This is a book is quite good as most Norton Critical Editions are. It has a lot of what is needed by students for a course on Blake or, more likely, a course that spends part of a term on Blake.

It has some biographical material and some maps of England and London at the time Blake lived. There are also a good helping of black and white as well as color plates of Blake's illuminated works. The color plates are only good - the color is not produced beautifully. The student will only get an impression of the true power of Blake's artistry. However, a good teacher will point the student to the Blake Archive at:... so the students can see the works more completely with variants and in better color (if you have good video cards and monitors).

One of the best parts of this book begins on page 176 where working drafts are shown and compared to the final versions. There is also a nice selection of critical writing on Blake - criticism from Blake's time through the present. There is also a useful bibliography.

In some ways this is "Erdman Lite", but it is much more portable than Erdman and for an introductory course on Blake it is probably sufficient. I am glad that I have it in my library.

But please don't stop here!

Nice book, but too bad its front picture cover is defaced by Norton's double-layer of big gold stickers with high-tack adhesive that makes them impossible to remove without adhesive remaining on the cover.

This is absolutely the best compendium of Blake's work which articualtes an outstanding range of his vision. This edition acknowledges the poetry and color paintings of a consumate craftsman of the imagination on high quality, acid free paper and is nylon stitched and bound in signatures to last a lifetime. Books are rarely made this way but the Norton edition is a beautiful rendering of the first, and perhaps, primary British Romantic poet.

Boswell persuaded Johnson, almost age 64, to visit the highlands of Scotland with him in August, 1773. Both Boswell and Johnson wrote small books about it. Johnson's view, both in his letters to Hester Thrale and in this book, was as a social scientist cum historian, taking a clinical examination of the changes that were occurring in Scotland after the Union. Where Boswell's volume (sometimes paired with Johnson's) tends to focus on dialogs with Johnson, Johnson discusses the decaying of the clan structure, emigration, assimilation into the Union... Johnson is very careful as he describes what he sees, carefully measuring distances and relating his observations to historical context.

This review may appear with other editions, but the Oxford edition, edited by Fleeman, is a very thorough and detailed edition for the specialist. For the specialist, it's worth the relatively high price. Fleeman provides detailed notes, and appendices on the the various early editions, cancelled sheets, clans structures, etc. If you are a serious reader of Johnson, as I am, this is the edition to have.

If you are -not- a serious reader, then you would do well to buy the penguin paperback, which combines Johnson's and Boswell's volumes. The two books are fascinating to read in tandem, and it's revealing about Boswell that Johnson doesn't even mention conversations which meant so much to Boswell. In addition, the notes in the Penguin edition (by Peter Levi) are also very helpful.

The -third- part of the story, however -- Johnson's letters to Hester Thrale while J & B were traveling -- are not included in any current edition that I know of. I suspect we will have to wait for an electronic version in order to be able to compare all three resources at once.

This book was my companion on my first trip to Norway, the origin in viking times of the settlement of much of Northern Scotland and the Hebrides. I was curious to know how the region looked in earlier times and, is always the case with the writing of Johnson and Boswell, was happily entertained. If one reads only one travel book then maybe this one is the right one--maybe Lawrence's 'Travels in Italy' is second on my list.

Quite a while back I posted a review of the Oxford edition of Samuel Johnson's writings in which I included a short review of the Penguin edition of the Sctoland journey/journal. Reposting that review to the newest edition of the Oxford book, it occurred to me I ought to place this review where it belongs.

There is little with which one might compare these two wonderful pieces of writing today -- and yet to some extent they are, each in its own way, foundations upon which much of modern writing has been built. Johnson is here, if not at his finest, still nearing an apogee of clarity, lucidity and intellectual rigor. Boswell is making his initial foray into the published first-hand journal, written only half-a-thought out of the public eye, that would eventually lead him to write his enormous and enormously popular Life of Johnson.

Reading the two interlaced is an utter delight -- moving from the formality, grace and power of Johnson to the smaller, more intimate pleasures of Boswell gives one the feeling of having captured, in the adventurous peregrinations of these two inimitable characters, the very breadth and depth of eighteenth century English writing. (I must point out that the Penguin book does not print the two Journals in interlaced fashion, but with a little effort the reader can move between the two so as to get the efect of Johnson and Boswell speaking in turns on the same topology, if not always the same topic...)

