"The Children's Story," by James Clavell, is a short book that could be read in one brief sitting. It takes place in an elementary school classroom in the United States after the country has been conquered by some nameless foreign power. The story follows the initial re-education of the children by their new teacher.

This book reads very much like a product of the Cold War era, when many feared the possibility of ultimate Soviet domination. The story is written with a subtly chilling, "Twilight Zone"-like flavor; it reminded me of Ayn Rand's short book "Anthem." Ultimately, Clavell's scenario plays out a little too neatly to be truly believable. But the story is undeniably thought-provoking. And even with the U.S./U.S.S.R. Cold War now a thing of the past, "The Children's Story" is still worth reading.

For years, I have carried the words of The Children's Story with me, and shared them with as many people as possible. With its roots in words we have taken for granted for years, Clavell forces us to look at all we, as Americans, hold precious, and how vulnerable we are without truly understanding the meaning of that which we espouse. A simple reiiteration of the Pledge of Allegiance, taught to first graders across the country, goes deeper than teaching just the words. Set in "small town anywhere", the story of children in a classroom taken over after a military invasion, this powerful piece takes us to the core of our beliefs, and makes us aware, more than ever, of the true meaning of "allegiance". From the cutting up of the American flag in the opening pages, we are consistently challenged and reawakened. The book teaches us to expect the unexpected, to appreciate our heritage, and to take nothing for granted. A simple, but moving piece of work that should be taken out of the closet, dusted off, and kept on the shelf to be read again and again!

Ever since my own children were small, I have taken out The Children's Story and reread it together with them each and every Memorial Day. I have bought more copies than I can count, and given them to friends, students, and book clubs. I am proud to say that my son, a Firefighter, immediately following the tragedy of September 11th, donated 100 copies to local schools in hopes that reading and discussing it will help reignite an interest and pride in the words we speak from memory, seldom give much thought to, but will never again take for granted.

A fellow teacher recommended I read this book about 10 years ago, and I did - thankfully. It is provocative and compelling. It hit me like a board between the eyes. Not only are our children so easily molded,so are we - by anyone or any individual or institution that we allow to manipulate us, especially television, movies, the media, this story itself. It reminds me of another obscure little book I found at a library used book sale for a quarter - and it had the same profound effect on me: Ways of Living and Dying by Harry Jonesburg, Les Livres, Inc., 1992. These books are not for the faint of heart! Do yourself a favor and read them both. I am 52 years old and I am just now beginning to understand how much my thought has been manipulated all my life. The Children's Story was instrumental in that awakening. What I learned from that story: Democracy has its price. Clavell has shown me quite clearly how far freedom of expression can take us as a people. He has shown me that "democracy" is a philosophy that by its very nature defies definition.

"Japan : True Stories of Life on the Road" is a collection of anecdotal stories told by people who have journeyed to Japan.

The strength of the book lies in the different points of view. Each traveler experienced a different Japan and has different things to say about the country and it's people. Some of the tales are funny, some are serious and some are informative. The book has a nice balance of styles, and there is very little replication. What is it like to go to a Love Hotel? What do you do when you are served living squid for dinner? What is a Kabuki play like? These are the type of questions answered by this book.

It's weakness lies in the fact that many of these tales have been published elsewhere. If you have read many books on Japan, chances are you will have already read many of these stories. Several selections from "Learning to Bow," "Dave Barry does Japan" and "36 Views of Mt. Fuji" are here.

All in all, it is a good book, and worth reading.

For the casual travelogue reader (or someone with varried interests in Japan), this book is quite good. But you must keep in mind that all of the stories are short -- many of them were taken from longer travelogues and books. Sometimes I found myself wanting more. And I thought that some of the writings were by unexperienced, travelers with a Western bias and a limited understanding of Japan. But this is a great introdction to experienced Japan travel writers such as Alan Booth and Cathy Davidson. And many of the travelogues in this book (though short) are very well written. Booth's poignent piece about his experience in Hiroshima is wonderful. The short observation by Pico Iyer about English in Japan is downright hilarious, and Michael Ward's detailed description about missing the last train is very detailed and is a common dilema for the foregin traveler in Japan. Yes, I would recommend this book. However if you are truly interested in Japan, I think you would also enjoy some longer travelogues.

