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Book reviews for "Kentfield,_John_Alan_C." sorted by average review score:

Acura Integra & Legend Automotive Repair Manual: Acura Integra Models 90-93, Acura Legend Models 91-95 (Haynes Automotive Repair Manual Series)
Published in Paperback by Haynes Publishing (1999)
Authors: Larry Warren, Alan Ahlstrand, John Harold Haynes, and Motorbooks International
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Not worth your time or money
The book was somewhat helpful at times, but after using this book for a while I decided that I needed to break out the wallet and just buy a HELM manual ..., and I'm so glad that I did. If you have a Sedan legend this may be more accurate, but with my 1994 Legend Coupe it was really far off in many places and it's instructions are very vague. ...

great car
I don't really have much to say but I think this is a great book to do your own reairing at home. I haven't try other book but this is a great book to have if you own a honda motor vehicle.


The Haynes Small Engine Repair Manual: 5.5 Hp Through 20 Hp Four-Stroke Engines (Techbook)
Published in Paperback by Haynes Publishing (1999)
Authors: Alan Ahlstrand, John Harold Haynes, and Motorbooks International
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One more manual -- and thats all.
I own a couple of repair manuals and this one isn't the best. I'm not much of a mechanic and don't find working with engines easy to do, as do many guys. Thus I've been looking for an engine repair manual which will take me through every step necessary in order to maintain and repair an engine -- this one isn't it (at least not for me). Another reviewer of this book found it to be too simple where as I find that it, like most other books of this nature, assumes the reader knows the jargon and understands the principles fairly well to start with. This book, at least for me, left much to be desired. I don't think it is as good as the Briggs and Stratton manual. It covers more engine types but does so in less detail and with less step by step directives. If you are the type of person who doesn't have a technical mind (and I don't) and doesn't easily understand mechanical devises (and I don't), I'd suggest you look elsewhere.

An OK reference for beginners
This is an OK book for someone who is just beginning to repair medium size riding lawnmower engines. Experienced mechanics will find little in the book that they do not already know. Understand that, as one would expect from the title, small chain saw, weed eater, leaf blower, and push mower engines are not covered. The information is limited, pretty elementary and lacking enough detail to help an experienced repair person making major repairs or difficult diagnostics. The number of different brands of engines covered is limited.


Wireless Java for Symbian Devices
Published in Paperback by John Wiley & Sons (20 September, 2001)
Authors: Jonathan Allin, Colin Turfus, Alan Robinson, Lucy Sweet, and John Bown
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Exciting technology, but many errors
There are far too many typos (source codes, etc) in this book to recommend it to anyone. Bet the author wrote this book with one of those devices.

Expert Author and Fun Examples
The credentials of the lead author are top notch. The book covers a variety of topics that will be important to developing for wireless Symbian devices.

The examples in the book are Fun. These include XBomb (a game), "The Little Black Book", The DiceMachine, Whist, and more.


Aristocratic Liberalism: The Social and Political Thought of Jacob Burckhardt, John Stuart Mill, and Alexis De Tocqueville
Published in Paperback by Transaction Pub (2001)
Author: Alan S. Kahan
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A history, really stuck in its time
This book is about the shape of intellectual perceptions in an era which was much more unsettled than the present, with preparation for a major war dominating the form of politics that were commonly perceived as getting along by going along. The index, pp. 215-228, covers a range of topics, and is good on the correspondence and works of Burckhardt, Mill, and Tocqueville, the major writers on the political situation of their era that form the basis for this book. The notes, pp. 167-206, are as expected for a book which began as a doctoral dissertation at the University of Chicago. Note 5 on Chapter one admits, "Burckhardt left hundreds of pages of lecture notes on the Revolution, but his own opinions are so enmeshed in unattributed quotations and paraphrases that determining from the notes which thoughts are his has proved impossible." (p. 169). Reading the text of ARISTOCRATIC LIBERALISM with an eye on the notes in the back soon leads to sources that are from multiple authors. Note 33 is pretty clear that it is setting up a context. `For a few of many references, see Burckhardt . . . See also Mill, "De Tocqueville on Democracy in America" [II] (1840), CW, 18:167; Tocqueville, L'ANCIEN REGIME, OC, 2, pt. 1:47, 53;' etc. (p. 170). Note 34 cites both Tocqueville and Burckhardt in support of the statement, "The result was its destruction and the encouragement of a passion for unity and uniformity, for the elimination of special privileges and of independent groupings within society." (p. 16).

