This is the second book in Mr. Dillman and Thomas' series on Pressure Point Fighting. It is much more in-depth than their first book, which the authors reference as laying the "foundations" of using Pressure Point Fighting techniques. This book covers significantly more material, and makes better use of charts and illustrations. Some of the theories presented by the authors on the basis of Pressure Point Strikes, as well as the reasons why Pressure Points work, are controversial within the Martial Arts and Medical community. The authors attempt to cover 78 of the 350+ classical Chinese acupoints (22 on the arms, 26 on the head, 13 on the torso, 10 on the legs and 7 on the back), and 7 "extra-ordinary" points (5 on the arms, one on the head, and one on the legs).

The authors have used a series of body photographs to illustrate the Traditional Chinese Medicine energy pathways and acupoint locations. While the illustrations are an improvement, in my opinion, over Mr. Dillman and Thomas' first book, there are a few problems too. Several of the photos have problems with incorrect lighting, occasional out of focus images and lack of detail in certain poses. As such, they are of varying degrees of usefulness. The authors have also elected to use a mixture of black dots and "bullseye" stickers, placed on the skin of the photo subject, to highlight pressure point locations.

The level of information given on each point is not consistently presented. In general, the authors give a description of the point location, and give what they believe is the anatomical structural association of the point (i.e., why it works in that area of the body). Then they usually (but not always) give a block of text marked "Method" in which they give some point activation instructions and occasionally discuss the results of the strike. This lack of discussion on the effects of the strike / rub / slap may leave some readers disappointed. For example, on page 98, they discuss hitting Small Intestine 16 (SI-16), by simply noting "...strike this point at about a 30 degree angle from the back to the front." No additional narrative is given regarding the martial effects of the strike, nor the effects to the body. This is concerning to me, since SI-16 is a very dangerous acupoint. If you strike straight into the point with sufficient force and intent, you can cause a knockout (KO). But there is also an extreme risk of producing emotional side effects. Additionally, with a slightly harder blow, this point has been known to be fatal! None of these issues or risks are discussed, nor are similar issues covered in the majority of the other points.

This book has an excellent presentation of the nerve anatomy. Master Dillman clearly demonstrates the correct ways of striking these nerve areas along with explinations of effects and dangers. I picked up a autographed copy of this book in 1994 after attending one of his seminars. At that seminar I personaly experienced a pressure point knockout by the author. Durring the signing of the book I commented to Master Dillman that I was skeptical at first but now felt I had wasted 17 yrs. of martial arts training by not being exposed to pressure points. The book is an excellent start for any martial artist who wants to learn the pressure points and understand there applications. If your going to buy a book on pressure points, DO'NT PASS THIS ONE UP!......DAVID KNIESS 3rd Dan

Many people just want to learn how to beat someone up. Mr Dillman shows the most efective and 'sometimes' humain methods of controling a situation. The book is mearly a tool in discovering the finer details of PP fighting. Having studied Acupuncture and Martial arts for a large portion of my life I feel strongley that the information given is of great importance to any martial artist. Having been KO'ed by some of these points I can Guarentee that these techniques DO work. The problem is not the techniques that are taught by Mr Dillman but by people having "Tunnel Vission" with regards their martial arts. A thoroughly enjoyable book and a recommended read for any one with an interest in martial arts and PP fighting, although it does help to have a bit of knowledge about how the body functions both in western medicine and in Chinese philosophy also. Well done Mr Dillman.

This book was good for understanding the basics of all the concepts, but if you wanted to go more in depth, it was not a very good learning resource. The explanations were not very clear and detailed, and there were also not enough examples. Often, I felt that it would have been much more helpful to have detailed explanations of the more difficult problems.

If you want to learn calculus from first-rate experts and also first-rate explainers, you will love this text. The authors have gone to great lengths to motivate and elucidate the ideas behind calculus, and they do so in a brilliant and very readable fashion. They take the reader by the hand and explain, step by step, what you need to know. Countless applications from science, engineering, and economics let you get an idea of how calculus is really used out there in the field.

If this book should be your first calculus text, you may consider yourself fortunate because you will not only get an extremely well explained introduction into calculus, but will also be exposed to a wealth of colorful background information. Many math texts go into dry theorem-proof treatments; everything's there, but the subject does not come to life. You will find this book refreshingly different.

