The book made of Guthrie's song translates to written form suitable for very young children. It is mildly entertaining as a book, and the artwork, while flat and lopsided, is bearable. However, the accompanying CD is shamefully bad. I recommend skipping the book and buying one of Guthrie's CD's for children. The songs are much better when Guthrie sings them and accompanies himself. The music on this CD is as flat as the artwork in the book--no more banjo, please! On top of that, the mediocre musicians are accompanied by the Half Tone-Deaf Children's Chorus. The fourth track on the CD is a long, inane "discussion" between the book's artist and some children who are much too young and suggestible to have anything interesting (or even cute) to say. I recommend not wasting time on this package at all. If you do buy it, keep the book and turn the CD into a frisbee.

...I...prefer Woody's music performed by Woody himself, but I can attest that my children would rather listen to the band that perform on the CD that comes with this book. We have a decent collection of children's music and the one CD that leads the lists of requests is this one. Perhaps (and hopefully) when they grow older they will prefer the authentic Woody, but at this young age, this version is much more pleasing to their ears.

And the book's simple and happy message is a wonderful way to introduce your young children to Woody Guthrie and his vision of love and compassion for all.

My little boy and girl (ages 2 and 4) cannot type yet, but I speak for them when I give this book and CD the full 5 stars.

Howdi Do is the narrative of the Woodie Guthrie song of the same title and it works as well in book form as in song. The text is cheerful and silly and complimented by the colorful illustrations of Vladimir Radunsky. Kids will love the simple rhymes of the verse and the silly words of the chorus. With the bonus CD of the song included inside the front cover, the whole family will be singing this folk song in no time. Read together, sing together and enjoy!

Basically, this book is an ailing author's reflections on his life and works. The author is a very thinly disguised Nabokov - indeed, it is possible to treat "Look at the Harlequins" as a pseudo-testimony by Nabokov.

As such, it demands of the reader a familiarity with Nabokov's works - I can't imagine that the novel would have anything like its intended effect had one not read Nabokov's other novels. Whilst this is not uninteresting, it seemed to me that Nabokov was making two large assumptions:

(a) that, as I mentioned above, the reader would have the necessary background knowledge; and

(b) that the reader would be interested in this form of testimony as opposed to a straightforward autobiography (I confess I have not yet read "Speak, Memory").

Indeed, there is fun to be had with spotting the allusions to the real Nabokov's works. Yet, it seemed to me to be a rather sad book, not only because the main character is struggling with the onset of dementia, but it also reflects what I feel to be Nabokov's obsession with his status in modern literature - I suspect he wanted to be thought of as a great author, when in fact he was a middling one.

To get all the book's humor requires not only having read the collected works of Vladimir Nabokov, but all the idiotic things forgotten reviewers wrote about his work. Vadim, the Russian émigré narrator is a parody of misconceptions - at least what Nabokov considered misconceptions - of his character, in particular, that he must have been a pederast . Nabokov was playing with various imaginable pasts for someone with his general background, but his play seems to me to be as heavy-handed as his narrator is incapable of happiness in any of his relationships. Compared to its immediate predecessors (the seemingly endless Ada, and the brief but opaque Transparent Things) Look at the Harlequins is readable, but for me the last novels are a marked decline from his earlier masterpieces.

There are certainly pleasures in the text and flashes of wit, but overall the fictional memoir of a passive cloddish alter ego is a disappointment, a not-very-fun series of games and in-jokes. It seems to me that Vadim understood but cannot implement the title's command. At least he doesn't enjoy those he manages to see as harlequins there to amuse him.

