An excellent reference guide, but NOT comprehensive. The pictures are beautiful, detailed, in colour and comes in plenty - this is necessary for the serious collector. Their grading system (both concerning rarity and different variations) is usefull but NOT comprehensive. If you have travelled in Eastern Europe as a collector, you know much more about rarity and variations than they do. Furthermore, their variation-system is only really usefull if your counterpart has read the book. Say, does The Order of the Red Banner Variation 3, Type 2 means anything to you? Their rarity-system may be helpfull as a guideline - not as a fact. I'm not saying their information is incorrect, it's just that there is a difference between living in Europe and in the US. It's probably a matter of distance and therefore price and rarity. What is really good about this book is the information about the fakes. It's very usefull (and unfortunately VERY brief) but of course outdated the moment you get it. But again, use it as a guide - don't trust everything you read. Remember that your common sense is your most important tool. Conclusion: You will not find a lot of books on this subject in english so I recommend you buy it, while it's still in stock. At present it's the best buy on the market. If you consider buying it, remember to check their Newsletter with the latest updates (and it's allways about 2-3 months delayed) at Historicalresearch.com

The Comprehensive Guide to Soviet Orders and Medals is the bestbook on the market so far, and if you are a collector in this field, I strongly recommend you buy it. It's good - very good actually - but it's not comprehensive. McDaniel and Schmitt try to list all known different types and variations, and this is of course, almost impossible. But it's a start. And it's needed. Furthermore they illustrate their descriptions with very detailed pictures - that's excellent! The only problem with this kind of book is lack of information, but I'm sure they are working on it. Especially their information on fakes needs an update. In all case this is a book to buy...

Being a relative newcomer to collecting Soviet Militaria, but collecting German Militaria for years, I found the book to be the best all around book on medals that I have ever read. This book details in very clear color photographs the intricacies of the medals of the Soviet Union. I would recommend this book strongly for anyone who is interested in Soviet Militaria or even Militaria in general as it is an excellent resource book.

I remember reading the book "Gehenna" in the eighth grade. Lord knows that I was over 10 years ago now. Myself and a friend decided to start exchanging our books. My imagination was engulfed with the different levels of hell. Even after only having the book long enough to read it once, I still have images etched into my mind. I rarely give such high reviews to books, but after reading this one and still remembering it, I must say that it touched my life in some way. I would encourage anyone who has a fascination for Dantes "Divine Comedy" with a modern twist to pick up a copy of Gehenna and read it. I promise that you will forever be changed by its words.

Great book. A modern day version of Dante's Inferno. Immediately catches your attention. Attacks modern day issues and presents logical arguments from both sides - world view and Christian view.

You will quickly find yourself in the pages and you can't help but wonder if you'd pass every level of hell yourself.

I've read this book three times and each time I pick up more insight into human nature and justification.

You'll think about this book often.

Great book. A modeern day version of Dante's Inferno. Immediately catches your attention. Attacks modern day issues and presents logical arguments from both sides (world view and Christian view).

You will quickly find yourself in the pages and you can't help but wonder if you'd pass every level of hell yourself.

I've read this book three times and each time I pick up more insight into human nature and justification.

You'll think about this book often.

I am a big James Bond fan and when I found out there was an actual book on how to live his lifestyle, I bought it. I would have to say that this book is an excellent book. All the principles in it are sound and very practical. This book will supercharge your lifestyle to the 007 degree and beyond. I highly recommend Paul's complete program.

I have both the book AND a tape. That is how good this information is!
Paul Kyriazi has taken the idea of living every man's dream and shown how to do it. Starting today!
Just by flipping through the book and taking one idea, you will dramatically improve your current lifestyle.
And you will find yourself taking it all inside as you now become even more interested in living the James Bond lifestyle.
Also check out the Clearing the Subconscious tape. This is a perfect item to accompany the seminar and will even help you start right away to live the lifestyle that you now reach for.

Having long been a fan of the James Bond movies, I was intrigued by the title of this book. After reading it I was impressed by the sage advice and insight the author provides. Kyriazi isn't saying you should pretend to be a super spy. Instead, he aptly points out the ways in which you can adopt the characteristics that make up a super confident well put together Man. In an unfortunate age of young men being raised by well meaning single moms, we need as a society, role models for men to follow. Kyriazi points us in the right direction, demonstrating that a man needs to be poised, confident, suave, courageous and on the right side of the law. I learned a lot from this book. Bravo!

