So much of the history of Monticello has been swept under the rug for generations and generations. As a Virginian living in such close proximity to Monticello, I, as the majority of people who have made the requisite trip through Mr. Jefferson's estate had literally no grasp on its actual history. Mr. Leepson's watershed book is eminently readable, even for those of us who are not students of historical preservation and brings to light the actual gritty past of this now pristine national monument. The fact that the Jefferson family or the Jefferson Foundation has not exclusively owned Monticello is often downplayed by many persons associated with it in its current condition. Perhaps the greatest merit of Saving Monticello is that it reveals the fact that this estate has a much deeper and more complex history than many Americans realize or may be willing to believe.

Mr. Leepson has masterfully peeled back the onion skin of history and shows the reader that Monticello's historical significance is not restricted to early American or Architectural history alone, but can actually stand as a microcosm of American History in its full form. From the birth of the nation to civil war to anti-Semitism- Monticello has seen it all. Mr. Leepson's book artfully reveals Monticello's sometimes colorful, often tragic history in a text that marries the all too frequently opposing qualities of being both informative and entertaining.

This book is worth every minute spent reading it and may even entice its readers to delve further into Monticello's family tree. We truly owe the Levy family a debt of gratitude for preserving Monticello for future generations. Without their intervention, this estate would not be in existence today for us to enjoy and appreciate. I cannot recommend this book highly enough, and I thank Mr. Leepson for finally giving us, the reader, access to the story behind this historical treasure.

Saving Monticello: The Levy Family's Epic Quest to Rescue the House That Jefferson Built written by Marc Leepson is a wonderful book as it chronicles that "essay in architecture" Thomas Jefferson called Monticello his mountain-top estate in Virginia. What happened after Thomas Jefferson died is a story begging to be told and it is a story of a family by the name of Levy that brought the estate back twice from near ruin, this is a tale that recounts the turbulent saga of this fabled estate.

Being one of the millions of people that has visited Monticello in the past, I always wondered about the history of Monticello after Jefferson died on July 4, 1826 to the time I visited the estate. I asked one of the tour guides at that time, she filled me in on some of the juicy parts, but it wasn't as comprehensive as this book.

I later sat down with another tour guide and asked some more questions about the history of the estate, the grounds, the upkeep of the house and the purchase of artifacts once owned by Jefferson at the time he lived at Monticello... again they were very helpful and pointed my curiosity to what is referenced in the bibliography in this book. So, I did some further digging and what Marc Leepson has uncovered in this book is spot-on with good work in telling this fascinating story of a house, history, family-life and times through the years.

"Saving Monticello" is a book with a history of a family, with who's efforts, we should all be grateful for saving a national treasure, a family whos little-known story of the remarkable commitment to Monticello's preservation. This is the account of Uriah P. Levy and his nephew Jefferson Monroe Levy in this well-written compelling story.

"Saving Monticello" is a story filled with fascinating detail about the life and times of one of the most beloved national monuments, for almost ninety years in private hands, until 1923 when the Levy family relinquished it to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation.

As you read "Saving Monticello" you'll see the veil of history being slowly and with great detail lifted to reveal a stoey that is reflective to our nations history, a story that is fully appreciated, from early on, a cast of characters a different as America herself played a roll with Monticello.

This is a fascinating read and well worth your time.

Our third president, Thomas Jefferson, possessed many talents, but a grand vision was among the top of his possessions. Over a period of many years, he designed, built, and re-built his grand home in the Piedmont of Virginia. Neither the plain saltbox home of John Adams nor the stately yet conventional Mount Vernon home of George Washington, Monticello was a home of which the entire country could be proud. Exhibiting many classical architectural elements along with some truly unique touches, Thomas Jefferson's Monticello was a home that completely fit the remarkable qualities of its owner.

After Jefferson's death on the 50th anniversary of the country's birth, Monticello was soon sold to clear some of his substantial debts. Saving Monticello is the story of the ultimate preservation of this irreplaceable national treasure. The story primarily features the Levy family, a collection of intriguing characters who continue the goal preserving Jeffersons home, at great person cost, through several decades, and against substantial opposition. Marc Leepson has produce a clear narrative of this fascinating history, covering Monticello's repeated near ruin and its restoration to its original glory. Written in a clear manner, yet with abundant detail, this book is required reading for Jefferson scholars, students of architecture, or merely those interested in a great historical tale. It is clearly the best account of the largely unknown saga of the saving of Monticello.

