This book seeks to correlate times of human migrations -- from Atlantis and Mu to South America - with dates derived from mutation rates of individuals' mitochondrial DNA and with Cayce-readings dates for three destructions of Atlantis and Mu. Roughly two-thirds of the text succeeds in this endeavor. The remaining third fails miserably.

Authors' ignorance of what the readings actually say, coupled with the delight that goes with making up and then referring to imaginary "Cayce readings," is probably the best explanation of what has spoiled this book.

In what might be an otherwise useful study, one finds evidence of deceptive interpretations of several Cayce readings and embarrassing references to imaginary ones. These abominations are used to prop up a flawed "destruction chronology" for the legendary continents of Mu and Atlantis. The outline for this chronology was first advanced in E. E. Cayce's book, "The Mysteries of Atlantis Revisited." Dates for the first and second destructions given in "Ancient South America" are at significant variance with the specific destruction dates given in the Cayce readings. The authors' dates thus void the central thesis of their book re. migrations from Atlantis and Mu to South America.

If you enjoyed the Mound Builders by these authors you will find this book of value as well. Ditto if you are interested in psychic phenomena or archeology. I trust the book gets wide circulation in archeology circles. I would love to see what the "rebuttal" would be for this book from the archeology community. In typical fashion the authors are very careful with the facts and acknowledge any weakness in the evidence as well as saying the final evidence is not in as yet. I learned new things in this book like the presence of several thousand balls made of granite - hand polished - that have been found in a wide region of Costa Rica some as large as seven feet in diameter weighing more than 16 tons. These man made spheres are completely unique in the world. There are other gems like this in the book. John Van Auken has written at least seven other books concerning Edgar Cayce, which certainly qualifies him as an expert on the Cayce readings thus I have no concerns about the accuracy with regard to the Cayce readings discussed in the book. I enjoyed this read.

Ancient South America, the authors of this book assert, may have some of the most mysterious and ancient ruins and sites to be found anywhere else in the world. Thousands of miles of ancient roadways and countless cities and temples. In addition, the authors claim that new archaeological evidence and genetic studies from South America provide historical evidence that matches "almost perfectly" with what the psychic readings of Kentucky's "Sleeping Prophet" Edgar Cayce revealed about the ancient people there, who, according to Cayce's readings originated from Atlantis and Mu!
The book is a concise and comprehensive compilation of the latest scientific evidence that supports Cayce's readings on South America, containing also many incredible photographs and illustrations of ancient sites and ruins as well. It's compilers work within the infrastructure of the ARE (Association for Research and Enlightment) organization itself, known also as the Cayce Foundation. Their qualifications are impeccable. The book is very reasonably priced and full of the latest and most up-to-date information available anywhere. You just can't possibly go wrong!

On the plus side this small book has a fair bit of information about Van's works.However, the author is very opinionated and off-beam at times.He disparages some great Van songs.He calls 'Ballerina' a "lethargic meditation".'Autumn Song'is tagged "an insubstantial fragment".He says 'Summertime in England' is "hopelessly indulgent" and "pretentious".These are excellent songs and help create the distinctive Van Morrison mood which so many fans love.Humphries includes many cliches in his writing,for example, words such as "seguing","guesting" and "encoring".Two albums, "Hard Nose the Highway" and "Hymns to the Silence" are called "curate's eggs" (ie good in parts), another cliche.Although he quotes Van emphatically denying that he is a rock n roll artist, Humphries throughout places Van in a rock n roll context.It is little wonder that Van gets annoyed with journalists when so many of them are not up to understanding him and his music.Fans will get something out of this book, but not a great deal.

Patrick Humphries' concise CD sized booklet lives up to its name. It is highly recommended for both new and old fans alike.

Humphries' review of Morrison's albums will provide an excellent starting point for the neophyte Van fan who may well be overwhelmed by the abundance of choices in the back catalogue of Van Morrison.

The seasoned Van fan will likewise enjoy (and more than likely disagree!) with Humphries' knowledgeable critique of the albums.

