This is latest update for the most revered text in the field of cell and molecular biology. I used this book as an undergraduate even though this was not the required text for the course. I still turn to it often as a graduate student. As someone who has read the book cover to cover I can vouch for its extensive coverage of the most important concepts and the abandance of information on the most frequntly encountered concepts. It is a must have for any serious student of cell, molecular and developmental biology. I recommend that you buy this book in addition to any required texts for your course. The book is so comprehensive that even topics that gained prominance in 2002 such as RNA interference are wonderfully presented. Even if you are new to this subject area this book if properly used can increase you understanding immensely of even the most difficult of concepts. You would never regret buying this.

I'm an undergraduate student in Biology and I was looking for the best book on the subject... after a hard selection of the best ones available, I came up with two great items: Lodish's Cell Molecular Biology and Alberts's Molecular Biology of the Cell.
When I spoke with my older colleagues in college and asked my Cell Biology teachers (they're both career researchers) for their opinion about what should I buy, I always received the same kind of answer: «Well, they're both great references, Lodish's is a very insightful text on the matter, as well as Alberts's. But you know... Alberts's is the real thing, the one to go for: It gives you the most wonderful and comprehensive view of the cellular world!»
So, I decided to buy Alberts's and indeed, it is a terrific book: accurate, up-to-date, really enjoyable to read (for those avid for scientific knowledge), the English is quite accessible, illustrations are excellent, a truly great achievement! From now on, this book will be my «bible»!

Molecular Biology of the Cell is one of the best surveys available on the status of current information about cellular biology. The authors skillfully accomplish the difficult task of combining detail with readability while conveying the excitement of this dynamic field. Clear, concise, and colorful illustrations assist in this task and the book is a fine collection of splendidly dramatic photos of "molecular biology of the cell" in action. They covered an enormous amount of material with a style that is simple enough for a college-level biology student to follow with enough detail and references to be of use to an experienced research scientist. Bravo for a job well-done!

Brown's stated purpose with this biography is to tell about the "course and quality" of Augustine' life with a backdrop of the changes in north Africa and in the Roman Empire as a whole. Brown says he wants to show how Augustine himself helped precipitate some of the changes by using the most "up-to-date" treatments of the life Augustine.

Peter Brown, writing from All Soul's College at Oxford, England, thoroughly documents the events, activities and inner workings of Augustine. The Bishop of Hippo's story is interwoven with accounts of the state of the Roman Empire as a whole and North Africa, in particular. Brown's telling is so vivid that an artist could chose a stage of Augustine's life and then accurately paint Augustine surrounded by his local counterparts with elements of the Empire in the background.

The text is well-documented with most pages having five or more footnotes. The bibliography takes up 18 pages. Brown used primary souces in Latin, as well as, scholarly works in English, German and French.

Augustine is presented as a gifted child, and then as a out-going bright young adult who in turn grows into one of the most remarkable religious leaders and writers of all time. Brown writes marvelously interesting chapters and when I thought that he couldn't top the writing and interesting material of one chapter, I would again be fascinated by the next chapter.

A helpful feature of the text are the five Chronological Tables, one at the beginning of each major division of the book. The tables list each year with major events, if any, in Augustine's life or the Empire's history. Later tables also list corresponding texts and letters written by Augustine during the year.

At times during the reading, I smiled at Brown's choice of works. The words were strange, but the context gave their meaning away. A conventible of Manichees was a gathering and a love-philtre is apparently a love letter or gift.

At other times, Brown's writing choices were strange to me and remained strange. Early in the text, Brown made a number of comparisons to the Mandarins of China. Being unfamiliar with Chinese history,the meaning he wanted to convey escaped me. Another cue I missed about Augustine's taking of a concubine.

Augstine's family was relatively prosperous and Augustine was unusually close to his mother, Monica. According to Brown, African's of Augustine's time excelled in play-on-words" and as lawyers. Augustine was an excellent student of the law. The Roman Empire had no need for Southerners and Augustine pursued a career teaching Latin rhetoric.

