D-A Books

The Tiny Warrior is a collection of timeless messages that apply to business, personal life, and all people young and old. Look out Covey and Ziglar, D.J. "Eagle Bear" Vanas is a rising star that will inspire you in a whole new way. Vanas will open your eyes, challenge you to achieve your goals, and lead you to the path of a more effective life.

Everyone Can Learn the Secrets to Become a Warrior in their Everyday Lives!
Whether you're a corporate executive or a struggling student, heading in the right direction or languishing in what feels like a dead-end situation, The Tiny Warrior is a must read. Vanas has written a simple tale rich with inspiration and rooted in the Native American story-telling tradition. You'll find priceless gems of hope and motivation on every page!!

I have read and listened to many, many "motivational" authors and speakers. Not until reading The Tiny Warrior did I find the ultimate in inspiring and motivational guidance. Vanas has the rare skill of packing large messages into few words. Skilfully written, this book appeals to all ages from 7 to 70 and is a "must read" for anyone striving to realize their full potential.

This book is amazing!!! As a Sale VP responsible for the performance of a national sales team, I've read many books on motivation, leadership and sales success. This book is the best yet. It is concise, to the point, and an easy read for the busiest sales executive. It delivers a knock-out punch that grabs the soul and draws on the inner strength to succeed. It is formatted in a manner that can be quickly referenced, making it a great self-motivation tool. This is the perfect book to hand-out to every member of your sales team.

If you think you've read "all those inspirational books" before, then you haven't read this one. D.J. Vanas has crafted a tight and illuminating book that is guaranteed to make you see your life in a new way. Engaging, reflective, and often humorous in humble way, The Tiny Warrior condenses an amazing amount of wisdom into less than 100 pages. I spent more time pausing to consider what I had just read than I did actually reading it - and that's the way it should be.

Joan Criddle has woven a gripping account of the personal experience of one young woman, Teeda Butt Mam, and her family under the oppression of the Khymer Rouge. Although I knew a little about Cambodia's killing fields, this book reveals in considerable detail the brutality and horror of Pol Pot's regime. Yet, it's an inspiring tale of survival, courage, and family loyalty under the most extreme conditions of deprivation, fear and suffering. I couldn't help but wonder if I would have had the strength, ingenuity and willpower to survive such horror. The book also includes many interesting details about traditional Cambodian life and culture.
I highly recommend this book. It's an amazing story!

Joan Criddle has woven a gripping account of the personal experience of one young woman, Teeda Butt Mam, and her family under the oppression of the Khymer Rouge. Although I knew a little about Cambodia's killing fields, this book reveals in considerable detail the brutality and horror of Pol Pot's regime. Yet, it's an inspiring tale of survival, courage, and family loyalty under the most extreme conditions of deprivation, fear and suffering. I couldn't help but wonder if I would have had the strength, ingenuity and willpower to survive such horror. The book also includes many interesting details about traditional Cambodian life and culture.
I highly recommend this book. It's an amazing story!

Joan Criddle has woven a gripping account of the personal experience of one young woman, Teeda Butt Mam, and her family under the oppression of the Khymer Rouge. Although I knew a little about Cambodia's killing fields, this book reveals in considerable detail the brutality and horror of Pol Pot's regime. Yet, it's an inspiring tale of survival, courage, and family loyalty under the most extreme conditions of deprivation, fear and suffering. I couldn't help but wonder if I would have had the strength, ingenuity and willpower to survive such horror. The book also includes many interesting details about traditional Cambodian life and culture.
I highly recommend this book. It's an amazing story!

THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOK I EVER READ. I HAVE THE PLEASURE OF WORKING WITH VITOU AND I HAD THE FIRST HAND ACCOUNT OF HIS STORY. HE NEVER STOP TO AMAZE ME FOR THEIR WELL TO SURVIVE.THIS STORY SHOW THE TERMENDOUS COURAGE AND STRONG WELL TO SURVIVE AMONG MONSTERS WHO HAVE NO REGARDS TO FELLOW HUMANS, YOU HAVE TO WORK HARD AND RISK YOUR LIFE EVEN FOR THE BASIC NECESITY OF LIFE JUST TO SURVIVE. THIS IS AN EPIC OF FORGOTTEN HOLOCUST AND THE STORY OF A CAMBODIAN FAMILY GOING THROUGH HELL AN BACK. A SUCCESS STORY OF A FAMILY MOVING TO A COUNTRY WITH A DIFFERNT CULTURE AND LANGAUGE AND MAKING SOMETHING OF THEMSELVES. I AM PROUD TO BE A FRIEND OF VITOU AND I HAVE THE PLEASURE OF KNOWING HIM. EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK, IT WOULD MAKE YOU APPRECIATE MORE OF WHAT YOU HAVE IN LIFE.

When I was younger I heard bits and pieces about Cambodia and Pol Pot in the news, but didn't really know what it was about. Through "Destroy You" I finally know about the horrendous and evil history that was being made in that country during the 70's and 80's. This biography follows the story of one particular educated Cambodian family who was exiled from Phnom Penh, along with the entire city full of inhabitants. The Khmer Rouge was doing its job of "cleansing" the city of anything of western influence. Most of the educated populace, including doctors, teachers, lawyers, etc., were murdered, leaving a population of mostly uneducated slaves whose job was to work in the rice fields all day long. Music, laughter, and play were not allowed. The people were taught that everyone was of equal value and equally dispensable, and everyone should work hard to contribute to the good of all with the meekness, acceptance, and fortitude of the water buffalo.

Meanwhile, entire villages were massacred if complaint about the government was overheard. Life was incredibly miserable, especially knowing of friends and relatives that had been killed or had disappeared. When Viet Nam invaded Cambodia tens of thousands of Cambodians attempted escape to Thailand, but Thailand did not want them all, and forced many back at gunpoint, killing anyone, including children, who refused to climb down the treacherous, land mine-studded cliff back into Cambodia. Throughout this book I was grieving about the incredible evil that humans can perpetrate against other humans, and amazed at the endurance and determination of this family and others that managed to survive all this horror.

A story like this can yank us out of any tendency towards self-pity or complaining about the minor difficulties in our lives. I have also read the follow-up book, "Bamboos and Butterflies", about this family after they immigrated to the U.S. Their will to survive is carried on as they integrate into a new culture, and reminds us of why so many seek refuge in the U.S.

