Great book! Much information, but in a concise, easy-to-read and "user-friendly" format. There is no sensationalism either- no photos of circumcisions, horror stories or the like. Just plain facts on the how's and why's of circumcision. The authors are a pediatrician with 30 years experience, and a historian (Doctor of Philosophy from Oxford) with a special interest in 19th Century medicine. An excellent book for expecting parents, and those who just want to delve into the history of a practice which is often done without much forethought as to "why?". I would recommend it to anyone who is expecting a baby- even if they already have a boy.

If only more parents could find wonderful and very thorough information such as what is in this book! I think the circumcision rates would drop to almost non-existence! It is so shameful that the medical profession continues to encourage a procedure that is as inhumane and totally uneccessary to boot as this one! I wish we had found this info before the circumcision of our oldest son, he suffered complications and severe pain as a result of our uniformed choice. Thankfully we are now very informed and have left our 2 younger boys intact as God intended! Never had a problem and I really wish we could go back and changed the choice made with our first son. READ THIS BOOK!

All children -- boys and girls alike -- deserve to keep their genitalia the way nature intended. I have the utmost respect and praise for Dr. Fleiss and this book. He clearly outlines the history and hysteria behind this unnecessary, painful surgery, and details the numerous reasons to leave your sons whole, intact, and uncircumcised. We've all heard the "myths" of why circumcision should be performed; now it is time to hear the truth of why it shouldn't. If you only read one book while pregnant, this should be it.

I love this cookbook. The wine and food pairings are awesome, the recipes always are wonderful, the pictures are beautiful. I have yet to be disappointed by a recipe from this book. Yes, they take a little time and maybe more ingredients than some people prefer to use, but they are most definitely worth it.

I cook and my significant other collects wine. I found the recipes in this book to be tasty, relatively easy, and a good way to find out how to construct meals around specific wines. Or how to find the right wine for a meal. I particularly liked the explanations of what ingredients can create bridges with wine flavors. The author even gives spicy Indian and chili recipes which can work with the right wines. I hope the author is working on a second volume right now, and will offer some suggestions recipes for other wine varieties, particularly for red wines!

This book has changed the way I cook! I own over 80 cookbooks but this one is one of my most used. I am a grape illiterate. I don't care much for drinking wine but I love to cook with wine and I love to entertain for friends who like wine. This book saves me tons of research. Not only does it feature great recipes to go with each type of wine but it also gives you foods to match with the wine in case you want to cook from another cookbook. So now I know that if I want to serve or cook seafood with wine a dry Pinot Gris would probably go great. It also tells you a bridge item (side dish) that helps to bridge the wine with the food. My only complaint is that the book isnt larger. The author should definitely come up with a part 2 to go over all the types of wines he did not cover in this book. Excellent basic reference book.
Despite what the author below says about the recipes being too complex...the information this book provides in such a concise, organized manner is too valuable to pass up. The ingredients in the recipes are easy to find but most of the recipes do have a lot of ingredients. I just try to serve them on a day when I have nothing better to do. The recipes are not difficult but they do involve a lot of steps. The salmon/crab cakes with remoulade sauce recipe is worth the price of the book alone!
If this is the only cookbook you will own..then no... I would not buy it...but if you are looking for a great resource on how to cook and pair wine (which is what the title implies) then this is an excellent book to add to your cookbook collection and the information it provides will stay with you long after you finish it! Recipes or not...I would buy it for the reference material.

