The author's delight in the areas he travels is palpable. Paul Rea's passion for rock, river, plants and birds unfolds as he strides through a canyon or paddles a stretch of quiet river. His prose awakens the senses and creates a strong desire to experience these places for oneself.
This is not a book to be speed-read. Each sentence packs so much color, description and nuance that the reader wants to read slowly and savor each line.
The enthusiasm the author feels comes through "loud and strong." In addition, he invites readers to understand that some of these wonders will not be accessible to our heirs if we do not carefully set aside/preserve these environs. His concern for the environment is balanced by a sense of fair play-trying to find solutions that work for everyone.
If you are passionate about the "great outdoors," this is a book for you!

Reading Rea's book is truly like being in the red rock country. His adventurous stories are alive with colorful sensory detail and suffused with his love for the natural world, with all its challenges, grit and glory. Rea writes with a naturalist's keen eye, weaving in history and philosophy, and concern for the threat our species poses to the wild.

I generally am a reader of fiction rather than nature books. After a friend recommended this book to me, I found to my surprise that it was enchanting. The poetic descriptions, which are both sensual and spiritual, lovingly render the incredible beauty found in this part of the world. This motivated me to plan a glorious trip to the red rock country to see it for myself.

You couldn't find a more interesting character than Hardin but his own account is written in a common and stilted style that zaps all excitement from it. Hardin should be grateful to James Carlos Blake's historical fiction "The Pistoleer" to put him in the proper light.

The original manuscript of this book was discovered after John Wesley Hardin's death. He was shot in the back of the head while standing at the bar in the Acme Saloon by John Selman in El Paso on August 19th, 1895. This book was published a year later by Smith & Moore Publishing in Sequin, Guadalupe County, Texas. It sold, in paperback, for fifty cents each.

Hardin was one of the real, genuine hard cases, in those days. It is said that he killed at least a score of men. By some accounts, it was at least 40.

Hardin was born in 1853, the son of a Methodist preacher, who proudly christened him after their faith's founder. No doubt he was expected to follow a spiritual path. It was not to be. He killed his first man, a freed negro who was full of his new freedom, and was going to chastise Hardin with a club out of anger for losing a wrestling match to the boy and his cousin the day before. Hardin killed him with a revolver.

Texas was administered at the time--immediately after the War between the States--by Northern carpetbaggers, and Hardin's life as an outlaw commenced.

He was captured, eventually, in Florida by Texas Rangers and brought back to Texas where he served time in prison. He was obviously intelligent and more literate than the average. After his release, he became a lawyer, and so his autobiography reads well, with probably no more self-justification and self-aggrandizement than most autobiographies.

It is said that he had his pockets lined with leather, so that he could carry his pistols without wearing out his clothing. Not a carry method conducive to the idiotic Hollywood myth of the "fast draw."

John Wesley Hardin was a dangerous man with an ungovernable temper. His story, as told by himself, is more literate than most and highly readable. How well it adheres to the absolute truth is anyone's guess.

I found it most interesting.

Joseph Pierre
author, Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance

As John Wesley Hardin wrote his autobiography he was, presumably, trying to present himself in a favorable light; shading things to make himself look good. That said, he still comes off as an utterly cold-blooded killer without conscience or a twinge of remorse. This makes the reading all the more interesting as he isn't holding back or trying to apologize for, or justify, the things he did.

The story is very well-written (Hardin was a lawyer when he wrote it, during the brief time he survived once he was released from prison). As authentic western adventures go, this is a top-rate book. Hardin tells of cattledrives, chases by posses, encounters with the law including Hickok, and shootouts.

This is one of those charming, clever, and witty English novels that writers -- especially women -- have been turning out since the days of Jane Austen. A lonely 17 year old girl caught up in the blitz meets a man who dies. She searches out his family home and finds contentment and love. The cast consists of mildly eccentric country types in a World War II setting. But the novel didn't teach or tell me anything of value. It's just a story.