The purpose of Total Leadership is to "improve performance in all domains of life--work, home, community, and self." It's not at all about balancing the 4. Rather, it's about "creating mutual value among them." Doing this successfully is a 4-way win. This premise is similar to those expressed by Stephen Covey's in his 7 Habits of Highly Successful People.

Exercises accompany each chapter. Initial ones focus on identifying values and testing if proper focus is being applied to them. Next, readers identify stakeholders in their lives. They work to collect information about their stakeholders' expectations and share their expectations as well. Additional exercises are geared toward coming up with actions that will provide benefits in multiple domains. It's all about making your values come alive in everyday actions within the 4 domains.

Friedman's states, "Being a leader means inspiring committed action that engages people in taking intelligent steps in a direction you have chosen, to achieve something that has significant meaning for all relevant parties."

If people take the time to do the exercises in the book, and make the commitment to follow up on the suggested actions, at the very least they will clarify their values and become more productive. More importantly, they'll also have a good shot at improving the lives of themselves and those around them.

Nick McCormick, Author, Lead Well and Prosper: 15 Successful Strategies for Becoming a Good Manager

This is a somewhat odd book. I'm not very familiar with field of self-improvement books, and had to read it as a part of a work assignment. I've read through about a third before giving up due to being very bored (thank goodness assignment was not really mandatory).
I suppose this is just one set of many recepies for people that are very unhappy with their life up to the point of being fully paralyzed and now knowing how to start changing things. While idea of "stakeholders" may seem new for some people, it's only logical to ask people that you are involved with about what exactly they expect from you, so you know what expectations you're supposed to live up to. And general advise is "try to change things and see where it leads you".

About 16 hours into the return trip from Japan, I started reading this book, so the circumstances were far from ideal. Even so, I really enjoyed reading the work! This is one of those books that is the culmination of much work, both in the classroom over a period of many years and in Stew's personal life, and the quality of the thinking and writing is simply superb as a result. Basically, this is a self-help book, and I'd recommend it to anyone. However, there is a major caveat: to really use the book requires weeks and, realistically, months of working through the exercises in prioritizing, reflecting, communicating with others, experimenting, and monitoring the results of experiments. Having said that, I can't imagine a better time investment for most of us. This is incredibly insightful, honest, and ultimately caring and humane. Great stuff!

I have read this book as one of my elective courses at Wharton West. Prof. Friedman discussed in his book about how acting with authenticity (being real), integrity (being whole), and creativity (being innovative) affects performance. By acting with authenticity, I feel much more purposeful at work and home. I am more committed and drive persistently in myself and people around me, which help to improve the performance for myself as well as people around me. The leadership skills I have learned from this book:

Align actions with core values by choosing what matters most: I become more result oriented and focus on those important tasks that matter most to my core values.

Cultivate awareness of true leadership priorities in all domains: I have shared the new concept of leadership in this class with my boss, my colleagues, my husband, my son and friends and I do see the action from all domains.

Ethically influence others to generate support in all domains: The efforts I have put in the experiments have generated positive results both at work and home.

I hope this review help you to choose this book and act with urgency to lead a richer life with four ways win at work, family, community and personal level.

Thank you Stew Friedman! This work is engaging, enlightening, and inspirational--giving us all insight into what it means to be a 'Total Leader.' It answers the fundamental question most people ask about how to integrate all of the various pieces of our lives. I especially enjoy hearing the stories of the Total Leadership participants, and how they've grown and are able to see the world in a different light after going through the program!

I'm definitely sold on this Total Leadership Program! However, it is, not without constant work and reevaluation, as Friedman notes, that we can achieve both a meaningful and professionally successful life. I recommend this book to anyone, especially women and those in transition, as a useful guide about how to structure your life in a meaningful and productive way. It certainly helps me rethink the things that are important to me in my day to day life. :)

Much thanks to Mr. Morgan for dusting off the name Wilbur Underhill and showing it off. This book was well researched and perfectly written- I could not put it down until I finished. Thank you Mr. Morgan, this was another fine piece of work and I am looking forward to your next.

This was Mr. Morgan's best book that I have read. His photos and documents were easily readable. He still needs to use documentation, via endnotes or footnotes. In all, I would recommend this book to any reader interested in a very bad man, Wilbur Underhill. Much better effort.

Thanks to Mr. Morgan's thorough research the REAL story of Wilbur Underhill has been told. I grew up in Shawnee hearing about the shoot-out just a half block from my great-grandmother's home and I used to pass the house where the shooting took place on my way home from school. For years the bullet holes were still evident until later owners covered them with siding. But the old timers had different stories about how Underhill came to be in Shawnee, who was with him, which way he escaped and even which furniture store he was found in. Mr. Morgan had the facts to back up his book and it was very interesting. I was bothered, however, with the lack of editing and struggled with the errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation. Would have been better if it had been "cleaned up" a bit.

I commend Mr. Morgan on this book. It is the best of his books thus far. It was meticulously researched and accurate. A book is not meant to be judged by footnotes or endnotes. Neither proves the accuracy of the writer or researcher. This is a very readable book and should be a great addition to anyone's library or an asset to researchers who enjoy reading and studying about this genre, with or without footnotes.

R. D. Morgan has produced another great piece of work with this book. I am a big fan of Mr. Morgan's previous books, but this one topped them all. Mr. Morgan did an excellent job of researching this fact-filled story of Wilbur Underhill's life and crimes. You are taken inside the mind of one of the most feared outlaws of the 1920s and 30s. Mr. Morgan uncovered many letters written by Underhill himself, some were written just before his famous Kansas prison escape; which gives the reader a perspective that has never before been available. To any fan of crime literature this book is a must have. I for one could not put this book down until I reached the bloody end.

I LOVED "A TRILOGY OF WOMEN" IT WAS AN EXCELLENT FRONTLIST READ, IT WAS FACT BASED FICTION, WONDERFUL AND CHARACTERS WERE MESMERIZING.

THIS BOOKS WAS TOTALLY EDUCATIONAL, HUMOROUS, MADE ME LAUGH OUT LOUD AND CRY, IT WAS DEAR TO MY HEART AND GAVE ME A SENSE OF REALITY AND UNDERSTANDING OF SOME OF THE MANY THINGS I HAVE HAD TO DEAL WITH IN THE SISTERHOOD OF WOMEN.