This is a great book! Like all of the other Travelers' Tales Guides, it is well edited - filled with interesting, finely crafted stories by both well-known and newer writers. Keep in mind that if you've done a lot of reading on Japan (like me reading travel narratives on Japan in preparation for the JET program), you've probably already read some of the books that are excerpted in this book - Cathy Davidson's 36 Views of Mt. Fuji, Learning to Bow by Bruce Feiler, Pico Iyer's The Lady and the Monk... But overall, this is a great introduction to Japan and a nice selection of viewpoints for those of us who have already done some reading.

The fields of Data Mining and Information Retrieval are incredibly complex and deep subject areas even when they are divorced from the structure of the world wide web. If the world wide web is viewed as a giant data base, it is without a doubt the most complex data base which has ever existed.

A major problem is getting a grasp on the synthesis of these three fields, DM, IR, and WWW technology. Even current research in DM is distributed among gropus of people with such diverse backgrounds effective communication of research results across groups is extremely difficult.

This book has taken the major concepts from these three fields and organized them in outline form. The outline cuts just deep enough to be meaningful and never too deeply to "lose" the reader. For the serious student, this book provides a Christmas tree on which other books can hang like ornaments.

Obviously, I think very highly of this book. It is not the "be all and the end all", but it fills an important niche. ... Almost limits it to library and other institutional purchases. Which is a shmae because I'm sure every worker in WWWIR&DM would like to have a copy on their shelves.

BTW, the bibliography isn't bad either, and, includes many www URLs, a must for any truly useful bibliography in todays environment. The search engines just aren't good enough yet to give you all the URLs you need. But, then, improving them is part of why there is so much active research in WWWDM&IR.

Feel free to write the author of this review (Dr. Jack Aiken, PhD)...

This is a nice introductory book, short and well written. Don't expect any details, it is only an outline. It does a good job of covering terminology, and suggesting additional reading, but it isn't a primary resource itself.

The book is divided into 3 sections. The first is on 'information retrieval' (IR), the second on data mining, and the third describes a 'case study.'

According to the authors, IR is engaged in storage, retrieval, organization and display of unstructured or ambiguous file structures. Research is currently engaged in classifying, filtering, modeling, query design and user interface issues. The key question for IR is 'relevance' assessment. Each topic gets at least a few paragraphs, some a few pages.

The authors differentiate data mining from IR in terms of focus. A data mining project is designed specifically for finding hidden structure (whatever that means), while IR might be characterized as the 'quick and dirty query.' This is a bit confusing, but the emphasis on terminology makes it unimportant. Most of the data mining section is a review of various measures used to determine the existence of associations. This includes some simple formulas. Also, there is a section on webcrawlers and text mining.

Though the book is titled 'mining the www', the largest section is IR, what most would call 'search engines.' Mining itself gets only about 1/4 of the book.

The case study is fairly brief, but outlines a way to structure a simple project.

The book contains a nice bibliography.

This is a very neat book that gets you started with broad knowledge
about what you can do with the overwhelming World Wide Web.
If you are curious about what are behind those search engines and
how can these "things" get you stuck in front of
your computer around the clock, this is the book for you.
It not only tells you how these "things" work,
but also calms you a little bit by telling you that
those guys who developed these "things" REALLY tried hard to
get you what you want and in the meantime save you some time :)
The best part is that you don't need to know many theories and
you still get some sense about the devils who drive these engines.
If you are a professional who wants to know where to read about the
"know how", this book could be a good starting point.
It not only gives you a good survey of what is going on,
but also provides you with 286 references that guide you
to what you need to know next.
If you are a graduate student who wants to start a project
on the subject, this book could save you some time.
It takes you only couples of hours to scan through it.
By the end, you would probably know where to dig deeper or
you might get burnt and choose a different subject.
One thing I was wondering was that the authors didn't go further
in many aspects. Some subsections have only four to five sentences.
These could be spaces to extend.

