Bruce Rabin's book provides an excellent, highly readable overview of a fascinating topic-how thoughts and emotions get into the body to influence health. It's an enormously useful, enjoyable journey into the world of psychoneuroimmunology, based on the author's knowledge and skills as both a physician and a scientist. Up-to-date and open-minded, it covers a range of topics including the effects of maternal stress on the offspring, psychoneuroimmunology and the elderly, how exercise affects immunity, and how emotions influence immune-related diseases, drawing on the latest research. An outstanding volume by a prominent researcher, it is eloquent and authoritative. Highly recommended!

This is a fascinating book that describes the effects of stress on the immune system. I've never read a book before that so clearly describes the immune system and how it works in helping to protect people from viral infections and possibly cancer. Rabin carefully documents the research that has shown a connection between stress and immune function, and is especially clear in describing how stress does this. He carefully documents his statements with research performed in animals and humans. I thoroughly enjoyed this very readable book about a complex topic -- in fact, I know of no other source that describes these relationships in such a clear manner. Although the price of the book is high, it was worth every penny to me.

I have read a number of immunology text books in my life but i have never read one as easily understood.I began reading friday evening and finished monday. the book is fascinating,well organized ,most interesting data and understandable!!!!!!!.This book is a must for everyone interested in how stress is related to illness and why each of us must develop coping mechanisms.Thank you for your efforts Dr. Rabin.You have made this world a better place with this knowledge.

Alice Pero's work weaves its way around the psyche like so many vines gone "liberated." It is ephemeral at times, while rock solid at others; allowing for the ebb and flow that is life. There are many possible "reads" of this book~none (thank goodness) will be the same...neither will the reader, upon being freed up from too much gravity, finding him/herself reaching contentedly ever closer to the stars.

Alice Pero writes lean, twisty, surprising lines. She's not afraid of abstractions or even of old-fashioned soaring, but even her flightiest poems ambush us with bits of kitchenware and other earthly trinkets, always, somehow, appropriate. Her ability to move like lightning between familiar and esoteric reminds me of Emily Dickinson, except that in Alice's poems, death is no masterful gentleman, just a bratty kid throwing a tantrum because no one in Alice's world quite believes in him. She's often funny and occasionally (e.g., in her poem "With Very Good Reason", dedicated to the New Yorker) gloriously snide (and spot-on). I found that the book improved as I read, and even on rereading (which the book demanded), I found the first section less compelling than what followed, so I urge browsing readers to sample the later chapters as well as Chapter 1 before making up their minds. I think if you do, you'll find she'd speaking to you and that she speaks VERY well.

Her work is highly readable,simple in its rhythms, wonderfully rich in its content. She has obviously put in the hours and effort to hone each of these poems to completeness. Even poems tinged with loss are kept from becoming maudlin or overly wrought. Everything is clean as can be.

What a fun resource on alternative treatments! I never knew the "downside" of herbs or other alternative treatments. The author gives both the positive and negative--help or hype--about the most commonly touted holistic treatments. I always thought herbs were ALL safe--because they are natural. Not so--and the author has scientific studies to back it up. Good for her! Also like the helpful sidebars on all pages--little known tips about complementary methods of staying well. Super!

I really liked the easytoread format of this book. there are special facts on tips in the margins of each page that are really helpful. this book is very comprehensive and describes herbs and vitamins in very thorough ways.

If you are thinking of using Alternative Medicine--herbs, Ayurvedic, Chiropractic, Chinese Medicine or mind/body therapies--you must know what they can REALLY DO--and the limitations of each. This book gives the TRUTH and HYPE. Totally changed the way I think about taking herbs--yes, some herbs can kill you; some herbs may enhance optimal health. KNOW the difference. This book will show you how to be discerning about what you put into your body. Superbly written--easy to understand--factual & helpful resource every family should have on their shelf.

This book is easy to follow and can make a huge difference in your life - highly recommend it!

This book is a MUST READ for any couple over age 35--it will change your life and your marriage! The information on what causes impotence is excellent. We honestly did not know "why" it was happening. Yet, we learned that job STRESS, HYPERTENSION, DIABETES, and even over-the-counter medicines can effect male sexual performance--and we followed the book to make important lifestyle changes. Thank you for this book as it changed our marriage!!!

My doctor never told me that my blood pressure medicine could cause impotence. In fact, when I asked about it--he said it wouldn't make any difference. Well--then I read this book!! I realized that this was hindering my sexual performance, called my doctor, and he changed medicines. In three days, I had no problems with impotence--just from changing blood pressure medications! I've learned that we are responsible for our own health--THIS BOOK will help you do just that. Buy it--it's very imformative and gives excellent "tips" throughout on how to overcome erectile dysfunction.

