Great!, 31 Oct 2008
Brought this for alot more than for sale here, from high street store. Grrrr! Anyway got to say Bruce is a legend and its a perfect crimbo present!

Bravo Bruce, 29 Oct 2008
I dont usually buy books that accompany a TV series or film, thinking of them as quite frivolous marketing ploys, however I was given this as a gift and have definitely reassessed my opinion.

The book is an insightful accompaniment to the show, delving deeper into the characters that we meet only briefly on screen.The photography provides candid shots of both Bruce,the landscape and the indigenous tribes he meets.

I would highly reccomend this book for anyone who has an interest in the enviroment and what is happening in the Amazon. It is also a great Christmas present for any fans of the charming Mr Parry!

Food for thought, 24 Oct 2008
This, perhaps unsurprisingly for followers of the series is an intelligent and thought provoking counterpart to the BBC series and another addition to the canon of admirable work Parry is undertaking. This is beautifully produced full of sumptuous photos but it does not shirk the harder issues tackled in the show. He has a knack of managing to raise awareness of all important issues without patronising or preaching. Buy. And buy Bruce's wonderful charity album too as well - might go some way to helping the human casualties of amazon exploitation - tribes.

Bruce rocks!, 10 Oct 2008
In his inimitable style Bruce is bringing attention to one of the biggest scandals in the modern world, no less than the destruction of the most important habitat on our planet. It's something our generation will go down in history for and nobody is doing anything to stop it. More power to Bruce for showing how even some of the people destroying the forest are just trying to survive. We won't begin to tackle this issue until we appreciate that there are no easy answers (if you want a good summary of why the Amazon and other environments are so precious I'm a big fan of Bruce's other book Serious Survival as well).

Great!, 31 Oct 2008
Brought this for alot more than for sale here, from high street store. Grrrr! Anyway got to say Bruce is a legend and its a perfect crimbo present!

Bravo Bruce, 29 Oct 2008
I dont usually buy books that accompany a TV series or film, thinking of them as quite frivolous marketing ploys, however I was given this as a gift and have definitely reassessed my opinion.

The book is an insightful accompaniment to the show, delving deeper into the characters that we meet only briefly on screen.The photography provides candid shots of both Bruce,the landscape and the indigenous tribes he meets.

I would highly reccomend this book for anyone who has an interest in the enviroment and what is happening in the Amazon. It is also a great Christmas present for any fans of the charming Mr Parry!

Food for thought, 24 Oct 2008
This, perhaps unsurprisingly for followers of the series is an intelligent and thought provoking counterpart to the BBC series and another addition to the canon of admirable work Parry is undertaking. This is beautifully produced full of sumptuous photos but it does not shirk the harder issues tackled in the show. He has a knack of managing to raise awareness of all important issues without patronising or preaching. Buy. And buy Bruce's wonderful charity album too as well - might go some way to helping the human casualties of amazon exploitation - tribes.

Bruce rocks!, 10 Oct 2008
In his inimitable style Bruce is bringing attention to one of the biggest scandals in the modern world, no less than the destruction of the most important habitat on our planet. It's something our generation will go down in history for and nobody is doing anything to stop it. More power to Bruce for showing how even some of the people destroying the forest are just trying to survive. We won't begin to tackle this issue until we appreciate that there are no easy answers (if you want a good summary of why the Amazon and other environments are so precious I'm a big fan of Bruce's other book Serious Survival as well).

Every child should own it., 05 Oct 2008
I bought this book for all 3 of my children, my 4 God children and my children's school. It is beautifully illustrated and each of the human rights are worded so that children can understand them. It is the sort of book that you hope that if your children become parents, they will pass their copy onto their children. Some people have a family bible; I believe that this is as important if not more so.

Great!, 31 Oct 2008
Brought this for alot more than for sale here, from high street store. Grrrr! Anyway got to say Bruce is a legend and its a perfect crimbo present!

Bravo Bruce, 29 Oct 2008
I dont usually buy books that accompany a TV series or film, thinking of them as quite frivolous marketing ploys, however I was given this as a gift and have definitely reassessed my opinion.

The book is an insightful accompaniment to the show, delving deeper into the characters that we meet only briefly on screen.The photography provides candid shots of both Bruce,the landscape and the indigenous tribes he meets.

I would highly reccomend this book for anyone who has an interest in the enviroment and what is happening in the Amazon. It is also a great Christmas present for any fans of the charming Mr Parry!

Food for thought, 24 Oct 2008
This, perhaps unsurprisingly for followers of the series is an intelligent and thought provoking counterpart to the BBC series and another addition to the canon of admirable work Parry is undertaking. This is beautifully produced full of sumptuous photos but it does not shirk the harder issues tackled in the show. He has a knack of managing to raise awareness of all important issues without patronising or preaching. Buy. And buy Bruce's wonderful charity album too as well - might go some way to helping the human casualties of amazon exploitation - tribes.

Bruce rocks!, 10 Oct 2008
In his inimitable style Bruce is bringing attention to one of the biggest scandals in the modern world, no less than the destruction of the most important habitat on our planet. It's something our generation will go down in history for and nobody is doing anything to stop it. More power to Bruce for showing how even some of the people destroying the forest are just trying to survive. We won't begin to tackle this issue until we appreciate that there are no easy answers (if you want a good summary of why the Amazon and other environments are so precious I'm a big fan of Bruce's other book Serious Survival as well).

Every child should own it., 05 Oct 2008
I bought this book for all 3 of my children, my 4 God children and my children's school. It is beautifully illustrated and each of the human rights are worded so that children can understand them. It is the sort of book that you hope that if your children become parents, they will pass their copy onto their children. Some people have a family bible; I believe that this is as important if not more so.

surprising, touching, motivating, 08 Oct 2008
This book surprised me. It was a Christmas present and its taken this long for me to open it, but I'm very glad I did. I must admit before I read it I thought Ranulph Feinnes was a bit of a nutter. I still do. But there's more to him than that.

I think this book is about love, failure and doing and not thinking! He doesn't talk about his first wife, Ginny, much. He uses far more words describing how he wedged his hands in various crannies, or tried to get the blood flowing back through them once they were frozen. But he speaks so poignantly about her it's touching. More so because he doesn't wallow in sentimentality.

He failed a lot. There's a temptation to think about him as the bloke who trekked on his own to the North Pole or more recently did seven marathons in seven days on seven continents after a heart by-pass, but he failed more than he succeeded, and the matter-of-fact way he deals with failure is as inspirational as the success.

I also found the narrative of the challenges compelling and there are a few heart-stopping moments and very amusing anecdotes. Frankly, I don't know if he's a good adventurer or not, he seems reckless sometimes, and luck often played a part, but he's as hard as they come.

I don't even know if he's a good writer. If you lead a life as full of adventure, love and commitment as his, the books probably write themselves.

Good book but heavy reading, 21 Aug 2008
I enjoyed this book overall, but found it a bit heavy going at times. The early part where Fiennes describes his upbringing, school life and time in the armed forces was very good and was at just the right pace. However, when he goes on to write about the various expeditions and races he subsequently took part in, I found the level of detail uneccesary. Its almost like he recounts each trip day by day from his diaries. This made for quite heavy reading, and certainly slowed the pace of the book right down. By the end it had become quite hard work, and I was glad to finish it. Overall a good read, but not one you'll be able to get through without a lot of time and concentration!

Outstanding, 17 Jul 2008
Wow. This man is absolutely incredible. I'm sure others have been through the examples from the book, so I won't repeat, but if you have respect for someone who can push their body to the absolute limit, then this is a must read.

What a legend!, 01 Jun 2008
This is a must read for everyone who needs motivation
Fiennes tells his story with brutal honesty and his adventures are amazing achievements

An amazing, inspiring read..., 26 May 2008
There are books you read and forget.
There are books you read that stay wiith you
And there are just a few books that really inspire you.

This is one of those books, it is well written, gripping, and hard to put down.

This is my first RF book, but it will not be the last, it is an inspirational read, this guy has achieved so much and yet the book is written with a humility, the facts and the details of the events are what you are reading.

It is a million miles from these awfull celebrity biographies.

Recommended.

Great!, 31 Oct 2008
Brought this for alot more than for sale here, from high street store. Grrrr! Anyway got to say Bruce is a legend and its a perfect crimbo present!

