Raj is too long to be a "good read" (it comes to 647 pages of small print) yet too anecdotal and selective to qualify as real scholarship. It is based almost entirely on British sources, and tells the story of the Raj from a British perspective, with very little insight or information on Indian opinion. Much of the book is devoted to military history, with almost nothing about economics or colonial administration (although there is an interesting sub-chapter on the culture of the Indian Civil Service). That said, the book is well-written and lively, James isn't shy about stating his opinions, and readers who like popular histories of the British Empire might want to try Raj out. Other readers should wait for the paperback version or pick up the hardcover after its remaindered.

This book is a fascinating look at British India, from the days of Robert Clive to Viceroy Mountbatten. Lawrence James has once again shown his remarkable talent for writing British, especially Imperial, history. I highly recommend both this book and Lawrence James' "Rise and Fall of the British Empire." "The Making and Unmaking of British India" is a book I waited for months to buy and I was not disappointed. Anyone who is fascinated by the British Empire, particularly India, will want to read this book. It profiles political, military, and cultural events in Indian colonial history and, while recognizing the problems of the colonial regime, also brings the positive qualities of British rule to light.

I just finished reading the Raj and found it an interesting book. I found it thorough in that it discussed the cultures, the politics, the economics and more. It did this for the Indian citizens and for the British at home and in India.

Also, unlike the misquotes below (they are out of context), this book is actually rather harsh on the British for their view that they could "civilize" India in their mold and that this was desirable. Time and again James points to the errors of upper crust British belief.

I also found his treatment of Gandhi as something besides a demigod interesting. My only wish is that in this long book, he had spent more pages on the last years.

This book was readable informative and interesting. I highly recommend it.

I didn't follow much of the trial, basically because I didn't care. The tragedy in my mind is that so many of us wasted so many hours following the most boring trial ever.

The man is guilty! PERIOD! Why?

Because on one page of American Tragedy, one member of the defense team wonders how Ronald Goldman's blood was found in OJ's bronco...yet the defense got that suppressed.

There it is ladies and gentleman: guilty as sin. That is one coincidence too many and I don't buy this conspiracy nonsense for a second.

Even if you say Schiller was on OJ's side, including that little tidbit is enough to show some balance.

Another tragedy is that the jury represented 12 of the 24 stupidest Americans ever to have paid taxes. (The other twelve being the Rodney King jurors.)

They confused DNA with Blood Types? C'mon, these morons would have screwed up paint-by-numbers.

I was amused by one reviewer who considered Schiller an appalling human being for capitalizing on such a tragedy. There were similar, if not quite as vitriolic, opinions expressed by other reviewers. All I can say is -- if you were so offended by the Simpson case, and an author who chose to write about it - why on earth would you buy a 900+ book about the subject? I, on the other hand, found this book absolutely absorbing. At the start I should say that nothing in this book swayed my opinion that O.J. Simpson committed both murders. This book was not dedicated to the defense. It did appear that Mr. Schiller got a lot more assistance from the defense side, but he writes a fairly balanced narrative, showing the strengths and the weaknesses of both sides. The one character who actually comes out looking pretty bad is O.J. himself. He is egotistical, narcissistic, termperamental and fully in denial of what he has done. This comes out clearly in the book. I work in the local District Attorney's Office where I live, and was thoroghly captivated by the intense coverage of the trial, as well as the behind the scenes activities of both sides. I learned as much about some of the key witnesses as I did about the key players. If anything from this book affected my outlook on the case, it gave me a little more understanding about the jury. Even will compelling and undeniable evidence (specifically the blood evidence), they were so bombarded with conflicting facts from both Prosecution and Defense, that as typical, ordinary citizens, they lost sight of the big picture. In short, they were pretty much overwhelmed with facts. As you read this book, you begin to feel their frustration. A highly educated person could probably have read between the lines and sifted through the junk to find the truth, but these people had been sequestered for months. They wanted to go home. They had had enough. I read Mr. Schiller's other book: "Perfect Murder, Perfect Town", and am still amazed by his ability to take minute facts and somehow make the story interesting. One can almost pretend this is novel taken from someone's overactive imagination. But the bottom line is - Mr. Schiller sticks to facts. He does not choose sides, and he does not paint Mr. Simpson as a victim. The facts speak for themselves, and if we don't like them, well, that is not Mr. Schiller's responsibility. He did an admirable job with an awful lot of information. I could not put it down, even knowing the ending. And I was pleasantly surprised to find that the last part of the book dealt with the civil trial, which I knew very little about. If you have already formed a strong opinion about Simpson's guilt or innocence, this book will probably not change that. You will, however, get a fascinating look into what made everyone tick, what went wrong, and what tricks drove the verdict of the criminal trial. And be honest with yourself that this will always be a compelling and fascinating piece of history, and there is no shame in having an interest in it. I recommend this book whole-heartedly.