One caveat. You need to bear in mind that this book is an introductory text, though a very complete one that tells you about Lagrange multipliers and vector calculus and triple integrals. If, however, you are an accomplished mathematician looking for post-graduate information on integration in topological vector spaces, you need to look elsewhere. But even then you would be likely, in this excellent and exciting book, to stumble upon some interesting information that you may not have known about before.

Finney and Thomas calculus textbooks are perhaps the most popular textbooks in high school and college courses, and for good reason. Finney and Thomas write the definitive text for the subject, and this edition continues their tradition of excellent textbooks. I feel there truly is no better calculus textbook or calculus reference book than one written by this pair. This is the one I grab from the shelf when I need a refresher - and believe me, being a math teacher there are a lot of calculus texts on those shelves!

I've had the 'pleasure' of experiencing numerous calculus texts over the years - starting in high school in 1987 and until now (mutlivariable calculus) and, as a math major, I'm sure I'll get to see a few more. I witnessed the growth in the use of graphing calculators and Computer Algebra Systems (CAS - MathCAD, Mathematica, Maple). Thomas' Calculus makes good use of CAS applications and even includes a CD with some 'good stuff'. But it left out all the historical text from the book, expecting the student to find it on the web. Personally, I enjoy reading about the development of mathematics in-line with the presented material and knocked off a star accordingly. The second star I took off was because the reference materials in the front and back of the book are not as helpful as they had been in other texts I've used.

I've used this text to teach myself calculus, basically reading the text cover-to-cover and doing about half the exercises. I've found it fairly easy going - the text is well written and contains enough worked examples that you can do most exercises without too much trouble. I would advise against spending money on the Student's Solution Manuals (Sharf/Weir) though - these do not contain enough detail to be of much help with the exercises that you get stuck with.

This book is the best calculus book I ever had in my possession. It is very detailed and it also gives you lots of examples. There are also a lot of problems that you can work on for practice followed by the odd answers at the back of the book. This book can take you from calculus I & II to Multivariable Calculus. I think that this book should be recommended to anyone taking calculus in college.

Irrespective of what Penguin Books claims ("White-Jacket is one of the greatest novels of the sea. . ."), Herman Melville's book about life aboard a USN frigate in 1843, and, by extension, life in general (the Neversink is to be viewed "as a microcosm of the larger world") -- hardly merits consideration, let alone commendation. However, it is an exercise in drudgery. Indeed, upon completing the semi-autobiographical account one feels as if having personally made the grueling fourteen-month voyage. The few gripping anecdotes are hardly sufficient to keep the reader involved, their underlying meanings being either diffuse, dry, trite -- or all of the above. Verdicts such as "shallow," or "dull reading," as posted by similarly frazzled readers, are accurate, if euphemistic. Typically marvelous Melvillian prose, though.

Irrespective of what Penguin Books claims ("White-Jacket is one of the greatest novels of the sea. . ."), Herman Melville's book about life aboard a USN frigate in 1843, and, by extension, life in general (the Neversink is to be viewed "as a microcosm of the larger world") -- hardly merits consideration, let alone commendation. However, it is an exercise in drudgery. Indeed, upon completing the semi-autobiographical account one feels as if having personally made the grueling fourteen-month voyage. The few gripping anecdotes are hardly sufficient to keep the reader involved, their underlying meanings being either diffuse, dry, trite -- or all of the above. Verdicts such as "shallow," or "dull reading," as posted by similarly frazzled readers, are accurate, if euphemistic. Typically marvelous Melvillian prose, though.

While White-Jacket seems to have little overall relation to Melville's other works in the sense that it appears as a self-contained, highly enjoyable novel, Redburn is one of those central turning points in this great writer's life that makes it extraordinarily important. Forget "adventure" or "romance." This is a novel of psychological destruction, a disasterous novel of "growing up" that displays the shattering of a young mind and the destruction of "young America." Any reader who loves Moby-Dick should devour Redburn again and again as one of Melville's most important works.

I was inspired by the compilation of bird dog stories found within this book. If you enjoy the excitement, fear, despair, and elation associated with the training, ownership and running of all breeds of bird dogs, you will enjoy this book. The authors help you relive the moments you have endured with your own dogs in addition to helping you imagine the hunts you have yet to experience. This is a definite must read for bird dog enthusiasts.