Brown does not delve into describing the relationship of Monica and Augustine, while I am sure that other author's have. Their relationship seems an interesting pursuit of study to me and I have my own theory as to why they were so close. My explanation is that Augustine loved order and Monica represented that in his childhood, as opposed to his father, who had a temper.

Augustine's story after his conversion is completed dominated by his growth as a Christian, his internal growth and his growth in service and writing. Brown's biography has teachings and quotes of the adult Christian Augustine throughout the text, not just in chronological order. For instance, Brown would tell of an incident in Augustine's younger life and at that time include remarks Augustine made in his Confessions about the same event. For example in Chapter 2, Brown says that to Augustine the evolution of the heart is the real stuff of biography.

Augustine's Confessions is his most studied work. According to Brown, the Confessions is the first time a literary work included quotes from what we now know as the bible. I noted that Augustine regarded his Confessions as a therapy or medical treatment.

According to Brown, no thinker in the Early Church wa so preoccupied the the nature of human relationships. In contrast, Augustine wrote that nature was God's "dumb show."

Besides his literary contributions of general Christian interest, much of Augustine's writings had to do with fighting the heresies. I was much impressed with the intensity of the heretical movements Augustine had to deal with the Manichees and Donatists. The situation in Northern Africa, during his time, was comparable to the violence suffered now in the same region among those of different beliefs.

Much of Augustine's time as a bishop was spent in acting as a judge, as was the custom of the time. The "philosopher" soul of Augustine must have been much troubled to have spent so much dealing with small and large controversies. Despite, or perhaps, because of his adult life being spent dealing with serious controversies, Augustine made significant contributions to the Church and history besides his writings. According to Brown, it was Augustine who established a pattern of Catholic priests being "separate" from the laity. Augustine had loved being a teacher and brought the same "school" ideas to the priest-hood. He had as many as possible of his priest living and studying communally separate from the community.

Augustine's last ten days of life were a surprise to me. A man who had surrounded himself with students, priests, and friends all of his life, chose to spend the end alone in prayer. I would have thought he would have wanted to had last goodbyes with the people he had loved to share with so much during his life.

Brown's biography of Augustine is a gift to scholars, as well as, a collection of information from other sources. He achieves his goal and educates his reader, at least, this one.

Peter Brown has accomplished what a scholarly biography should: make us feel that we have come to enter the life and mind of the subject of the biography. Brown's chapters are relatively short and thus make reading this long book pleasurable because you can make identifiable progress in your reading. Brown also has copious citations to the works of Augustine for those who wish to track down a quote. In addition, he has added an epilogue that actually corrects the flawed judgments he made in the first edition over thirty years ago (this is a humility rare in academic circles). The epilogue also has a chapter on new writings of Augustine that scholars have uncovered since the first edition of his work. My only wish would have been for more theological exploration of the theme of predestination which is presented in a superficial manner. As a Catholic, I would also have preferred more explicit exploration of Augustine's relations with the popes of his time. But, all in all, Brown has written and updated a great biography that deserves its stature as the definitive biography of Augustine. I heartily recommend it.

Peter Brown is like a very caring, scholarly and slightly eccentric tutor, of the type grown and revered in England's ancient universities. As a non-scholar on the subject of Augustine and his time, I approached this book wearily, expecting to be ignobly defeated by the middle of, say, chapter two. But such was not the case. My smattering about Augustine, about his Manichaeism, about his saintly mother, Monica, about his "Confessions" and about his conversion by St. Ambrose, all rusty remnants of a fine (but wasted) education, were revived and even rejuvenated by Mr. Brown. His words coaxed ancient neurons to make dendritic connections with their neighbors, so that towards the middle of this longish book I was dealing confidently with Fourth century institutions and had become familiar with some of the philosophical issues that plaged the early Christians. This is Brown:

"A stranger from the provinces [Augustine] would, of course, go to church to find a girl-friend, much as another stranger, the Genoese, Christopher Columbus, will meet his wife in Seville Cathedral."

And about Augustine's desire to seek his fortune as a rethoritian in Milan:

"He would have been like a Westernized Russian in the nineteenth century, established in Paris."

