Harrington and Burger waste a lot of time, and my money, in this book without an end. When detailing the crimes, they become rather coy and worried about being overly sensational. I appreciate that many books become lurid in their description of crimes, but Harrington and Burger are almost shy in their description.

The real mass of the book is an endless litany about how long it takes to get Ng to trial, and in fact, the trial hasn't even begun when this book ends. The authors endlessly quote sources, to the point that the reader just wants to cry.

I am still trying to figure-out the reason for this book. It basically tells the reader nothing, and doesn't inform in any way.

Don't waste your money.

The trial was only half over when the book ends. Yes, Ng was found guilty but the penalty phase of the trial remained. After 14 years, couldn't the authors (and publishers) waited a few more months? I found the account and analysis of the legal wrangling simplistic and shallow.

Among true life crime stories, this one gets high ratings for effort and its choice of the most sensational subject matter. The perpetrators of the hideous crimes described in these pages make Ted Bundy look like a boy scout. The two villains of the case stalk and capture their victims, force some of them into sexual slavery, torture them in a variety of ways. These miscreants have no moral limits, taunting a mother with the threat of killing her baby (which turns out to be no idle threat) while they force her to perform sexual acts on film. Men, women, and children (even whole families) disappear from various California locales and end up savaged by the brutal world of Leonard Lake and Charlie Ng. Aside from sexual perversion, robbery and theft of identity are the other motives of these crazed killers. The gruesome stuff occupies the first half of the book and includes descriptions and narratives of the various law enforcement agencies involved in the case.

A key ingredient of this book is the very size of the case, which presents giant hurdles for the police and prosecutors who must bring the case against Charlie Ng. Fortunately for law enforcement and victims, one of these murderers commits suicide when first apprehended. But the remaining killer, Charlie Ng, flees to Canada to escape the possible death penalty in the U.S. Charlie Ng is a master of gaming with the legal system, firing his lawyers, stalling, engaging in other delaying tactics at the expense of the victims and the legal system. The legal manipulations get so bad that an appeal goes beyond the Canadian high courts to the United Nations committee on Human Rights. Although the murders were committed in 1984, it's not until 1998 that Ng actually goes to trial. The sheer size of the case is staggering, and the legal system is in danger of collapse from its crushing weight and the tremendous financial burdens imposed upon the authorities.

The last section of the book is devoted to ideas and commentary on reform of the judicial system. On the whole, this is an ambitious book, but it chokes on the same bones that the legal system uncovers during its investigations. There's too much of everything to consider: too many murders, too many people, too many clues and crime scenes. Another reason for what occasionally seems a disjointed approach may be that it was written by two authors. Though some readers might need to bypass the nauseating details of the crimes, this is worthwhile news reporting of a case that occupied the public attention for more than a decade and resulted in several network television documentaries. The book's commentary and critcism of the legal system have an appeal and relevance to crime victims and their families, as well as to officers of the courts.

I think this book was so boring! I also think that the summary on the back of the book was a lie. He did not have "devasting" consquences. Please! I mean, you tell me what was so "devasting". I'm all ears. This book was so boring. Who wants to hear about how you brand sheep? Uh, no one! This book all most put me to sleep. El boringo.

Miguel at 12 desperately wants to take his place among the Menfolk of his family, by proving to his father that he is mature enough to be one of the regular hands. For years he has dreamed of accompanying the Chavez men on their annual summer trek up into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains with their large flock of sheep. Despite his zeal, creativity and real help with the family business, Miguel seems condemned to spend yet another summer at home with the girls.

When the entire village near Taos, New Mexico, turns out to celebrate the feast day of San Ysidro, their local patron, Miguel decides to petition the saint in a touchingly humorous (almost letter like) prayer. He takes it for granted that his wish will be granted, but soon is shocked to discover the harsh conditions. He never meant for his beloved brother, Gabriel, to have to leave home for two years in the military. Is there any way he can take back his wish? This leads to a long, soul-searching discussion on the

efficacy of prayer, the power and limitations of saints, and great fraternal quality time.

This story will apppeal more to boys seeking macho experience, for the role of females is relegated to the superficial. Still the book provides warm, family interactions. Narrated in the first person by Miguel himself, the book reveals the coming-of-age struggle and dreams of a Mexican-American youth. Readers will discover wry humor, simple faith, bi-lingual slang, and uneven pacing. Krumgold indulges in great detail about the sheep raising business, as Miguel blunders his way into adulthood. Wonderful descriptions of the mountains which have been calling him for years.