This book was published in 1992, long before 9/11/2001 became the dominant symbol of destruction that is such a contrast to the situation faced by Tocqueville, Mill, and Burckhardt due to "the social and cultural leveling carried out by the Old Regime gradually weakened and even destroyed all the bonds that had formerly connected individuals in a society of orders." (p. 16, citing note 33). This situation was taken seriously, but associated with "Individualism, in this negative sense, was intimately connected with political centralization. The destruction of political liberty--that is, of a political system based on local self-government--was the worst result of the Old Regime in Tocqueville's eyes." (p. 17). Calling a belief in any established order ARISTOCRATIC LIBERALISM, as this book does over and over, is almost quaint. Consider the choices faced by intellectuals of that time. "Too many of the ideas of the Revolution and the Enlightenment could easily lead to despotism, whether by a party or by a military dictatorship, for the aristocratic liberals to be comfortable." (p. 33). Perhaps we who regularly demonstrate and vote against such dictatorial tendencies have escaped the need to confront such fears, now that society is organized mainly for work and pleasure, so that now, the only form of order more important than entertainment values is the form of corporate hierarchy which people expect to submit to on the job.

Chapter 2 of ARISTOCRATIC LIBERALISM, with its emphasis on the hegemony of the middle class, the commercial spirit, stagnation, and mediocrity, comes close to a description of the current situation, though it doesn't consider how popular the link of home entertainment could make such modern adaptations as movies and sports, typically ersatz activities which create the illusion that localities have some grasp on the attention of the people living in a particular area. On a national level, it is easier to believe that those carrying out policy are not quite following orders as much as they are following Donald Rumsfeld, an old man who could be replaced any minute, like the Secretary of the Army, who didn't have to give up his job because of anything he did at Enron. He just submitted his resignation anyway, quite recently, when he found out who didn't want to see him around anymore. If anything, we have advanced from aristocracy to a *throw the bums out* mentality that is likely to be applied with little or no link to reality, whenever the majority finds itself hurting. Chapter 3, "Despotisms: The State and Its Masters," tries to consider the dangers of Public Opinion, Suffrage, the Prussian Constitution, Socialism and the Fear of Socialism.

Chapter 4 is on "Modern Humanism: The Values of Aristocratic Liberalism." A theme of much of the book is that no one took the side of the aristocrats for their sake; they were merely valued because they were not perceived as being pawns. "On the grand scale, diversity within a culture played a parallel role to the diverse character of human nature and particular individuals. A specialized society which allowed expression to only one aspect of humanity was repugnant for the same reason a purely one-sided specialized individual was: it was not fully human." (p. 104). "Burckhardt's Renaissance man was no example of calm balance and symmetry, in classical fashion, but of powerful, even demonic diversity of talent. As such, the Renaissance was in this way too the beginning of modernity for Burckhardt." (p. 105).

Chapters 5 and 6 still cling to the time frame of 1830-1870, in which "the priority many liberals put on preserving private property did not make them conservatives or reactionaries, at least not by choice, although when sufficiently frightened by the specter of socialism they tended to run for the authoritarian government, as Tocqueville lamented." (p. 141). Liberals in 2003 are still frightened enough of being called liberals to have much to say when confronted with long-term trends that could wipe out the prosperity which they claimed as a result of their policies in the 20th century. Liberals must be used to reading insults by now, but I'm not sure it will do them any good to read more of the type this book contains. "One element of an exclusion principle is contained, as I have noted, in the statement that liberals are not democrats, and that anyone who believes in immediate universal suffrage is not a liberal." (p. 140).


