Although it was 22 years between editions of this book, the title likely will be familiar to many persons in professional broadcasting and in academics. The 1976 second edition for many years occupied the top-rung of choices for management texts in the field; its endurance no doubt was due in part to the authors success in gauging the long-term impact the social movements of the 1960s would have on broadcast station management's roles and responsibilities.

Similarly, in its new incarnation, Brown and Quaal's work, (with author names reversed for this edition), seems in step with the new electronic media landscape: they have fashioned a work in sync with the economic, organizational, regulatory and technological changes of the recent past. Emphasis in management clearly is placed upon management's role and responsibilities in the age of mergers and bottom-line thinking.

This book seeks a larger audience than a typical textbook, presenting a vast collection of research and literature data in footnotes, endnotes, and in separate historical and numerical displays. It would seem most appropriate as a text for advanced college courses emphasizing the radio-TV-cable industries and for which historical context is especially desired. In addition, this book would seem to fill a niche as a solid reference work for scholars and working professionals interested in a comprehensive survey of the field and a balanced philosophical approach to viewing major management issues. The authors represent both the academic prospective (Brown) and the working media professional (Quaal) and at times reflect this point of difference in their treatment of subject matter. For example, they openly disagree on the broad question of who owns the airwaves-broadcasters or the public. The result for the reader is a work that offers engaging and insightful views of relevant issues from alternate perspectives.

This is a big book, broad in its audience target and exhaustive in its treatment of many subjects. Its mass may be its weakness for many teachers and students who want a more streamlined text with fewer historical side trips and quantitative displays. Moreover, I found it disappointing that the chapter on theory did not present wider representation of traditional management theories: the authors favor the alphabet theories such as X, Y, Z, and in so doing perhaps place too much emphasis upon their own V-Theory of managing. One may need to seek out other published sources on management to get a more representative serving of prevailing management theories.

W. Joseph Oliver, Ph.D. Professor of Communication Stephen F. Austin State University Nacogdoches, Texas

"Testing in Language Programs" is an ideal book for teachers who want to learn how to make good tests, analyses and interpret the results, and how to improve such tests so that grades or placement decisions can have meaning and be fair to one's students. I liked this book because it is very thorough in basics. You will learn about the different types and uses of language tests such as norm-referenced tests (eg; the TOEFL), which can be used to ascertain general proficiency or for making placement decisions, and criterion-referenced tests (eg; your end-of-term test), which can inform you to what extent students are learning and meeting previously set and well-defined objectives. You will learn how to describe the distribution of your test results in terms of central tendency (average, median, mode) or spread (range, standard deviation), and when to favor one form of presentation over another, and you will also learn the various ways of improving your tests by scrutinizing test items. After you have understood this, you will then be able to understand reliability and error of measurement, and how this can help you in making decisions about grades. Finally, the chapter on validity will help you focus on what you are really measuring in a test and how you can make your tests accountable with respect to language constructs or other well-established tests. If you are a language teacher because of a congenital fear of all-things-math (a myth I used to believe and propagate as a thoroughly obnoxious pupil), then this book may take some time to digest. If not, (or perhaps even if) then this book is well worth buying.

Brown focuses on South Africa's role in the the largely forgotten WWI campaign in German East Africa (roughly modern Tanzania). Profusely illustrated and having numerous good maps, he ranges from the experiences of the Boer leaders to that of the individual troops. Fought under grueling conditions and against a resourceful foe, the South African soldiers performed admirably. Although the author doesn't refrain from criticizing the Boer leadership, the work is decidedly a South African viewpoint. My greatest disappointment was its neglect of the role of Boers in German service in the campaign. Many Boers had trekked to German East Africa rather than submit to British rule and very little information on them has been made available on their service with the Germans.

"Understanding Research in Second Language Learning" is the perfect book for any teacher or researcher who would like to be able to critique or assess statistical research papers without having to spend an inordinate amount of time studying math in the process. The book starts off by asking the pertinent question "What is research?", before explaining clearly and concisely what variables are and how they can be identified, how data is measured, and how to choose the most appropriate statistical analysis for your particular research question. What I liked most about this book was the methodological approach to understanding what good research design is, and that the helpful diagrams, summaries and review questions made understanding rather easier than may have been otherwise. With this book, you will probably be able to understand ninety percent of the stats that appear in language research papers, and to follow the logic of almost all.

