Investment Gurus by Peter Tanous I enjoyed reading Investment Gurus. The bulk of the book is devoted to interviews with various portfolio managers who have excellent track records. What I found most interesting about the interviews were the many different ways/styles of investment these managers employ to make money in the stock market. Some of the styles are diametrically opposed to each other, though each manager sticks to his/her style and does well. The author gives some background information about the interviewee before the interview, then summaries the interview briefly at the end. While the interviews were useful in identifying an investment style I would feel comfortable with, for me the greatest value of the book came in the last section - Part 3, The Route. Here the author sums up the interviews succinctly while offering his own advice. I found his section on crafting an intelligent personal investment plan very enlightening. The author was writing to my level, unlike many of the popular money/investment magazines of the day. Overall, an excellent book for those who have at least an intermediate understanding of investing and want to get actively involved in managing their nest egg. And who wouldn't want to do that?

I recently read Investment Gurus, by Peter Tanous. This is one of the most informative and interesting books on investing I've ever read. In the book Mr. Tanous interviews a number of investment professionals who have compiled incredible records over extended periods of time. To balance the opinions raised, he also interviews several academicians who contend the markets are efficient and the most predictable road to investment success is through the use of low cost index funds. One of the interviewees makes a compelling argument that to beat the market averages an investor has to do substantial digging to gain any advantage. The cost of the digging negates the higher returns obtained. It was also pointed out by several of the academicians that studies show no correlation between past and future performance. In other words, those who had exceptional returns in the past, only have a 50 percent chance of repeating this in the future. It should be noted that high (expense ratios) cost funds have a tendency to perform poorly no matter what timeframe you look at. An interesting side note: The manager of the Brandywine fund was one of the professionals interviewed because his long-term record was exceptional prior to the publishing of the book. If you check the performance of the Brandywine fund recently and it has only been an average performer trailing the S&P 500 substantially over the last year. Maybe there is something to this idea of market efficiency. One of the active managers with an exceptional record, Laura Sloate, mentioned a couple of stocks during the interview which she felt were bargains and would rise. One was Marvel Entertainment. Ms. Sloate didn't feel it could go much lower than its price then of around $10 a share. Last time I looked Marvel was trading at less than $1 per share. Maybe she did just happen to get lucky in the past. But perhaps she has a good sell discipline which allowed her to get out of the stock before the big fall. One of the academic interview!ees, Rex Sinquefield, made a interesting quip. He called stock market newsletters "investment pornography," due to their dubious worth. I must say that I have to agree with him. Ninety percent of investment newsletters aren't worth the paper they're printed on. All in all, I came away reinforced in my belief that individual investors should have the majority of their funds going into index funds, preferably on a dollar cost averaging basis. If you feel compelled to "play" the market, do it with money you can afford to lose and keep track of your returns, or lack thereof. This way you'll discover the futility in trading your way to riches and not suffer as much in the process.

Tanous's effort is far superior to the other collections of interviews with money managers. Most books of this sub-genre fall into two categories, depending on the author. The first type of author is usually a journalist who knows little about the disciplines of stock picking and running investment funds, and you are usually hard pressed to find any new insight in their books, because they don't know how to ask their subjects the really insightful questions. The second type, which I'll call the John Train style, has a sophisticated investor/fund consultant doing the interviews, and can often produce real insight from the interviewees. The problem with many of these books, and Train's in particular, is that the author is often not trying to interview the successful money managers. Instead, authors like Train are often trying to play gotcha! with their interviewees, subjecting them to asinine questions and frequently diverging from the topics that made you buy their book in the first place. The Money Masters by Train is so full of political tangents and Train's forcing his opinion on the likes of Peter Lynch and Warren Buffett that I've wanted to scream at him at some points.

