"The Pied Pipers of Wall Street" is a blockbuster of a book. Benjamin Cole has produced a searing indictment of an industry whose inherent conflicts have turned it into a deathtrap for unsuspecting investors. Though a tidy 219 pages, this is a thoroughly researched book and is full of stinging and poignant anecdotes about two-timing stock analysts and debunking short sellers. Cole also offers up a crash history lesson on the stock brokerage and investment banking businesses that gives readers a solid appreciation of how those practices evolved and why they became so conflicted.

Besides his sure-handed command of the subject matter, the author lends additional credibility to his book by steering clear of hyperbole and hyperventilation, instead letting his research and shocking case studies raise the decibel level. The book also offers sources of honest stock research and analysis that investors can trust, then concludes by outlining several regulatory strategies being contemplated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to remedy the problem.

All in all, "The Pied Pipers of Wall Street" is a great work of public service by a journalist who has held the stock houses up to the public humiliation they richly deserve while throwing a life raft to investors.

This book blows the lid off the 'boy's club' brokerage houses of Wall Street. In a fun to read, anecdotal style, Benjamin Mark Cole tells how and why it is in the best interests of investment advisors to lead "regular guy investors" down the garden path. Mr. Cole gives advice anyone can use to easily find unbiased investment advice. This book is a must-read for anyone who presently invests in the stock market or may do so in the future. Which is everyone.

The best proof of Benjamin Mark Cole's premise - that brokerage houses have sold out common investors to curry favor with huge corporate interests - is the ease with which he accumulates examples of analysts hyping stocks that later went bust. Can the combination of self-interest, analyst hype, and subsequent stock price implosion somehow be coincidental? Or is it time to start calling a duck a duck (or, for that matter, a quack a quack)? Cole's indictment of Wall Street's most efficient salesmen comes just in time for investors looking for a culprit in the overnight evaporation of billions of dollars in retirement funds. Of course, analysts can't be blamed for the stock-market downturn, but their behavior during the run up deserves the close scrutiny it receives here. We [...] recommend this book to any investor who suspects that the true talent of the talking heads they see on CNBC might really be turning your money into theirs.

More `adult' re-imagination of the formation of Marvel's premier super team The Avengers, which begins with the final World War II mission of Captain America and touches on the ups and downs of the founding members, Giant Man, The Wasp, Iron Man, The Hulk, and Thor, throwing in Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

The art is quite good, and while the story moved well, I had some problems with a few of the characterizations (though these could be a matter of personal taste). The author plays around a bit with established canon for the sake of this new universe, and that is understandable, but changing the Hulk into a raging, oversexed skirt-chaser was a little bit...well, dumb to me. I also didn't care for Nick Fury's recasting. The art and the writing SO made him look and seem like Sam Jackson that it kind've didn't ring true for me that this was supposed to be Nick Fury. He was too suave and cool. The authors of The Ultimates seemed to have a good time casting their characters with real life actors (there is one sequence where the newly discovered by the media team sits around and speculates on who would portray each of them in a Hollywood adaptation.), but personally, I didn't care for all the pop references (reverences?). I'd like to think that a molecular biologist and the leader of Shield would be a little less like fanboys. Fury's supposed to be this grizzled cigar chomping ex-GI a la Sgt. Rock, but he comes off more as Tony Stark with an eyepatch here (for the record, Tony Stark doesn't look anything like Johnny Depp in his rendering, either - he looks more like Jonathan Frakes from Star Trek). Most of the other characterizations didn't bother me. Portraying the Wasp and Giant Man as having such extensive, violent domestic troubles went a long way to humanize them, and turning Jarvis, Tony Stark's faithful butler into an aging homosexual (wearing a colorful vest to gain Thor and Cap's attention...) was pretty daring. Didn't like Tony Stark's Iron Man armor though - he looked like a Micronaut. I would have liked to have seen more of Thor, but I'm not sure I cared for his reinvention as a hippie pacifist eco-warrior - the Norse god of Thunder??? At Ragnarok this guy drowned in the venom of a giant serpent he slew, and here we find him hanging out with that guy with the guitar on the stairs in Animal House...