This ability to move back and forth in time to clarify his points is one of the many joys of reading Brown. He is also a master of the right anecdote and of the enlightening "obscure" fact. For instance, he tells us that in the Fourth century the image of Christ was that of a teacher, a philosopher. There were no crucifixes in the Fourth century, and the concept of the suffering Savior did not exist.

The book is as satisfying as a plentiful and well prepared meal, and like a meal, it is to be consumed slowly and respectfully. Brown makes you trust him about his deep knowledge of the years immediately preceding the sack of Rome and the fall of the empire. He does this, over and over, by his ease with the trivial details and by the depth with which he addresses the important ones. A very fine book for the reference shelf, to read once and to return to frequently.

I read this book during the summer prior to me senior year in high school, and literally could not put it down. I read the whole work cover-to-cover in a week.

Going in, my background in biology was an introductory cell biology course and my background in chemistry was an introductory chemistry class. That I had little formal training in the sciences was irrelevant when reading this; it explains all the concepts so clearly that I think even a person with no background in science at all could understand it. The diagrams and photos are well-done and highly pertinent.

This is not to say that this book is only for non-scientists. Indeed, I even used knowledge gleaned from this fantastic book to teach my teachers a thing or two. Perhaps the section on muscle contraction is the best written of all - no other book I have ever seen comes close to this in clarity, and this section was one that I recommended to my Anatomy and Physiology teacher for clarification about a few concepts.

I am soon to be a sophomore in college, and this book continues to inspire me on my path to be a professor (I study chemistry with an emphasis on chemical biology). This book was invaluable even in a rigorous microbiology course, not to mention other introductory courses.

In summary, I rarely leave home for extended periods without this text (literally). If there is ONE BOOK that you should buy for studying cellular and molecular biology, let it be this one (or, if you are so inclined, its larger brother, Molecular Biology of the Cell).

I used this book as a studying supplement during the cell biology module of my first-year biology course. It explains key cell biology concepts clearly, thoroughly and concisely. The text is very well written and has wonderful photographs and diagrams throughout. Updated and recent biological and biomedical findings are used to further tie in the concepts of cell biology. Those that prefer a more detailed source of information should look to Molecular Biology of the Cell, but for beginners, Essential Cell Biology is an excellent place to start.

A gem of a book. It puts at the hands of lay people the wonders of molecular biology. The best way of spending $65 I can think of.

The text is a most refined product distilled by an all-star team of leading scientists. Oriented towards the lay person or the would be specialist, it is simple, unpretentious, sometimes even funny, but always powerfully explanatory. The diagrams are exceptionally clear (a must for explaining such complex subjects) and the photographs are astounding. Love for their subject and passion for teaching are present all along. And mysticism is always around the corner...

If you have ever wondered things like "What are exactly chromosomes?", "How do exactly enzymes work in the cell?", or "How the hell does all this machinery work at a purely chemical level ?" and you are not quite satisfied with popular science books, this one is for you. It will answer these questions and much, much more.

An enjoyable, deeply satisfying tour the force through the molecular level of all living organisms.

Don't miss it!

Peter Bogdanovich has written a book that is for the movie enthusiast. I suspect the general reader may find some of the interviewees obscure, and the topics technical. I feel that is their loss. For the student of film or film history, this is a treasure trove of information, ideas, experiences, and feelings about films taken from interviews with some of the most distinguished directors in movie history. The author's selection is not encyclopedic, but the directors' experience spans from the earliest years of silent film to the present. These men are not just informative, but their strong and distinctive personalities show in each interview, giving the sense that one has actually met and understood many of them. Some of the interviews are brief, or even very idiosyncratic, but the best are delightfully personal. This is a long book, but affords many pleasant evenings of good conversation. It also makes one want to go back and see the films again!

