Like most people who would be interested in this book, I was expecting some insight into the life of the last tsar and his family, as seen by someone close to the family. But, as the title implies, it's his SPIRITUAL journey the book chronicles, with a few well-known anecdotes on the imperial family thrown in. If your looking for a book on the Romanovs or Imperial Russian history, don't buy this book.

I bought this book expecting its majority to discuss the life of Charles Sydney Gibbes, but it's more of an ill-researched portrait of history twisted to fit the author's opnions. Although the first and last few pages are devoted entirely to Gibbes, the rest is about this mass conspiracy that lead up to the revoultion that rarely mentions Gibbes at all (at least a hundred pages do not even relate to his journey or him in any way). I prefer a favorable picture of the imperial family, but even I cannot believe these "facts" presented, espcially since Ms. Benagh doesn't even to refute other opinions; moreover, she seems to say the starving peasants could have lingered on for a few more days. She uses a maximum of eight sources to support her book, all published and most are famous first-hand sources written in the 20s-40s that have been prooven to have some major falacies. Do not believe its claims to be using new resources from the collapse of the Soviet Union because unsolved mysteries in here have been solved and thoroughly explianed in many other books. This book does a decent job as presenting Gibbes as an affable person but is primarily conncerned on trying to rewrite history. If you decide to purchase this book, I want to forewarn you to read a good Romanov or Russian history book beforehand to be able to identify An Englishman in the Court of the Tsar's faults.

Although this book is one of many written about the tragic deaths of Tsar Nicholas II and his family, it is different than those which often appear explotive. Gibbes's relationship with the Tsar and his family provides us with a deeper insight into the family life, and the unshakable rich faith of this noble family. The book is one of a kind, and an "easy" read. As one who has read many books on the subject of Russian hsitory, I could not recommend it more highly.

This book is absolutely horrible. The photos are mislabeled (Olga and Maria as Alexandra?!) and there's nothing new and interesting. I don't think it deserves even one star.

This book is a good example of why the average American knows nothing or next to nothing about the forty to fifty million people who were murdered by the Soviet regime. A book about the last tsar and his family should be the perfect opportunity to familiarize the general reader with the basic facts about the Soviet terror. After all, the murder of Nicholas II, his wife, five children, their family doctor and three servants, was but an opening salvo in the mass terror perpetrated against the general population by the Communist regime under both Lenin and Stalin. But you would never guess that, reading this book. While the author Mark Steinberg dwells with excrutiating detail on the personal and political failings of Nicholas and Alexandra, which contributed to the downfall of their dynasty, he neglects to put their murders into any larger historical context. Everything ends in 1918. In fact, in 1918 the terror was just beginning, and it would make the murders in Ekaterinburg look like a mere dress rehearsal (which, in a sense, they were).

Steinberg has much to say about the public's tendency to "romanticize" the Romanovs, but he doesn't offer any new insights into the underlying reasons for our continuing fascination with the family. Nevertheless, by publishing this book he himself profited from that fascination. Books about the Romanovs were extremely popular when this particular one came out. Perhaps the rush to publish and cash in on popular demand explains the overall poor quality of the translation of key documents (which unfortunately do not retain the flavor of the original Russian), as well as the many factual errors in this book. In the photograph section alone, there are three glaring mistakes: two of Nicholas' daughters, Olga and Marie, are misidentified as Alexandra in two separate photographs (is it really that hard to distinguish between teenaged girls and their middle-aged mother?); in yet another photograph, all of the imperial children are misidentified with the sole exception of the only boy, Alexey. Furthermore, it is simply not true that most of the documents in this book had not been published previously in the West. Most of them had already appeared in other books, and in better translations, too.

Steinberg's so-called "objectivity" really amounts to no more than moral relativism and superficial historical analysis. People who want to read an in-depth, objective, and thoughtful account of the Russian Revolution should read Orlando Figes' excellent history, A People's Tragedy; people who want an in-depth account of the murders and the events leading up to them should read Robert K. Massie's The Romanovs: The Final Chapter or Edward Radzinsky's admittedly very subjective biography of Nicholas II (where, in fact, most of the documents pertaining to the murders were originally published). Personal accounts of the family are available in dozens of contemporary memoirs. Sergei Mironenko's Nicholas and Alexandra: A Lifelong Passion, is a far more inclusive collection of excerpts from the family's personal letters and diaries (including the children's); the translations are very well done and the book as a whole is quite simply excellent.

