Whatever your views on Henry Kissinger as a practitioner of international relations, it is difficult to deny his genius as an academic in the field. One may disagree with his politics or with the ultra-realist approach he used in guiding U.S. foreign policy as Nixon's secretary of state, one may even go so far as to call him a war criminal. But as a chronicler of modern diplomatic history, he has few rivals. Having read his seminal work Diplomacy, a masterpiece in which he traces diplomatic relations from the time of the Treaty of Westphalia through present day, it was with eager anticipation that I awaited his most recent work, Does America Need a Foreign Policy? What could be more exciting for a student of international affairs than a prescription for 21st century American diplomacy from America's consummate diplomatist?

The book, unfortunately, does not even live up to its own title, much less the expectations it inherits by virtue of its author's reputation. Kissinger does not truly attempt to answer the question implicit in the book's rhetorical title - namely, that assuming America does need a foreign policy, what should that foreign policy look like? Instead he traces historical developments and foreign policy trends, divided neatly into geographic regions, and ends each discussion with a brief, all-too-vague, and not-at-all bold prescription for how our country's leaders should proceed in the future. For instance, in his discussion of Europe and trans-Atlantic relations, his boldest assertion is that the U.S. should support the strengthening of the EU as a means of keeping Russia in check. In Asia, he argues that close relations with Japan will be more productive in preventing the emergence of a hostile, dominant China than the current course of inflammatory rhetoric and aggressive policies. And in his chapter on globalization, he focuses most of his attention on a thorough excoriation of the IMF and its failures in the Asian, Russian, and Latin American financial crises, without offering much in the way of solutions. It is ironic that his most opinionated chapter - the one on peace and justice - is also his most predictable. Is it any surprise that Kissinger, who in recent years has been accused by some of war crimes, would argue strongly against the authority of the International Criminal Court, and take up the legal crusade of Augusto Pinochet?

In its favor, this book is certainly very readable. But don't we expect more than that from the likes of Henry Kissinger? When I read the work of such a brilliant mind, I almost feel disappointed if I don't feel a need at the end to go back and re-read passages or even entire chapters. In this case I felt neither the need, nor the desire, to do so.

Does the US Need Foreign Policy? Good question. Unfortunately you won't find the answer in this book.
In this book, Kissinger takes the reader around the globe region by region reviewing Cold War history. I was quite disappointed. Not all is lost though. If you can make it through Kissinger's dense and entangling prose this book makes quite a good primer for world politics.
Kissinger's well thought out attack on the International Court is the one redeeming aspect of the book. I disagree with Kissinger's reasoning, but he does give an excellent, intellectual case against the ICJ. His argument is predictable though - finding its roots in the peace of Westphalia - and he has good reason to argue against such a court - with old foreign pals from the Nixon administration finding themselves in hot water (e.g. Pinochet).
Surprisingly, a new development has occurred in Kissinger's analysis. He has recently made a new acquaintance of "low politics" - namely economics. It's reassuring.
I could only recommend this book to someone new to IR studies or someone that wants a quick review around the world - this book would make an excellent primer. But that's all.

Kissinger systematically analyzes each global region and the challenges that the United States faces in developing a coherent foreign policy towards each. He covers Europe, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and (though somewhat grudgingly) Africa.

The coverage of the benefits and risks of Globalization is a must read for anyone interested in joining or opposing the current anti-Globalization movement that has caused havoc at many of the global leaders summits.

Though he does not say as much, Kissinger clearly disdained the manner in which Clinton's foreign policy was executed. Always the champion of Realpolitik, he finds many of the American excursions into foreign policy of the 90's reeking of bland Wilsonianism and to be ill-conceived and neither well thought-out nor well executed. Each reader will have to come to terms with his viewpoint in her own way.

There are many issues that America will have to deal with in the coming years and decades. South America is on the brink of either becoming an economic powerhouse or political morass. Asia is growing in economic strength and considers American hegemony distasteful. The Middle East continues to confound as it is both a gooey tarbaby and the supplier of fuel for the American economic engine. Africa remains a victim of the recent colonial period with no steady government save Nigeria. America, as the sole remaining superpower, must conduct itself so as to maximize peace and prosperity around the world. Whether we are able to do so well is the main question Kissinger poses.

I bought the book in March 1998...and sincerly it isn't as good as it looks.......