This is an incredible book that contains Bogdanovich's various interviews with some of Hollywood's greatest filmmakers. These are not detailed biographies however, they are an in-depth conversation about the filmmaker's films and his own feelings about them. While some go into the individual's past it is just so you can get an idea of the personality of the filmmaker. This is a must-have book. A good way to look at it is to read it through once and become familiar with all of the directors, some of whom may be new to you. Then as you view their films go back and read what they have to say. Though sometimes their comments are very brief, it's one of the few sources you'll find where the film-maker makes direct reference back to a film. And I don't know what it is about Bogdanovich but he always brings out gems of truth from those he interviews.

You can spend years going to film school, or you can read this book! Bogdanovich does a great job with this collection of interviews of great film directors. Not only does the book give you a good inside view of the craft of cinema, but it also acts as a history book of the film industry.

This book would be good for the serious indie director who has bet his/her credit cards on their dream or even the special person in your life who stays up until 4am watching the Turner Classic Movie channel.

There is something here for everyone as there is a wide range of directors who work in a wide range of styles. There isn't a genre that isn't touched in this book - from Hitchcock on Horror to Chuck Jones on cartoons. What's great is that Bogdanovich captures insight into directors that are no longer with us (like Fritz Lang who directed Metropolis). Since the directors tell their own stories, you don't get the Hollywood hype filter.

If you had to buy one book on film this year, this would be it!

Robert Fritz takes a novel approach to corporate organizational theory by framing his book around the laws of nature. Fritz is especially attached to the law that states that energy follows the path of least resistance, and in this book, he urges managers to utilize this principle in reshaping their organizations. Once you get past this conceptual foundation, however, the advice that's offered here will sound pretty familiar to anyone acquainted with the basics of strategic planning. Form a central vision, create attainable goals, break goals down into smaller steps, assess your results, adjust your strategies; these techniques are all mentioned. But Fritz's adoption of scientific and engineering principles for management purposes, combined with the accompanying charts and examples, make the book an engaging read, despite the less-than-original conclusions. We [...] recommend this book to executives, managers and individuals who are looking for a new, if slightly theoretical, view of how to organize their companies or their lives.

What I enjoyed most about Robert Fritz's book is his emphasis on looking for patterns and trends present in every business. While during my career as a consultant, I have seen countless examples of "Oscillating" patterns in organizations that I have worked with. I used to write it off to poor performance in either myself as a consultant or my clients. After reading Mr. Fritz's perspective on why organizations oscillate, I understood why smart people do stupid things. Mr Fritz suggests that quite often, the cause is simple; competing goals that rob each other of focus, resources and energy. Mr Fritz's offers insights on how an organization can create real alignment and more importantly, involvement of the entire organization. It works! I've used it and continue to use to this day!

This book is a very quick read. It doesn't use the usual format for business oriented books. All effort is brought to bear in helping me, the reader, look at my situation or my client's situation in a different and clearer light.

I have read Mr. Fritz' previous books, "Creating", "Corporate Tides", and the original "Path of Least Resistence". The quality of my consulting has vastly improved primarily due to the insights I've gained from Mr. Fritz and his work. Mostly because the book has helped me gain a much clearer perspective of the underlying forces in play in my organization and my client organizations. More importantly the book offers a clear and simple approach to identifying the steps needed for my clients to create the type of lasting results they really want.

Isn't that what consulting and high performance leadership all about?

This is the best book I've ever read on business strategy and organizational design. If you've ever wondered why some organizations take three steps forward and one step backward while others constantly progress step after step after step, this is the book for you. It's clear and concise with powerful ideas and practical techniques.

Unlike most business books these days, this book is refreshingly fad-free, formula-free, and philosophy-free. Fritz writes in a straight forward, no nonsense manner. He doesn't seem to be "selling" anything, other than a very pragmatic approach to business design and planning.

As a management consultant, I find Fritz's structural approach tremendously useful with clients. In addition to being accurate and results-oriented, it's much faster than other approaches I've used. Why waste your time or the clients' time?