Beginning with a list of the author's "other" books, which don't exist outside the distorted mirror world of what Nabakov calls "LATH" (as he acronymically pegs Look At The Harlequins! within that book's own text) is a wildly inventive metafiction in the bilingually verbose hyper-alliterative Nabokovian mold. We get splendid sentences here on the jeweled gift of selfhood giving reason to resist suicide from whatever facet, cranky meditations on the author's pederastic proclivities and ego, and, most brilliantly, strange slips down the semiotic slope into madness. In two or three places in this book we find ourselves in a meticulously rendered literary reality and then, through a process of what one might call overdescription as exquisite as it is subtle, we find that our narrator has lost contact with the very rich world he has created for us; there is also a (to me) fascinating motif of the author's self-analysis of a strange spatial or geographical malady: he cannot mentally reverse himself and return after picturing a scene in his mind's eye. (This perhaps is meant as a sly parallel to time's one-way flow: time, which via the magic of the book, as opposed to the temporal incarceration of life, can be reversed--a hint of a kind of "law of nature" that might apply to a "real" metafictional character.) And despite the hefty overlap of the life of the protagonist with that of Nabokov (e.g., he has English tutors, Russian aristocratic blood, contempt for psychoanalysts, and the like), this book is clearly metafiction. The protagonist here, as with the protagonists in Transparent Things and Lolita, is fascinated by butterflies but not an entomologist of Nabokov's caliber. What makes LATH different from the work of other authors of metafiction's alluringly magical, "self"-indulgent mode, depends on the previous richness Nabokov has built up in his fictions which, from the Russian-drafted Gift to Humbert Humbert in Lolita, *already* deal with a protagonist much like the author. Thus the slippage here is not dual, between the author and his protagonist, but "trial" (as one might say), between the author, his protagonist, and the lives of his other protagonists, memorably Humbert Humbert of Lolita. Nabokov is having sly taunts: not only at America's image of him as author of Lolita, but at himself for being too quick to disidentify from that potent catcher of words and nymphs,
and finally perhas, at the ontological conceit of a fixed self that could be wholly either one or another. The protagonist here is a dialectical monster flitting between Nabokov and Humbert Humbert, a monster Nabokov himself capture's like a moth between LATH's pages. The last, and in some ways perhaps richest novel from a modern master.

I've been listening to country music for more than four decades, plus recently brushing up on music history while researching Faron Young's life. This book contains much good information, but I wonder how the writers define "country." In spite of all their hits, the Wilburn Brothers rate a two-inch column and David Houston gets three inches. Yet many, many performers I've never heard of (and non-country ones I have heard of) get a page or more. How often has Grateful Dead ever been played on a country station? Faron Young--a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame--is allotted one page, but Neil Young gets six. How many times did he appear on the country charts? None that I recall. Even the historical Carter Family is limited to two pages. There would have been room to give more information about more performers if the book had fulfilled the promise of its title.

I'm a big fan of this series, which is prized among buffs for its reliable and informative album ratings. This volume gets big points for unusually inclusive coverage, which makes sense for the "big tent" that is country music. We get everything from rockabilly to country-oriented rock acts to straight-up honky tonk. Also, you get good coverage of some fairly obscure artists (finally, Michael Hurley in a reference book!).

Complaints? I've got a few. The editing in this volume is not up to the series' usual standards. Some of the biographical sketches are sloppily written and some artists seem to have been left out unintentially (for example, Area Code 615 is mentioned many times in the text, but doesn't get an entry). Also, as long as I'm complaining, some of the decisions about who to include are a little loopy -- the Greatful Dead but not John Prine? And music reference books go stale fast -- the latest entries in this one are from mid 1996, so a new edition is called for.

With all that said, I spent half the night reading through this one, promising myself that I'd go to sleep after I read just one more entry... If you're anything more than the most casual country fan, you need this book.

Books like this make know-it-alls like me shudder: now everyone can have decades worth of hard-won musical knowledge at their fingertips, for just a few bucks. Hardly seems fair. Highly recommended.

V.I. Lenin (1870-1924) breathed during the height of the second industrial revolution. He witnessed the wild, berserk scramble for colonies and the absurd carnage of the first world war. This work's worth exists in a labor to systemically integrate imperialism upon the substructure of national financial capital. According to Lenin, a capitalist economy centralizes industry and banking, finance capital becomes exported, and nationalistic centers of capital compete for dominance. Ineluctably, productive forces are aligned on one side, and colonies of raw materials dominated by finance capital are situated on the other. War will only result as capitalist states are compelled to redress the fissure.