It is so nice to read a wonderful romance novel without all the hot detailed sex scenes that American authors seem unable to write without. The was my first Wesley novel -- but it won't be my last.

The only negative thing anyone can say about Mary Wesley's novels is that there are so few of them! Not one of England's most prolific authors, Wesley is nonetheless one of its most unique writers. Each novel is a gem! (Harnessing Peacocks is my all-time favorite.) This bittersweet fairy tale concerns the intrepid Juno, who, betrayed by her girlhood heroes (a pair of beastly cousins off to fight WWII) in the worst way imaginable for a young, impressionable woman, goes on to survive and prosper, surrounded by love and affection. A triumph of the human spirit, it's a May-December romance readers will hold dear to their hearts.

Why I Chose Sea Star
By: Marguerite Henry
Reviewed by: J. Park
Period: P.5
Paragraph #1
Sea Star is one of my favorite books. It gets me interested on how horeses really do have feelings. Everyone has told me that I should read this book, because I love to read about animals. I thought that it would be very boring bacuse of the front cover and I shouldn't have judged the book by it's cover so I read it, then I thought that sane was very true. Once I got to the conflict I couldn't get my eyes off the book. It starts out like an ordinary book with little, small details and then they have surprise news that wakes you up. You are halfway dead when all of a sudden you are more than alive. This book is great becaus eit is very detailed so I understand so well that I can grow and share this with my kids, and you can't take your eyes the book.
Paragraph #2
The way they described the story was very different from how other books, that I have read, had explained the story. They make a sentence like: Let's go eat! Into like a describtive sentence like this: Let's go enjoy a meal by filling our hungry stomachs with a big and nice samdwhich! I love how they describe every single, little thing they talk about. It's like, if they don't write so that we can't understand, they aregoing to quit writing the book, they do their writing so well! I know what is going on and I am interested in what is going to happen next.
Paragraph #3
The way they explain the story is that they take a hard story to explain into a easy kingdergarten book. I can memorize the book word by word. (exaderation) I had a time where I had got mad at the book because it was getting all interesting until they made it so confusing I didn't get it. I was so frustrated that I got mad at the book. This book is always more than understandable. Everyday I read this book, I forget things very easily, I can remember this story from where I started to where I ended everyday. To tell the treuth this book had got me hyptnotised into it.
Paragraph #4
Whenever I read books I always get into trouble for not reading it a lot, but this book I get into trouble for reading it too long. This story is a very continuous story that if you take your eyes off for one moment you miss a whole apple tree in a garden. I enjoy howq there is something going on everytime and everyday. Many people don't know the feeling of horses. While reading this book you enjoy and learn at the same time. I would tell everyone that doesn't like to read and give them this book. Last of all the ending, the ending has a whole different side to everything I said. The ending is the most saddest part ever, even though it is a happy ending. The book ended! I hate it when books end, it seems like your adventure had ended and you have to start all over again. You never know whaty kind of books are as interesting as this. Your book fun time is over. I enjoyed this book and I had learned a lot from it.