Bravo Bruce, 29 Oct 2008
I dont usually buy books that accompany a TV series or film, thinking of them as quite frivolous marketing ploys, however I was given this as a gift and have definitely reassessed my opinion.

The book is an insightful accompaniment to the show, delving deeper into the characters that we meet only briefly on screen.The photography provides candid shots of both Bruce,the landscape and the indigenous tribes he meets.

I would highly reccomend this book for anyone who has an interest in the enviroment and what is happening in the Amazon. It is also a great Christmas present for any fans of the charming Mr Parry!

Food for thought, 24 Oct 2008
This, perhaps unsurprisingly for followers of the series is an intelligent and thought provoking counterpart to the BBC series and another addition to the canon of admirable work Parry is undertaking. This is beautifully produced full of sumptuous photos but it does not shirk the harder issues tackled in the show. He has a knack of managing to raise awareness of all important issues without patronising or preaching. Buy. And buy Bruce's wonderful charity album too as well - might go some way to helping the human casualties of amazon exploitation - tribes.

Bruce rocks!, 10 Oct 2008
In his inimitable style Bruce is bringing attention to one of the biggest scandals in the modern world, no less than the destruction of the most important habitat on our planet. It's something our generation will go down in history for and nobody is doing anything to stop it. More power to Bruce for showing how even some of the people destroying the forest are just trying to survive. We won't begin to tackle this issue until we appreciate that there are no easy answers (if you want a good summary of why the Amazon and other environments are so precious I'm a big fan of Bruce's other book Serious Survival as well).

Every child should own it., 05 Oct 2008
I bought this book for all 3 of my children, my 4 God children and my children's school. It is beautifully illustrated and each of the human rights are worded so that children can understand them. It is the sort of book that you hope that if your children become parents, they will pass their copy onto their children. Some people have a family bible; I believe that this is as important if not more so.

surprising, touching, motivating, 08 Oct 2008
This book surprised me. It was a Christmas present and its taken this long for me to open it, but I'm very glad I did. I must admit before I read it I thought Ranulph Feinnes was a bit of a nutter. I still do. But there's more to him than that.

I think this book is about love, failure and doing and not thinking! He doesn't talk about his first wife, Ginny, much. He uses far more words describing how he wedged his hands in various crannies, or tried to get the blood flowing back through them once they were frozen. But he speaks so poignantly about her it's touching. More so because he doesn't wallow in sentimentality.

He failed a lot. There's a temptation to think about him as the bloke who trekked on his own to the North Pole or more recently did seven marathons in seven days on seven continents after a heart by-pass, but he failed more than he succeeded, and the matter-of-fact way he deals with failure is as inspirational as the success.

I also found the narrative of the challenges compelling and there are a few heart-stopping moments and very amusing anecdotes. Frankly, I don't know if he's a good adventurer or not, he seems reckless sometimes, and luck often played a part, but he's as hard as they come.

I don't even know if he's a good writer. If you lead a life as full of adventure, love and commitment as his, the books probably write themselves.

Good book but heavy reading, 21 Aug 2008
I enjoyed this book overall, but found it a bit heavy going at times. The early part where Fiennes describes his upbringing, school life and time in the armed forces was very good and was at just the right pace. However, when he goes on to write about the various expeditions and races he subsequently took part in, I found the level of detail uneccesary. Its almost like he recounts each trip day by day from his diaries. This made for quite heavy reading, and certainly slowed the pace of the book right down. By the end it had become quite hard work, and I was glad to finish it. Overall a good read, but not one you'll be able to get through without a lot of time and concentration!

Outstanding, 17 Jul 2008
Wow. This man is absolutely incredible. I'm sure others have been through the examples from the book, so I won't repeat, but if you have respect for someone who can push their body to the absolute limit, then this is a must read.

What a legend!, 01 Jun 2008
This is a must read for everyone who needs motivation
Fiennes tells his story with brutal honesty and his adventures are amazing achievements

An amazing, inspiring read..., 26 May 2008
There are books you read and forget.
There are books you read that stay wiith you
And there are just a few books that really inspire you.

This is one of those books, it is well written, gripping, and hard to put down.

This is my first RF book, but it will not be the last, it is an inspirational read, this guy has achieved so much and yet the book is written with a humility, the facts and the details of the events are what you are reading.

It is a million miles from these awfull celebrity biographies.

Recommended.

Really interesting book, 07 Oct 2008
This book is brilliant! It uses maps of the world to display data by distorting the physical size of countries according to the relevant data - the result is a very visual feel for the data - much more powerful than figures or words could be. Every page has a global map displaying a different set of data and the range of data is huge, spanning from spread of diseases to energy use, from prevalence of national disasters to effectiveness of legal systems.

The book is pretty large and an ideal coffee table read. You don't need to be particularly analytical to get a lot from it - just need to be interested in the world. A fantastic new way of looking at the world.

Great!, 31 Oct 2008
Brought this for alot more than for sale here, from high street store. Grrrr! Anyway got to say Bruce is a legend and its a perfect crimbo present!

Bravo Bruce, 29 Oct 2008
I dont usually buy books that accompany a TV series or film, thinking of them as quite frivolous marketing ploys, however I was given this as a gift and have definitely reassessed my opinion.

The book is an insightful accompaniment to the show, delving deeper into the characters that we meet only briefly on screen.The photography provides candid shots of both Bruce,the landscape and the indigenous tribes he meets.

I would highly reccomend this book for anyone who has an interest in the enviroment and what is happening in the Amazon. It is also a great Christmas present for any fans of the charming Mr Parry!

Food for thought, 24 Oct 2008
This, perhaps unsurprisingly for followers of the series is an intelligent and thought provoking counterpart to the BBC series and another addition to the canon of admirable work Parry is undertaking. This is beautifully produced full of sumptuous photos but it does not shirk the harder issues tackled in the show. He has a knack of managing to raise awareness of all important issues without patronising or preaching. Buy. And buy Bruce's wonderful charity album too as well - might go some way to helping the human casualties of amazon exploitation - tribes.

Bruce rocks!, 10 Oct 2008
In his inimitable style Bruce is bringing attention to one of the biggest scandals in the modern world, no less than the destruction of the most important habitat on our planet. It's something our generation will go down in history for and nobody is doing anything to stop it. More power to Bruce for showing how even some of the people destroying the forest are just trying to survive. We won't begin to tackle this issue until we appreciate that there are no easy answers (if you want a good summary of why the Amazon and other environments are so precious I'm a big fan of Bruce's other book Serious Survival as well).

Every child should own it., 05 Oct 2008
I bought this book for all 3 of my children, my 4 God children and my children's school. It is beautifully illustrated and each of the human rights are worded so that children can understand them. It is the sort of book that you hope that if your children become parents, they will pass their copy onto their children. Some people have a family bible; I believe that this is as important if not more so.

surprising, touching, motivating, 08 Oct 2008
This book surprised me. It was a Christmas present and its taken this long for me to open it, but I'm very glad I did. I must admit before I read it I thought Ranulph Feinnes was a bit of a nutter. I still do. But there's more to him than that.

I think this book is about love, failure and doing and not thinking! He doesn't talk about his first wife, Ginny, much. He uses far more words describing how he wedged his hands in various crannies, or tried to get the blood flowing back through them once they were frozen. But he speaks so poignantly about her it's touching. More so because he doesn't wallow in sentimentality.

He failed a lot. There's a temptation to think about him as the bloke who trekked on his own to the North Pole or more recently did seven marathons in seven days on seven continents after a heart by-pass, but he failed more than he succeeded, and the matter-of-fact way he deals with failure is as inspirational as the success.

I also found the narrative of the challenges compelling and there are a few heart-stopping moments and very amusing anecdotes. Frankly, I don't know if he's a good adventurer or not, he seems reckless sometimes, and luck often played a part, but he's as hard as they come.

I don't even know if he's a good writer. If you lead a life as full of adventure, love and commitment as his, the books probably write themselves.

