(The following two edits should be applied to my review [prev])

--Paragr. 5, point (1.), parenthetical: "century" should be altered to "millenium" both times [I certainly wrote this review too late at night]

--Paragr. 6, last sentence: "references to ... Greek culture is" should be altered to "references to ... Greek culture are"

This book certainly does represent an interesting addition into the field of the history of the Biblical text and religion. Cross does raise some issues that deserve consideration (see below). He is certainly an expert in the field of what is called "lower (or better, textual) criticism," in that he and his fellow researchers are eminently meticulous with studying and analyzing the scrolls found from Qumran.

It is evident, however, that when once Cross steps over the bounds of his actual scholarship and credentials, into the arena of Ancient Near Eastern history and its bearings on the Hebrew religion and Bible, he commits some standard errors of naivete, common to many an O.T. scholar today.

He advocates not the antiquated (and incredibly errant on methodological grounds), so-called "Documentary Hypothesis," but rather, the newer "etiological tradition" school of thought, along the lines of several mid-20th century scholars -- Noth (and Alt? along with several earlier Norwegian scholars) come(s) to mind, particularly.

His assumptions (not scientific conclusions) that the Pentateuchal text comes from "various traditions" that were compiled long after historical events they "attempt (sic) to describe" are certainly based on faulty linguistic analyses, and he evidently assumes that (a) because different textual traditions existed in Palestine in the last 4/5 centuries BC (b) therefore this indicates that oral traditions (laden with exaggerations and embellishments, no doubt) were eventually compiled into the various textual traditions, each of which bore the unique marks of its oral-traditio-predecessor.

Among issues that Cross glosses over, whether out of carelessness or out of deliberate refusal to acknowledge (several) other eminent scholars (some with far weightier credentials than himself), are the questions of: (1.) legal/treaty forms (1st century vs. 2nd century BC--several large sections of the Pentateuch correspond almost precisely with the latter, not the former); (2.) the question of "late" words being introduced into a complete Pentateuchal text by later scribes (which would tend to corroborate the results obtained by Mendenhall's, Kitchen's, formgeschichte cited above); (3.) the extensive studies showing that Hebrew literature was, in fact, *not* very closely related to the surrounding Canaanite literature/tradition at all (e.g., Heidel's findings RE: the unimpressive factual correlations between Gilgamesh and the OT).

Moreover, his assertion that "Mesopotamian literature was orally circulated, generally, before being written," and that this "corroborates the idea that the Hebrews followed the same methods in compiling the OT," is very fragile, resting on wholly erroneous assumptions, all of which directly contradict the actual conclusions of specialists in Ancient Oriental history--namely, that Mesopotamian cultures (and Egyptian, as well) most often practiced the "oral dissemination" (NOT transmission) of (already) *written* documents (as A. L. Oppenheim has long since indicated, along with several others). Cross's references to ancient Greek culture is wholly superfluous, affording, as any specialist in Ancient Oriental studies would affirm, no substantiation of his theories and indicating his lack of expertise in the Ancient Near East.

Thus, although Cross's work here represents something that should certainly be studied (and purchased) by both advocates of his theory AND by opponents, it certainly should be treated with a healthy skepticism, and by no means should it be accepted as an authoritative work, because of its simplistic, superficial treatment of issues which Cross has no mastery over. Old Testament history teachers and Biblical teachers should especially approach the work with caution, and refrain from giving it to students as an "authoritative text," per se. Rather, it would be wise to merely suggest it for further reading, or to select readings from it and leave it open to criticism from the students to enhance their critical-analysis abilities--esp. seeing as to how the text will likely be out of date in ten, twenty, or thirty years, as Biblical criticism proceeds towards more scientifically and logically sound methodologies.

This book is a worthy and very interesting successor to "Canaanite Myth And Hebrew Epic", exploring a number of issues relating to the history of Israel that were not addressed in the earlier work. Essays cover the relation of kinship to covenant, traditional narrative, the dubious fortunes of Reuben, the old gods of the ancient near east, OT descriptions of the tabernacle tent and temple in context, highly technical essays on Hebrew verse, two essays on the post-exilic restoration with an emphasis on the rift between Samaria and Jerusalem, two essays on the fixation and stabilization of the canonical text, and kind of an afterthought essay on pottery sherds and alphabets.