Sea Star is one of my favorite books. It gets me interested on how horeses really do have feelings. Everyone has told me that I should read this book, because I love to read about animals. I thought that it would be very boring bacuse of the front cover and I shouldn't have judged the book by it's cover so I read it, then I thought that sane was very true. Once I got to the conflict I couldn't get my eyes off the book. It starts out like an ordinary book with little, small details and then they have surprise news that wakes you up. You are halfway dead when all of a sudden you are more than alive. This book is great becaus eit is very detailed so I understand so well that I can grow and share this with my kids, and you can't take your eyes the book. The way they described the story was very different from how other books, that I have read, had explained the story. They make a sentence like: Let's go eat! Into like a describtive sentence like this: Let's go enjoy a meal by filling our hungry stomachs with a big and nice samdwhich! I love how they describe every single, little thing they talk about. It's like, if they don't write so that we can't understand, they aregoing to quit writing the book, they do their writing so well! I know what is going on and I am interested in what is going to happen next. The way the explain the story is that they take a hard story to explain into a easy kingdergarten book. I can memorize the book word by word. (exaderation) I had a time where I had got mad at the book because it was getting all interesting until they made it so confusing I didn't get it. I was so frustrated that I got mad at the book. This book is always more than understandable. Everyday I read this book, I forget things very easily, I can remember this story from where I started to where I ended everyday. To tell the treuth this book had got me hyptnotised into it. Whenever I read books I always get into trouble for not reading it a lot, but this book I get into trouble for reading it too long. This story is a very continuous story that if you take your eyes off for one moment you miss a whole apple tree in a garden. I enjoy howq there is something going on everytime and everyday. Many people don't know the feeling of horses. While reading this book you enjoy and learn at the same time. I would tell everyone that doesn't like to read and give them this book. Last of all the ending, the ending has a whole different side to everything I said. The ending is the most saddest part ever, even though it is a happy ending. The book ended! I hate it when books end, it seems like your adventure had ended and you have to start all over again. You never know whaty kind of books are as interesting as this. Your book fun time is over. I enjoyed this book and I had learned a lot from it.

i liked this book a lot. it was very interesting and i liked it a lot. i think marguerite henry is a very good author. i love all her books. this book is definetely something people should read.

This little book is an excellent introduction to the methods of Classical education, especially as it pertains to a Christian worldview. It is a quick and easy read, and (best of all) inexpensive.
I do have a few critisms. [1] The authors tend to get off point a few times (we don't need a primer on Latin grammar in a book like this) [2] The bibliography tends to stay "in the family" of the contributing authors and lastly [3] I would expect superior writing style from promoters of Classical education.

The author provides a good background and justification for returning to the classical approach of teaching children. The reading lists are fairly good except for the suspicious inclusion of a number of texts written by the author. I felt that the chapter concerning centering your children's education around Christ sounded very emotionally charged which greatly contrasted the author's previous chapter on logic and argumentation. I don't disagree that the education of Christian children should be centered about Christ. I do think the author should have used the logical method of argumentation described in the previous chapters to argue his point rather than lapse into emotionally charged religious rhetoric that he (and Plato) disapproved of at the beginning of his text. The most overriding lesson I learned from this text, though, is one which more homeschooling and classical education advocates must learn and teach: providing your child with a education better than that which you were provided requires that you first obtain the education with which you are attempting to endow your children. For this reason (and that teensy little price up there) I highly recommend this book to anyone who is frustrated with the quality of public education in America whether or not you are considering homeschooling your child.

While a small "book", it is power packed. It addresses everything from your worldview to getting started in the process of "re" educating yourself in preparation for homeschooling using the classical method. If you are considering whether or not you want to use the method or want to get your method on track, this book is perfect. Personally, I was actually exhorted in a few areas-just what I needed! Well worth the small price!

This book presents a clear and high-level overview of the issues and topics of client/server and OO computing. I've worked in the field for a while, so there was not much new material for me. Nevertheless, I still found it a useful read. It presents a coherent and comprehensive conceptual framework for thinking about the many of issues and tradeoffs in the field. The book's layout, format, and style make it readable and useful. It has a reasonable index, bibliography, and glossary. The beginning and ends of each chapter clearly summarize the material. The book's stated goal was to give the reader a fundamental understanding of essential issues rather than a barrage of incidental technical details. I believe it succeeded. I wish I had this book five years ago when I was new to the field of OO applied to business applications.

