This book is what i use in collecting early U.K. coppers. It has photos of the different varieties and has been very helpful to me. The best i could find in this field.

Richard Lobel has put together a definitive work on the coins of the UK and England from 1066 to present. The information is at its most informative when establishing rarity or variety. There are many line drawings to help the reader establish the differences in many of the earlier hammered coinage of England. This is in addition to the wonderful pictures of coins that are throughout this reference.

I would whole heartedly recommend this book for the serious collector of the coins of England and the UK.

The 1998 edition of the catalogue is vastly superior to previous editions of the work. The historical information, the pricing, the photographs, and the quality of the binding are all unsurpassed for reference works of this type. I am especially pleased with the line drawings that have been provided to help numismatists distinguish the various varieties of the Edwardian pennies. The collecting tips which are provided for each issue are also useful for those who have not spent a lifetime collecting the series. If you collect English coinage you MUST have this work on your shelf.

...This 1903-1941 color-history narrative, is the equal collabration of H.Wagners' writing and Mark Mitchells' photography. (My favorites being the close-up pewter-looking detail of those JD,Twin Cam, and 8-valve exo-skeleton motors.) Have you ever seen a JD at idle? Cripes...the beast just chuffs. With those exposed external (exhaust) push rods moving up and down...the machine's an animal. If for nothing else, buy this book for the (drum-scanned) photographs. © Kirk Perry, 2002

I was very pleased with Monkeys Never Please book. It dealt with the subject manners in a simplfied way that small children could understand. I have a 5 year old and a 3 year old. They also enjoyed the book. I wish more books like this would be written for children.

The lack of attention Donald Davidson has received since his death is scandalous. No doubt it stems in part from his racicialist views and resistance to the civil rights movement. Well Davidson was a flawed man--but to call him a "Racist" ( His old friend Robert Penn Warren's daughter says that his name was never spoken in their house on that account--I find it hard to believe) is simply to miss the measure of the man. He was a fine poet (just a notch below Robert Penn Warren and John Crowe Ransom) and a brilliant literary critic and teacher. His "Attack on Leviathan" is essential reading for those who confuse conservatism with Newt Gingrich, and his poem "Lee in the Mountains" is a tribute not only to a lost cause, but to all lost causes, and should therefore resonate with all but the incurable narcissist. Winchell has done us a great service by presenting the man warts and allto us. If we ever get beyond the name calling that passes for political and literary judgement these days it will be due in large measure to books like this one.

This book was an excellent reference for me. I'm looking for a home now and wanted something to prepare me for securing a great mortgage. The authors present the material in a clear cut way while leaving out most of the technical jargon that you most likely have a lawyer or soemone your working with who is a professional in the real estate trade explain to you. You get a thorough understanding of the mortgage without going crazy trying to remember terms of the industry. It's also filled with a load of real world insight on many aspects of the various mortage types, lenders and "rule bending". I was tossed up between "Buying and Selling a Home" by Kiplingers Personal Finace Staff but again it didn't have many technical terms and industry jargon that Kiplingers had. When your a busy person with little time to yourself but want to be prepared for one of life's major puchases than this should be the book for you. I will definitely look over the other books in this line pertaining to real property before checking out other publishers.

This book has done a great job in explaining and putting in simple, understandable words all the mortgage techicals and jargon. The mortage offical that originated my loan application was amazed at how much i knew about the matter (if she only knew). Seriously, if you want to get the deal that benefits you the most, then get this book and save hundreds and maybe thousands on closing costs and interest rates during the life of your loan. It will only cost you $16.99 and some little time to read and understand. Hope your have a great deal!!!

Buying a home is the biggest financial deal many people will ever make. If you're about to buy your first home it pays to learn the ins-and-outs of mortgages. Structuring your mortgage properly can save you thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars over the life of the mortgage. "Mortgages For Dummies" explains how mortgages work and how to get a great deal on your mortgage.

"Mortgages For Dummies" begins by asking the reader to evaluate how large of a mortgage he/she can afford. Tyson and Brown discuss budgeting, which is something many people will already know. The authors point out that in addition to covering your basic expenses, such as food and water, you must also allow for your other financial goals, such as retirement planning. Only through budgeting will you get a handle on how large of a mortgage you really can afford. Obviously, you don't want to wind up with mortgage payments you can't pay!

