The Romans are upto no good, this time seeking the help of a rival (but loyal to the romans) Gaulish chief to challenge our indominatble chief Vitalstatistix to a fight. The winner becomes chief of both the tribes. The romans take it upon themselves to take the druid Getafix out of commission. they succeed, to some degree. And herein lies the story. One of the all-time favs with Asterix readers, the dialog is funny, the drawings funnier - a must have, must read, must buy... Pity these comics are not very popular in the USofA. In India it is possible to find Asterix comics in almost every decent bookstore :)

Initially published in French in 1966 as Le combat des chefs , Asterix and the big fight was first published in English in 1971.
After yet another humiliating beating of Roman Legionaries , loudmouthed Roman centurion , Nebulus Nimbus , and his cunning right hand man , Felonius Caucus , decide to enlist the help of Roman puppet chief , Cassius Ceramix , a fashionable sycophantic brute who loves everything Roman , to challenge Vitalstatistix of the tribe of indomitable Gauls , to a fight.

Whoever wins the fight , in terms of an ancient Gaullish custom , will determine who takes over the tribe.
But first the Romans need to deal with Getafix the Druid , who makes the magic potion that gives the Gauls invincibility.
With the unwitting help of Obelix , the Druid receives a knock that makes him lose his memory . Now Asterix and his friends need to make other plans to defeat the Romans and their quisling , Cassius Ceramix.
Some really interesting features in this one including some really weird and wonderful potions , an ancient day Freud by the name of Psychoanalytix and a fun fair set up by nomadic barbarians.
The contrast between the traditional , brave ,tough and indomitable Gauls of Asterix' tribe and the fashionable Gallo-Romans is very interesting in this day of conflict , between the traditional and honest folk who love their culture , and those who are prepared to lose their identity to a fashionable and politically correct radical chic.
Remember this conflict was already present when the album was written during the 1960's.

This Asterix comic kicks! The characters' names are a litte wierd, but it's funny!

Two Romans, in attempt to take over the Gauls, challenge Cheif Vitalstatisix to a fight in which the winner took over the losers
village. The Gaul's druid, Getafix, loses his memory so the Gauls don't have any of the magic potion that he brews which gives the Gauls superhuman strength. It's up to Asterix and Obelix to restore the druid's memory so they can have some magic potion for the fight!

Guerrilla warfare is seldom spoken in Civil War circles or written about. Probably one of the more popular characters in this topic from that period is Bill Anderson. Authors Albert Castel and Thomas Goodrich have assembled quite a bit of useful information in regards to Anderson's ambitions, motivations, movements and operations throughout Kansas and Missouri. This dangerous, callous and revengeful individual is brought forth to show how rough and chaotic war can be, especially for a divided state such as Missouri. Anderson leads his small band of raiders throughout these states living like desperate pirates to plunder towns and more importantly hunt down enemies to the extreme.

Anderson's life is never short of violence as he is the ultimate and sadistic leader of a dangerous group of bandits that have borderline allegiances to the Confederate cause. Portraying to be Union Cavalry, Anderson and his band of murderers steal, burn, kill and ravage towns of Union sympathizers. Union Militia throughout the state of Missouri is quickly and badly organized to hunt down Anderson and his company that seems to constantly grow larger in membership. Anderson raids towns such as Fayette and Centralia leaving deadly results by killing many former Union soldiers, burning depots and various other buildings while looting stores. Anderson and his gang are always drinking and whiskey seems to elevate their need for murder and money that never ends.
Is he ever stopped?

Like many, I couldn't resist this book and wished for more though there is quite a bit of useful information for a short book of roughly 144 pages. It was descriptively well-written, concise, maps and pictures were included which gave the book a great rhythmic flow as far as content. 5 STARS!!

This is a very interesting and well written book about the atrocities that Bill Anderson and his bushwhackers committed, within the background of the Civil War. The authors have done a tremendous amount of research and it pays off.

The only problem I has with it is that at 150 pages, it was a bit too short. Then again, the subtitle does say Short and Savage life.

Well recommended for Civil War or military history buffs.

