Excellent detailed story of Pearl Harbor's lead Navy pilot who through special circumstances wrought only by God found himself after the war travelling in the USA with Billy Graham and preaching the Gospel in Christian Crusades.

An awesome true story. Definitely one of the three best books I've read in the past decade. In a time like this of Osama bin Labens and shocking inter-civilizational conflict, Fuchida's life story shows how true reconciliation and inter-cultural brotherhood can be experienced. It gives hope in spite of the huge obstacles to inter-cultural understanding. A powerful human interest story. Don't miss it!

A friend of mine introduced me to this book in April of this year. He told me it was unlike any book about the Pacific war that he had ever read. Although skeptical at first, I sill went ahead and purchased the book. I left it on my book-shelve for several months and forgot all about it. As I began packing up in July to move I noticed this book again, so I picked it up and began reading it. I found the style of writing extremely fluid, and the chapters were concise. This well balanced account of Mitsuo Fuchida life traces it from his days as an Imperial naval aviator to Christian evangelist. 'God's Samurai' is a truly inspirational book filled with numerous accounts of honor, bravery, loyalty, and sacrifice - all the codes of a Samurai warrior. I have enjoyed this book tremendously, and I have just begun reading, 'Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan: The Japanese Navy's Story' by Mitsuo Fuchida, Roger Pineau (Editor),Masatake Okumiya(Contributor). Both 'God's Samurai' and 'Midway' are 'must-have' books for anyone who is truly interested in the Pacific war and naval battles!

This is a not so typical tour guide which provides its reader with a lot of bang for his/her buck. It provides information which is fairly accurate regarding the living (who tend to move quite a bit). The listings provided for death scenes are very accurate (assuming you only die once). Ditto for burial sites (assuming that remains stay put in one place.....unfortunately, that isn't always true as I seem to always be finding out). What is really impressive about the many editions of this book that have been published to date is that the author constantly updates the information in the book, so that it is as accurate as it can be given the odd and fluctuating state of celebrity mindsets (and fortunes).
So if you are willing to assume that some of the information may become outdated, you will probably enjoy this book quite a bit.

There must be 50 Hollywood homes books on the market. If you visit Beverly Hills, a tour-bus or map salesman will gladly take your money. But W. Gordon's remarkably accurate and truthful guide will spell out where the buses point out homes where movie stars never lived. Gordon provides detailed directions and maps to the sites you want to see. And loads of "goodies" and information. He shows you how to get to Arnold's palatial block of homes in Brentwood, and warns that driving there is a $ 500 fine and possible jail time! Wow! He also gives directions to Rudolph Valentino's original 1920's mansion(and much, much more). Forget the B.S. Here it is. When I e-mailed him for an up-date, he gladly provided it for free(see the book). Why waste time driving around freeways?

I purchased the first edition in 1995(?) and have purchased revised copies since then (frankly, I don't remember the # of revisions). The information in the book is very accurate, but you have to keep in mind that celebrities move quite often. That's why you will periodically need an update (duh!). The book is laid out by communities/neighborhoods, and this feature is very helpful in preventing a lot of backtracking. It's a great book for a first time visitor to LA or a habitual return tourist such as myself, who is always looking for something fun and/or new. As the author warns.....remember to respect the privacy of these people. I'm sure they don't like having this information readily available to tourists.

Do you know how to make customers always happily surprised? If not, you need to read this book. A better world could be created by making your customers happy and happily surprise. The Brand Manner Approach could give you the directions on how to maintain customers¡¦ satisfaction and create surprise to customers.
The second part of the book provides you with guidelines on how to be confident in making customer surprised. It¡¦s good for the author to provide guidelines for different role of people like, CEO, marketing director, management, employees and customers. But this part is a bit complicated and not so easy to understand.
This book is full of real world examples which are interesting and can help to illustrate the concepts the author wanted to raise. You will find you know more about the companies on the world more after reading and will be more confident in making customer surprised.

There is simply no other book on this subject that comes even close to providing the new thinking, insights and perspective that Pringle and Gordon do. BRAND MANNERS should be required reading for every executive in every organization, especially those who aspire to be leaders over the next decade. At a time when brands and branding play an increasingly more critical role to the fundamental success of every business, readers will find this a truly invaluable (and actionable) guide.

My impression is that this book is the most original addition to our literature since Kapferer's first edition of Strategic Brand Management in the 1990s. This does not necessarily mean that it will find a large audience though I hope it does.