But these are minor quibbles, again, possibly a matter of my own personal taste. There is a lot to like about The Ultimates - a lot to make it stand above the normal superhero fare. The rivalry between Dr. (Giant Man) Pym and Bruce (The Hulk) Banner is very well played out - the frustrations and the pettiness of these two in their race to perfect the next big superhuman for the team is like watching Dr. Jekyll try to outdo Dr. Frankenstein. Pym comes off as a selfish egomaniac who will posture and fabricate to protect his reputation, whereas the more honest Banner is something of a maladjusted loser. Both are well realized and interesting to watch. Its a great juxtaposition when you consider that Pym is something of a monster (which is apparent in the final pages - that scene with him wearing the ant helmet `You shouldn't have made me look small...' creepy!) trying to be a good man, and Banner is a good man who wants to be a monster. The motivation for Tony Stark's desire to join the team as Iron Man is revealed in a touching manner (possibly the best dramatic scene of the book, toward the end where Thor, Stark, and Cap are sharing dinner at Stark's penthouse apartment) and goes a long way in making me like the playboy, who I will confess never interested me much in the past. Captain America and his story arc comes off the best (which as an ardent fan of ol Winghead, is fine by me) - the reunion with an elderly Bucky (I know, I know, Bucky's dead!... But it didn't bother me) near the beginning of the book is heartfelt and nicely done. There's a good sense of humor to this story too - Giant Man's embarrassing habit of growing beyond the capacity of his clothes (and the dismay of his colleagues), Cap's mistaking Fury and Stark and the Marines for Nazi agents when he awakes, The Hulk's rage at Freddy Prinze Jr. (go get him, Mr. Fixit! Captain America, indeed. I, along with Millar, see no one but Brad Pitt behind the big round shield), and those few panels where George W. Bush meets Steve Rogers made me smile (the Prez's expression is hilarious - `Cool or Uncool?').

In closing, an interesting read, but I was put off by The Hulk and Sam -I mean Nick Fury. And all the pop culture references can be done away with. Underneath the foil and hologram is a good read, that interested me enough to want to see where these characters are going. Keep in mind that this is more of an adult read - at least age fourteen and up. Oh, and in spite of my dislike of casting, I can't resist - Valdmir Kulich (Buliwyf from The 13th Warrior) as Thor...

What if super-heroes actually existed in 21st Century America? This retelling of Marvel's classic Avengers characters (The Hulk, Iron Man, Wasp, Thor, and Giant Man) sets out to answer that question. Instead of high-flying heroics and do-goodery, we see a glimpse into the lives of these all too normal people who happen to have abilities beyond the normal -- likening them to celebrities instead of morally superior "heroes".

Mark Millar (story) and Brian Hitch (art) paint an intense, shocking, and often hilarious picture of these classic heroes, truly redefining them for the new generation.

This trade paperback collects The Ultimates issues #1-#6. It is an excellent read, and a good jumping-on point for people who don't want to wade through the piles of continuity that bog down many of the Marvel titles. Possibly the best comic that Marvel produces today, and certainly one of my favorites.

I recommend this for older readers, 16+ years of age.

I cant see how anybody doesnt like this book, its really a great accomplishment in restructuring the marvel world. Opposed to the squeaky clean, and thus boring Avengers, the Ultimates actually have humanity behind the tights and primary colors. As for the complaint that the book is rushed in its plot, I dont really agree with that either. Most people reading this book already know the standard marvel histories for these characters, and so dont need the full Captain America origin for about the millionth time. Discovering the differences in this world from the Marvel universe I am used to is what keeps me interested in the book, I think the book wouldn't be nearly as interesting if they did a regular "origin story". Ultimate Spiderman I think really suffers from the fact they are just exploring his origin, a story most readers know all too well. Not to say Ultimate-Spidey is a bad book in any way, I am just more intrigued with Ultimates and Ultimate-Xmen because not everything is completely reavealed.

I haven't had a chance to pick up this 2nd Edition yet, but the first edition blew my mind. I'm already a big fan of Minasi and was worried that he might take a negative approach toward Linux considering the fact that he is probably THE authority on Windows networking. To the contrary, he is extrememly honest in telling you when it is best to use Windows and when it is best to use Linux. It is one of the only "cross-over" books out there and it was unbelievably helpful in my quest to learn Linux. My problem with Linux books is was that I either had to buy something in the area of "Linux for Dummies" or an O'Reilly book that, while it was high quality, assumed that I already had 5 or 6 years of Linux/Unix experience. If you already know Windows NT/2000 and are looking to learn Linux, there is no better book out there. As a companion to this book, I would also recommend "Linux for Windows Addicts" by Miller. Minasi's book is great for the server administrator and focuses mainly on the command line. "Linux for Windows Addicts" takes more of a GUI approach and is more useful toward using Linux for desktop systems.