Marc Okkonen has done something no one else has done-he has researched and drawn examples of every Major League Baseball uniform worn in the 20th Century. Are you interested in the uniforms of the 1909 Cleveland Naps (now called the Indians)? Or how 'bout the 1969 Seattle Pilots (they became the Milwaukee Brewers the very next year!)? Well, Marc has created a book that will quench your thirst for knowledge! The book has two sections-the first shows each team's changes through the years; the second shows all the uniforms year-by-year. The book also contains interesting facts, such as what old American League team was called the "White Elephants" and why!

If you really love baseball (and you should!!!:-)), then you gotta' read Baseball Uniforms of the 20th Century.

I purchased the original hardcover edition of this fantastic book in 1991 and the subsequent updated softcover edition in 1993 and found that not only had Mr. Okkonen added the uniform additions from the previous two years but also updated and corrected the earlier edition. Such attention to detail obviously makes this book a must-have for any true baseball fan. The explanations of color usage, choices and changes from 1900 to 1993 are insightful and amazing. Each team's uniforms and historical evolutions are also a great feature. I would love to see an updated 2000 edition. The fact that the first two editions are so hard to come by emphasizes the popularity of the books. So how about it, Marc? An update shouldn't be so difficult; just seven more years. Batting practice jerseys and caps need not be included, just home, away and alternate uniforms to keep all of us who love the grand old game in the know.

Marc has done such a wonderful job of presenting his painstaking research that the world clamors for an updated version. A must for anyone interested in the history of baseball, particularly those who like to look at the old black & white photos of the early days and want to know what the uniforms looked like in color. If I could add to the suggestions of those who have reviewed the book before me, I would like to see detail on the backs of the uniforms as well. Not just styles of the numbering and lettering for names on the modern uniforms, but for the detailed artwork on the backs of some jerseys in the days before numbers. I would also like to see greater detail focused on the caps. Mainly, I would like to see a new version of the book that updates us on all the changes since 1993.

I just finished looking at each photograph in this book. I like all of the photos, but there are so many photos I truly love! I really loved seeing the photos of the mothers-to-be.

This collection shows the many shapes, sizes, and colors of the female body - women whose bodies are not always appreciated as the beautiful works of art that they are.

What grabbed my attention to this book was N'Damb's image...on the front cover.....saying to myself "Nah, N'Dambi is not bare in this book!"......opened the first page...... JUST BEAUTIFUL!! Not to direct some small mind towards a Hustler or Playboy type of book, there is nothing sleezy here but perverted minds can wonder. This is PURE ART WORK. Black Women, Mother Earth seen in it's most natural form. If any incentive for copping this....to my brothas reading............Dogg!....LISA RAYE!, ROSARIO DAWSON! and the very sexy, super chocolate ALEK WEK!

oNe

The book have approximately 65 b/w images and 32 in color,if you are waiting stunning models don't buy this book, but if you want photographies of real women with humanity , buy it. A few photographies are in studio, the most of them are in locations (mainly houses) . There are some images of older women,big women,etc all real and beautiful women. All the photographies contain nudity. And of course the photography is great, except 5 or 7 photographies (that's my opinion).

What Faber puts together here is nothing short of what should be required reading for every investor who got caught up in the 90's bull market only to be disheartened, confused, and bewildered by the aftermath. Most of them won't read this book because they'll assume it's another whacko goldbug treatise. That's a real shame because this is a great intellectual piece on the history of markets, economies,manias, currencies, and the behavior of man through it all. Anyone who reads this and gets caught in another bubble has only himself to blame.

I read this over the Christmas holiday and came around to Marc Faber's way of thinking. In a nutshell, here is what I took away from the book: the fiscal/monetary authorities control how much money sloshes around the world but cannot control where it ends up. In the 1980's and 1990's, excess liquidity found its way into stock and bond markets, asset classes which began the bull market much out of favor (remember in 1980, oil & gas partnerships and gold bars were hot, stocks were 8x earnings and bonds yielded 14%?).

As we sit in early 2003, we still have lots of money sloshing around in global markets but he argues we are in a mirror-image situation to 1981: commodities are very cheap and stocks and bonds are expensive. The recent rally in the CRB, in gold, and possibly in real estate, are the "shots across the bow" for a long-term investor shift back to hard assets and commodities in general. Deflation is the fear du-jour but Faber argues that all three major economic blocks (US, Europe and Asia) are debasing their currencies for stimulative reasons, meaning that all currencies are likely to devalue against hard assets -- ie the price of gold, real estate, etc. will rise. The coming inflation (still maybe a year or more away due to weak economic growth) will be bad new for bonds. He does favor emerging market stocks based on their strong correlation with commodity prices.

I found the chapter on Kondratieff to be less-convincing and more muddled. However, Faber backs up his arguments with lots of interesting charts and facts and all-in-all makes a coherent and persuasive argument for an emerging markets/commodities long-term bull market.

