Not extremely helpful. Most listings are churches and parks that are free to enter. After reviewing this book for a short week in Paris, I decided it was not worth the space or weight to take it with me.

Terrific little book to supplement a comprehensive travel guide like Fodor's. The tip on seeing the Louvre for free saved me double the cost the book alone!

An excellent guide to free or cheap things to see and do all over Paris and its suburbs

This is generally not considered one of the better plays of Aeschylus; yet, I did enjoy it, even though there is very little action. Perhaps it is because it dealt with a subject of contemporary interest to its original audience. In fact, it is the oldest surviving play based on an event of recent history. The play was first produced in 472 B. C., only eight years after the Battle of Salamis. The speech by the Messenger in the play is the earliest known historical account of that battle. The play takes place in the Persian court and simply presents the arrival of a messenger carrying the news of Persia's defeat and is followed by the entry of a disgraced Xerxes. This play also contains the earliest known appearance by a ghost in a drama.

"The Persians" is a minor work in the extant plays of Aeschylus, but has considerable historical if not dramatic significance. The play is the second and only remaining tragedy from a lost tetralogy that is based on the historical events of the Persians Wars. The play was performed in 472 B.C., eight years after the defeat of the invaders at the Battle of Salamis. The speech by the Messenger is assumed to be a fairly accurate description of the battle, but the focus of the play is on the downfall of the Persian Empire because of the folly of Xerxes. After the ghost of Darius, father of Xerxes and the leader of the first Persian invasion that was defeated at the Battle of Marathon laments the ruin of the great empire he had ruled, Xerxes offers similar histrionics concerning the destruction of his fleet.

The play is interesting because Aeschylus presents Xerxes, a foreign invader, as exhibiting the same sort of hubris that afflicts the greatest of mythological heroes in these Greek tragedies. Laud and honor is given the Athenians for defeating the Persians in battle, but Aeschylus surprisingly provides a look at the Persian king's culpability in the downfall of his empire. There is a reference in the play to the tradition that Xerxes was descended from Perseus (for whom the Persian race was therefore named), but even so it seems quite odd to turn him into a traditional Greek tragic hero. Aeschylus had fought the Persians at the Battles of Marathon and Salamis, which certainly lends authenticity to his description of events.

Aeschylus won the festival of Dionysus in 472 B.C. with the tetralogy of "Phineus," "The Persians," "Glaucus of Potniae," and the satyr play "Prometheus the Fire-Kindler." Phineas was the king who became the victim of the Harpies, while this particular Glaucus was the son of Sisyphus and the father of Bellerophon who was torn to pieces by his own mares. Consequently, this particular tetralogy clearly has the theme of kings brought down by their own folly. But even within that context, the fact that Aeschylus would write of a historical rather than legendary figure, not to mention a Persian rather than a Greek, remains more than a minor historical curiosity.

"Persians" deals with a people trying to exceed mortal limits. The king of persia blinds his people into believing they can accomplish deeds that exceed the laws of the divine and it's natural order. The king invades Greece despite bad omens. The people in Persia are told they are defeated by a messenger and mourn in mad disbelief. Searching for answers they summon the spirit of a once great king who cannot undo what has now been done. Persia's once proud army, security, and young sons are perished. This translation is excellent. The ending of the play through subject matter is sad enough, but the helpless lines delivered by King Xerxes and the chorus through dialogue toward each other at the end of the play is devastating.

The main character in this book is Robbie. Robbie is on a baseball team. At a game a friend doesn't know how to swing. Also,in the story Robbie's cousin went on vacation so Robbie's team is going to need a girl, and she is pretty good. I recommend this book for kids 10, 11, and even 12 years old. This book is pretty good and exciting.

My son, aged 9 -10, and I read all of the Scrapper books and are dying for Mr. Hughes to write more of them. They combine real kids with real personalities and problems, with exciting play by play baseball scenes. These are "feel good" books, perhaps not great literature, but in the end the children overcome their issues and contribute to the team. They are engaging reading.

What a great book for all the kids out there, boys AND girls, that like to play baseball! We coach three Little League Baseball teams right now (ages 6-7, 8, and 10) and have recommended this series to all of our teams as a great summer reading program. The books are written for ages 8-12, but younger children with a pretty good understanding of baseball will enjoy reading the book with an adult. My 6 and 7 year old boys loved this book and are eager to read the next book (they are not big reading fans, so I was happy to support the reading habit by getting the entire series for them).

