I have to say that I haven't read any book that gets to the heart of Woody Allen's movies like this one does. Each of his films is analyzed and the different philosophical issues that are tackled in each film are discussed. This book will open your mind up to the whole world of philosophy and the struggle with how we should live that is at the heart of Woody's films. I not only learned a lot about these films so that I can appreciate them even more(which I didn't think was possible considering how much I liked them before this book)but I also learned a lot about philosophy and life. I cannot highly enough recommend this book. I wish I could give it twenty stars!

The author's readable style helps a lot. Also, interesting background material and history begin each chapter, and some industrial processes--glass-making, for example--are explained more fully. You won't regret reading this book, but you may be inclined to sell it when you're through.

This book is a must have for every body who is in the architecture field...it's worth every penny..

Simply put, this is one of the best technical textbooks I've ever read. It's basic stuff for someone just starting out in the discipline of architecture, but I'm keeping it as a reference for future professional use. It is clearly written and well illustrated and worth it's high price. I wish Allen would now write a book on Environmental Control Systems--everything in that field is too dry and too technical.

Lee Ballenger has written an important work in this first book, and his decision to produce another as a sequel covering the final stages of the Korean War is admirable. For a first-time author, this initial book is a major achievement. It is rich in coverage and attention to chronological and geographical detail. No other comparable written work is available to the researcher on the "forgotten part of the forgotten war" -- Korea 1952-1953. Ballenger gives the Marines earned respect with his recognition of the tactical role played by the First Division of the Corps in defending the Imjin River line in the last 2 years of the war. As an amateur military historian and former Marine, I salute Lee Ballenger and his efforts. His book will have a prominent place in my personal library. It belongs in many others.

This author has zeroed in on the final two [2] yrears of the Korean WAR Victory, why Victory??...it was just that, ask any combat Marine who fought and survived that WAR. Ballenger shines light on 1952 and 1953 on what the hell was going on the Western Front 40 miles north of Seoul. the author researched every one of his chapters through the US Marine Command Diaries so diligently collated; furthermore, the writer, brings you into each combat situation as if you were a recent replacement...his penchant for this attribute is unique from alot of historical books on Korea, men of the pen, who were not directly involved as Lee was a Marine combat tanker with much Recon ability. Another attraction is his military acumen to cover Marine Tank Bn sorties which took place every single day or nite, if so required...it's a wonderful read of bad and good times in action or in the mischievious Reserve Areas when Asiatic Marine types act up due to the stresses of too much combat...I love this book like it was mine...thank you Sgt Ballenger for shedding more light on the WAR , Harry-[S]-Truman was unable to stop...it's rarified air being a survivor to Bon Voyage out of Korea..who am I??...read Chapter 3...Lee, Well Done Marine!!!!

A Marine Korean War combat veteran, Lee Ballenger has gone far toward filling a major gap in the history of the "forgotten war." Almost all Korean War books dealing with the Marine Corps are about the epic fighting withdrawal from the Chosin. It would almost seem that the stalemate that followed was not worth mentioning. In fact, when the 1st Marine Division was assigned responsibility for western Korea in an extended front known as the Jamestown Line, there was almost constant sharp fighting. The difference was that the conflict was rarely on a grand scale, but rather sharp, short, and vicious fights, often hand to hand. This book is the first of two volumes to chronicle the Marines and their new kind of war. Trained to assault and aggressively attack, the Marines found themselves in static positions, frequently patrolling, but most often in defensive battles for outposts.

This is a very good book and long overdue. Most of the information in it is seeing print for the first time and the personal accounts of the fighting are well presented. One of the better recollections is LT William Watson's account of the fighting on Bunker Hill and the Hook. Also of interest was the use of armor in the fighting and patrolling.

Like my war, Vietnam, Korea saw a lot of responsibility placed on the shoulders of young sergeants and lieutenants and the very young grunts. Even the upper level mismanagement (I won't dignify it by calling it leadership) was reminiscent of Vietnam. This book is a valuable recounting of a neglected part of our military heritage, a time when the property fought for was not as important as the killing done to hold or retake it. Any Marine-- indeed, any American -- should be proud what was done in the Outpost War. Semper Fi, Mr. Ballenger. I look forward to Volume Two.

