mixed feelings, 13 Jun 2008
Overlong, definitely, verbose, definitely, showing off, definitely, but within all that, a readable book (at least I found it so and I am very quick to give up on books!) and an honest appraisal of a wonderful man, who came to us to make us laugh, even through his ill health and problems with drink. His many problems with his agent were perhaps over detailed but the relationship was essential to Tommy's career. A few more anecdotes from other comics would have helped but overall I was glad I read it and I don't say that lightly, as anyone reading my reviews will know ... !

...Needs perseverance, 12 Jun 2008
I'm embarassed to tell you how long it took me to finish this book. Suffice to say that I had to frequently overcome a compelling urge to give up on the whole thing because I found that I was not interested in the self-indulgent conjecture of the author.

Towards the end the occasional fact was allowed to creep in, which was nice considering this was why I bought the book. Unfortunately you have to witness the author disappearing up his own hypotheticals before you arrive there.

Just like this?, 10 Apr 2008
Two of the above critiques are so close to my own thoughts it's a bit spooky. the Author is a total 'guess who I know in showbiz' type author, but his fact finding is thorough to say the least. If I was a Cooper I would be a bit creeped out by the person who describes watching your mother through the shop window...
That, is truly spooky. Stalked her just like that. Window mother mother window...hurr hurr hurr.
The book is verbose (can a book be verbose?) but well worth reading. Just don't read it in the bath...You'll fall a sleep and drown. Just like that. I'll stop now.

Words! Words! Words!, 11 Mar 2008
I have enjoyed John Fisher's books in the past but he has mainly dealt with his subjects in an incisive, almost surgical, manner getting to the heart of the subject very quickly and concisely. Boy, was this a long read! I felt as if I had spent every day of Tommy Cooper's life with him such was the immense detail. How much better this book could have been if it had been shortened by about 40% omitting a great amount of the interaction between TC and his agent. Most of that detail got in the way of the story and I found myself skimming through to get back to the meat. Enjoyable on the whole? Yes, to a point so long as you have the stamina.

Quite interesting, 29 Feb 2008
I recently read this book hoping to get an insight into what Tommy was really like and found that for the most part he was exactly the same off stage as on, there were a few things I never knew like his relationship with his agent Miff Ferrie, he is mostly depicted as a control freak who kept Tommy tied to a contract but if you read between the lines he was actually responsible for keeping Tommy in work for all those years and often had to smooth things over when Tommy let clients down at various venues because of his alcoholism and bad health, there are quite a few descriptive sections that relay his act which are quite good to read but when I finished the book I didn't feel like I knew Tommy any better than I did before I started, it was more like a trip down memory lane.

mixed feelings, 13 Jun 2008
Overlong, definitely, verbose, definitely, showing off, definitely, but within all that, a readable book (at least I found it so and I am very quick to give up on books!) and an honest appraisal of a wonderful man, who came to us to make us laugh, even through his ill health and problems with drink. His many problems with his agent were perhaps over detailed but the relationship was essential to Tommy's career. A few more anecdotes from other comics would have helped but overall I was glad I read it and I don't say that lightly, as anyone reading my reviews will know ... !

...Needs perseverance, 12 Jun 2008
I'm embarassed to tell you how long it took me to finish this book. Suffice to say that I had to frequently overcome a compelling urge to give up on the whole thing because I found that I was not interested in the self-indulgent conjecture of the author.

Towards the end the occasional fact was allowed to creep in, which was nice considering this was why I bought the book. Unfortunately you have to witness the author disappearing up his own hypotheticals before you arrive there.

Just like this?, 10 Apr 2008
Two of the above critiques are so close to my own thoughts it's a bit spooky. the Author is a total 'guess who I know in showbiz' type author, but his fact finding is thorough to say the least. If I was a Cooper I would be a bit creeped out by the person who describes watching your mother through the shop window...
That, is truly spooky. Stalked her just like that. Window mother mother window...hurr hurr hurr.
The book is verbose (can a book be verbose?) but well worth reading. Just don't read it in the bath...You'll fall a sleep and drown. Just like that. I'll stop now.