Good book but heavy reading, 21 Aug 2008
I enjoyed this book overall, but found it a bit heavy going at times. The early part where Fiennes describes his upbringing, school life and time in the armed forces was very good and was at just the right pace. However, when he goes on to write about the various expeditions and races he subsequently took part in, I found the level of detail uneccesary. Its almost like he recounts each trip day by day from his diaries. This made for quite heavy reading, and certainly slowed the pace of the book right down. By the end it had become quite hard work, and I was glad to finish it. Overall a good read, but not one you'll be able to get through without a lot of time and concentration!

Outstanding, 17 Jul 2008
Wow. This man is absolutely incredible. I'm sure others have been through the examples from the book, so I won't repeat, but if you have respect for someone who can push their body to the absolute limit, then this is a must read.

What a legend!, 01 Jun 2008
This is a must read for everyone who needs motivation
Fiennes tells his story with brutal honesty and his adventures are amazing achievements

An amazing, inspiring read..., 26 May 2008
There are books you read and forget.
There are books you read that stay wiith you
And there are just a few books that really inspire you.

This is one of those books, it is well written, gripping, and hard to put down.

This is my first RF book, but it will not be the last, it is an inspirational read, this guy has achieved so much and yet the book is written with a humility, the facts and the details of the events are what you are reading.

It is a million miles from these awfull celebrity biographies.

Recommended.

Really interesting book, 07 Oct 2008
This book is brilliant! It uses maps of the world to display data by distorting the physical size of countries according to the relevant data - the result is a very visual feel for the data - much more powerful than figures or words could be. Every page has a global map displaying a different set of data and the range of data is huge, spanning from spread of diseases to energy use, from prevalence of national disasters to effectiveness of legal systems.

The book is pretty large and an ideal coffee table read. You don't need to be particularly analytical to get a lot from it - just need to be interested in the world. A fantastic new way of looking at the world.

Southern England, 11 Nov 2008
The landscapes of the various Regions of Southern England are described in a "geologically-lite" way, but this is where the emphasis is, as opposed to say the Hoskins landscape books where the human dimension is more to the fore. A geologist would not find it particularly useful, but it would be very interesting for the natural historian/interested layman who wants to understand more about why the lie of the land is as it is. My main "complaint" is that it takes a huge and very diverse (geologically) swath of the country and so each landscape Region is dealt with in not as much detail as one might like, although there are locally focused books for this - e.g. Dreghorn's "Geology explained in the Severn Vale and Cotswolds". The book is sumptuously produced with superb colour aerial photographs and is a worthy addition to the New Naturalist library.

Great!, 31 Oct 2008
Brought this for alot more than for sale here, from high street store. Grrrr! Anyway got to say Bruce is a legend and its a perfect crimbo present!

Bravo Bruce, 29 Oct 2008
I dont usually buy books that accompany a TV series or film, thinking of them as quite frivolous marketing ploys, however I was given this as a gift and have definitely reassessed my opinion.

The book is an insightful accompaniment to the show, delving deeper into the characters that we meet only briefly on screen.The photography provides candid shots of both Bruce,the landscape and the indigenous tribes he meets.

I would highly reccomend this book for anyone who has an interest in the enviroment and what is happening in the Amazon. It is also a great Christmas present for any fans of the charming Mr Parry!

Food for thought, 24 Oct 2008
This, perhaps unsurprisingly for followers of the series is an intelligent and thought provoking counterpart to the BBC series and another addition to the canon of admirable work Parry is undertaking. This is beautifully produced full of sumptuous photos but it does not shirk the harder issues tackled in the show. He has a knack of managing to raise awareness of all important issues without patronising or preaching. Buy. And buy Bruce's wonderful charity album too as well - might go some way to helping the human casualties of amazon exploitation - tribes.

Bruce rocks!, 10 Oct 2008
In his inimitable style Bruce is bringing attention to one of the biggest scandals in the modern world, no less than the destruction of the most important habitat on our planet. It's something our generation will go down in history for and nobody is doing anything to stop it. More power to Bruce for showing how even some of the people destroying the forest are just trying to survive. We won't begin to tackle this issue until we appreciate that there are no easy answers (if you want a good summary of why the Amazon and other environments are so precious I'm a big fan of Bruce's other book Serious Survival as well).

Every child should own it., 05 Oct 2008
I bought this book for all 3 of my children, my 4 God children and my children's school. It is beautifully illustrated and each of the human rights are worded so that children can understand them. It is the sort of book that you hope that if your children become parents, they will pass their copy onto their children. Some people have a family bible; I believe that this is as important if not more so.

surprising, touching, motivating, 08 Oct 2008
This book surprised me. It was a Christmas present and its taken this long for me to open it, but I'm very glad I did. I must admit before I read it I thought Ranulph Feinnes was a bit of a nutter. I still do. But there's more to him than that.

I think this book is about love, failure and doing and not thinking! He doesn't talk about his first wife, Ginny, much. He uses far more words describing how he wedged his hands in various crannies, or tried to get the blood flowing back through them once they were frozen. But he speaks so poignantly about her it's touching. More so because he doesn't wallow in sentimentality.

He failed a lot. There's a temptation to think about him as the bloke who trekked on his own to the North Pole or more recently did seven marathons in seven days on seven continents after a heart by-pass, but he failed more than he succeeded, and the matter-of-fact way he deals with failure is as inspirational as the success.

I also found the narrative of the challenges compelling and there are a few heart-stopping moments and very amusing anecdotes. Frankly, I don't know if he's a good adventurer or not, he seems reckless sometimes, and luck often played a part, but he's as hard as they come.

I don't even know if he's a good writer. If you lead a life as full of adventure, love and commitment as his, the books probably write themselves.

Good book but heavy reading, 21 Aug 2008
I enjoyed this book overall, but found it a bit heavy going at times. The early part where Fiennes describes his upbringing, school life and time in the armed forces was very good and was at just the right pace. However, when he goes on to write about the various expeditions and races he subsequently took part in, I found the level of detail uneccesary. Its almost like he recounts each trip day by day from his diaries. This made for quite heavy reading, and certainly slowed the pace of the book right down. By the end it had become quite hard work, and I was glad to finish it. Overall a good read, but not one you'll be able to get through without a lot of time and concentration!

Outstanding, 17 Jul 2008
Wow. This man is absolutely incredible. I'm sure others have been through the examples from the book, so I won't repeat, but if you have respect for someone who can push their body to the absolute limit, then this is a must read.

What a legend!, 01 Jun 2008
This is a must read for everyone who needs motivation
Fiennes tells his story with brutal honesty and his adventures are amazing achievements

An amazing, inspiring read..., 26 May 2008
There are books you read and forget.
There are books you read that stay wiith you
And there are just a few books that really inspire you.

This is one of those books, it is well written, gripping, and hard to put down.

This is my first RF book, but it will not be the last, it is an inspirational read, this guy has achieved so much and yet the book is written with a humility, the facts and the details of the events are what you are reading.

It is a million miles from these awfull celebrity biographies.

Recommended.

Really interesting book, 07 Oct 2008
This book is brilliant! It uses maps of the world to display data by distorting the physical size of countries according to the relevant data - the result is a very visual feel for the data - much more powerful than figures or words could be. Every page has a global map displaying a different set of data and the range of data is huge, spanning from spread of diseases to energy use, from prevalence of national disasters to effectiveness of legal systems.

The book is pretty large and an ideal coffee table read. You don't need to be particularly analytical to get a lot from it - just need to be interested in the world. A fantastic new way of looking at the world.

Southern England, 11 Nov 2008
The landscapes of the various Regions of Southern England are described in a "geologically-lite" way, but this is where the emphasis is, as opposed to say the Hoskins landscape books where the human dimension is more to the fore. A geologist would not find it particularly useful, but it would be very interesting for the natural historian/interested layman who wants to understand more about why the lie of the land is as it is. My main "complaint" is that it takes a huge and very diverse (geologically) swath of the country and so each landscape Region is dealt with in not as much detail as one might like, although there are locally focused books for this - e.g. Dreghorn's "Geology explained in the Severn Vale and Cotswolds". The book is sumptuously produced with superb colour aerial photographs and is a worthy addition to the New Naturalist library.

Over-complicated, 19 Apr 2008
I found this book made geographical ideas more complicated which obviously is not what I bought the book for! I ended up buying another revision book (bbc bitesize) which was much easier to understand and use.
Also the jokes in this are awful!