This is a really fun little graphic novel, loaded with great artwork and a decent storyline. I wouldn't recommend it as a first-time read for anyone unfamiliar with the X-Men - taken out of context from the overall series - it might be a somewhat confusing introduction. But for those who know the characters and have a general idea of what is going on, believe me, this one delivers the goods.

In the past, I have generally hated the X-Men's adventures in the Savage Land, or whenever they would go to outer space or get into really super sci-fi type situations. I always felt the X-Men stories worked much better when they were grounded in very normal, down-to-earth settings, because it made the X-Men themselves stand out and seem that much weirder. But this book is an exception to the rule. It's a big, crazy, larger-than-life adventure, part of which takes place in the prehistoric Savage Land, and part of which gets hyper technological, and it works out OK.

The artwork is tough and gritty. Jim Lee draws a mean, shadowy, ugly Wolverine who kills lots of villains and looks like he needs to take a shower very badly.

And Lee's women - whoa. This book contains more gratuitous cheescake shots than any X-Men graphic novel I've seen, but it's all very pleasing to the eye. Especially the scenes with Rogue, whose bare skin can kill anyone she touches and thus, understandably, was always the one major female character who kept herself completely covered at all times. This was the first storyline in the series where they finally drew her as a scantily-clad, sexy heroine. A real treat for male Rogue-fans who'd been reading the series patiently for years.

This storyline also chronicles the transformation of innocent young Psylocke into a mature woman trained in the art of Ninjitsu, and she becomes an ultra-violent, sexy bad girl. And then there are cameo appearances by other Marvel superheroes, namely Captain America (from the Avengers series) and The Black Widow (from the Daredevil series). All in all, it's a satisfying, action-packed, well-drawn, crowd-pleasing comic book in trade-paperback format.

X-Men Visionaries Jim Lee trade paperback Is a great X-Men graphic Novel by Jim Lee! the book reprints Uncanny X-Men issues #248,#256-258,#268-269,#273-277 are reprinted together in this wonderful Marvel book collection! This book contains the early Uncanny X-Men issues that made Jim Lee famous! All the issues are written by Chris Claremont with artwork by Jim Lee. These issues lead to the popular Claremont/Lee colaboration on X-Men#1 in 1991. Most of the artwork was done by Jim Lee. Uncanny X-Men #273 was done by various artists. Buy this book if your fan of X-Men and Jim Lee. Highest Possible Recommendation!

This is a great X-Men: Visionaries Jim Lee graphic Novel! This is Jim Lee's early work on the Uncanny X-Men series! This Marvel Tradepaperback reprints Jim Lee's early years when he was the comic book artist on Uncanny X-Men. In this book reprints Uncanny X-Men#248,#256-258,#268-269, #273-277. His early work on the Uncanny X-Men in the early 1990s, lead to to the critically aclaimed Clarmont/Lee work on X-Men #1 in 1991. All the Uncanny X-Men issues are written by Chris Claremont. Most of the artwork is drawn by Jim Lee. Unncany X-Men#273 is drawn by various artist. Buy this book if your a big fan of X-Men and Jim Lee. Highest Possible Recommendation.

I am a fan of Bruce's and a student of Jeet Kune Do. This book has everthing you would want to know about fitness.
Running, cardio, weights, isometrics, nutrition, circut training, etc, etc, etc. There are numerous interviews with friends and students of Bruce Lee, and descriptions of the methods he used to train them and himself. I found the circut training he did to prepare for Enter The Dragon very intersting. There is an interesting appendix in the book that tells how the author, with the help of Ted Wong recovered Bruce Lee's Marcy exercise machine and another appendix giving all of Bruce's measurements. The best thing I took away from the book was the extreme importance of all aspects of physical fitness when it comes to defending yourself.

As a downside there is definitely alot of repeated material in the book. For example a description of the bench press is probably in there 10 different times.

This is definately a great book it has alot of conprehensive tips on how to develope your body so that it will be functional as well as look incredible. While some of its techniques are a little antiquated most of these health and fitness tips are definately worth while because lets face it people if Bruce Lee got the body he did by using this kind of training then why shouldnt we? While I think there are probably better workouts out there for me as a martial artist, who wanted to improve his power, speed, and endurance, it was great its fast, clean and definately worth you while.

I think this book is definately a great addition to anyones home fitness library. But remember this book is geared toward making your muscles funtional not nessecarily look good if you want that you would definately be better off buying another book.

