The ethereal infrared photography meshed with the insightful narrative is fascinating, not only for the art but for the history of New Orleans. As a genealogist, I am no stranger to learning from the dead. This book, however, teaches about a culture far removed from my North Carolina Scottish roots.

This well-written book deals with the largest and most economically powerful EU Member State in Europe, Germany. The focus of the study is Germany's relationships with the other European neighbours. But is does so in an unusual and interesting way, and I think the authors did an excellent job in this; they looked in neighbouring European countries at public attitudes toward ,and ideas about, Germany; the cultural genome, if you will, of small and larger countries in Europe and their perception of a country that dominated modern European history.

It makes very interesting reading on how, say, the Danes or Finns or French think of Germany. I do not know how correct this is but if i take the chapter dealing with the Netherlands and Dutch ideas of Germany, then as a Dutchman I can say I found their analyis of Dutch attitutes toward Germany almost embarrassingly spot-on.

I also much liked the discussion of attitudes and ideas in Germany itself toward itself and its role in Europe. They argue that Germany has an economic and political responsibility that comes with the sheer economic size of the country within the European Union (and wider Europe). Germany, and with it the rest of Europe, can like it or not but the responsibility cannot be denied, it can only be shirked. If an elephant moves it will affect all that is around it. I think the point is well made and well taken. The authors argue rightly that for Germany, and for an integrating Europe and the crucial role that Germany plays in this, it is necessary that the realization that economic size brings political responsibility is actively accepted and managed. Where will the elephant decide to go, in discussion with the animals around it, rather than taking the path and trails it makes as an unintended and perhaps undesired effect of where it lumbers. And elephant trying to make itself small (for very understandable reasons) is not going to be very constructive.

This more active attitude seems indeed to be taken up in Germany to some extent, and viewed with equal parts of uneasyness and approval by other European countries.

It strikes me that much a similar analysis could be made of Japan and its neighbours, and it would be equally fascinating to read about that as well. Here one could argue that at least Germany has traveled the road of acknowledging the past while preparing for the future much further than Japan. In any case, I can recommend this book for anybody interested in the multifacted and interesting relationship of a key country in the EU with the rest of Europe.

I've found this to be the best introduction to (mostly classical) automated theorem proving. The matter is clearly presented and can be understood even by non-logicians. In the first part of the book there is a solid treatment of classical theorem proving, including an excellent chapter on tableau based methods. In the second part there is a short treatment of intuitionistic theorem proving, and some throwaway discussion of the relation of theorem proving and type-theory (specifically, dependent type-theories as used in Logical Frameworks), model checking, verification, etc. I give the book 4 stars because of its well-rounded discussion of classical theorem proving, and hold back the last star because the material is a bit dated compared to modern research directions, and doesn't cover intuitionistic theorem proving in great detail.

This book bordered on the surreal due to Sakharov's irony free style. He would describe some craziness involving KGB interference in his life or Soviet life in general and then suddenly break off to describe theoretical quantum physics for three pages. This juxtaposition between the irrational and rational makes the book unexpectedly comic at times.

This book was written before a gigantic economic collapse wiped out the savings of people in the Soviet Union who were hardly prosperous, but were highly aware that the rest of the world was leaving them behind in the quest for material comforts. At the time, "Wages represent only 37-38 percent of our gross national product--for the rest of the developed world that figure is 70 percent and over." (p. 142). Parallels with present problems that continue to bother people who consider continuous progress an economic necessity of the first order might occur to any reader who is willing to think that the design of thermonuclear devices, for which the author, Andrei Sakharov, is famous, might be trivial compared to the kind of chain reactions which monetary policy produces. Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a main character in this book, and Sakharov's attempt to tell him what needed to be done on June 1, 1989, reflects how rigidly the old system clung to "achievement of unlimited personal power." (p. 133) This book suggested Sakharov's solution: "In brief, economic reform is practicable only if there are changes in the character of ownership in agriculture and industry, if the Party's and state's stranglehold on power is ended and if the highway robbery practiced by the central committees is eliminated." (p. 130).

Global capitalism is not what it used to be. Those who have taken control have pushed the envelope of subjugation and economic strangulation so far that it is difficult to refute the idea that the west supported the looting of the public assets in the former Soviet Union with the observation that those who were previously capable of highway robbery merely found an economic method for maintaining this power, as well as greatly increasing their wealth.

