I got two of these excellent atlases, one for my son and one for my daughter, to play with. I had to take them away when they began redesigning the pop-out features to correspond to some of the photos in my medical teratology text showing men and women with variously mutated s_x organs.

This fantastic book has 2 figures to entertain and educate the reader. The male figure has an intriguing pop-up feature.

This book is awesome! I purchased it for my mom who is a huge Hitchcock fan and loves San Francisco. She read it from cover to cover and enjoyed every minute of it...The book is written in a way that conveys the brilliance of Hitchcock and how he used the city to enhance his plots and characters...I recommend this to anyone who is a film buff or just loves a good read on a dark stormy night..

This book provides the intricate details of the filming of a number of Hitchcock classics in the SF Bay Area. The book covers the locations and filming of Shadow of a Doubt, Vertigo, The Birds, Suspicion, Psycho, and Family Plot, and explores the ways in which the Bay Area provided an inspiration for the movies as well as a wide variety of settings. It served as a reminder to me of the wonderful diversity of the Bay Area and the keen eye Hitchcock had for what could make a movie.

I know Alex Lee, as well as "Doc" Norton and Paul "Old Man" Keaveney. A. Lee says this book, in my inscription, is a book about love , the love one man has for another, so he is willing to lay his life down for the other! I heartily suggest you read this book, if you want an honest, frank account of war, as seen through the eyes of the men who fought it! I have worked with these men, and written about them. I think the highest compliment I could get was when Alex Lee said to me, Kevin, we read what you wrote and know what was published. You are "One of My Marines"! As a Young Marine Support Staff person, I have had Paul Keaveney come and speak to our Young Marines. I have had "Doc" Norton Speak at our USMC Birthday Balls. They are fine Americans, and honest, dedicated loyal U. S. Marines.!!!!! Semper FI!!

This is one of the best books on military leadership I have ever read. LtCol Lee's willingness to highlight not only what he and his unit achieved but also what could have done diffently seperates this book from being just another "I was there" book full of sea stories. Excellent read. I encourage any Marine or Army NCO or officer to pick this book up. Lots of lessons learned future generations can read here.

At a mere four months wait for my copy, I feel lucky. ( I demand a reprint! ) It is everything James Harrington has it written out to be. Simply and utterly impressive. No finer treatment of any person of note, could be granted than at the hands of author Ernst Burger. He writes, "Liszt was rare among musicians in that he was receptive to every aspect of art..." It is readily apparent the same could be said of Burger as well. His grasp of the art and the physical world of Liszt's time, as well as a profound appreciation of the music, make this presentation truly in depth and a sheer pleasure to study.

It took Amazon.com's Out of Print service over a year to find me a copy of this fabulous out of print book. It was in perfect condition and over 30% less than the original list price. The format of this book finds the year in Liszt's life at the top of every page. At the beginning of each new year the left most column has notable events in Liszt's life while the facing page, right most column has a list of works composed. In the middle are pictures, reprints of old scores, letters, articles, programs, drawnings, etc. all cross-referenced and footnoted. Meticulous scholarship and a myriad of fascinating items make this book indispensible to anyone interested in Liszt or his times.

The story "Sitter" was my favorite in this collection. Hoffman is a gifted writer and I hope to see more from him soon. Well worth the purchase, find it any way you can!

Particularly entertaining was the title story by veteran short story writer, Elliott Capon. Cathleen's taste in stories is impeccable. She chose the best of a crop of excellent stories to headline this collection.

This book is a wonderful introduction into the scary prospect of going to the doctor. The author was challenged to write this book by a six year old child named Max.

Brazelton does an excellent job in talking to the child and not at the child. It is written in clear and easy to understand language. The author has the ability of communicating with children and making them feel comfortable.

The drawings are wonderful insights into a child's apprehension of visiting the doctor. The illustrations happen to be done by Brazelton's oldest grandson.

The Afterword for Parents is something that every parent should read. I liked how Brazelton emphasized the need for parents to prepare their children for all medical events. He cites his research done at the Children's Hospital in Boston that children who were prepared for surgery by their parents recovered significantly better than the parents who did not prepare their children. He emphasizes that children should also be prepared about their trip to the doctor.

Brazelton's aim is at trying to make the trip to a doctor less stressful for the child. He definitely suceeds with his intentions.