I am an MS Access developer for an architectural firm in Washington DC. In evaluating the MS Access cookbook, I will first offer what I liked about it and then what I didn't like. First, I liked HOW it was written. Other reviewers have commented on the ease of understanding acquired from such a complex topic, viz, one of computer programming and the Problem-Solution-Discussion framework approach in which the book was written and I agree. The book is written in a fashion that makes it very easy to grasp MS Access programming concepts. I also thought there was a diversity of topics covered which will (or should) stimulate the reader into tapping into his/her own creative potential when using Access. What I did NOT like about the book was that I thought it lacked overall practicality. While some of the topics discussed were practical answers to real programming issues in MS Access, I thought that most of the book was impractical for typical business operations. Perhaps another chapter could be added to the book that offered MORE practical solutions for small business. Would I have purchased the book had I known what I now know about it? Yes I would and that strongly suggests the book is worth purchasing. I believe that all books are the same relative to knowledge - no one book has all the answers. You read a variety of books and pull the bits and pieces that you like from each one to create an intrapersonal, collaborative framework of knowledge and wisdom. The MS Access cookbook is just that. A book from which you pull a few practical bits of programmming to add to your own repository of knowledge.

O'Reilly has a series entitled "The Missing Manual" of books. This could rightfully be the "Missing Supplemental Guide" for Access, for this book opens up a lot of the lesser known tricks that are not covered in the standard text but are part of the problems database managers face all the time. Getz, et al take us beyond instruction into actual working code, and explains the idea behind it. The examples are practical - I've put a number of them to work in daily business already. And with the accompanying CD, you can see these functions in action through live database examples. The help in the book is not overly technical so only an Access Guru can follow and replicate it. It's written for people who work with Access and are comfortable with it but want to take things to the next level. The book is organized into thematic chapters so you can delve into what you want or need to know and get the full range. My copy is covered with post-it flags for different examples I want to refer to again and again. It is not often that a book can fill the void in instruction, but Getz and the Access Cookbook had done just that. User friendly, practical, and understandable make this book a permanent resident on the shelf only an arms length away.

This book rates at the very top of my lenghty list, as the finest Microsoft Access book on the market!

The information is well written and easy to understand yet not over-simplified to the point of losing usefulness.

I am a year and a half into developing an ACCESS Multi-user Database for Flight Simulations and Management. Access Cookbook was put to use the first day. I implemented the "Mail Program" from chapter 10 and everyone loves it. I also found some solutions that had been very elusive. I can now monitor who is currently logged into my database and then use the "Mail Program" to send them messages in real time.

I can NOT say enough good things about this book - if you use Access, you NEED this book! My hats off to the authors!

Sincerely,
William A. Dobisky

The story of television known to most people is a lie. An example of corporate greed kept down the inventor of electronic TV and stifled the potential of one of the greatest minds of the 20th century. Philo Farnsworth is one amazing man and this book fills us with the excitement of his life and discoveries. Whether it was author Paul Schatzkin style or Philo's adventures, I was drawn to keep reading this book long after I should have been asleep.
The triumphs are all marked as well as the tribulations as Philo struggled against the odds as a "lone inventor". You get a sense of how advanced he was in his thinking and how his love of Pem brought him back on track after his disappointments. Philo's life is an inspiration and I feel that Paul Schatzkin captured it well in this book. I fully recommend it to anyone interested in human nature.

Paul Schatzkin may have spent longer researching the subject of this fine new biography of Philo T. Farnsworth than any other single writer. He has spent years of intensive research, finessing all the data and finally producing one of the more entertaining yet fully factual stories of a relatively uncelebrated man. Philo Farnsworth very quietly invented Television, and while much intrique and quasi-scandal surrounds the facts of this 20th century giant, Farnsworth is finally gaining the recognition he deserves for his miraculous invention. The author allows the story of his hero to unfold simply and without brouhaha, introducing this strange young inventor in a way that fully suits his life style. There is much to be learned here about the very physics and technical aspects of the miracle of television - how the idea was born, tested, then all but stolen. We come away from this fine book with a sense of the underdog genius who represents the finest aspect of 'The American Dream' and Schatzkin aptly subtitles his book 'A Story of Inspiration, Persistence, and Quiet Passion.' That about says it all. A must read for curious minds who thought they could never understand how television works.

Paul Schatzkin has done a wonderful and thorough job of tracing the path taken by the American genius, Philo T. Farnsworth, in producing the first usable, all electronic television transmission and public demonstration...P>The details of this final, virutally unknown, saga are almost as sad as that of his television effort.