Of the FIFTH DISCIPLINE SERIES books, THE DANCE OF CHANGE is by far the most important. THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE and THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE FIELDBOOK are wonderful, valuable books, but they largely avoid the tough question of how to sustain a Learning Organization initiative. Based on lots of experiences in different companies, THE DANCE OF CHANGE is the most realistic, thorough, thoughtful work on achieving large-scale organizational change that has ever been my pleasure to read. I immediately found it helpful in overcoming some of my bad habits (including falling in love with my own jargon rather than using common English). Like THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE FIELDBOOK, THE DANCE OF CHANGE allows you to focus on the areas where you need help the most. The beginning is a wonderful systems-dynamic analysis of how successful change occurs, and how it can be derailed. Even if you do not want to have a Learning Organization, you will find THE DANCE OF CHANGE very valuable for giving you direction on how to achieve permanent, valuable changes. On the subject of achieving the strategy you wish to implement, I strongly urge you to also read THE BALANCED SCORECARD. These books are good complements to each other.

Of the FIFTH DISCIPLINE SERIES books, THE DANCE OF CHANGE is by far the most important for you to understand. THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE and THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE FIELDBOOK are wonderful, valuable books, but they largely avoid the tough question of how to sustain a Learning Organization initiative. Based on lots of experiences in different companies, THE DANCE OF CHANGE is the most realistic, thorough, thoughtful work on achieving large-scale organizational change that has ever been my pleasure to read. I immediately found it helpful in overcoming some of my bad habits (including falling in love with my own jargon rather than using common English). Since I first read the book about 9 months ago, I have found it affecting my consulting practice by causing me to focus more on lasting change, than immediate change. That's an important lesson for everyone. Like THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE FIELDBOOK, THE DANCE OF CHANGE allows you to focus on the areas where you need help the most. The beginning is a wonderful systems-dynamic analysis of how successful change occurs, and how it can be derailed. Like THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE FIELDBOOK, you do not need to read THE DANCE OF CHANGE from front to back. I found myself skipping around, and enjoyed the experience. Even if you do not want to have a Learning Organization, you will find THE DANCE OF CHANGE very valuable for giving you direction on how to achieve permanent, valuable changes. On the subject of achieving the strategy you wish to implement, I strongly urge you to also read THE BALANCED SCORECARD. These books are good complements to each other. For picking up on your most important issues, you will find Peter Drucker's MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY to be invaluable.

Perhaps many of those who had previously read The Fifth Discipline were not aware (until now) that Peter Senge later co-authored this book with Art Kleiner, Charlotte Roberts, Richard Ross, George Roth, and Bryan Smith. Why read The Dance of Change? Its in Learning Organizations." Yes, there are challenges. Lots of them...and many are indeed formidable. And yes, obviously, without momentum, efforts to energize or re-energize any organization will fail.

My own experience suggests that there will then be at least three whatever was undertaken was doomed to fail; also, therefore, that such efforts should never be undertaken again; finally, defenders of the status quo (whatever it may be) will become even more aggressive in their opposition to change in almost any form.

Of course, Senge understood full well when he wrote The Fifth Discipline that those who attempted to implement an appropriate (emphasis on "appropriate") combination of his ideas and suggestions would encounter all manner of resistance. In my opinion, that is why he then co-authored the Fieldbook. (I strongly suggest that it be read only after reading The Fifth Discipline.) Here is how The Dance of Change Change)

The Challenges of Initiating (Not Enough Time, No Help [Coaching and Support], Not Relevant, Walk the Talk)

The Challenges of Sustaining Transformation (Fear and Anxiety, Assessment and Measurement, True Believers and Nonbelievers)

The Challenges of Redesigning and Rethinking (Governance, Diffusion, Strategies Purpose)

As you can see, Senge and his co-authors provide a cohesive and comprehensive system with which to achieve and then sustain (emphasis on "sustain") "profound change." Once again, I want to stress the importance of carefully selecting what is most appropriate from this wealth of material. The selection process should be unhurried but expeditious. It should include only those who are wholeheartedly committed to achieving "profound change." Moreover, their number should not threaten effective communication and collaboration. My final suggestion (not necessarily Senge's) is to proceed with a "Big Picture" clearly in mind but to focus on the sequential completion of specific tasks according to plan. Like buildings, learning "blueprint," sufficient resources, materials of the highest quietly, inspiring leaders and effective managers, talented associates, and (most important) a shared commitment. Obviously, your organization will need its own "blueprint." Success or failure when implementing it will depend upon its own people. It cannot be otherwise. View The Dance of Change created by Senge and his co-authors, therefore, as an invaluable resource...and proceed accordingly.