This is the first book in the Scrappers Series by Dean Hughes. As a general note on the series, each of the Scrappers books covers a different position on the team with tips at the back of the book on playing the position, some advice from the coach and trivia trading cards dedicated to the learning more about the game.

Play Ball (Vol. 1) is about two players who fail to make the deadline for the summer baseball league and have only two hours to find enough players to form a new team. When Robbie only finds eleven players, not meeting the required twelve player minimum, he creates an "imaginary cousin". This lie causes problems for Robbie before they even play their first game. Another problem for Robbie is that one of the players recruited is a girl who competes with him for his shortstop position causing rivalry between team members and subsequently a loss in an important game.

By the end of the book, the players(and the readers) have learned valuable lessons in honesty, consequences, team spirit and team work, and good sportsmanship!

Again, I think this is a great book for young baseball fans! It makes for a great summer reading program and keeps the attention of the young readers. Look for Home Run Hero (Vol. #2) by Dean Hughes also available now.

Actually, 5 stars as a quick reference, 1 star as an administrator manual. This is a somewhat weird book. Heaven help any company when an administrator decides to switch a NT network to Linux, or set up Linux from scratch, with just this book. If everything goes well, the network will run, but if something goes wrong, good luck trying to recover. But curiously enough, it is usually the book I reach for if I can't remember exactly how setting something up works. Short, to the point coverage of how to install or setup things. But if your options don't include nuke-and-reinstall, find an administrator handbook somewhere to supplement it.

The book approaches the principal subjects on Linux, FileSharing, LDPA, WebServer, FTPServer and etc, all very well documented, rich in details and examples. He was lacking documentation on LinuxClient (KDE, Gnome, applications for the user in general) very superficial. But it is a book that should be bought and read, all the topics are very interesting and useful, while I read I was thrilled, because other solutions NON microsoft exist.

It is a great book! It covers a lot of detail in deploying Linux, the consideration, advantage, and most important, the procedure. I have setup my fax server, database server, file-and-print server, web server, e-mail server, all running on Linux, after reading this book!

Great idea with uneven results. Some superb art in places, but not always as an appropriate counterpoint to the accompanying Scriptures. The parts that do succeed are worth the cover price alone.

This collection is remarkable for the fact that so many artists in the comic book industry turn out to be Christians. Passages from Proverbs and the Parables of Christ have been taken directly from the Bible and illustrated in styles running the gamut from mediocre to brilliant. I've seen a number of these artists before. Some of the work in this compilation represents the best efforts of some; yet with others, it seems more like work that has been slapped-together-for-free. I recommend this book because it is refreshing to see so many artists working together to produce it. However, some of the interpretations of scripture are contrived and should be read in their original context, and not merely in this volume.

This book was well received by me and my teenagers. There needs to be more artistic interpretations like this that tackle scripture. Not every translation done in this book is accurate to the Word of God but every piece is brilliant in its own right. Bravo! Encore!

This is a well written story of the cold reality of life, but I found it a little too depressing....A mother and father, daughter and son share a small English seaside house shortly after the end of World War II. Landmines are still scattered along the beach.....The mother escapes her disappointed life by reading novels at night in the train station....The father drinks. goes off into tantrums and throws things around in the house and outside....The fifteen year old daughter, Madge sneaks out after dark to meet with a German POW.....The adolescent son, Alan tries, in vain, to alter or ignore his family by retreating into silence.....There just was no answer to this family's problems.

This was my first exposure to Beryl Bainbridge; a friend reccommended another of her books to me, and this was the first one I could find in the library, so I picked it up. I've read a few more since then, and while this isn't her best book, it is still a solid read, moving, disturbing, and darkly comic by turns. There's not a whole lot of plot, but there is a story that pulls you along, and the characters are sketched out brilliantly. I can't remember the last time I read something that was quite this disturbing without ever being blatantly violent or horrorific; it's more about the evils people do to themselves and others in the real world than anything. I wouldn't necessarily suggest starting with this book if you're new to the author; but then, I did, and I'm a huge fan. Definitely worth a look.

