I recognized Richard Paul Evans name from Timepiece. Actually I was not very impressed much by that one (possibly because I haven't read the Christmas Box).

But the Locket did change my view of him. Richard is a very, very good writer. I finished it in a couple days with the last 4 straight hours reading it through the end. I really like the way the story goes and how each character is woven into each other. It's a love story, but not the type that made you sick in the stomach. Instead it touches my heart. A few times it brought tears to my eyes. Very touching. I particularly like the Forgiveness chapter. Several excellent thoughts on life surface throughout the book.

My daughter volunters at a Public Library. She has given me some beautiful books. The "Locket" was a l998 Christmas Present. Prior to this she had given me The Christmas Box, The Letter, and Time Piece. It's difficult to say which I liked the best; they are all beautiful. I like the "size" easy to hold when you read lying down! Have given them for Christmas and birthday presents. I have enjoyed his writings so much would love to be able to meet him and his family. Lost my husband just a year ago; I thank the Lord that I have good eye sight there are so many wonderful books; computeers, TV, or movies can never take their place.

Since I have read his other books: The Christmas Box, The Timepiece, The Letter, and The Carousel, I knew what to expect from Richard Paul Evans. He is a truly remarkable mastermind and The Locket won't let you down. It is such a wonderful story filled with romanticism and immense substance. His primary characters are spontaneous and so distinct, it's fun to read how they correspond. You feel remorseful at one moment, then condemn them the next. The theme of this book is allegiance, passion, and sympathy that touches your sensitivity and consciousness to the median. In conclusion, I just have to say that I think this is the type of book that readers can devour as well as learn from. I'm looking forward to next book by Richard Paul Evans.

As with all of Ms. Penman's books, this one kept me spellbound. I've read it at least a half dozen times, and it is always as good as it was the first time. Finally, someone has written a book that portrays Richard III in a positive light instead of as a murdering, hunchbacked villain. Her theories are researched and not pulled from thin air, making her ideas about Richard's life believable. Even more amazing is the author's dedication to telling her story. The original, completed manuscript was stolen from her car, yet she was determined to tell Richard's tale, and she rewrote the entire, HUGE novel. That feat is nothing short of amazing, and serves to inspire me whenever I whine about rewriting something as short as a three page scene. An excellent novel by an outstanding author. I highly recommend this book to anyone. I've given it to several people who don't even like the time period, but it is so well written and enjoyable, that they loved it anyway. Read this book--you won't be sorry!

I have read every book I could locate about Richard III. I even wrote my Englih paper in college about him. But I have never owned so many copies of the same book. This book is so enthralling, I have gone through four paperback copies. Once read, you can not help but read it again and again,finding some thing new each time.You can't help but feel the emotions of the characters in this book. MS Penman writes so that you are there,eating,drinking,fighting and living life during this incredible time in English hitory.Her explanations for the disapperance of the Princes is more beleivable then any Tudor historian, it makes sense.And ,for her explanations of Richards "character flaws",it shows a man too sensitive for his loves, lossess, and Kingship.It is that sensitivity that makes it impossible to believe he would put two innocent boys to death. I was so glad to read a possitive perspective on Richard's life. This book is as interesting as it addictive. Right on the level with Ms.Penman's Trilogy,Here Be Dragons.

I have read every Penman book but one. Her writing is well researched, flowing and one feels transported in time while reading. She breathes life into her characters. Not since reading Margaret Campbell Barnes' "The King's Bed" 20 years ago have I enjoyed a book more. I was prepared to like Richard. As the youngest son, he was not raised to be a king; nor did he welcome the task. I believe Ms. Penman convincingly puts this point across. I am in awe of her considerable writing skills. Her research goes beyond the extra mile, making her work untouchable. Reading "Sunne," called for a second read of Ms. Barnes' book. I am looking forward to Ms. Penman's book of Eleanor and Henry. In the meantime I will have to be content with a second reading of "The Sunne in Splendor," "Here Be Dragons," "Falls the Shadow," "The Reckoning," and "When Christ and His Saints Slept!"