John Duel's Wide Awake in Dreamland is mesmerizing and fascinating -- with ingenius plot, non-stop action, realistic character development, and fantastic settings. For me, it equals my other favorite children's novels, The Chronicles of Narnia and A Wrinkle in Time. Just imagine -- what if you were dreaming, but you couldn't wake up?

Wide awake in Dreamland is a great book. It shows that everyone has such a big imagination and that you can't run away from your problems, you have to face them.

I found this a very intriguing book. It is a wonderful, adventurous, and exciting story for children, and yet adults find themselves reading the rest of the story after their children's bedtime. It is well written, and contains beautiful and imaginative illustrations. I recommend it for everyone's "Must Read" list.

This is and excellent text on German Infantry tactics of WWI (1914-1918). The Germans were always innovators when it applied to warfare, in WWI with the trench war at a stale mate the Germans formed these elite infantry "Stormtroop" units to infiltrate and breakthrough the lines to make way for their follow on troops. In this highly detailed account of the tactics employed by these Stormtrooper you will read how they were employed in mountain and fortress warfare, how they were organized and their special assault units. It is amazing to see a lot of these types of tactics are still employed today.

I have read this book three or four times since I first purchased it in 1989, and it never fails to impress me with the attention to detail and meticulously researched origins of modern infantry combat. The book covers events leading up to WWI that cause turmoil in the German High Command regarding the use of infantry, and how scrutiny of specific tactical employments in various battles in the early to mid stages of the war led to the first experimental stormtroop unit. The book goes on to document the unit's successes and the eventual adoption of special stormtroop units to spearhead attacks at the division level, and finally how complete divisions were organized in the stormtroop fashion. All the major personalities, weaponry, and tactics involved are described in detail, and while dramatic descriptions of the gory and macabre business of trench warfare are omitted, one can easily infer from the descriptions of sharpened entrenching tools and flame throwers how violent and terrible it was to be on the receiving end of one of those attacks. Author Gudmundsson's work interjects some objective scholarship on this subject in an age where it is not politically correct to acknowledge the German military's pioneering efforts in both world wars in establishing modern combined arms tactics.

An outstanding dissection of the tactics and organization that the German Army used in order to overcome the stalemate caused by trench warfare. The author clearly shows how the Sturmtruppen, utilizing surface and gap style tactics were able to achieve tactical success. The best book I have read so far this year.

There is no doubt about this great written book. The reason I only gave this book 4 starts is that I bought the book of "MPLS : Technology and Applications " from the same authors before this one. The coverage and contents between those two books are quite the same - Douh !. My suggestion is that just buy the "MPLS" one if you do not care about CSR and ARIS stuffs too much.

It is one of those few books that explains the concepts of label switching in a lucid style without confounding the readers. A must read.

This book was the first in series on the MPLS topic by Yakov and Davie, the two leading experts in the subject area. At the time this book was published, people didn't even know the term MPLS as opposed to now when it has become a latest acronym to be exploited by marketing parasites.

This book gives an excellent description of different label switching techniques implemented by different vendors at the time, such as IBM, Toshiba, Ipsilon and cisco. This breaks down the chapters on vendor by vendor basis, explains their implementation and then at the end compares all the different approaches.

Even though Yakov and Davie are both from cisco, you can't tell it from reading the book because they have presented the implementations in total impartiality and fairness and only judging the implementations on its technical merits.

After reading the book, you'd understand fundamentals like FEC, label stack encoding, LDP and various techniques/signaling to carry label switching information.

If you want to buy a book om MPLS today, you should go for the latest edition of this book, titled, 'MPLS technology and applications'.

Michael Swanwick is a modern writer. He writes very contemporary. His tales are strong, focused, and brilliant. Funy too -but in a dark sort of way.
They aren't suitable for everybody, I think, because of their mature themes. If you decide to buy a copy don't forget I warned you of their contents.
Many of these tales were nominated for major "literary" awards. Don't understand me wrongly: these are REAL literary stories.
Some other stories actually won awards. Left me wondering why not all of them won them. Swanwick's tales are head and shoulders above most other SF/F writing.
He writes novels too, but I urge you to start here. These stories are his best -and are better than his novels.
I have respect for this writer because he actually does write short stories after having gotten praise for his longer work. Most other writers break through with a couple of short stories -which most of the time aren't as interesting- and then start their mass-production of "novels." Fat bulks of paper written just for money. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but they do actually keep the good stuff from getting a more prominent view. Soon shoppers forget about the good books -won't buy them anymore, and shops display only things that sell. Exit the good books.
Okay, buy this book and reward this interesting author/writer.
The best of speculative fiction remains to be found in short stories. These are short and all gem-like.
That's all from me.