I borrowed this book from a friend and had a tough time putting it down. Great stories from writers who truly love their dogs. A few of the essays are sad, but all of them allow us to share a part of a fellow dog lovers life with his best friend. Definitely a must read.

As a die hard Redskins fan, I was very sorry to see this excellent concept so badly muffed. The idea behind this book is to cash in on the Washington Post vault, providing great photos and articles combined with new pieces by long-time Skins beat reporters to tie it all together. Sadly, whoever edited and proofread this thing reeeally dropped the ball. Sentences at the bottom of the page are repeated at the top of the next, photographs are mislabeled, pieces of sentences are missing, words are chopped off in the middle. Probably still of some value for the die hard Skins fan, but a real black eye for the Washington Post. If their newspaper were produced as shoddily, Richard Nixon would have finished his second term.

Yes, there are some typos and such in the early chapters but the book isn't as lousy as described in the 2-star review. Most of the problems are hyphen-ated words that are not at the end of a page or line. It is like the typeset was changed but the book was not reproofed.

Still, there is a lot of good information in the book. I think it covers items that Loverro's book (very good as well) ignored or glossed over-- how Gibbs wanted to sign and trade Riggo and how Joe Jacoby ended up sticking around in that first camp. The Times summary makes it sound like Gibbs and Beathard were geniuses building a team. This book shows that they were also lucky geniuses. If you are a Skins fan, you should own this book.

I see there is also a newer edition out with the Synder years (ugh).

I must admit that this is the first Elizabeth George novel I have read. I hear many of you say that much of her other stuff is much better, so perhaps I will take a chance and read her other mysteries.
As for "Traitor to Memory" I just felt it should have packed a bigger punch, particularly at the end, for a book well exceeding 1000 pages. After reading, I honestly had to go back and make sure that really was the ending.
Another annoyance, at least for me, was the unnecessary trashy lesbian and love scenes. (Spare me this, there are many other trashy novels in the romance section at Barnes and Nobles).These appeared to be put in just for the sake of putting them in; who knows, maybe part of this book was suppose to be a soap opera.It did little for the characterization and could have been deleted from the book.This book could have been edited further and been written effectively in say 600 or so pages.
Still, I did enjoy reading much of this book. You probably wouldn't figure that, since I'm giving it 2 stars. There was a great deal of intrigue and, unlike many others, I did like the journal entries that got us into the mind of Gideon. I just suggest that if you buy this book, that you will have to have some patience in getting through it. Although I felt it read rather quickly, getting through 1000 or more pages will take some time, especially with some of the "nonsense" included within the book.

Those who are hooked on Elizabeth George's characters and closely follow what happens to them will get a lot for their money in this book, although maybe quantity does not always best quality. This time, the spotlight centers on DI Lynley and his new wife, Helen, and his superior, Superintendent Malcolm Webberly and his wife, Frances. My personal favorite character, Constable Barbara Haverly plays quite a minor role, unfortunately for me. Other reviews outline the plot, so I won't reiterate it, just say that in my opinion, this book could have done with a bit of editing. No matter how outstanding the writing (and Ms. George is an outstanding writer), that in itself cannot hide the fact that the plot is draggy and repetitious. I had to force myself to continue around page 483, although I did find it worth it to get to the end, page 719. Also, unlike her earlier books, a sentence here or there seemed a bit awkward or self-concious. If you are new to the Elizabeth George detective series, I wish you the joy of finding a mine of truly superb mystery stories, with all the finest examples of plotting and characterization and supense. However, I would suggest first reading "Playing for Ashes" or "In the Presence of the Enemy". In my opinion, these are much more finely honed examples of her craft.