Patrick Humphries obviously knows Van's music and Van's life.This is a work of respect , well illustrated and well written. He isn't afraid to show his personal likes and dislikes in Van's extensive discography.All in all , an excellent overview of over 30 albums and a good introduction to the neophyte.

Having graduated as an Electromagnetics Engineer (I hear my lecturers coughing loudly) I found that book hell on paper. It starts off easily enough, but right from the word go you have to think hard about the ideas being put across. If you're good at putting ideas into maths, this book will be a doddle. Unfortunately, there's not many people like that.

It is a good book but not for undergraduates. That is to say, different books are for different people at different entry level. It always refers back to previous chapters hence the reader is not lost when it mentioned things that are mentioned in previous chapters.

This book may have some perplexing early chapters on basic electricity and magnetism, but no more so than any other intermediate-level physics or engineering text on E&M. That's the nature of the beast - it's a highly mathematical subject. If you want a "cookbook" for the practicing radar/antenna/comm. technician who never wanted/had to learn the theory, look elsewhere. Where this text really shines is not in the "Fields and Waves", but in the "in Communication Electronics." I have not seen a clearer presentation of transmission lines, period, and I own a number of other popular (and widely-taught and cited) E&M books at this level, as well as a rather muddy book on the specific subject of transmission lines. You will not find another similar book with this thorough coverage of real-life applications, simultaneously general enough that it's useful in a broad range of specialty fields. The figures are in general both very clear and very useful.

This was fairly interesting and well written, but for a good, thorough biography of Princess Vicky, "An Uncommon Woman" is a far better choice. On the other hand, if you are looking for a fairly brief overview of her life and loves, this book will spare you the extreme detail found in "Uncommon Woman."

It was a rarity indeed that a royal marriage would be a happy one; that was never the idea of alliances such as the one between Victoria, Princess Royal, and Crown Prince Frederich of Prussia--but a happy marriage is exactly what they had. A partnership between a good man and an exceptionally intelligent, perceptive, loving woman. Vicky was maligned in her adopted country, gossiped about, belittled, and ultimately emotionally abused by her two eldest children, but she remained a remarkable woman nonetheless. This is a fascinating book about a devoted couple.

Why are there no solutions to the presented problems? Most all books I have used, in my 3 years of studying EE, have had the answers to the odd numbered problems. One example within a chapter is not enough for a student to be certain that other, more different, problems can be aproached and solved in the same manner.

If a solutions guide is available, I am more than willing to purchase it. suckomj@yahoo.com

Control systems are a difficult subject to cover, but this book does a good job of bringing the novice reader up to speed. This is a very straightforward treatment of an extremely technical field, and while it could hardly be described as gripping reading, Phillips has done a good job of presenting the main concepts clearly and understandably. The book is nicely divided into self-contained sections, allowing undergraduate students to immediately identify those topics relevant to their course. Probably the most useful textbook available to the undergraduate control student.

As a serious hobby egyptologist with an open mind I thought this book might have some interesting insights into Egpyptian spirituality from a metaphysical standpoint --boy, was I wrong! Not only does the author quote theories as if they were obviously true that have long been shattered by academic Egpytology but has the guts to offer an "interpretation" of wall paintings which 1)are based on faulty understanding of A.E. history and religious symbol, but he admits himself that he is not interested in these things anyway, and 2) rest their point on part of a scene which has been damaged and is impossible for either he or the reader to see. When I read that the "shem" symbol (the symbol for eternity that is represented by the rising/setting sun) that the ba bird is carrying is really an "anhk" (the symbol of life) without a stem, signaling that "life had left the body" I started giggling so hard I couldn't go on reading. If you know an Egpyptologist who needs a good laugh -- get this book!--otherwise don't bother. The only reason this book gets 1 star is for the wonderful full-color pictures.

This is a great book if you're a follower of Edgar Cayce as I am.
I...

This book is for the open minded who feel our current undertanding of history is severely flawed. If you're convinced that the great pyramid was built by a bunch of guys pulling 50 ton blocks of granite around in the desert with ropes you probably won't like this book.

