AutoCAD was very confusing for me, even buying a book didnt help any. I got help from administrator and we both ended up in a rut. i dont recomend this

This book has an error in every chapter I worked through it but I would not recommend it to any one and it has few lessons to build your skill.

This book gives you the push you need to start working on AutoCAD. I started great work on it in less than 48 hours. This book illustrates main ideas in a very concise way so that you can build upon your knowledge. According to its title it gives you the first blocks to build upon starting your AutoCAD career.

First up is Linda Howard's 'Duncan's Bride'. Mind you, this was written late in the 80's, so the content is 80's male chavanistic romance; which I am not complaining about by any means, its just a different style of writing, but some people are sensitive to it, so I thought I might warn those out there. But anyone who's read Howard knows even her older novels are amazing and worth the read.
Extremely heartwrenching and full of distrust and turmoil, the two characters worm themselves right into your heart. Mail-order bride Maddie moves to Montana answering an ad in the paper from divorced Reese Duncan who is looking for a hardworking wife to live on his failing ranch with him in name only.(note, this isnt a historical, its based in the 1980's) What he gets is a beautiful woman who drives him crazy and surprises him with her heart and devotion. Maddie makes it her mission to heal his bitter soul and to become more than his wife in name only. I give this story 5 Stars.....

The second is by Elizabeth Lowell called 'Chain Lightening'. A woman named Mandy has lost everyone she loved in a horrific plane crash over the ocean years ago and is still reeling from it. Her boss tricks her into taking a much needed vacation to the Great Barrier Reef hoping to heal her wounds, what she doesn't expect is to get shacked up with enigmatic Damon Sutter in the process. Good writing, but I couldn't get myself interested in the story, it moved too slowly for my tastes. The tale was riddled with angst and too much talking. In the end, I would give it three stars...

Third in the book and last was Kasey Michael's 'Popcorn and Kisses'. Not sure why this story was mixed in with the others since it really wasn't related plot-wise.
It was an 'okay' tale about an old drive-in theatre and two mismatched people trying to save it. It seemed to move very slow and I became bored instantly with the plot and dialog. The writing was decent, the plot was much to be desired. Very tame and I have to agree with another reviewer on this being very 'Sweet Valley Highish'. It did not fit in with Howard and Lowell's steamy stories. Not sure how the characters had to 'find home' again in this story either, but oh well. I gave this one two stars...

I did rate only three, not because they are not well written, but I do believe it is tricking the reader to put is "published in 2002 and writen by Lowel, etc. when in fact they just take old stories and put them together with a new title.

I would like to be sure when a book is writen, the style had changed and so the writer's skills too. When I buy an older of her book, it is because I want to compare. But I do want to know before I buy what is in it, when it is written.

Having read only a few novels so far by Nora Roberts and Linda Howard, I do not have the reservations about reading a compilation of novels already previously published that some of the other reviewers have. Since several of the novels I've read so far were originally published in the mid-1980s, I have learned to read the original published dates in the front pages of each book, to give myself some perspective on the time in which the book was written.
Even though I am new to reading romance novels, I greatly enjoy Linda Howard's work. Unfortunately, my last experience with Howard's work before "Duncan's Bride" was "Almost Forever," a real stinker as far as I'm concerned. So I was a little reserved about reading "Duncan's Bride." Now this is my favorite Howard book thus far.
Most romances I've read so far revolve around a couple meeting, finding that they each have reservations about one another. Then they have sex within a week or two of meeting, and are married within a couple of months. End of story. But "Duncan's Bride" is far different from the typical formula. It deals with the characters over the course of a year or so of their lives. Madelyn finds rancher Reese Duncan's personal ad both revolting and intriguing at the same time. She travels to Montana to meet him, and winds up marrying him after a few days- more a marriage of convenience than a soul match. She figures he will warm up to her soon, but he was very scarred by his previous marriage to a money-grubbing woman who took most of his ranch, along with his heart. Both characters are highly complicated, and Howard's character development is great for such a relatively short novel (only about 200 pages). The sex scenes, true to Howard's reputation, are very steamy, but the read leading up to the sex scenes are well worth the time as well.
"Chain Lightning" is also very well developed. As I had never read anything by Elizabeth Lowell, I had no idea what to expect, but this book was very well paired with "Duncan's Bride." Although neither character seems ready for any kind of relationship, they work together well. Mandy is severely traumatized from the deaths in an ocean plane crash of both her husband and her unborn baby, and she nearly drowned as well. Now the former oceanographer is terrified of the sea that she once loved.
Unwilling to tell anyone about her fears, she is sent on a surprise trip to the Great Barrier Reef with Damon Sutter by her boss, who does not know of Mandy's past. Sutter, an adventurer, feels that he will be terribly bored being forced to stay in a small tent with Mandy, the bundle of fears. But time brings them closer together, making for a heartwarming story, and some very hot sex scenes as well.
"Popcorn and Kisses" is seemingly mismatched with the other two books in this compilation. I won't say that Kasey Michaels is a bad writer, because she's not. I enjoyed reading about the seemingly mismatched Sharon and Zachary St. Clair. But after having read two very steamy novels, "Popcorn" was very tame- in movie rating terms, "Duncan's Bride" and "Chain Lightning" were rated-R (or perhaps even NC-17), while "Popcorn and Kisses" was PG. Perhaps this would have been better paired with similarly tame novels. Having just read the other two novels, "Popcorn" reminded me more of "Sweet Valley High" than an actual romance novel.
If you have not read any of these books in the past, this is a great deal to get all three at once. My recommendation, though, would be to read "Popcorn and Kisses" first rather than last. It really is a good book; it's just a let-down after the steaminess of its predecessors.