In contrast, Tanous knows how to ask questions that are of interest to professional and serious amateur investors, and he knows how to stay on topic. He does ask every interviewee about the efficient market hypothesis, but that's a theme of his book and can be excused. What you get from Tanous is an interviewer who knows how to ask really penetrating, really revealing questions of the world's best money managers, and the humility to realize that his readers don't want to know what he, Tanous, thinks, but what his interviewees think! What's more, he managed to get interviews with at least two money managers--Bruce Sherman of Private Capital Management and Scott Sterling Johnston of Sterling Johnston Asset Management--that have excellent track records but who speak very, very rarely to the press. There is real value to Tanous's book, and I'm a better investor for having read it. Serious investors should still read Train's books for their revealing interviews with Buffett, Templeton, Lynch and others, but in Tanous's book, you have all the strengths of the Train books without any of the that author's obvious, glaring shortcomings as a writer and interviewer.

Shakespeare portrays King Richard III as a hunchbacked thoroughly evil man. While based upon the historical Richard III, the play is a dramatization. Although classed as a history, remember that Shakespeare's histories aren't historically accurate biographies. Richard is a power-hungry brother of a king who murders, schemes, marries, and plots to usurp the throne from rightful heirs. Richard gets his due when he meets Henry Tudor on the field of battle and the reign of the Yorkist kings comes to an end. Written under the rule of a Tudor monarch (Elizabeth I), the play paints the brutal Richard in an especially unfavorable light. After all, the rise of the Tudors depended upon the death of Richard III. The treatment of women in the play has been criticized, especially the speed under which Anne accepts Richard III -- with her dead father in law in the scene, no less. The play compresses 14 years or so of real history into 5 acts. It is hard to go wrong with Shakespeare. A good but dark read.

Let's get one thing clear from the start: when I rate Shakespeare, I rate it against other Shakespeare; otherwise, the consistently high ratings would not be very informative. If I was rating this against the general run of literature available, it would unquestionably rate 5 stars.

So what brings it down to 4, as compared to other Shakespeare? Primarily a few places where it demands a bit too much suspension of disbelief; the language is some of Shakespeare's best, and is comparatively easy for a modern reader (I found most of the footnotes to be sufficiently unnecessary to be actually more distraction than help). But for one thing, if Richard is withered, hunchbacked, and deformed, how is it that he has been able to kill so many of his victims in battle? For another thing, is it REALLY plausible that Princess Anne would be persuaded as she was by someone with nothing more going for him than Richard? To paraphrase the scene,

Anne: You killed my husband and his father! I hate you I hate you I hate you!

Richard: But I only did it 'cause I'm hot for you, babe! Wanna marry me?

Anne: Welll...maybe. Let me think about it.

(And, in fact, she marries him. Just like that.)

Also, there are virtually NO characters in this play that are sympathetic, save perhaps for the two murdered children and Richmond, and we really don't see enough of them to feel much connection; it dilutes the effectiveness of the portrayal of Richard's evil when almost all of the other characters are, if not just as bad, certainly bad enough.

Richard III is the most well crafted satanic character in all of Shakespeare's writing. What can get frightening is that you see his evil, and yet you like him. The play is dramatically frightening from one scene to the next. To this day, I never could forget the scene where Hastings is sentenced to death or when Richard is haunted by the 11 ghosts. But the virtuous Henry VII also offers captivating passages (especially his passage that announces the end of the War of the Roses.) It is also interesting to see how carefully Shakespeare had to handle Henry VII, seing his granddaughter Elizabeth was in the audience. To be sure, Richard III is blamed for several things he did not do. The dramatic irony is that whatever he was innocent of, all the circumstancial evidence says he murdered his nephews.(Rumors that he killed them continued to spread like fire. Not only did he start losing England's loyalty, but many of his own followers in a rage abandoned him and joined Henry VII. France began to humiliate Richard by broadcasting official accusations and Richard never so much as denied having done it. If he could have produced the princes, his troubles would have been over.)This one vile deed made it possible for Shakespeare to make Richard this monster from hell and convincingly pile a slew of vile deeds upon him of which he was innocent. But all that aside, women such as Richard's furious mother and the raging former Queen Margaret add to the drama and chills. The gradual unfolding of Margaret's curses adds a charming orginizational bonus to this masterpiece. If you want to enjoy this play all the more, make sure you read "3 Henry VI" first. Richard's demonic nature is heavily prepared in this preceeding play.

