If you want to know what different styles of family emblems people have had this is a great book. If you want to know anything about the individual designs (whos it was, where it is from, age of origin), this is not the book. The book is 70% black and white and 30% color. It would be great for an artist, not a researcher.

Like all Dover publications, I was not disappointed when I picked up this book. The illustrations themselves are rich and detailed, truly a feast for the eyes, for any artist or craftsperson. The helpful text and detailed descriptions make the book easy to use and very enjoyable. This book makes a fantastic suplement to the "Design Your Own Coat of Arms" by Rosemary A. Chorzempa (Dover), because it gives you a great wealth of ideas from which to work. I highly reccommend this book to anyone who has an interest in heraldry, you won't be disappointed.

Bought this book to read on a trip to Las Vegas. The descriptions of the casinos and how they operated were interesting. However, Morgan Crew vacillated between being a push-over and being hot-tempered and obnoxious, as if the author couldn't quite decide on his character, and despite that, I somehow kept feeling I was in an old rerun of "Hart To Hart". It was flabby, rather like Mr. Crew.

A note to the publisher--books need editors, not just running a spell-checker. I've never read a book with so many errors before ("then" instead of "than", "it's" instead of "its" and many others). But this is the first iUniverse book I've read...

With each new book Morgan Crew welcomes you into his world of unbelievable wealth, exotic travel, true romance and deadly peril. The Morgan Crew mystery series pulls you into the fascinating lives of Morgan and his wife Sandy as they stumble into danger and excitement. The reader feels an instant bond with the likeable main characters. From the first page until the last you'll be an active participant trapped in the fantasy that is Morgan Crew. It's a great ride!

pretty basic stuff; as visual professionals we all know this "brand building business;" this book just reviews what we all learned in art and design school...

The book offered an excellent case study of store communications and its effects on the modern consumer. With full color cased studies of the retail "BRAND" it's a "can't do without" book for any retailer.

This book offers some good information for considering different aspects about the new testament literature. However, I'd recommend "Fortress Introduction to the Gospels" by Mark Allan Powell as a place to start, rather than this book.

Patzia sometimes makes incredible statements of fact, which in reality are points of debate among scholars. For example, in one half sentence, Patzia declares (with no backing) that the Gospel of John was written in Ephesus in the late 1st Century. Contrast that with Powell's two page discussion of the when and where questions of that same gospel.

Basically, there is not enough discussion of the reasoning of the scholars on particular points. In one odd twist, the Patzia states that the authorship of some of Paul's letters is questioned. This includes, among others, 2 Thessalonians. A couple of pages later, though, he makes the statement that "Paul himself" gives (in 2 Thessalonians) an explanation about how to tell that the letter is authentic. Of course, if Paul didn't write 2 Thessalonians, then the explanation is bogus, a point that Patzia seems to miss.

I have to admit that I was surprised that the book didn't contain more information about the decision making process for what was considered canon. This work only gives the Council of Carthage of 397 brief treatment.

The book does contain some valuable information, but it wouldn't be my first choice. It's too bad the author (or editor) didn't spend a little extra time refining the material.

Actually, I rather enjoyed the book. It didn't look as though Patzia is so concerned with making a strong position as he is with expressing a summary and the different positions on the topics he covers. The glossary looked helpful and I really appreciated the extensive end notes and annotated bibliographies included in them. I thought there was a lot of good information here for someone wanting an introduction to the issues.

Mapping America's Past is an attempt at using maps to portray American social, economic, military, and political development. The maps that are included are excellent, but what was included is somewhat puzzling. The general analysis of wars, expansion, and elections are useful, but maps of political party development in the Cleveland area or prostitution in New York City are not entirely relevant to the general American history student. Similarly, many of the accompanying texts offer little detailed insight into the topics the maps cover.

This book should be considered a general resource, but for an in-depth historical atlas, the reader must look elsewhere.

A highly satisfying review of historical topics.I'm often able to read only in 20-minute bites; every spread of this book is a self-contained history lesson, accessible in 20 minutes but worth revisiting many times. Most important topics and events of American history are covered well, and the rendering of complex information (e.g. the six gauges of railroad in 1850 and how this incompatablity affected commerce, population and political power) is truly inspired. This is a superb gift for an American history buff.

Ok, just to make this short, I'm gonna skip the names of the companions of prophet Muhammad, like Ibn Masud, who are claimed--by the authors of this so-called research--to be the authoring writers of the Quran. It's good the author was not also bold enough to claim that prophet Muhammad also wrote the Quran, since all fair historians agree that Muhammad was illiterate (he could not read or write). Any decent, honest, and fair historian knows that the Quran was written down by those companions of Muhammad, because Muhammad himself was illiterate and had to dictate them the verses that were inspired to him, but whoever is thought to have written the Quran by the authors of this so-called research or anyone else, I just want to ask this question:

These are 3 verses from the Quran: [12] Man We did create from a quintessence (of clay); [13] Then We placed him as (a drop of) sperm in a place of rest, firmly fixed; [14] Then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood; then of that clot We made a (foetus) lump; then We made out of that lump bones and clothed the bones with flesh; then We developed out of it another creature. So blessed be Allah, the Best to create! WHO authored this more than 1400 years ago? Who knew the precise stages of the development of the embryo inside a mother's womb, starting from where it was a "sperm" to where it becomes a human baby of flesh and bones? Who knew embryology back then in the 600s? Ibn Masud? Or Muhammad himself??

