This book looked very promising; the format and premise of a history book written from the year 2025. Unfortunately, the book is so superficial in its treatment of the subjects that I found myself falling asleep whenever I attempted to read it. The book reads like a collection of facts or sidebars; there are no stories, fiction or non, to pull you through the chapters. Read Probable Tomorrows instead.

"The future is now present," claims Bill Clinton. We need to "honor the past" and "imagine the future." Here is a book that helps millennial planners do the later part well.

Coates is a regular feature at World Future Society conferences. Last year I heard him give an 8-part lecture series last year on scenarios of life and business in 2025, and later bought the cassette series.

Now he and his colleagues have brought out the book on the subject. It taps the worlds of science, technology, and engineering to look at the thirty year period of 1995 to 2025. Written in the form of a history book in 2025, Coates gives fifteen scenarios which reflect what life will be like in the United States as well as other societies (both affluent and less prosperous).

* Smart Living / house and home of the future * Information: The Global Commodity / integration of telecommunications * Harvesting the Fruit of Genetics / biotechnology * Powering Three Worlds /energy technology and efficiency * The World of Things/ materials technology * Working Toward a Sustainable World /environmental strategies and tools * Managing the Planet/ macroengineering the environment * Putting Space to Work /cooperation and commercialization of space * Our Built World/ infrastructure and construction * People and Things on the Move / transportation * The World of Production / custom manufacturing * A Quest for Variety and Sufficiency / food and agriculture * Striving for Good Health / disease prevention and life enhancement * Our Days and Our Lives / quality of life movement * Balancing Work and Leisure / lifestyle and entertainment

One added feature to *2025* is that at the end of each chapter, Coates lists the "Critical Developments, 1990-2025," plus the "Unrealized Hopes and Fears" of each field he covers.

*2025* is the best information rich and researched mid-range scenario for the future I have read. It also is enjoyable reading. I have sharing bits and pieces with my son ! and daughter who will be 41 and 39 in the year 2025. They get a kick out of hearing about computer "knowbots," toys made with "smart materials," or machine "language coaches." But *2025* is far deeper than just a preview of future gadgets.

This book could be a veritable field guide to your next 30 years, especially if you are in business, an entrepreneur, a person responsible for planning, or engaged in scientific and technical issues.

I am using it right now as a help in writing radio commercials which illustrate futures thinking for upcoming millennial celebrations.

This book was on the required reading for my English Graduate School Comprehensive Exams in the area on Literary Criticism. Brian Mcrea thoroughly repeats his same point several times within this text almost to the level of a reader's perplexity with his obsessive observations concerning the change in the world between the seventeeth to the eighteenth century literary styles and the postmodern era up until our current time. Certainly it is not surprising news to any English graduate student that Addison and Steele are no longer the literary icons for journalistic and literary practices used in the late 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries. For forty dollars, however, you get alot of repetition of Mcrea's observations on this "phenomenom."

This book is a good source of information by the author as objective member of a university English Department in the fragmented postmodern modern world of today. Professional expectations and specialized suject areas now dominate the scene for graduate studies and new professors. McCrea relates the loss of interest in the public literary style Addision and Steel as members of the current literary canon and critical reviews which have dwindled to significanty none at all in periodicals since 1957. He traces the history of the canon back to the seventeenth century London and proceeds to Saussaure and Derrida as the leaders in the study of the new literary criticism and its canon in the twentieth and tweny-first century. Most of his comments are of interest historically and socially in respect to literature and its ever growing but selective group of isolated critics who only entertain a narrow and main focus of study. Is Derrida right, wrong, or both? This question gets a bit confusing in the last chapter on the New York mutes who are "signing" as they communicate enthuisiastically inside a restaurant as McCrea and his children watch. Is Derrida wrong, or is writing insubordinated by a system of signs that do not indicate the signified? Read this book for McCrea's comments that may initiate some questions of your own questions concerning the democratization of literature by the postmodern critics and new English Department professionalism.

it is a very good book actually, but i'm having some difficulties in solving the exercise, so i think this book need a complementary book or some kind of manual or solution. But if there is, I would like to be informed about where i can get that kind of book. Thank U!

I used this book as my self-study material and I benefited from this book a lot. I would recommend using it either as a textbook for Advanced Accounting course or as a reference book for professionals. Here are the few points that I would like to share with you:

1.Logical order The order to display the topics in this book is logical and consistent. This is important for self-study users. At the beginning of each chapter, there's always a paragraph or two summarize the main points that are going to present in the chapter. This gives the reader a whole picture.

