Please excuse my spelling, it's terrible This book is terrific. I started reading this book and couldn't put it down. It is a fine collection of stories ranging from the great soilbank days when Kansas alone had 4 million birds to the Royal hunts in Europe where an average daily bag mesaures in the thousands, It has stories more like mine where the average hunt ends with tired dogs and few birds. The book through it's many differant authors also explores the ethics associated with hunting. This book is for the bird hunter who's cleaning his gun for the third time this week when hunting season isn;t for 6 months. It's for the guy who can't stop dreaming of how his new pup will do his first time out. It's for the guy who spends more time with his dogs than with his wife. All hunters will enjoy this book, but the true bird hunter won;t be able to put it down.

Though he lived over 200 years ago, John Richardson was the first navel surgeon. Way ahead of his time, he performed operations of bellybutton-alteration on such contemporary superstars as Martha Washington and Betsy Ross. That was before the Colonies revolted of course!

The Sixth Market is an excellent primer for new securities traders. It is well written, easy to read, and explains the subject of trading in a simple, but uncomplicated manner. The three authors combined 60 years trading experience provides readers with the basics for understanding what trading is all about and what is required to succeed. The authors are not only traders, but are also educators, and two of them have written numerous books on trading.

The first part of the book provides a short historical perspective on the securities markets from the beginning until the present time (Sixth Market refers to self-directed traders who trade electronically). The book also contains a 14 page glossary and a list of recommended reading, selecting a broker, and getting the right computer and trading setup.

More than half the book is devoted to the Six Steps necessary to prepare for trading. It is a comprehensive approach that includes:

1. Building Self-awareness ( goals, trading style, success factors, and discipline) 2. Learning Market Fundamentals (markets, orders, Level II, short sales, trading rules, selecting broker) 3. Understanding Charts (market psychology, candlesticks, support and resistance, moving averages) 4. Trading From Reliable Chart Setups (High probability patterns, trading plan, gaps, exits) 5. Mastering Your Trading Plan (risk and reward, money management, discipline) 6. I Don't Have the Willpower to be Disciplined (self-directed study)

Theey to trading is a solid education, discipline, and a trading plan. That is what this book covers, and that is why is great for beginners. There is no fluff in this book or war stories just the facts. I highly recommend this book to those just starting out in trading.

This book tells the "story" of environmental racism that has and is being perpetuated not only in Atlanta, but in all major cities across America. The magnificent work of the Environmental Justice Center has another, and wider platform to reach the masses. The chapter on public transportation is a defining piece of work. Mr. Torres' use of GIS technology to analyze the issues has taken the tool to new heights. Every school of planning should have this book read by their undergraduate and graduate classes. This is what's missing!!

This book was a visual journey into the lives of early 20th century black america. Many of the pictures could be termed as "dignified photo essays" of life in the black community.You feel as though you are right there behind the lenses of these photo's while they're being taken. They almost have an "ethereal beauty" about them. In these photo's you can see the dignity of a race of people who were considered low class at the time of the photographs, but in the way they are portrayed you feel like you're in the presence of royalty. "A visual treat for the eye's" is the best way to describe this book . It is also well worth reading as you enjoy the beautiful photography! I would highly recommended this book to african americans and those who enjoy a look into the past!

Robert J. Kennedy's walk to Alaska is one of the most exciting adventures of all time. His humor, honesty, humility and courage will touch the reader deeply. The book's style is uniquely cryptic, but enjoyable once you get used to it.

No matter what goes wrong, Kennedy maintains an upbeat attitude at all times. His conversations with his buddy Ty, who came to visit Kennedy three times during the walk, are truly delightful and insightful. Several times in the book I was moved to tears. And many more times I found myself laughing out loud.

Kennedy strikingly lacks the crudeness often found in other adventurers. His ineptness is also unique among adventurers, but that only endears him further.

I strongly recommend this book for readers of all ages. Kennedy's story proclaims loudly that chivalry still lives; and it also has a sense of humor.

That so many things could go wrong during a 5-month walk is almost incredible. But the book documents the events with great detail. The reader often feels he or she is right there walking alongside. Or crawling alongside, in some cases.

The bear encounter is truly gripping, due mainly to its remote and dark setting.

Buy this book, but don't expect it to be anything like any other adventure book you have ever read. This is a spiritual journey as well as a physical and romantic one.

I cannot recommend any book more highly.

The first volume of Robert Caro's mammoth biography of Lynson Johnson was one of the best books I read last year - gripping, immensely readable, shocking and insightful. Hence, I came to the second instalment with a real sense of anticipation and excitement. For the most part, Caro did not let me down.