I confess to being a fan of Elizabeth George. I have read the majority of the books in this series so clearly, something draws me back. However, I also confess to being disappointed overall with this effort. First, and foremost, it is TOO LONG at over 1000 pages. Second, the mystery is quite minimal here and I'd figured it out by page 200 or so. It was pretty much a task to slog through the rest of the book just to confirm what I already knew. As usual, her writing is lucid... maybe too lucid if it was not much of a mystery. I was also disappointed also in the character development in this novel. Usually, such great attention to detail is spent on describing even the slightest of characters in her books. But incredibly, given the length of the novel, few of the characters were fully realized. Last, the returning characters... Lynley, Havers, Nkata, et al were all pretty much ignored with regard to development. Hoping the next one is better!!! KSK

I purchased this book a few years ago, and I was disappointed for the most part. It does give a little insight into some pressure points, but not much real application or specific angles at which the pressure points should be struck. If you want some suggestions on some very excellent videos and books on very useful self-defense with pressure points, email me at toelio@aol.com

Commentary on Pressure Points and their uses in the martial arts. This book included sections on applications and techniques. It also includes limited narrative on selected pressure points (19 total). For example, in the section on the points, the authors have included five anatomical drawings of the human body. These charts are intended to illustrate the Traditional Chinese Medicine energy pathways throughout the body, which pressure point strikes access. Unfortunatly, the illustrations are lacking in detail, and are somewhat confusing. They have used solid black lines to represent the pathways, and have included multiple channels on each illustration. In the areas where two or more lines may intersect, there is no distinction between the lines. As such, some readers will quickly become lost.

The selected point descriptions are very limited in detail and information, covering 16 "Basic points" and three "advanced" points. Using the Chinese descriptive codes, the points covered are L-5, L-6, L-8, H-2, H-3, H-6, LI-7, L-10, L-13, L-7, TW-3, TW-11, TW-12, TW-17, SI-6, SI-7, S-5, S-9 and M-UE-28. The point striking information given the reader is very limited. For example, on page 64, the martial application for Heart Three (H-3) simply lists the martial uses as "[this point] may be struck or firmly pressed to bend the elbow." This is concerning, since a sufficient strike to H-3 can also be very dangerous (and potentially fatal). If hit stright in, a sufficient strike to H-3 can severely injure a person by stopping the beating of the heart. The immediate signs of this trauma shock to the body are an ashen gray complexion to the skin. The reciprient of the strike will collapse into unconsciousness, since their circulatory system has effectively been shut down. With sufficient force and intent, this same strike can also be fatal. These additional uses of the points in fighting are not covered, and their riskes are not covered.

I have attended seminars by Dillman master instructors in the past and the book is a good reference to those training seminars. The author has done an exceptional amount of research and training, some of which is presented in this book. This subject of pressure point fighting is exteremly difficult to learn without the guidance of a competent instructor or training partner. The book serves as a guide to those already studying the martial arts; it is not for the novice or the self taught individual. That said, pressure point fighting as it is called is not the end all for self defense tactics. Pressure point techniques do serve a good purpose in ones arsenal of self defense tactics, but they are designed to supplement ones total fighting system. And as it has been said before, it is difficult to strike an exact pressure point during active hand to hand combat. Pressure point control holds and escape techniques play a more active role in ones self defense arsenal. So if you have experience in the martial arts or CQB this book will serve to support some of your training, with the use of a competent partner or instructor. Novices or individuals looking for the quick fix (which there are none) try another book.

Romila Thapar is infamous for her ideological view of Indian History. This book is an interesting study of that ideology and how it affects the reading (and writing) of history, more than an account of history itself.

This book is based on assumptions that are simply not true. It sees Indian history in terms of caste conflict which is a gross over-simplification. The presentation may be in agreement with the Marxist dogma, but that does not make it right.

Romila Thapar is one of the leading Indian historians. Her earliest book, which was very well received academically, was on the emperor Asoka. Her subsequent writings have elaborated the effects of economics on Indian history more than other historians have done, but while she may draw on Marx for some insights, she cannot be written off as a "Marxist." Paul Samuelson, Robert Solow, and Amartya Sen, all Nobel prize-winning economists, also use Marx to aid their interpretations of society when he makes sense.

Ms Thapar also writes cogently about that a topic that is very sensitive for Indians, namely, caste, and the effects of that system on Indian society through the ages. Some of her comments or interpretations on this subject may not please everyone, but the effect of this system in keeping down, frequently in a brutal manner, persons considered to be of lower caste, has been quite pernicious in Indian history. It is no good taking an ostrich-like attitude towards this topic, or going into denial, which some of my fellow Indians are prone to do.

This book could certainly be updated, but even as it stands it is a good introduction to Indian history.