A genius poems by Nobel Prize winner Russian poet J. Brodsky will lead you through the magic of words, ideas, and wolrd experience. Brodsky united in his poetry the brightest thoughts and deepest emotions of The Russian Personality. This is a strongly recomended book for everyone who is trying to understand the mystery of "Russian soul".

The authors present this book as a preparatory guide for those wishing to make the most of a visit to Amish settlements. They succeed admirably. In a mere 131 pages of very readable text (plus recipes) they present the history, faith and life style of the Amish, with an emphasis on understanding their values.

Many books centre on the Lancaster County (PA) Amish. This book centres on the Amish of Ohio, which has the most Amish of any state, without forgetting the other regions. This is not a guide detailing the specific sites of interest, however it does offer very useful information for the serious tourist. For example, if the store sign says ÒAmishÓ you can be sure the operator is not Amish. The book also reminds us that the details of Amish clothing and practice vary somewhat from district to district, thus avoiding the error of oversimplification often found in other books.

Those looking for a picture book should look elsewhere. The pictures (b/w) are interesting and useful, but often not of exceptional quality (the cover photos are excellent). With respect to the Amish sensitivity, there are no facial close-ups of Amish people. Perhaps this is another indication as to how serious tourists should behave as well.

Despite the easy read, there is a surprising amount of information in this book. The authors obviously know their sociology and the Amish but, thankfully, the book remains a guide for the general public and not a sociological study.

I am a Roman Catholic priest in rural TŽmiscamingue (N-W QuŽbec, Canada) with a particular interest in community. I cannot pretend any direct contact with the Amish though I have shared with a Mennonite group. Other authors I would recommend : John A Hostetler and Randy-Michael Testa as well as Menno Simons for the founding theology.

This 8" by 11" volume contains illustrations of drawings by two extremely talented artists who were among the Fort Marion prisoners from 1875-1878; Making Medicine, a 33 year old Cheyenne and Zotom, a 24 year old Kiowa. The drawings are a full page size and the colors are beautiful and intense. The drawings combined with the commentary by Joe and George Horse Capture provide wonderful insights into the history of these two native nations as well as a better understanding of the Indians' experiences at Fort Marion. It also provides further awareness of the factors that motivated Col. Pratt to establish the Indian school at Carlisle.

Compiled and edited by Martha Joynt Kumar (Department of Political Science, Towson University) and Terry Sullivan (Department of Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), The White House World: Transitions, Organization, And Office Operations is an imposing collection of scholarly essays by a variety of learned authors. Drawing from interviews with seventy-five former senior White House officials representing six administrations (as well as with former President Gerald Ford), to present a picture as assembled by top political scientists of what really goes on in the White House West Wing, The White House World would well serve future White House administrations seeking practical advice on how best to organize their presidencies. Topics scrutinized include the mechanics of Presidential transition, the role of various offices such as Press Secretary or The Office of Communication, and a special focus upon President George W. Bush's transition. A worthy glimpse of the workings of American government itself, The White House World is an invaluable contribution to Political Science reference collections and reading lists.

This book was the first in the Soviet Union to treat Stalin in an objective way. Prior to its release Stalin had been the great hero of the patriotic war the father of the country and so forth. Whilst the secret speech by Krushev had distanced the country from his system scholarship had not taken the step of subjecting his rule to objective analysis.

The author was a person who was an opponent of Stalin and prior to the fall of the regime was active in its criticism. The book goes through the issues associated with Stalin such as the decision to collectivize agriculture, the forced industrialization, the terror and the handling of the war. The author forms the view that Stalin was an unmitigated disaster. That is the country would have progressed economically better without him, and his handling of the war was catastrophic.

It is a good book to read with other western accounts such as Bullocks.

The late 1990's saw the publication of numerous scatterbrained, and ill-intentioned, attempts to descredit Vladimir Lenin, Nikolai Bukharin, Leon Trotsky, and Karl Marx, by associating their actions, and ideas, with those of Joseph Stalin. One must ask, "were these attempts in any way successful?" Luckily, the answer is an emphatic, no. The individuals who bought into the "Marx and Lenin created Stalinism" theory, alluded to in works such as 'The Black Book of Communism', by Mister Courtois (or Miss), 'The Passing of an Illusion', by Mister Furet, and 'The Soviet Tragedy', by Mister Malia, already harbored such fantastic illusions. Most of the population has no interest in Sovietology, so attempts at descrediting Lenin, Marx, Bukharin, and Trotsky, were, and are, virtually fruitless (I took a Public Speaking course at a local community college, and most of the students hadn't even heard of Lenin, Marx, or Trotsky!.)