Unfortunately, a large amount of historical material from Russian archives still awaits translation into English. For example, there are several accounts of the murders by perpetrators and other firsthand witnesses which have been published in Russia but which, for whatever reason, Steinberg chose not to include here.

Finally, I would suggest that one of the reasons some of us "romanticize" (remember?) the last Romanovs is that they have come to symbolize the millions of (mainly anonymous) victims of the Soviet regime. Of the eleven people murdered in the Ipatiev House by the Bolsheviks on the night of July 16-17, 1918, only two, Nicholas and Alexandra, had ever held any political power. The remaining nine people were all, by any definition, complete innocents: four girls (Olga, 22 years old; Tatiana, 21; Marie, 19; Anastasia, 17); their brother, Alexey, not yet 14 years old; the family physician, Eugene Botkin; the cook Kharitonov, the valet Trupp, and the maid Anna Demidova. There is a symbolic power in remembering these victims, for persons of both sexes and of every age, class, and profession would be murdered by the Soviet state in the next forty years. Interestingly, Steinberg doesn't provide us with any photographs of the murdered servants. Apparently, he's as much of a romantic snob as the rest of us.

The book, The Fall of the Romanovs, is a great narrative filled with primary documents of the family's path from the most powerful position in Russia into imprisonment and eventually death. Basically, the author explains the attitudes of Nicholas and Alexandra as lovers and rulers. He puts them in the light of leaders as well as family men and women. There are four basic stages explained which give a very nice organized fashion that presents the life in power and downfall of the family. First the tsar and tsarina are discussed in detail from a personal viewpoint. Next, the author moves on to describe the revolution that forced the abdication of the tsar. Then, the reader is taken through daily life and happenings while the family is under arrest at the Selo. Finally, the author narrates the family's captivity in Siberia and their inevitable death at the hands of revolutionaries in Yekaterinburg.

The book is introduced as an unbiased analysis of the downfall of the tsar and his family. However, it is easy to tell that in many aspects the author discusses the family as the good guys and throws a dark shadow over the people who held them captive and later killed them. In many aspects the author analyzes situations and the outcome turns into the portrayal of the family as harmless victims to uncontrollable change in society. The author supported his analysis with a huge number of primary sources, which made it very hard to look upon the royal family as bloody rulers. Nevertheless, it was interesting how very little wrong doings of the family were thrown into the primary documents. The author does a very good job portraying his points through his analysis and backing it all up with sufficient documents and evidence.

The Fall of the Romanovs was published in 1995. It is a very recent book, which means that the author had access to never before seen archives made available to all only in the early 80s. I don't believe the book has a specific intended audience, however, I think anyone who finds the Russian revolution intriguing will find this book very interesting and informative. The book, with many new resources behind it, is able to address many aspects of the treatment of the Romanovs during their imprisonment and issues concerning their imprisonment and execution. In my opinion, the appeal to the reader and the analysis of issues brought up in the book are superbly accomplished throughout the text. With the incessant evidence and extremely organized structure, the book is a great read.

The overall purpose of the text is the layout of analysis and evidence in such a way as to allow the reader to see the story exactly as it is and be able to make their own conclusions. The author does a good job of laying out very accurate analysis backed up with great primary documents. Very organized, is the main style of the book. Every situation is correlated with a primary document towards the end of the chapter that gives the reader great insight. Photos and personal letters involving the Romanovs do a tremendous job portraying the royal family as not only rulers but also as a real family with real values. Everything is extremely relevant and makes the text very easy to read and understand.

This book definitely helped me understand one of the many aspects of the Russian Revolution a lot better. I know feel that I have a great deal more insight into the family that was probably most affected during this whole ordeal. The author does a great job explaining the importance of the personal characteristics of the tsar and his family as to why they were pushed out of power and came to such a tragic end. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is studying the Russian revolution. Also, this book is just a great read for those who enjoy informative texts with a plot. The authors writing techniques, the historical importance of the events, as well as the numerous pieces of first hand evidence, make this a great informative read.