Two weeks ago I was sitting in the dentists chair. When he finished sticking his instruments in his mouth, we talked for a few minutes about the stock market. He expressed the common hope of the moment that the war in Iraq will make everything good again. When I told him why that wasn't likely to happen, he made the remark that there is so much "money on the sidelines" that it will have to go back into stocks eventually. He probably heard that from CNBC. "There is a whole world out there," I told him. Money can to go to China or Russia. It doesn't have to go into Cisco. I then told him to read this book.

American investors who were conditioned by the 1990's to buy and hold forever need a new way of thinking. They need to understand that financial markets move in cycles of boom and bust that provide real opportunities to make money. Faber teaches the reader to follow the money and to understand that we now live in a global economy. With a secular bear market in the United States, over the course of the next decade the best investment opportunities will likely be elsewhere in the world and in commodities such as gold and silver. This book will open their minds and in time will help them fatten their wallets.

Faber's book contains all kinds of little gems that are worth remembering. It also has several chapters that I found especially thought provoking and unique to investment literature. First is a valuable chapter on the cycle of emerging markets. Second is a discussion of the United States as an emerging market in the 19th century. His comparison of the US to emerging markets such as China, Russia, and Asia is thought provoking - a process of wild boom and busts swings is not unique to them, but was a large part of the history of the US in the 19th century. It seems to go hand in hand with rapid modernization.

His discussion of history and financial bubbles is a good introduction to the subject and one that will help US investors understand the last few years.

Read this book. It is worth your time and effort. A lot of meat in it. Will make you think. Investment professionals will benefit from it too. If you are a stock broker, this book is worth a whole year of sales promotion literature and analyst recos coming from upstairs. Learn something to actually help your customers. If you are fund manager learn to think big and follow the money.

GREAT BOOK! Marc Parent is a gifted writer and this book is a warm and honest depiction of life with children. I laughed, I cried and I wanted to read it all over again when I was done. As a new mom who stays home with her one year old I agree with Marc Parent when he describes in countless ways how much children can teach us about life.

Marc Parent is a man who truly understands children inside and out, and he has definitely leaned his lessons first hand. His words come from the heart, based on his experience as a social worker and, in particular, as a stay-at-home Dad. As a counsellor, I have met with many a stay-at-home Dads; it is among the norm these days and on the rise. With many women returning to complete their education, joining the workforce and taking management jobs, the parenting roles have in many cases been reversed. While it has been the traditional role of mothers to provide daily care for their children, I have seen fathers who do an excellent job, and in some cases, a much better job than those moms who view motherhood as a "tied down, unfulfilling, low-paying job." Fortunately, they are among the minority, but they do exist and we have probably all met one or two who fall into that category.

Parent is a unique man and a gifted writer. His touch of humor adds a special charm to the book and once read, you will be tempted to hug your child for no special reason other, than you love him/her. The author pragmatically brings to our attention, the honesty, beauty, innocense and wonder of a child, and how a look of sheer love and trust can bring tears to your eyes and conquer your soul. "Believing It All" is a five star plus and highly recommended.

Having read Marc Parent's brilliant first book 'Turning Stones: My Days and Nights With Children at Risk',in which he recounts his experiences as a NYC caseworker for the child welfare service, I eagerly awaited his new book'Believing It All'. 'Believing It All' is a very different book from his first but once again the reader is in the presence of an extremely gifted writer and storyteller. Mr. Parent now brings his wisdom and insight to his own children. This is a deeply moving account of his relationship with his children and lessons he has recieved from them. This is NOT a cute little quick read... it is written with a gut truth that brought tears to my eyes. It's a wake up call to us so-called adults to open our eyes to the humor, beauty, honesty, and love that only children can remind us of, be it our own or others.This is an important book that will be read and reread for years to come.

Have you ever dreamed of having your own book published but allowed the thought to dwell in your mind? Well dream no longer and make it happen. Marc McCutcheon opens up the box of secrets on how to make a living in writing non fiction books. You don't have to have an IQ of 140, be of a certain age or for that matter have a bunch of degrees. Yes, you can make money from writing a book and our author gives sound tips on helping you to make it happen.

Learn the basics of researching the niche in which your book may fall and take advantage of the knowledge. Fend your way through determining the need for an agent. Concentrate on how to negotiate a book contract, doing a promotion and writing a book proposal. Marc tells it all in providing potential book authors with compact and concise information that includes examples from his own experiences.

All of this pragmatic information will inspire you to get serious about publishing your book. If other authors can do it and make a decent living, so can you. Don't pass this book up.

