Good resource for general Supreme Court information and pre-1992 key cases. However, as those who follow the Supreme Court know, much has happened in the intervening 9 years since the book was published. We currently have a very conservative, yet very active Supreme Court. New judicial trends are emerging in the areas of federalism and congressional commerce powers that are suddenly vastly different from what they had been from the New Deal up until 1995. A glance at recent cases such as The City of Boerne v. Flores and the mind-boggling Bush v. Gore show the Supreme Court's reinterpretation of the reach and power of the 14th Amendment. In short, many of the precedents outlined in this book are no longer valid.

For a more current, and cheaper, book that covers much of the same ground, check out The Oxford Guide to United States Supreme Court Decisions, released in 1999. It only covers the cases, unlike "The Companion;" but that's kinda' the point isn't it?

The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court is a solid compilation of people, ideas, issues, and desicions involving the U.S. Supreme Court. It is getting a bit dated, but it still has many, many entires that will help anyone better understand the court's history.

Like other Oxford companions, this one was compiled by experts in the field and has much to offer. Likewise it has the annoying nuances of the other volumes (such as using symbols to indicate cross referenced items rather than boldface or italics) but these do not detract from the book's value.

Historians, lawyers, consititution adherents, and many others will find this an invaluable resource worth purchasing,...

The _Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States_ is a reference book. The topics are arranged alphabetically, like entries in an encyclopedia. They include biographies of all justices to sit in the Supreme Court up to Clarence Thomas' confirmation, and other nominees or people associated to the Court, important decisions (with dates argued, dates decided, what the vote was, who wrote the opinions, etc), basic terms associated with the Court (such as 'writ of certiorari'), constitutional doctrines (such as 'substantive due process') and other topics, such as a very complete History of the Court. The appendices include the U.S. Constitution, two lists of Justices, one simply arranged chronologically, and one more graphical noting who the President who nominated each justice was, who the Chief Justice was, etc. There is also a short appendix with a number of firsts, trivia, and traditions associated to the Court.

I should say that I am not a lawyer and not a Law Student. I am an interested lay observer only. Yet the book is written at a level which is accessible (even if you sometimes have to go check the cross-references), and very, very informative. Just reading a couple of entries a day will greatly enhance your understanding of the Supreme Court and its role, or how the Justices work.

As a reference, I doubt it has a match. The justices' biogrphies are very interesting, including major decisions or philosophical contributions. The summaries of cases include not only information on the case and the decision, but also any lasting constitutional effects, and whether or not they were later overturned (whether by other decisions, or by constitutional amendments). The historical essays alone would be worth the price of admission, as would the thorough coverage of Constitutional Schools (constructivism, First Amendment absolutism, etc), or important precedents and tests. Just what is the "clear and present danger" test, where did it originate, and how has it been modified since then? Turn to 'clear and present danger' and read the entry. You'll learn all that and more.

I've read the book cover to cover, and emerged with a much greater, clearer understanding of the Supreme Court and the Constitution than I could have obtained from reading any other single book. It is not easy reading (imagine trying to read your way through an encyclopedia...) but even if you pick and choose the entries you read, you'll come out wiser than you came in.

I recommend the book heartily to those interested in the Supreme Court, whether professionally or not. It is well worth the price.

Men Against the Sea is the fictionalized second book in the Bounty Trilogy. Mutiny on the Bounty recounts the tale of the voyage of the H.M.S. Bounty from England to Tahiti and a little way back, the mutiny, and the subsequent events that affect those of the Bounty's crew who remain on Tahiti. When last seen in that book, Captain William Bligh is cast adrift far from land in a small vessel overladen with 18 other loyal men and about 7 to 8 inches of freeboard above a flat sea. Practically speaking, their chances are slim.