This Newberry Award winner is a classic that may best be appreciated by readers with patience for a slower lifestyle. This is not for action-adventure junkies waiting for a roller coaster ride of thrills and suspense. I enjoyed this book because I am familiar with the setting in Northern New Mexico around Taos, which is well described in the book. For hundreds of years ranch owners have sent their shepherds and sheep to the green grazing fields in the local mountains during the summer months. The desire to go to the mountains with the sheep would have been a common personal conflict with older children. As a work of realistic fiction, it portrays a real lifestyle with real dreams and conflicts in a time and place before our modern technology, noise, and adrenaline surges of a rushed, stressed based lifestyle. This book is for the sophisticated reader who is looking for a good story in a work of historical fiction.

This is a typical example of a wanna-be gangster who testifies against his friends and associates and then goes out looking to sell his story to the highest bidder. The problem is, there is no story. He idolizes his alleged "gangster" mentor for the first few chapters and then, once he's gone, he systematically turns informant on all his associates to eradicate his gambling debts. Thank God they didn't try to make this into a movie.

I'm always excited to read different stories about families you don't normally hear much about. There are a myriad of books about Gotti and Capone but this book gave an inside look into the Colombo family from a FRIEND, not a made guy. So the first few chapters are interesting, providing anecdotal info. on Colombo, Gallo, etc., then this "insider" turns stoolie because of his gambling debts. The majority of the book then describes him trying to rat out his friends. The reader is hard-pressed to feel sympathy for this self-serving individual. This book never delivers that "inside" edge because Cantalupo was never involved in anything more important than numbers running. Don't waste your time, especially if you have to search for the book.

After reading more than 20 mob books, I have found this book to be the most exciting. This book gives the reader an inside look at that inner workings of Brooklyn's Columbo Family and its intriguing boss, Joe Columbo. The reader finds how this man evaded taxes and kept in power for as long as he did, and it also describes loansharking in vivid details. Mr. Cantalupo's memory and survival is a blessing for mafia readers. Organized crime in Brooklyn is stupendously covered with this book. Only one regret about this book and that is it lacks detail on the Gallo-Profaci war. The only other book that holds a candle to this is "Blood Oath" by George Fresolone. I highly recommend this title.

My name is Diane Howard. I have been a dance instructor for over 10 years in the Northeast corridor. I take great exception to the negative reviews of Mr. Allen's book Quickstart to Social Dancing, especially in comparison to another book that I own by Mr. Stephenson called The Complete Book of Ballroom Dancing. Here is why:

1. Quickstart guides the beginner and helps develop the most important basic dance skills in systematic and incremental fashion. Foundational skills like correct postural movement with a partner, rhythmic movement, and leg action both for the smooth, swing, and Latin dances are wonderfully described in Quickstart. They are either completely omitted or where included, erroneously described the so-called Complete Book!

2. Quickstart guides you through a primary development with easy to use physical instructions and analogies with a direct goal in mind. That goal is to be able to dance, WITHOUT ERROR, the most fundamental patterns in six major social dances. The Complete Book starts at stages beyond the beginner with a syllabus that assumes that a dance couple already KNOWS HOW to move together. They do not and will not simply by reading a syllabus, all competent dance instructors know this!

3. Quickstart does a terrific job in addressing these primary and necessary functions. The Complete Book leaves you to your own devices.

4. The Complete Book designed for the next stage of dancing, diversity in patterns, unfortunately is laden with serious error that the beginner would certainly not be aware of in their attempt to follow its syllabus. Quickstart does not pretend to be more than it is, simply the best guide for the beginning stages of your social dance experience.

Perhaps these are the reasons why Quickstart to Social Dancing seems to be applauded by dance professionals and others who are willing to provide their names and email addresses for correspondence. I know I recommend it to students and teachers alike.

By contrast, you cannot contact even one negative reviewer of Mr. Allen's books nor can you find any reviews by competent dance professionals on the back cover or web page of Mr. Stephenson's book. In his book, Mr. Allen provides you with his contact information for questions and further help. Mr. Stephenson's book leaves none and suggests that you go elsewhere. You decide!

