I teach three levels of Systems Engineering and Architecture courses at the Naval Postgraduate School. I have now used this book for 2 years for the Labs.

The students each study and make presentations on the different case studies; relating there results to the Systems Engineering Process and the Architecture Hueristics.

Last Quarter, one class voted this book the best book of the quarter.

Cheers

Orin

This classic introduction to the historical parameters upon which contemporary management practices are based is a must read for individuals climbing the management ladder. The impact upon the personal skills of the manager makes it required reading for those who wish to manage with insight and sensitivity to the complex factors which impact the performance of their reports.

This book is a very good preparation for Access 2000 Core. However, as of May 2002, many of the questions on the Access 2002 "Core" test were actually from the "Expert" objectives which were not published on the Web MOUS site. Fortunately, the Microsoft Access 2002 MOUS Expert book by Winters and Manchester does an excellent job preparing readers for the Core test and it covers all of the Expert objectives.

jay, this is the best book i have ever read, it truly is! it has everything that a reader could possibly want in a book. his stories are so heartwarming, that most people including me can relate to. his stories are told from jay's heart, with love to all of his fans. i had a chance of meeting jay back in 1996, the nicest person! He really does care about his fans. i personally think, jay is the funniest person i have ever heard. his comedy is brilliant, other people prefer letterman, or carson's comedy, the more classic, more goaled to the older generation of people. leno, truly has a brilliant, magnificent mind, in the way he does his show every single night of the week, and shows his care for his fans, i will tell you about a recent example, this past thursday night, he did a show in the dark, to help save energy, i know this may not sound like a big deal to most people, but this is just another example, of how nice, and generous he is. i always wish, that i knew him better, like a best friend, he has all the great qualities that i would want in a person, his wife is very lucky!! jay i have been watching you every night, keep up the great work. i hope you never retire, you are truly a genuis at what you do!! hope you have a peaceful and joyful life. godbless. p.s. my birthday is april 28 too, but in the year 1970.

Heard the taped version of LEADING WITH MY CHIN,
written and read by Jay Leno . . . it is his autobiography, but
told only as he could tell it; i.e., with large doses of humor and without being too offensive . . . so if you're looking for the "dirt" on any famous personalities, you won't find it here.

Instead, you'll laugh at the stories of his childhood, as well as his attempts to get into the comedy business . . . as he tells it, he wasn't that funny in the beginning; in fact, what he often did in the beginning to get a laugh was raise his voice
and repeat back what he had just heard . . . or he
would ask something to the following effect: You hear about the
new men's personal hygiene produce? Umpire--for guys
with foul balls. (Hey, I thought it was funny!)

As his career progressed, I found myself cheering for his
successes . . . what I especially liked was how he spoke
of his parents and their role in making him the person he
is now.

I may only be a sophomore in college, but I have loved Jay Leno for years now. :o) I read his book and when I finished it I wanted to cry, simply because there weren't any more wonderful stories left to read. I didn't cry though--I just flipped it back to the beginning and read it again. This book really lets people into his life. He doesn't back-stab anybody or put anybody down, and his stories aren't "And that's why I'm perfect" He shows us the more human side of him, and his style of writing makes you feel as if you were actually having a conversation with him, and these were the stories he was telling you. These are stories that nobody will ever get tired of reading. They are no doubt stories that, if Jay were a father, his children would beg him to tell over and over again. This is my new favorite book! Way to go Jay!!! :o

"It is as important to talk about marriages as to talk about the national election."

This quotation from Phyllis Rose, referred to in one of the eleven articles of volume six of the journal Spring, devoted to marriage, resonates through the entire issue in an astonishing variety of ways.

From publisher James Hillman's own reflections on "Marriage, Intimacy, Freedom" to Ginette Paris' "If You Invite the Gods Into Your Marriage" to C.L. Sebrell's "Marry the Gardener!" the importance of marriage to the individual soul, the immediate community and society as a whole is exhaustively but entertainingly discussed.