Words! Words! Words!, 11 Mar 2008
I have enjoyed John Fisher's books in the past but he has mainly dealt with his subjects in an incisive, almost surgical, manner getting to the heart of the subject very quickly and concisely. Boy, was this a long read! I felt as if I had spent every day of Tommy Cooper's life with him such was the immense detail. How much better this book could have been if it had been shortened by about 40% omitting a great amount of the interaction between TC and his agent. Most of that detail got in the way of the story and I found myself skimming through to get back to the meat. Enjoyable on the whole? Yes, to a point so long as you have the stamina.

Quite interesting, 29 Feb 2008
I recently read this book hoping to get an insight into what Tommy was really like and found that for the most part he was exactly the same off stage as on, there were a few things I never knew like his relationship with his agent Miff Ferrie, he is mostly depicted as a control freak who kept Tommy tied to a contract but if you read between the lines he was actually responsible for keeping Tommy in work for all those years and often had to smooth things over when Tommy let clients down at various venues because of his alcoholism and bad health, there are quite a few descriptive sections that relay his act which are quite good to read but when I finished the book I didn't feel like I knew Tommy any better than I did before I started, it was more like a trip down memory lane.

Very disappointing, 10 Nov 2008
I got this for Christmas and I was very disappointed. There appears to be no correlation between the titles of the chapters and the descriptions. Apparently the Inner Hebrides are in the Firth of Clyde. I felt like the author had found a formula 50 places before you die - find a few people to interview. I was expecting to find the best places - not just some places to sail.

Avoid - cheap & cynical formula volume, 14 Oct 2008
Bought this on impulse (to top up to free postage!) without reading reviews. A mistake.

All you need to know is:
1) The author's previous books were Fifty Places to .... Play Golf / Go Birding / Fly Fish etc .... before you die
2) The USA based research is so exhaustive that the British Virgin Islands and South Georgia Islands are listed under UK, but Scotland is not (meanwhile each USA state is treated as a nation)
3) Different rent a contributer provides each section - so the author probably never even visited the locations
4) Pictures are few and mostly could be anywhere

Not for sailors, 24 Jul 2008
A very disappointing purchase, I was expecting much more information on the 'places' and less about the boats and contributors life histories. Chris Santella (the author) admits that his experience of sailing is limited to a season of sailing lessons in 1975 thus he enrols the advice of several professional sailors for information. Hence this is a mish-mash of racing locations & partial auto-biographies alongside what looks like stock photography. If you know nothing about sailing and want a nautical book as a coffee table paperweight then this is for you. Otherwise avoid.

Coffee Table Sailing, 05 Sep 2007
I bought this book hoping it would provide coffee table inspiration about where I could one day sail in the world. I expected there would be informative pictures and descriptive narrative about the scenery and what to expect from sailing in each area. I was very disappointed. Some of the accounts given by interviewees lived up to my expectations but many others seemed to just rant on about their own sailing careers or refer to the names of places as though the reader would already know them intimately. The pictures were uninspiring too and there wasn't always a picture for each place visited. Many of the pictures were essentially of yachts rather than the scenery in which they were sailing. If you are into yacht racing and sailing clubs this might be the book for you, but as an account for potential visiting cruisers this book may be one to leave on the shelf.

mixed feelings, 13 Jun 2008
Overlong, definitely, verbose, definitely, showing off, definitely, but within all that, a readable book (at least I found it so and I am very quick to give up on books!) and an honest appraisal of a wonderful man, who came to us to make us laugh, even through his ill health and problems with drink. His many problems with his agent were perhaps over detailed but the relationship was essential to Tommy's career. A few more anecdotes from other comics would have helped but overall I was glad I read it and I don't say that lightly, as anyone reading my reviews will know ... !

...Needs perseverance, 12 Jun 2008
I'm embarassed to tell you how long it took me to finish this book. Suffice to say that I had to frequently overcome a compelling urge to give up on the whole thing because I found that I was not interested in the self-indulgent conjecture of the author.

Towards the end the occasional fact was allowed to creep in, which was nice considering this was why I bought the book. Unfortunately you have to witness the author disappearing up his own hypotheticals before you arrive there.

Just like this?, 10 Apr 2008
Two of the above critiques are so close to my own thoughts it's a bit spooky. the Author is a total 'guess who I know in showbiz' type author, but his fact finding is thorough to say the least. If I was a Cooper I would be a bit creeped out by the person who describes watching your mother through the shop window...
That, is truly spooky. Stalked her just like that. Window mother mother window...hurr hurr hurr.
The book is verbose (can a book be verbose?) but well worth reading. Just don't read it in the bath...You'll fall a sleep and drown. Just like that. I'll stop now.