Men Against the Sea begins with the mutiny and describes what happens to Captain Bligh and those he commands as they make their way eventually to the Dutch settlement of Batavia in the Dutch East Indies. Along the way, Captain Bligh and his men traverse around 3,600 miles in their fragile vessel while suffering many horrors including attacks from the native people, lack of sleep, storms, bailing for their lives, cold, thirst, too much sun, and hunger. The authors make a good decision in choosing to have the ship's surgeon serve as the narrator of this saga. This perspective made it possible for the book to include his physical descriptions of the deprivations of the Bounty's abandoned crew to help make the story more compelling. In the true spirit of a story about English tars, there is a considerable discussion of how the starvation the men experienced affected their intestinal tracts.

Captain Bligh comes across very poorly in Mutiny on the Bounty. The opposite occurs in Men Against the Sea. His leadership is one of the great accomplishments of seamanship of all time. Throughout the troubled voyage to the first landing at the Dutch settlement on Timor, Captain Bligh only lost one man. Captain Bligh also comes across as a brave, worthy, and dedicated sailor who is more than willing to share the deprivations of his men. In one stretch, he mans the tiller for 36 straight hours despite being exhausted. At the same time, even the most querulous of the crew usually keep their silence.

But the men are only human after all. Someone steals two pounds of pork. Another shipmate sent to capture birds is overcome by the need to eat them, and spoils the hunting for everyone. In their weakened state, they miss many wonderful chances for food. When they reach civilization and begin to recover from their privations, complaining quickly returns.

My test of how well written such an adventure tale is that I often felt like I was in the boat struggling with them. The main weakness of the book is that it skips many days on end, when the circumstances were at their most dire such as during unending days of storms. By doing this, the reader is denied the chance to have the full horror of the crossing bear down more strongly.

Most of the weaknesses of Mutiny on the Bounty are overcome in Men Against the Sea. So if you found that work unappealing, give this one a chance. It has many of the qualities of great survival and adventure books.

After you finish this remarkable tale, I suggest you think about the ways that adversity brings out the best in you. How can you do as well when times and circumstance are not adverse?

Squarely face the challenge, with confidence that success will follow!

I actually picked up Men Against the Sea expecting a mundane but entertaining sea story. It started off innocently enough until the unlucky crew was sentenced to their watery fate. Then the book suddenly plunged into turbo mode. Now, for an authour to write such a long book about the adventures of 18 men on one small boat and not skip a beat is remarkable.
Captain Bligh establishes his presence on the vessel with an iron grip. His leadership skills and confidence are quite extrodinary as he takes control of boat. One cannot help but feel for the crew as they struggle against all odds. Men Against the Sea is one of those stories that swipes the reader right of their comfy couch and throws them head-first into the raging ocean. The writers describe the hunger and thirst of the men so convicingly that I actually had to grab a bite myself or starve with them! The storms and squalls are believably violent and the Island natives frightfully savage.
It is really a great adventure story. The book manages to surpass its predecessor, Mutiny on the Bounty, by leaps and bounds. From rationing food barely sufficient for one man amongst 18 hungry seamen, too eating raw fish, the crew, lead by their relentless captain, are determined to survive. You will no doubt find yourself cheering at their victories and subsequently mourning their defeats.
What makes the read even more enjoyable is the realization that it is basically a true story. Man against Nature! Trully a book not easily forgotten. It has been 4 years since I read the book and it is still imprinted in by mind.

Read it for yourself. Such books makes being an avid reader so much fun!

It was a hot summer day, and I was in the mood for a sea story. I luckily picked up MEN AGAINST THE SEA and quickly became engrossed. Where the prequel, MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY, was a story of a mutiny, this one was one of the best men against the elements stories ever penned. We see a very different Captain Bligh, whose temper still flares up from time to time, but who this time is successful in managing a small crew of men in an open boat over 3,000 miles from the site of the mutiny to Timor, which is today part of Indonesia.

Fletcher Christian and his mutineers allow Bligh and his loyalists no guns, three cutlasses, a small medical kit, and a pitiful store of water and victuals. Their boat must skirt all inhabited islands because they had no gifts to give to the natives -- which in the islands at that time meant that they were risking attack every time. Their water supply came from rainstorms and occasional landings for food. They had no gear for fishing. All they had to go on were Bligh's knowledge and guts.