For me, the most interesting articles were the 'olden gods' essay, which places a number of themes present in the Bible firmly in the context of Canaanite mythology, and the the Samaria essay, which brings a lot of insight to the "Samaritan Problem". Just about as compelling are the essays dealing with the canonization of the Biblical texts, which brings the Dead Sea Scrolls and other contemporary evidence in to clarify the conerns and procedures. The most difficult and arcane (and beyond my interest) were the essays dealing with Hebrew verse.

My reservations stem from what seem to me to be omissions in the argument. Cross regularly makes the statement "there is no reason to doubt" one thing or another which is by no means proven, either in this work or any other that I know of, regarding practices and institutions of the "tribal league" and the "empire". He alludes to the existence of tribal leagues and their distinct religious forms from the Bronze Age to the modern era without much discussion of evidence. He also attests that at Ugarit patriarchal and specifically urban forms co-existed. This is interesting and I would like to know more about it. If the tribal and urban practices mingled throughout history, this does not give us "no reason to doubt" the historical accuracy of a Biblical account in which patriarchal religion and politics totally gives way to some national type of religion, nor does it help secure the dating of patriarchal narratives, or the dating of the conversion to Yahwism of Canaanite mythic themes. Cross's assertion of an orally transmitted prose epic seems unlikely, and no evidence is presented here to change my mind.

My reservations do not decrease the value of this book, however. In fact, they increase it, because of the issues raised. Overall, a must read.

Mostly dry and repetitive narrative, but does fill in some detail in the history of man's investigation of the Heechee, and does include at least one good short story. A fairly light and quick read.

This book is an overview of how the discovery of Heechee artifacts affected human history. If you've already read the Heechee novels, the only part of interest is a single short story; the rest is mere repetition. If you haven't read the Heechee novels, pass this over and start with Gateway

This book is not a continuation of the Heechee saga. However, it does provide a wealth of background material. Much of the book will already be familiar to readers of the Saga. Two bonuses are noteworthy. There is a long short story (around 100 pages) detailing the life of Audie Walthers when he was an airbody pilot on Venus. This story is pretty engrossing, and gives further insight into the goings on on Venus in the world of Gateway. Also, for those curious after reading Gateway as to the adventures of the other prospectors, there is a section that deals with the successes and disasters encountered by these people. If you are a [big] fan of Gateway, this book should be obtained. Otherwise, the short story about Audie and some additional background material might still convince you to get the book.

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.

This book was stupid. For one thing, it had almost nothing to do with Tae Kwon Do or martial arts. It was just a lame adventure about the CIA and a lunatic South Korean military leader who wants to take over North Korea. Emphasis on the word "lame." Save your money for Master of Kung Fu, Master of Karate, or better yet, Master of martial arts. Two thumbs down.

I found Master of TaeKwonDo a little disappointing after reading Brightfield's other books. The book was only about a madman's plot to take over the world and saving your friend Ling. Also, it's impossible to actually defeat the bad guy in book. Save your money and buy one of Brightfield's better Choose your own adventure books: Master of Kung Fu, Master of Karate, Master of Martial Arts, or Master of Aikido.

I admit there are not many happily-ever endings in the book and it's a boring plot about world domination. Yawn. but it's a good storyline nonetheless. Joan Pyun was more than nice to interact with and I liked the interaction with Joan.

Frank Bolle's artwork looks great.

I saw this in a comic book store and boy, was this a disappointment. Most of the material has appeared in the pages of the Sin City comic books. Here, they're reproduced at a larger size but big deal. Compare this to the recent Art of Hellboy and you'll see a huge difference in terms of value. Do not buy this book if you already own the Sin City comics or graphic novels because you're going to be getting something you've already seen.

I have been a huge fan of Frank Miller since his Wolverine mini-series done in the late 80s. I'm a huge Sin City fan, and I own all of the graphic novels, even though I also own most of the individual issues, so you can imagine my joy when I heard this project was first announced. It arrived today from Amazon, and I'm returning it tomorrow morning. This book is about 90 percent reprints of pages from the various Sin City mini series, and some promotional items, with perhaps a dozen or so rough layouts and sketches. There were exactly 4 images in this book that I hadn't already seen!!! I can't believe he would try to milk [$$]from his fans like this!!! If you own the majority of the graphic novels in this series, don't waste your money on this. There is very little about his thought or design processes. If you haven't read any of the books in this series, this is a good teaser for the full graphic novels.