My father is much older than Paul when he suffered his stroke in December of 2000. My father's stroke was very severe and has left him totally paralyzed on his right side and unable to speak or effectively communicate in any manner, which is the same side and conditions that Paul suffered. This book gave me hope that some day my 78-yr. old father may be able to communicate on some level. All speech therapy has been stopped for my father, but after reading this book and seeing what 8 years of therapy has done for Paul, my family is looking into our options once again. I can think of nearly nothing worse than being able to understand most of what is being said around you and not being able to communicate back. People with aphasia are essentially trapped within their own body. Thanks, Paul for having the courage to move forward with your life and to tell your story. It truly gave me hope!!

I admit, I am also from Philly, and nobody messes with us. Paul wouldn't accept any diagnosis other than a life that was interesting and fulfilling. It's remarkable how he struggled to get back his body. It's a funny uplifting book that should give inspiration to other head trauma victims. (And a nice reminder to the rest of us.) Paul and Stephanie have written about regaining a lifestyle they enjoyed in spite of new disablities. I found it fascinating that Paul came back with more of a sense of humor and a more outgoing personality. Imagine a man with aphasia starting conversations with his fellow commuters! What pluck. It's a readable book, for anyone, not just stroke victims.

For 8 years I led a support group for people with stroke and other brain injuries. This honest, funny, gutsy account of one man's struggle to regain his life after a devastating stroke shows what can be done, and what it takes to do it.

What struck me most in this inspiring story was Paul's ability to keep on trying despite innumerable setbacks. I felt empowered by his wife's tireless advocacy, creative solutions, and search for resources. As a member of a family that struggles with chronic illness, I enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone seeking to change a life.

This lovely little book discusses the many aspects of elegant entertaining -- from perfect table setting, to eye-catching flower arrangements. Burrell's passages on entertaining and party planning are peppered with touching stories about his employment as former butler to Diana, Princess of Wales.

Burrell demonstrates his knowledge and class on each beautifully photographed page. No wonder he was held in such high regard by the royals!

A Few Notes:
- I would not call this an "Etiquette" book, as it deals much more with proper table setting and party planning. As such, I think it would be better labeled as an "Entertaining" book.

- The range of party/theme ideas is impressive. Some of Burrell's examples include a sit-down dinner, afternoon tea, and childrens' party.

- For those interested in the life of Princess Diana, this gives you a tasteful and telling behind-the-scenes look. Frankly, some of Burrell's Diana anecdotes were some of the best parts of the book...

Enjoy!

I have to say that at the beginning I didn't want to get the book but now I think that is one of the best books about etiquette I've ever bought, and I have lots of them.
The recipes are incredible and very easy to prepare.
The elegance and the exquisite taste is really unique, and the flower's centrepieces awesome, is something that anybody can do without a professional training.
I think is a MUST TO HAVE BOOK.

I love this book! The most fascinating facet about it involves a concept that many people forget : entertaining is just as important as your personal etiquette. While the book mainly focuses on your role as a host/hostess, it also includes some helpful tips on protocol. Paul Burrell is brilliant, not too posch in his approach to explaining the ways of how things should be done. The English Royal family has been setting the standard for years on social etiquette, and this book makes it possible for others to continue the legacy. The book also includes unique recipes and decorating ideas.

I have been a Kiss fan since I was a boy in the mid 1970s and what a trip down memory lane this book was. It was pretty cool to see all these pictures from the early years and hear the stories behind them. I have to admit that I was fascinated to see it all for the first time. But would I still buy a new Kiss album...probably not. It was just a little nostalgia. I recommend this one...but the better brand new rock book I've read is "LAYNE STALEY: Angry Chair" about the Alice In Chains singer who died from a little too much isolation for five years and a lot of heroin and depression.

This is a great collection of photos - even better than Barry Levine's "The Kiss Years" book. That book merely showcased outtakes from famous Kiss sessions from the 70's. This book feels a little more like a peek into the band's history, crammed full of photos I'd never seen before.