I bought this book because I had already read "The Dragon at War" (not knowing that there were any others in the series), so it was kind of neat to see how Jim (the main character) meets each of his companions. Each of the characters has his or her own little personality quirks, making them all stand apart from one another.

One thing that I really didn't like about this book was that the very beginning, when Jim and Angie are in the 20th century, seems rushed. This is probably because this part of the story has very little bearing on the rest (and is less interesting), but it was enough to notice.

I have the next book in the series, "The Dragon Knight" and can't wait to get into it.

This book, like Anne McCaffrey's "The Dragonriders' of Pern" books, is about dragons. But this time, the human doesn't _ride_ a dragon, he _is_ a dragon! "The Dragon and the George" is about Jim Eckert, who has transported through astral projection into a parallel 14th century world, with talking wolves, dragons, and Mages. He has gone back to rescue his fiancee, Angie, who had also gone back to this world. But unlike Angie, Jim is in the body of a dragon! This book is not only interesting in that Jim compares the 20th century world to wear he is now, but the fact that he has been transported into the body of the dragon Gorbash makes it all the more interesting! It makes you wonder what it would be like to be a dragon for a while, and in a way, it lets you know the answer! It has an interesting, humorous plot, and I'd recommend it to anyone.

Ah, yes. Just the name, "Jim Eckert" brings back whole fleets of nostalgic memories. I first read The Dragon and the George way back when, when my dear father bought me the entire set, in hardback. It must have set him back a bundle, but I could see that he knew I enjoyed it. As I was perusing the archives of Amazon.com, then, I called up those abovementioned nostalgic memories and just had to write a review up. If you read just one more book this year, make it The Dragon and the George. If you read seven or eight more, make it the entire series! Gordon Dickson is, without a doubt, the most enticing fantasy writer I have ever had the privelige to read the work of. His research is impeccable, which is a rare thing in fantasy writers---authors, I should say---and the way he spins the fabric of the story is a true mark of a Master in his trade.

I got my first copy of this book in 1993 in a home-grown photocopy shop edition. It is a real pleasure to see the book has matured, through three editions, to a beautiful, high quality hard cover edition. About content? If you gather and organize all of the notes and remarks and instructions about the A.'.A.'. from every Aleister Crowley book you've ever seen, you will be close to having the sparse skeleton of this book by James Eshelman -- but very little of its flesh. Life is breathed into it by the many years of the author's personal experience in the A.'.A.'. grades as aspirant, and later as teacher to others. He not only knows the facts, but really understands the system of magick, mysticism, and spiritual progress, and explains it so the reader can understand it too. The book rocks! Eshelman is the clearest and most intelligent writer on Thelema in the last 20 years. His work is solidly grounded in the traditions -- he has always been known for doing his homework -- but he also reaches past the traditional. While others are indulging in reprint after reprint (usually of someone else's work!), he is known for building on the foundations of his predecessors without simply disregarding them or attempting to demolish them. You won't see as much of the innovative in this particular work, since its main purpose seems to be to explain and deliver the A.'.A.'. system, step by step, as established by its founders, Aleister Crowley and George Cecil Jones. Too much author innovation would have weakened this particular book; but, as an example, he's the first writer I have ever seen remark that all of the various themes and tasks traditional to the 6=5 Grade (Adeptus Major) are summarized in the doctrines of Karma Yoga. By mentioning this, he makes all of those themes come alive. He's the only one to explain clearly what Liber Mysteriorum is, and its relationship to the Dominus Liminis grade tasks. The 6=5 and 7=4 chapters are much expanded and improved compared to the first edition seven years ago; they seem to come much more from personal experience and understanding, whereas they used to sound much more theoretical (as they probably were back then). The book itself is very well made. The binding, in particular, looks as if it will last a lifetime. This new edition has 70-80 photographs and illustrations, is very well organized, and both practical and inspiring. I wish it had an index, but will have to settle for a very complete Table of Contents.