Soviet methods of maintaining control over the economy still seemed brutal in Sakharov's time. "In those same days there was a shocking massacre in Uzbekistan's Fergana Valley. The main victims were Meshki Turks, but Russians, Tatars, Jews, Armenians, and Ukrainians were also slaughtered." (p. 137) "in any case, religious differences cannot be the motive--both the Uzbeks and the Meshki are Sunni Muslims. Property disputes have been mentioned, and in fact the monocultivation of cotton has deprived Uzbeks of much of their farmland and doomed them to hunger. Perhaps some Meshki had small plots of land, and the mutual support system that always exists among a persecuted minority may have made their life a hair better than that of the native population. . . . We are forced to the conclusion that someone directed the crowd and channeled its hostility." (p. 138). "Another sidelight on events in Fergana, although I can't vouch for its accuracy: I was told that in the videotapes made of the bloody events in Uzbekistan people had recognized in the crazed crowd agents of the Armenian KGB, who had been hurriedly summoned to Moscow a few days before the events. If true, this suggests participation of the KGB in the provocation in Fergana, but such reports must be treated with great caution." (pp. 139-140). Sakharov had reached a point in life where he could show great respect for what the truth might be, but there is little evidence that those who rule will adopt his approach.

John Miller has edited a number of anthologies that concern a particular city or region. I've read San Francisco and Cape Cod Stories, and the New Orleans tales are the best so far. The New Orleans stories begin with an explorer's log from 1699 and continue into the 1980s. Unlike the Cape Cod offering, New Orleans Stories doesn't focus too long on any one era or group. The offerings include not only fiction and essays, but journal entries, a selection from "A Streetcar Named Desire," and a list of folk remedies.

The book provides a survey of "Southern" writers, without focusing too long on any one entry. Obviously, with this type of book, you will enjoy some entries enough that you will look for other books by that author; other selections will not impress you. Thus, while this book does its job well, it is hard for me to give it a five-star rating (which I reserve for my absolute favorite books).

This collection captures the unique character of New Orleans. The voodoo theme crops up a little too often, but its hard to go to New Orleans and not see voodoo themes frequently. If you are one of those people who like to read about the places you vacation, this is an excellent choice.

This book is a little dated - it came out in 1995, and the research is older than that. Amazingly, especially given the ever-changing nature of politics in the FSU, it is still relevant. If you are interested in the politics of diaspora Russians, you must read this book. Kolstoe (who is the author, despite what Amazon says) does a fantastic job of bringing together a plethora of research in this volume. It is a little light on theory and on the situation in Central Asia, but in general is a good overview of this topic.

There is too much maths in the book. However, the comments and interpretation on various models are very interesting. The authour distinguish between arbitrageurs and noise traders. He also give us a theory of substituability which is interesting but inapplicable in reality. Too much theory also with a lot of hypothesis that are not respected in real markets.
I was looking more for a book on investment psychology and I was disappointed.

Markets are not efficient in part because Investor Sentiment is a strong factor creating momentum (either upward or downward trend, whether sentiment is positive or negative). Also, arbitrage is very weak, as there are no proper securities substitutes, shorting the indexes is too risky. The "Noise Trader Risk" is too great. Meaning equity values may continue to diverge long enough for the arbitrageurs to loose their shirt betting on convergence. The investor type is a very important characteristic to factor. This explains the close end fund puzzle. The discount on closed end fund tracks the fate of small cap stocks. When small cap stocks do poorly, the discount on closed end funds deepens. This is because both investments are dominated by the same type of investors: individuals - small investors. Thus, both investment types are subject to small investors' sentiments.

I'm a very successful capital markets professional with more than 12 years of experience. I want to believe in efficient markets, and perhaps the markets are effiecient in the long run, but in the short run, they can be very ineffiecient. In the US treasury market where prices are posted and transparent and pricing is well-understood, the markets appear to behave efficiently.

In the exponentially growing credit derivatives market, the market appears very inefficient. Information on documentation and pricing is not at all transparent, and information requires time and work to obtain. This was a nothing market 6 years ago, was a $2 trillion market in 2002 and is on a steep exponential growth curve just in credit default swaps. In a paradigm shift, it has become a very important product in a very short time, and the market in these products is inefficient. I highly recommend Tavakoli's book: "Credit Derivatives" Second Edition.

There is absolutely nothing to recommend in this book to other readers. The only reason I finished the work was that I had no other reading alternative one evening, and I will not comment on a book I have not finished.