What do the Three Stooges and Michael Jackson have in common? Nothing! God only knows why the infamous gloved-one was associated with this book! Pity, I love Curly, but loath Michael Jackson.

I'm sorry to anyone who actually is looking for a review because I haven't read the book--I'm actually trying to buy it, I just wanted to point out to 'stoogesfan' that the reason Michael Jackson was involved with the book is that he loves Curly just as much as you do, he thinks Curly is like the funniest person ever, and having the opportunity to do so, he decided to share that with the world. Everyone loves Curly so it's not hard to understand why he was involved.

Joan Howard Maurer gives the reader a very in-depth look into the life of her famous uncle. Curly's brilliance as a comedian is evident in her well-written biography. She also does quite well at showing that Curly was a shy, private person when "off-camera". A great book for anyone who loves the Stooges!

This novelization of the second film in the omen series is a professional job, it just isn't that scary (a problem the film it's based on had as well). It was also written by Joseph Howard, not David Seltzer as listed above. Fans of the series will want to search for it anyway, for there are minor differences in the story that will no doubt be of interest.

Just in case you do not know already, Damien: Omen II is an adaptation of the movie of the same name. Damien: Omen II is a sequel to "The Omen'. The original Omen movie started out as a novel, while Damien: Omen II started out as a screenplay which the novel is closely based on.

The story takes place seven years later in which Damien the Antichrist is now thirteen years old, and totally in the dark about his diabolic heritage and destiny. He now lives with his uncle, who runs Thorn Industries, his second wife Ann, and his cousin Mark. As usual, anybody who steps in Damien's way to his destiny or knows his true nature is promptly knocked off in ingenious and gruesome ways. WHile a huge black mastiff lingers around Damien in the first movie/novel, now a monstrous raven hovers ominously nearby.

The biggest change in the novel from the movie is the Joan Hart character. In the film, she was merely just a reason for the producers to stick in another gruesome death scene. In the novel, her role was expanded. Her association switched from the David Warner character in the first movie to the archeologist Michael Morgan in the second film's prolouge.

Another change is Ann Thorn. In the film it is suggested that she was in league with the DEvil and was dispatched when her usefulness was over. In the book, it is not clear what her true motivation was in the story's finale.

Earlier editions contains photographs from the movie, which you may be able to find in used book stores.

Overall, the book is a good read, even though it lacked the religious details and atmosphere of the first movie, the book still ended with an evil note like the first one, in which evil triumphs.

A good follow up to the original and a good story. But it borrows too heavily from the good versus evil earlier theme of Damien's guardians striking down anybody who learns of his dark secret. This story is interesting because young Damien finally comes to realize who he is and gradually accepts it, then relishes it. Now as a young adult with his destiny set before him the stage is set for the next sequel.

I have been a fan of Mr Howard for nearly 12 years now, which in my opinion, makes me a bit of a connoisseur, and frankly this book was a bit of a disappointment. Undoubtedly the contributing writers are well-respected and immensely able but their writing lacked the Howardian flavour I have come to love. Ghor's sudden personality shifts are hard to follow and the various ideas in the story lack sufficient depth. This book is not the way Mr Howard would have written it. Nevertheless, this should be read because the original idea belonged to the great REH.