The first edition of this book was on my wishlist for some time, so when I found out that Mark wrote second edition I preordered the book the same day. One reason for that is because of the author itself (I read his fourth edition of Mastering Windows 2000 Server and I was really impressed by both the technical level and comprehensiveness of the book - believe me, this man really knows how to explain complex topics in plain English with real life examples), the second reason is the fact that there is no good alternative on the market - I couldn't find any other book of this kind. Linux books tends to be targeted either to already experienced users of Linux/Unix or to total newbies without any networking/OS background whatsoever. I have several years of Windows NT experience on my back so I don't want to re-learn some basic topics that are common to all network operating systems. I was looking for a quick headstart approach to transfer some of my knowledge from NT environment to Linux. Now, that I read the second edition of the book I'm really sorry that I waited so long, if I bought the first edition it would probably saved me some hair ;-).
Here is why this book should be on every bookshelf of Windows/Linux administrators;
At first I was a little skeptic to buy a book about Linux from one of the leading authors on Windows technology, even if I knew that writing style will be superb and that book is co-authored by Linux expert Dan York. I was expecting "GUI approach" to explain basic Linux administration. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that book is all about using command line to administer Linux. This is REALLY GOOD news ! (And don't worry there is excellent chapter on setting up X environment, one of the best that I read so far.)
One strength of the book is also that when appropriate author explains or compare command or feature in familiar lingo for us NT admins, like the sentence "..To set what we'd call in the NT world the Everyone/Full Control permission for speech.txt, you would type chmod 777 speech.txt".
In my reviews I usually honor some chapters more than the others, this time I can't pickup my favorite chapter, in all 10 chapters I learned something new. They're all up to the task to introduce you to the topic and give you a headstart, for example, now I know that server in the X world is not a 'server' and the client is really not a 'client' ;-) or I also learned how the system of starting/stopping daemons work on Linux, how file permissions work on Linux and what are the limitations compared to NT, how to setup my own DHCP, DNS, FTP, Web and mail server, how to setup NFS, NIS and SAMBA, or to compile my own kernel and many more.
Considering the size of the book (less than 500 pages) I think it's one of the finest material that you can find on the topic, especially if you're NT admin starting to explore the wonders of Linux. Highly recommended!

This is perhaps the best book that I have ever read for learning to adminster Linux Servers. It assumes that you already have at least basic Windows admin skills and explains by comparison most of the time so that you have a base on which to build. Another awesome book for NT Admins is "Linux for Windows Addicts: a 12-Step Program for the Habitual Windows User". Both are great for people like me who work in a mixed Windows/Linux environment.

Aside from Twain's depiction of God as a malevolent and mischevious deity, the story illustrates Twain's pessimistic view of Christianity in general. There is much vitriol spilled - toward God - at the end of the work. Certainly the death of Twain's daughter had much to do with excentuating this antagonism towards God and religion. Mysterious Stranger, especially the chilling conclusion, is a disturbing tale - as Twain no doubt intended it to be. A worthwhile read but be prepared to have your religious moorings and faith shaken.

this volume spans the length of Mark Twain's career, and contains some of his most famous shorter works, which all centre on the subject of Money. 'The Celebrated jumping frog of Calaveras County' is the most perfect tall tale in the English language, three flawless pages about Jim Smiley and the bizarre sidelines he would investigate to win a bet, any bet, written in a miraculous mid-19th century California vernacular. If that isn't enough, Twain tops it with the best closing paragraph of any work I have ever read ever.

'The $1,000,000 Bank note' is almost surreal, or Marxist, the story of a derelict made an unwitting guinea pig by two elderly millionaires, curious to see what would happen to an honest but poor man in the possession of such an impractible note. The frightening fetishistic power of currency structures a somewhat creepily benevolent narrative, and the opening paragraphs audaciously cram a novel's worth of misfortune.

