This book could have been entertaining reading if the writer had only stuck to the story line. It was diverting the way the book hopscotched here there and everywhere.

This is a good example of the old adage, "You can't tell a book by it's cover". At first glance the reader might expect a lusty romantic novel, but instead Mr. Nicastro's novel of John Paul Jones is a pleasant and memorable read, the kind of prose one likes to savor in large doses. He sets his tale up in France at the turn of the 18th Century, using the characters and the vernacular language to put the reader in the tone of the times. As the events of the American Revolution and the early exploits of our hero unfold, using now the present day vernacular, this reader was captivated by the stories. They were at once easy to follow and very often quite witty and clever. Without giving the entire novel away, let me say that fictitious characters blend so well with the real people and the real events blend so well with the humorous interpretations that one would like to believe that every detail was, in fact, true. The story, and the writing of it, is so good that I hope we shall have a sequel to enjoy for next summer's favorite book of the season!

Gripped by the flawed bravado of John Paul Jones, I was further pulled in by the book's clever framing device--a bet that revolves around a potential menage a trois. Nicholas Nicastro delivers an amusing historical tale that takes the reader in directions one would never expect from a book about America's first naval hero. Though the author presents the virtues of his character he seems to take greater relish presenting the character's flaws--a tactic that only adds to the reader's enjoyment while giving flesh and blood to an, up-until-now, dusty figure in American Revolutionary lore.

Forget about high school history books that describes Jones in one paragraph with the inevitable quote "I have not yet begun to fight." Did he actually say this? Who cares seems to be Nicastro's answer as he departs from this tired question, and doesn't even bother with that particular battle, when it was supposedly stated. Nicastro instead takes us into lesser known, choppier waters--more day to day battles that Jones fought as an imperious gnat leading an almost non-existent American navy against the powerful seafaring British. Jones's incursions against the Brits, as amusingly described in this book, amount to strange, even funny, misadventures.

The book also gets into Jones's post-war hobnobbing in France with such dignitaries as a very randy Benjamin Franklin.

As a lover of history and very human adventures I was only disappointed that the book wasn't longer. This fan waits with excitement for Nicastro's second book. If the author actually reads these, he should know that he's building a fan base.

Author Paul A. Taylor writes about the issues of security breaching between the hacker and the computer security industry in his book Hackers: Crime in the Digital Sublime. Taylor begins the first half of the book giving the definition of a hacker, walking the reader through the evolution of hacking and describing the Hacking culture. His point being, to look past the stereotypical label of hackers being criminals. Using interviews of well-known hackers, in the hacking community, and elite hackers, Taylor provides his audience with a perspective of the positive moral and ethical values most hackers inhibit. This reinforcement helps balance the arguments between the computer underground (hackers) and the computer security industry.
The issues that Taylor concentrates on are about hackers' intrusion on big business systems opposed to an individual's personal records. The main argument that consistently appears throughout the book is whether hackers who intrude on big business systems should be punished and how society can determine how they should be punished. Although Taylor leans toward the side of the computer underground, he mediates the arguments throughout the book with a balanced amount of interviews from both sides of the argument.
In today's society, Taylor states that cyberspace laws are compared to those that exist in a physical space, the "real world". By providing the point of view of the hacker, Taylor is able to contend that in order to develop a more legitimate law against the intrusion of secured computer systems, society will have to define whether cyberspace is comparable to the real world or if a new set of rules should be developed to aid the regulation of cyberspace.
The way in which Taylor structures his book, Hackers: Crime in the Digital Sublime, is comparable to the structure of the MSNBC news program, Hardball with Chris Matthews. During the show Chris Matthews proposes an issue or argument and brings in specialists from each side to debate it. Taylor follows this structure by interviewing people from the computer underground and people from the computer security industry about where laws should be placed or not be placed in cyberspace. Of course, many books have been written giving both sides of an argument, but what separates Taylor's writing from the rest is how the interviews are separated structurally from Taylor's own opinions. The book reminds me of a TV news program transcription. For instance, the interviews are always separated from Taylor's writing by a line space and indented from the left side by five spaces. This structure gave me the feeling that he was not confident enough in writing his argument in his own words or maybe he did not have that much to say about it. Only half of the 176 pages were actually written in his own words. I was very interested to learn about hackers through the eyes of someone who knows some of them personally and favors their point of view, but given his lack of interpretation on the arguments between the underground and security industry, I find him not very convincing.
It is apparent that Taylor favors the side of the hackers. Although Taylor equally balances the time spent on each viewpoint, he sometimes uses quotes that make the other side, the computer security industry, seem hostile and unintelligent. For example, Taylor argues about how hackers violate laws and professional codes of ethics but he does not believe that hackers are liars, cheaters, or stealers. His reason being that there are no allegations held against them. After stating that all of the hackers he has met seem to be decent people, he then strings five quotes together about how deviant the computer security industry thinks hackers are. For instance, one quote read, "Somewhere near vermin i.e. possibly unavoidable, maybe even necessary pests that can be destructive and disruptive if not mentioned." (107). This quote is taken out of its original context and put into one of which would persuade his audience to believe his opinion. Taylor does not give the information about what kind of argument the person was having when that statement was made. For all we know this could have been a CEO speaking about a hacker who infiltrated the company's system and did so much damage that it to cost the company millions of dollars to repair.
Despite the lack of trust I have for the author, Taylor put together a great understanding of the hacker, the history of hacking, the hacker culture and their motivations. I now denounce the stereotypical negative connotation that the word hacker possesses. The similarities between the book and Hardball would be effective if both parties were given an equal opportunity to share legitimate information about their viewpoint. Unfortunately, since both parties were not presented in the exact space and time like a news show, Taylor is able to edit the information he collected and skew it to benefit his own opinion.

