This is the fourth book on pressure points written by George Dillman and Chris Thomas. The text has been written specifically with the younger martial artist in mind, and the authors make good use of photographs showing instruction with children.

The use of "pressure points" in martial arts refers to strikes to small points along the body which are used in acupuncture. As such, this book includes a very brief introduction to Asian internal medical theory (i.e., why stiking acupoints can be so effective), to help the reader understand the point terms and concepts, and makes references to Mr. Dillman and Thomas' earlier works.

Unfortunatly, the authors have chosen to only cover 17 of the 350+ classical pressure points (ten on the inner and outer arms, five on the lower torso and two on the legs). Regarding the selected points (L-5, L-6, L-8, H-6, EX M-UE-28, LI-7, LI-10, TW-11, TW-12, SI-7, CV-3, CV-4, CV-5, CV-6, SP-10, SP-11 and SP-12), the authors provide excellent anatomical diagrams, but provide limited descriptive text on where those referenced points are located and their martial function / application. In fact, the "how they work" paragraphs are so simplified, each of the discriptive texts numbers 14 words or less. While I can appreciate the fact that the authors are writing this text with a beginning martial arts student in mind, I think they simplified the text too much. A few areas do footnote Mr. Dillman and Thomas' earlier works, and suggest the readers learn more about the points once they become more advanced. But the existing text is so limited in the extent of its explanation, I am not convinced this is the best manner in which to write an introductory primer on a subject rooted in Chinese Dim Mak theory.

In addition to the few pressure points covered, the authors give a brief historical overview of the development of karate, and provide application overviews on the basic building blocks of a martial arts curriculum: stances, punches, blocks, kicks and kata. The final chapters include some training and drill advice.

George Eliot's Scenes of Clerical Life consists of three tales involving three separate clergymen in England in the early 1800s. "The Sad Fortunes of the Reverend Amos Barton" is about the financially strapped curate of Shepperton who lacks tact, charm, and learning. Although he is initially unpopular with his parishioners, he earns their affection through his personal misfortune. The second tale, "Mr. Gilfil's Love Story," is about a parson at Shepperton (prior to the time of Amos Barton) who falls in love with Caterina, the daughter of an Italian singer, who, in turn, falls for someone else. When that someone else chooses another woman to be his wife, Mr. Gilfil deals courageously with the devastated Caterina, who is now at "the point of lunacy" because of the rejection. The third tale, "Janet's Repentance," has Reverend Edgar Tryan trying to stir up interest about the Evangelical Church in the religion-indifferent industrial town of Milby. The townfolk vigorously oppose Tryan's efforts in some very dramatic scenes. Janet, a female alcoholic who is frequently beaten by her husband, is at first resistant to Reverend Tryan, but later sees him as a fellow sufferer. She then seeks his guidance for personal problems, with positive results. All three tales are unabashedly sentimental and melodramatic. As this was Eliot's first attempt at fiction, one can see she had a ways to go before she developed the literary perfection that resonates in her later novels like Middlemarch. The tale about Amos Barton is my favorite because Eliot succeeded in making a drab character the hero of a story. The "sad fortunes of" should have been kept out of the title, though, because it suggests only the depressing side of the tale instead of the triumph of character it really is. The way Caterina in the Gilfil tale continues to find her singing the only way to "lift the pain from her heart" points out how a person may deal with grief by relying on an innate talent. The way Janet in the repentance tale goes from a kicked-about drunk to self-actualization is inspiring. Eliot's minor characters, such as the old women, the doctors, and the servants are well drawn, using the speech patterns and vernacular consistent with their respective class or degree of education. Overall, I recommend Scenes of Clerical Life as a fine introduction to George Eliot. However, I feel it is important to read Adam Bede immediately afterwards so one can see how quickly Eliot's ability to write fiction evolved into an art.

This volume is comprised mostly of the Islendinga Saga, which is very long and repetitive as compared to other Icelandic sagas. If you have already read all the other, more popular, sagas, then go right ahead and read this one. Not recommended for newcomers to saga literature, however. There is some very interesting detail about conflicts with a Christian bishop, but this can be gotten in a more succinct and readable form in volume 2 of this translation.