To find true objectivity, on the subject of Sovietology, one must reach back into the distant past, and read Roy Medvedev's incredible, 'Let History Judge'. One could refer to Medvedev's writings, as "Solzhenitsyn, without the racism and bitterness"(a spew of biographies show that Solzhenitsyn is without question anti-semitic; however, this fact doesn't mean he's no longer one of the elite writers of the twentieth century). 'Let History Judge', is not so much a history of Stalin, but a history of Russia from 1917-1953. Described, with minute detail, is Lenin's seizure of power, Lenin's benevolent feelings toward Stalin (which ended effectively after the Eleventh All-Congress of the Bolsheviks), Trotsky's role as leader of the Red Army, Trotsky's complete ineptness in regard to the left-opposition, and Stalin's remarkable, almost super-human, political abilites. In addition, one will never discover a finer description of collectivization anywhere (although I must admit Conquest's 'Harvest of Sorrow', is pretty excellent). Russia's grain production in 1930-1933, were almost certainly below pre-WWI levels, apparently, but Stalin wanted Russia to appear forceful, so he sold grain internationally, as if it were "business as usual", which resulted in the death of millions of non-guilty peasants (however, one can not deny George Carlin's classic quote, "there are no innocent people, once you're born, you're guilty as charged").The description of the horrible Gulag system is not quite as great as Solzhenitsyn's, but it's pretty darn close. Unlike Solzhenitsyn, Medvedev doesn't slander the dead, or embark on anti-semitic diatribes (thankfully, for the population at large, Medvedev critiques much of what Solzhenitsyn wrote in the 'Gulag Archipelago' with absolute clarity).

The price is pretty high, but at 800+ pages, the person isn't really buying just one book, they are buying a multitude of books, which cover a variety of subjects. In addition to, 'Let History Judge', I would also strongly recommend you read Edvard Radzinsky's 'Stalin', Volkogonov's 'Autopsy of an Empire' (being a Yeltsin staffer, Volkogonov is biased, but there is some interesting anecdotes!), and Robert Tucker's magnificent two-volume biograpy of Stalin. Unlike other works on the subject of the Russian Revolution, these works actually take a "scholarly" approach!

This book is a very thorough and well-written biography of Josef Stalin. It was one of the few books I read in college that I didn't mind reading. The information on Stalin's political and personal life gives the reader an opportunity to make informed judgements about Stalin's actions.

Peter Bogdanovich has written a book that is for the movie enthusiast. I suspect the general reader may find some of the interviewees obscure, and the topics technical. I feel that is their loss. For the student of film or film history, this is a treasure trove of information, ideas, experiences, and feelings about films taken from interviews with some of the most distinguished directors in movie history. The author's selection is not encyclopedic, but the directors' experience spans from the earliest years of silent film to the present. These men are not just informative, but their strong and distinctive personalities show in each interview, giving the sense that one has actually met and understood many of them. Some of the interviews are brief, or even very idiosyncratic, but the best are delightfully personal. This is a long book, but affords many pleasant evenings of good conversation. It also makes one want to go back and see the films again!

This is an incredible book that contains Bogdanovich's various interviews with some of Hollywood's greatest filmmakers. These are not detailed biographies however, they are an in-depth conversation about the filmmaker's films and his own feelings about them. While some go into the individual's past it is just so you can get an idea of the personality of the filmmaker. This is a must-have book. A good way to look at it is to read it through once and become familiar with all of the directors, some of whom may be new to you. Then as you view their films go back and read what they have to say. Though sometimes their comments are very brief, it's one of the few sources you'll find where the film-maker makes direct reference back to a film. And I don't know what it is about Bogdanovich but he always brings out gems of truth from those he interviews.

You can spend years going to film school, or you can read this book! Bogdanovich does a great job with this collection of interviews of great film directors. Not only does the book give you a good inside view of the craft of cinema, but it also acts as a history book of the film industry.