Several points argue against the dependency theorist. Marxists, with their idiosyncratic class theory of the state, miss the relationship between legitimacy and strategy of state power, reducing everything to economic power differentials. They focus on class struggle, supposedly the manifestation of economic "contradictions." This overlooks historic dynamics going back centuries that include constitutional, technological, economic, cultural, and legal changes that are not epiphenomenal precipitates of an economic base. In addition, nationalistic financial centers unleashing war upon another makes little sense now in an era where nation-states are becoming obsolete. In a world with weapons of mass destruction held by "virtual" states, mass immigration, environmental challenges, epidemiological concerns, and a vulnerable, privatized critical infrastructure, future war will be undertaken for reasons unrelated to capital export.

Lenin misses the development of the state which was occurring in his history. Under many state-nations, the state was the realization of the nation, its order, its will. James Madison writes in Federalist #63: "The true distinction between these and the American governments, lies in the total exclusion of the people, in their collective capacity, from any share in the latter, and not in the total exclusion of the representatives of the people from the administration of the former." One thinks of more extreme examples, such as Rousseau's general will and Hegel's deification of the state as a living god. Napoleon was the apotheosis of the state-nation.

However, state-rights were challenged as national-rightists began to assert themselves. Bismarck's effort for unification is the most notable example. Americans are more familiar with the American Civil War. The United States changed from a Union to a Nation, as seen in Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in 1863. States eventually were deemed legitimate by how well they promoted the general welfare of a specific nation. This was legitimized at Versailles -- self-determination being most important -- the state taking care of the welfare of a nation, rather than the other way around. Most of Lenin's colonies are nation-states today. Such nationalistic loyalty will become increasingly challenged as market-states, with internationally floating finance capital, blossom into existence as more and more question the nationalistic paradigm, as seen by change in Western reaction to the four Yugoslav wars of the 1990's. Sovereignty was once opaque, particular to a nation. Now nationality is becoming irrelevant to human rights -- a basis for legitimacy, as crime and war become blurred.

As far as Lenin's historical scheme is concerned, several points can be noted. Capital flows from France went overwhelmingly to Russia where profits could be made during that period, not to her colonies. (Lenin dismisses this as mere government "loan" capital...) Some blame Britain for undermining Argentina's economy with capital investment -- but one forgets -- the favorite target for British capital in the 19th century was the United States of America. The current financial relationship between the U.S. and Japan has not brought upon imperialism. In addition, with the earlier Portuguese empire -- the cost of policing their empire was actually greater than the benefit of their far-flung gains, leading to its demise. Dutch imperialism faltered in the 18th century -- though Indonesia was retained until the 20th -- because her prosperity was based upon tight control of the Baltic. These are just a few of many examples that confront the dependency theorist.

Lastly, in the modern context, the price of raw materials has been falling worldwide for years. The prosperity of LDCs will become more and more contingent upon the intelligence of their workforce. Most colonial cold war conflicts were battles to the death over which form of nation-state was legitimate -- parliamentary, socialist, or fascist. Whether the "rather dead than red" style policies were ethical can be debated, but surely one can understand the urgency (or paranoia?) of the Americans in the 50s, with the Soviets with the bomb, China previously turning red, communists on the move in Indochina, Korea, Latin America, Africa, et cetera. Many American and Soviet-implemented horrors were strategic in basis, not economic.

This work is essential for those interested in Marxist theory. I cannot see how it is applicable to today's world, but for anyone seeking to understand the 20th century, particularly the viewpoint of one of its major actors, I'd recommend it.

"Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism," seems to me more academic than propaganda-based. I expected a noisy ideological diatribe. Lenin does not predict guarantees of the future, or spout the superiority of a correct socialism (i.e. Communist Manifesto, Marx) - instead, Lenin examines intelligently the international economic state of the 10's by citing and challenging the pro-capitalist and 'quasi'-socialist scholars of that time. It was written for the everyday critical person.