Words! Words! Words!, 11 Mar 2008
I have enjoyed John Fisher's books in the past but he has mainly dealt with his subjects in an incisive, almost surgical, manner getting to the heart of the subject very quickly and concisely. Boy, was this a long read! I felt as if I had spent every day of Tommy Cooper's life with him such was the immense detail. How much better this book could have been if it had been shortened by about 40% omitting a great amount of the interaction between TC and his agent. Most of that detail got in the way of the story and I found myself skimming through to get back to the meat. Enjoyable on the whole? Yes, to a point so long as you have the stamina.

Quite interesting, 29 Feb 2008
I recently read this book hoping to get an insight into what Tommy was really like and found that for the most part he was exactly the same off stage as on, there were a few things I never knew like his relationship with his agent Miff Ferrie, he is mostly depicted as a control freak who kept Tommy tied to a contract but if you read between the lines he was actually responsible for keeping Tommy in work for all those years and often had to smooth things over when Tommy let clients down at various venues because of his alcoholism and bad health, there are quite a few descriptive sections that relay his act which are quite good to read but when I finished the book I didn't feel like I knew Tommy any better than I did before I started, it was more like a trip down memory lane.

Very disappointing, 10 Nov 2008
I got this for Christmas and I was very disappointed. There appears to be no correlation between the titles of the chapters and the descriptions. Apparently the Inner Hebrides are in the Firth of Clyde. I felt like the author had found a formula 50 places before you die - find a few people to interview. I was expecting to find the best places - not just some places to sail.

Avoid - cheap & cynical formula volume, 14 Oct 2008
Bought this on impulse (to top up to free postage!) without reading reviews. A mistake.

All you need to know is:
1) The author's previous books were Fifty Places to .... Play Golf / Go Birding / Fly Fish etc .... before you die
2) The USA based research is so exhaustive that the British Virgin Islands and South Georgia Islands are listed under UK, but Scotland is not (meanwhile each USA state is treated as a nation)
3) Different rent a contributer provides each section - so the author probably never even visited the locations
4) Pictures are few and mostly could be anywhere

Not for sailors, 24 Jul 2008
A very disappointing purchase, I was expecting much more information on the 'places' and less about the boats and contributors life histories. Chris Santella (the author) admits that his experience of sailing is limited to a season of sailing lessons in 1975 thus he enrols the advice of several professional sailors for information. Hence this is a mish-mash of racing locations & partial auto-biographies alongside what looks like stock photography. If you know nothing about sailing and want a nautical book as a coffee table paperweight then this is for you. Otherwise avoid.

Coffee Table Sailing, 05 Sep 2007
I bought this book hoping it would provide coffee table inspiration about where I could one day sail in the world. I expected there would be informative pictures and descriptive narrative about the scenery and what to expect from sailing in each area. I was very disappointed. Some of the accounts given by interviewees lived up to my expectations but many others seemed to just rant on about their own sailing careers or refer to the names of places as though the reader would already know them intimately. The pictures were uninspiring too and there wasn't always a picture for each place visited. Many of the pictures were essentially of yachts rather than the scenery in which they were sailing. If you are into yacht racing and sailing clubs this might be the book for you, but as an account for potential visiting cruisers this book may be one to leave on the shelf.

Spa Heaven, 05 Oct 2008
My ideal weekend treat is a trip to a spa, and this book covers all the best spas. My only problem is choosing which ones to go to. The pictures are wonderful and there is plenty of detail on what the spas offer with guidelines about cost and what they are best for. I didn't realise there are so many spas around . I'm going to be buying this book for all my girlfriends for Christmas so we can plan a spa break or two next year. I love the fact that all these spas are in the UK...I can't afford to jet off to Thailand but I can run to a weekend in the country.

An excellent spa guide and introduction!, 07 Jan 2008
This is an absolutely excellent introductory guide for anyone who is contemplating taking themselves off to a spa for the first time, is looking for new options as part of a forthcoming excursion, or who just needs a change of spa-scenery!
The 'spies' have gone to great lengths to give unbiased reviews - you really feel that you can trust their honest opinions - and the authors of this book have put together some really imaginative approaches, with a county by county listing, together with innovative ideas and reasons 'to spa' throughout the year. A terrific book.