Most of the photos are from the band's earliest years, before they broke into the mainstream. You get to see a lot of backstage and pre-concert stuff, like the band applying makeup and suiting up for a performance. These days, we see Kiss and it's just "seeing Kiss" again, but looking at the pictures from around 1974 of the band strolling around the streets of New York City, you are reminded of how shocking they were in full regalia back then. And that's what made them great. The early tour footage and the Cadillac High School footage are impressive as well.

The big treat for me were the pages of photos from the "Elder" era. This was, for me, one of the band's most visually interesting periods, though because the band treats the period with such disfavor, not many photos seem to exist. Here, finally, are a number of great photos of the band in their most streamlined look - including rare performance footage, a video shoot for "World Without Heroes," and some of the Studio 54 footage.

I give it four stars instead of five for two reasons. One, through no fault of the photographer - whose work is absolutely excellent - there are no samples of the band's "Dynasty" era, their MOST visually stunning. I'm still anxiously waiting for a full book with this kind of quality, but with some Dynasty photos. The other slight drawback is that the photo selections seem to favor - what a shock - Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. I would've liked to have seen a little more of Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.

That said, this is the best book of Kiss photos that's ever been published. Get it now.

If you love KISS, you'll love this book. Has many pictures that even the hardcores, like myself, have never seen. Alot of stuff from when the band first started out. When they had little money and were struggling to be the topps in NY. Many photos show the true integrity of the band.

Nice update on diabetes, especially compared to older books on the market. I was recently diagnosed as Type 2 and this was part of a voracious education campaign. Author presents a nine point process to take charge. It worked for me, but then diet and exercise are the core of any successful diabetes management program. Main point in this book is the addition of HCA/chromium as a dietary supplement. Does it work? Don't know for sure, but my glucose went from 250 to 125 in two weeks, although I'm still on Glucophage. His case studies are positive. Main thing I got out of the book was: "The cure is better than the disease."

As a long-time patient of Dr. Vern Cherewatenko, I can honestly say that the nine steps that he lists in this book are right on the money. I am at risk for Type II diabetes due to family history. Dr. Vern, his associate Dr. MacDonald, and I have been working to ensure that I do not end up with diabetes. The HCA mentioned is something that I highly recommend for anyone, diabetic or not. It has been instrumental in my 15 pound weight loss (in 12 months). Keep up the good work, Dr. Vern.

I am a person with Type II diabetes that had been able to treate the disease with diet. My blood sugars were starting to get out of the acceptable range when I got this book. I followed the recomendations listed in the book and my blood sugars are all back to normal now. I have also lost weight with the system. All I can say is that it works for me. I have never felt better in years.This may be the best book for people with Yype II diabetes.

I'm working on a web services project using Java and purchased this book. There wasn't any coverage on web services. I supplimented this title with Java, The Complete Reference that covers web servers. Otherwise, this book is OK

The book is written with a good outline on each subject, however, it does not follow-up the same for each subject. For example, the section on JavaMail is good with multiple examples (except for a serious error in one of those examples). While they somewhat duplicate the examples in that chapter with a few variations, another chapter in the book will have much less supporting information. What I would criticize most about this book is the level of information written on each subject differs between chapters and within chapters. There is no real consistency of detail or emphasis. I also would expect a revision in the near future because of a few errors in the book (mostly typos). In defense of the book, I must say that about 75% of all programming books seem to do the same thing... that is being inconsistent with their level of information.

"J2EE Unleashed" covers the major aspects of the Java 2 Enterprise Edition. The three main pieces (servlets, JSPs, and EJBs) are each well covered with good examples. JNDI, JDBC, JavaMail and JMS are each given a chapter and XML is also covered. The strength of the book, though, is its coverage of designing J2EE architectures. For example, servlets are explained but then the authors go beyond the explanation to show how servlets fit into an overall J2EE architecture. Model 2 controller architecture is covered and Apache Struts is discussed as an example of using servlets as controllers. According to the publisher, "The goal of this book is not to teach the J2EE specification but to illustrate the best practices for developing J2EE applications." In fact, it does both. The example application which is used throughout the book is well designed to cover all the pieces of J2EE. I do have two complaints about the book. First, it concentrates too much on the SilverStream Application Server getting down to the level of showing screen shots of deployment wizards. Second, the book could have used some editing to give it a better flow. J2EE architecture is explained before any of the pieces that make up the architecture are discussed. EJB session beans are used to demonstrate how to use JDBC before EJBs are covered. Overall, however, the book is well done and can stand up against any of the books covering this complex topic.