William Price is indeed an overlooked architect. While I'm hesistant to call him a genius, his work has a breadth seldom seen in the work of his contemporaries. He was one of the last of the Philadelphia architects to come from a background of manual training rather than an academic background, but clearly he was able to apply the lessons of contemporary practice learned from books, and stretch into new areas of the Arts and Crafts movement and advanced design in reinforced concrete.

The author spends an inordinate amount of time in the book describing how Philadelphia, with a strong heritage of innovative industrial design is left behind in the architectural world due to an academic bias of the press based in New York and Boston. While this is important to Price's reputation, it has little to do with his actual work. The prose in the book is repititious, reading as a series of loosely related lectures rather than a single thesis, and the book design does not help the reader.

The illustrations, largely drawn from the firm's archive now held by the author, are very well produced, but could have been supplemented by more new photography. A significant number of Price's buildings do survive, and color photography would bring out the great qualities of material, color, and texture that were so important to his work.

In summary, a book on Price was long overdue, but one would have hoped that it would focus more on the great qualities of his architecture.

This book presupposes that world polity is galvanized not by rational interests of sovereign states but by the cultural manifestations of the "rational voluntaristic authority" and highly specialized "standardization techniques" of global agents (non-nation states). What is highly fallacious in this argument is that most of the world cultural precepts they describe is nothing but an expansion of globalist economic theories--an addendum--merely capitalizing on pre-existing theories on globalism.

The evolution of International Organizations cannot be traced on the rationalizing aspect of world culture and the increased homogenization of world polity and its global arenas. Rather, the rational basis for the expansion of international organizations is merely economic, irrational, and mired in the global self-interests of industrialized states.

This book is purely pseudo-social scientific, and the editorial pieces that connect Boli and Thomas' arguments together is weak and elementary at best. I would not recommend this book to any public policy advocate for its utter lack of social scientific rigor and its reliance on abstract concepts they do not fully operationalize and define.

The primary audience for this book is academic sociologists who are interested in comparative-historical sociology and international relations. The themes of the book, however, make it potentially appealing to a much broader audience that could include political scientists, public administrators, historians - as well as people who have an interest in world culture, governance, and non-governmental & inter-governmental organizations.

As a non-academic reader, I found this book to be weighty and difficult. Hence, only 3 stars. But, if you stick with it, and if you can grasp the concepts and language used by the authors, "Constructing World Culture" offers a great deal of useful information. Primarily, it describes a particular way to understand the "polity" of the world - that is, the way the world works in a social and political context.

The authors promote a viewpoint that understands global governance to be taking place through the interplay of various actors - e.g., nation-states, trans-national corporations, inter-governmental organizations, and International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGO's).

INGO's include a large, diverse group of organizations, some of which are familiar and some of which you've never heard of before. Think about the International Red Cross, Greenpeace, the International Olympics Committee, and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). That is just the beginning of the list.

In these INGO's, Boli and Thomas find the "fundamental principles of world culture." These are: Universalism, Individualism, Rational Voluntaristic Authority, the Dialectics of Rationalizing Progress, and World Citizenship.

To get a taste of what the book is about, consider this quote: "...This volume suggests that INGO's exercise a surprising degree of authority in the contemporary world. This authority is neither coercive or commanding; above all, it is cultural." (Page 298).

This is the kind of book I wish could be translated into plain language and sent to elected officials and policy makers in many nations.

I decided to write a review for this book more in reaction to another reader's comment than for the promotion of the book itself. The rise of the non-state actors at the international or transnational level during the last decades is striking. Ignoring their role when studying the way our society is evolving is like trying to find out how a car work without looking at the engine... or at least, ignoring the source of energy needed for the car to function normally.

I agree with the previous commentator that the World Polity theories are often looking to closely at the motor and at how the fuel power the engine and forget to look at the driver, the wheels and all the other components of our globalization vehicle. However, I would argue that such a narrow perspective is necessary in order to appreciate some important mechanisms that influence our societies. I don't think anyone would deny the fact that for the first time in history, we can witness the creation of truly global norms that are shaping our world.

World Polity theories do not, however, explain everything about globalization. They offer some insights... Just as neo-liberal thories, realist theories, world system theories, and others do. In my view, academic struggles about which theories are the most relevant is often no more than a kids fight about whose father is the strongest.