A superb book that covers the full breadth of Farnsworth's life, not just his television effort. Well worth the thrifty price and a joy to read.

Richard Hull

At 2:00 A.M. the great Titanic lay wounded in the middle of the ocean with two lifeboats remaining in the davits. In twenty minutes there would be nothing left between the 1,600 people on board and the icy waters of the Atlantic. The brand new liner - the largest and most luxurious in the world - would sink. Titanic at Two describes the suspenseful minutes leading to the final dramatic plunge of the ship with fifteen color illustrations and numerous black and white photographs. Survivor accounts throughout the book will put you up front and close to the final events of a tragedy which has become a legend. Titanic at Two A.M. ... Hurry, there isn't much time.

I have read about 10 books so far on the Titanic and this is one of the best. I originally bought the book for its artwork (Titanic - An Illustrated History is a good one for that as well) but I was surprised to find out that the text was outstanding. Quinn creates an immediacy and a "you are there" feel that makes it a real page turner. Although the book is only about 120+ pages, the author does a good job of focusing on his task: telling the gripping story of the last 20 minutes of the life of the liner. Fully half of the book is devoted to the loading and launching of the four collapsible boats, one of the most exciting and controvertial aspects of the entire sinking. Many of the great players appear in this book including Lightoller, Gracie, Thayer, Beesley, Murdoch and Bride. One of my favorite chapters concerns the sinking of the ship between 2:15 and 2:20 A.M. This chapter is roughly 25 pages long and gives a good idea of what it would have been like to have been on a ship with no remaining lifeboats and quickly tilting on end.

Although I had read much of the information in this book in other places, Quinn put it all together in a way that added new insight into the sinking. Quinn's side discussions on the Californian were also interesting. The only flaw with the book is its heavy price. If you want a more comprehensive account of the sinking, get Titanic - an Illustrated History, Walter Lord's books, or survivor accounts (Archibald Gracies' book for instance or the Titanic Disaster Hearing Transcripts). If, though, you want a good account of those final exciting minutes on the liner and can afford the book, you can't go wrong with this purchase.

I wondered across this book in the search and got it. The illustrations and the story are great. I recommend it to everyone. It is one of my favorite Titanic books. The paintings are so great!

THE BOOK ON ALANIS BY PAUL CANTIN IS DEFINATELY ONE TO CHECK OUT. IT HAS MANY TIDBITS THAT ARE NOT KNOWN ABOUT ALANIS. I FOUND THIS A GOOD BOOK EVEN THOUGH, IT DOES GO OVER SOME STUFF THAT HARD CORE ALANIS FANS ALREADY KNOW. PLEASE BEAR WITH THAT BECAUSE OVER ALL IT IS A VERY GOOD REVIEW OF HER LIFE THUS FAR.

This is the best Alanis bio around. This book deserves so much more than just five stars! I have three different books about her and this one is the best. While the pics may be a little lacking the content is unbeatable. Anytime I need to look back on something in Alanis' life I use this as my sort of encyclopedia of her life. Paul has written numerous newspaper articles about Alanis, so we know what he says is the truth. If you want to know about Alanis' life, don't touch "Ironic", or "Death of Cinderella", get this one instead!

All I have to say about this book is this: if you want an interesting, informative book about the life of Alanis Morissette, one that is accurate and obviously researched, then you have to find a book written by Paul Cantin. He is the only person truly qualified to be Alanis Morissette's biographer, and he has proven it. I mean this. Do not buy a biography of Alanis Morissette that wasn't written by Paul Cantin. At the very least, if Cantin didn't write the book, he has to approve of it.

When I got it I couldn't put it down. It tells everything from when they were chlidren to adults. This book is acurate too because it was written by their older brother. It's a bit sad but over all very happy. When they make it and things turn around for them. I would recomend this book to any Oasis fan. It is extememly interesting to read. If you have any questions about this book please email me. I'll write back to you right away.

