About time the Prudent King received treatment worth his contemporaneous status! Not much has been written on Phillip II that would pass the most superficial test of historical accuracy. This book, a survey of his reign, is balanced and well written. Kamen describes neither a demon (the characterization of Phillip which most English readers would find familiar) nor a saint (the preferred version among Spanish monarchists), but the first modern bureaucrat. Kamen scholarship has some precursors in the English historical world, ie Elton, Parker, but his contribution to popular history in the form of biography is unique at this point. The 30 Years War, the casus belli for Modern Europe, is inconceivable without Phillip II's presence. This book paints with an informed brush the Spanish dynastic cause. I recommend this book highly.

Kamen offers a very complete and detailed description of the great grandson of the Catholic Kings and the difficulty of managing the most extensive empire the world has ever known. The facts are taken from great sources and presented in an honest fashion. Kamen strays from legends and myths and even challenges some of them as he did in "The Spanish Inquisition". The dedication of Felipe II to his realm is explained realisticly. Finally, the chronology is followed with discipline and is commendable. I would recommend this book to anyone desiring information on this Hapsburg leader.

That's right! I am, at this moment, making a powerful epic screenplay about the greatest king in the 1500s. It is called PHILIP, KING OF SPAIN - and it will star me as the great king Philip II. I will show him as the man, the king, the warrior, the father, the husband, and the ruler of his court!

So forget about those other little biopics like THE LAST EMPEROR, AMADEUS, ELIZABETH, and others! PHILIP, KING OF SPAIN will be an Academy Award-winning, Best Picture epic film made by yours truly - Kristoffer Infante! It will be a companion to my other Oscar-winning Best Picture, PRISONER OF WAR - written, directed, produced, and starring me - and TRIANGLE, another Oscar-winning Best Picture!

I will be faithful to the man and the myth, and destroy all that negativity that has dogged Philip in the last 400 years! Philip will be loved and appreciated again!

Count on it!

A.E. Waite is a well-respected author in the study of The Mysteries. However, this book is not his best work. To be honest, I never could bring myself to do more than read sections of this book. I coul dnever read it straight-through. However, given the system of Tarot, flip-throughs are usually all you need, to discover what you need to know. There are many better books on the the subject of How to Study The Tarot, but this is a good Beginner's lesson. So many people try to make the Study of Tarot a "cut & dry" issue (i.e., "this is the way it is....")--however, in actuality, it is a life-long process of Study, Experiment, and Collection of Knowledge. It is best to read books by Many authors of Many perspectives and study Jungian Psychology, as well. Consider this book a "first stepping-stone on the Path of Enlightenment."

I've bought this book with expectations of getting loads of information in it, and was somewhat disappointed by it.

The book suffers from several problems :

- The book is a hard reading - Waite's style is obfuscated, which makes the non-trivial material harder to understand.

- Waite doesnt tell the whole truth, and not even half of it, not to mention the inclusion of misinformation. Examples include unexplained symbols (symbols on charioteer's belt, the fool's clothings, and many others), desciption of the emptress being 'virgo intacta', etc.

- Some of the cards' descriptions contradict, or at least appear to contradict, the pictures on the cards.

- Waite borrows a lot from earlier writers, but then goes on to pass criticism on his sources and belittles them.

So the book has to be read very carefuly, criticaly, and with a lot of patience. And those who do so *will* gain - the book is better than many of the instant tarot reading guides, giving truer and deeper information from the horse's mouth.

I suggest people to read this book, but *not* as the first book on the deck, and preferably along with other material (e.g. books about the golden dawn, tarot history, or symbolism).

Waite's pretentious as all get out, but he stresses that the tarot reader is "Boss". THat Tarot is esoteric, and above all, when there is question, it is the diviner him or her self that must come to the answer. THat is what it's all about. He's the first that stresed this. BUY THIS BOOK AND READ IT IF YOU READ TAROT

This book is very good for practitioners who need to look up something they have forgotten. It can be useful for beginning students, but as far as understanding concepts is concerned, MacGregor's is the best. For a beginner, Nilson's book sometimes gets too cluttered. MacGregor's book covers almost everything in Nilson's book, but with greater emphasis on conceptual understanding.

