Many newer guides have been published about birds of this region, but this book still deserves its place on the bookshelf of anyone interested in birds of South-east Asia. Illustrations are good, and descriptions are detailed and mostly accurate. A bit bulky to carry in the field, but not a problem if you bring it in a backpack. The situation with forest fires in South-east Asia (especially Indonesia) is growing worse each year, so get out there and see some of these extraordinary birds while you still can!

Any serious birder to the listed regions of this book would buy this book.

It is the best guide of the region so far with excellent plates and useful details. What I find especially useful, particularly for the raptors, is that they show illustrations of the birds in flight.

The drawings appear consistent and the bird's information at the back of the book is easy to access.

The birds are categorised according to their family which definately makes for faster checks and identification, which I find important when in the field.

The spine of the book though is a little week and you might want to have it rebound before it falls apart - especially with all the browsing that is to be.

This was the book that everyone who seemed to be serious used in Borneo, but if you are going to be out in the bush for more than a few days and make frequent use of field guides, consider having it re-bound before you leave -- many people I passed along the way were finding that the plate pages were starting to fall out.

It has been said that most great men are bad men. Samuel Eliot Morison's superb biography of John Paul Jones supports, if not proves, that proposition. Jones's greatness is undeniable: Although he was the son of an obscure Scottish gardener, he virtually founded the United States Navy, he won one of the most important sea battles of the Revolutionary War when he was only 32, and he later commanded ships in the service of France and Russia. But Jones also was extremely temperamental, excessively vain (after receiving an honor from France, he liked to be addressed as "Chevalier Paul Jones"), and he had mistresses in practically every port. Morison, a longtime professor at Harvard and the author of the authoritative, Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Christopher Columbus, as well as a massive, multi-volume history of the U.S. Navy during World War II, reports all of this in a matter-of-fact fashion. Morison's Jones is a great sailor and a man of the world in every respect.

According to Morison, Young Jones was highly ambitious and went to sea at age 13 "as a road to distinction." During the next 15 years, he learned well his trade and he also became an American patriot. At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, Morison writes that the American navy was "only a haphazard collection of converted merchant ships," and the Royal Navy was probably the most powerful in history. But General George Washington, according to Morison, "had a keen appreciation of the value and capabilities of sea power," and, in October 1775, Congress appointed a Naval Committee of Seven to manage the colonies' maritime affairs. In December 1775, seven months before the American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain, Jones accepted a commission as a lieutenant in the continental navy.

Although Morison is primarily interested in Jones's activities during the Revolutionary War, he makes a number of more generally cogent observations. For instance, the United States government was in a state of nearly constant impecuniousness and was able to afford to build only one of the largest class of naval vessels, a ship of the line, during the conflict. In Morison's view, this was the status of the war at the time of the battle off Flamborough Head in September 1779, which secured Jones's fame: "The War of Independence had reached a strategic deadlock, a situation that recurred in both World Wars of the twentieth century. Each party, unable to reach a decision by fleet action or pitched land battles, resorts to raids and haphazard, desultory operations which have no military effect." That deadlock continued, according to Morison, until 1781. Morison also writes that Britain took the position "since the United States were not a recognized government but a group of rebellious provinces,...American armed ships were no better than pirates."

Morison appears to be deeply impressed by Jones's technical competence: "One of Paul Jones's praiseworthy traits was his constant desire to improve his professional knowledge." That passion for self-improvement reached fruition September 1779 off the Yorkshire coast of east-central England when a squadron which Jones commanded from the Bonhomme Richard defeated the H.M.S. Serapis in a three and one-half hour battle during which those ships were locked in what Morison describes as a "deadly embrace." (Bonhomme Richard sank during the aftermath of the fierce fighting.) It was during this battle that Jones defiantly refused to surrender with the immortal phrase: "I have not yet begun to fight." According to Morison, "[c]asualties were heavy for an eighteenth-century naval battle. Jones estimated his loss at 150 killed and wounded out of a total of 322." Morison writes that Jones was at his "pinnacle of fame" in late 1779, and, when he visited France, which was allied with the U.S. during the Revolutionary War, in April 1780: He became the lion of Paris, honored by everyone from the King down." When Jones returned to the United States in 1781, however, he was unable to obtain what Morison describes as a "suitable command," and he never fought again under the American flag. In 1788 and 1789, as "Kontradmiral Pavel Ivanovich Jones" he swerved in the navy of Catherine II, "the Great," Empress of Russia. When he died in 1792, he was buried in France, but, in 1905, his body was returned to the United States and now rests in the chapel of the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

Jones's nasty temper is frequently on display. Morison remarks on various occasions that his crews were "disobedient," "sullen," and "surly." Which was cause and which was effect is difficult to ascertain. Jones clearly was an overbearing commander, which may explain, though does not excuse, his crews' bad attitudes. On one occasion Jones had one of his officers "placed under arrest for insubordination [giving the officer] a chance to clear it up, and Jones was unwilling to admit his error." It is not prudent to compare events during war in the late 18th century to the peace and prosperity of our own time, but no reader of this book will be impressed by Jones's interpersonal skills.

