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This is a valuable text for the economical traveller who wishes to enjoy the people,customs and natural beauties of this country.

It has all the usual features many have come to expect from the 'Lonely Planet' guides.Good area/city maps,travel details, pointers for the culinary delicacies of particular areas,good information on inexpensive places to stay,as well as fascinating sights,places and people to visit,a brief introduction to the(amazingly simple and easy to learn)language,and interesting cultural,religious and other useful notes.

This edition and it`s excellent predecessors have played a major part in assisting me in all of my travels to Indonesia,in both the planning and research stages,and during the travel itself.I am certain that I would not have travelled to some of the unique and rarely visited places that I was privileged to see without the aid of this weighty and at times indispensible tome.

However,the most important thing to take with you is an open mind and heart,a friendly nature,and a desire to get to know the people and their customs.(Language is a great help too.)These ingredients(and the book !)tend to make for a most memorable and enjoyable stay. Bon Voyage !

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This is the most detailed book for a big place like indonesia. Indonesia (outside of Jakarta/Bali) is a perfect match of lonely planet's specialty in off the beaten track and/or budget traveling. Every part of Indonesia is covered, except for the small islands between Sumatra and Kalimantan that might be cool to check out. Its not the Riau - that's covered in detail. It has minimal coverage of the Natuna islands. I'm interested in the islands further south - Tambeian Islands, Dadas Isalands, and Pulau Pejantan. Once they add coverage to these islands then this book will be perfection. This book also a lot of information on Indonesian culture, about a 40% overlap with the culture shock indonesia book.

So far I plan a 2 month trip to indonesia. Fly to hong kong, spend 1-2 nights there. Then fly to malaysia or jakarta (whichever is cheaper). Then take a boat to Pontianak, spend some time there and sinkawang (probably a week). Check out the islands between kalimantan and sumatra (1-2 weeks). Then go to the todgean islands, getting their via ujung padang to ambon and then spend the rest of the time (probably a month) chillin and snorkeling / scuba diving. Then go back trhough jakarta or malaysia, spend another 1-2 nights in hong kong, and then come home.

On planning a trip to indonesia I found this guide book from the Lonely Planet Series. I was attracted by the clear concept of the book that makes it easy to find the information, that you need. It provides all the necessary information for a traveller who wants to get of the beaten trak, but also includes the "must see" sights. Specially the Places to Stay and Places to Eat sections are clear and give good and reliable information. It made my trip to indonesia easy and worth a while. I strongly recomend a Lonely Planet book if you like to travel and you want to see as much as possible.

I chose to read this series in chronological order and not the order in which they were written. This being the third to be written but last in order, I read this one last. I must say that I was surprised at how enjoyable a read it was seeing that the last two I read (The Pathfinder and The Pioneers) were pretty disappointing. This novel has excellent descriptions of the prairie setting and the characters involved without weighing the reader down with page upon page of needless descriptions or rhetoric. The story line was very well-conceived, plausable, and coherent; qualities which not many books can boast. Of course, this being the last book in the series, I was concerned about how the author would conclude the saga of Natty Bumpo. Not wanting to spoil anything, I must say that I was very impressed with the way Natty's character was handled. There is nothing worse than reading five or so books and having the author ruin them all by messing up the character at the end. No need to worry here. This novel pretty much has all the ingredients which make The Deerslayer and The Last of the Mohicans exceptional: indian warfare, revenge, some romance, the differences and similarities between Natty's and the American Indian's religious views and philosophy on life, and of course just some good ol' action. I would recommend reading this series in chronological order, but if you do have to skip one of them, The Pioneers can be that one and you would not really miss a beat.

Third in the Leatherstocking Tales series, The Prairie finds Nathaniel Bumppo beyond the Mississippi as the encroachment of civilization pushes him further and further afield. There are five books to the Leatherstocking Tales. Cooper did not write them in chronological order. Accordingly, The Prairie relates the close of Bumppo's career among the Pawnee and Sioux of the Great Plains. As with The Pioneers, The Prairie starts slow and takes time to develop. Additional concessions must be made for a least one plot twist that tickles the limits of plausibility. It should be remembered, however, that the age and the romantic style of writing then in vogue permitted latitude today's novelists are not afforded. Be that as it may, once past this questionable plot development, it matters little for the book is that grand.