Just remember that they did not have microscopes, embryoscopy, or 3D ultrasound images back then, ok? To those people, you just "squirted some sticky liquid inside a woman and a baby comes!"

Just a question to ponder upon, for those who read the Quran with an unbiased heart and mind.

This book is the best history of the Qorán I have seen out of hundreds. It's thorough inclusion of the most authentic and ancient information available, together with its indexes of verses and authors is unparalelled. This is the best point of departure available for the study of the origins of the Qorán. It's total impartiality is also unique, making it of interest to both Moslems and non-Moslems who want to know the truth about this fascinating subject. This book includes exerpts from Jeffrey's ¨The Unique ibn al Bawwab Manuscript in the Chester Beatty Museum¨ along with references to every other manuscript known to pre WWII Europe. Many people who have studied this subject have yet to see how much material is a available from the ancient sources. They would be amazed to see how much deeper this search leads after reading Arthur Jeffrey's masterpiece.

In Arthur Miller's one act play, A Memory of Two Mondays, we explore an automobolie parts factory during the depression era. We follow Burt as he works there and the scene is two different Mondays. He grows to love his co-workers there, and they leave a lasting impression on him. This mirrors Arthur Miller's own experience. Burt, like Arthur, is only working there to be able to save money to go to college, but while at the factory he gets another sort of education in the realm of life experience.

Arthur Millers A Memory of two Mondays is a great work. I think it is a good one act play. The part where Burt leaves the automobile parts factory was my favorite part. It is a good short play that is easy to read. I recommend it to any age group.

A good overview reference for Microsoft BackOffice, except for one detail not mentioned anywhere in AMAZON.COM: This book only covers NT Server Version 3.51. How disapointed and fooled I felt when I received the book and looked at the window in an example and the small words at the end of back cover. It mainly does not cover any issues of NT 4 (Server/Workstation) or SQL Server 6.5. What a shame!

This book takes you from installing an NT Server to setting up MS Backoffice, including MS SQL Server, MS Exchange, MS SMS, and MS SNA Server. The book covers the installation and administration clearly and is a great guide for beginners

This book charts the stadium and minor league baseball developments in 15 cities in the US. The author spends much of his time discussing the inter-workings with the local governments and the minor league teams. Also into consideration is the city planning and community involvement. This book is very interesting if you are interested in the business side of baseball or the inter-workings of government. The book speaks mainly about developements in the 1980s, some of which have changed over the years. An example would be Durham and their lack of a modern stadium, which changed in the mid 1990s. While some data is out-dated, it is still a good source for infomration.

When it comes to considering, funding and building minor league baseball stadiums, economic development agencies and local governments don't need to reinvent the wheel. This book outlines the experiences of other communities in relatively useful detail. Learn from their experiences and establish a workable platform from which to build your own approach to funding and building (or perhaps deciding not to build) a minor league park in your community.

Though you can't tell it from reading the dust jacket, "Napoleon and Wellington" is a book written for a very specific audience. It became apparent from the very first chapter that author Andrew Roberts is assuming that his readers already have substantial knowledge about the lives of his two protagonists. Rather than a straightforward account of their lives like you would expect in a dual biography, the author makes comments and observations about facts he assumes the reader already knows. I already had some general knowledge of Napoleon's career, and I still had a hard time following the narrative.

A second observation about the book is that the battle of Waterloo itself gets a very small percentage of the narrative. Most of the book concerns what came both before and after Waterloo in the lives of the two generals who fought there. Also, events in the book are not presented chronologically and Roberts jumps around while comparing the two leaders.

There is nothing necessarily wrong with Roberts's approach, except that the book is being marketed to the general history audience. I would definately not recommend it to anyone not already intimately familiar with the subject matter.

Many people might consider the subject of the Napoleonic Wars a "dead" historical issue, as there have probably been tens of thousands of works on pretty much every facet of the series of wars that ravaged Europe in the early part of the 19th century. Included in that glut of volumes is another couple of thousand biographies on Napoleon, and a few hundred more on his mortal adversary, the Duke of Wellington. Roberts takes on the tough task of describing these two titans within one volume, while also describing their relationship. He suceeds for the most part.

One thing Roberts does very well is his research. Every fact and every assumption he makes is studiously backed up by documents and numerous quotes by the subjects involved. His frequent use of era documents and historical testimonials add a lot to the narration. The writing can be a bit slow and dull at parts, but on the whole the story told is very engaging.

In my opinion, the conclusions reached in this book are fairly simple. Napoleon is regarded as a very capable military man, who was handicapped by his arrogance and willingness to thrown thousands of lives away for little reason, time and time again. His legendary military genious is tempered a bit in this book, as you realize his opposition, on the most part, was pathetic. Wellington is described as an extremely stern military genius, a very straight forward soldier who had a way of utilizing the terrain in ways even Napoleon could not comprehend. His lack of intellectual finery and philosophical reasoning, strange among the elite of the time, is identified, with some humourous results. As he should, Wellington comes out the better in this book, but his faults were many and they are definetly not glossed over in this book.

A very good addition to Napoleonic War history and an accessible work for any history buff.