In his most recent book, Providing Quality Service, William Martin has provided service industry professionals and educators with a great tool for training and teaching. The book begins with the fundamentals of customer service and continues with how to achieve systemized service standards. In the last third of the book, Martin covers how to develop the interpersonal qualities that every service provider recognizes as important. Martin, an experienced educator and training consultant to a variety of organizations, knows his subject and how best to present information that people can actually use. Several features of the book are worth noting. First, the writing is clear and unambiguous, which makes the text accessible to everyone. Second, each chapter has several diagrams which serve to reinforce the main points of the chapter through the visual display of the information. Third, every chapter concludes with a series of "application interaction exercises." These exercises are a wonderful learning tool and skillfully bridge theory and practice. Providing Quality Service is a practical and thoughtful approach to a full range of service issues. Martin's book points out ways to overcome any barriers to providing consistently high quality service. Providing Quality Service should be required reading for everyone in the service industry.

Gregory Francesco Blanch, Ph.D.
New Mexico State University
Department of Hotel, Restaurant & Tourism Management

The publication of this book has been highly anticipated by many in the emerging field of public health informatics and it does not disappoint. Although seemingly targeted at those new or recently introduced to the discipline, or those "crossing over" from other areas within the broader informatics arena, content is very well-suited for all comers, with sufficient detail to satisfy even those familiar with the many issues detailed in the richly detailed case example chapters.

The breadth of material covered is excellent, making it especially appropriate as an introductory or intermediate text. Of particular interest will be the section of the book on "The Science of Public Health Informatics" which includes particularly fine chapters on information architecture, value assessment, management of personnel and projects, and organizational change. Bill Yasnoff does a particularly good job adding clarity to a muddled domain in a chapter on privacy, confidentiality, and security of Public Health Information. Those readers generally interested in PHI education, or with specific interest in developing training programs for PHI programs or for public health agency personnel would find great value in Janise Richard's chapter on core competencies.

The writing style is generally clear and illustrative, albeit not terribly concise. We have adopted this book as the core text for our graduate-level introductory course in PHI.

Once every 30 years or so, a great hospitality writing rises to the surface. About 3 years ago, one such writing was Denney Rutherford's "Hotel Management & Operations - 3rd ed". And now there is William Martin's model addressing quality service in the hospitality industry.

Both independent and chain operations can make practical use of Martin's 32 sets of exercises. If I were in operations, I would casually use some exercises at staff call. I would modify the question or statement as needed to suit my operation. In my current educational environment, I can make just as good use of one example, which is to make the statement: "May I bring you anything else?"

Where is the beauty of using such a simple question? The key is found with the intonation or emphasis applied to the words "I", "you", "anything", or "else".

I teach in an ESL-student environment, with as many as 12-15 countries represented by as many as 25 students. The course I have been teaching for 6 years is the upper-level 3-credit course in Hotel & Resort Management. Speech and "talk" becomes particulary sensitive when I use a different intonation or emphasis in my discussion delivery, when entertaining a guest speaker, or engaging in lively discussions with students. I have to make sure the words are understood, and then I have to ensure that the intonation I am using is delivery the desired message.

When was the last time you "listened" to how your employees interact with guests?

If you didn't "get it", then all the more reason for you to beg, borrow, or buy this book if you find it!

Mario Arnaldo, Ph. D.
Instructor, Travel Industry Management
Hawaii Pacific University

"This great collection of pieces by distinguished scholars and writers affords a unique opportunity to gain in depth knowledge into the work of the Court since 1986 when William H. Rehnquist became Chief Justice. The reader will gain insight into Rehnquist's leadership and may follow the path of the Court during this period when it has opted to play a smaller role in the lives of our people. Anyone who has an interest in the Court and in the impact of its decisions will enjoy and treasure this book."

--William G. Paul, Past President of the American Bar Association

"If journalism is the first draft of history, this book is the second: an
insightful retrospective on the Rehnquist Supreme Court while it is still in operation. All the themes are fresh as today's headlines: affirmative action, church and state, federalism. When the sun does set on the Rehnquist Court, this book will be the road map for evaluating its place in Supreme Court history."
--Tony Mauro, Supreme Court correspondent, Legal Times

"A valuable collection of essays by distinguished academics, judges, and practitioners documenting how the Rehnquist Court has wrought dramatic changes in constitutional jurisprudence."
--John E. Sexton, Dean, Benjamin F. Butler Professor, New York University School of Law

"The sheer diversity of the contributors and the breadth of their coverage makes THE REHNQUIST COURT a must-have. Distinguished legal academics, both supporters and detractors of the Court's work during the last fifteen years, are represented, as are the multiple perspectives of jurists, practitioners, historians, and journalists. The result is a unique, three-dimensional view of an institution in action, affected by history, politics, and personal dynamics, in addition to precedent. Belsky's collection, of great interest to both law students and legal academics, also should intrigue Court watchers, history buffs with an eye to the legal efforts to confront social problems during the last generation, and others just curious to understand how this most nuanced of institutions - the Supreme Court - really functions."