I've been a student of Aleister Crowley's writings for over 30 years. This book is the best of its kind! Never, until now, have I read so much solid information on Thelemic magick and mysticism between two covers. Mr. Eshelman has described the A.'.A.'. grades, as his title says, "step by step." He describes a thorough course of spiritual training leading from the earliest beginning stages to the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel -- what other systems might call conscious union with God -- and beyond. It's hard to get complete information on these topics, even if you read every Crowley book there is. But he has it all here. Plenty of solid information, packed from beginning to end. What I liked best: It's a comprehensive discussion of the A.'.A.'. training and testing in magick, yoga, and Kabbalah. Yet at the same time, the book has personality! You get a clear feeling that there are real people doing this miraculous magical and spiritual work today -- not just some obscure dead people -- real 21st Century folks. And you get some flavor of what they might be like. It's clear that this is a living tradition, not a curio of history. I'm glad he didn't sterilize it to death. There is also plenty of new perspective and insight so that even old, familiar information is made new and fascinating. And he avoided the politicization which has so often marred writings on this sort of topic, focussing on the work and its principles rather than on squabbles of personalities. And yes, like other reviewers have said, the book is very nicely made. I'd like to have a few more quality hardcovers like this in my library. Especially when they're as good on the inside as on the outside, like this one.

Following the schism of 1900, when the original Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (one of the 19th century's most advanced organizations of practicing magicians) broke apart into separate groups, the young Aleister Crowley, a high grade initiate of the Order, became disallusioned. Feeling that the Order had abrogated its spiritual mandate in favor of internal social friction, Crowley left Europe in a search for the roots of that mandate. Returning to England in 1909, Crowley reformulated the spiritual system of the original Golden Dawn, amplifying it with eastern yoga techniques he had studied with Saivites in India and Buddhists in Sri Lanka. The result is one of the West's most uncompromising, comprehensive and sophisticated courses of spiritual cultivation. This book is a detailed presentation of that course of training, whose name Crowley concealed by the initials A.'.A.'.. Following Crowley's death in 1947, the original A.'.A.'. organization has gradually evolved and expanded to encompass a number of independently operating lineages, who look to the original system's structure to guide their modern operations. This A.'.A.'. system is probably one of the most talked about and least understood aspects of the Crowley legacy. This book goes a very long way towards righting that imbalance - by presenting the founder's normative conception of the Order's sequence of work. Each grade from Student through Exempt Adept is discussed in turn, always with an eye towards the actual practice of the requisite tasks. The insight this provides into the architecture and spiritual intent of the system is tremendous. I first aquired the older 2nd edition of this book in 1997, and it changed and deepened my entire understanding of Thelemic Magick. That edition was spiral bound and privately distributed. This welcome new edition has been extensively augmented with additional text, professional binding, and lavish illustrations. In many ways it is finally getting the presentation it deserves. The author, James Eshelman, has been an initiate of A.'.A.'. for over 20 years and is a student of Phyllis Seckler, who at 84 (in 2000) is one of the seniormost living representatives of A.'.A.'., having been initiated in the 1930's. The Jane Wolfe, or Soror Estai lineage of A.'.A.'. which derives through Phyllis and her own teacher Jane Wolfe has been initiating now for something like 30 years, and Eshelman therefore brings his own and his lineage's experience to the text. The book is not written only for Estai initiates, however, though it does provide much facinating information on the history and protocols of the author's own A.'.A.'. line. The book details the normative system as laid out by its' founders which is held in common, at least in spirit if not always in practice, by all A.'.A.'. groups. There is also prevision for solo individual working of the system. My highest recommendation.