Brilliant guide, 16 Oct 2007
This book saved me, a spa newbie, a lot of footwork and dodgy treatments. And it's a really enjoyable read, funny and engaging.

An excellent reference guide, 23 Oct 2006
Having stayed at a number of Health Farms over the past five years I only wish I had seen this book before. It's an honest and reassuring guide to what's available and where and I would recommend it to anyone who is thinking of visiting a Health Farm for the first time or who is planning on another trip. The photos are as luxurious as the places themselves and there's a comprehensive guide to the types of treatments on offer. Excellent value for money.

mixed feelings, 13 Jun 2008
Overlong, definitely, verbose, definitely, showing off, definitely, but within all that, a readable book (at least I found it so and I am very quick to give up on books!) and an honest appraisal of a wonderful man, who came to us to make us laugh, even through his ill health and problems with drink. His many problems with his agent were perhaps over detailed but the relationship was essential to Tommy's career. A few more anecdotes from other comics would have helped but overall I was glad I read it and I don't say that lightly, as anyone reading my reviews will know ... !

...Needs perseverance, 12 Jun 2008
I'm embarassed to tell you how long it took me to finish this book. Suffice to say that I had to frequently overcome a compelling urge to give up on the whole thing because I found that I was not interested in the self-indulgent conjecture of the author.

Towards the end the occasional fact was allowed to creep in, which was nice considering this was why I bought the book. Unfortunately you have to witness the author disappearing up his own hypotheticals before you arrive there.

Just like this?, 10 Apr 2008
Two of the above critiques are so close to my own thoughts it's a bit spooky. the Author is a total 'guess who I know in showbiz' type author, but his fact finding is thorough to say the least. If I was a Cooper I would be a bit creeped out by the person who describes watching your mother through the shop window...
That, is truly spooky. Stalked her just like that. Window mother mother window...hurr hurr hurr.
The book is verbose (can a book be verbose?) but well worth reading. Just don't read it in the bath...You'll fall a sleep and drown. Just like that. I'll stop now.

Words! Words! Words!, 11 Mar 2008
I have enjoyed John Fisher's books in the past but he has mainly dealt with his subjects in an incisive, almost surgical, manner getting to the heart of the subject very quickly and concisely. Boy, was this a long read! I felt as if I had spent every day of Tommy Cooper's life with him such was the immense detail. How much better this book could have been if it had been shortened by about 40% omitting a great amount of the interaction between TC and his agent. Most of that detail got in the way of the story and I found myself skimming through to get back to the meat. Enjoyable on the whole? Yes, to a point so long as you have the stamina.

Quite interesting, 29 Feb 2008
I recently read this book hoping to get an insight into what Tommy was really like and found that for the most part he was exactly the same off stage as on, there were a few things I never knew like his relationship with his agent Miff Ferrie, he is mostly depicted as a control freak who kept Tommy tied to a contract but if you read between the lines he was actually responsible for keeping Tommy in work for all those years and often had to smooth things over when Tommy let clients down at various venues because of his alcoholism and bad health, there are quite a few descriptive sections that relay his act which are quite good to read but when I finished the book I didn't feel like I knew Tommy any better than I did before I started, it was more like a trip down memory lane.

Very disappointing, 10 Nov 2008
I got this for Christmas and I was very disappointed. There appears to be no correlation between the titles of the chapters and the descriptions. Apparently the Inner Hebrides are in the Firth of Clyde. I felt like the author had found a formula 50 places before you die - find a few people to interview. I was expecting to find the best places - not just some places to sail.

Avoid - cheap & cynical formula volume, 14 Oct 2008
Bought this on impulse (to top up to free postage!) without reading reviews. A mistake.

All you need to know is:
1) The author's previous books were Fifty Places to .... Play Golf / Go Birding / Fly Fish etc .... before you die
2) The USA based research is so exhaustive that the British Virgin Islands and South Georgia Islands are listed under UK, but Scotland is not (meanwhile each USA state is treated as a nation)
3) Different rent a contributer provides each section - so the author probably never even visited the locations
4) Pictures are few and mostly could be anywhere

Not for sailors, 24 Jul 2008
A very disappointing purchase, I was expecting much more information on the 'places' and less about the boats and contributors life histories. Chris Santella (the author) admits that his experience of sailing is limited to a season of sailing lessons in 1975 thus he enrols the advice of several professional sailors for information. Hence this is a mish-mash of racing locations & partial auto-biographies alongside what looks like stock photography. If you know nothing about sailing and want a nautical book as a coffee table paperweight then this is for you. Otherwise avoid.

