This book is one of the 2 most desirable and collectible books on classical guitars (the other one is: Collection of Fine Spanish Guitars from Torres to the Present by Urlik, Sheldon). The figures are superb and the text informative. The hard cover edition is better in the following senses:

1. The hard cover edition is a limited edition (6000 copies only).
2. It is like a textbook which can be opened fully on its back. Easy for reading and scanning.
3. It's got a hard protective slipcase

However, getting the softcover edition might be your choice for its price and availability.

If you are a lover of guitars, specifically classical guitars, you owe it to yourself to purchase this book. There is nothing else like it. Great photography, details on some of the best guitars from some of the best makers...Romanillos, Smallman, Bernabe...They are all here. Inclusively, the book covers players (Williams, Bream, Segovia) as well as an in depth look at wood and the guitar market today. Great stuff and at ..., an incredible bargain.

Any lover of the classical guitar cannot help but appreciate this gorgeous collection of instruments, as well as the way in which they are displayed on the pages. Filled with information about the guitars and their construction, the luthiers, and which players'CDs you can hear them on, I highly recommend this fine edition. I take issue only with the subtitle "A Complete History", as the guitars are based on a single collection of instruments, owned by Russell Cleveland, and not necessarily what any other person would consider "Complete". That fact does not diminish my enjoyment of this exquisite book one bit.

An easy-to-read self-study guide through the wonderful world of modern algebra. Excellent chapters on Z[sqrt(2)], and Q[sqrt(2)]. Symmetries, groups, tiling patterns, the 17 plane groups, fields. A whole chapter on error correcting codes. Written in the same friendly style as V. Bryant's "Aspects of Combinatorics" and R.P Burn's "A Pathway into Number Theory." Each section has many practical, insightful examples and a good problem set.

I find the Collaborations-English in Our Lives workbook and student books to be very useful in my ESL classroom. The beginners series has provided my students with a great jump start into English. The workbook and student book make planning lessons easy and the students can organize themselves with the useful notes on when to use the two books together. The books are very specific to learning about the United States. This is helpful especially if your students are very new. These books would be very useful in an Adult ESL classroom, but I use them in a beginning middle school classroom. They also provide great support for learning needed vocabulary and verb use for outside the classrooom. They are very good classroom tools.