Organisational brand linkages are embedded in the Brand Manners 4-dimensional framework by presenting two sides to every dimension : the customers and the company's. The four dimensions of the brand promise are named: Rational (What?) Emotional (How?) Political (Why?) Spiritual (Whither)

The customer according to this model uses each of these dimensions to evaluate how integratedly a brand's promise is 'created', 'conveyed' and 'kept'. On the corporate side, the mirror image to integrate is labeled as 'Encounters' with customers, 'Behaviours' involved and 'Rewards' that result. This provides 24 (ie 2 times 4 times 3) entries interlinked through The Brand Manners Book of Life....

Methodology represents about half the book. This is complemented by a rich variety of case studies, and a collection of practitioner briefs. These are called "brand manners how to guides" and are provided for each of : Chief Executive, Marketing Director, Employee, Management and Customer!

Genesis as history is hardly a novel idea but in this package word and text show just how close and how far away are ancient near eastern literary approaches to what we call history. We have been reading the Patriarchal narratives through the centuries without knowing the customs and traditions of the peoples from which the Patriarchs came. That is like looking at Irish and Italian Americans with no knowledge of Ireland or Italy; like trying to understand the American Southwest with no notion of the existence of Spain; like gazing at Plymouth and Concord and Boston without knowing that there is an England. Feyerick offers insightful accounts about the fuller context of the Genesis stories.

The time was the Bronze to Iron Ages, the third to the first millenniums B.C.E. Great leaders arose from Iraq to Egypt-Sargon of Akkad, Gudea of Lagash, Hammurapi of Babylon, and Akhenaten of Egypt- and from these lands of the Fertile Crescent came a brilliant legacy to Western civilization of law, science, arts, and the alphabet. But the human spirit wanted more. In a universe run by mercurial gods who kept humankind in bondage to their wills, there emerged the need for one all-powerful divinity, one omnipresent as mentor and protector. The book of Genesis, with its narratives of real people struggling to survive, gave them and us that God, and thus the roots of monotheism arose in a whirl of great wars, captive peoples, and uncertain allegiances.

GENESIS: World of Myths and Patriarchs is an in-depth look at the civilizations that formed the background of the first book of the Bible. Drawing upon the major archaeological discoveries in the Middle East over the past century, everyday life of the people of Genesis is viewed through politics, arts, nomadic migrations, commerce, religion, and moral values. With over 250 illustrations, including sixty-four color plates, this rich visual panorama tells us what the authors of Genesis saw, and what events and ideas moved them to write the story of their people's origins. It includes fourteen maps and charts, a selected chronology, and a list of gods of the Middle East. Cyrus Gordon and Nahum Sarna, two of the most renowned scholars of ancient Near Eastern history and Bible, provide the text preceding the illustrations.

GENESIS: World of Myths and Patriarchs acquaints us for the first time not only with the people we know from this familiar book of the Bible but with the places they inhabited and the culture they developed. We trace what was borrowed, rejected, and transformed to create a new and unique ethic which has continued to shape the world.Great for a general audience.

This book is wonderful. I had never read Genesis in light of it's contemporaneous society, but that is exactly the approach the book takes. It demonstrates that Genesis was a radical revolution in thought about God, humanity and creation. Genesis takes themes of neighboring societies and religions and uses them in radically different ways to develop an entirely new ethic. Case in point: in ancient Mesopotamian religion, the gods created man to take the burden off of them, to take care of the earth, and grow food for them, so that the gods could relax and bicker without needing to participate in the affairs of the world unless they chose to. Man was created to serve the gods. Genesis changes this immensely, reversing the roles, saying that God created humanity and provided a Garden of Eden where food, for the people, was plentiful. This God, rather than being distant, loved his creation, which he had made in his own image. A new ethic is created, using the same imagery, but putting it to a new purpose. The book is full of such fascinating material, and excellent photos. My only criticism is that I wish it went into greater depth on some subjects, but it is still wonderful.

I liked this book. The conflicting reviews caused me to read it. I wanted to judge the work for myself. I am sure that Mr. Shirer has embellished his deeds in the reworking, and some of it comes off like allied propaganda of the day. I think you can learn a great deal from actual accounts of what people thought and felt at the time. He makes some unflattering generalizations about the German people as a whole but he lived the frustration the time. I think that holding this book up as a book to be taught in history class is a mistake. Everyone has a window on the World and Mr. Shirer is letting us know what he saw from his. He does point out some British newscast that did not jive with what he saw. I enjoyed the book and would recommend this book.

