History is usually written by the victor, or at least from the victor's perspective. To some extent this is unfortunate, since historical "truth" requires a balanced perspective. If one is truly interested in understanding the American Revolutionary War, then one must actively seek out the perspective of the losing side. That is why books like, Piers Mackesy's The War For America, 1775-1783, David Syrett's The Royal Navy in American Waters, 1775-1783 & Edward Cashin's The King's Ranger are so important. The first two put our revolution in overall geopolitical perspective from the British point of view. The latter focuses exclusively on the often neglected "southern campaign". With the excitement generated by the 1999 movie, "The Patriot", this book is re-released at an opportune moment. While the beginning and ending portions focusing on Thomas Brown's pre- and post-american life, respectively, are somewhat dry and could stand more judicious editing, the central meat of the book is an excellent and scholarly contribution to the study of the American Revolutionary period. In this book we gain insight into the significant role of tories in America as well as the american indian contribution to the campaign in the south. We learn what happened to most tories after their cause was lost and come to realize just how close we came to being on the losing side. This is a scholarly work of history, portions require concerted effort and concentration to wade through. However, the "pearls" contained within, particularly in the central portion, are well worth the effort.

An illuminating miniature on a legendary house that was almost destroyed by the New England hurricane of 1938 and succumbed to fire in 1973. It was NeutraÕs grandestÑand most unlikelyÑcommission: a summer house for a famous Rhode Island family on Fishers Island. John Nicholas Brown picked Neutra after seeing the MoMA exhibition on modern architecture that included the Lovell Health House. Neumann, a professor of architecture at Brown University, recently curated an exhibition on the house that may eventually be shown in LA. Meanwhile we can enjoy his entertaining account of how the patrician client and progressive architect corresponded and faced off, and the camel that resulted from the collaboration of this odd couple. (Michael Webb is the book reviewer for LA Architect magazine.)

I can't believe the number of reviews on this site that compared the book to Design Patterns from GOF. If you bought it expecting the same, write yourself the one-star review. This book does have some problems, but it really does a whole lot of things very well.

- It's easy, and fun, to read. The authors expertly inject humor and life into a dead topic. A dull book with good ideas will rot on the shelf.

- It provides a fresh, new angle that has value. We programmers do not learn enough from war stories told around the water cooler.

- It provides the other side of the design pattern. You really do need both, and this industry needed someone to take a stab at creating a template for antipatterns. Consider health care. You need diagnostics and preventative care. Ditto for auto maintenance. Operations research has been built around building models that work while trouble shooting the kinks in a system. The authors did a noble job of seeing the vacuum and stepping up to fill it.

I find it incredible that this book has been slammed for something that it does not pretend to be. If you wrote a one star review because this book was not the second coming of the Design Patterns book, then shame on you. What you will get is a humerous look at some very real problems around software development. The bias is clearly toward project management, and that is a appropriate for a first book on antipatterns. That much was clear to me from browsing the book for a minute or two. Great job, team.

If I had a criticism, it would be that the contributions from the four authors were not better coordinated. After writing two books with two additional co-authors each, I can testify that it is a difficult problem to solve. Still, better coordination could have helped. Five stars for the writing style and the concept. That's why this book is a smashing success.

Perhaps the title of this book is unfortunate, given the fact that those who have posted bad reviews here seem to have expected it to be an extension of the GoF Design Patterns book. (In which case they would have been better off with the GoV A System of Patterns book.) All such expectations aside, however, this book is an enjoyable guide to project management that is well worth reading. As for the criticism that it is nothing more than common sense packaged as wisdom, I would argue that common sense is nothing more than applied wisdom, and the common sense this book aims to teach is sadly lacking in too many companies today (hence the existence and popularity of Dilbert).

BTW, the reviewer who attributed the quote, "there is nothing new under the sun" to Shakespeare might be amused, given the nature of the quote itself, to find that it was originally written by Solomon (in Ecclesiastes 1:9), quite some time prior to Shakespeare! There is nothing new, indeed.

AntiPatterns: Worth it just for the shear fun of it.

I have never enjoyed reading about the foibles of software development and software project management than reading the AntiPatterns book.

Not only does this book tell you about a number of AntiPatterns, but you also get Patterns or refactored solutions to deal with the AntiPatterns.

I just skimmed the introductory chapters, so I could get to the meat of the book: the AntiPatterns. As you read through them, you will be nodding your head. Quite a number of them are just plain common sense. However, if you have not "Been there, done that", you will truly appreciate them.

