The illustrations for the version of Jack and the Beanstalk are wonderful, however, the text is from a 1807 version and is difficult to read easily. This is compounded by the fact that it is in rhyme so some of the words/grammer are really strange to keep the rhyme pattern.

This is a wonderful approach to the fairy tale stories. I've read several of Mrs. Capps-Burgess books and all of them are excellent! They make extra special gifts for the young reader.

Mrs. Capps-Burgess, the daughter of famed Arkansan Bible Teacher and farmer Charles Capps, does an extrodinary job of transplacing the traditional Fairy tales into Faith tales. A former reviewer has sent back her copy and declared that she, the reader, is religious. Herein lies the reason she misunderstands Mrs. Burgess. Mrs. Burgess is not religious, but rather maintains a relationship with Jesus Christ. It would be a mystery as to why Mrs. Burgess has written this new "twist" were it not for a fact that millions have stepped aside from religion and moved ahead toward this relationship building class for their children with Jesus Christ. In my opinion, only those parents who have strong Bible-believing faith, would approve of the works of Beverly Capps Burgess. Those who claim to be religious should probably continue to hold to traditional fairy tales.

This book is highly repetative. It says nothing lots of times. I wouldnt buy it if I were you.

One idea that's not explained in Natural Brilliance is the evolution of the book itself. Originally, the book was a guide to using Direct Learning, outlined in chapter 11. Because Direct Learning involves relying on implicit memory, rather than conscious recollection, the four-step process of Release-Notice-Respond-Witness is a way to manifest the skills downloaded by Direct Learning. The biggest problem with this book, and the only problem I have found with it, is the pure amount of ideas and information the book throws at the reader in its 200 pages. It mentions the basics of just about everything out there that might aid in any part of the Natural Brilliance process. It's up to the reader to integrate as much, or as little, of this information as they can.

The Natural Brilliance audio course does offer assistance to the overwhelmed, but it doesn't cover the core behind Natural Brilliance: Direct Learning.

Using the techniques in the book, it is possible for effective change in your life. Follow his easy steping to break through in any area you feel stuck. It has worked well for me! To enrich the application of Natural Brilliance you may need some additional suppliments; however, any reasonably intelligient persistent person can easily reap great rewards from reading this book. I also highly recommend The Photoreading Whole Mind System written by Paul Scheele.

The Epsicopal Church's main proponent of blessing homosexual unions basically justifies his view by trying to discredit or at least minimize the interpretation of Paul's writings by painting him as a self-hating, repressed homosexual. Typical agenda driven liberalism - not theology.

While this book is mainly a collection of the epistles, which can be found in any New Testament, it is worth purchasing for Spong's lengthy introduction in which he presents a radical but nevertheless fascinating theory concerning the first published theologian of the Christian church. Even though Spong's theory concerning the Apostle Paul cannot be proved or disproved based on New Testament evidence alone, it can also not be dismissed out of hand based on that very same evidence.

A refreshing way to read the first Christian author! Bishop Spong in his introduction offers challenging consideration and surprising insight into the person of Paul of Tarsus. Putting the Epistles into their probable chronological order offers further enlightenment on them.

This book is so biased against anything Jewish in Jerusalem that it borders on an anti-semitic screed. It waxes hysterical about ultra-orthodox Jews and neighborhoods. In real life, these are the safest places in the city, and offer some of the most interesting sights and shops. Beautiful churches and mosques are described in detail, but the one decorative Jewish place of worship, the Great Synagogue, is dismissed with a single statement: that its construction was a waste of money!

The relentless axe-grinding leads to some dubious advice. Readers are told to patronize Arab taxis and hotels to make up for their loss of business during the intifada. That's an awful lot like the Jews of Germany being billed for the cleanup after Kristallnacht.

Ordinary misinformation makes this guide next to useless. The Botanical Gardens are not free, entrance is about $10--and well worth it. Descriptions of Jewish ritual are skewed and include some real howlers. I wonder if their source was pulling their leg.

In addition, while I'd always thought that it's impossible to take a bad picture in the Holy City, this guide is peppered with the most boring photography I've ever seen. Any kid with a disposable camera could have done better.

This fascinating city, eternal and enticing in all its aspects, is here visited in a summary but useful way. The Capital of David's Kingdom and seat of the Temple, as well as Jesus' place of crucifixion and Mohammed's ascent to Heaven, Jerusalem is also a laboratory of modernity. From the holy places to the most fashionable night clubs, this guide leads you to discovering the immortal city, one of the most complex and intriguing in the world. The book includes excursions to Betlehem, Jericho, Masada and the Dead Sea. Good value.

The information in this slim volume is taken directly from the Lonely Planet Guide to Israel, and the coverage in the latter guide is better for the day trips North and South that you'll want to take. Buying both is a complete waste of money, and I'd really recommend getting the LPG Israel even if you don't plan to stray far from Jerusalem.