It's cheap ... not beautifully bound or anything. Buy two or three, and have them ready to give away. Spread the Word of God as revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

'To preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.' I Cor. 1:17

In 1996 a collection of essays examining the intricacies of China-United States relations was published by The Council on Foreign Relations bearing the title, Weaving the Net: Conditional engagement of China. This American-oriented set of policies, ¡®conditional engagement¡¯, is comprised of ten points:

THE TEN PRINCIPLES OF CONDITIONAL ENGAGEMENT 1. No unilateral use of offensive military force 2. Peaceful resolution of territorial disputes 3. Respect for national sovereignty 4. Freedom of navigation 5. Moderation in military force buildup 6. Transparency of military forces 7. Nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction 8. Market access for trade and investment 9. Cooperative solutions for transnational problems 10. Respect for basic human rights (Shinn 1996)

This paper shall scrutinize and critique these ten points while, at the same time, consider both the American and Chinese positions.

Numerous credible sources have made claims to the effect that China is to be the next powerhouse of the world. For the U.S., in particular, the importance of China could very well outweigh any other country (Sharp 1997). As such, a look at the origin and nature of Sino-American relations is necessary. From 1949 to 1971 the relationship between these two countries was essentially antagonistic. However, three points of change may be recognized. Firstly, in 1969, Sino-Soviet relations soured with border skirmishes as well as an invasion attempt by the Soviets. With a strategic focus in mind, China decided to open up to the West. The second point of change was in 1979, when post-Cultural Revolution reforms initiated such projects as special economic zones, private enterprises, and the abolishment of communes, amongst others. Finally, in June 1989, with the Tiananmen Square massacre, Sino-American relations took a downward turn. Further, the collapse of the Soviet Union removed the impetus for a strategic alliance between the U.S. and China. After 1989, there has been general disruption and disregard of the previously set arrangements between the U.S. and China. Based on this set of past and future circumstances, three different stances concerning the nature of Sino-American relations have arisen in Washington. The first, unconditional engagement, claims that a gradual integration into the global trading and financial systems will abate China¡¯s behavior. On the other side of the spectrum, preemptive containment supporters uneasily view China¡¯s potential to spread its control throughout the region and, in the future, the world. The two components of preemptive containment are, thus, to contain and undermine the pseudo-Marxist dictatorship (Shinn 1996). Essentially, these two assemblages of policies have significantly narrowed the options: Should the U.S. deal with China as a threat or as a non-threat?

Conditional engagement, under the organizational efforts of James Shinn and the related task force, was designed as an alternative to those two schools of thought. He defines it as ¡®a moderate, rules-based, essentially empirical strategy for dealing with China¡¯ In essence, the possibilities of conditional engagement are far greater than any method of containment. Yet, with the recent approval of the PNTR by the U.S. House of Representatives, certain points of order must be reconsidered. Nevertheless, James Shinn has truly exerted himself and his task force to come up with a viable option to containment or unrestricted engagement. Further, the Chinese views included in the book only serve to prove how practical conditional engagement is, in light of the lack of options.

Community Playhouse in Long Beach did the show this August. As it played, the plot didn't come through, but the wit of Shaw did. The playhouse didn't have the costumes of the military men, nor the actors to carry-off the pomp and bravado of these would-be heroes. In a time when G.W. Bush is fighting his own phantasmic enemies this play should have lapooned the whole spectre of military madness. George Bernard Shaw gave us the theme it will take some imagination and talent to make it contemporary and equal to the madness of our times. Anon

George Bernard Shaw takes the title for this play from the opening life of Virgil's epic poem the "Aeneid," which begins "Of arms and the man I sing." Virgil glorified war and the heroic feats of Aeneas on the battlefield. However, Shaw's purpose in this play is to attack the romantic notion of war by presenting a more realistic depiction of war, devoid of the idea that such death and destruction speaks to nobility. Still, "Arms and the Man" is not an anti-war drama, but rather a satirical assault on those who would glorify the horrors or war.

