This is an excellent text if you want to build plywood carcased cabinets with a biscuit jointer. The approach is for those with a few basic tools, like a table saw, and a biscuit jointer. Screws are used in the place of clamps in most instances. The book wrings the maximum out of these humble means, and the author's logic in coming up with the system he has, is very keen.

On the other hand, the results while neat enough are not up to current standards. Guidice maintains these methods are the backbone of his professional shop, a claim that is hard to credit either in terms of efficiency, or results. On occasion, throughout the book, methods of low efficiency are suggested, methods that leave a trail of ugly plugholes. Often these methods make sense, because they keep the system described in the book accesible to those with only the basic tools. In fairness, however, when compromises are being made that are not efficient or clean, that fact should be noted and explained

Guidice, a woodworker who has appeared several times on the cover of a national woodworking magazine, has produced here a book with barely a single piece of attractive furniture illustrated in it (and furniture is illustrated). A unique achievement. I am not being picky, nothing here would grace even the amateur gallery of a woodworking magazine.

Nonetheless, the methods described here could form the basis for a home cabinetmaker to make some nice boxes, quickly. That's a worthwhile, moneysaving subject that this book covers well.

This book is in some ways the flip side of Guidice's Seven Essentials. No dovetail saws here, but a solid approach to any panels of plywood you may have lying around

If you are new to woodworking or are just trying to learn easier methods of constructing cabinets, this book is for you.

The book starts out examining traditional methods of building cabinets and then goes on to show how the biscuit jointer can make that much easier. Then he walks you through building a full cabinet using the techniques he described earlier.

The only thing I didn't like was there are not enough measured drawings, but that is a very minor complaint.

A nice collection of articles, factoids, interviews with bandmembers, interesting quotes and opinions on R.E.M. from music biz insiders. It was a pleasure to read and very informative. Nice pictures. This book is a great start for those just learning about R.E.M., the folks who have fallen in love with their music and want to learn how these 4 guys from Athens could possibly be saying exactly what is in your head. This is also a good companion piece for the longterm R.E.M. fan, those who cannot live without their music, there are lots of interesting tidbits to savor. You WILL enjoy this book!

This book should be on the bookshelf of every R.E.M. fan. It is jam packed with all kinds of information about the band. I only wish that the book included glossy photo's of the band. I think that you should be forewarned that the book covers the band from the time period of 1982's "Chronic Town" to 1994's "Monster". Overall, if you are an R.E.M. fan buy the book you will not be disappointed!

Picking up some years after The Prisoner of Zenda leaves off, this one brings our hero back to Ruritania to set to rights a blunder which has arisen from the damage he inadvertently did the last time he sojourned in that mythical Balkan state. Then the dashing Englishman, and royal look-alike, Rudolf Rassyndyll, played the king to save a life and a kingdom.

But, in so doing, he also won the love of the king's future wife. Now a Queen, the lovely Flavia cannot forego one final good-bye to her beloved Rudolf but this, through the machinations of the nefarious Rupert of Hentzau, promises to be her downfall. To rescue the name and honor of the woman he loves, Rudolf Rassyndyll sneaks back to Ruritania with the help of the comrades of his earlier adventure.

But this tale, though full of intrigue and marvelously paced, suffers from the fact that the narrator this time (unlike what was seen in The Prisoner of Zenda) is not privy to all of the action and so must recount and reconstruct as he goes along. So there is an odd distance from the fun this time out and the dashing hero, Rudolf, is seen only from afar. He is, in fact, something of a shadow player here and only slightly more real to us than the almost ghostly villain, Rupert of Hentzau, after whom this book is named. This Rupert, himself, was the henchman of Black Michael, who drove the plot in "Zenda." Rupert fled at the end of that tale with Rudolf Rassyndyll and his colleague, Fritz Tarlenheim, in hot pursuit. Now the dashing and scheming Rupert returns to re-claim his property in Ruritania, which he means to do at the expense of the Queen who loves Rassyndyll. And so the plot is set in motion.

