This book has a special meaning for me since my grandfather Rabbi Joseph Brody was very close with Rabbi Weissmandel. It tells the tale of a Rabbi, who despite his heart condition, risked his life to save many Jews from the gas chambers. He worked tirelessly on a plan to bomb the train tracks that lead to Auschwitz, but this plan was unfortunately nixed by President Roosevelt. I would reccomend this book to anyone interested in the history of the Holocaust. It is well writtena and well researed. (My grandfather's picture can be found on page 245.)

This short book examines the value of the popular saying, "In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity." It is specifically examined in light of the controversies within the United Methodist Church, although the insights found in this book would apply to any Christian. This book has given me a greater appreciation for this vital saying, while also expanding my understanding of how it is not as easily applied as one might think. What are essentials? What are non-essentials? How do we love those who do not hold to essentials? How do we decide? These are great questions to ponder in light of our Lord's call to unity. This book is a good start to the discussion.

In California, the battle for water between Los Angeles and the Owens Valley still rages to this day, and Professor Abraham Hoffman's scholarly work sheds some well-reseached light upon this 80-year old contest. Between 1905 and 1913, Los Angeles built the L.A.-Owens River Aqueduct, the largest public engineering project in the world, to divert the waters of Owens River to feed the rapidly-growing city of Los Angeles, 233 miles to the south. One man, William Mulholland, was the star in this drama, and to this day has taken the brunt of blame for the controversies involved. Was he really to blame, was it that simple, or were there other people and powerful forces exerting their influence on the events that shaped the California we know today? Expand your knowledge by reading this book! After you do, you may never feel the same about turning on the faucet. The only real flaw in this book is in the reproduction printing. Historic photos and images that were rich and vibrant in the original hardcover are blurry and scored with moire' patterns due to poor reproduction. Otherwise, it's a must for your bookshelf.

Well I needed to read this book for a history book report. The book was interesting but also boring for a 14 year old to read. All of the political stuff but it was still a great book about Lincoln. I learned a lot about him and and how much he must have been stressing while he was President. If you like to read then u might as well read this book.

I selected this book for teaching the Operating Systems course to my undergrad class. The reason was simple, it was the only latest book available on the OS concepts.

But after going through the first 9 chapters, which are on intro to OS, process managment and memory management, the response I got from my students was that this book is very difficult to understand and I couldn't agree more.

I wouldn't say that all the chapters are like that but yes, there are few chapters in the process management section which I had to teach them from outside resources, the only help I took from the book is the topics that were covered. Infact when I first took this course, I had a difficult time understanding these chapters myself from the book, so I couldn't expect the students to do so.

One example is chapter 6, process synchronization, where they mention deadlock at many places, whereas the deadlock topic is discussed in the later chapter (chapter 7).

Good for experienced but don't expect the students to go through this book without additional resources.

By the way, can anyone explain the idea behind the dinasours on the cover?

If you have no experience with operating systems concepts this book can either be a decent friend or a nightmare, depending on which chapters you read.

On top of vagueness and ambiguity, the illustrations are poorly placed, sometimes pages after the accompanying text. Many chapters are confusing to the point of frustration, especially those concerning synchronization and paging. Some algorithms are oversimplified, while others are given in so much detail the basic concept is lost.

The book does however have its good points, hence my rating of 3. It's not so horrible that you can't learn from it. Some chapters are represented quite well. At the end of each chapter, the basis of that chapter's implementation in modern operating systems is given (Windows NT, Unix, Solaris etc.).

All in all, the book is faithful to its title but not worth the price. A good second choice if the book you want is out of stock.

This popular book was written as an introductory course to operating systems but systematically provides an extensive description of operating system concepts. The 1st half of the book is typically used for undergraduate computer science classes although the book as a whole is often required for graduate level classes.

It is assumed that readers will have some knowledge of high-level languages and general computer organization. The book does not spotlight any one particular operating system but rather presents concepts and algorithms that are common to many of the Oss that are commonly used today, including MS-DOS, Windows 2000 & NT, Linux, Sun Microsystems' Solaris 2, IBM OS/2, Apple Macintosh, and DEC VMS.

The book has 7 major parts:
1) Overview: What Operating Systems are, what they do, how they are designed, and where they came from. General history and explanations. Some discussion on hardware.

2) Process Management: How information is processed. Methods for process scheduling, interprocess communication, process synchronization, deadlock handling, and threads.