Pipes has written this account for one sole reason - certainly not to present a review or interpretation of the historry of the Bolshevik party and the Russian Revolution, but rather as an attempt to destroy Lenin and Bolshevism. While this one-sided attempt may be fine for some, it certainly does not help those readers who would actually like to make up their minds for themselves. But then again, can one possibly expect a right-wing historian who worked under the Reagan administration to give a fair account of the Russian Revolution? With that being said, Pipes is really no different then many leftist historians who attempt to glorify the USSR and the Revolution (Communist writers of the 30's and 40's come to mind). In my experience I have found that the book that carries the least biased account (of course, complete objectivity is impossible) of the Russian Revolution is E.H. Carr's History of the Bolshevik Revolution. If you are interested in the facts of the Revolution and not merely a book-long effort to demonize Lenin et al., then I suggest you pick up Carr's book.

This book works as both an engrossing beginning to a serious study of Russia from around 1905 to the death of Lenin, or as a one-off read for those with a passing interest. A finely written history book, it manages to cram in a topical description of every major happening (and some not so major) during the aforementioned time frame as well as provide a solid foundation upon which to delve deeper into the subject matter. Pipes, a Harvard professor as well as an ex-National Security Advisor for Reagan on Soviet and Eastern European affairs (but don't let this fact dissuade you from reading the book) writes thought-provoking and informative prose with a well-tuned eye for context. The only turn-off is his constant reminders of just how awful the Bolsheviks were, finishing the book with a short diatribe supporting subjective reporting of history (which might be better wrestled with in a different book entirely). Regardless, a fine book, written by one of the world's top authorities of the subject matter

I'm a history student in my fourth year honours(with my major in Russia) and this book was the text book for my fourth year honours class. It is a great book because Pipes gives a summary of his previous 3 books "Russia Under the Old Regime", "The Russian Revolution" and "Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime". It is the equivalent to buy 3 books in one. The novelty of the book is that if the reader is interested in reading a relative short book about Russian history, this is the best book for that. However if one is interested in further details, I recommend people to read any of the 3 books summarized here in details. Pipes proves with enough arguments the gangster character of Lenin and his ambition for power. As Pipes argues, 'power' was the only ideology of the Bolshevik Party. The first part of the book provides a good background of the origins of 'autocracy' in the Old Regime. The last chapter gives the reader details about other aspects of the Bolsheviks after they achieved power, including among others 'the chapter on culture'. The chapters 'The October Coup' (here Pipes proves with details that in October 1917 a coup d'état took place and not a revolution), 'The Red Terror' (proves that it was through killing nearly a million people that Bolsheviks stayed in power) and the chapter on Lenin are of course the worst nightmare for communists around the world. I one word I have to say that Pipes' books are the 'bible' of Russian history. My deepest admiration to Dr Pipes.

This is a very well written and well read book on tape. The authors tell you a brief description of each of the American presidents from Washington to Clinton. Because there is a lot of material to cover in four cassette tapes, it is a BRIEF summary of each president's term in office. At the same time, it is a fascinating story that analyzes and draws parallels between presidents who served decades or centuries apart. Instead of going chronologically through each presidency, the authors have broken it down into several chapters. Each chapter has a theme such as accidental presidents - or vice-presidents who became president after an assassination or unexpected death. Then each of the presidents who fit in that category are described in that chapter. It was very easy to follow and very interesting to hear the parallels between presidents so many years apart. Because it is a brief history of each president, you will find many places where you can stop the tape and come back to it again later. It's not an action story though, so it might not keep you awake if you are driving late at night. I mostly listened to it during daylight driving hours when I didn't need the radio to help keep me awake.

This book is a very nice historical piece for the curious and beginning researcher. It provides enough detail to get one started in a more thorough search of one or more of the men who became president. However, it is not a definitive history text.

The art and photos in this volume are its redeeming quality. One could look through this book for hours and never get bored with the pictures.

