Sin duda es una de las mejores novelas que jamás se han escrito.
En ella se puede encontrar un relato sobre las guerras
napoleónicas y la participación de Rusia en ellas, pero también
un retrato de la vida de la alta sociedad rusa de la época. Estas
situaciones tan diversas están narradas con una gran viveza.
Aprovechando el trasfondo histórico de la novela, Tolstoi nos
proporciona también sus visiones sobre la Historia y
el papel que los hombres representan en ella. Estas impresiones

no rompen la narración, sino que la complementan de forma
magistral.
El gran volumen de la novela puede asustar a algunos lectores,
pero en el caso de esta novela merece la pena: cada página se
lee con verdadero placer.

Sin duda es una de las mejores novelas que jamás se han escrito.
En ella se puede encontrar un relato sobre las guerras
napoleónicas y la participación de Rusia en ellas, pero también
un retrato de la vida de la alta sociedad rusa de la época. Estas
situaciones tan diversas están narradas con una gran viveza.
Aprovechando el trasfondo histórico de la novela, Tolstoi nos
proporciona también sus visiones sobre la Historia y
el papel que los hombres representan en ella. Estas disgresiones
no rompen la narración, sino que la complementan de forma
magistral.

El gran volumen de la novela puede asustar a algunos lectores,
pero en el caso de esta novela merece la pena: cada página se
lee con verdadero placer.

Every time we walk into our neighborhood bookstore, my son runs over to find "Haunted Castle." I guess it started when the book originally caught my eye, and so I picked it up. I'm an artist, and the drawings are so detailed and intruiging that it drew me in immediately. To top it off, there's a game to be played throughout the book that both my son and I found extremely innovative. In it, Johnny and Jodie have to find their Uncle Barnaby, and so the journey takes you through the many twists, characters, and wonderful drawings where in the end you really don't know if you're going to actually find him. Because my son is not at the reading level the book displays, it's a great way to spend some quality time together without the TV on! I would reccomend "Haunted Castle" to you if you're one to appreciate tallented illustration, great ideas in writing, and enjoy sharing story time with your children.

Haunted Castle is a book that lets you choose your own path through a terrifying castle. Every time you read the book, the story changes because of the decicions you make. The richly detailed illustrations will keep you entertained for hours and every time you look at an illustration you notice something new. Some of the first rate drawings include a graveyard full of restless spirits, a mad scientist's laboratory, a sunken pirate ship, and a dungeon. Once you finaly find your way out of the castle, there is a surprise that explains the whole mystery!

This book has helped me through some healing processes, especially the healing of relationships hurt over years. I found it extremely beneficial and helpful. It is as well written as the other book by the same authors. I would recommend it to anyone.

Lay people who want to minister to the hurting people they meet will need help as they come face to face with the pain of others. In this beautifully crafted book Jan Alkire and Father Leo Thomas O.P. give concrete ways for lay people to work in their parishes, as part of a parish team, to bring compassion to the hurting, to help people get to the roots of pain and help bring healing to those who are suffering.

From a former student of the Institute for Christian Ministries who will always be learning thanks to books like HEALING MINISTRY.

This is an absolute must-read-first book if anyone is thinking about prayer ministry either as one to be prayed for or one who desires to be a prayer team partner. For many the term "healing ministry" conjures up some pretty interesting images. I found HEALING MINISTRY to be engaging, insightful, and simply written as though the reader was sitting in front of the authors in conversation. "Further Readings" gave me a seemingly endless supply of more to soak up. The exersices were stimulating, enriching, thought provoking, and I believe I have become a more mature Christian having done them. A very valuable lesson for me was to learn how we all are ministers in our every day lives. The authors successfully conveyed that the Cycle of Ministry they wrote about is comforting and healing for all participants, and if used as a practical guide there will always be the ever-loving presence of God in ministry.

Thank you Father Leo and Jan Alkire!

This book was the first I had read in the "religious/spiritual" genre, and it has inspired me to not only read more books like it (including the other by the same authors), but made me a believer in the power of prayer and spiritual healing. This book is very well written book. It is not "preachy" as many spiritual books can be. I was surprised and impressed by it. For anyone searching in their lives for healing (physical, spiritual, or otherwise), this is a great place to start learning about healing and healing ministry.

Dangel does an excellant job of catching the nostalgia of childhood and growing up on a farm in the midwest. Even though many of his poems are from childhood experiences in the 1950's, these ideas are also extended to current day with his poem about the Wal-Mart door greeter. Fabulous book!! I would give it six stars if I could!!

