I already own five of the paperbacks in the Harvard Business Review series. The articles in it are really state-of-the-art in the field the book is about. And so it is in the case of the Harvard Business Review on Effective Communication. I appreciate the chance to read what the most important authors have to say in short articles, not in long books. The articles are long enough to understand and give many good ideas worth working on.

Though the collection of articles may at first seem sort of old (the oldest is from 1957), the content is very apropos for today. While building a Training Roadmap for our company, I found articles that I think will be extremely useful for a wide range of positions.

What first attracted me was the article on "Listening to People", where I found the clearest presentation on why our listening fails. Even better, it tells how we can improve our listening as a skill that has to be learned.

The next article on "How to Run a Meeting" was enlightening, almost literally! I rushed into my boss' office with new insights on why certain meetings had to be held and how they should run.

I haven't read word-for-word the whole book, rather I've read some others and skimmed some others. That sampling seems to indicate they're all of the same quality.

William the Conqueror sent his Royal Commissioners throughout England to determine who truly owned the lands and how much taxes should be collected on the estates. Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret visit the King's nephew, the Earl of Chartier, Hugh d'Avranches, who rules his lands with an iron fist. Hugh has subdued the nearby Welsh, but has had problems with a stealth enemy attacking from nowhere.

While the Earl hunts in his personal playground of Delamere Forest, an unknown assailant kills one of his falcons. Hugh retaliates by murdering two Saxon peasants. The next day, Hugh hunts again and another arrow lands near him. In both incidents, a Welsh arrow was used. Hugh believes the Welsh is trying to assassinate him. As the warrior Earl prepares for battle, Ralph and Gervase try to keep the peace.

Edward Marston is an author noted for his ability to entertain while educating his audience. Focusing on the era following Hastings, Mr. Marston provides varying perspective of life from the viewpoints of Saxons, Normans, and Welshmen. The protagonists stay in character as expected from two members of the ruling class, which adds to the eleventh century feel of the novel. As usual from Mr. Marston, the story line is filled with exciting action, but the plot of THE HAWKS OF DELAMERE (and the previous six chronicles) belong to the cast.

Harriet Klausner

This is a great series. The setting and characters combine to yield a wonderful sense of historic place -- 11th Century Britain. This entry is set along the Welsh border, and Hugh,the Earl of Chester, has a Welsh prince in his dungeon to ensure the peace.

The Welsh, however, seem to be on the war path again, as a Welsh arrow kills the Earl's prize hawk, and a second arrow kills his favorite huntsman.

Protagonist Ralph Delchard, a Norman lord assigned to settle land disputes on behalf of the King, arrives to sort out some alleged land-grabbing, and finds himself in the middle of a simmering border war. As usual, the supporting characters -- an assortment of clerics and noblemen -- lend the novel plenty of twists and turns. A fun read.

This is a nice compilation of varied and interesting pieces arranged for finger-style or classical guitar. Within, there is an interesting cross-section of repertoire, ranging from medieval tunes and Christmas carols, to more recent folk songs from various cultures.

The pieces are intended to be a more pleasant pedagogical alternative to etudes, and in this the book is a success. The young student tackles these arranged "tunes" instead of the usual musically-bereft exercises. The style and fingerings in both hands generally work well on the instrument, and the arrangements, though generally simple, are convincing and satisfying, especially for the young student.

If I were teaching beginning students, I would recommend this book, especially for those students who need more "familiar" material to play.

Mr.Scicchitano's book is a wonderful book for guitar students who know the basics and enjoy learning new songs. I have purchased this book and it helps me with my guitar studies. If you are a guitar student who likes learning new (and some traditional) songs then you'll love Ralph L. Scicchitano's "Incentive Pieces For Guitar Students."

No other book out there can provide you with as much information on National Harvester as this reference does. It is organized very well, so one can find exactly what he wants, from a general idea to great details. A history lesson in one complete book, you'll find whatever you need in here.

This book is an excellent history on IH. It is the best one that I have seen. Unlike many books on tractors, this does not stop in about 1960 but covers IH to the end of the independent company in 1985. It goes to the latest prototypes that were never produced. It has detailed history of the corporate decisions of IH. There are many color pictures also. This is truly the definitive history of IH.

This book tells it all...from insider's point of view. R.T. Miller was a cop, not an author. But he wrote an engrossing account of how the Witnesses decieve and manipulate. Miller's account of his son's death is heartbreaking. Being a Jehovah's Witness made it evn more difficult for him and his wife. I recommend this book highly for anyone who wants to learn more about this cult!

This was an excellent book that I just can't say enough good things about. It has touched me in a way that I haven't felt in a long time because it was almost as if the author was writing about MY life (although in my situation, it was my parents who got involved in this [stuff] and forced it down my throat-so may I say thanks to Greg and Joyce). I highly recommend this book to anyone who was raised in this cult and/or who wants to try and understand what this organization is REALLY all about (although frankly, I don't think it is possible to comprehend this religious group and their over-the-top "holier than thou" and "we're-better-than-everyone-else" attitude and who shun family members that leave the organization). It's a sad and touching story, with some elements of humor thrown in and my heart goes out to the author and his wife for everything they have gone through. If you have been in this same situation, this book is extremely helpful knowing that you're not alone.