I found this book to be an easy to read history of not only Anderson but the circumstances that helped create him. The authors have done an excellent job turning up new information and sifting old information to write a helpful new view of Anderson. The book is well footnoted and contains several never before printed photos including a photo of Anderson's wife, Bush Smith and one of the cord he used to keep track of his kills. This book is a must for anyone interested in the Civil War on the Kansas-Missouri border.

This is an exceptionally well written biography of perhaps the greatest scientific genius in human history.Clark superbly conveys the story of Einstein`s journey through physics,the world wars & Zionism.Be warned,though:the book`s encyclopedic nature & voluminous content ensures that reading it till the end is pie in the sky for people who are not used to heavy reading & deep contemplation on the topics discussed.

This is probably the most widely read biography on Einstein and with good reason: the author does a fine job of detailing the life of the man who pretty much dominated 20th century physics. It is a cliche now to say that his theories changed the way physicists think about the natural world, and his demeanor and politics continue to be the rage in so-called popular culture. Young students of physics usually get their first taste of advanced mathematical formalism when being introduced to his general theory of relativity, and the author, even though he is not a physics educator, actually does a decent job of explaining the concepts that Einstein was responsible for in his life work. The author does not leave out the politics of the man who continues to be known for his Zionism, and the reader will finish the book with an appreciation of the complexity of his thinking and his personal adherences to this point of view. Some readers may be perplexed on his associaton with the mustard gas researchers Walther Nernst and Fritz Haber, but put in context, as the author does with clarity, readers will see the reasons for this along with Einstein's commitment to the development of atomic weapons.

The author also conveys the excitement surrounding the experimental confirmation of some of Einstein's theories, particularly the photoelectric effect and the bending of the light around the Sun. In addition, the reader can appreciate more the concern among many physicists at the time of Einstein's use of "high-brow" mathematics in general theory of relativity. Now of course, such concern has definitely subsided, for today's theories of gravitation are laden with highly estoric constructions from mathematics. Einstein, as the author notes, was very young when he developed his theories. Modern theories of gravitation, such as superstring and M-theories require such a high level of mathematics that physicists who make contributions in these theories generally spend many years obtaining this background. It is interesting to reflect on how Einstein would have reacted to these theories and elementary particles physics. It is also interesting to ask whether Einstein's politics would be the same if he were alive today, given the current situation in the Middle East. In addition, computers were not available to Einstein in the way there are now to all physicists. Would Einstein have taken to computers? To computational physics? His general theory of relativity is now one of the main applications of high performance computing and symbolic programming.

This gem is not only well-researched and clearly written; it is a deeply moving overview of the life of the world's greatest scientist, not just as a theoretical physicist, but as a human being struggling to be true to himself in trying times.

Although Clark does explain a bit about special and general relativity, he does so only to aid one's understanding of why Einstein's contributions were so crucial. You will see Einstein as a curious boy, as a troubled student, as a young man making his way in the world, and then as a post office clerk who worked on physics when his bosses weren't looking.

You will see the tide slowly turn as physicists of his day began to take this uncredentialled but highly original thinker seriously. And then the day dawns when an experiment proves that gravity indeed bends light....and Einstein wakes up famous.

The book is also full of those charming anecdotes one loves to hear about Einstein, ever the absent-minded professor and "dropper of conversational bricks," such as the performance in which, armed with a violin but off rhythm, the greatest living physicist is chided by the director: "Einstein, can't you count?"

What comes through best is Einstein as a great-hearted and humble man who wanted "to know God's thoughts"; a man of conscience troubled by the wars and other injustices of his time and (unlike most of us) actively trying to do something productive about them; and most of all, a profound man whose central mood, known to every child but never to be outgrown in the inwardly alive adult, was his loving awe of the unknown.

There are numerous books on general relativity currently on the market, and these range in difficulty from those written for the beginner or the layman, those written for graduate students in physics, and research monographs covering specialized topics. It is always refreshing to go back to the originator of the subject, and take part in his special insights on the topic. Philosophers and historians of science can definitely benefit from a perusal of this book.