But Rassyndyll never comes fully to life this time around and the tale ends on a sad and tragic note. Rudolf is the noble hero par excellence, and no less noble are his many companions in the adventure. All are fine folk, torn by their sensitivities and loyalties. As a result there is something rather unreal about it all which detracts from the sense of satisfaction of the telling. But then it is a fairy tale of sorts, isn't it, one that is certainly well-paced and fun to read. Still, I wish Anthony Hope had fleshed his players out a bit more, especially the villains, as Rupert of Hentzau seems almost a non-entity this time out (he was so much more interesting in "Zenda") and Rudolf a mere shadow of what he was before. Tarlenheim, the narrator this go-round, seems rather more of a bumbler than a doer and Sapt far less capable than before. Flavia, herself, is certainly more foolish. In sum, while this was a fun read, I think they'd all have been better off if Hope had stopped after Rudolf rescued the king from Zenda.

Anthony Hope continues his gripping saga of the Prisoner of Zenda in this adventureous sequel. Rupert of Hentzau is well written and keeps the reader in constant suspense. Hope follows his traditional writing style of unexpected twists in the end. The book builds the reader up full of emotion and then concludes by purging the reader of all emotions. Rupert of Hentzau is full of deuls, escapes, conspiracies, and love. At the start one might be inclined to pause and stop reading, but as the book continues this is no longer an option. This is truly a worthy sequel and only makes you respect Rudolf Rassendel more for his quick wit, ability to overcome obstacles and continous love for Queen Flavia. Our hero ends the book the same manner that he finished Prisoner of Zenda, as a gentleman worthy to be a king.

Woo-hoo!

This book is a great combination of the bare bones military maneuverings, and the motivations behind them. As one of the key battles in Japanese history, every student of Japan's history would do themselves well to read this book.

This book offers a simplified explanation of the political motivations and battlefield tactics that led to the defeat of Ishida Mitsunari by the armies of Tokugawa Ieyasu. This is a fascinating account of one of the defining battles in Japanese history. If someone sees A.J.Bryant before I do, ask him about my armor... ;)

This book is very exiciting to read and you can hardly put it down once you have begun reading. I would recomend 'Serpent's Silver' for any avid reader

im not usually a book reader but when i got my hardback version of this story along with dragons gold and chimaeras copper, i could not put them down. recently i lost them all in a fire. i need to know if u have the books; orcs opal and mouvars magic, because they are from the same series.

Based on the bleak and disturbing movie starring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Gwyneth Paltrow, this is a very neat, economic thriller. It captures the sense of dread that permeates the movie and also, it gives some insight on the motivations of Somerset and Mills... but surprisingly, the motivations of John Doe (The murderer) come across as too easy and bland.

Still, as far as film novelizations go, this one is actually quite good and satisfying... and can be read without thinking of the film at all, which gives it a strenght of its own.

This book was a fun book to read. It really captivated me, the intricacy of the murders and the suspenful way in which they were written. Some people say the book is sadistic and wantonishly cruel, but I think it is well thought out and an excellent murder mystery to read for those not faint at heart.

This is the third play in a trilogy, the other two being lost. The play results in an end to the curse on the Oedipus family. However, it is different from the approach later used by Sophocles. Here, there is no redemption from within. The curse ends only when the family becomes extinct. The two sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polyneices, who were to share power in Thebes, have quarrelled. Eteocles seizes power and Polyneices goes to get help from Adrastus, King of Argos, and six other kings. Eteocles sends champions to fight the six kings at six of the gates of Thebes. The seventh gate is left to Eteocles. However, that is the gate to which his brother comes. Eteocles feels that he has no choice but to fight and further incur the wrath of the gods by shedding kindred blood. "When the gods send destruction there is no escape." Eteocles had an "out" of his predicament but he choses not to use it. One really sees the pains of conflict and war in this play.

This excellent edition of Seven Against Thebes is part of Oxford University Press' ongoing series Greek Tragedy in New Translations, the idea behind which is that these plays should be translated into English not just by Greek scholars, but also by poets, to preserve as much of the real communicative power and drama as possible.

This edition is ideal for reluctant students assigned to read Seven Against Thebes, and may even succeed in sparking their interest in the subject. The language is true to the play and stays vivid even through a few static moments.