When it comes to the creation of darkly perverse characters, few equal the talent of Beryl Bainbridge. She consistently creates characters who appear normal--they function, have relationships, etc., but they are truly pathological. The darkly comic novel, "A Quiet Life," is a perfect example of Bainbridge's talent at work. The story is a simple one; the novel begins as Alan waits for his sister, Madge in a cafe to exchange a few personal belongings following the death of their mother. The meeting after a 15 year estrangement disturbs Alan, and he reminisces about events that took place within the family in post WWII England.

Alan lives with his sister, Madge in a cramped, damp house with their parents Connie and Joe. Stalin-obsessed Joe was once a successful businessman, but went bankrupt, and lost the "big house and the maid." Connie never recovered from the loss--or the decline in her circumstances, and as a result, she resents her husband terribly. She gives herself airs and graces and is desperate to maintain appearances. She disappears night after night, and her husband is convinced she is off having affairs. A continual state of war exists between the parents. The hostilities exist usually as an undercurrent, but battles erupt unpredictably and violently, and usually result in some damage to the house or its contents. Madge reacts by running after one of the German-prisoners-of-war, and Alan is divided between staying home and trying to maintain the peace, and escaping to the local youth club.

This brilliant book shows the inner workings of the dysfunctional family--wars that erupt with a simple word, retaliation delivered promptly and painfully, and two children caught in the middle. The occasions during which the family tries to be 'normal' are laced with black humour--the stroll on the beach, the outing to Alan's school--the family has the format down to the letter, but can't quite convince anyone--least of all themselves--that everything is normal. Alan little realises that he is a miniature version of his father, but this is reflected in his odd relationship with the cloying and annoying Janet Leyland. I particularly loved the character of Madge--a free spirit who "fancifully" calls the sycamore tree a willow, "pirouetted" in front of relatives while showing off her Sunday dress, and who whacks the local schoolboys with her umbrella. Is there anything quite as awful as an unhappy family? Bainbridge captures the essence of this phenomenon with her skilled prose and sharp characterisations. For Bainbridge fans, this is a 'must-read.' If you enjoy novels by William Trevor, you will probably enjoy Bainbridge books also--displacedhuman.

Having read this book two thoughts come up:
1. They should have had much more in-depth data, why stick so much to the surface ?
2. Is their overview of ways to deal with radical innovation comprehensive ?

Seen the impressive list of authors and the impressive research they've done the book is disappointing. Maybe because they were limited on what they could disclose, time pressure etc.

To learn more about dealing with radical innovation I recommend the books 'Corporate Venturing, 'Intrapreneuring', 'Webs of Innovation', 'The Innovators Dilemma'.

So should you read 'Radical Innovation ? Well if you're active in the field it should be on your shelves, otherwise I wouldn't spend my dollars on it.

I think this book will have the greatest value if read in combination with Yoffie and Kwak's Judo Strategy. Why? Because the authors of that book correctly stress the importance of maximizing organizational speed, agility, balance, and leverage in any competitive marketplace. What they do not address (except perhaps indirectly or by implication) is the importance of radical innovation which, more often than not, proves to be a decisive competitive advantage. Indeed, the seven authors of the book I am about to review identify "Seven Challenges in Managing Radical Innovation" (see Table 1-1 on page 8) and meeting these challenges effectively indeed requires maximizing organizational speed, agility, balance, and leverage. Obviously, no single volume asks all "the right questions," much less provides "all the right answers." Hence the importance of carefully correlating the ideas from several different sources. I also strongly Michael Hammer's The Agenda which offers a "model" by which decision-makers in any organization (regardless of its size or nature) can determine appropriate priorities and then set appropriate objectives before formulating strategies and tactics by which to achieve those objectives.

The subtitle of this book ("How Mature Companies Can Outsmart Upstarts") reminds me of Jack Welch's comments when explaining why he admires "small and sleek" companies:

"For one, they communicate better. Without the din and prattle of bureaucracy, people listen as well as talk; and since there are fewer of them they generally know and understand each other. Second, small companies move faster. They know the penalties for hesitation in the marketplace. Third, in small companies, with fewer layers and less camouflage, the leaders show up very clearly on the screen. Their performance and its impact are clear to everyone. And, finally, smaller companies waste less. They spend less time in endless reviews and approvals and politics and paper drills. They have fewer people; therefore they can only do the important things. Their people are free to direct their energy and attention toward the marketplace rather than fighting bureaucracy."