The focus of Marc McCutcheon's Damn! Why Didn't I Write That? is on profitable nonfiction book-writing, the audience is the would-be author who wants to make good income doing so, and the approach provides guidelines on how to identify lucrative publishing niches and how to fill them again and again. Practical ideas for any who would not only get published, but make a living in the writing world.

The common conception about writing as a career is that it is difficult to get into and produces many "starving" artists. While this may be true in many situations, Marc McCutcheon argues convincingly that it is not necessarily the case when it comes to nonfiction writing. According to the author over 50,000 new books are published each year, but only about 3,500 of them are fiction. As a result, most of the competition is in the fiction area. The nonfiction area is by far the easiest one in which to become published.

The author relates how even a beginning writer can learn to write nonfiction and start making a living as a writer much faster than commonly believed. The book is filled with the necessary details of not only writing a great nonfiction work but also how to handle contract negotiations, why you need (or don't need) an agent, writing proposals, marketing and just about any other subject that the writer may need to know.

Throughout the book, McCutcheon encourages the new writer and points out that many top selling titles were written by ordinary people without any special writing skills or training. A book that should be on the bookshelf of all writers, I can't recommend it highly enough.

Like a lot of underpaid, underappreciated network admins, I'm looking at going out on my own as a consultant. This is one of the few books available on network or computer consulting, but it's the best one I've read so far. I've bounced the ideas off of relatives and friends that are small business owners, and they generally agree with Matt.

My biggest question is: How do you evaluate the competance of subcontractors?

When you're just starting out, picking a bad subcontractor can torpedo your business before it gets off the ground. How does he work around that problem?

I would also like to see more information on the web hosting/e-commerce field from the small business perspective.

Those two questions are the only reasons that I've downgraded this book from five stars. Aside from that, I highly recommend it.

If your not currently an independent Network Consultant and you have ever dreamed of breaking those 9-5 chains, this book is for you. If you have already broken those chains and are looking for additional good advice, this too is a great book for you! Matthew Strebe obviously speaks from experience. His open honesty is not only on the money, he made me laugh out loud as it seems we have shared many of the same joy's and agony of going it alone. I highly suggest this book to anyone in the field as it offers excellent and accurate advice in the crazy field we are in. This is a must read. GREAT JOB Mr Strebe!

I purchased this book because I was considering becoming a network consultant. I read the book because now I AM going to become a network consultant!

Mr. Strebe's experiences are laid out like a guideline for all of us to follow, including both the shining positive examples of how to do it right and the embarrassing mistakes to avoid.

Mr. Strebe's writing is both easily understood and absolutely entertaining... And best of all, it's spot-on!

If you are any kind of technology consultant or you are contemplating being one, READ THIS BOOK!

Need help on the job, at home, and with your finances? Then this book is for you. The book is a comprehensive guide for saving money and becoming a better person in the process. The book offers six secrets like determining what you want in a career, investing in intangibles like family and friends; paying off debts and getting into a 401(k); keep learning new skills; managing your own money and owning a business of your own. The book goes on to tell you how to negotiate to get the best price on just about anything, including motel rooms and used cars, and gives the lowdown on turning your kids into savers and investors, controlling college bills, cutting home buying costs and planning for retirement. This book will show you the way to make a difference in the way you approach money, work and life in general. In relation to life and financing I found this entire reading very inspiring. The book provides the only road map you'll ever need. Enjoy it.

FinancialNeeds.com

Most financial books ignore other areas of your life that help determine if you're truly happy or not, like family, where you live, etc. This book helps you to sort out what is really important, while giving practical advice on how to make the most out of the money you earn. I think it's an excellent book for anyone who wants more time with their family, more out of their job and the money they make; or for those people who want to get out of the rat race.

"Our goal for Invest in Yourself is to motivate you to take charge of your life and make the most out of your time, energy, and money." That's a novel and valuable perspective that's worth five stars for this book.

Too many self-help books focus on helping you get more money or more out of your money, but ignore the costs in terms of the time, attention, effort and stress involved. Invest in Yourself looks beyond that overly-narrow focus. That's the good news about this book.

The bad news about this book is that it has taken on more than one book can hope to fully deliver on. I hope the authors come out with sequels that expand and magnify what is here.

The six secrets are:

(1) Make your own lifestyle decisions.

(2) Put your family first.

(3) Wherever you work, be in business for yourself.

(4) Make the most of the money you bring home.

(5) Turn your debts into golden investment opportunities.

(6) Map out your financial future.

