This book was one of the worst psychology books I've read. It has a very...Ameri-centric view of psychology, and the author tells horrible anecdotes and even has his baby pictures in the book. Have fun with this one in class, kids.

This textbook is a broad introduction to the various lines of research and theory comprising the modern field of psychology. Besides being readable, the novel approach to study exercises, such as "Interactivities," (Exercises relating to the Internet) make the text a valuable resource.

Mr Jackson provides a good overview of battleship history starting at the very beginning of wooden ships equipped with heavy guns right through to the final deactivation of the Iowa-class battleships in the early 1990's. However, the last page contains an annoying error and then the last paragraph has a rather shocking one. First, the book misidentifies the Royal Navy warship that shoots down the Silkworm ASM that was fired at USS Missouri during the Gulf War (It was actually HMS Gloucester). An annoying error to be sure but the last paragraph reveals either bad research or really bad editing. It notes the final disposition of the Iowa-class saying something to the effect of "The Navy's homeporting plan puts [this battleship] stationed at [this base]." The ships and ports provided are the homeports while the ships were in commission! It does get USS Missouri correct but it was odd for a good book to fall apart like that in the last paragraph.

This is a book obviously meant for the layman interested in the history of big gun warships, from the time of the Spanish Armada until the Gulf crisis. It's about battleships all right - little about cruisers or destroyers (the story of the Glowworm sinking is told here). I bought this book hoping it would help me as a modeler, but there are few good photos, and the illustrations are often cutaways showing the inside of a ship - not bad for a student though. It gives somewhat detailed history on warships, such as the Bismarck and Scharnhorst chases, but only the most well-known stuff are mentioned here. As a bonus though, the pic which supposedly shows the midget subs firing on the US battleships at Pearl Harbor is in here. All in all, it's quite an enjoyable read. Not a bad buy. But modelers should get something else.

The manner of presentation in "Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing World" always starts in mid-stream, assuming far too much previous specialized business and technical knowledge on the part of the student. Concepts appear at the beginning of chapters like thunderbolts out of the blue, with little context to help the student understand the actual meaning or significance of the ideas.

Instead of presenting the evidence and steps of reasoning that led up to the concepts and principles in a clear and simple way, the student is given a succession of unmanageable assertions encoded in jargon-filled terminology, to be retained as frozen dogma.

The style and flavor of the writing is extremely artificial and pedantic (at times I found myself asking whether the book was written by a human or generated by a computer). Consequently, most students end up trying to memorize the content without understanding what it actually means or how it applies.

The only positive quality I can attribute to this book is that it presents the phases of systems analysis and design in logical sequence. What it fails to do is explain how each of the principles was discovered by reasoning from observation in a clear, comprehensible and conversational way.

Most of the other textbooks are outdated. The logical structure flow of the book is very good. I use it in my course, taught at the College level. Students have no problem following the book. Examples are good and exercises are clear. The only bad point, the treatment of databases, is light. It will be better if Oracle, SAP, DB2, Siebel, PeopleSoft, Baan, Sybase ... can be included in details. I would recommend to all my colleagues and students.

This book covers the different methodologies and best practices used in project management and business gathering processes. It is a good reference for all levels.

This has to be one of the most boring books I have ever read in my life, therefore making it a waste of my time to read it. I would not have bought the book unless if I wouldn't have had to write an essay on it for my History 1050 class. I do not recommend this book for casual reading, in fact, I do not recommend this book at all. However, if you are involved in History as a profession, or if you are excited by History, then this is a book for you. It provides tons of information, but to me it is all irrelevant. If you are a college student with many other things to do like myself, I will personally tell you right now to leave this book on the shelf.

Remini's book, Andrew Jackson and the Bank War, is a very good book in the way of information. Although it is not a "page turner," it satisfies in giving the information. I would not have purchased this book except it is needed for my American History course.

After reading Bray Hammond's "Banks and Politics in America" and his trenchant critique of the Jacksonian assault on the Second Bank of the United States (BUS), I was interested to learn how Robert Remini, a historian known for his pro-Jackson tilt, responded to that attack on the Old Hero.

The answer is: he responded with a crisp, cogent and remarkably fair and insightful history of the struggle over the BUS.

The BUS had a profound political, economic, and social impact on American life during its short life (1816-1836). In his book, however, Remini seeks to address just one side of the controversy: the political. He concedes that there was much good in the BUS from a strictly economic perspective and destroying it without a concrete plan to replace the monetary institution undoubtedly did harm to the American economy as a whole. But, Remini argues, it was the political implications of the War - not the Panic of 1837 or the subsequent failure to adopt central banking in the US for nearly a century - that had the more far-reaching consequences.

It has been argued that Jackson was the first modern president. It is undeniable that the power of the presidency took a giant leap forward during Jackson's two-terms and Remini shows that those monumental gains in power came mostly during and because of the Bank War.

