This well-written, fun book is definitely required reading for any would-be Macintosh expert. Although it's now far too outdated to be of very much practical use, it is full of colorful tidbits, descriptions, pointers and secrets from the Mac's "middle period" -- when System 7 was state-of-the-art, when Steve Jobs, the chair behind his desk at Apple still warm, was trying to make NeXT Computing the next big thing, when the PowerPC processor was years into the future. Perhaps the most interesting thing about "Inside Track to the Mac," however, is that its author, John Dvorak, is now notorious for his anti-Macintosh opinions as a columnist for a prominent computer magazine and website. That makes this book fascinating as a relic of Dvorak's past, as well as of the Macintosh's.

I read a review of the book in a industry magazine and it described it as useful for a professional financial advisor, as the title also implies. It turned out to be a pretty basic educational book with general but basic financial information. A good book for a beginner or someone who is just beginning to break into the financial services industry, but not necessarily for a seasoned professional.

For anyone that has an interest in South Africa or Apartheid, this book is great. Not many people know of Albert Luthuli but he played a major part in the uprising of the non-white people. Its a good book. Read it.

Based on the movie's original, uncut screenplay. Without giving too much away, The Sword and the Sorcerer delves deeper into each character's history, and helps to fill in many of the plot holes from the 1982 motion picture. Reading this novel after watching the movie will give you a much clearer sense of this little-known cult classic.

If you're a fan of the movie, or if you're buying the DVD, I highly recommend picking up this book.

If you are a member of the Thurtell family (those Vikings who came from Denmark in the 9th Century to take over England), you will love this book about our Uncle John. He was such a nice guy that many didn't believe he had committed the murder. So, as he was about to be dropped to his death, he admitted it. His was the first jury trial to be covered by the press and,due to the yellow journalism of the day, was almost the end of same!--Terry Miller, media@naples.net

This book was required as part of my culinary history class. It is easy to read, but I didn't find it very entertaining. I know that it is supposed to be informative, but I didn't find it attention grabbing. I felt like I had to look up every word to understand what the book was trying to say. I didn't see where it actually flowed with the class syllabus. The book talks about the history of food and how religion and culture are incolved. I didn't have a hard time reading the book, but I had a hard following where the book was going with the information. I thought that some of the information was interesting, but most of the text was all facts. I guess if you want to read about culinary history, then this is the book for you. If you read this book for enjoyment and pleasure I'm afraid that this book won't be very entertaining. I'm glad that I have read the book for future information and knowledge.

I tend to really enjoy books on culinary history; unfortunately this one left me wanting more. The chapters are disjointed, with no true unifying theme. The prose is stilted, though I suspect alot of this is due to poor translation. The information itself is good, but badly presented; overall a boring mess of a book. Pick up Tannahill's "Food in History" instead.

This is an academic study filled with essays by forty contributing authors. "FOOD: A culinary History" has been compiled by two of Europe's great food historians. This is more of a textbook than a book you can simply enjoy reading one afternoon on the couch. It is a hefty 553 pages plus Index. This is for the serious student or overly ambitious cook. I read it because I'm darn curious.

This book took me about a week to read. It is extremely well written and yet somewhat dry in places with the occasional oasis. You cannot skim over the pages, you have to analyze the sentences at times and then look up a few words here and there. I also thought the organization of the essays could have been greatly improved to provide more interesting reading. I wanted maps, timelines and perhaps more pictures of actual food from the time periods. There are a few pictures of famous art displaying food.

While reading, you will soon realize how fortunate we are to live in America in the present day. In general, the world has not eaten very well according to the descriptions in this book.

Some comments on the essays:

Some of the authors neglect to take religious beliefs into consideration when they discusses why man became an omnivore although he does touch on some facts about the Ancient Hebrews.

Evolution is presented as a "fact," while creation is presented as a "myth." I feel we have more evidence that points towards a creator and evolution seems somewhat illogical to me at least. Cooked meat is a natural byproduct of forest fires? Oh, I had a good laugh over that one. Sure, it could have happened, but what about considering what we do know about the past.

What about cooked meat being a natural result of sacrifices to the creator or even a goddess? I guess it is just a different way of looking at the past. I'd say you should take the first few chapters with a grain of "Fleur de Sel/French Sea Salt."

Francis Joannes writes a wonderful essay on "The Social Function of Banquets in the Earliest Civilizations" and mentions the epic of Gilgamesh and explains some details about a marriage in Assyria.

Jean Soler writes a fascinating chapter on "Biblical Reasons: The Dietary Rules of the Ancient Hebrews." I had never understood the concept of "culinary incest" which completely awakened my curiosity and Jean Soler provided well-thought out explanations as to why prescribed rituals had to be observed. I didn't realize that many cultures in history actually only consumed meat after ritual sacrifice. The taking of an animal's life takes on an entirely new meaning after reading this chapter. There are reasons why humans did not originally eat meat and they are very complex and have to do with a Creator having the power over life and death. In a way, humans were given the right to take away life in certain instances.

I enjoyed reading Chapter 18 which deals with "Mediterranean Jewish Diet and Traditions in the Middle Ages." Here you can learn the basics of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkoth, Purim and Passover.

If you are especially interested in Medieval Life, then you will love this book for the content on Medieval Cooking. It really is extensive.