The only negative thing that stood out in my mind about this book was the fact that it was not organized in chronological order. In other words, the book does not begin with George Washington and move to each subsequent President. Instead, the book categorizes the presidents into 'types' (for lack of a better word). For example, the sections are titled "The Candidate," or "Executive Vision," or "Happenstance," etc. and a President is categorized into a section. Some of the Presidents often times don't seem to fit the category or type and it makes you wonder what the authors were thinking. Nonetheless, the only time the reader gets a chronological listing of the Presidents is in the back of the book. This, in my estimation was a big mistake.

Otherwise, the book, as a whole, is pretty good and enjoyable to read and merely browse through.

It seems increasingly rare that you get all three desirable elements within an unabridged audio CD; a good story, a good reader and a presentation that is easy to understand. This Audio CD succeeds on all three accounts.

The author's material lends itself to a book that is easily listened to. The three Mr. Kunhardts have analyzed all of the country's presidents by grouping them into ten categories, Heroic Posture, Compromise Choices, Professional Politicians, Independent Casts of Mind, Family Ties, Happenstance, The American Way, the World Stage, Expanding Power and Balance of Power. You'll be surprised to see where the authors have placed various presidents. I especially enjoyed the pieces about Hoover, McKinley, Polk and Taft. This quick and easy breakdown allows the authors to spend about 8 - 12 minutes of reading time per president, making it easy to digest as you listen to. They focus on the major highlights of their presidencies, and by comparing them to others within their respective category, make some enlightening points about American history. This is one of the first audio CDs I've listened where purchasing the text is an appealing proposition. The reader does a very good job of seriously reading the parts without overdoing it. They use a second reader for various direct quotes of the presidents.

This is a very good Audio CD. I recommend it.

Laws of the Night contains just about everything you need to run or play in a Vampire LARP. I say "just about" because the number of contradictions and vaguaries make house rules a necessity. However, if you're a creative soul, I've found that this is really the only book that you truly need. If you're prepared to deal with situations that the rules don't cover and are capable of covering interpretations of the book's many contradictions, then you'll be fine.

It's fairly well-written and not too hard to reference. The photographs for the book leave a good deal to be desired. The models and scenes are corny and are a great source of amusement, but do little to contribute to the feel of the game.

If you're interested in LARPing, then pick it up. The mechanics are useful to know and can cover a wide number of games, not just Vampire. However, if like me you collect roleplaying games as interesting reads I'd pass it by.

Those of us with a long history in the live-action roleplaying genre remember the days of "Masquerade." I myself own every version of every Mind'e Eye Theatre product published, and one can easily see this book's vast improvement over the original game. The disciplines are certainly much improved, and a good stab was taken at Mob Challenges.
However, I feel the need to point out a few problems with the book. More than afew exist, but I'll get back to that.
Firstly, Storytellers and players should make perfectly clear which rules they'll be following. Make notes of specific pages, as the book is ridden with contradictions.
Secondly, rules vagaries still exist everywhere. As though contradiction wasn't bad enough, the rules thoroughly fail to cover even the most likely permutations. While White Wolf has a long history of "purposeful vagary," this might sometimes be qualified as sheer laziness.
Lastly, it should be pointed out that while the rules allow characters to be much more powerful overall, this is totally untrue in crossover games. The new Laws of the Hunt Revised allows mortals to out-Trait 11th Generation Kindred. Think about it for a minute.

In summation, this is an excellent book, but I must suggest that anyone running a game using it make very clear which rules and permutations you're using, and allow players access to your notes on Discipline use. My organization produced four pages of vampire system specific rules modifications and additions as well as a 53 page rule book covering the basic systems like Abilities, damage and Merits & Flaws. While this may not be a requirement of your game, some notation is almost certainly needed in any environment.

This is the new edition for minds eye theatre covering vampires in the world of darkness. A must for any vampire fan or live roleplayer, since it contains the core rules for play and all the information needed to set up or play in a game. For experianced players, the system has been revised and while broadly similar to previous editions, the changes made have been heralded as improvements over the faults in the 2nd edition rules. In brief, the best larp system's newest edition, which is an all round improvement on previous editions. Essential.