I actually prefer this book to MUTINY and now eagerly look forward to seeing if PITCAIRN'S ISLAND, the third volume in the trilogy, is as good.

This book is a must-have for anyone who owns a home. It offers clear, step-by-step instructions and expert advice for a wide range of projects.

This book is a real good addition to every carpenter's library. You could even use the woodworking section of this book (Chapter 3) to help you build library shelving that you could then use to place this book (or similar woodworking books) upon. Hot dog!

The illustrations were fun, but they fell short. Any good profesional worth his spackle knows, not every project goes to plan. Aluminum foil covered pennies installed incorrectly in the fuse box, or sump pump flooding, or what to do when you drop a running bandsaws in the crib, the illustrations never tell you about what to do then. But they're part of any job, yet the book really leaves you out to dry. There isn't even a single section on Stop! Drop! and Roll! What if you forgot? What if you mixed them up? What then?

It's still really helpful and comprehensive though.

And while helpful and comprehensive, I do have a few points of "disagreement" about this book too. Mr. Huffington is the profesional, I know, but consider: when it comes to hanging the wallpaper, your standard staple gun work just as well as Mr. Hufnagel's more traditional glue methods. And shingles aren't nearly as complicated as he makes it out to be. Am I the only one who has ever used a tarp to stop leaking? I doubt it. And particleboard cabinets do, too, work. You just need to paint them yellow or black. Mr. TV-money never tells you that. And you might as well rip out the chapter on replacing clogged drainage pipes. It's a waste. Just use the chemicals you have left over from sealing your grout (Chapter 13) and pour them down the drain. Drop in a lit match, leave the room, and you just saved time and money.

And while I didn't care for the salty langauge he chooses to describe his various chores, I forgive him. He should just clean up his "blue" act some. Kids might be reading this.

Although maybe more kids should read this. With their dainty hands they could replace you when it comes to cleaning the gunk from stormdrains (Chapter 23) and dislodging chunks of wood that might jam up an otherwise perfectly good Skill Saw (Chapter 3).

I highly, highly recommend this book!!

This book is a must-have reference for the novice to the expert do-it-yourselfer. It contains well presented, step by step directions to everything from simple, routine fixes to more advanced around the house projects. The clear photography really helped to clarify the sequence of the work. Would make a great gift.

This is a very objective and informative book on General Longstreet who, had he died at the battle of the Wilderness instead of surviving his very severe wounds, may have had a monument on Monument Ave. in Richmond in spite of not being a Virginian. Longstreet fought all the major campaigns of the Army of Northern Virginia from Manasas up to the Wilderness returning after a recovering from severe wounds to command the Richmond theater during the siege and the final stages of the war. Piston points out well that Longstreet was a steady hand for Lee as he called him my "Old War Horse". Enlightened in that he thought of the war in broad strategic fashion suggesting using the railroad and interior lines to reinforce the west with eastern soldiers and he even offered to go himself which he did in time for the battle of Chickamaugua. Longstreet's role in Gettysburg is well discussed particularly the Lost Cause syndrome led by Jubal Early who pins the entire war on Longstreet at Gettysburg. Ironically, Early's original memoirs make no mention of any criticisms of Longstreet until after Lee's death when Early finds a niche to match his abrasive leadership style. Often critics suggest that Longstreet failed in Suffolk, Knoxville and East Tennessee; however, Piston notes that in Suffolk and Knoxville he was laying siege to forces equal or larger than his own that stayed within their works. The attack at Fort Sanders was a severe failure and in the East Tennessee campaign Longstreet performs well but the low point was Longstreet's dealing with personnel in difficult circumstances. Piston demonstrates how Davis micromanaged when he writes of Davis' interference with Longstreet personnel issues. Impressive that after his wounding Longstreet returns for any command that Lee will give him. Piston quickly covers Longstreet's post war career as a businessman, a republican who enters Louisiana's controversial political scene, leads the Police on horseback against a mob only to be attacked himself, his Republican connections and maneuvering for political plum jobs and his final days as a hotel owner and vineyard grower in lovely Gainesville, Georgia. Longstreet's post war writings are covered which had Longstreet been more accurate in his views or memories, his legacy may have stood taller and less challenged.
His criticisms of some of Lee's decisions and turning Republican cost him dearly in the south but he steadfastly refused to change to suit others. The most endearing part of the book is Piston's telling of Longstreet and Dan Sickles after a joyous round of spirits, they walk each other repeatedly back to each others door refusing to end the night of the two most controversial generals who were at Gettysburg.