Perhaps the best, and certainly the most delightful, piece in this collection is Sebrell's, which not only re-visions our understanding of the Greek god Priapos, bringing our attention back to the Greek view of him as a careful and talented lover and not just as a glorified satyr, but also uses this examination of Priapos, also the god of gardens, to drive home the point that the best and happiest marriages occur when two people who are already whole come together, seeking in marriage not salvation or completeness, but a life of shared tenderness and esthetic and erotic pleasure.

Helen Henley's "What Can We Ask of Marriage?" reiterates this point: "A conscious relationship must always presuppose two individuals able to make a committment to a meaningful life together," and "Its achievement is both an art and a discipline."

Full disclosure time: I, your humble reviewer, have never been married. But I arose from a marriage, one whose partners are still joined, and I live in a society that still in some sense values marriage, still sees it as a subject worth examining in film and song and dry political debate. Much of these examinations have proven pointless, dull, fruitless, seeking only to point a finger of blame for what is wrong about marriage.

In 1996, the editors of Spring chose to point out what is still right, still possible, and also to ask why marriage still matters, still obsesses us, still happens in the 20th century and beyond.

And in the process, they have made even unmarried free agents like myself take a look at this most basic of institutions and say to it "Yes, it is important to talk about."

I thoroughly enjoyed reading "St. Alban's." A great fiction novel that doesn't involve violence or overdrawn love scenes. I became so engrossed in the story I didn't want to put the book down. It's a story about an ordinary man and his family and the trials they face. I was drawn into the life of Dan Martin. I felt his confusion, pain, sadness, and happiness. It's been a long time since I've read such a captivating story.

To be blunt, I was highly disappointed in this promising work on a very captivating time in our history. This is a work for a general or beginning reader of the Civil War, not something that seems as scholarly as it could be.

I absolutely agree with reviewer Wayne Smith who states that the book feels thin. It feels like a rushed article that might appear in MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History and knowing this, Winik has tried to lengthen the subject by putting in short characterizations of the men that this work revolves around: Lee, Lincoln, Davis, etc.

There seems to be quite a bit of the Southern apologist in Winik and I feel there is a bias that arises where Winik favors the Confederate cause. When reading history, I appreciate a balanced view that lets me draw my own conclusions and beliefs about what I have read. While he is fair to the treatment of Lincoln and wife Mary, Winik fawns over Lee and dismisses Grant quite too easily. In once instance Winik points out Grant [in Winik's opinion] (and Sherman along the way) was all too willing to destroy the homes, countryside, etc of the Confederates and Lee did not. Hmm -- Lee was fighting the majority of the time in Virginia -- I don't think he would burn and destroy his own beloved state. Yes, while in Maryland and Pennsylvania Lee did choose not burn and destroy, but Lee also wanted the citizens of those states to see the Confederates in a good light. Grant understood in order to win he had to destroy the hand that fed the mouth, while Lee knew that for him to secede among the divided citizens of Maryland he had to be cautious. Obviously one man was of the future, the other of a bygone age as Catton noted.

I feel Winik is bumbling in area where he hasn't had too much experience and therefore label this work as I have: one for the general reader. I also am appalled by the endorsement of the book by both McPherson and Kearns Goodwin, two highly vaunted historians. It seems like they were caught napping, especially McPherson whose "Battle Cry of Freedom" was a true analysis of this critical era in US history.

If you are just beginning to read about the Late Unpleasantness or you are a general reader, this book is fine -- but beware his inaccuracies and mistakes. Make sure to read further if you are interested in the Civil War to ensure you get a balanced and more fairly accurate view of what when on and just who shaped our nation as it is today.

The English language lacks enough superlatives to describe this book. Jay Winik brings the denouement of the Civil War to life with the crisp, eloquent prose of a novelist and the exacting standards and rich detail of an historian.