3) Storage Management: How main memory functions and executes. The mechanisms for storage of and access to data is covered. The classic internal algorithms and structures of storage management is discussed and the advantages and disadvantages of each.

4) I/0 Systems: The types of devices that attach to a computer. How the devices are accessed and controlled. Performance issues and examined thoroughly.

5) Distributed systems: The collection of processors that do not share a clock or memory. How distributed file systems are shared, synchronized, communicate, and deal with deadlocks.

6) Protection and Security: How mechanisms ensure that only certain processes that have obtained proper authorization can use certain files, memory segments, CPU, etc.

7) Case Studies: This is where individual real operating systems are discussed in depth. These systems are Linux, Windows 2000, FreeBSD, Mach, and Nachos.

Of course this is a very general list and omits many other aspects of Operating Systems that are included in the book. This 887 page book does not include formal proofs but it does contain (though it would be better to have more) figures, diagrams, examples, and notes to help explain concepts.

I approached "A Journey to the End of the Millennium" eagerly. Since the book was subtitled "A Novel of the Middle Ages," I anticipated a compelling story that would illuminate the times, flowing from a talented writer's fertile imagination. Perhaps the subtitle is actually a typo for "A Novel of Middle Age," which strikes me as more appropriate. Instead of painting a landscape rooted in a specific time and place, the author's concerns and energies are focused on the domestic and commercial travails of a middle-aged merchant. We follow him as he seeks to legitimatize his enlightened domestic situation of having two wives in benighted Europe, saving a business partnership in the process. Predictably, one of the wives has to die to normalize the other relationships. Guess whether the young nubile wife or the older chubbier wife dies. Your answer gives a flavor for the tediousness of this text.

The timelessness that many reviewers find a strength of the novel was, for me, a disappointing drawback. Granted, the measure of time is arbitrary and human concerns and relationships are universal and timeless, but this commonplace insight is hardly robust enough to carry the book.

The author's style is at times promising, but the text does not approach a literary height. Rather than drawing the reader in and focusing a close examination of the implications hidden or obscured in the text, Yehoshua provided me with an exercise in tedium. This is one of those books I wanted to put aside halfway finished, but hesitated to do so in hopes of a revelation that never comes. I am frankly puzzled why so many reviewers found this book compelling.

Unfortunately, this was the first book I read by Yehoshua. Unless someone convinces me otherwise, it will be the last. Even a great writer can produce an unworthy book. Others more familiar with his canon will have to decide if that is the case here.

I've been struggling with this book in conjunction with Mr Mani, as part of a paper on Sephardic identity in the writing of A B Yehoshua. Strangely, I find myself agreeing with both the positive and negative reviews - which strongly suggests that the book is a bit of a curate's egg, good in parts! As with Mr Mani, the historical detail is excellent. Even given the tedious nature of a narrative style with no dialogue, ABY succeeds in painting a tremendously powerful and engaging portrait of the Mediterranean and North European world of 999 AD, As an historical epic, if you can get past the boredom threshold somewhere around the middle of the book, it succeeds quite well. But ABY's forte is in the internal journey into the human psyche. Mr Mani is an excellent example - probably the best - of ABY's virtuosity at peeling off the layers of human motivation in all their complexity and, very often, perversity. In contrast, this novel depicts a somewhat stereotyped cultural clash between individuals. Anyone familiar with Israeli literature in the past 25 years will also be familiar with the general thrust of the argument. Ashkenazi culture denies the depth and breadth of Sephardi culture. It ignores the cultural heritage of Sephardi Jews, which certainly up to the first millenium and well beyond, held sway over Ashkenazi Jewry. Ashkenazi culture has a tendency to introversion and rejection,whereas Sephardi culture is expansive and interactive, especially with regard to Islam... and so on, and so forth. The hegemonic Ashkenazic view of Sephardi history and culture has been comprehensively deconstructed over the last twenty five years - why go over this ground, especially when in Mr Mani he has already 'deconstructed the deconstruction' by dissecting the history and psychopathology of a high status Sephardi family so comprehensively and brilliantly? As for the dual marriage thing, well I think there's a limit to most people's cultural relativism - especially most women's! It just doesn't work, not as love story and certainly not as erotic writing. Its unlike ABY to fob us off with stereoyped based narrative in order to score ideological points. So... a reasonably good read, but well below top form for the master.