You may also wish to consult Isaacs' Dialogue in which he addresses many of the same issues but from somewhat different perspectives. I also recommend Bennis and Biederman's Organizing Genius as well as O'Toole's Leading Change. Their own experiences, insights, and suggestions may also prove helpful to your efforts. I wish you great success!

Don't be misled by the title of this book, nor by what others may have told you about it. In the first place, it isn't so much a book about 'Melancholy' (or abnormal psychology, or depression, or whatever) as a book about Burton himself and, ultimately, about humankind. Secondly, it isn't so much a book for students of the history of English prose, as one for lovers of language who joy in the strong taste of English when it was at its most masculine and vigorous. Finally, it isn't so much a book for those interested in the renaissance, as for those interested in life.

Burton is not a writer for fops and milquetoasts. He was a crusty old devil who used to go down to the river to listen to the bargemen cursing so that he could keep in touch with the true tongue of his race. Sometimes I think he might have been better off as the swashbuckling Captain of a pirate ship. But somehow he ended up as a scholar, and instead of watching the ocean satisfyingly swallowing up his victims, he himself became an ocean of learning swallowing up whole libraries. His book, in consequence, although it may have begun as a mere 'medical treatise,' soon exploded beyond its bounds to become, in the words of one of his editors, "a grand literary entertainment, as well as a rich mine of miscellaneous learning."

Of his own book he has this to say : "... a rhapsody of rags gathered together from several dung-hills, excrements of authors, toys and fopperies confusedly tumbled out, without art, invention, judgement, wit, learning, harsh, raw, rude, phantastical, absurd, insolent, indiscreet, ill-composed, indigested, vain, scurrile, idle, dull, and dry; I confess all..." But don't believe him, he's in one of his irascible moods and exaggerating. In fact it's a marvelous book.

Here's a bit more of the crusty Burton I love; it's on his fellow scholars : "Heretofore learning was graced by judicious scholars, but now noble sciences are vilified by base and illiterate scribblers."

And here is Burton warming to the subject of contemporary theologians : "Theologasters, if they can but pay ... proceed to the very highest degrees. Hence it comes that such a pack of vile buffoons, ignoramuses wandering in the twilight of learning, ghosts of clergymen, itinerant quacks, dolts, clods, asses, mere cattle, intrude with unwashed feet upon the sacred precincts of Theology, bringing with them nothing save brazen impudence, and some hackneyed quillets and scholastic trifles not good enough for a crowd at a street corner."

Finally a passage I can't resist quoting which shows something of Burton's prose at its best, though I leave you to guess the subject: "... with this tempest of contention the serenity of charity is overclouded, and there be too many spirits conjured up already in this kind in all sciences, and more than we can tell how to lay, which do so furiously rage, and keep such a racket, that as Fabius said, "It had been much better for some of them to have been born dumb, and altogether illiterate, than so far to dote to their own destruction."

To fully appreciate these quotations you would have to see them in context, and I'm conscious of having touched on only one of his many moods and aspects. But a taste for Burton isn't difficult to acquire. He's a mine of curious learning. When in full stride he can be very funny, and it's easy to share his feelings as he often seems to be describing, not so much his own world as today's.

But he does demand stamina. His prose overwhelms and washes over us like a huge tsunami, and for that reason he's probably best taken in small doses. If you are unfamiliar with his work and were to approach him with that in mind, you might find that (as is the case with Montaigne, a very different writer) you had discovered not so much a book as a companion for life.

Of all the editions of THE ANATOMY OF MELANCHOLY that have ever been published, this may be the best for the general reader. The NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS CLASSIC edition wisely reprints the great 1932 Everyman's Library edition, with its wonderful introduction by the noted bookman Holbrook Jackson. (Readers are advised to skim or skip the rather pretentious new introduction by William H. Gass.)