For those who seek radical innovation in so-called "mature" companies, the challenges which the authors of this book identify are obviously much greater than they are for those in the "small and sleek" companies which Welch admires. A majority of upstarts pursue a "judo strategy" (in one form or another) because they lack the resources of their much larger competitors. (David had no chance if he wrestled Goliath.) For that reason, they cannot afford incremental innovation. They must take bold, decisive action when and where it will have the greatest impact.

When explaining what they call an "imperative," the authors of this book make a critically important distinction: "...incremental innovation usually emphasizes cost or feature improvements in existing products or services and is dependent on exploitation competencies. In contrast, radical innovation concerns the development of new businesses or product lines -- based on new ideas or technologies or substantial cost reductions -- that transform the economics of a business, and therefore require exploration competencies." This is indeed a key distinction.

Much of the material in this book was generated by the authors' research over a period of five years (1995-2000) which followed the development and commercialization activities of 12 radical innovation projects in 10 large, established ("mature") firms. For the authors, a radical innovation project must have the potential to produce one or more of these results: an entirely new set of performance features, improvements in known performance features of five times or greater, and/or a significant (i.e. 30% or more) reduction in cost. What the authors learned from the research serves as the foundation of their conclusions; also of what they recommend to those who seek radical innovation in their own organization. All of the ideas presented are anchored in an abundance of real-world experience. Although this brilliant book's greatest value may be derived by decision-makers in "mature" companies, I think substantial value can also be derived by decision-makers in the "upstarts" with which such companies as DuPont, General Electric, General Motors, IBM, and Texas Instruments will continue to compete. One final point: All of the "mature" companies discussed in this book were once "upstarts" themselves. How revealing that all of them are now so hard at work on regaining or preserving certain competitive advantages which once served them so well.

Very succinct yet comprehensive. It has key advice on the marketing, finance, and people skills necessary to see a new idea advance to a great new product. This book should be required reading for all MBA students, managers, and anyone who has the dream of a great new idea but is unsure as to how to make it come real. Although the title states that the book focuses on how more established companies can create environments to promote radical innovations, the information can readily be applied to any firm regardless of length of operations - and yes, to individuals.

The authors present a list of 7 challenges that face the radical innovator and then they provide the competencies, or skills, that are necessary to meet these challenges. Throughout the text, real-life examples from well-known firms help the reader to understand how these challenges come about, and to even recognize a challenge should it present itself. The examples do tend to focus on radical innovations that are new technological products, but the recommendations could also be applied to other new ideas such as new management systems or organizational structures.

Wenham sets out to prove that the Synoptic Gospels were written in the early to mid 40's A.D., a good 20-25 years before the earliest generally-accepted date for Mark. His analysis is thoroughgoing, well-researched, and heavily documented. Unfortunately, his defense of evidence for the early dating lacks the cogency and forcefulness of his attack on the evidence for later dating. While Wenham is vociferously dismissive of evidence contrary to his viewpoint, he uncritically accepts evidence supporting his viewpoint. He bedrocks his early dating on a two pronged analysis: 1. Dismissal of the documentary solutions to the Synoptic Problem, and 2. Heavy reliance on the Patristic evidence of authorship. Firstly, the documentary explanations of the Synoptic Problem must be dismissed because if the Gospels were based on earlier documents, they must perforce be later documents. Secondly, from acceptance of the Patristic evidence of authorship, Wenham can infer a very early date for each of the Synoptics. The book makes interesting reading, but it fails to carry the day in establishing such an early date for the Synoptic Gospels.

One caveat: If you can't read Greek, the first half of the book will be rough sailing, as it analyzes many gospel pericopes in Greek. With a little patience you can, however, muddle your way through it.

Wenham's work is, as noted above, thoroughly documented, researched and conducted. And I would go further than the earlier review. If you don't have a working knowledge of Greek, this will probably be too painful for you.

However, I would say it rewards careful reading of the one willing to examine the issue without buying into the current dogmas of NT scholarship. I did not find him uncritically assuming his own evidence true, rather in several places I recall him saying he would not dogmatically assert either way. The point is to him much of the evidence can be used to support whatever theory one wishes to contrive. "Q" can be made to look reasonable to many, as can Markan priority, if we don't examine the facts behind WHY these works were written.