The author begins this book with a discussion of the origin of the concepts of space-time, the emphasis being partly philosophical and partly psychological, and the reader can see the origin of the author's operationalism in reading this introduction. He is clearly against the philosophers who attempt to remove concepts from experience and put them in his words "in the intangible heights of the a priori". The motion of rigid bodies is used to set up a discussion of Euclidean geometry and linear orthogonal transformations. The author emphasizes the role of the physicist in discerning whether a system of geometry is true or not, contrary to the pure mathematician. Examples of geometrical invariants, such as the Cartesian line element and the volume element are discussed, along with the role of vectors and tensors. Both of these are used as means by which one can give expression to the independence of Cartesian coordinates. Maxwell's equations are put in tensor notation as an example of covariance with respect to Cartesian coordinate transformations. All of this is done to motivate the theories of special and general relativity.

The theory of spectial relativity is treated in chapter 2, the author introducing his famous principle of special relativity. The author poses the problem of calculating the coordinates and time in an inertial system moving with uniform translation relative to another. He shows how this problem is solved by assuming that time and space are absolute, and if the coordinate axes of the systems are parallel to one another, the Galilean transformations result. Newton's equations of motion are covariant under these transformations, but Maxwell equations are not (but the author chooses not to show this explicitly). He then gives an in-depth discussion of how the Lorentz transformations arise as being those that guarantee the covariance of the Maxwell equations. The author also discusses the signature of the Lorentz metric and how it is related to the light cone. He ends the chapter by developing the energy tensor of the electromagnetic field and matter.

The author's rejection of inertial frames as being priveleged leads him in the beginning of the next chapter to a short philosophical critique of the principle of inertia. This leads to a discussion of the principle of equivalence and to the origin of the general theory of relativity, a theory which the author developed, amazingly, single-handedly, and which he clearly believes is very much superior to classical mechanics. The intuition to be gained by reading this chapter is invaluable for serious students of general relativity. One can see the simplicity and power of the author's arguments, relying on keen physical intuition and sound use of mathematics. In particular, the author's heuristic derivation of the gravitational field equations from Poisson's equation is briliant. In addition, he is not ashamed to interject philosophical argumentation into his writing, particularly in his discussion of Mach's principle. Such discussions are becoming more rare among physicists at the present time.

The Meaning of Relativity is an advanced book. The title should have made it clear. Einstein delves here into what his theory
actually MEANS. That is, what must we change (if anything...) in our world conception, in the way we think, as a consequence of his immense discovery. Just think that he meddled with time, a concept static since so long that it is registered deep in our DNA: our concept of time goes back to the epoch where our main purpose was to survive the day
(sounds familiar? No, no, it was different! It was permanent. What you experience now is transient...)
So what? Read it! It is a marvellous book. Perhaps you will have to reach for other, more elementary, books, in this enterprise. All right! That almost characterizes a book worth reading. So... go on! It will repay your efforts. It IS doable. You will come out, for instance, with a precise CONSTRUCTION OF SPACE! Your brains will be enriched.You deserve that!

In this presentation Einstein communicated a remarkable set of identities for the equation of motion, obtaining on page 102 or so a form like F = m[ E + (v x B)] + higher-order_terms for GR's geodesic equation of motion. The electromagnetic- like nature of the motion is quite evident in this Lorentz-force type of equation. Einstein complexified it a bit by using identities like E = - grad(phi) - dA/dt and B = curl A, but there it was, really a monument to his powers of analysis. However, in general relativity, we then have B four times too strong, which leads to a violation of the equation of continuity prominently featuring the factor of 4 as the problem term. This is the basis of my first non-self-consistency theorem for classical general relativity, the so-called 1st overthrow theorem. I have also been able to show that the problem comes up again when exact solutions are used, in particular, when the Kerr metric is employed. Einstein's solution in Cartesian coordinates is very useful not only for general relativity's overthrow, but for figuring out the kind of a theory most likely to succeed. Apart from the factor of 4, the linearized solutions look like Maxwell's equations for the electromagnetic field with the source-coupling reversed for like-charges-attract fields with consequently left-hand rule symmetry. They are mirror-image Maxwell's equations. A study of the electroweak model in Cottingham and Greenwood's INTRODUCTION TO NUCLEAR