Sioux and Pawnee, contesting the plains, find Bumppo, a wagon train of shifty settlers, and a bee-hunting suitor caught between them. What follows is a historical novel which includes every ingredient required for a masterful yarn. Bumppo, in this case "the trapper", represents the ultimate antiestablishmentarian as he longs only for freedom and the space to enjoy it, despising the restrictions of polite society. It is a message that has not lost it's power. Indeed, James Fenimore Cooper, through the Leatherstocking Tales, exquisitely captures a period and place in a manner so evocative that the reader longs to range beside "the trapper" through thick and thin , through the length and breadth of the fledgling American frontier. Having read more than my share of historical fiction, The Leatherstocking Tales rate as one of the finest examples. The Prairie is no exception.

Fare thee well, Natty Bumppo.

This large, very elaborately written book is the first of the Leatherstocking tales Cooper wrote. It is, however, about Natty Bumppo's (aka Deerslayer, Leatherstocking, Hawkeye) final days. In this novel, he's more of a peripheral character, witnessing at least 2 other, very intriguing adventures.

The story is integrated in fantastic descriptions of the prairie; reading it you can almost feel the beauty and power of the unenslaved American wilderness.

Clyde Bresee experience as a youth in the South gives us a view that is not shaped by the Southern Culture but comes through as an objective on looker that understood the plight of the slave and the free men. Plantation Life after cotton and war.Priceless.

This book offers a delightful walk through the south of the 1930's. The culture is penetrated through a child's uncluttered horizon. Coupled with a mature sifting of events this book offers wonderful insight into the healing, fragile and unique culture of Charleston. Wonderfully written, this book offers a charming notch of history.

From the New York Times Book Review-- Mr. Bresee is a writer of distinction from whom we must hear more. His prose is transparent, supple and spare; he evokes unhurriedly the smells and textures of the Southern world of his boyhood; his account of the fading landed aristocracy his father worked among is both astringent and forgiving; he is honest in his own baffled hypocrisies over "color." Through the power of Mr. Bresee's writing we travel deep into the heart of a troubled culture and the "unexpected" ambiguous beauty of a childhood lived in it.

Describing the James Island Creek he played in as boy, Mr Bresee writes: "The tide was far out and we stood still for a few moments trying to see everything at once. To have this shoreline for a playground was almost unbelievable. This living, warm thing before us and a stream of moving water! The sloping plane of mud, popping in the hot sun; the black surface skimming with fiddler crabs that vanished like raindrops when we approached."

Those fiddler crabs vanished then -- but they are here, now, caught for us in the fragile but enduring net of langauge.--Andrew Harvey

From The Library Journal-- "Often humorous and even bittersweet, the book is a poignant reflection of the Southern customs, family life, school and race relations."

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer -- "Bresee's prose is cadanced and flowing...a moving look back at his formative years in an alien place."

The first two volumes in this series are fascinating looks at Sturgeon's development, well worth reading for those who are already fans of his. The third is where Sturgeon really starts to hit his stride, though, and this fourth volume is the first that I can wholeheartedly recommend to those previously unfamiliar with his work. Not every story here is superb; some are a bit dull, and some are overlong and predictable. But there's enough excellent material here to make it a solid introduction to Sturgeon's work, and the fascinating end-notes on each story by Paul Williams will make you wonder why other authors' complete-works collections can't be as thoroughly researched or as interestingly annotated. "Maturity," the first story here, is a masterpiece in the old sense of the word: it marks Sturgeon's transition from journeyman to master, while prefiguring _Flowers for Algernon_ (and predating it by a good 20 years). Other high points of this collection include the non-fantastical "A Way Home," the horror story "The Professor's Teddy Bear," the hilarious "Tiny and the Monster," and "Thunder and Roses," which is still relevant after 55 years.

Four volumes in and no clunkers yet, this guy had something special . . . and his Hugo and Nebula winning short story is still about thirty years away. Wow. If you've been following along all this time let me just say that this volume will give you more pleasures than any writer had any right to give you, most writers have a couple truly amazing short stories within them and while not everything Sturgeon wrote was genius the sheer amount of good stuff here is simply astounding. "Thunder and Roses" has to be one of the most humane stories ever written and others like "There is No Defense" or "The Professor and the Teddy Bear" (if it doesn't scare you, you must not have a pulse) stand up remarkably well. Again, you owe it to get every volume of this series and save it for the generations to come, we have so few literate writers these days and those few that we have deserve to be remembered and enjoyed. Sturgeon is one. Read him.

