"Pharaohs" is one of the best books on Egyptian art I have ever read, second only to "The Royal Women of Amarna." The plates are spectacular, illustrating wonderfully the evolution of Pharaonic imagery from the god-king of the old Kingdom to Egypt's eventual and impartial Roman conquerors. A personal favorite is the statuette of Akhenaten, which graces the book's cover. The commentary is insightful and captivating; the included brief history of the Louvre reflects to a marked degree the evolution of western interests, behavior, and treatment of ancient Egypt, which deserves--but not always receives--the very best.

Please excuse my spelling, it's terrible This book is terrific. I started reading this book and couldn't put it down. It is a fine collection of stories ranging from the great soilbank days when Kansas alone had 4 million birds to the Royal hunts in Europe where an average daily bag mesaures in the thousands, It has stories more like mine where the average hunt ends with tired dogs and few birds. The book through it's many differant authors also explores the ethics associated with hunting. This book is for the bird hunter who's cleaning his gun for the third time this week when hunting season isn;t for 6 months. It's for the guy who can't stop dreaming of how his new pup will do his first time out. It's for the guy who spends more time with his dogs than with his wife. All hunters will enjoy this book, but the true bird hunter won;t be able to put it down.

I love everything about this terrific little book. It has an exciting adventure-filled plot, stout-hearted little heroes and scary adversaries. It has a quest filled with peril and great hope. There are just barely possible tasks to be fulfilled some sorrow and some mystery and some happiness, too. The illustrations are very lovely and filled with details that take you to the heart of this story of the last five survivors of an ancient Peruvian race of tiny folk who must journey to find a new home knowing full well that it is prophesied that only three will survive the voyage. They set off across the vast sea, afloat in an old earthen poppykettle and you will eagerly rock with them upon the waves through many an astonishing adventure. Children will love this and so will any adult with a gypsy soul and a child's heart.

Great Book! Written by the explorer himself, the story comes 'straight from the horse's mouth' telling of the his expedition to Greenland in the early 1900's. Seeing inside the lives of Mikkelsen and his companion, Iversen during this expedition makes me wonder if anyone today in our soft, comfortable life could ever endure what they did. Their outlook and physical stamina during their hardship makes my 'discomforts' look like peanuts!

The Whitney Biennial is the kind of exhibition that critics love to hate.My recommendation is to ignore thae critics, see it for yourself and buy the catalog. This is a great book for those who love contemporary art. The essays on the exhibition and on the individual artist are informative and well written. The plates are also great.

This is one of the latest collections of papers dealing with the global spread of English and thus offers some interesting papers by the most notable scholars in the field. Particularly interesting is Kachru's collection of resources for teaching and research which I used extensively for my own work.

This is ostensibly a sales book, but it is one of the best all-around success/ motivation books I've ever read! I can say for certain that reading this book (and I've read it a number of times) has really helped me in so many ways. I just started my own recruiting firm about a month ago (after four years doing the same for someone else), and I keep this book in my office. I make it a point to read a page or two every morning...it really gets me going! The sections entitled "One Life, One Boss" and "Under Construction" are especially good. My only complaint is that the authors didn't do an audiobook or come out with another book yet.

This is more than a book about sales, it's a book about making the most of your life. The basic truths outlined in the acronym OUTSELL have proved invaluable to me through out this year. I honestly believe most of my recent successes in the corporate arena were the result of my applying the principles of this book. The authors are able to convey with humor and precise formula the secrets of sucessful living. I can't wait until my children are old enough to read this book. They will have a jump on a whole generation if they put this book's wisdom into practice. Again, I believe this is a must read more every corporate executive. I will read it at least once a year.

I usually don't write these reviews, but I was so insprired by this book. After reading perhaps hundreds of sales / motivational books, this is among a handful that reaches the essence of successful selling. I've managed and trained sales people for years;this book tells the attitudinal truths -- not just techniques on how to achieve success. moreso, it's really about success in life. If this is the only book you read this year, make it your bible; you'll do just fine.

For parents with a desire to learn more about the psychological development of their child and the profound impact of peer pressure, this book contains some valuable information. The book deals with various aspects of development such as rejection, neglect and acceptance. The book helps the reader to understand how those elements can have a psychological influence on the child and their social interaction with others.

