I quite disappointed in this book. There is only 2-3 patterns which I like from the book.

As a beginning knitter, I wanted to make things that were fairly simple but would make nice gifts... what would work better than scarves! This book has a nice variety of patterns from different sources, so the designs are all fresh, some dressy, some sporty, some delicate and some chunky... not just variations on a theme. Each pattern is rated either 'very easy', 'intermediate', 'experienced', or 'expert'. There are several patterns in each range, and even the 'very easy' are attractive and don't look like cop-outs!
There is some helpful how-to information at the beginning of the book, but an absolute beginner would need to learn at least the bare basics before starting any of the projects in this book.
The book is small and light, so I can stick it in my purse to go shopping for yarn, or in my knitting tote bag so I have the pattern handy.
The only drawback to this book is the binding.... the pages fall out too easily and I'm going to end up having a book held together by tape before long.
I look forward to getting more of these great little books!

My favorite of the vogue knitting on the go series. I am currently making (or have made 6) from this book alone. Unlike other books, this contains a LOT of variation between patterns (both in style and technique of construction), including a hood with ends that wrap to form a scarf, two different tubes to form loose collars, and a beautiful dragonflyl shawl. I highly recommend this book.

One reviewer calls this book "readable." Yes, it's in English! Sadly, I took "readable" to mean that it provided some sort of entertainment value. Absolutely wrong! This book is a pure text book, scholerly & detailed, certainly, but also dull & dreary. Suitable, perhaps, for a medievil history major in need of masses of names & dates. All that information is certainly there, together with an enormous amount of those annoying numbered references attached to, what seemed to be, every 25th word in the body of the text. My recommendation is, that if you're looking for an account of the Templars that can truly be described as "readable," then you should be looking elsewhere.

This is an amazing book concerning the Knight Templars. Malcomb Barber is certainly one of the foremost scholars on the subject and defends his ideas well in this wonderful work of research. Problematic however, with almost all English works is that it is dreadfully boring. The facts are good, the research is even better, but it is a hard read and definitly only for those truly interested in the history of the order. You must be quite the amateur or an historian in order to be able to complete reading this book. Reading this book is literally hard work, but it is very rewarding in the end. Seldom have I seen history books so well written and so well documented as this one. The author really knows what he's talking about and that is definitly the feeling you get while you're reading the book. All and all, if you want to read this book, you're going to have to sit down and take it slow, additionally you're going to have to accept that you will be putting this book down and picking it back up. After having read and understood this book, you will have a fairly good understanding and basis in Templar history.

This is an absolutely wonderful book for anyone at all interested in The Templars. This is a full and original work of research that covers every detail you can imagine about The Templars. If I must chose something that detracts from the over all feeling of the book is the chapter called The Templar Network as this is a rather dry account of the manors and so on throughout the Continent and the Kingdom of Jerusalem. If you do chose to read this book I would recomment skipping most of the chapter mentioned above until Barber starts talking about the Templar network as a reliable bank for kings and popes alike. I highly recommend this book!

For us coming from Emulation Rite in Europe, this book shows that we share 99% of the rituals described! It is really amazing to discover how close we are to the wordings and procedures from a century ago and another Rite. I am extremely satisfied to have chosen this book through Amazon, probably the only easy way I had to purchase it from Spain.

This is a great book due to the fact that it is a simple guide for the Freemason. This book is not for anyone not in the Craft. Despite the rumors of Masonry being in union with Satanic forces, this great work is proof that we are focused on God within our life. The reasons can be found in many books.
This is a groundwork, but not the entire focus. Remember, true enlightment starts with the admission of growth. This is an excellent starting point for the Freemason.

Purchased this book in 1982 out of curiosity to make a comparison to what had been disclosed to me. It is very interesting to read. Obviously, it is not appropiate for all to view. At least one that have a desire to learn about Freemasonry, other than seeking the correct way to learn more properly.

This behemothian piece of excrement is a slap in the face of any ligitimate work on insects in general, or growing organic gardens specifically. The book is fraught with inaccuracies and outright misinformation. Case in point, the kissing bug did not get its name from biting people when it accidently flies into your face, it got it from its habit of biting sleeping people on the lips. This information is not critical to the book, but it exemplifies the slothful approach to gathering information the authors obviously used to write this book. The "Stories" are nothing more than opinionted drivel, although some of them are slightly humorous. The authors have no credentials in Entomology (they state that in the Introduction) and although they claim to have consulted "...many other books and research papers..." on the subject, nowhere did I find a reference to such information when something other than common fact was stated (as is necessary in REAL science books), such as aphids "...help to eliminate unfit plants." That is the single most ludicrous thing I have heard in a decade or more! Fortunately for me I didn't buy this waste of sawdust or recycled paper (whatever the case may be), but obviously some did because this "thing" is now in its fourth printing. The one good thing about this book is that the authors advocate the use non-chemical control. Believe me, save your money, you can get much better, less opinionated, advice from a simple Internet search.