Things you might learn from this book:
That the sycamore tree has fruit. Who knew.
How beer played a role in the invention of yeast breads
That the Etruscans had cheese graters
What "Dionysiac possession" means.
How we have the luxury of avoiding wheat while the Romans embraced it
as a buffer against famine.
That ale was used in pagan rituals since wine was sacred to Christianity.
That the cultivation of oats and other wild grasses began in Medieval times.
The reasons why peasants boiled meat and the nobles preferred roasting methods.
How the Arabs contributed to Medieval European culture.
Why Byzantine cuisine was mostly found in taverns.
Insight into why Muslims don't consume alcoholic beverages.
How Persia's culinary traditions influenced Arab cuisine.
How the European conquest of the Seven Seas influenced cooking.
How the tomato, potatoes and corn transformed European cooking.
Lists of Table Manners from the past.
That chestnuts are ground into flour and can be used to make polenta.
That the bread in Europe contained "peas."
Why people needed a kneading trough.

It does seem that in the past, many ate to live while today we have the luxury of living to eat. The way we cook does seem to be a result of lifestyle choices. If you like to study and read, you will more than likely spend less time cooking and have simple methods of combining foods without recipes. If you want to spend time reading this book, may I suggest Lean Cuisine? I did not have as much time to cook while trying to read this book.

However, you have to have a good laugh at all the "forbidden" foods and drink. Even today, this trend continues. One day we are told not to eat fat, the next not to eat as many carbohydrates. I'll say eating more protein and less carbohydrates does seem to have some charm and I'm seeing results. Bread = Bad in my present world of weight loss. At least, with certain diets, you are not supposed to eat bread or highly processed grains. They are also doing studies that point towards skin conditions caused by the way in which we process wheat. Time will tell. In the past, humans relied on bread in a big way. Today we have the luxury of saying no and reaching for a soy protein shake.

If I learned anything from this book it is that most of us have slowly freed ourselves from "culinary" tradition and regulation. While still clinging to some semblance of food preparation, we are advancing into a world where food preparation seems less important than getting a meal on the table fast. We freely make use of canned foods and boxed mixes. I think the new term is "Semi-Homemade."

Recommended for Serious Food Writers and Serious Students of Culinary History.

This book is not clearly written. Many terms are used incorrectly or in a very questionable manner. The answers in the back of the book for all odd-numbered "homework" problems and all test questions is very helpful and convenient. If I were chosing a textbook, it would not be this.

I had Bennett as an instructor and used this book throughout the course sequence. I found it to be a helpful resource for teachers who were unfamiliar or "rusty" with mathematics. However, if you are a math-minded person looking for more ideas, this book will not help you develop your potential. It is a good place to start thinking about ways to teach and learn mathematics, but not a great collection of information on the whole.

I picked up this book with an open mind to see the argument against school choice. I am still waiting. The Authors of this book display an invincible arrogance about the intelligence of legislators and buraucrats compared to parents, constantly offering the opinion that parents are simply too stupid or immoral to seek the best education for their child. The authors go on to praise the value of an education, as if proponents of vouchers somehow wanted to end education. Finally, the authors failed to rebut the arguments about the dangers of school bureaucratization forcefully offered by Chubb/Moe's "Politics, Markets and America's Schools." A book no serious student of education policy should take seriously

Don't waste your money. You've heard all these arguements before from those that benefit from the status quo in government run education. Our schools are in crisis, but any alternative is viewed as a threat.

The Case Against School Vouchers, by Edd Doer, Albert J. Menendez and John Swormley is an enlightening book that I would reccommend. This text gives persuasive arguments against school vouchers for private schools. The first thing to impress me about this book was the 85 year combined knowledge and expetise of the authors. They were also able to state their case based on facts and reasearch rather than opinionated rhetoric.

When I first read this book, I admittedly read through the eyes of someone ignorant of school vouchers and the heated debate about the subject matter. I was very surprised to learn that this subject of controversy "has raged on since the early nineteenth century."

In the introduction the authors give 20 points of argument against tuition vouchers. Out of the 20, I was in agreement with 19. The authors brought up the point that vouchers promoters complain about being double taxed.(Once for the taxes which pay for public school and again for tuition of private school.) I thought this to be true and looked forward to the authors giving a heathy rebuttal; however, they did not. The authors do on the other hand offer some eye opening facts about private schools including the percentage of children who attend private school in the United States and the consensus of the American population(When asked the question properly.)

While reading the introduction, I found myself perplexed. I was sure that state funds should not be used to pay for private school; but how does the state mandate a curriculum for the students in private schools? How does the state ensure every fourth grader has been introduced to the same subjects of learning such as Math, English, Social Studies, and Science with out the contributions of funds? As I read on, I found the section on text books. This in my opion seemed to be the most capturing part of the book. The book discusses how some text books used in private schools use biased or sarcastic tones when conveying lessons. For example, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, and Franklin D. Roosevelt are remebered in a less than glowing light. Other text books teach "praise of J. Edgar Hoover because he understood the importance of maintaining America's traditional moral values." Other text books teach that "most labor strikes in our history have been immoral."

This book adresses another compelling issue: parental choice. Should parents be able to choose the school their child attends? The author does a brillant job of posing both sides of the issue.

Overall, the book has many page turning points and is laced with facts and reasearch. The authors are careful to present research from various polls and organization from differnect states and years.

Their argument is strong and succinct. They present the argument in a professional tone and let their work and research speak for itself. I highly recommed this text.