I have been taking ballroom dancing for almost two years. I started my study of ballroom dancing in Japan, and as a result of language and cultural barriers, I thought I needed a book, written in English, that would compliment my study of dance. So, I purchased this book. It was the worst purchase I have ever made! The pictures are not the least bit useful for learning steps. The description of the steps and the foot diagrams are confusing (and in some cases wrong). The only good thing about the book is the section on the history of ballroom dancing, but except for that the book is extreamely limited. Don't waste your money like I did, there are alot of good ballroom dance books out there, but it is certainly not this one!

This book is a perfect example of what is wrong with much of the dance instruction in the USA - anyone can teach, as there is no required credentialing or licensing to do so! Teachers answer to no one - no authority in dance or the educational system in general. If the packaging is "slick" enough, the unarmed and unaware public will by into it. To teach dancing and not error is a difficult profession. It requires years of experience. Unfortunately, to just show steps as this book does requires none. I find no credentials for the authors and no mention of any dance society that they have been tested by and this is reflected in the gross amount of error that exists in every single step pattern. This is probably why this book until now has not been reviewed by a competent professional ballroom instructor. A book as a tool for dance education is one of great value especially if it is reliable, not one like this, that conflicts with the accepted standards of every dance society that belongs to the National Dance Council of America and good principles of movement. It is apparent that the authors have taken someone's approved listing of dance steps called a syllabus and edited it without understanding leaving gross errors in footwork and complete omissions of how correct dance movement is created. This book leaves the unsuspecting reader with instructions that if followed, would produce flat-footed, awkward, unbalanced, non-musical, and non-rhythmic movement. But many so-called dance instructors quickly find out how easy it is to fool the consumer into believing that if the can dance a little bit, they must also be able to teach. The funny thing about The Complete Book of Ballroom Dance Error and what struck me immediately is that the couple that poses for the pictures throughout the book looks as awkward and uncomfortable as one would expect following this books directions.

Here are some of the many errors in technique found in this book that would create problems for the newcomer to dancing and needless to say any other level:

Throughout the book starting with the "Techniques," page 59, 62, 63, 64, 79, 81, 83, & on from there the Dance Positions are show with the man's right hand too low in the small of the lady's back against soft tissue. Two major problems can occur resulting from this improper arm & hand position. The 1st problem is too much hand pressure would have to be exerted to lead any rotation particularly in the rhythm or Latin dances because of the weak slouched position of the man's right upper arm which leaves that arm limp with lack of proper relationship to his own body's rotation. The 2nd problem is actually dangerous to the lady's health because that is the area of her kidney and the likelihood extending too much pressure over the period of several dances can have the same impact as a strong kidney punch in boxing. Done properly, at least the middle finger of the man's right should be place on at least part of the lady's shoulder blade and the elevation of his right elbow should be the same as his left. Good teachers stress that the elevation of the right hand and arm is MORE important than the left!

Another of the many glaring errors starts on the very first figure of this book in the Waltz section. This pattern has many errors and it, unfortunately for any reader, is the most fundamental in all of Ballroom dancing. For instance on step # 3 for the man the author writes: "Close left foot to right foot; transfer weight to left foot, continuing in rise position until end of Count 3. Any musician would have told these alleged dance instructors that Waltz begins its diminishment at the half waypoint of count 3 which is why many count Waltz: 1,2,3 &. Splitting the 3rd beat between crescendo and diminishment: The good news is that Ballroom dancers do the same thing! Done Properly: they begin a controlled lowering at the end of the third beat followed by a toe lead with the right foot to prevent any lurching backwards necessitating hanging on your partner. Then the authors tell us on step 4 to reach back (obviously from this risen position since they have already missed the moment of lowering) to the BALL of the right foot. This would have the impact of taking a backward step off a platform 2 feet from the floor (this error is repeated many times in this book of miss-instruction)! I can just see a Bride & Groom doing this on their 1st dance and the Groom hitting the floor with her on top of him! That would be one for video bloopers, in the same way this book is. If you can't get the descriptions right in the Waltz, the most fundamental dance, there is little hope for improvement from there. It would take another book to correct the errors of omission and commission this book contains and I've run out of space!

This book scared alot of people when it first came out. And it still scares people. I remember laughing when I read this book a few years ago because the author, Figgie, uses math as bad as that used by the federal govt. to reach his conclusions. Can the U.S. go bankrupt? Sure, but if the govt. can balance the budget, including off-budget items, the economy can grow past this debt and eventually eliminate it.