This collection of short stories is among the best ever written. Deeply profound, thoughtful and literary tales, these stories remind me of Franz Kafka and Philip K. Dick at their best. Swanwick utilizes science fiction in the exact way science fiction should be utilized: as a realistic and cautionary window into the future. His favorite themes include: The dangers of unfettered capitalism and emergence of corporate slave-labor; science and medical technology run amok; the nature of death, the soul, and the afterlife; and time travel and the complications involved in altering the past. He also seems to have an obsession with dinosaurs. If these themes sound like a recipe for intellectual and thoughtful literature, you are correct. Swanwick is able to convey fascinating philosophical concepts through his fiction, and does so with a clear and lucid style. Unlike some modern authors, Michael Swanwick does not try to experiment with an overly abstract or poetic style, and does not play tricks with the reader in an attempt to create a "new" style of writing prose. Swanwick sticks with a basic writing style, and invokes pioneering literary concepts through the actual content of his stories. This is mystical-realist literature at its best - realistic style and execution, combined with far-out mystical concepts.

Michael Swanwick's latest collection 'Tales of Old Earth' is masterful. The collection of stories ranges from Hard SF to the so-called Hard Fantasy (don't ask me to explain it). There are Hugo and World Fantasy Award Winners and numerous stories that were nominated for major awards.

It's unfortunate that Michael Swanwick isn't widely-recognized as the writer that he is. His work is consistently head-and-shoulders above the average work being turned out in the genre. But he writes predominantly short fiction, and short fiction never has, and never will be, recognized by the masses.

This is one of the best story collections I've ever read. There isn't a 'dog' in the bunch. Every story jumps out at the reader with its vibrancy. Michael Swanwick is a wordsmith of unparalleled talent. I have no doubt that he's the best writer of the current generation. I highly recommend this collection.

Buttercup sings to the Captain of HMS Pinafore, "Things are seldom what they seem, Skim milk masquerades as cream." This is what Bruce Bueno de Mesquita would have the reader believe about the reviled Ebenezer Scrooge. In a dramatic trial, with Tiny Tim acting for the defense and Professor Blight serving as the righteous prosecutor, the reader in the jury box is asked to reconsider long-held beliefs about the alleged miser and merciless employer immortalized in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. For this page-turner novella, a knowledge of Dickens is helpful but not required. In the end, you decide if Scrooge deserves a place in Heaven, or elsewhere. A perfect Christmas stocking stuffer and a great gift any time of year.

I can count the number of books I have read in one sitting on the fingers of one hand, and this book is one of them. This magnificant novel takes off where Dicken's A Christmas Carol left off. This beautifully written and fast paced book presents the compelling story of God's trial for the soul of Ebenezer Scrooge, offering Tiny Tim as his defending attorney. Skillfully drawning upon meticulous historical research, Bueno de Mesquita establishes the counterintuitive argument that perhaps Scrooge, and thus Dickens, may have been misunderstood. Part mystery concering the outcome of the trial, part morality tale about the true meaning of kindness in life, and part fascinating historical education, this book will be a delight for fans of the original Dicken's book as well as for those who have never read it, and can thus approach this book on its own terms. This novel cleverly encourages readers not only to reevaluate Scrooge, but also inspires us to rethink the critical judgments that we often make too easily of others. This is a book that stays with you long after you read it. Scrooge reminds us that there are many ways to be the best person we can, and as many ways to bring out the best in those we care about.

The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge challenges our presumption of Dickens' classic tale, "A Christmas Carol". Was Scrooge really a friendless miser? Set as a Faustian trial, Tiny Tim must prove before a court of the Almighty that Scrooge's soul is worthy of entry into heaven. Set against our prejudices, and a court room of Scrooge's detractors, Tiny Tim composes a defense based on primarily on Dickens' own words, supplemented with contemporary evidence from Christmas 1843. With perhaps overtones towards governance, Prof. Bueno de Mesquita -who is a distinguished political scientist-- questions whether conspicuous generosity to some at the expense of others is superior to even handed meanness. As the story unfolds Scrooge's salvation remains perilously balanced with threats always emerging from unsuspecting quarters.
Although the Dickensian style is somewhat ponderous, this is a fascinating tale that confronts our understanding of righteousness. It is well worth a read.

Fetzer has written and interesting and well researched book on Ft. Delaware, located on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River.

For the Delaware enthusiast, this book will fascinate. For the Civil War buff, this book provides an interesting view of post life and northern prison administration -- topics not well covered in the popular literature.