Ghor is a nice blend of Conan and the Cthulhu Mythos together. Abandoned as a child because of a deformity, Ghor is adopted by a pack of wolves. Raised by them, he adopts the ways of the wolf, yet when he meets up with humanity joins them. Constantly struggling with his wolf upbringing and his human surroundings, Ghor becomes a mighty war hero wherever he goes.

This is an excellent adventure book that takes a Conan like hero and plots him against all sorts of evil (and good), including some Cthulhu creations as well.

Originally Ghor was an unfinished story by Conan creator Robert Howard. Upon finding this unfinished story, a magazine decided to finish it. What they did was have a different chapter every month written by a different top fantasy writer. It made the reading interesting.

While most of the chapters were great. Some were excellent. Unfortunately there were a couple chapters that I just wanted to get through to reach the next writers' chapter. Overall a really good read.

I WAS VERY SUPRISED ABOUT HOW WELL THIS STORY CAME OFF. THE VARIUOS WRITERS DID AN EXCELLENT JOB IN WRITING AN EXCITING BOOK THAT FLOWED SMOOTHLY. IT DID NOT COME OFF AS A SERIES OF SHORT STORIES. THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK FOR ROBERT E. HOWARD FANS, AND FANS OF FANTASY IN GENERAL.

This is a great book to add to your collection, if you are interested in, or research, Secret Societies. It has been a long time, since I read this one, but this book gave me good reference material to research & many other books of this genre refer to Howard's book. Add it to your collection, so it will be on-hand when you see quotes in other works.

The information provided by another reader is true--the information about George Washington is completely in Error in "The Occult Conspiracy." I have posted the same information in clubs, but I forgot to return to this review and Update my findings.

"A New Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry," by A.E. Waite & other sources discount much of the material in "The Occult Conspiracy."

However, this books is useful as a reference book/bibliography.

Unfortunately, this book has a huge number of typos. One is very ridiculous: Bostonia, instead of Bosnia. Otherwise this book has a lot of behind-the-closed -doors information. The author made a great effort to put together such information. The chapter about the occult and anti-Christian origins of Hitler's ideology is truly great. This book is written from a white magic point of view, and presents the anti-Christian New Age movement (with all its aspects: feminism, permissive sexuality, ecology etc) as the future religion. Strange, but the author of this book that reveals so well conspiracies, is pro-conspiracy!

THE OCCULT CONSPIRACY by Michael Howard starts off with the misunderstood revelation that occultism is not always practiced by fringe individuals but is well established in the echelons of the world's ruling elite. The sources that Howard used in compiling this book are a who's who of popular arcane researchers and conspiracy theorists among which are Nesta Webster's "Secret Societies", Clark's "Occult Roots of Nazism", the theory of Christ's bloodline--"Holy Blood, Holy Grail", and books by New Age philosopher Manly P. Hall.

The viewpoint of this book is rather vague, and is not easy to pick up right away. There is an apparent conflict between traditional religion, especially Christianity and its largest sect, Catholicism, and secret, esoteric teachings as propounded by different groups linked together through the millenia with similar beliefs and objectives: Gnosticism, Manicheanism, Knights Templar, Rosicrucians, Freemasons, the Illuminati and radical leftism in the 1800s and 1900s. These secret societies have different doctrines, but they are all opposed to traditional Christianity, especially in their endorsement of a universal religion, one world government, the "feminine principle" of God, and the abolition of traditional religious, cultural and ethnic ties. "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity" is their catchphrase. The great events of the past 250 years have their roots in secret society intrigue and have adopted occult symbolism: the American Revoloution, French Revoloution, rise of the British Empire, German Nationalism, Marxism, Russian Revoloution, Nazism, formation of the UN, New Age movement, 1960's radicalism, and the rise of today's "post-Christian" society. All the tumult, it is supposed, is caused by the advent of the Age of Aquarius (supposedly to take place in 2025) which will, in the mind of occultists, usher in a humanist utopia on earth.

There are a lot of flaws with this book. The author fails to give the book any real sort of context, except for its mystical pinko-liberalism. It rather posists a "conspiracy against the vast right-wing conspiracy" and claims that the secret society members are crusaders for human freedom against the oppression of Christianity and the old world order.

