(It's nice having a name that fits the meter, as it enables you to write poems about yourself)

Any fans of light poetry e.g. limericks will love this book. The writers epitomize the uber-academic approach taken by so many literary elitists, which appeals to my own betimes elitist character. For those of you unfamiliar with the form, the rules go like this:

1. Eight lines of verse in two stanzas. 2. Lines 1-3 and 5-7 are double dactyls. 3. Lines 4 and 8 are single dactyls with an added beat, and rhyme. 4. Line 1 is nonsensical 5. Line 2 is a proper noun 6. Either line 6 or line 7 must be a single-word double dactyl (e.g. "anthropoligical") 7. (my favorite rule) No single word double dactyl may be used in another poem. Ever. By anyone.

Sound tough to pen? I've tried it many a time, and I think I've come up with two poems that reflect any merit. The challenge of the form is partly what makes a clever and well executed result so much fun.

Why only four stars? The authors seem to believe that rule number 7 makes the form finite (which is perhaps why the book is out of print), that the limited number of double dactyl words in the English language will be consumed and ultimately doom the form to oblivion. There's no rule that demands that ACTUAL words endorsed by the likes of Noah Webster be used, which rather threatens the ephemeral nature of the form. Some of my best work includes words of my own smithing like 'posttransubstantiate' and 'jiggliectomy' (the removal of breast implants).

If you ever find a copy, buy it....

Oh, by the way; I already used the above words in my own work. So ha.

No doubt pressed to "publish or perish," Hecht and Hollander not only invented their own poetic form, but then, in one slim volume introduced it, perfected it, and then exhausted it; all with the utmost respect for academic propriety. I first encountered it more years ago than I care to remember on the two-dollar shelf. It is a gem which should stand with the classics: The Elements of Style, King Lear, The Little Engine That Could.

The rules for the art form invented by these two neglected geniuses (well, English professors) are simple, but hellishly difficult to honor. Each verse starts with a nonsense double-dactyl (a double-dactyl sounds like something you might run across in Jurassic Park, and is just about as difficult to tame). The second line of the first verse must be a double-dactylic proper name, and the antepenultimate line must be a single double-dactylic word. With so few good double-dactylic words to go around, it's easy to see how the form was so quickly exhausted. (It's been at least sixteen years since I last read the book, but if memory serves, one additional rule is that each double-dactyl can be used but once, and then it must be retired from use in the form forever.)

Without the "cannon" in hand, it's impossible to fully report all the rules. Perhaps the best way to understand and to illustrate the form is simply to quote the masters:

Jiggery-Pokery
Anthony Hollander
Two bards in one
Worked their brains in a storm

Thinking up words for the
Antepenultimate
line of this
doubly difficult form.

Sixteen years on and THAT sticks with me still! If you should run across a copy of this inspired classic gathering dust on a back library shelf somewhere, first, do the right thing: offer to buy it. If that doesn't work, borrow it; but DON'T EVER RETURN IT!

If you are desperately seeking information about John of Gaunt, then this is one of the few sources for it. The book does have a lot of information, but it is incredibly boring to read. Not really surprising, since most of the info seems to have been gotten from account books and inventories. The majority of the book reads along the lines of "On December 6th, 1373, he was at Pontefract castle with his wife. He wore a red shirt with silver buttons. Two months later he was back at the Savoy, apparently without his wife. He wore green hose and a black tunic." (It should be noted that I just made up that passage, but by my truth, that is how it sounds.) If you have a deep interest in John of Gaunt, then I recommend this book for you.

John, Duke of Lancaster, was the son of Edward III, father of Edward IV, uncle of Richard II, and himself the pretender to the throne of Castile. He was also the richest and most powerful subject in England for most of his life -- and probably the most deeply and widely hated. He was certainly the principal target of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. A key player in the Hundred Years War, he was also on close terms with John Wycliffe and Geoffrey Chaucer. John's controversial career is thus at the very heart of English society and European politics during one of the nation's most turbulent periods, and this semi-scholarly and authoritative examination of the duke's mental processes, institutional goals, and dynastic ambitions is very useful to the understanding of England on the brink of a three-generation civil war.

Yu has done an excellent job in this translation. The book is heavily footnoted with Buddhist and Dao references. It's an older translation so it uses Wade-Giles instead of modern pinyin. It's also the least abridged. If you can't read the original Chinese this comes a close second.