As to counting Patristic evidence, one could say NT scholarship today dogmatically REJECTS Patristic evidence whenever it doesn't fit their hypothesis. Who's to say that scholars sitting in their offices 2000 years removed automatically have a better concept of the events than 2nd & 3rd century scholars? Am I attacking all NT scholarship? No. But I think it is fair to give the author a reasonable hearing. And I think, after a reasonable hearing, it is not unreasonable to see at least Matthew and Mark written before AD55, and see some measure of MUTUAL dependance between the Gospels.

Neither of these would be fashionable in many NT circles today. But that doesn't mean they are not real possiblities.

Wenham has done a remarkable job of examining the external evidence (the words of the fathers) and the internal evidence (the Gospels themselves) to demonstrate not only the plausability, but the probability of:

1. An early date for the Gospels.
2. The traditional order of Mt, Mk, Lk.
3. The involvement of not only written but oral tradition in Gospel formation.

Critics charge Wenham with relying too heavily on patristic sources. But such charge thus if one relies on the patristics at all in this matter. The critics of the Augustinian order have never satisfactorily explained the origin of the traditional order if a different order is true. In any case, Wenham does solid work in establishing the essential trustworthiness of the patristic sources.

He is perhaps even stronger is his examination of the interrelations between the synoptics as he works through the various synoptic theories and how they fare in terms of how they used or allegedly used each other in their mutual formation.

Wenham believes strongly that oral tradition played a key role in determining the form and the content of each of the Gospels. Despite this, he eschews the idea that they were written in ignorance of each other. He argues dispassionately but forcefully that each successively impacted the ones that followed.

Those who hold variant opinions of the origins of the Gospels do not hold them well until they have positively worked through Wenham's arguments.

I further recommend the writings of B.C. Butler on this topic.

The author manages to hide an interesting story in a dull book. It reads like a scientific paper. No doubt the author knows his material, but he can't tell an interesting story. The history of Athens during the time of Socrates and Pericles has all the ingredients of a spell binding saga, but the professor's detached style conveys almost none of the excitement. Danald Kagan's book, "Pericles of Athens and the Birth of Democracy" is much more interesting.

Declared as an attempt by the author to understand the work of Thucydides, this history of the world of democratic Athens in the generation after Pericles is a low key yet gripping account of the maelstrom into which this great seminal era of political evolution passed. The great detail of the account matches both the magnificence and yet the somber context of the reality behind the usual glorified summary accounts of the world's first brief experience of true direct democracy, whose actual facts are at certain points almost an alarming eye-opener, from the immediate collision of class struggle in almost canonical form to the duress of empire, and the outcome of civil war. The work of Aristophanes, and its direct echoes of this period, especially stands out better understood in this blow by blow, as does the ambiguous division of history just here, with respect to its democratic ideals and its first dissenter, Socrates. The work brings home a claim to the solution of the mystery of Thycidides composition, that the rise of note-taking in this era vindicates the relative accuracy of the speeches long thought to be imaginative recreations. It is a strange account, rendered eerie in the author's meticulous drumbeat march through the labyrinth of recovered details.

Mark Munn has written a superb study of late fifth-century Athens focusing especially on the protracted struggle between the democrats and the oligarchs, and the effect which Thucydides' HISTORY OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR had on those men involved in that struggle. What is new and unique here is the importance Munn assigns to the role of history and memory in Athenian society. He shows how the Athenians' view of their past colored and shaped their political struggles. The Athenians were probably more sensitive to religious and political scandal in their own time than we are in ours. Munn writes in a very engaging style-especially in his account of the controversy surrounding Alcibiades. At last we have an answer to the question: When did Thucydides write his HISTORY, and why he left it unfinished. The SCHOOL OF HISTORY is a must read for anyone interested in Athens, Thucydides, or Alcibiades!

This new title from Titan/Lucas books introduces some characters I have not seen in other Lucas books (I am a professional reviewer). Aurra Sing is a good character who we may get to see more about - she kicks off the first story. The ending was a might predictable however. The next story was of Lando, our old friend from Sky City, then a story about Boba Fett which I found rather boring. The last story is about Kenix Kil AKA Kir Kanos and is probably a prelude to further adventures of Kanos. An uneven collection, all out of different stables, Lucas books are usually of a higher quality than this. Rather disappointing which is why it has a low rating. One for addicts only!