This guy knew how to write about love, in all of it's phases, yet never or rarely descended into mawkishness. And a lot of his considerable output is classic. Buy it if you have to skip lunch for a week. If you've never read Sturgeon before, you're in for a treat, language of a grace and power to rival Bradbury and a way of moving along jauntily that compares with Henry Kuttner (Lewis Padgett) and Alfred Bester.

I injoyed reading this book. It is one of Verne's better pieces of writing that I heve reviewed

This is one of Verne's best books. It is full of scientific and technical/technological details (I had to use several encyclopedias/dictionaries to find some words' meaning), historical references - no doubt Verne researched the topics thoroughly. It is also humorous in places but certainly entertaining and serious on every page. As the story progresses you will discover Verne's view on society in sentences like "The world needs no new continents, it needs new people." As for the storyline, you will never guess what happens next. Every intelligent person with an open mind will find this book a must read.

Most of Jules Verne's works were hastily translated, with many "improvements" made in the process, such as deletion of scientific exposition, as well as deletion of many moments deemed by the translator as dull.

This, the Restored and Annotated version of 20,000 leagues, is a VAST improvement over previous English editions. The translation is very well done, and the annotations explain what has been changed and what previous translations accomplished.

Highly recommended!

AS fate would have it, i was given this book at the tender age of 12 by my best friend's mother. Growing up in a house with 2 sisters i was clueless to the minds of young men..a mystery..never understood why the neighborhood tough guys felt the need to pelt us girls with grapefruits from the safety of their fortified clubhouses and armed camps. I love this book..Robert Smith has captured the innnocent and fearful thinking process of young boys that transcends the generations..haven't we all put our fists to our eyeballs in the dark of night to see the flashing lights??

Through it all he maintains a dry wit and subtle humor than endears the reader. I re-read it once a year just to get perspective on the youth in America...a treasure not to be missed..his narrative on losing at marbles to the town bully is a classic.....fears and joys..isn't that what childhood is all about?With a wry perspective and total honesty, Robert Smith manages to ring a bell of truth in this slice of life.

This timeless collection of childhood memories is a classic. It can be read at any age, because everyone, boy or girl, man or woman, can relate to its tellings of childhood memories, dreams, and shenanigans. This is the best book ever written, aside from the Bible.

As a young man, I found this book among some of my Father's collection. It seems it has been twenty years since I read it, but the images of life portrayed by the Author are still imprinted on my mind. I can remember the wholesome, innocent feeling that came over me, even as a rebellious youth, as I read each chapter. Even the detail of each story has escaped me now, but the impression it has left is inescapable. And now after all these years, Through Amazon.com, I am able to rekindle this friendship, between that old book and I. It is a "must read" and should be considered a classic for young people in school.

It is not so easy to determine where Foucault is attempting to go with his published books. In this sense, the books from "Madness and Civilization" to the 3rd "History of Sexuality" can be thought of as practical works that have specific institutional and discursive aims. Thus, they are short in explanation of the methodology and instead such intentions are available as they are practiced in the texts. For example, philosophers such as Nietzsche and Marx, to name a few, are hardly mentioned in Foucault's book; however, they are often evoked and utilised without obvious references or footnotes. As Deleuze once commented: Foucault doesn't say what to do, he just does it.

Thus, Foucault's occasional essays, covering academic journals, popular press, lectures, introductions, and so on, serve to clue us, the readers, as to where Foucault is coming from, and, furthermore, in which direction his thought is heading.

This edition, covering Foucault's superb writings on literature, his mentors, music, as well as other philosophical movements, situates a thinker within an intellectual context from his very own words. In "The Archaeology of Knowledge" Foucault begins by saying "do not ask me who I am..." To be sure, with this volume, we can begin to better understand Foucault without the interface of commentators and scholars. Directness of discourse is an important element in Foucault's thought...

Although much of the pieces that appear here have been previously translated and released in a variety of formats, I predict that any scholar or occasional reader would be pleased to accept this redundancy for the very convenience that this collection presents.

Some most interesting pieces include, the previously hard to find Foucault's response to Derrida's reading of "Madness and Civilization"; Foucault's responses to the Epistemology circle; and an illuminating interview in which Foucault situates his thought in 20th Century French intellectual life. In addition, this collection includes popular 'staple' such as "Theatrum Philosophicum," "Nietzsche, Freud, Marx," and "Nietzsche, Genealogy, History," all of which provide endless insight into Foucault even despite numerous re-readings.

