To clarify something that Reviewer Yves Chaix said... "As a reference though, I think that 90% of what I learnt, I actually picked from studying the excellent documents produced by the Workflow Manufacturers Coalition (www.wfmc.com)."

Readers should know that the organization in question is the Workflow Management Coalition, and the website is www.wfmc.org. The WfMC is releasing the Workflow Handbook 2001 in October 2000, by the way. This is the new definitive reference to workflow management, with particular attention to e-business and B2B integration. It includes the full Wf-XML specification and glossary.

My assignment was to evaluate a certain number of production type workflow engines for my client and, if the bill was too high, estimate what it would take to develop a custom engine. Since I knew - and still do - very little about workflow engines, obviously I had to turn to the existing bibliography. As a reference though, I think that 90% of what I learnt, I actually picked from studying the excellent documents produced by the Workflow Manufacturers Coalition (www.wfmc.com).

Anyway, my initial impression, when I went through my first diagonal reading of this book was "what a total waste of time". However, going over it more thoroughly, I did find a few chapters that brought interesting insights.

To sum it up, I find the title misleading "Business Process Implementation: Building Workflow Systems" transmits the idea that after reading the book, you will be able to BUILD a workflow (engine). Well, forget it. The content can only qualify as a basic description of requirements, at the initial step of the life cycle: analysis. What I feel was a wrong initial decision by the authors, is that a book offering to help you build workflow systems should assume that its readers will not be knowledgeable in data structure as a minimum. But the book dedicates fully 2/3 to 3/4 of its content teaching entities, relationships and a few basic concepts about object orientation, as if the reader started out without any knowledge about Information Technology.

All in all, chapters 4, 6, part of 7, and part of 8 actually deal specifically with worflow concepts. About 65 pages out of 227 are relevant to the field (Unless you accept the authors'premise that you also need to be taught how to design your ERD).

As for the relevant part, I liked the scope of the definitions given by the authors for what should be expected of a workflow engine. The relationships between the lifecycle, stages and tasks states are clear enough so you can start sweating over writing your own algorithms. There is a much too short mention about rules, enough to let you detect a black hole there, but not enough to know what to do about it. The treatment of backtracking is useful as well as that of relevant stages for a task (have not found it mentionned in any wkf engine) and so are the general ideas of when to start and end a task to minimize the cost of backtracking.

On the down side, don't look for block diagrams, structured map, component diagrams, UML definitions, state transition diagrams, sample source code, etc. that you would need to actually build a workflow system.

But then, the question becomes more general: "Can you expect to find in a $45 book enough information and specifications to start building what it took others $100,000 or a $1,000,000?". After all, the book is based on the acquired knowledge of developping a real commercial engine, so maybe I was a little ingenuous in thinking I would find it all ready to take home. I really don't know the answer to that one. Still, as an example among many, I have a book (Simulation Modeling and Analysis, by Law and Kelton) that give you the source code for a basic simulation engine in Fortran, Pascal and C. You really know what simulation is about after reading it. Maybe MM.Jackson and Twaddle could have been slightly more detailed with their experience!

So, if you are a manager and want to understand what the salesmen from FileNet or Oak Grove, are talking about or you are suddenly developping an interest in the subject but never heard of System Architecture I, then this book is for you. To be fair, I am still looking for the right book for what I need!

This book discusses a method by which workflow based systems can be developed. It focuses on delivering a clear roadmap for the business person who wants to be able to carry out process re-engineering in his/her organisation.

The discussion is at an architectural level and is kept independent of any particular implementation platform or specific software solution.

I liked the detailed coverage of the way in which high volume, parallel workflow can be modelled (including a diagrammatic notation). It is good to see that these concepts are proven to produce actual working systems (via the toolset which Twaddle has developed in his role as Technical Director at Beta Computers and Sherwood International).

This approach is particularly relevant when looking to move to web-based solutions (especially because of the careful attention given to the design of the workflow). At the end of each chapter there is a set of questions which helps the reader to check his/her understanding of the material. Some of these questions are quite challenging and thought provoking.

Business Process Implementation isn't a quick (or simple) read, but is a detailed and thorough coverage by two experts in the field. A 'must have' text for practitioners in this area of business.