The real reason why I bought this book on OJ was because I had a free coupon for the bookstore and there was really nothing else on OJ to buy. I actually wanted Bugliosi's "Outrage". Now I am glad that I did buy "American Tragedy". It was a real page turner for a non-fiction book!

Not being familiar with the authors I was interested to see where they stood on the matter. When it was revealed that Schiller had helped OJ write his book before the trial I groaned, "Alright, I guess we know who's side he is on." Though centered mostly on the defense's story, I was surprised to see that Schiller only lays out what happened and who the characters involved were. As a matter of fact, by the end of the book, we see the author lay out evidence that portray OJ's guilt more that his innocence.

Schiller really makes no assumption about whether or not OJ was guilty. Rather, he shows the obvious evidence that the defense had to overcome. He does not state whether the actions of the defense were right or wrong, or whether the evidence was true or not. Rather, it is as if Schiller takes the reader inside closed quarters as a fly on the wall to observe and come to his own conclusions.

This book reads like a fictional crime story and it was interesting, illuminating and entertaining. Just when you thought OJ's guilt or innocence was determined, a loop hole or damning revelation is thrown in.

On the whole, I felt that alot of the blood evidence was tampered with (whether deliberately or not I am unsure on). The defense did raise many doubts about Furhman's actions and words, and the bloody socks. I think that the hair, fibre, and shoe print evidence, along with OJ's lies at the civil trial point more to OJ as the individual responsible for Nicole and Ron's deaths.

As a matter of fact, it was the civil trial presented near the end of the book, more than the criminal trial which proved to me that despite my doubts concerning the blood evidence, OJ was guilty of murder.

Even though everyone knows the outcome, Schiller presents the book as if the outcome could go either way by the end of the book. A very good read!

I have been using this book for an Intermediate Accounting class that I have to take as a pre requisite for a Master's degree. Even though the book is quite complete in explaining accounting principles it is unecessarily wordy and extremely heavy.

The first five chapters (220 pages) provide a review of what accounting is, the accounting information system, the income statement and the balance sheet. Most of the what is written here is either too basic or will be later found in the remaining chapters of the book. These pages could be easily removed without sacrificing the remaining contents and the understanding of accounting.

Later chapters, however, are also wordy and take too much time explaining concepts that could readily be understood in a couple of lines. You end up getting tired of reading the same thing again and again.

In the end, we have to pay the price for so many pages. With 1300 + pages this book is the heaviest one I have ever carried around. Many people in my class have to use a wheeled backpack. I sometimes can't understand the fascination of editors in the US for such heavy books. If you go to Europe, Asia, and South America, books are usually thinner and much, much lighter.

I would recommend the book to be offered in a CD Rom (or e text) format. Carriyng my laptop around makes more sense than carrying the book.

This book for undergraduate accounting classes at the junior level was more confusing to me than the comparable book by Kieso et al. The sequence of the chapters is not entirely logical. More advanced concepts seem to be covered towards the beginning whereas some basic chapters are discussed towards the end of the book. It was especially confusing when not covering the chapter in chronological order - too bad that my class's syllabus was not outlined according to this book's chapter sequence. In a different class - when we used Intermediate Accounting by Kieso - jumping back and forth was not a big problem. This book by Spiceland also seemed to be very wordy. Studying by solving problems at the end of the book seemed to work. However, it is more important to know how your teacher designs the quizzes and exams and then study accordingly. On the CD that comes with it, there is a lot of ballast. The quizzes are the only valuable thing, I felt. There is not really a lot of use complaining about its weight - accounting books always seem to be extremely heavy and pricy. But this certainly holds true for this one as well!!! When I tried to resell the book at the university bookstore, they would not take it back because it was selling badly on a national scale. Very frustrating when you paid [$$$] just a couple of months earlier...