I never knew bugs could abe so interesting. The authors combine factual information on insects with entertaining stories of buggy encounters. This book reaches my kids on a level they can understand (they are 8 - 12 years old), yet provides me with plenty of good factual information that helps with gardening. The kids were thrilled to discover that the funny things they had seen "growing" on the fence were actually lacewing eggs. We are eagerly anticipaing their hatching. I also appreciated the recipes for home-made, natural insecticides.

When my two and four year olds starting bringing me bugs from outside, I decided it was time to determine if they were harmful. This book had excellent photographs that helped me identify the bugs. I used it as an educational tool for my two little bug hunters. I am happy to report we have had no dangerous bugs gathered.

The second of two volumes on ceramics, this book covers earthenware and focuses on another great artist-entrepreneur, Yabu Meizan (1853-1934), and illustrates 168 of his earthenwares and those of his contemporaries and imitators, minutely decorated in enamels and gold over a characteristic crackled ground. These wares, under the misleading nane of 'Satsuma', were the most popular of the Japanese craft products which dazzled the Western world in the era of the great exhibitions. An essay by Malcolm Fairley and Oliver Impey demolishes the various myths about the originb of 'Satsuma' put about by Japanese and Western writers in the late nineteenth century, while a biography of Yabu Meizan by Yamazaki Tsuyoshi of Osaka Municipal Museum, illustrated with copious examples of his work from the Yabu family archive and from contemporary illustrations, sheds fascinating light on the evolution of his style and working methods. By assembling such a large and outstanding group of ceramics and presrnting them in the light of pioneering research into their origin and progress, this volume makes a major contribution to the study and appreciation of Meiji art.

The first of two volumes of the catalogue of the Khalili Collection of Japanese Art covering ceramics, this book discusses porcelain. It concentrates on Miyagawa (Mazuku) Kozan (1842-1916), illustrating more than 80 examples of his virtuoso work in porcelain. Kozan brought the medium to new heights of technical perfection not seen before and, ever responsive to market forces, produced wares with shapes and decoration in Japanese, Chinese, and European styles. An essay by Malcolm Fairley and Oliver Impey traces the part played by Japanese porcelain in the international exhibitions of the period, while Clare Pollard contributes an artistic biography based on documentary research in Japan. By assembling such a large group of ceramics and presenting them in the light of pioneering research into their origin and progress, this volume makes a contribution to the study and appreciation of Meiji art. This fifth volume is sold with a free copy of "Volume I: Selected Essays".

This volume is a guide to the last 400 years of Japan's greatest and most distinctive artistic tradition. It explains the techniques used in Japanese lacquer and chronicles the development of the craft in response to Western demand. Edward Wrangham, one of the world's foremost collectors of lacquer, contributes an article tracing the revival of the Rimpa style. This volume of the Collection is sold with a free copy of "Volume I: Selected Essays".

I read the mystery as part of a Black Literature discussion group here in suburban Maryland, outside DC. Good story. Humor. Action doesn't fade when the events begin to come together in the denouement. I identified with Darryl Billups more than I did with Easy Rollins in Walter Mosely's "Devil in a Blue Dress", although the latter had a better story line. Since our discussion group quickly got off the subject of Walker's book, I missed the opportunity to talk about the newspaper journalist's life, and places and scenes mentioned in the story about Baltimore. I will read Mr. Walker's next work as well.

I just loved this book. A fan of mysteries, but having trouble finding ones to my liking, I was so pleased when I read this book. Daryll Billups, kept me laughing and intrigued. I also like that his character was fully developed. I loved hearing about what was going on in his life outside of his detective work. I liked the set up for a series, because I will be looking out for future books. Make sure you pick this one up.

Darryl Billups, Baltimore Maryland Police Reporter, has to deal with office politics, personal relationships, and the evils of race hate and domestic terrorism. Walker has an excellent ear for conversations, and an excellent eye for real life situations. There is little need for suspension of disbelief, so well structured is the plot and the characterizations. A nice blend of public and private, suspense and romance.

This is one of the worst books I have ever read.I regret buying it.

Communal living has been a social experiment rooted firmly in the American landscape since the New England Transcendentalists and the Brook Farm community. Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau are names familiar to every high schooler, but few have read more than the usual Walden Pond excerpts and perhaps a poem or two, and most of the other Transcendentalists writings were concerned with their social philosophy.