2. Clear explanation and examples The book uses easy explanatory languages and the examples are very representative. Each example, the author is showing us every detail steps, so it is easy to follow.

3.Relevant exercises and problems. At the end of each chapter, there are questions that can help to reinforce the concepts. Most questions can be found directly from the material. There are also exercises and problems that are related to the topic presented in the chapter. I remember there is an accounting book I used before that the problems required more knowledge than the chapter actually covered. This not the case in this book. Some of the examples in the chapter could be used as quick reference while working on the problems, too.

The only thing I would recommend, if I need to find some, is that I hope there could be more real life issues mentioned in the book. In this way, readers can relate the knowledge to daily life even closer.

"The Adventures of King Midas" promised to be a great book. After all, with a classic story like that and the author of the wonderful "Indian in the Cupboard" series, how could you go wrong? Apparently, you could. Reid's book tried to be a page-turning fantasy, but you just can't get very excited about what will happen next. True, it wasn't horrible to read, but it just didn't live up to it's potential. One problem was that Reid did not really develop her character's as much as she does in her other books. She fails to bring out the magic that is just dying to get out. Although it was not the worst book I've read, it sure could've been a whole lot better.

Lynne Reid Banks shows herself to be a completely versatile and always diverting story teller-- from The Indian in the Cupboard to The Farthest-Away Mountain to The Adventures of King Midas.

In this work, the old Greek myth is dusted off, given a thorough polishing and made into a lively and entertaining children's story. While Banks takes extreme liberties with the myth, the result is something so fresh and fun it doesn't matter. King Midas is transformed from a greedy miser to someone who simply has an obsession with gold (among other things, like growing roses). His quest to save his daughter, whom he turned into gold quite by accident, becomes an exciting adventure in which Midas is tested and changed. Along the way, he meets a mumbo (think baby dragon), defeats an evil witch, clears the throat of Old Gollop, saves a magician and learns the importance of a flandy-bake.

A very fun, fleshed out fairy tale filled with Banks' usual wit. If you like this one, also try her other fantasies.

It all depends on what kind of review book you are looking for to study for the CCRN. This book is generalized and broad. I prefer study guides that do not make you go to other references to relearn what you need to know. I like it all in one place.

I am studing with ICU nurses for the CCRN exam and we have a variety of books to study from. This book is very straight forward and to the point. It is in outline form with just enough info to either confirm your knowledge basis or to let you know that you need to "dig" for more. Each and every section is correlated with the outline from AACN for studing for CCRN exam. The rest is up to me - see you at the testing center.

Fascinating book on the history and lore of Atlantic salmon fishing and flies. The salmon fishing stories are wonderful. However, for a book that was up-dated in 1995, the chapter on "The New Look in Salmon Tackle" was very out-of-date -- graphite rods aren't even mentioned.

On the other hand, I found the sections on how salmon take flies, and wet-fly and dry-fly fishing methods useful.

The writing on salmon flies and their history is fascinating.

This is my first book on the topic so I can't say how it compares with others.

Atlantic Salmon Flies and Fishing is brimming over with information for anyone interested in the history of fishing for salmon, tying Atlantic Salmon flies and in all the related "arts" of fishing for Salmon. The color plates of flies are vivid and clear and the lighthearted yet informative text is easy and enjoyable to read.

Maybe I was expecting too much from this product. I admit the gamemaster's screen is very handy. Having all the charts available in one place is critical, in the core sourcebook I find it hard to find what I need. And the painting on the front is certainly beautifully done. The information pack within was not as good as I was hoping for. It would help if the pack made it clear where the planets discussed were on the map. The main thing that I found helpful for my game was the stats for the Explorer Class starship, and a timeline for the Explorer project.

Beyond the value of having a cool looking GM's screen, and beyond the value of having all those nifty little charts on the back, you'll get an extra packet of info inside the shrinkwrap.

This packet contains extra information on the various major races' political stances. (except the Vorlon's, of course!) It also gives a few more hints about the raiders and (in a couple of loose leaves) standard icons, logos, and fonts for Earthforce and the Babylon project, as well as icons for all the major races (including the Vorlons!)

Oh yes, it is also prone to come with a dinky card to try and get you hooked on the _Babylon_5_ card game. I use mine as a bookmark.

You've already spent too much, give in. Buy this too.