In the world of cellphones, superstores and genetic crops, the family farm has become a lost icon. This volume of poetry brings the smells, tastes and heart of farmlife and the people we know who live it back into our lives. As a farm kid growing up in rural Michigan and now living in Minneapolis as an Art Director, I actually felt the pangs of longing grow stronger with each page I turned. The essence of farmlife and farm people is told with the subtleness of a "Farmer's nod", but has the satisfaction of ending the day by pulling home a wagonload of hay, knowing there will be a pot roast supper waiting on the table when you walk in the door.

This book is very, very funny. It's a real rarity, a reference book that you can read from cover to cover in one session.

Leo Rosten, does the subject justice and keeps his timeless style intact covering this fascinating and esoteric world of faith, foklore, tradition, genious and history through a cute study of Yiddish philology...

Even though Yiddish has not replaced English, it definitely contributed a lot. This book will teach you tips how to use Yiddish expressions. From now on you don't have to worry about your sociall status. A mere mentioning of a yiddish saying makes people laugh. By reading this book you will become a real 'maven'. Good Luck!

Whenever I have some negotiation to do, I quickly re-read this book. It is well-written with straightforward explanations of the concepts. I've used this book with success while negotiating my job compensation, my mortgate, my car, and numerous other situations. Highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about negotiation quickly.

I am a regular Joe Schome kind of guy. I have not read other negotiating books, so my opinion lacks comparison. I have read this book over the past two months, and I must say I have rarely come across books written this well.

In my opinion, this book teaches exactly what it's title truly says. I was sceptical at first, so I picked up the book to read an excerpt. Usually I will get bored very quickly, and put the book down, but with this book, I was immediately captured. In fact, when I read the book, I found that I couldn't even use my high-lighter, because every single sentence was packed with such unique and important information!

The information is concise, direct, meaningful, educational, and correct. I would say the tone is casually formal. Mr. Reilly draws on his years of experience as a lawyer, covering everything from tactics to strategy, including buyer's remorse, to team negotiating, to when not to negotiate.

I would even give this book as a gift to my worst enemy, just so he could understand when and when not to deadlock me in a negotiation. I highly recommend the book for absolutely anyone at any age, even teenagers.

Personally, I believe every interaction with another human being can be classified as a negotiation. Therefore, this book teaches us how to properly interact in a world where people are different. In my opinion, that skill is a must for everyone.

From Sir Thomas Allen, internationally acclaimed baritone, celebrated interpreter of the role of the Forester in both English and Czech productions:
ÒThe careers of most professional singers are taken up with the literature of the principle European languages, and the literature with which they become involved as part of standard repertoire. However, with the now established popularity of the works of Leos Janacek, the need for a familiarity with the Czech language has taken on a greater significance.
Translations into the vernacular exist, of course. Having sung the role of Forester on several occasions in English, it has always been a matter of great frustration when one tries to match a suitable English text to the intricate rhythms Janacek has written.
Timothy CheekÕs book comes as a work of great diligence, every word of the original Czech libretto analysed and transliterated for the non-Czech speaker. From personal experience I know the great worth and value of Prihody lisky Bystrousky, and this book will be an invaluable aid to anyone approaching the Ôopera as intendedÕ, making it ever more accessible.
It may be argued that the student ought to put horse before cart, and have the basic rudiments, and more, of the language, rather than tackling it phonetically in this way. A point well made, but I would argue the case to be made for more and more of us hearing Janacek: work with the Czech libretto. There is no substitute for that first-hand unsullied experience, in music that contains such vital rhythmic identity.Ó

From Catherine Malfitano, soprano, international interpreter of Janacek roles:
ÒHere is a most welcome libretto that reveals many treasures for the professional and amateur alike. I love the dual translations, both word for word and idiomatic, right next to the IPA pronunciation guide to these Czech lyrics. This first in a series of Janacek Opera Libretti offers many invaluable nuggets of background information; musical, linguistic, stylistic, and cultural. Keep this volume by your opera score for immediate reference. I look forward to the KATYA and JENUFA Libretti, with eager anticipation. Bravo, Tim Cheek !Ó

This book is a translation of the second revised version of the fifth edition of "Roudou-hou" by Kazuo Sugeno, Professor of Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo (Tokyo: Koubundou Publishing Co., 2001). Since the first English version of it was published in 1991, we all had been longing for the new one covering extensive developments in both statutes and case law regarding the labor market, and employment and labor-management relations in these ten years. It has finally come out. As the translator's note says, this book "is the standard work on Japanese Labor Law, and is greatly relied on by the Bench, the Bar, Business and Labor in Japan .... His Work is not only comprehensive in scope, but also reflects a detailed knowledge and understanding of the law and practice in his own and other countries." I believe none of you disagree that this book is a most deserving of a five-star rating. It verifies most eloquently that it is in great demand by the readers. A real must-read book!!