I did not like it. It is a bad story. Wolfs are not bad like in the story. Peter doesnt listen to his grandpa, so it is a bad example.

If you are familiar with the Prokofiev symphony, this book makes a good companion to the music. It puts into visual images the story of Peter and the Wolf. What I like most about the book is that, in the end, the duck lives. The ending varies somewhat depending on the version of the recording or book. In this book, it's a happy ending, which is better for younger readers.

We use the book by itself sometimes. Other times, my child will read along while we listen to the symphony.

Our children, 3 year old twins, love the music of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. In searching for an age appropriate book to show them the musical instruments that play each of the characters, we found this one illustrated by Ian Beck. Not only are the illustrations lovely, the colors and clothing of Peter, the hunters and the grandfather are interesting to a child. Also, each page shows the instrument played for that part of the story (find it in the box around the text), and in the back a page illustrates each instrument. We cannot recommend this lovely book enough to parents of young children discovering the beauty of music!

First book was good. well.....Now they (or Mayne himself) is/are not moving foward. repetitious schemes with minimal ideas. Graphics drowned in mindless Form-z models and renderings. Mighty Thom Mayne has lost his creativity.

One of the few architecture books at the brick and mortor bookstore that isn't sealed shut with shrink wrap. After I flipped through it I immediately bought it through amazon. It is designed by Cranbrook design superstar Lorraine Wild, the design perfectly represents what Morphosis is about. I take it from the other reviewers that they only looked at the images and did not read anything at all because they did not "get it". Their work is delivered as a cyberpunk novel outtake, the setting an industrial dance club with torture devices. There is a wonderful surreal short story that acts as a sort of guide to viewing the work as well. I am not an architect but this is inspirational enough for me to spend half a decade in school to become one. Reminds me of the Jean Tinguely book published in the early 70's (with sketch overlays) and a similar design philosophy as Low/Tek

Being an architecture student, I constantly refer to many books, and Morphosis is one of my favourite contemporary architecture firm. This is really a thick and quite a heavy book. Its a compilation of many of Morphosis' work. Their "Best Of.." volume. This marvelous edition is divided into 2 parts. The first part consist of many colourful computer generated views, elevations, plans and 3D computer models etc of their buildings. The 3D models give a good visual understanding of their complicated but exciting buildings. The second part consist of essays by Thom Mayne. The thing about Morphosis is Mayne's writing is clear. He states his intention and theories clearly without getting out of the subject of architecture much. He talks about the difference between a project and a building which is a very good way of looking at architecture today. The graphics and writing provide a very clear understanding of their buildings. The bottom line is, if you like Morphosis, you'll love this book among your collection.

has some interesting parts. not too boring. i recommend.

I had the opportunity to use the book during lecturing professional MBA students. I found it extremelly useful not only for the easy going style and the multi-level structure of each chapter, but mainly for the strategic aspect of the approach. In few books, we can find introduction to management as free of academic sclerosis as this one. It was time, someone to focus on strategy, change and the role of HR on the whole cycle. In a rapidly changing business environment, it is nice to remember that people initiate changes and they face the consequences.
Extremely up to date with the integration of IT technology in the latest paradigms of Management. I wish the new edition to be the first to cope in more depth with the K (knowledge) - economy.
Very popular with my students. The only disadvantage, if at all, is the number of pages.-

I had the opportunity of reading the book as part of an MBA course. I found it difficult to put down. The content presented logically and discusses contemporary as well as historic theories. The writing style makes it very interesting to read.
Each concept is strengthened with business problems and solutions. There are helpful questionnaires, case study questions. They also help you understand your strengths and weaknesses. The great thing about it is that these problems are real ones. All the definitions are listed out on the margins which is great for quick reference and studying.
The CD-ROM has some useful clips and software. If you are new to management or want to brush up your managment knowledge my advice is - go for it.
Its a good book.

Thomas doesn't know why he isn't making any progress with lovely academic Jacqueline Kirby. Personally, I think it's because he's sort of patronizing, and because he checks out 20-year-olds in front of her face. But what do I know?