I JUST WANTED TO HAVE FRIENDS, LOVE THEM AND BEFRIENDED BACK BUT MOST OF THE TIME YOU DEAL WITH JEALOUSY, BETRAYAL AND NOT SURE IF YOU CAN TRUST ONE AS FAR AS YOU CAN THROW THEM.

MS OPRAH NEEDS TO GET TO THE BEAR FACTS OF RECOMMENDING BOOKS THAT CROSS ALL BARRIERS OF SOCIO-ECONOMICS, RACES, COLORS, CREEDS, AND GENDERS, FOR MEN CAN LEARN ABOUT WOMEN FROM THIS BOOK AND WOMEN CAN UNDERSTAND WHY THEY HAVE HAD TO DEAL WITH CERTAIN THINGS FROM OTHER WOMEN.

IT TEACHES YOU TO BECOME A BETTER PERSON FROM THE CHARACTERS WHO ARE REAL BUT BASED ON SOME FICTIONAL OR CHARACTERISTICALLY IT SEEMS TO PROTECT THE ACTUAL PEOPLE WHO MAY BE LIVING OR DEAD, SO I UNDERSTAND THE NAMES BEING CHANGED.

IT WAS GREAT BUT ACTUAL, REALISTIC AND THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN ONE OPRAH PROMOTED ON HER BOOK CLUB, BUT WE GET OTHERS THAT ARE LIES AND OR HYPE TO PROMOTE SOMEONE WHO DID NOT KEEP IT REAL OR AT LEAST BE CANDID ABOUT THE ACTUAL INFORMATION.

THIS IS ONE FOR YOU MS OPRAH IT HAS BEEN OUT SINCE 2002 YOU MAY NOT DEAL WITH THIS BECAUSE YOU HAVE YOUR GIRLFRIEND YOU TALK ABOUT ALL THE TIME MS GAIL, WHO IS A NICE LADY BUT EVERYONE DOES NOT HAVE THAT BENEFIT, SO IT HELPS TO UNDERSTAND WHY SOME WOMEN ARE LIKE THEY ARE, IT HELPS ONE TO MAKE PEACE WITH THEIR GENDER AND COMPREHEND THE PERPLEXITY THAT RUNS ALL BARRIERS FOR FEMALES.

EXCELLENT BOOK AND HIGHLY RECOMMEND, SUCH UNTAPPED TALENT LEFT TO BE SET APART WHILE OTHER BOOKS OF LESS CALIBRE ARE PUT ON HIGH, NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE, NO TRUTH, NOR REALITY.

I WISH YOU MUCH SUCCESS MS JONES AND HOPE THAT ONE DAY SOMEONE RECOGNIZES YOUR GENUIS. I WILL LOOK FORWARD TO OTHER BOOKS YOU MAY PRODUCE BUT I UNDERSTAND THE DELAY. HAVE A WONDERFUL LIFE AND BLESSINGS TO YOU MS JONES, ENJOYED YOUR BOOK IMMENSELY FROM START TO FINISH, ALL DIFFERENT AND UNIQUE LADIES I COULD RELATE TO.

THANKS

PRIS

Every time I put it down I found myself wondering what would happen next, I became that intrigued with the characters! Each and every one of them were brought to life for me!

Mama Creole - It's very rare to come across so much compassion and kindness! This beautiful woman possessed this and so much more. She was brought to life for me thanks to this writers excellent descriptions and I was left feeling blessed to have learned some valuable lessons from Mama Creole.

Triple Threat - Surprise, Surprise, Surprised! Loved It! This one left me totally engrossed from beginning to end. The lengths that the main character, Gayla Camray went through to get revenge for her broken heart left me reading with my mouth agape through the end. Very exciting! I would love to read a sequel to this!

Genocide - Very well written and very insightful! A good look at Women faced with betrayl by their own gender! The writer could not have done better than to have the main character, Gayla Camray so eloquently open the eyes of the reader by sharing her own experiences as well as those of other Women through her work as a director in a Womens clinic. I agree that Men and Women alike should learn the valuable lessons of the darker side of sisterhood from this story.

Gloria Tillis Jones is so obviously gifted with her writing! I was taken with each story in this book and I look so forward to reading much more of her writing in the future!

Three very interesting stories of women and the joys and sorrows they endure. Each story is long enough to let you know the women involved yet does not include excess "filler". I enjoyed these stories and wish Gloria only the best with her future publishing projects.

This book was very entertaining to me. I also learned a lot from it for it helped me comprehend in many ways some of my own true life experiences. I enjoyed having three different stories in one book. It was like buying one book but getting three for the price of one. The characters were entwined in two of the stories. I just loved Mama Creole I could see the people and taste the food and Triple Threat was very thrilling in fact I was surprised at the end of the story, it was not something one could contemplate. I loved the mingling and discriptive words and the detailed manner of the author. Thanks for a great read I hope it becomes a frontlist for you, you deserve it.

Sincerely,
Saffron

P.S. I read the book again and was still very mystified and learned something new. I encourage men and women and anyone to get this book you will not be disappointed.

A Trilogy of Women includes three short stories, each exploring relationships among women. Gloria D. Tillis Jones reveals and focuses on the highs and lows of how women treat one another.

The first relationship most women have are with their mothers. In some cases, a solid relationship may be built with the grandmother who is the main caregiver. In the first short story "Mama Creole, the reader is introduced to Gabriella Angelique Bardot. Due to the death of her mother at her birth, Gabriella is raised by an incredibly strong matriarch Mama Dear. Gabriella grew up to become a very blessed, but generous individual in her community, known to those around her as "Mama Creole". Though never having children of her own, "Mama Creole" embraced family, friends and at times complete strangers. Readers will definitely find a little piece of their own mother, aunt or grandmother in the delightful "Mama Creole".

Where "Mama Creole" is a story of warmth, the second story "Triple Threat" is a sad story of betrayal and unbridled wrath. Raised in a broken home, Moiya Towers develops a close relationship with her best friend, Diedre during their years at college. The close relationship continues to flourish as the two women become business partners. Engaged to marry the dashingly handsome Kallos, Moiya anticipates having the family she has always imagined. Her dreams are shattered as the two people closest to her, Deidre and Kallos, commit the ultimate act of betrayal. Moiya unknowingly through surpising circumstances spins out of control on a path of vengence. Along the way, she discovers details about herself and her past. Truly shocking and fascinating material arises from this story!