The pets that are staying at Chateau Bow Wow want to escape before something terrible is about to happen. I liked the book very much because it had great descriptions that you cant picture in your mind. You are surprised at what's going to happen. It makes you want to keep reading until you find out what happens to the characters. It is also funny. There are other books by this author. The books are Bunnicula, Howliday Inn, The Celery Stalks at Midnight, and Nighty-Nightmare.

Harold, Chester, and Howie are at it again. The Monroes' are going on vacation, and the rabbit, Bunnicula, is going to one of his friend's house. Meanwhile, Chester, the cat, Harold, and Howie, the dogs, are going to Chateau Bow-Wow, what they call Howliday Inn. There's a big mystery going on, can you solve it? You can solve the mystery with Harold, Chester, and Howie by reading this book.

A great book for anyone, young and old. Chester, Howie, and Harold are back at the dreaded Howliday Inn. There's new charecters, such as a couple new dogs, and even a weasle! A ghost dog tells them to beware of the secret of Howliday Inn... Escape while you can... But what is it? Read this amazing, humorous, and mesterious book to find out.

When I saw the page I recognized the cover of the book, but I could not believe what people were actually writing about it.

First I want to say that I am an undergraduate biotechnology student. I have a very strong background in biochemistry, cell biology, molecular biology, tissue culture techniques, and immunology; but I have not had any classes dealing with anatomy or physiology since Bio 101 way back when. I have read and am quite comfortable with Alberts Molecular Biology of the Cell and Stryers Biochemistry, and even a handful of primary journal articles, so I do know how to read a textbook.

Now with that out of the way, let me say that this book is completely incomprehensible. It is so full of anatomy and Latin derived words (which it does a poor job at explaining BTW) that I can only assume that it was meant for medical students, and to have physiology an a prerequisite for it, but it doesn't even have an introduction describing the recommended background or whom it is supposed to be for. In fact, most of the book is devoted to the physiology of sensation and movement, not neurobiology. Now if you have the background for it and thats what you are looking for then it is a very thorough text that goes into a lot of depth.

If you are looking to understand the biochemistry or molecular aspects of neurobiology, find another book!

As an undergraduate Psychobiology student, this text served me well in my Neuroscience course. In all honesty I never went. I just read this book. I got excellent marks in the class. As a serious slacker and bibliophile, I recommend this textbook for any like-minded student.

As an undergraduate Neuroscience major I found this textbook to be highly informative and well-written. It was used to a Freshman-level course, and was easy to understand, yet thorough and interesting. The graphics are well done, and the format is better than most textbooks I'm used to. Anyone, even with minimal science experience could dive right in and learn a great deal. It may not be advanced enough, however, for grad or medical students. As a reference it does okay, but there are more-advanced texts which would probably do better. All-in-all it is an excellent book. In-fact, I liked it so much that I didn't sell it back at the end of the semester and keep it on my bookshelf for future reference (and future classes!)

A good solid, word for word translation of Apollodorus's collection of classical myths. Frazer's references to other similar tales is a great resource for folklorists and classics, both advanced and beginning scholars. The dry, simple text reflects the economy of the original well.

Frazer was one of the great scholars of mythology and his translations and research has laid the foundations in the field of classical mythology. His addition to the Loeb Library is an excellent word for word translation supplemented with references to related tales from other lands. A great reference for both the classicist and the folklorist.

This is a unique set of books, with a very capable translator.

Apollodorus is not of course simply 'mythology'. It is much more a set of memories about the intelect of prehistoric Europe.

More specific, It offers the european version of the Hebrew old testament. Exactly as middle east culture was different from the european (ie Greek) so is this set of books different from the 'old testament'. Fist it has no religious content. Gods are portrayed after the patriarchical (?) prehistoric families and their relations perhaps gives us a glimpse of the life in these families.

In addition, there is an 'explanation' for the universe, the earth ,the civilization, the various people and their genealogies. (this is Pre-philosophical thinking).

One can also find a conception of the usefull and great man (the hero), info about male-female relations, about the worries and hopes of the prehistoric man.

Read these books, not only you will be educated but also entertained (this book does this very difficult combination to come almost natural!).