Thank God for Amazon. I discovered Richard Russo while looking at reviews of Moo by Jane Smiley. A reviewer put me onto Straight Man, and that's how I got to Nobody's Fool.

I liked Straight Man very much. Then I went on to The Risk Pool and Nobody's Fool, which I read within a few months of each other about a year ago. Looking back it's hard to separate the two because of their similar setting and characters.

Both are wonderful. If there is the perfect novel, both The Risk Pool and Nobody's Fool are it. One night while I was reading Nobody's Fool in bed, I finished a paragraph and put the book down on my chest thinking that I had actually been touched by God; it was that unusual. I felt that I had experienced perfection. That has only happened to me once before.

Russo's chracters are "ordinary;" some would call them losers. Russo clearly loves them, and that is the wonder of these two books. When I tried to describe Russo's writing to an author friend, she said that a good writer leads his readers by the hand, but she said it sounded in this case as if Russo were leading his readers by the soul. I couldn't have said it better.

Please read this book.

Richard Russo hasn't published very many books, but he is quickly becoming one of the great authors of today. In Nobody's Fool, he writes another excellent tale of small-town life, a setting he revisits in his masterpiece, Empire Falls.

The main character in Nobody's Fool is Donald Sullivan, known more commonly as Sully. Sully is something of a free spirit, rarely thinking beyond the moment; now that he's sixty, he's feeling the effects of his short-sightedness; he has many friends but few real relationships, even with his son and his off-and-on again lover. Indeed, the closest relationship he has is with his landlady.

It's hard to describe this novel in terms of plot, since this is more a book about characters than a regular story. Russo is not interested in the standard beginning-middle-end structure of a novel; instead this book is almost pure middle. Plenty happens, but as in real life, few things are neatly resolved.

Russo is a brilliant writer and makes all his characters multi-dimensional. There are no good guys or bad guys here; even Sully, a likeable enough fellow, has some definite flaws. The way all these characters interact - Sully, his landlady Miss Beryl, his friend/worshipper Rub, his foe/friend Carl and the dozen or so others - is what makes this book so much fun. There is humor here, but this is not a comic novel; instead, it is a novel that does not fit well into any category.

For those whose tastes run beyond strict genre fiction, this is definitely a reccomended read. It just one indication of what a great writer Russo is.

This was the last (out of 4) books by Richard Russo I've read, and it's difficult which to say which one is best, but it's probably a close race between 'Nobody's Fool' and 'The Risk Pool' - but 'Straight Man' and 'Mohawk' are great too! As someone else said, Russo's character development ranks up there with Anne Tyler, if indeed he's not even better. 'Nobody's Fool' is peopled with all kinds of great and interesting characters. For such an 'ordinary guy', Sully is pretty complex,

actually. Rub and Hattie are hoots, Sully's landlady is wonderful, and the list goes on. The movie is pretty good too, but as usual, the book is better - it's hard to get much of a 550-page book into a movie! Buy this book.

I recommend this work to you for two reasons: first, I believe it important for a citizen of the world to understand the development and initial employment of this "gadget" (as its creating physicists designated the bomb), and second, this is a fine read: significant history with minimal political taint. This is a story more fascinating than Clancy's best, due simply to its veracity.

No wonder this won the Pulitzer! This is well-written and captivating history.

Rhodes includes dialog and writings to allow his reader to meet the physicists, soldiers, and politicians. His technical descriptions of the involved science satiate me, a chemist, yet he supplies the definitions and background to permit ready comprehension by readers not versed in nuclear theory. Finally, his account of the events in the two decades prior to and during the Manhattan Project educates without boredom.

Much of this work concerns the men and women discovering the constituents of the atom and of its potential to be affected for some utility. The science is not overwhelming, but well-written and clear.

This is written as a historical text book, with documentation galore. I concur with my fellow reader who remarked on their amazement that one man could compile this. What a tome of research!

