GB Books

Of the many thrillers by Stephen Leather, I've read to date only THE CHINAMAN, THE STRETCH, PAY OFF, and this, THE FIREMAN, so my opinion of him as an author is still evolving. And I have six more of his books lined up on the shelf to read, with many more on my wish list.

Like the previous three, the theme of THE FIREMAN is revenge. As in PAY OFF, the reader never learns the protagonist's name. In this case, he's a correspondent for a London rag - let's call him "Bob" - who learns that his sister Sally, a freelance journalist, has taken a dive off a Hong Kong high-rise. Was it suicide or murder? Traveling to the Crown Colony - the book was first published in 1989, eight years before Red China took over the property - Bob is convinced she was murdered. Now, he's got to find out why and even the score.

Stephen Leather was himself a writer for Hong Kong's "South China Morning Post". His familiarity with the city shows and provides an ambience to the plot that's perhaps the book's best feature. Unfortunately, there's not the same cleverness that I admired in THE STRETCH, where the protagonist is the wife of a British underworld boss forced to take over the business when Hubby is put behind bars, or THE CHINAMAN, where the hero is a Vietnamese immigrant to the UK out to exact vengeance on the IRA for a London bomb that caught his daughter in the collateral damage. THE FIREMAN reads more like a mediocre detective story. Only on page 192, when the reader becomes privy to an unsuspected aspect of Bob's relationship with Sis, did I do a mental double-take and think "Say, what!?" But Leather never develops this surprise further, and his hero eventually marches to the volume's conclusion never seeming as truly driven as he should be under the circumstances, and the ending was curiously flat.

I gather that THE FIREMAN was one of the author's earlier works. While I might have given it four stars in a vacuum, in comparison with the other three, especially THE CHINAMAN and THE STRETCH, three is max.

A THOROUGH AND SCHOLARLY ACCOUNT OF DHOW CULTURE BASED ON EXTENSIVE FIELDWORK.
LACKS IN NAVAL ARCHITECTURAL PRECISION AND PRACTICAL SAILING EXPERTISE. OFFERS DETAILED SURVEY ON TAXONOMIC CLASSIFICATION OF DIFFERENT DHOW TYPES.
ALSO BRIEFLY ADDRESSES INDO-PAKISTANI DESIGNED DHOWS SUCH AS KUTIYYA (KOTIA).
THE BOOK IS A VALUABLE AND PROFESSIONAL WORK WITH THE ADVANTAGE OF HAVING BEEN WRITTEN BY A READER IN ARABIC.
A NOTABLE CONTRIBUTION TO THE PRESERVATION OF THE LEGACY OF THE DHOW.

Many of the chapters in these companion volumes [Unfolding the Orient: Travellers in Egypt and the Near East. Edited by Paul and Janet Starkey. Reading, U.K.: Ithaca, 2001.] (which are in rough chronological order) offer pleasant but routine accounts of Europe travelers to the Middle East in past centuries. Some, however, rise above the ordinary to provide real insight into relations between the two civilizations. Philip Mansel's essay on the Grand Tour to the Ottoman Empire conveys the cheerful sense of superiority Europeans felt toward Middle Easterners ("the dear Arabians and Turks are quite darlings," was the 1816 comment of the princess of Wales while visiting their dear countries). Mary Ann Fey shows the striking contrast between the observations of Turkey by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu in 1716-18 and those of her male contemporaries; they saw nothing but subjugation of Muslim women but she appreciated their ability to own property (precisely because she lacked this right) and ended up calling the Turkish females "(perhaps) freer than any ladies in the universe."

The startling chapter by Neil Cooke delves into the practice of some male Britons in Egypt to buy themselves female slaves; he focuses on a man who at times offered their favors to his friends and ended taking one of them back with him to the United Kingdom, where she lived out her days, dying in 1883. Nadia Gindy analyses Anthony Trollope's two slight but amusing stories about British tourists to Egypt based on his time there, with an emphasis on the characteristically Trollopian humor (a woman who starts handing out baksheesh by the Pyramids resembles "a piece of sugar covered with flies"; she later explains that "she would not go to the Pyramids again, not if they were to be given to her for herself as ornaments for her garden").