Dave Dorman rendered the cover art for this work. Mr. Dorman is by no means the only artist that creates the visual work for this and other Star Wars Series, but I have always felt he is one of the best. I wish I could say the same for the collection of short stories profiling some old friends and some new, but that would be a stretch for even science fiction.

The books short stories vary greatly in terms of the quality of the stories, and several of the "Hunters" are worthy of their own books, as some of them have already enjoyed solo pieces with the focus on only one of their guild. Boba Fett has already extended well beyond a few pages in a mediocre collection, and his character enjoys a following that is almost as large as the gap between his skills and those of his fellow hunters. He is in a class by himself, and I believe that is how he should be portrayed.

There are two newer entries that were not part of the original trilogy and they both seem to have strong futures. The first is Aurra Sing who appears to be headed to a level of performance second only to her male counterpart Fett, and then Kenix Kil, who brings the whole storyline of the Imperial Guards that were seen in the first movies, but never spoke or revealed anything about their elite group. This same character has appeared in the "Crimson Empire Series" which I feel is one of the better groups of collections.

One of the three of these I read recently covered in detail the work that goes into the cover art. It also documented how careful Lucas and his people are to be sure that characters have consistent visual appearances. In this work that quality control stopped at the cover as far as Lando Calrissian was concerned. I don't know who was drawn for that episode, but this guy didn't even look like a distant relative. Very often the level of enjoyment I get out of these is determined by the quality of the art, and I think that is appropriate given the level of effort involved. And I guess that is why I continue to be mystified that you can read one book and the renderings are as faithful to the characters as film, and then pick up another volume and view images drawn with no care given to the fact that a real actor played this part, in many cases for hours at a time on screen. Who they are and what they look like are not open for interpretation. When they are badly rendered you have to wonder how they ever got approved.

Want a guide to the notoriously infamous benefactors feeding off the rage of others, dealing exclusively with an eclectic montage of bounty hunters from all species and all walks of life? Well, this just be the book for you then. It pits not on the popular into a world of hunting and trying to survive, but it also sports newcomers as well, introducing its reader to why these faces are revered as some of the most successful seekers in the business. First there's the lovely Aurra Sing, Jedi-hunter extraordinare, capable of capturing the most elusive prey in the best and worst of conditions. In fact, she makes a great deal of sport out of it, finding herself capable of outwitting even the most dangerous proponents. This is something she finds herself entwined in now, the calling card of the face she seeks taking her to Endor and beyond. Switching gears, see how Bossk, Dengar, and 4-Lom work into the plans of Quaffag the Hutt as he decides to deal once and for all with Lando Calrissian while playing games that Hutts are known to play. Then its off to see the most reviled of the feared in action, with Boba Fett finding himself needing to take out a little trash by the name of Jodo Kast; a bounty hunter who thinks that he's in the same league as the man with the Mandalorian armor. Lastly, we join Kenix Kil as he makes his way through the remnants of the empire disguised as a bounty hunter, the last of the Imperial Guard left in circulation and one of the most dangerous men alive, still loyal to his oath of destroying all those enemies of the Empire years after the Emperor's departure.

All the stories collected within these pages are good despite being short, with Aurra Sing, Boba Fett: Twin Engines of Destruction, and Kenix Kil rating within the praiseable ranks. Of these three, I'm partial to the telling of the Boba Fett story because it is written well and is drawn well, plus its dealing with the most infamous of the big kids. Aurra Sing comes in a close second with Kenix Kil right behind her because these stories are done well themselves, and they are also about characters that many haven't yet tasted that much. Scoundrel's Wage, while an interesting story in some rights, doesn't do much in regard to bounty hunters at all and only explains how Lando manages to get himself into Jabba the Hutt's palace in Return of the Jedi. It paints the hunters out as ineffective and is more about Lando himself and the cunning he possesses than the minions commanding the high dollars.

If you find the forces working outside the boundaries of both good and ill, then this might be something you'd like to check out. All the stories are pretty good in this TPB form, and the Boba Fett: Twin Engines of Destruction tale needed to be harvested for quite some time now. So, sit back, barter on the outcome of who will and won't taste the talents of the figures lurking in the shadows, and read up on some rather exquisite struggles. For the Star Wars seeker, it is something that comes highly regarded.