"Means of Ascent" deals with the period between Johnson's unsuccessful campaign for the Senate in 1941 and his victorious campaign in 1948 - the election in which Johnson won by an incredibly dubious 87 votes and earned the nickname of "Landslide Lyndon". "Means of Ascent" delivers a number of further blows to Johnson's legacy - Caro reveals the extent to which Johnson inflated his role in the Second World War, lays the groundwork for his look at how Johnson allegedly accumulated vast wealth during his career in public office and then, in the bulk of the book, provides the reader with a comprehensive study of the 1948 Senate Campaign which seemed to alter Texan (and US) politics for ever and cast a permanent cloud over Johnson's legacy.

Caro's indictment is damning and his analysis creates compelling reading. My only complaint would be that Caro may, to a certain extent, devote too much time and attention to placing Johnson's opponent, Coke Stevenson, on a very high pedestal. As a result, the reader cannot help but wonder whether Coke Stevenson was, in fact, one of the most honest and genuine politicians ever to grace US politics or whether Caro's portrait is, to a certain extent, provided through rose tinted glasses. Caro's telling of the story of the campaign does, at times, become repetitive - he devotes page after page to Johnson's innovative use of a helicopter in the campaign and I have to admit that, after a while, I began finding the description a little too tedious and repetitive for my liking.

Nevertheless, the book is fascinating and every bit as well written as the first. Furthermore, I feel that it can be read on its own and the reader need not necessarily have read "The Path to Power" before coming to this book. Once again, this is political biography at its finest and I await "The Master of the Senate" with eager anticipation.

I have to disagree with the universal 5 stars this book gets from other reviewers here.

First, readers not familiar with Caro should know that he uses LBJ as a springboard to do a larger social history. In the first book, this included fascinating insights into what daily life was like in rural Texas and rural America in the early part of the 20th Century.

One weakness of this 2nd volume is that, despite an early go at Johnson's WWII service & early time in Washington, Caro largely narrows this focus down to Texas itself, a particular election, LBJ's opponent in that election, and finally even to one flunkie in the Texas political machine. This somewhat derails both the social history aspect and the LBJ-biographical aspect.

(Readers who don't want to have some of the story given away shouldn't read the rest of this review.)

Caro tips his hand with this book. In the first volume, Caro says Johnson stole all his early elections, even little ones. Caro tells the tale so well in that book that the whole story becomes rather shocking, even in today's politically cynical age. Here, Caro says Johnson stole his big Senate election. It's becoming quickly apparent that Caro is prepared to tell us that Johnson stole literally every single election he ever ran in during his entire life. I think only the biggest Johnson-loathers around would buy this premise on its face.

Still, this a fantastically-written narrative, and I eagerly await the 3rd volume. But, in the end, let's hope that Caro's whole story doesn't simply boil down to the thesis that "LBJ is not only as bad as you've ever heard...he's WORSE." Given how much of his life Caro has devoted to this work, and how much time and money we readers have devoted to it as well, it would be a shame if Caro's sweeping narrative proves to ultimately be that narrow.

Volume 2 of Robert Caro's biography of Lyndon Johnson takes the reader through the 1940s, from Johnson's (brief) wartime service to the Texas Senatorial Election in 1948.

In fact most of the book is devoted to that 1948 election - Johnson was running against the seemingly unassailable Coke Stevenson for the Democratic Party candidacy. Caro describes the campaign in great detail, and I found it fascinating stuff. The main strength of the book is Caro's gift for telling history in an interesting way - this book reads almost like a gripping political thriller.

I had reservations about the balance of Caro's analysis in the first Volume of this work, and I suppose there are similar problems with Volume 2 - there is absolutely no doubt that Caro sees Johnson as the villain of the piece, with Coke Stevenson the hero. Things are rarely as black and white as this, especially in politics, and I doubt that Johnson .... a previously pristine state electoral system. In the introduction to this volume, Caro blames Johnson openly for bringing the Presidency into disrepute - but what does that really mean, is that an idealised view of the past, what about the distinctly shady Presidential race in 1876, for example? More contextual objectivity is needed.

Yet, even with these faults, this was a superb read.

MASTER OF THE SENATE was one of the best books I have ever read. I read the book this summer and chose not to write this review for a few months to reflect on that thought for a while. It's true. This is the perfect meeting of an inherently fascinating figure (Lyndon Johnson) with a masterful researcher and writer (Caro) through the vehicle of an important yet under-examined period of American history.

