Book Description
“One episode simply melts away as the next takes over” (The New York Times) in this deliciously sinister turn-of-the-century tale of a French evil genius run rampant. Three appalling crimes leave all of Paris aghast: the Marquise de Langruen is hacked to death, the Princess Sonia is robbed, and Lord Beltham is found dead, stuffed into a trunk. Inspector Juve knows that all the clues point to one suspect: the master of disguise, Fantômas. Juve cleverly pursues him in speeding trains, down dark alleys, through glittering Parisian salons, obsessed with bringing the demon mastermind to justice. As thrilling to read now as it was when first published in 1915, Fantômas “is not a puzzle but an intoxicant” (The Village Voice).
Customer Reviews:
Fantomas.......2007-07-23
Fantômas is everywhere. He is a master killer, a criminal genius, capable of being in multiple places at once. He can pretend to be anyone - even female - or so the story goes. And there are many, many stories of Fantômas. He is the everyman killer.
Or so Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre, partners in writing, would have the reader believe when they created Fantômas, in 1911. A massive success, the two would go on to write thirty-one more Fantômas novels after the first, and when Souvestre died, Allain wrote eleven more. Parisian appetite for stories of Fantômas's dastardly deeds was insatiable, 'a work of popular fiction whose popularity cut across all social and cultural strata', says John Ashbery, who wrote the introduction to the Penguin Classic edition.
Fantômas was the first novel in a series written by the Allain and Souvestre. It catapulted the genius criminal to stratospheric popularity, as well as all but creating the modern criminal novel. The plot revolves around the mysterious killer, of whom very little is known at the beginning - and, delightfully, even less is known at the end. Indeed, the antagonist throughout the novel may not even be Fantômas, one of the many strokes of genius in this novel.
Charles Rambert waits anxiously to meet his father, who he has not seen in many years. The evening before his father's arrival, Charles learns the story of Fantômas, a master criminal who may or may not exist, who may or may no longer be active as a killer. Excited by these stories, he sleeps poorly, and in the morning, after he has collected his father from the train station, it is revealed that the Marquise de Langruen has been brutally murdered. 'Mme. de Langrune's throat was almost entirely severed by the blade of some sharp instrument. The breadth and depth of the wound absolutely prove that it was not made with one stroke; the murderer must have gone amok and dealt several blows'. Suspicion is placed on the only logical shoulders - Charles.
Princess Sonia, 'not pretty but lovely', is bathing in a hotel room, alone. Suddenly a man grips her arm, covers her mouth with his hand. A conversation, witty, calm, urbane, intelligent, menacing, ensues. Sonia is robbed, the thief escapes. Later, Lord Beltham, missing and presumed dead, is found in the abandoned home of Gurn, a mysterious traveler not often seen at his home. More suspicion is piled on Charles' absent shoulders until he, too, is found murdered in a river, fished out of the water by a vagabond.
The man working on all of these cases is Juve, a single-minded, bloody-minded detective who has hunted Fantômas for years. 'There was not a single person who had not heard of Juve and his marvelous exploits, or who did not regard him as a kind of hero.' We do not learn much of Juve's personal life because we do not need to - it is sufficient to the novel that he is a man obsessed, driven to capture the most elusive of all prey.
The story is told at a number of locations around Paris. Often, we know less about what is happening than Juve, who seems always to be one step ahead of the reader, the other characters - but never Fantômas. A scene will develop with the slightest of links to the main arching story, but then a sudden twist and we are back firmly within the realm of Juve and Fantômas as they struggle to outwith the other. Allain and Souvestre manage to keep a tight rein on the plot in this manner, always curling the story back to its central conceit.
For a novel that deals with a shadowy murderer who may or may not exist, the ending is brilliant. We are left with a clear, defined killer and a clear, defined victory for Juve - but was the captured murderer really Fantômas? The final twist is shocking, touching and very sad. Tension mounts until it is almost unbearable, with the final pages allowing a number of further adventures - forty-two more, in fact.