As with all the plays in this series, the introduction provides information not only about how the translation was accomplished, but also about how the play would have been performed, and perceived, by the ancient Greeks, what's missing from the play (namely, the first two plays of a trilogy), and notes about how the play fits into the scheme of Greek tragedy.

Other plays in the series, such as Oedipus the King, are also highly recommended.

This review applies only to the Hecht/Bacon translation published by Oxford University Press in their Greek Tragedy in New Translations series, and not to the Dover Thrift edition.

This was a highly interesting book. The title,the Seven Sisters refers to the seven oil companies who dominate the world petroleum marker. This book gives a history of each of the seven sisters(such as Exxon and Shell). This book also tells of the shaping of the world of oil as we know it today. The Seven Sisters also tells of events that have occurred that have had bearing on the world of petroleum. All in all I found this to be a very in formative book that made for informative reading. You will not be dissapointed if you purchase it.

This book tracks the development of the major oil companies of the 20th century and their efforts to ensure adequate supplies, pacify oil producing governments, all the while turning a profit. The behind-the-scenes story of the turbulent oil business will fascinate anyone who lived through the oil crisis of the 1970's. Get ready for higher gas prices this summer!

In SHELL-SHOCK, Anthony Babington argues that the First World War marked a turning point in understanding and treating the psychiatric casualties of war. Prior to the twentieth century, psychiatric breakdown in battle was observed and noted under categories such as "nostalia" (general melancholy), "irritable heart" (stress reaction to physical and/or mental strain), and "windage" (symptoms of shock due to near misses from shell-fire), but the general "official" attitude of armies was that of skepticism to mental breakdown, viewing this as probable cowardice.

With the First World War, attitudes changed. From late 1914 onwards, Army doctors became increasingly sophisticated: they understood shell-shock as an independent type of casualty, one which was psychological in origin (that it was not strictly due to the commotional effects of shells exploding, but rather was a heterogeneous collection of different nervous disorder ranging from concussion to sheer funk). They developed methods of treatment to relieve hysterical conversion symptoms, and return men to the front. They understood that the main cause of shell-shock was mental stress due to persistent fear, and recommended pensions for men adversely affected. Unfortunately, official military policy was less sympathetic. In a war where the official British strategy was to wear down the Germans through attrition, General Haig and others tended to view mental breakdown as a failure in character, and continued to execute shell-shocked men for desertion and cowardice, even up to the end of the war. The statement of a medical officer called as a witness at an inquest is revealing: "I went to the trial determined to give him no help of any sort, for I detest his type . . . . I really hoped he would be shot, as indeed was anticipated by all of us." Medical officers who sent "too many" shell-shocked men to the rear were reprimanded, or even relieved of duty.

World War I was a watershed: in the wake of that war, Parliament outlawed execution for cowardice and desertion, and by World War II, psychiatric methods were accepted as standard by Western armies, in both screening recruits, and treating "shell-shocked" men at the front. Military leaders understood that solders could only endure from 140 to 180 days of combat before they broke down and became ineffective, and official manpower policies were adjusted to this reality.

Babington's book is lucid and well-written. It is mainly a survey of leading reports and medical figures, and does not purport to be a work of original research; it focuses primarily on the First World War, and its coverage of post-World War I wars is thin, presented to make the point that World War I had worked a revolution in official attitudes towards dealing with the mental casualties of war.

I found this book to be quite informative and useful in my quest to gather information for a research paper on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Although PTSD is a relatively new term, only about 15 years old, this book gives a good overview of symptoms suffered by WWI soldiers of what was called at that time War Neurosis. Various treatments, Dr.'s opinions, and the general attitude of military administrators were also discussed, as well as some personal stories.

Greer is a talented writer whose just touch the tip of his creative potential. He brings an element of realism out in the open when everyone else seems to hide by the politically correct 'thang' to say. I look forward to purchasing more of his writings.

Small Talk is the best short story collection I've read in a long while... My favorites are "Lost Dreams" and "Forbidden Territory". I especially love the dialogue. The descriptions put me right there with the characters that are all remarkably developed. I can't wait for your next book.