Morison makes numerous references to "prize money," the curious, but apparently then-universal, practice of rewarding captains and their crews in cash for capturing enemy ships. The fact that Jones pursued prize money with vigor may raise additional doubts about his character, but I would guess Morison believed that Jones simply followed a custom which probably motivated many successful naval captains of his time.

Morison held the rank of admiral in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Although the degree of detail in his narrative is fascinating, I found some passages too technical, and I suspect some other lay readers may be baffled as well. (The book's charts and diagrams were, however, very helpful.) But that is a small price to pay for a wonderful biography of one of the most intriguing figures of the American Revolution.

A hero of my youth, this book appears to tell the full story. This is a scolarly work which reads easily. I only wish I would have read this book in my twenties. There are some wonderful life lessons in this biography. If you read it you will learn his flaws, his good and fine attributes, and some mysteries. This is first-rate biography and detective work by the author. I recommend it.

As someone who had recently seen the "John Paul Jones" movie that was made in 1959 with Robert Stack, I was curious to learn more about the man who put the U.S. Navy on the map. Of course, most know him as the one who coined the immortal, defiant phrase "I have not yet begun to fight!" This book delves beyond that, as Morison shows Jones as he really was, a human being born in obscurity in Scotland who developed a love for the sea at an early age. He was simultaneously a shrewd combatant with a quick temper (in many ways the American equivalent of the great English admiral Nelson,) and a gentleman who enjoyed the company of numerous lovely ladies ashore. Morison leaves no stone unturned as he takes the reader on a detailed, captivating journey (from page one, the reader is hooked.) He sailed the waters that bore witness to Jones's battles and drew extensively upon the naval archives of the four primary countries that figured in Jones's life. To give you some idea, the engagement with H.M.S. Serapis is fleshed out in such marvelous detail that one can almost smell the gunpowder, but Morison goes beyond that, explaining what happened before, during, and after, most of which one would not learn in history class. In fact, I would make book that at least ninety percent of what one will read in this book would not be learned in history class. Morison has included pictures, charts, diagrams, excerpts from letters (some of which are in French with English translations), and has deftly blended them and the text into a perfect biography. For anyone who wants to learn more about Jones, this is required reading.

First a warning: I advice you to skip the very first part of the book, in which is the author tries to give the reader a feeling on the Polish background of the pope. It's unbalanced, emotional, somewhat chaotic, and very little to the point. I almost stopped reading the book because of this.

But when you start reading where the chronological description of the pope's life starts, you'll find a thorough biography, without exaltation, and not without some critical points of view. The first half of the book deals with the years before Karol became pope, and show how he was trained, coached, and grew as a actor, priest, play write, bishop, mystic poet and cardinal, in the often hard conditions in Poland. The second half deals with his policies as pope. Here is also a special focus on the Polish situation and how the pope exercised influence there. The book helps understanding the motivations of John Paul, even though one doesn't have to agree with him on all accounts.

An interesting, insightful book.

This book is an excellent resource for anyone interested in the life of one of the greatest and most influential popes ever, John Paul II. Through the author's exceptional work, we get to know the man who became John Paul II, and relive his early heartbreaks and triumphs. From Nazi occupied Poland to the modern day Vatican, all significant events are detailed and discussed. This is a biography to be reread time and again.

Pope John Paul II has revolutionized the Papacy, stripping away much of the secrecy and making the Pope, for the first time in history, a Shepherd available to his flock. Although I thought this book leaned a little too heavily on Poland and Polish history, I will give in and say it enhanced my understanding of this complex and charismatic Pope. A very thorough biolgraphy with fascinating looks at behind-the-scenes-politics in Vatican City. Because of John Paul II's impact, he gets my vote as Man of the Century and I recommend this book as a must read for people of any faith.