The last story "Genocide" centers around Gayla Camray, the director of a women's clinic. A "Mama Creole" type, Gayla builds a support system for hurting women in the community. Through her own life experiences and those of the women she serves, Gayla discovers a pattern of destructive behavior among women against other women.

In this trilogy of stories, the reader is bound to be able to relate to one or more of the characters. I personally like how Jones structured this book with "Mama Creole" as the first story. Her warmth and desire to reach out to others serve as a sterling example for all women.

The following quote is being included with this review because it wrapped up the message of the book so eloquently. "Women have it hard enough without being so down on one another, suspicious, jealous, and backstabbing .... If women who are plaqued with the same problems on one level or another, whom can they trust?" Kudos to Gloria D. Tillis Jones for an extraordinary book. May its pages serve as a source of healing for women everywhere.

I first encountered the book as a boy. I loved it then and I love it know. It's one of the great adventure novels, and it empresses me to this day.

"Tros of Samothrace" is a massive historical novel, which, together with two sequels, was awkwardly handled by their hardcover publishers, and treated even worse in certain paperback editions. Some care may be needed to get the complete story, in a coherent form; although the new trade paperback appears to solve the main problems for the first of the three.

The "mystifications" were unintentional, but perhaps ironically appropriate, given the author's dubious career in British India and Africa, and also his later occult interests. "Mr. Talbot Mundy" has been the subject of two biographies in recent decades, with more still being uncovered about his real past. A good overview is provided on-line in "Talbot Mundy: Master of Mystical Adventure," by R. T. Gault. (Duane Spurlock has reposted Gault's bibliographic information, and in several cases I have deferred to their dates, rather than sticking with what I had found in older reference works. "Materials Toward a Bibliography of the Works of Talbot Mundy" by Bradford M. Day is available from Project Gutenberg; very good, but not easy to use in its plain-text form.)

"Tros" and some of Mundy's other stories also have striking resemblances to later fantasy and science fiction adventure stories, not surprising given that Robert E. Howard was among Mundy's original readers, and that more recent fans included Marion Zimmer Bradley, who openly acknowledged his direct influence on one of her "Darkover" novels.

The rather mysterious Talbot Mundy (William Lancaster Gribbon 1879-1940), whose yarns about his own (often shady) past may have been the prototype for much of his adventure fiction, seems to have written "Tros of Samothrace" almost as a detour. He had been asked by the publisher Bobbs-Merrill to write a novel about Cleopatra. It seemed to them like a sure-fire bestseller, something to out-do the sales of his popular "King -- of the Khyber Rifles," which they had published in 1916. It would, after all, be on a more sensational topic than his Kipling-esque tales of British soldiers keeping stiff upper lips in India and Afghanistan. (Mundy, who had legally changed his name to his most popular pseudonym while becoming a U.S. citizen in 1916, seems to have either exaggerated the time he spent in India, or else returned there under other names when he was hiding from the law, unhappy wives, etc. But he wrote about it more frequently than Africa, where he had spent considerable time; of course, he had also *served* time there....)

Mundy eventually got around to a Cleopatra novel for Bobbs-Merrill, but not before spinning out the adventures, mostly during Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain, of a supposed minor character in the planned novel. The resulting story of "Tros of Samothrace" ran for a year (Feb. 1925-Feb. 1926) in the then highly-regarded fiction magazine "Adventure."

It was broken into seven separately titled stories, published in nine installments, which gave the magazine a chance to back out, and probably avoided protests from readers about a serial that never seemed to end, but Mundy seems to have had the greater commercial potential of a novel in mind. They consisted of: #1 "Tros of Samothrace" (Feb. 10, 1925); #2 "The Enemy of Rome" (April 10); #3 "Prisoners of War" (June 10); #4 "Hostages to Luck: (Aug. 20); #5 "Admiral of Caesar's Fleet" (Oct. 10); #6 "The Dancing Girl of Gades" (Dec. 10); and, as #7, #8, and #9 the three-part "Messenger of Destiny" (Feb. 10, 20, and 28, 1926)

To my mind, "Tros" is one of the great early twentieth century adventure novels; and the hints of occult powers and secret wisdom add flavor without getting in the way. (Mundy had just then become active in a splinter branch of the Theosophical Society; the same influences are evident in his "Om: The Secret of Ahbor Valley," written the previous year, and much of his later fiction hovers on the edge of fantasy.)

The editor of "Adventure" (Arthur Sullivan Hoffmann) seems to have realized that almost anyone who had struggled in school with Caesar's "Commentaries" ("The Gallic Wars") was sure to smile at the idea of the story as seen from the other side -- or, rather, from a third side. (One Caesar somehow forgot to mention in his dispatches home!) And in those days, having struggled with Caesar was a pretty common experience for middle-class readers, so the subject, if not quite as glamorous as the Serpent of the Nile, was hardly obscure.

Bobbs-Merrill didn't agree, or was put off by the ensuing controversy over Mundy's portrait of Caesar as a budding dictator cultivating his image at the expense of the "barbarians."

According to Mundy, Initiates from the Mysteries of Samothrace ran afoul of Caesar while on a mission to their fellow-mystics in Gaul from their Aegean island sanctuary, and were blackmailed into spying on the mysterious Land of Britain. (A good classical dictionary would confirm the existence of the island of Samothrace and its Mysteries; although hardly Mundy's Theosophical exposition of its beliefs, and wide-ranging connections to other "mystical orders.")

But was even the wily and ruthless Caesar a match for a man like Tros, who scrupulously honored his word? Honored it precisely and literally, that is, without regard for what Caesar, or anyone else, might have intended when he exacted the promise by threatening to kill his prisoners, including Tros' father, Perseus....

The story of Tros and his personal war with Julius Caesar was later extended in another two substantial, but shorter, novels. "Queen Cleopatra" had no magazine publication, but appeared (at last!) directly from Bobbs-Merrill in 1929 (426 pages). Instead of the Antony and Cleopatra story, it deals in part with her escape from Rome after the assassination of Julius Caesar, an obscure episode in which it turns out Tros (of course) had a role. Mundy and Bobbs-Merrill later permanently parted ways (after fifteen years), with the "Tros" stories and the delayed Cleopatra novel apparently among the simmering issues.