An extremely important section of the book deals with the school system itself and how changes need to be made to better adapt the learning environment to a childs emotional needs if the child is to development in a positive and socially acceptable manner. The book has been well researched and would be of particular interest not only to parents, but anyone invovled with the care and education of children.

Michael Thompson, Ph.D. is the author of the bestseller "Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys. His latest, written with compassion, humor, and practicality, is an insightful look into the sometimes mysterious world of child development.

As a special education teacher, and soon to be school counselor, I have long held that those who have children, and work with children need a keener understanding on why children do the things they do, if we are to care for them, and serve them better. This book will go along way in fostering this understanding among parents, teachers, and practioners because it helps us understand how a child views her world.

Written in conjuction with journalist Catherine O'Neill Grace and Lawrence Cohen, Ph.D. "Best Friends, Worst Enemies..." provides such a keen insight into the social lives of children, it is almost as if it was written by a child, because they have such an excellent perspective.

Alice Miller (author of The Drama of the Gifted Child and Breaking Down the Walls of Silence) has long emphasized that if we are serious about solving society's problems, we must focus on how we treat children --- as individual families and as a cultural. This book is an excellent contribution toward that end.

From thought-provoking observations to practical suggestions about solutions, Best Friends, Worst Enemies is an effective education about social problems that begin in childhood, but do not end in childhood. One point the authors make that interests me greatly is that when one child is being bullied by others, the majority of children witnessing the abuse will either do nothing to intervene or they will join in with the bullying. If you think that is not a reflection of the society in which we live, think again.

As a psychotherapist and author (Embracing Fear, HarperSanFrancisco) who emphasizes personal responsibility and facing fears head on, I hope that more than just parents and educators will read this book. I think there is something here for us all to think about --- no, to do something about.

Leshan has written a book that presents some meditation exercises gathered from the tibetan, christian and other religions. The meditation techniques are valid and they do work. He gives good advice on using meditation as a method of self discovery. However, the author is a psychologist and know very little about mysticism. What suprised me is his flippant attitude toward mysticism. He writes that he does not understand why the mystics talked about the ways meditation must be performed. The author attempts to divorce meditation from its mystical aspects and this is very unwise. Meditation is steeped in the tradition of yoga and eastren religions. The purpose of meditation is to attain nirvana or union with God, which is very lofty indeed. Meditation invokes a cosmic energy called prana. When enough is accumalated it clears the mind and body of obstructions. This can lead to symptoms of dizziness, difficulty breathing for a short while, symptoms of what appear to be heart attacks, rapid heartbeat, headaches and so forth. These are nothing to be alarmed about. However, Leshan does a disservice to his readers by treating the mystics and their teachings in such a off hand manner. Meditation is serious buisness and it cannot be divorced from its religious aspect, no matter what Leshan says. The mystics studied meditation and its effects for thousands of years, they know what they are talking about. Leshans book is good as an introduction to meditation. But the serious seeker should look to other sources. A good place to start is to get a book called Energies of Transformation by Bonnie Greenwell. She is a Psychologist who does not disparage the mystics, but provides a book, which shows the effects of meditation in a non biased view.

Although Lawrence LeShan has degrees from three universities, he writes with a simple, completely straightforward style. The first section is on the benefits of meditation. And the next section describes how to do four different kinds of meditations.

If you are interested in meditation and you want the author to get right down to business, this is your book. LeShan says what he has to say in 137 pages. I'm the author of the book, Self-Help Stuff That Works, and I'm an expert on what works and what doesn't. Meditation works, and LeShan's instructions are effective and practical. I highly recommend this book.

I stumbled across this little book in the 1970's and have been recommending and sending it to friends, relatives, and acquaintances ever since. It is what it is: an introduction to meditation for beginners and the curious. It is simple, straight-forward, practical, unpretentious, and easy to read and comprehend. Therefore, it is the perfect starter book. It offers an introduction to a variety of meditative techniques but, rather than advocating any of them, urges readers to experiment with the different techniques until what is most comfortable and/or productive for them. After reading it and determining a favored technique, the reader can move on to something heavier. One of the things I have always liked about LeShan is the fact that, in this book, he acknowledges some of the more (potentially) startling by-products or side-effects of meditation but does not emphasize them. This may be a disadvantage as well as an advantage, but this is an introduction to some meditative techniques, not an encyclopedia of meditative practices.