Fantômas was written to a deadline, following a careful sequence decided beforehand by the two authors. It is important to remember that they went on to write nine more novels that year. That Fantômas is of such high quality is remarkable. I cannot personally vouch for the remaining forty odd novels, but the series certainly began on a high note. For fans of the crime/thriller genre, this novel is recommended to see where it all began. For fans of fine literature, this novel is recommended as an important novel in the progression from gothic to contemporary popular literature. Recommended for all, in other words.
six stars for fantomas.......2006-12-02
this novel is so much better than any Luopin's story Leblanc came up with. it's dark, it's mysterious, it's evil, it's irrational, and yet it makes a lot of sense.
the reader, i beg to disagree from a previous reader, can actually follow the development of the story and anticipate its narrative solutions. there are already enough clues on p. 59 to suspect that etienne rambert is not charles' father and he's actually fantomas, a suspicition which is further corroborated by M. Rambert's near certainty of Charles' guilt, by the fact that Alice Rambert is kept in an asylum and so on (p.183); it is obvious from the beginning that valgrand is instrumental in the liberation of Gurn/Fantomas and so on.
what makes this novel quite intriguing is not the fact that the reader has no clues, but it is instead the fact that reader is given too many clues: dr. swelding could have been fantomas brealing into the asylum to kill Alice Rambert, Gurn could have stayed in bed because -as far we know-he could have been killed by Fantomas and so on.
it is the infinite web of possible developments that makes this novel so captivating and so enjoyable after so many years.
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Someone noted that Juve's deductions are not as compelling as Holmes' or Poirot's. Interestingly, Juve makes clear (p.256) that once all that is impossible has been elimnated, what remains however improbable is the real solution. Holmes always had the same idea.
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finally: umberto eco and fellow semiotician sebeok, few years ago, wrote/edited a book on the sign of three--Dupin, Holmes and Peirce. they argue that Dupin and Holmes were not using deductions in their investigations, but were using instead what C.S. Peirce called abductions. The notion of 'abduction' is used twice (pp.60-61) in Fantomas.
The Pinnacle of Pulp Brilliance.......2006-08-27
Paris is the grip of fear. One name is at the root of this panic: "Fantomas." In a matter of days, a wealthy heiress is hacked to death in her room. A young guest, Charles Rambert stands accused by his own father of the crime, and commits suicide. A Russian princess is robbed in her room. An English lord, a veteran of the Boer War, goes missing. One detective, Juve, knows that Fantomas is the mastermind of so much misery. Can he unmask the criminal in time? Or is this all a figment of Juve's mind?
Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain's creation "Fantomas" is the pinnacle of pulp brilliance. He's one of the great literary super-villains, a shadowy crime-lord who "spreads terror" for the absolute pleasure of it. He doesn't want to rule the world. He makes his living from crime, but clearly enjoys the notoriety his crimes bring him. In a sense, Fantomas is a break-point between the fantastic qualities 19th century pulp, and the down-to-earth crime fiction of the mid-20th century.
The first novel is a rip-roaring ride of horror and intrigue, as Fantomas layers scheme upon scheme, murdering and stealing for the pleasure of it. A master of disguise, Fantomas moves through the novel as an ambiguity, appearing as various people, usually people he has murdered, forwarding his loathsome schemes. Juve, also a master of disguise, is obsessed with capturing the fiend. He also moves as a shadow, under the guise of beggars and criminals, investigating each lead that might bring Fantomas to the guillotine.
The novel is episodic, naturally, as it was originally serialized. There is an almost maddeningly number of interconnected plot-lines. Juve and Fantomas play a bloody game of cat and mouse, each hidden under impossible disguises. Fantomas' crimes alternate from being dashing and Robin-Hoodesque to terrifyingly violent and bloody. He murders because he can, willingly slaughtering dozens so as to do away with an assumed identity. While the writing is fairly overwrought, it is also quite lush and lurid, sweeping up the reader and leading them to compulsively read the next exciting episode, as cliffhangers abound and plot-twists litter the landscape.