This book put me to sleep. It is a very bland book. This is based on the volume one edition chapters 1-14.

The self-styled "H.R.H. Prince Michael" claims a descent from "Bonnie Prince Charlie Stewart", the young pretender. Fact is that Bonnie Prince Charlie married Louise of Stolberg. He did recognize an illegitimate daughter, Charlotte, who may or may not be an ancestress of Michael. However, Michael claims that he also descends from a "Prince" born to Marguere de Lussan, and he claims that she had married Bonnie Prince Charlie. This marriage never took place and Charles Stewart never recognized a child by this woman.
To make his claim to royal descent even more ridiculous, Michael has added the completely fake genealogy of the Holy Blood, Holy Grail book to his book, thus claiming descent through the Guises and the Merovingians from Jesus Christ himself! This claim is completely absurd.

However, if you do not mind about historic accuracy, the book is quite pleasantly written and it is clear that the author loves Scotland. Besides the silly genealogy stuff, it contains a series of biografies of Scottish Kings.

As a Scots from Scotland, born & bred on the right side of the borders, this book became within 3 weeks of publication a bestseller (number 2 in Scotland, 7 in UK) and has seen a public awareness of a new alternative to party politics in the up coming and new Scotland. For those die hard pro-Hanoverian (or Windsor as most people know them today), I am glad to say that 'your time is up'. People, in Scotland, are already campaigning for the return of their lawful Royal House in a big way. There are many things which have been said by two particular reviewers, namely all rather negative. However, HRH Prince Michael of Albany is the legal, recognised head of the Royal House of Stewart, a title which has been mentioned on his British Passports since 1986. His claim has never been denied by the authorities in Great Britain and was, in matter of fact, confirmed by the British Home Office on 24-04-91. There are contemporary archives (British State) proving that Charles Edward's progeny, Edward James Stuart of Stuarton and Albany, survived into the 19th & 20th centuries. The book is extremely well researched, drawing from european archives and explains in details what happened to the family while surviving in exile. While passionate, it is focused. The Prince's understanding of Scottish history, for one born in Belgium, is superb and his political analysis second to none. This man, when he becomes King of Scots (notice when, not if), will prove to be what Scotland has been needing all along. A representative of the people, for the people. For all who are truly interested, not merely in the past of Scotland but in her future, read this book and learn. And no matter what some rather poorly misguided individuals may tell you, think Scotland, sing Scotland and support the Royal House of Stewart.

If only this book had been available when I was a schoolboy (post war) and had been taught as our history. Scotland will gain strength from knowing that her true Prince is back to fight for her freedom. This is a Royal House believing in 'Service to the people'. A movement has now been organised around the Prince and Scottish politicians are finally taking note of what visions Prince Michael has for Scotland. I attended one of his lecture (the hall was full, people stood for lack of chairs) and it was the best evening I have had for a long time. The house of Stewart has NEVER died out. If you believe it has, you are a fool. It is alive, kicking, it is modern, relevant, politically aware and ready to make waves. It will also bring Scottish Independence quicker than we think. Scottish businesses are linking with him in an attempt to be more fully and more efficiently represented. It is a breath of fresh air which Scotland has craved for these past many years. It is the most exciting read the end of this century has had to offer. From Scotland to Scots the world over.

I found this book exremely biased, especially on its treatment of ethics and environmentalism, which were extremely collectivistic and altruistic. I felt like I was also overcharged for the text book, for something so vaguely written.

Most textbooks do a very poor job of addressing current issues in a clear, accurate, concise manner. This book, however, is to be commended. I especially found the resource information and discussion cases to be a tremendous benefit. The discussion questions and current event topics encourage the students to explore these issues outside of class, in their businesses and in the community. Business and society is a topic of extreme importance. Unfortunately, it often goes overlooked in so many universities and colleges. Overall, I rank this book as a worthwhile investment and hope the authors continue to explore these important issues in business and education.

IRONIC AND FUNNY (AN I CAN READ)READER. OLDER IS USUALLY BETTER. IT'S CUTE AND IT'S ANOTHER GOOD BOY BOOK. THESE OLDER BOOKS ARE JUST BETTER FOR THE OLD FASHIONED FAMILIES AND MOST HOMESCHOOLERS THAT I KNOW. THE MYSTERY WAS SOLVED, BY THE WAY.

