According to the jacket, this is the first book for this author. You can't tell after turning the last page. Well written, easy to read history of the Hoover Dam project. Never overly technical, yet highly informative.

Excellent book. I have read a number of science/engineering histories and this is one of the best. It follows the building of the Hoover Dam from start to finish. If I ever go to Las Vegas, it will be because I wanted to see the Dam. It has just the right amount of detail, both technical and political to keep me interested. It read faster than its size would suggest.

I was a young boy who lived in Boulder City for five years when my father helped build the dam. This is an excellently written - maybe one of the best I have ever read - and very accurate account of the construction, the people who did it, and life at the time. I stop and reminisce every time I go through Boulder City and drive over the dam. I loved my Dad and am very proud of his participation there. This book took me back in a very instructive and entertaining manner. It did the entire project proud. I won't hesitate one second to recommend this book to anyone who appreciates excellence in writing, or who loves America and its history. For this was a truly great undertaking, excellently and excitingly performed. And by people who, in my opinion, are prime examples of the so called "Greatest Generation". Detailed accounts of the construction of the dam are available, and are also excellent. But that is not the focus of this book.

What is there to say? It is a collection of classic short stories used by English Composition Students. Better than most texts.

The authors treat each of Earth's Systems in a very straightforward manner, using clear and illustrative graphics. They also do a fine job of tying together Earth's systems and processes into an interrelated package, as opposed to simply a series of disconnected chapters. I use this text in my Washington Online course. Al Friedman, Everett Community College

Professor Newton has written a readable account of the generalship of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston for the period from February 1862 until General Johnson's wounding at the battle of Seven Pines on May 31,1862. The book begins with a brief discussion of (1) the deteriorating trust between Johnson and Jefferson Davis; (2) the Department of Northern Virginia; and (3) the process, including both political and military factors, used in making the decision to move Johnston's army from Centerville, Virginia to be closer to Richmond. The decision and the details of withdrawal are well documented after which the author covers the Peninsula Campaign, the Battle of Seven Pines and ends with an interesting assessment of Johnston's campaign.

Some scholars and Civil War buffs have questioned the expenditure of resources to defend Richmond and speculate that a capitol located in the interior of the Confederacy would have been preferred as being easier to defend. Professor Newton outlines the strategic importance of Richmond stating that it was a critical manufacturing, transportation and financial center. The Tredegar Iron Works alone justified the defense of Richmond. In addition, the city had four major banks, had five railroads lines and was a flour-milling center . Having established the strategic necessity of defending Richmond, the writer proceeds to document General Johnston's defense of the city.

The writer objectively narrates the involvement of Lee in the decisions during this period noting areas of agreement and differences between Johnston, Lee and Davis. While Professor Newton openly states ". . the tenor of this work is pro-Johnston in terms of my assessment of the general's handling of his army" he favorably reviews Joseph Johnston's performance without engaging in "Lee bashing" the approach often used by revisionist historians to support their thesis. He gives credit and/or blame where it is due in his

opinion. This makes for interesting and provocative reading.

Professor Newton gives a balanced evaluation of General Longstreet's performance. Longstreet is depicted as neither a hero nor a villain. The writer may well have summed up Longstreet's Civil War career in one sentence when he wrote ". . that Longstreet, though undeniably talented, was incredibly willful, and his cooperation in operations of which he did not approve was notoriously poor."

The narration of the Peninsula Campaign and Seven Pines is well worth the price of the book. Especially interesting is his description of Johnston's reaction to Federal transports reaching the mouth of the Pamunkey River and the Union gunboats ascending the York River following the Confederate evacuation of Yorktown; a situation Johnson both anticipated and feared. The author observes that at Seven Pines Johnston ". . totally abdicated his responsibility for the overall conduct of the battle when he led Whiting's division down the Nine Mile Road . ." and then makes the interestingly observation that this was a similar failing of almost all Civil War commanding generals, Confederate or Union, in their first offensive battle.

The last chapter is an assessment of Johnston's campaign. Here the author states that Johnston's retreat from Williamsburg was a skillful maneuver with strategic insight. Professor Newton correctly states that Joseph Johnston did in fact successfully defend Richmond. In view of the strategic importance of Richmond in 1862 this was a significant accomplishment. The last chapter is insightful and well worth reading.

The lack of a sufficient number of maps is the book's major shortcoming.