This is the first serious study I have seen of a generally media sensationalised area. Being straight from the hackers' mouths, the source material gives a more balanced view than those given by previous authors who tend to be overly moralistic and prejudiced in their approach to the subject. True impartiality is on display as well as meticulous research. Well done Dr. Taylor. I found the grammatically ludicrous, error strewn review of Mr. Yamane particularly unhelpful and inaccurate. People in grass houses shouldn't throw stones.

Taylor's Hackers is anextended and rigorous analyses of hacking as illicit computer intrusion (or cracking as some insist it should be called. Taylor explores in detail the nature of hacking from every angle. His book is based on over 60 in-depth interviews and is written sympathetically, treating hackers as human rather than as pathological teenagers. It is essential reading for anyone interested in Hackers. There are only two extended, academic pieces on hacking, this book and the complementary statistical analysis by John Howard (available at http://www.cert.org/research/JHThesis/index.html).Hackers also has the advantage of being accessible and well-written. Perhaps the best way to look at this book is as an encyclopaedia of hacking, because it provides extended quotes from hackers, computer security personnel and interested others (journalists, academics, etc.) on all relevant topics. An excellent piece of work.

As a Boston Red Sox fan, I can lay as great a claim as anyone to loving baseball. Only in recent years (by virtue of the Double-A Eastern League's Portland SeaDogs) have I been able to get into minor league ball, as well. This book - and Malloy - captures everything great about the game, and it has prompted me to follow his career, as well as that of minor league superstar Tony Graffannino, a physically gifted and talented keystoner, who was always one step ahead of Malloy in development. This book captures the heroism of hard work, and that tragedy so poignantly seen in baseball: hustle goes a long way, but there's no substitute for God-given talent. Great writing, all around. One of those books you wish you never had to finish.

One objection, though: Hemphill refers to the "Peanuts" catcher as Linus, when we all know it's Schroeder.

Paul Hemphill does a very good job chronicaling Marty Malloy's year in the low minor leagues. All too often we think of only the "romance" of playing baseball - the glory, the headlines, and the money. That is the major leagues. This book shows us the other side - and shows it well.

Since reading this book a year or so ago, I've been following Malloy's career. After many struggles, he made it to the majors on September 6, 1998. To top it off, he hit a home run in his very first game for the Atlanta Braves. Way to go Marty!

I bought this book because I had seen Marty Malloy play the game. In 1996, I was an usher for the Greenville Braves, Atlanta's AA affiliate in the Southern League. The Marty Malloy in Hemphill's book is exactly the player I watched every night that season: a bunt here, a stolen base there, and chase the foul pop up after others had given up. In minor league baseball everybody hustles...if you don't you're unemployed. But Marty Malloy won an award for being the league's best hustler in '96. The book captures the determination of this player, and the fun of watching minor league baseball. Part of the fun of watching minor league ball is seeing kids you watched at this level go on to the big leagues. For what it's worth, today, Sep 6, 1998, Marty Malloy hit his first MAJOR LEAGUE homer for Atlanta! Keep hustlin Marty

Paul Marshall, in talking about the Christian faith in relation to the secular world, does make some solid, practical points. However, the consistency of these points varies as each chapter arises, and the importance of work, for example, is as important as play, and rest, and so on. His emphasis is placed on all the wrong things. Yes, he does encourage Christians to acknowledge the need for these physical and spirutal rewards, however, he discredits God in many instances. Man's sole purpose on the earth is NOT to take care of it, although that is a big factor. Man is created to glorify God. Marshall discredits God's omniscence in Chapter 12 by stating, without supporting, that "God was directed by Adam's decision" to name the animals. Here, Marshall in talking about the amount of responsibility placed on Adam, discredits God and ignores God's ubiquitous omniscence. Marshall repeatedly contradicts himself and places man as equals with God, which is just messed up. This book may be helpful to new Christians, as a starting point, but there is much more solid, beautiful literature out there and I strongly recommend that no Christian apply his entire spiritual life around this book.

