Don Quixote is one of Strauss's most touching pieces. He identifies himself as the hopeless dreamer who keeps falling flat on his face (Ein Heldenleben, the companion piece to Don Quixote, makes this clear by repeatedly quoting Don Quixote whenever things don't work out). In this self identification, he reveals his own vulnerability, and his determination to pick himself up and go on dreaming despite the disasters.

This release is a very good one. The sound (I listened on the studio master download) is absolutely outstanding. It feels as if the solo cello and the solo viola are actually in the room with you! The characterisation of both solo protagonists is exceptional - I love the way they keep interrupting each other in the argument of Variation 3, which comes across better here than I have heard elsewhere. The vigour with which Quixote embarks on each adventure, and the dreaminess whenever the Dulcinea tune comes (Variation 5 for example), are wonderfully done.

The wayward counterpoint is brought to the fore in this performance, and is enhanced because of the incredibly clear recording. As a result the 'losing his sanity' section of the Introduction is superb, and I heard all sorts of detail which I hadn't noticed before.

The final cello solo leading to Don Quixote's death is very moving here bringing tears to the eye. Highly recommended!

One comment for Amazon - it is a pity you only offer the download in a poor quality, compressed, sound. This recording absolutely requires high resolution sound quality, and I am sure you would sell a lot more if you offered this.

There is much to admire here. Frans De Waal has a wonderful written style. He tackles difficult issues in a calm and reassuring way. In short this book is a pleasure to read.

He makes many profoundly wise points too. He is surely correct to point out that the overly abrasive style of some atheist writers can detract from their message. And that the temptation of dogmatism should be resisted on all sides.

I was impressed with the way he accepts without debate or apology the fact that chimpanzees and bonobos are fully conscious, sentient beings just like humans - that there is a continuum between us. The examples he gives of morality, of self control and of restraint in these creatures are really eye opening.

Overall this book is highly recommended - certainly it is much superior to the other recent book about humanism - `the God Argument' by A C Grayling.

And yet, though I thoroughly enjoyed the journey, at the end I was slightly disappointed. Whilst the apes show great empathy, altruism, self restraint and so on, there are other aspects of their behaviour which we would deem immoral in the circumstances of our modern civilised world. These negative moral behaviours are present in humans too, and were adopted (along with the positive things) by the major religions and became fossilised therein. How should we best address the poor morals present in these religions, and the effect they have on society, while preserving the good parts? This is like the `elephant in the room' which De Waal steps around altogether. I wanted to hear De Waal's wisdom on this, but it never came. I would recommend Stephen Pinker's book `Better Angels of our Nature' to anyone interested in a constructive discussion of these issues.

There is much to commend this book. It is a highly readable overview of the period, from which I learned a lot. Some passages are wonderfully descriptive - the journey into the copper mine in Llandudno or witnessing the forging of bronze for example.

Having a complete overview of the period is also excellent for context. The Roman period comes across as incredibly modern and contemporary from this perspective. This is quite an achievement.

But it could have been so much better. Others have commented on the breathtakingly obvious spelling mistakes and multiple factual errors. Oliver has a highly lyrical style which often wanders off in poetic diversions, but he regularly trips up when doing so. It gives the impression, perhaps erroneously, that Oliver is not particularly well read outside his own subject. A good editor could have easily fixed this. I am surprised that the manuscript made it into print in its current format.

Finally, the book is confused in its treatment of the `noble savage' idea. Often Oliver portrays the view that earlier humans were somehow innocent, less greedy and more egalitarian. One thread of his story suggests a progressive corruption in the journey towards the modern world. But in many other places he takes the opposite position, stressing the violence and competition in early societies. Sometimes I felt the book had two different authors competing for space for their opposing ideas.

Overall, I can recommend the book as long as you are willing to put up with its irritations.

How to get inside the conscious minds of non humans?

Each chapter of this book describes Virgina Morell's time spent among a particular group of scientists, each studying a different species. In this way, she sets up the perfect structure for her book. Each team has its own peculiar slant, and this makes the book much more rounded than it could ever have been if a single scientist had put forward his or her point of view. Morell is a wonderful storyteller, and I found myself drawn emotionally into the lives of the various characters she meets, both human and non human.

My favourite chapters were those on dolphins, elephants and most especially dogs. I was astonished to realise that no one had properly researched dogs until very recently. The most amazing discoveries are the ones right under our noses - the dog chapter is a real surprise (I won't say why - buy the book and read it!).

Unlike some other books on this subject, Morell does not over do her conclusion, and keeps a light touch throughout. The implications of all this are deep, and I doubt we'll be able to work it out in our generation. Perhaps the next chapter of human history will describe how we came to terms with it all.

After finishing the book I went into the local woods to experience the parallel bird universe out there.

Totally recommended!

The level of animosity, the conspiracies and smears directed against Napoleon Chagnon are astonishing, and demonstrate the worst side of human nature. For an outsider, it is a puzzle to work out why people would get so angry with him. I am sure that many of us don't agree with every viewpoint he expresses, but why get this emotional about it?