Lenders have separate evaluations of how much you can afford. Tyson and Brown suggest that lenders will expect your monthly housing expenses and repayment of non-housing debt to total no more than about 36% of your monthly income. And, your total housing expense probably shouldn't exceed 28% of your monthly, pretax income.

Tyson and Brown suggest not making an overly large down payment, "if it depletes your emergency financial cushion." And, don't accept a bigger mortgage than you think you can afford just because the banks say you can afford it!

If possible, you probably want at least a 20% down payment on your home. Lenders borrowing to people with less than 20% equity have found that there is an increased risk of default. Because of this, Tyson and Brown explain new homeowners with less than 20% equity in their homes will need to pay Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI). PMI can cost hundreds of dollars a year. PMI benefits the borrower, not the homeowner. Tyson and Brown suggest that as soon as you have 20% or more equity in your home, you should eliminate PMI.

Another option is to have the government insure or guarantee your loan. Mortgages For DummiesTM mentions FHA, VA, and FmHA government-guaranteed loans.

Chapter 3, Fathoming the Fundamentals, was one of my favorite chapters. The chapter does a good job explaining the secondary loan market and the purpose of the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA, or Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC, or Freddie Mac).

"Mortgages For Dummies" discusses the difference between conforming and non-conforming mortages. Tyson and Brown write: "This delicious tidbit of information can save you big bucks. Conventional mortgages that fall within Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's loan limits are referred to as conforming mortgages. Mortgages that exceed the maximum permissible loan amounts are either called jumbo loans or nonconforming loans. ... You pay dearly for nonconformity."

"Mortgages For Dummies" goes on to give the money-saving tip: "If you find yourself slightly over Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's limit, don't despair. You can either buy a slightly less expensive home or increase your cash down payment juuuuuuuust enough to bring your mortgage amount under the conforming loan limit." The "juuuuuuust enough" isn't my typo, although I probably got the number of u's wrong. It's Dummies' humor.

Today, "Mortgages For Dummies" Chapter 9, Refinancing Your Mortgage, will be popular. Tyson and Brown provide an example showing how quickly your refinancing will breakeven. They give us "Refinancing's Magic Formula" to calculate if you should refinance.

"Mortgages For Dummies" doesn't formally introduce the annual percentage rate or APR, and I believe this is a critical oversight. (The book does mention APR in its glossary). So, you might be quoted 7.2% and not realize this rate doesn't take into consideration points and fees you will pay, i.e. it's not the APR. Suppose your current mortgage rate is 8% (APR), you might quickly calculate that you save (neglecting tax effects) 8 - 7.2 = 0.8% on the principal loan amount. This would be incorrect, because your actual APR would likely be higher than 7.2% due to the added fees. You really need to distinguish between the fee-inclusive rate and the fee-exclusive rate you might be quoted.

Overall, I think reading "Mortgages For Dummies" is useful for people who are buying their first home or considering refinancing an existing home. Enough dollars at stake that you should pursue all information on the topic and become an informed consumer, even if you need to tolerate some siiiiily jokes.

Peter Hupalo, Author of "Becoming An Investor"

This is a really valuable book. The pages contain a lot of useful tips and advices. The authors reaaly know about implementing DW.
Great book for anyone involved in managing and implementing DWs!

When I bought this book, I really had no high expectations : I did many DW project and knew project management methods.

This book provides the first complete coverage of (almost) any possible issues, risk and problem arising in a DW project. It also, provides some guideline about how to manage them.

The book goes well beyond Kimball (in the project management area) and provides many useful tools in the CD-rom

A really good investment if you consider it will directly affect your DW project cost !

If you have managed lots and lots of Data Warehouse projects then this may not be the book you need - but if you have never been involved in a data warehouse project or served as a project manager, then this might be the best advice you can get for the price. Sure..you can hire expensive consultants - but before you do, take the time to read this book first. Master it. Absorb it. Then when your consultants show up at least you can judge their veracity and experience level.

If you have to go it alone. Mr. Adelman and Ms Terpeluk-Moss provide the benefit of their experience as consultants, Project Managers and Educators to you.

