This book looked very promising; the format and premise of a history book written from the year 2025. Unfortunately, the book is so superficial in its treatment of the subjects that I found myself falling asleep whenever I attempted to read it. The book reads like a collection of facts or sidebars; there are no stories, fiction or non, to pull you through the chapters. Read Probable Tomorrows instead.

"The future is now present," claims Bill Clinton. We need to "honor the past" and "imagine the future." Here is a book that helps millennial planners do the later part well.

Coates is a regular feature at World Future Society conferences. Last year I heard him give an 8-part lecture series last year on scenarios of life and business in 2025, and later bought the cassette series.

Now he and his colleagues have brought out the book on the subject. It taps the worlds of science, technology, and engineering to look at the thirty year period of 1995 to 2025. Written in the form of a history book in 2025, Coates gives fifteen scenarios which reflect what life will be like in the United States as well as other societies (both affluent and less prosperous).

* Smart Living / house and home of the future * Information: The Global Commodity / integration of telecommunications * Harvesting the Fruit of Genetics / biotechnology * Powering Three Worlds /energy technology and efficiency * The World of Things/ materials technology * Working Toward a Sustainable World /environmental strategies and tools * Managing the Planet/ macroengineering the environment * Putting Space to Work /cooperation and commercialization of space * Our Built World/ infrastructure and construction * People and Things on the Move / transportation * The World of Production / custom manufacturing * A Quest for Variety and Sufficiency / food and agriculture * Striving for Good Health / disease prevention and life enhancement * Our Days and Our Lives / quality of life movement * Balancing Work and Leisure / lifestyle and entertainment

One added feature to *2025* is that at the end of each chapter, Coates lists the "Critical Developments, 1990-2025," plus the "Unrealized Hopes and Fears" of each field he covers.

*2025* is the best information rich and researched mid-range scenario for the future I have read. It also is enjoyable reading. I have sharing bits and pieces with my son ! and daughter who will be 41 and 39 in the year 2025. They get a kick out of hearing about computer "knowbots," toys made with "smart materials," or machine "language coaches." But *2025* is far deeper than just a preview of future gadgets.

This book could be a veritable field guide to your next 30 years, especially if you are in business, an entrepreneur, a person responsible for planning, or engaged in scientific and technical issues.

I am using it right now as a help in writing radio commercials which illustrate futures thinking for upcoming millennial celebrations.

it is a very good book actually, but i'm having some difficulties in solving the exercise, so i think this book need a complementary book or some kind of manual or solution. But if there is, I would like to be informed about where i can get that kind of book. Thank U!

I used this book as my self-study material and I benefited from this book a lot. I would recommend using it either as a textbook for Advanced Accounting course or as a reference book for professionals. Here are the few points that I would like to share with you:

1.Logical order The order to display the topics in this book is logical and consistent. This is important for self-study users. At the beginning of each chapter, there's always a paragraph or two summarize the main points that are going to present in the chapter. This gives the reader a whole picture.

2. Clear explanation and examples The book uses easy explanatory languages and the examples are very representative. Each example, the author is showing us every detail steps, so it is easy to follow.

3.Relevant exercises and problems. At the end of each chapter, there are questions that can help to reinforce the concepts. Most questions can be found directly from the material. There are also exercises and problems that are related to the topic presented in the chapter. I remember there is an accounting book I used before that the problems required more knowledge than the chapter actually covered. This not the case in this book. Some of the examples in the chapter could be used as quick reference while working on the problems, too.

The only thing I would recommend, if I need to find some, is that I hope there could be more real life issues mentioned in the book. In this way, readers can relate the knowledge to daily life even closer.

There's a lot of cheap and distorted information in this book (probably edited by the clumsy U.S. Navy), but there's no doubt that Mad Admiral King never understood what a submarine was or that German submariners ran up and down our East Coast at will attacking our harbors and sinking our ships. He thought they were spontaneous combustion, of some sort, and made an effort to load ships differently and thus prevent these "untoward events."

Now all this time'early 40's'the Brits had been warning KING about the present position and anticipated arrival of every German submarine sent across the Atlantic to attack our Eastern ports, but the number one SOB on our side (and an American) refused to ever listen to the Brits due to a pathological craziness that negatively focused on the Brits. Instead he did the opposite. The ports were left unguarded. The German wolf packs roamed just a few miles off our Eastern seashore at will and thousands of men died needlessly! Why this one salient point wasn't a large focal point of this book is beyond me.

As bald as King's purposeful negligence seems today I must admit that everyone wants to read about a leader who is also a buffoon. Madness and stupidity offer great areas of comedic relief even in pointless deadly battles. A glimpse at some of the most fatal but stupid and uninspired Anglo-Saxon battle plans'"over the top boys!"'of the 2nd World War will convence anyone of this! That's why this book isn't selling but would be selling 2000 copies a month right now had the authors and the U.S. Navy relentlessly searched for the truth and then after finding it wrote is all down exactly as it happened. But the U.S. Navy was then a boatload of WASPS in search of a great U.S. Naval leader and Mad Admiral King looked just like a leader with his clean face and pretty white hair. In their egoistic ways and means, the writers tried to place King anywhere but where he belongs: in a yellow submarine. Instead, King's long and costly road to victory was too grevious for everyone in the end and so no foolish writer wanted to spend time researching him when his record spoke for itself.