Half of this book is about famous paleontologists, what dinosaurs are, and how they became extinct. The next half has at least 80 pictures and paintings of different species of dinosaurs, and a description of their characteristics and how they live. I would especially recommend it to 11 and 12 year olds who know their dinosaurs. WARNING: This is not a little kid's book. It does contain A LOT of information. It has at least a page on each species of dinosaur, but I think it should go into even more detail on these amazing animals.

We used this book to get a complete overview of these wonderful creatures. The book is large sized and has wonderful color pictures. The text is easy to read for ages 9 and up and can be read aloud to younger kids, so the book works for whole families. There are all sorts of hands on projects, great little pieces about some famous dinosaur excavators and dinosaur moments in history. Of course all the information about how the shape of the continents took place, how fossils are made, the geological time, etc. is there and complete. We were really impressed with the ease in which we could gather information from the book.

I got this book as a gift. From the first page, I knew that I liked it! The detailed pictures show texture and are colorful. It is easy to read and understand. On each page there are different boxes with crafts you can do and interesting facts. (for example, some small carnivore dinosaurs ate their young when they were starving.)

I use this book for research in school and when I write stories. I have read it many times and it seems like it's new every time! If you know any kids that like to read and like dinosaurs, this is a book for them. There are exciting and surprising things on every page!

This is one book that combined it well! "Professional ADO.NET with VB.NET" is the text to grab, if you are a .NET programmer who wants to learn more about .NET data access technology.
The book has a consistent practical approach to issues. It is full of grounded information, which would ensure that programmers execute their tasks with unflinching confidence.
This book has a result-oriented outlook. Its authoritative analyses of cross-platform programming issues are flawless. All the important classes, (DataSets, DataAdapters, e.t.c.), which constitute ADO.NET received generous attention. However, all these expanded ADO.NET tutorials came at the expense of VB.NET, whose underlying parameters received little attention. Still, this is a valuable book to have.

This book is typical Wrox: it offers a comprehensive coverage of the subject in a very easy to follow fashion. It starts with several chapters covering the core ADO.NET classes - DataReaders, DataAdapters, DataSets. As the ADO.NET DataSet is a class with very rich features, this book discusses each facet of it - from the ADO Recordset-like generic disconnected in-memory data presentation with constraints, relationships to strongly typed DataSet, and finally to the built-in support of XML. The later chapters then introduces advanced features such as web services, SQL Server XML support, Performance, Security, etc.

A minor inconsistency is that some examples in the book use Console Application interface, while most others use Windows Application, perhaps reflecting the fact of this being a multi-author book. But as far as learning ADO.NET is concerned, this is really not a issue.

Oh, if you already owns its predecessor - Professional ADO.NET, which is written with C#, you might want to keep it and skip this one because it's mostly the same contents in different language (VB.NET). But if you haven't got either, it's definitely worth a very close look at this title.

This is indeed a great book. It talks a lot about the basic photographic techniques and is a good read for a beginner. However, most of the book is limited to black and white photography. The book is also a bit out dated.

Overall a good book for a serious beginner. It will help a person get accostomed to both the scientific and the creative aspects of photography.

The majority of the text concentrates it's efforts in educating the reader in the art of B&W photography. Color photography is briefly touched on at the book's end. The first half of the book deals with various camera systems, accessories, film choices, photograph visualization and film exposure. All of these topics are covered exceptionally well. The second half deals with the developing and printing process. If the prospective reader will not be involved in the developing and printing process then the Ansel Adams Book 1, "The Camera", and Book 2, "The Negative", may be better choices. However to receive the maximum benefit from the art of B&W photography one must eventually delve into the darkroom. The book details those processes equally well.

Although I loved this book, and knew what I was buying, Amazon's attribution of this book to Ansel Adams is misleading. This is a book about Ansel Adams' technique, and his zone system in particular. It's not a book by Adams. If you want Adams' own take on the basic techniques of photography, check out his three books: The Camera, The Negative, The Print, as well as his book of case studies, The Making of 40 Photographs. It takes a lot of nerve to write a book like this when Adams has already done a bang up job of it himself. Surprisingly, Schaefer's effort doesn't pale in comparison to the master's own. Plus you have the advantage of a single book rather than Adams' three. Schaefer provides an excellent guide to Ansel Adams' zone technique, with great illustrations. And despite a bit more attention paid to color photography than in Adams' own books, it still seems like an afterthought.

Poetry is the most difficult writing to translate. Since it is impossible to retain the content, psychic distance, syntax, and rhytmn, the translation of poetry is about sacrifices. I found Felstiner sacrificed meaning far too often in his admittedly admirable attempt to keep the rhyme scheme, etc. The problem with his approach is that he ends up writing words that are not Celan's. (If the reader doesn't know German, then the translator can get away with this). Having returned his book to the bookstore, I am still in search of a translation that I find true to the original. anyone recommend another?

