Although always a gentleman, Mr. Metz, seems to have tried to get into the head of Hardin.This comes across as if Hardin is justifing his misdeeds. Frankly, Hardin is not worth of the acclaim and now honors that Texas is doing him. Metz's research was excellent, but I think that this is a misguided effort to simulate interest in the wrong sort of Texas characters

Yes, you get the facts of John Wesley Hardin's life, probably more of them than you wanted to know. What you don't get is any kind of decent prose.

Having considered myself a sort of amateur historian of Texas figures, I know quite a bit about J.W. Hardin. Leon Metz's biography is the most honest and thoroughly researched one I've come across yet. This along with Metz's engaging writing style made this book a hard one to put down. He doesn't glorify or vilify this Texas gunman, and the reader comes away with a new understanding of the times and tribulations of those who lived on the frontier. I'm a hard sell, and yet I would recommend this book to anyone interested in characters of the American West.

I strongly urge everyone to follow closely Mr. Ropp teachings and learn to pass judgment on which of your neighbors are and are not Christians. Until came upon this enlightened man I had foolishly been trying to follow the advice of Christ, himself, when he said, "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if ye also love one another."

Silly Me.

Harry L. Ropp developed this book out of his Master of Arts thesis from Lincoln Christian Seminary, Lincoln, IL. It was originally published by InterVarsity Press in 1977. Tragically, he died in an airplane crash in 1978 in Utah while working with Mission to Mormons.

This edition of his book is actually the second revision, once by Wesley P. Walters and now by Charles A. Crane, President of Boise Bible College, Boise, ID. The longevity of this little book, of some 130+ pages, in spite of the untimely demise of its author, is a tribute to its value.

Mormonism (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)asserts that it has four basic documents: Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, and The King James Version of the Holy Bible, insofar as it is translated correctly.

Ropp's research concludes that first three of the documents of the LDS religion are unreliable as a basis for truth. His approach is direct, clear, matter-of-fact, and thought-provoking. He concludes that LDS need to know the truth about the origins, documents, and doctrines of their own religion, and others need to know, too.

His opening chapter is hard-hitting and decisive in it verdict regarding this religion which arose on the American continent, the result of the fertile imagination and clever manipulations of its founder, Joseph Smith, Jr. The LDS religion fails in its treatment of God, Christ, Salvation, and the Bible. While desiring to be recognized as another Christian denominatin, LDS understanding of the subjects above is woefully inadequate and distorts historical Christian views on these matters of faith.

Ropp treats the Book of Mormon as a document of suspicious origin and useless in adding anything historically and archeologically significant to our understanding of either the ancient western hemisphere, ancient religions found here, cultures described, or ethnic origins of native Americans.

Ropp believes the document resulted from Joseph Smith's plagarism of earlier works in combination with his own natural genius. Nearly 4,000 changes have been made to the text of the document and some of them are theologically significant, especially as relates to the deity of the Jesus Christ of normative Christianity.

Ropp similarly treats the other two key documents of the LDS religion, namely, the Doctrine and Covenants (originally entitled Book of Commandments) and Pearl of Great Price. D&C is a collection of revelations, of which many over time, were altered or corrected to suit a changing situation or reflected a measured awareness of conflicts with earlier pronouncements, documents, and doctrines of the religious leaders. PGP is comprised of Books of Moses and Abraham and writings of Joseph Smith. Notably the Book of Abraham purports to be a translation of an ancient Egyptian textual document, claimed to have been written by Abraham, the patriarch, while in Egypt. The "translation" by Joseph Smith has been discredited by competent Egyptologists. The actual document relates to funeral practices among the Egyptians, nothing to do with Abraham at all.

Ropp's book concludes with an excellent chapter on witnessing to Mormons--to do so with grace, armed with facts, and with real compassion for those in spiritual darkness.

Notes and bibliographic material are very helpful.

This is an excellent primer for introducing the uninitiated to the teachings and pitfalls of the LDS religion. It is worth having among your resources on the subject.

Thank you!

"Montana Rail Link" is a collection of black and white photographs by the author, taken across much, but not most or all, of Montana Rail Link railroad. It is a pictorial - not a history - of Montana Rail Link after its first decade of existance, with some good information. There are some factual errors contained and the book is lacking depth in both text and photographic coverage of this 600-plus bridge line across connecting two divisions of BNSF railroad in Montana.

"Montana Rail Link" is an engrossing history of the MRL, one of the most successful operating railroads in the United States. At the start of this handsome volume, Wesley Fox, who has photographed and closely studied western railroading for the past eighteen years, chronicles the ten-year history of MLR, which was born on Oct. 31, l987. From the opening picture of a panoramic southern view from the Sheridan Hotel in Billings, Montana (BN 091 just happens to be crossing 27th Ave) to the closing photo of a retired MLR caboose in soft shadows, Fox's pictures--all b&w--have an aura of heartfelt eagerness about them. Alas, not all the photographs are first-rate. But his pictures (Train 024 passing through a triple truss bridge over the Yellowstone River; Train 122 rolling beside the lovely Flathead River; and, of course, the cover shot of Train 251 crossing an unnamed bridge) are admirally-timed and angled. Western rail fans will definitely want to peruse this volume.