Complete Prosthodontics: Problems, Diagnosis and Management (22954)
Published in Paperback by Mosby (1994)
Authors: Alan A. Grant, John R. Heath, and J. Fraser McCord
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Helpful book for dealing with common problems with dentures.
While a very helpful text about dealing with the common and some not-so-common problems with complete dentures this text provides no information on RPD's or FPD's. In this respect, the title is misleading. Be advised!


The Early Writings of Alan Watts: The British Years: 1931-1938, Writings in Buddhism in England
Published in Paperback by Celestial Arts (1996)
Authors: Alan Watts, John Snelling, Mark Watts, and Dennis Sibley
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Buddhist Boy Wonder
This books probably isn't the best place to start for someone just becoming interested in either Alan Watts or in Eastern thought in general. However, for osmeone who is interested in Alan Watts, it is invaluable. It shows him just coming into his own as a writer - most of them were written when he was in his late teens and early twneties, and shows him strruggling to devlop his style and the finer points of his philosophy. THe introductory material is especially helpful


Ford Explorer & Mazda Navajo Automotive Repair Manual: All Ford Explorer and Mazda Navajo Models 1991 Through 1995 (Haynes Auto Repair Manual Series)
Published in Paperback by Motorbooks International (1900)
Authors: Alan Ahlstrand, John Harold Haynes, and Haynes Publishing
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It works for the "shade tree" mechanic.
The section on front disc brake repair disassembly of the front wheel drive hubs is explained well in words and pictures. If there is anything negative it's the electrical section - it leaves you asking more questions than it answers.


Honda Civic & Acura Integra Automotive Repair Manual: Models Covered: Honda Civic-1996 Through 1998, Acura Integra-1994 Through 1998 (Haynes Automotive Repair Manual Series)
Published in Paperback by Haynes Publishing (1900)
Authors: Larry Warren, Alan Ahlstrand, John Harold Haynes, and Motorbooks International
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Adequate -- But Merely That
The devil is in the details and this book simply lacks the details. It's not a bad deal if all you want to do is change brake lining and replace broken bulbs -- but thats about all it's good for.

It is not an acceptable reference for heavy duty repair. If you want to overhaul your engine, get the genuine factory service manual from Helms. The mechanical manual alone is expensive, but it contains more useful and accurate information than anything else out there.

So if you want to do it right, get the real factory service manual. If all you want to do really light duty stuff like brake pads, oil changes, and removing seats so that you can get a vacuum in there to clean out french fries, this book will work.


International Trade Policy and the Pacific Rim: Proceedings of the Iea Conference Held in Sydney, Australia (International Economic Association Conference, Vol 120)
Published in Hardcover by Palgrave Macmillan (1999)
Authors: John Piggott, Alan Woodland, and International Economic Association
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A very heterogenous collection
As it often happens with books editing the contents of a Conference, this is also a very heterogeneous book, with some very good chapters/papers and others not so qualified. But since all articles come with a "comment" made by another conference participant, the reader's life is made easier, as most of the problems are already pointed out in the comments. The book is also very heterogeneous in its topics, so any reader will likely find 3-4 of the papers very useful, but not all of them.


Soranus' Gynecology
Published in Paperback by Johns Hopkins Univ Pr (1991)
Authors: of Ephesus Soranus, Owsei Temkin, Johns Hopkins, and Alan F. Guttmacher
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The science of Gynecology practiced by Soranus
In his book Gynecology, Soranus details the methods used to treat the ailments of women from before his time and during his time of the second century A.D. This translation is mainly for historians who are studying Soranus or methods of ancient medicine. It is not for those with a weak stomach, because it graphicly discusses many ailments and treatments that existed in the second century.


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