The set's tour de force is a long inquiry by John Rodenbeck into the European habit of dressing like Turks and Arabs. Starting with a quote from the invariably wrong analysis of Edward Said that this was a source of "secret European power," Rodenbeck goes on, through a dazzling display of quotations and other references, to show the true reasons for this custom. The main one safety; to dress in Western style before 1850 was to court danger. Sometimes (as for women in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Afghanistan today), the reason was to comply with local regulations. Or it had to do with fashion or bravura or seduction. The one thing it did not have to do with, contrary to the ignorant theorizing of Said and his minions, was spying or displaying cultural aggression.

An excellent early nineteenth narrative report of the major Bedouin tribes of the Arabian Peninsula including insightful commentary and reflection on prevailing folkways and mores by a European Arabist.

Primary focus is the early beginnings of modern Saudi Arabia, the unification of the Wahhabiyah movement and the Al Saud family, the spread of Wahhabiyah Islam, conflicts with the indigenous Bedouin tribes and Ottoman Turkish occupation.

A provocative first hand account, highly readable for anyone interested in Islam, Saudi Arabia, the Ottoman Empire and the Arab world. At once an anthropological and historical work.

The second page of my copy of this book states:
Reprinted 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003
This is pretty much the same text published in 1988 (after corrections)
So:
Fuzzy 80's CT scan illustrations
Nothing on fat suppression, or more modern image acquisition sequences in the "Nuclear Magnetic Imaging" chapter
Definitely no mention of harmonic ultrasound
Many anachronistic references to 'future technological improvements'

I am not sure whether the publisher's reluctance to update this book represents apathy or avarice, but the failure to more frequently revise a textbook in such a rapidly changing area relegates this book from serious consideration as a primary textbook.

Some chapters are quite clear and complete (for example X-ray) but overall the writng style is a little obtuse.

In summary- some good chapters but outdated, stylistically hum-drum and superceded by the numerous other texts in this area.

An overview of Uzbek history, with focus on Uzbek society, but the book has value as background reading only. The material does not even mention, much less address, the '98 regional crisis and its implications for Uzbekistan (conspicuously missing from the chapter on Economic Transformation) and dramatic changes following 9/11/01 have made the chapter on Foreign Policy and External Relations outdated.

In the literary world it is perhaps blasphemy to say a bad word against Daniel Defoe's most acclaimed novel. So here goes. The fact that the book was originally titled The Life And Strange Surprising Adventures Of Robinson Crusoe illustrates the major flaw in Defoe's literary form. Put simply, this would be a far more interesting and gripping story were it not so superfluously lengthy. The author makes a habit of repeating himself, especially when it comes to the act of dispatching kittens, which seems to be more of an obsession here than octogenarian ladies are to MatronsApron. It is difficult, you may think, to keep the subject matter fresh when describing the daily tribulations of a fellow stranded on an island for thirty years, without occasionally repeating yourself. True, but perhaps a straightforward solution to this diminutive quandary would be to simply truncate the duration of the story. There are some wonderfully intriguing and suspenseful moments, and some juicy action to boot, but sadly these are gratuitously diluted by lengthy descriptions of the unremarkable everyday goings on in Crusoe's life, and rather than serving to build up the suspense, they merely obstruct the reader's relationship with the more exciting parts of the story.
However, those with more patience than my ignorant self will find in Robinson Crusoe a delightful tale, which as well as being a fictional documentary of the most unusual thirty years of Mr. Crusoe's life, also has time to ponder upon philosophical and theological ideas, in a style that makes the reader feel as if they are involved in the conflicts between the functionalist and cynical thoughts going on in Crusoe's mind. It may not be a gripping white-knuckle adventure, being rather more leisurely and acquiescent, but it is still rather easy to see why Robinson Crusoe is regarded by some as one of the greatest novels of all time.