In particular, Remini argues that the Bank War is directly responsible for three areas of enhanced presidential power: 1) the use of the veto to reject legislation for purely political rather than constitutional reasons, thus inserting the president into the legislative process and, in effect, making his opinion count for two-thirds of both Houses of Congress; 2) even though Remini believes that the majority of Americans didn't support the president's stance on the BUS, Jackson made the election of 1832 a referendum on the bank issue and claimed henceforth that he represented the will of the people and was there one representative; and 3) Jackson's sacking of Secretary of the Treasury Duane for his refusal to remove the government deposits from the BUS exerted the president's right to remove Cabinet members at will, further strengthening the executive's grip over the government.

In short, there is stunning agreement between Remini and Hammond on a number of issues. For instance, Remini concedes that Jackson's veto of the BUS re-charter in July 1832 was pure demagogic class baiting with indefensible charges against the BUS's operations. He also rejects the notion that Jackson's re-election was a popular show of support for his attack on the BUS and he credits Nicolas Biddle with running an efficient, although by no means perfect, central banking organization. Thus, on economic grounds, Remini really sides with Hammond. But, Remini maintains, the economics of the issue was a distant second to the politics of issue. The cause of the War was political - namely, Jackson's refusal to bend or even appear to bend to a political challenge - and the most significant results of the War were political. Remini's case is sound.

Sullivan has some of the basic facts wrong, and a theory on the murderer that makes no sense at all. Cheap sensationalism.

Robert Sullivan graduated from Harvard, Boston College Law School, and was a Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court. He is the only lawyer and judge to write about this case, based on the trial transcript. He also provides more historical details about the Fall River of 1892. He interviewed Abby Borden Whitehead Potter (the niece) who was born in 1883 and recalled the events in 1972. His conclusion was that there could be no other murderer than Lizzie Borden. But no bloodstained dress or hatchet was ever found! This book is based on the known facts; Arnold R. Brown solved the murders by getting the unknown facts.

Robert Sullivan is puzzled by the trial, and the actions of the judges and prosecutors. He believes the judges were "incorrupt". Public opinion came to believe that Lizzie was guilty, and paid off the judges and prosecutors to be found "not guilty". Arnold R. Brown showed that Lizzie was truly guiltless of the murders, and paid off the judges and prosecutors to be found not guilty! The book reprints Judge Justin Dewey's charge to the jury; it is as true today as then.

"... In direct evidence witnesses testify that they have actual and immediate knowledge of the matter to be proved, so the main thing to be determined is whether the witnesses are worthy of belief. The chief difficulty with this kind of evidence is that the witnesses may be false or mistaken, while the nature of the case may be such that there are no means of discovering the falsehood or mistake.

In circumstantial evidence the facts relied upon are usually various and testified to by a large number of witnesses.... When the evidence comes from several witnesses and different sources, it is thought that there is more difficulty in arranging it so as to exscape detection if it is false or founded on mistake....

... expert testimony constitutes a class of evidence which the law requires you to subject to careful scrutiny. It is a matter of frequent observation to see experts of good standing expressing conflicting and irreconcilable views upon questions arising at a trial. They sometimes manifest a strong bias or partisan spirit in favor of the party employing them. They often exhibit a disposition to put forward theories rather than to verify or establish or illustrate the facts.... The jury has the full right to consider them, .., to give to the testimony of the experts such value and weight as it seems to deserve."

Sullivan, a Massachusetts Superior Court judge, did a meticulous review of the transcript. He discusses legal and factual issues in a cogent and clear fashion. For lawyers, it is by far the best book on the case.

He concludes that Lizzie committed the crime, possibly out of material motives (she could have feared that her father was about to convey property to her stepmother). Seems plausible to me. There sure was a lot of circumstantial evidence against her. Those who think she's innocent ought to read her testimony before the coroner. It's hard to explain that testimony except to say that it's a pack of lies designed to cover up a murder. Because of a dubious ruling by the trial judges, the prior testimony was not admitted at trial and, needless to say, Lizzie did not open the door by taking the stand. The verdict was a triumph for the reasonable doubt standard, backed up by an all-male jury's conviction that a respectable woman couldn't do such a thing.

If you're job requires database marketing and you need to find ways to do it better, this book is not for you. This book appears to have been written more for the marketing manager who has database marketers reporting to him or her, but who has no direct involvement in the process. This book is just a basic overview of what database marketing is, with no practical use.
Even the examples appear contrived and not actual case studies.

Incidentally, years after purchasing this book, I took a database marketing course in my MBA program that was taught by the wife of one of the authors. Like the book, the course didn't offer much either.

This book doesn't have a lot of real world business cases, a little bit boring. On the other hand, it doesn't have much theoretical depth either. As a practioner, I didn't find much useful info. inside.

Jackson and Wang have developed a "Bible" for implementing database marketing. The book helps marketers implement a customer management program at any level of application by applying 3 basic building blocks of skills. Best book i've read on the topic !