I shall limit my complaints to two. I found the account to be heavy on the early days and developers of nuclear theory. I also tired of reading Bohr's philosophy on the need to share science with the world.

Anyone interested in the history of the 20th Century or in atomic weapons would not regret reading The Making of the Atomic Bomb.

What struck me most?

How quickly the industrial capability of the United States put this into motion, once committed. Trinity, the first test shot, was July 16, 1945. Less than one month later, Little Boy dropped. Los Alamos was established for only two years prior to the first bombing.

These men and women were not evil: they were giants and pioneers in science. Many of the key players were European, serving their adopted nation to beat the enemy to discovering a bigger stick. Several were forced to leave their home lands due to some Jewish blood in a spouse. They were chilled to observe the power they had made when they watched Trinity through their welders glass, several miles distant. Hitler, the Japanese, and the Russians were working on atomic weapons of their own. Would the world be a better place if they had beaten the US in this race? Some seem to forget that the conventional fire bombings, poison gases, flame throwers, and concentration camps were also unspeakably horrible.

Remarkable prescience: as these scientists were assembling their first bombs, they realized that a policy of mutual deterrance via escalation in the US and USSR would ensue.

I was humbled to read of the brilliance of so many involved. I do not consider myself to be a pessimist, but I think there remain few men and women like these men and women.

Imagine a place

Where it all began

They gathered from across the land

To work in the secrecy of the desert sand

All of the brightest boys to play with the biggest toys--

More than they bargained for. . .

"Manhattan Project," Neal Peart, 1985 (Rush, Power Windows)

I had a great time reading this book. Content aside, Rhodes is a great writer. That he has written (approximately) equal amounts of fiction and nonfiction shows in his concise and entertaining style.

In my opinion, what makes this book such fun to read is that it's as much an incredible story as it is a book about a scientific achievment. Of course, Rhodes' science is well-researched, throrough, and is described in a clear and understandable matter. When the science is known publicly, he describes it accurately and concisely. When it's still classified, he takes his best guess. But the best thing about this book is the captivating story of the scientists who (directly or indirectly) contributed to the making of the atomic bomb. Beginning around the turn of the century and ending well after the end of WWII, Rhodes does a wonderful job of describing the lives and accomplishments of every player in the development of nuclear physics, from J.J Johnson to Edward Teller. Two biographies, one personal and one scientific, are given for most of the major scientists in the book. The reader gets a rich sense of the dynamic and personal nature of prewar physics, when Physical Review was an obscure journal, German was only beginning to fade as the lingua franca of science, and discoveries were frantically circulated via post among a small community of brilliant people. One gets the feeling that the story of these scientists, individually and as a group, captivated Rhodes as much as the history of the actual Manhattan Project. Indeed, the Manhattan Project is not mentioned until page 400 or so. In my opinion, that is a very good thing.

I haven't read other histories of the making of the atomic bomb, so I can't compare Rhodes' book with them. However, I think the fact that Rhodes is a historian (and was not involved in the Manhattan Project) is what gives the book much of its strength. The book is filled with tales of the obstinacy of the military and the high-mindedness and elitism of (some of) the scientists told by a dispassionate narrator. I doubt such tales (or at least both kinds of tales) would show up in an eyewitness account, such as Groves' "Now It Cam Be Told".

Overall, an excellent book.

I used to think that mankind was essentially a foolish, greedy, vain, self-indulgent species with little else on the brain except food, sex, and money.

The contents of this book have made a lasting impact on me - and I'm not one who is easily swayed.

The first nuclear bomb - whether or not you agree with its political, military or social impact on humanity - was a testament to the mental prowess of humankind.

Until now, I had never considered how vast our knowledge of nuclear physics needed to be for us to achieve critical mass. It makes the moon landing appear rather less than spectacular...

Mr. Rhodes does a beautiful job of presenting the material: the history behind the theories, experiments, scientists and politics of achieving an explosion of this magnitude.

The survivors' descriptions of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs are by far the most horrifying things I've ever read.