This is the best oasis book i've read by a mile. I'm a fan, so i've read a few, but this is easily the most interesting. Noel, especially, gets a right hard time from his father. Lot's of kids who grew up in council estates can relate to this and other stories. It's good to see a couple of normal geezers doing well for themselves.

This book was very good. What better source to tell the story of Oasis than the older brother of the two main figures in the book. Even if your not an Oasis fan, you will enjoy this book. It's a good read.

I couldn't stop reading once I started this gem, and of the many Beatles books, I'd rate this as one of the best. For pure literary artistry, it ranks high: the descriptions are vivid and bring you completely into that fateful day (one moment stands out in which the Quarrymen go on their second, evening, show and a minute into the set, a rare Liverpool lightning storm sweeps through the town, knocking out the power, leaving John and his bandmates in darkness for a moment...
the proverbial, but in this instance real, "lightning flash" of greater things to come?!)
Definitely recommended to any Beatles fan.

Jim O'Donnell is a very gifted writer. His descriptions of the past are like painted murals in our imagination. The images he creates with his words take us back in time when John Lennon and Paul McCartney were teenagers, in Liverpool, England, and the world was just learning how to rock around the clock. I couldn't put this book down. Besides his great writing ability, it is very obvious that Mr. O'Donnell has done his research well. This book will NOT insult the intelligence of any Beatles' fan. It will make the reader understand a little more of the genius behind the remarkable songwriting team of Lennon and McCartney. Their strong differences of personalities brought John and Paul together... and yet, drew them closer. The author, I feel, has done the job well.

How did such a normal day lead to such a phenomenen? Was it destiny? Did John Lennon and Paul McCartney have any idea as teenagers as to what lay ahead of them? These are questions that can never be answered, but eight years of painstaking research and a little artistic license has produced a book which plants many a romantic thought in the mind about how the Beatles started. "The Day John Met Paul" is a book about the 6th of July 1957, focusing primarily on events in Woolton, a leafy suburb of Liverpool, where a local village fete leads to the first meeting of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, later to become the driving forces behind the band that became the Beatles. Author JimO'Donnell describes these events as a present-tense review of the day, and it is this approach as well as the remarkable factual detail which makes his book unique and compelling. His introduction to the book is mesmerising in itself, as he explains how his research sought to capture the atmosphere of that place at that time. He also describes world events which were happening simultaneously, taking into account time differences, meaning that these events were literally happening at the precise moments. This gives emphasis on the physical normality of what happened that day but as it is written now, it is an experience to read the book while obviously knowing what happened subsequently. This is where O'Donnell engrosses the reader, forcing us to imagine the scenes taking place, and the book, although really an acquired taste, actually works on a historical level as well. For those who never saw 1957, images are conjured of life at that time on a Saturday in the middle of summer. What O'Donnell also acheives is as mentioned the romanticism of the Beatles story and myth and the idea that the real reason for their success and incredible longevity as a part of people's lives was the personal relationships between them and the higher spiritual plane that they seemed to stumble on together. As Paul watches John play at the fete, and later vice versa, there is a "meeting of minds" and a sharp vision. Whether the true story was anything like this is always open to speculation, but the telling phrases used by O'Donnell in his book lead us to believe that was a union so important that it must have been written in the stars. O'Donnell starts off from the early hours of the morning as the teenagers and most of Liverpool sleeps, and he describes the surrounding scene before the main protagonists have had a chance to contribute to events of the day. We see the build-up to the event which, while not big in itself, began something special, and as the event unfolds, his vivid imagination is given full rein as he describes what might have been going through their minds, and how they were spurred on not just by the sound of the music but what it really meant to them on a personal level, creating the collective vision that would eventually be shared with the world. This is of course primarily a book for Beatlemaniacs and positively demands multiple readings and musings.