PHYSICS suggested that a generalization of elementary particle theory's vector-boson field equations could contain all forces in local coordinates, including gravitation, electromagnetism, and the nuclear forces. This approach to unified field theory, which emphasizes the local validity of special relativity and the wave-operator identities of quantum mechanics, provides the right answers if we include the principle of equivilance in a way that produces gravitational time-dialation only, for the synchronization of clocks. This approach is far more direct with respect to the derivation of field equations than Einstein's, and produces a superbly unified picture of force field theory firmly grounded on conservative assumptions. Classical GR effects of higher-order can be derived from this theory. For details, see GRAVITATION & THE ELECTROFORM MODEL by James A. Green and THERMONUCLEAR FUSION IN STARS, also by James A. Green.

Soren Aabye Kierkegaard was indeed a moving and thought provoking man in his relatively short life, but there is probably no-one who familiarised himself with Kierkegaard's writings who would claim not to have been touched by his deepfelt sense of longing for something higher and truer to our inner self. In "The Concept of Anxiety" he addresses that one issue that makes us human and that makes our existence real and meaningful, namely anxiety. It is important to distinguish between "fear" and "anxiety" in such that "fear" is focused on an actual threat in the environment and "anxiety" is precisely not focused and not in our actual surroundings, but in our self. In anxiety it is what we call "I" that is rendered insecure, and our own freedom is the culprit of this insecurity. As Kierkegaard himself stated, "Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom." It is therefore our freedom that makes us experience dread. We naturally fear becoming "nothing". Consider the story of Adam and Eve, who lived in a utopian state (of mind) until the power of man's individual freedom was put to the test, which contravened and transcended the direct will of God. Man was then cast out of paradise and forced to live a life of hard work, insecurity and the threat of becoming "nothing" (ie. nonexistence), and human history was born. It was precisely this act of realising our own freedom that made us the sole bearer of all responsibility that sprouted from this realisation.
It is tantamount to a child growing up when at a certain age some behaviour gets punished and life loses it's absolute innocence. The fear of getting punished runs contrary to the individuals free will and this interplay between 'being-able-to-do' and 'not-allowed-to-do' is the source of anxiety. We are tricked into believing that we are not free while we actually made that choice ourselves to believe that.
This is what Kierkegaard essentially argues in this writing, which has been found by many important existential psychologists as probably the most thorough explanation of anxiety ever written.

This book once again proves that we as a human race could with thanks know a man such as Soren Kierkegaard who devoted his life to cast a light on those questions which haunt us into being...human.

_The Concept of Anxiety_ is one of Kierkegaard's most straightforward, honest, and personal works. Primarily, it deals with the typical human understanding of sin, why we designate certain acts as sinful, and how our perception or experience of these acts is altered by the fact that they are labled as "sinful". This book approaches the question of sin in a very enlightening and insightful manner, questioning certain aspects of sinfulness that we may have taken for granted. Kierkegaard reminds us that our experience of the sensual is greatly altered when the idea of "sinfulness" is attached to it, while paradoxically our understanding the definition of "sin" is contingent upon our sensual experiences. In other words, sin is simultaneously a necessary force in establishing what we consider to be sensual, while also being somewhat dependent on pure sensuality in order to establish itself as sin. Kierkegaard also examines the linguistic factors that contribute to our understanding of sensuousness and sinfulness. Kierkegaard asks us, to what extent to we depend upon language in order to solidify these primal sensual experiences in our memories? This book deals brilliantly with the entire spectrum of interrelationships among pure sensuality, sin, guilt, langauge, and memory. Kierkegaard weaves a tapestry showing us how all of the afforementioned concepts are inextricably intertwined. In sum, the message Kierkegaard is trying to convey is the fact that sin, language, memory, and the sensual are connected in both the retroactive and premonitory sense.