Another CGP star, 02 Aug 2007
This is another great revision guide from CGP - full of light-hearted 'jokes' and puns that help to keep you going. As usual there is focus on what you really need to know, which helps if you have a geography teacher like mine who is in love with the subject and thinks we all are too, and also thinks he is preparing us all for doign a geography degree... The clear diagrams are great for understanding key ideas, and the cartoons help you remember stuff as well as being fun. The revision summaries are good for checking that you have absorbed everything. The only downside really is that only parts of the guide are relevant to my course - edexel A - so you have to keep checking whether you need to know that bit or not. But it is SOOO much clearer and easier to understand than the edexel textbook and revision book school gave me (Tomorrow's Geography) it's well worth it.

Better books out there, 04 Jan 2007
I bought this book along with Physics, Chemistry and Biology (which are amazing by the way) hoping that it would cut down a lot on faffing about during revision. While this would have been the case had i gone along with it, I found that this book is mising *so* much. Sure, it covers the gist of pretty much everything, but with a finickety (or at last, finickety for getting good marks in exams) subject like Geography, a revision guide or textbook needs to be comprehensive as well as concise (ok, somewhat of an oxymoron, but as you'll find out later it's not too much to ask). Case studies come up in the form of big mark questions on the exam and this book doesn't really provide any. Granted, there are lots of different syllabus' and its pretty tough for any one book to cover all of them without being the size of a hippopotamus. A book I would reccomend, however, is Understanding GCSE Geography by Heineman - particularly good for me as this is tailored to the specification A AQA course (which, surprise surprise is the one I'm doing). So, in short, my point is, save you tenner and don't get this book: buy one thats tailored to your course.

Surprisingly Good, 08 May 2005
I am currently studying for GCSE Geography and buying this book has summarised all that I need to know in adequate detail. The jokes are not good. The information includes examples of areas which are essential for the main exam.

a very good book, 20 Feb 2003
I am using this book to help me through my GCSE Geography and so far I have found that this book has been very helpful. It is well set out and makes revision more interesting !! (even if the jokes are poor !)

Great!, 31 Oct 2008
Brought this for alot more than for sale here, from high street store. Grrrr! Anyway got to say Bruce is a legend and its a perfect crimbo present!

Bravo Bruce, 29 Oct 2008
I dont usually buy books that accompany a TV series or film, thinking of them as quite frivolous marketing ploys, however I was given this as a gift and have definitely reassessed my opinion.

The book is an insightful accompaniment to the show, delving deeper into the characters that we meet only briefly on screen.The photography provides candid shots of both Bruce,the landscape and the indigenous tribes he meets.

I would highly reccomend this book for anyone who has an interest in the enviroment and what is happening in the Amazon. It is also a great Christmas present for any fans of the charming Mr Parry!

Food for thought, 24 Oct 2008
This, perhaps unsurprisingly for followers of the series is an intelligent and thought provoking counterpart to the BBC series and another addition to the canon of admirable work Parry is undertaking. This is beautifully produced full of sumptuous photos but it does not shirk the harder issues tackled in the show. He has a knack of managing to raise awareness of all important issues without patronising or preaching. Buy. And buy Bruce's wonderful charity album too as well - might go some way to helping the human casualties of amazon exploitation - tribes.

Bruce rocks!, 10 Oct 2008
In his inimitable style Bruce is bringing attention to one of the biggest scandals in the modern world, no less than the destruction of the most important habitat on our planet. It's something our generation will go down in history for and nobody is doing anything to stop it. More power to Bruce for showing how even some of the people destroying the forest are just trying to survive. We won't begin to tackle this issue until we appreciate that there are no easy answers (if you want a good summary of why the Amazon and other environments are so precious I'm a big fan of Bruce's other book Serious Survival as well).

Every child should own it., 05 Oct 2008
I bought this book for all 3 of my children, my 4 God children and my children's school. It is beautifully illustrated and each of the human rights are worded so that children can understand them. It is the sort of book that you hope that if your children become parents, they will pass their copy onto their children. Some people have a family bible; I believe that this is as important if not more so.

surprising, touching, motivating, 08 Oct 2008
This book surprised me. It was a Christmas present and its taken this long for me to open it, but I'm very glad I did. I must admit before I read it I thought Ranulph Feinnes was a bit of a nutter. I still do. But there's more to him than that.

I think this book is about love, failure and doing and not thinking! He doesn't talk about his first wife, Ginny, much. He uses far more words describing how he wedged his hands in various crannies, or tried to get the blood flowing back through them once they were frozen. But he speaks so poignantly about her it's touching. More so because he doesn't wallow in sentimentality.

He failed a lot. There's a temptation to think about him as the bloke who trekked on his own to the North Pole or more recently did seven marathons in seven days on seven continents after a heart by-pass, but he failed more than he succeeded, and the matter-of-fact way he deals with failure is as inspirational as the success.

I also found the narrative of the challenges compelling and there are a few heart-stopping moments and very amusing anecdotes. Frankly, I don't know if he's a good adventurer or not, he seems reckless sometimes, and luck often played a part, but he's as hard as they come.

I don't even know if he's a good writer. If you lead a life as full of adventure, love and commitment as his, the books probably write themselves.

Good book but heavy reading, 21 Aug 2008
I enjoyed this book overall, but found it a bit heavy going at times. The early part where Fiennes describes his upbringing, school life and time in the armed forces was very good and was at just the right pace. However, when he goes on to write about the various expeditions and races he subsequently took part in, I found the level of detail uneccesary. Its almost like he recounts each trip day by day from his diaries. This made for quite heavy reading, and certainly slowed the pace of the book right down. By the end it had become quite hard work, and I was glad to finish it. Overall a good read, but not one you'll be able to get through without a lot of time and concentration!

Outstanding, 17 Jul 2008
Wow. This man is absolutely incredible. I'm sure others have been through the examples from the book, so I won't repeat, but if you have respect for someone who can push their body to the absolute limit, then this is a must read.

What a legend!, 01 Jun 2008
This is a must read for everyone who needs motivation
Fiennes tells his story with brutal honesty and his adventures are amazing achievements

An amazing, inspiring read..., 26 May 2008
There are books you read and forget.
There are books you read that stay wiith you
And there are just a few books that really inspire you.

This is one of those books, it is well written, gripping, and hard to put down.

This is my first RF book, but it will not be the last, it is an inspirational read, this guy has achieved so much and yet the book is written with a humility, the facts and the details of the events are what you are reading.

It is a million miles from these awfull celebrity biographies.

Recommended.

Really interesting book, 07 Oct 2008
This book is brilliant! It uses maps of the world to display data by distorting the physical size of countries according to the relevant data - the result is a very visual feel for the data - much more powerful than figures or words could be. Every page has a global map displaying a different set of data and the range of data is huge, spanning from spread of diseases to energy use, from prevalence of national disasters to effectiveness of legal systems.

The book is pretty large and an ideal coffee table read. You don't need to be particularly analytical to get a lot from it - just need to be interested in the world. A fantastic new way of looking at the world.

Southern England, 11 Nov 2008
The landscapes of the various Regions of Southern England are described in a "geologically-lite" way, but this is where the emphasis is, as opposed to say the Hoskins landscape books where the human dimension is more to the fore. A geologist would not find it particularly useful, but it would be very interesting for the natural historian/interested layman who wants to understand more about why the lie of the land is as it is. My main "complaint" is that it takes a huge and very diverse (geologically) swath of the country and so each landscape Region is dealt with in not as much detail as one might like, although there are locally focused books for this - e.g. Dreghorn's "Geology explained in the Severn Vale and Cotswolds". The book is sumptuously produced with superb colour aerial photographs and is a worthy addition to the New Naturalist library.

Over-complicated, 19 Apr 2008
I found this book made geographical ideas more complicated which obviously is not what I bought the book for! I ended up buying another revision book (bbc bitesize) which was much easier to understand and use.
Also the jokes in this are awful!


Another CGP star, 02 Aug 2007
This is another great revision guide from CGP - full of light-hearted 'jokes' and puns that help to keep you going. As usual there is focus on what you really need to know, which helps if you have a geography teacher like mine who is in love with the subject and thinks we all are too, and also thinks he is preparing us all for doign a geography degree... The clear diagrams are great for understanding key ideas, and the cartoons help you remember stuff as well as being fun. The revision summaries are good for checking that you have absorbed everything. The only downside really is that only parts of the guide are relevant to my course - edexel A - so you have to keep checking whether you need to know that bit or not. But it is SOOO much clearer and easier to understand than the edexel textbook and revision book school gave me (Tomorrow's Geography) it's well worth it.