Piston's book is the first modern account of the first soldier of the Confederacy. Controversial both during and after the war, James Longstreet is one of the most fascinating and forgotten figures in American history. Second in command of the Army of Northern Virginia, Longstreet was the only senior officer who was with that army from the first battle at Manassas to the surrender at Appomattox. He was in command of the most famous attack in American history, Pickett's Charge. His most notable victories included Second Manassas, Fredericksburg, Chickamauga, and the Wilderness. After the war, he did several things considered unpardonable sins by most Southerners, some of whom still cannot forgive him to this day. First, he dared to criticize Robert E. Lee and his conduct of the battle of Gettysburg. Second, he reconciled with his conquerors, became a Republican, and accepted appointive federal offices from four out of the next six presidents of the United States, including President Grant, to whom he was related by marriage. Even worse, he became a Catholic in a staunchly Protestant South. Most important of all, he promoted a doctrine of racial reconciliation that is as relevant today as it was 135 years ago.

"Longstreet is the one Rebel general who's memory hasn't been romanticized." Yikes. That "who's" deserves grammatical capital punishment.

This book is excellent! I love it because you find everything on the market related to drugs. I like the part in which they list the commercial names on each continent, sometimes pharmaceutical companies used different names on different countries.
its a must buy for any person dealing with drugs, pharmacy or health care.

In this book you will find everything you need about drugs: use, administation routes, adverse reactions, interaction with others drugs. All information is based in extensive bibliography. Maybe this edition of Martindale is not as actual as you will need, but is one of the most extensive resource in drug information

For everyone in the health profession The Martindale is a book they need to have. You find all the relevant information about drugs and other usefull substances. Besides this it is very clearly written with no fuss, just the information you need.

Wow ! Every review for every book written by this woman awards five stars. Classic literature doesn't even score that well. This phony should be a little smarter. All of this is coming from a non-competitive "martial art" school that tests four times a year. Spiritual values cost a lot !

This is my favorite book of all I have read. I stumbeled over it beeing an exchangestudent in the USA. It give you great insight to life and encourages everyone to be all they can be and enjoy life. A better book I don't know if it exists. If your in to life or not this is one great way to go ! Love, live, prosper as one as in you and as one as human beings as a whole Enjoy life !

This is an outstanding book due to Ms. Kim's practical view of our lives and how we can achieve our own success in the 20th century. She presents her ideas in a very straightforward manner, yet, she leaves one with the freedom to apply her ideas to our own lives. I was very impressed at the simplicity of the tools she proposes we use. In the section on purity she tells us that if we are feeling down a very useful tool is to ask ourselves what would make us happy. This process is so basic it has helped me to lower my stress by allowing me to focus on what I wanted instead of feeling that I was the victim of something uncontrollable. Grandmaster Kim is one of those very special authors who has the capability to help us influence our own lives. 7 Steps to Inner Power is a powerful book that I will be passing out at our next Manager's meeting.