Philip Jose Farmer makes an excelent job as always. Farmer known primarily for his Science Fiction, but has produced two Fantasy series World of Tiers and Riverworld, the latter an afterlife fantasy in the tradition of John Kendrick Bangs. Farmer words flow as easy as ever and this novel is a work of art. It aint as sexy or shocking as 'An exorcism: ritual one/two' or as deeply involving as 'The river world saga', but he builds his story up as the SF/horror/fantasy master he is. God fun, and with a nice climax as always.

It's a simple yet common story...

I love my Vintage Truck, and hated seeing it slowly dying of the common cancer we call RUST. I've combed libraries, bookstores, retail and wholesale outlets...and found ONE book that I really found worth owning. I give this review as a tribute to the author as gratitude for the common-sense info and product information he researched into his book. He must have a love for some old auto like I do.

The book is a medium to small sized paper-back. I would rate it's content-to-size as richly packed with information for such a modest and portable size. The explanations, concepts, "How-to's", and retailer contact information were very well balanced. Additionally, products and application techniques were showcased, that were EXCELLENT, and rarely discussed elsewhere.

I have a RUST-FREE truck now. And every auto I purchase will be spared the ugly and slow cancer we call rust. It's a small investment, for such a rewarding read.

Part 1 (6 chapters) - Absolutely a waste of time, not worth a read. And the code examples are not related to JWSDP.

Part 2 (6 chapters) - Discusses on SOAP, UDDI and WSDL. The code discusses using a Older version of Apache SOAP and Apache Axis. The code needs a complete rewrite.

Part 3 - Discusses on JAXP, JAXB, JAXR, JAXM and JAXRPC. Good introductions but the JAXB chapter is based on DTD (which is obsoleted in the latest specs). JAXM and JAXRPC chapters just reproduces the Sun JWSDP tutorial...not much value addition.

Part 4 - Security, WSFL, WSIF (based on IBM Specs) currently these specs are obsolete no further releases.

It might've been a good book during 2002. The code and content needs an update to the latest specs and SOAP implementations.

Just as I stated in the title, it's a great book to start you with. It's written in a clear and precise manner where you could learn the basics of Java Web Services and not be intimidated by it.

It is a good introductory book to web services standards like SOAP, WSDL and UDDI but also goes further and talks about topics like WSFL, WSIF which are not covered by all books on web services but are essential to any real business processes exposed as web services where flow control and service unit(s) choreagraphy is as important as the single unit service request/response. Java specifications relating to web services are also covered like JAXM and JAX-RPC. I wish more examples and code was given, perhaps even a chapter or two, for ebXML which may not be a part of web services standards but still uses SOAP and defines industry standards for business to business collaborations especially dealing with supply chain commerce issues.
I agree with a previous reviewer (John Sfikas) that this book alone isn't exactly an eye opener for experianced professionals who have been dabbling with all the tools mentioned in this book like Apache SOAP, Axis, WSTK, Tomcat, Jetty etc. and know the challenges facing B2B collaborations on the internet quite intimately, but this book combined with "Building Web Services with Java: Making Sense of XML, SOAP, WSDL and UDDI" will give a much needed practical grounding to start making sophisticated web services in the real world. I highly recommend getting both these books but be prepared to use your brain and further what is presented in these books to deploy web services satisfying your needs. They will certainly not amount to spoon feeding you a near solution to your collaboration problems.

I ordered this book in April and it's May now. It says "Available in 24 hours" but Customer Service says it's a Special Order item that ships in "4-6 weeks".

The successful proof of Fermat's Last Theorem by Andrew Wiles was probably the most widely publicized mathematical result of the 20th century. And once again, among their numerous other applications, elliptic curves are employed in the proof. The book is a compilation of articles written by first-class mathematicians, the reading of which will give one a thorough understanding of the proof, along with an overview of some very interesting topics in number theory and algebraic geometry. The reader who undertakes an understanding of the proof already no doubt has a substantial amount of 'mathematical maturity', and no review, no matter how complete, would influence greatly such a reader. Suffice it to say then that this book is excellent, and even a reader interested solely in elliptic curves and modular forms could benefit greatly from the reading of this book.

This book might be good if you like number theory. But if you're an analyst who hates number theory or a brick-layer, then this book is probably not meant for you. I hope you found this review helpful. Have a nice day.