Excellent book showing how Bruce Lee developed his awesome body and how he built-up the power behind it. The author has great sources that he got the material from, since some of the pictures are of actual notes that Lee himself wrote. Lee worked extremely hard to get his body in the near-perfect shape that it was in, and this book describes how he did it. This book contains alot of material that was previously unavailable before to anyone wanting to know how Lee trained, what he ate, how he taught his students how to train, what his views were on exercise, cardiovascular training, stretching, and most important, how to develop power from your workout. His training was based on his martial arts influence, as he always searched for ways to improve himself in his own martial art of Jeet Kune Do (JKD). This book shows how he incorporated various exercises and his training regimen during various parts of his life to constantly change and adapt to what he felt would benefit him the most at that particular time. If he felt he needed more endurance, he would incorporate more running and punching the heavy bag, if he felt he needed more quickness and speed, he would do more speed drills, jump rope, etc. An excellent book to learn more about how Lee trained himself and his students to get in the best shape of their lives, and also an example and inspiration to other who exercise and try to keep fit. Of course, if you want a book to show you "how" to workout with weights, then this is not the book for you, but if you want to learn how to improve your overall self through exercise, diet and training, then this is an excellent book.

Stewart Lee Allen theorizes in THE DEVIL'S CUP that coffee launched history out of the slowly moving, drunken Middle Ages (where each man woman and child consumed the equivalent of a six pack a day) to our current, sober and caffeinated instant. Stewart Lee Allen begins with coffee's obscure beginnings as an Ethiopian religious drug. The legend goes, "an Ethiopian goatherd named Kaldi one day noticed his best goat dancing about and baaing like a maniac," and the goatherd noticed the berries the goat had eaten, ate them himself, discovered coffee, and forever altered history. This goatherd's bean gradually stimulated history through the industrial revolution and spread of capitalism through the institutions of coffeehouses. Some of the world oldest and most powerful business, such as the East India Company and Wall Street, began as coffeehouses.

Much has changed in the actual preparation of coffee from its pre-historic role as a religious drug to it's present role as a vital nutritional supplement. The Ethiopian perfect cup is prepared in an elaborate coffee ceremony. The hostess roasts green beans at the table, passing around the freshly roasted beans for the gusts to enjoy the aroma, an ode to friendship is offered, the beans are powdered in a stone mortar and then brewed. In the last chapter, Stewart Lee Allen hits the highway, passing through the truck stop riddled South in search of the perfect American cup. He isn't looking for the carefully ground Italian knock-off coffee found in your local strip mall, but true black and palette scalding American Joe. The single most influential coffee recipe in American history involves egg shells and several stages of savagely boiling the beans. He finds this coffee, dumped piping hot out of a round glass carafe drip brewed hours maybe days before, slung down in a porcelain mug and saucer by a dog-tired waitress.

Stewart Lee Allen as the guide along the byways and dead-ends of coffee's scattered trajectory out of Africa develops as a disturbing narrator, off handedly recalling in one scene, in a side track to Calcutta, why he loves the city because when he was working for Mother Teresa, "hand feeding emaciated men one day, carrying out their corpses the next... most people don't understand why I love Calcutta... cheap, dirty, and full of poorly washed people sitting about babbling nonsense." But despite his penchant for observing poverty and human suffering as delightful examples of local color, Steward Lee Allen does dig up many pieces of odd coffee trivia. For instance Steward Allen Lee writes that Japanese companies purchase the entire crop of Blue Mountain Coffee and another high quality specialized ground called Monkey Coffee collected from the droppings of a palm toddy cat that lives mostly an alcoholic bean but also particularly ripe and succulent coffee and its acidic bowls produce a very high grade ground. While THE DEVIL'S CUP is neither a travelogue or coffee history, it has changed the way I drink a cup coffee.

This is a quick and enjoyable book. Although I actually did learn quite a bit about an interesting subject, the book is as much of a travel story as it is the history of a foodstuff that has only become ubiquitous during the last several centuries.

I suspect that the search for the roots of coffee is just an excuse for a jaunt around the world, from the rain forests of Africa, to the bleakest coast of the Arabian peninsula, to an art scam in India, across the Atlantic in a tramp steamer and finally a road trip across America. Well, actually, that's a bit of a simplification--I missed a couple of continents.

