This book provides a very good overview on Daum Cristal, its origin and development in France. The information included is well presented and since I love collecting Daum Cristal items, I use it very often to check on Daum designs. I have not found any other book in the market covering this subject so extensively. A great reference book for people that collect art expressed in glass!

I would like to purchase the book but first I want to see how it is done. Is there any copy of the cover and the first 2-3 pages. Actually, I am looking for a BIOGRAPHY of Claude Debussy !!! do you have any in stock?? Please send E-mail

This book, containing Suite Bergamasque, Pour le Piano, and Estampes, is an outstanding book for the Debussy-lover. Whether you want to play the dreamy "Clair de Lune" or the furious "Prelude" from Pour le Piano, this is the book for you. Just be prepared to come up with your own fingering, as none is given in this edition.

Claude Ake has once again written a very insightful book on the precarious situation currently facing Africa (more specifically Sub-Saharan Africa). His analysis, although sometimes a tough read, is well planned and descriptive, and he thoroughly explains his original thesis on what he believes is the best course for Africa to embark on both politically and economically. His discussion of current and past trends and efforts at the development and democratization of Africa is very informative, original, and well-researched. Ake's use of statistics and examples of events are very accurate and do not appear (on further research) to be misused or taken out of context to misrepresent what has occured and is occuring as fact. This book has proven very useful to my studies in the democratization processes currently transpiring througout Africa and offers a fresh insight and ideas for future developments.

Designer Jewellery with computer softwar

Deutsche Sprache und Landeskunde is a well-developed text for a first-year German course. In the preface, the authors specifically state that the book was designed after extensive research to avoid the shortcomings of other texts; in particular, they highlight features such as simple grammar explanations, thematically-controlled vocabulary introduction, balanced skill development, cultural relevance in readings and dialogues, and ample activities and "engaging exercises." The book consistently lives up to those promises. Although the book was clearly written for the undergraduate level, it might also be appropriate for mature or advanced high-school level students.

One of the first features of the book that appears particularly attractive is its well-planned layout. Each chapter is organized around a theme, and the themes are ordered in a natural sequence, presenting the experiences of an American exchange student in Germany (Rick) and a German exchange student in America (Renate). For example, the first chapter, Gruß und Abschied, presents greetings and introductory phrases; following chapters include Ankunft in Europa, Erste Eindrücke von Deutschland, and Eine Reise durch Deutschland. These are followed by chapters about national customs, shopping, home life, free-time activities and sport, University studies, and so on. The themes seem quite natural, not artificial, and they would likely be appealing to many students, who would naturally consider learning a language as a means to using it in the land(s) where it is spoken.

Each chapter is divided into six units, each of which has a consistent style across the book: 1) Vorschau ("Preview") - a "cognitive overview" of the chapter's theme and core vocabulary. Most have drawings with vocabulary labeled, or occasionally photographs. These are followed by exercises to practice the vocabulary: fill-in-the-blank, word matching, sentence creation, free-style question answering.

2) Phonologie ("Phonology") - a short one or two page unit on a particular sound in German. (The book itself is prefaced by a two-page introduction to the letters and sounds of the language). While this section is an obvious attempt to make sure that phonological topics are spread throughout the text and not just lumped (and overlooked) at the start, the effect is that material that would be useful near the start of the course - the critical German ch sounds [ç] and [X], for example, - are found nearly at the end of the book. This is definitely material beginners would need early-on.

3) Sequenzen ("Sequences") - These form the heart of each chapter, presenting concise grammatical lessons in well-organized units. Each starts with a short dialog that demonstrates the structure or concept for that particular sequence. The dialogues are quite natural - they follow the 'theme' of the chapter, usually having to do with one of the two exchange students - and they employ short but meaningful sentences that students could quite easily learn and also put to use. They are followed by content-based questions in German, both objective and subjective, designed to check students' understanding of the passage and to provide practice in using its forms. An English translation of the dialog, using every-day colloquial forms, appears at the bottom of the page. Next come the grammatical units - first, a brief description, never more than a few paragraphs, followed by a series of examples, often in table format and almost always using real German sentences. Here, the book lives up to its promise of making grammatical explanations simple - even topics late in the text are never given the appearance of being ponderous. Exceptions or finer points are often noted at the bottom of the page. A generous number of exercises in German follow each grammatical topic, enough to provide even those students feeling challenged by the material with plenty of practice. The exercises usually start with pattern-practice drills, followed by simple substitution and transformation drills, then sentence completion drills and open-ended exercises for freer student expression.

Taken together, this combination of an inductive introduction to material, followed by a deductive explanation with examples in natural, useable German, capped with a variety of exercises, provides an excellent and highly useable coverage of the grammar of the language.

