John Canning

While I do not believe in ghosts, have never had any real-life experiences that would suggest to me their existence, I enjoy reading ghost stories, especially when they are well-written as are many in this anthology. The idea of an ethereal presentation of a dead person to the living is typical notion of a ghost, but psychic manifestations in general may be used to suggest the presence of the supernatural. In spite of the skepticism of scientists, such writers as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have show more been known to consider the existence of the psychic or paranormal. This anthology presents tales that demonstrate the variety of the supernatural and the breadth of location and human interaction. Whether in the barracks or the castle, the parish house, school, or high seas, there are ghosts to be found abounding in the imagination of the authors included in this fine volume of tales. show less

A nice sweet books about other books, kind of like a ancient proto-reddit post "hey AskReddit, what are the top 100 books?"

But yeah it has a Egocentric bias, and what makes a book better is debatable, but yes, fun ti skim through as you arrange the old pile of books at your parent's house

A really good look into a bunch of historical figures, and I'm glad it didn't focus solely on the western world.

Potted histories of eminent people that figure in various strands of human activity and mentioned in most school curriculums: They range from Archimedes to Karl Marx , Hernando Cortes, Cardinal Richelieu and Churchill. The 'Great Women' section is disappointingly small and standard.. Cleopatra to Florence Nightingale divided by only 5 more names! 95 Great Men!!!