Naturally, the character development is secondary. Each character is drawn in broad-strokes: the dogged, obsessed Juve; the mysterious, malign Fantomas; the hapless Charles Rambert, and; the pitiable victims who find themselves caught in Fantomas' web. Further, the narrative is not a single linear plot, but rather a tangled web of events, some of which are resolved quickly, others which are never adequately followed to their conclusion. More than anything, the authors were interested in excitement, and they give that to the reader in spades.
"Fantomas" is simply the first in a series of over 30 books. Sadly, the first one has only recently come back into print in English. Hopefully, more of adventures of this lurid, prototypical arch-villain will be available soon.
Super Villain!.......2004-09-26
This super villain captured the imagination of early 20th century France in a big way. He starred in a long running series of best selling novels that polite society refered to dimissively as "penny dreadfuls". Though considered trash by most educated folks, such fiction was extolled by the French surrealists as great reading. And it is. Look for work as bizarre or well crafted in bookshops today, & you'd be hardpressed to find it's equal.
Fantomas prefigures the post-modern fictions of Borges........1999-04-15
For some reason, Fantomas never figures in the genealogy of the detective story, where Borges, with his 1942 story 'Death and the compass'is credited with completely reversing the traditional elements of detective fiction (crime,investigation,solution, resolution), to create a new post-modern genre, 'anti-detective fiction', followed by Nabakov, Pynchon etc,which is characterised by a lack of or a compromised resolution, an unknowable world (Holmes, Poirot etc. always knew the world they operated in), and a hugely fallible detective who is unable to control the plot, and is usually destroyed by his own detection. Fantomas does all this 30 years earlier. In the first book, we don't even know who Fantomas is - there is enough textual evidence to suggest that he is not Etienne Rambert-Gurn, that we can never know who he is. We have only Juve's word for it, and he is constantly admitting that this may be a figment of his imagination. The form itself is also revolutionary - instead of following a single narrative to its resolution, the narrative is continually splintering, with different stories on the go at once. Juve manages to connect them all to Fantomas, but to accept this is to ignore the special contrapuntal magic of the text, which through repitition, doubling, mirroring, achieves a terrifying loss of control on the part of the reader, who is frequently in the dark as to which character is which. Even if Gurn is Fantomas, the ending is hardly the cosy resolution of Agatha Christie, say. An innocent man is executed, and a homicidal lunatic is on the loose. The predominant motif of the novel is of the theatre, acting, inventing a role - the result being a comprehensive deconstruction of any simplistic, holistic notions of identity, and therefore, perhaps, offering a more liberating way of looking at the world, one which does not depend on repressive dichotomies, such as good and evil. This novel, despite being indifferently written, is a masterpiece, which proves the superior power of the unconscious over the conscious artist.
Book Description
Fantômas rises from the grave (literally), having just escaped from the clutches of the Hangman of London, and leads his two nemeses, Policeman Juve and Journalist Fandor, on a wild chase that takes them from a plague-infested ocean liner to the deadly wastes of the South African Transvaal. Their goal: to rescue the only person the Lord of Terror truly loves: his daughter, the beautiful Hélène... Never before translated, classic crime novel THE DAUGHTER OF FANTÔMAS, originally written in 1911, is adapted by Mark P. Steele.
Customer Reviews:
The revival of a great pulp villain.......2006-09-14
Fantomas, a major character of French detective fiction, has long been overlooked in the English market. During World War I and the 1920's, there were about 13 translations of various novels. Then suddenly the character became forgotten. Despite his brief spurt of popularity in the USA and the UK, Fantomas was a major influence on pulp literature. American heroes like The Shadow and the Spider can be seen as benign versions of the French character. Fantomas-like evildoers populated the pages of books by British thriller writers like Sapper (see the Bulldog Drummond novel, TEMPLE TOWER).
THE DAUGHTER OF FANTOMAS is the first English translation of a pivotal novel that drops tantalizing hints about the arch-fiend's origins in the Boer War and introduces a major character, Helene, the mastermind's offspring. The book is extremely fast-paced and features bizarre acts of villainy such as the unleashing of bubonic plague on an ocean liner.