This book is very poor. I give it a poor rating because the solution manuals that compliment this book are very mediocre. The solution manual that came with the book (It came bundled with the text at my college bookstore) seems as though it was hastily put together. Some answers are wrong, have typos, or even lacking altogether. The solution manual only covers chapters 1-12. The remaining chapters are covered in another manual...that's where the above problems are thrown into plain view. In the second solution manual, some answers don't match, are missing, or wrong. For example, chapter 13 has two sections that are flipped around, which shows the haste in bringing out this book. I have nothing good to say about these texts. When Calculus 3 is over this semester, I have 660+ pages worth of TP...that's the only way I feel the purchased can be justified.

As all of you know already, all (except some exceptional textbooks by distinguished authors) Addison Weslely Mathematics books are well known for their terrible excercizes, explanations, lessons, and their contents. There are a few reasons why the above statement is true, but you can figure them out by yourself. Also, lack of information that hinders AP Calculus B C students further emphasize that this is a book made for the novice mathematicians of extremely low ability in problem solving and thinking. Overall, this book is not a book that can be used in an Advanced Placement Calculus BC class; and indeed, this book would a terrible choice for a short calcululus class at a university that offers a good quality mathematics education. This book definiately receives a "poor" recommendation; its contents must be enhanced for it to receive a better recommendation from the instructors and learners in the United States.

This calculus book is an excellent choice for college bound mathematics students in high schools. It covers every topics needed to succeed in later math courses and future; it has ample real-life problem situations that not only hone mathematics skills of the students, it also helps them to understand most of the abstract concepts of calculus. This book is suitable for use in any AP Calc courses (AB or BC). Despite many special features in this overall superior book, I do not strongly recommand this book. The reason is that this book uses very minimum colors and graphics that can help high school students to be interested in the materials in calculus; besides, graphics with colors CERTAINLY helps everyone to grasp the abstract "stuff". If you are a high school chairperson, and you are considering to purchase this book for your school to use as an AP Calc text book, I recommand you to look for a newer book.

I read this one first, then the one by Lindeburg. There is no comparison- the Potter book has too many mistakes, outdated material, its organization does not mirror the exam's organization like the Lindeburg book does, it is not in depth enough to be of any use. After working through the Lindeburg book, I rarely even referred to this one (and the exam was a snap).

While trying to study from this book I found many outdated references. For instance, tables and charts for the 1984 "green book" and references to the 198-something HCM. The book also has a hydraulics and hydrology slant. Even the Highway section turns into a hydralogy review loosly based on highways. Do not buy this book, instead look into the Lindeman reference.

The mistakes, inconsistencies, and assumptions are frustrating. I don't know if there is anything better on the market. If so, I wish I had it right now.

This collection is a travesty indeed. Great poems no doubt, but abysmally read. Furthermore they should have put all the introductions together separate and apart from the poems. It's nice to hear intros the first time around. But who wants to hear the intros everytime you listen to the poems? Sometimes I want to hear just a stream of poetry without any interuptions and this format makes that impossible. It's incredible that such a great concept could be so terribly executed.

I could not get this back to the store for a refund quickly enough. While the poem selection is great and the poem introductions are narrated well, the choice to use "modern poets" as the readers made this compilation utterly unlistenable. The only one that I found acceptable was Anthony Hect--the others were notably bad. In particular, I found Jorie Graham's "readings" to be abysmal. She reads each poem as if it were simply a string of unconnected words, giving equal stress to each, with halting pauses between them, never breaking out of a drowsy monotone. Other readers were not much better.

There are three major flaws in the readings:

1) The readers are no better than the average untrained person, and often much worse. (You've just got to hear them for yourself to appreciate how bad they are.)

2) Successive poems by the same poet are read by different "readers." It's jarring to hear 3 or 4 poems from Poet X, each in a wildly different voice.

3) No regard is given to matching the sex of the poet and reader. In general, it is really annoying to hear your favorite poet read by the wrong sex. In particular, making this mistake on "gender specific" poems (like having a woman read Poe's "Annabel Lee") is unforgivable.