The bad surprise of this book is a lot of errors like typographical, wrong named or wrong wrote corners of circuits (more than a half at Interlagos !), some inexact text information, wrong lap record (Monaco 97 in a wet race !).A excess of photos of some cars (Ferrari and Sauber !), and some lacklustre and out of focus photos (start at Spain). Facts flinged at random in the circuits drawings. It is missing a datasheet with a annual summary of the winners, speed, fast lap, pole position; also the former circuits drawings (in small picture) to show the modifications through the years. The beautiful 2 page circuits drawings, some photos of the past and a fair price it is not enough to avoid the disappointment with this book, which it is not in the same high level of the other books of the celebrated author.

I must admit that I am relatively new to F1 racing. In 2001, I saw most of the races, and part of the way into the season, I bought this book to use as a reference as I watched the races live on TV. I am VERY glad I did because it enhanced my viewing greatly.

It was nice to open the book up to the Hockenheim page, for example, to see the chicanes, the long straightaways, the S-curve into the stadium section, etc. TV coverage might have one graphic that shows the whole circuit, but with the book beside me on the couch, I can refer to it throughout the race.

I like how the tracks are laid out on the pages. The tracks are colorful, they detail general speeds at various points on the track, and they feature a footnote about a famous incident or two over the years.

I know that there are more comprehensive books out there about the F1 circuits, but for a guy just getting into the sport, the book was PERFECT for me.

Ernest Shackleton accomplished arguably superhuman things. He was good at selecting, cajoling and inspiring men. How he brought his crew back alive from such a frozen, forbidding world, is one of the amazing miracles of the past two hundred years.
Yet a close, hard look suggests that the leadership lessons to be learned are limited for most readers. The authors try too hard to take each Shackleton episode or act as a lesson tobe learned and applied yet these lessons are not as clear as the authors might want to suggest nor are the lessons necessarily generalizeable to modern life or commerce. After reading the entire book, little remains to explain Shackleton's theory or practice of leadership, just a lot of anecdotes and incidents. Shackleton and his leadership remain inscrutable.
An amazing story, yes. An amazing leadership book, I think not.

If you want an in depth analysis of Shackleton or any other leader, go take a course, read the volumes of books on the subject, invest the effort elsewhere. Don't expect to have an in-depth analysis effectively accomplished in 200 pages.

If you want a light, entertaining, interesting read of an incredible story, touching on various leadership points, then you will find this book worthwhile.

If you are looking for a bit of spark to investigate Shackleton a bit more, then you will find this book worthwhile.

Shackleton was a very capable leader of expeditions... not a Saint. If you are looking for a look into his personal life and any shortcomings in it, you won't find it in this book... but then again, I don't think it's called Shackleton's Family Way: A Critical Account of His Family Life.

In 1914, Ernest Shackleton and 27 others started on a journey to be the first people to cross the Antarctic Continent. Their ship was caught in the ice, eventually crushed, and the story of how they all survived has become a classic. In this book, the story is retold with new insights and information. The authors focus on Shackleton as leader. The conclusions are very well drawn, and the connections and insights regarding "leadership" are true, valid, and extremely worthwhile. They make sense, they are useful, and they work! I've been to South Georgia and Elephant Island, and thus have some appreciation of the difficulties Shackleton and his men faced. His leadership skills came through for his team then, and the lessons learned are more than appropriate for leaders of today.

Thomas Huxley deserves better than this meandering, plodding tome. What should have been a facinating biography is lost in the obtuse style the author uses. On the plus side--there are some very good passages and pockets of wonderful information, and the bibliography is amazingly complete. On the minus side--the shining bits are so deeply hidden in the depths of the authors quagmire style you may need a machete to find them. I also agree with some earlier posts that a thematic approach would be preferrable to a strictly chronological narrative.

Rarely have I encountered such an awkward and opaque writing style. Desmond uses the sampling techniques of hip-hop, producing sentences by stringing together various quotes and quote fragments. The result manifests neither rhythm nor flow as the reader must laboriously decode even the shortest sentences. The overall result is that the book which although it has fair to good factual and analytical content has a fragmentary feel about it and is in general a chore to read.

This is one of the best bios of Huxley ever written (cf. also the more theoretical work of Shellie Lyons) and seems a natural companion to Moore & Desmond's work, Darwin: The Tormented Evolutionist.
The new style of Darwin studies takes the legacy of such as John Greene and others and zeroes in on the social context of the emergence of the theory as ideologically charged.
In Huxley's case one sees the generational change breaking the Anglican monopoly of the Paley-ites, but in the process creating a new establishment in the conservative revolution of Darwin's theory.
What is remarkable is that Darwin's bulldog had an initial clarity that drove him to defend Darwin on evolution, but demur on natural selection. How ironic. Le plus ca change!
It is hard to impossible to take theories of evolution in complete seriousness as pure science when we see the almost outrageous social darwinist cast to the whole operation. Huxley, to his credit, saw things differently toward the end in his final classic Evolution and Ethics. Would that the generations springing from his first great defense of the theory could come to his final regrets. Nice work.