In the computer trade journals that I read, a common topic over the last year or so has been the progress (often lack) of Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). The common phrase always seems to be "poised to take off." However, despite the problems with bandwidth, valuable applications and security it does appear that it is the next area of rapid expansion of the Internet. The English speaking North American market is leveling off in the advent of new web users and while the market for the rest of the world continues to expand, it seems likely that will do so at a slow rate for the near future. Therefore, it is a good idea to learn at least the basics of what WAP can and cannot do.
When I received a request from a corporate client to offer a short course in Wireless Markup Language (WML), I looked around for a book with an adequate coverage of the basics of WAP. I chose this book because it was filled with basic examples that demonstrated the fundamental topics and moved on to some more advanced topics that were reasonable uses for WAP. This was of course necessary, as some of the hyped potential uses for WAP are pie in the airwaves. I cannot conceive of any circumstances where a large number of people are going to want their cell phones to constantly broadcast their geophysical position so that they can receive coupons from merchants in the area.
In working through the projects in preparation for the courses, my reaction was one of the best possible. My thinking through the exercises led to additional thoughts and ideas for teaching projects for the course. This is a solid introductory book in the basics of WAP, WML and WMLScript and I recommended it to the students.

This book from Ben Forta is a real guide for beginners as well as a reference book for advanced users. I bought this book and Professional WAP from wrox both of them helped me to come out in flying colours in my bachelor degree thesis.

I am not a big fan of programming books in general, as I prefer to learn by doing. But I really liked this book because it gave me the foundation to go off and experiment with stuff on my own. Now I really understand what WAP is and what it can do, and think that this book "speeded up" my learning curve. Rather than spending a few days figuring out the basics, it only took a few hours for me a couple of hours playing before I had created a WAP interface to my personal web site. It's great for beginners, but also had some very useful advanced sections on Security, Push Notifications, and appendices on writing WML in CF, ASP, JSP, Perl, & PHP.

"Chef Paul's San Francisco Cioppino recipe is reason enough to buy this book" is what I wrote in November, 1998, as ABDissert.
Seasoned America was my first Chef Paul book, and my copy is simply worn out. "Last Thanksgiving (I said in 1998), I made San Francisco Cioppino as an appetizer for a dozen guests. The turkey sat unnoticed and unwanted as I scambled for ingredients to "stretch" the Cioppino. All of last year's attendees are returning this year." Actually, they have come back for the Cioppino every year since.
Seasoned America was a three year project for Chef Paul, but it is a three-tiered tutorial for us. As our director, mentor, and innovator, Chef Paul introduces us to caramelizing finely diced vegetables as the foundation of his recipe architecture. Later in the cooking, larger cut vegetables are combined with meats or seafood (or both) to complete the dinner dishes. I am a devotee of spicey foods and find the obligatory spices in his usually remarkable combinations make each recipe a distinctive statement.
In 1998, I wrote about some of my favorites then, but I've discovered more. With fat free cream cheese in place of (some of) the heavy cream, the West Coast Chicken (named for Luisa) Tetrazzini is a heart healthy, filling, and most satisfying dish. Texas Red Chili is a regular export from my kitchen. Chef Paul's Beef and Oyster Jambalaya, his Guacamole recipe, Texas Shrimp and Rice, and the Pasta Primavera make restaurant versions pale and poor.
(From my 1998 remarks), Chef Paul fairly insists that the reader experiment, alter amounts, make substitutions. His ingredients (two cups of brewed black coffee in his "Cowboy Stew") might frighten the fainthearted, his "fried green tomatoes" are heart cloggers, and his reliance on heavy cream invites substitution. Yet, because of the overall upgrading of old favorites by spice and technique, nearly every recipe can be retrofitted to accomplish two paradoxical goals - heart health and marvelous taste. When the tomato harvest reached its peak recently, Chef Paul's instruction to take the time to blanche, peel, and seed a peck of plum tomatoes for Cream of Tomato Soup kept me standing between pots of boiling water and ice water longer than I liked. The result, with skim milk added instead of cream, was more than worth every minute on my feet. This was my first of several Chef Paul books. It should be yours.