The Council to Save the Planet is a unique blend of science fiction and pro-earth philosophy. The villans are those of us who are ruining the earth. The heroes are those who want to save it. The irony is that those who want to save it nearly destroy it.

A group of highly intelligent individuals form a council who decide that the best way to save the planet from man's self-destructive course is to disrupt society as we know it by causing nuclear explosions in certain parts of the globe. The result is several interwoven short stories documenting the life of key players in the drama of reshaping society.

Lawrence does justice to flawed human character. As you can expect, there are those who try to reestablish society as it was, as if nothing happened. Then there are those who, with entrepenural spirit, try to capitalize on the devestation and pick up where greedy commercialism left off. In between, there are thought-provoking stories of hate, love, and lust, with a lesson in morality at the end of each one. The reader is left with the question, "Am I a hero, or am I destroying the planet, too?" In the prose, we are reminded that the greatest danger is not pollution, green-house effect, or nuclear disaster. The greatest threat to man is man. And that ain't fiction.

I was looking on a resource on daily life in Victorian America. This seemed like the perfect find. Upon getting it home however, I was badly disappointed. Sprinkled with the dryest English wit imaginable, it is essentially the story of a regular person. Apart from her distinguished company, there is little of interest in her life. She travelled frequently, but only did the same thing in other countries as she did in her own - attended cocktail parties, operas, balets, balls and the like. It is reminiscent of the peaceful chapters in War and Peace. On and on, in droning monotone, event after tedious event is described to her somehow interested mother. It does say one thing about rich Victorians: they were boring!

Behind David Lean's directorial masterpiece 'Lawrence of Arabia' (1962) lay a series of attempts to film T. E. Lawrence's life, most of them centred around the abridged version of 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom', known as 'Revolt in the Desert.' Chief amongst the filmmakers eager to produce this epic was the great Alexander Korda, who bought the rights to both books and also to several biographies that contained their material. Korda was asked by Lawrence himself not to make the film while he was alive. Five months later, Lawrence was killed in a motorbike accident and Korda began his preparations. Locations were scouted, scripts were drafted, and several actors were tested to play the lead. Walter Hudd (who had played the Lawrence-based character Private Meek in 'Too True to be Good') and Leslie Howard were the favourites, although Cary Grant and Laurence Olivier were also considered. The Foreign Office thwarted Korda at every turn, protesting that it would be ill advised to show the Turks in an unfavourable light with the ongoing political unrest in the East. After a dozen attempts to make the film, Korda let it slide. This book is tripartite: part one sketches a brief history of the attempts to film 'Lawrence of Arabia' and includes pictures of all the key players. The second part is an interview given by Leslie Howard on how he would play Lawrence; and thirdly, the final script (1938) of the Korda epic is reproduced. While it is a laudable piece of work, the book fails to hang together and emerges as two articles and a film script that are linked by the same subject, but have no cohesion. Part One is far too brief for the reader to gain an understanding of the forces arrayed against Korda and his project, and it would benefit from more research and more expansion on the views of the various directors and actors engaged for the film in its different stages. Part Two is simply the Howard interview with no editorial comment offered. Part Three, the script, also has no analysis. This is surprising, as it is rich in allusion and with peculiar sequences that (to modern eyes) detract from the overall pacing of the film. It relies heavily on 'Seven Pillars' for dialogue and description, with little or no modification. To those who are acquainted with the Robert Bolt script of the Lean film, the Korda Lawrence is but a pale shadow: eloquent passivity rather than "nothing is written" man of action; cold detachment rather than anger and angst in crucial scenes (Tafileh, the Turkish hospital); the smug imperialist rather than the tortured anti-imperialist. Korda's Lawrence was intended to be heroic, a ( ) puff-piece with a serious bite, but looking at the script today, he seems shallow, self-important and obnoxious. The real Lawrence evaded any attempt to capture him by constant shifts in personality, presenting a different face to each person he met. It would appear that the celluloid Lawrence of Korda's vision was the same; and, as such, defeated him wholly.

This book is a good introduction to the hospital ministry, with an emphasis on the structure and routine of the average hospital. A glossary of medical terms in the back is helpful. A section with suggested psalms and prayers for specific times is good. This book would be less helpful to the person with a medical background since they would find much of the content redundant. However most would find this material very helpful to them in getting started in chaplaincy work