This book would be good for the serious indie director who has bet his/her credit cards on their dream or even the special person in your life who stays up until 4am watching the Turner Classic Movie channel.

There is something here for everyone as there is a wide range of directors who work in a wide range of styles. There isn't a genre that isn't touched in this book - from Hitchcock on Horror to Chuck Jones on cartoons. What's great is that Bogdanovich captures insight into directors that are no longer with us (like Fritz Lang who directed Metropolis). Since the directors tell their own stories, you don't get the Hollywood hype filter.

If you had to buy one book on film this year, this would be it!

Truly inspirational and insightful to human nature and the economic forces that drive us.

This is the story of Steve, a failing salesman who starts receiving inspirational messages from a mystery source after he makes a charitable donation. I enjoyed the story very much and have found the messages contained in it to be true for successful selling. However, the messages can be summarized on the back of an envelope, so as a sales training aid it is rather thin. As a pure novel it doesn't hold up because it is not very well written. But if you put the messages with the format, it works well as an inspirational story that sales people should all spend time considering. It is a little book with a big message that would make the basis of a fun movie script (check it out you guys in Hollywood!).

I was told by a friend that this was a powerful book. Although I am now retired as an office worker first in a city hall, and then at a hospital after I relocated downstate; I recall so many situations, that would have been made easier if I'd had the opportunity to read this book. It is hard to put down, and so full of excellent thoughts and methods of making things work out for the best, even though at times you feel you are risking everything. This is an inspiring guide for anyone in business or out. I highly recommend it for anyone who desires personal improvement .

Looking for something with more substance than the entry-level inspiration of the CHICKEN SOUP books? Deeper than the plethora of books out there on the soul, which offer repackaged tradition and conventional wisdom?Joseph Chilton Pearce (CRACK IN THE COSMIC EGG, MAGICAL CHILD, EVOLUTION¹S END, etc.) wrote in the Foreword to this book, "For generations we have needed a new framework and lexicon for talking about the human spirit, and here it is. Everything that I (and others of similar bent) have written has only groped, at best, toward what is spelled out hereŠ." Truer words never written.George Jaidar offers a challenge to those of us who feel that impulse to something more ­ there¹s just got to be something more in this life. This invitation is to those who have thoroughly explored ­ and reached the limits of ­ religion, philosophy, and sciencing. This book can take the thoughtful reader on one heck of a romp through what Jaidar calls the "mind process." Examining enculturation and the worldview that we¹ve all agreed upon as "reality," Jaidar traces how fear and hope are used to enforce allegiance to the reality we¹ve created. The fear process and the hope process are, as he writes, "the twin foundations of religion" ­ not to mention the twin foundations of mental illness.Jaidar speaks to the Yearning that so many feel, that little inner nudging that keeps reminding us that there¹s got to be something more in this life. And then with a passion and beauty of writing style uncommon in philosophical discourses, Jaidar lays out a spiritual practice, that if adopted, can take the reader beyond the mind process, with all its limitations, and into the Soul process, where that "something more" is not only found, but becomes transformational.Jaidar frankly acknowledges that "This book was not written for a mass audience, but rather for a vanguard who will serve as a Œsaving remnant¹ of our species. These people quite uneasily know who they areŠ.." If you are one of those who has never been able to squelch the uneasiness, the itch for something more, this book was indeed written for you.

I find it hard to constrain myself when writing about this book. Part of me wants to be cool so as not to turn anyone off with an over exuberance bordering on zealousness. But another part of me, the dominant part I suspect, wants to jump up and down and shout, "This is the best book I have ever read!" Furthermore, I believe it to be the most important book on the planet. Perhaps not for everyone, but if you are anywhere near where I was when I discovered this marvel, psychologically, philosophically and spiritually, then I believe you will come to share my enthusiasm for this great work. I had all, or most, of what goes for success in this world, but still an uneasiness persisted that couldn't be explained. What fulfilled most people did not fulfill me. When I found the material world wanting, I had a go at things spiritual, reading prodigiously, everything A through Zen. Although an improvement to be sure, still I thirsted for something more. Something vague and unexplainable. Then I was "lucky" enough to come across THE SOUL, AN OWNER'S MANUAL , by George Jaidar, which proved to be something new and completely different. Unlike most contemporary spiritual writings, his is not a derivative work, but something completely original. In these pages I found the entryway to the great adventure for which I had been yearning. Although Mr. Jaidar uses familiar words like God, soul, heaven, etc., he uses them quite differently than they have ever been used before. This difference may not be apparent upon the first reading, but I urge you to stay with it and try what is commended here for a time. I promise you the surprise of your life. An E-ticket ride to the tenth power and beyond. Unfortunately, this book is probably not for everyone. But for those of you who are ready, who have reached the limits of the "world of ten thousand things," and found the various spiritual offerings wanting. I can only say bon-appetite let the feast begin!