Finally, if Plato, Aristotle, Euclid etc are the 'mind' of Europe these books is definitely its SOUL.

Jan Morris is a fascinating personality. She originally was a he, and he was a guardsman in the British army, an officer from a good family. He left the service, became a historian, and then went to Denmark or wherever, and came back a she. She now writes unusual, affecting, eccentric, entertaining books that are terribly British and a bit disorganized. The Pax Brittanica trilogy is her life's work, near enough, though she's done other books that are very good. This one, however, is three volumes long, quite involved and very detailed. The series includes Heaven's Command, Pax Britannica, and Farewell the Trumpets. The first generally deals with the Empire in the 1840s on, the second follows things through the thirties, and the third follows the empire through its disbandment.

As I said, Morris is eccentric. This means that though the books are sort of chronological, they aren't exactly sorted the way you would expect, and this isn't really a history of the empire or the era. Instead, it's an anecdotal collection of tales, incidents, and sketches, marvelously told. Sort of like the difference between going through a cafeteria once and a sumptuous buffet where you go back and forth, taking time with what you enjoy. I thoroughly enjoyed the books, though I would hesitate to recommend them to someone who wasn't clear on either geography, or at least some basic history of the British Empire. Since this isn't either of those, you need them to understand what she's talking about occasionally.

I just completed the final volume of James Morris' trilogy. The writing is superb. Although not as good as volume one (Heaven's Command), this book is well worth keeping. As usual; my only quibble is that there are no pictures in the Harcourt set that I have. That takes away a star.

Even if you haven't read the other two volumes in the Pax Britannica trilogy, Farewell the Trumpets is a must-buy. It's worth it just to read the brilliant eulogy for Winston Churchill, where in one chapter Morris does better job of capturing this man and his place in history than lesser authors could do in a whole volume.

My recommendation is to take your time and savor this book. Like Heaven's Command and Pax Britannica, Farewell the Trumpets is episodic in its presentation, each chapter a self-contained nugget, so that you can enjoy dipping into it frequently.

A friend of mine recommended this book that she had just shared with her fifth grade son. I bought it, I read it, I cried, I loved it. When my step-daughter became an RN in a pediatric ward I reluctantly passed it on to her, but thought I really should. Now I have a friend in Germany who has a new grandbaby(here in the states) born four months early. The baby is now a little over two months old. She has started to gain weight, but still has a long way to go. I thought my friend and her husband as well as the baby's parents SHOULD HAVE a copy of this book.

I lost a grand baby and was told about this book while he was in the hospitol. I read it (before Kaleb died) and cried, Kaileb weighed the same as Big George. Reading the book did make me realize that he was an angel that God gave us for a short time on this earth to love .Oh how we loved him ,it also showed us how much nurses go thru caring for these babies, and how much they hurt when they lose one.They are very special people. God is always in control. He taught us that life is so precious and we can't take it for granted not for one second. Reading this book made me realize Kaleb was a little person thou he couldn't speak or make a sound he had feeling just like you and me. My daughter was a wonderful mother being at Kaleb's side and I don't know how she did it watching him die a little each day but I do know God gave her the strength .I was only a grand parent I know what I went tru.We would talk to him and I know he heard us when we told him it was time to go and he put up a good fight and that we loved him .He looked at me when I talked to him like he knew it was time. Shortly after that we went.The book gave me comfort.It changed my attitude about life.being more caring for others.there will always be a part of Kaleb with me.Reading the book made me feel better about letting Kaleb go.Reading Big George made me cry but i would buy the book and tell others about it too.

I was given this book by a friend I met in support group. The hospital had given it to her when her 1-yr-old died. I found the book to be very comforting, and it brought tears to my eyes. It is a very religious book, and although I am not a regular attender of church, it made me certain that my son, who died as a preemie after only 27 days, was also an angel. I plan to buy several copies to give to other mothers I meet in support groups. It is a very short book and can be read in less than a couple hours, but has a powerful message to those who are grieving.