I bought this hoping that it would wash the bad taste of DK2 away, but now I feel doubly cheated.

Sin City has always been one of my favirote books out there. I have always wondered how Frank Miller managed to get the book to look so good. So when I heard about this art book, I jumped on it. It completely blew me away! It has several scenes that they break down for you. It also has the different drafts that Frank went through to get single pages done.

Im sure that you think, "well, art books cost a ton!" But, this one only costs around [fairly decent priced]! Plus its worth every penny! Young Artists, Sin City fans,and anyone who likes good art should pick this up!

It wont disapoint you!

Hey! This is a picture book! If a woman had written it, it would have been filled with text. What's more, it's a POP-UP picture book.

As a woman I am annoyed when I read book after book carping about how men are "supposed" to be visual and women are "supposed" to verbal.I know for a fact that I am visual and no book or research on the planet is going to get me to change my mind. It leaves us visual women thinking "what planet am I from", "where is my place in this gender specific world we now live in" there is still not a planet for us,where indivduality is cherished and human beings are viewed as unique. When I read books such as Men Are Visual...bla bla..it makes me realize that there is an agenda to keep attitudes status quo and sexist,to keep men looking at women,and women swayed by words of romance and love,and to have us believe this is innate and normal,to have us trapped in narrow immovable boxes.

I personally believe that the author speaks from experiences...both personal and testimonial. That's what makes this book valuable and interesting to read. It is necessary to shed one's "holier than thou" mentality to be able to fully appreciate this entertaining text.

Most of the content is tailored for SAP R/3 Release 3 and it contains several descriptions and references to Release 2.2.

The massive use of SAP terminology will be very confusing for SAP newbies. The diagrams are very dry and don't offer much additional insights into the concepts described in the text.

For experienced SAP adminstrators the book is just too thin to be of any use. Better go for the 900+ pages SAP handbook.

The translation from the German original is quite mediocre. On several occasions you can see the original shine through. Most of the presented examples contain German names for tables, fields or variables. For readers without knowledge of the German language some of the examples could be quite hard to understand (I'm German myself so no problem here).

This a badly translated book, i.e. not written originally in English. The book does not have a focal point. It is only abstracts form the on-line help. Does not worth the money.

Bought it and returned it shortly thereafter. This book is very basic, has no depth where one typically needs it, and covers a limited range of topics. Not much better than the basic Help provided by the software. Most disappointing is the fact that the book is based on releases 3.0 and earlier. Not worth the money.

Somewhat disappointed, not a guide for the collector. Covers very little in terms of particular Swatches. Only lists a handful of Swatches from each category, not the exhaustive list the tittle leads you to believe. On the other hand, if you are obsessed with the most interesting watch ever produced, then you should have this book. Just don't expect to use it for looking up unknown Swatches. If anyone knows of a good book that lists all Swatches made please let me know mark.duncan@mindspring.com .

This book was good, I enjoyed it, but the only problem is that this book did not include EVERY Swatch model that was produced since 1982. It could have included some more information and pictures. But, the book also includes some extras! It also gives a breif history about the Swatch Phone, Sunglasses and other products that Swatch made in the late 80s and 90s

The book does however, give some useful information about Swatch and it's background. It shows a few models from the Gents/Ladies, Pop, Chrono, Scuba, Stop, Irony, Solar, Automatic, Access, Specials, Olympic Specials and Musical collection and gives a brief history of the collection and some models associated with the collection.

I enjoyed this book. It's pictures were very nice and of course colorful. Had a good introduction to the history of Swatch watches and also informitive for the beginner collector. Nice book overall.

i have my number.how about myself number?

Buy this book at your peril. The author of this book has, it would appear, done alot of research and he wants you to know it. The book is difficult and language laborious. This might be an ok read for advanced sociologist but for your average computing proffessional or student of computing its a waste of time.

An absolute must for anyone interested in the 'Information Society'. Webster tackles the fundamental questions other authors neatly sidestep; primarily, what is meant by the term 'Information Society', what foundation, if any, there is for the widespread acceptance of this 'new society' and an indepth look at alternative theories which stress continuity as opposed to revolution!

On the whole a well balanced, well written, thoughtful account of a very challenging concept.