While serious followers of Foucault's works would benefit greatly from this collection, this would also serve as a good introduction to Foucault--maybe second only to the cartoon books on Foucault!

And to close: if Nietzsche was the greatest philosophical stylist, this collection demonstrates conclusively that Foucault was a close second...

Michel Foucault , i think should be read by anyone read and liked Nietzsche.

The book centers on the life of Robert MacDonald, an engineer who has spent his life on the Project-a giant listening post in Puerto Rico that scans the heavens for signs of life out there. Just as the project is threatened with demise, a signal is received from the planet Capella. Religious fanatics are convinced that it's a message from God. MacDonald deciphers the message which is a basic primer to their counting system and what appears to be a note that their sun is expanding and killing off their planet. MacDonald gets permission to reply. The catch is that it takes forty five years to reach Capella and then their reply would take forty five more years to get back. At the end of the book, MacDonald's grandson is running the Project to hear the Reply. On that day, ninety years after receiving the message, the Reply comes and the World is listening.

I read the Listeners when I was in college in the 80s. The edition I read had a forward written by Carl Sagan. The book was truly visionary and insightful. Some years later Contact came out and I was amazed at how Sagan had comletely stolen Mr. Gunn's plot. What really purturbed me was that nowhere in the credits did Mr. Sagan even mention James Gunn. It just seemed to me that Sagan just stood by and took credit for the entire story. To Mr. Gunn: The Listeners is a much better story than Contact! Thanks.

On a desperate hunt one summer day for that science-fiction rarity -- a sci-fi story that followed actual scientific laws and did not try my intelligence and patience, I accidentally discovered two books at a used book store. One of these books was Wine of the Dreamers; the other novel was The Listeners. I read them both- and fell in love with them both.

I was in heaven that late summer. This was real science fiction. These books were fantastic! There were no "starships" or "Deathstars. There were only well-drawn, complex, and brilliant characters using their scientific and technical gifts.
Obviously, as one reviewer had already observed, this "first contact" novel was the inspiration for Carl Sagan's later work "Contact." In my opinion, "The Listeners" is the better-written book, even though I will always remain great fan of the late - and forever great - Carl Sagan.

This is a good book which is a good reference for me. However, when I got the book and was working through some of the real world exercises. I wanted to download the files that are referenced by the book for the excercises. This is because the book explains more things related to the files than are in the snippets in the book. Anyway, I went to the site referenced and I am continuously getting the page of Death "page can not be displayed". Needless to say I am left wanting.

Love this book - as a seasoned web developer with heaps of experience I find this book a great reference tool, fantastic prompter when I'm struggling with XML techonologies, all round very well written and did I mention already PRACTICAL.
If your confused now or then by XML or you know nothing and want to learn from scratch then BUY this book.
Chapters are well defined and organised, it covers everything from css - to XSLT, client side, server side applications and good practices. Well written - without this book my XML nappies would be on the floor.

There are dozens of books on XML, the difference is that this is solely focused on the web and very practical oriented; it's not that much about XML theory but it's full of real world examples. The most valuable chapters in my opinion are the ones covering XML support inside the various browsers, the info about client-side XSLT, XML and CSS and DOM manipulation with JavaScript are something that you will not find elsewhere

I found this book informative, but an unnecessary read.If you have a brain that functions at a level above a 10-year-old's mind, then this book will not teach you anything new.Yes You Can reiterates the importance of saving your money to build interest, but spending enough so you get the most you can for the value of a dollar. You should have a budget and decide what to buy carefully. Plan for the future. Personally, I feel this book should be retitled "Idiot's guide to money." Yes You Can may be vital for some, but hopefully common sense exists in most.

I have two of this book and loan to young people to read. This book teaches the importance and benifits of investing in an easy manner. The book is tops and so is it's author.

I was initially attracted to this book because I have several mutual funds with Mr Stowers company-AMERICAN CENTURY INVESTORS (formerly 20th Century Investors) Stowers espouses the power of mutual fund investing, valuable at a time when many literally deify individual stocks, includes charts and how to pick mutual fund winners--as Stowers states; "All mutual funds are not equal, some are better than others" Finding money to invest and post retirement strategies. The personal survey included in the book is like a financial check up and future planner. If you want to make a profit from investing and get the most from mutuals this is the book for you. I also highly recommend "MORE WEALTH W/O RISK" by Charles J. Givens and 'Mutual Fund Strategies" by Jack Dicks.