His new publisher, Century, soon merged with D. Appleton, further complicating the bibliographic record. "Tros of Samothrace" finally appeared in a revised form from by D. Appleton-Century, with a British edition from Hutchinson, in 1934. "The Purple Pirate," a sequel to "Tros" and "Queen Cleopatra" then appeared as four stories in "Adventure" and immediately thereafter as a book from Appleton-Century (367 pages), also with a British edition, all in 1935

The complete "Tros" alone ran to a whopping 949 pages (960 in the British printing), even without the sequels. It was a work of historical fiction more on the scale of "War and Peace" than anything Bobbs-Merrill had planned, or, with "Gone With the Wind" still in the future (1936), probably considered practical in the American market. "Tros," didn't become a blockbuster bestseller, but it seems to have sold well enough for Appleton-Century to take on one of the sequels.

And the book was fondly remembered by those who read it. Who could forget a character who combined mysticism and heroics, nobility and practicality, exactly as appropriate? So he wouldn't kill a man, but didn't feel it was his responsibility to find out if he could swim before tossing him overboard... And a more than slightly unlikely, but attractive, supporting cast of friendly Theosophical Druids, Victorian-style Ancient Britons ("By Lud of Lunden!"), and proto-Vikings? Or even the rather Hinduized Pythagoreanism that seems to underlie all the talk of Secret Wisdom? By this time, too, Mundy's mostly hostile portrait of Caesar could be seen as a foreshadowing of Fascism.

"Tros" was revived in complete hardcover editions by the science fiction and fantasy publisher Gnome Press in 1958 (along with "The Purple Pirate"), and, most recently by Buccaneer Books in 1995. The new trade paperback edition is welcome. There was another hardcover (I think) reprinting of "The Purple Pirate" from Amereon, in 1991.

Unfortunately, copies of these, especially of "Tros," have to be sorted out from among the fractionalized paperback reprints.

For the mass-market paperback editions present a much more complicated picture.

Perhaps vindicating Bobbs-Merrill's original proposal, "Queen Cleopatra" appeared from Ace in 1962, with a cover Gault describes as "obviously redrawn from a publicity still of Elizabeth Taylor." Beyond the desire to cash in on the publicity, there is no special connection between the book and the motion picture (ultimately released in 1963), let alone the associated scandals; just the use of some of the same historical personages. (Lud, and perhaps fear of lawsuits, be thanked, Burton wasn't added to the cover.)

In 1967, Avon Books put "Tros of Samothrace" into paperback in four volumes, as "Tros: The First Book of Tros of Samothrace" (= #1-2); "Helma: The Second Book..." (= #3-4); "Liafail: The Third Book..." (#5-6); and "Helene: The Fourth Book..." (#7-9). All of them had lovely covers by Douglas Rosa. ("Helma" and "Helene" are two of the women in Tros' life. "Liafail," the Irish "Stone of Destiny," is here the name of a ship. Not the most appropriate name, one would think, besides being from the wrong branch of the Celtic languages, but philology wasn't Mundy's strong point.)

For me the Avon volumes came at just the right time -- I was reading Caesar in Latin, and was amused when Tros gave him a concise, accurate, and completely misleading, report on his adventures in Britain, in exactly Caesar's own compressed style. And was praised for it.

The four volumes were followed by Avon in 1969 with "Queen Cleopatra" and in 1970 with "The Purple Pirate," identified as "Tros of Samothrace #5" and "...#6," respectively, on the uncredited covers (which look to me and others like the work of Jeff Jones, but seem to be attributed by some to Frank Frazetta.) Avon also issued some of Mundy's occult / espionage / adventure stories set in modern India and Tibet, including "Om," at about the same time.

The Avon "Tros" was followed in Britain by a Universal-Tandem four-volume paperback set in 1971, officially based on the 1934 British edition from Hutchinson, but basically a variant of the Avon editions, with the same titles, but new cover art. The two sequels apparently were not included.

"Tros" and its sequels have not fared so well in paperback since. There was another, differently arranged, multi-volume edition from Zebra Books (Kensington Publishing), in 1976-1977, generally regarded as examples of inept book production, badly arranged and riddled with misprints, although the Tom Barber wraparound covers were rather nice. (Gault calls the edition "abysmal.") It was divided into "Lud of Lunden" (stories 1, 2, and half of 3); "Avenging Liafail" (the rest of 3, with 4 and part of 5); and "The Praetor's Dungeon" (the rest of 5, 6, and 7). "The Purple Pirate," and "Queen Cleopatra" were added in 1978, but in reverse order! (And so numbered.) All very confusing, especially when used copies are being listed.

Unfortunately, this makes care in ordering used copies very important. A book listed as "Tros of Samothrace" may be the full edition, or it may be only the first volume of the Avon edition -- or any volume of the Avon, Tandem, or Zebra editions, if someone was a little careless. I have seen volumes of the Avon edition listed as "unabridged," as if they contained the whole text, and not just a quarter of the whole. "Paperback" is a good clue, but "binding unknown" is a problem; length is probably a secure guide, if it is given.

If you can find a full set of the Avon or the Tandem editions of "Tros," I recommend them; and a mixture should be acceptable, and may be necessary if you include "Purple Pirate" and "Queen Cleopatra." The Zebra editions, with their inferior texts, I would consider a fallback for the curious, but may be less expensive.

An affordable copy of any of the hardcover editions would be great!

Do take great care that you are not ordering just one volume of a set, in expectation of the whole. ("Unabridged" has been attached to descriptions of at least two volumes of the Avon paperback, which is certainly misleading, although not really untrue; just a misunderstanding, I think.)

Oh yes -- don't be confused about Mundy's novel "Caesar Dies." It is an unrelated story about the Emperor Commodus, not the Dictator Julius, and Tros isn't involved. (Unless I failed to notice his reincarnation, of course.)

And will someone get around to offering the whole series in uniform hardcovers, or at least trade paperbacks?

Tros of Samothrace is one of the best books I have ever read. I recommend it with the highest of praise. If I can have a coffin with a book shelf in it, the Tros series and the Lord of the Ring series will be buried with me.