The fateful decisions rendered in April 1865 -- perhaps the most momentous month in our Republic's history -- would help to transform a loosely connected confederation of independent states into a full-fledged, united nation. (In its early years, the United States was commonly used as a plural noun, Winik observes, becoming a singular noun only after the Civil War.)

It did not have to turn out this way. In fact, secessionist proclivities had been deeply embedded in the American experience, Winik points out, citing examples such as the Whiskey Rebellion, the threatened severance of New England during the War of 1812 and the South over the nullification law machinations. That the Civil War would forever lay to rest secessionist impulses -- and as important, not degenerate into a protracted campaign of low-level bloodletting and on-going recrimination (as many other civil wars have) -- is, Winik says, largely due to the words and deeds of men like Lee, Lincoln, Johnston, Grant and Sherman during the pivotal days of April 1865. It was Lincoln, Grant and Sherman who, time and again, chose reconciliation over retribution, while Lee and Johnston charted a path of honorable surrender (rather than prolonged guerrilla conflict) and wholehearted Union re-embrace.

Winik's new work is a masterful achievement -- certainly among the best books lining my bookshelf. Another classic is Winik's 1996 account of the U.S. triumph in the Cold War: "On The Brink." Fans of "April 1865" may want to check it out.

April 1865 is a good book despite its recurring theme of southern apology.

April 1865 gives a good description of the potential guerrilla war that the Civil War could have become if the southern generals had not agreed to surrender. Its description of the fighting in Missouri that devolved from banditry to butchery was chilling.

April 1865 also does a good job of providing ample background information on each historical character it highlights. The characterizations of Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis were excellent. By the end of the book, I had a real sense of having known a living Lee and Davis.

April 1865 suggests the South fought not to preserve and extent slavery but for self-determination. The war just happened to end about a month after the Confederate Congress agreed to allow slaves to be armed soldiers who would earn their freedom by fighting. This, southern leaders agreed, would lead to the end of slavery.

Lee is buoyed up by slighting Grant. Grant's presidency and work on Reconstruction is not mentioned.

Confederate cavalry leader Nathan Bedford Forrest's behavior during the Fort Pillow massacre of mostly black Union troops gets a pass (maybe he was responsible, maybe he wasn't). His later founding of the KKK in Tennessee isn't mentioned.

As a graduate of Upper Merion--with Jay Smith's signature on my diploma and Bill Bradfield's loopy enthusiasm whenever I successfully translated Catullus still ringing in my head--this book was a "must-read." I CAN say that Wambaugh does his usual good job of capturing certain facets of the main characters and presenting the case, particularly from the viewpoint of the investigators, whom he lionizes. (Unfortunately, the intervening years have led to revelations about their mishandling of evidence and own character failings...which tarnishes their victory somewhat.) He also succeeds in pointing out the inverse relationship between intelligence and common sense that often exists among academics, and definitely existed here. I found his description of sociopathic behavior and how it forged the bizarro bond between these two men especially illuminating. However, it's what I usually like best about Wambaugh's books that forms the basis for my only criticism: there's no mistaking the fact he's an ex-cop. That means he forms his judgments about the perpetrators, followers, and even the victim early on and sticks to them. These people weren't quite so black and white. That being said, it's a good read that captures the gothic feel it strives for, and makes me extremely sad for the mother and children who were lost...and angry at people I respected who had so much potential.

The tale of Susan Reinert is one of the most riveting true crime books I have ever read. Certainly the story -- details about Bill Bradfield, Dr. Jay Smith, Vince Valaitis, Sue Myers, etc. -- was convoluted . . . and difficult to follow at best. But it just proves Bradfield's manipulation of everyone around him. The story becomes difficult to follow and almost unbelievable because the story itself is practically unbelievable. Bradfield told so many tales and lied to so many people that even he had trouble keeping up with it and remembering what he told and who he told it to. Dr. Smith proves to be a pretty sinister character himself -- someone who did a lot of terrible things (and was possibly involved in the disappearance of his own daughter and her husband! Frightening!). It is hard to believe that these people are real -- that they live(d) and breathe(d) and exist(ed) in Upper Merion -- it certainly makes for an entertaining and unbelievable cast of characters. But they are not just characters in a book -- they are REAL PEOPLE -- and that is the scary thing. It makes you stop and think and look around at your friends and neighbors and coworkers and wonder what is going on in their heads. Creepy!