I bought this book for my History course and its absolutely Great ! All the main points have been neatly written on the side, which makes reading very easy. If you are purchasing this book, you may also want to buy the Study guide which comes along with it.

This book lets you know all the concepts just by reading it through. I bought it for the history class and this is by far the best book i've ever read in the classes.

While James West Davidson's "After the Fact" is thought-provoking, much of what he writes is simply inaccurrate. His lack of research or deliberate withholding of certain evidence to merely prove his views is disdainful. This is especially evident in his chapter on Vietnam War movies in which he gives some completely inaccurrate information (such as claiming the Russian Roulette was not played in Vietnam, while some vets admit they were forced to play it while prisoner). He also shows obvious liberal bias by accusing most Vietnam films to be unrealistic because they do not include an event similar to the My Lai Massacre. With all due respect to Mr. Davidson, events such as the My Lai Massacre are given much press time, but did not really occur very often. How can every movie about a war be expected to show a certain event the way Mr. Davidson wants it depicted? A final gripe with this section is the author's claim that it was "wrong" to portray Viet-Cong soldiers as inhuman in "The Deer Hunter", and that this contributed to making the film unrealistic. "Deer Hunter" was obviously meant to show the American viewpoint of Vietnam, and how the war affected not only those who fought in it, but almost everyone at home in America. While portraying the American viewpoint, it is necessary to show the Viet-Cong as evil (would you revere someone who forced you to play Russian Roulette with your best friend?). Many other sections of the book show Davidson's obvious political bias, and if you truly desire to discover how (and are not averse to extreme suffering), read the book (but don't say you weren't warned).

After the Fact is a book that every serious historian should have in their library. Davidson and Lytle do a great job elucidating the various aspects of exploring the conundrum of history. From the very basic task of exploring the veracity of the Declaration of Independence to the monumental task of discovering the reasons why history was made in a certain context. Every chapter is interesting and captivating, and a "must read" to supplement the history seminar. If you do not have this book already, I strongly suggest purchasing it.

After the Fact is a fantastic introduction to the field of historiography. It is a very easy read as well as providing concrete examples of how writing history is a selective act, dealing with different kinds of evidence, and the general practices and problems of historical methods. I would recommend using this book in an introductory history course because of its understandability. It would serve as a good introduction to beginning historians to the problems and philosophical concerns of their field.

Stephen Ambrose is an amazingly prolific writer of history. I cannot speak about his other books, as I have not read them. This book, however, is simply a regurgitation of old research trying to be unique by juxtaposing the lives of the two men most associated with the Indian Wars. The only thing parallel in these two lives is the time period in which they lived. Anything else is a stretch.

Indeed the underlying premise that these were two great warriors destined to meet on the field of battle is the stuff that drama, not real history, is made of. By all accounts the Indians didn't even know Custer was there until the fighting was over, and while Crazy Horse was known as a great warrior amongst his people, there were many respected warriors on the field that day. Crazy Horse was, at most, a first among equals.

Indeed, in trying to popularize his history, Ambrose makes the common mistake of portraying Crazy Horse as a general leading his troops into battle. Phrases like "Crazy Horse stuck to his command post," may help to bring the battle to life for WWII veterans, but it is not a truly accurate rendering of how Indians fought.

Ambose does do a good job in the first two chapters of showing the vast differences in the cultures these to men grew up in. For this I give the book two stars. It's also not a bad introduction for someone who has no previous knowledge of the topic. Only, however, if it encourages them to go on to read better and more accurate works.

It's been years since I read this book, but it has stayed with me. Beyond resparking an interest in American frontier history that began in childhood, it also gave me a much more balanced view of Crazy Horse and especially Custer than I had before. Ambrose, as in his books about Lewis and Clark, WWII, and the building of the transcontinental railroad, has the ability to make you feel that you are living the history as you are reading. Some have disparaged this as "popularizing history", but I say it is a gift. To quote David McCullough, another fine historian and biographer, "There is only one secret to writing and teaching history. Tell stories." Why do you suppose that students today, even those at our finest universities are largely ignorant of history? It's either not required at all or it's taught as a compendium of names, places, and dates in a way that's so deathly dull that only the most self motivated student who is willing to do extra reading and research on his or her own would find it interesting. I've gotten way off the subject here, and for that I apologize. But that comment about "popularizing history" got to me.

