This book has to be the best survival guide available aside from the original full-size version, both of which I own and find invaluable. Lofty Wiseman answers all survival questions clearly and thoroughly in this guide, and due to it's compact size (about the same dimentions as my wallet), it has earned a place in my knapsack/ backpack/ carry-on bag anytime I travel. Aside from a knife and matches, this is THE MOST ESSENTIAL piece of survival gear one can own. Highly Recommended!

The book is thin but does not lack in content. It has a comprehensive coverage on almost everything and could guide you to survival in the wild. The book is a pocket guide and it's good buy. Get it today

Such a little book and so much information! No matter how sedate a life you lead you will find some knowledge in this book that will come in handy. Everyone should have a copy.

This is a solid, powerful, stunning, and most biblical text from both Jonathan Edwards and John Piper. This book includes Edward's essay titled "The End for Which God Created the World," along with comments and further delineation from John Piper. To read Edwards sometimes takes much concentration and hard work, and Piper has done a great job bringing this work to life.

The first part of the book is an introduction to Edwards's work, by Piper (a sort of commentary, if you will), and the later part is the actual work of Edwards's. Piper begins by expressing his concern about the issue at hand, and then leads into a discussion of not only Edwards's life but his work as well. Piper comments on Edwards's conclusions in relation to Piper's concerns in his current ministry and then allows the reader to take what Piper has discussed and make application of it through Edwards's original work.

The thing I find most interesting about this work is its relevancy. What I mean by this is the fact that Edwards's wrote this work 200+ years ago and it is still pertinent to our own culture today (sure proof that the Truths of God endure forever). This is a great text, solid theology, and extremely relevant reading for today. I heartily recommend this work!

In this book John Piper reprints Edwards' classic, The End for Which God Created the World. The first four chapters include the insightful commentary about Edwards' work along with Piper's own reasoning for reprinting the work in the climate of today's theologically shallow church. Edwards' work is difficult reading, but his reason and biblical arguments are irrefutable as he explains that God's glory is the ultimate purpose and chief end of everything that exists.

If you are wondering where the foundation of John Piper's God-centered theology may be found, this book is a good starting point. In it, Piper reintroduces a theological masterpiece that is almost three hundred years old - "The End for which God Created the World" by the New England Puritan pastor, Jonathan Edwards. Piper's own book-length introduction describes the impact Jonathan Edwards has had on his own life, suggests the relevance that this book will have to our own culture, and provides a brief, but helpful sketch of Jonathan Edwards' life. The work by Edwards is then carefully broken down into numbered paragraphs and is accompanied by Piper's helpful footnotes. Edwards' thesis is simple - God's ultimate aim in everything He does is to uphold and display the glory of His name for the joy of His people. This thesis is worked out with iron-clad logic (be prepared to think!) and meditation on dozens of Biblical passages. If yours is the prayer of Moses - "show me Thy glory" - then this is the book for you.

Richard Ellis and Dr. John E. McCosker bring their years of experience and knowledge about the Great White Shark to the public in this exhaustive study of the world's most fearsome predator. With their words and hundreds of stunning photographs (by Al Giddings and others), they reveal an animal that is not the monster of popular fiction but instead, an efficient and awesome product of evolution. This book is a must for any student or fan of the Great White

Ellis, McCosker, and Giddings have produced an informative and entertaining book on the Great White shark. While the book does provide scientific information it does not require that you hold a degree in marine biology or physiology to comprehend the information being presented. Adding to the text are an abundance of quality photographs. I read this book several years ago, but still open it up again and again to re-read passages and look at the photographs. One of the best shark books I have ever read.

Richard Ellis does a wonderful job treating his subject with respect, revealing the Great White Shark as a predator whose reputation is largely undeserved. The book reveals many facets to a powerful animal that can be extremely dangerous to people who intrude upon its domain. But there is no malice toward humans on the shark's behalf, and the book tells it like it is with text that is comprehensive and fun to read. Great White Shark biology is featured in detail, and shark attacks and the reasons behind them (they aren't what most people would think!) are researched with great attention to detail.

