This book is great for people who suffer from Arthritis, who are overweight, have reducecd flexibilty, or any other pain associated with their joints. Bob Arnot, one of the authors of this book believes strongly in yoga and stretching as exercises for people suffering with pain. In his practice, he does prescribe asprin and NSAIDS, but disourages the overuse of them. He believes more in exercise. Not strenuous exercise, just exercises like bicycling, walking, or swimming. Exercise is the key to strong muscles and joints. He also gives ideas for proper footwear, no high arched shoes. The book is jumpy as you read it, but overall, it would be of good use to those who suffer with joint pain.

"Wear and Tear" is a gem that should be on the best seller list. This book has been a real eye-opener for me and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to help slow the damage we heap on our bodies as we age. But to be honest I've been a Dr. Arnot fan since he wrote "Guide to Turning Back the Clock", another excellent book (that needs to be updated).

I bought and started reading "Wear and Tear" because he included a chapter called "Stiff Man Syndrome" which my orthopedic surgeon jokingly said contributed to my knee damage. In "Wear and Tear" there are excellent descriptions and examples of the damage you do to your joints, far beyond what my doctor told me. The "8-Ball" metaphore of a joint alone made me see what 'full range of motion' is all about. Dr. Arnot's discussion of "forceful walking" has given me better tips than my physical therapist has on how I was ginding away my joints by walking (like Godzilla in a hurry). One suggestion I would add, in addition of the examples given in the book, is imagine you're walking on rice paper. Remember "Grasshopper" from TV's "Kung-fu"? Now I notice how everyone else is pounding away as they walk, while I glide along feeling sorry for them.

Because of "Wear and Tear" I'm in the pool working on range of motion (it feels great too, all day long), practicing walking so I don't pound my joints, doing light yoga and stretching (it is remarkably easy to get flexibility back), changed my vitamins and doing the remarkably good (and unique) exercises he illustrates.

The Amazon Editorial Review gives you a good list of subjects in the book so I won't repeat them. I would just add they are covered in a clear and concise style. You don't waste any time reading the filler found in most other health books.

If you compare what you can get out of this book to what you will spend on expensive Doctor and Physical Rehab sessions, not to mention the pain and loss of income, "Wear and Tear" is worth its weight in gold. I think Dr. Arnot has also saved me from a lot of future grief as well by cluing me in before more damage is done to my poor knees and hips. I plan on using many of the principles outlined in this book for the rest of my life.

The premise behind Toplin's book is a very interesting one. When Ken Burns' epic documentary on the Civil War received the highest ratings in public television's history, historian's immediately began to comment on it. Toplin brought together, in this one volume, many of today's most notable Civil War Era historians to turn their comments into essays about the film's pros and cons. Unfortunately, the historians only seem to care about the cons. With "The Civil War", Burns was attempting to educate the public at large, not the academic historian. This fact seems to be lost upon the authors of these essays. The primary focus of the criticisms in this book do not deal with the film itself, but rather with what the film forgot. Most complaints are geared towards the treatment of women and blacks. This is because the authors of these essays are primarily social historians, with the exception of Prof. Gallagher and Prof. Boritt. It is no surprise then that the majority of the essays scathe Burns for not telling the whole story of slavery, or of women, or of Reconstruction. By doing this, these authors have missed the point that the film series is about war, not social change. Therefore, this book only gets three stars because the content is not of good quality. While each author is correct in their statements about what Burns left out, they do not grasp what Burns was attempting to do. The most interesting part of the book in fact is when Burns and his writer Ward respond to the historians responses, and I believe put them in their place. I suggest reading this after viewing the films, but take what they say with a grain of salt, and do not judge the film series by what is written in this book.

This book was fairly good in how it compiled complaints lodged by historians against the PBS series, "The Civil War". However, one critic (Leon Litwack) was extremely off base in his condemnation of Burns and Shelby Foote. Because they didn't think soldiers of the USCT were supermen, Litwack can't stand them. Litwack needs to plow through the accounts of battles in which the USCT participated. These soldiers could stand up to battle like white troops, but they weren't any better. Litwack is just in the thralls of PC-mania and refuses to acknowledge fact. Overall, though, the book is worth reading if one ignores the ignorance of certain critics.

This book is a riot. I have always thought Ken Burns' Civil War miniseries was a one of the best 12 hours of TV ever shown. The series recently aired again for the first time in a few years and it's just as good as I remembered, possibly even better. Granted, it's not perfect and one could probably nitpick it forever, but few TV shows have ever equaled it for sheer emotional impact. This book is not about nitpicking. It is about politically correct professors ripping it to shreads, and is it ever funny. In general, they whine about how the series devotes too much time talking about battles between dead white males, instead of the really important stuff, such as slavery, women's issues, class struggles, and the like. One (I think it was Eric Foner) has a bone up his kiester over the fact that the miniseries devotes almost nothing to Reconstruction (his speciality, by the way) and instead shows photos and movies of Confederate and Union veterans at a reunion picnic at Gettysburg. Another complains about the use of the term Rebel. Somebody whined about the fact that Shelby Foote, the white Southern popular writer got more airtime than Barbera Fields, the black female professor. And so on. If you want to know why liberal professors get so little attention outside their own circles and why, on the other hand, non-specialist Civil War history is so popular, you have to read this book. It's worth it for the laughs alone.