To get back to "Crazy Horse and Custer", it's a very fine book. The only problem I had with it is that in harping about the U.S. government's failed, if halfhearted, effort at genocide and his assertion that Native Americans were simply in the way of inevitable western expansion, Ambrose fails to differentiate between physical and cultural genocide. The physical genocide obviously failed, but cultural genocide very nearly succeeded.

Despite that caveat, if you are interested in the history of the Indian wars and especially the history of these two very different and yet remarkably similar men, "Crazy Horse and Custer" is is a must read.

I enjoyed Ambrose's approach of following the lives of natural leaders in different cultures. It was interesting the see how each culture, Americans in the late 1800s and American Indians, picked their leaders. The research is thicker on Custer, due to the vastly more complete written record. The history of Crazy Horse is based more on oral history of events long since passed. Pay no attention to reviewers that say this is not "the historical book on Custer." A book does not have to be a 1200 page tome to be a great book. Ambrose makes history vibrant and meaningful, a trait lost on most academic historians.

I picked up The Electrical Field with gushing editorial endorsements echoing in my mind. The book is, in fact, well written. The characters (Asaka, Stum, Shusi, Yano) are vividly rendered. The mystery is compelling up to a point. However, too much is revealed through flashback, dream, and slowly emerging repressed memory. At a certain point I found myself growing tired of the narrator and regarding her as a cranky old woman. Her utter helplessness with regard to her emotional responses to both the past and the present wears the reader down over the course of 300 pages. Everything is fraught, everything a burden on her; scenes in which Sakamoto depicts Asaka grappling with the people in her life and the memories that haunt her acquire a numbing sameness. Ultimately I began calculating how many pages were left in the book and wondering how long it was going to take for me to finish it. This novel could have been 50 to 75 pages shorter and not have suffered. I approached The Electrical Field with high expectations that were not fulfilled, but I respect what the author was trying to do and I hope next time she'll be better served by her editors.

Kerri Sakamoto's brooding and dark novel, "The Electrical Field" is complicated, tantalizing, but ultimately frustrating and seomwhat manipulative. Probing the terrible and unresolved scars caused by the repressive and racist removal and forced relocation of Japanese-Canadians, the novel depends on the fractured, distorted and submerged memories of its narrator who is partyto a set of homicides. Asako Saito, burdened by the death of her beloved older brother, Eiji, during relocation, swirls between past and present, unsure of her own observations, numbed by loneliness and confused by emotional swings.

Ms. Sakamoto's comnpassionately and deftly explores the psychology of her protagonist, and only slowly does the "truth," of present homicides and past relocation, emerge. However, I felt as if I were being manipulated, that denial of essential information (submerged and distorted in Asako's mind) inhibited rather than clarified understanding. Thus, by novel's end, as Asako comes to grips with her life and the shattered ruins of her memory, I had lost whatever sympathy I struggled to maintain for her.

Despite my reservations, I do consider "Field" an important contribution to our understanding of the ramifications of the horrific consequences of sanctioned government racism. Though not of the quality of her sister Canadian Joy Kogawa's novels, "Field" is at its best when it describes two profoundly different reactions to relocation: the passionate anger and demand for redress of Yano and the smothered sadness and drive for oblivion in Asako. Both characters persuasively remind us that forgetting is simply not an option and that past injustices leave incredibly complex scars. The author symbolically depicts the isolation and displacement of post-relocation life; the looming cage-like electrical towers and the ominous garbage-made hill (carrying the name of the prime minister who ordered relocation) are terrific examples of imagery.

This deserved praise cannot rescue "The Electrical Field" from its excessive murkiness. In this regard, we must await Kerri Sakamoto's future work to see if she can live up to the thwarted promise of her first novel.

This book felt like home to me. The language, the odd gestures, the social isolation, felt very familiar. Maybe it's an "insider's" book. It resonated so strongly with me and felt that it struck chords about internment and the Japanese-American (Canadian) community in a unique and disturbing way. I was very moved by it, but I can understand that not everyone might have this experience.