If this book interests you, I highly recommend Mr. Rhodes' "Dark Sun" which takes a long, hard look at the most frightening of man's creations: the hydrogen bomb.

I must say, I have a new-found respect for our species' mental capacity.

It was a great book and I enjoyed it very much. It was a very funny and some parts were sad too. It was really fun to read it because it was fun to see what all the penguins would do. They had twelve penguins and it was fun see what Mr. and Mrs. Popper did to tell them apart.

My favorite part was when they performed in front of the audience. I could tell that the audience loved the act. I also liked the part when they filled up the house with snow. Everybody had fun sliding around in the house.

Thank you for reading my two paragraphs about Mr. Popper's Penguins.

I read this book in a Book Club with three kids ages 8 and 9. We shared confusing parts and our questions. We met 4 times a week in the Book Club. We discussed word work and our thoughts and ideas. It was our second time reading the book and we understand it better because we read it in our Book Club. We were able to discuss questions and ideas that helped us understand the book better. If you have not read this book in a Book Club you may want to try it. It will help you understand it better. It is about a man that has 12 penguins and he is running out of money. Admiral Drake sent Mr. Popper a penguin. Mr. Popper named it Captain Cook. Then Admiral Drake sent Mr. Popper another penguin he named it Greta. Greta had ten baby penguins. This was a really awesome book.

Mr. Poppers Penguin is the best book. The author is Richard and Florence Atwater. This is a Newbery Honor book. It is great for all ages because it is the funniest book in the world. My favorite part is when the penguins live in the freezer. The characters are Mr. Popper, Mrs. Popper, Admiral Drake, Mr. Greenbaum, Mr. Klein, Janie Popper and Bill Popper. The Penguins are Caption Cook, Greta, Columbus, Victoria, Nelson, Jenny, Magellan, Scott, Isabella, Ferdinand and Louisa. Hope you read this book.

Unlike my fellow reviewer above (below?) I *have* a PhD in physics, yet these books taught me more basic physics than I ever learnt in 4 years of undergrad. The quantum mechanics book is especially clear...I honestly wish my first 1st year phyics lecturer had of simply said 'read Feymnam'..I would have learnt so much more than I ever did in lectures/other texts. Give these books to a child starting science/maths and let them grow up using it and learning from it...there could be no better gift.

I love physics, but I used to think that it was difficult. Most authors of physics books are too smart to explain it to other people. Feynman is one of the few who realized that not every student is brilliant and that some of us never paid attention during calculus classes - my observation is that people who really like physics don't like mathematics. He takes his time explaining calculus and he pays attention to the smaller steps that in other books are neglected since the author seems to think that readers can do these steps by themselves. We don't, we are stupid!

Feynman's famous three-volume set is an edited set based on his lectures to the introductory physics classes at Caltech, which are widely considered to be among the best lecture series ever published. Feynman takes a different approach from the typical introductory physics textbook. His point of departure perhaps assumes a higher level of mathematical sophistication than most introductory or survey texts. Also, his choice of topics is not as broad and comprehensive as many modern surveys of introductory physics. What makes Feynman's work remarkable is the his manner of explaining physical principles underlying a topic, instead of simply presenting the traditional expression of a rule and its formal mathematical expression. When one completes reading a section of Feynman's lecture, if one has the mathematical sophistication one will obtain a "feel" for how the topic fits in the broad context of physics as a whole. As a note of caution: most introductory physics surveys do not present material with use of matrix mathematics. Feynman assumes familiarity with the basics of matrix algebra, and this fact makes his presentation challenging to many students. In various sources I have read that his lectures were well attended by students in the upper division portion of their education and many graduate students and faculty, while the freshman audience intended may have been poor. That reflects the series as being a high-level conceptual overview reflecting the unified structure of physics. Perhaps not suitable for introductory physics instruction to any but the most advanced students.