We recently traveled through Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia and found this guidebook practically useless and certainly frustrating--definitely not worth its weight. We have used other LPs in the past and found them to be at least adequate but this one doesn't even rate that well. It lacked many important details--such as the time/distances between many points, availability of various transportation options and routes, decent maps--the list goes on and on. Even though prices change often and currencies fluctuate, even a vague idea of prices (is it $10 or $100??) would have been quite useful to help us plan better. Although we ran into many people all 'armed' with the LP, they all had the same complaints.

This book is an adequate guide but it needs improvement in several areas. I used this book during Janurary and February of 2000 when I traveled through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. Last year I used the Lonley Planet-India and found it was much better than Southeast Asia. Here are the weaknesses. 1. The numbers of the locations on the maps should be used in the text describing the location. This would grealy improve you ability to plan your day or route. 2. Maps should be improved. I would be willing to spend a few dollars more for better maps. 3. Hotel, restaurant, etc. names are not printed in bold type. This makes it more difficult to use. 4. It would be very helpful to grade the sites with a priority to reduce the time one spends reading fine print and get on with seeing the country. When I return to this part of the world next winter I will try to find additional books to correct these weaknesses.

I travelled through Thailand, Philippines and Hong Kong using this book. I initially bought this book with weight in mind. I did not want to carry three more LPs along with the other country books (LP Taiwan, Japan). Although much of the information needed to survive was written in the book, it certainly did lack the detailed maps and background information needed to have a care-free journey. SOmetime it certainly was a struggle , especially in Thailand. The Thailand Section prices were extremely outdated. Even in the height on the "asian economic flu", I had to triple the prices listed. The Hong Kong section was adequate, but HK is an efficient and easily travelled city. Of the three, I found the Philippine section the best, but some of the hotel quality ratings are out dated. Please do not stay at the Hotel Mercedes in Cebu!

I'm extremely disappointed to have to give this rating. All of the Sybex MCSE book that I have read have been great. This book is missing a LOT of information. For example, there are several questions in the back of each chapter that ask questions that were not discussed, or have answers with data that is nowhere to be found.

The content is terribly disorganized with two sections on DHCP, for example, repeating themselves. Just about every topic provides incomplete information. Errors, typographical and question answers, are everywhere! Two words in a row, misspellings, mislabeled end of chapter answers. ACK!

This really is an awful book; HUGE disappointment. Stay away from this brick.

This book disappointed me. I have used Sybex books in the past to study for my Windows NT exams with pretty good results. This book seems to gloss over some very important concepts, at the same time telling you that you need to understand them for the test. If you know your stuff, it is not all that bad, but this is definitely not for a beginner. The questions at the end of the chapters sometimes don't refer to anything you would have learned from reading the chapter.

Not sure what the previous reviewer was looking for but this book is excellent in its organization and coverage of all of the exam objectives. I found its organization logically better than the Sybex Study Guide for 70-240. Coverage of exam objectives is short and to the point. If you already understand Windows 2000 thoroughly or have completed the Sybex Study Guide then you will find the Exam Notes most effective. I used this text and the Study Guide with a little bit of dabbling into the Resource Kit and I passed the exam. Highly recommended.

This book is a confusing mess of anectdotal remedies for tinnitus. If you can decipher what this guy is saying and come up with a treatment plan, more power to you. It's worth a look only because of its low price, otherwise the serious tinnitus sufferer should just pass this one by.

I bought this book thinking that it would give me some dietary guidelines to follow that would help me. What I got was a very small booklet containing gobs of scientific explanations that, quite frankly, had me lost. Though reading about how hearing occurs was interesting, Dr. Yanick got to the end of the book without giving any dietary guideline except a very brief list of "what not to eat with what" and no explanation to go with it. He is also selling an "enzyme" complex, "which can be purchased at local health food stores." To me, this booklet raised more questions than supplied me with answers.

Dr. Yanick suffered hering loss himself and was tenacious enough (and smart enough) to find out why after being told that there was nothing that could be done.

I am so happy I stumbled accross this booklet because it reinforces my belief that nutritional abuse is responsible for many diseases. Sadly, I was mislead all these years in thinking that my problem was a pinched nerve in my neck and that there was no cure. Now, I can refocus my attention on the diet. I am very excited!

The book shown above is the hardcover edition. It's also published, without illustrations, in five paperback volumes. I read only THE TUDORS AND STUARTS, which had no illustrations other than two or three maps and graphs. The first half of the book, about the Tudors, was written by one man, and the second half, about the Stuarts, by another. The volume was short, only 142 pages.