Coffee Table Sailing, 05 Sep 2007
I bought this book hoping it would provide coffee table inspiration about where I could one day sail in the world. I expected there would be informative pictures and descriptive narrative about the scenery and what to expect from sailing in each area. I was very disappointed. Some of the accounts given by interviewees lived up to my expectations but many others seemed to just rant on about their own sailing careers or refer to the names of places as though the reader would already know them intimately. The pictures were uninspiring too and there wasn't always a picture for each place visited. Many of the pictures were essentially of yachts rather than the scenery in which they were sailing. If you are into yacht racing and sailing clubs this might be the book for you, but as an account for potential visiting cruisers this book may be one to leave on the shelf.

Spa Heaven, 05 Oct 2008
My ideal weekend treat is a trip to a spa, and this book covers all the best spas. My only problem is choosing which ones to go to. The pictures are wonderful and there is plenty of detail on what the spas offer with guidelines about cost and what they are best for. I didn't realise there are so many spas around . I'm going to be buying this book for all my girlfriends for Christmas so we can plan a spa break or two next year. I love the fact that all these spas are in the UK...I can't afford to jet off to Thailand but I can run to a weekend in the country.

An excellent spa guide and introduction!, 07 Jan 2008
This is an absolutely excellent introductory guide for anyone who is contemplating taking themselves off to a spa for the first time, is looking for new options as part of a forthcoming excursion, or who just needs a change of spa-scenery!
The 'spies' have gone to great lengths to give unbiased reviews - you really feel that you can trust their honest opinions - and the authors of this book have put together some really imaginative approaches, with a county by county listing, together with innovative ideas and reasons 'to spa' throughout the year. A terrific book.

Brilliant guide, 16 Oct 2007
This book saved me, a spa newbie, a lot of footwork and dodgy treatments. And it's a really enjoyable read, funny and engaging.

An excellent reference guide, 23 Oct 2006
Having stayed at a number of Health Farms over the past five years I only wish I had seen this book before. It's an honest and reassuring guide to what's available and where and I would recommend it to anyone who is thinking of visiting a Health Farm for the first time or who is planning on another trip. The photos are as luxurious as the places themselves and there's a comprehensive guide to the types of treatments on offer. Excellent value for money.

In a league of its own., 26 Nov 2007
An update from the Smith's 2002 comprehensive guide was reprinted in June 2007 to incorporate some minor revisions. Unfortunately, this reprint doesn't incorporate the Emirates Stadium or the 'new' Wembley. It does, however, include all 323 grounds where football has been played in both the English and Scottish leagues since 1888, at least half of which most will not have even heard of.

Some delightful names from an innocent sepia age are mixed with the bland, 'revenue streams' modern stadia. The Chuckery, Muntz Street, Carolina Port, Westmarch and Raikes Hall have been overtaken by the likes of Kingston Communication Stadium, Williamson Motors Stadium, Ricoh Arena and Reebock Stadium, complete with equally inspiring North, South, East and West Stands.

Each ground is given a National Grid reference as well as a map of the location together with a brief history. (Arsenal once played a match at Priestfield Stadium in 1895 and Leyton Orient - then known as Clapton Orient - played two league games at Wembley.)

What's missing from this book is a geographical map of England and Scotland to show where the grounds are in relation to the rest of the country. Having said that, it is but one minor query which doesn't really have a bearing on how good this book is.

If you ever feel a need to visit all 323 grounds, the authors have kindly added a 'Personal Log' at the end. Many of the now defunt grounds may entail loitering by the frozen counter in a supermarket or interrupting someone's Sunday lunch if you want to get close to the centre circle.

mixed feelings, 13 Jun 2008
Overlong, definitely, verbose, definitely, showing off, definitely, but within all that, a readable book (at least I found it so and I am very quick to give up on books!) and an honest appraisal of a wonderful man, who came to us to make us laugh, even through his ill health and problems with drink. His many problems with his agent were perhaps over detailed but the relationship was essential to Tommy's career. A few more anecdotes from other comics would have helped but overall I was glad I read it and I don't say that lightly, as anyone reading my reviews will know ... !