Unlike the "all-English" edition referenced..., the Everyman/NYRBClassic edition gives the Latin tags as Burton scattered them through his work and translates each and every one, either in brackets immediately afterward, or (sometimes) in an endnote to each of the three volumes (now bound as one). I've tried to read the "all-English" edition, and it's disappointing, because it turns out that Burton wanted readers to read the Latin tags whether they could understand them or not. He included their syllables in the rhythm of his prose, so as you read this edition, you can almost hear him quote, then translate, then continue onward.

No booklover should skip this one, and this is the edition to have.

This purports to be a medical textbook, and many of the obviously learned author's quotations are from half-forgotten late mediæval medical writers. A plausible translation of the title into modern terms would be "A Study of Abnormal Psychology." The application of Scholastic methods to this topic --- so similar, and yet so different, from contemporary academic discourse --- creates a curious impression. He invokes astrology and theology in forming his psychology.

But in fact, Burton uses this arcane subject to go off on a profound and lengthy meditation on the melancholies and misfortunes of life itself. The author, it seems, was easily distracted, and his distractions are our gain. The passages on the Melancholy of Scholars, and the Melancholy of Lovers, are themselves worthy of the price of admission.

His prose is unlike anything before him or since him. It has some kinship to the paradoxical and simile-laden style of the Euphuists, but his individual sentences are often pithy and brief.

This seventeenth-century classic ought to be read by anyone interested in the period, in early psychology, or in the history of English prose.

I highly recommend this definitive work on architects Delano & Aldrich. The book is amazingly well-researched and well-written as well as beautifully illustrated with both historic and contemporary photographs. It's a must for the library of anyone interested in architecture!

I have been interested in the work of Delano and Aldrich for a number of years, and this book provides the best information I have been able to get so far.

The descriptions are deep and serious. I also liked the great pictures. The impact of their work is historic to say the least.

This is a must read.

What a fabulous insight into the Architecture firm of Delano & Adrich. This book with its beautiful photographs and engaging essay provide an invaluable tool for all architectural enthusiasts: from the average architecture buff to those involved in scholarly research.

I'm most impressed that the authors not only sought to perform research on the buildings themselves, but moreover, examined the partners and the social influences of the times. I feel we gain so much from the writers thru their experience of having read Delano's letters in archive at Yale!

This book should stand as a model for future chronologist of architectural history. It is truly a wonderful presentation - the best that I've seen published to date.

Congratulations.

This is a much too abbreviated list of the hunters and trackers of East Africa and their wonderful lives. If you are expecting the adventure packed prose of Capstick, look to Capstick not here.
I did not find the book difficult to read or understand, but it was more a historical text instead of an interesting adventure.
This book would serve as a good primer for reading other works like Roosevelt's African Game Trails so the reader would understand who the characters were in that book better.

Considering the absolute wealth of characters and high drama Mr. Herne had to work with this book comes off rather dry and shallow.
For living the most exciting of lives, Mr. Herne does not seem all that excited about any of the people in it. So regrettably 3 stars.