Say what you will about David Ben-Gurion - no one can deny his contribution to the establishment of the state of Israel. He managed, by virtue of his pragmatic politics, his keen eye for important developments (such as the importance of America, the early realization that the Arab States would invade a Jewish state etc), and his forcefull leadership, to do what many though impossible - establish a Jewish state, and defend it by force of arms.

Joseph Heller has writen a thorough book of the diplomatic history of the Yishuv, with Ben-Gurion at its head, from the end of WWII until the end of the War of Independence. Both its foreign relationships (with the US and USSR, for example), and the internal struggles within the Zionist camp are given extensive treatment.

I was impressed by Ben-Gurion's pragmatism and his ability to bind many disparate groups together, as well as his keen eye. Ben-Gurion comes off in this book not as the conspiratorial knave of the New Historians, but a pragmatic national leader, no worse than others, trying under difficult circumstances to look out for the Yishuv's interests.

Indeed, this book manages to properly explain the alleged "collusion" claim between the Yishuv and Abdallah I. Efraim Karsh has already managed to destroy Shlaim's claim that the Abdallah-Meir meeting reached an agreement to divide the country, and this is an extra nail in that coffin.

In order to demonstrate that Ben-Gurion had the right idea and tht his critics were wrong, Heller gives each of them a whole chapter on their appoach to the conflict during that period.

First to go is Ihud, that group of intellectuals who objected to the partition plan and supported a bi-national scheme instead. This group, although they had good intentions, were hopelessly out of touch with reality. The Yishuv saw them as traitors, and the only Arab leader willing to agree to binational regime, albeit probably not with equal numbers, had little power and was quickly assasinated.

Heller deals also with those to the right and left of Ben-Gurion. While his treatment is generally fair, I felt that he hel some deep animosity towards the right wing (the revisionists, the Etzel).

His treatment of Deir Yassin is way off base - Begin not only knew of the operation, he specifically ordered that civilians not be harmed. Furthermore, Begin never admitted that a massacre took place there, let alone brag about its effectiveness (See Deir Yassin: History of A Lie published by ZOA). His portrayal of Lord Moyne is also inaccurate.

Heller's treatment of the left-wing is more fair-minded. In sum, one should read this critique of the right wing against something more symathetic.

That's the good news. The bad news is that Heller's book is very weak and even self-contradictory when it comes to the war itself, and the Palestinian Refugee problem in particular. He seems to be sayins - "Benny Morris is right, but one must put things into context". There is no mention of Shabtai Teveth's or Efraim Karsh's rebuttal's to aspects of Morris's work.

Worse, while Heller at one point says that Morris was right not to give undue importance to Plan D as a factor in the war, at another point he claims that Plan D can be seen within the context of "ethnic cleansing". Which is the right answer?

The absurdity of this comes to the point where Heller treats with scepticism the claim by various Zionists that the Arabs were running away due to fright (which was at least partially true), and gives undue importance to the few expulsions that took place on the eve of the invasion-as if it were the main cause (see "Why did the Palestinians Run Away in 1948" by Yoav Gelber, at mideasttruth.com, for a good overview of what happened).

There are other problems with the book - the treatment of the strength of opposing forces (Arab & Israeli) is scattered, the treatment of the Holocaust bothin general and as a background to the "Revolt" of Menahem Begin and other events is played down, and Heller fails to sufficiently stress the total and uncompromising refusal of the Palestinians to agree to a Jewish state of any shape or size. It also would have been nice if Heller had given a more thorough treatment to his argument with the "New Historians", instead of just a short appendix.

All this aside, Heller's book is an important and informative work of history, and it demonstrates the greatness and foresight of one of the Jewish people's great leaders - David Ben-Gurion.

The birth of the State of Israel, 1945-1949 by Ben Gurion and his critics, presents a look into the first four year history of Isreal. For those who are fimilar with the Torah, better known as the "Old Testement" can see the importance of the Jewish state. The Torah states that G-d had set aside the land for the Israelites.

Many Traditional Jews believe that the established Jewish state was mandated by G-d afther the Holocaust. During the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler, Chancaller of Germany order in his "Final Soluation". Hitler believed that the Jews were evil incarned, and driven by there own greed. He called for the death of ever Jew, including all Jewish children. For the next six years Jewish men, women, and children marched to there death by fire, the Holocaust. An estimated six million Jews were murdered in Hitler's regime.