Graham Lord is not a hack or a fraud, but he clearly wrote this book without any cooperation from the family of James Herriot (Alfie Wight), and it shows in an abominable lack of actual information about Herriot's life before meeting Lord or of Herriot's life as a vet. He also makes far too much about the fact that Herriot was writing compelling stories based on actual incidents rather than serving only as a journalist, but since his connection to Herriot was only through his books and some occasional personal contact, there was little else he could write. The book is infuriating in the extent to which it substitutes information about the times in which Herriot lived for actual information about Herriot: knowing nothing of Herriot's life growing up, Lord talks endlessly about the life of other people who grew up in the same neighborhood as Herriot, and historical records and newspapers were obviously his primary source, along with people who didn't live in Thirsk and who had limited contact with Herriot.

The inadequacies of this book inspired Jim Wight (Herriot's son) to write a truly revealing biography entitled The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of My Father, and Lord is to be thanked for that. He did his best with what little information he had, but there is no escaping the fact that he had too little information, and having read the son's memoir, I quickly found Lord's book unbearable and started skimming after a couple of chapters in the hopes of finding SOMETHING I hadn't already learned from Wight's book. I was not successful.

The most positive thing about this book is that it shows you what Jim Wight (James Herriot's son) was up against when he wrote his memoir. I highly recommend Jim Wight's memoir for anyone who is interested in learning about James Herriot (Alf Wight).

I think Mr. Lord may have been well-meaning when he wrote James Herriot: Life of a Country Vet but the book is really appallingly bad. Mr. Lord has no feel for the WWII period, has done no practical research, seems to have little to no perception of human character and relies almost exclusively on gossip and word-of-mouth. One gets the impression that Mr. Lord decided before writing his book what he was going to find and proceeded to twist or ignore any information to the contrary. He relies on those "witnesses" who will tell him what he wants to hear without taking into consideration the inherent complexity of human beings. Witnesses do not always tell the truth--it is a gross error in judgment to think that one person can fully, and accurately, explain another person.

The lack of reliable facts results in Mr. Lord relying almost exclusively on guesswork, and the assumptions inherent in Mr. Lord's guesswork are almost all negative. For instance, he assumes that because he, Mr. Lord couldn't find evidence that Alf Wight's parents were musicians, ergo, they weren't, therefore Alf Wight was lying when he referred to his parents as professional musicians. The point may be debatable but in the interests of good writing, the assumption is not enough. If Mr. Lord wasn't willing to do the required research to prove the point conclusively one way or the other, he should have left it out.

Mr. Lord strikes one as the kind of man who is continually surprised by the inconsistencies of human nature. He reports with something like glee that Alf once told someone that his father died in 1961, instead of 1960. This becomes evidence for . . . the mind boggles. I'm not sure Mr. Lord himself has a clue what he is trying to accomplish in this book. Whatever it is, it suffers from an utter lack of scholarship and is therefore deeply insulting both to Alf Wight's memory and to the reader.

Whoever called this book a bio should take a course in library science. Its pages ought to be ripped out and distributed inside those trashy celeb magazines under the label of Gossip. I enjoyed Jim Wight's book about his father much more so and not only because it was naturally a warmhearted look at Alf's life but because there's honesty in his words. Not so with Graham Lord. You'd expect more of a slant with Jim's book than you would Graham's but that is not the case. Graham's research reminds me of National Enquirer-style publications and their anonymous-source dissing, except that Graham does provide their names. But so what? It only made me think less of some of his sources. I've met their kind in offices and at cocktail parties, dime-a-dozen personality hackers running off at the mouth about so-and-so. Graham insults our intelligence with shovel-fuls of similar dirt. And his motives for doing so are unclear. He seems to want to burst bubbles but what bubbles are they?

As a reader, I instinctively knew that Alf Wight's books came from his life and were based on his experiences, irregardless of Graham's pathetic attempts to prove them fiction. The stories were meant to entertain and they no doubt were entertaining for Alf to write. No crime there. Alfs' characters are well portrayed. Readers are given a good look at vetting in that time and place.
Stepping away from the books then and looking at the life of the author ought not to be made into some grand disillusionment. So what if Wight's wife, Joan, put her foot down on certain issues and her husband followed her lead from time to time - or if Alf himself grew a little testy with the effects of fame? Is Graham and his holier-than-thou sources trying to tell us that Joan was a shrew and Alf got too full of himself or that he was just acting a part of modesty? All human beings run a gamut of emotions and try out certain roles within their lifetimes. Shall we focus on the more unpleasant ones and snicker over them? No thanks, Graham, not with your type.
Alf and Joan were a successfully married and hardworking couple. They raised their children well. Like many, they encountered hardships in the way of finances and they probably acquired some eccentricities and personality flaws along the way. So? The only thing Alf owed us, upon publication of his books, was an entertaining read. Judging by its' sales, that is exactly what he delivered.
On the other hand, Graham's book, 'The Life of a Country Vet' (deceivingly titled, by the way)was a skim-through. If you must read it, rent it.