Freemantle offers us a interesting look as if opening a time capsule of information in 1863. Freemantle enters Texas and his journey starts there. Soon he discovers how soldiers and civilians of the south live and handle the hardships of war. Freemantle meets many popular Southern leaders such as Johnston, Davis, Lee, Longstreet during his travels. He is very fortunate to give us interesting views of the people involved in hardships and conflicts in various cities of the south such as Jackson, Vicksburg, Richmond, Winchester and others. His information certainly documents the timeline. I was most interested in reading about his Gettysburg exploits as he has become more famous in modern times most likely due to the movie, "Gettysburg" in which he presented. I was curious to read about his opinion and eye witness accounts which helped support explanations regarding the Battle of Gettysburg. Freemantle doesn't involve himself in many details of battles or conflicts. He likes to write about people and share his opinion of them. After Gettysburg Freemantle travels north to board the ship China which will take him back home to England. In doing this we are offered more interesting commentary as he writes about northern views and how northerners are coping with the draft, slavery and the war. Overall this is a quick book to read although it is vital for any historian looking to understand people and places during the early summer of 1863. I recommend it!

Fremantle's diary offers an interesting and indeed first -hand view of the Confederacy during his brief tenure in the Southern states. The reader quickly realizes that Fremantle has become quite enamoured with the Southern spirit and elan. Once I finished this marvelous account, I did, though, wonder what his diary would have been like if he'd begun his journey in more Northern climes. It is most interesting to see his natural European bias show at times - his usual disdain for the Dutch and Germans of Pennsylvania, and of course, his affinity for the Southern aristocracy of which as a Brit he is well versed.Also of note is the fact that this account was published shortly after his travels - hence, we see no post-war agenda being served like many other after-the-fact memoirs and such. All said, a wonderful look at the times with a true "you are there" approach (don't miss his climbing in the trees to get a good glimpse of the battlefield at Gettysburg!)

Lieut. -Col. Arthur Fremantle has not given us in this work a tired and boring look at strategy and tactics. He has also not told us anything new about the leading men of the Confederacy. What the reader will get is an excellent look at day to day life in the Confederate army and in the southern nation itself.

The lack of tactical detail could result from the fact that Fremantle, although a career military man had never seen combat until Gettysburg. It could also result from his desire to avoid aiding the north by giving away secrets while the war was still in progress. There are, after all, instances in the book where Fremantle makes it clear that he is not writing about all he saw for that very reason. Whatever the reason, I'm happy he left out the tactics for it would have only slowed down a marvelous account of Fremantle's trip through the Confederacy.

It is obvious early on that Fremantle is very taken with the south and some of his stories about happy slaves might reflect a bit of propaganda. Overall however, his stories of individual behavior are more than credible and drive home the point that this war was affecting the lives of real people, not historical figures. The stories of hotel keepers in northern territory that were hesitant to let him have a room until he produced gold coin for payment, the slave of a Confederate officer leading a Yankee prisoner by a rope tied around the poor prisoner's neck, and the several stories of southern women being far more antagonistic toward the north than were the men, all help bring the human side of the civil war to life. Reading Fremantle's account of General Lee's behavior as his broken troops returned to Seminary Ridge after the disaster now called Pickett's charge almost makes the reader feel as if they were there.

Read this book with a small grain of salt, remembering that Fremantle is writing this book in England while the war is still in progress. His anti-Irish bias kept getting under my skin but as with the rest of the book, you must keep in mind who is writing the narrative and when it was written. Overall however, I think the reader will find that Fremantle's observations are both entertaining and enlightening.

I bought this book and while the photos are, in many cases spectacular, the book itself does not match the previous work by the author. Granted, you get to see pictures of some extremely rare and little-known herps. But, that just whets the appetite for more; especially a bit of text for edification, something which Lamar is perfectly capable of doing. I had hoped this would be on a par with the author's work in the "Venomous Reptiles of Latin America" but it does not match the scope of that monumental work. Alas, this is exactly what it purports to be, an expensive albeit very well done book of pictures. It is worth having if you have money to spare and wish to fill your shelves.

It's easy to read and have lots of beautiful pictures.I brought it at Discovery store at SF.Even it's written by English,but for a graduated school come from Taiwan.This book still easy for me to not only read it but enjoy it.I love this book.

The best reference book foor outstanding pictures. Excellent Photography and hust all around great book!