I am a retired United Methodist minister who has spent a lifetime studying, teaching, living the life of the Spirit.

Yet I was yearning for a modern road map to use in traveling into the greater unknown, unexplored areas of Kingdom living. George Jaidar's THE SOUL has all the signposts in place for guidance, direction, and light to arrive at one's Arete' or Fullness.

When reading it, I found myself saying inwardly, "yes," "right on," "of course," and "I have experienced that." The more times I read THE SOUL, the more depth of meaning comes to light. The sayings of Jesus become transparent and are made new.

THE SOUL is a new New Testament, and believe me, I do not say that lightly. It points to a new covenant with the Source. Jaidar has stated in a very clear, simple, accessible, and practical way what is hidden in the heart of the Gospel and in the Western mystic tradition. Its genius is its practicality--that if one practices the principles--one becomes aware of oneness with God, our Source.

This is a very well written book and the first of its kind
on Bayesian survival analysis. The authors have a very keen
sense of the important issues and models in this area, and they
do a wonderful job of presenting the various topics. The book
discusses state-of-the-art methods for fitting Bayesian survival
models. The content on the power prior and its uses in survival
analysis was very exciting. The motivating examples in Chapter 1
were novel and very appealing. The authors have a great deal
of experience in this area and in the applications they present.
I definitely recommend buying this book. It serves as an
exceptional reference or textbook.

This is a great book on Bayesian survival analysis. It presents
a very comprehensive account of modern Bayesian methods in
survival analysis. The applications that are addressed in the
book are excellent and present major modeling and computational
challenges that would be impossible to implement in the
frequentist paradigm. The book has some outstanding chapters
on model selection, cure rate models, joint models for
longitudinal and survival data, and Bayesian methods for
clinical trials. This book would serve as a great textbook
for a Ph.D. level course in Bayesian survival analysis. The
book contains a number of useful and challenging exercises
and it contains a very exhaustive bibliography. I definitely
recommend this book.

This is truly a marvelous book on Bayesian survival analysis.
The authors, who are true experts in the field, have written
a gem that covers modern Bayesian methods in survival analysis.
They have a nice blend between modeling, theory, and applications
that truly makes this book the first of its kind. It has some
very nicely written chapters on semiparametric models based on
prior processes and frailty models. The book is very extensive
in its coverage and has a very long bibliography. This book is
going to be a best seller for a long time.

This is truly an oustanding book on MCMC methods for Bayesian
computation. The authors present a nice balance between technical
developments and applications. It covers several topics not covered by other MCMC books, such as HPD regions, model selection, and density estimation. This book is world class.

This is an outstanding book on MCMC methods. The book presents
novel and sophisticated methods for carrying out posterior
computations and summarizing posterior quantities of interest using novel MCMC techniques. The authors present a lot of their
groundbreaking work as well as summarizing the work of many others. The book presents a number of complex models used in real and interesting applications in the biomedical sciences. Two of the authors also have wirtten another outstanding book titled Bayesian Survival Analysis (Ibrahim et al., 2001), which presents modern methods for Bayesian survival analysis and provides a comprehensive and thorough treatment of the subject. The authors are to be congratulated on writing two very fine books. Both books get 5 stars from me.

This is a great book by the authors, covering a wide range of
topics in MCMC. The coverage of the material is deep and novel.
Two of the authors also have published another outstanding book
titled Bayesian Survival Analyis, by Ibrahim et al., which presents
cutting edge and novel methods in the analysis of survival data.
Both books get 5 stars from me. A splendid job by the authors
in writing two very fine books.