The photographs and paintings (done by the author) are superb. Two of the most fascinating sections of the book feature the study of the extinct Charcaradon Megalodon (a massive relative to the Great White whose only earthly remains are fossilized teeth) and the thus-far unsuccessful attempts to keep Great Whites in captivity. The story of "Sandy," a female Great White who was released following an ill-fated tenure in a public aquarium, is actually very touching. It shows how many in the public wished to see the shark's best interests served, while others spoke out against it, seeing only an evil monster.

A wonderful volume on one of nature's most beautiful and infamous creatures.

If you ever want to find out what is at the very heart of the Christian faith Stott argues that the death of Jesus is crucial. Although a serious read which convincingly refutes many of the wrong and inadequate views of the Cross, Stott leaves us with an understanding of the event that is coherrent, powerful and ultimately thrilling. As well as providing understanding, the book explores what it truly means to live 'under the shadow' of the Cross, demonstrating that the very best theology is extremely practical - indeed, life-changing.

"But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ," - Galatians 6:14 NASB

The name John Stott is well recognized among Bible students today, and for good reason. He has long been recognized for his gifted teaching, penetrating insight and pastoral warmth. His writings take the profound teachings of Christianity; shine much needed light on them, and in the same fluid motion, they plug the teachings into the lives of their readers. This book is no exception. The Cross of Christ is considered to be Stott's greatest work by more than a few people and I myself would place it in the top five books I've ever read. It's that good. The central theme of this book is to explain why and how the finished work of Christ on the cross is central to the Christian faith. It deals more with how salvation was provided for on the cross and not so much how it becomes effective for salvation in the life of a person. Stott begins by considering some preliminary issues such as the centrality of the cross in our faith. Stott says of Christ, "What dominated his mind was not the living but the giving of His life"(32). Stott rightly suggests that the cause of Christ's death was both the wickedness of men and the plan of God. He was turned over to the priests out of Judas' greed, turned over to Pilate out of the priest's envy, and handed over to the soldiers out of Pilate's cowardice, and the soldiers crucified Him. However, the blame for Christ's death cannot be placed solely on these individuals because He was not only suffering for their sins, but ours too. All this was according to the plan of God also. His love desired out salvation, and the only righteous way to do such a thing was to place our sins on the Savior and to have Him pay our penalty. The chasm is great between ourselves and a holy God. Stott says that "sin is not only the attempt to be God; it is also the refusal to be man, by shuffling off the responsibility for our actions"(101). So in order for God to offer salvation to mankind, He must do so righteously, without contradicting Himself. Man can never repay such a tremendous debt. This is where the Savior enters the picture. In other words, "How can he save us and satisfy himself simultaneously? We reply to this point that, in order to satisfy himself, He sacrificed - indeed substituted - himself for us" (132). Stott declares, "...neither Christ alone as man not the Father alone as God could be our substitute. Only God in Christ, God the Father's own and only Son made man, could take our place" (160). The result of this divine transaction in that man can be pronounced legally righteous, justified, in the sight of God. Stott tells us that it is very important to understand the accomplishments of the cross, "for the better people understand the glory of the divine substitution, the easier it will be for them to trust in the Substitute" (203). After Stott delineates the details involved in the atonement of Christ he does something that few theologians do by discussing what it means to live under the shadow of the cross. He tells us that the greatest singe event, in which God simultaneously shows us His justice and His love, was in the cross. Ultimately, God dealt with the problem of evil at the cross when he provided salvation from it to all those who would trust Him. Now we have unlimited access to God which should mark our lives with joy.