Better books out there, 04 Jan 2007
I bought this book along with Physics, Chemistry and Biology (which are amazing by the way) hoping that it would cut down a lot on faffing about during revision. While this would have been the case had i gone along with it, I found that this book is mising *so* much. Sure, it covers the gist of pretty much everything, but with a finickety (or at last, finickety for getting good marks in exams) subject like Geography, a revision guide or textbook needs to be comprehensive as well as concise (ok, somewhat of an oxymoron, but as you'll find out later it's not too much to ask). Case studies come up in the form of big mark questions on the exam and this book doesn't really provide any. Granted, there are lots of different syllabus' and its pretty tough for any one book to cover all of them without being the size of a hippopotamus. A book I would reccomend, however, is Understanding GCSE Geography by Heineman - particularly good for me as this is tailored to the specification A AQA course (which, surprise surprise is the one I'm doing). So, in short, my point is, save you tenner and don't get this book: buy one thats tailored to your course.

Surprisingly Good, 08 May 2005
I am currently studying for GCSE Geography and buying this book has summarised all that I need to know in adequate detail. The jokes are not good. The information includes examples of areas which are essential for the main exam.

a very good book, 20 Feb 2003
I am using this book to help me through my GCSE Geography and so far I have found that this book has been very helpful. It is well set out and makes revision more interesting !! (even if the jokes are poor !)

Superb, 29 Jul 2008
This whole series of books is seriously inspiring and a complete joy to browse through. The photos are breathtaking, the commentary is engaging and the whole book is thoroughly compelling. I've already booked my next holiday to include 3 of the suggestions made in these books!

Disappointing for anyone but the travel novice, 01 Feb 2008
I was a little disappointed with this book. I had hoped it would be inspirational, off-the-beaten-track type of "unforgettable places" but it was just very subjective and at times questionable entries which were no better than a guide book's ..
Sorry but even the photography was disappointing, a copy of the National Geographic or even Wanderlust has better images

Inspirational, 14 Aug 2006
We were looking for an appropriate destination for an unforgettable family holiday last year but inspiration was hard to come by. Eventually we realised that instead of trawling the internet, we would have a quick look through this book and see if anywhere really took our fancy. We found Aitutaki in the cook islands, a place we were very unfamiliar with but looked unspoilt and beautiful. We travelled to Aitutaki last summer and were not disappointed. The book perfectly described and displayed what we would see and get but left us wanting to go there too.

If all the other places mentioned in the book live up to what we found on Aitutaki, then this really is the definitive list of unforgettable places to see before you die.

Inspiring!, 30 May 2006
This book will make you want to pack your bags and get travelling! Beautiful pictures, my only complaint being there are definately more unforgettable places in Scotland than the castle mentioned but an author can never keep everyone happy!

beautiful, 01 Mar 2006
A beutiful book, which allows you to tick off the places you'd never normally venture too. I loved it.

Great!, 31 Oct 2008
Brought this for alot more than for sale here, from high street store. Grrrr! Anyway got to say Bruce is a legend and its a perfect crimbo present!

Bravo Bruce, 29 Oct 2008
I dont usually buy books that accompany a TV series or film, thinking of them as quite frivolous marketing ploys, however I was given this as a gift and have definitely reassessed my opinion.

The book is an insightful accompaniment to the show, delving deeper into the characters that we meet only briefly on screen.The photography provides candid shots of both Bruce,the landscape and the indigenous tribes he meets.

I would highly reccomend this book for anyone who has an interest in the enviroment and what is happening in the Amazon. It is also a great Christmas present for any fans of the charming Mr Parry!

Food for thought, 24 Oct 2008
This, perhaps unsurprisingly for followers of the series is an intelligent and thought provoking counterpart to the BBC series and another addition to the canon of admirable work Parry is undertaking. This is beautifully produced full of sumptuous photos but it does not shirk the harder issues tackled in the show. He has a knack of managing to raise awareness of all important issues without patronising or preaching. Buy. And buy Bruce's wonderful charity album too as well - might go some way to helping the human casualties of amazon exploitation - tribes.

Bruce rocks!, 10 Oct 2008
In his inimitable style Bruce is bringing attention to one of the biggest scandals in the modern world, no less than the destruction of the most important habitat on our planet. It's something our generation will go down in history for and nobody is doing anything to stop it. More power to Bruce for showing how even some of the people destroying the forest are just trying to survive. We won't begin to tackle this issue until we appreciate that there are no easy answers (if you want a good summary of why the Amazon and other environments are so precious I'm a big fan of Bruce's other book Serious Survival as well).

Every child should own it., 05 Oct 2008
I bought this book for all 3 of my children, my 4 God children and my children's school. It is beautifully illustrated and each of the human rights are worded so that children can understand them. It is the sort of book that you hope that if your children become parents, they will pass their copy onto their children. Some people have a family bible; I believe that this is as important if not more so.

surprising, touching, motivating, 08 Oct 2008
This book surprised me. It was a Christmas present and its taken this long for me to open it, but I'm very glad I did. I must admit before I read it I thought Ranulph Feinnes was a bit of a nutter. I still do. But there's more to him than that.

I think this book is about love, failure and doing and not thinking! He doesn't talk about his first wife, Ginny, much. He uses far more words describing how he wedged his hands in various crannies, or tried to get the blood flowing back through them once they were frozen. But he speaks so poignantly about her it's touching. More so because he doesn't wallow in sentimentality.

He failed a lot. There's a temptation to think about him as the bloke who trekked on his own to the North Pole or more recently did seven marathons in seven days on seven continents after a heart by-pass, but he failed more than he succeeded, and the matter-of-fact way he deals with failure is as inspirational as the success.

I also found the narrative of the challenges compelling and there are a few heart-stopping moments and very amusing anecdotes. Frankly, I don't know if he's a good adventurer or not, he seems reckless sometimes, and luck often played a part, but he's as hard as they come.

I don't even know if he's a good writer. If you lead a life as full of adventure, love and commitment as his, the books probably write themselves.

Good book but heavy reading, 21 Aug 2008
I enjoyed this book overall, but found it a bit heavy going at times. The early part where Fiennes describes his upbringing, school life and time in the armed forces was very good and was at just the right pace. However, when he goes on to write about the various expeditions and races he subsequently took part in, I found the level of detail uneccesary. Its almost like he recounts each trip day by day from his diaries. This made for quite heavy reading, and certainly slowed the pace of the book right down. By the end it had become quite hard work, and I was glad to finish it. Overall a good read, but not one you'll be able to get through without a lot of time and concentration!

Outstanding, 17 Jul 2008
Wow. This man is absolutely incredible. I'm sure others have been through the examples from the book, so I won't repeat, but if you have respect for someone who can push their body to the absolute limit, then this is a must read.

What a legend!, 01 Jun 2008
This is a must read for everyone who needs motivation
Fiennes tells his story with brutal honesty and his adventures are amazing achievements

An amazing, inspiring read..., 26 May 2008
There are books you read and forget.
There are books you read that stay wiith you
And there are just a few books that really inspire you.

This is one of those books, it is well written, gripping, and hard to put down.

This is my first RF book, but it will not be the last, it is an inspirational read, this guy has achieved so much and yet the book is written with a humility, the facts and the details of the events are what you are reading.

It is a million miles from these awfull celebrity biographies.

Recommended.

Really interesting book, 07 Oct 2008
This book is brilliant! It uses maps of the world to display data by distorting the physical size of countries according to the relevant data - the result is a very visual feel for the data - much more powerful than figures or words could be. Every page has a global map displaying a different set of data and the range of data is huge, spanning from spread of diseases to energy use, from prevalence of national disasters to effectiveness of legal systems.

The book is pretty large and an ideal coffee table read. You don't need to be particularly analytical to get a lot from it - just need to be interested in the world. A fantastic new way of looking at the world.