Mad Admiral King's true plan for the Pacific war was to island-hop for another three years, to have the war end in 1948. His dwarf like mind conceived the worst and possibly malignant war plans when he purposefully ordered Iwo Jima to be invaded. This latter plan of death and dying caused even the most cynical American Admiral-to-be to suggest that island hoping was a bad idea. Bypass the remaining islands and bomb Japan back into the stone age with incendiaries. The deaths of the truly great fighting men at Iwo Jima were placed there by King and ordered to take the island at allcosts. This is not insightfully addressed in the book on King because it's just more proof of King's pathological arrogance and conceit.

Ernie J. King was one of the least known and yet most important figures of American 20th century military history. While others, such as Nimitz and Halsey, gained laurels in the press, King actually defined the strategy, determined who would lead American naval forces across the Pacific, and single-handedly ran the Navy Department throughout the war. Yet he remains almost unknown to modern generations [during a recent visit to the US Naval Academy, an official tour guide -- a retired Naval officer -- told me that King was buried in Arlington cemetery, when in fact he is buried at the Academy]. Mr. Buell addresses this gap with this extraordinary book. Buell tries -- by all available means -- to get at who the man was, what he was like, and what he did -- no easy task considering that King distrusted the press for much of the war, and was almost universally regarded as an SOB within the Navy Department. Yet reading this book, I came to understand why it took an SOB to accomplish the defeat of Japan simultaneously with that of Germany -- something that Admiral King seems to have understood as well. I felt that at the end of this book, I understood who King was, what motivated him, and what he was like. The reproduction of King's 2-page memorandum to FDR about Pacific war strategy is an extraordinary document and a classic example of good business writing. It is unfortunate that Buell's biography of Raymond Spruance does not manage to capture equally the character of Spruance -- admittedly an enigma. Buell's bibliography is a marvel of critical assessement of sources -- he uses the same style with his Spruance biography and new Civil War history. For someone interested in sources and original material, Buell's syntheses are unparalleled. My only question is: when will Buell take up the story of another fascinating military figure such as Pershing, Arleigh Burke, or McNair? Barry Miller Bethesda, Maryland

Twelve-year-old Andy Rusch has lived in a small town named Serenity all his life, working part time in his father's hardware store, but this fall proves anything but serene. In additon to a few buddies his own age, he has added a most unusual, adult, friend, who quietly grows in personal influence on the impressionable youth. Eventually Andy feels the strain and frustration of this emotional tug of war; he writhes under the unfair burden of having to choose to honor his new friend's different background or to obey his father re his future. The book presents this moral dilemma: does a Democracy--with the best of intentions--have the right to force modernization upon a harmless immigrant with a childlike faith in his power over Nature and the human heart?

Onion John is the kindly-given nickname of a man from Eastern Europe, whose English is undecipherable to everyone but Andy--who has to work at understanding his speech, until he discovers the trick of translating John's gutteral tongue and bizarre (medieval) ideas.

The boy, with no more ambition than to become a shopkeeper in New Jersey, becomes a companion to the strange but friendly hermit; they combine forces and enthusaism as they attempt to produce first rain, then gold. Onion John knows the rites to ward off "evil" spirits, to protect innocent workers, and even to fumigate an entire town. But does Serenity Need to be fumigated out of its expansive good will and generous desire to improve

John's living conditions--dragging him into the 20th century against his will? There is NO black magic, just European folklore and superstition. This is a simple, down home story about a boy who views his dad as a hero and his adult friend as a victim. Serious themes with elements of humor and touching family values.

In a recent writing assignment, my son wrote the following about Onion John:

The events that take place in Krumgolds' Onion John would probably never happen today. For instance, if a homeless man dressed in a strange coat and reeking of onions approached me on the street and spoke in a foreign language, I would not stop to wonder, If I listened long enough, would he start making sense? No! I would walk away - quickly. Not Andrew J. Rusch, Jr. He stops and really listens to Onion John, leading to their friendship and, eventually, the concern and care of their home town, Serenity. I enjoyed the interesting ideas Onion John had; for example, making rain with a parade and driving ghosts and evil spirits away with smells. I also like the part of the story that dealt with the "race to space" and Andy's dad's desire for Andy to get to the moon. I tend to prefer more adventurous stories or stories with a little more "action," which is why I chose to give Onion John four stars.

This book just made you feel good. At first, it seemed like Andy was the only one who wanted to help Onion John. But then, the whole town teams up to build him a new house with electricity, a stove where he doesn't need newspaper to light. When his house burns down, you know the people care about him. It is sad when he has to run away from the town of Serenity.