As a longtime fan of "El Rey," I enjoyed reading about Tito Puente. He is not only a Latino icon but an American institution, even if English-only America refuses to recognize his cultural and musical contributions. The author does a workman's job in exploring Puente through various interviews with musicians, dance promoters, writers, and friends who know Puente well. The book offers good insight into how Puente developed his great sound and establishes the fact that he is a true musical genius like Gershwin and Ellington before him. While the book is the first true biography of Puente, I'm disappointed that it will not reach more people than it should. Unless the reader has an established grasp of Afro-Cuban music and is familiar with musicians in the field, my fear is that the general reader will get lost and lose interest in the book. It's not an accessible book for those who know little to nothing about the music. Still, it's a vital contribution to our understanding of Puente, Afro-Cuban music and the critical role that Latinos have played in developing America.

I loved this book! Admittedly, I am a huge fan of Tito Puente, so my opinion may be a little biased. However, in light of his many achievments and the joy his music has spread throughout the world, it is only fitting that we honor Tito Puente while he is still with us. Thanks to the author, Steven Loza.

The book gives us an overview of Tito's life then proceeds to zero in on various aspects of Tito's career through interviews with Tito and various musicians who have shared the spotlight with him.

I was particularly impressed with Joe Conzo's honesty. Joe Conzo is a historian, close friend of Tito's and his "curator." Many of the musicians interviewed are able to speak volumes about Tito's awesome musical talent. However, Joe Conzo manages to humanize Tito and show us a side of the man we rarely see.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of this book is that one cannot read it without being in awe of Tito Puente's many accomplishments. From the Palladium era in the 50's to Salsa in the 90's, Tito has done it all. As he often says, he has been there and back.

The author's closing thoughts dwell on the spiritual aspects of Tito's music and the joy his music brings. Tito's music brings people together regardless of race, color or creed. It has been said that the Mambo has done more for race relations in this country than our government!

This book is an important part of Latin music history. Also, it is now an essential part of Tito Puente's legacy. We all know Tito Puente's music, or at least we all should! Allow Steven Loza to introduce you to the man.

Tito Puente recently celebrated his 76th birthday and is going strong. Palante Tito!

I just returned from a trip to Thailand. I was in Bangkok, Phuket and some of the outlying islands. There is nothing in this book that is not covered in the other general Thailand Guides. I would even go so far to say the Rough Guides Thailand has more comprehensive information about places to stay and things to do near the beaches. Also, something I didn't know, Thailand has a great tourism service provided in the Airport in Bangkok that can book most anything you need for stay on the beaches (if you are going to Phuket). It was a great trip even if I did have to lug this junky book around with me the whole time!

This edition has plenty of information that is helpful. One can get enough information before going, upon arrival, or after arriving on where to explore without this book, however. The Lonely Planet Thailand guidebook (for the entire country and not just the islands and beaches) also has plenty of information on Thailand's islands and beaches.

With the inclusion of "luxury" accommodation and over-priced "tourist" restaurants and trinket shops, it appears this book is marketed towards a particular group: North Americans who only have two-weeks, and therefore need to "plan" ahead for their trip. This is a particular market and that is understandable, but it appears that LP is trying to get a piece of this market, and gear this guide-book towards these type of folks.

One thing to note: Ko Chang is not off the beaten track by any means. It's going to be the next place completely destroyed by the Tourist Authority of Thailand. They are working on it right now, evicting local Thais who've lived there for generations to build hotels.

There is no where in S.E. Asia that is "off the beaten" track, except perhaps, parts of Laos. The trail is crowded, and continues to get bigger. If you're a long-term visitor or a "two-week hoteller" then this book will due.

I got a lot of use out of the book and made 2 trips to Thailand on it. I went to Koh Chang, and the information was a great help in helping me plan when to go, what to do, how to get there and everything. It especially helped in Bangkok, which is needed as this is a place where you don't want to seem lost, it is overwhelming. One thing that I would add to this book, When you come out of the last gate at the airport, there will be very many people standing there, waiting for the tourists. Don't look at them!!!! As soon as you make eye contact, they will be on you like white on rice ready to find anything that you might need, just to get some kind of commission. I did a lot of research about a month or two both with this book as well as the internet (check out lonely planet's site, as well as other web queries), so it helps to not get there and open the book for the first time. If you want to go to Phuket or Koh Samui or some other tourist trap, you don't really need a book, but this book might tell you some insider's tips that you might not find just by showing up and waiting to be ripped off. One other thing, about flights, join a courier orgnaization. It will save you A LOT of money and you will only have to sacrifice some baggage space. Another thing, if you decide to go to the tropical spots, best time is the 1st of October. This is the beginning of tourist season, although it doesn't pick up for another month, so you can still do everything without the crowds present yet. One last thing: GO TO KOH CHANG!! It is the best!! This book is to me considered to be a necessary item for travel (Lonely Planet always is!).