The first reason why we haven't reached a position of "Bankruptcy 1995" is because of the Republican Congress that came in and made the hard choices to balance the budget and revive a sagging economy that was suffering under the control of the Clinton administration and his left-wing mob in Congress.

The second reason is because Figgie was basing his numbers on how he thought revenues and expenses should be calculated, not how the govt. actually does it.

Figgie is right that at some point we must stop bleeding red ink or we'll be faced with an massive economic disaster. On the other hand, Figgie used bad math and hysteria to sell his book, not taking into consideration the various options of how the govt. can get out of this situation. This book only gives you half the story, and as such, I can not recommend this book.

I read this in hardcover when it was first published and it was very interesting and seemed credible. It did not come true in 1995 as predicted. However, in June, 2002 so much of that book has come true it is frightening.

In retrospect, legislation proposed by Clinton/his administration (and then enacted) postponed the predictions in this book. Just in recent months (Spring, 2002) this book has proven itself. Unfortunately, more of its predictions may come to pass.

Easy to read, but very disconcerting because of the negative impact on this country. Services will decline due to economics is just one prediction. Yesterday's news announced "budget cuts" in Tulsa schools including more pupils per classroom and school beginning later in the calendar year, elimination/reduction in programs,etc. Roads not being repaired and then falling apart has already occurred in OK due to "lack of funds". Hopefully, not all the predictions in this book will come true.

In this current bubble of false prosperity people are choosing to criticize Harry Figgie rather than examine the evidence he presented. Congress hasn't changed with the Republicans; they are still spending beyond the money taken in. The national debt is still growing and we are still headed for a financial disaster. In the Great Depression the Government bailed out the people with funny money. When the Government goes broke, who will bail them out?

Those who consider it all hype just because it didn't happen on Harry Figgie's timetable are only deluding themselves.

Before taking an abstract algebra course this semester I studied the material on my own using the introductory texts by Gallian and Hungerford. These books were very useful because they actually completed proofs instead of leaving them as exercises for the reader. Someone new to abstract algebra is also typically new to higher mathematics. This means a book should have clear and full explanations, not skip major points like Rotman does. Rotman commits another sin by failing to provide homework problems which correspond with the material he presents. One nice thing is that the book does provide a wide array of material (much more than most other introductory texts). This virtue soon turns astray however because by providing so much preliminary material on congruences, functions, divisibility, .... you'll be lucky if your teacher gets to groups by halfway through the semester.

I was very disapointed with Rotman's attempt fix his first edition of this book. The wording is still overly dense, the topics skip around too much, and the examples are less than illuminating. At least he fixed the 10 by 10 orthogonal latin square on the cover to be correct this time. I think Hernstien's classic "Topics in Algebra" is a much better introduction

It is always easy to add something to than to get rid of something from the book. I guess this is the case of the author when he prepares the second edition. However, I prefer the first edition because it is more readable, enjoyable, and most importantly, contains just enough information for the introduction to abstract algebra. There are huge number of textbooks on abstract algbra, and making another would not be the author's purpose of the revision, I hope, but it looks it is.
By adding more subjects in detail to the second edition, now it looks the same as any other, only to loose its expository and conversational style of writings, and became a reference-style textbook.

While this book is a good research tool for readers of Latin, I find Mr. Vehling took too many modern liberties in his redactions of the recipes. He often substitutes, adds, or deletes ingredients without explanation or just cause.

The main failure of this book is its lack of integrity regarding history & honesty of ingredients in the recipes. Beyond that, I am most offended by the AGGRESSIVE attempt @ revisionist/politically correct history; at trying to portray our epoch as anything other than A.D. (After Death of Christ). It seems as though even the culinary sciences are not free from the counter cultural revolutionary dogmatists.

While others who have commented on the book take the author/translator to task for substitutions, mistranslations and other faults, I found that by and large the redactions were not terribly different from others I have read. These include several versions, so I am aquainted with Apicius and his recipes and have tried quite a few, and not from just one source.

What I find most praiseworthy about this book is Dommers Vehling's obvious interest in gastronomy in general and in ancient cookery in particular. He makes a fairly honest attempt to fill in some of the background for the reader. And although he may be guilty of having his own point of view, we must remember that he was writing over sixty years ago.