You can read this book in one night as I did. Quite a few pages are taken up by beautiful pictures of art work from Egypt with explanations of the hidden meaning of the symbols and figures. If there was ever a race of people who were heavily into symbolism it was the Egyptians.

This book makes some statements which have implications that apply to the entire human race. One is that the current form of the human body is going to change somehow sometime in the near future. This has only happened a few times since the beginning of the human race.

I didn't realize that the high priest Ra Ta who built the great pyramid was a reincarnation of Edgar Cayce. I think it's obvious that Cayce is a very unusual soul. If I understand correctly it says Cayce was going to be reincarnated again in 1998 which means he may already be alive again.

Another suprise for me is there are many similarities between the ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and other religions such as Christianity and the Jewish faith. It's possible that Mary the mother of Christ and the godess Isis are the same person. For Catholics Mary is like a godess anyway and this may be an accurate symbol since she is supposedly also Eve who was created by dividing the soul of Adam (Christ). So she is the twin soul of God.

I have no problems believing all of the references to Atlantis. To me what Cayce says makes perfect sense.

For more wonderful ideas about the construction of the great pyramid I recommend this book:

The Giza Power Plant by Christoper Dunn

Dunn proves that the great pyramid was actually a machine like a form of nuclear reactor that shot a cosmic energy beam into outer space. Dunn's theories agree with this book that the great pyramid was built using anti gravity technology.

I believe what Cayce said that we are entering a new age.

The Egyptians indicated this also and said that some type of trial by fire is going to occur. Yes, I believe this. I believe Satan is going to collect all of the selfishness he has given out.

A lot of this information is consistent with theories I read in a book that was supposedly communicated to someone by people from another planet called Iarga. They said that human beings could originally communicate using a non verbal form of radiation that even the plants and animals can understand (ie. 'everyone spoke the same language'). The Tower Of Babel story in the bible indicates the point that humans lost the ability to understand the radiation. People such as Tanya Fitzpatrick (the Pet Psychic) can still understand the radiation.

John Van Auken puts forth more ideas regarding ancient myths surrounding the 'old' world. However, he proves that old does not mean less knowledge.

Either you believe in your heart there is much more to ancient Egypt, or you scoff at the thought. For those that know the truth, read this work with an open heart, you won't be kept in the dark any longer.

For developers involved with web-based projects, whether it be an online store for electronic commerce or an Intranet site for accessing and modifying company data, the powerful blend of JavaServer Pages (JSP) and Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) technologies can really make life simple. Once you've mastered them, creating new components that encapsulate business logic, or new web interfaces to existing systems, is easy. The trick, for developers, is mastering the technologies.

Professional JSP is one way to get up to speed. Like many of the books published by Wrox Press, Professional JSP covers a specific technology in-depth, as well as the various ancillary topics relating to it such as databases, servlets, and XML. While not every developer will need every web technology covered by the book (and there are many), the book works both as a tutorial to cover the basics and a reference for technologies that you may encounter later.

Professional JSP starts by covering the basics of Java Server Pages, and how they relate to other web technologies. Embedded in HTML pages, JSP provides an easy mechanism for creating interactive web interfaces that draws on server-side components, known as Enterprise JavaBeans. While the presentation logic is written in JSP, the processing occurs within these JavaBean components. The book takes a balanced approach, covering both JSP and its syntax, as well as how to write and interact with JavaBeans to perform useful tasks, like accessing databases through JDBC and using other Java technologies. However, if you've read other Wrox titles, you may find there is some overlap in the topics covered.