This book is insightful, readable, enjoyable, and brilliant. I will recommend it to many friends. Marshall summarized many of my thoughts about modern Christianity, and challenged me to take the Kingdom call of God more seriously in my everyday life. Highly recommended.

This book is one of the best introductions to Christian worldview thinking I have read and should prompt one to more robust reflection on the many ways one's commitment to Christ should form all of life. Marshall's treatment is thoroughly biblical, and he writes in an engaging style. He first explains the Reformed pattern of Creation-Fall-Redemption-Consummation and then explores its impact on our learning, our work, our rest, and our play, as well as its implications for how we think about the natural world, politics, the arts, and technology, among other topics. Throughout, he utilizes clear illustrations and helpful applications that make the biblical principles concrete. (For example, his discussion about how to think about the way we dress is alone worth the price of admission.) All told, Heaven Is Not My Home is an excellent catalyst for thinking Christianly about God's world.

This book had very few useful details like where to eat, sleep, sightsee or shop. The best feature was its explanations of ancient Grecian sites. Overall, I regret purchasing it. I relied more on Fodor's for the practical aspects of my trip.

The guide is mostly written for those with a bit more money to spend than the average backpacker; but, the information and irreverent Brit writing style are universally essential and delightful. I was more than satisfied with the excellent practical information and suggestions. The guide is also filled with the perfect amount of information and a seeming love for the Greek people and islands, I almost fell in love with the Greek islands just by reading the guide before my trip. There is a great chapter on Athens and an extremely helpful few pages on overviews of islands.

The book helped us plan our island hopping trip by briefly categorizing the islands in the first section. The information on each island was very good and more than sufficient. The Athens section was very good also.

Several of the pictures do not match the firearm listed. Incomplete discriptions, it apparently wasn't proof-read.

This is the book for you! It has great pictures of each model. I have used it to help identify firearms and it comes in handy for grading firearms.

Overall I feel this is a good buy as I have identified several older model weapons without much trouble. However, trying to find more recent model guns has been dismal. For example try to find any of the new Sig Sauer pistols or any of the new Derringers! Anyway, I have identified a couple of H&R pistols (pretty neat trick, good black and white photos helped tremendously) and a couple of rifles (one a Winchester rifle and you know how many flavors of those exist!) again by picture then description. I like how the book is broken into three sections (pistol, rifle, shotgun). The pistol part is broken into semi-auto then revolver for each company presented. I would have liked to have a more comprehensive breakout of new weapons (as I mentioned before) and more information on the various companies (some had nothing but an address...if that), but all in all a must have books for my library. A good buy.

Very academic book. It has some good content, but it lacks appropriate implmentation experience to round the content of the book. It gets boring at times. I have no doubts that future books on the topic will be far superior

Seems like this book was published on May 2000. How were some of these reviews made before that date?...

The book was very helpful for me to understand b2b e-coomerce and gave me great ideas, with which I could make business plans. The book use 8 cases to explain business models and marketing strategies related in b2b e-commerce. And I think that I can use the models and marketing strategies in Korean e-commerce market.

This book is terrible! It gives different definitions for the same term several times in the first few chapters. Why doesn't it just give one coherent, comprehensive definition for each word?!! The concepts are broken up and presented helter-skelter, so reading this book is like working a tedious jigsaw puzzle. Then it includes lots of problems at the end of each chapter, but there is no answer key, and the Solutions Manual is only available to teachers. Do they think that my professor is too lazy or too stupid to make up his own tests? (Hint to oblivious writers/editors: a textbook is useless if students cannot practice working problems and check the answers on their own. This is not third grade, and my professor is not a babysitter!) I bought the workbook (which contains practice tests) separately, but I still don't have the answers to the problems at the end of the chapters. I will speak to the department heads at my college and beg them to switch publishers next semester.

This book is required of my Financial Accounting course and it is a great choice. The book displays many colorful illustrations and is pretty clear in the messages that it attempts to explain. This book will definitely help you to get an A in your class...or at least pass! The only flaw that I see is that it does not give many answers to the exercises and problems in the chapters. Otherwise, it is pretty good.