Southern England, 11 Nov 2008
The landscapes of the various Regions of Southern England are described in a "geologically-lite" way, but this is where the emphasis is, as opposed to say the Hoskins landscape books where the human dimension is more to the fore. A geologist would not find it particularly useful, but it would be very interesting for the natural historian/interested layman who wants to understand more about why the lie of the land is as it is. My main "complaint" is that it takes a huge and very diverse (geologically) swath of the country and so each landscape Region is dealt with in not as much detail as one might like, although there are locally focused books for this - e.g. Dreghorn's "Geology explained in the Severn Vale and Cotswolds". The book is sumptuously produced with superb colour aerial photographs and is a worthy addition to the New Naturalist library.

Over-complicated, 19 Apr 2008
I found this book made geographical ideas more complicated which obviously is not what I bought the book for! I ended up buying another revision book (bbc bitesize) which was much easier to understand and use.
Also the jokes in this are awful!


Another CGP star, 02 Aug 2007
This is another great revision guide from CGP - full of light-hearted 'jokes' and puns that help to keep you going. As usual there is focus on what you really need to know, which helps if you have a geography teacher like mine who is in love with the subject and thinks we all are too, and also thinks he is preparing us all for doign a geography degree... The clear diagrams are great for understanding key ideas, and the cartoons help you remember stuff as well as being fun. The revision summaries are good for checking that you have absorbed everything. The only downside really is that only parts of the guide are relevant to my course - edexel A - so you have to keep checking whether you need to know that bit or not. But it is SOOO much clearer and easier to understand than the edexel textbook and revision book school gave me (Tomorrow's Geography) it's well worth it.

Better books out there, 04 Jan 2007
I bought this book along with Physics, Chemistry and Biology (which are amazing by the way) hoping that it would cut down a lot on faffing about during revision. While this would have been the case had i gone along with it, I found that this book is mising *so* much. Sure, it covers the gist of pretty much everything, but with a finickety (or at last, finickety for getting good marks in exams) subject like Geography, a revision guide or textbook needs to be comprehensive as well as concise (ok, somewhat of an oxymoron, but as you'll find out later it's not too much to ask). Case studies come up in the form of big mark questions on the exam and this book doesn't really provide any. Granted, there are lots of different syllabus' and its pretty tough for any one book to cover all of them without being the size of a hippopotamus. A book I would reccomend, however, is Understanding GCSE Geography by Heineman - particularly good for me as this is tailored to the specification A AQA course (which, surprise surprise is the one I'm doing). So, in short, my point is, save you tenner and don't get this book: buy one thats tailored to your course.

Surprisingly Good, 08 May 2005
I am currently studying for GCSE Geography and buying this book has summarised all that I need to know in adequate detail. The jokes are not good. The information includes examples of areas which are essential for the main exam.

a very good book, 20 Feb 2003
I am using this book to help me through my GCSE Geography and so far I have found that this book has been very helpful. It is well set out and makes revision more interesting !! (even if the jokes are poor !)

Superb, 29 Jul 2008
This whole series of books is seriously inspiring and a complete joy to browse through. The photos are breathtaking, the commentary is engaging and the whole book is thoroughly compelling. I've already booked my next holiday to include 3 of the suggestions made in these books!

Disappointing for anyone but the travel novice, 01 Feb 2008
I was a little disappointed with this book. I had hoped it would be inspirational, off-the-beaten-track type of "unforgettable places" but it was just very subjective and at times questionable entries which were no better than a guide book's ..
Sorry but even the photography was disappointing, a copy of the National Geographic or even Wanderlust has better images

Inspirational, 14 Aug 2006
We were looking for an appropriate destination for an unforgettable family holiday last year but inspiration was hard to come by. Eventually we realised that instead of trawling the internet, we would have a quick look through this book and see if anywhere really took our fancy. We found Aitutaki in the cook islands, a place we were very unfamiliar with but looked unspoilt and beautiful. We travelled to Aitutaki last summer and were not disappointed. The book perfectly described and displayed what we would see and get but left us wanting to go there too.

If all the other places mentioned in the book live up to what we found on Aitutaki, then this really is the definitive list of unforgettable places to see before you die.

Inspiring!, 30 May 2006
This book will make you want to pack your bags and get travelling! Beautiful pictures, my only complaint being there are definately more unforgettable places in Scotland than the castle mentioned but an author can never keep everyone happy!

beautiful, 01 Mar 2006
A beutiful book, which allows you to tick off the places you'd never normally venture too. I loved it.

Correlating economic freedom with political freedom, as only Friedman could have!, 21 Sep 2008
This book, printed in various formats and languages, is some indication of the fact that Milton Friedman's arguments have not lost currency in the 21st century, even though many people hotly contest their rights and wrongs. The old master of economics hardly wastes time in triggering a debate by stating in the very first chapter: "History suggests only that capitalism is a necessary condition for political freedom. Clearly it is not a sufficient condition."

Capitalism and Freedom has been derided, criticised and lauded in equal measure and for Friedmanites it remains the bible. Love him or hate him, the author himself was never one to shy away from controversy. In this book he has pened his thoughts on issues such as the control of money, fiscal policy, role of government in educating the masses, distribution of income, social welfare measures and alleviation of poverty, among others.

Some of his one-liners and thoughts here are hugely engaging. Despite being vehemently opposed to Government intervention in free market economies, he writes that "the existence of a free market does not of course eliminate the need for government. On the contrary, government is essential both as a forum for determining the rule of the game and as an umpire to interpret and enforce the rules decided on."

The book is also packed with what some might interpret as below the belt remarks, if not properly contextualised. For instance, he writes, "With respect to teachers' salaries .... Poor teachers are grossly overpaid and good teachers grossly underpaid. Salary schedules tend to be uniform and determined far more by seniority." (Chapter 6: Role of Education in Government).

Overall, Friedman has made a case for what he construed as competitive and constructive capitalism and I immensely enjoyed reading the Nobel laureate's thoughts. The longevity of his chain of thought is perhaps what makes this book a valuable reference point. That aside, it has been written is an easy to read format which still fans its popularity over forty years after the first edition went to press.

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity - Incompatible Ideals?, 08 Jul 2008
I became vaguely aware of Milton Friedman in the 1980s, when he was often referred to as the favourite economic guru of Thatcher and Reagan, the founder of "monetarism" as a new school of economics. He was disliked by the left, and there were dark mutterings about his involvement with some of the less pleasant South American regimes of the period.

More recently I was referred to some excellent video clips of Milton Friedman on YouTube, and became interested in how his views fitted into economic thinking as a whole. I also became aware of economic libertarianism, expounded by such organisations as The Cato Institute (publishers of some of the sceptical volumes on man-made global warming theory, but with a much wider range of interests than that) and The Von Mises Institute, that seems to have quite an extreme view as to how limited the role of the state should be. Private justice, anyone?

Capital and Freedom was Friedman's seminal popular work, published in 1962 and based on a series of lectures that Friedman had delivered in the mid to late 1950s. Other popular works include Free to Choose, written jointly with his wife and published in 1980. He doubtless wrote scores of more technical papers in between. Friedman's economic hypothesis is that free market capitalism is the most effective mechanism for organising economic activity and growth, and that it thrives best when the government intervenes in it as little as possible. This economic hypothesis is allied to a strong personal conviction for individual liberty, that men should as far as possible be left to do as they choose so long as their actions to not have injurious effects on others - a philosophy stated emphatically by the founding fathers of the United States.

Milton Friedman argues his case clearly and effectively, and most of it is as apposite today as it was in 1955. Often it is only when he refers to numbers of dollars that one remembers that this book is nearly 50 years old - there always seems to be one or two noughts missing from the end of average salaries. There is quite a lot of historical detail - he devotes a chapter to the Great Depression, and his hypothesis that it was caused not by a failure of the market but by incompetent government intervention. Friedman believed that the market would have suffered less badly, and recovered more quickly, if the government had left well alone. As the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England intervene to deal with the current "credit crunch" banking crisis we have to hope that they will get it right - Friedman seemed to believe that by concentrating the power - and the responsibility - for managing the market even into highly intelligent and well-intentioned hands, you created the conditions for a major upset that the market, left to its own devices, would have avoided by the separate actions of thousands of individual participants acting in their own interests. We shall see!