Dommers also gives the Latin names of the recipes, makes comments on many of them and makes references to other translattions of Apicius' De Re Coquinaria.

And so I feel that this book is worth reading, especially for the price.

I spent good money on this book and several hours reading it. Better I had done anything else. The author claims that very low levels of radiation cause almost anything bad. If it is bad, then radiation caused it. Natural radiation that nature exposes us to all the time? Why no. Every bad thing is caused by radiation from bomb testing and reactors. The author claims that these evil technologies cause a long laundry list of evils.

His statistics could have just as easily shown that the various problems supposed to be caused by radiation in the past 50 years (WW 2 to now) could have been caused by the increased used of home air conditioners, fast food joints, TV dinners or any host of other things that have entered society in the last 50 years.

This book is bogus science. It seems designed to continue our current plague of radiophobia.

This is a fascinating statistical analysis of cancer-clusters and other immune deficiency problems linked to low-level radiation exposure from nuclear power plants and the testing of nuclear weapons. It raises important questions regarding public health which are all too seldom addressed anywhere. The authors' conclusions are a wake-up call for concerned citizens to begin challenging corporate and governmental silence surrounding the real/potential dangers of the nuclear power/weapons industries. A controversial, but important read!

In a followup to his 1991 book _Deadly Deceit_, Gould issues a devestating indictment of the nuclear power industry. Using his irreproachable statistical expertise (in over 30 years, he's never lost a court case in which he's appeared as an expert statistical witness), Gould shows the direct correlation between deadly diseases and living downwind from nuclear reactors. Why does the U.S. government no longer release the data showing the amount of radiation released from Nukes? Because they don't want you to know that Nukes never have been and never will be safe. Instead, they are exposing U.S. citizens to deadly toxins that kill them or make them more susceptible to cancers and autoimmune diseases. For anyone who wants the irrefutable evidence supporting these claims, this is a book you must read.

A terrible book. An ok book on Radio theory, with plenty of schematics, but absolutely nothing to do with design. A better title for this book would be: Secrets I Don't Know About RF Circuit Design. After reading this book you will not be able to design a single RF circuit. I recommend an engineering book: RF Circuit Design.

This book provides very little design info and unnecessarily oversimplified theory of operation. It is a book for whom want to design by trial and error or just experiment for fun.

This book is more for the RF hacker than for an RF designer . It provides very little design info and theory of operation - it is mostly an RF 'cookbook' for people that want to design by trial and error or just experiment for fun.

This book attempts to deify Joseph Smith, by glossing over the negatives and even leaving out major portions of his life. In particular, the book not only ignores polygamy, but actually pretends it doesn't even exist, even though it was a major part of the last decade of Joseph Smith's life, and factored heavily into his death. The book even discusses some of the women married to Joseph Smith without ever once mentioning those marriages.

To give the author the benefit of doubt, though, she comes from the RLDS church which maintained from its very beginnings that Joseph Smith never practiced polygamy. Still, given that it has been clearly documented repeatedly over the last 150 years, it is an incredible failing on the part of the author to not address this major aspect of Joseph and Emma's lives.

A basic history of the LDS Church as it particularly surrounds Joseph Smith. The author attempts to include Emma, but with little documentation the author bogs down the reader with overly cheerful assumptions about Emma's opinions or involvement's. "Surely Emma must have felt..." "One can fantasize that Emma..." Sadly the author avoids most difficult issues to the point of presenting a skewed history. As an LDS and a mild Church history enthusiast I found little in this book I hadn't found in other books and struggled to finish the book due to the warped presentation and overt avoidance of anything that presented Emma and Joseph in a negative light.

First of all, this book is not a history of the life of Joseph Smith. The book focuses more on Emma, thus the title "Emma and Joseph." The book is written by the great-great-grandaughter of Joseph and Emma (through their son Alexander Hale Smith). She writes as anyone else writing about their family would and as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (not RLDS). She discusses all the highlights and good times, while skirting around the contreversial issues. If you want to read a good book with many facts concerning the relationship between Emma, Joseph and the beginings of Mormonism, this is a good book. If you want all the details dealing with the contreversial aspects of early Mormonism, read something else. Give this book a try , you will enjoy it and you will learn something new about Emma and Joseph Smith.