The USA is 5% of the world population. That market statistical condition should dictate that the metric system is to dominate and move (drag) the USA into the metric system. Yet, the dinosaur lives on.

i,would like to thank DR. NILSON for his great effort to submit
concrete design in a very simple and professional way.
i like this book and i have last four editions .
i am waiting mor from our great DR NILSON .

History still matters. It's best lesson is that we really don't know what is going to happen next. My own attempts to contemplate the kind of secret circus stunts that I have observed have always been extralimital to the presses' goals, but Peter F. Drucker's autobiography, ADVENTURES OF A BYSTANDER, one of the best books I've read, shows how thoroughly someone can describe a fantastic range of people, those who would normally protect their privacy so well that hardly anyone would expect to meet them, even in print. In MANAGING IN THE NEXT SOCIETY, my big surprise was discovering that a modern literary hero, "Franz Kafka also invented the safety helmet. He was the great man in factory inspection and workmen's compensation." (p. 33). Trying to find a place in society, when I know so much by and about Kafka that mental evaluators (I have taken some of their tests) are likely to consider me confused, and my history suggests that I am likely to be grandiose if I try to think at all, this book might not help my future, if the future society is one in which health care has become a top priority, "because health care and education together will be 40 percent of the gross national product within twenty years. Already, they're at least a third." (p. 29). Drucker shows that he is still involved in checking business for some sign of a heartbeat. Thinking that there might be a society some day, but we aren't there yet, sums up the way a lot of people exist.

I continue to be shocked by the inability of people to fathom politics. As someone concerned with financing and management, Drucker is free to report awful experiences whenever a union is involved. Sometimes a union represents the power of people to demand money: "In the early 1950s, President Truman sent me to Brazil to persuade the government there that with the new technology, we could wipe out illiteracy in five years at no cost. The Brazilian teachers' union sabotaged it." (p. 31). In the U.S., unions had so much political power that it is possible for Drucker to report, "Let me say that if we had listened to Mr. Eisenhower, who wanted catastrophic health care for everybody, we would have no health care problems. What shut him down, as you may not have heard, was the UAW. In the 1950s, the only benefit the unions could still promise was company-paid health care. . . . So the UAW killed it with help from the American Medical Association. Still, the AMA wasn't that powerful. The UAW was." (p. 35). If the doctors were willing to take whatever they could get from existing plans instead of trying to figure out how to get any money from the government, you ought to be able to figure out how powerful the government was when Eisenhower (who only wanted to cover "everybody who spent more than 10 percent of their taxable income for health expenditures" p. 35) was president, a real general, compared to the administration of the fly-by fighter pilot who makes the big promises now.

Financially, it seems odd to me that this book is proposing "a service waiting to be born: insurance against the risks of foreign-exchange exposure." (p. 20). Anyone who thought that derivatives might accomplish this ought to keep reading until they get a full history of financial services. "But these financial instruments are not designed to provide a service to customers. They are designed to make the trader's speculations more profitable and at the same time less risky--surely a violation of the basic laws of risk and unlikely to work. . . . as a good many traders have already found out." (p. 140). The historical fluctuation is the least part of the beast in the aggregate of currency markets, but Drucker pictures the situation in miniature: "mostly among the world's huge number of middle-size businesses that suddenly find themselves exposed to a chaotic global economy. No business, except an exceptional very big one, can protect itself against this risk by itself. Only aggregation, which subjects the risks to probability, could do so. . . . Making catastrophic currency risk insurable might similarly make obsolete most of the foreign-exchange business of existing institutions, let alone their frantic currency trading and speculation in derivatives." (p. 146). That was written in 1999. A general decline has probably not calmed the waters much since then, but the question of whose money would be capable of keeping the business world afloat might still be rising. There was a time when money itself might be worth something, back in 1724, when Jonathan Swift had to pretend to be M. B. Drapier to complain that coins of brass were not the same as gold and silver. It has been a long time since anyone could live "in a country where the people of all ranks, parties and denominations are convinced to a man, that the utter undoing of themselves and their posterity forever, will be dated from the admission of that execrable coin; that if it once enters, it can no more be confined to a small or moderate quantity, than the plague can be confined to a few families, and that no equivalent can be given by any earthly power, any more than a dead carcass can be recovered to life by a cordial." (October 13, 1724).