This book is pretty on the inside and outside. Lots of colored photos. Plenty of photos of the shoes they have made and who they were made for. But no patterns to go with any of them except two. Very involved detailed process for making the solid shape to build your shoes upon. Brief explanations of various shoes over the centuries is nice, but don't expect to be able to design a shoe from many of the line drawings of shoes. The drawings are crude with no variations for each time period. They are not in color and mention no fabrics or popular colors for the time period. Nice glossary of tools used, shoe parts and techniques. There are 8 sources where you can purchased parts, etc. And last but not least there is a nice full page plug for the new upcoming book. I gave a three because the book is pretty, photos done nicely and process explanations were clear.

I really loved this book. I have no experience in creating clothing for my 15½" Franklin Mint fashion dolls & the shoes that came with the dolls are a major disappointment. I hope to be able to rectify that soon with my husband's help in creating lasts & molds.

I gave the book 4 stars because, although the creation & design processes are detailed very thoroughly, there is a dearth of good photos of finished shoes. Many of the shoes that are shown tend to be somewhat hidden under the hem of a doll's outfit, the folds of artistically draped fabric, or the lid of a colorful candy box.

As suggestions for a second edition: If I could re-edit this book, I would add more finished shoes, add patterns for other popular fashion dolls (such as Franklin Mint vinyls,) & change the typeface font to something less fussy, with full margin justification.

I make and design clothes for the Madame Alexander doll Cissy and have always been frustrated with the scarcity/lack of selection/high price of shoes that I can buy for this doll. So, when I saw this book advertised in one of the many doll magazines I browse monthly, I knew I had to have it. The instructions are fairly easy to follow though sometimes the photographs showing the various steps are not located on the page facing the written instruction (the sole reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5). The instructions for making a permanent last were very helpful. This book contains patterns for lasts & shoes for Cissy and Gene in particular, but the instructions and methods in this book could be applied to many dolls though I wouldn't recommend it for people wanting to make anything for Barbie. There are also instructions for making molds for heels (if you have a high-heeled doll like Cissy or Gene). Following these instructions, I successfully made my first pair of shoes, and, because I made them myself, I was able to customize them to the outfit I had made. A great book for making shoes for dolls for whom you cannot cheaply and easily buy decent shoes.

I had long heard of Henry James and his short novella, The Turn of the Screw and decided to read it, thinking that at only 88 pages long, it would not take more than one evening. Three evenings later, I finished the text and I must admit slightly confused. I had to reread the ending several times to truly understand what had happened. Thankfully, I had the critical edition, which included several essays on the story, one in particular by Edmund White which profoundly changed my opinion of the story.
A simple ghost story on the face of it, but in reality a pre-Freudian tale of sexual repression. Narrated by an unnamed governess who ventures to a country house to take charge of two young orphaned children, it soon becomes a tale of ghosts, mysteries and secrets. Always alluded to and never talked about at face value, the governess becomes convinces that the ghosts are after the children and she alone can save them. But are there really ghosts? The reader must go beyond the plot and carefully read the language...all the language. James writes like no other author I have ever read. The best word to describe it is "dense". With almost no dialogue, the narrator can spend pages describing her thoughts and feelings, yet these are so "coded" as to decipher her real meaning takes much concentration on the part of the reader. I know that James himself thought the story an amusement only, but the critical essays I read after the book deeply impressed me that the story has hidden depths which make it all the more interesting.
I would recommend this novella to anyone with the patience to read it thoroughly and with an open mind as to its meaning. I would strongly recommend the critical edition which helps the reader better understand the story's meaning and importance in literature.

This book begins with a retelling of a sinister tale from the past: a young woman in Victorian age England securing a job as governess to two orphan children. As she arrives at her new post, she feels uneasy even though all seems well and the future looks bright. Despite attempts at optimism, the presence of evil continues until the governess begins to experience regular and terrifying sightings. The horror rapidly grows when the reason behind these visitations is realized.

Although this book is short, its impact is nevertheless profound. The story's setting is surrealistic, leaving many factors open to speculation and debate. The end is at the same time chilling and mysterious. The enigmatic nature of the story adds to the mystery and terror and this book is sure not to disappoint any reader looking for a haunting and unforgettable story.

This book begins with the retelling of a sinister tale from thepast. A young woman in Victorian England secures a job as governessto two orphan children. As she arrives at her new post, she feels uneasy even though all seems well and the future looks bright. Despite attempts at optimism, the presence of evil continues until the governess begins to experience regular and terrifying sightings. The horror rapidly grows when the reason behind these visitations is realized.