It made sense to me of how Lenin viewed Capitalism in global terms, rather than individual or local terms. If the individual Bourgeois exploits the collective proletariat, then Lenin goes further that a majority Bourgeois country (i.e. USA) exploits a majority prolerariat (Mexico) country. And in the largest sense, international monopolies and large banks direct the inner workings of this exploitation-dynamic, regardless of what geographic state they represent. Backed up with a lot of creditable statistics,a clear and comprehensive insight, this book is extremely convincing; especially when one considers today's 'globalization' phenomena.

Even with his analysis of the 1910's, one gains a better understanding of the capitalist development of the 21st century -Lenin wouldn't be surprised by the economic paralysis of third world countries, the huge debts of certain states and certain citizens, and the massive power of the IMF.

However, no matter how convincing Lenin may be, it is important to be cautious of him. Lenin finished this book in one of the most important events as a politician in 1916. In 1917, gaining victory in the revolution, he announced to the press of the "one-party state," which censored any thought, idea, or action that did not fall under the context of Marxist tenets. In a sense, Lenin founded the beginnings of Totalitarianism. How tragic! But it is not unknown that when politicians bite the granite, they no longer become nice and virtuous human beings.

He justified noble ends with corrupt means. I have experienced the 'heat,' of radical-oriented books. Lenin's Imperialism is certainly one of them. This heat increased my knowledge of a certain thing in a certain perspective, but burned off my common sense and intuition. I used to think this to be a feeling of 'enlightenment,' (cheesy, but true) and discovered that I only lost my freedom to think for myself.

I know this is a weird comment, but make sure to consider context, content, and open-minded inquiry when reading such material! It's important for freedom! Altogether, two thumbs up to Imperialism, judged by its tremendous importance and intelligent insights. But reader, beware! Don't get caught up in the heat! Be careful! Remember 1917?

This is one of Lenin's major works. He shows how the economical system of capitalism leads to large contradictions between states and war. A clasic still relevant in theese times of "globalisation" (imperialism).

I did not like it. It is a bad story. Wolfs are not bad like in the story. Peter doesnt listen to his grandpa, so it is a bad example.

If you are familiar with the Prokofiev symphony, this book makes a good companion to the music. It puts into visual images the story of Peter and the Wolf. What I like most about the book is that, in the end, the duck lives. The ending varies somewhat depending on the version of the recording or book. In this book, it's a happy ending, which is better for younger readers.

We use the book by itself sometimes. Other times, my child will read along while we listen to the symphony.

Our children, 3 year old twins, love the music of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. In searching for an age appropriate book to show them the musical instruments that play each of the characters, we found this one illustrated by Ian Beck. Not only are the illustrations lovely, the colors and clothing of Peter, the hunters and the grandfather are interesting to a child. Also, each page shows the instrument played for that part of the story (find it in the box around the text), and in the back a page illustrates each instrument. We cannot recommend this lovely book enough to parents of young children discovering the beauty of music!

Vladimir Nabokov is one of the great authors of the 20th century, both as a craftsman and stylist in the novel form. He even succeed in grand poetry (Pale Fire), so one would think that his literal translation of Oneigin would be a welcome publication. It's not. First, Nabokov strips Onegin of all poetics, which he admits is his intent. He believes the poem is better understood from a transliteral (almost interlinear) reading than from a poetic reconstruction. This attempt may please, and I stress "may," those who, unfamiliar with Russian, and who want such a bland diet of lackluster prose. But there are so many excellent translations of Onegin that are beautiful and captivating in themselves, I'm not sure there's much need for such a literal, word-for-word, transcription. Perhaps this book belongs on the shelf along with other translations of Onegin, but it's not one I'll return to in the near future.