A Russian Princess refugee circa the 1940's is the center of this poorly conceived yarn. As a theme Russian Princesses both real and imagined, has been used as repetitiously as any other that readily comes to mind. Readers have been offered not only novels, but have also been presented with a variety of works that promoted pretenders to the Romanov Family. So what is an Author to do when faced with an overly worn theme? Make the son a hemophiliac so that anyone that knows a bit of History would think this was yet another fictional tale of the lost Romanovs.

Now that a familiar theme is established, a well-worn format follows. The tale opens with the end, and then we are subjected to a book filled with repetitive prose until we are rewarded with a vacuous ending. Prior to the story being mercifully brought to a conclusion, the reader is faced with page after page, and chapter after chapter of descriptions of various levels of incest that are so alike, you may wonder if you have read the same passage more than once.

I understand that the book was translated from French into English. This cannot mitigate any of this books deficiencies. French is not a long lost language. Had the original been an ancient language, which was subject to widely differing interpretations, this could have been a difficulty. However this is not the case.

The weakest part of this collection of words is the Author's attempt to rationalize the incestuous relationship. Once the Author chose such a volatile topic, that many consider well beyond the prurient, he set himself a great task. Since I do not believe his goal was to create just another controversial take on incest, the other alternative was to persuade the reader with circumstances that could mitigate the issue.

The Author did not succeed in telling an interesting story, nor was he able to cleverly rethink a human relationship that most would condemn.

This is not worth reading.

Makine is an extraordinary writer with many wonderful gifts and great accomplishments. In this book, however, the gifts seem to be wasted--or at least used for dubious effect. The tale of Olga Arbyelina is beautifully crafted and presented, but the actions which give impetus to the story are repulsive--incest with her son, initially done while she was drugged and unconscious, but eventually continued, justified to herself, and even welcomed. Olga is only marginally a sympathetic character. She seems so sick and seems to learn so little that one wonders why this book was written. The universal themes one would expect to see used to try to justify the subject matter seem missing here, though Pauline Melville uses similar subject matter in The Ventriloquist's Tale to great and even positive effect. The denouement and Olga's madness seemed to me neither sad nor unexpected. Ultimately, I found myself wondering why the author chose to write this story, a romanticized, melodramatic, and unsatisfying journey into darkness.

This is a beautifully written book. Makine truly has a talent with language -- some passages are so poetic, it's hard to believe that one is reading prose. You have to read the book in increments and savor the scenes. The writing is often very challenging and the whole plot is intellectually stimulating. This is definitely not a book where the plot moves quickly and everything is apparent from the beginning. Although the novel contains several taboo topics (incest, abortion, politics), it is possible to identify oneself with Olga. Makine's meticulous descriptions and his ability to communicate Olga's feelings has made this book a joy to read.

I have had a passion for Cuba, Cuban books, and accounts of life on the island for three decades. I found "Ay, Cuba" to be the most engaging, sexiest book I ever read. Codrescu captures the flavors of the island, the warmth of the people, and the unfairness of the monstrous regime. Because of his Eastern European background, the author is able to see much deeper than most American writers. He encounters santeros, prostitutes, high-ranking Cubans, writers, and Americans in love with the Cuban mystique. There is also a spectacular interview with Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, the Yankee pitcher who helped win the World Series, just a few days before his defection. "Ay. Cuba: A Socio-Erotyic Journey" is a must for anyone interested in the island, its textures, flavors, sounds, and allure.

Codrescu and Graham's splendid, intimate book on Cuba is sure to enrage narrow minds on both the left and the right. Codrescu had no sympathy for the dictator, but loves the Cuban people. The Cuban people have no sympathy for the dictator either, and they respond most warmly to the poet's interest in them. Cuba is a sexy land and Cubans are sensual people. Most commentators ignore this reality, but Codrescu doesn't shy from it. The result is a tropical, sensual book that speaks about Cuba's political, social, and erotic truth with intelligence, wit, and passion.

Codrescu has revealed present day Cubans as only an iron curtain expatriate can. His erotic encounter with a intellectual and his interview with baseballer Ivan (El Duke) Hernandez a few days before he defected- were worth the price of the book alone. David Graham's touching photographs avoid cliches and give us glimpses of the dignity under pressure so characteristic of Cubans today. Although I have frequently travelled in Cuba, including last year when I visited San Juan Hill and the wrecks of the Viscaya and the Pluton (sunk in 1898), I could see, taste and smell Cuba again in these pages. -Al Gowan, author of Santiago Rag, a novel of the Spanish-Cuban-American war, also available at Amazon.com