Reason to Rejoice for Fantomas Fans.......2006-08-28
Although thrilled at the prospect of the first English translation of a Fantomas novel in more than seventy years, I ordered this book with some trepidation. The cover illustration and the term "adapted" led me to believe that perhaps the story had been "updated," which would have amounted to an abomination more horrible than anything conceived or carried out by the Lord of Terror himself.
Happily, the translator, Mark Steele, has kept the story in period. While it is hard to judge the quality of a translation without having read the original, it seems that Steele has done a more than creditable job. The text flows smoothly and makes for a lively read. Some passages have a summary feeling, but whether this is because the translation is taken from one of the abridged editions of the French text, Steele has done some truncating of his own, or this is just the way Souvestre and Allain originally wrote this volume, I can't really say.
Souvestre and Allain had really hit their stride by this point in the series. With each succeeding volume they seemed to try to outdo themselves in inventiveness, in the gratuitous cruelty of their anti-hero, and in overall, over-the-top sensationalism. All are on fine display here. If the first book in the series is, as one critic has said, "an intoxicant," this is an intoxicant with a hallucinogenic chaser. Wonderful stuff.
The book has some nice extras including a bibliography of the Fantomas series and an informative introduction which includes a brief recounting of the saga prior to "The Daughter of Fantomas." The latter will prove particularly useful to newcomers.
With the appearance of this volume and the upcoming Fantomas in America from Black Coat, as well as new editions of "Fantomas" from Dover and "The Lord of Terror" from Ramble House, these are heady days for Fantomas aficionados. Most exciting of all is news that Black Coat plans to publish further translations from the original series (an excerpt from "The Night Cab" ("Le Fiacre de Nuit") appears at the end of this book). Here's hoping they enjoy more success than Morrow did with its translations in the 1980's, and that in the not-too-distant future we can look forward to the availability of all thirty-two of the original novels in English translation.
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Fantomas
Pierre Souvestre , and
Marcel Allain
Manufacturer: Brentano's
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: B000MOLS6Y |
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Fantomas Contra Los Vampiros Multinacionales
Julio Cortazar
Manufacturer: Destino Ediciones
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 9507320350 |
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Fantomas Se Venge
Pierre Souve , and
Marcel llain
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: B000RJXT70 |
Book Description
The right men . . .
Elisabeth McCartney returned to her family home seeking comfort. But she never dreamed that the journey would help her escape -- from the present. Without warning, Elisabeth finds herself one hundred years in the past, in the home of Dr. Jonathan Fortner. With Jonathan, Elisabeth discovers an unforgettable passion. But she knows too well that nothing can last forever. For Elisabeth understands that the future holds tragedy -- and that she alone has the power to save the man she loves. But will saving Jonathan mean that they are destined to be separated by time?
The wrong time . . .
Rue Claridge doesn't know what happened to her cousin Elisabeth, but she's determined to find out. The authorities have dismissed Elisabeth's disappearance, but Rue is convinced that something strange has happened. Even so, Rue never suspected that finding Elisabeth would land her right in the past -- and in jail, compliments of Marshal Farley Haynes. The local sheriff doesn't know what to make of this trouser-wearing, poker-playing woman, but he's definitely intrigued. When he discovers her world, thought, he finds himself torn between a past he must honor . . . And a future with Rue.
Customer Reviews:
Enjoy!.......2006-01-23
I have these stories in two separate books. I read the first one then looked for a sequel in hopes that there was one. I was pleasantly surprised to find it and that Elizabeth and Rue have their own story and meet again for one last time. I have reread and reread these stories. They are good escapes especially with what I have had to deal with. Makes one want to go back somewhere in time also.
Miller writes some of the best time travel fiction!.......2003-07-11
It was nice to pick up a book with two time travel novels bundled together. Both were quick, fun reads. I loved that they were both connected. She builds in a real sense of urgency concerning the necklace that sends people back and forth in time. There's plenty of excitement in these two novels.