'The Man who corrupted Hadleyburg' is the masterpiece here, at once an unforgiving morality tale about the temptation of money on an incorruptible town, and a satire on the crippling effect of bogus social respectability. Twain's irony is at its most relentless here, mixing anger at elite hypocrisy with distaste for the savage mob mentality. The scenes of public justice are hilarious but terrifying; the unnamed man taking monstrous revenge on a whole town for a personal slight, exposing its shams by an experiment, could well be Twain himself.

The same could be said of the hero of his novella 'The Mysterious Stranger', Twain's last, posthumously published work. In this, an angel, Satan, nephew of his infernal namesake, comes to a late 16th century Austrian mountain village and systematically exposes the murderous herd instincts, moral deceptions and shabby pretensions of the human condition. Everything - war, religion, society, justice, family, human aspiration, childhood innocence - is ground down with misanthropic, sub-Swiftian satire.

'Stranger' is not an easy book to like. As an historical novel, it is an utter failure, with no attempt to understand the mindset, never mind the language, idiom or customs of an alien culture. As an allegory for the contemporary America in which Twain was writing, the book is indispensible, insightful, brave, bracing, honest, incredibly prescient, but monotonous, flatly written and exhausting. As a supernatural fable, the book has little sense of wonder or of the unknown, but in its story of a devil wreaking subversive havoc on a socially repressive culture by playing on their hypocritical terms, 'Stranger' does look forward to Bulgakov's more successful 'The Master and Margarita'.

I have taught this book at the college level for a few years now; it definitely sheds Twain's unfortunate Americana image, and it reveals the darker genius of this "beloved" author. Twain's greatest work, The Mysterious Stranger will enrage fundamentalist Christians, several of whom have dropped my course because of this novella. Asking people to think about what is real, what is behind existence, though, is no crime and should be inoffensive. Young people who are harmed by systematic thinking will react to this book like people being deprogrammed from a cult: they will hate it. But Twain, who was in anguish when he wrote this, had the honesty to ask difficult questions. Read The Mysterious Stranger as a guide to Twain's futuristic thinking, his tribute to the mind above all other things.

I was very exited to purchase this book, however, I became quit disappointed after I thumbed through the pages and realized that it was the same information found on their website. I am returning the book and leaving Cisco an email to express my disappointment.

Full of some very usefull case studies, this book has good approach towards network design. As a candidate for CCNP, I used this book to get some additional knowledge, from a practical point of view.

I picked up this book at 1:00, and by 3:00 had copies of it for all the network engineers in our staff. Without a doubt, the best design and implementation guide (checklists for everything) I've seen on routing and switching technology. Very strong chapters relating to SNA, ATM, and multimedia integration. If you maintain or design networks with with Cisco routers, you need this book.

The main idea of the book is that HR strategy has to be matched to business strategy. This has been a view that HR people, dissatisfied with their traditional 'support' role have been hankering for. In this book Ulrich and company actually give them a tool to manage HR as a strategic asset, demonstrate HR's contribution to the bottom line, and to create and measure the degree of alignment between both the strategies.

So in a way the book is a very narrow sense of aligning HR to business results...but does not look at the things Ulrich himself has spoken of in depth earlier like "HR as the employee champion" and the conscience keeper of the organisation, where the 'performance measures' are much more softer and fuzzier in any great detail.

The book Providing the tools and systems required for leading a measurement managed HR architecture and draw from an ongoing study of nearly 3,000 firms to outline a seven-step process they call an HR Scorecard, specifically designed to embed human resources systems within a firm's overall strategy and manage the HR architecture as a strategic asset. You can reading EMBA journal in june, it make an abstract the book.

As a seasoned HR professional, I have spent the last decade looking for the "Holy Grail" of H.R. Metrics. My quest is not over after reading The HR Scorecard, but the book presented many helpful concepts and tools that we can use to measure the effectiveness of HR as a function, to measure R.O.I. on talent and talent initiatives, to measure the impact of HR on organizational performance, and as a basis for business case development of our deliverables.

Three well respected thought leaders in the HR field have conducted extensive research of more than 2500 companies to uncover a model for implementing HR strategy and measuring results. If fully employed HR will deliver results linked to higher functional and organizational performance.