One of the nice things about Professional JSP is that, in addition to covering theory, it goes further and examines practical applications of JSP, and issues for programmers like security and debugging. Like other titles in the Professional series, there are case studies of real projects using JSP and related technologies. My favorite would have to be the case study on porting Active Server Pages to JSP -- something that is extremely important for developers with "legacy" web systems. On the whole, Professional JSP is an excellent book for web developers wanting to get up to speed with Java Server Pages, web development, and Enterprise JavaBeans. However, developers with less of a web presentation focus and more of back-end server view may also want to consider the excellent Professional Java Server Programming title, which also covers JSP. -- David Reilly, reviewed for the Java Coffee Break

This book covers the chapters in a very structured way. It starts with a concise description of the JSP Basics with a detailed explanation of the concepts. It explains all the concepts in a very clear and simple words supported by an equally clear Comments and examples. Any body with a little of Java experience can become very familiar with the JSP syntax and concepts by reading first few chapters. It covers all the necessary JSP syntax for building a small web application to a very large distributed Application. It also explains about the way the JSP pages are processed by different web servers. For example it explains about the various methods available to maintain a persistence session and their merits and demerits. This is the first book in JSP series that explains not only the concepts of JSP and how effectively one can use them with the help of this book. It also covers various other topics like EJB, JNDI, JDBC, XML, XSLT and WML in very detailed way. Overall I feel this is the greatest JSP book ever published so far. I could build a simple and robust JSP Web application by reading the first few chapters in a short period of time.

This books lives up to its title in that it provides both real-world JSP techniques (through 7 very informative case studies chapters), as well as JSP background information that serves as a quick start guide. I rank it as one of the top 2 JSP books currently available (the other one is Web Development With JavaServer Pages by Messrs. Fields and Kolb).

After the JSP fundamentals are out of the way (which I am sure any JSP newcomer will appreciate and can benefit from), the book picks up pace with discussion on JDBC connection pooling, and the best practice for data access from JSP. Then comes the chapter on custom tags. My favorite chapters are the ones on debugging JSP's and implementing the MVC design pattern in JSP/servlets.

The case studies are very comprehensive and closely correlated to the earlier chapters. In one case study the design methodology is clearly explained with UML diagrams, which are very helpful to someone who is currently architecting an enterprise Java Web application. Other case studies cover such a wide area of topics such as JSP in combination with LDAP, EJB, XSL, and WAP.

For ASP developers, this books has two enormously useful chapters to get them started on JSP right away. One is a case study showing how to port an ASP app to JSP, and the other compares and contrasts the object model and syntax between ASP and JSP.

Having said all the above, this book does suffer from certain weaknesses. One is typical of any multi-author book, i.e., repeat of the same topic in different chapters. This is the case with JDBC, which shows up in both chapters 4 and 7. Another problem is the lack of the use of a standard servlet/JSP container, which will help new users to run all samples under the same software setting (although there is an appendix on setting up Tomcat server). Finally, a few chapters seem to be out of place in term of the logic flow of concept, such as the ones on dynamic GUI's and JNDI.

Finally, this book is still thin on heavy-duty J2EE topics, such as EJB, distributed transactions, message service, and interoperability with CORBA. This is why I consider it as an intermediate level book, not an advanced one. Hopefully we will see another Wrox book in the near future that addresses some of these issues.

If you've read any of Mr. Van Der Kistes works you will usually find them to be sound bytes rather than a volume filled with information. The Romanovs is a decent book, but hardly worth this price. Mr. Van Der Kiste as usual skims the surface, doesn't even go near his subject matter. He crams a history of a family, into two hundred pages, five generations, and at least 100 members. Some he mentions some he doesn't. And unfortunately it's been done much better. Perry and Pleshakov recently did a very good job with The Flight of the Romanovs. If one is going to tackle such a subject, one should be able to provide information, rather than sound bytes. But this is the fourth book I've read by Mr. Van Der Kiste, and they're all pretty much the same. Lacking in substance.

This book on the Romanovs is a good description of the Romanov dynasty in its last century, concentrating primarily on the lives of Tsar Alexander II and his descendants. It does a good job covering the political and military events of the time, but is quite sketchy on the personal lives and characters of the last three Tsars and their relatives. This is a good book to have along with Charlotte Zeepvat's "Romanov Autumn", which covers the same time period but with a more personal slant.

Mr. Van Der Kiste has once again given the reader a history of a royal family that presents the members as real people and not just historical personages. He also mentions collateral members of the family, not just the czars. Many photos enhance the text. A very enjoyable read.