William Shirer's book, Berlin Diary, is an excellent insight into the rise of Naziism before the Second World War. He accurately predicts much of what was going to happen from the fall of western Europe; the Allies kowtowing to Hitler prior to the war; the machinations of the Nazi machine. The Allies should have used William Shirer as the next Nostradamus - he was that good. Nevertheless, I just read the 1940 1st edition of Berlin Diary and he certainly gives the reader a "you are there" feeling. I've read lots of WW2 German history and I was quite surprised to read how accurate his predictions were. Well worth reading.

If you haven't yet read Herr Schirer's all time classic "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich", or if you just completed it, this is the greatest companion book. Heck - even if you don't intend to read "The Rise and Fall" - read it anyway. It gives such great insight into the mind of one of the greatest correspondents of the modern era and the great historians of the Third Reich. It also helps you to see the war from the side of the German people - after all, they did have to deal with Hitler - and his legacy the longest. As you will see, this is Shirer's personal diary, in which he speaks lovingly about his wife and newborn and worries about their safety in Switzerland. He deals with his trips to the front and contacts in the foreign ministry. Extremely well written - and a great reference during the long haul of "The Rise and Fall" (Personally, I'm still pushing through "The Rise and Fall" after a year and a half - and yet it's one of the greatest books I've read) Come on! Buy it! You'll thank me! It's an investment you won't regret.

ACCESS IN LONDON was very good preparation, but needs an update (last published in 1996). There have been alot of changes-and improvements.

I use a wheelchair and travel frequently. This series of 3 books (ACCESS IN LONDON and its companion volumes: ACCESS IN PARIS and ACCESS IN ISRAEL) are the most thorough and useful travel guides for a disabled traveller that I have ever seen. If you have a disability and are planning a trip to London, buy this book! I wish the authors would write ACCESS guides to other cities and countries, as well.

This is a wonderful book for anyone who has mobility problems. I am a librarian at Moss Rehab Hospital in Philadelphia and run a travel hotline for the disabled. I recommend this book often and know of no other source of information that is as comprehensive. Happy traveling!!

The book is very handy and actually has nice photographs, but it is targeted to a novice or a "fresh start" rugby enthusiast. Keeping this point in mind, it is a remarkable work, both in style and guise, because skills, tactics and rules are clearly explained.

The text is simple but quite serious, hence being rugby an "informal" sport, a better explanation should be devised for some particular events during the match. The lineout is a typical example: in fact the rule, which permit an aided 6-foot plus gentleman to hover in the air waiting for the oval, must have been thought up by a three-quarter who flew Harriers (the famous vertical landing fighter airplane!). This strange engagement is characterized by a devastatingly human exertion, that is the pathological damage this may cause the unsuspecting jumper's groin when his shorts is pulled sharply upwards by two herculean "thrusters"! So far for the tactics!!

Another amusing rule too seriously explained is when the front rows collapse during a set scrum. The refree (the usual scapegoat for italian fans!!!) gives a penalty against the prop that goes down first. He may be the less potent of the two, the more tired or simply could quite easily have slipped, but no!, the sanction is quick,steadfast and irrevocable: he did on purpose, shame on him! Since the international refrees are not robust specimen of human race, with large diameter trunks and necks, they wrongfully suppose that above huge necks there is little capacity for gray matter. So the modern prop will use this misconception to his advantage when there is a scrum nearby the Opposition try line. Thus, by all means, usually illegal, he will check the opposite prop's thrust while collapsing, therefore automatically gaining a penalty kick from the best position ever. That's what we call a teamwork!!

That said, I will recommend this volume to anyone interested in this wonderful game, but getting in touch with its rules for the first time.

I bought this book based on the reviews, and I am dissappointed.

I am an intermediate player with a strong desire to improve, and possibly get into coaching after I stopped playing. I assumed that given the book's length that there would be much more detailed discussion of strategy, tactics, drills, etc. However, the book is more suited for a "coffee table". Even the description of the laws of the game at the end of the book are not very detailed, and offer no context for understanding current controversies in the sport (e.g. what should happen after a tackle, when a ruck is formed, what is permissible during rucks & mauls).

The book is loaded with pictures and the type is very large. It does describe the all of the positions and the basic mode of the play, but falls very short of helping intermediate through experienced players develop their skills, tactics, and knowledge of the rules of the game.

Buy it for the pictures or if you are new to the sport.