Shaw develops an ironic contrast between two central characters. The play begins with accounts of the glorious exploits of Major Sergius Saranoff, a handsome young Bulgarian officer, in a daring cavalry raid, which turned the war in favor of the Bulgarians over the Serbs. In contrast, Captain Bluntschil, a professional soldier from Switzerland, acts like a coward. He climbs up to a balcony to escape capture, he threatens a woman with a gun, and he carries chocolates rather than cartridges because he claims the sweets are more useful on the battlefield.

In the eyes of Raina Petkoff, the young romantic idealist who has bought into the stories of battlefield heroism, Saranoff is her ideal hero. However, as the play proceeds, we learn more about this raid and that despite its success, it was a suicidal gesture that should have failed. Eventually Saranoff is going to end up dead if he continues to engage in such ridiculous heroics. Meanwhile, we realize that Bluntshcil has no misconceptions about the stupidity of war and that his actions have kept him alive.

"Arms and the Man" is an early play by Shaw, first performed in 1894, the same year he wrote "Mrs. Warren's Profession." The ending is rather tradition for comedies of the time, with all the confusion between the lovers finally getting cleared up and everybody paired up to live happily ever after. The choice of a young woman as the main character, who ultimately rejects her romantic ideals to live in the real world, is perhaps significant because serving in the army and going to war is not going to happen. Consequently, her views are not going to be colored by questions of courage in terms of going to war herself. I also find it interesting that this play understands the horrors of war given that it was the horrors of World War I that generally killed the romantic notion of war in Britain.

A starving, exhausted soldier running for his life bursts into a young woman's room, finds outrage, criticism, solace, chocolate creams, and unexpected love -and that's just the opening scene. This clever, witty, subtle, and surprising treat from the author of Pygmalion still holds up well more than 100 years after its writing. Shaw fashions the subjects of false ideals, heroism, romanticism, and the fake glories of war into a well-constructed farce which sustains through the very last line. Can't wait to see a new production of the play, and a great read meanwhile....

The book is well-written in a lively, engrossing style, but... Oh, dear... I found several factual errors within the first 22 pages. This was the part of the story I knew and had researched, so knew there were mistakes in fact. When I came to the part I wanted to learn about the previous errors cast doubts over what I was then reading. Even if the rest of the story is flawlessly accurate, I couldn't trust it. Truly a pity as the book is, otherwise, very well done.

--since originally writing that, I've done more research on the subject and have gone back to the book... only to find more errors! Some are trivial (but would have been easy enough to get right) and some are significant.

What a great read! Frank James, outlaw, enters the office of the governor of Missouri and lays down his pistol. His trial was set in a opera house, since the courtroom could not accomodate the large crowd gathered. Fourteen flamboyant trial lawyers and colorful cast of witnesses head up the supporting cast. If you thought the OJ Simpson trial was interesting, check this book out!

I recently appeared on NBC's the "Today" show regarding my latest scholarly discovery of four new photographs of Jesse James, Cole Younger, Jim Younger and Belle Starr. I assisted Gerrard Petrone in writing, what I believe to be the finest book written about Frank James. The book is steeped in scholarly content and full of specific details that relate the true story of Frank James, not a 19th or 20th century reconstruction of the truth. Petrone's writing style and original newspaper source material from the period, make for exciting reading. The story of Frank James leaps off the page, so boldly, that one feels the excitement associated with reading a newspaper headline of the information for the first time. The story of the trial of Frank James and the resulting verdict speaks strongly about the era of reconstruction in Missouri. The war was over, however many still held strong feelings against the North. The trial brought out some of the South's finest generals and decorated survivors. The jury was in awe of the those called to testify and the courtroom presence of Frank James was very impressive. Petrone also includes true tales of the James Gang that are found in the testimony of many witnesses. These stories, which were told in court, were recorded, but have not seen the light of day for decades. The exciting story told by a teenage boy, hiding in a small post office, at night is a fine example. Clutching and aiming a loaded shotgun, he is anticipating being robbed by a shadowy figure on the other side of a glass door.....who is about to try the door knob. The frightened boy almost stopped Jesse James in his tracks and rewrote the history of the West. Astonishingly, he lives to tell the tale in court, to Frank James himself. I would reccomend the book to anyone interested in the authentic history of the American West or criminal law. I am sure that Petrone's book will become invaluable to any further research about Frank James: the man, the myth , the acquitted.