To transform the structure of HR into a strategic function, HR leaders must:

1.Clearly define the business strategy.
2.Build a business case for HR as a strategic asset.
3.Create a strategy map (with leading and lagging indicators, and tangibles and intangibles.)
4.Identify HR Deliverables within the strategy map.
5.Alight the HR architecture with HR deliverables.
6.Design the strategic measurement System.
7.Implement management by measurement.

The concepts in this book are useful but may not be practical for all HR leaders. This book is for organizations that have the resources to implement an in-depth system of measuring their HR performance. It is not a way to create a simple snapshot to be included in business reviews. While the authors suggest using no more than 25 measures so as not to create a burdensome systems, many of the examples in the book are quite complex and can by used only by the largest of organizations. It is also difficult to pick just a few efficiency measures and performance drivers from the comprehesive list prepared by the authors.

Real life examples of scorecards are shown from organizations such as Verizon/GTE, General Mills, and General Electric. While these examples can help any size HR department think through how to measure the performance of their function, I would like to see a smaller organization profiled with more simple measures.

This book should be in the library of all serious HR practitioners. It is well written, well researched, and well presented. If the tools and concepts are implemented, the HR function can rise to a new level. For those in smaller organizations, a few HR efficiency measures can be gleaned to build a simpler scorecard based on the key HR deliverables for the enterprise.

I loved Ella Enchanted so I was glad to find Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep. I really like the twists Gail Carson Levine puts on the traditional fairy tales. The book is interesting because it explains Princess Sonora's life before she falls asleep. She's like a real person even though it is a fairy tale. She doesn't just sit around and let things happen to her. She takes charge of her life so she can live happily ever after on her own terms. I haven't read the other Princess Tales but after reading this book I will be sure to.

Of all of the "The Princess Tales" novellas, "Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep" was the first I read, and most likely my favorite. "Sleeping Beauty" has never been so amusing. I liked the original story but never truly loved it. I found this book to be a delightful presentation, putting it in a whole new light for me. Now I do love the story. Here, the token Sleeping Beauty is intelligent from the get-go. As a baby, she is granted her gifts by various fairies who attempt to out-do each other, each fairy trying to bestow a better trait than the fairy before her. The parents fumble, the prince is a dud, and the princess rocks the house. Read it now. May it breathe new life into an old tale for you as it did for me.

The book I reviewed was Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep by Gail Carson Levine. My favorite part was when Princess Sonora falls asleep for a hundred years. It is really cool how she is still alive while she sleeps for so long.. My favorite character is Princess Sonora. I would recommend this book to a friend who likes fantasy stories. There was a very funny part in the story when the sheep come around and the whole world goes bald. While I was reading this book it felt like I was actually in the story. I would give this book five stars.

When will Brady get it right?

It clear to me by now that BradyGames certainly knows what makes a good guide. What they constantly fail to do though, is put all of these elements into a single book, but rather churn out one mediocre guide after another. Legend of Mana: Offical Strategy Guide is no exception.

The good first: The intro is decent, and proves a rather informative read (something the instruction booklet was lacking BIG TIME). All game screenshots are very clear, and the events are labelled properly. The correct amount of space is devoted to each event as needed (it's not like each particular one is squeezed onto one page as some other guides have tried in the past). The monster compendium is also nicely done, telling you about where each baddie can be found, what they can do, and what goodies they'll give you upon their defeat. All of the mini-games and other secrets are accurately detailed in the back of the book as well (though there aren't many).

And the not so good: The walkthroughs start out rather decent. Up front you are told where to go, and how you get there. Given that Legend of Mana is a non-linear game, a good effort was made to cover all areas of the game and what is required of the player to get there. Unfortunately, this information is not always accurate. I found numerous incorrect event "prerequisites," navigational mistakes in the dungeon walkthroughs (sometimes with whole sections missing), and some bosses were just plain left out of their events' discussion. Maps to most of the games' areas are all together in a separate section of the book, which would otherwise have been fine had they not been so poorly layed out. Very few of the treasure chest contents are labelled--if you're going to label some of them, you label them all. This is laziness on the part of the author in it's purest form. In addition, some game screen are missing from the maps, and the lines that show you how rooms connect to each other are only often mismatched or run off the page--literally. This is laziness on the part of the editor!