Discipleship logically follows from salvation. Once God saves us, we give up "our supposed right to go on our own way" (279). We realize our position in Christ and we literally mortify the deeds of the flesh that once controlled us. Knowing that we are valuable in the sight of God should cause us to be giving in sacrificial service. Power and pride should now give way to service and humility. Last but not least, Stott deals with Christian suffering. The causes of suffering are varied, but its results should be patient endurance and mature holiness (315,16). Even while our faith is being tried, we can rest easier knowing that God loves us and has promised an ultimate deliverance. Our involvement with evil should not be in its repayment but on letting God deal righteously. The best examples of how we are to react to suffering are the meekness and trust in the sovereignty of God that were displayed in the life of Christ, culminating in His death. In summary, John Stott's The Cross of Christ is a book that teaches the prediction of, the necessity for, the accomplishments gained by and the benefits resulting from Christ's substitutionary death on the cross. I feel like this is a much-needed work at this point in time when much of Christianity is focused on Christian living with our never sufficiently knowing why we live like we do. I am a firm believer that correct behavior can only be consistently lived when our minds are thinking correctly beforehand. Observation tells me that it is virtually impossible to behave correctly without believing correctly. In my opinion, Stott places the importance of Christ's cross exactly where is should be in our list of priorities...right at the top.

From Satanists to pagans to the non-believing world at large, the cross of Christ is the most despised symbol in probably all creation. What it stands for brings out the snidest comments I have ever heard. And no wonder! Even Paul said that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who perish. Stott does a marvelous job tracking the centrality of the cross and just what it means for the faithful Christian. This is not a skimming kind of book that many non-Christians whose diet consists of 100% fiction will appreciate. It will cause you to think, but as an earlier reviewer hinted, it's the kind of book more people in our churches desperately need to read. If you want milk, as so many Christian bookstores offer, then you will live a superficial Christian life. If you want meat that will help you dig deeper into this relationship you have with God, then I suggest picking up The Cross of Christ and making sure your highlighter is in new condition...you will need it!

It's amazing how nasty, insightful and funny are Callahan's cartoons. In this book he relates the incidents that turned him into an alcoholic quadriplegic -and into one of the least PC humorists alive.

The book is very honest. Callahan don't put the blame of his miseries on external factors (unless when it comes to burocracy, and how the system penalize those who try make a living by working). He takes full responsibility of his mistakes and actions.

The book is extremely well written and easy to read. Callahan presents us his childhood, his drinking days and his insecurities in love as a teenager, the stupid accident, how he had to learn to live as quadriplegic, even more drinking years, his decision to take control of his life, the experience at AA, the search for his real mother, the ideas behind his cartoons and the reactions received, the frustration with welfare, and -of course- several of his cartoons.

Highly recommended.

Callahan is simply incredible. Never before could such a man who so obviously has so many faults be considered a hero. At my high school, Callahan has become a cult hero on level with South Park. But Callahan's story is more than his sick and demented humor. He overcame a lot to just be himself. This isn't a self-help book nor is it a typical autobiography of a noted comedian. Callahan is something special. He overcame adversity so deep and so self-inflicted that at times it seems like John himself is the only one who could overcome it. In this book, he shows his glaring weaknesses and for it endears himself to his readers. This book is not only Callahan's finest, but it is also a triumph of humanity. Callahan proves over and over again through the book that sometimes the best thing you can do is forgive him for being himself. Just like you need to forgive everyone for being themselves.

Whether you are an alcoholic yourself or only know of one, this is the best book you can get your hands on to help you understand the life of anyone with a drinking problem.

It would be easy to dismiss this as a humor book, or a self-help book, or as just another biography of someone who has overcome adversity, but in truth it is a book about a man who could be anyone of us. It is not a matter of "There but for the grace of God..." but that we are all, like him, just people trying to find our way in this world. Some of us eat too much, some work to hard, some drink.

It's John's story of his recovery which makes me recommend this book so highly. He takes the reader through his worst crashes and every painful moment of his time in AA so that we truly feel and understand what it means to have a bottle in charge of your life.

If you have a drinking problem yourself, or know someone who does, I would, to paraphrase John, take them by the fastest transportation available to the nearest copy of this book. It is definately worth the read.

H. Beam Piper's last book was one of his best, Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, an alternate timeline novel of a PA State Trooper in a land where the formula for gunpowder was the secret of a particularly despicable church.