This book was a pleasant surprise. I think it stands out. Here is why: many books don't survive the test of time. Either the technology is moving to the next buzzwords and the terminology in a just-published book is already slightly obsolete, or a book style is such that it concentrates only on extremely volatile and time-sensitive skills that it usefullness only lasts a couple of years. Of course an author can publish a new edition every two or three years to keep up with the terminology and what is in vogue, and that is why Orfali's "martians" book on client/server is now in its third edition. A better solution would be to have a web site with documents in PDF format that update a published book. While this book is published only two years ago, and it seems to show some of its age by not mentioning the latest Internet buzzwords, such omissions are deliberate exactly to withstand the test of time. Examples abound of different architecture configurations and topologies without ever looking old. The writing style has a nice flow, with wide margins on each page showing summaries written in italics. It never displays too much information, but just what is needed. And it relates how choosing a correct configuration, is actually an evaluation of the best compromises, never dictatorialy stating what is the correct and only solution. The words are carefully crafted, and this book is a good source if you are preparing a presentation and need examples of one-liners or one-page concepts. It is not a reference book of treasure-chest solutions and code snippets. It is more a book to read next to a fireplace and "harden" and make sense of information that you may already have but you are not sure how to frame it, organize it, or rationalize it. The nice flow in this book shows the path.

This book is a little bit dated, but most of what is here still applies. As long as new people are making the shift to OO devleopment, this book will be of great benefit.

First of all, the authors give a very objective view of OO devleopment without a bunch of hype. Then, the book begins by addressing the non-OO way of developing client/server applications and explains how objects can fit in.

After giving a road map of the possible ways to introduce objects into existing systems, the authors go in great detail of client, server, and "glue" OO development. The glue is essentailly the communication mechanism used between the client and server.

To round out the book, the authors give good introductions to object persistence, performance, scaleability, and security. These are all important topics with books dedicated to each of them. Readers will be ready to read the more advanced material after having read what the authors present.

The last two chapters are more speculation than fact, and it would be nice to have a second edition of this book to account for the changes since the book was published in 1998.

As a final note, managers with a techincal background but no OO experience will find the material very useful in coming up to speed on OO client/server development.

This dictionary is not perfect but itis useful especially ESL BEGINNER

We bought this dictionary for general and school use for our kids and it does the job quite well. I Highly recommend it!

I'm a Junior at a 4-year college; since my initial schooling for learning English up to this date, I've relied on the Longman Dictionary Of American English, A Dictionary For Learners Of English. It has been my best guide through the process of learning and using English.

After a lifetime of devoted service conducting illegal wiretaps, break-ins and burglaries, known as "black bag jobs" former FBI agent Wesley Swearingen decided to tell all about an FBI that few people really know.

To be fair, government employees, no matter what agency employs them, are awash in an ocean of fraud, waste, corruption and general mismanagement perpetuated by their so called "supervisors." These individuals are generally unemployable, mediocre and incompetent. Thank God for government service, the largest, most pernicious public employment and welfare system in existence next to the Pentagon and its arms suppliers, or they'd be on the streets.

"FBI Secrets" does more than expose specific secrets documenting COINTELPRo-type programs designed to deny and destroy the rights of American citizens to actively engage in political dissent, it exposes the moral dilemma faced by those who perpetuate them. Admittedly, this agent waited until after retirement to expose what he knows; but he reveals to the reader the torment of an agent who became disillusioned with the agency yet had a career to protect.

Swearingen could have simply walked away. it would not have stopped these invasive violations of American's civil liberties but, at least, he would nt have been involved. With hindsight, and through the work of many investigative journalists and authors, information concerning how the FBI violates the civil rights of American citizens is abundantly avaialble.

The history of the founding of the FBI, beginning in 1908 with the corrupt Bureau of Investigation, the Palmer raids, orchestrated by Attorney General Mitchell Palmer and executed by an unknown federal bureaucrat named J. Edgar Hoover, stands in stark contrast to the James Stewart inspired cinematic travesty, "The FBI Story." Certainly, the author's slim, yet powerful volume, stands as a beacon of truth next to this cinematic garbargio.

The peculiarities of the Director, his life-long homosexual relationship with Clyde Tolson, his liasons with other rich and pwerful gay men, such as Lewis Rosenthiel of Schenley, the red baiting Roy Cohn and New York's Cardinal Spellman made, in large measure, what the Bureau what it is today, the nation's political police.