Beckhard and Harris' book on organizational transition is easily one of the worst I have ever read on the subject. It is not necessarily the kind of information that is conveyed here, nor is it the style with which it is done. Rather, if you have even the slightest concept of the meaning of OD and related topics then your knowledge is perhaps well beyond the scope of this book. Though the book does represent a nice introduction to the management of change, it is hardly worth its price.It barely surpasses the quality of an average pop-psychology book but certainly is of little value to scholars.

This is one of the books that I've dog-eared, underlined, and referenced over and over, so much so that I'm on my second copy. It goes beyond the typical change management information, and gives valuable tools for assessing the readiness for change, identifying roles people assume in a change situation; charting responsibilities in a change process, among others. In my opinion, this isn't a book for scholars, it is a book for managers and those who help them plan and manage complex organization transitions.

The guidance given in this book is very simplistic advice that any person with a modicum of intelligence and common sense could derive for him or herself. Also, the details of the authors' sex life are so explicit that I felt I was reading a soft core pornographic novel rather than serious advisory book. Due to the book's graphic nature, I had a difficult time respecting the advice presented. Finally, I do not feel that I gained any relationship knowledge from this book that I did not already possess.

Despite an earlier review, there's nothing even vaguely pornographic in the book that I could see. Instead, the Huffs provide a good deal of thought-provoking prose, surrounding their list of sixteen areas in which they think a couple *MUST* agree for a marriage to be successful. I don't know for sure if every one is a show stopper, but if you're missing on more than a few...

Most books about the marital arts take the premise that bad communication is what makes marriages fail - that if you can communicate better, and understand the mars/venus stuff, you can fix any marriage. The Huffs believe that even with perfect communication, even the most caring couple will have a marriage that is at best mediocre if they're mismatched on key issues... that marriage needn't be hard, *if* its with the right person. This is a wonderful breath of fresh air for anyone who's been struggling for years, trying to figure out what they're doing wrong. Maybe it isn't you.

Read, enjoy, learn.

I have recently taken Macroeconomics and Microeconomics. The subject was difficult, but able to be grasped with some study. (I am an adult student)As for the "International Economics" textbook, I feel it is very poor as an educational medium. If you ever really sit and attempt to read this thing, all you are reading are a bunch of letters. There is no sense to the material and very little attempt to clarify anything. It is confusing enough to learn a difficult subject without having to decipher every letter of the alphabet into a different word or variable. I understand brevity is necessary to avoid repetition, but please! This is to be a learning tool. There should at least be some attempt to 'spell out' the information once. I feel this book was a very bad investment on my part, and would never have been my chosen text for this topic. I wouldn't even give it one star, but that was as low as I was able to select.

This book is very difficult to read as far as the main text is concerned. The graphs do help students understand the concepts but the organization is poor. After reading a chapter, I still do not get the "big picture". The authors do not attempt to provide any type of guide or roadmap for us to follow. You cannot learn anything from this book unless you are going to your prof's lectures.

Im a Computer Sceince student. Recently, I took an economics cource titeld "International Trade". This book is the text book for our class. I found it very easy and clear to understand ( there is no doubt that you really need to have a very solid Idea about macro and micro economics befor reading this kind of a book). The book is deep enought to servee as an educational media, it is no to little and not too much. I recommend this book

This book was terrible. I couldn't finish it. The dialoge was sophomoric. There wasnt any character development. A complete waste of time.

One can only hope the the Last Canyon is Mr. Vernon's last book. Flat characters; flat imagery; sophomoric dialogue; silly, forced, disconnected scenes: the genuis here is that one truly celebrates the end of Powell's journey becasue it also coincides with the end of Mr. Vernon's prose. One wishes Mr. Powell's journey had ended 300 hundred pages sooner.

As John Wesley Powell and his crew of nine follow the Green and Colorado Rivers through uncharted territory into the Grand Canyon in 1869, Vernon imbues them with so much energy and strength that this fictional account of their journey feels like the real thing--more like a well-written memoir than a flight of imagination. His depictions of the canyons, mesas, geological strata, and the always changing river are so precise and vivid that they feel more like great photographs than prose. His descriptions of the heat and privation have the intensity of old sermons of hellfire and damnation.

With a lyricism as masculine and vigorous as the characters of his story, Vernon tells of two parallel, and eventually intersecting, journeys--the famous journey of John Wesley Powell and his crew on the river, and the fictional journey of a family of Paiute (Shivwits) Indians across the high mesas, as they try to reclaim a daughter which the father sold to Mormons in exchange for two guns. Vernon alternates these narratives in successive sections, bringing the ironies of the two journeys into sharp focus. The Powell expedition fights the forces of nature and is often at the mercy of the elements, struggling with equipment and scientific instruments, and in danger of running out of food. The Shivwits, on the other hand, are in communion with nature, comfortable in their belief that nature will provide, as it always has--their struggle, of course, being to preserve their lands and culture.