I'm a Russian Language and Literature major in Yonsei Univ. in Korea. Having lived in Moscow for around 3 years, I'd heard there a lot about Pushkin and read many of his famous works. The most prestigious of his, however, must be "Onegin." It's a great mixture of verse and prose in its form. If possible, try to read this in Russian, as well. This long poetical prose was written for 8 years and the ending rhyme perfectly matches for the entire line until the very end. Compared to others, it is definitely a conspicuous and brilliant one. "Onegin" can be the author himself or yourself. The love between Onegin and TaTyana is neither the cheap kind of love that often appears in any books nor the tragic one that is intended to squeze your tears. As a literature, this book covers not only love between passionate youth, but also a large range of literary works in it, which can tell us about the contemporary literature current and its atmosphere. Calling Onegin "My friend", Pushkin, the author, shows the probability and likelihood of the work. Finally, I'm just sorry that the title has been changed into English. The original name must be "Yevgeni Onegin(¬¦¬Ó¬Ô¬Ö¬ß¬Ú¬Û ¬°¬ß¬Ö¬Ô¬Ú¬ß)." If you are a literature major or intersted in it, I'd like to recommand you read this. You can't help but loving the two lovers and may reread it, especially the two correspondences through a long period of time. Only with readng this book, you'll also learn a huge area of the contemporary literature of the 19th century from the books mentioned in "Onegin" that take part as its subtext. Enjoy yourself!

i like this book. it helps a lot. and looks good on the shelf to boot.

If you enjoy reading the pervert writings of godless mercenaries who killed many millions of russians, you will like this book. In it you will see how to lie, pay and demoralize the bottom of society in order to achieve great murder and destruction rates. Both of these satanic maids (lenin and trotsky) had one goal - to destroy the nation that tolerated them. Not Russians themselves, they borrowed the pervert anti-capitalist marxism that FAILED to destroy the west.
Unfortunately they had more backers, more money and more luck in Russia. Make no mistake, if you fall into this hateful trap you will be used for the destruction of your own society. The powers of darkness are alive and well today. Be on the alert and may God blees you!

For the workers and farmers of Russia, winning political power in 1917 was a formidable enough job in itself. However, defending the new revolution quickly became a much more Herculean task.

From 1917-21, the new Soviet Republic battled imperialist invasion and counterrevolutionary forces in a civil war. The Kronstadt rebellion flared when it seemed the civil war was at a pause and the political and fighting capacities of the countries working people was near exhaustion.

There were many other rebellions during the period, but Kronstadt posed more serious implications for the existence of working class leadership heading the Soviet government.

Opponents of the October revolution saw Kronstadt as the closest point to Europe and a defenceless Petrograd. A central demand of the nearly 15,000 rebels was, "Soviets without Bolsheviks" which was a weak kneed way of calling for the overthrow of the workers and farmers government.

The book covers the speeches and writings of Bolshevik leaders Lenin and Trotsky exposing the dangers involved and what was behind the motivations of the Kronstadt rebels and it's leaders. In later years, Trotsky takes on critics who label aspects of the Bolsheviks suppression of the Kronstadt rebellion as the beginning of Stalinism.

When over three hundred delegates to the Russian communist party congress volunteer to throw themselves - in the biting cold of the Russian winter -into the middle of a military battle you are not sure you are going to win and do just that. Then you know the mutineers at Kronstadt were up against a force much wider and deeper than the Bolsheviks.

This book of speeches and articles on the Kronstadt rebellion by Trotsky exposes the reality of this revolt, often used to discredit the October Revolution. Trotsky writes as the defender of the real revolution, against the real Kronstadt. The real Kronstadt of the revolt had lost many of the fighters who had led the revolution who had left to fight in the civil war on Land and sea. The real Kronstadt had tried to take advantage of their position as military to demand privileged conditions in a country where civil war and imperialist blockade had produced mass starvation. These are the speeches Trotsky used to summon the real revolution, include many of the real 1917 fighters of Kronstadt, to crush this counter revolutionary revolt.

As a previous reviewer noted, thes is very much a business text book focusing on the cruise industry, probably aimed at people working in (or preparing for working in) travel agencies. There is some interesting general information in the early chapters, but then gets dry quickly.