I'm looking historical news and the divelopment about hiphop colture in better way informations on the meaning of the rule of the WOMAN in all Africa and Africa-aMERICA.aNATHER Subject interest me much than the ather is the implication of muslimreligion in hip hop culture.

A most insightful guide to understaning the culture of Hip-Hop and and it's influences on everyday American Life. Written in a fun yet intellectual manner. The author has presented some compelling thoughts and has provided a most intriguing perspective on what mainstream media has chosen to label "controversial". I have read many other books and articles on the culture and find this presentation to be a must-read, and truthful piece of work.

This book is not only rather dull, it's also mis-named. The disappearance of Amelia Earhart, the fate of Martin Bormann and the LADY BE GOOD, and the German motivation in shooting down Leslie Howard's plane are almost the only "mysteries" investigated. "How close was Hitler to perfecting the atomic bomb?" is an interesting sidelight on the war, but it's not a mystery, nor is the self-sinking of the submarine TANG in 1944. Many of the illustrations included are pure padding and have little or nothing to do with the subject under discussion, and because the author is a Brit, he stretches to include details of British involvement in events in which they were very peripheral.

Gee. Imagine. A British author focusing on British involvement in the episodes covered. What's next? An American account of the U-571 takeover with minimal U.S. involvement [which is what really happened].

Yes, I'm being facetious. Actually, there's nothing wrong with this book, including the use of the term "Unexplained Mysteries" in the title. That's no different than every writer and his uncle slapping a swastika on the cover of just about every book written about Germany's involvement in the war. Once somebody figured out that the symbol sells books, voila, one on every dust-jacket. The word "mystery" is the same kind of "hook."

What you get here, which does include some bona fide mysteries, are concise overviews of the "lost" American Liberator bomber "Lady Be Good" in North Africa; the sinking of the USS Tang; the Rudolf Hess flight to England episode; the story of George Elser, the German carpenter who came close to bumping off Hitler; the sinking of the German POW ship, the Cap Arcona; the murder of "the beautiful Swedish redhead, Jane Horney, accused of being a German agent; the plundered and hidden treasures of WW II; Germany's efforts at producing an atomic bomb; the fate of Martin Bormann; the disastrous effects of the explosions of cargo ships in Bombay in 1944; the killing of Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamato; the Earhart story; the mysterious deaths of hundreds of Italians in a train at the Galleria delle Armi tunnel; and the Leslie Howard enigma.

Mixed in with the accounts are some of the best photographs, poster reproductions, and maps you're apt to find anywhere at the price being asked. Buy it. You will enjoy it.

This book, part of Barrons business series, is another fine addition to any library providing solid sales and management information. However, there are other better books on sales to help sharpen or keep sharp those selling skills.

THIS AIN'T NO DISCO The Story of CBGB. By RomanKozak. Photographs by Ebet Roberts. 143 pp. Boston: Faber & Faber.

BENEATH the Palace flophouse on the Bowery, a former derelict bar exists that now has its history written, complete with a scholarly discography. It's CBGB - mecca of punk rock and hard-core music. Roman Kozak, from 1976 to 1983 an editor of Billboard, takes us through the early days (in the mid-1970's) when the ''shock of the new'' included musical headliners such as the Ramones, Blondie, Television, Talking Heads and Patti Smith.

In reading this lively account, we find out that the owner, Hilly Kristal, slept in the back room for two years and even formed a moving company to help support the financially troubled bar. We discover that the initials CBGB-OMFUG stand for ''country, bluegrass, blues and other music for uplifting gourmandizers.'' Mr. Kristal originally intended his club to present country-and-western entertainers, but after the Mercer Arts Center collapsed, the new ''psycho-sexual'' rock-and-roll bands were desperately searching for a new performance space. Terry Ork, who managed Television, provided advice and connections that proved invaluable in getting the hot new groups to play at CBGB.

Everyone ages - even the new wave. The author uses the recollections of the musicians, their managers and the staffers to convey their special relationship with this funky bar. If keeping the plethora of names straight creates a small problem, the cast of characters listed in the front will help. For the most part, vivid anecdotes keep these reminiscences from bogging down. For example, we glimpse a show by the Plasmatics that featured ''a six-foot-six guitarist with a blue mohawk hairdo who wore a dress . . . mock executions, a shotgun . . . and other mayhem. After the band got more popular it would blow up automobiles onstage.''

So it goes - from the Ramones to the Plasmatics to the hard-core groups of the 80's. The young skinheads who flock to Sunday matinees form the current big scene. They slam-dance to hard-core music, and most aren't old enough to drink at the bar (anyone over 16 can be admitted). Who else would have them? The bums still panhandle outside and the bar is still seedy, but some of the underage kids who used to sneak in a few years ago are now performers themselves -among them, the popular group Murphy's Law. If you've ever had your eardrums blasted at CBGB, you will enjoy ''This Ain't No Disco.''