This novel is one of rich prose, beautifully drawn characters and exotic images. In it, the Yehoshua presents a view of 10th century Europe and the interaction of people unexpectedly flung about by the interactions of their cultural points of view. The sensations are strong: exotic scenes of African culture being transported to Europe, sensual couplings, inter- and intra religious conflict, the destruction of close relationships. In the novel, a Morrocan Jewish merchant, Ben Attar, travels with his two wives to Paris intent on salvaging his personal and business relationship with his nephew, Abulafia, now a resident of Paris and recently married to a Jewess from what is now Germany. Because Ben Attar is a bigamist, Abulafia's wife insists that their business and personal relationship be ended. During the sea voyage to Europe, Yehoshua eloquently describes the culture of the Morrocan Jew: flexible, tolerant and richly sensual. However, when the African and European cultures meet face to face, there are profound and sometimes terrible consequences, some of them never to be reversed. Throughout, the the writing is subtle and elegant, and the book has layer upon layer of meaning which the author leaves to the reader to interpret. Although the book has specific Jewish content, the ideas and story are also secular. It was a treat to read and I was left wanting more. Serious and thought-provoking writing.

Roger Cullingwood discovers that his wife Francie is having an affair with Ned Demarco, so Roger decides that Francie must die. Roger hatches a perfect murder or did he?

The quality of the writing grabs you on the first page. Characters are drawn with accuracy and keen insight. The plot is beautifully developed. It is suspenseful but not in a predictable way, you see what's coming, but trust me you are still surprised and amazed. This book has several graphic love scenes.

Peter Abrahams is the author of eight previous novels, including " The Fan" and "Lights Out", which was nominated for an Edgar Award for best novel.

Roger Cullingwood discovers that his wife Francie is having an affair with Ned Demarco, so Roger decides that Francie must die. Roger hatches a perfect murder or did he?

The quality of the writing grabs you on the first page. Characters are drawn with accuracy and keen insight. The plot is beautifully developed. It is suspenseful but not in a predictable way, you see what's coming, but trust me you are still surprised and amazed. This book has several graphic love scenes.

Pam @ MyShelf.Com

The quality of the writing grabs you on the first page. Characters are drawn with deft accuracy and keen insight. The plot is beautifully developed. It's suspenseful but not in a predictable way: you see what's coming, but trust me: you're still surprised. The grace with which Abrahams accomplishes what seems to be effortlessly unfolding left me thoroughly impressed. The author does not resort to cheap tactics, no easy outs: it's just solid writing. This guy is now near the top of my list of all-time favorite authors. My only question is, why isn't he more acclaimed? If you thought Grisham was good, this makes him pale in comparison. If you think Grisham is mediocre, RUN to your keyboard and order this book, and you can thank me later.

Packer starts her ambitious novel with a picture-perfect prologue: in spare, elegant prose she sets the scene and sends her protagonist's boyfriend to his quadriplegic fate. She takes the reader inside Carrie's head, and her strong writing keeps us engaged as Carrie and friends wait for Mike to emerge from his coma and as Carrie dithers over whether or not she'll look like a creep if she dumps Mike now. Packer has populated her story with a few interesting people--the therapist mom, the co-dependent friend, Mike's pal Rooster--so we forgive the lack of plot and the lack of character development.

Abruptly, the book switches directions. (Perhaps Packer decided that readers must be as bored with Madison as she and Carrie were.) Without warning to mom, friends, fiance, or the reader, Carrie jumps in her car and drives to New York. (Apparently young women never meet with foul play in Madison--Carrie's mom and friends don't seem concerned about her disappearance--they all somehow know that she skipped town because she didn't want to deal with her feelings about Mike.)

Packer's leisurely style becomes lethargic once Carrie hits the Big Apple, where she quickly acquires a free place to live, the stereotypical gay buddy, and an enigmatic boyfriend, Kilroy. Except he's not an interesting enigma; Carrie never figures out what makes him tick, and neither do we. What's more, it's hard to care, or to understand what she sees in him. Nor does New York feel "real." Packer, who excels in portraying Madison, fails to capture any of the essence of the big city.

The reader is still inside Carrie's head, but not a lot seems to be going on there. Much of her behavior is inexplicable. For example: she's planning to come to Madison for a visit (Rooster's wedding). Being a talented seamstress, she buys the most gorgeous, expensive fabric in the most upscale fabric store in New York and fashions a stunning outfit for herself. Then, at the last moment, she decides not to go. This scene, which could (and should) have some emotional depth--might even explain Carrie's internal state of disrepair--is simply flat.