This is my favorite period of British history and the one with which I am most familiar, but still, I found the text confusing. I think there were several misplaced lines of type in the second half. Maybe a writer can't do much in 70 pages to elucidate a period, and probably the illustrations would have distracted from the sketchy text. The writing was not lively.

The very last section is called "Intellectual and Religious Life," but it was mostly about religious life. Literature is almost totally ignored throughout the volume. Pepys is never mentioned.

There is no index. Perhaps the complete, one-volume version has an index, and the publisher didn't want to go to the trouble of compiling indexes for the individual volumes. Still, a history book without an index is unthinkable.

On the whole, the book was disappointing.

I'm a half-educated American, with the vaguest notions of British history. I bought this book hoping to be able to understand the story of the British Isles, in a more or less clear outline. That didn't happen: after 200 pages, I tossed the book, wondering just who it was written for. Here's why I tossed it:

(1) It doesn't have an author. Instead, it has a bunch of authors, each apparently assigned a certain portion of British history to cover. The problem is that none of the authors seem to have consulted each other, nor did the editor seem to edit. On every other page, you see a fact or definition repeated (by a previous author), or a topic referenced (but uncovered by a previous author). History is a messy thing, but it has to be organized to be learned, and any hope of presenting material in terms of themes or movements is lost, because styles and approaches switch radically from author to author, from clear and sparse, to confusing and overly-detailed.

(2) It should have an author. This sounds like point (1), but hear me out: the editor, Mr. Morgan, claims that writing grand history, spanning the length of the British past, just can't be written anymore. It is better, rather, to have specialists write about their specialities. Sounds good in theory, but is just abominable when placed next to comprehensive histories written by single authors. Toynbee and Trevleyan wrote such history earlier. And J. Roberts writes such history now, particularly his History of Europe, and History of the World, two models of lucid historical writing that make this disjointed compilation look like an ill-considered mishmash.

(3) It should have an audience. Or at least a different audience: the average intelligent reader wants a clean, interesting exposition of the important events and currents of the past. While some chapters achieve that, the most seem to be written not to the Average Reader, but to the Rival Colleague. And so we see a few facts casually presented, and then a sudden digression into some piece of scholarly minutae that leaves the reader (me, that is) pexplexed.

(4) It should teach historical knowledge, not assume it. This is one of those histories that assumes from the onset that you know all the relevant history. That might be OK for a narrow scholarly article, but it's an awful presumption for a comprehensive history. I read dozens of pages discussing the 'Domesday Book,' its importance, and its effects. The authors never thought to enlighten the ignorant, and explain what this Domesday Book was (an very old tax survey). Things like this litter every page.

From previous reading, I've learned that good history can be written. From reading this, I've learned that very bad history can be written, too.

This is a good book for a reader who is little like me. I have no training in British history and little in Western. I read quite a bit of history and don't mind a challenging work, though, which lets me get through most histories without too much frustration. This book often lacked the context with which self-teaching historians can teach themselves, even with frequent map- and index-checking.

The chapters of this book are all written by different authors, each one clearly an expert on the subject of his individual chapter. The authors do not agree on their audience. For instance, Gillingham's chapter on the early middle ages was clearly written, had several maps and followed a timeline before ending with a thematic look at the economy and political structure of the period. The very next chapter, Griffiths' chapter on the late middle ages, skips around by dozens of years within a single paragraph, mentions towns in France without maps and assumes foreknowledge of the battles of the Hundred Year war. Unfortunately, this book contains more chapters like the latter than the former.

I suspect that a European or an American with a basic familiarity of British history would find this a very useful intermediate level book with which to learn or re-discover an overview of Britain. The handiness of one volume written by many experts providing an overview of such a long history is what is right with this book. To those with some background in the subject, this book will be extremely convenient and useful. For someone without European geographic knowledge or a recognition of the figures in British history, even a patient and attentive reading will lead to frustrating hunts for the background of many important figures mentioned once within the narrative and to pointless searches through inadequate maps.

Trying to make sense of the text - translated from the French - is the main enjoyment of this book (if, that is, you consider deciphering tortured syntax enjoyable). The book struck me as a 'rush to publish' to capitalize on Lance Armstrong and the TDF.

While there are some nice photos of past Tours, I think my money would have been better invested elsewhere.

The Tour de France is, to me, the most compelling sporting event ever, so I really enjoyed the historical photographs, as well as the account of the origin of the Yellow Jersey. There are lots of charming anecdotes, and a rough overview of the careers of some of the big names. The bit on Lance Armstrong is too brief and seems to hold him and his accomplishments at arm's length, but then it was written by a Frenchman.

All in all, the text is less than stellar, but the photographs are really wonderful, so I'm glad I bought it, though I'd look elsewhere for a thorough history.