The aftherwrath of the Holocaust changed the Jewish thought forever. The murder of nearly half of the Jewish population has made many Jews question G-d. Where was G-d? Some Jews lost there faith in G-d by arriving the the conclusion that "A G-d could have not this happen. How can G-d let such a thing happen"? Although some have lost there faith, most Jews haven't. As a noted Jewish thinker once said " The question is not were was G-d, but where was man"?

This book was interesting but was not a smooth read. The author had a tendency to jump from one area to another and then back to the original. The author repeated a lot of the information in each section.

As the lurid title states, this book provides a compilation of cannibalism incidents that happened on land and on sea. The stories themselves are unsettling not just because of the subject matter but under the conditions which some of them occur. For example, not all of the stories concern people driven under desperate circumstances to feed on human flesh (although there are quite a few stories concerning instances in which that happened such as the ill-fated Donner party). Many of the tales have cannibalism being practiced voluntarily by some cultures in the Pacific and pre-Columbian North America. Furthermore, there are stories concerning human monsters in modern day America like serial killers Albert Fish and Jeffery Dahmer who preyed on their neighbors.

Clearly this book requires a strong stomach to read but for those interested in real life Hannibal Lecters and what happens to people driven to the depths of hunger that modern man rarely knows, it is an essential read.

The basic stipulation of Understadnding Toscanini is that the conductor was an unwitting link between "high-art" and "midlevel-art." He also tries to draw a line between Toscanini and the music appreciation craze of the early 1950s. One could conceivably continue the line to the "music makes you smarter" boom of the 1990s, using Horowitz' tortured reasoning.

The most ridiculous charge Joseph Horowitz makes in this book, that Toscanini was somehow manpilated by RCA/NBC's public relations departments is simply ludicrous. Toscanini was RCA's best selling conductor, for the simple reason that he raised artistic standards to hitherto unrealized levels. Horowitz is certainly right in the assertion that his recordings with the NBC Symphony were some of the most bizarre recordings in history, sonically. (Digital remastering has improved the situation, somewhat.) Yet, by limiting himself to the NBC years, Horowitz ignores his previous associations with the New York Philharmonic, not to mention the La Scala Orchestra. (It is worth noting that Toscanini's first recordings, made in 1920 during the La Scala Orchestra's North American tour, took place at precisely the midpoint of Toscanini's career.) So, he's basing his opinion of Toscanini's art on the last 17 years of a 58 year career! Imagine basing one's opinion of Toscanini's son-in-law, Vladimir Horowitz (no relation to the author) only on recordings made after 1972, or Arthur Rubinstein on recordings made only after 1959!

Horowitz' descriptions of Toscanini's conducting (ten of Toscanini's concerts withe the NBC Symhpony were telecast) are amateurish, and betray scant knowledge of the art of conducting.

This book is poorly researched, completely subjective, and highly biased against Arturo Toscanini. For a more objective analysis, try Harvey Sachs' two excellent books.

You'll have to decide for yourself, so don't skip this one.

Horowitz portrays the beloved and tempestuous conductor as a carefully packaged and sold cultural superstar. I wonder if he's not a little ahead of himself on that one -- we're talking pre- during and post WWII here. Of course Toscanini's association with the NBC Orchestra paid off in a variety of ways but Horowitz seems to have forgotten the great conductor's incredible sensitivity to the music and the composers that he interpreted.

I enjoyed this book immensely but can't agree with the author in a number of respects. Toscanini's fame was, quite obviously, a direct result of his talent, drive and the love audiences had for his interpretation of the music. Those are the facts, pure and simple.

The book, however, deserves an unprejudiced and thoughtful reading.

A brilliant insight into the cultural commodotification of a great conductor by the forces of materialism. A wonderful exposition on the exploitation of intellectual and cultural capital which someone like Bourdieu would do well to read. We discover not only fascinating stories of Toscanini's relations with Mahler and Furtwangler, but excellent analyses are given to show how Toscanini was iconised. The reason has much to do with a reflection of American society and the political and international situation of that time. After reading this book, it was clear to me why Toscanini is my idea of a great conductor, von Karajan (who has a cameo appearance in the book) as the technical exepert and balanced visionary, and Furtwangler as the intense Romantic, mystical artist. But both Toscanini and Furtwangler stand out as stalwarts against totalitarian regimes, though while former had his due, the latter was given his due recognition for this only after his death. A treat and joy for anyone who loves classical music.