This is a great, highly satisfying translation of the poetry of a tortured genius whose voice rang through holocaust death camps into 21st century living rooms. The metaphors of Celan are of tragic acuity, & his tropes & experiments will keep you awake at night. He didn't write to avoid the real world. He wrote so that he could clench in his sore fists the very world that clenched him in its. The prose selections at the end of the book, speeches he gave, are also very, very interesting & provide a different angle by which to view his great mind, of how he spoke when not funneling the thinking into a certain art.

Paul Celan is now considered one of the great postwar poets, perhaps the greatest poet to come out of the Holocaust, and the 2nd most influential German poet after Rilke. His most famous poem, "Todesfuge" (Deathfugue) is considered the most important poem on the Holocaust.

But beyond all that hyperbolic praise lies a poet who defies easy description, whose poetry is both demanding, difficult, beautiful and lyrical, and who deserves to be read by a wider audience.

Felstiner provides us with one of the 2 best bilingual editions of Celan's most important work (the other is by Michael Hamburger), and supplements it with a very well written introduction and translations of Celan's most important prose writings, including the Buchner speech "The Meridian". These prose pieces will be essential for students of Celan, and cast an important light on the poems.

The translations of the poems themselves are quite good, and at times brilliant, such as the innovative way that Felstiner translates "Deathfugue," subtly interweaving the original German more and more in the repetitions of the chorus until the poem ends with two lines entirely in German. The effect is chilling. Felstiner deserves the translation award he won for this book solely on the basis of this one poem, which shocked me anew when I read it in his English translation.

If you are unfamiliar with Celan up to now, this is a good place to start. If you are already an admirer of Celan's poems, this will be a welcome addition to your library. See also Felstiner's biography on Celan, "Paul Celan: Poet, Survivor, Jew".

The book is divided into 2 sections. The 1st part is the technical part which familarizes you with the techniques the author uses most. The 2nd section focuses on his art,his vision, and the technical details of how his images are accomplished.

The Technical section was superb;in the other 4 or 5 photoshop books I've read, I've never had Curves explained to me so thoroughly. His larger and more 'artistic' section is very interesting also, although at times he feels and sounds like a crazy artist, his superb techical skills make the book informative and worthwhile regardless of whether you connect with his work.

This book isn't for beginners. Like Bert Monroy's Photorealistic Techniques book, the author shares with the reader his hobby, passion, and years of experience. Those working with photos as their chief source material, especially those combining photographs, will benefit the most from John Caponigro's expertise.

is what this book is. For me personally I found it very inspiring and John Paul actually opens up a new realm of thinking when creating digital imagery. Each chapter is well thought out and easy to follow, although I don't think it's a book for beginners to learn from. That's not to say it couldn't be inspiring, but one must have a very good understanding of Photoshop to take his techniques and implement them. His approach to creating images is truly unique and particular chapters ending with a couple of techniques to create what has been talked about. i.e Color to Grayscale, Multitone image creations etc.

John Paul Caponigro takes a very humanistic approach to his writing on Photoshop. Going beyond the dry and flat descriptiveness of most text-based Photoshop books, Caponigro applies the human touch to his teachings on utilizing Photoshop. By sharing how he personally approaches each of his images, he shows how working with Photoshop can be a creative and exciting process. There's nothing that I can write here that better conveys the value of this book then reading the book yourself.

"Fish" is a parable that deals with Mary Jane who was assigned to the third floor of her company who had the reputation of being ineffective, unfriendly and labelled a "toxic energy dump." Mary Jane had to find ways to improve morale and basically changed the attitudes of some thirty employees under her supervision. She employed the tactics of fishmongers at Pike Place Fish, a world famous market in Seattle in order to learn from them how to make the workspace more fun and effective.

The four principles that Mary Jane learned from the fishmongers are "choose your attitude," "play," "make their day," and "be present." The book basically explains how these principles would improve morale in the workplace, making it fun to work even if the work itself is boring and at the same time, valuing both their internal and external customers. "Fish" is quite encouraging and it reminds me a lot of "Who Moved My Cheese?" as both books are short, concise and easy to understand.