Although this book is short, its impact is nevertheless profound. The story's setting is surrealistic, leaving many factors open to speculation and debate. The end is chilling and mysterious at the same time. The enigmatic nature of the story adds to the mystery and terror and this book is sure not to disappoint any reader looking for a haunting and unforgettable story.

If you want to experience the bond between adult and child in all of its emotional breadth, put this book down and go talk to a kid.

Although Mr. Dunow describes some memorable times with his son through the joy of coaching his son's Little League team, his choice of language does not fit what I would expect from a father or a coach. His use of four letter expletives certainly do not fit this type of book. I would think someone of his literary background could certainly express himself far better than street talk.

Like Dunow I decided to coach Little League to relate better to one of my son's and to make sure he got a fair shake at developing as a baseball player. Unlike Dunow I didn't get the job the first time I applied.

I found the Little League situations fascinating and related to the various players coaches, their attitudes and the situations. But it surprised me that Dunow's team improved so much without special coaching or instilling much competitiveness. I would be kind to the kids and almost never yell at them unless they weren't paying attention to the game while they were in the field. Dunow took a very gentle, kind and noncompetitive approach which worked surprisingly well. Even the problem kid Dylan came around in the end.

I was very interested in the Little League story and the fact that his son Max was a baseball trivia nut, knowing everything about the Yankees and his idol Derek Jeter. I was a lot that way as a child too. But Dunow alternates chapters, with one covering how he and his seven year old son progress during the Little League season followed by a chapter covering his own childhood and his relationship to his father.

I found the chapters about Little League more interesting. The switching back and forth breaks up the continuity and the two stories do not connect together very well. In the end he does do a good job of tieing his relationship with his son to his relationship to his father but the connection does not justify the style which I found disconcerting.

Both stories by themselves could make for interesting books but together it doesn't work. I found myself wanting to get through the chapters about his father to get back to the chapters about his son and the Little League. Hence I only gave it 3 stars.

While this book is certainly an entertaining read, and covers Holliday's life quite fully, I consider the scholarship somewhat suspect.

The problem is that, rather than confine her account to the facts, the author often states how Doc felt, or what he thought about various things, people, events, etc. throughout the book. There is just no way she could possibly have such detailed and complete knowledge about such things, since Holliday never kept a diary, and indeed the only written accounts directly attributable to him were some letters written to his cousin, a Catholic nun - none of which go into the level of detail that would be required for Ms. Johns to know all of the things she appears to know. Most of what we know about Holliday comes from what others (many of whom disliked him cordially) said or wrote about him. Yet Ms. Johns writes as though she has an inside track on his innermost thoughts.

If she actually qualified such statements with words like "It seems probable that...", "it is very likely that...", or "the evidence clearly indicates that..." this would solve the problem; after all, it is a historian's job to present possible explanations for things the bare facts may not explain sufficiently, and to try and see past events to the causes and motivations behind them. But speculation and supposition MUST be labelled as such. To present it as though it were incontrovertible fact is poor scholarship. As a historian myself, I know this would never fly if the author were presenting this as a graduate thesis.

Ms. Johns is also inclined to make some pretty wild claims, such as Wyatt Earp's and Doc Holliday's "...friendship, may have caused many deaths, even Doc's own."(p.134) How Holliday's death from tuberculosis, several years after he parted company with Wyatt could, in any way, be attributable to Earp is a complete mystery to me. And this is only one example of some of the author's questionable assertions.

If your looking for entertainment, you'll enjoy this book. But I consider much of the information contained herein to be highly suspect, given that the author's scholarship is often very sloppy.

If you're interested in the life of Doc Holliday, than you will probably want to read this book.

It is definitely filled with some historical truths, but at the same time the author tries to tell the reader what Doc might have been feeling when relating things that happened to him. I found that to be slightly annoying, because it's just based on pure conjecture. Sometimes it seems more like a fictional story rather than factual information.

It also seems like more information could have been put into the book regarding the relationships between him and Kate and him and Wyatt Earp.

All in all a worthwile book, but one not too put too much credence into. "Doc Holliday: A Family Portrait," by Karen Holliday Tanner is a better choice for the Doc Holliday fan. It has a good deal more factual information information about Doc, and much of it is based on family records, letters, etc.

I am basically an expert on Doc Holliday so when I read this book I was impressed with how accurate the author was. Many authors try to make him out to be either really good or really bad but Jahns brings out both sides of him. I greatly admire Doc for both his good and bad qualities. He feared nothing and yet was full of respect and undying loyalty for his friends. He is one of the most fascinaing people in all of history and this book gives alot of info about this interesting man.