I love my dog and have always been concerned about the chemicals, dyes and other additives found in most commercial dog foods. I have talked to many veterinarians who are unconcerned about the rancid meat scraps, etc. that are put into kibble. Although I have found a product containing no chemical additives, I still felt guilty about feeding my dog something that I wouldn't expect a person to be able to live on. I have read many books on dog health, and was not impressed by any of them. Then I read Dr. Pitcairn's book. It was intelligent, well written and made perfect sense. The only inhibition I had about starting a natural diet for my dog was the cost. I'm a graduate student and money is tight. However, I started supplementing my dog's kibble with Pitcairn's suggested recepies. She is bouncing and playing like a puppy, her teeth are cleaner and her coat has gone from dull to shiny. I am so impressed by the changes I've seen, I have decided to eliminate the kibble entirely. Feeding my dog a natural food diet is much easier and less expensive than I thought. I have already extolled the virtues of this book to all of my dog owning friends and would highly recommend it to anyone who cares about the health of their animal. A wonderful book!

I highly recommend this book. The information is invaluable and the subject is presented in easy-to-understand English (not filled with technical and medical jargon). Dr. Pitcairn covers just about every major aspect of your dog's/cat's general and nutritional health. I did not receive the impression that Pitcairn was advocating a complete switch to home-cooked foods versus manufactured kibble or you would put your dog at risk. Most of the animals he presents as case studies were elderly or chronically sick to begin with and had nothing to lose. He merely points out that nutrion is the foundation for good health and our dogs and cats are often being compromised in this due to the nutrional choices we make for them. I purchased this book mainly so I could enhance my own Cairn Terrier's super-premium kibble with tasty and nutritious additions that would further optimize her food. Let's face it, most premium foods opt for good nutrition over gourmet taste. I asked my vet but he had no recommendations. Dog and Cat owners should be careful. Very few vets today have any great understanding about the pet food industry because it is not covered during their studies. I was shocked to learn that the pet foods offered for sale in my vet's office were there because the manufacturer rents the space from him and places the products on the shelves. That is the reason this book is so important. The chapters on flea control, weight problems, and general topics like spay and neutering, and even the death of your animal were a truly pleasant surprise. Every dog or cat owner should have this book.

For the dedicated pet owner who needs information about nutrition and the real facts about commercial pet food. Along with The Holistic Guide For A Healthy Dog, this is one of the best sources of information on nutrition and how it affects your pets health.I have a 6 year old Rott/Shepard mix who has hip dysplasia and is very overweight. The traditional vet I saw recommended Science Diet low calorie food to take the weight off, but when I read the ingredients(the FIRST ingredient is peanut shell hulls AND it contains BHT and ethoxyquin both known to cause serious health problems in dogs including cancer!!) I just couldn't subject my dog to the risk of new health problems just to get him to lose weight. I found a weight loss recipe in Dr. Pitcairns book which I make from scratch and the weight is coming off and my dog has never been healthier. Make sure you question methods your vet suggests, especially if it may compromise your dogs health and arm yourself with this book which will prove to be an invaluable source you will look to again and again.

In Mario Puzo's The Godfather, he uses the crimes of a family and their Italian heritage to show how it affects a large loving family. I thought this was an excellent book, because the plot sequence was amazing with constant twists and suspense. The irony of this book comes through the crime boss Vito Corleone who is a kind-hearted and loyal friend of all who come to him with a request. However, he makes his living off of corruption and death which really doesn't affect the reader's attitude towards this loving character. The vicious side of the mafia comes through Vito's son Sonny. Sonny's rage leads to the death of many mob-related characters as well as to the his own death which is another irony evident in this novel. The Godfather uses masterful description of each member's life and how mob-life affected them. Another example of irony in The Godfather is the youngest son Michael's situation. At the beginning of the novel, Michael is returning from World War II and has no part in the family business. However, when his father nears death after gunshot wounds, Michael is drawn into the family business and chooses to pay back the antagonist Solozzo by spilling his blood for the sake of the family. Michael becomes the leader of the family after his father and Sonny die and he returns from Italy after things die down about his assasination of Solozzo. This transformation from an upstanding servant of the country to a crime boss looking out for the wellbeing of his family alone is the ulimate irony in this novel. Women and children are not major characters in the novel, because Puzo uses them to show how the mobs goal was to keep the innocent free from encountering their violent troubles. Puzo incorporates the lives of everyone involved in this crime family to show how much love and loyalty lead to their success and rage and deceit lead to their downfall. After reading the novel, I gained a greater appreciation for the movie which I had seen earlier and an understanding of how loyalty leads to power in the world.