Amos Oz's " Fima " talks about the daily life and thoughts
of a 54year-old Jewish grown up . While our central hero's life goes
on , the writer takes the chance to introduce us his character and
give us a clue of what is he like through various flashbacks. Some of
them include spicy trip campings in Greece , past discussions with his
father and memories of women he dumped and got dumped from . Fima
seems to be confused and quitte frankly , not really interested of
what he wants from life . He is obsessed though with politics . He
spents hours and hours talking about it with his friends , family and
collegues . The chaos in Fima's life seems somehow strangely connected
with all this mess in the Israeli state. Through insignificant ,only
on the surface ,chats like the one with the taxi driver , Oz is trying
to speak once again about the vital need for peace in the area . The
problem is that his book will bore someone who is not interested or
informed about the Middle East crisis and furthermore , it lacks a
certain plot to keep the reader entertained.

While Oz, the admirable peace activist, may have intended to symbolize the state of Israel with his loveable, yet senile protagonist, and while this symbolism rings true, he also succeeds in brilliantly depicting Israel's left or pro-Palestinian Jews as so seriously demented one wonders how society can fail to commit them to some type of institution, where, one hopes, treatment can be found.

Even if the reader has no sympathy for the plight of our neighbors, our cousins, the Palestinian people, no feeling of remorse for the degradation and cruelty inflicted upon them by the IDF, by the end of the story, some sympathy/remorse will emerge. As Amira Hass wrote recently in Haaretz, it is difficult for us to criticize, never mind condemn our soldiers, for they are our brothers, our sons, our friends, and we know their experiences. We know their fear. Yet Oz, by calling himself a demented lunatic who rightfully ought to be committed, wins us over, somewhat. Perhaps, out of fear, we do go too far. Perhaps Hass is right - for the Palestinian degraded by "routine" inspections, the soldier is Israel - and we choose to ignore and disregard the Palestinian perspective. Yet even most of us in the "right wing" know that the Palestinian is not our enemy. Their "government", their "system of education", their censored "media" and of course Hamas - these institutions and the people behind them are our enemies.

However, the Jewish left goes far beyond Amira Hass's reasonable suggestions. As Fima rightly understands, over ten years ago, even reasonable demands (such as an end to demolitions unless they've been proven in a court to have smuggling tunnels below them or to be homes that harbor terrorists, or an end to the degradation of Palestinians at checkpoints and an open door policy on anyone in need of medical assistance), demands most of us would otherwise be ready to agree to, fall to the wayside as our mouths hang agape, in shock at the absurdity that groups like B'Tselem churn out like McDonald's hamburgers - you know it's not kosher - in fact, you know that it's crap, but it's omnipresent. Fima argues with himself that if only the right knew that the left wouldn't go too far, wouldn't give it all away and leave us, again, with nothing, that we'd all give the Palestinians most of what they want (what Barak offered them) and that would be the end of it. And to some extent, he's right. But there would have to be some trust, and Israelis, well, we can't have any trust right now. Stop bombing our buses and cafes for a while, give us a chance to rebuild that trust. The interaction between Palestinians and Israelis does slowly build that faith, but when Barak offered up whole towns as "goodwill gestures" during Camp David and the Palestinians responded by bombing women and children, well, that trust evaporated and the warm area where it had grown froze over. Barghouti says that the Intifada arose from anger over "failed" Camp David accords mixed with indignation over the Temple Mount riots. Barghouti, get with the picture. We offered you everything you'll ever hope to get and you killed our children. An Intifada on Your Intifada. A massacre on your massacre. Do you know the Purim story, Barghouti? (Bush announced that there would be a war on Purim, this year) When the Persians thought they'd massacre us, we turned the tables on them. The same things happened to you. Do you think we don't know how many of us you'd kill, had you the power? Had you the "weapons of mass destruction"? We know, and that's why we don't ever want to let you have your own port, your own airport, your own direct path to importing the means of our total destruction. Take a lesson from Saddam's current experience, it's not a good idea to encourage suicide bombers. Now that such actions are condemned as "terrorism" and now that there's a "war on terrorism" - perhaps you should rethink your own dementia during the days of Ehud Barak and the Golden Opportunity. Your move to Intifada then makes George W.'s strategies seem pure genius. Your line of logic elevates Bush's to the level of Albert Einstein. Barghouti, Jewish Left, time to get some thinkers on your side. All you've got now is RainMan and the WaterBoy. So lost, like Fima, in distracted and disjointed thoughts on three thousand different topics that one coherent sentence seems like a miracle.

