Ann the Word deserves five stars for its fine writing, the extensive research, and a contextual narrative that helps us understand many events that otherwise seem unduly cruel and brutal. My five-star rating is balanced, however, by the one star awarded the author's annoying armchair psychology that intrudes at every turn - intended, it seems, to explain away anything that might be a little too difficult for the modern, sophisticated reader to swallow. The author is a somewhat gifted writer; he teaches creative writing and has published several previous books. But where this book fails is in its hubris; it is the hindsight of a nineteenth-century belief system that considers itself enlightened, while stubbornly maintaining a one-dimensional and materialistic tunnel vision of possibility. This book ascribes Ann Lee's blunt, often-accurate visions and prophecies to dumb luck, coincidence, and cunningly applied homespun psychological manipulation. The author lacks the magnanimity to simply present the story as revealed through his research, while allowing the reader to decide what lay behind it all. Nevertheless, we see are privileged to witness the workings and outcome of a true cult and its gifted, charismatic leader. And, ultimately, we see that society needs such cults and fringe movements, places where those who will never fit into the social norms of the day can find a true sense of purpose and fulfillment. Despite the frequent and annoying pop-psychology and a certain shallowness, this is probably the best book available on the roots of Shakerism and Ann Lee.

This is a good introduction to the fascinating religious utopian sect. I had read other more detailed works about Shakers in general. The last of the Shakers live nearby in Maine. This work was more helpful on understanding Ann Lee, for all practical purposes the founder of the Shakers. It doesn't get you lost in footnotes and scholarly apparatus, but the sources are there if you want them. Reads like a novel.

If you have any knowledge of data mining then this book is a disappointment. It seemed more of thinly veiled advertisement for the software included in the book. I can see it having value for the neophyte who might need an introduction that includes software and actual examples, but professionals should skip it.

This is a well written and interesting book on a complex topic. I especially appreciated the first four chapters, which provide a good overview of estimation and classification, and chapters 10 through 12 which describe the main algorithms, training and testing and troubleshooting.

This was the text I've been looking for over the last year. It is organized in a very logical manner, first outlining the foundation knowledge necessary to begin understanding the data mining field. It then proceeds to outline the methods and models driving this exciting new field. My only complaint is that the CD Rom at the back requires a non-toll free phone call to get the necessary password before you can use the software, and then only for a finite period of time. But its of little significance compared to the wealth of information contained in this book for both experts and novices.

I rated this as a 2 only because you couldn't rate it a one and a half. I must admit the descriptions on both the covers say alot to attract you in. Unfortunately, I have to say that this book is not well liked by myself or the other 4 people, in my company, who reviewed it. The information is clearly the most basic, at best. I found that the authors severely lack in research experience and easily could have done a better job on this book. While reading through the sections covering computer security, bodyguards, private security, etc., I discovered that the authors, who have no practical job experience in these areas, painted a false picture in their descriptions.

This again shows lack of research and creative writing experience. The publisher has put out some much better law enforcement publications. Personally, I can't understand why they accepted the transcript from the these authors. I have put this book back on the shelf, where it belongs, and use it as a reminder of where "not" to go looking for this specialty career information.

If you're interested in law enforcement, but don't have the slightest idea where to start, you might get something out of this book. If you've taken any criminal justice or law enforcement classes, however, skip this one and pick up a book that isn't so elementary. The best book ever written on federal law enforcement positions is "Guide to Careers in Federal Law Enforcement," by Thomas H. Ackerman. Your chances of getting a job in federal law enforcement will increase substantially if you have the information presented in Ackerman's book. Those who want to be municipal cops should consider "Police Officer," by Hugh O'Neil. Although O'Neil's book is quite basic, there is some good information about getting into police departments.

This book is a good explanation of how to locate different law enforcement jobs. It's easy to understand and well written. Great book.

This book provides a firsthand look back at two crucial events in the forming of the United States: American's response to and reasons for fighting against taxation by the British, and arguments about the Constitution.

In the first half, Letters from a Famer in Pennsylvania, John Dickinson takes great care to explain why Americans should oppose all taxes that the British impose merely to raise money, namely the Townshend Acts. Dickinson expresses his concern over precendents being set, and draws heavily on the previous American refusal to pay the Stamp Act. This section was fairly interesting in that it helped explain some of the reasons Americans didn't want to pay British taxes, but it did become fairly repetitve throughout the letters.

In the second half, Letters from the Federal Farmer, Richard Henry Lee puts forth his arguments about the Constitution before it was ratified by the states. Arguments included why state governments should wield more power than the federal government, whether a bill of rights should be included in the Constitution, and why too much power was located in the federal government outlined in the Constitution.

All in all, the book was a fairly difficult read that was boring at times, but it did provide an interesting look into the opinions that shaped the US.

I can writter in english on a liitter .I had never red this book .It is my first time to enter Amazon.I work in the field of publish in China .But I think the author adopted a good item, and I want to read this book at the first glance.

This was an interesting story, which I did not know a lot about. With more terrorism focus in the media today and the troubles in the Middle East a situation like this could come up again. I also liked the detail of this particular terrorist group, which I think is no longer active. Overall the book was solidly written but not a fast paced page-turner. If you are interested in the time frame or particular event then it is worth reading.

I find this book fairly understandable, easy to follow and a bit of interesting with good pictures!