The power of Free Land, Free Love is in the polyphony of very personal voices, weaving a portrait of experiences in communal living at Black Bear Ranch. We are treated to first-hand accounts of mostly middle-class Americans diving headlong into this unknown adventure, and surviving. It was the sixties, after all. Personal politics, sexual ethics, psychology, morality -- the Black Bear experience brought these ingredients into a cauldron seasoned with incipient radicalism, multiculturalism and a romantic idealism so far removed from the present it is an artifact. Try to imagine even discussing free love today in the era of AIDS. Yet once upon a time, free love seemed not only possible, but, well, socially advanced.

If their views on life seem to have little to do with life as most know it today, it is instructive to listen to these voices and hear the way that they (and perhaps we also) used to think. Though idealistic, these communards were also practical, down-to-earth, and undaunted by the many challenges they faced from Mother Nature, from society and from each other. Like the Diggers, their urban antecedents, the Black Bear tribe were scroungers, hustlers and Robin Hoods at heart. Ironically, their own naivete often proved to be a saving grace.

This book is filled with marvelous anecdotes. Burned an American flag at James Coburn's house. The Great Tomato Plant Bust. A standoff at gunpoint with a Black Power brother from Oakland. Fishing with the Karok Indians. Love triangles, quadrangles and other polygons. Discovering and using herbal remedies before there were health food stores. Encounters with wild animals like mountain cats, bears and snakes.

The reader is invited into the Black Bear reality one voice at a time. You can read it straight through and get the feeling of a connected narrative. Or you can drop into the book here and there, and graze. Free Land, Free Love is testament to a kind of human courage that is in short supply today. This is a wonderful book that documents an amazing era in which everything seemed possible and nothing was too great to fear.

This is a very heavy document. It is nourishing for me to read these accounts which cover many aspects of the year (Mar 1970-Feb 1971) when I lived there. Those accounts seem to be still relevant after I left. The voices that speak from the perspectives of the writers make it a full, rich testimonial of a special time in a unique place. I always felt that the Black Bear experience was not to be found anywhere, and now I don't doubt it! It amazes me how my memories of people, events, the land, and other details are confirmed by the stories and images brought to clear resolution by the anecdotes shared in this book. This is partly due to it being collective story-telling, which transcends the limitations of one person's conceits and prejudices. I now have something I can share with my friends, family, and lovers so they may understand part of my personal roots. Maybe they will BELIEVE me when I tell them my "stories" as some of them like to think of those experiences. This book also informs me of events in people's lives over the 30 years since I left there. Objectively, it is an excellent publication! It has to be respected as fine literature. It concerns a remarkable time and place, filled with people who chose to be with each other in a "petrie dish" (as Peter Berg once called it on a rainy day there). That culture is still festering and growing beyond its original boundries when we look at the lives of people after leaving Black Bear.

This is the first book I ever bought about Freemasonry, and gave me a peek into the ritual before I was a member. I petitioned as a direct result of this book, and used it to study for my proficiencies. Not only a beautiful book with wonderful illustration, but a fine source for Freemasons new and old!

Outstanding!!! This book gave the insite to decide weather i wanted to search for more light in the appendite York Rite of masonry and am on my way to to the East!

This book is a classic, and a treasure. Reading about the rituals of Freemasonry is fascinating, but to see illustrations of the gestures that are described is to take the study up to the next level. Many Masonic symbols are illustrated and codes for reading certain Masonic texts are revealed. This is a handbook for Masons, but those who study without the lodge will gain some insight, from previous reading. This book will not give you a free pass into the lodge...but, it may inspire you to petition one! I keep the Hardback version on-display, beside The Holy Bible and "Freemasonry: A Journey Through Ritual and Symbol," by W. Kirk MacNulty. The Paper-back, I keep for actual reading purposes. (The Hard-Back version is Splendid!)

The Theo-specific info in this book would make a very nice in-depth magazine article. The book is poorly written, very disjointed. The author introduces a Theo story, and in the next paragraph is telling the history of the food services manager. In one place, I counted 6 pages that included only 1 paragraph of 2 lines about Theo. Theo has an incredible spirit. His story is one of triumph over truly overwhelming odds. He deserved a better effort for what is titled as HIS biography. If you want to know about the GM, coaches (at all levels), security guards, bus drivers, entertainment managers, food service, mascots and ticket sales this is the book for you. If you want to really get to know an NHL player, read Brett Hull: His Own Story.

Parts of this biography focus on Theo's childhood development and his opening years with the Calgary Flames. I say 'parts' because it also spends a great deal of time discussing how various parts of the Flames organzation runs, with chapters devoted to the people behind the scenes. While the book doesn't concentrate completely on Fleury, I still felt it was informative in bringing me the whole picture regarding the things that affect his daily life (travel, practices, autograph hounds, injuries, and such). In a few years, I'd like to see this author revisit Fleury and write about his days with the Avalanche, the Rangers, and the 2002 Winter Olympics.