Being as there are already a lot of reviews, I thought I would help out concerning the various editions of Tros - many are mentioned in the other reviews and it's confusing. Are we talking about one book, 3 books, 6 books, etc!

Here's the scoop: (Information is based on my personal experience and Donald Grant's book "Talbot Mundy: Messenger of Destiny".

1. The first editions of "Tros of Samothrace" were single volumes. Appleton-Century produced the 1st American version (1934) and Hutchinson & Co (1934) produced the 1st English versions. Good copies are usually quite expensive and I have never seen one with a dust jacket even though both versions had one.

Tros was also printed in parts in magazines

2. Gnome Press (1958) produced a single volume version. This can be found and is cheaper than the 1st editions and can be found with a dust jacket. Cheaper but not inexpensive.

3. In 1967 Avon Books divided Tros into 6 paperbacks - Helene, Helma, Tros, liafell are 4 of the 6 titles. As single books these are easily found - both in used books stores and on ebay. With diligence you can come up with all 6 titles.

4. In 1976 Zebra paperbacks produced Tros in a series of 3 volumes (essentially combining Avon's 6 books into 3). Tros of Samothrace, Avenging Liafell and The Praetor's Dungeon are the three titles.

5. The picture shown by Amazon is most likely the Appleton-Century hardback 1st edition cover without dustjacket.

6 Finally, there are actually 2 seperate additonal books that are part of the Tros saga. These are "Queen Cleopatra" and "The Purple Pirate". Both were published in various hardback and paperback versions. The easiest and probably cheapest way to find them is as the Zebra paperbacks. Zebra paperbacks published and marketed all 5 paperbacks at the same time in 1976.

"Queen Cleopatra" was actually the first novel that Tros appeared in. "Queen Cleopatra was first published in 1929. Tros has a small but significant role in the book however it's mostly about Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. This book, while written first, can easily be considered to be the 4th Tros book in regards to chronology. The first Tros of Samothrace book has Tros interacting with Caesar during his first two attempts to invade Britain.

"The Purple Pirate" is the 5th book and final book in the Tros saga.

Recommendations: Being as the hardbacks are harder to come by and usually very expensive for a decent copy, I recommend trying to obtain the zebra paperbacks. These are easier to find. Amazon may be able to find them for you. Quite often you can find them on Ebay. Being as most people who have read Tros tend to do so more than once, these paperback copies will usually be reading copies at best. If you haven't read the Tros series yet, buy the Zebra books and see if you like it. Just don't blame me when you love it and have to possess more than just a reading copy.

Personally I possess the avon paperbacks, the zebra paperbacks and a Hutchinson 1st edition with no dust jacket.

I hope this helps.

Scotty

Tros is the daring captain of his trireme, and the son of Perseus, an initiate of the mysteries of Samothrace who was murdered by Caesar. Tros fights back by helping to repulse Caesar's invasion of Britain. Bold and crafty, like a true adventurer Tros wants to avoid fighting, but circumstances draw him into it, forcing him to battle the injustice around him. A warrior philosopher and navigator, Tros represents the adventurers and explorers, who value chivalry, honor and freedom, and will outlast Rome. However, Tros is no reckless swashbuckler, mercenary or fortune hunter; his opposition to Caesar is more than revenge. Unlike many of his powerful contemporaries, Tros has a highly developed, almost modern moral sense, and he is labeled a pirate only by his Roman adversaries. Although he makes use of guile, Tros is a man of conscience who is monogamous and loyal, despising the treachery and treason he sees all around him.

Tros of Samothrace is full of delightful, vibrant supporting characters. There are numerous battles and murders, together with incidents of conspiracy and loyalty, as Tros struggles to build his advanced ship, the Liafail, and aid the Britons against Caesar.

The saga is a vast, sweeping, spectacular panorama, full of detail, with its principal setting in Britain, although the final part of the saga, takes Tros directly into Rome itself, from the Vestal Virgins to the Arena. It is told in an energetic, dynamic style, full of dash and gusto, that still conveys both the feeling of the time and the authenticity of the characters as history and fiction blend naturally. Mundy reverses the traditional reverential, historicized language, using narration and dialogue that partake equally of a modern idiom, by endowing his characters with contemporary motivations and moods.

Although a hero, Tros is aware of his limitations, wise enough to be influenced by the esoteric religious thought of Samothrace, but not wise enough to qualify for initiation, lacking his father's ability to follow his vision without diversion. Mundy dwells on a more occult form of religion, the mysteries. Mundy asserts that both the Samothracians and the Druids had their foundation in the same ancient wisdom from which theosophy arose, the same mother religion from which all others are derived. This concept provides moral grounding as well as facilitating the narrative.

Caesar and Tros are drawn as the antithesis of each other, spiritual opposites; Tros represents the waning influence of the ancient mysteries, which Mundy proclaimed "were based on the theory of universal brotherhood." Caesar represents militarism and treachery, and understands, according to Tros, "that where the wisdom dwells, freedom persists and grows again . . . ."

As I outline in my book, Talbot Mundy, Philosopher of Adventure, Mundy was living at the Point Loma theosophical community at the time of composing Tros of Samothrace. This helped to inspire the unconventional approach to history Mundy took with his heretical and unflattering portrait of Caesar in his novels.

Mundy believed that Caesar's materialism and lack of spiritual awareness had adversely affected all of the subsequent cultural institutions that had come to idolize him. The implications for the foundations of modern Western civilization was recognized by readers of Adventure. Mundy explained, "The purpose of the Roman empire was to make life comfortable for the Romans and to keep other people out of mischief [and it] was conducted on principles diametrically opposite to those taught by all the world's really great philosophers." He blames Rome for imperialism and its destructive impact. He notes that England similarly justified its rule of India by making the land apparently incapable of self-government, then trying to ease the resentment of conquest by offering defeated peoples a place within the empire. "Here, today, is the net result of Roman theories--war, mistrust, rancor, suspicion, hatred, misgovernment, and a world not half so civilized as China was two thousand years ago."

