This book represents all the finest points of an excellent photography book. It is well written and imformative for the novice to the professional. You will find only the highest quality work throughout the book. It covers everything from black and white to color picture taking to final print development. The hundreds of photographs that illustrate each aspect of photography are beautiful. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

John Schaefer is a fine photographer who works in black and white and color. In "Basic Techniques of Photography" John Schaefer has created a wonderful "how to" on the basic and intermediate aspects of photography. The book is filled with helpful information, and beautifully illustrated with the work of notable photographers, with many images due to Ansel Adams. Here are summarized and illustrated many of the ideas from the famous Ansel Adams series of books which include "The Negative" and "The Print". A strength of the book is a clear exposition on the value and use of the zone system. Other strengths include sidebars which provide detailed comments about individual images, and sequential images which show the result of some of the darkroom techniques, or exposure information discussed in the book. This is a fine book, one which any active photographer will benefit from.

Schaefer has taken on a major task in reworking the material to reflect changes in equipment and materials while maintaining the thoroughness, attention to detail, and spirit of the Adams' series. I feel that he has succeeded nicely.

While a lot has been borrowed directly from the previous work there is also much new material and the format itself has been changed substantially. The book now opens with a thoroughly enjoyable, albeit brief, history of photography before getting down to business...Although targeted at a bit different readership than its predecessor, An Ansel Adams Guide: Basic Techniques of Photography, Book I is a good read and destined to become as much a classic as the original.

You are fond of the music of Benjamin Britten; you also collect recordings of his music; you also collect scores, programs of Britten performances, other ephemera. You may even be asked to write or talk about the music in general, or about a specific work.

In short, you are a Britten buff. And it would be nice if there were a complete, detailed, chronological list of all his works, together with information about first performances, or other useful background notes on the composition and its performance.

You need wish no more. Here is your book, the only one you'll need. Complete, detailed, chronological, including an extensive bibliography, a list of recordings, even notes on incidental musical and occasional works. It is a thorough, no-nonsense catalog, lovingly compiled by John Evans, Philip Reed, and Paul Wilson, and published by the Pears-Britten Library in Aldeburgh, the seat of the annual Aldeburgh Festival.

It is hard to imagine a more useful book. No Britten-lover can afford to be without it.

Beautiful...a beautiful way to begin the new millennium as we reflect upon excerpts from our most fearless and patient leader.

A priest read a page at a mass during a homily and I was hooked on the idea to make this a daily devotional part of my prayers. These short insights into the human condition allow me to pray for us all.

In this day and age of splintered and broken schools of literary theory, where nobody seems to agree what is the right way to go about reading and discussin literature, W.J. Bate's "Criticism: the Major Texts" is a wistful reminder of the days when critics were far more certain. For several decades after its publication, this collection was the classroom standard for the subject; it still serves as the best collection for any study of the history of literary theory. The introductions are brief but exacting; the texts are chosen with judicious editing; the lessons learned are not easily forgotten. In short, a wonderful read for anyone with a literary bent.

As a non-theologian, and simply a Catholic layperson, I found this book helpful for deepening my appreciation of St. Paul, enfleshing and rounding my understanding of his personality, trials, and work; and solidifying the importance of agape love in Christian life.

The author systematically studies the positions of multiple New Testament scholars in explaining Paul's argument for justification through faith, rather than law. He passionately hammers home the message that it is not adherence to a set of rules which saves us from sins' bondage- but rather through our faith in Christ. As God showed ultimate love in giving Jesus to humanity, and Jesus demonstrated sacrificial love in giving Himself on the cross, now we are free to show love to God and others, as to ourselves.

While acknowledging that all in life is not pleasant, the author reminds us that suffering can "have meaning and value", but that "suffering and death do not have the last word". Freedom to love was given to Christians, for their happiness in this life, and the next. If the author's ultimate hope was that his writing draw the reader closer to Jesus Christ, that mission was accomplished. We can demonstrate our faith, through acts of unconditional love, starting today.

submitted 31 December 2001

It is very interesing book on the Art of Sex. It's interesting because of it illustrations, but if you want to learn the techniques of sex you should take another book. The old mother of my girlfriend who always didn't allow her dauther to have a sex was in amazement and it changed all our relations.

If you want to see the best illustrated book about sex take this one. It is excellent.

This is one of the best biographies I have ever read and it is the an incredible work done by authors. They describe in detail all relevant facts about the Pope and, based on these facts, the authors explain his ideas and his influence under the modern church. In this book, the reader will be able to understand many of John Paul II's thoughts and actions that were performed and will be performed by him during his period as a Pope. A book worth reading in order to understand the real man behind the Sant Peters Throne.

I have started reading a lot of historical fiction and nonfiction, and have found Haywood's Altas to be very useful. It works well as an introduction, being quite readable and succinct. In addition, it is an excellent reference to use when reading nonfiction tombs that presume we all know where all the Hittites came from, or how the Illyrians migrated to Italy. Just easily finding Zhou, or Thrace on a map has been a big help for me. A good atlas, well worth the reasonably price.