Drucker is politically moderate enough to believe "it is socially and morally unforgivable when managers reap huge profits for themselves but fire workers. As societies, we will pay a heavy price for the contempt this generates among middle managers and workers." (p. 150). Drucker still thinks of society as including some workers, but this seems less likely the older I get, and he is way up there, if age means anything.

REVIEW: Drucker tends to write two types of management books. One type is the more practical/"how-to" type of book where he aims directly at improving the effectiveness of managers of all types through their actions. Such books as "Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices" (1974), "Innovation & Entrepreneurship" (1985), "Managing for Results" (1964), and "The Effective Executive" (1967) fall into this category (all of which are still highly relevant). The second type, while still practical, primarily aims at imparting a broader level of understanding of politics, economy, and society (and their trends) to help executives make effective longer-term decisions and shape the future of their organizations. His typical approach in these books is to bring an historical perspective (over decades or even centuries) into understanding the current trends of human activity that are shaping the future. Drucker's "The Age of Discontinuity" (1969), "Managing in a Time of Great Change" (1995), and "Management Challenges for the 21st Century" (1999) are examples of this type. "Managing in the Next Society" (2002) falls into the second category.

The book is actually a collection of articles that Drucker has published from 1996-2001. The basic theme is that it is not the "New Economy" that executives (and all leaders) should be trying to understand it's the "Next Society". The chapters generally touch upon the three major trends that he's identified as shaping the Next Society: the decline of the young population, the decline of manufacturing, and the emergence of the information revolution.

As he did with his very first book "End of Economic Man" in relation to WWII, Drucker is again reminding us that we must first look to understanding society if we wish to understand major historical events/transitions. This thought is summed up best by the title of a chapter about understanding Japan - "It's the Society, Stupid". While that chapter is limited to Japan, I interpreted the book as telling us that we need to understand society in order to understand all major world events and trends. This is especially important after 9/11 when there's a temptation to look at issues through only political, militaristic, or economic lenses.

STRENGTHS: Since the book consists of articles previously published in magazines from 1996-2001, the text is generally concise, interesting, and easy to read. I also loved the way Drucker brings history into some of the chapters (e.g. he covers Luther, Machiavelli, Hamilton, the industrial revolution, slaves, knights, and inventions such as the book, the stirrup, and the longbow).

WEAKNESSES: The downside of a book of articles is that there is a lot of repetition of concepts and phrases and the book is less cohesive and focussed than it could be. However, I didn't find this too serious of a problem. Also, there are no graphics or charts (it's not Drucker's style).

WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: Those executives and leaders (whether in business, politics, or non profits) who are responsible for shaping the future of their organizations.

Well, He is the biggest name in clasical management guru, and he has contributed so much for the management. I don't think he will write a real-whole-book again. So we will savour his thoughts in any way we can. This is the past writings on many places colected into a book. It is still very concise, clear and have great insight as usual. There is nothing breakthrough here, but the vast Drucker's fans still can find a lot of insights to think about.

