Harris places far too much importance on the loyalty to individual cities, but his portrayals of the villians of the NFL (read: Al Davis, and the other owners) are certainly superb.

Only here will you get the behind the scenes look at the NFL's "Glory Years" throughout the 60s, 70s, and into the Early 80s. David Harris must have done a ton of research and let me tell you, it is all here. The detail is often mind numbing - which might drive away the casual fan (hence the 4 star rating instead of 5).

Still, if you consider yourself a true NFL fan and have always been fascinated by the behind the scenes machinations of the powerful clique of franchise owners, take a look at this book. I have yet to see a book on the NFL as comprehensive as this one.

With its latest expansion franchise selling for over $500,000, there is no question that the NFL is the predominate sports league in America. "The League: The Rise and Decline of the NFL" helps to tell the story of how it became so. It provides a great look at the pivotal period in the development of the NFL: from the ascension of Pete Rozelle as commissioner in 1960 to the franchise moves of the 1980s. Not a book for "students of the game" looking for points of view of players and coaches, "The League" focuses more on the business end of football. It is excellent reading for any fan who wishes to know the "inside story" of how and why the NFL became the big business that it is today. The book does this by providing a thorough history of the league's relationship with television, its monopoly status, and the beginnings of "franchise free agency". Harris's intensive research and use of personal interviews also provides a unique "behind closed doors" glimpse into the world of football team owners and executives.

Utopia is a classic masterpiece that conveys More's vivid imagination of the Island of Utopia. Although most of the characters are fictional, it is intriguing to learn about the true values of European societies during the 16th century, when More actually wrote the book (although many scholars believe that the exact year was 1515). Truthfully, the book is quite easy to understand. All More tries to do is convey his own views of how society should be through Raphael. Moreover, the use of imagery in Book I is quite fascinating, including the constant references to Roman and Greek myths and beliefs. It is also quite remarkable to see that the story begins to be more and more interesting after More and Giles come back from dinner. To make a long story short, I think it is a great book because of the actual time it was written in since most pieces of literature written at that time were either lost or destroyed.

As a social critique this book is very effective with answers to many arguments. Thomas More is a wise, brave and educated man who was executed by orders of Henry VIII, and wrote Utopia more as an explanation of why society needed to be far from perfect in order to be enjoyable. Utopia, meaning in Latin "in no place", was written entirely in satire, and many have said that it was a great source of entertainment for the more educated as they watched those less educated argue on the side of a Utopian state while quoting Moore, and having never seen the satire present while reading. Mr. Moore's Utopia touches on every aspect of the human existance as it would be experienced if we prescribed to this way of life. I found many of his discriptions colorful, and commonly found myself of the verge of anger before realizing that Mr. Morre was more often than not simply playing the devil's advocate.

This was very enjoyable for me. I would recommend that everyone take a risk and read this one.

It's unfortunate that it seems as if most of these reviews were written by people whose only knowledge of More has come from the (mostly incorrect) opinions they have formed after reading this book. I don't think one can truly understand its import until he or she understands where Moore is at this point in his life and what he previously wrote ("Life of Pico", for example) and what he wrote later (while in prison, perhaps). No, he wasn't expressing his views through Raphael. In fact, it's clear that Raphael is an opinionated fibber (i.e., he discovered Utopia after Vespucci's fourth voyage? There were only three and Morus knows it...) and his account is purposefully filled with contradictions. There's more to it! More is raising issues, trying to make the careful reader think (and shame on some of the other reviewers for not being careful readers). And once you've read this book, read enough More (ha!) to understand what was going on in the bigger scheme of things, such as More's relationship with the other Renaissance humanists of his time and Henry VIII.

This book is an excellent source for understanding the major principles of economics. It seems more geared towards those people who want a general but accurate working knowledge of economic topics, especially since it shuns use of mathematics like the plague. It is this fact however, that makes the book less useful to the intermediate and higher level student of economics who just wants topics explained in as clear a way as possible, but then also wants to see the mathematical methods involved in these areas. Nonetheless, this is the first economics book that I have ever read that has such a high level of lucidity and clearness to it.

This book is a good selection for those middle-aged, former students such as myself who wish to refresh their knowledge of the very important subject of economics. However, I wish this book (actually it is a "textbook") offered a key to its questions at the end of each chapter. Likewise, more visual aids would be appreciated, such as detailed graphs about inflation, prices, wages, etc during the Great Depression and other such significant eras. There are indeed some very useful and informative graphs and illustrations, but just not enough for a visually oriented person such as me.

I totally absolutely agree with the opinions of [other reviewers]. I am a student from Norway, and with limited Macroeconomics books available in Norwegian, we have to chew the most incomprehensible Macroeconomics book written by our own professor. He teaches at our college so we have no other choice than using the Macroeconomics book he wrote. Students say there is a book mafia system at our school, meaning we only use the books written by our lecturers whether the books are well written or not.

Lucky enough, the professor who wrote the most incomprehensible Macroeconomics book at my college also recommended us to read Mankiw's book and even claimed that this was the best Macroeconomics book ever written...even though, he said, it was at a slightly lower level than what he taught us. What he means by "at a slightly lower level" is probably due to the fact that our professor chokes the students with so much incomprehensible math and so many formulas which we do not understand and do not know how to relate to the real world unless we take Ph.D degree in Economics, whereas Mankiw refrains from doing so and instead gives us a passion to learn Economics and a critical mind to explore Economics issues further .