The Godfather provides the reader with an understanding of friendship, love, respect, and loyalty. Most people think negatively when they think of the Italian Mafia, but Puzo managed to get across a deep and powerful message of how family and truth are the root of life. Such a point can be used to describe anyone's life. I highly recommend this book for all those who believe in respect, honor, and truth. If anyone can get a copy of Puzo's book the Sicilian it would be a great addition to the Godfather. It is connected to the Godfather, yet a new story all together. I also recommend Mario Puzo's Fortunate Pilgrim which explains the depth of family. And the book Capo (the author's name escapes me) is an excellent novel on Sicilian Mafia facing the truths of betrayal, love, and the city of New Orleans. The Godfather is a book for anyone who enjoys the tales of Italian Mafia.

I came to read 'The Godfather' after recently viewing the classic film series about a mafia family, the Corleones, and their stuggle for power and survival in the face of the violent world of crime to which they belong. I was hoping that the book would expand on the characterisations and plot lines portrayed on the screen. The book did not disappoint. It is fast paced, full of suspense, and develops a host of interesting characters.

The central character is Don Vito Corleone, the head of the Corleone family. He is the 'Godfather', a powerful patriarch who has refused to allow society to bend him to its will. Instead he has constructed his own society where 'respect', 'honour', and above all 'family' are the key notes. But this Sicilian counter-culture is a violent one, and power has its price. Don Corleone is the victim of an assassination attempt which threatens the destruction of all he holds dear.

The most pleasing thing about the book is Puzo's style, descriptive, yet very tight. He is essentially a master story teller. I am ignorant as to how faithfully he presents the Mafia world, but there are no holds barred in his realism about violence, ruthlessness, and brutality. His depiction is a chilling and thoroughly gripping read. A brilliant feature are the cameo tales of the story's lesser lights, such as Luca Brasi, Lucy Mancini, and Amerigo Bonasera. These add a depth and richness to the tale Puzo weaves.

The only negative note for me was the fairly frequent and graphic depiction of sex. Of course, Puzo's frankness about this is fully in keeping with his treatment of violence and the like, but it was just a little much for my taste at times.

'The Godfather' is very exciting, though not profound. A Classic of its type.

This book is about the life of George Dawson, a remarkable 101-year-old man who is the grandson of slaves. Born in 1898, he tells of what life was like in Texas before integration. He turned away racial hatred by his gentle manner and kept his dignity during the most trying circumstances. He did manual labor from the time he was 4 until he was 90, and at age 98 he began to look for new challenges and so decided to go to Adult Education classes and learn to read. When he was growing up, he was always working,and as the oldest son he was depended upon to contribute financially to his family. His younger brothers and sisters went to school, but he never had a chance until someone knocked on his door and offered him the chance to learn to read. His quiet dignity shines through the pages as his story is told to co-author, Richard Glaubman. Glaubman is an elementary school teacher from Washington who became fascinated with a newspaper article he read about Dawson in a Seattle paper. The two became good friends over the course of the writing of this book and it is told in a narrative style of two friends chatting about the past. Some of the most interesting stories involve Dawson's early years and the times in his 20's when he traveled around the country just to satisfy his wanderlust. This is a wonderful book and in the course of reading it I felt as if I'd gotten to know a very special person

and if you don't believe it, then you need to read this book!

Mr. Dawson has led an amazing life. Born in 1898, he has seen it all. The grandson of freed slaves, he was taught to be a good man, a man of integrity and he learned it well. He married (4 times! and outlived them all!), had 7 children and put them all through school, all graduated college even though he never learned how to read.