Overall this book is absolutely fascinating. It is not puritanical or biased in the orthodox religious sense. It deals very fairly with the human experience of sin and guilt, and suggests that these types of feelings are essential to the basic experiences of memory, sentient consciousness, and temporal, existential being. Highly recommended to anyone who is willing to entertain the idea that sin is a basic building block of intelligent subjective experience.

It's been a while since I've had to write in Philosophy-Speak...I think I've forgotten how. But let me speak plainly. This is one of the few philosophical treatises that I've actually read cover-to-cover. Kierkegaard is, by far, my favorite philosopher, and I tend to agree with most of what he has to say. As a religious person, I agree with what he has to say. The main proposition of this book is: Sin IS Anxiety, and the opposite of Anxiety (Sin) is Faith. As an existentialist, we are all radically free (I know, Sartre's phrase) so when we despair (The Sickness Unto Death) we actually CHOOSE to feel that way. Once we accept this, we can achieve serenity through Faith in God.

This book is the Vintage Fender Bass Handbook. The text and information is very easy to read and understand, most of it is in clearly captioned detailed photos. It covers all the models from the beginning to present, the book features co-author Albert Molinaro's unbelievable bass collection, the photos are worth the book price alone! This is really great if you are into Fender bases or vintage Fender guitars, and who isn't! Out of all my Guitar related books, this may be one of the easiest to View, Use and Enjoy! BUY IT - YOU WILL NOT BE SORRY!

Bass player, guitar guru or history junky, The Fender Bass is required reading. J Black and Albert Molinaro have put together a comprehensive and enjoyable journey into the evolution of the world's favorite bass. Hundreds of vivid color photos, vintage advertisements and behind the scene glimpses at Fender, chronicle each minute detail and nuance of the ever-changing bass. Close up photography, clear, detailed writing and precise index create a useable technical reference book as well as a delightful read.

This book cleverly walks through the past and present of this amazing and historically significant instrument. The Fender Bass is a must have for any bass player, guitarist or Fender fan. Buy it now.

J.W. Black and Albert Molinaro have created a Fender bass history book and picture source that is classy and informative -definitely a step above any book of its kind. An absolute must for any bass player or collector.

As a premedical student, I thoroughly enjoyed this piece of work...It examines the physical and emotional aspects of a first year med student quite well. A must-read for anyone contemplating a career in medicine.

In the fall I will begin my first semester as a medical school student. I find the prospect of gross anatomy terrifying, and this book did an excellent job of lessening my anxiety towards the course and towards the ordeal that is medical school itself.

The author provides the reader with an opportunity to experience something unique and different -- human dissection.For those involved in medical education, the dissectioin experience is portrayed in a sensitive, insightful and accurate manner. The author's essays and illustrations of the dissections by Versalius provides a sensory of history and meaning that any health propfessions student about to take gross anatomy would find fscinating. This book is must reading for any first year medical student and should be on anyone's list who is concerned with the education of health professionals.

Having submitted this review in spanish and not having it posted, I'll try again in english.......
Camus reached fame with his elaborations about the concept of the absurd (the purposeless search of the meaning of existence in a universe void of any)in three works: The Stranger, a novel; Caligula, a teathrical opus; and The Myth of Sisyphus, a recopilation of philosophical essays.
In his second famous novel, The Plague, we find a different Camus. Perhaps, more concerned about moral values and solidarity between human beings, in the face of massive destruction.
The plot of the novel unfolds in the city of Oran, Algeria. The central image has to do with a rat invasion that causes a plague epidemy, with disastrous consecuences. Here we find metaphorically portraited the invasion by the Nazis in 1943 of non occupied France (Camus said that the Nazis came like rats).
Then we find a description of the evolution of the plague, the reaction of the authorities (at first, self denial), the progressive isolation of the town from outside world, and on the onset the "normalization" of the tragedy (people grow accostumed to live with it, and become zombies). After the evolution and the growth of the problem, the inhabitants become completely isolated from the outside, and become prisoners in the inside, due to the drastic measures taken by the authorities. The plague becomes a collective problem that requires recognition and reaction by all. We have here a clear metaphorical reference to the need of a collective reaction to the Vichy government by all the citizens. The call to participate and react becomes a moral issue. Camus then describes with certain detail the soccer stadium where people are forcibly concentrated by the authorities, and this is an allusion to the Nazi concentration camps. More than the persons, the protagonist of this novel is the city.
In the sense that the values of solidarity and participation against a common disaster or enemy are called for, this novel is much more developed, from an ethical standpoint, than The Stranger.

