This is an excellent book with an extremely insightful and fascinating chapter written by Mark I. Gruhin. He is a very skilled writer and lawyer, and I look forward to his future writings.

Being a lawyer in NYC, I was very impressed with some Inside the Minds: Interne Lawyers. Although it is impossible to cover every Internet related topic, the book does a good job at covering some very interesting topics. In addition, the individuals portrayed in the book represent a good cross sampling of different talents related to Internet law. I particularly enjoyed the interview with Mark Fischer at Palmer & Dodge. If you are a woman, make sure to also check out Inside the Minds: Leading Women.

This is a reader that covers the various theories of nationalism as well as varieties of nationalism itself. This makes it a largely indispensable supplement, handbook and reference work for anyone interested in nationalism. This is particularly true today as the scholarship on this social phenomenon continues to grow unabated, and since it is patently obvious that nationalism hardly seems about to disappear. The reader contains important extracts from the major works on nationalism by some of the most important early theorists such as Renan, Max Weber and Stalin (although the views of Marx and Engels themselves or Lord Acton and Friedrich Meinecke would have been welcome additions) and almost all of the most important contemporary scholars (Gellner, Anderson, Connor, A. Smith, etc.). The texts are well-selected and organized, and it really contributes to making a very complex subject and a daunting field of scholarship seem a little easier to grasp.

Professors John Hutchinson and Anthony D. Smith, both at the London School of Economics, have put together here a great collection of texts from the major writers on nationalism over the last 100 years. Starting with Ernest Renan, Joseph Stalin and Max Weber, the book also includes extracts from Benedict Anderson, Walker Connor, Partha Chatterjee, Karl Deutsch, Ernest Gellner, Liah Greenfeld, EJ Hobsbawm, Donald Horowitz, Elie Kedourie, Hans Kohn, James Mayall, Tom Nairn, and Anthony Smith himself, in addition to many others. As in Smith's _Nationalism and Modernism_, all perspectives of the field are represented here. There are 49 essays organized into seven chapters, complete with an introduction to each plus notes, a bibliography, information about each author and an index.

This book is a definite must for anyone interested in nationalism.

John Hutchinson was a Radioman First Class during the Pacific Campaign of World War II and in Bluejacket: In Harm's Way From Guadalcanal To Tokyo recounts his experiences and observations of those dramatic times. He tells of his own personal participation in the battles for the Solomons, the Marianas, the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. A revealing story of unrelenting war at sea and a sailor's contribution toward the defeat of Japan, this totally engaging military biography reads as smoothly as any novel and as dramatically as any Hollywood film. Bluejacket is a welcome and much appreciated memoir and a very highly recommended contribution to the growing body of descriptive literature on the Pacific engagements of World War II.

This edition of the classic 1662 Prayerbook is beautifully illustrated, giving it the perfect feel for mediation and contemplation. It includes the entire BCP with the exception of the Psalter, the Ordinal, the prayers on the anniversary of the Sovereign's accession, and the lectionary for the daily office. With these minor deficiencies noted, you should not be disappointed. The text is beautiful and immortal, and a treasure trove of inspiration. If you don't want it for mediation, then it is worth it to own one of the great classics of all time.

This book focusses on the major elements and principles that make up our technological world. It is a useful reference with a wealth of information and pictures outlining basic technological issues and principles. It is a must have for any beginning technology student or teacher.

At first glance, this thin, 223-page volume, which covers eighteen famous battles, might appear to offer little that is new or noteworthy. However, such a first impression would be erroneous, for the Atlas of Battle Plans is an excellent addition to any military library. This book should also be on the reading list of any serious military professionals.

Although most of these engagements are well known, the essays written on each battle offer amazingly fresh perspectives. The Atlas of Battle Plans attempts to discuss what was planned versus what occurred in eighteen battles. These battles are divided up into six sections, each with three battles that are representative of a given condition. These sections are: the classic ploys, surprise, misunderstanding, mission impossible, underestimating the enemy and narrow margins. The section on underestimating the enemy for example, includes the battles of Austerlitz 1805, Isandlwana 1879 and Singapore 1942. Each section has a brief introduction that summarizes the particular aspects of a type of battle. Each battle essay discusses the plans for both sides and has a before and after map. While the essays are succinct, they are also sufficient to detail the salient operational points. There is also a bibliography following each essay.

The writing style is both excellent and candid. Typically British military historians like to portray disasters as "gallant failures." Not here. In the section on the Blitzkrieg of 1940, the author notes that, "what seemed the 'miracle of Dunkirk must not be allowed to obscure the scale of the disaster: roughly 61 Allied divisions had been destroyed, including the best Allied armoured and motorized formations." In discussing the Battle of the Somme in 1916, that author notes that, "it almost seems as if they [the British generals] sat down and deliberately worked out how to get their own men killed to no purpose."