This book provides a facinating behind the scenes look at the cruise industry, from the ship to the home office to the travel agent. I was expecially surprised on how broad based it was, although Carnival (Bob Dickinson is president of that company) does play a prominent role. For example, a section on advertising features old Carnival ads. However, the book does include quotes from presidents of all major cruise lines, and the book freely uses examples from other major cruise lines. That said, it is a great book if you want a behind the scenes look at the industry, or work in the travel industry.

I have to admit I was a bit concerned about an "impartial" book about the cruise industry written by the president of the world's largest participant. I was dead wrong. Bob Dickinson and Andy Vladimir have written a no-holds-barred, painfully honest account of the state of today's cruise industry. They don't mince words when it comes to the actual decline of cruisers! They finish up with a case study of an ideal cruise only agency that makes sense.

I read this book for a class to get an understanding of Lenin's influence on the Russian Revolution. This book is very detailed and not for someone who doesn't understand what the Bolsheviks were rebelling against. Little background is given on the Tsar's reign and the problems associated with autocratic rule. The story is never presented from the Tsar's side. What the reader does receive is a detailed account of Lenin's private and political life. Lenin was full of contradictions and paradoxes that were reflected in Communism. It was almost as though his influence was so powerful that the political culture reflected his egnimatic personality. In addition to being a fine intellectual biography of the man, Ulam's text details all the political movements that competed with Lenin in addition to highlighting the beginnings of the Stalin era.

Ulam writes well and is interesting to read. As a lay reader I found all the details sometimes overwhelming, and I had to do additional research to understand the issues that the Bolsheviks were responding to. As a non-scholar, I found this book readable and memorable.

Anyone interested in a good biography of Lenin written from a non-Communist slant should pick this up. Its amazing that this book, written in the '60s, required no revisions upon being re-published in 1998.

This book is a critical look at the life and career of V.I. Lenin. It is not entirely one-sided, however, and the author generally does a good job of putting events in their proper perspective. Those considering buying the more well-known Lenin biography written by Dimitri Volkogonov would do well to read this instead. It is far superior in every respect.

The author talks of electromagnetics but he barely touches on how they work, he just talks of the concepts and future possibilities. He should rewrite it for us "Dumber" readers.

This text sits midway in difficulty between a first year physics treatment of E&M and more advanced texts like Lorrain and Carson's Electromagnetic Fields and Waves and Jackson's Classical Electrodynamics. Dr. Rojansky argues that most students require a patient, careful discussion of fundamentals before undertaking advanced studies. His book moves at a leisurely pace, sytematically laying down a solid foundation. However, unlike many first year physics texts, he assumes that the reader is familiar with integration methods and partial differentiation. He does devote a few chapters to reviewing fundamentals that will be useful later - curves and surfaces, solid angles, Taylor's Theorem in three dimensions, vector fields, cylindrical and spherical coordinates.

Somewhat early Rojansky introduces a simple physical model, a copper block with a cylindrical hole, and then frequently revisits this model to address increasingly complex problems. It proves to be an effective way to link more advanced sections to earlier lessons.

During new derivations, references are often made to earlier derivations and results (by equation and section number). I had to stop, thumb back to earlier sections to find a result, and then move back to the derivation at hand. Rojansky's text is not unique in this respect, but at times I did find it annoying.

Rojansky assumes that the reader works most exercises (or at least thinks seriously about them) and should you fail to do so, you could find yourself returning to earlier sections for review. The problems are not overly difficult and useful hints are provided. Answers are not provided and it may be helpful to refer to a general problem set (like Schaum's).

Rojansky limits his text to electrostatic fields and magnetically induced electric fields, to isotropic media, and to macroscopic phenomena. Nevertheless, despite the leisurely approach and avoidance of electrodynamics, this book is not an entirely easy read. Maxwell's equations do emerge and more difficult chapters address topics like integrating delta functions, solving Laplace's equations, and investigating plane electromagnetic waves, antenna radiation, and wave guides. As with most Dover reprints, this book is a good buy. I give it a solid four stars.

Thoroughly enjoyable, patiently explaining most of the mathematical concepts. This is the clearest and most accessible exposition of Maxwell's eqns I have seen.