For the more serious eoteric user of the Tarot, the Albano-Waite deck is a deck of cards which uses the drawings of the Waite/Colman Smith/Rider deck, but with colours which conform more closely to esoteric tradition. It is almost like a Waite Deck with some of the hidden or more personal choices made by AE Waite brought back to esoteric tradition. A case in point: Key 14 (Temperance) traditionally has a rainbow associated with Sagittarius in its symbolism. Waite/Smith used irises. The Albano-Waite deck has all of Waite's elements, but adds the rainbow once more. See the book by PF Case on the Tarot for the more traditional symbols and colours. This book, originally written for the Rider deck, has been rewritten for the BOTA deck, and includes comparisons between the two decks. The Albano deck to a large extent fits the BOTA colours to the Waite drawings. The colours have meanings in meditation and contemplation, and are not meant to be "natural", hence one has yellow skies rather than blue in The Fool, etc.

The Albino-Waite Tarot Cards are bright and full of life. They are mostly based on the drawings of the rider-waite. These cards are very useful if you are interested in tarot or are thinking about learning about tarot.

I would buy this book again it was very interesting and enthouciastic for you to lern

King Arthur's Noble knights
Sidney Lanier's re-telling of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table may appear confusing. However this story has the same original plot and theme of King Arthur weaved into the story. This book contains stories on the coming and passing of Arthur in the 6th century, King Arthur's most noble knights, and the quest for the Holly Grail.
Sidney Lanier's version tells more details then other novels of King Arthur. For instance, Lanier always describes what knights do when they traveling to a destination. He tells where the knights stop and sleep for the nights and what they eat the next morning.
Lastly, in my opinion this book should be read by adults who understand the meaning of words such as wrought, meseemeth, and wot. I did not enjoy reading this novel because of the complexity of the language.

Arthurian Supremacy
This book is broken down into seven smaller books. The titles are as follows, "King Arthur", " Sir Lancelot Du Lake", "Garneth of Orokearly", "Sir Tristram", Galahd Sir Percival and the quest for the holy Grail", "The Fair maid of Astolate" And "The death of Arthur". This novel contains all of the classic stories about Arthur and his knights. From the birth of Arthur to the fall of his kingdom, this book has it all. Sadly there are basically no changes to the story line at all which can be disappointing. I Personally do not recommend this book for new readers or people who like to fast read given that the old English context makes it confusing and hard to read The old context is kind of a two edged sword it is both confusing and interesting. This novel was written by N. V. Kilen

N.C. Wyeth illustrated the book of "The Boy's King Arthur"in 1917. The Boy's King Arthur, is avout the top main knights such as, Lancelot, and how they become a knight. This story exists as part of the original King Arthur stories, but it becomes shorter than the original. Also in The Boys King Arthur, you will encounter how knights acted back in the fourth century.
The author of this story uses more details, and more unique, and unusual things than the original story. The battle with Mordred and Arthur at the end, I considered that to be an extremely unique fight, because Mordred becomes a traitor to his own father, Arthur. Unusually, N.C. Wyeth adds old English in the ways of back then in the story. The Narrator of The Boys King Arthur remains just an outsider of the story. The main setting of the novel places in England, and the themes of the novel, exists as just how peasents and people become the top Knights of the Round Table. (Lancelot, Tristram, Galahad, Percival, and the fair maid of Astolat) Also the story illustrates how King Arthur becomes King of England, And his death.
I recommend that people should read this book only if they're thirteen and up. Also I recommend that you should read The Boys King Arthur only if you read the original version of King Arthur. I say this because the book remains in old English, and might be quite hard to understand. I thought this book is quite hard to understand of the old English, and the length of the book with the old English.

Anyone who idolizes Dicaprio should not be allowed to read Rimbaud. In all actuallity, this book(like the movie) was uninformitive and dull. It focuses more on Verlaines psychology than Rimbauds--and as we all know, Verlaine was an ugly man. Im sick of hearing about this piece, it was lame. I only pray that all the teenie boppers of the world don't start reading Rimbaud since they love Dicaprio so much---it might actually give them a glimpse of what real life is like, and we wouldn't want to upset there little minds...now would we?

What a pretentious piece of garbage, both the screenplay and the movie itself. One is better served by reading Rimbaud's poems themselves. If you've never read Rimbaud, please do yourself a favor and stay away from the movie and screenplay. Stick with the poems.