I strongly recommend AGAINST buying this book.

At 9x6, 110 pages, this is an awefully little book. It contains about 21 pages of text, and in the rest of the book are 162 black and white photographs.

The text is over simplified, with only seven references listed at the end. While this may be good enough to pass as a chaptor in a more comprehensive textbook, its merit doesn't justify as a stand alone book.

The photos are of very poor quality. By "poor quality" I mean both unclear (low contrast, grainy) and lack of illustrative value (what man with his right mind would demonstrate "cherry red" color in black and white? But the authors apparently think that's a good idea).

I would classify this book as a $3.99 "pulp science". Buy it and you'll regret it. You have been warned...

This book provides more or less an overview of certain types of deaths which can be attributed to asphixia. Clearly, the book's main focus is the large number of photographs, which, while interesting, are less usefull to the investigator than actual information, and perhaps, more case studies would have been. Also, I was suprised at how small the book was for it's price. A far better and more comprehensive book on the subject of drowning is Robert Tether's Encyclopedia of Underwater Investigations, which is, unfortunately difficult to find but well worth it if you can, as well as being a much better value for the money (full color photos too.)

Richard Trenton Chase is misspelled as Richard Tenton Chase. Diane Downs is misspelled as Diane Downes. In a particularly sloppy and disquieting factual error, Scott says that it is Downs' oldest daughter, Christie, who died after she and two siblings were shot by their mother; in actuality it was Downs' youngest daughter, Cheryl, who died. One wonders what the survivors of this tragedy would think of this error; hopefully, they never wasted their time with this book. And you shouldn't, either.

For having a Ph.D., Dr. Scott sure has written a sloppy book. Perhaps she needed a better editor. This book, a surface study of murder from the 1900s through the present day, highlights in each decade a number of cases reflective of the era. It's an interesting premise and one that initially drew me in. Unfortunately, this book is riddled with inaccuracies, misspellings, and factual errors. People unfamiliar with the cases will be misinformed. To name just three examples: Scott states that Charles Starkweather and Caril Fugate killed "Robert Jensen and his daughter." Robert Jensen and his girlfriend Carol King, both teenagers, were among the deadly duo's victims. Also written is that after John E. List murdered his wife, daughter, and two sons he "drove to his mother's home in another part of town and killed her, too." The author should have read the reference materials listed at the end of each chapter a bit more carefully. John List's mother, Alma, lived in the Westfield, NJ mansion's third-floor apartment. After List shot his wife Helen, he climbed up to his mother's apartment and shot her as well. Lastly, Perry Smith and Richard Hickok, made famous in Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" are listed as having murdered "Clutter, his wife, and two daughters with virtually point-blank shotgun blasts." The point-blank might be right, but the Clutters were murdered along with their daughter, Nancy, and their son, Kenyon.

Save your time and money; don't bother with this book!

In addition to what has already been reported, there are other problems. "Edward" Kemper, the serial killer, is actually Edmund Emil Kemper III. This was the first time that I've read that the woman who committed suicide after being raped by KKK leader Stephenson was a KKK employee; all other books indicate that she was a state employee. Similarly, the lane on which the Hall-Mills murders took place has always been referred to as DeRussey's Lane; I've never seen it called "Phillips Lane". If the author's statement- that the editors added this material without her knowledge- is true, then she needs new editors. In the meantime, this book should be read with caution by anyone not already familiar with the cases.

Bad! This book contains 23 pages generally describing the duties of the medical examiner/coroner and law enforcement. It then has 87 pages of show and tell photos illustrating either wrecks or fatal injuries. I expected this to be of some use to a traffic investigator, reconstructionist or at least, a private investigator. This book is of no use to anyone who has worked more than one week in any of these fields.

Extremely confusing, the story flies all over the place with no obvious connection, and there are way to many characters to completely understand the book, even though I have an incredible, almost photographic memory, I could not keep all the characters straight!