If you love Linda..........2003-04-18
I have yet to be dissappointed by anything Ms. Miller composes, and if you're thinking a reading this book, I certainly do recommend it. I found it extremely enjoyable and it's maybe the tenth or so novel of Ms. Miller's I've read. As always, I laughed at loud at parts, especially when Rue thought she could never love, let alone be attracted to a man named Farley, but...well, I'll leave that to you. I hope you enjoy it.
Average customer rating:
- Well worth tracking down a copy!
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Light Beyond the Darkness: The Healing of a Suicide Across the Threshold of Death
Dore Deverell
Manufacturer: Temple Lodge Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0904693805 |
Customer Reviews:
Well worth tracking down a copy!.......2000-05-29
Actually, this book is NOT out of print -- as of this writing, it's listed on Amazon.co.uk as being available from the British publisher. Hopefully it will again be available in the USA, too, but if not, it's well worth the extra effort to import a copy if you are dealing with the question of suicide.
When the author's son, Richard, committed suicide in 1982, she was totally devastated. His life had been very painful, with both physical and mental illness, and he had reached a point where he no longer felt life was worth living. Like all mothers who lose a child, Dore Deverell wished she could have done more for him while he was alive, so that he would not have given up hope. It wasn't really her fault that he killed himself, but she still felt guilty in her grief.
Was it possible that she could now help his soul after death?
Dore's Roman Catholic upbringing had taught her that suicide was a mortal sin, and that there is not much hope for the souls of suicides in the next world, but she refused to accept that. She prayed for him daily, and began a personal search for better answers. She discovered the teachings of Austrian-born philosopher Rudolf Steiner (Anthroposophy) which suggested that one can help the souls of the dead to progress in the next world, by reading to them from inspirational writings. So she began to read to Richard as if he were still alive and in the room with her.
The technique worked. She claims she could sense him in the room, and that his soul became lighter and more free of the depression that had caused him to take his life. Eventually, the soul that was Richard reincarnated as a baby girl named Maria. Dore believes her prayers and reading lessons helped him to get past the karma of the suicide, to continue on his spiritual journey in a new and, hopefully happier, incaernation.
Whether or not you believe in reincarnation, this book has many good parts about dealing with the suicide of a friend or loved one. This is a mother's story, written from the depths of her heart, and her love for him really shows. The tragedy of Richard's life as she tells it is soul--wrenching, but it's a good catharsis also. It's also a testimony to the power of prayer.
I have one complaint about the book which may sound nitpicky to some, but it bugged me, so here it is: On page 117-18, she suggests prayers and religious material for reading out loud to deceased souls, saying: "The material must be spiritually inspired, e.g., the New Testament (especially the Gospel of John), all of Ralph Waldo Emerson's work, the Bhagavad Gita, biographies of saints. I chose Rudolf Steiner's work because he gives the most comprehensive truth about the cosmos and human being and their connections and purpose."
OK, so Deverell is an Anthroposophist, and I can accept that she finds Steiner's work to be "the most comprehensive" among her suggestions. And those other "spiritually inspired" sources are probably good, too. (I'll assume she skipped the more antisemitic parts of the Gospel of John). But notice she names only the NEW Testament as being "spiritually inspired," thereby shutting out anything Jewish in the Bible. HELLO? Hasn't she ever been inspired by the opening chapters of Genesis? The Psalms? The Prophet Isaiah?
OK, the omission of Jewish texts probably wasn't on purpose, and I suppose reading "lives of saints" could include Jewish saints, too. But, since I'm a real stickler for inclusiveness of Jews in books that claim to be "universal," I docked her a star for that blooper. So, four stars it is.
Customer Reviews:
Slip is showing.......2005-07-15
The motivation of people who hoarsely criticize their previous religious organization is already well-known by science. It's all about self-redemption or what psychologists call "self-justification." Science has a clinical term for them: apostates. It is not derogatory. It is a Greek term which means "standing away."