This book is a translation of the fifth edition of "Roudou-hou" by Kazuo Sugeno, Professor of Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo. Since the first English translation was published in 1991, we all had been waiting for the next translation work done scooping extensive developments in both statutes and case law regarding the labor market, and employment and labor-management relations. It has finally come out. As the translator's note says, this book "is the standard work on Japanese Labor Law, and is greatly relied on by the Bench, the Bar, Business and Labor in Japan .... His Work is not only comprehensive in scope, but also reflects a detailed knowledge and understanding of the law and practice in his own and other countries." You will never disagree that this book is the most deserving of a five-star rating. It verifies eloquently that it is in great demand by readers. A real must-read book!!

As a teenager in London in the late 1960s I remember the daily ritual of nipping in to Joe Lyons Corner House to sneak a cup of tea and a last cigarette before going to school. Little did I (or any other customer) know what had been going on behind the scenes. This book lets us in on the secret.

It tells how a UK catering company, J. Lyons and Co, got involved in the design, development and building of an electronic computer initially for their own use but subsequently for other customers. Written and edited by many of the people involved, the book is a mix of personal recollection and documentation from the period. It is the story of an extraordinary innovation, conceived and developed by a group of talented and incredibly hard-working people, made possible by the vision of the senior management who in 1949 "resolved to introduce, before anyone else in the world, what it called an 'automatic calculator'"

The book has four parts. Part I, by David Caminer gives a brief description of the successful running on a stored program electronic computer of the world's first regular routine office job in November 1951, and some background on Lyons. The rest of Part I charts the history of the development and use of the Leo computer and its derivatives from its conception in the late 1940s up to the demise of the Leo computers in 1968 by which time some 82 Leo systems had been installed. The last few, located at the Post Office, continued in service until 1981.

The rest of the book consists of personal contributions from many of the individuals who worked for Leo Computers. Part 2 provides an insight into the early task of programming - a non-trivial task in the days before computer languages had been developed. It includes reminiscences of many of the early applications that ran on LEO computers. Part 3 provides some more detailed recollections by those involved of working for specific customers. Part 4 documents the export efforts of LEO computers and later English Electric to gain a foothold in South Africa and the Iron Curtain and ends with an evaluation of the approach behind LEO by John Aris. A small number of appendices provide extra details to events depicted elsewhere in the book.

As well as being a fascinating piece of historical writing the book provides food for thought in the supposedly computer literate world of the 21st Century. Spectacular computer disasters such as the London Stock Exchange's Taurus system have left us with rather jaundiced perceptions about computer projects . Why were Lyons better at implementing computer systems?

One major factor was that before automating business processes the Lyons team ensured that they were well understood and ready for computerisation. Long before the prospect of computers came along, Lyons had established a systems research office with the brief to constantly search out how improvements might be made to the business by changing processes. Consequently, Lyons was more aware of the possible uses of computers and also that the large costs of development could be recouped. Lyons only computerised applications where it could see a clear business benefit. In contrast to much of the rest of the computer industry LEO's sales were based on an application-led approach rather than a technology-led approach. This was partly because LEO could not compete head to head in terms of technology but largely reflected the history of Lyons own innovative approach to business processes. It is clear from the book that Lyons consultants had a harder task implementing systems in their customers businesses than they did with their in-house applications.

Also the standards for good practice set by the management were extremely high. The "six articles of faith" documented in John Aris's evaluation of the LEO approach, which became embedded in the way the LEO teams went about their computerisation projects are another major factor. These can be summarised as follows: 1. The computer system should be thorough and radical. Understand the system as a whole. Re-think the processes rather than simply automate the existing ones. Make the system produce management information as well as transactions. Do a proper job. 2. Check everything. Program errors are a deadly sin, to be eliminated come what may. 3. Design of input and output documents is critical. 4. Detailed systems specifications must be written, agreed and frozen before any programming can begin. 5. Computer time is expensive, programmer time is cheap. Using a lot of human effort and ingenuity to minimise run times is an excellent bargain. 6. Before a computer can be configured enough work has to be done on both specification and detailed design to ensure it will be powerful enough.

While it may no longer be true that programmers are cheaper than run time, it seems that many of the problems related to software development even now might benefit from a stricter following of the other five articles of faith.

Of course the kinds of applications that LEO was devoted to might be considered routine today and the expectations of what can be done with computers are far greater. As long ago as 1972, Edgar Dikstra, a pioneer of computer science, recognised the problem that this expectation created when he wrote:

"as the power of the available machines grew by a factor or more of a thousand, society's ambition to apply these machines grew in proportion............ [t]he increased power of the hardware, together with the perhaps even more dramatic increase in its reliability, made solutions feasible that a programmer had not dared to dream about a few years before. And now, a few years later he had to dream about them and, even worse, he had to transform such dreams into reality!"