I read this book as part of an English course on late-19th and 20th century American literature. It's the first time I've read a novel by Henry James, having so far only seen the movie adaptations of 'Portrait of a Lady' and 'Washington Square'. Having been wary of reading James (because of his reputation for dense, convoluted prose) I was surprised at this novel's relatively brisk plot and overall readability. The story itself, ostensibly a simple one about one man's inability to understand a seemingly complicated woman, also has interesting things to say about gender, class and the relationship between the United States (personified by the heroine) and the rest of the Western world. I was actually somewhat amazed that the image of America created through the characterization of Daisy Miller still rings true 125 years after this book's publication.

As is often the case for Henry James, there is scarcely a detail of his work that can be made better somehow.

DAISY MILLER: A STUDY, 1878, is among the principal novellas of history and literature. Very simply, the story involves a young girl Daisy Miller, wandering through Europe, and from America. She is sensitive and capricious. Her ways attract attention, such that perhaps she appears a lustrous woman of carnal desires, or disrespectful to cultures not her own, or stupid. At any event, she catches the eye of another tourist, Mr. Winterbourne, a "nice guy" who not unlike the nice guys of our own world lucks out. He does not get Daisy, but watches as she kisses another and loses herself to unappreciatve men. She does this from anger, resentment, and want of attention. She becomes a symbol of many things, and in the end she dies. The book has been debated for decades.

The dialogue is so well crafted as to be sacred. No further editing of this story is possible, for James took very great pains to edit his work multiple times over. And here, we see a flow of talking and happenings that seem to real to even be on the page. As for instance the communication of Mr. Winterbourne and Daisy's little brother (I believe). The little boys talks, and behaves, as a little boy would. And, Mr. Winterbourne likewise behaves as a young man would to a young boy. Greatest of all are the marvellous dialogues between Daisy and Mr. Winterbourne. They flirt at times, and one feels Winterbourne's longing for her. They feel his sadness, a real sadness, as when she is not feeling for him nearly as deeply. I likened myself to to the man.

I am glad to know that Mr. James was credited as having been "the Master."

I hadn't read James for about eight years or so when I came across a copy of Daisy Miller in a pile of discarded books at a local university. It sat on my shelf for a while longer, as I knew full well that James writes in thick sentences, making up for the lack of volume by quite a bit.

What I found was what I have come to expect from James, even in his early works. This book does a great deal in terms of pulling together many levels of interpretaion: Old World versus New World, common versus exclusive, and also the chaser and the chased.

This last viewpoint in particular is what stuck with me. We have a young girl, and a young man. They meet once for a few days, and the young man becomes utterly fixated on her, if for any other reason that she is playing, in his view, hard to get. When she turns her attention elsewhere, the ante is doubled and tripled when, for a variety of reasons most likely centered around our young hero Winterbourne, the American society in Rome starts to give our heroin the "cold shoulder". Given that James writes most often to examine the person most in focus in the novel, I tend to atribute most of the troubles of this young girl to both herself and Winterbourne, not just the society of the time. This is far from a safe academic interpretation, however.

The notes included in the book are helpful for getting into the mindset of the typical reader of James' day, but are not distracting. Overall, this would probably be suitible for an ambitios middle school student, and just right for most high school students.

The book is a very quick read. If your looking to just pass the time away I would definetly read this book. If your interested in learning something and taking it to the workplace I would choose another book. When I read a book I like to transfer the learning from the book to the workplace and with this book when I was finished I was unable to transfer my learning. Most of the skills I read about were common sense. I was hoping for something a little more "meaty".

I just happened to work for a company one day and noticed this book while sitting at the reception desk. I browsed through the first few pages and before I realized, I was more than 1/2 way through it. 'Telephone Skills...' describes typical senarios that could occur and unfortunately do from time to time. It's filled with realistic situations and gives positive, and at times, humorous solutions. I think 'Telephone Skills...' is necessary in any environment- professional/social/and casual. I will recommend my 3 nieces (14,13 & 7 -ages) read this. Ask any parent with children- the phone rings, they run to answer it. I think this book is so informally written that even a child can read and understand it's meaning of being "good natured" polite even when it's someelse fault. On the other hand, it's packed with common sense techniques that make you wonder, why businesses are requesting seminars. Go figure! Now go on- buy it!

I found this book to be a great refresher tool for the "expert" in any company as well as a great teaching tool for the entry level business person. Easy reading and comprehension. Fifty minutes packed with power!