Finally, Carrie comes home to Madison (she never should have left) and the story picks up again--but by then I was tired of her whining, her lack of insight, her poor impulse control, and her inability to learn from her past mistakes.

Other reviewers have mentioned the sex scenes. I suspect that a well-meaning friend or editor told Packer that she needed to spice up her book, and that's why she inflicted these embarrassing and ineptly written episodes on her readers.

Bottom line: not awful, not great, could have been better.

While I enjoyed reading this book, I felt disappointed somehow by its ending. Carrie Bell is narrating the story and we discover that she is suffocating in her life. She is 23 and engaged to her high school sweetheart but the love she felt is no longer there. Unfortunately, her fiance, Mike, is involved in a diving accident and paralysed for life. Carrie has a whole new set of obligations to rise to and consequently her moral dilemma begins.

While I do not blame Carrie for leaving behind her hometown and heading out for a life of her own, she could have at least had some closure with her family, friends and most certainly with Mike. She spends her entire time in this book running away which causes the reader to have no real connection with her, we just cannot empathize. She meets Kilroy while in New York and jumps into a relationship with him. Then she is torn between her life there and her obligations to the people back at home. Carrie just cannot make a decision and face the consequences.

We want to see Carrie mature and learn something from the choices that she has made, but by the end, I just felt let down. She never had the courage to truly follow her heart. She let others choose for her, even after her courageous move away from home.

This book does however raise some interesting questions for ourselves. What would you do in such a situation? Would you choose loyalty over love?

Also, the author was able to use some beautiful prose in this book. Her writing ability is wonderful, I just think that the characters themselves were a little unrealistic.

I first heard about this novel from "Entertainment Weekly" and its annual list of the best books in fiction and nonfiction which "The Dive From Clausen's Pier" held a prominent spot (I can't remember exactly what it got). The main character, Carrie, has been dating the same guy for several years, all through high school and college. Though engaged to him, Carrie decides she wants to break of their engagement because she no longer loves him. Just as she reaches this conclusion, her fiancee takes a dive off a pier and breaks his neck. The novel follows Carrie focusing on the impacts of the accident on the victim's family and friend. Though the question of whether Carrie will stay or leave is compelling, I was more moved by the realistic and heartfelt portrayal of Carrie as a person. I truly felt like she was someone I had known my entire life by the end of the novel. One may not like Carrie's actions, but the author fleshes out her character so well that you understand Carrie's thought processes as if they were your own. On a personal note, my mother's brother injured himself the same way at twenty and my mom chose to come home early from college to help take care from him. Because of this book I feel I understand what contradicting feelings of love and hate my mom must have experienced over the situation. I recommend this book to all. It is one of the few books I have compulsively read and been unable to out down.

An interesting and well-written historical novel. For most of its length it is rather unexciting, but this is made up for in the later chapters which give a vivid, harrowing picture of a doomed marriage slipping into violence and madness. The story of Henry Rathbone and Clara Harris is a sad, indeed tragic, one, and Mallon does a good job of tracing the seeds of destruction that overshadowed these two from their earliest days together. He also avoids many of the usual traps historical novelists fall into, such as long-winded explanations of vanished customs and dusty disertations on forgotten politics. Mallon moves things along smoothly, with a minimum of description, and nicely fleshes out the known facts about his primary characters with fictionalized details and motivations. If Clara is ultimately the more sympathetic of the two, it is perhaps because her predicament (a brilliant, but stubborn woman trapped in a marriage which she realizes has become a nightmare)is the more easily grasped. Henry Rathbone remains something of an enigma despite Mallon's careful work, just as his inaction (or delayed reaction) on that fatal night at Ford's theater remains an enigma to history. For a more exciting, but equally touching, non-fiction sketch of Henry and Clara, turn to Gene Smith's "American Gothic" about the theatrical Booth family, the assassination of Lincoln, and the repercussions for all those involved in that horrid event.

Mallon has woven an engrossing tale around figures and events from ninteenth century America. Like the best historical fiction, "Henry and Clara" operates on three levels: the personal, the interpersonal, and the historical. Thus, the reader is at once given insight into the emotional lives of the characters, the social rituals of the time, and insight into the historical events shaping the era.

Historical fiction may be the most difficult genre to write. While plotting and character are required for any good novel, historical novels also demand the right tone. This, to me, is where Henry and Clara breaks down. At times, characters become mouthpieces for speeches that seem political anachronisms. Other times characters speak in naive, sentimentalisms that read like a Hollywood vision of the era. In these cases, the reader is jarred by a tone that doesn't quite fit. In general, the author puts his own machinations too much in the foreground, wrecking the suspension of disbelief that historical fiction requires.