"FBI Secrets: An Agent's Exposure" is a chronological narration written by whistleblower M. Wesley Swearingen about his career as Special Agent for the FBI during the period 1951-1977. The marketing forward by Ward Churchill (we are not privy to who he is) notes Wesley had the necessary courage, fortitude and character to reveal the intrinsic wrongness and illegal doings of the FBI over a span of several decades.

Wesley explains how he was able to muster the requisite conscience and personal integrity to expose, albeit belatedly, the bigotry, cheating, lying, burgularizing, wire taps, bugs and unauthorized surveillances he had participated in or witnessed during 25 years as Special Agent. Also emphasized is how the Black Panther Party, the Weatherman (militant college students of the SDS founded by Thomas Haden) and individual top political activists were subjected to harassment, censure and surveillance without due cause.

Swearingen is to be commended for writing about alleged eye-witnessed corruption in the FBI. He effectively indicts himself as a co-conspirator, something which ordinarily adds credence to a confession. As a writer, Wesley's naivete exposes himself as a haughty Special Agent who is troubled with financial and personal security, an over zealous need to make faultfinding remarks of his associates and a total inability to get along with others. Although it fails the rule of "It Takes a King to Unseat a King," the book's content is revealing, easy to digest, reasonably well arranged and does give one pause to ponder.

The author is a former agent and as such has written the most recent and most authoritative insider account which describes the day-to-day office level details of COINTELPRO (when it functioned illegally). The keeping of secret lists of people to be arrested and sent to detention camps is morally repulsive enough,but the bureau did far more than this. It broke into buildings to gather evidence, planted bugs and incriminating evidence. It used this illegally obtained material to blackmail others, including public figures. It directly interfered in the administration of justice by intimidating witnesses, in some cases having its informants perjure themselves by coming forth with false testimony. It even had people murdered.
Knowledge of such activites is of particular importance now because of the legalization and reestablishment of COINTELPRO which occurred with the enactment of the Patriot Act. This event totally changes the security landscape both for activists and for corporate America. Its implications are guaranteed to be a force chilling to democratic ideals, a new dark period in American history. This book should be a starting point for any corporate strategist charged with maintaining an even foothold as acts of repression unfold. As checks and balances disappear, abuses of power emerge. It is now legal for any federal investigator to demand any business document without court supervision whether it be the reading habits of library patrons, the member rosters of organizations,or the minutes of closed meetings. Any person which reveals the material has been compromised is guilty of a federal felony.
The author describes how he was taught to pick locks and sneak into look for evidence. He had to do it at risk of expulsion from the FBI if he was caught. Now it has been legalized and no legal record of the breakin is required. With these new powers agents may easily subvert third party security firms and alarm companies that are paid to protect their custormers. A careful read of the atrocities the bureau committed in the past vs what they can do now legally is very sobering.

Four murders and a kidnaping make up the basis for this mystery set in the world of the television show Smallville.

The mystery was good. Clark and friends discover that a friend and his family have been murdered. Lionel Luthor (Lex's father) has been kidnaped. Two good plots that are handled quite well.

Unfortunately, it reads like a mystery the author could not sell elsewhere so he moved the setting to Smallville. I don't know if this is really true, but there are no real aspects of the show used in the plot. The only advantage to the Smallville setting is that readers already know how unpleasant Lex's father really is so the author does not have to give any detail.

The story ends in a typical fashion with Lex curious as to how Clark managed to be on the scene and say the day yet again.

A good mystery but no real development of the Smallville story line.

I LOVE IT! Suspenseful, well-written, and exciting! One problem: It should have concluded on the Luthor story line with some curious words from Lex about how Clark saved the day (once again) or a parting put-down from Lionel towards Lex. Regardless, I think you'll enjoy it.

The Smallville companion novels are quite good. They maintain the characters and there interrelationships faithfully. It was good fun to read. I highly recommend all the books in this series.