Shaw's latest collection is a tough one to review. While there are no poems that stand out as horrible, none really stand out as that great. The longish poem, "An Exhumation" is fairly interesting, but the rest of the poems fall short. He has an impressive list of places where his poems have been published, which might be the most memorable thing about the book.

I've been following Robert B. Shaw's career for more than a quarter century now. I've read each of his books of poems multiple times. I believe that "Below the Surface" contains some of his best poems ever. For example, the poem "Frost" is one of my favorite poems--from any poet. It is deceptively simple on a first read, yet, as the title of the book implies, contains delightful complexities once you get below the surface. I had my Freshman Composition students write an explication of "Frost" this past Spring semester. They enjoyed discovering the hidden wonders that a master craftsman (such as Shaw) can create. Another one of my all-time favorite poems is "A Geode"...it's taped to my office door. Anybody who both loves poetry and is knowledgeable about what constitutes great poetry should love this book.

"Below the Surface" is a collection of about 35 short poems, mostly narrative. The poems show the author's superb sensitivity and power of observation that let him transform every-day events, in every-day life, into touching and poignant events. All the poems are worth reading and, even better, are worth reading again. To pick a few for mention is tough to do but there are several poems that touched me especially deeply. I love the color and imagery of 'On The Footbridge,' (I identify with the leaf perhaps) the telling yet humorous message of 'Time-Lapse Photography,' and the growing terror in the little girl playing 'Hide-And-Seek.' The strongest work, and the longest at three pages, is 'An Exhumation.' That is a must read. Get the book for yourself and then get another copy to share with someone far away. You won't want to lend out your copy.

If a boy sees his father as a castrating figure, is that boy really more likely to depict his father mowing the lawn? If a child is jealous of an academically successful sibling, is that child really more likely to depict that sibling on an A-frame swing set? In this book, we see many examples of these theories and others. Interesting examples indeed, but I would like to see statistics also.

Although the book is almost 300 pages, most of it is full-page illustrations and white space. I learned only a little bit, but that was because it took only a few hours to read the book.

I would advise obtaining a copy through your local library or through interlibrary loan, but not spending too much money on buying a copy.
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There is no doubt that Burns' most pressing reason for writing his book was to garner sympathy for himself. And for the most part, the book is well written and accomplishes the job of setting forth the harsh reality of life on a chain gang. There are a few spots in the book where, in my opinion, the author's words do not have the "ring of truth", but over all you will come away with the obvious conclusion that definite prison reform was needed in a drastic way. The institution of the chain gang was really nothing more than legalized slavery--only much harsher. In defense of the brutal chain gang system of Georgia, I simply say that every person in that time was aware of the harsh punishment that was meted out in the south and elsewhere; people knew that if they committed a crime, then there was the possibility of being consigned to a chain gang. So even though a person cannot help but to sympathize with Burns' experiences, it has to be said that ultimately he gambled and he lost.

Delightful book I picked up in a used bookstore in Scotland. Wish I had seen the show! or picked up the LP he made of Burns's poems, for that matter.

Robert Burns was and still is the greatest Scottish poet to ever live. This book takes you deep inside the mind of the Scots and makes you feel like one yourself. A perfect selection of literature, it is sure to be among your favorite bedside books. Buy it!!!

this book is jam-packed with primary sources concerning the life and works of r.b. woodward: journal articles, unpublished speeches, photographs of the man, drafts of his papers bearing hand-written corrections. it also includes some commentary from colleagues and family. an excellent resource for anyone interested in the history and process of organic chemical (and scientific, in general) research.

As a person with a graduate degree in 20th. century history and having read countless books on the subject this book gave an uncomparable insight into the perceptions of the people who lived through these horrors. Apart from that most of the writing is of great quality and highly enjoyable as far as this dark side of human society can be. I recommend this book for everyone who has any interest in history and the wars that shaped the 20th century.

The title of this book is way out of the strike zone. You see "Who Invented the Game?" and you think this volume is going to be about the origins of baseball, a scholarly little attempt to separate the true history of the sport from the myth of Abner Doubleday at Cooperstown (certainly one of the greatest public relations stunts in history with regards to promoting a small town in the middle of nowhere). However, this book, based on the PBS documentary by filmmaker Ken Burns, is really a condensed version of what I watch every year just before opening day. Not that there is anything wrong with that; the companion volume to the "Baseball" documentary is a weighty tome and an abbreviated version written for younger readers is certainly a good idea. But then the title of the book should be something else (this has struck a raw nerve with me; as a teacher I require students to have a thesis statement that they prove in the body of their essay, which sort of requires them to be about the same thing, and I have the exactly same feelings when it comes to title). "Who Invented the Game?" will answer such burning questions as "Who played the first real game?", "Who invented the curve ball?", and "Why is the pitcher's mound exactly 60 feet 6 inches from home plate?" But the book is not organized according to such topics, instead following the same structure as the documentary series. Illustrated with dozens of photographs this book by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns with Paul Robert Walker might serve well to get youngsters who have not seen the entire documentary interested in checking it out. But for those who have watched all nine innings or read the companion volume, this is ground already well covered.