I bought this for my husband, for Christmas. I read it out of curiosity. Theo's story will not just warm your heart. It will make you love him, and respect him. So many who have his difficult background use it as an excuse to walk around with a chip on their shoulder. Theo doesn't, he only has a chip on his shoulder on the ice, where it belongs. The author included a lot of other stuff, that sometimes made the book a difficult read, but I'd just turn the pages until he picked up Theo's story again. I liked him to begin with, now I root hard for him, this little dynamo paid his dues, and earned his success. If you only read one book this year, you have to read this one.

In 1970, Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald's pregnant wife and two daughters were brutally murdered in the family's apartment in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. MacDonald was a respected army physician at the time, and his story was that four strangers broke into the MacDonald residence and committed the murders. He was tried by an Army tribunal and cleared. Years later the case was reopened, and MacDonald was convicted of the murders. He is still serving his jail sentence.

Janet Malcolm does not reopen the MacDonald case in her book, "The Journalist and the Murderer." Rather, she examines the issues behind a libel case that MacDonald brought in 1984 against his supposed friend, Joe McGinnis, author of "Fatal Vision." Joe McGinniss posed as a friend of Jeffrey MacDonald for years. McGinnis lived with MacDonald for a while and even joined his defense team. McGinniss sent MacDonald many sympathetic letters in support of his cause; in his letters, he frequently expressed his belief in MacDonald's innocence.

It was only after "Fatal Vision" was published that MacDonald discovered the truth. McGinniss did not believe in MacDonald's innocence. On the contrary, in "Fatal Vision," McGinniss portrays MacDonald as a psychopathic murderer. McGinniss posed as a friend for the sole purpose of keeping MacDonald in the dark about the nature of the book that McGinniss was writing. McGinniss's main motive was to continue to have access to MacDonald until the book went to press. "Fatal Vision" became a best seller and it was eventually made into a miniseries.

Malcolm's book, written in 1990, takes on added significance in 2003, when the ethics of journalists are under fire as never before. Time and again, journalists have been accused of plagiarism and of making up stories that they later presented as fact. The public is beginning to see journalists as fallible people who suffer from the same pressures, ambitions and even psychological disorders as other ordinary mortals. Journalists will sometimes lie and cheat to get their stories in print, and we must take what we read with a huge grain of salt.

Malcolm's book is not merely a condemnation of McGinniss's behavior towards MacDonald. Her premise is that the journalist's relationship to his subject is, in its very essence, a perilous one. The gullible subject babbles away to his "sympathetic" listener, revealing more of himself than he realizes. When all is said and done, the subject has no control over the final product of these interviews. The subject may very well be shocked when he sees that his words have been distorted and that the journalist has made him look bad in print. How will the subject get his reputation back now?

Malcolm portrays the journalist as a con man, who preys on people's loneliness, credibility and narcissism to get a good story. What is the lesson in all of this? Beware of placing your faith in the ethics of journalists. They have their own agendas and the "truth," which is elusive at best, is not always a priority. Malcolm's book is an important one, since it serves as a warning for those naïve people who are only too eager to believe everything that they read in a newspaper or a magazine. What you read is only one person's version of the truth.

In The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcolm examines the transactional relationship between a journalist and her subject, especially the dynamic of what happens during an interview. (Why do so many people repeatedly and voluntarily blabber stupidly to the media? Why is it so difficult to refuse a microphone?) And what moral obligation does a journalist have to her subject?

Malcolm answers these questions (as much as she's able to) in the context of a murder trail that journalist Joe McGinniss wrote about, after being given unlimited access to accused murderer Jeffrey MacDonald and his defense team. McGinniss, originally sympathetic to MacDonald, comes to believe that he is guilty of the murder (the jury agreed), but does not reveal his change of heart to MacDonald, in order to maintain access to him. Once McGinniss's book, Fatal Vision, is published, MacDonald is horrified by the portrait presented to him and sues McGinniss for fraud.

Malcolm raises issues that I, a constant reader of journalism, had never considered. Her book gave me insight into what a writer must do to get the story. She's made me a less naïve reader. Those long articles in The New Yorker will never seem the same.

I read this book several years ago. I found it to be extremely intelligent and interesting. It is a book that clearly portrays the relationship between a journalist and a subject. Both sides are manipulative and selfish but only the journalist has the power in this relationship. What McGinnis did in Fatal Vision was grossly unfair regardless of Macdonald's guilt or innocence. I think that is why it made such a huge splash with other writers. In the age of new journalism, most writers will do and say anything for a good story.