I think that this book would be great for children. It helps to minimize some of the fears that they may have about going for a visit to the doctor. It's easy to read and it's written in a way that can be easily followed by a child. I especially liked the way in which privacy was addressed and the Afterward for Parents section. I'd recommend it to anyone with children. I wish it had been around when mine where young, in fact I wish it had been around when I was young. Maybe then I wouldn't have felt so bad about going to the doctor.

Heine has been sadly neglected over the years in favor of more "modern" poets Holderlin and Rilke, even though in many ways Heine is as modern as either. He may be the greatest German prose stylist (as Nietszche thought), and his poetry though very lyrical is never banal or lacking in profundity. This edition in Continuum's German series is excellent, with a sampling of Heine's broad poetic output - with, of course, some omissions, most notably 'Songs of Creation' and 'Morphine.' Also included are Heine's unique satires of travelogue, 'The Harz Journey' and 'Ideas - Book Le Grand,' which consist of poetic interludes, many comic episodes, but also some truly beautiful passages concerning the nature of human existence. Finally, one of Heine's most masterful poems, the epic 'Germany: A Winter's Tale', is also included, rounding out this well-selected anthology of one of the essential German - and world - writers.

Heinrich Heine is one of the most lovable writers in European literature. A German of Jewish origin who lived from 1797 to 1856, he regarded himself as the last romantic writer. That shows in his poetry: Very often they begin like usual romantic poems, describing a woman watching the sunset by the seaside for example; but then Heine comes up with a bitterly ironic twist, telling the said lady not to worry as there is nothing unusual about the sunset, the sun always disappears over there and comes back from the other side... Heine is passionately in love with romanticism, Germany and Judaism, but that doesn't keep him from seeing the objects of his love as they really are, he manages to be enchanted by illusion and disillusioned at the same time. That's what makes him such fun to read. His work is somewhat uneven (so it's best to start with a selection like this one), but I always felt that he is the kind of person I would love to be my friend. Heine is never boring. - Apart from that he is second only to Goethe among the best of German poets.

This is the only book I have read by Mr. Benjamin.. but it is a leader in its class. I suggest the third edition over the second, but any edition is fine. Not too lengthy, not too wordy, but gets the point across. Anyone thinking of counseling should definately splurge the few dollars and give it a read!

This is a must read for anybody who wants to learn how to interview people who are in crisis. Benjamin gives step by step suggestions to help a care giver aid the person in crisis find their own strenghts and solutions. The book is written in a way that made me feel as if Benjamin and I were working together as I improved my interviewing skills.

Robin Wood is the Preeminent Authority on Hitchcock. Robin Wood is without question the greatest authority on the cinematic works of Sir Alfred Hitchcock. Years ago after seeing many films as I was growing up I decided to do some reading on the role of the Director. By pure chance I picked up and purchased Robin Wood's original edition of this book. Obviously it was at that time, myself still being in school very challenging reading for me. However, I was able to recognize brilliance over hypocrisy. Robin Wood has ever since remained the preeminent authority on Hitchcock's films. He has honestly admitted that his perspectives on some of his analysis have changed. This is not an outright statement that has had a change of heart or acquired a new taste in the aesthetics of Hitchcock's films. On the contrary, through ongoing analysis he has come even closer to the secret of Hitchcock's mastery of his art. An artist creates a work. A great portion of that work is constructed with conscious deliberate thought, some is intuitive and a small portion may be subconscious. Robin Wood, I believe has showed a continuum in his analysis of Hitchcock's work. Wood continues to explore the avenues of the intuitive and subconscious nature of Alfred Hitchcock, which manifests itself in his films. To this end I believe Wood has devoted a good portion of his life. The methods of the great pioneers have often puzzled conventional minds. I am not a great pioneer. I am puzzled. And what the heck does conventional mean? Happy reading!

Robin Wood is without question the greatest authority on the cinematic works of Sir Alfred Hitchcock. Years ago after seeing many films as I was growing up I decided to do some reading on the role of the Director. By pure chance I picked up and purchased Robin Wood's original edition of this book. Obviously it was at that time, myself still being in school very challenging reading for me. However, I was able to recognize brilliance over hypocrisy. Robin Wood has ever since remained the preeminent authority on Hitchcock's films. He has honestly admitted that his perspectives on some of his analysis have changed. This is not an outright statement that has had a change of heart or acquired a new taste in the aesthetics of Hitchcock's films. On the contrary, through ongoing analysis he has come even closer to the secret of Hitchcock's mastery of his art. An artist creates a work. A great portion of that work is constructed with conscious deliberate thought, some is intuitive and a small portion may be subconscious. Robin Wood, I believe has showed a continuum in his analysis of Hitchcock's work. Wood continues to explore the avenues of the intuitive and subconscious nature of Alfred Hitchcock, which manifests itself in his films. To this end I believe Wood has devoted a good portion of his life.