Yes, Oz, you've wrung some sympathy from my heart. Some for the Palestinians and yet far more for our Jewish Left, who can't get it together enough to form a sentence, and get us all to agree to what we've all been ready to give for a long, long time.

While the world is aware of how the Palestinian lack of a free press, lack of freedom of speech has resulted in a propaganda machine no more honest than your average reporting on al Jazeera, our Jewish Left swallows it whole and is blissfully oblivious. Like Fima, smiling widely while wandering aimlessly in the streets.

Amos Oz's "Fima" as translated by Nicholas de Lange is the story of Efraim Nison, son of a cosmetics manufacturing industrialist, and an intellectual and poet whose life never quite gets off the ground. He spends half his time working as a lowly receptionist in a clinic and the other half struggling to stay in one piece, if not boring his friends to death pontificating about the dismal state of politics prevailing in the modern state of Israel. He engages his family and friends but is succoured by them. His relationships with various women including his ex-wife are also frankly ludicrous. But Efraim's incoherent and wasted life cannot be interpreted as anything other than Oz's metaphor for the moribund state of Israel's moral authority after securing its own nationhood. He questions the hardline Jewish approach to its Arab neighbours today by drawing parallels with the mentality of the Nazis in the 30s and 40s. The lurking blood hound in man is humourously but no less chillingly portrayed in the episode with the cockroach. Dimi's shattering confession to Efraim about the dog is equally poignant. Oz, though cynical about the lasting effects of positive action on future generations, ends on a quietly optimistic note. "Fima" isn't exactly an easy book to digest. The symbolism is a little heavyhanded in parts, but the undeniable sense of humour in Oz's writing carries the book. Oz is in fine form for most of the way but gets distracted and loses focus towards the last third. Still, "Fima" makes an intellectually stimulating read and is definitely worth checking out.

Okay first off, I'd like to point out the fact that I am an Atheist and if I was Christian I probably would burn this book. But from a non-Christian point of view this book is very crazy and insane making it very enjoyable. The plot: It appears ol' Jesus is having a bad day and all his miracles aren't quite what they used to be. (Ex: He tries to walk on water and sinks) So basically the Jesmeister says, "I need a vacation from being a savior for a day. The next 20 or so pages has some hobo doing some crazy antics. (I say hobo because Jesus wouldn't be caught dead doing some of these idiotic things.) If you're a devout Christian, though, I warn you, you are going to HATE this book like the devil himself. But if you're one of the other kinds of people by all means read on.

Jesus' Day Off can be a humorous way to make a point to adults who feel they must maintain control of their time and effort. Only when we all take time off to appreciate God's magnificent creation - both our own bodies and the rest of the universe - can we see that we are not in fact in control. God is. God rested after creation to celebrate the magnificence, and if God can rest, so can we! Amen!

I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old. This is a fantastic book to introduce small children not only to the BIG concepts of religion (eg: God & Jesus' parent/child relationship, the apostles, etc...) but to the compelling person of Jesus himself. FAR from blasphemic, irreverent or disrespectful - this book paints a picture of Jesus LIKE the children who read it - but with an even more special relationship to God! Aside from the positive religious message it teaches - the book also puts forward an important message about how - when you take good care of yourself - you can take better care of others. Christians and Non-Christians should be able - through their subsequent talk with their children - put the content into proper perspective for their kids (depending on their views). A fundamentalist could make it a great way to draw kids into their savior. A non-believer could use it to introduce their children to the important historical figure of Jesus. It's a win/win situation.

