No comments about Going to Live in New Zealand.

No comments about Words for Country: Landscape & Language in Australia.

1 comments about Encountering Terra Australis: The Australian Voyages of Nicolas Baudin and Matthew Flinders.

1. College-level collections strong in Australian history and early exploration must have Encountering Terra Australis: The Australian Voyages of Nicolas Baudin and Matthew Flinders. It covers the achievements and encounters of these two navigators at the beginning of the 19th century, differing from competitors in examining the voyage of Baudin, rather than Flinders, to provide a different interpretation, reworking facts from the authors' own translation of Baudin's journals and original sources. The contrasting achievements of the two navigators thus receive more of an even analysis here, using both French and Australian sources to authenticate and correct historical facts.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch

3 comments about Adventuring in New Zealand, Second Edition.

1. Adventuring in New Zealand turns out to be a fairly pedestrian travel guide, with little to recommend it. While claiming to be an "adventuring guide", there's little more about hiking, parks, fishing, climbing, etc. than any of the standard guidebooks. Design, illustrations, and indexing are second rate. Give this one a miss.



2. My partner and I found "Adventuring..." the single most useful guide for our visit to New Zealand in January 2003. I disagree with the prior negative customer review and wonder if M. Goldstein actually used this book for travel to New Zealand or was merely an armchair traveler seeking amusement.

   It's true this isn't the kind of general guidebook so ably done by Lonely Planet and others. Jefferies doesn't refer the reader to specific restaurants or lodgings. What she does superbly is to introduce each region of the country with a detailed essay on its flora, fauna, terrain and history.

   Her knowledge of New Zealand's parklands runs much deeper than a conventional guidebook. While not neglecting famous tourist attractions, she takes you far off the beaten path to smaller forest preserves that harbor natural treasures. The book is not a detailed trail guide, but it points you to the access points for the back country with useful general descriptions of many hikes.

   Jefferies doesn't glamorize. Her descriptions of the deforestation and other environmental abuses that New Zealand has suffered might unsettle a conventional sightseer. For the environmental traveler with a serious interest in the natural history of the islands, it's just right.




3. I am inclined to agree with reviewer Jaffe and the Editorial Reviews. As a native Kiwi I know Auckland and Fiordland well having hiked extensively in both areas.
   The Auckland sections covers the well known outdoor main attractions of the region well: the islands of the Hauraki Gulf and the extensive network of regional parks, many of which are coastal and have fantastic views from the walks in them.
   Fiordland is the "honey pot" for accessible wilderness hiking in New Zealand. The description of the History, National Parks, short day walks and longer multi-day treks on well formed tracks is quite good. The maps are a bit scant, but you will buy better maps when you arrive in an area. And NZ does publish a wide selection of very good maps of all our park network. For a day-by-day detailed guide to the walks you are better to buy the Lonely Planet "Tramping in New Zealand" (even us locals use it). The book index is not so good, even the Routeburn "Great walk" (the finest 3 day walk in NZ in my opinion) is not listed but you can find it on page 457 with a 1/2 page description of it. After 5 years the book is not really dated. The one new development in NZ is private walking tracks and I can recommend the Banks Peninsula Track just out of Christchurch (page 388 of the book).
   So as a one volume "outdoor type" guide to NZ the book is worth buying and fills a niche not quite met by Rough Guide or Lonely Planet.
   So come and visit us.

5 comments about The Sales Adventure Guide.

1. This book is a "must have" for the new graduate or anyone who is considering a career or taking on an adventure in sales.
   
   Finally, a fun-to-read book on sales with valuable and positive insights on getting-in, finding the right company, and getting-out when your company becomes the "wrong company."
   
   Joe T has real-life examples and experiences that show you how to work for yourself and enjoy the adventure. He teaches you what to expect in sales and get the most out of your job and keep your sanity. Rather than providing, rehashed "supposedly new", methods of achieving one time sales success, this book provides a "big picture guide" that helps a salesperson's lifelong career. HIGHLY ENTERTAINING AND RECOMMENDED!!!



2. Anybody. I repeat anybody who sells, or wants to become a sales person, has to read this book. This book will keep you in the "game" longer, by playing corporate business model to your advantage. All successful companies value their sales force. But most Sales Managers make you feel like a zero. By reading this book you can change that number and pave a brighter future. Read and Prosper.



3. I went to B-School, got my MBA, and gained valuable education on the theory and practice of managing a successful business. What I was disappointed by, were the unexamined assumptions around the "corporate dream", which I found pervasive at all levels of the curriculum. Too complex to go into here, but essentially...
   
   Most business schools are in the business of selling the corporate dream and training future managers in the arts of profit maximization, organizational efficiency, competitive advantage, and market penetration. Rarely do they ever address the human reality of corporate downsizing, except as economic data points relevent to the afore mentioned topics.
   
   The Sales Adventure Guide is a practical manual on how to cut through the corporate BS, understand the true meaning behind management-speak, and know how to cover your butt when your job is on the line, through no fault of your own. It uncovers the tactics, often unethical and sometimes illegal, that HR and upper management will use to make you go away, meekly, without costing the company a penny.
   
   The Sales Adventure Guide will help you probe underneath the company's glossy exterior and public face, by showing you how you can ask the right questions and find out important information about the organization you will be contracting your time to.
   
   This book will teach you how to protect yourself, play the corporate game with finesse, and enjoy your life, rather than feel browbeaten at the company's ingratitude towards the days, months, years of your life you gave them - which you will never, ever get back.
   
   Corporate loyalty is a myth, most companies will lay you off without a second thought. Read this book, understand that we are all contractors now.



4. Joe has gone out of his way to cut to the chase. There is no self esteem building and you can do it rah rah rather Joe's frank honest and what it takes to stay on top, remain on top and what to do when you are caught in a no win situation. As an MBA this type of book should be a mandatory read but the reality of tenured professors that are effectively running a union job do not understand how duplicitous and unethically the real business world can be. I finish this book in a few hours and the insight will last me a career. It is also refreshing from the standpoint that Joe has a soul and is interested in seeing the world and some great sales jobs he has had launched that opportunity. If you surf this book is especially cool(which I do and I can relate to the author on many levels.) Another reviewer was turned off by some profanity of which I do not remember so don't focus on issues of crass.



5. This is a superb look at the nitty-gritty world of selling. Although the author does fill it with case studies, they are all useful and thought-provoking. My favorite bit of advice concerns what happens to all top salespeople: they get their territory cut. Why? To keep them from getting complacent, of course.

No comments about Let's Go 2005 New Zealand Adventure: With Coverage of Fiji (Let's Go New Zealand).

No comments about Moon Living Abroad in New Zealand (Living Abroad).

No comments about Buying a Home in New Zealand, 2nd Edition: A Survival Handbook (Buying a Home in New Zealand).

No comments about New Zealand: Middle-Earth.

No comments about Travel and trout in the Antipodes: An angler's sketches in Tasmania and New Zealand (Fly fisherman's gold).