4) Sammeltext ("Collected Text") - Following the grammar units is a one- or two-page text in German designed to review and reinforce the grammar structures and the vocabulary encountered in the chapter. Designed as reading practice, they usually take the form of a letter, dialogue, or short monologue. Incidental vocabulary is glossed in the side margins of the page. No exercises follow.

5) Kulturecke ("Culture Corner") - Next in each chapter is a short cultural unit related to the current topic: forms for writing letters, the media, public transport, the Kaffee und Kuche tradition (German "tea time"), the school and university systems, etc. This cultural information is the gem of the book -- avoiding glib stereotypes, it introduces students to the commonalities and differences between American and German life. (Unfortunately, the inclusion of Switzerland and Austria as the final two chapters makes them seem almost like an afterthought).

6) Wortschatz ("Vocabulary") - At the end of each chapter, new vocabulary is summarized by part of speech, with lists in German and English side-by-side.

Every chapter also starts with a page describing the language and cultural objectives for the unit, along with a brief outline of material. The objectives are well written - not only describing what will be discussed, but also why a student might use such material in real-world situations.

Following each chapter is a mini-unit on blue pages called a Zwischenspiel ("in-between game") presenting excellent additional material for communication practice - oral situations and dialogues to be acted out, short readings, and writing exercises. An Endspiel unit at the end of the book presents a brief excerpt from the Dürrenmatt play, "Das Unternehmen der Wega." Unlike the exercises within the chapters, which stay quite close to the ongoing themes of the two exchange students, these exercises are based around situations in average German life, and provide excellent material to create opportunities for individual and group student practice in using all four language skills from the start.

The book includes an Appendix that summarizes the key information about German verbs - both regular and irregular ("weak" and "strong") verbs - in a tabular format in under eight pages. This can serve as a handy reference for students and as a learning aid for those whose learning style makes them inclined to prefer a more structured, rather than descriptive, approach. The addition of tables summarizing pronoun cases and adjective declensions would have been useful.

One criticism with the layout of the text is that, in trying to present such a wealth of material for a year's course in German language and culture in 600 pages, the text itself appears simply too dense. The book could benefit from more white space, and perhaps differing type styles to differentiate types of material - explanations, exercises, dialogues. It could be daunting for some students to approach, and certainly could not be covered in its entirety by any typical class.

My three year old who is obsessed with dinos just can't get enough of this book. Its spiral binding and sturdy laminated and transparent pages stand up to the continuous reading. There is just enough information to intrigue a child without being cumbersome. The two sided clear pages are simply facinating to a young reader. This is just one of the fabulous books in the First Discovery series

Isaak August Dorner, one of the greatest theologians of the 19th century, is not as well known today as he should be. If enough people read this great essay of his, that may change. In it, Dorner offers a thorough and fascinating account of the historical development of the classical doctrines of God's immutability and simplicity, while, at the same time, presenting sharp criticisms of that doctrine. Dorner shows that any account of God's nature that is adequate for a sound piety must represent God in such a way that the world can have a value for Him, and this entails that He be able to create a world of free beings whose choices He can neither determine nor know in advance. This, in turn, entails that the actions of creatures must be able to have "a creaturely impact on the divine decree." Dorner shows that allowing God to change with respect to His knowledge and will in no way derogates from God's perfection. In particular, the ethical nature of God is safegaurded since, even though God changes His specific will towards a creature according to the creature's behavior (i.e. God will respond differently to Mother Teresa than to Hitler), God's actions always flow from His perfectly good nature; He always responds to creatures in the way the befits the most perfect possible moral gooness.

The historical section of Dorner's essay is rendered particularly delightful from the fact that he not only discusses such prominent figures as Augustine, Aquinas, and Scotus, but also lesser known protestant Scholastics, such as Quenstedt and Gerhard, as well as the acute 17th century Socinian, Conrad Vorst. This alone makes the book a treat for anyone interested in little explored aspects of the history of theology.

All in all this essay is a profound meditation on some of the most difficult and central aspects of Christian theology. I cannot recommend it highly enough. The translation itself is fluid and very readable, and the book is prefaced by a penetrating discussion, by Robert Williams, of Dorner and of the content of this essay. My only criticism is directed at the cheap book binding process that Fortress Press currently employes. I have only had this book for a little over a year, have not subjected it to any unusual sorts of stress, and yet every page of it is now loose from its back. The same thing has happened, in short order, to all the paper back books I possess published by Fortress Press. It is unfortunate that a translation this good of an essay this great should be treated in so shabbily by Fortress Press. So great a Lutheran Father as Dorner deserves better from a press devoted to preserving and furthering the Lutheran heritage.