As soon as I saw the recommendation from Clive Cussler I should have known....
Dale Brown has written some good stuff but this is awful. Overly technical and the first half reads like a soap opera! No action until way into the second half of the book and while the action is well handled, the characters are on the dull side.
I am sure many of you will now enjoy voting that this is an unhelpful review, but this was a painful read at times.
Zzzzzzzzzz.

Was excited about this new series from Brown based on the goings-on at Dreamland. The opening novel takes place in 1995, not long after the events in his novel Day of the Cheetah. Basically, General Elliot is out of the picture at Dreamland, and Congress and all the other higher ups are close to closing this place down.

Enter Colonel Dog Bastian. He takes over Dreamland, figuring it will be ditched by the powers that be. This is the slow, and I mean slow part of the book, pretty much the first one half to two thirds of the book. Generally, we introduce new characters, besides Bastian, including his daughter and pilot Breanna Stockard, and her husband, who is wheel-chaired after a training accident in the prologue, Jeff. A few cameos from Dale Brown's other novels appear, such as McClanahan and Briggs. The only one that takes part in most of this novel from the past novels is Nancy Cheshire.

While they are working on projects at HAWC, tensions are mounting in Somalia, where Iranians are shipping in Silkworm missles. Also, involved is Libya. The Iranians are trying to get a "Greater Islamic League" set up against the west.

Eventually, our friends at Dreamland are sent over, in their modified EB-52 Megafortresses...along with U/MF's Flighthawks, which are unmanned planes flown by Jeff from inside the EB-52.

The novel picks up speed in the last one quarter as we have aerial and land battle scenes. Can the guys and gals of Dreamland succeed in their mission, and if so, this could save the Dreamland facility.

Also enjoyed Brown and Defelice adding some action from the Navy, and Marines in this one. If not for most of the book being slow, this would have ranked higher.

Betting the series will get better, now that the characters have been developed. Worth getting if you're a techno-thriller fan.

Dale Brown has collaborated with Jim DeFelice(check out his WAR BREAKER, by the way) to produce an excellent new novel set roughly around the end of Dale's DAY OF THE CHEETAH but tying in nicely with SHADOWS OF STEEL. In the story, Colonel Tecumseh DOG Bastian is assigned by the White House to get Dreamland, the secret base at Nevada's Groom Lake, back into shape or else defence budget cuts will force the place to close. The first half of the book deals with experimenting on new weapons systems, in particular the FLIGHTHAWK unmanned aerial vehicles and also development of the EB-52 Megafortress, another old favourite! Dale Brown has also done well in creating some new characters, such as hotshot F-16 pilot Mack Smith, paraplegic ex-pilot Jeff Stockard who is a leading player with the FLIGHTHAWK system and is also burned out, concerned about his marriage to Megafortress pilot Breanna Bastian Stockard, daughter of 'Dog'. All these personal dramas intertwine well when things heat up in the book's secomd half. As well as the new faces, we also get cameo appearances from Patrick MacLanahan, loose cannon General Brad Elliot(who I sadly miss, this character really rocks!), Madcap Magician SPECFOR operative Hal Briggs and also National Security Advisor Deborah O'Day, who is undecided about closing Dreamland. Overall, memorable characters, fast pacing, easy-to-read narrative and some interesting military technology which might be in use today(you just never know what they've got hidden away) and some pulsating action scenes in the air and on the ground with a deployment of a Marine Expeditionary Unit on a search and rescue mission make this new Dale Brown story well worth the read. I eagerly look forward to reading more in the DREAMLAND series!