A little background on me: I started becoming interested in rugby when a friend from Australia talked about it. I had seen a few matches on Fox Sports World, and was interested in actually learning something about the sport.

So I acquired this book. I have stumbled (I might say accidentally, as it was the only rugby book my local library branch had on the shelf) on a fantastic book about learning the game of rugby.

I started out by picking and choosing through the book like I would with most books, but quickly became lost in a dense forest of strange terminology. Rucks, mauls, line-outs, scrums, knock-ons, etc. So I started over from the beginning, and found the book delightfully easy to read, and quite explanatory. I would recommend that anybody new to rugby do the same thing. It has a huge number of great pictures, (many of them of Jonah Lomu, All-Black and now Wellington Hurricane). The pictures explain what's going on quite well. In less than a month, I knew at least as much about the game of rugby than my Australian friend who has been watching it for years (as he himself admits). It allows you to quickly scale the wall of terminology and get on to the meat of the game.

Speaking of the meat of the game, it also has a good dose of strategy. NOTE: Somebody expressed their disappointment at my review misleading him. I apologize for that, but let me be clear: I was a complete rugby novice when I read this book, not knowing the difference between a scrum and a line-out. They provide strategy useful for the kind of complete tyro that I was; what was useful for me at the time would not be for a rugby player. Some examples: in describing knock-ons it suggests when you shouldn't even try to catch the ball, and what to do instead. It also, in describing the different types of passes, talks about which would be most useful and when, and describes the role of the scrum-half. And I finally, thanks to this book's clear descriptions, understand why they always kick penalty kicks from inside their own 22 directly into touch.

I only have a few minor gripes with the book. First, it is not at all clear on penalties. It has the standard list of laws in the back, which is good, but it does not explain the laws other than that. In almost every other area of the game, its clear and descriptive text really makes the rules themselves jump out at you. There is also not even a one-page pictures of official's hand signals, which would be useful to those of us who watch games and wonder "so what's he calling now?"

Second, although it has a plethora of pictures, it does not have a single picture of a ruck. Since the difference between rucks and mauls and the associated strategies is rather important, it would have been useful to see at least one picture of what one actually looks like. And given the otherwise clear and helpful use of pictures I am surprised to find this shortcoming. (My Australian friend is also somewhat confused about rucks and mauls so I have to think confusing the distinction is not unusual. I would like to know the difference, however.) Hopefully in future editions this will be cleared up.

Finally, it would be useful to give an overview of the different types and leagues of rugby played. For example, the book is completely about Rugby Union (although it does not use the term), but it would be useful to at least admit that Rugby League exists and basically distinguish it from Union. To anybody who really knows rugby, of course, there is no confusion (my Australian friend was somewhat baffled at my confusion - "Why, they're completely different games!") but I think to newcomers the distinction needs to be made clear. It also doesn't give a lot of description of different teams and groups ("what's a Wallaby?"). To somebody who wants an overall introduction to the game and has not been around rugby all his life, descriptions along these lines would be very useful.

Other than these small nits, this is a great book and I highly recommend it to anybody wanting to learn about the game.

What will you learn from this book?

A lot of financial concepts, instruments and products.
If you do not know anything about financial markets, this is the book!!!!

Is it enough? NO, it is not enough even for a beginner. Why? Because it does not tell you how to think in financial terms, and mainly how to make up your portfolio.

Yes, lots of graphs, figures, nice words, you think you are learning finance, but suddenly you realize that actually you know nothing and that you read a lot of vain pages. Unfortunately, you will be in the end of the book.

If want to know how to implement the models presented in the book, or even if you want a book that says the same thing that Sharpe's but in less pages, consider:

- Modern Investment Theory by Robert A. Haugen; or
- Modern Portfolio Theory and Investment Analysis by Edwin J. Elton, Martin J. Gruber.

I had the opportunity to take a course at the University of Minnesota from Jeff Bailey while he was preparing this book. He provided an excellent mixture of pratical examples in addition to the theory involved.

In addition, he was very approachable.

Anyone seriously interested in investing should consider this book!