While I had heard about the disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III, I had not realized that there was a book written about it. "The Dungeon Master" was an interesting read detailing William Dear's search for the missing kid. One thing I found completely astonishing is that the students at this college were actually playing Dungeons & Dragons in tunnels that ran under the school. I am a fan of the game, but what these kids did was a bit much. Anyway, this book is a good read for anyone who enjoys true stories.

William Dear expressed the emotion, tension, and high risks that he and his collegues experienced in an almost minute to minute update of the mystery. This book is far superior to any other detective or mystery story, fact or fiction.
Even though the actions depicted in the book occurred nearly 23 years ago, I felt throughout the whole narrative that I was also in search of Dallas. Willam Dear is a tremendous caring person.

Great book, written from case notes of a 1979 investigation into the dissapearance of a 16 yr. old genius. Great explanation of technique used to locate missing people, and a great story also. In '79 William Dear had to do things the hard way, no cell phones, no computers, no G.P.S., just good ol' fashon' detective work. A really good book that keeps your interest until the very end, a glimpse into the way law enforcement can be led off track and go nowhere, while a private investigator can go places and do things no cop can. I highly recommend reading this book, as well as other books by William Dear.

I am going against the grain of the other reviews here, but this book was a waste of time for me. I was very disciplined in completing the ability tests, and followed all the advice about the personality and motivation portions. I really tried to approach this will an honest an open mind, otherwise you risk doing yourself an injustice (e.g., it's better to answer how you ARE instead of how you WISH TO BE).

What did I learn? I got a "B" in four different abilities (no A's). You are only supposed to spike in one or two. I have "average" motivation in all seven motivation categories, and I am a "Specialist" or "Free Agent" personality (one of the four personality variables was down the middle).

There are dozens of combinations of skills/aptitude/motivation groups that I could try to analyze in order to conclude something. No thank you. A built-in excuse of any author of this type of book is that "I don't really know myself", but isn't that what this book was designed to solve?

In all fairness, there are some pearls of wisdom in this book and it would probably serve a new grad well. Plus, I like the idea of not just evaluating personality (which is common), but also to add the elements of abilities and motivation. The authors convinced me that these three dimensions are important in harmony with a career.

However, the ability tests were ineffective of finding my strengths. The motivation test didn't identify anything significant. The personality test is interesting, but the various Meyers-Briggs books have much more richness, examples and suggestions than the FLAG analysis. This book is cheap, so you may want take this just for the heck of it. But don't count on it working as well as it does for others. Maybe it will, maybe not!

The questions on the tests were fairly obvious (example: "are you a leader?") A lot of the questions were hard to answer, because you didn't know what context they were in, so they could be either way. I ended up directly in the middle for most of the personality and motivation tests because of this. However, I found the text after the questions to be very helpful, and that's why I'd reccomend this book. You have to look at what they say after the tests to really figure out what type of person you are for different jobs.. that part was really helpful, but the tests werent.

I had been injured at my previous occupation, and was eligible for vocational rehabilitation. My employer and VR were willing to help me, but I had a big decision to make. WHAT KIND OF JOB / CAREER SHOULD I CHOOSE? I hit the bookstores and there are dozens of these kinds of books. However, this one is different. It not only tests your aptitude (like other books do and then stop) but also your personality and your motivation. For me this book made all the difference in the world. In other books, I always scored high in two areas. The titles of these areas might be different in every book, so I will use research and practical. "TEST YOUR OWN JOB APTITUDE" goes one step further and crossed referenced results like this. I researched all the choices and decided on a career in Biomedical Engineering Technology. I completed a two-year degree and now have a job that I LOVE. I love to fix things, I love to help people, and I hate being tied to a desk. This career was tailor made for me. I hope this helps you, I have recommended this book to many others over the last 3 years. Some have even changed their majors because of it. I also recommend that a friend help you answer the personality section. I was depressed when I did it by myself and it threw the results way off. A friend who knew me before the accident "corrected" some of my answers. By the way - I am a 41 year-old female and 20 years ago would never have dreamed I could become an Engineer!!!