What is most disturbing is the fact that Reinert's young children were unfortunately involved in this horrible situation, and that their bodies have never been found. Even more frightening is that Susan Reinert's body may have disappeared in much the same way -- except that there was life insurance money to be gained (by Bradfield) and therefore a body had to be found. The sad thing is that everyone seemed to be under someone else's "spell" -- for the most part, all these seemingly intelligent teachers (molding the minds of Upper Merion's youth, no less!) were so enthralled and entrenched in Bradfield's life, so willing to believe him, so willing to participate in his "cloak and dagger" games, so prepared to believe him until too many suspicions and too much evidence mounted against him. And Bradfield! His relationship with Dr. Smith -- whatever the extent of it -- was certainly not on the up-and-up. A frightening look at this disturbed group of people and the lengths someone will go to attain something (in this case, money). All I can say is, you have to read it to believe it. I was too young to remember the case when it happened, so I can't compare the book to any newspaper headlines or stories or actual experiences . . . but I was engrossed in the book, totally interested. Wambaugh does an excellent job pulling the reader into the lives of these people. The situations are chaotic and elaborate -- at times almost ridiculous and laughable, because everyone was so blind to the "charms" of Bradfield and Smith for so long. I only wish there had been pictures of the principle characters, so I could have put faces to the names.

Yes, I've read those other customer comments, but trust me, this is the best true crime book ever. First of all, Wambaugh has incredible access to all of the participants, which I believe is the most important ingredient of great true crime. (Haven't you ever read any of those cheapie true crime paperbacks and had the feeling that the author relied soley on the newspaper accounts and the trial transcript--there is a complete dearth of detail and character development? This book is the polar opposite--it's teeming with detail and fully realized characters.) Wambaugh tells you exactly what the characters were thinking and feeling, which allows you to understand how such educated people could get involved in such a horrific crime. Instead of feeling scorn for their gullibility you end up having great empathy for them. Secondly, the villians are FABULOUS--Dr. Smith in particular is so fiendishly sardonic I almost found myself cheering him on, despite the fact that he's (probably) done so many evil things. It's almost a Hannibal Lecter-ish effect--you know he's bad, yet there's something almost charming about his combination of intelligence and darkness. Finally, and most importantly, this book is laugh-out-loud funny. The author's metaphors comparing Dr. Smith to the Prince of Darkness make me howl, and his use of irony is truly sublime. I know it's incongruous to find such humour in a book about a terrible murder; please read it, and you'll understand.

I have used other books in this series and was quite happy with them. But after reading the first few pages in this poorly constructed book, I could see it was only going to frustrate me with it's blatant and carelees errors. Some of the questions were appreciated, but over all it was not worth the time to even scan over it. Too many errors for my liking...Here is a simple explaination found before the 1st chapter.....We all know that the minimum RAM required to install Sever 4.0 is 16MB...right? According to this book..both Workstation and Server require 32MB!!!! DAHHHH

If you can figure out all the errors, then you will probably pass the (70-58) exam. This book was very poorly edited. The concept and design is good, and would be a great help to anyone wanting to pass the (70-58) exam, if it did not have so many errors.

In comparison to the Exam Cram Networking Essentials I found this publication to be more than adequate. In fact I managed to pass the exam mainly through the questions in the book. Yes, there are errors, but if you know your basics you will pick them out. Yes, the publisher should have proofed it better. But on the whole I found that many of my exam questions had something in common with those in the book. This was a second purchase from this series and it's a cheaper method than Transcender