esta novela, que da la sensacion de claustrofobia y terror provocada por una enfermedad que pone en cuarentena a toda la poblacion, es otro logro de albert camus, un tremendo escritor, autor de ese otro libro llamado el extranjero. la peste, de caracter menos nihilista, nos muestra a los seres humanos aislados por la enfermedad y en busca de una causa comun, pero siempre solos, con su interior muy buena... LUIS MENDEZ

Only in French, but comments in English are welcome:un des plus puissants livres de tous les temps, du point de vue litteraire inimitable, du point de vue humain la transcription artistique et a la fois humaine des profondeurs sensibles et distantes en meme temps de l'espece humaine.

...
To readers familiar with Ellis's R.E.T.(Rational Emotive Therapy)theory(also called REBT), this is already a familiar book, a variation on themes Ellis expounds upon elsewhere, most notably in "A Guide to Rational Living", written back in the 60's, where he lays out the basics of his theory. Readers unfamiliar with Ellis and R.E.T. might see his approach as similiar to television's "Dr Phil"(McGraw), and if you see the latter as something of a scold, you're likely to experience Ellis the same way.
Ellis's approach emphasizes "self-talk", and asking you to question your motives in avoiding anxiety-provoking tasks. He prefers behavior-oriented and pragmatic thinking over "what-happened-way-back-when" depth psychology. If such an approach strikes you as what you're looking for in a book about this topic, then I'd recommend Ellis. He's very straightforward and easy to comprehend.

In this little book, Dr. Albert Ellis gives us tools in order
to deal with procrasination. He instructs us in his A-B-C
system of mental health. We have the Activating event (A),
the Beliefs that we hold (B), and the Consequences of those
beliefs (C). (A) for me is writing this review. (B) is my Belief that it must be a perfect review. (C) is the Consequence
which I experience from that belief. Which is anxiety. When
we procrastinate, according to Ellis, we are holding irrational

(B)eliefs. The more we (D)ispute these beliefs, the more healthy
(E)ffects of mental health we will experience. Ellis also gives
us behavioral tools to help us eliminate our procrastination.
Such as a reward system. Nevertheless, his system depends
on disputing the irrational beliefs. There are two things that you might want to remember before you buy this wonderful book.
First, you have to use REBT (Rational-Emotive-Behavioral-Therapy) all the time. It has to become a powerful philosophy in and of itself. If you counter your procrastination ten minutes daily,
but then whip yourself with irrational thoughts and ideas the rest of the time, it won't work. For this, you might want to go to the REBT website (...) for more information. The second thing is that you might want to employ a Tibetan Buddhist technique to really dispute your irrational beliefs and to burn
in rational ones. To do this, you sit in a chair. Count to ten. And after you have counted to ten without losing your count, you THEN dispute your irrational beliefs. This is how
they burn in rational thoughts in the Gelugpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Regardless, I hope that you enjoy this little
book. And I wish you all the happiness in the world.

This book is effective because it both (i) identifies the major cause of procrastination and (ii) shows you how to combat it. Since the cause of procrastination lies principally in our thinking, the "rational" techniques work especially well. I also found a number of behavioral tools that worked well for me. Among these are the profit-penalty system, reminders, bits and pieces (which NLP authors term "chunking down"), and the five-minute plan. I've used this book several times over the past few years when I've found myself procrastinating.

If you're procrastinating, I suggest that you buy this book and start using it...now. As you're working with it, you might also augment your procrastination-fighting skills by using David Burns' "The Feeling Good Handbook." (I have found it more useful than its predecessor, "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy," and you can easily use it without reading the latter.) And then, until you realize that you've made the progress you wanted, stop looking elsewhere for more books and more tools. That's just another procrastination pattern!