After his death, John Carr and Roland Green wrote a sequel, Great King's War, that Ace inexplicably let go out of print. Ace also sat on the second book in the series.

I have owned a copy of this book for five years, and reread it at least once every month or so, along with my ancient copy of 'Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen', of which it is a sequel. The book deserves to be reprinted, plus, its two sequels, of which only a hint has been published - a chapter in a Jerry Pournelle anthology indicating that all is not well in Hostigos. The characterisations, military lore and exciting plot make this a stand alone novel to be enjoyed on its own merits. We had to wait many years for this sequel, I hope that the authors of these posthumous tributes to Piper's Paratime Universe will soon find publishers for their next works.

This is a very rare book,There are a very few Alternative histories novels which approach the feel of this novel. It is a sequel to "Lord Kalvan Of Otherwhen" by H. Beam Piper. I feel it is just as good or maybe better than the original.

George Eliot's final novel is both riveting and problematic. Many critics have called it "two books in one" -- some have even said that the two strands of the book should have been *separated*. One plotline follows Gwendolen Harleth, a spoiled and beautiful girl fallen on hard financial times, and what happens when she marries a soulless aristocrat...the other plotline concerns the title character, Daniel, who is drawn into the revelation of his true Jewish ancestry. George Eliot is a Novelist of the Mind...she dissects the motivations and psyches of her characters, setting them against the society they inhabit and examining interaction both with that society and with the other people it encompasses. This is a stirring novel, with sharply-etched characterizations : not a melodrama or a potboiler, yet still with the drive of a thriller.

While Middlemarch is a thoroughly Victorian novel, Daniel Deronda looks forward to the modern period in its focus on the individual. The text primarily focuses on two individuals--Daniel Deronda and Gwendolyn Harleth. Their lives are entertwined from the first chapter in which Daniel observes, with a certain amount of disdain, a serpentine Gwendolyn gambling. By the end of the text, both characters have been transformed from the characters you meet at the beginning through self-discovery. Daniel discovers the secret of his birth while Gwendolyn is tragically disillusioned by her unfortunate marriage. The novel foreshadows the modern period's treatment of the individual searching for his identity and his place in an intolerant society.

This novel, originally published in 1876, was Eliot's last. It has remained controversial ever since, and some critics delete it from her first-rank work. It is an ideological novel, and its plot is forced at times (too many coincidences, for one thing). The central character appears to be Gwendolen Harleth at the start (note the echo of her last name with "harlot"), who pawns a necklace at a gaming table only to have it returned by a disapproving observer--the eponymous Deronda. While offended, Gwendolen is also fascinated by Daniel and finally takes him on as her conscience as the novel continues, at great length, weaving a multitude of characters and issues into a fabric with an echo-chamber effect (in the sense that various elements of the book echo each other in odd and unpredictable ways throughout the novel, such as the continuing ways that people gamble with their own fates and the lives of others). This is a novel of sensibility, a link between Austen's method and Woolf's. But it is also a romantic treatment of Zionism (well before it was a popular issue, especially in Victorian England), with all the Jewish leads ennobled and idealized. In this sense it reads differently than MIDDLEMARCH, which was strictly realistic except at the very end. It's closer to SILAS MARNER, a morality tale with symbolic characters. Gwendolen is one of the saddest and most beautiful figures in any novel. She wants so deeply to be the center of attention, and finally can't even be the title character of the novel she's in. There are so many marvellous moments in this book, it repays the time it takes to read it many times over. I do not think Eliot arrived at a satisfying structure for the book, though; her need to promote Zionism prevented it. The Oxford paperback edition is the one I read, and I can recommend it highly -- its notes are superb. But the print is very small, so if that bothers you use another edition.

"Dessert Circus" is the companion cookbook to Jacques Torres' television series, filled with step-by-step instructions and photos to help you recreate all his delicacies at home. After flipping through the book, I had my doubts.

Every recipe I tried was delicious. My favorite recipe has to be his "Chocolate Cornflakes". Delicious and fun to make.

