Alexander Frater

Advantages: Absorbing, witty, informative,
Disadvantages: Occassionally a little verbose

...In his book, Alexander Frater follows the route of the old Imperial Airways air services eastbound from London to Australia. He follows the route as closely as possible to the original using current scheduled air services. Interweaving the narrative of his modern-day journey with tales of the Imperial Airways experience of the 1930s, the book is both fascinating and at times very amusing. Although at times prone to using two paragraphs when a sentence would have done nicely, Frater generally has an excellent, very readable style of writing and I found this book absorbing and often hard to put down. I would say that his occassionally verbose style does let the book down somewhat, but on the whole it deserves a healthy four stars.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: great story telling, great pictures
Disadvantages: probably too light for the serious student

...Michael Wood is the everyman of history in the media; casual and charismatic, TV friendly and a fantastic story teller. The book is a companion to the TV series as is the usual format for Woods work. To travel the path taken by Alexander the Great is no small undertaking. The research alone to re-kindle footsteps taken over 2000 years ago is an admirable project, to actually re-travel the route is an amazing task which can not fail to make a great story. The book works on two levels. At the same time as explaining the reasons and routes behind Alexanders advance, Wood is able to look for evidence still visable in the modern landscape. From buildiings and physical geography to stories still told and the people themselves help bring the story to life and turn the dusty pages of history into a beautiful joining of past and present. The book... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Alexander McCall Smith is a genius and does write beautifully
Disadvantages: The stories are too short for you to get your teeth stuck into them!!

...If you are expecting something similar to Alexander McCall Smith's No1 Ladies Detective agency or the 44 Scotland Street series you will NOT get this with this book. This is a quirky collection of traditional stories, very short stories, some only a couple of pages long. They are similar to fables or fairy stories, all independent from each other. I did read this book in full - but I must admit my attention was waning towards the end. Some of the stories are a bit samey - good defeating evil, etc. The stories do paint a wonderful picture of African traditions and landscapes, the author does project hs love of the continent very effectively. If you are a fan of Alexander McCall Smith you will probably want to read this regardless of my review, but it would probably be more satisfying to dip in and out of this rather than read... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful