This book is organized well, easy to understand and nicely illustrated. Provides a picture time line of the evolution of tableware and eating customs. Very interesting and helpful to the novice in developing an understanding of manufacture, style and utilization of table ware Readers shoul have an increased ability to identify pieces as to their origin, era and use. Only short coming was the book did not provide illustrations of the manufacturers marks. The author talked about them but should have shown them as they can help with the identification of the piece.

The reader is taken on a tour through the ages from the 16th century to the Retro period. Each general period, representing changes in design, style and use, begins with a table setting demonstrating functionality. Feature articles focus on important changes or developments in each period. A new perspective and understanding is, indeed, imparted.

This book features practical solutions to the problems of doing business in Japan today. Some of the leading observers of Japan's legal, financial and political world contribute original perspectives on common business problems, ranging from preventing adverse legislation to clearing customs or taking security for a financial transaction. A vital supplement to the frequently dry, academic discussions of Japanese law clogging library shelves.

Most books on doing business in Japan have covered cultural issues. There are very few books that address the technical aspects of doing business in Japan as the author does in this publication.

This is only book that I've located that provides concrete guidance on: 1. Corporate Law: e.g., incorporation law, capitalization requirement 2. Labor Law: e.g., employee compensation rules, etc. 3. Taxation

If you are planning to do business Japan, please get the books on cultural differences. But you must also get this book to actually do business and accomplish tangible objectives.

It's one of the ironies of modern Christianity that the churches claiming to make the most of the Bible in their theology make the least of the Bible in their worship. Evangelicals, for all their insistence on the authority, infallibility, and God-givenness of the Bible, have the least biblical worship in Christendom. It is unbiblical not in the sense that it breaks this rule or that, but in the sense that the Bible itself plays little or no role in the language and content of worship.

If you visit a "Bible church," for example, you may find that the Bible is a closed book, liturgically speaking. It isn't sung. It isn't prayed. It is a springboard for the sermon, and no more. But if you step into, say, an Anglican or Orthodox church, you find a way of worship much more explicitly biblical. The people hear two or three readings from both the Old and the New Testaments. They sing the Psalms and the Lord's Prayer, and the service includes hymns shot through with scriptural language.

The point of the comparison isn't to vilify one church and idealize another. Every tradition has its liabilities. But it does raise a question: What are evangelicals missing that many other Christians aren't? The answer: The other Christians have not forgotten that the Psalms are the church's first and greatest hymnbook.

The Psalms have always occupied a central place in private devotion, of course. Jerome, the great fourth-century translator and scholar, reports hearing them sung by people in the fields and in their gardens. But the Psalms were also central to public worship. Psalm-singing churches are following a tradition rooted in the Bible itself. Jesus prayed the Psalms. They were twice on his lips when he was dying. He even said, after his resurrection, that the Psalms really speak of his own suffering and glory. What greater incentive does the Christian need to pray and sing them?

"By Flowing Waters" is a collection of biblical songs -- mostly Psalms -- set to some of the most durable and attractive music that the church has produced. The melodies are basically what we're used to calling "Gregorian" or "plainsong" -- unison and unaccompanied. (It's astonishing that churches haven't capitalized on the success of all those popular Gregorian chant CDs. Why don't we get to sing the best examples of plainsong in church? The appetite for such music is clearly there.)

Paul F. Ford's settings are intended for antiphonal or responsorial singing. That is, a cantor or choir chants the Psalm, and the congregation sings a brief response (usually a sentence from the Psalm) after every verse or two. But there's nothing to keep a church from learning to sing the whole Psalm.

Not all of the Psalms are here, and many that are have been truncated. The translations, from the New Revised Standard Version, will not suit every ear. But one great virtue of this humble music is that it can be adapted to any translation. It could be adapted to the phone book, for that matter. So even if you don't like the New Revised Standard Version, you could use Ford's settings as guide for your own arrangements with another translation. His introductory essay explains how the chants are structured and makes helpful suggestions about singing them.

The author and publisher are Catholic, but musicians from other traditions who want to add sung prayer to their churches' worship will find plenty to draw on. Ford invites them to use what they wish. And for anyone who reads music, "By Flowing Waters" wouldn't be bad for private use either.

The General Instructions for the Roman Missal indicates that for Opening, Offertory, and Communion the preference should be 1) The Antiphon from the Roman Gradual 2) The Antiphon from the Simple Gradual 3) Another psalm 4) Some other song consistent with the above.

Until now, unless one was singing Latin, options 1 and 2 were eliminated, and option 3 was ignored, and option 4 all too often took the form of some banal hymn.

"By Flowing Waters" is an english edition of the Simple Gradual (which was prepared under a mandate from the Second Vatican Council), opening the door to the use of sung Scripture in worship.

Since the collapse of the USSR in 1991, discourse on the threat of nuclear arms has all but vanished, relegated to a relatively quiet resurgence of the Star Wars debate and to a few footnotes on the developmental history of the internet. Despite this current hiatus in nuclear consciousness, every American living today has at least a passing acquaintance with the concept of atomic annihilation; sitcoms, government press releases, popular films, and news media are inconstant but persistent reminders of the nuclear threat. Paul Boyer's By the Bomb's Early Light traces these media as they shaped and reflected American consciousness at the birth of the atomic age.

Despite Boyer's professed pacifism and his personal views regarding the ultimately menacing nature of the atomic bomb, the various events, opinions, and artifacts cited are evenly presented. This objectivity, however, makes for rather dry reading, especially when Boyer's connective tissue is compared with the lofty literary attempts to come to terms with the inconceivable he quotes throughout. This work might be more effective if it gave itself over completely to the format it seems to yearn for: an assemblage of excerpts and passages from the original works with Boyer's commentary confined to sidebars and brief introductory essays. Of course, Boyer's goal was to produce a comprehensive volume of reference material drawing from a myriad of venues and disciplines, not a coffee table book about atomic kitsch of the 1940's. While not as entertaining as the latter and by no means a cover-to-cover page-turner, By The Bomb's Early Light serves as an excellent resource and starting point for further research.

Paul Boyer is well known as a scholar of American millenialism, both religious and secular, from his book "When Time Shall Be No More", but gathering slightly less attention is his impressive volume "By the Bomb's Early Light: American Thought and Culture at the Dawn of the Atomic Age." Boyer is a cultural historian, and grew up a pacifist, so its no surprise that he frames the years 1945 to 1950 as years of fierce contention over the role of nuclear weapons and energy in American society. His overarching thesis, is precisely that---the years of 1945-1950 showed a sharp swing from grave concern and fear over nuclear energy to visions of nuclear promise and technological utopias, promulgated by the U.S. government and the Atomic Energy Agency, with vocal, dissenting minorities present at each pendulum swing. Boyer speculates that this may form a model for subsequent generations' relationship with nuclear energy, from care to indifference and back again.

Boyer's method is to examine evidence of public thought and conversations during these five years, from "letters to the editor" of newspapers, to intellectual journals of thought, to cartoonists, to the literary world of William Faulkner and Gertrude Stein, to religious organizational bulletins. He makes skillful use of primary sources, demonstrating that while majority opinions could be clearly demonstrated to have existed, undercurrents of contention and dissention remained at each step. Boyer also makes it understandable that as Americans' expectations of another war increased (59% in October 1945 to 77% in late 1947, page 335) Americans sought not to curtail the development of nuclear energy, but rather trust in technological superiority and civil defense to survive the "inevitable " war, a concomitant response to civil defense campaigns, visions of technological utopia, and simply atomic fatigue---even a subject like nuclear war could only generate a certain sustained interest over a period of time if not directly confronting daily life in the U.S. However, Boyer also suggests that a drop-off in interest in nuclear issues may have been due to deep-seated horror rather than complacency (as noted by Elaine Tyler May) This may belong to the more speculate aspects of his study, given that in the late 40's and 50's open counternarratives to nuclear utopia were building, such as in the literary and poetic work of the Beats. But in general I find "By The Bomb's Early Light" an excellent, accessible account of the major movements in a fascinating period of cultural history, one clearly marked by ideological conflicts and disagreement rather than consensus.

Great book, lets you quickly find the information on C++ syntax you always forget. Unfortunately the newer features like exceptions, the new casting operators and the revised standard C++ library are missing. A new release would be in order. Martin Stein, SAP Technology Inc.

This is the best handbook i have ever fallen in love with.I stopped referring to other C++ books after I had it.In fact i use it to prepare notes for my teaching classes.Very crisp and up to point covers all aspects of C&C++.Important concepts that I picked up from this book, for example are how to instantiate an object with no default ctor inside another class, how will compiler distinguish between a postfix and prefix operator when overloading for a class. A must have book for any serious C++ programmer.Wish similar kind of book for Java.This book is written by someone who has been coding for a while.

Camp X - The final battle is a great read, in particular for anyone interested in reading history that isn't well known, as well as history as it could too easily have become. The fictional portion of the story is well grounded in historical fact and moves the lead characters seamlessly from what really was, into the frightening world of what might have been. The backdrop is the second world war, but with the unthinkable twist that the Battle for Britain had been lost. Unimaginable, yes - but laid out through the characters in the book for the reader to clearly experience the unimaginable.

I thoroughly enjoyed both the fiction and the fact of the book. Exciting and realistic.

When the what-if of alternative history meets the stranger-than-fiction story of the World War II spy school called Camp X, the stage is set for a story of murder, sabotage and mayhem with just enough fact in it to keep the readers on the edge of their seats.

Mixed with true tales like the murder of a Nazi double agent in the rooms of the Genosha Hotel in Oshawa and the shipment of British gold to Canada, the tale is woven by Lynn Philip Hodgson and Alan Longfield, two authors with a rich background in the World War II world of spies and the school in Canada that produced the finest of them.

The story flows with one action-packed chapter after another.....

The story winds to a fascinating conclusion that leaves the reader eagerly anticipating another novel.