Then one day, at the age of 98, he was offered the chance to learn and he seized it. A hard worker all his life, he attacked his new goal with the same attitude. He's now a full time student.

This book is the incredible story of his rich, not in money, but in more important things like love, pride in one's self, and life. The reason for Mr. Dawson's long life? I don't think it was anything as special as eating a certain way, or exercise per say, but it was love. Mr. Dawson loves life and it shines through every part of his life. There are wonderful life lessons are here for everyone; young, old, black, white, man or woman. A must read!

When a friend loaned me this book, I hadn't heard about it. Once I started reading, I wondered why the book wasn't widely known. LIFE IS SO GOOD reveals, with great poignancy, how an illiterate black man earned his living for most of a century--years of wandering, taking hard labor jobs, following the rules for survival in a white man's world. At an age when white boys were getting their favorite toys, he left home to work on a white man's farm. . .truly a hired "hand," not acknowledged as a youngster who needed family, recreation, education, social development, and nurturing. We follow George Dawson as he hoards the few dollars he earns, never complaining about his plight. Unable to decipher a newspaper, George is oblivious to the progress taking place around him--automobiles, modern appliances, jobs with fringe benefits. He knows little about the historical and social revolutions permeating America. Nevertheless, he survives--and remains content. His greatest miracle, though, comes at age 98, when he learns to read. At this point, he starts to grasp what others have known all along. LIFE tugs at the reader's heartstrings. We grieve as we consider all he missed in life, we rejoice at his delayed triumphs. If you've ever considered yourself disadvantaged, read this book. You'll be blessed by George Dawson's fortitude and gratitude.

TCP/IP Illustrated Vol 1 is an indispensible tool to any network administrator. Rich Stevens was an excellent communicator and it clearly showed in this book. I don't know if he realized how much of an impact he has made in the networking community. I learned the basics of TCP/IP by reading this book and working out the example problems with tcpdump. This book has played an important role in my development as a computing professional. I can't recommend this book enough if you are interested in learning about how the protocols that the Internet operates over actually works. This book is worth every penny. I also recommend Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment by the same author.

TCP/IP is the most fundamental protocol that drives the whole of the internet. A deep understanding of them is necessary for any wannabe network administrator/programmer/analyst etc.

Richard Stevens TCP/IP illustrated is one of the best books you can ever buy to understand not only TCP/IP but also other fundamental protocols like ARP, DHCP, SMTP etc. The word 'Illustrated' is significant, you actually see the protocols in action throughout this book. There are more pages devoted to examples rather than concepts, which is actually an excellent way to relate to the concepts.

Richard Stevens doesnt just write something, and assume you understood him and believed him in blind faith. He actually shows you what you write and helps you become more analytical in the workings of the internet.

This book is a bit old though, and with Richard Stevens dead, we might not see a revival of this book. It only covers TCP modification till Tahoe and Reno but chapter 24 gives you a more or less good idea about what the future will be like (in which we actually are, by the timeline of this book.)

Overall, if you want to not only learn networks, but feel them, then buy this book.

Even though this book was published in 1994, it still serves as a useful reference and learning tool for the TCP/IP protocol. There are of course changes and additions that have been made to TCP/IP over the last 7 years such as IPv6, but one can still refer to this book as a good source of information about the dynamics of TCP/IP. There are exercises at the end of each chapter, so it can, and has been used as an effective textbook.

In chapter 1, the author gives a brief overview of protocol layering, Internet addressing, and the domain name system. The encapsulation mechanisms for TCP and UDP are outlined as well as a discussion of the different implementations of TCP/IP. The Vegas implementation is not discussed since it was invented long after the date of publication of this book. Ethernet and the encapsulation provided by IEEE, SLIP, and PPP is discussed in the next chapter on the link layer, along with the loopback interface and MTU. Estimates are given of serial line throughput, setting the stage for later timing calculations.

