I am sorry that my travails with course books have turned into such a mailbox-cluttering, major issue in this forum. Let me point out that I did NOT find Roderick Phillips' intervention "offensive", just inappropriate as a matter for general publication to the world at large. I did not use the word "offensive", and am not the sort of brute who would fire off accusations like that, about someone I do not know, to the entire community. Naturally I have continued to do everything possible at this end to track down my textbooks, and my trusty bookstore owner has been successful in finding them in New Jersey, as has subsequently been posted from other sources. Things are looking up, and I hope that we can revert to discussing the content of books, rather than the difficulty of obtaining them. Best wishes, Geoffrey Giles Professor Geoffrey J. Giles Department of History P.O. Box 117320 University of Florida Gainesville FL 32611-7320 Phone: (352)-392-0271 Fax: (352)-379-0935 E-mail: [log in to unmask] Home pages: http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/ggiles/