So much has been written about Johnson that a thousand-page biography has a massive challenge in just offering something new. Caro meets this challenge in several ways: First, the book is as much about the U.S. Senate as it is about Johnson himself. I am aware of no other book that focuses on the Senate in the 1950s, and in that way alone this book is highly original. Second, Caro returns to the form he perfected in THE PATH TO POWER by delving into detail so precise that 1000 pages are necessary to get the whole story out. A lesser work containing the same information would be dull, but Caro's craft is finding beauty in detail. His first Johnson biography achieves beauty - it really changed the way biographies are written - in more than 800 pages devoted to Johnson's early life. With MASTER OF THE SENATE Caro again creates a story written well enough to be enjoyed for its writing alone. I suppose he could write a gripping stiory about just about anyone or any thing, but given Johnson's personality, accomplishments, contradictions and drama-quality, Caro had the perfect subject to apply his talents.

This is a tremendous relief after 1990's disappointing MEANS OF ASCENT. In that book, Caro makes the most of his story telling skills, but the story he tells is misleading and too black and white. The Johnson of that book is to villainous, his rival, Coke Stevenson, actually a right-wing racist good-old-boy governor, too angelic. The preface of MEANS OF ASCENT describes a thrilling scene from Johnson's presidency for balance, to set up a "light" and "dark" thread analogy as an excuse why the story that follows is so very one sided. Not so with MASTER OF THE SENATE. Caro's Johnson emerges as far more complex, far more gray than the character in his earlier book. Occasionally, Caro may go a little too far in drawing attention to Johnson's good side. As if smarting from criticisms of his MEANS OF ASCENT, Caro occasionally stops the narrative to explain how this or that act of Johnson was so very, very, very important for the future of the free world. Caro doesn't need to do that - the story speaks for itself.

MASTER OF THE SENATE contains several mini-biographies of other figures, such as Richard Russell and Hubert Humprey who play important parts in the larger story. The book's first hundred pages is not about Johnson at all, but a history of the Senate up to the time Johnson entered it. Again, a lesser author would have botched this. Instead of being distracting, these side stories are engrossing and help establish the richness of the whole work.

Strom Thurmond doesn't get his own mini-biography, but as the last member of the Senate still in office from the time of this story, he serves as sort of a yardstick measuring how far we've come. Thurmond was one of the mist virulent racists in a Senate largely controlled by virulent racists. After one particularly venomous speech, one arch-segregationist commented that "Strom really believes this [racist] stuff." The comment is striking especially in the wake of the recent controversy over Trent Lott's comments. The implication seems to be that the one segregationist Senator more or less felt compelled to race-bait for political reasons, which Thurmond was a true believer. This makes the praise he has received for "overcoming" his prejudices now that he's 100 (and African Americans can vote) somewhat suspect. It also makes Lott's apology suspect - would today's "master of the senate" preferred to have been elected 50 years earlier? If he was, which side of the great 1957 Civil Rights Bill battle would he have been on?

If this seems like a digression, it is meant more to be a reflection on how a serious history like MASTER OF THE SENATE has real relevance for contemporary citizens. It is not only a good book and an interesting story - it is an important source of civic information. It took Caro 12 years between his last book and this, but after reading MASTER OF THE SENATE I can hardly wait for his next one.

In each of his books, Robert Caro says he seeks to understand power, to explore it through his writing and lay it bare for his readers. The titles of all his books show his fascination with the topic: "The Power Broker", "The Path to Power", "The Means of Ascent", and, finally, this one, "Master of the Senate".

No one can doubt Caro's commitment to the subject. In "Master of the Senate" -- the third volume so far in his multi-volume biography of Lyndon Baines Johnson -- Caro has written a thousand dense pages on what is really no more than ten years in the life of his subject (1948-57 -- the final three years of LBJ's Senate career, 1958-60, are dealt with perfunctorily in the book). His research is obviously very thorough, even a little awe-inspiring. The power of Caro's narrative is also compelling; he knows how to tell a story.

And the story Caro tells is a fascinating one. How LBJ manages, in rather short order, to bend to his will -- by flattery and sycophancy, cajolement and threat -- the minds and votes of several dozen strong-willed men accustomed to having their own way, is nothing short of epic. How he first ingratiates himself with the southern bloc of Senators and then ultimately betrays them (but ever so subtly) to advance his personal ambition is Shakespearean in its blend of character and fate.