The IP protocol is the subject of chapter 3, the author stressing first the connectionless and unreliable nature of IP packet transfer. The IP datagram format is given in discussed, along with a detailed discussion of subnet addressing and subnet masks. The discussion of IP given here is of course very out of date with the advent of IPv6.

Chapter 4 is an overview of ARP, and the author illustrates it effectively using an example of an FTP transfer and Telnet. This is followed by a treatment of RARP in the next chapter, with the limitations of this protocol briefly discussed. Although ARP is incorporated in all current implementations of TCP/IP (with the exception of IPv6), not all of these include RARP.

The ICMP error handling protocol is discussed in the next chapter, with all the message types listed, and brief discussions given of timestamp and address mask requests. This is followed naturally by a discussion of the Ping program in chapter 7, which uses ICMP echo request and reply messages.

The traceroute program, which finds which path IP packets follow from one to the other, is discussed in Chapter 8. An explicit example is given of how to use traceroute. Then in the next chapter, IP routing is discussed, along with an explicit example of a routing table. Again, the discussion is out-of-date, since in IPv6, the router discovery is replaced by a mandatory router solicitation and advertisement mechanism.

Dynamic routing protocols are the subject of the next chapter, wherein the author discusses RIP, OSPF, BGP, and CIDR. The newer ones, such as IGRP, EIGRP, and MPLS, are of course not treated.

UDP is then discussed in the next chapter, with examples given and IP fragmentation discussed, along with a brief overview of how UDP and ARP interact. This is followed in Chapter 12 by a discussion of broadcasting and multicasting, and the author outlines briefly the problems that rise when attempting to broadcast through routers. Then in the next chapter, the ICMP mechanism for multicasting is discussed. Here again the treatment is dated, since in IPv6 IGMP is replaced by multicast listener discovery messages and there are no broadcast addressing in IPv6.

The DNS database is discussed in the next chapter, with emphasis on how resolvers communicate with name servers using TCP/IP. The discussion is limited to A resource records, which is replaced in IPv6 with AAAA or A6 resource records. I did not read the next two chapters on TFTP and BOOTP so I will omit any commentary.

It is in the next chapter that the basics of TCP begin to be discussed, with the details of the TCP header given. The dynamics of the TCP connection is then treated in chapter 18, with a complete TCP state transition diagram given. The discussion is very helpful to those who need a thorough understanding of the connection steps in TCP. This is followed by a treatment of the Nagle algorithm and delayed ACKs in chapter 19. The exercises in this chapter need to be worked to appreciate the discussion.

The following chapter overviews how TCP sliding windows work, and how window sizing is done. Slow start, the bandwidth-delay product, and the urgent mode are all treated in great detail. The mathematical considerations behind TCP timeout and retransmission are given in chapter 21, along with a discussion of the congestion avoidance algorithm and the fast retransmit and fast recovery algorithms. Then in chapter 22, the TCP persist timer, used to prevent transmission deadlock and the silly window syndrome, is discussed in detail. The ability of TCP to implement a keepalive timer is discussed in the next chapter. Since it is out of date, I did not read the next chapter on the future of TCP.

The SNMP network management protocol is outlined in Chapter 25, with definitions of MIB and an overview of SNMP traps. These are very important concepts given the enormous importance of network management currently. There are currently several vendors that supply packages for polling, reporting, and forecasting network behavior that are based partially on SNMP and MIBs.

Telnet and Rlogin, which are still used extensively in modern networks, are discussed in the next chapter. After reading this chapter, the reader will have a thorough understanding of how these protocols work, which is also true of the next chapter that covers the FTP protocol, and the SMTP protocol, which is covered in chapter 28. I did not read the last two chapters of the book so I will omit any commentary.

The author has done a good job here of relating to the reader the structure and dynamics of TCP/IP based on what was known at the time. In view of the fact that IPv4 is still alive and well, and given that TCP implementations have only been slightly modified since 1994, one can still read this book profitably.