Seasoned America was my first Chef Paul book. A three year project for him, it is a three tiered tutorial for us. As director, mentor, and innovator to the reader, Chef Paul introduces us to caramelizing finely diced vegetables as the foundation of his recipe architecture. Larger cut vegetables combine with meats or seafood (or both) to complete the dinner dishes. The obligatory spices in his usually remarkable combinations make each recipe a distinctive statement. But there's more. Chef Paul fairly insists that the reader experiment, alter amounts, make substitutions. His ingredients (two cups of brewed black coffee in his "Cowboy Stew")might frighten the fainthearted, his "fried green tomatoes" are heart cloggers, and his reliance on heavy cream invites substitution. Yet, because of the overall upgrading of old favorites by spice and technique, nearly every recipe can be retrofitted to accomplish two paradoxical goals - heart health and marvelous taste. Last Thanksgiving, I made San Francisco Cioppino as an appetizer for a dozen guests. The turkey sat unnoticed and unwanted as I scambled for ingredients to "stretch" the Cioppino. All of last year's attendees are returning this year. When the tomato harvest reached its peak recently, Chef Paul's instruction to take the time to blanche, peel, and seed a peck of plum tomatoes for Cream of Tomato Soup kept me standing between pots of boiling water and ice water longer than I liked. The result, with skim milk added instead of cream, was more than worth every minute on my feet. This was my first of several Chef Paul books. It should be yours.

Chef Paul Prudomme's Seasoned America is my second favorite cookbook. (The first is Erma S. Rombauer's Joy of Cooking, which I use for basic cooking procedures and recipes.) There are three things you need to know about Seasoned America:

The first is that it is a veritable bible of seasonings. Don't think that this cookbook is a gimmick to get you to buy Prudhomme's prepared seasoning mixes. It's not; he doesn't use them in his recipes here. But you are going to learn more than most of you can even imagine about the creative and extensive uses of seasonings. Don't get the idea you're going to need a cupboard full of all the different seasonings at the market. You will find that they are usually the basic ones any well-stocked kitchen should have: white and black pepper, onion and garlic powders, paprika, oregano, basil, etc. I used to buy one or two ounce bottles of seasonings at the store for $3 or $4, but now buy them in five to six ounce bottles at membership stores for about the same price. Use his lists as a guide, but don't follow them slavishly. Substitute, leave out the ones you don't like or don't have. I love basil and use it almost every time, sometimes as an addition, sometimes as a substitute for tarragon or something else I don't have. If you are using a recipe from another cookbook that doesn't use much in the way of spices, find as similar a recipe in Prudhomme as you can and use some of his seasonings in your cooking.

Second, as far as I am concerned, Chef Paul is often more complicated than he needs to be. Here's an example: "Stir in the tomatoes and the remaining 2 teaspoons of garlic and cook 2 minutes. Add the remaining 1/2 cup beef stock and cook 3 minutes. Add the butter and cook 3 minutes. . ." and so on. I just add all those ingredients at once and cook them for several minutes. Gourmet cooks may want to follow the instructions precisely, but we average cooks can just as well keep it simple. Another example is his use of several kinds of chili peppers in a recipe. He will have a note that you can use whatever ground chili peppers are available in your area, but "not commercial chili powder." I disregard that and use the commercial stuff. I have better things to do with life than track down and stock multiple varieties of chili peppers, but do your own thing.

Third, use the strong spices sparingly. I have used just a fraction of some of the hot peppers he calls for in his recipes and the results were still too hot. Start out with only a small amount and work up from there in future preparations. Don't get the idea all these recipes use hot spices, only some of them do, and they are some of my favorites.

Do yourself a favor and buy this wonderful cookbook, which will introduce you to new variations on many familiar dishes and others that are not-so-familiar. You'll be amazed at how much difference the use of seasonings can make.