Though titled _Homosexuals in History_, this work is
not a dry, heavily footnoted, archly worded, jargon
laced, academic piece. Rather, it is immensely interesting,
engrossing, enlightening, and an excellent background to
serve as base for further academic or personal research
on the time periods and the personalities dealt with in
the book.
Rowse gives his own perspective in the "Preface": "This
book is decidedly _not_ pornography. It is a serious
study -- or series of studies -- in history and society,
literature and the arts. Many men of genius or great
eminence appear in it: kings like James I and Frederick
the Great, artists of the stature of Leonardo da Vinci
and Michealangelo; intellectual giants such as Erasmus
and Francis Bacon; many poets, writers and composers,
scholars and collectors, soldiers and statesmen, patriots,
politicians. The subject offers immense variety, men of
very different psychological make-up, character, tastes,
and gifts. Many more could have been included, but my
aim has been to be representative, not exhaustive. And
I hope, by the way, that these studies may throw some light
on the predisposing conditions to creativeness: in the
psychological rewards of ambivalence, the double response
to life, the sharpening of perception, the tensions that
lead to achievement."
This work is not a mere recounting, but rather an intelligent,
absorbing, often witty, even humorous, and most often very

sympathetic account of these lives and the contexts in which
they found themselves living and involved.
Rowse does not deal with ancient times, for he says that
his interests as an historian began with the Renaisssance,
"the transition from the medieval to the modern consciousness."
There are 16 chapters, titled: Medieval Prelude; Renaissance
Figures; Elizabethans and their Contemporaries; Francis
Bacon and the Court of James I; Courts and Coronets;
Federick the Great and Some Germans; Regency Connoisseurs;
Russia and Some Russians; Eminent Victorians; French Poets
and Novelists; From Ludwig II to Rohm; Edwardians and
Georgians; The Great War; Cambridge Apostles; A Handful of
Americaans; and Cosmopolitan.
Each of these chapters has the lives interwoven with
perceptive, intelligent, engaging comments about the
times, the values and hypocrisies, the acceptance --
or lack of it (both by the societies -- and sometimes
crushingly, by the individuals themselves... many sad
examples of the effects of repression, guilt, fear,
diastrous attempts to "normalize").
The sections of most interest to me, and in which Rowse
really shines, are his extensive knowledge of the ins-and-
outs of British cultural history. For he includes not
merely the eminent persons one might have encountered, but
also lesser known, but highly interesting and influential
people as well. Thus, in the excellent chapter on "Eminent
Victorians," we read: "In the [English] public schools the
classics were the be-all and end-all, the Alpha and Omega,
of education. They portrayed the relaxed and natural
attitude of the Greeks and Romans -- as of all Mediterranean
peoples -- towards sex." Within this context, Rowse continues
to discuss the scholars, thinkers, and writers who were
influenced by that education and by the writings produced
within Victorian times which examined and enlightened the
Victorians about that Classical era of art, philosophy,
and accepted male desire and love. In this chapter, Rowse
recounts the careers of John Addington Symonds, Horatio
Brown, Lord Ronald Gower, the Marquis of Lorne, Roden Noel,
Edward Carpenter (a modern activist for enlightenment,
humanitarianism, and acceptance -- a devotee of Whitman and
Thoreau), Walter Pater (incredibly interesting and absorbing
reading), and Oscar Wilde.
The other chapters which deal with the French, the Germans,
the Russians, and the Cosmopolitan figures like Constantine
Cavafy, the Greek poet of Alexandria in Egypt, in the early
1900's, are also excellent.
Each reader may take away his own assessments and "readings
of history" -- but the text seems to say, repression and
trying to tough it out, or change, or normalize through
marriage have only brought sadness and damage (not only to
the self, its sense of its own value and identity -- but
also to others). But profligate, decadent, hedonistic
pursuit of pleasure and self, using others as objects,
rather than relating to them as persons, is equally
horrendous. The message seems to be about the desire
for caring love, more than carnal pleasure.
* * * * * * * * *

This book is good as a reading book or as a quick reference for scholarly research in the area of LGBT studies. I personally found Rowse's treatment of King James to be a good starting point for a paper I wrote on homosexuality in Jacobean England.