Although the Tros stories were very popular, they were the most controversial Mundy ever wrote, and many readers in the 1920s were shocked by his defiance of tradition and anti-classical views. There was a storm of protest during the serialization of the initial Tros stories, lasting almost a year, and a vast correspondence in Adventure debated the merits of Mundy's case until enough letters were printed to be considered for publication themselves in book form; it was the largest such confrontation ever in any pulp. Readers and contributors included not only subscribers but authors and professors, and the debate was widely followed by a literary community that respected Adventure as falling outside the purview of "mere pulps."

Eventually a consensus formed, cautiously siding with Mundy. The Tros series was able to be critically acclaimed because it combined adventure with the unusual twist of a distinctly revisionist spirit--permitting the tales to be respectable within the intellectual community as well as enjoyable diversion.

When Tros of Samothrace appeared in book form in 1934 it acquired another sort of timeliness not evident during its original serialization. Mundy's theme of liberty subverted by those who would increase their own power had a topical resonance beyond history in the 1930s. Contemporary readers saw in Tros's battle against Caesar's designs of conquering the world an analogy for the contemporary increase in militarism and the necessity to fight the steadily growing threat of fascism. Mundy was aware of this relevance; in his foreword to the British edition of Tros of Samothrace in 1934 he noted that both Lenin and Hitler were following in Caesar's footsteps by trying to destroy through propaganda the old belief in spiritual values.

The Tros of Samothrace 'all inclusive' edition has all the great adventure and philosohy mix that made the stories wonderful the first time I read them many years ago. My only complaint is that the descriptions and reviews didn't make it clear (At least to me) that the 'Queen Cleopatra' book of the Tros series is NOT included in this volume. Still in all am glad all these stories are now in one volume.

The book name is Uncle written by CYNTHIA D. Vampire and it�s written by CYNTHIA D. GRANT. This book is about two girls name Carolyn and her twin sister name Honey. This book is very entrusting it�s going to make you say �That I want to read more about this book.� It is a funny vampire book. And that�s what I like about this book. In the beginning of the book, there was a quote that grabbed my attention. �It was that when Carolyn and Honey bought a lock from the store to lock on their door, because they thought their uncle was a vampire. And the next day they come from school and found out that the lock was gone.�
The theme of the book was that there uncle wasn�t a vampire he was a Cannibal, And Carolyn learn that If you are In trouble you should tell your parents or somebody older than you about your problem. I totally agree with it, because if you are in trouble you should tell some-one. If you don�t tell anyone then trouble will only get bigger. If you tell your parents or somebody older may-be they could help you. I think it relates to a lot of people life, because they don�t tell other people about there problems. They try to solve there problems by there self.
I would like to recommend this book to people who want to know how to solve there problems. For example in this book Carolyn try to solver her problems by telling her school counselor.

I thought that the book was amazing because you'll be so surprised how the ends.I could never have seen it coming, I really thought it whould end in another way. I think it is a very well written book despite that you don't always know if Carolyn is dreaming, thinking, or if it is the reality....I whould recommend anyone to read it because it isn't like every other book it really surprise you!

It is a very good story that makes the reader go on to see what is going to happen next.

I loved this book very much. I think it teaches a great lesson and will/has encouraged people who go through the same horrors. However - you really didn't understand a lot until the BANG at the end. Then it becomes clear and you relilze what this book is really about. AWSOME BOOK!

I had this book back in 7th grade and I used to read it over and over. It is one of those books that really stick on your mind and tear at you after reading it. I lent it out to friends who passed it around. We made it a thing to sign the book after we read it each time. I had peoples signatures I never even knew. So, now the internets around I figured search for it.So I did. And FINALLY found it here.This book is written beautifully and is wonderfully dark with an underlaying message of hope through even the darkest of times.

I am a beginning & intermediate horseback riding instructor in Moscow, ID. I have found the Pony Club Manual for beginners to be a very helpful teaching tool - the illustrations are helpful and well-labeled, and the layout is easy to follow. The information is widely accepted as correct, and the text is well-written for the 10-15 year old ages. I include a manual in the price of all my beginning horse camps for 10-14 year olds.

This is the an excellent introduction for anyone interested in horsemanship. It can be studied prior to joining the United States Pony Club or serve as a usful tool in teaching or improving horsemanship for the young or beginning equestrian.

I couldn't have gotten through Pony Club Quiz Bowl if I didn't have this book. I like the exercises in the book and now I do them on my horse. I learned alot while reading this book, like parts of the tack and how to be safe around horses. I like all the pictures in the book because it helped me to understand what it meant. I would reccommend this book to other pony clubbers and kids who like to ride.

There is a saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. Susan Harris is not only a gifted artist ; drawing her explanations of concepts she is relating ; she draws pictures with her words, and for anyone lucky enough to attend one of her clinics , she draws explanations with body language. I am fortunate to have Sue as my friend and mentor for 30+ years & have told her often that "She could read the phone book to you & You'd never lose interest". She is also a gifted horsewoman & teacher. She posseses an ability to locate the crux of a lack of understanding & with empathy for both horse & rider guides them to a solution. If I had to limit my horse library to just a few books, her USPC manuels would be the first chosen. They are a wealth of information on all aspects of horsemanship , for every level of horseman , of any age. Her choice of words combined with her own illustrations gives very clear & interesting information.Sue stresses empathy for your horse & safety issues in every topic -2 basics to have ingrained in anyone who wishes to be around horses. I have recommended these books to all who share the "addiction" to horses with me.

I advise anyone young who is seriously interested in horses to start with this book. I've been riding all my life and think this is a great book to start with and it is very informative.

Recommended highly by an expert in childhood education, this book delivers on its hype. Real-life examples punctuate the kind of tactics that are helpful in getting kids to realize their potential. Highly recommended for parents looking for the best way to instill good study habits.

I found this book to be the best source of useful tips for helping children develop good study habits. The author obviously knows her stuff and is well experienced. I can recommend this book highly.

I bought this book hoping I would get my children excited about school. It worked! Page after page, real life tips that I could use. No hard to follow jargon or theories; rather the practical guide to improving school experiences for all children. Highly recommended.

My child had been struggling for years in school. I kept on trying ways to get him to improve his habits, but failed. Then a friend recommended this book and I gave it a try (nothing to lose). It's given me the tools to help my child develop the habits he needed to succeed. He's improved immensely. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve their child's study habits.