Last semester, I finally ended up reading Mankiw's book for pleasure, knowledge, and understanding, and dropped my Macroeconomics course with the incomprehensible professor and his equally incomprehensible book. I do not want to take a course which I do not understand and which I am implicitly forced to answer the exam questions in the style my Macroeconomics teacher wants. Yes, I do lack a credit and a grade in Macroeconomics, but I do possess a much better understanding than my classmates who just memorize rawly our Macroeconomics professor's way of answering. If our professor used Mankiw's book instead of his own book, he would certainly produce much better students who possessed excellent understanding in Economics and passion to study this wonderful subject.

Students must pay a hefty price when they end up with a professor who cannot teach and write. I wish we had more choices.

As sais in the title this book provides some basic blacksmithing techniques. You'll find a lot of drawings showing the way to make the tools needed in your shop by using "scrap" metal.

A good initiation to metalworking but definitively not a book for the experimented blacksmith.

What Naxos has done here is put together an anthology of Christmas poetry, musings and other Christmas fair to serve up a delightful listen. Starting with an ancient Christmas carol and even a recipe circa 1300 the listener is treated to poetry, thoughts and reflections from various authors on what Christmas is, and is not about. I have to admit it took me a while to get into this recording but once I did I found myself touched by the Christmas spirit. Indeed I actually bought this last year and saved it for this year's holiday season to listen to. Among the poetry and observations, there are also a few short stories, and evena play. As well interspersed throughout the readings are Christmas carols and classical Christmas music. Its a fine collection although its mostly for adults. In adition one truly must be a lover of English literature to fully appreciate this anthology; the overall theme of this after all has to do with Christmas time in the 19th and early 20th centuries. I would highly recommended if one enjoys works and authors from these time periods. Its great to listen to with a cup of cocoa, or exotic coffee. This book contains 2 CDs and is read by a variety of readers. merry Christmas.

This is an extreme study of the crisis in the Balkans in 1875. It builds up to the year of the outbreaks and exposes the how and why of the crisis. In Harris' book he reveals to the reader that the happenings in the Balkans is directly and indirectly related to the onset of 1914. The author digs deep into numerous sources and uses primary sources. Overall it gives the reader a better understanding of why problems exist in the Balkans. It is a slow read and is highly informative. It should be read by all who are studying foreign relations.

Believe it or not I do not think I had ever heard how Dwight D. Eisenhower got the nickname of "Ike" before I read this juvenile biography by Jack C. Harris. His brother Edgar was called "Big Ike" and as a baby Dwight liked him so much everyone started calling him "Little Ike." This book is filled with lots of interesting details about Eisenhower's life (he almost went to the Naval Academy instead of West Point), and sketches out how as a brigadier general he was brought to Washington, D.C. after Pearl Harbor by General George C. Marshall and eventually put in charge of the Normandy invasion and all the Allie troops in Europe. However, while this book is solid on the key details of Eisenhower's life, young readers will not get much of a sense of why Eisenhower was the right man for the job or his political views when he ran for President. Then again, there was not much to his candidacy beyond the "We like Ike" slogan. After all, the man was going to be elected President, all he had to do was decide which party he belonged to (it turned out to be Republican). This book is illustrated with over two dozen historic black & white photographs, including one of Chief Commander Eisenhower and the generals who helped win World War II (including Patton and Bradley). Ultimately, this book serves as a solid introduction to the life of Eisenhower.

An excellent book for both the seasoned geologist and the layperson, although recommended for somebody with a general understanding of geology. The book is not designed as a typical 'guidebook' that would be carried along on a hike, although its text book-like dimensions are more than acceptable as a vacation companion. Fantastic for the traveller embarking on a tour of the U.S. National Parks, as the chapters are conveniently arranged according to physiographic province. Sorry, folks, but Canada and Mexico are not included. The authors admirably describe not only the geologic feature being observed, but also the 'how' and 'why' it exists. The descriptions and explanations are thorough and easy to read. Overall, the photography is fair (several of the photographs could better serve the spectacular features being discussed) and many of the figures could be more closely related to the topic. However, the majority of the figures, especially the sketched figures, are informative and easy to understand.

I teach a course in geology of America's National Parklands at a community college. I have tried another book for the required text for the course, with mixed success. Therefore when I found out that Geology of U.S. Parklands, fifth edition, was being released, I ordered it for the course even before I had seen my review copy. Previously when traveling I have consulted The Geologic Story of the National Parks and Monuments by the same authors, and was sufficiently impressed with the content, clarity of writing, and extent of coverage that I eagerly ordered the revised version. In my opinion this new book is THE one to use for similar college courses, and should also serve well for travelers with or without geologic training who want to know more about the geology of the magnificent federal parklands of our nation. There is a sufficient short course on general geologic principles in the initial chapter. I like the clarity, accuracy and dry humor of the text, which is better than the style and content in the book previously used - Geology of America's National Park Areas by Brooks Ellwood. Although the latter is quite a bit less expensive and has better quality if not more useful pictures, it is often too simplistic for my use in this course. I may have more to say after having used Kiver and Harris book as a text for a quarter or two, but my initial reaction to it is very favorable. Other books cover the geology of one or a few park areas, but this book has the entire country including Hawaii. However, for some reason the parklands of Alaska are excluded, probably because their inclusion could add many pages to what is already a massive volume (902 pages). I should have liked to see higher quality photographs and a lower cost, but other than those minor quibbles, this book will very likely set the standard to which all others on the subject will strive.

Henry's gift has an excellent story line. The magic eye images and surealistic illustration only add to this book. The only thing keeping this book away from a whopping 5 stars is David Worsick writing technique. It's as if during the narration he is writing to an adult audience, but during dialouge he tries to appeal to children. His wealth of knowledge on the subject of midevil times, though, partialy make up for it.