The three authors have an unusual perspective. They have dropped out of the "get ahead at the office" rat race and "shop until you drop" lifestyles much more than most. As a result, they have lots of money-saving ideas based on their own life experiences. Much of what is in the book, Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge would approve of. If you are like me, you will find money-saving ideas that would never have occurred to you, otherwise. My parents have always shopped are yard sales, but it had never occurred to me to use these routinely for the kind of around-the-house items that I will seldom use like unusual garden tools.

One of the strengths of the book is that it is not a "one size fits all" approach. They realize that each person will have a different set of life goals, and the advice is couched to accommodate that.

I also liked the way that the book challenged the automatic assumptions that many make: Career comes first; job comes first; exciting consumer experiences are a main reward for success; and only the best will do.

By having three authors, the perspectives and ideas were much more varied than I have seen in other, somewhat-similar self-help books. That also was a strength.

The weakest section was the last one on mapping out your financial future. Almost everyone will need more guidance than is here. That's the bad news. The good news is that there are lots of books about creating financial plans that you can use to supplement this one.

On the other hand, those who buy into the traditional American Dream and will happily pay the price for economic success will find less in this book than will those independent souls who listen to their own intuition for guidance. Despite ideas for making penny-pinching fun, it's not going to be fun for everyone. I do applaud pointing out how saving money for essentials is far more valuable than expanding income due to the income tax effects on progressive income. The advice about paying off your expensive debt is pretty standard, but I liked the way it was couched in terms of thinking of it as a high return investment.

I hope you will not only read this book, but apply its lessons. As you do, I encourage you to expand your perspective even more broadly than the book does. What other areas do you have important values in, besides time, money, and energy? How can those values be honored in your tradeoffs? The more you do this, the better life you will have . . . the richer your life will be in terms of its effect on those around you.

Enjoy, live long, and prosper!

I love old books brought back to life, and I really did like this one. The mysterious 'Master' is a good character, and he makes goal setting and achievement sound fun and exciting.

It seems, after reading it a few times, that a good arena for applying this method would be the stock market. The narrator's foil character, a man who was broke and sickly before meeting 'The Master', sprang to life and began working passionately toward building a fortune in the stock market after he learned the lessons.

One thing you should note, however, is the date of the first printing: 1929. Beware that this book was written at the time of maximum irrational exuberance for wealth-building.

Some say the less said the better-This is an outstanding book.This book holds the answer to many of the things we look for in life.You will be a winner,as well as many other things after reading this book.enough said-buy it!

This little book has been with me several years and its simplicity and beauty had turn it in to my favorite. What it amazes me more is that I am reading by now great books by U.S. Andersen(TMW) and R. Collier (TSOTA) and they include in detail what this little book already said. Read it, it works.

I was pleased to note that I am not the only one who goes through the obsessions and compulsions, but found that too much information was omitted by the author. He seems to feel that he has only had one or two relapses, and that he does not need medication (he's definitely an "anti-med" kind of guy) to get better.

Besides that, he only went into one way that the therapist was able to help him, which left me wondering "How is this guy getting through daily life by making himself wait 5 extra minutes to straighten the carpet fringe????"

Before I read this book, I was determined I needed to be on meds to get better. Now that I know that there are other options for recovery from OCD-- like those discussed by Marc Summers-- I am now even more determined that I need meds.

First, I must say, this book had me completly in awe. I totally HATE to read. I can not by a single book without going from page 2 and skipping to the last few pages to see how it ends. But Marc Summers book is GREAT! I read it from the VERY first page to the last, without skipping a word. I found his story about his trials and triumphs with OCD to be interesting and very informative. I am 24, and I grew up watching Double Dare, and never would have guessed that he had this disorder. I personally have never been affected with OCD, nor have I have never known anyone to be afflicited with the disease. I knew very little about it, until I read this book. I recommend this if you are even a little bit curious about OCD. It is very well written and I felt like Marc was right here telling me his story. I wish Marc and his family all the best things in life.

As a big fan of Marc Summers during his "Double Dare" days I happened to stroll along and find this book. Amazingly enough, halfway into reading it I found to have many symptoms of OCD that I never would have guessed. I won't tell what they are, but ever since I was in grade school I was quite angry with myself for displaying these habits I normally couldn't control. It's relaxing to know it's NOT me that's the problem but a simple chemical imbalance in my brain that's causing me to be the way I am.
Originally I purchased this book just to hear how Marc Summers worked his way through the ranks of show business, but it came out to be so much more. It was a book that defined who I am and why I am the way I am. Although my symptoms are nowhere near as severe as Marc's are, I found his experiences to be something I can relate to. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a great story of struggles and success through the life of show business and/or to anyone who has the slightest doubt of having this disorder. I knew I was thrown in for a suprise! Thank you Mr. Summers for writing it!