Why is this all so upsetting? Because it is practically impossible to find poetry collections on CD, making this a serious waste of limited resources. If you are looking for a good collection on CD, buy "81 Famous Poems CD" by Audio Partners (ISBN 0-945353-82-0). It's a good collection on two CDs and is read by professionals: Alexander Scourby, Bramwell Fletcher, and Nancy Wickwire. In the meantime, we can only hope that the producers of this collection will eventually come to their senses and re-record the poems with the services of trained professionals.

If you are prepping for the GRE in literature or are trying to gain a basic understanding of literary periods and poets, this audio-collection is a must. It features a brief introduction about each poet's life. It also includes a brief introduction about the theme of each poem. The fact that you have to listen to these introductions before listening to the poem inculcate the poem and aids retention. If literature has turned into a cumbersome and overwhelming task, this collection will not only provide you with a sense of direction but will also make literature far more pleasurable.

While an interesting beginning for a novice collector the author spans too great a time period to adequately cover any series of Winchester firearms. Winchester collectors are quite attracted to styles or types of firearms. This book barely answers even the most rudimentary of questions and as such is an overall disappointment. Secondly, the book would be greatly enhanced by more detailed and clear photography. This would assist the new collector in appreciating the marvel of these firearms - while providing a much better overview for future study.

Well let me start buy saying that the amount of information in this book could have been printed in half the space. The theory of striking pressure points on the body is nice and when done systematicaly with a cooperative person it looks good to,but I see little real practicle value in this book,the problem for me is Dillman claims that this is real self defence, well if he can hit someones arm or leg in a concise point against an opponent who wants to tear his face off I mean a real fighter then I stand corrected but I`m yet to see someone use a pressure point strike in a real spontaineous situation. Lastly I would like to address the Kata he attempts to give accurate applications,I think he has created his applications to fit the katas movements roughly,for a real insight into kata I suggest Nathan Johnsons"Barefoot Zen" for some fascinating insights into classical karate kata.My advice for readers look elsewhere.

I fail to see the reasoning from the review titled "It looks nice but.............., November 19, 2000"

The main problem I have in this persons article is that I know for fact (and from personal experience) that these are extremely effective techniques. In fact the techniques presented in this book are several times more effective in a real situation than a normally applied strike.

And also, an angry person who "wants to rip your face off," is always easier to defeat than an assailant with a clear mind and excellent coordination.

Further more, this is a book pointed towards advanced practices. That means they require practice. No technique will be effective without sufficient practice.

In conclusion, this book is an great adjunct to your knowledge if you have a background in wrestling, hapkido, or ju-jitsu.

This is the third book in Mr. Dillman and Thomas' series on Pressure Point Fighting. In terms of overall content, there is a considerable amount of overlap with the material covered in their second book. The authors attempt to cover 60 of the 350+ classical Chinese acupoints (22 on the arms, 21 on the head and neck, 11 on the torso and 5 on the legs), and 4 "extra-ordinary" points (3 on the arms and one on the legs). Of the points covered by Mr. Dillman and Mr. Thomas, only nine are new to this volume; the rest were covered in the previous texts.

In my humble opinion, the point location charts are excellent, and well presented. 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.

In many instances, the descriptive information listed for the points is identical to the information given in the second book In fact, the most significant difference is the point location graphics have been greatly improved. In addition, there are some minor changes. For example, the authors have added some text to selected points, describing the use of set-up points to augment certain strikes.

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 came as a great surprise, and may leave some readers disappointed. For example, on page 56, they discuss Liver 14 (LIV-14), simply noting that it is in close proximity to Gall Bladder 24 (GB-24), which lies slightly below it on the rib cage. The authors note that these points are "in close proximity and are used together," by striking them both diagonally. No additional narrative is given regarding the martial effects of the strike, nor the effects to the body from either point. This lack of basic information is concerning to me, since both points are extremely dangerous; a medium strike will produce a knockout (KO). With a slightly harder blow, both points have been known to be fatal! These points are highly reactive, and even mild strikes to LIV-14 can stop the heart from beating, and also adversely effect the Liver. None of these issues or risks are discussed for this point, nor the majority of the other points.

In addition, the authors provide a large section on application techniques, consisting of 50 waza.