Vernon is a remarkable writer, equally adept at all aspects of writing--action sequences on the river, dialogues ranging from humorous to rancorous, insights into the characters' thinking, and a faithful adherence to the writing style of the period. His ability to present very different descriptions of the same geographical features, as seen separately by the Paiutes and explorers, is nothing short of amazing. This is a beautifully written, very masculine story of exploration and cultural conflict, one that should not be missed by anyone fascinated by tales of outdoor adventure and exploration.

This book contains may errors in the equations presented. Many of the answers in back of the book are incorrect. Problems lack needed illustrations. No solutions manual is available. Many formulas presented require specific systems of units.

I used this text to teach a machine design class a community college. I has many errors in equations presented as well as in the answers presented in the back of the book. Problems are presented without any illustrations were needed.

I've worked in mechanical design for almost 20 years now and _Machine Design_ by Robert H. Creamer is the best single volume on the subject that I have ever found. It gives you a comprehensive and practical grounding in all aspects of designing machines. Covered are Mechanics and Strength of Materials; Friction and Lubrication; Bearings; Shaft Design; Fasteners, Couplings, Keys, Retaining Rings, Welding, and Weld Design; Belting; Chain Drives, Hoists, and Conveyors, Ropes; Brakes; Clutches; Power Screws; Gears; Cams; Spring Design; Flywheels; Power Units; etc. Plus, there are some extremely useful tables in the back for material properties, gages, alloys, conversions, formulas, etc.
I've used this text while working on everything including molds, fixtures, automotive, machine tools, food processing equipment, quarrying equipment, paper making equipment, water treatment equipment, packaging equipment, conveyors, etc. I would no more think of going out on a job without my Creamer than I would think of leaving my _Machinery's Handbook_ behind- it is a true classic in the field.

Well I gave one star for the only reason I couldnt give less...

First I had no tapes (don't know if the librarian fooled me..) but without any tape you can forget the listening comprehension you don't even have the questions in the book!! (122 pages of the book completely useless)

But this is not the worst part: the real problem is not in the missing questons but in the missing answers!! There is absolutely no answer for any of the question of this book not even for the "complete" pratice test; and I am not speaking of detailled answers just the basic "the good answer is choice A" so there is no way you can know that your answers were correct or not and consequently no clue on what part you need to improve.

Adding that the "lectures" are short and unclear and their "step by step" preparation impossible to follow (you are asked to identify problems in the begin of the book that you will only learn about at the end...) there is absolutely nothing positive about this book (not even the price)

For the ones that are still thinking of buying: it was so useless that it made me write my first review...

I have used this book. I think it is a good book to practice cuz it has a lot of exercises to practice(Sturcture and Reading)., but when I practice with listening comprehension section, I found out that it is more and more diffecult than the real test. I know the practice exercise should be difficult than, so it will be easy on the real test. In my view, The audio used with this book make me upset because it is 50-50North American and British accent and it is difficult to catch the words authough I tried to listen many times.In reality, the voice from the real test will clear. All in all, I think it is useless to practice listening with the unclear sound in this book. it also will make the practicer more confused. So, Let try the Longman set by Doborah Phillips. It is a very good set and make my score raise up to 100 point.

The Interactive UNIX Tutorial and Reference is probably an acceptable choice for the person who needs to acquire some truly pedestrian UNIX skills. This is not a book from which to learn UNIX, nor is it a book from which to teach UNIX: The Interactive UNIX Tutorial and Reference is a workbook for the Computer-Based Training (CBT) that comes with the book. The paper book is really just packaging and supportive material for the enclosed CD.

I pulled out the CD to get a feel for how the program works. The CBT and its accompanying Interactive UNIX Tutorial and Reference provide step by step directions that allow the reader/user to interactively walk through some of the basic UNIX concepts and commands. Every CBT module takes the user through brief textual and animated explanations designed to motivate and support a particular topic. After the explanations, the user can practice their new skills in a simulated UNIX environment. And if the student wants to go further, there are written scenarios for the student to follow online on a live UNIX system.

I believe that to be successful in the computer industry, my students need two things, both of which must be reflected in our texts. First, they must have a strong understanding of the basic framework and infrastructure of computer science. This provides the toolset with which they can begin to build their understanding of how to solve programming problems. Second, students must be presented with meaningful, challenging, and stimulating problems that require them to employ their tools. This book provides neither strong theory nor challenging problems.

The Interactive UNIX Tutorial and Reference does a good job of providing a very basic introduction to UNIX. If used to accompany another text, it may be useful. But I do not believe that it makes a strong primary UNIX text.