Things I noticed about these recipes: They seem designed for parties and less for home cooking. Yields were large, with servings for 8 seeming to be the magic number. If you want to impress, you'll love this book. There is a fair amount ingredients that may be hard to find.

To recreate many of the recipes listed will require: time, talent, and a little prayer to pull off. This is not to say that the results aren't worth it. Desserts like the impressive "Nougatine Basket with Fruit Sorbets" (three diamonds) can be accomplished, you simply have to take your time and be prepared.

If you've ever looked at an issue of "Chocolatier" or "Pastry: Art & Design" magazines, you have a good idea of what you'll be in for with this cookbook. Cooks looking for a challenge will find plenty of recipes to choose from.

Dessert Circus by Jacques Torres is the finest dessert and pastry cookbook that I have ever seen. His instructions are clear and concise. The desserts are not only delicious and are elegant enough to serve at the finest formal occasions but are easily adapted for small informal dinners. Many of his techniques (especially for handling whipped cream, meringue, and chocolate) I have never seen in any other book. Chef Torres does something else that I have never seen before, he lists his web site address in his book, where you are invited to ask questions and/or provide feedback. From experience I can tell you he answers you personally. Here you will find one of the worlds top dessert and pastry chefs that is not unreachable at the top of a pedestal. This book combined with his P.B.S. cooking series is an unbeatable combination.

From a rainbow of sorbets served on a chocolate artists "palette" complete with chocolate "paintbrushes", through to the strawberry and raspberry Fraisier Cake beautifully presented with layers of fresh strawberries, Jacques' highly original desserts win me over each time I open this book, and my guests each time I serve one of his creations.

The directions are clearly written, and every dessert recipe is accompanied with a finished photograph, and quite a few feature step by step pictures aswell. Jacques dedicates the first chapter solely to equipment and ingredients, plus a glossary of all terms used throughout the book. The second chapter covers basic or ingredient recipes, such as the perfect puff pastry and homemade chocolate sauce. He also shows you how to prepare my personal favorite, chocolate sculptures. You can also adapt these sculptures, turning just one of the pieces into an amazing garnish.

I highly recommend this and the second volume by Torres, "Dessert Circus at Home".

People from every walk of life talk about their jobs, their lives. The pieces read like very short - short stories - but they're true! Funny, sad, wonderful, heartening. I really enjoyed this book!

I find myself going back to re-read the interviews. This is really a fantastic book. Great reading for bedtime, on the plane, or anytime at all.

This is a very interesting book, consisting of a series of 3-7 page interviews of people talking about their jobs. From corporate lawyer to tranvestite prostitute; from McDonald's Employee to CEO to professional hockey player; from UPS delivery person to Lutheran pastor this book runs the gamut of jobs. The jobs are not put in the standard Q&A interview format where the reader can see what question is asked and how the interviewee responded, but rather put in a narrative form, making for a much quicker and enjoyable read.

One of the best aspects of this book was comparing and contrasting the various jobs: how did the person end up with this job; what are his/her duties; what's daily life on the job like; what's the best and worst part of the job; do you like your job (nearly all answered yes); what the job holder's career goals are. As someone currently looking at a career change, this book was not only entertaining, but useful in getting me to think about what other kind of stuff is out there (I had already eliminated "transvestite prostitute" from my list but this book was useful in strengthing my resolve to stick to that decision).

This is a great book that shows how people that live around us but don't have our profession view the world. It is written in small monologues where the person interviewed is just talking about him/herself in the way that they want to talk without an interviewer steering them in any way: so you get a lot of information by seeing what they find most important of their job and they choose to share with us.
After reading some of the interviews I found myself wondering how would it feel to be somebody else, I felt that for a moment, I was inhabiting somebody else's life, and felt delighted to see how happy everybody was no matter if they were a traveling salesman, a food stylist, a[n] ... escort, an FBI agent, a congressman, a palm reader...
It's a beautiful book that showed me that there are people for everything, and that this diversity is what lets us live all together in this world in almost complete harmony.