Anyone interested in exploring meditation should have this book and give it a try. Since it was written there has been considerable research into the benefits of anti-stress practices. The medical community is beginning to catch onto the non-intrusive, non-addictive, non-injurious benefits of meditation as an antidote to stress. Perhaps you should, too. With this book and some practice you can learn to take a chill instead of a pill. And if it does not offer enough for you, at least it provides some direction to finding out what will be.

Read the book. Practice the techniques for a month or two. The benefits from the breathing exercises alone, if you honestly and consistently apply them, will lead you to extoll the virtues of this little, big book that is still influential more than twenty-five years after it was first published.

When I first began to read Lady Chatterley's Lover I thought it was going to be quite a chore. I'm used to flowery language and all that, but I just wasn't in the mood for what I anticipated to be a sex-charged love story. Much to my surprise I got MUCH more from this wonderful classic.

D.H. Lawrence makes some striking observations about the state of the social classes in post WWI England, as well as providing some good insights into tough individual decisions we make in regard to relationships. I had limited knowledge of the post-war subject beforehand, but I felt that I learned a great deal in the process of reading. At times the book seemed repetitive, as if Lawrence were beating me over the head with his message, sacrificing character and plot in the process, but after all was said and done I couldn't say that it was a bad book. It's a very insightful, multi-layered work and I'm very glad I read it. The fact that the book was widely banned from publication in its early days is just another tempting reason to read it although, by today's standards, what was so risqué then borders on the ridiculous for us now. As long as you remind yourself of the time period in which it was written you'll be just fine...the laughs and raised eyebrows in conjunction with more serious themes are a pleasant mix.

This novel is not the explicit sex book that you have been led to believe. instead it is a flawless masterpiece that tells the story of Charlotte, the sexually deprived wife of an invalid husband and her search for true love and sexual fulfillment. As a woman, I have no idea how Lawrence was able to delve into the female mind so thoroughly, but so he has done. This book is a compelling argument in favor of the belief that sexual attraction is certainly one of the most important aspects when we search for a mate-despite what snobbish types may say about how looks don't matter and good sex and attraction grows with time. Baloney! Charlotte's attraction to Mellors was immediate and we watch her life developing with breathless anticipation. Some may feel the ending is too cute and tidy, but knowing the characters as they are, you feel that it could not have ended any other way. A profound book, thoroughly readable, and shockingly modern for its time.

I did not read this book until ten years ago - age forty for those who count - and found it a brilliant work. It touched on every aspect of life in that era, using a difficult premise at the focus.

One reviewer called it 'sexist.' In that era, women were kept removed from the world, so men were the ones who made the initial contacts with reality and their sexuality. If Lawrence had written about that society in any other way, he would have been inaccurate. Lawrence shows the social conflict with both subtlety and brutality. Yet, Mellor IS a lover. There are sexual descriptions which are explicit, but within the coccoon of emotional bondings.

The way that Lawrence has essayed the class structure of England in that era is brave and accurate in all ways. He makes the posturing of the aristocracy both frivilous and full of assinine criteria at the same time he understands the willingness of those in power to offer their lives in the defense of the general welfare.

Lawrence notes again with unpleasant accuracy the detriments of an unchecked Industrial Revolution on the social structure of the time. He has Constance both witness these effects and suffer the olfactory damage.

This is a literary work which has an effect across the full spectrum of the possible. Finely drawn characters searching for a better way to survive their lives in a scenario that is rife with obstacles and unpleasantness. He has the touch of the finest artist working with the lightest gossamer and the blunt force of an ogre swinging a stone axe.

This was published in an abridged version because it was felt that the societal message it conveyed should be allowed to transit the draconian (by the less filtered standards of today) censorship of the era which DID focus on the sexual descriptions but could NOT stop the voice of social criticism any more than the same group could stop Dickens a few decades earlier.