... Newbery winning author Paul fleischman has done it again!Hehas created a book that breaks the mold and almost defiesclassification. Cannibal in the Mirror will entice many to take a look. The intriguing title is supported by a cover that includes a sketch of a primitive male with tattoos and body jewelry alongside a photo of a similar looking male from modern day. The comparable format is seen throughout the book. Each two page spread consists of one page which is a selection from anthropological writings and printed on a background that resembles marble, faced by a colorful photograph from our culture that eerily resembles the selected text, some centuries old! Youth, courtship and marriage, family and society, recreation, appearance, beliefs, old age and death are the categories depicted. John Whalen collaborated with Fleischman on this endeavor, his photographs enhance the book with scenes from contemporary culture which include a video arcade, team sports, graffiti, women's mud wrestling, Skinheads, tabloids, and the aged. Fleishcman's love of research and scavenging through the past is evident in the various excerpts he included from anthropological texts. The style of the book is somewhat reminiscent of Fleischman's earlier book Dateline Troy, where newspaper clippings from this century are juxtaposed with selections from his superb retelling of events from the Trojan war. Cannibal in the Mirror will encourage readers to contemplate our modern culture and consider how closely many of our activities liken to bizarre initiation rites, tribal feuds, gluttony, and hedonistic lifestyles of primitive cultures. This book would provoke lively discussions in the Social Studies Classroom. Upper middle school and junior high students will be drawn to the book's simplicity and captivating photographs.

Quotes from explorers, missionaries and writers blend with modern photos to explore the theme of 'uncivilized' cultures and their presence in American society. Primitive customers are first described by Fleischman, then facing pages provide photos of present-day, mainstream activities. A thought-provoking, if not hard to categorize, presentation.

This book has been most helpful in reviewing real life classroom and educational issues and seeing how others address the situation. I do not always agree with the steps taken, but it is enlightening. Especially helpful for student teachers.

"Case Studies" is the best book I have read regarding music education since, "What They Didn't Teach You In Choral Methods". While, I believe, Mr's. Abrahams and Head were targeting the Student Teaching and First-Year crowd, everyone can benefit from reading the book. I have known teachers with 10 years experience who have benefitted from using the book to analyze and re-iterate their teaching styles and choices.

This wonderful book includes case studies which end in choices you, the teacher, must make. Get a journal and begin! Whether you're an experienced teacher or new to the profession, you'll be glad you took the time to seriously consider such topics as Copyright infringement, your personal music ed philosophy, stereotypes, faculty relationships, auditions, learning styles, technology integration, grading policies, defending your program choices, and other interesting dilemmas.

Do not overlook this book! Many of us did not receive this kind of guidance in undergrad or even in our master's work. It never hurts to go back to basics and re-learn what you think you already know about yourself. You might be surprised!

Paul Kemp's "Underwater Warriors" is a unique book. It is the first book I've seen to cover this subject in the depth that it deserves. The midget sub, while perhaps not the most glamourous (or successful) of tools to be used in past wars, did make it's impact. It's story is filled with the stories of many heroic men, most of whom fought for the Axis in WWII.

Underwater Warriors begins with the inception of the Submarine, (and incidentally, the first 'One man' sub) in David Bushnell's "Turtle," a wooden clumbsy thing, experimented with by the revolutionary United States in 1776. Kemp follows the history and evolution of the mini-sub through to the modern day, and makes some conclusions about the military applications and future use of midget subs. His final conclusion is that midget subs are a good idea, but not if only one man is operating them.

The book itself is filled with many accounts of individuals, who worked with midget subs. It becomes clear that these pioneering men truly did exemplify what heroism really is. Since Midget subs have never been a major tool of war, I don't doubt that Kemp has included most of the accounts that were available to be written. What results is an entertaining read, filled with much human drama.

The one downside, at least for me, is that the book lapses into large sections covering the technical aspects of the submarines themselves, including variations, dimentions and minor technical changes. I suppose it is to be expected given a subject that is not extremely broad. That said however, I found myself skipping over the more technical parts to get to the human interest sections.

Overall, this book is well worth the read for millitary history enthusiasts, Naval history enthusiasts and folks who just like the idea of a "Midget-sub."

An "Editor's Choice" in the Winter 1997 "MHQ Review." Editor-in-Chief Robert Cowley writes: "I found this history of midget submarines and human-guided torpedoes an unexpected pleasure. But perhaps I should not have been so surprised: Paul Kemp is a formidable authority on the significant arcana of naval history."

In the summer of 1999 I took my son on a tour of medievalEnglish castles. To plan the trip I looked at a number of books todecide which castles to visit. This book, written with thesponsorship of English Heritage, describes the different types of castles (e.g.-keep, walled, moated) built throughout the history of England, Scotland and Wales, including where to find the best existing examples of each type. I used the map in the book to plot the locations of these castles, and chose a dozen in London and the surrounding counties to go see. The book was of invaluable assistance--not only in making the selection, but in describing their history and most interesting features. The photography is fantastic. This book was the keystone to a once in a lifetime experience.

This is a great little book at a super price. Lots of quality color and black and white photos and a top notch narrative to go along with them. This book is dense enough to hold the attention of a sophisticated reader and accessible enough not to bore the casual reader.