First the negatives: basically, the list of white hunters comes at the reader in a blur of names and brief incidents, so that sometimes the reading takes on a repetitious feel. I found myself a bit overwhelmed at the onslaught of names and personalities, sometimes given no more than a few paragraphs of space. The information is arranged chronologically, beginning with the earliest white hunters like Cornwallis Harris and R.J. Cunninghame, and proceeds at a blistering pace through the 1970's, when Kenya outlawed all safari hunting. Brian Herne, the author, is a good writer, without being particularly inspired. If you are looking for the Peter Capstick (Death in the Long Grass) style of safari writing, you will not find it here. Herne is not the talented storyteller that Capstick is; yet Mr. Herne does have his own particular strengths. His style is very journalistic, in that he relays facts in blunt, swift manner. Take for Instance his concise description of White Hunter, Eric Rundgren's encounter with a charging buffalo: "During one pursuit a wounded buffalo charged, slammed hard in Rundgren, and tossed him over a riverbank. He landed in the gravel stream, but held on to his .450 double rifle. Above him on the bank was the buffalo looking down at him. Lying in the shallow river Rundgren shot the buff in the throat and it collapsed." End of incident. In a Capstick book, this mad charge by a buffalo would have taken a page or two, and by the end of it the reader himself would have felt covered in fear and sweat. Yet, despite the above, I heartily recommend this book for its many strengths: for one, Brian Herne has incredible credentials as a hunter, and one senses in his writing that they are being given the true deal. Maybe not as colorfully expressed as a Capstick, but frankly, more real. Also, there are many nuggets of breathtaking adventure that come jumping at the reader right through the factual prose of Mr. Herne. Nearly every hunter of any note is here, and the reader is given potraits of all the greats: Alan Black, Karamoja Bell, Bror Blizen, Charles Cottar, Bill Judd, and many, many others. Herne certainly can't be faulted for his completeness of the topic. What becomes clear when reading Mr. Herne's book is two facts. First, that big game hunting is an incredibly dangerous profession. It seems that nearly all the hunters were at some point gored or horribly mauled by big game, or suffered malaria, black-water fever, or one of the many diseases that float in the air in Africa. A fair number where killed outright, and these stories make the most gripping in the book, Two, conservation of big game was also an important role of these big game hunters. It was not the white hunters that decimated the rhino and elephant, but rather the various corrupt African governments themselves that allowed, and benefited greatly, from poaching. Herne makes a case for this in statistics that are irrefutable. By eliminating the safari hunters, the only group of individuals that had both the means and incentive to protect the region's wildlife for both personal and financial reasons, the corrupt government officials and poachers were free to roam, now hunting with AK-47 assault rifles and poisons. International prices for rhino horn and Ivory jumped up, as did the death toll for elephant and rhino. In short, this book is a great resource for the true story of white hunters. It includes a fabulous bibliography as well, for further reading.

I have always enjoyed reading about African hunting and looked forward to Hernes book. While it did deliver the information promised, I believe the book could have used a bit better editing. This is for a couple of different reasons. For one, Mr. Here identifies so many different hunters that it gets somewhat confusing keeping track of who did what. As noted by above reviewers, there are plenty of hair-raising anecdotes, and it is a quite thrilling book, but Mr. Herne just briefly touches on a few events of the lives of literally thousands of people that spent time hunting of working for hunters in Africa. It is sort of like a buffet where there are a multitude of courses, but you can only take a bit or two of each course. Secondly, Mr. Herne sometimes changes subjects, persons or topics, without notice. One paragraph you are reading about a particular hunter and another paragraph you read about some political aspects of hunting whose connection to the previous hunter is not always obvious. I think that a good editor, making a smoother transition between subjects, and perhaps eliminating a discussion of some briefly mentioned persons in order to focus a bit more on others who were more influential, could have made this good book even better. Those two criticisms aside, I really enjoyed the book. mr. Herne's recounting of life in pre-WWI east Africa was incredibly intriguing. His analysis of hunting's conservation effects make a powerful argument for the use of hunting as a game-management technique. All in all, I would heartily recommend this book to anyone desiring to learn about either the history of African history or arguments for hunting.

This is not a good book. The time I have spent reading this book has been mostly wasted. It does not compare to say, Bury's writings.

I am quite a critic when most people give it a 5 stars, I am giving 4 or sometimes less.

However this book I found to being both an excellent introduction to the period while at the same time being very readable. It has very good pictures illustrating the writers point throughout something I found very useful.

I have used this book as a text for a course titled the Decline of Rome. It proved to be the mose aesthetic piece of literature I've read at the University of California. Brown uses charming little metaphors, which I paraphrase: "A garden protected by spears" and "As the storm of Arab conquest swept across he sky, people sat back to enjoy the sunshine." The book read like an essay, but gives the reader enough introductory information as encouragement to read more about a particular subject. Brown makes Byzantium seem like utopia on the surface, but is careful to underline its precaious state. And the birth of Islam seems like am eastern Renaissance in Brown's hands. For a person who admires Classical Aniquity, one will see the Post-Classical world as a rival.