Without seeing the actual film, I was stunned by the screenplay. Not only are the words captivating and true to poets Rimbaud and Verlaine but the actual film directions are provocative and insightful. The entire piece is beautifully complex. "The only unbearable thing is that nothing is unbearable" I'll be honest, I find it a damn shame to have DiCaprio playing the role only because I feel that the movie will be taken less seriously and Rimbaud will forever be a teen dream in the minds of many.

One appreciates Weller's enthusiasm and readable style. However, he is a Wellington apologist and an anglophile. As such the reader needs to take his work with a large pinch of salt. Rather than a careful presentation of documented fact, we instead get a repetition of the anglophone mythology of this campaign. This book is not serious history, rather something nearer fiction, as are most British works on the subject. One refreshing exception to that is Hofschroer's two volumes on 1815.

Replying to the other 'reviews', none of which show signs that the author read the book:

It is no suprise to find that appologists for Napoleon are still arround. After all he is still taught as a hero in French schools rather than as the bloodthirsty tyrant he really was. Napoleon was the Saddam Hussein of his age, starting a series of unnecessary and ultimately fruitless campaigns which he ultimately lost.

The battle of Waterloo was only fought because Napoleon decided to invade Belgium. Jac Weller is quite right to point out that Napoleon lost to Wellington. In fact Wellington beat Napoleon twice, first in the Penisular campaign when he whipped Napoleon's generals, then at Waterloo he beat the man himself.

We are too often blinded by the supposed "brilliance" of Napoleon, but at Waterloo his shortcomings were finally exposed. This book sets out to give an even-handed account of the battle, and presents both commanders in a realistic light. As an avid student of the era, I have long found it strange how Wellington, outnumbered as he was, could win the battle of Waterloo, and yet still "come in second" to Napoleon, whom he so clearly bested.

This worthy book demonstrates that Wellington and Napoleon may have been equal in talent in most departments, but in two areas, the Iron Duke had a clear advantage: he could see "the other side of the hill", and he was always present on a battlefield where he was most needed, at the precise moment he was most needed.

For the apologists for Napoleon, this book will make hard reading. For once an author is not blinded by the light of the late Emperor's posthumous PR machine, and assesses his military talents objectively and coldly, a task long overdue.

Buy this book.

As of now I am completing drivers Ed. We take tests over this book, and I feel it is rather outdated for what it is being used for. The pictures are helpful, but the text I found boring and most of the text seemed just to be fill. They streched out simple procedures, and filled the usefull information with unimportant details. If you want to pass the test, read your state drivers manual. If you think this will help you, try it, but I warn you, its not worth it. Your state drivers manual is worth you time, check it out!

I have read some of the reviews and it appears to me that the ones who don't like this book are the children who had to read it. First of all this book is not written for each state, so you will have to check on your own state or county laws along with this book. As for this book not helping you pass the "TEST". Responsible drivers know that their is much much more to driving then passing the "TEST", which this book goes into great detail letting its readers know. I've been A police officer for almost 9 years and now work at a school and deal with children all the time and a lot of thing seem boring to them. But we as adults must continue the teach, and hope that some of what they read sinks in. When dealing with driving a vehicle, learning by experience a lot of times ends up to late. This book doesn't teach you how to pass the "TEST" it teaches you how to be a better driver, something we all need to be...

This driver's ed curriculum is outstanding! My son knows things I don't. I would fail the final test if I had to take it. It is thorough and keeps the reader's interest with colorful illustrations. My son passed the DMV test with flying colors.

forget it! What a disappointment! If you're looking for beautiful nudes, chose other books. Beside the Weston pictures there are quite no nudes.

The photographs in this book are the reason to read it. You will see a fairly good representation of images with their wives as subject by nine important photographers (150 in black and white and 5 in color). These photographs show an intriguing progression of perception and relationship over time that you can and should judge for yourself. In almost all cases, the images cover at least a decade (and often more) so the time-lapse element of the relationship is strong.