The problem with Friedman's brand of economic liberalism (and he deliberately stuck to the word "liberal" in an attempt to win it back from left of centre state-interventionists - later he gave up and accepted the description "libertarian") - and with the Thatcherism and Reaganomics that it spawned - was that it can seem harsh and uncaring. Friedman argues passionately against the public provisions of housing, minimum wages, agricultural support, state provided old age pensions and much compulsory attempts to redistribute wealth. He does so on the basis that they interfere with individuals' freedom, concentrate power in government (which often operates inefficiently, and that most such schemes are ultimately counterproductive. He does also argue against the abuse of power by big corporations, through cartels and government lobbying, and expresses concern that the tax laws that allow corporations' retained profit to suffer a lower rate of taxation than income a disadvantages small companies against big ones, and that this, even in the early 1960s, had artificially supported the development of massive corporations. Friedman was, it seems, a small company man, a believer in enterprise on a human scale.

Friedman believed above all in Liberty. His belief in equality - egalitarianism - was more qualified. He believed in equality of rights under the law and of opportunity, but not that the state should attempt to achieve "equality of outcome" - i.e. equality of material wealth. That should be left to individuals to resolve through interaction with others and in accordance with their talents and inclinations. Equality of opportunity, of course, is easily said, and not an issue that Friedman resolves. For example, in arguing for a limited role for government in education, (though a much greater one that some present day libertarians might argue) opportunity for a high quality education would at the least be much easier for those born of rich parents than poor - one point at which I find myself unconvinced by him. In short, though, Friedman thought that men should be free to be unequal.

Whether or not you subscribe to Friedman's ideas, this book represented a major reassertion of the principles of classic, free market economics in the face of progressively more state-directed economies not just in the Eastern-bloc but in the US and Western Europe too. That school of thought had been dominated by John Maynard Keynes, and the latter's "General Theory" shall be my next project. This is an excellent, thought provoking and easily absorbed book.


Outstanding, 16 Oct 2005
Friedman is a very intuative economist, of this there can be no doubt. However, his correct intuition, in my opinion, stretches no further than economics. His chapter on political freedom for instance, has many holes in it, and although he raises some very thought-provoking ideas, in the end I felt it impossible not to disagree on many counts.

This said, I would strongly advise this book to anyone, beginner or advanced; it's simple style that presents challenging ideas will suit almost all readers.

Excellent. A classic relevant today., 29 May 2005
It is surprising how relevant this book is to the present state of affairs having been written originally in the 60s.

Friedman goes through the issues of capitalism, freedom and related issues on an easy to understand manner; with a few exceptions where he gets a bit too technical for the general public (e.g. monetary policies). Nevertheless a very enlightening text by the Noble price.

A must read for anyone interested in liberalism, economy and politics.

Highly Recommended!, 14 Jun 2004
This is a new edition of Milton Friedman's classic 1962 capitalist manifesto. As such, it was ignored, spurned and hated for decades by the intellectual, post-Keynesian establishment. In the 60s, Friedman once found himself debating a liberal who attacked him by simply reciting Friedman's views of the proper role of government. This was working rather well with the audience of college students until he quoted Friedman's opposition to the military draft. Friedman suddenly found himself awash in the unexpected cheers of students. Perhaps it was a foreshadowing of his career. Friedman won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1976, and his ideas gained some degree of mainstream acceptance in the Reagan years - although many of his thoughts remain controversial. To the extent that Friedman debunks myths about the Great Depression that are widely accepted as fact, perhaps he has a point about the semi-privatization of education. We strongly recommend this volume to those who seek a deeper understanding of government's role in a free-market economy.

Great!, 31 Oct 2008
Brought this for alot more than for sale here, from high street store. Grrrr! Anyway got to say Bruce is a legend and its a perfect crimbo present!

Bravo Bruce, 29 Oct 2008
I dont usually buy books that accompany a TV series or film, thinking of them as quite frivolous marketing ploys, however I was given this as a gift and have definitely reassessed my opinion.

The book is an insightful accompaniment to the show, delving deeper into the characters that we meet only briefly on screen.The photography provides candid shots of both Bruce,the landscape and the indigenous tribes he meets.

I would highly reccomend this book for anyone who has an interest in the enviroment and what is happening in the Amazon. It is also a great Christmas present for any fans of the charming Mr Parry!

Food for thought, 24 Oct 2008
This, perhaps unsurprisingly for followers of the series is an intelligent and thought provoking counterpart to the BBC series and another addition to the canon of admirable work Parry is undertaking. This is beautifully produced full of sumptuous photos but it does not shirk the harder issues tackled in the show. He has a knack of managing to raise awareness of all important issues without patronising or preaching. Buy. And buy Bruce's wonderful charity album too as well - might go some way to helping the human casualties of amazon exploitation - tribes.

Bruce rocks!, 10 Oct 2008
In his inimitable style Bruce is bringing attention to one of the biggest scandals in the modern world, no less than the destruction of the most important habitat on our planet. It's something our generation will go down in history for and nobody is doing anything to stop it. More power to Bruce for showing how even some of the people destroying the forest are just trying to survive. We won't begin to tackle this issue until we appreciate that there are no easy answers (if you want a good summary of why the Amazon and other environments are so precious I'm a big fan of Bruce's other book Serious Survival as well).

Every child should own it., 05 Oct 2008
I bought this book for all 3 of my children, my 4 God children and my children's school. It is beautifully illustrated and each of the human rights are worded so that children can understand them. It is the sort of book that you hope that if your children become parents, they will pass their copy onto their children. Some people have a family bible; I believe that this is as important if not more so.

surprising, touching, motivating, 08 Oct 2008
This book surprised me. It was a Christmas present and its taken this long for me to open it, but I'm very glad I did. I must admit before I read it I thought Ranulph Feinnes was a bit of a nutter. I still do. But there's more to him than that.

I think this book is about love, failure and doing and not thinking! He doesn't talk about his first wife, Ginny, much. He uses far more words describing how he wedged his hands in various crannies, or tried to get the blood flowing back through them once they were frozen. But he speaks so poignantly about her it's touching. More so because he doesn't wallow in sentimentality.

He failed a lot. There's a temptation to think about him as the bloke who trekked on his own to the North Pole or more recently did seven marathons in seven days on seven continents after a heart by-pass, but he failed more than he succeeded, and the matter-of-fact way he deals with failure is as inspirational as the success.

I also found the narrative of the challenges compelling and there are a few heart-stopping moments and very amusing anecdotes. Frankly, I don't know if he's a good adventurer or not, he seems reckless sometimes, and luck often played a part, but he's as hard as they come.

I don't even know if he's a good writer. If you lead a life as full of adventure, love and commitment as his, the books probably write themselves.

Good book but heavy reading, 21 Aug 2008
I enjoyed this book overall, but found it a bit heavy going at times. The early part where Fiennes describes his upbringing, school life and time in the armed forces was very good and was at just the right pace. However, when he goes on to write about the various expeditions and races he subsequently took part in, I found the level of detail uneccesary. Its almost like he recounts each trip day by day from his diaries. This made for quite heavy reading, and certainly slowed the pace of the book right down. By the end it had become quite hard work, and I was glad to finish it. Overall a good read, but not one you'll be able to get through without a lot of time and concentration!

Outstanding, 17 Jul 2008
Wow. This man is absolutely incredible. I'm sure others have been through the examples from the book, so I won't repeat, but if you have respect for someone who can push their body to the absolute limit, then this is a must read.

What a legend!, 01 Jun 2008
This is a must read for everyone who needs motivation
Fiennes tells his story with brutal honesty and his adventures are amazing achievements

An amazing, inspiring read..., 26 May 2008
There are books you read and forget.
There are books you read that stay wiith you
And there are just a few books that really inspire you.

This is one of those books, it is well written, gripping, and hard to put down.

This is my first RF book, but it will not be the last, it is an inspirational read, this guy has achieved so much and yet the book is written with a humility, the facts and the details of the events are what you are reading.

It is a million miles from these awfull celebrity biographies.

Recommended.

Really interesting book, 07 Oct 2008
This book is brilliant! It uses maps of the world to display data by distorting the physical size of countries according to the relevant data - the result is a very visual feel for the data - much more powerful than figures or words could be. Every page has a global map displaying a different set of data and the range of data is huge, spanning from spread of diseases to energy use, from prevalence of national disasters to effectiveness of legal systems.