Chagnon's observations on the Yanamamo are important not for what they tell us about the Yanamamo, but for what they tell us about OURSELVES. This is the fundamental point that detractors like Survival International seem to miss completely.

The groups Chagnon has upset, and who seem to have conspired together against him, are quite varied: the Catholic Church; anthropologists who want to keep biology out of their discipline; left wing political activists. When you read one side of an argument, as presented in this book, it is of course difficult to obtain a balanced view. There may be some justification in the criticisms (nobody is perfect after all). But the anger and the scheming seems to be coming from one side only, and that suggests that the balance of right is on Chagnon's side. The tone of Survival International's comments on this book and on Jared Diamond's recent book tend to confirm this judgement.

The book itself has two fascinating parallel narratives which develop side by side - the story of Chagnon among the Yanamamo on the one hand and the story of the gathering clouds of opposition as the conspiracy against him develops. These are quite gripping to read.

Given the way that Chagnon's career has been poisoned and wrecked, it is impressive that he maintains a calm and relatively detached tone throughout.

Recommended to all those who want to understand human nature better.

A light hearted and fun guide for Britten's anniversary year. This is full of lists of trivia and other bits and pieces. But the most useful is the section containing reviews of all the major music, together with Bridcut's one to five rating system. Britten was extremely prolific, so I am finding the rating system very handy to help me prioritise my listening.

It takes a little time to pass before it's possible to see a great composer in perspective. This is the first major work on Britten for some years and it really benefits from the perspective time brings. I was particularly glad that Britten's homosexuality is not allowed tiresomely to dominate every discussion of every work, as if he had no other interests.

Paul Kildea is an excellent guide - the life story is well told and always easy to read. He speaks with infectious enthusiasm about the music. He is sometimes critical, both of man and music, but this only serves to give more weight to the many instances where he does offer praise.

Kildea gives a running commentary on how much money Britten made each year and I found this especially illuminating. In every person's life their financial situation is such an important consideration. It was interesting to see how this developed for Britten and that he really was a commercial success. I was also inspired by the enthusiastic description of the music of the 1970s, which Kildea sees as more successful than that of the mid to late 60s.

I had very few gripes, but I was a little disappointed with Kildea's criticism of Britten's 'woolly' thinking on the Soviet Union. Kildea, who seems to hanker after a simplistic good versus evil approach, can't keep up with Britten on this - the latter seems to have been streets ahead in his more nuanced view.

It is becoming clearer as the years pass by that Britten was one of the most important international opera composers of all time. Let's celebrate that!

Thoroughly recommended.

I was pleased to hear about the release of this book, as I think these arguments benefit from more exposure.

However, I found Part 1 of the book (`Against Religion') hard going. The mental gymnastics required to follow the argument were considerable - which is disappointing as there is no need for this level of complexity in order to make the point. Moreover some of the chosen agruments were weak. Grayling is dogmatic about things which are unknowable, and he oversimplifies complex issues. The pretentiousness and over confidence of Part 1 reminded me very much of the theological writers on the other side. In this, I think he perhaps actually undermines the arguments against religion.

Part 2, `For Humanism' is much better, and his more powerful arguments against religion were contained in this half! Even here though, he starts shakily by defining humanism (p 160) in a way which excludes the bulk of the human population, restricting it only to those who can think things out from first principles for themselves. In any population of humans, a majority are followers, rather than original thinking, highly intellectual thought leaders. There are good reasons for this - society could not function properly otherwise. The humanism he describes is therefore only for an elite, and this again reminded me of religion. Thankfully, the last few chapters improved further, and I did appreciate the comments on love and death especially.

It is not very well edited, with many repetitions of the same points. Too rushed perhaps?

Many of those inclined to read a book of this complexity probably already agree with most of what Grayling has to say. How to reach the others? I think the everyman's guide to humanism still needs to be written.

This is really rather good.

The plot is unorthodox and unpredictable. It is a kind of love story, but not in the usual manner. The main characters are very ordinary and not conventionally attractive. The epic journey is a wonderfully captured, and it goes through several surprising phases. The relationship between the characters develops expertly as the journey proceeds.

It is very well written, very well plotted, and moving. Recommended.

We humans can often be totally blind to the obvious things around us, like human behaviour for instance. Jared Diamond is an absolute genius - in this book he helped me to `see' our own human society for the first time. It should be obvious, but I had never thought of it before - most humans who have ever lived, experienced the type of life Diamond describes here. By looking into humans in their `natural' condition, we learn so much about ourselves.

I especially loved the chapter on languages, which contained information beyond my wildest imaginings. There were many other moments of interest: how the young are treated, how the old are treated, the narrow territory ranges of many groups and the treatment of strangers.

On the other hand I found the chapters on religion and on justice to be slightly weaker, but still worthwhile (Edward Wilson is better on religion in his book `The Social Conquest of Earth').

Diamond is not overly sentimental about his subject, and he points out many features of tribal society that no one would want to copy. But there are still some aspects we could learn from, and in every respect the information here helps us understand ourselves better.

In summary, this is one of those rare books which I think will change my entire world outlook forever. Thoroughly recommended!