.

Every Second Counts!

For three weeks every July little else that can be called serious goes on in France. Everything is on hold whilst a great sporting event takes place. With a duration longer than Wimbledon, the Test Matches, the Open Golf championship and even the Olympic Games. It's the `Tour de France'. Bicycling in extremist!
The TdeF is as French as the Guillotine, Baguettes and Bardot! Around two hundred super fit human beings pedal their arduous, and often perilous, way through pretty villages, vineyards and sunflowers, mountain passes and stray dogs for some two and a half thousand miles all aiming to get to Paris in the shortest time and in one piece. Usually half of them don't make it! Just to cross the line at the Arc d'Triomphe would be considered by most of the surviving competitors to be a career highlight, let alone to win the event. And the whole affair is completely free of charge for the many thousands of spectators that line the route eagerly waiting to spot these multi-coloured, lyrcra clad mobile billboards as they sweep past on machines that can cost the price of a decent family car.

It's all here in this glorious book. The history, the heroes, the rules (lots of these) - and oft the sabotage! Within the pages of this superb tome will be found inserted a couple of dozen and more facsimiles of memorabilia. Artefacts from the history of this iconic event. Rulebooks, competitor application forms. postcards from way back and scribbled notes. For TdeF enthusiasts the book surely is a must have item. For the rest of us mere spectators it is a terrific, hugely interesting read. The book, contained in a slipcase, is a tribute to the authors and a remarkable piece of construction by the publishers. It is worth the full price but can usually be found for much less. My copy was a bit under half-price. A bargain.

If you like bikes and enjoy `La Tour' you'll love this! Do get a copy, you won't regret it !

Great guide to silver

If you need to know anything about silver hallmanks then this is the book for you. Only just received book but flicking through tells you in plain English what is collectable what marks to look for. Great communication from the seller I will deffinately be looking out for other titles.

An excellent supplement to your library.

This book is well written and it's a very picturesque encyclopedia. Not too technical but still very informative with the author's step by step format. Those of you who are pursuing Jewlery as a hobby or a career will want to add this book to your library.

Very good but it is a little fragile

This book really is a joy. Every Marvelite who gets one will love it. It contains lots of stuff that old time fans will possibly already know about but this is the first time I have seem so many photos of Marvel and Timely staff members in one book. This book is as much about the company as it is the characters and is all the better for that. I love all the reproduction pencil sketches, stamps and cards etc they are very realistic replicas. As a Brit we never really got chance to see any of those things in real life so to actually hold them in my hand is a bit of a thrill. I feel this book will mostly appeal to older comic fans between the ages of 30 and 50 looking for a bit of nostalgia rather than small boys or young fans of superhero films and cartoons. I would go so far as to say that this book is actually due to the ring binding to fragile to handle for any child under 10 (it needs to be handled with a lot of care and only opened on a flat surface. Because of this I almost dropped a star in my rating and I would have given this book four stars. Since it has been discounted so heavily by Amazon though (at the time of writing this) It now has to in my opinion have the full five.

Superb

As a personal trainer for over five years I have seen much of the needless training trainees try to bulid strngth and mass. Routines from genetic super humans and drug fed trainees will not work for you and will have you investing time and money in the wrong direction, leaving you in a well of frustration. Believe me I have been there, but apply Stuart's excellent advice and you will be in the peak of health transforming your frame, bettering yourself week after week. While there are some other authors who write very well on sensible abbreviated training Stuart for me is number one. If you ever buy one authors work on weight training in your life let it be McRoberts work. 5 stars does not do his work enough justice as it is streaks in front of the rest. BUY IT!

Judith Millers Collectables 2004

I bought this book because I was starting to pick up bits and pieces from junk shops and was curious to know if they were worth anything. I found it very interesting and well laid out & it sent me off searching for items that caught my eye! As a result I'm now addicted to internet auction sites! Judith explains things informatively, simply and most importantly in a non patronising manner. I also lost count of the amount of times I said to myself" I used to have one of those I wish I'd kept it". Highly recommended!

Brilliant for new gardeners

Simple and comprehensive, i found it useful for someone completely new to gardening. We want to go organic and it explains all about it. Maybe a bit hardline in tone at time but still invaluable for anybody adhering to the organic philosophy.

EVERYTHING you wanted to know about Star Wars (and probably more than you need to)

As I already own a lot of Star Wars books it now takes something pretty special to entice me to purchase something new - most SW-related topics have been exhaustively covered & even though I never thought I'd say it - I'm pretty much"all-Star-Wars'ed-out". That said, this"ultimate" edition looked a pretty neat addition to my collection and at around £10 looked good-value-for-money. What with it also being a DK release ,you always know you will get a quality product. Whether it be a travel book, film/tv tie-in or kids book - they're a quality publisher.

This particular book is a total study of EVERYTHING Star Wars, from the history of the universe, the events featured in the 6 films, the expanded universe (books, comics, games, etc) behind-the-scenes stuff & also pages dedictaed to the fans, the toys, it's success, etc. I'd find it hard to lay out the sheer volume of info contained in this book but Ryder Windham does so extremely well. It's beautifully laid out, full of great pictures, sketches & photo's and the accompanying text will be of interest whether you're a young fan or die-hard geek.

I wasn't sure whether to award the book 4 or 5 Stars simply because it's a topic that's so dear to my heart but eventually decided that you simply couldn't cram more into 160 pages for a RRP £15 & gave it top marks. Great purchase for any young fan or to simply add to the collection.

Great

This book is fab, it has a very broad contents from classical to modern day which appears in easy to find sections. Lots of graphic drawings easy to trace off. Although does not focus on soft furnishings, is a god send.A Good investment.