The book is pretty large and an ideal coffee table read. You don't need to be particularly analytical to get a lot from it - just need to be interested in the world. A fantastic new way of looking at the world.

Southern England, 11 Nov 2008
The landscapes of the various Regions of Southern England are described in a "geologically-lite" way, but this is where the emphasis is, as opposed to say the Hoskins landscape books where the human dimension is more to the fore. A geologist would not find it particularly useful, but it would be very interesting for the natural historian/interested layman who wants to understand more about why the lie of the land is as it is. My main "complaint" is that it takes a huge and very diverse (geologically) swath of the country and so each landscape Region is dealt with in not as much detail as one might like, although there are locally focused books for this - e.g. Dreghorn's "Geology explained in the Severn Vale and Cotswolds". The book is sumptuously produced with superb colour aerial photographs and is a worthy addition to the New Naturalist library.

Over-complicated, 19 Apr 2008
I found this book made geographical ideas more complicated which obviously is not what I bought the book for! I ended up buying another revision book (bbc bitesize) which was much easier to understand and use.
Also the jokes in this are awful!


Another CGP star, 02 Aug 2007
This is another great revision guide from CGP - full of light-hearted 'jokes' and puns that help to keep you going. As usual there is focus on what you really need to know, which helps if you have a geography teacher like mine who is in love with the subject and thinks we all are too, and also thinks he is preparing us all for doign a geography degree... The clear diagrams are great for understanding key ideas, and the cartoons help you remember stuff as well as being fun. The revision summaries are good for checking that you have absorbed everything. The only downside really is that only parts of the guide are relevant to my course - edexel A - so you have to keep checking whether you need to know that bit or not. But it is SOOO much clearer and easier to understand than the edexel textbook and revision book school gave me (Tomorrow's Geography) it's well worth it.

Better books out there, 04 Jan 2007
I bought this book along with Physics, Chemistry and Biology (which are amazing by the way) hoping that it would cut down a lot on faffing about during revision. While this would have been the case had i gone along with it, I found that this book is mising *so* much. Sure, it covers the gist of pretty much everything, but with a finickety (or at last, finickety for getting good marks in exams) subject like Geography, a revision guide or textbook needs to be comprehensive as well as concise (ok, somewhat of an oxymoron, but as you'll find out later it's not too much to ask). Case studies come up in the form of big mark questions on the exam and this book doesn't really provide any. Granted, there are lots of different syllabus' and its pretty tough for any one book to cover all of them without being the size of a hippopotamus. A book I would reccomend, however, is Understanding GCSE Geography by Heineman - particularly good for me as this is tailored to the specification A AQA course (which, surprise surprise is the one I'm doing). So, in short, my point is, save you tenner and don't get this book: buy one thats tailored to your course.

Surprisingly Good, 08 May 2005
I am currently studying for GCSE Geography and buying this book has summarised all that I need to know in adequate detail. The jokes are not good. The information includes examples of areas which are essential for the main exam.

a very good book, 20 Feb 2003
I am using this book to help me through my GCSE Geography and so far I have found that this book has been very helpful. It is well set out and makes revision more interesting !! (even if the jokes are poor !)

Superb, 29 Jul 2008
This whole series of books is seriously inspiring and a complete joy to browse through. The photos are breathtaking, the commentary is engaging and the whole book is thoroughly compelling. I've already booked my next holiday to include 3 of the suggestions made in these books!

Disappointing for anyone but the travel novice, 01 Feb 2008
I was a little disappointed with this book. I had hoped it would be inspirational, off-the-beaten-track type of "unforgettable places" but it was just very subjective and at times questionable entries which were no better than a guide book's ..
Sorry but even the photography was disappointing, a copy of the National Geographic or even Wanderlust has better images

Inspirational, 14 Aug 2006
We were looking for an appropriate destination for an unforgettable family holiday last year but inspiration was hard to come by. Eventually we realised that instead of trawling the internet, we would have a quick look through this book and see if anywhere really took our fancy. We found Aitutaki in the cook islands, a place we were very unfamiliar with but looked unspoilt and beautiful. We travelled to Aitutaki last summer and were not disappointed. The book perfectly described and displayed what we would see and get but left us wanting to go there too.

If all the other places mentioned in the book live up to what we found on Aitutaki, then this really is the definitive list of unforgettable places to see before you die.

Inspiring!, 30 May 2006
This book will make you want to pack your bags and get travelling! Beautiful pictures, my only complaint being there are definately more unforgettable places in Scotland than the castle mentioned but an author can never keep everyone happy!

beautiful, 01 Mar 2006
A beutiful book, which allows you to tick off the places you'd never normally venture too. I loved it.

Correlating economic freedom with political freedom, as only Friedman could have!, 21 Sep 2008
This book, printed in various formats and languages, is some indication of the fact that Milton Friedman's arguments have not lost currency in the 21st century, even though many people hotly contest their rights and wrongs. The old master of economics hardly wastes time in triggering a debate by stating in the very first chapter: "History suggests only that capitalism is a necessary condition for political freedom. Clearly it is not a sufficient condition."

Capitalism and Freedom has been derided, criticised and lauded in equal measure and for Friedmanites it remains the bible. Love him or hate him, the author himself was never one to shy away from controversy. In this book he has pened his thoughts on issues such as the control of money, fiscal policy, role of government in educating the masses, distribution of income, social welfare measures and alleviation of poverty, among others.

Some of his one-liners and thoughts here are hugely engaging. Despite being vehemently opposed to Government intervention in free market economies, he writes that "the existence of a free market does not of course eliminate the need for government. On the contrary, government is essential both as a forum for determining the rule of the game and as an umpire to interpret and enforce the rules decided on."

The book is also packed with what some might interpret as below the belt remarks, if not properly contextualised. For instance, he writes, "With respect to teachers' salaries .... Poor teachers are grossly overpaid and good teachers grossly underpaid. Salary schedules tend to be uniform and determined far more by seniority." (Chapter 6: Role of Education in Government).

Overall, Friedman has made a case for what he construed as competitive and constructive capitalism and I immensely enjoyed reading the Nobel laureate's thoughts. The longevity of his chain of thought is perhaps what makes this book a valuable reference point. That aside, it has been written is an easy to read format which still fans its popularity over forty years after the first edition went to press.

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity - Incompatible Ideals?, 08 Jul 2008
I became vaguely aware of Milton Friedman in the 1980s, when he was often referred to as the favourite economic guru of Thatcher and Reagan, the founder of "monetarism" as a new school of economics. He was disliked by the left, and there were dark mutterings about his involvement with some of the less pleasant South American regimes of the period.

More recently I was referred to some excellent video clips of Milton Friedman on YouTube, and became interested in how his views fitted into economic thinking as a whole. I also became aware of economic libertarianism, expounded by such organisations as The Cato Institute (publishers of some of the sceptical volumes on man-made global warming theory, but with a much wider range of interests than that) and The Von Mises Institute, that seems to have quite an extreme view as to how limited the role of the state should be. Private justice, anyone?

Capital and Freedom was Friedman's seminal popular work, published in 1962 and based on a series of lectures that Friedman had delivered in the mid to late 1950s. Other popular works include Free to Choose, written jointly with his wife and published in 1980. He doubtless wrote scores of more technical papers in between. Friedman's economic hypothesis is that free market capitalism is the most effective mechanism for organising economic activity and growth, and that it thrives best when the government intervenes in it as little as possible. This economic hypothesis is allied to a strong personal conviction for individual liberty, that men should as far as possible be left to do as they choose so long as their actions to not have injurious effects on others - a philosophy stated emphatically by the founding fathers of the United States.

Milton Friedman argues his case clearly and effectively, and most of it is as apposite today as it was in 1955. Often it is only when he refers to numbers of dollars that one remembers that this book is nearly 50 years old - there always seems to be one or two noughts missing from the end of average salaries. There is quite a lot of historical detail - he devotes a chapter to the Great Depression, and his hypothesis that it was caused not by a failure of the market but by incompetent government intervention. Friedman believed that the market would have suffered less badly, and recovered more quickly, if the government had left well alone. As the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England intervene to deal with the current "credit crunch" banking crisis we have to hope that they will get it ri