This concise biography is interesting as a broad overview of the life and military career of General John J. Pershing. Gene Smith, much as Walter Lord, typically does an effective job of writing "history lite." His books provide salient facts and details without overwhelming the reader with a lengthy narrative. The high points of Pershing's military career, culminating in his role as leader of the AEF during WWI, are described. Pershing was one of the few voices in 1918 that called for total victory rather than a negotiated peace. Such a total loss to Germany might have prevented WWII, one of the great "what ifs?" of history. The text spends what seems an inordinate amount of time detailing the life of Pershing's son and even his two grandsons. After the war in Europe ends, Pershing becomes a minor character in his own biography. Perhaps this is because a defining moment in Pershing's life was the asphyxiation death of his wife and daughters in a fire. The relationship with his surviving son was a top priority for Pershing. Regardless of the reason, one is left yearning for more military history blood and thunder and more saber rattling details of the career of "Black Jack" Pershing. Other than the stern professional soldier, not much insight is given of the man and his mindset. In addition, too many long, convoluted sentences impede a free flowing narrative. Nevertheless, this biography serves a useful purpose as an entry point to a serious study of its subject. ;-)

Overall, Smith does a pretty good job of bringing Pershing to life. Prior to reading this book, I knew very little about Pershing. This book got me past that, and a good deal more.

The details about Pershing's early life are a little sketchy. As the story moves along, Smith includes more and more info (presumably because more source material exists). I never got a sense of what Pershing's life was like growing up, but I got a lot (bordering on too much) about his relationship with his son and sisters.

I wholeheartedly disagree with the very negative review below. This book stays VERY focused on Pershing and, in my opinion, does not give too much detail about other people involved in the story. And, while Pershing may not have been as colorful (or as politically active) as Grant, MacArthur, Eisenhower, etc., he sure as heck earned six stars (which he never wore). With very little support from home, and against a great deal of pressure from the French and British, he trained and formed a US Army out of practically nothing, beat the Germans (don't argue that the French and British could have done it alone), and was the ONLY major voice calling for Germany's unconditional surrender (would WWII have happened if Wilson & the others had listened?).

The greatness of Pershing's acheivement comes through clearly in Smith's book. Sometimes, it's a little harder to get a feel for the greatness of the man.

Until the Last Trumpet Sounds is a fine book. Gene Smith has written an interesting, fast-paced narrative of the life of John J. Pershing. This reader, however, upon finishing the book, was left a bit unfulfilled. At 337 pages, a full 50 of which are devoted exclusively to the lives of Pershing's grandsons, Smith simply cannot do full justice to the highest ranking military officer in US history. Smith merely alights upon a peak of Pershing's career and then sets off for another before the meat of the story is told. What results, nevertheless, is a highly interesting read, but not half of what it could be.

Pershing, born in 1860, rose from obscurity to the General of US Armies garnering an unprecedented sixth star. He went from fighting Indians of the American West on horseback to leading mechanized battles of World War I. Gene Smith's Until the Last Trumpet Sounds has only scratched the surface of a truly remarkable life and, therefore, leaves the reader feeling he could have done quite a bit more. Even so, what he has completed merits a solid 4 stars.

This is a book has been around for some years now. Though it is an old book it is a good starting point for students that are lost. It has a brief explanation about each system witch is always good. Drugs are explained in a narrative form. This can be not so good for those who do not like to read in this form. It is extensive and drugs are explained one by one.The latter is one of the best features of this book. The conclusion is that this book needs an update but for the content it is a good choice but missing in the high yield content that some students are always looking for.

Readers of both intermediate and beginner's level can easily understang this book through its detailed example. The book is well organized but needs some editing work to reduce spelling errors and other inconsistencies.work

As prior reviews state, the text is well-selected from Powell's journal, and the photographs are superb. But how can the author publish the journal of an explorer without a map keyed to the dates of journal entries? The photographs are superb, but again, not keyed to a map, or even associated with the text. The identifying data for each photo is listed in the front of the book, but is not given on, or near the photograph. A potentially superb book, but, because of these defects and faults, one that is maddening to read.

If you really are a beginner in Access, do not buy this book. I am pretty good at picking up new software quickly, but this book lost me. He uses examples that you don't even have. At one point, he said "choose the suppliers table" but there wasn't a suppliers table!!

Also, he tries to be funny, but fails. You have to read through tons of stupid stuff to get to anything of relevance. And you can't skip over it either, or you'll miss the tiny morsel of important information that he put in among his meaningless drivel. This book truly needs a good editor.

I was appalled at the number of typos, omissions, and just plain ERRORS contained in this book! I find it inexcusable that there are (many!) places where an incorrect illustration is provided, for example. At first I thought I must have a very early edition, but my copy is apparently from the 2nd printing, in 1998...

I was also very disappointed to find that there is no accompanying CD-ROM or website to go along with the tutorials. For each new sample database or table, the reader has to build the framework by hand before being able to work along with the examples in the book. This is made virtually impossible by glaring omissions in the book--whole tables are added and filled in without any notice or explanation, leaving you to scratch your head and wonder "where did THAT come from?" In many cases I resorted to filling in as much data as I could based on close examination of the screen shots!

Finally, although the book discusses a great deal of Access arcana in passing, it has very little depth, and virtually no discussion of what goes into the design of a quality database. You can use Access by the end (if you are persistent) but your design is sure to be weak...

(My apologies to the authors... I just call it like I see it.)

This book, while being very funny, is also a great resource for learning Access. The author really knows his stuff.