Anyway, he invites her to a Ricardian party. He and a group of friends are avid fans of Richard III, and they are meeting to re-enact their favorite historical characters from the time period of his reign. As an added bonus, their host, Richard Weldon, promises to reveal a long-lost letter exonerating Richard III of the murders of his nephews.

We meet the guests. In order to follow the story, we have to remember all of these folks' names--both first and last, since some of them are referred to by their first name in one sentence and their last name in the next. We also have to remember all their complex soap-operatic relationships. On top of that, to follow the story, we also have to keep track of which character they are impersonating, *and* how that person died. All of this, IMHO, is a pretty big outlay of brain cells for a 200-page "light read".

A prankster begins staging fake "murders" based on the deaths of the various historical figures. These include such unlikely pranks as knocking a man out, then rigging up a pulley to dangle him headfirst into an empty wine barrel, thus referring to the Duke of Clarence's drowning in a cask of wine. That's a lot of trouble to go to. When I got to the end, I couldn't believe the culprit had gone to that much trouble for his/her goal. Several of the pranks are unrealistically complex.

But they escalate, until Thomas and Jacqueline begin to suspect real danger at the manor. Will they figure out who is behind them before somebody really ends up dead?

Overall, this is a contrived, unrealistic mystery which gets way too headache-inducing with all the different names one must remember--and I was *still* able to figure out the culprit fairly early on because only one person seemed to have a motive. I wondered why I had bothered trying to keep track of all the characters.

In addition, the book is fraught with errors: proofreading errors ("King Richarad"), editing errors (something referred to on the back cover never actually happens), and continuity errors (a man admires a woman's tan one day, and her aristocratic pallor on the next). I do not recommend this book.

The house party mystery is a classic format. Here, Peters takes the format and applies a liberal dose of history as the guests are a group dedicated to clearing the name of Richard III. (Richard is the king whose image is that of the one who killed his nephews.) And while this book is hardly a technical treatise on Richard's innocence, it is an entertaining pitch for that argument. (Josephine Tey's "The Daughter of Time" is a more convincing fictional argument - also a great read.)

As the guests wander around in costume and are generally being eccentric, accidents start to happen. Most assume it is just a "joker" trying to disrupt the meeting but Jacqueline Kirby is suspicious. It's a fun, light entertainment as she considers each of the guests as potential suspects -- and then saves the day.

Bottom-line: This is the second in Peter's Kirby series. Reading of the first book isn't necessary. This book is a good (not great) read for fans of English history who can appreciate a cast of overblown characters. Amelia Peabody fans may find the book too different for their tastes.

I throughly enjoyed this book on cassette. Carmen Lynne Williamson does an excellent job bring the characters to life with her reading. Elizabeth Peters weaves the mystery of Richard III into the mystery of the party prankster/murderer. Although she has many sterotypical characters of an english mystery she manages make this a farce instead of a folly. As a librarian I really liked the portrayal of a librarian as attractive, witty and intelligent. I recommend this to all mystery fans.

I found the book to be well laid out and written to allow a wide range of users to understand the operation and configuration of Windows 2000. The examples contained are precise and step by step so that the novice or expert can easily find the path to a well structured operating system in their home or office PC. The forward references found in the initial chapters allow the reader to fast forward to places of special interest or need and delve into the details or specific functions they are searching for. I believe this will be a valuble addition to any Windows 2000 users library.

I bought this book expecting the usual coverage of how to work with Windows and some theory. I got a lot more. When I ran into problems with my printer, I was able to go into the troubleshooting section and get useful advice on how to fix it. I also found the MSMQ coverage helpful. The company I'm working for is looking at this technology and knowing how to set things up is a real plus.

I found this book to be exactly as advertised. The indexing was easy to follow and the book well written in plain English. There seems to be an understanding for the people that buy this book really need it. My enjoyment of Windows 2000 improved 100% and is still on the up swing. I can, without a minute's hesitation, recommend this book for the beginner and up; I was a beginner in Windows 2000 after all. Thanks for a great book.