Please see what Reader Emeritus of Sociology, Bryan Wilson of Oxford University (1981) has to say (the quote is from Wikipedia so its free content):
Apostates of new religious movements are generally in need of self-justification, seeking to reconstruct his own past and to excuse his former affiliations, while blaming those who were formerly their closest associates. Wilson introduces the atrocity story that is rehearsed by the apostate to explain how, by manipulation, coercion or deceit, he was recruited to a group that he now condemns. Wilson also challenges the reliability of the apostate's testimony by saying that "[apostates] always be seen as one whose personal history predisposes him to bias with respect to both his previous religious commitment and affiliations, the suspicion must arise that he acts from a personal motivation to vindicate himself and to regain his self-esteem, by showing himself to have been first a victim but subsequently to have become a redeemed crusader."
And what eminent scholar Prof. Wilson says is confirmed by many other scholars. Dr. Kliever, Professor of Religious Studies, says that apostates present a distorted view and cannot be regarded as reliable informants by responsible journalists, scholars, or jurists. He says that the reason for the lack of reliability of apostates is due to the traumatic nature of disaffiliation that he compares to a divorce. ("The Reliability of Apostate testimony about New Religious movements," 1995.)
I've also read what Massimo Introvigne, an international expert, has to say: There is what is called Type III naratives. These are "characterized by the ex-member dramatically reversing his loyalties and becomes a professional enemy of the organization he has left." This type of apostates are "a vociferous minority."
Dr. Kliever also says that the "overwhelming majority" of leavers "harbor no lasting ill will" against their previous religious organization...This is the situation of Opus Dei and many of the people who left it.
Carmen del Tapia's exposition of the supposed bad character of St. Josemaria --temper, obsession, crude language-- is contradicted by hundreds of other testimonies of people who knew him personally, and also knew Carmen del Tapia. That is why Escriva was canonized by John Paul II, a conclusion reached after going through the lengthiest canonization process in history in terms of materials submitted and number of sessions which included 11 former members.
To read this book is to spend time reading propaganda (defined as misleading information) and to live in an illusory world created by someone who has an axe to grind--a motivation which people with a scientific mind will easily spot.
I am sure Opus Dei itself forgives her and prays for her, smiling all the way. They have not said anything about the book. But science has....
Secret Life?.......2005-04-19
This is an excellent book if you have some experience of opus dei. I think it necessitates a certain knowledge of the organisation to fully understand some of the author's points. It is clear that the book is a cathartic experience for the author, allowing her to expunge years of bitterness at the way she was treated. However, it still pulls together as an interesting insight into opus dei, an organisation which seems to positively encourage a controversial image.
The most interesting parts of the book are, to my mind, the accounts of her dealings with the founder of opus dei, Josemaria Escriva. These stories of meglomania, mysogyny and barely concealed sexual perversion are not isolated when it comes to this character. There are many other independant accounts of similar behaviour by this man from other former members of this organisation ( no current member would ever speak detrimentally of this man who is regarded as a god-like figure within the sect).
I would recommend this book to anyone contemplating a life in opus dei or anyone who has some knowledge of the organisation. There is also a spanish website called opus libros which details the experiences of hundreds of former numerary members ( both male and female) of opus dei and gives a chilling insight into the kind of lives they had to live. I have read many accounts of people leaving opus dei and it would seem that, without exception, people are much happier outside the organisation than within it.
A good supplementary book from a different perspective. .......2005-03-24
Thanks to Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, I was inspired to read up on Opus Dei so that I could formulate my own opinions about it. I didn't know which book on Opus Dei to begin with and ended up purchasing this one because it was written by a woman who actually was an Opus Dei numerary.
Although this book didn't tell me in great detail about the whole history of Opus Dei, i.e., why and how it was established..etc., it did provide me with insight into the organization's functions, its many contradictions, its view of and treatment of Opus Dei women (compared to Opus Dei men) during its formation period, the type of people it sought to recruit, the founder's view of the Catholic Church...etc.