This is a great story not just this volume, I really recommend these books to be read by anyone it has everything that a great -great story need.
Prepare yourself for a great journey...read the story.

This is a very good book for graduate-level courses. It is especially useful if the student took an elementary level Bayesian Statistics/Econometrics course. The organization of the chapters are different from most other books. Chapters contain between 40 and 60 "little sections," where a section can be one paragraph long. It is easy to understand what is fundamental and what is peripheral while reading the book.
However, it has a considerable number of errata. It is quite difficult to understand why the author have not prepared a list of errata and corrections. The errors are generally not conceptual, but usually mathematical typos. They also exist in some problems, which first make you think they are unsolvable. It can take some time to figure out where the error is. Moreover, errors also exist in some solutions inside chapters. The best thing the authour would do is to prepare a list of corrections on his website (this is done by many authors in the field such as Peter Lee).

I found this book to be my constant reference.
Like Tonny's narative style and the part on NIG Priors!
Contains valuable contributions by the author
hard to find elsewhere.

Highly recommended!

This was the first book I bought on this subject, and I found it invaluable as an introduction to early lantern manufacturers and lighting technology. The author clearly explains the different fuels available at different historical periods, and the technologies that utilized them. Contains many very clear reproductions from early catalogs organized by manufacturers in an easy to read reference format. Using the entries here, it is easy to locate the manufacturer, model, relative date of manufacture, and background on most commonly-encountered lanterns. The rarity guide is somewhat lacking in timeliness and should be updated, however. Despite that, I also recommend this author's Book Two as a useful addition and supplement to this book. Advanced collectors would likely be disappointed, but novices and experienced collectors will find this book interesting and informative.

Along with a brief history of American lanterns, Mr. Hobson offers information on the anatomy of lanterns including how they work, identification of parts, materials, finishes and markings. Seventeen different US manufactures and their lanterns are identified and illustrated with detailed specifications. Excellent advice for collectors in locating, identifying and pricing, as well as, repair, restoration and care of lanterns. From a well respected member of lamp and lantern researchers.

This book emphasizes the importance of developing learning organizations and then proceeds to outline a 3 step approach to actually doing so in your own organization. The chapters are very specific and lay out the process so just about anyone could analyze where their organization is to start (the first step), where they'd like to go and how to get there.

For knowledge officers, this book is a must read: it's easy to follow and clearly laid out with enough charts and examples to lead you through the process.

How to build the learning capability of an organization? Some researchers and consultants describe in details how learning organization should work. They advise to shape an organization according to their prescription. Approach presented by Dr. Anthony DiBella in his book is different. The first step in developing learning capability of a team or a company is to assess how it learns. After that we will be able to describe our "best possible" learning profile of the organization and start to make changes. This approach is rooted in OD theory and consulting practice. I would recommend this book becouse it is written for practitioners. DiBella presents very usuful tools to diagnose learning of a team, organization unit or even entire firm or institution. He also describes what to do when we have done our assessment. This book is of high value for people who would like to build or strengten the learning capabilities of an organization or a team.

This book is the second of a series of 4 books chronicling modern conflict.

Vol 1. The Arab Israeli Conflicts 1973-1989. Vol 2. The Iran-Iraq war. Vol 3. The Falklands and Afghanistan. Vol 4. The Gulf war.

These books provide an in depth analysis of the various forces engaged in the conflicts and the losses sustained by both sides. The authors have studied the weapons systems employed and the tactics used, and from these have drawn their conclusions on what was the route cause of success or failure in these modern military conflicts.

The authors conclusions are hardly mind shattering but they are sensible. Based on what happened and without an agenda.

Aside from errors concerning the Blowpipe missile (which manages to make an appearance in nearly all the wars) and its vulnerability to flares, (it isn't vulnerable at all) and the failure of this type of missile against crossing targets. (The operator's not the system itself) The books are quite accurate and thoroughly researched.

These series of books are a valuable tool for any student of modern conflict.

This is THE book to get for a nuts & bolts look at warfare. An exhaustive study of weaponry, tactics, leadership, systems effectiveness, and combined arm tactics. I highly recommended this book to any diehard milatary history student.

First of all, please consider that this review is from a scale modeller's point of view.