This wonderful little book of historical fiction is a great introduction to Julian of Norwich, the 14th century anchorite mystic. After acknowledging in the introduction that much of the story is imagined based on what is known of Julian, Ralph Milton draws you in with his well honed story telling skills. He creates for the reader a Julian who is fully human, yet delightfully divine. Despite the fictional nature of the work, it is nevertheless true to the spirit of Julian that is revealed in her writings, which are quoted throughout the book. In an age when the Church largely portrayed humans as "loathsome worms, totally undeserving of God's love and mercy," Julian proclaimed "the human creature is a treasure in the heart of God" (p.11) What is remarkable about Julian is that her theology is so refreshingly contemporary more than 600 years later.
The greatest compliment I can give any book, and which I fully give this one, is the sadness I felt in turning the final page - Julian had become an old friend, a sister, to whom I did not wish to say goodbye. But, as those familiar with Julian might expect, Milton has as her final words to the reader, "All shall be well. And all shall be well. And all manner of things shall be well." And all is well with Milton's well crafted story.

Ralph Milton has produced an impressive novel outlining the history of the fourteenth century English anchoress Julian Of Norwich. Though I have no knowledge about whether the book is historically accurate, it is a clear story and very logically written.

We see how Julian (known as Katherine or Kate before she became an anchoress in Norwich church) was affected by the outbreaks of bubonic plague which killed both her young children and her husband when she was very young. We then see that she had doubts whether becoming an anchoress was what God intended for her, but that she did overcome what was the most difficult decision of her life to enter into a life of prayer.

All through, we notice how emotional Julian and the people around her are, despite the theological view of anger as sinful. This is especially true when it becomes known (late in the book) that England is at a war with France only for the needs of the king. We also see that Julian overcomes her psychological problems to write down the visions she has very clearly - and the fact that a large number of people actually visited her in the anchorhold.

In addition to the war with France, the novel contains some information about the Lollards in its later passages. We see Julian as someone willing, in fact, to think respectfully about issues in the outside world.

A very interesting tale - easy to read for those who would never get through a theological work.

Great story, well written. Illustrates how much a human can REALLY do when you have the will.

I read this book after reading Jennifer Niven's book on the Karluk. I would recommend the same or at least having some knowledge of the Karluk tragedy before reading this book. The book is sparse in its introduction of the people and the situations involved, so having prior knowledge of these things is recommended. However, the personal account of the captain is wonderful. I was worried that Bartlett's own account might be difficult to read, but he was obviously a man of many talents including writing. The book reads quickly and is easy to understand - with the exception of a few seafaring terms which I had to look up. Highly recommended!

The Kovels are well known in the antiquing and collectible field for their annual price guides. In this book they present an introduction to the world of collectibles including chapters on recognizing furniture styles and periods, pottery, dinnerware, glassware, porcelains, jewelry, lamps, clocks, toys, as well as other miscellaneous items. This is a good generalized grounding in all of these topics, although I felt the book concentrated a little on pottery and porcelains. The book occasionally uses terms before defining them, and as an introductory text could have benefited from the presence of a glossary. However, it has a fairly comprehensive index and the reader is able to find the required definition if they are willing to do a little extra page turning. Manufacturers marks are excellently documented making it a useful reference even beyond the first read-through. The photographs are profuse and of good quality, although all are in black and white and a couple would have done well to have been in color. Over-all this is in my view the best introductory text on modern collectibles (collectibles less than 100 years old) and makes and excellent companion to "Kovels known your antiques".

I just ordered another copy of this book for a friend who keeps borrowing mine. Well read, and well liked, especially by our friends who are just starting to collect and furnish thier own homes.

The book is well written and easy to read with good graphics for a beginner level user. It did not provide the information I was searching for. The program is very intuitive to use as the book shows. I wanted to learn how to develop my own templates and stencils. I have not been able to find a clear explanation anywhere as how to do this. I mainly use Visio Home because it has more residential type stencils provided with it. I've wanted to import those stencils into Visio Technical 5 and create custom ones for home planning type layouts. Someone needs to publish a good book that covers this subject clearly.

I've been working with different versions of Visio for over 5 years now, but I bought both of Grabowski's books (beginning and advanced) to learn "everything" I could about Visio. This book was an excellent tutorial, well written, and patient. Exercises were educational and the book just seemed to move along at a good pace. I was impressed.

I found this book to be a wonderful resource for mini-lessons relevant to nonfiction writing. As a third grade teacher, I am constantly on the lookout for books such as this one which offer many ideas and are grade level appropriate. This book is broken into sections for grade levels and is easy to use. The mini-lessons are fully outlined and simple to follow. I found the explaination ("teacher talk") of how to implement each lesson the most useful. I recommend this book to all teachers looking for simple and useful lessons to encourage the best nonfiction writing from their students!

This book is a wonderful tool for writing teachers. Portalupi and Fletcher are very thoughtful in the way that the book is organized so that teachers can share with students lessons dealing with the craft of nonfiction. Since so many writing books deal primarily with narrative writing, this is one of the first I've seen to deal specifically with nonfiction and its craft. This book will change nonfiction writing in all K-8 classrooms. It seems to be a great book for teachers who are comfortable with Writing Workshop as well as those who are new to writing process.