I *love* amazon.com, and am an avid patron --- and of course I realize that (like Oliver Cromwell, who had to *order* the artist to be truthful and thorough when painting his portrait) this great site *has* more than a few warts, but they are seldom painted, and I keep coming back to the site. Well, wart-wise, this book has got to be one of the *biggest* blemishes amazon.com has...especially for real Romanov buffs! The text is sadly, embarassingly mundane, and quite obviously s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s to make what's written into a dull book of the "commercial quickie" variety; in fact, the book reads as though someone has taken some short (very short) essays turned in by Late Tsarist Russia 101 students, laid them out on a carpet, and figured out how to cobble them together and say "Look, folks! A book!" The early material covered (i.e., birth through Bolshevik Revolution) is very complex, has been done oh! these many times (and much better, by the way) and in this book, reads poorly as a bad sledge trying to cross the frozen Neva, and is just about as dull due to the skimpy, surface writing; the condensation of *years* of tumult into a few brief, brittle chapters. The majority of the book --- dealing with Xenia and her close *and* her extended family's lives post-Revolution --- is a bit more interesting (but unfortunately 90% of that interest comes not from any treatment of Xenia's real *self*, not from her fleshing-out as a woman with thoughts and emotions and social and political interests and efforts of her own, not from the effects *she* may have had on anything or anyone, but from the lives of the men and women who surround *her*.) There is no real Xenia in this book, only her surrounding context, and she moves through these pages like a hollow rag doll. You'll find a few photos --- if you're as unfortunate as I am, and actually buy this book --- but even here, some of the photos are nearly identical to each other, and set a page or two apart, or even on the *same* page. Given the padded, poorly written, poorly researched contents of this book, the price is outrageous...

For me, the upshot is a re-reading of `A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas And Alexandra'. Now even in the 20 years of letters that are mostly by Nicholas and Alexandra to each other, there are numerous letters/excerpts from and to Xenia in `A Lifelong Passion' which give a *much* better idea and feel of "Xenia" than *this* bland lollipop of a book! And meanwhile, I'll just go on waiting for someone to come along and write Xenia's *real* biography...

This book is the first full length biography of Tsar Nicholas II's sister Xenia. Xenia is less well known than her brothers Nicholas and Michael or her younger sister Olga, whose biography/memoir The Last Grand Duchess by Ian Vorres, was published in 1964 and recently republished in paperback. Part of the reason for this is that Xenia was the "good girl" of the Romanov family. She married young to her cousin Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich and raised a family that included one daughter and six rambunctious boys. She was not a rebel like Olga or Michael, both of whom had very public marital difficulties and tended to be embarrassments to the Tsar before the Revolution. Nor was she in the spotlight like the Tsar and his family, so that her life was exhaustively chronicled. She and her husband Sandro married for love, later fell out of love and conducted discreet affairs with others, and in general lived quiet lives. During the Revolution they escaped to their palace in the Crimea where they lived until rescued in 1919. From then on Xenia lived quietly, mainly on the charity of her cousin King George V of England, until her death in 1960. She seems primarily to be of interest because she was the Tsar's sister and the mother-in-law of Prince Felix Yussoupov, one of Rasputin's murderers.

This book tends to be a bit dull because there is very little first hand information that come directly from Xenia. We never get the full names of her lover or lovers, for example. Much of what we are told is extrapolated, for instance we are told that Xenia was shocked by Rasputin, but there seems to be no evidence that she ever met him! (Olga's memories of Rasputin are among the most compelling sections of The Last Grand Duchess). Because there seems to be so little real information about Xenia's own personality, the authors spend an inordinate amount of time on unnecessary details, like for example, who her visitors were on her birthdays and what they wrote to her in letters (Few of Xenia's own letters seem to have been located and used.)

So this is a fairly interesting book with some new details about Xenia's life and family, but by reading it you are not going to feel that you knew her or have any real sense of what she was like as a person.

Grand Duchess Xenia is usually a shadowy figure in most books about the Romanovs. She usually gets a mention as Nicholas 2nd'sister and will appear in some of the family portraits, along with a mention that she spent the years after the revolution in a grace and favour flat in London. Past this information is usually scanty.

