Jo Durden Smith (1941–2007)

It's a basic guide to Buddhism, essentially more of the history of the religion (and therefore a bit of a slog occasionally) and the various factions, with fairly shallow of dips into the philosophy underpinning the religion. Interesting, but only a starting point if you want to know more.

not bad. when i started i thought it wasn't what it purported to be and was pretty disappointed. but the further you go the better it gets. it is a very overview of mafia history. personally i guess i thought it would have more reference to them all even if with less detail. instead it had a bit of info but missed alot of the gangsters i've studied in the past. ie my favorite is jimmy "the gent" burke. i was also always very intrigued by the hijacking of trucks and airports and it didn't show more touch on that. but it is still worth reading if you're interested in this stuff. show less

The book provides a brief history of the mafia, more similar to a timeline and gives good information about the mafia in Sicily. It’s probably an interesting read for people who have not read much else about the mafia. It was a quick read.

Well-written short accounts of 100 famous and not-so-famous murderers arranged geographically into sections labeled International, United States, Britain, and Australia. Photos in some instances, and none in others. No index.