I used this book for my very first Accounting course and it was great. The author uses up to date info and really caters to a first year student such as myself. I can only hope that all of my Accounting books will be like this one.

I find it interesting that this book was included in the selection of Horror Anthologies.

Given the way I feel about golf, it was all too appropriate!

I am always a little at a loss to review a work like this which has 30 essays, short stories, and poems in it, humorously illustrated by the talented Paul Szep. Obviously, in a thousand words I cannot review each work. However, there's also no relevant way to give you an overview except to say that this is much of the best writing about golf that anyone has ever done, looking beyond how to improve your score.

Let me share a few highlights with you, much like you might compliment a golf partner on the best shots in his or her round. Imagine that we are all having a tall cool beverage while I do this after finishing a long, hot round.

I thought the funniest work was "Drinking from a Cup Made Cinchey" written in 1959. Updike has obviously had a golf lesson or two, as the other works make clear. This essay is a satire on all of those instructional articles that you find in Golf Digest. Updike begins by pointing out that occasionally there's a slip between cup and lip (but he humorously avoids that phrase). So he takes the simple task of picking up a cup and drinking something from it, and writes it up in golf instructional style. I couldn't stop laughing. I think I got a better idea of the golf swing from this non-golf swing instruction than I ever did from taking a lesson!

"Swing Thoughts" from 1984 captures the problems that we all have with using the conscious mind too much, but with more self-consciousness than even the most self-conscious golfer ever had.

The part I least agreed with was "The Trouble with a Caddie." Updike doesn't like them, but I find having a caddie one of the pleasures of the game. He dislikes everything from the company to handling the tip. Perhaps it is hard for someone with a solitary occupation like writing to get over that preference for solitude. Book tours must be rough!

The best fiction was "Farrell's Caddie" from 1991 with all due respect to the Rabbit Angstrom material that is well known from the Rabbit books. It transcends golf in a valuable way.

The best poem was "Upon Winning One's Flight in the Senior Four-Ball" from 1994. Many of Updike's later works look ironically on the effects of our changing golf fortunes as the body starts to produce less and less satisfying golf. This one is very well done without having the negative tone that some of the others do, hinting at decay and death.

The book is divided ino three sections: (1) Learning the Game (2) Loving the Game and (3) Playing the Game. The works are about equally distributed among the sections.

If you're a golfer, you know that people love to give golf-related gifts but never know what to give. I suggest you solve their problem by putting this book on your Amazon.com wish list. Then on those cold winter's nights, you can curl up with this book to help you conjure up your own golf dreams!

When John Updike brings the depth and breadth of his intelligence to bear upon a subject, the light of his insight and wisdom radiates from his silky prose. One expects to be enlightened as he reviews contemporary novels or tackles current questions of theology. I didn't know what to expect from his essays on golf, but having read "Golf Dreams", I would say that Updike loves this enigmatic game every bit as much as he loves fiction, theology, and philosophy. If we find a writer's love in his attention to detail, then in these essays Updike shares his deep love not only in the details of the game itself, but in the details of playing of golf in New England and his love for his golfing companions. It is as if in a life of a writing discipline, book tours, speaking engagements, and other demands, Updike can rely upon the fidelity of his foursome and the bucolic mysticism of golf itself as a source of constant and dependable pleasure. Fortunately, because like most of us who play, Updike's pleasure does not depend upon his mastery of the game; but our reading pleasure does depend on Updike's mastery of lucid prose to express his golf dreams.

I would say that this book gives great honor to the men of the SAS and tells their story well. If I has to choose though, I would choose Immediate Action, Bravo Two Zero, (Andy MCNabb SAS), or Inside Delta Force, (Eric Haney). Far better reads with much greater detail in to methods, ops, and lifestyle of these special operators.

Some sections - notably those dealing with SAS selection and the siege of the Iranian Embassy - are interesting, while other sections - e.g., those on Belfast and Hong Kong - are basically filler material. All in all, an unremarkable book; one that is most noteworthy, perhaps, because it blazed a trail soon to be trod by others with SAS tales to tell.

This book gives a strikingly similar portrayal that Rogue Warrior gives. Almost identical, yet with different battles and conflicts. He Who Dares does give an expert look into the SAS, but lacks in well described military experience. Whille this book chronicles the life of a decorated SAS soldier, it does not give interesting combat details. Overall a good and short look into the SAS, but perhaps Chris Ryan and Andy McNab's account contains more detail on actual fighting experience. Nice short read though.