...Needs perseverance, 12 Jun 2008
I'm embarassed to tell you how long it took me to finish this book. Suffice to say that I had to frequently overcome a compelling urge to give up on the whole thing because I found that I was not interested in the self-indulgent conjecture of the author.

Towards the end the occasional fact was allowed to creep in, which was nice considering this was why I bought the book. Unfortunately you have to witness the author disappearing up his own hypotheticals before you arrive there.

Just like this?, 10 Apr 2008
Two of the above critiques are so close to my own thoughts it's a bit spooky. the Author is a total 'guess who I know in showbiz' type author, but his fact finding is thorough to say the least. If I was a Cooper I would be a bit creeped out by the person who describes watching your mother through the shop window...
That, is truly spooky. Stalked her just like that. Window mother mother window...hurr hurr hurr.
The book is verbose (can a book be verbose?) but well worth reading. Just don't read it in the bath...You'll fall a sleep and drown. Just like that. I'll stop now.

Words! Words! Words!, 11 Mar 2008
I have enjoyed John Fisher's books in the past but he has mainly dealt with his subjects in an incisive, almost surgical, manner getting to the heart of the subject very quickly and concisely. Boy, was this a long read! I felt as if I had spent every day of Tommy Cooper's life with him such was the immense detail. How much better this book could have been if it had been shortened by about 40% omitting a great amount of the interaction between TC and his agent. Most of that detail got in the way of the story and I found myself skimming through to get back to the meat. Enjoyable on the whole? Yes, to a point so long as you have the stamina.

Quite interesting, 29 Feb 2008
I recently read this book hoping to get an insight into what Tommy was really like and found that for the most part he was exactly the same off stage as on, there were a few things I never knew like his relationship with his agent Miff Ferrie, he is mostly depicted as a control freak who kept Tommy tied to a contract but if you read between the lines he was actually responsible for keeping Tommy in work for all those years and often had to smooth things over when Tommy let clients down at various venues because of his alcoholism and bad health, there are quite a few descriptive sections that relay his act which are quite good to read but when I finished the book I didn't feel like I knew Tommy any better than I did before I started, it was more like a trip down memory lane.

Very disappointing, 10 Nov 2008
I got this for Christmas and I was very disappointed. There appears to be no correlation between the titles of the chapters and the descriptions. Apparently the Inner Hebrides are in the Firth of Clyde. I felt like the author had found a formula 50 places before you die - find a few people to interview. I was expecting to find the best places - not just some places to sail.

Avoid - cheap & cynical formula volume, 14 Oct 2008
Bought this on impulse (to top up to free postage!) without reading reviews. A mistake.

All you need to know is:
1) The author's previous books were Fifty Places to .... Play Golf / Go Birding / Fly Fish etc .... before you die
2) The USA based research is so exhaustive that the British Virgin Islands and South Georgia Islands are listed under UK, but Scotland is not (meanwhile each USA state is treated as a nation)
3) Different rent a contributer provides each section - so the author probably never even visited the locations
4) Pictures are few and mostly could be anywhere

Not for sailors, 24 Jul 2008
A very disappointing purchase, I was expecting much more information on the 'places' and less about the boats and contributors life histories. Chris Santella (the author) admits that his experience of sailing is limited to a season of sailing lessons in 1975 thus he enrols the advice of several professional sailors for information. Hence this is a mish-mash of racing locations & partial auto-biographies alongside what looks like stock photography. If you know nothing about sailing and want a nautical book as a coffee table paperweight then this is for you. Otherwise avoid.

Coffee Table Sailing, 05 Sep 2007
I bought this book hoping it would provide coffee table inspiration about where I could one day sail in the world. I expected there would be informative pictures and descriptive narrative about the scenery and what to expect from sailing in each area. I was very disappointed. Some of the accounts given by interviewees lived up to my expectations but many others seemed to just rant on about their own sailing careers or refer to the names of places as though the reader would already know them intimately. The pictures were uninspiring too and there wasn't always a picture for each place visited. Many of the pictures were essentially of yachts rather than the scenery in which they were sailing. If you are into yacht racing and sailing clubs this might be the book for you, but as an account for potential visiting cruisers this book may be one to leave on the shelf.