I also like the fact they have AntiPatterns at all levels of Software Development. From the Blob: a CLASS that does it ALL, to the CORNCOB: the individual who says: "We must use CORBA". This book will be useful for all participants from the developer to the Project Manager.

I congratulate the authors on an informativ! e and entertaining book!

An easy skim which serves as a decent reminder of the importance of SCM. It highlights some areas for attention, and provides some tips. Most of the scenarios should be familiar. Its usefulness is that it may reach a broader audience than a textbook, so you can pass it around for discussion.

Sometimes a book only confirms the things you already knew, either consciencly or subconsciencly. This is not necessarely bad. I you run into a customer that violates every good practice that you're aware of, you can use the book to convince your customer that he's wrong and you're right. After all, all good ideas look a lot more impresive when they are printed.

Apart from that, it's fun reading.

Sequels are tough. The original AntiPattern book was light, funny, and right on the mark. It was a tough act to follow. This offering, that shares a couple of the same authors as the original AntiPattern books, falls short.

There is a hint from the authors themselves that this isn't a seminal work. The preface tells readers they can hunt for their particular antiPattern but "We suggest that it is better for you to read through the entire book now (it's not that thick)". Indeed it is not. At just over 300 pages, it is formatted such that about 1/3 of that space is either blank or large cartoons and pictures. So, while it might appear to have the same "heft" as the original, looks are deceiving.

The book suffers from two major problems: a lack of depth and poor editing. The original antiPatterns book is cited no less than 18 times in this work. Borrowing from past efforts and quoting yourself isn't necessarily bad--but it isn't a substitute for new material. Curiously, Steve McConnell (Code Complete, Rapid Development, etc.) is quoted almost as many times--far more often it seems than any other reference. There is an entire industry to draw from. Why such emphasis on just two sources?

Finally, the editing is dreadful. Terms and acronyms are introduced without definition and the general flow of the text is awkward much of the time. This book needed an editor!

Because there is so little written on CM from a management perspective I'm inclined to give the work 3 stars instead of my usual 2 stars for a flawed work. While there certainly are problems with this book, they fall mostly into the category of "missed opportunity" instead of erroneous information.

I've just read through all the available bios of Dorothea Dix for an upcoming film project, and this book really puzzles me. Why? Let me quote from a positive review, written in a professional historical journal: "What Brown presents is a surprisingly intimate portrait that still acknowledges Dix's many shortcomings--her limited view of women's rights, her blindness on the issue of slavery, and her lingering nativism. Despite Dix's personal limitations, however, Brown recognizes her many successes in convincing parsimonious legislatures to build asylums and putting the plight of the mentally ill on a national stage" (Stephan D. Andrews, Journal of the Early Republic). Sounds good, huh? But there's almost nothing original here; nothing that hasn't been written about by previous biographers. Honestly I can't figure out why Harvard Press spent the money to publish it. (The book seems to have been funded by some special endowment -- even the editors must've figured it would never sell.) To me -- What do I know? -- this is a classic example of academic logrolling, getting other historians to write good things about a book nobody will ever read. There's definitely nobody in Brown's book I can see to make a film of.

Though Brown doesn't over-dramatize it (indeed, he doesn't dramatize it much at all), Dorothea Dix lived one of the most extraordinary lives in the 19th century, one that included the Boston Unitarian intelligentia during the 1820s and 30s, state politics in most state capitols throughout the North and South during the 40s and 50s, Washington, DC, and friendships with senators and presidents, the worst of the Civil War (when she headed up the women nursuing corps for the Union Army) . . . and then there were the insane. Brown is good, if dry and lapidary, on the exterior movement of her career. And he's good at the political context for her career. Yet, as other reviers noticed, his book is really a life and times, with emphasis on "times," not a nuanced and graceful biography. He never gets inside Dix's head, which leaves one feeling disappointed.

These two reviews move me to write. One says that the author gives Dix too much credit and does not paint her sufficiently as a psychotic; the other says the author does not admire Dix enough. These two unbiased readers alone demonstrate that Brown has written a masterly biography of a complex woman in the midst of a turbulent era. Brown's Dix is a complicated and fascinating figure--not a feminist heroine nor a whipping post for the politically correct. Her career has much to teach us about the aspirations and limitations of 19th century reformers. Brown's book, clearly and elegantly written, thoroughly researched, is the best book on 19th-century reform since Lou Masur's Rites of Execution. Brown has recovered Dorothea Dix, not as a 20th-century reader would have liked to have her, but as she really was. This book is a major achievement.