Rebel Leathernecks is one of the most interesting books I have read recent years telling the story of the Confederate States Marine Corps in detail I never knew exsisted. I found the statistics very useful in my own personal research. I reccommend this book if you are interested in the Civil War and the Marine Corps in particular. It gives insight on a side of the Corps many Marines themselves are not aware of.

Contemporary Epistemology is a text, which covers theories of knowledge that range from mathematical knowledge to religious knowledge. This book is somewhat difficult to comprehend with one read (for the beginning philosophy or theology student), but is nevertheless literally filled with knowledge. One defenite draw back is that the price is pretty steep, but work a few hours of OT and it'll be worth it.

The Taiwan Strait is likely to remain a contested area in world politics for many more years to come, and now that Chen Shui-bian has taken up office as Taiwan's newly elected president, the tension in the strait will probably lose none of its intensity. However, reading this book revealed the fact that in spite of the frequent verbal skirmishes between Beijing and Taipei, lively interaction between both sides of the strait is taking place on many different levels every day: There is reciprocal economic investment, students are taking part in exchange programs, individual travel is booming and further exchanges are being encouraged in such different fields as art and sports. Interestingly enough, all this activity is continuously being overshadowed by the media hype that - unfolding in the U.S. and most European countries - has so far been quite successful in painting a bleak picture of the apparently impending clash between the David and Goliath of the Taiwan Strait. To be sure, it will never be possible to completely eliminate any anxiety that a direct confrontation between the more radical groups in both Beijing and Taipei might lead to a military conflict, but considering the economic investments, international goodwill and - last but not least - people's welfare at stake for both governments, war in the Taiwan Strait seems not a valuable option. Indeed, let it be remembered that even during the most tumultuous period of Beijing-Taipei relations to date in 1995-1996, culminating in the PRC initiating air-sea combat maneuvers in the strait, Beijing authorities sought to minimize the adverse impact on cross-strait trade and investment by sending high-ranking officials on a tour of South China to assure worried Taiwanese businessmen that the heightened political tension would not affect economic relations. Although still years away, peaceful reunification of Taiwan with mainland China is far more probable than bloody conflict, and that is an important lesson learnt from this very necessary book.

Excellent read about the Order's revival in the New World, the challenges faced.

Against the urgings of the many to return to his highly successful businesses, H. Spencer Lewis persevered in his goal to establish the Rosicrucian Order on our Continent. His rewards were beyond the material rewards he would have obtained had he not followed his chosen path.

We are also given a glimpse of help the Cosmic, or God, provides us if we are but willing to ask.

This is a must read for anyone who is a Rosicrucian or anyone looking for knowledge concerning Rosicrucianism.

Though this book is lengthy, and out of date, it does give an excellent first hand account of organized crime in the 1960's. The author, Ralph Salerno, used to be an officer in the police intelligence unit, and gives hundreds of examples of situations he has encountered. Everything from recruiting to operations in organized crime is described in depth. I did a book report using this book as a reference and got 100%. However, because it is rather long, I wouldn't recommend it to the casual reader.

There is good information in this book, if you can stand insects, not the most delectable of subjects in my opinion. I read the Spanish version to learn some new words, but the illustrations are realistic. Children would maybe have fun counting the bugs on each page. I trusted the authors. Nature-loving children would like this book, and they probably could find some of the subjects in their own backyards, giving definite relevance to the topic.

As a white man I have found Wiley's books interesting because they allow me to see American society through another's eyes. As a high school history and political science teacher, I have used Wiley's essays to generate great discussions. I used his "Integration and desegregation" essay from "Why Black People Tend to Shout" as a different point view after viewing the "successes" of integration. I also use his essay about Arthur Ashe from "What Black People Should Do Now" after I have me students read part of "Days of Grace" for my Race and Politics unit. As far as "Dark Witness", the Twain material is interesting, but it is hard to comment on being limited in my knowledge on Twain however, the idea that "nigger" is reflected on the speaker rather than the subject and the "niggers and guvment" related to todays Congress are both interesting observations, which is why I like reading Wiley. On the O.J. essay, I find it troublesome that Wiley and other black people find Furman types as "loan officers, principals" etc. One question I would have is, unless they have been blatently racist, how does one know that they are in fact racist? The "Profuse Apology" essay is cool and one I will use with my students along with the "Why Black people are violent, on welfare..." The description of his sons basketball team is as entertaining as his description of the Lakers beating the 76ers in one of his other books. One other question, he states (I assume in jest) "What Black People Should Do Now", what would his answer be to the question "What should white people do now?" Also, no commentary of Farrakhan in Dark Witness? I'd like to see Wiley beam his powers of observation on Farrakhan. Doug Graney

This is a very good book grounded in solid microeconomic theory foundations. It starts with classical micro theory such as preferences and axioms, and it moves on to risky preferences and methods on how to retrieve them by constructing careful experiments. It also discusses the limitations on preference retrieval by such axiomatic methods due to the heuristics and biases that occur in decision making behaviour. However, this book is also useful for non-economists, as it describes decision making theories and applied methods on how to retrieve preferences in fields such as policy and medical sciences. The book's target market is mostly economics/ decision sciences graduate students or those who have achieved a comparable or higher level of their studies/work experience. It has also very instructive real world examples of PhD students running preference retrieval experiments and reporting their results. Good book for those keen on the subject. The 1976 version of the book has won a book prize, hence the assurance of quality. Furthermore, Raiffa is a well established Harvard academic, which further lends credence to the book.

I found this book when looking for something above the many "basic" presentation skills books that are out there - and this book delivers.
Ralph covers the various voice qualities in detail, and the impact these qualities has on audience perception. He covers how to add more variety to your voice via rate, pitch and volume - each are covered in detail along with when to vary these for effect.
Ralph also covers how to support your voice, and then goes into the technical aspects of voice production and phonetics (via the International Phonetic Alphabet - or IPA).
The book finishes with tips on dress, movement, eye contact, external factors, health and practice. It also includes 27 exercises designed to improve your voice and overall presentation technique.
Overall this book provides much information that can help take your presentation style to the next level.

Pithy prose with an interesting scoop on the historical development of chemical principles. Hoary for a science text (last published >20 years ago) but the general matter holds true. Well-written and approachable, it makes a good supplement to the dry, long-winded presentations of many a modern introductory chemistry text.