Spa Heaven, 05 Oct 2008
My ideal weekend treat is a trip to a spa, and this book covers all the best spas. My only problem is choosing which ones to go to. The pictures are wonderful and there is plenty of detail on what the spas offer with guidelines about cost and what they are best for. I didn't realise there are so many spas around . I'm going to be buying this book for all my girlfriends for Christmas so we can plan a spa break or two next year. I love the fact that all these spas are in the UK...I can't afford to jet off to Thailand but I can run to a weekend in the country.

An excellent spa guide and introduction!, 07 Jan 2008
This is an absolutely excellent introductory guide for anyone who is contemplating taking themselves off to a spa for the first time, is looking for new options as part of a forthcoming excursion, or who just needs a change of spa-scenery!
The 'spies' have gone to great lengths to give unbiased reviews - you really feel that you can trust their honest opinions - and the authors of this book have put together some really imaginative approaches, with a county by county listing, together with innovative ideas and reasons 'to spa' throughout the year. A terrific book.

Brilliant guide, 16 Oct 2007
This book saved me, a spa newbie, a lot of footwork and dodgy treatments. And it's a really enjoyable read, funny and engaging.

An excellent reference guide, 23 Oct 2006
Having stayed at a number of Health Farms over the past five years I only wish I had seen this book before. It's an honest and reassuring guide to what's available and where and I would recommend it to anyone who is thinking of visiting a Health Farm for the first time or who is planning on another trip. The photos are as luxurious as the places themselves and there's a comprehensive guide to the types of treatments on offer. Excellent value for money.

In a league of its own., 26 Nov 2007
An update from the Smith's 2002 comprehensive guide was reprinted in June 2007 to incorporate some minor revisions. Unfortunately, this reprint doesn't incorporate the Emirates Stadium or the 'new' Wembley. It does, however, include all 323 grounds where football has been played in both the English and Scottish leagues since 1888, at least half of which most will not have even heard of.

Some delightful names from an innocent sepia age are mixed with the bland, 'revenue streams' modern stadia. The Chuckery, Muntz Street, Carolina Port, Westmarch and Raikes Hall have been overtaken by the likes of Kingston Communication Stadium, Williamson Motors Stadium, Ricoh Arena and Reebock Stadium, complete with equally inspiring North, South, East and West Stands.

Each ground is given a National Grid reference as well as a map of the location together with a brief history. (Arsenal once played a match at Priestfield Stadium in 1895 and Leyton Orient - then known as Clapton Orient - played two league games at Wembley.)

What's missing from this book is a geographical map of England and Scotland to show where the grounds are in relation to the rest of the country. Having said that, it is but one minor query which doesn't really have a bearing on how good this book is.

If you ever feel a need to visit all 323 grounds, the authors have kindly added a 'Personal Log' at the end. Many of the now defunt grounds may entail loitering by the frozen counter in a supermarket or interrupting someone's Sunday lunch if you want to get close to the centre circle.

Ikenberry's "Bicycling: Coast to Coast" puts you on the road, 09 Dec 1997
Who knows whether I'll actually push the pedal that begins a coast to coast bicycling trip but having read Donna Lynn Ikenberry's "Bicycling: Coast to Coast," I now know what to feel, smell, taste and enjoy along the journey. The sunshine pours through her scenic descriptions and your legs ache during her climbs. As she comes close to each day's destination you can feel the anticipation of soothing well-used muscles. This is a guidebook to prepare for the trek as well as take along for reference. Buy two and leave one with someone responsible for knowing your itinerary.

Ikenberry's "Bicycling: Coast to Coast" puts you on the road, 09 Dec 1997
Who knows whether I'll actually push the pedal that begins a coast to coast bicycling trip but having read Donna Lynn Ikenberry's "Bicycling: Coast to Coast," I now know what to feel, smell, taste and enjoy along the journey. The sunshine pours through her scenic descriptions and your legs ache during her climbs. As she comes close to each day's destination you can feel the anticipation of soothing well-used muscles. This is a guidebook to prepare for the trek as well as take along for reference. Buy two and leave one with someone responsible for knowing your itinerary.