I read this badly reasoned book when it was released back in the seventies. That a man enjoined, as one of the authors was, from digging in Bob Dylan's garbage be considered a serious researcher, much less a target of guffaws, is beyond the limits of my ratiocination. The thesis here is simple: America is evil, led by such right-wing extremists as lead the Brookings Institution (a big surprise to not only them, but also conservatives), and Mr. Kennedy was removed to remove from a path the sane know he himself supported. Buy this for a chuckle. For the assassination, read Posner's book.

This wonderful book grows from the photos of Dealy Plaza tramps on captured Nov. 22, '63. Author Weberman had a website under the name of the book and it was so 'dangerous' that the FBI arrested him for possession of marijuana with intent to sell and his marvelous website melted away--that's how 'deadly' this book is! Some of the very shooters are pictured and documented and yet NO record of their arrest or interrogation in Dallas PD custody is left--Duh! Nixon may be implied merely as a dupe by deep-CIA machinations, but the Nixon/Watergate tapes do reveal the burglaries were really about the assassin's blow-back control, not political bungling. This is the best book yet I've read about the assassination, and if anyone cares about truth and history, and our present situation, this book is a must read!

Webberman and Canfield present a chilling theory behind who assasinated President Kennedy. This book answers the questions relating to who benefited most from the assasination and who had the power to cover it up. After reading this book, even hardline Castro/Mafia theorists will ponder over their conclusions

I have just finished an undergradute course which used this book as the main text. I agree with the previous reviewer that there is considerable overlap and occasional contradiction. The early chapters tend to use a lot of technical jargon, and seem to be written for people who already understand the material. I was not so impressed with phylogenic descriptions which frequently failed to discuss unifying characteristics within families. Later sections, including locomotion, water balance, and mate selection are well written. This book would benefit from a glossary, more relevant tables and figures, and a more inclusive index. Overall, editing is rather sketchy.

This is easily the best herpetology text book out there. It is informative, yet not full of the boringness (if that's a word...) of many textbooks. You might say that it's...fun to read.

Despite some fairly serious errors and omissions, this book is the best academic treatment of the field of herpetology yet written. It is a multi-authored text which allows people to write on what they know best, rather than making authors stretch well beyond their fields of expertise. This unfortunately means there's a lot of repetition between chapters, and some flat-out contradictions. It does a fairly good of reviewing the literature in a number of sub-fields of herpetology, and so provides more up-to-date reviews than you're likely to find in "Biology of the Reptilia". It is a good choice for a herpetology course for undergraduates--in fact I plan to use it for such a course in summer 1999. Amazing omissions: dinosaurs!! birds!! biogeography!! Notable inclusions: good chapters on foraging ecology, classification (too short), & thermoregulation.

This book presents a nice overview of the primary components of J2EE architecture. If you're looking for gory details on J2EE technologies this isn't your text.

As with any multi-author book the writing style varies wildly. All the examples are extremely trivial. The important part is you get explanation about how all the fundamental pieces of J2EE work together and what they do. Everything from Java Server Pages, to EJBs, JNDI, JMS, Web Servers (no real coverage on Web Services), different app servers, JAAS, JTA, etc.

Nice reference book for high level or simple questions when you're trying to learn the ropes. Basically useless for any hard core implementation efforts.

From time to time, I read many Java/J2EE books and on-line articles. What I like about this book is its complete but concise introduction of various J2EE topics. The content is easy to read and the code is easy to follow. (I am using Forte 3.0 CE, J2SE_1.3.1, J2EE_1.3 and J2EE Toolkit 2.1) After reading this book, not only will you know how to use each API but also obtain comprehensive coverage about J2EE components. Best of all, you can just focus on the chapter that is most important to you without the need to start from page 1. If you are getting started for J2EE server-side programming, seek no further. This is an excellent hand-on book. However, this book may not contain the real-life codes that you are looking for...

This book has it all. It talks about all the different Java technologies and provides enough detail to learn them thoroughly. Although there are some differences in the presentation due to different authors, every chapter is explained well. This book is a good reference due to its in depth discussions. Very ideal for java architects and senior developers who do design and architecture.

I had to read this book for school, which always makes reading it more difficult because I knew I would have to write about it. The story of Antony and Cleopatra is a tragic one and better then fiction but Dryden makes it uninteresting and in blank verse which makes the writing dull and prolonged. In fact, I would've stopped reading half way through if I wasn't required to read the whole thing. Trust me, there are better "classic books" out there! Dont pick this one!