Before going further, you should know that there are nudes in the book, as well as sections of nudes. If this were a movie, it would probably be R rated. So, plan accordingly. There is certainly nothing that is not in reasonably good taste, but the unclothed states here will be viewed by most parents as inappropriate for many children.

The book concept here is an intriguing one. "With a spouse as model, both participants are exposed . . . ." They are "equally aware of ech other's strengths, shortcomings, vulnerabilities -- both equally naked in the light of the relationship."

The couples (husband-photographer listed first, as the book does) so displayed here are:

Baron Adolph de Meyer and Baroness Olga de Meyer

Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O'Keeffe

Edward Weston and Charis Weston

Harry Callahan and Eleanor Callahan

Emmet Gowin and Edith Gowin

Lee Friedlander and Maria Friedlander

Nicholas Nixon and Bebe Nixon

Masahisa Fukase and Yoko Fukase

Seiichi Furuya and Christine Gossler

With that clue, the book's viewer will find much food for thought. First, the photographer husbands clearly did not see their wives as the kind of woman professional that many of us think about today. Images of the women as competent adults outside of their family roles are rare here, even though the women include highly talented and intelligent individuals. (I cannot comment about all of them, because I have not read biographies of all, and the notes here are pretty brief about the wives.)

Second, the husbands seem to go through an emotional evolution with regard to their wives. Initially, the images are idealized views of some "perfect" person in one way or other. Georgia O'Keeffe commented that the early photographs of her describe someone she never thought she was. Then, gradually the images begin to look like an individual with a personality as well as a body. Next, the personality dominates the image. Finally, the unveiled thoughts about the photographer begin to stand out. Where the relationship has foundered or other problems have occurred, the look coming from the "model wife" can be one of bare civility mixed with stronger negative emotions. The text refers to the parallel of Picasso's depictions over time of his first wife, Olga, as a somewhat similar evolution in depiction. For me, considering this progression from idealization to describing the person and relationship somewhat realistically was the most interesting part of the book.

Third, obviously the women aged as well. That is to be expected. What was interesting is that some of the husbands are drawn to developing this as a positive change while others seem to emphasize its negative impact on beauty. Here, again there is food for thought about what the husband was looking for in the relationship. I was embarrassed for some of these men in this context when besotted with youth, prettiness and sex. They did not come across well at all.

Fourth, the photographers had their own concepts about what their oeuvre was. By superimposing this style onto one's spouse as model, this seems to suggest that the style is more important than the spouse. I'm not sure I would have liked to have been the model in many of these cases -- especially where displayed in a sexual or a fragmentary way, as though one is a set of spare parts.

Fifth, much of the relationships seem to remain hidden. These are not attempts at biography or autobiography so the kinds of scenes, emotions, and contexts are quite limited. As the text points out, much more is revealed than when a professional model is the subject. The textual discussion of Andrew Wyeth and Helga makes for a nice counterpoint.

I graded the book down one star for the style of the writing. There is an academic air to the methods, but lots of petty distinctions intrude to display judgments. If you are like me, you will find the essays dissatisfying in their language, lack of depth and perspective.

I suggest that you and your spouse take photographic portraits of one another. Then continue to do this over time. Discuss what you both see as a way to view your relationship in a more accurate way, and then work to improve that relationship.

Enjoy a model marriage rather than a model spouse!

I recently attended the accompanying exhibit to this book at the Cleveland Museum of Art and I was truly touched. It was a powerfully psychological set of pictures, very deep; some clearly sexual in nature, others frankly disturbing (one photographer took photos of his wife's body AFTER she committed suicide by jumping out of a ninth floor window). The overall feel of the book as well as for the exhibit was one of mutual revelation over time between wife and husband and needless to say, some of the photos are quite intimate yet genuine. There is no need to critique individual photos or photographers, they are all masters producing masterworks. Get the book, and if the exhibit comes to your city, go. Don't forget to take your wife.