This is the first full biography of Xenia's life. The first section dealing with her life as a member of the imperial family in Russia is not terribly enlightening. This is probably a reflection of lack of documentation available, and the fact that Xenia was naturally a shy and retiring person.

Where this book comes into it's own and provides masses of new information is in dealing with Xenia (and the Royal families) experience in the Russian revolution and in her life in exile after the revolution. Xenia became the hub of a large family and the focal point of many émigrés in her long exile and this book brings that into focus at last.

This book also has a pile of new Romanov illustrations, though sadly missing any of Xenia in all her court finery, we do get to see photos her large extended family at last.

This book is actually a UK publication, and can be bought cheaper at amazon.co.uk

If you are interested in the life of the Romanov survivors after the revolution this a book worth buying.

I bought all three books in the series: A Visit to Grandma, The Missing Cat, and Five Crayons, all in one order. I didn't use them for a couple of weeks, and kept them in their boxes. Finally getting around to the books, TWO of the three audio cassettes broke within the first week of use. It has been more than a month and a half, and I've been emailing and calling Berlitz (multiple numbers; I feel like i'm getting the run around) to see about replacements, but to no avail. After all the emails and calls, Berlitz says that the best the can do is sell me the items again for half price. All I desire are the tapes. I have the books, of course. It's disheartening that this large, multi-national corporation 1) does not stand by its products, and 2) can't afford to send a customer two tapes.

With that out of the way, I do think the series is pretty good, though I've (obviously) really turned sour on the company. I've read the other reviews of these prodcts, and by and large agree. The illustrations are nice, and the narrations on the audio are professional enough. Some issues I do have:

They advertise that the tapes are 60 minutes long. They are, but they're playing with the language. While the cassettes are actually 60 minutes long, there is about 20 minutes of silence on the second side. So if you buy all three, you're purchasing 60 minutes of quiet time.

Speaking of the second side, it is interesting because that is the side containing songs--songs go along with the story. Apparently all the songs are the same (i.e., same music, lyrics, etc. just translated into different language) regardless of the language you are learning (French, German, Italian, etc.). This makes for some contorted lyrics at times. The writers really had to make it stretch in some parts to get all the syllables in, or to spread them out. So for example, in the back of the book, where the lyrics to the songs are, they give you the German on the left, and the English on the right. The English goes along quite well the song (it must have been written or drafted in English). It has even numbers of syllables per line, rhymes when it should, etc. The German, on the other hand, is almost unwieldy. Don't get me wrong. If you listen to it enough, you will learn, but it's clear that the song was not written in German. If the lines rhyme in German, it's probably a random event.

Also, this is the first time I have ever seen a cassette no labeled with "SIDE A" or "SIDE B." In the great scheme of things, I guess this is no big deal, but it shows the attention to detail that was *not* paid to this project.

Given the paucity of German language materials on the market, purchasing these books, for children, unfortunately, is a must.

This is definitely more self-study educational material in German than an enjoyable tale for bedtime reading. While that doesn't detract from its value, it wasn't what I was looking for in a book. I imagine this is a very helpful book for children who would like to learn German but who have parents who don't speak it.

The three Berlitz books/tapes in this Adventures with Nicholas series have been a great introduction to German for my 5 year-old. This is the most difficult of the three; use it third. The Missing Cat is probably the best to use first, and then The Five Crayons.

Let me say that I am an Mechanical Engineer with 15 years experience, and possess a MS.I work in quality engineering (test design). My exposure to this text was in a recent MBA class.

Positives: The text, in each chapter, does a respectable job describing how OM applies in the various workplace environments. Though it is more manufacturing oriented, the service sector is addressed. Also, many of the problems at the end of the chapters are quite good.