To love and admire Johnson, but not appreciate the brilliant, even if much different, stylistic inventions of Boswell seems to me somewhat perverse. Certainly Boswell had his shortcomings, but half the joy of reading and 'knowing' Johnson and his circle comes from appreciating the little peccadilloes and foibles that each displayed in his turn--not the least the Great Cham, Johnson, himself. Having said that I hope I may be allowed one short comment on Frank Lynch's review below. While meaning no disrespect to Frank it seems odd to me that he would note that Johnson does not comment on conversations that Boswell took as very important. Johnson knew of Boswell's journals as they were being written and encouraged Boswell to publish them. Moreover, Johnson was writing a topographical piece and not the more intimate "Travels with the Great Cham" journal that Boswell was writing.

In the long run, that Boswell found these conversations important is what delights us -- his ability to possess and bring weight to the smallness of life contrasts wonderfully with Johnson's ability to enlarge and ennoble life -- and the reflection is an interesting one when we find some of the Great Cham's noble thoughts somewhat bitterly missing the mark while Boswell's little thoughts can roll about one's mind for a very long time.

I cannot think of either of these two men that I don't see Thomas Rowlandson's wonderful caricature of the two walking arm in arm -- the older man a head taller, wagging his finger and pontificating casually and brilliantly on some weighty matter, and the other rolling along beside him smiling with sweet admiration and pride of association. To read Johnson and bypass Boswell, is to find one great treasure and forsake another.

If I must add one small quibble it is that the notes to the Penguin edition seem rather eccentric -- more the product of a dyspeptic travel writer than a Johnsonian scholar.

This is a text book type look at the weather systems that are common in British Columbia and the Yukon. Very well researched and documented with facts as well as anecdotal observations. A must for pilots venturing into this vast wilderness area.

Very good book about weather hazards for B.C. and the Yukon. A must have if you are planning to do any flying in this mountainous region.

For those who wish to read a biography of our greatest chief justice, this is not the book to read. For those who are interested in the jurisprudence of C.J. Marshall, this book provides an outstanding introduction. The book provides compelling, and accurate, evidence that in addition to John Marshall being a great jurist, he was also, and foremost, a founding father -- one of the few who realized the potential for our great nation. While it can be successfully argued that at times Marshall expanded the powers of the Supreme Court beyond those intended by the authors of the Constitution, the book also provides a compelling argument for the necessity of expanding those powers. Johnson successfully reasons that, where it not for Marshall's ability to occasionaly read "beyond" the strict guidelines of the Constitution, the role of judicial review (and hence our constitutional guarantees) would not exist today. Overall, an excellent study into a chief justice whose concerns where not those of partisanship -- but rather those of aiding a fledgling country through its formative years.

Let me first confess that I am the named research aide who assisted Professor Johnson on this book. But what I didn't have anything to do with was his useful organization of the caselaw into topical segments. Not only is this book a useful work for the reasons stated by the other reviewer(s), but if someone wants to know the Court's holdings over time in a number of areas, such as the law of nations or separation of powers, this is a useful book. Professor Johnson organizes the book so that a researcher may use it to glean trends on a particular topic rather than presenting a jumble of topics and leaving it up to the reader to discern the development of the law on a given issue.

I might also note that Professor Johnson's conducted meticulous research over many years organizing Supreme Court decisions by topic in a fashion only rivaled by West Publishing.

A useful book for all nephrology trainees and practising nephrologist, with up to date contents and fully coloured illustrations diagrams. An indispensible tool to everyone caring for patients with renal problems.

The Feehally book is an outstanding book for any fellows preparing for the Board Exam and for any nephrologist who wants to update their knowledge.

Every page is covered with colorful and very useful diagrams. The text is concise, unlike the books by Brenner or Schrier. It hits the main points very much relevant to patient care.

It also digs deeper (with easy to understand explanations) into physiology and pathophysiology. I was surprised to discover that much of the information is VERY up to date.

Another point distinguishes this book from the others. While many other "cerebral-texts" get deep into the theories and mention nothing about the management, this book provides very direct input on relevant diagnostic and therapeutic modalities.

A must for young nephrologist, whether preparing for the Boards or already deep into practice. Another good alternative to this book is the famous UpToDate program.