--Stanley Ingber, Professor of Law, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

This book in its original edition was titled THE SECRET OF SHAKESPEARE. That title had problems, as the author acknowledged himself, in that it made people assume the book was about the identity of Shakespeare which it is not. This new edition has the new title - THE SACRED ART OF SHAKESPEARE - and is expanded as well. The first edition was about 140 pages and this new edition is over 200 pages, yet there are no new chapters. Lings starts out with a chapter on Shakespeare's 'Sacred Art'. He then continues with a chapter called Shakespeare's Outlook which contains much of the heart of what Lings has to say about the esoteric nature of Shakespeare's works. He then follows with surprisingly illuminating glosses on ten of the plays. It's in these short and well-written chapters that you realize you have found a very unusually enlightening and not run-of-the-mill 'Shakespeare' book. Mr. Lings' expositions of these plays does not fall into any predictable camp. In fact, what he does is really to bring the universal, underlying structure of the plays to light and on that to point the reader in the direction of where each play stands within that overall universal structure and what main characters represent in that structure as-well-as some of the dramatic points-of-interest and how they are often not seen or completely misunderstood by directors and actors, etc... This may give the impression that Mr. Lings seems to think he holds THE key to interpretation, yet what he has done is really just set the plays on their true foundations which are fundamental and universal, and from there one is able to interpret on up towards the sun if one likes... The ten plays discussed are: Henry IV, Hamlet, Othello, Measure for Measure, Macbeth, King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, and The Tempest. He also says much, in passing, on Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream... There then follows a chapter called Notes on Performance and Production, and he ends the book with a chapter called, in the first edition, 'The Secret', and, in this new edition, 'The Mystery of Things'. It discusses further the esoteric elements in Shakespeare's art. A final note: for those reading this who think they know of all angles of approach in Shakespeare scholarship or pseudo-scholarship and have divined that this book in question is obviously another out-of-breath revelation from the Pythagorian, Platonic, Cabalistic, Hermetic, Illuminist, Rosicrucian, Alchemical, etc., etc., etc. side of things - think what you will and just walk on by... Shakespeare doesn't need any more scholars.

This book attempts to break the mould of the classical mythsand legends surrounding the life of William Shakespeare. Itdemonstrates that very little is known about the man himself and there is a surprising dearth of information regarding all aspects of his life. It delves into the cauldron of early post-reformation Britain and succinctly describes how William Shakespeare may have had a much darker side to his character than is traditionally described in most classic texts. A fascinating read for anyone intersted in history, literature, biography or simply Shakespeare himself.

I used this book as a source for my term paper which was on shakespeare. I wanted to get essays written by people during the time the plays were performed. This was a great book with lots of essays written by people from all different centuries since the plays have been published. It was an easy book to use...just like a dictionary. All you basically need to find out if the volume number which you can find out quite easily. It was a great book to use and from now on it's the first one I think about using.

This book is the standard by which other histories of Jazz are to be judged. The history is related without bias, but with flavor, both completely and with sufficient detail.

The history is presented with insight into the future implications each musical "invention" would bear on its progeny. You get the feeling that the authors were "there" when the music evolved, giving it a realistic and even authoritative feel. You trust this book.

This book complements Porter's "Jazz: its origins to the present" well, as it is often referenced in that book. It makes them an ideal pair. While the tone and emphasis are slightly different, the subject matter is the same, he rich and diverse history of jazz.

It is no wonder that other books on Jazz site this book as the definitive source on the subject. Thumbs up for a classic work.

slip into the saddle with Clint Mason, this book's hero, who herein begins an adventure to set the inhabitants of his home county straight about right and wrong -- at least as far as he and his family are concerned. The author spins a tale that harkens back to those of Zane Grey... compelling, fast-moving, told in an easy style, with dramatic turns that reveal character and reflect the proud, strong values of honorable independent men doing what they had to do to survive in America's wild west. When the ranch is on the line, the cattle are dying off, the bank note's due and the man with the long scar is nervously thumbing his side iron, count on Clint's cool hand to win the day.... A very satisfying short novel for young readers (but not kids) and for classic western fans of all ages. Highly recommended.

This is an outstanding book. I teach a course for undergraduate and graduate business students to teach them how to naviate the gift and estate tax waters. I have used several textbooks that did nothing but confuse most students. This is the most helpful book I have found, and the students generally like it, too, once they learn how to read legal cases. I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about the laws affective gift and estate taxes.