Since we spend more than one-third of our lives at work, thinking about work, preparing for work, we might as well make work a fun thing to do. Besides, we will get the same paycheck regardless of whether we are enjoying it or not :) Some of us are not fortunate enough to have the option of leaving our job or changing our physical surroundings, however we could still learn to enjoy our current job and surroundings by changing our perceptions. It is as simple as that! The keyword here is "learn". I think it is definitely a learning process to see and cherish what we already have, enjoy the most out of it instead of longing or regretting for things that we don't have and complaining about the pithole that we are in. Don't worry, there is nothing scientific about how to improve your quality of life by changing your perception, this very inspiring little book Fish! will guide you to better enjoy your work. This book is narrating a story about how fish sellers are thoroughly enjoying their job selling fishes in the fish market and how their enthusiasm inspire those who are around them. Very entertaining!

A wonderful book that simplifies the steps to have the right atmosphere in any environment.

Mary Jane has been given the difficult task of turning around the 3rd floor inefficiency to be a productive and pleasant place to work. In helping her in the task she meets Lonnie, who works in the fish market, and who makes her see how he managed to bring the best out of his employees even though they work in a stinky place.

The four lessons learned to achieve such results are: Attitude, Play, Make their day, and Be present. Those simple words and how to carry them between the employees and be able to transmit them to the customers should be enough to turn the life around.

A great book, that also helps with our daily lives and how to approach life on daily basis, make the best of things, give it your best shot and the rest is history.

Things are going swimmingly in Fish! land. In the latest volume, Fish! Tales, authors Stephen C. Lundin, John Christensen, Harry Paul and Philip Strand build on the successful training program that evolved from their first Fish book. Tales shows how four companies - a long-distance call center; a hospital neural-renal unit, a car dealership and a roofing company - have applied Fish! theories effectively. They also provide short examples from other companies to show how well the Fish! function. The four main principles are familiar by now - keep the work fun, seek to serve others, stay focused on your customers and have an enthusiastic attitude - but the examples in the book bring them alive. Along the way, the authors heavily sell their Fish! courses and merchandise - that's just good salesmanship - but the real catch of the day is the final how-to section, showing ways to apply these principles in any organization. The lively writing style helps keep you hooked. We from getAbstract suggest that if you haven't yet caught any Fish!, start with this one. Its cheery, accessible methods should lure you in, hook, line and sinker.

I'm the General Manager Don Freeman that this book "Fish Tales" refers to in a full chapter who worked for Sprint. The great thing about this book Fish is that it outlines in detail what we were already trying to do before learning about FISH years earlier. It defined it in a way that assisted us in bringing a greater level of understanding and participation for all our employees. "Fish Tales" now brings it to a level showing it works and can be adapted in many different work groups. I implemented it in our call center but I was dressing as Elvis long before reading FISH. This book helped me legitimize my creative fun leadership style with my peers and show that work is fun. The great thing about this book is that you can see in Fish Tales that you have to find your own employee culture and way of making the FISH PHILOSOPHY work in your own Company or Department. It will depend on the type of work being done, product and location in the country. This book gives many ideas on possibilities and helps to open the creative juices!! You don't have to be Elvis! I found the creative "Board of Director meetings" (mentioned in the book) and acting those activities out a fun way to get participation and great fun for all employees too. Go Fish!!
While having fun, it is important to keep the vision and purpose of your business as part of the philosophy. Fish Tales is a great book with wonderful examples you can use. It works well with other work culture initiatives too.

As I was looking for the next offering to read from the authors of Fish!, I was astonished--shocked, in fact-- to read the negative, cynical reviews from other readers. It made me wonder what some of these folks were doing while they were "reading," since my experience and opinion of both of the fish books is extremely positive. So, I felt compelled to share my opinion.

I used to be cynical about this "touchy feely" stuff. But, I've been around long enough to have experienced a lot of the opposite--complex, "50,000-step, multi-phased initiatives" implemented by expensive consultants that ended up as dismal failures.

The Fish Tales book was even better than the first because of the "real" examples. These companies actually took the simple concepts and made them work. You can't argue with their success. I know. I have had the experience of employing similar strategies and activities in the places I've worked, and the whole tone and outlook of my work teams changed for the better. You can't underestimate the power people have when they've committed to working on a few, simple things that make positive differences. Confidence builds. They get better at their jobs. And they know that they are doing something special--something worthwhile.

Fish Tales shows what is possible. The beauty of it is that it tells how to reach the hearts of employees and customers. How to connect with people and accomplish great things. It doesn't always take an expensive, complex initiative. We didn't need complex initiatives for galvanizing people to do great things after Dec.7,1941, or 9/11. It took an instantaneous connection and reminder about what life is about. Fish Tales will help people feel what is truly real in life. Simply, inexpensively, enjoyably, energetically. Profitably.