It is an entertaining book. The author has a wry sense of humor and is an astute observer of human diversity. He's also something of a free spirit, and I have to wonder if his being stopped by Southern Patrolmen looking for drugs came as more of a surprise to him than to the reader.

The book really does operate at two levels, providing an interesting and informative story about the history of coffee, viewing it through contemporary eyes in the many locations where coffee made its way through history, eventually culminating in Starbucks.

Looking for the perfect cuppa joe? Sounds like a good story. Yeah. We can have some fun with that. Ask the barista for another latte grande and enjoy.

Author Stewart Lee Allen takes a wild romp through remote parts of the world in chase of the perfect cup of joe. From Yemen, Ethiopia, to Calcutta and Mysore, to Turkey, Europe, Brazil and finally the US, he takes us on a wild adventure. He proposes that Europe woke from being a backwater with a six-pack a day ale habit when coffee became the drink of choice. Did coffee alter history as well as grumpy morning moods? Well, the American colonists dumped their tea in Boston Harbor, brewed up a cup of caw-fee, and a successful revolution was underway shortly thereafter.

There is a lot about coffee in this book I sure didn't know (like related drinks made of the leaves and cherry husks, monkey dropping coffee and more.) The writing is funny, funny stuff, a lot like Bill Bryson. I recommend this book highly.

This book contains descriptions and uses of hundreds of useful plants and is probably the most imporant book to have in your edible plant book collection. It also gives fair warning when some evidence suggests possible risks.

Despite these points, there are some things that make it hard to use. First, because they are trying to cram in as many plants as possible, they don't give enough attention to many plants that deserve it and give very breif descriptions, although they do point out some of the main identifying features. Second, the pictures, at least for the first half of the book, are simply recycled from the Peterson Guide to Wildflowers, which means that they often leave out important parts that you really need to see. Third, the book is organized for the most part so that you can't find a plant unless you know the color of the flower, which makes it really difficult to recognize plants unless you find them during the period they flower, which is usually pretty short. And did anyone notice that they switched the pictures of Nodding Wild Onion and Field Garlic on page 115?

Of course, the descriptions and drawings are better than most books on the subject, and it does have many useful features, so this book is definately worth having.

This book is very well written. it contains over 400 drawings and 78 color photos, to help in the identification of the mentioned plants. Each entry contains information on habitat, when they flower, a description and the uses. Also conatins any applicable warnings. The line drawings are very accurate and are more than enough, when coupled with the descriptions, to be able to identify just about any plant. But if you have any doubts, check the color photos. Also, at the back of the book, it contains the various types of plants divided up into habitat, and then each habitat divided into what plants can be harvested there during various seasons. This book is a great resource for any survivalist's bookshelf.

I teach wild edible plants and this is the best identification book for the Eastern and Centeral states that I have found. It has very good line drawings and some good color pictures in a section by themselves. It has graphig symbols showing how each plant can be used.

The concept of the Underground Railroad is difficult for most children to grasp, and they first think it is similar to the subway. I used this book with elementary students in a small rural school in North Carolina where there are very few minority students; they loved it. For the first time they were able to understand the horrors of slavery and what the slaves and "conductors" alike risked for freedom in the North. The author does an excellent job of making this dark and complex chapter in our history understandable the students. The wanted to read it again and again.

Allen Jay and the Underground Railroad is the retelling of a man's recollections of his first experience helping an escaped slave. The book brings the underground railroad down to the level primary students can comprehend. This book makes for wonderful discussions regarding overcoming one's fears, going against the norm and doing what you believe to be morally correct. The story is very idealistic. The dark side of the time period is not dealt with in any depth. This makes the book excellent for young readers who are just getting their feet wet on the issue of slavery.

Through a series of Essays, the thoughts of Jonathan Edwards on a number of topics, from nature to revival are analysed and expounded.

I don't have a deep philosophical background, but found reading it and learning the unfamilier terms to be rewarding. Edwards was truly a marvelous thinker, and wether you agree or disagree, his thoughts will make you stretch your own. For the most part, the authors are true to Edwards sound Christian Theology, showing just how far ahead in his thinking he was from most contemporary christian authors.

Most of the essyas are top notch, and focus on Edwards, but there are two or three that are self serving and Edwards is used to advance the authors pet cause or philosophy- in an otherwise excellent volume these were quite out of place.

Recommend to anyone who wants to get beyond the "brain candy" you will find in your average Christian Bookstore.