I bought this book expecting a real debate between the three views mentioned, namely, Young Earth Creation, Old Earth Creation, and Theistic Evolution. The reason I found it disappointing is for two main reasons. None of the contributors really talk about the evidences for their position, but instead ramble on about their philosophy of science. Van Till spends most of his time trying to convince people to call his perspective the "fully-gifted creation perspective" instead of theistic evolution. To me, it really was just playing with words in order to avoid the negative Christian response to evolution. Does Van Till believe in Darwinian evolution or not? He says he does, so why not Theistic evolution? His view, as he expresses it, is really Deism, although he protests that it isn't. Read what he says and decide for yourself. My other major complaint with the book was that instead of the proponent of each view responding to the other two views, the responses were made by a third party "panel". I found this to be extremely unsatisfying.
The book wasn't totally without merit, and all three perspectives had some good things to say - but it got lost in a lot of wordiness about "words" which really took away from the book as a whole.

This book consists of essays by proponents of each of the three views (Young Earth Creationism, Old Earth Creationism, and Theistic Evolution) and commentaries by practitioners of four disciplines: Biblical studies, theology, philosophy, and science. The entire discussion is concluded by summaries by Philip Johnson, an advocate of intelligent design, and Richard Bube, an advocate of theistic evolution.

The result is only partially successful. I am particularly impressed with the essays by Paul Nelson and John Mark Reynolds (Young Earth Creationism) and Howard J. Van Till (Theistic Evolution). Both give lucid and reasoned presentations of their views. I was pleasantly surprised to see Nelson and Reynolds, neither of whom I have read before, forego some of the more common but already discredited scientific arguments for a young Earth. Van Till presents a well thought-out and challenging integration of science and theology.

I am very disappointed by the commentaries, however. My first complaint is that the commentators sometimes seem unwilling to critique the essays primarily within their own expertises. For instance, John Jefferson Davis spends much of his space discussing the fossil record. On the one hand, none of the other commentators talk about this important piece of evidence. On the other hand, I wish the editors could have found someone other than a theologian to do this.

My second, more serious complaint is that each of the four commentators speaks entirely from an Old Earth Creationist perspective. In fact, Walter Bradley (who is supposed to provide criticism from a scientific perspective) uses the space allotted for commentary on the Old Earth Creationist perspective to attack the positions later presented in the Theistic Evolution essay. The reader is deprived of any scientific critique of the Old Earth Creationist view and instead finds a philosophical objection to a view not even presented yet. I find that entirely inappropriate.

As a brief introduction to the thinking in the three perspectives on creation and evolution, the primary essays in this book are very good. They each present some of the strengths and weaknesses of their own positions. These are not explored fully, but each essay is well referenced for further reading. The commentaries could have benefited by a better selection of commentators, however.

i've read in the field of creation-evolution for nearly 30 years now, from the _genesis flood_ to _darwin's dangerous idea_. that certainly doesn't make me an expert, only a concerned layman. this book is addressed by christian's to christian's, not that anyone outside of that community won't get a great deal out of the discussion only that the emotional desire/impetus to seek answers pushes christian's with a high view of scripture to try to reconcile the two biggies in their lives: science looking at general revelation and theology looking at scriptures. if you're not part of this community it is much easier just to ask "so what?" and not to understand why this is such a personal topic.

this is a first book, that is suitable for educated people to delve into a topic where many of the other books in this field/topic presume a background in either science or theology, or where the books are so stridently biased as to be "preaching to the choir" and put off 'newbies' with their presentation.

the issues are presented well enough that i think if someone finishes the book they will have a reasonable idea of what the problems are and where the different parts are most concerned in the discussion. it is not a scientific or theologically based book but rather philosophic. it presents concerns from each viewpoint, thus showing relative priorities in what each person discusses first and critisies as lacking emphasis in the other viewpoints. this is one value in a debate type of format, it can leave you with a prioritized idea of what people find important in the issues.