John Dryden's 1677 tragedy "All For Love" or "The World Well Lost" was based on William Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra." This would be a minority opinion, but I really think this Restoration Drama is comparable to the Shakespeare version in many regards. Of course "borrowing" from Shakespeare cannot be considered much of a crime when the Bard of Avon appropriated so many plots from other dramatists as well. Shakespeare's play covers ten years in settings scattered across the eastern Mediterranean, while Dryden confines all of his events to one day in the Temple of Isis. For me the dramatic highpoint of the Dryden version is the ugly confrontation between Cleopatra and Octavia, Roman wife of Mark Antony, but I also like the final death scenes better than what we find in Shakespeare. Just do not ask me to explain how "All for Love" reflects Restoration sensibilities rather than the Elizabethan values of "Antony and Cleopatra." I first read this play and decided to use it as the final play in a mini-trilogy of one-act that used Shaw's "Caesar and Cleopatra" and Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," and had no problem given Dryden the anchor position. Certainly classes studying English drama can benefit by having students read both the Shakespeare and Dryden versions with an eye out towards better understanding the works of both playwrights. If you are only going to read one play by Dryden, then the only other choices besides this one would be "Aureng-Zebe," his last and best example of the heroic genre or his comedy masterpiece "Marriage a-la-mode." But I would still pick "All For Love."

I foolishly bought this book without doing much shopping or asking around. I found it way overpriced for what is ultimately a so-so book on the subject. I'm not a slate expert, but I tend to question the authority of authors writing about slate who are not actually slate roof restoration contractors. I checked out their web site, and they sell snow guards for a living. The author fully admits on his web site that "His start in the business was not via the usual apprenticeship or training program or even working in the summer for the local roofing company. Rather, his then high school teacher asked Brian one summer, to help find and purchase used roofing slate that many Vermont farmers had tucked away somewhere on their property." He then goes on to state that he learned the trade just by tearing slate off old roofs. Again, I'm no expert, but I believe that there's a lot more to slate roofing than can be learned just from removing slate.

I'm not saying that you can't learn a great deal by tearing something apart to see how it was put together, but my question is this: if you learn a skill on your own, without the benefit of the guidance of a master of the craft, how can you be sure you're doing it right? And perhaps more importantly, how can you be sure you're *not* doing something wrong? And when you're dealing with a slate roof, which could potentially survive for centuries, seemingly minor mistakes (due to an ignorance of the craft) might not be noticed at first, but could be devastating to the roof in the long run (by which time you've long since moved on to wreck other roofs).

I've since bought Jenkins' book on the subject, and am *much* happier with it. The author clearly knows his craft, has been practicing it for over 30 years, and is still an active slate roof restoration contractor. So don't waste your money on The Slate
Book. Jenkins' book is by far the better choice (and more reasonably priced, too).

I have worked with the author of this book on a slate roof. His work is poor and I think he has no buisness trying to come off as some kind of expert. Belive me he's not. John Cook Oak Sheet Metal, Inc.

I have been involved in the Slate Roofing industry for 14 years. Before this publication was available, each slate company had their own installation manuals, but none were written from the perspective of the applicator or the specifier. This left a tremendous void in the industry.
"The Slate Book" fills this void as no other publication can. This publication covers every aspect of slate roofing, from a new roof to the repair of an existing slate roof. When putting together a specification for any project, their section on budgeting a project will pay for the book over and over and over again on just one project. Every detail is covered thoroughly from the very basic for those who are just doing a small repair to the most advanced situations. A tremendous amount of experience is behind every page. This is what makes "The Slate Book" an absolute must have for anyone who is involved in the slate roofing business. The Authors of this publication have made a committment to the industry which is invaluable. Simply put, there are other manuals out there. No other manual on the market can come close to this one. It is simply the best.

I passed the CBEST on the first attempt. I found this book (the only one I used) adequately prepared me. I would recommend it to anyone.

Some people complain that this book has practice tests that are HARDER than the actual CBEST. It is true... but to me that is a good thing. I'd much rather find the practice tests harder, than to find the actual test more difficult. By completing these practice tests, the ACTUAL CBEST WAS A BREEZE! I've heard that only about 1/2 of the people who take the CBEST pass on the first attempt. I don't know if it's true, but I know that I passed easily and this book was my only preparation.

This book can help a teacher candidate pass the CBEST, and the ideas can also be used in the classroom to help students improve their reading, writing, thinking, and math skills.

DC has reissued Batman: Contagion in the wake of it's mega-successful No Man's Land collections, and it serves as a good reminder of just WHY the Batman books needed to be shaken up so drastically in the first place...

Contagion revolves around an outbreak of "The Clench", a fictional Ebola offshoot, in Gotham City. Batman and company attempt to contain the spread of the Disease, while trying to track down a trio of survivors of a previous Clench outbreak, with the hope of synthesizing a cure/vaccine from their blood.

The book is very choppy, especially the first chapter, which appears to be heavily trimmed from it's original presentation in Batman: Shadow of the Bat. DC hasn't taken any steps to make their collections new-reader friendly, either, which could be a very big mistake. Longtime readers will know Oracle, Azrael, Nightwing, The Huntress, etc.; A new reader browsing this in a store would no doubt put the book right back on the shelf. The story has a few compelling moments, but for the most part it seems unnecessarily padded. Did we really need the Native American tracker? What did Biis contribute to the story? The writing is average at best; Most of the stories in Contagion were written by people who had long since overstayed their welcome on the Bat-books, such as Doug Moench & Alan Grant; The art ranges from okay to sub-par; Kelley Jones' chapter seems especially ugly thanks to poor color reproduction which mars his intricate pencils. The ultimate revelation of who is behind the spread of The Clench is sure to be a head-scratcher to new readers, since no background at all is offered to explain who these people are and what their motives are. DC really needs to get on the ball with their trade-paperback program; Preaching to the Choir is nice, but they need to try for new converts. Junk like Contagion is NOT the way to expand their readership......