This is a great read for anyone interested in good literature, or history, especially for those who are civil war buffs. It is a wonderful period novel, giving the reader a good sense of the culture and society of the era. The characters are well developed and absorbing, paritcularly the intracicies and psychological complexities of Henry Rathbone and Clara Harris (guests of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln at Ford's Theater on that fateful night.) I found the subject highly intriguing and fascinating, the examination of the impact of Lincoln's assination on Henry and Clara as individuals and as a couple. There are many historical facts in this novel, and it is fun to sort out fact from fantasy. The novel is a complete offering, providing a great narrative, depth, social and psychological study, and suspense as well. I found it very difficult to put this book down.

The latest polls place Abe Lincoln at the top of the list of "Greatest Presidents". Indeed, few of our nation's past leaders are as reveared (and practically worshipped) as much as Honest Abe is today.

This book takes a different look at his presidency and offers some challenging new ideas for "Lincoln Lovers". Indeed, anyone who has read some decent civil war history outside of a high school or college textbooks will know that the civil war was about much more than the just the one issue of slavery and abolition. Like many wars throughout history, they are usually about money and power.

You will find within its pages a clear and concise arguement against the more popular view of Abe Lincoln. Thomas J. Dilorenzo describes a very clear picture of what the Lincoln presidency was REALLY about...

raising import tariffs in the south to get more money...

ignoring the constitution whenever it didn't suit his agenda...

using "dictator-like" tactics to increase his power...

and ultimately increasing the power of the federal gvt. itself.

I always enjoy a book that has the guts to argue against the popular myths that we are usually taught in school in place of any real history. Get this book and see Honest Abe from a different point of view.

Although Abraham Lincoln plunged the United States into a brutal war that divided the nation against itself, he is now praised almost unanimously as a brilliant politician and humanitarian. While he is called the "great emancipator" he repeatedly stated that his goal was not to interfere with slavery in those areas in which it was legal.

Prof. Thomas DiLorenzo has written an excellent work providing a "new look" at Lincoln, "his agenda" and an "unnecessary war." Actually, the look presented isn't exactly new. Authors have criticized Lincoln for a long time and books have been written about the brutality of the War Between the States and the centralizing effects of Lincoln's revolution. Nonetheless, this book gathers all of that information and makes it easy for the layman to digest.

As Prof. DiLorenzo shows, the key to understanding Lincoln is not slavery, but his life-long devotion to Henry Clay and his "American system." Simply put, Clay believed in "internal improvements" (government spending projects) and tariffs. This is what we today might call "big government" and required centralization. Seen in this light, Lincoln's aims are understandable - expand the power of government, restrict civil liberties, and defeat secession "by any means necessary." That explains the rise of centralized banking, the income tax, and "corporate welfare" during Lincoln's reign.

On issue after issue, Prof. DiLorenzo sets the record straight. For example, we are told that secession was "treason." Yet Lincoln had supported the right to succeed in 1848. In fact, two states (Virginia and New York) had ratified the Constitution with a proviso that they were not giving up their right to secede. Lincoln is portrayed as the liberator of the black man, yet he stated that he did not believe in racial equality.

Abraham Lincoln may not have been the "great emancipator," but Prof. DiLorenzo shows that he was the "great centralizer." It was Lincoln who more than anyone destroyed the limited government that the founders created. No wonder he is praised by the left and the neo-conservative "right."

I am an average reader, so when I go to the trouble to buy and read a book I expect my money's worth; Dilorenzo obviously understands this. His book on Lincoln is straight forward, clearly written, factual yet brief, and well footnoted. In other words, it is very well written and an enjoyable read.

"The Real Lincoln" by Thomas J. DiLorenzo is a 2-3 day read (for average readers like myself) and the best treatise on Lincoln and the War of Secession I have read. The impetus behind this historic tragedy can be best identified as: tariffs, subsidies, and banking; in a word, EMPIRE. Sound familliar? It should because these are the very problems we face today in America.

After reading this book, the "War against Slavery" will have the same hollow ring as the "War against Drugs" and the "War against Terrorism." Now that's something we can all relate too, eh? This book is definite ammo against anyone who is so naive to think that Lincoln "freed the slaves."

Buy it. Read it.