This book is ok. It was recommended by somebody when I was wondering how to choose a martial art to practice. I wish there was a better book on the subject. The video it's based upon was shown on the discovery channel a month ago. And that was awesome!! But the book fails to deliver. It's a book made after a movie. So it doesn't capture the attention as well as the movie does. It might have all the information there, but it's pretty tiring looking for them.

After searching unsuccessfully for the critically acclaimed BBC Documentary I pluncked down my $11 and bought a used copy of this book.
Basically, I can only comment on the Chapters regarding Chinese and Okinawan Arts. All I can say is the pictures are matched incorrectly with the text and many statements(now common knowledge) are totally wrong. I guess for the time it was written it was ground breaking.
I would still rather have the video.

Excellent book based on the BBC documentary series. It covers the asian martial arts in a professional fashion instead of the silly fashion seen in so many martial arts magazines and books which lack any sort of scholarship. My favorites were the coverage of the Indian martial arts: Kalari Payit and the traditional japanese swordmanship school, the Katori ryu. Excellent book period.

I recently recieved this book for Christmas. As an aspiring comic and cartoon artist, I usually try to pick up as many books concerning the subject as I can; they are few and far between. I was excited at first, but upon reading through it, I was very disappointed. Not only did I not learn very little that was new for me from this book, it did not deal in depth with either the art or the more technical side of comic books (the writing, the layouts, the character development, and so on). It DID provide some minute details that I hadn't run into, such as average page numbers and page sizes, but that was about the extent of the book's usefulness. I believe, however, that this book was intended for a different audience; mainly, those people who are trying to draw comics for the first time. This book will more than likely give them a generalized overview of what the genre is that they are looking at. However, to the more experienced artist, who has been at the drawing board for a year or two and with a few other comic instruction books on his shelf, this book doesn't deliver.

If you are an aspiring comic book artist looking to take the next step - from merely sitting at your desk and sketching to making publishing-ready work, this book can help point out this little details that most overlook or fail to learn.

_Mysteries of the Runes_ by Michael Howard . The book contains alot of theoretical information regarding the origins of the Runes and the origins of the Nordic myths and Gods. There is a lot of information the typical Asatruar will disagree with, and there is a clear Wiccan bias, but it is perhaps because of this different perspective that the book is so unique to my library.

The book discusses the development of the Nordic mythos (theoretically) and the evolution of the Nordic gods and goddesses. Discusses the indiginous "matrifocal" religion versus the "solar" religion of the conquering Indo-Europeans and the evolution of the Norse pantheon. There is a great deal of history in this volume, and Howard takes the time to show where he gets it from and interpret it, but there are certain basic assumptions he has that I would disagree with.
The book contains many illustrations and a long bibliography and "further reading" list, as well as a glossary. I personally do not agree with the author's premises and conclusions, but he certainly provides some food for thought. Also it is always interesting to read someone else's view on each of the runes.

While Drew Heywood is an excellent author - this book will not be one to wind up in his Hall of Fame. This book was chock full of inaccurate statements, misleading comments, and poorly thought out statements. Using this to study from, or even using it as a reference would be a mistake. I found it very tough to read, and most of the time found it downright frustrating. I would, however, recommend it for target practice. The book becomes much more valuable (not to mention, lighter) after substantial portions of it are removed with a large calibre hand gun. Surprisingly, the readability doesn't suffer in the least. Seriously though, this book is terrible and the back of a cereal box would make a better study guide.

I read the whole thing with the help of some wine. I actually let a friend of mine read the book, but more as a practical joke. Well, my friend didn't think it was too funny. We both found it to be a waste of our time.

We did, however, find some value in the book at the target range. He took his 45 and I took out my 40 and we used the book as a sight in target. (I'll see if I can get him to write a review as well) This was the first and only time we have ever done anything like this. I teach the Microsoft curriculum and have found some other joy in passing the book around the room and telling the students that I would not recommend using it in the real world or to study for certification exams. You should see their expressions when they open the bullet torn pages and see pieces fall out.

Please don't get me wrong here. I love books and would never recommend that anyone do this with any other book. But, if you stumble across this one - go for it!

By the way - Drew Heywood did, in fact, write the best book I ever read on TCP/IP.

One reader complained that there is "nly two pages for groups."So what! All you need to know for the exam is what groups do what. For more detailed info on groups, use the Microsoft Windows NT Network Administration Training book, or, O'Reilly's Windows NT in a Nutshell.

I very highly recommend this book for not only exam preparation purposes, but as an extensive, well-written reference point. Worth every penny.