And the downright bad: The lists in the back of the book. Talk about completely useless. This is obviously something pulled off an online FAQ and formatted nicely, or it's direct information from Square that was cut and pasted onto a spread of 14 pages. You get a list of the items, weapons, armors, and instruments, each with their basic stats. You are not given where to find them, how to make them (equipment creation is a major area of the game), or what to do with them. That's ludicrous. The whole notion of golem creation and pet raising are ignored as well. This might be acceptable had the list section been a lot more comprehensive, but to not be mentioned at all (save repeating what's in the instruction booklet) is very bad. The worst feature of this guide, though, is the complete lack of information regarding character abilities and magic spells. The fact that battles are the core of this game makes this absence inexcusable. The worst part about this, however, is that in the book's introduction, it says "we have included a complete list [of abilities] in the abilites section." WHAT ABILITIES SECTION!

Overall, I just can't recommend this one over an online FAQ for the game, of which there are many. It might help to get you started on a quest if you have no clue as to where to go or help you solve one of the few puzzles, but there's so much more that you'll be craving if strategy guides are your thing.

This guide is a great book. While playing Square's complex game Legend of Mana,this guide will answer your many questions rangeing from the types of weaknesses that monsters have to the effects of useing materials in creating your own weapons. If theres one guide for a great game that you should get, this is it

This guide is good a helping you complete all of the events in a good order, and the flowchart in the front of the book helps out simetimes. On the other hand, the flowchart is flawed and sometimes doesn't work, and some of the events are out of order (one event concerning Daena is placed in the middle of the book, whereas, it should be in the front, which is the only ime in the game that you can complete the event). Although the guide states that there is an ability list, there isn't one at all. If you're not trying to master this game, I suggest you buy this guide. If you're looking to find everything, find a walkthrough at GameFAQs or something.

Dan Ablan's LightWave Power Guide was the first guide to the software powerhouse Lightwave 3D that I have purchased. The book was intended for version 5.0 of the software, thus it is a little outdated for those who are looking for a book that covers the latest version, 6.0. However, what the book covers applies to even the latest versions of Lightwave.

While the cover looks neat and the book is accompanied by a CD-ROM (filled with tutorial examples, some basic textures, plug-in trials, and example avi movies), the book really did somewhat disappoint me - in that it led me to believe that it was intended for both beginners and professionals. I found that this book did not help me to advance my skill very much, but rather was a well-written overview of the basic features (and some not-so-basic) of Lightwave 3D.

I would only recommend this book for beginners - especially those who have had no previous experience with any other 3D animation software. For them, this book will be a valuable resource; for me, it just takes up space on the shelf.

When I entered LW3d for the first time I realised that I was going to need some serious help with understanding this rather complex animationsystem. And this book certainly does the job. Ablan takes you through every dialogbox and describes every single function in a easy way. He'll teach you everything between basic Metanurbing to morphing facial expressions and matte compositing. this book gives you the basic knowledge needed to produce high-end animations. Giving this book some time and practise, you will really learn how to master the Power of LightWave.

I feel this book is worth its weight in gold. The lessons are easy to understand and tutorials are easy to follow. The results are identical to the tutorials. I found the book a great source for explaining terms and key shorts. This book is a must have for lightwave beginners. This book was recomended to me by an instructor in my Virtual Reality course. It was every bit as good as he said it was

This isn't your typical Mark Twain book. In journal style Twain takes you along with him as he circumnavigates the world. He not only shares experiences he had but includes what he learned of the differint contries cultures, customs, and people. Very educational. You will see the world through Mark Twains eyes. Pay attention to catch the hidden humor. Another great peice by Mark Twain.

"Following the Equator" is not the typical Mark Twain story. This is a travelogue written as he is traveling by boat through Hawaii, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, India, and South Africa.

In each location, Twain gives you his unique perspective and interpretation of each countries customs, population, and history. He even talks about life on the boat. Throughout the book is also illustrations and pictures to give the reader some background and/or enjoyment.

This is not a book I would pick up to read unless you were familiar with Mark Twain's writing. I found his commentary and tales to be very funny. This is a pleasure to read by all Twain fans.

A highly entertaining read. Twain's classic storytelling and embellishing descriptions of people, places and events will make you laugh out loud! It is truly a sad day when you have reached the end of this book. Strongly recommended for readers worldwide.