Most people would have thought that the people from Lyons who considered developing an electronic computer in 1947 were dreaming. This book is a fitting tribute to all those involved in daring to bring this particular dream to reality.

Amazon Review 21 January 2000

Professor Dick Nolan of the Harvard University Business School writes in his introduction to the book:

"This story has the best qualities of a Harvard Business School case study: it is an important event in the history of the business.

It is a study about extraordinary people ... As confident executives they look outside their company, in other countries, at universities to discover new ways of doing things and fresh ideas. In their bold actions, trust shows through as a foundation in implementing their vision. Young people are given free reign and do not disappoint. A resulting exiting, challenging 'can-do' culture is heard in the words of the people who were there."

From Dr Terry Gourvish, Director Business History Unit, LSE, in Business History Newssheet,

"This is a major contribution to the history of computing and computers in the UK. A full scale case study of LEO computers, written by members of the team who experienced all its trials and tribulations, it provides a fascinating insight into the development by J. Lyons & Co. of the first business computer in the UK."

From Neil Fitzgerald, editor of CA magazine, in The Scotsman, Business section. .

"Can-do culture, empowerment, user-driven innovation, business process re-engineering, flat organisations, quality, short lines of communications and decision making. We are led to believe that these are radical, modern ideas. However, a book that has come into my hands shows that they were being successfully harnesses almost half a century ago, to create the most significant event ever in business management.

The editors ... tell the story of how they and others built and put to work the world's first business computer. This did not happen in California's Silicon Valley, but at Cadby Hall, the ... west London premises of Lyons.

An important facet was that they felt they should always take a strategic view of the whole function to be computerised and make recommendations for improvements before going to work."

From Dr John Pinkerton, review in ICL Technical Journal

"Telling the story of how the foundations of data processing were laid from 1949 onwards has evidently been a labour of love.

This is a work of scholarship but eminently readable nevertheless. It will be seen as a major contribution to the history of business computing; it is strongly recommended for anyone already working in or studying to enter the field of IT."

From Michael Braithwaite, Deloitte, Touche, European Journal of Information Systems.

"I commend this book to a wide audience. To the general reader it stands as a very well written and exciting account of technological innovation. To the business school student it presents a remarkable story of technological success that, as a commercial venture was flawed, perhaps by factors beyond the control of the players."

From Professor George Mitchell, review published Journal of Operational Research Society..

"This fascinating book tells the life story of LEO. Rather over a third of the book is the historical record, carefully researched and engagingly written up by Caminer. The rest is largely personal memoirs of those involved in the early days, including accounts of several innovative applications. The whole is rounded off by an evaluation by Aris. The book's value is enhanced by the style of writing. Those who worked in LEO, especially in its earlier days, including many of the book's authors, exercised an influence on the development of business computing in the UK quite disproportionate to their numbers.

I found this book a good read and one which exited several strands of thought. Although its main market will be among scholars and students of IT and business studies, it deserves a wide readership in the OR community."

From John Perkins, National Computer Centre Newsletter,

"The book, ...., is a fascinating adventure story in which the dynamics of an extraordinary group of people made the seemingly impossible happen."

From Professor John Ward in the Journal of Strategic Information Systems.

"The story of that first business computer: Leo - Lyons Electronic Office - is told in this book. Whilst it is history, reflection on what was achieved and not achieved and why still has many lessons of relevance to the successful use of IT today - we seem to be learning painfully and slowly!.

.... a review by John Aris of what of what he calls the 'LEO approach' - an integrated combination of technology innovation, application and consultancy designed to enable significant business improvements from computer use in a range of situation. Many of these applications would be called 'business process redesign' in the 1990s!

The wide range of contributors provide many different perspectives on what happened and views on why things evolved the way they did. It is a set of memoirs - often very personal ones - of a time when Britain could be said to have led the world in the application of this new technology.

... it is a book that we should all be grateful the authors took the time and trouble to get together and write. It is a story of extraordinary achievements , by a talented team..."

From I. A. Lovelock in Management Accounting.

"This book is a first-hand account of how this astounding innovation came about. It is a flesh and blood, warts and all story related by the participants, brimming over with the same enthusiasm that enabled the unlikeliest of organisations to lead the way into the future that we are all familiar with today.

It concludes with different strands coming together to provide the essence of the LEO credo of comprehensive, integrated, secure, action stimulated implementations.