(from my review in Doctor Dobbs Journal) ...much of UML and C++ appears to have been written around, rather than about, the UML. For example, the authors talk about "object interaction diagrams" and "event trace diagrams," and only mention parenthetically or in a footnote that the UML calls these "collaboration diagrams" and "sequence diagrams," respectively. The authors' real focus is on their own object-oriented analysis and design methodology. ...every once in a while, I tripped over an unwelcome attempt at profundity, such as: If you take the Eastern, or Taoist, approach to object-oriented analysis, you will.not be concerned with the specific application that you are implementing. or: Taoist philosophy tells us to focus on capturing the objects in the problem domain rather than on the objects that will help us solve the immediate problem. Sadly, the authors don't tell us what Catholic or Sunni philosophy has to say about programming. It probably has something to do with the sinfulness of goto statements.

I don't why this book is named UML and C++. From the title I expected a detailed description of UML. But it is all about Object Oriented Analysis and Design and how to implement it using C++. The authors use UML to document their designs but there is not even a chapter detailing UML. If you are looking for a book to find out about UML go somewhere else. But if you are trying to learn about OOA&D and using C++ to implement object oriented designs, this is a very good book. This is probably better than most books about object oriented design in C++.

I agree with other reviewers. This book only occasionally mentioned UML. But I found this book to be an excellent book on OOA&D(with C++, not Java or other strange things like Effiel). That's why I still give it four stars. Covers both conceptual and practical aspects very well. A perfect doorway to the OO world(maybe a little overstating).

This was a terrible book. Multiple authors were not able to successfully make the book flow from chapter to chapter. Character development was disjointed to say the least. Way tooooo much celebrity name dropping...it almost read like People Mag. Buy "The Greatest Player Who Never Lived" instead.

At first I thought this was going to be a serious mystery novel, until I realized that each chapter was written by a different author. It was almost like they were challenging each other, coming up with situations that were more and more ridiculous. I found myself laughing out loud. I should have known something was up when I saw that Dave Barry was one of the writers. It's a great book for those who like golf and for those, like me, that have never swung a club.

It is said that a camel is a horse designed by a committee. Since a camel is very efficient doing what camels are intended to do, then the remark must mean that a camel is a very funny looking horse. Well, in The Putt at the End of the World, a committee of nine individually popular writers has turned out a very funny golf story.
The Putt at the End of the World is apparently the brainchild of last-listed author Les Standiford, shown as editor and compiler. It also seems to be a salute, at least in part, to recently deceased British writer Douglas Adams, author of the Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy series which includes The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. It is certainly reminiscent of Adam's work, with zany characters interacting amidst nefarious schemes, all centered around a golf tournament. But not just any golf tournament. Computer zillionaire Philip Bates has bought a Scottish castle and cleared original growth timber to construct the ultimate golf course-as well as rehabbing the castle into an exotic hideaway retreat. This infuriates both environmental terrorists and the last of the MacLout clan, who claims that the MacGregor sellers usurped his family's claim to the property and he should have gotten the money. Then Bates (no relation to this reviewer) scheduled a conference and golf tournament inviting all of the world's political leaders and top golf players.
One of the invitees is Billy Sprague, club pro from Squat Possum Golf Club in rural Ohio. Billy is a magnificent golfer, unless there is money involved in which case he can't even get the ball of the tee. Billy's mentor is the old retired family doctor whose life is golf, who build the Squat Possum Club and who dies immediately after giving Billy his invitation and telling him that he has to go to Scotland and play in order to lift the curse and "...save the world as we know it..." Then FBI and British Secret Service refugees from the Keystone Kops get involved because of the terrorist threat, and the rest is-not history, but hilarious.
Each of the nine authors wrote one of the chapters. They did a good job matching styles, and/or Standiford did a great job of editing, because the novel is seamless. It is a farce, but at the same time has a "Bagger Vance" note of paean to the wonder of golf. It reads fast, and it reads great.

Maybe it's just me and my own sense of humor, and seriousness, but I wasn't amused by these stories at all. Bursting out with laughter? No. And the artwork is awful. I'm a fan of the ElfQuest series all the way up to Kings of the Broken Wheel, and the change from beautiful, symmetrical elves to ugly, lopsided weak characters was shocking. There's a lot of fanart out there that's better than this! And the dialogue was flat and simple.

If you're a really diehard fan of EQ, stay away. If you like the series, but can accept the art, boring stories, and all, then go and read it. I hope the artists that drew this get better. I don't think I could take it if they started doing the main stories.

The first time I looked at Bedtime Stories I was really upset. I love ElfQuest, and Bedtime Stories seemed like nothing more than a bunch of half standard artwork. But then I sat down and actually read it. And thought about it. And then I laughed so hard I thought my sides were going to split. This is not an example of the mature, highly involved stories we've come to expect from the world of two moons. This is what we have been telling our children for as long as fairy tales and Elves have existed. Why should Elf parents be any different? I found the artwork crude but the Elf twist on some very familiar stories amusing and interesting. After all, a good story *is* a good story, right?

I don't own this book, I read it at the library. Now, I wish I did own it! The art isn't the same quality as the Elfquest comics by Wendy Pini, but it was good and kind of "cute" looking. And the stories were hilarious - I burst out laughing in some parts! This Elfquest book is intended for children, but it can be enjoyed by anyone - especially Elfquest fans.