one problem however with this debate framework is that each person reading the book who already have committments to issues or positions tend to cheer for their side and boo down the opposing sides. this is evident from the reviews posted here, the young earth creation team is not the big names in the field, so it looks like in suffers from lack of heroes. nay, the two philosophers defend the position well given the page constraints they faced.

there is one issue running through the book i wished everyone had addressed in a more explicit matter, that is the difference in accepting the functional materialism of science versus the uncritical acceptance of a materialist world and life view of scientism. there is much confusion between the two, you can see it in much YEC criticism, in this book as well, of both progressive creationism and theistic evolution. naturalism is the idea that what we see is what we get, no god's behind the curtain, no skyhooks to come down and rescue us. there must be a distinction between how science uses this idea as a working hypothesis, as a functional means to an end, versus how a philosophy uses it as an axiom. of the 3 viewpoints, only vantil talks to the separation of the two. the YEC's fault the other two positions as if they accepted the materialism/naturalism as a deep committment in their systems. which as christian's is simply unacceptable from the beginning.

i liked the book. i think if you need a place to start it supplies one. however if you are already committed to a position you would be better off served by jumping straight to one of the major works in each viewpoint. and interact with that author without the polemics that form the debate structure of the book.

After hearing a couple reviews from friends in person, as well as the enthusiastic applause it received from the readers here, I expected quite a bit more from 'Clan Novel: Toreador' than I received from the first of the 13-book series. Not that it was a bad book, or that it occupied countless volumes of my time. Rather, it was an easy read, one that went by quickly but did not leave many lingering afterthoughts in its wake.

As would be the fashion, bits and pieces of this book are to be incorporated in the following 12, each overlapping a small amount. I initially ordered the first six of the series and intend to read through them; I hope that the intrigue grows, or even, appears. Like other books of a series, though, I'm hoping this is just a lead-in to much better material.

An RPG tie-in novel doesn't have to be WAR AND PEACE for me to give it 5 stars. It doesn't even have to be THE LORD OF THE RINGS or INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE. It just has to be a REALLY GOOD RPG novel. It should be helpful as a resource to people who play the games. (In the case of CLAN NOVELS it means that the book should have a clear, developed focus on the title clan.) At the same time, it has to be more than just an RPG resource. The story should be able to stand alone for people who don't know much about the game or who aren't reading the whole series.

So what have we here? First, it's really hard for the first book in a series to stand alone. Part of it's job is to establish the intriguing and unresolved issues that will shape the rest of the series. It's supposed to raise more questions than it answers.

However, a really good first installment should also establish interesting characters in compelling situations- characters the reader can identify with and whose concerns will move the reader to follow them through the rest of the series. For me, those kinds of characters and concerns didn't start showing up in this series until Volumes 3, 4 and 5 (GANGREL, SETITE and VENTRUE, respectively). What was I left with here was an intellectual curiosity about where it was all going to go but no real driving concern about anyone likely to have survived. OK but not great.

Then there's the title clan. All the required things are here- the Toreadors' artistic interests, their interest in high society, their fascination with humans and even a bit of the tendency of the other clans to underestimate the Toreador. What's missing, I think, is any real sense of the Toreador's preoccupation with beauty that makes them seem like something other than manipulative, self-involved caricatures. There's a whole gallery full of art here, for example, assembled by a Toreador but it's only really discussed in terms of how grotesque the subject matter is and the amount of prestige it brings. Another character does have the Toreador weakness (fixation on beauty) to the point of derangement as part of his artistic process but mostly it just seems intriguingly weird rather than a typical manifestation of the clan's attachment to beauty.

In general, though, the book has a lot to cover in order to set up for the series. It does a decent job and even has some decent individual situations. (Good because you can't really skip it.) My guess is that people will find things to enjoy and want to read further based on what's here. It's just not the strongest book in the series.

I liked this book. It was a decent intro to the world of the Camarilla, in particular, two Toreador vampires. I read reviews of most of the series of 13 novels, and this first book didn't rate real high. If that's the case, I am really looking forward to reading the novels which seemed to rate the highest! Setite, Gangrel, and Ravnos.