Pea Patch Island was recognized as a crucial spot on which to construct a down river defense to America's great port at Philadelphia as early as the Revolution. Then bureaucracy, sloth and quabbles over funding delayed construction of this "vital" defensive bastion for more than half a century. It must be recognized though, that this was no easy constructin job. Pea Patch Island is a low lying mud deposit without solid foundation. The fort eventually came to rest on more than six thousand timber pilings, all of which had to be driven by pile drivers of the 1800's.

Immediately upon it's occupation, prisoners of state and then surrendered Confederates began arriving and Ft. Delaware's historic mission -- wholly unintended -- as a major Union prisoner of war camp was realized.

What Fetzer does well is provide this neglected story with some flavor and detail. We learn about the constructin of the Fort, daily life of both prisoners, guards and attendant civilians, the personalities who commanded, built or were remanded to the fort and the way in which Ft. Delaware did its duty in the Civil War.

Fetzer provides some interesting details and analysis. I had never known how the island got its name, an interesting story that Fetzer tells. Significantly, those who view Ft. Delaware as "the Andersonville of the North" will be enlightened and realize that while death was a possibility in such crowded conditions among the South's often diseased and malnourished troops (they arrived that way), the death rate was not even close to that realized in the South's prisoner of war camps. In addition, the commanders at Ft. Delaware provided covered housing, fresh water, regular meals, medical care and a camp hospital -- features all lacking or practically useless at the real Andersonville.

All in all, this is an iteresting little book and a must for anyone who collects Delawareanna.

With stories of men dying of disease, succumbing to the elements and living life from mouthful to mouthful one would think that Fort Delaware was indeed the "Andersonville of the North". In its heyday over 16,00 men were held prisoner on this lonely island known as "Pea Patch" with more than 30,000 Confederates passing through its gates in just over three years. Yet, the true story of life behind the stockade walls was lost to history, until Mr. Fetzer and Mr. Mowday came together and published "Unlikely Allies". By using newly found primary source material the reader gains insight into the lives of those who had to eke out an existent on the island.

Prior to the 1760's no written account indicated that there was any stretch of land in the middle of the Delaware River. However, around the same stretch of time, local legend has it that a sailing vessel loaded with peas ran aground on an uncharted shoal and spilled its contents into the Delaware. These peas found the small mud flat to their liking and took root upon the shoal and pea patches began to sprout. As they continued to grow so did the island, giving rise to the local name Pea Patch.

During an expedition to the area, Maj. Pierre Charles L'Enfant, chief engineer of the U.S. Army looked out over the Delaware River and settled his gaze upon the small bit of exposed mud and sand, he came to call "Pip Ash" Island. After his brief exploit to the island he wrote on 16 May 1794 to the secretary of war: " . . .went to the Pip Ash a bank forming an island opposite Eagle and Reedy Points. This pass should be well armed . . . I recommend a fort on Pip Ash, and batteries at New Castle . . .." He further noted, " . . . it cannot be questioned but that pass may be well armed, and that proper works erected there would protect the whole bank." So, with the wheels of defense set in motion, this desolate strip would be transformed in a community that survived all that Mother Nature threw at them, but the name Pip Ash was forgotten and the name Pea Patch stuck.

In knowing little about Fort Delaware, and going off what I've briefly read I had come to the conclusion that it was a harsh and bitter prison, but in reality life was just about the same for the guards as it was for the prisoners. Aside from the status of being labeled a prisoner, most everyone on this little island was held captive. Life was not pleasant but it was tolerable. The death rate among POWs was equal to the death rate from disease among civilians. Yet, life was not as bitter as stated by previous residents. True, some guards were ill mannered but overall the background of material presented in this work shows that the guards handed out humane treatment in most cases. In looking at the words of one prisoner, a Reverend Handly, he tells of comrades hanging by their thumbs, acute starvation, and enforced labor, yet his wife was allowed to come to Pea Patch and take up room and board at Mrs. Patterson's Inn and eventually visit with him. Not too bestial if you ask me.

This is a well-written and researched work on Fort Delaware. The authors put together sound research mirrored with quality writing to give the reader an enjoyable journey into the past. Cover to cover the reader will discover that human interest has been successfully merged with historical research. This work reads well, was hard to put down, and did not drag on into over exacting details and logistics. I highly recommend this book to anyone curious about fortifications and prisons during the Civil War.

I read the book unlikly allies,which i thought was very well written by Herr Fetzer. He truly has written a book, that is perfect for anyone who asks "Can you tell me about Fort Delaware" This book does tell you basically everything you want to know about fort delaware and what went on with the people who lived their lives on that island. this book should be number 1!