I gave it 4 stars since there aren't many books on Opus Dei women (correct me if I'm wrong) and I appreciate the author's effort in writing this book. Also, it's the first book I've read on Opus Dei and therefore, I cannot really say anything negative about the information contained in the book since I still do not know enough about the Founder, his principles (the Way), what inspired him to begin this organization, what the organization really stands for and the good it has done/produced, if any, to be able to make a proper evaluation of its content. It lacks the 5th star because some of the information was repetitive. Also, the book made references to Christian terms, practices...etc which would make it hard for someone who is not familiar with the religion, its practices and prayers...etc. to comprehend, although the lack of comprehension of such references does not take away from the information the author intended to provide. Further, the book makes several references to Spanish history during the author's time. So unless you know all about Spanish history during those times, you might be left wondering who so and so was, what he did and how important of a figure he was...etc. - again this doesn't take away from the information the author wanted to provide her readers with, but it does make reading the book slightly difficult.
If you are looking for a book on the whole history of Opus Dei, from its founder and its roots to present-day modus operandi, then this book is not the one for you. It is, however, a good supplementary book, especially if you are looking for information from a different perspective.
Harmful twisting of truth.......2003-01-22
This book is a harmful twisting of the truth, it does not uncover truth but distorts it, confusing the reader and possibly leading them to believe things that are not true. Honestly, I do not understand why the author went to such measures to ruin the organization's reputation, making this book worthless.
Bravo to Maria Del Carmen Tapia.......2002-04-18
Bravo to Maria del Carmen Tapia for being a trailblazer for all those who have been hurt by Opus Dei. By speaking out, she has started the process of demystifying the cult-like and secretive organization in the Catholic Church. Chapter 7, "Rome II -- Return to the Unknown" is a gripping tale of her imprisonment in Rome by the founder of Opus Dei. Her crime? She used her critical thinking skills as an Opus Dei director in Venezuela. A must-read for anyone who wants to learn to what extent Opus Dei controls the lives of their numerary members.
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Beyond Limits?: Dealing with Chemical Risks at Work in Europe
David Walters , and
Karola Grodzki
Manufacturer: Elsevier Science
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0080448585 |
Book Description
Nearly one third of all occupational diseases recognised annually in the EU are related to exposure to chemical substances and it is widely accepted that this represents only a small fraction of the full extent of harm caused by occupational exposure to hazardous substances. The European chemical industry is the largest in the world but it is by no means the only source of occupational exposure to chemical hazards, because chemical products are both used and are bi-products in many diverse forms of work.
This book is a study of strategic approaches to managing the risks of working with hazardous substances in Europe. Its central theme concerns the widening gap between debates and developments at national and international levels concerning safety in the use of chemical substances at work in the European Union and practices within workplaces
especially within the small and medium-sized workplaces that constitute the vast majority of establishments in which people work in Europe. It sets out to discover what drives informed and competent risk management in chemical health and safety and what role occupational exposure limits play in this process.
The subject is particularly topical in the light of emerging strategies on chemical risks at EU level, the future impact of REACH and the significant changes that are occurring in legislative approaches to setting and using exposure limits at national levels in most EU countries. The continuing expansion of the Community to include a range of new member states, with chemical health and safety systems that are considerably less sophisticated than those presently found in northern European member states, makes the book especially timely. It deals with a subject that is a core concern of national and EU level policy makers, regulators, OHS practitioners, employers and trade unions alike.
The Authors
David Walters is TUC Professor of Work Environment at Cardiff University and formerly Professor of Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety at South Bank University.
Karola Grodzki, at the time her research for this book was undertaken, was Research Fellow at the Centre for Industrial and Environmental Safety and Health, South Bank University. She is currently employed by the European Commission.
The views expressed in the book are purely those of the author/writer and may not in any circumstances be regarded as stating the official position of the European Commission.
Product Description
Photographs of 17th, 18th, and early 19th century New England homes. A variety of architectural features and decorating with period furniture and accessories are pictured.
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