I read Tarot professionally and have studied it for 32 years. I also collect decks and have over 200 different ones...so far. While I do not use this deck, it is one that stands out in my mind and I like it quite a lot. The bright sunset colors the artist used and the subtle black outlines of the pictures lend a stained glass look to the cards. There is a lot of turquoise, purple, magenta, and bright pink in these cards that one doesn't often see in the more common or popular decks. I go back and forth in my mind trying to decide if it is cloying or a fantasy touch of innovation. Some of the characters have a Botticelli look to them. Most of the men have long hair and a medieval look, but inexplicably the Emperor seems to have just come from the barber. There are far too many cherubs on these cards to suit my taste and they don't seem to have much rhyme or reason to them, just popping in there where you don't expect them, like leaning over the scaffold on the Hanged Man card, sticking up out of the goblet on the Ace of Cups, or four of the chubby little rascals flying around the solar disk on The Sun card, but I'm sure others will enjoy them. The illustrations are for the most part quite striking and always positive. The pips are all illustrated as well as the major arcana. There is a Judeo-Christian thread of symbolism but it is not overwhelming. The more traditional Death and Devil cards have been changed into Transition and Materialism, respectively. The Fool, dressed in magenta and pink stands at a purple crossroad with a tuquoise sea and white chalk cliffs in the distance with a Spuds MacKenzie look-alike at his feet, the symbol being changed it seems from the more traditional carefree naivte to cautious contemplation of the road not taken, but still the artwork is GOOD and all of the cards are engaging. I really love the suit of Wands which features oak staves complete with green oak leaves and sometimes acorns. The artist and the designer have given refreshingly new viewpoints while also maintaining imagery that will be familiar to those experienced with Tarot. The very fact of the different imagery encourages study and meditation. All in all this is a most worthy deck.

Totally different from the original Rider-Waite. The color picutre has bring you to the more spirtual. Enjoy! I would recommand to use the Connolly Tarot Deck to bring your journey.

I've been reading Tarot for over 30 years and since the early 90's I have insisted that all of my students use this deck. The illustrations are richly detailed without being "noisy". The colors give strong vibrational input and the images are not so overly "styled" as to be useless. I know some Pagans will hesitate because of some of the Christian images, but within the context of a primarily Judeo-Christian culture, I find them useful and descriptive of most of the "seeking" public. The fact that the "Devil" is now "Materialism", and "Death" is "Transformation", makes them particularly useful in reading for the public. I've seen clients nearly faint at the sight of either card and it can be nearly impossible to convince some of them that they aren't doomed or cursed. Overall, I find this the most useable deck for teaching and reading.

Former Mayor of Boston and U S Ambassador to the Vatican, Raymond Flynn draws a very personal and intimate portrait of Pope John Paul II. Through the various events, incidents and celebrations narrated with meticulous detail and color, the personality of the Pope comes alive to the reader. The impact the Pope has had on the average American public is truthfully brought out. This book will be of interest to an American Catholic who would be able to identify the personalities from American politics and Catholic religion, at the same time can feel along with Flynn in his admiration for this man of God. Indeed it's a smooth and delightful reading worthy of the Pope as well as of the Ambassador.

I have read many books about His Holiness Pope John Paul II, and this is by far the BEST book I have read about the Pope. It is very easy to read. Infact, once I started to read I could not stop until I finished the book. When I was done...I could not stop crying. Former Ambassador Flynn did an outstanding job in giving his reader a rare and personal glimpse of the Pope, that other authors who have written biographies about His Holiness simply cannot convey. I especially found the stories of the mother who lost her son, and when the Pope offered Flynn money stating it was not church money, but the Pope's own money to help pay for the medical bills of Flynn's oldest son very moving and touching. For those who have never met the Pope...after reading this book you will feel as if you not only met him, but have known the Pope as an intimate friend for years.

Ray Flynn has taken from his many experiences with Pope John Paul II and put together a highly interesting read. This is not your typical biography, although each stage of the Holy Father's storied life is mentioned. This book gives you the Pope up close and personal, in both his public and private dealings. What an absolutely incredible man this Karol Wojtyla is!!