I very much liked this book, and I don't mind that it doesn't have much about Lance Armstrong. After all, 1) it was written before his domination of the Tour and 2) it's really meant to be about the older European stars of the Tour -- 30's to 70's is really the strength of the book. Be forewarned that it's pretty week from the 80's on. Hey, there's not much about Jan Ulrich either, and he won the Tour in 1996 before Lance did and supposedly well before the publication date.

Also keep in mind that it's not a text book history. The book is meant to give you a sense of personalities and rivalries. These people are household names in Europe, and detailed factual biographies would be out of place. This book is more like love letters and old pictures in the family album. Old disagreements are of more interest than statistics. This book is for lovers of road racing, not historians. It is heavy on the French side of racing, so there is still a lot to learn about when you put the book down. Think of it as a family history of the Tour written by the French relations.

Ever read a European cycle magazine? They are just like this book, full of gossip and pictures, and what some sprinter's family looks like, and a picture of his first road race when he was 12, and why he can't stand so-and-so who moved over to another team, etc., etc...

Summation: Hey, if you want pictures of Lance, go elsewhere. This book is for you if...
1) you want learn about the personalities of older European stars of the TdF, and find out why they were so beloved,
2) you want to learn about the TdF before the Tour was fashionable in the US,
3) you want to get a sense of the hardships cyclists faced in the early years of the sport,
and 4) maybe get inside of the head of those weird French riders and Tour organizers,
this is a good place to start.

This book could have been titled: "Review of a Bootleg."

I would have enjoyed this book a LOT more if I had had the bootleg "Rock and Roll Cowboy" to listen to while reading it. Williams is a great writer, but he spent far too much time discussing this bootleg that the average joe can not get. Thus I ultimately found the book to be incredibly frustrating and ended up TRADING IT FOR THE BOOTLEG! There's some kind of justice in that.

Williams has written an ambitious book which attempts to review Young's music from his earliest commercial releases in 1966 through 1994. As the other reviews indicate a large portion of the book is devoted to a song by song review of the Italian bootleg 4 CD retrospective "Rock and Roll Cowboy". Unlike those reviewers I had owned "Cowboy" for years before reading "Love To Burn" so my criticism of the book is a little different. Put simply, this book should be titled "What Neil Young's music means to Paul Williams." While Williams has some interesting thoughts about some songs that's all they are -- his thoughts. Second, Williams sometimes succumbs to the dread rock reviewer's affliction of writing pretentiously and sometimes sounds like a sophomore English Lit major who just had his first class in music theory. For hardcore Neil Young fans it is in an enjoyable read because it is interesting to compare and contrast one's thoughts with Williams' but the book offers little insight into the thoughts of Neil himself. Of course, no available book has done that because Neil is not forthcoming and does not allow the authors opportunity to pick his brain. Which is a shame because Young is the most important figure in rock history (a bold assertion I know but one that could be amply illustrated by the RIGHT book), and his personal life is a remarkable story as well. We need but lack the magnum opus which chronicles how a kid from Canada came to L.A. formed a seminal and hugely influential band moved on to superstardom as a solo artist and with CSNY, then deliberately abandoned mainstream acceptance with a series of the darkest, rawest albums ever released by a pop musician (Time Fades Away, On the Beach and Tonight's the Night), only to end the 70's with a series of successful albums that contained not a hint of compromise to commercial formulas. Then after reaching the top a second time, Young again (to borrow a phrase from Dylan) threw it all away-- with a series of albums so determinedly eccentric as to alienate all but his most devoted fans. Then at an age when his contemporaries were all either dead, retired or all but irrelevant he soared again for a third time with a stunning series of albums including Freedom, Ragged Glory, Weld and Sleeps With Angels ( and more after the book was published). Williams meticuoulsy chronicles the music but misses them man who produced the largest, most daring and most compelling body of work in rock history. Unfortunately we Rusties have to make due with books such as this rather than the definitive biography (or dare we pray, autobiography) because of the Neil's reluctance if not refusal to divulge his essence to others. But in the end it is maybe just that reluctance, or maybe ambivalence is a better word that makes Neil what he is. The man clearly wants acceptance and success--- but only on his terms. He does what moves him at the moment and hopes it is popular but won't change a note or a word to make his music more accessible or commercial. And, in the end he has succeeded. I can listen to the music and discuss it with my friends so william's book gives relatively little to the hardcore Young fan (and who else is going to read a book like this?) other than an enjoyable night's read while blasting Rock and Roll Cowboy or other Neil on the stereo----- but you can do a lot worse than that with your time.

I didn't realize this book was focused on the Rock and Roll Cowboy bootleg. I didn't have the bootleg when I bought the book but I still was able to enjoy it. I found Williams reactions to the songs interesting and it made me want to get the bootleg even more. When I finally did get it I reread the book and enjoyed it even more.