In these particulars of research and narrative, Caro deals with the subject masterfully. It is in his judgements on power -- the main topic of the book -- that he falls somewhat short. Caro understands the hard currency of power very well. The money that flows to the politician and its hold on him is Caro's meat and potatoes. But where Caro always seems to be taken off-guard and a little too suspicious is on the softer currency of political power -- that of being liked and doing things which will make *most* people like you.

Caro has heard this criticism before -- especially after volume 2 of "The Years of Lyndon Johnson", where Johnson is portrayed in an unremittingly bad light -- and seeks to disarm it in "Master of the Senate". Johnson as the good guy is more visible. His genuine compassion for the downtrodden is detailed. His growing respect for his wife, Lady Bird, is shown. In parts of the book, he appears vulnerable and even contemplative.

But Caro is more comfortable with Johnson the Ogre. Plainly, any fair biography of Johnson would have to deal with that side of the man. In most ways Johnson was not a good man, cared nothing for morals or even political issues, and if Caro is convinced with the idea that money is politics' lifeblood, clearly his subject in this book is the ideal candidate to show this.

Yet Johnson was a politician who also needed love and admiration, not just power and money. If money and power was LBJ's sole pursuits, he easily could have used his tremendous energy and intelligence to capture them outside the political arena. Despite several opportunities in his life to do so, he chose not to. Caro usually sees this side of Johnson, but is either dismissive of it or qualifies it as a 'lust for power' deferred. In a book less powerful than "Master of the Senate", this flaw would surely diminish the book. Here it simply reminds us that greatness is not perfection.

Robert Caro has done it again. Recovering from Means of Ascent, he has brought back LBJ in full form, the good and the bad. And, like Path to Power, he focuses on two things. In Path to Power, it is LBJ and the Texas Hill Country. In Master of the Senate, it is LBJ and the U.S. Senate. The book starts out with a history of the Senate, and picks up with how LBJ made the Senate his own. Like in Caro's previous books, other figures are detailed, like Hubert Humphrey, Richard Russell, and Bobby Baker. It tells of his early relationship with JFK, and his acceptance of the nomination for Vice President. This book is a soaring success, and well worth the long read. Can't wait for number four!

We was originally writen as a warning of the dangers that may be to come if we to fully embrace technology, just as the books writen many years after 1984 and Brave New World also had the same message. Instead now We is a strong reminder of what has already occured in our past. When reading We think of Stalin, Hitler, and the Berlin Wall which was yet to be built when We was written but whcih strongly resembles the Green Wall depicted in We.
Zamyatin, the author of We, was exiled from Russia, and his book was never published there, or in the Russian language until 1988. This is interesting to note because so much of what Zamyatin prophecizes comes to pass and the book was totally suppressed while these actual events were happening.
We is the original Dystopia and both Orwell and Huxley recognize their debt to Zamyatin. If you have read 1984 or Brave New World, you will recognize many similarities and at times you will even feel like you are rereading one of these works. We is highly creative and because it is the first original. It is well worth a read, and for those of you out there who have read other dystopia fiction it is a must. Your mind will thank you after.

In the far-flung future of the 26th century, the narrator D-503 is the builder of the rocket INTEGRAL. He lives in the regimented, totalitarian OneState, a society based on mathematics. Everything is scheduled (eating, sleeping, working, sex). When he meets the woman I-330, his world begins to fracture as suddenly he develops emotions that are unknown to him. I-330 also leads him unwittingly into acts of revolution, but the OneState's Guardians seem to be one step ahead of them at all times. There's much to ponder and extrapolate in this story, and it does seem a bit unpolished (and I don't think it's due to Clarence Brown's translation). This is definitely fascinating literature, especially since it influenced Orwell's "1984", but sometimes the story is confusing. Overall Zamyatin's "We" is a classic dystopian tale that still is pertinent to today's world.

This classic dystopia is essential reading in the genre. Asidefrom Brave New World and 1984, other dystopias include Erewhon bySamuel Butler, A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, and, for the younger (and older) folk, The Giver by Lois Lowry. I would also recommend Kafka's The Trial, Lord of the Flies, and, of course, the anti-utopian rant of Notes from Underground (and the short story "Dream of a Ridiculous Man") by Dostoevsky, but these are not strictly dystopias but have some concerns in common with dystopias (namely, individual freedom vs social conformity). For those who love utopias, some common ones are Utopia, News from Nowhere, Looking Backward, and Lost Horizon. Also check out H.G. Wells' A Modern Utopia.

It's been awhile since I've read We, but I do remember that it made a lasting and positive impression... - Brad Clark