* What I liked from the book: Good presentation. Complete detail of the evolution of the plane, including variants and sub-variants. Lots of photos, including many rare variants. Good explanation of the engine and turbocharger. Some tales from the field. List of squadrons equipped with the a/c.

* What could be improved: Interior photos (there isn't even a single cockpit photo). More colour pictures. Colour profiles (the book does not include any). More technical explanation about the plane (it apparently has many kinds of flaps but they are mentioned cassually with no further explanation). More close-ups.

this book contains data from tony levier. makes mention of the 1,725 hp @ 3,200 rpm F-30 engines of the P-38L. also covers the plane from a-z lots of information for such a small book (120pgs)

Five years ago, I saw this book in a London bookshop and filed it away in my head as something to check out when I had more money. Last week, after carrying the title around in a notebook for years, I stumbled across a used copy in a local bookshop. I'll step right up and say that, yes, it was worth the effort and the wait. Frewin's debut (he was Stanley Kubrick's PA for many years), is a great, gritty period thriller set amidst early '60s London. The atmosphere oozes off the page in a story which follows a small-time part time pornographer who gets mixed up in the Profumo scandal.

A note of caution here-those not familiar with the Profumo scandal (which is likely to be almost any American reader) would be well advised to do a little reading about it prior to embarking on Frewin's book. The Guardian web site has a decent mini-history of the affair, or at the least, watch the 1989 film Scandal (starring John Hurt and a young Bridget Fonda). The whole sordid episode is presented in Frewin's book, but only through the eyes of the protagonist, and much of the context may be confusing without further grounding.

A further note of caution is order due to the book's structure. Some readers may find confusing or be put off by its framing technique. The book starts with a 40 page section in which a contemporary narrator discovers an old '60s short porn film appended (appropriately enough) to a video of Get Carter. His curiosity over the maker of the "blue" film leads an interview-like series of other people talking about "Tim." Then the bulk of the book slips back in time to follow country lad Tim, as he tries to make it in the big city and the unsavory people he gets mixed up in. The book then ends with a brief further contemporary section. Those who demand their thrillers end neatly, with all loose ends tied up will be especially frustrated by the outcome.

Frewin's prose is direct and lively, capturing the period slang and tone. To a large degree, the story is one about a "secret London" of greasy cafés, small time hoods, West Indian immigrants, wanna-be models, and cover-ups. It's a vibrantly seedy portrait of London's transition from the postwar '50s to the legendary "swinging" '60s. (If the time and place interests you, check out Colin MacInnes' London trilogy of City of Spades, Absolute Beginners, and Mr. Love and Justice) The thriller aspect is a rather perplexing, tied up as it is in Tim's pornographic work and the Profumo scandal, but moves the story along-always with a hint of conspiracy. Good stuff, and I'll definitely be adding Frewin's next two books, "Sixty-Three Closure" and "Scorpion Rising" to my list, although hopefully it won't take me five years to find and read them!

Tim Purdon, pioneering pornographer of London in the early 60's has gotten himself in a whole lot of trouble with forces neither he nor the reader understands. The story intersects with Stephen Ward, the Osteopath and procurer who was made the fall guy for the Profumo scandal that brought down the Tory government. Well written and literate, but bring a dictionary to convert British to American English. The story is as exciting as the pornography is boring. If you like well-defined, pat endings though, stay away. A good read.

This book brings forward many ideals of the relationship of the Holy Trinity in regards to creation and of man's relationship to the Holy Trinity.As well as the various meanings of light and its relevance to all that we know. I found this small, well put together book, intriguing and thought provoking. As I finished this book, I found I had many new questions and good answers to old ones. It was an excellent read as the author's others that I have read. I would suggest that any one with a curiousity in regards to the Christian religion, pick this book up.

The beauty cotained within this book is heartwarming and powerful, both at the same time. It brings an understanding of realities, answers questions which are only vaugely hinted at in most works on this subject, and instills a sense of recognition of truths which cannot be denied. The Dance which the author speaks of is one of hope, of beauty, of life abundant. I came away with a new method of contacting inner realities, and with a sense of clarity about many questions I have wondered about since I was old enough to form my own opinions about religion and philosophies. It is a fresh and touching look that is based in joy and love. I recommend it to anyone that is interested in delving into life and the wonder which is within life, for it makes one look at the world and its future in a new and more hopeful way.