How many times have you been asked, "What are the chances...?" Or how about, "What percentage of...?" Or, "Is this really indicated?" If you want to know the most common predictive outcomes, current therapies, and management algorithms, then this book will be a help to you. It is very easy to read and includes many algorithm flowcharts. It not only aids management, but also can help with prediciting prognosis outcome (although perhaps to a lesser degree). Not many references, though.

Fantastic Book!! Could not have passed my boards without it!!

I liked this book because it gave me what I needed to know to comfortably pass the 50-634 exam without getting bogged down with too much detail. I used it as a study aid along with my class textbook and selftest software. Good discussion on time synchronization, WTM.NLM, and merging. There are questions at the end of each chapter and at the end of the book that can be used to really test your knowledge. Would be better if these questions were on CD or the publisher's website. I liked the treatment the book gave regarding an IP environment - it enabled me to answer two or three real exam test questions that I otherwise may have missed. I really rate this book at 4 1/2 stars, almost a 5. The Cram Sheet of key facts provided at the front of the book is more of a marketing gimmick than anything else; it's OK for a quick review before you go into the exam but don't rely on it for anything else.

I read the David Clarke 4.11 books then decided to switch to the CNE 5 track. I read this book one time through with no other reference to any CNE 5 book and I aced the exam. This book actually covers more than the Test Objectives. Excellent book.

Recently I had been working on simulation of light propagation in photonic crystals, and found that many materials (text, papers, etc) are difficult for beginners, especially non-physics majors like myself (I'm a computer science people).

[Note that this book itself does not state that it is for beginners, but the tone of the text itself said it all.]

This book fills in the gap nicely. It has a good introduction topics and good explanation, i.e., english rather than mathematical formula, for otherwise rather difficult things. A lot of things, including computational model, are introduced in the text (even I think the computational model section is a little bit shallow). Note that this book might missed out some recent advancement like nonlinear waveguide. However, taking into account that this book is rather for beginners of this rapidly-changing field, it is fine with me.

Cons::
This book has some cons, however. First, it is a little bit pricy. Considering that it is only 154 pages long and pricing at 125$, it is almost $1/page. And at this price, you would expect it to be in full colors with good quality paper (like Joannopoulos' previous "Photonic Crystals: Molding the Flow of Light" book). However, a copy I recieved has rather bad quality paper and only in monochrome. And for this reason, I had lowered the rate of this otherwise a 5-stars book.

This book will be very useful for future researcher in the emerging field oh photonic crystal.

I purchased the book after seeing a story about these murders on a TV news program. I was prepared to think John List is just a horrible, cold-hearted monster. The authors do not sugar coat the facts. However, they do present the murderer as a multi-faceted individual whose life spun out of control. I wouldn't call the book spell-binding or riveting. It is easy to read and interesting. I appreciated the lack of sensationalism and bias. A good story about a tragic event.

I actually grew up in Westfield and remember (though just barely) when these murders actually took place. The authors definitely know the area well and use this knowledge to involve the readers in every detail. When I was a boy, we used to dare each other to run up to the house. It's definitely a piece of true-crime history and one that is described very well here.

This book is so good and so rich with details and confidential information that it begs to be made into a movie! The story itself is like something from the Twilight Zone. I rarely read books twice....But I've read this one twice. According to the author blurbs in the back of the book, these authors each actually live within a mile of the murder mansion, and their intimacy with the neighborhood, the mood of the community, and their access to police and witnesses really comes through. If you only read one more true crime book in your life, this one should positively, absolutely be it.

I have already read the book and study many of the examples, my classmates and I have found many mistakes in the fourth edition, however the information contained and the subjects studied are very complete. I hope the next edition will have those examples solved in a correct way in order to clasify this book as an excellent text.

The book is a great textbook for students and practicing engineers. It covers pretty much all the steel topics. It has plenty of examples from ASD design to LRFD design. I think that out of all of the steel design books out there, this is the best.

This book provides both the theory and practical applications needed to understand both LRFD and ASD Steel Design. The problems provided at the end of each chapter can be worked using either method. The example problems within the chapters provide valuable insight to procedures and techniques in solving problems. Having read many different books by Mr. Solman I have never been disappointed, and have always gained great knowledge from his books.