Here is a subject that has fascinated me for years. The development of good study skills is a challenge that is among the toughest of all parenting efforts. It's not easy to know how to react, how to encourage, where to draw the lines, etc. And knowing how to provide the proper direction without alienation is extremely tricky. This book is a godsend -- it reads like a how-to book showing the traps and providing careful, successful means of avoiding them. Without question, I recommend this book to any parent interested in helping children develop better study skills.

As a midwife, I keep a decent lending library and have several books on this topic alone. This book is the most thorough and well researched of them all. It's quite a large tome, not for those just looking for an overview, but it offers complete information on each individual disease and the related vaccine. Good for parents who really want to do their research.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. It is the most informative book I have ever read. The forward alone is worth the cost of the book, it is excellent! Seriously, before you take your kids back to the pediatrician, read this book. You will be thankful that you did.

This book is packed with research, statistic and lots of valuable information that I didn't see in any other vax related book.
It should be a must read for any parent

This book is a must have for every mother. It provides evidence, research, statistics and facts about vaccines being given to our babies and the damages they really do cause. I am raising a vaccine free child and I am constantly put down for it but once you know the truth, it doesnt matter what others think because you know that you are giving your child the best start. Hopefully you get ahold of this book before your baby is born so you can avoid these dangerous vaccines altogether.

As concerned parents, we have been researching the safety and effectiveness of vaccines for many months. We participated in a presentation were the speaker was one of my favorite researchers and authors on the topic, Neil Z. Miller. He is a medical research journalist and natural health advocate and author of numerous articles and books on vaccines. Miller is also the director of the Think Twice Global Vaccine Institute. He has a degree in psychology (with an emphasis on statistical analysis) and is a member of Mensa.

The presentation was about two hours and only touched the surface on the extensive amount documented data he has discovered through government, medical and scientific journals. He started researching vaccines before his son was born over 23 years ago. What began as a parental endeavor for information turned into a public awareness crusade.

He tells us most of the vaccine information that the public is told is misinformation and propaganda. Accurate data is not released through regular media outlets.

During the presentation they polled the audience on various questions. We learned that the U.S. has more vaccinations than any other country in the world and we also have the 42nd worst infant mortality rate in the world.

Dr. Baylock, a well known neurosurgeon has documented damage in children's brains due to toxic overload from vaccines. He wrote the compelling foreword of Miller's latest book.

The "idea" that vaccines will keep our children safe is like playing russian roulette. Miller advocates parents being fully informed and know that they have freedom of choice, especially when it comes to the health and well being of their children. "Don't count on your doctors to give you all he information." Miller warns. He suggests looking at each vaccine independently and that is exactly was he has presented for all people in his book: Vaccine Safety Manual for Concerned Families and Health Practitioners.

We live in a pill popping society where there is a drug for every ailment, but we have more chronic conditions and diseases than we have ever had before. Drug companies continue to make drugs and vaccine manufacturers will continue to make vaccines. They will put pressure on the FDA to say that they are safe and the CDC to recommend them to the schedule. Currently families that follow the recommended schedule are giving their children 36 drugs by 18 months of age. "We are injecting healthy people with unhealthy substances." Miller said.

Miller says, "There are more vaccines in the pipeline". The next big push is for adolescent and adults vaccines, even vaccines for those with addictions. There are no studies done on combination vaccines and how they react with one another. Not to mention any reactions with other environmental, drug or food chemicals or toxins.

"This is not hearsay. I have documented all of this information." Miller says. The FDA and CDC have a 12-15 member panel. The FDA determines what will be licensed and the CDC will then recommend it to the schedule.

Congressmen Dan Burton held congressional hearings to investigate these committees. There were clear conflicts of interest including, members that owned stock or patent to a vaccine or they were paid consultants to the vaccine manufactures.

In June of 2000 there was a `secret' meeting of top officials from Big Pharma, FDA and CDC. There they discussed the evidence that vaccines were harmful and instead of alerting parents they spent the rest of the weekend on how they were going to cover it up. Robert Kennedy Jr wrote and article about this story for Rolling Stone in 2005. Click here to read article.

Miller also addressed some common questions including mercury being removed from vaccines. In 1999 AAP said mercury was going to be removed from vaccines; however it was not required for the current stock of vaccines to be returned or destroyed. Three years later to balance that out, it was mandated that children get multiple flu vaccines that had high concentrations of mercury (thimerisol the chemical that contains 50% mercury).

Many parents choose to space out vaccines or create their own schedule. Miller thinks there may be some merit to it. He gave a drinking analogy. The reactions are different if you have shot after shot of tequila or have 1 tequila shot that night out with your friends. He still warns that if you decided to space out or do single shots the vaccines still come with significant reactions. There is no testing or screening to know if a child has a predisposition or may have a reaction.
We do know that more and more children are having reactions and autism is on the rise. The good news is for parents that choose not to vaccinate there are either religious or philosophical exemptions available.

Miller tells us that Autism rates surpasses cancer, diabetes and AIDS combined. This is a true epidemic. He also mentions the flu statistics are false. "More people die in this country from asthma and malnutrition than the flu." Miller also spoke of the link between vaccines and asthma, mercury and autism but was very clear that mercury is not the only problem. "All of this information is documented information," he repeats.

We are conditioned to believe that vaccines are safe and vaccines are effective. If this was true children would not be having reactions and dying and people that were vaccinated would not get the disease. This is clearly not the case.

Another astounding bit of information was about the Polio Vaccine. There is an industry that raises monkeys and then kills them to use their kidneys to develop the polio vaccine.
Monkeys carry several viruses and one in particular, SV-40 is known to cause cancer. Numerous people were infected and cancer rates have increased 20-30% around the world.
This virus is also transmitted similarly to AIDS.


The Vaccine Safety Manual is the world's most complete guide to immunization risks and protection. It includes pertinent information on every major vaccine: polio, tetanus, MMR, hepatitis A, B, HPV (cervical cancer), Hib, Flu, chickenpox, shingles, rotavirus, pneumococcal, meningococcal, RSV, DTaP, anthrax, smallpox, TB, and more. All of the information, including detailed vaccine safety and efficacy data, is written in an easy-to-understand format, yet includes more than 1,000 documented citations. More than 75 charts, graphs and illustrations supplement the text. This encyclopedic health manual is an important addition to every family's home library and will be referred to again and again.