The Soviet collapse made this book both possible and newly relevant. Possible in that the end of totalitarian secrecy led to the opening of the Russian Navy Central Archives in St. Petersburg. Newly relevant in that the Powers are once again, as a century ago, jostling for geo-political position and trade advantage in the Persian Gulf; and just as the Russians then challenged the British predominance, so they today challenge the American one.

In early 1899, Tsar Nicholas himself approved the sending of a shallow-draught gunboat, the Gilyak, to the Persian Gulf. As an aide put it, the intent was "by showing the Russian flag in the Persian Gulf, to indicate to the British and the local authorities alike that we consider the Gulf accessible to the ships of all nations. . . . the purpose will be to make an impression with no aggressive intent or plans for territorial aggression."

The documents Rezvan has collected that fill most of "Russian Ships in the Gulf" show just how successful this effort was. The local authorities, and Sheikh Mubarak of Kuwait especially, welcomed the Russians as a "natural ally in an anti-British coalition." But then the Russian ships disappeared as quickly as they had appeared, as developments in East Asia compelled them to devote attention instead to the Japanese navy.

Middle East Quarterly, March 1995

This book is about all things Christmas. Here you will come across thoughts, stories, poems, carols and legends related to this celebration. As a matter of fact, this is how the chapters of the book are organized plus an ending section on Tasha Tudor's unique perspective on this traditional holiday. This last section covers the whole gamut, ranging from cookies to marionettes.

I think that anyone wishing to enhance his or her Christmas experience will find this book interesting. The stories are from sources such as Saint Luke and O. Henry. The carols have the scores and the lyrics. The final chapter describes stuff like the gingerbread castle and the birds' Christmas. It seems to me all of this will factor in making Christmas even more fun, specially for the children.

Many of the chapters in these companion volumes [Interpreting the Orient: Travellers in Egypt and the Near East. Edited by Paul and Janet Starkey. Reading, U.K.: Ithaca, 2001.] (which are in rough chronological order) offer pleasant but routine accounts of Europe travelers to the Middle East in past centuries. Some, however, rise above the ordinary to provide real insight into relations between the two civilizations. Philip Mansel's essay on the Grand Tour to the Ottoman Empire conveys the cheerful sense of superiority Europeans felt toward Middle Easterners ("the dear Arabians and Turks are quite darlings," was the 1816 comment of the princess of Wales while visiting their dear countries). Mary Ann Fey shows the striking contrast between the observations of Turkey by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu in 1716-18 and those of her male contemporaries; they saw nothing but subjugation of Muslim women but she appreciated their ability to own property (precisely because she lacked this right) and ended up calling the Turkish females "(perhaps) freer than any ladies in the universe."

The startling chapter by Neil Cooke delves into the practice of some male Britons in Egypt to buy themselves female slaves; he focuses on a man who at times offered their favors to his friends and ended taking one of them back with him to the United Kingdom, where she lived out her days, dying in 1883. Nadia Gindy analyses Anthony Trollope's two slight but amusing stories about British tourists to Egypt based on his time there, with an emphasis on the characteristically Trollopian humor (a woman who starts handing out baksheesh by the Pyramids resembles "a piece of sugar covered with flies"; she later explains that "she would not go to the Pyramids again, not if they were to be given to her for herself as ornaments for her garden").

The set's tour de force is a long inquiry by John Rodenbeck into the European habit of dressing like Turks and Arabs. Starting with a quote from the invariably wrong analysis of Edward Said that this was a source of "secret European power," Rodenbeck goes on, through a dazzling display of quotations and other references, to show the true reasons for this custom. The main one safety; to dress in Western style before 1850 was to court danger. Sometimes (as for women in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Afghanistan today), the reason was to comply with local regulations. Or it had to do with fashion or bravura or seduction. The one thing it did not have to do with, contrary to the ignorant theorizing of Said and his minions, was spying or displaying cultural aggression.