This is one of the handful of classic texts in economics and finance - it ranks with Samuelson's "Economics," Alpha C. Chiang's "Fundamental Methods of Mathematical Economics" and Hull's "Options and Other Derivative Securities" as one of the cornerstones of a financial education. Designed as a college textbook but also used in first-year MBA programmes, the authors begin right at the bottom with basic microeconomics and moves on through spot rates and yield curves, simple probability, expected returns and standard deviations. Once this basic toolkit has been establised, the reader is introduced to the efficient frontier and the Capital Asset Pricing Model, followed by arbitrage pricing theory. Further topics include fundamental securities analysis and a quick journey through option pricing. After a look at some institutional aspects of financial markets, the authors conclude with that holy grail of finance - portfolio management. Throughout, the pace is reasonable and the reader is provided with plenty of practice examples. For a one-stop introduction to finance, you cannot do better than this book.

I tried to read the whole thing but couldn't stick it out. It is a Victorian mystery but it is not clever, as one of the other reviewers indicated. It is tedious, and though the author seems to try, it does not hold the reader. The only reason I gave it 2 stars is for it's minor suucess in convincing the reader that it is Victorian London.

As readers of the Canon will recall, Dr. Mortimer brought Sherlock Holmes one of his greatest challenges, the case of The Hound of the Baskervilles. In the Aldate Mystery, Mortimer fills in as locum for a London physician. One of his new patients is Lavinia Nancarrow, a mysterious young woman who is kept a virtual prisoner in her room. Dr. Mortimer and his friend Dr. Violet Branscombe discover that Lavinia's past holds a dreadful secret, one that an old family tutor will do anythng to learn--even commit murder. When Lavinia vanishes and the tutor is found dead in Lavinia's bedroom, the doctors fear for her safety. Will they be able to find her in time to save her from a charge of murder?

Well-written and nicely paced, this book brings the much-loved London of shifting fogs and hansom cabs to life once again!

In 1890 Dr. James Mortimer is unable to continue practicing medicine following the death of his wife due to diphtheria so he sells his practice. At the urgings of his friend, Dr. John Watson, James moves to London and joins the medical practice of Dr. Ferraby as an associate so as too not dwell on his loss.

James' first patient is Lavinia Nancarrow who seems to be a virtual prisoner of her guardian, Archibald Boynton-Leigh. Unable to resist the urge to find out about this unusual arrangement, James begins to investigate what hold Archibald has on the charming Lavinia. However, unlike his good friends Holmes and Watson, sleuthing is a relatively new game for the doctor, who is not prepared for the impossible murder that he feels obligated to solve.

DR. MORTIMER AND THE ALDGATE MYSTERY is a wonderful Victorian mystery that brings to life a more ominous and creepy side of London. The story line is very entertaining and the brief appearance of Watson should thrill the Holmes crowd. The mystery is clever, but Mortimer, whose first starring role is a smashing success (see HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES for a secondary role), will bring accolades to Gerald Williams.

Harriet Klausner

This book has hundreds of color profiles (and some top views) of warplanes from WWI to 1980. There's a brief introduction about the history of markings, but after that the text is limited to a brief introduction about each plane type and descriptions of markings. In addition to the full color profile views are some close-ups of unit markings and badges of individual planes. More than 100 planes are included, many on double-page spreads.

However, planes that are NOT SHOWN but should have been include: postwar Navy fighters (none are included, except a single side view of a "Jolly Rogers" Navy Phantom), the USAAF P-51D (although one is shown on the cover, none appear inside), the B-29, F-14, F-15, F/A-18, F-86, F-101, F-102, F-104, F-105, F-106, F-117, modern MiGs and Sukhois (last included are MiG-23 and Su-7), Harriers (again, on the cover but not inside), Skyraiders, Typhoons, Tempests, Vampires, Jaguars, Catalinas, Aircobras, A-4, A-10, pre-WWII bombers, postwar bombers (no B-1B, B-2, B-47, B-52, B-58, Vulcans, Victors, Blinders, Bears) C-46, C-47, C-5, C-97 C-124, C-135, and C-130. Also, no helicopters are included.

So, a pretty good overview at a great price, but many important types are missing.

Hi,
I repaint a lot of planes for Microsoft's Combat Flight Simulator series as a hobby and have found this book an excellent source of reference for specific colours of planes and their squadrons in relation to a specific time period. Though the time period ends over 20 years ago, and some plates are dedicated to planes of lesser known manufactures, and a lot of the color plates can be found in comparible books by David Mondey, overall, it is good value.

This large book is packed with colorful drawings of aircraft from WW2 to 1981. The book features 113 aircraft presented in a variety of color schemes, usually in profile but occationally from the overhead perspective. As a modeler I use this book when painting miniature aircraft. The book is 207 pages long. There is minimal text. The text includes a brief introduction, then continues by briefly explaining each of the illustrations.