In this history you can see a different Batman, one that found something he cant't fight. There was a virus and he can not trap it or take it to the justice. You can see a different Batman, not necesesary a dark one but a human,a man. I enjoyed it a lot!

I cannot believe why some people do not like "Contagion". Like Knightfall, Knightquest, KnightsEnd, Prodigal, and Cataclysm & No Man's Land, "Contagion" is an awesome book. It has Poison Ivy (drool), Batman, Robin, Nightwing, Huntress, Azrael, Catwoman, Oracle, Commissioner Gordon, the Penguin, and many other supporting characters like Alfred and Ariana.

Do not, repeat DO NOT, trust any information found in this book if the correctness of the information is important to your safety or the successful completion of your travel. We trusted the statement on page 9 under ENTRY REQUIREMENTS, where it states that " Americans, British, Irish, Australians, New Zealand, and now Canadian citizens need only passports (no visas) for stays under 30 days." My wife, an Australian, was "disembarked" at the Zurich airport because she did not have a visa. The Czechs require Australians to obtain visas in their country of origin (the US in our case) and THEY MAKE NO EXCEPTIONS! Needless to say, our trip was ruined. There is absolutely no excuse for this kind of incompetent reporting of critical data, the edition we purchased was published in 2000, and so was our trip. The Czech visa policy has been in effect for years.

Use this book with caution. Restaurant reviews are very helpful and the walking tours get you into the tourist parts of town. But don't trust the telephone/fax numbers. Of the three I tried, all were wrong. Overall, worth using though.

Just returned from Prague, and this guidebook was by far the most valuable resource we had. Walking tours and restaurant reviews particularly valuable.

I remember the original Haynes manuals from the sixties, having used several for working on Austin-Healeys and MGs. I remember them as having a lot of character, and reading them was almost like a conversation with a crusty old mechanic. Those old books seemed to share my love for these absurdly fragile and troublesome cars. This new book for the Miata shares little beyond the "Haynes" logo with with its legacy. Sadly, this new Haynes manual has a style more along the lines of Chilton's or other "fix your jalopy" guides. That is to say, no style at all. And no love.

What is more, the book suffers from assembly-line construction, with boiler-plate sections on tires, batteries, body care, etc., that are way too generic to be of any value to a Miata owner/lover. For example, the battery section is for a lead-acid battery, never mind the Miata has a "gel-cell" type. Want to set the timing on your Miata?... you won't find sufficient information in the Haynes guide to do the job.

The advantage to the Haynes guide is, it's cheap compared to the factory service manual. But, in this writer's humble opinion, it's not worth what it cost.

I bought the book when i got a used Miata without owner's manual. I found it does not specify which fuse works what devices, and that's what I need. Oh well...

I bought a used '91 Mazda Miata. Didn't know anything about it. This manual has definitely help me to figure out where everything is and what to look for.

I purchased this book and Mazda Miata Mx 5 Enthusiast's Shop Manual. These two together give me about a 80% understanding of what is going on with my Miata.

This is a basic repair manual. For example, if your wanting to work on the transmission you turn to that chapter and read something like "do not attempt to repair a transmission. This is beyond the scope of the average home mechanic". Well, isn't that the reason you buy a repair manual in the first place? Your much better off to order the Ford Automotive Manual for you year of Bronco II. It is the standard by which the Ford mechanics work from. The Haynes manual is just this side of being a joke.

PS. It does have nice pictures however...

For anyone hoping to find good electrical schematics, this is not the right book. I cannot trace the horn circuit, for example. In addition, I have a failed gas gauge. There is nothing in the book that discusses how to fix this problem. As with some other books, there is a lot of info on how to completely overhaul an engine - but not enough on more minor repairs.

I also own both this and the analogous Chilton manual and I have to say that the Haynes is by far the more accessible: The drawings and photographs are clearer, the instructions are better written, and the seperation of the information regarding the different engines is better. Also, the general maintenance (oil change, lube, and tune up) information is much better.

The Chilton manual, on the other hand, has extensive tables of torque listings, includes Ford part numbers in the drawings, and has factory-style detail regarding the catalyst.

On balance, these two are complementary. Unfortunately, not even both of these in concert are exhaustive: there are simply some details that are not covered. If anyone has a better manual please let me know.

Regarding the electircal schematics comment from previous:
The total system is cut up into several sections and moving between the sections may be tricky (if not impossible), but, again, the Haynes is more clearly labeled.

Disclaimer: I have not yet used either manual for a major job.