This volume would best be described as an introduction to the principles of war with case examples, rather than just a summary of battles. Taken together, the essays drive home in text and graphics, the fundamentals of operational-level warfare. This book should be read and re-read by military professionals and serious historians. The only failing of the volume is that not all the principles of war were addressed.

This is an unusual view of Jesus and John, showing a very human and beautiful friendship. There is a reflection section at the end of each chapter to help the reader grow spiritually in the friend- ships he/she has, learning from Jesus and John. St. Anthony Messenger Press, please reprint it!!!

I DISCOVERED A TON OF INFO ABOUT MY RICHMOND COUNTY ANCESTORS (ESPECIALLY CIVIL WAR INFO). WITHOUT IT MY GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH WOULD BE VERY LIMITED

The last book published by Raymond E Brown prior to his death, it combines serious scholarship and prayerful reflection on the author of the Fourth gospel. The reader gets the feeling that Brown knew the "beloved disciple" on a personal basis. Many of the insights he shares about the community of the beloved disciple and the significance of the Fourth Gospel are profound and deeply moving. A book that is a real page turner.

Plato, Complete Works is a must for the bookshelf of anyone interested in philosophy. Cooper's and Hutchinson's edition contains all Plato's known works and even some that might not be his, but are associated with him in some way. The translations are generally well-written and their style more up-to-date and readable than some older translations. As reviewers said before, this book is necessary if you want to understand philosophy and its history.

Except for some of the shorter works, (Euthyphro, Apology, Symposium), Plato's works are not easy to read. Some works are so dense and difficult that you can't see the point of his argument (e.g., Parmenides). If you need some help interpreting Plato, a good introduction to his work is G.M. Grube's Plato's Thought. It provides clear exposition on a number of subjects, including the theory of ideas, the nature of the soul, education, and statecraft.

One needs to decide whether Plato's thought is vital today or just historically important. Those who treat Plato as important today fall into one of two groups. There are those who think he is the source of that evil called Western Civilization. Post-modernists see modern philosophy as a series of rhetorical tropes started by Plato. They hold him responsible for the metaphysical nonsense espoused in philosophy today about reality, objectivity, and knowledge. If you think Plato is total nonsense and think his characters Protagoras (man is the measure of things) and Thrasymachus (might makes right) are largely correct, you might want to compare his work to Derrida or Nietzsche.

Then there are the Hellenists. They think that Plato said it all and nothing (or not much) more needs to be said. You usually get Alfred North Whitehead's quote here about philosophy being a series of footnotes to Plato. If you are so enthralled, you might want to try Allen Bloom, Stanley Rosen, or Leo Strauss.

Personally, I think both readings are wrongheaded for the same reason. In the 19th and 20th centuries especially, philosophy has made conceptual advances on Plato. Frege's logic, Kuhn's history of science, Peirce's communitarian pragmatism, and Wittgenstein's later language theory step beyond Plato.

If Plato is important today, it is for what he started, not what he says. He began the philosophical fields that are still popular areas today, including metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and politics. And he invented the character of Socrates, through which he developed the notions of dialectic and definition. For these reasons alone, Plato's works should be read carefully and often. The fact that you get all of them here in one relatively inexpensive book (at least in terms of price per work) should be incentive enough to buy it.

In ancient times, Plato was regarded as one who writes most beautifully, and even in translation his mastery comes forward.

Reading this book, you are at the beginning of philosophy. There are beautiful dialogs concerning the most profound questions anyone can ask.

An advantage of this particular book is that for a reasonable price you can own Plato's complete works in modern scholarly translations. The volume is skillfully edited and there are handy notes.

Plato is one of the few philosophers who can be read for pleasure. His influence on Western thought is immense. As Whitehead says, subsequent Western philosophy is just footnotes to Plato.

Here are some of the works collected in this volume -

Apology - Socrates defense of his life

Phaedo - a defense of the immortality of the soul

Euthyrpo - a criticism of the Divine Command theory of ethics

Republic - the ideal commonwealth, what is justice, theory of ideas

Meno - the recollection theory of knowledge

Timaeus - Plato's story of the creation of the universe, his cosmology

I have not read every narration and account in this huge book yet but so far I am extremely happy with it. First, Plato's works are wonderful and somehow maintain a freshness even after reading through several in a row. The threads of logic woven through these works are a delight and I have found myself laughing aloud occasionally at the near sarcasm I feel I'm reading - Socrates often comes across as a quick-tongued smart-A**.

The translation is free-flowing and up-to-date. If you can read English, buy this book. If not, learn to and then buy this or have someone read it to you. It is that good and that important.