Negatives: First the book is written by college professors. What more needs to be said! Due to this fact, I believe the main problem of the book lies.This is not a subject which can be taught or written about unless you have some significant real-life experience. In the latter part of the book the chapters pertaining to forcasting,aggregate planning,inventory control,and material planning,the mathmatical models were poorly explained that study groups had to be formed and the professor, to his credit, devised some alternative approaches which were more realistic. The engineers and accountants in the study groups were a valuable asset to some students due to their math backgrounds. Most students in the class who came from various backgrounds; medical and business were lost/confused. The primary problem was not being able to understand how the models worked and applied to the material. Many of the students commented that they just gave up trying to understand the material, and mindlessly plugged values into the various formulas. Granted, many of these models are worked out on Excel programs in the business arena, but for one to understand their meaning, in an educational setting,you need to do the preliminary organization and calculations. I correlate this with a 3rd grade student "learning" their multiplication tables with a calculator.What have you really learned?

Used this book in an undergraduate supply chain management class. I found the book to be well written and enjoyable to read. Chapters are not overly long and the book moves a long at a good pace. Some of the concepts will make more sense and be easier to get through if you have had some exposure to statistics. There is some math, not a lot, but enough to trip up students that are not math savvy. Most of the book concentrates on manufacturing, though it does also touch on the service sector. Case studies are OK, I just remember American companies, and most sounded like propaganda.

This was my first exposure to operations management, as a senior MBA student; though I am familiar with many of the concepts from earlier coursework in statistics and accounting. I found the text to be well written and easy to understand. The sample problems within the chapters were straight forward and easy to follow. Having taking this class as a summer course, I was able to read the majority (75%) of the textbook within a 4-week period easily. The only drawback may be in how the actual theory pertains to real life models. I would recommend this text for anyone who is new to the field as the overview is excellent. A background in statistics and accounting (at least from coursework standpoint) would also be helpful in comprehending the material.

Absolutely one of the WORST Books I've ever had the displeasure of reading. Kept plugging away at it in hopes that something would change.... ANYTHING!!! What A Crock...... A little Sci-Fi never hurt anyone, a little supernatural can be tolerated but this thing is a mass of Kung Fu, ESP, and Ghostbusters all wrapped up in one....

This is the sixth and final installment of Lustbader's saga of Nick Linnear. On the plus side it does clear up all the loose ends that were left hanging in the previous five volumes. However the main problem is the final battle scene. After five books, each over 500 pages long, the final battle between Nick and his ultimate antagonist only last a page and a half! I felt that Lustbader was working his way up to a real no holds barred fight but just sort of sizzled in the end. An overall great series and overall a good ending if you discount the brevity of the final fight.

This is one of the best books I've ever read

If you loved the first two Jane Nicholas books then you will be happy with this book. It has beautiful designs and patterns to make many different styles of Dragonflies and Damselflies. Some wings are detached and some are appliqued and they are all very realistic looking. It is a much smaller book than the first two but if you're looking for something a little different then this is a great book to add to your collection.

this book has beautiful, realistic looking dragonflies shown that are handmade and exquisite. I was searching for a method to make dragonfly wings and this book is all that and more. Even if you never make any of these dragonflies, it is a book that is nice just to "have" for your collection. I highly recommend it.

I brought this book for the pure interested in dragonflies. Not fully understanding that it was an book about embroidey. However this book , is not only very beautiful , but is well writtern as well. It's worth every penny ! If you never embroidey and love dragonflies, this book is a perfect start.
I'm very pleased to have it for my collection.

the kaisho was alright. There was a little too much of business talk and the main character seemed to have less lines than anybody else...if you like detailed ninja...supernatural stuff then you'll like it.

the book has one big saving grace. it has a interesting way of making us think about honor. how we define it. the action gets way to mystical for my liking but some of the japanese characters are very interesting. if you have read the others then read this one.

Like a Steven Spielberg movie, an Eric Lustbader book covers a lot of ground, a lot of time & a lot of people. You have to put aside your workaday impatience & sit & receive his words as you would a cup of fresh tea. With his rich imagery, his deft craft that brings to life the serenity of a Japanese tea ceremony or the primitive, shape-shifting of ancient Asian hill people; or the old & wondrous waterroads & buildings of mystical Venice or the starkly bland American Mafia enclaves, you learn that Mr. Lustbader will not disappoint. A lusty read. For my full review please go to: ( )