Ever wanted a doctor to step into your living room and explain everything you need to know about fibromyalgia and how to live with it on a daily basis? Mark Pellegrino, M.D., does exactly that in his new book, Inside Fibromyalgia.

Inside Fibromyalgia is written both from a doctor and patient perspective as Dr. Pellegrino was diagnosed with FMS at age 28 while in medical residency. The book is arranged in six main sections (Diagnosing FMS, Understanding FMS, Treating FMS, Self-Directed Strategies for Managing FMS, Handling Specific Situations, and FMS in the New Millennium). Each section has several chapters, prefaced by a short, one page introduction that explains what the reader will find in that section. Chapters have key phrases pulled out to emphasize a point and "Survival Strategies" to summarize at the end, making information "cognitively" friendly for FMS readers who are having a cognitively challenging day. Although no credit was given, the wonderful illustrations throughout the book (especially the one on page 52) further help the reader visualize the different concepts being explained.

Up to now, The Fibromyalgia Survivor has been my favorite Dr. Pellegrino book. Inside Fibromyalgia has taken the best of that book, and updated and expanded the information and research to give the patient, medical professional or spouse one of the most complete and current books on fibromyalgia. If you are familiar with Dr. Pellegrino's many books, you will be looking for his Fibronomics, the top ten list, personalized greeting cards, and his special sense of humor ~ relax, it's in there.

In Dr. Pellegrino's own words, "I have become a fibromyalgia survivor, not from reading medical journals or attending symposiums, but through experiences with the patients that I have come to know and treat over the years. I consider them my colleagues! Today I continue an active clinical practice and am working together WITH fibromyalgia patients to solve OUR problems." Little wonder that the compassion with which Dr. Pellegrino writes (and his wonderful sense of humor) endears him to the FMS patient world and shows up in his books.

Review by: Margy Squires, Editor, Health Points

"Fibromyalgia can be a scary condition. It is not life threatening, but the pain it causes can lead to severe problems with everyday functioning." If you or your loved one have this condition, you have experienced first hand the truth of this author's statement. It's something you already know, quite well. What you may not know before reading this book, is that there IS hope! "We have an unlimited array of treatments we can try, but I believe the most important thing we can prescribe for fibromyalgia patients is HOPE." Dr. Pellegrino's own words summarize the best reason to read his latest work, INSIDE FIBROMYALGIA.
INSIDE FIBROMYALGIA is a 300 plus page book packed with information for patients who want to take charge of their life WITH fibromyalgia. It is an updated and expanded version of his original work, The Fibromyalgia Survivor. Dr. Pellegrino writes from a special perspective - he is one of us !!! As a physician (of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation), as well as a patient (he has fibromyalgia), he can offer readers advice from a different perspective. As you will read in the introduction, having fibromyalgia led him to choose his sub-specialty treating fibromyagia patients. His expertise in this area (He's treated over 10,00 patients) makes the information in this book credible and reliable, as well as practical. An added plus for this book is that Dr. Pellegrino has a wonderful sense of humor displayed throughout the book which endears and entertains his readers while they learn at the same time. He actually makes learning fun - No stuffy, hard to understand, medical lingo here !!
The book is very fibro-friendly in that it is well organized, clearly illustrated, and provides a very thorough index to simplify retrieving information. It is divided in 6 sections covering the following: I Diagnosing Fibromyalgia, II Understanding Fibromyalgia, III Treating Fibromyalgia, IV Self-Directed Strategies for Manging Fibromyalgia, V Handling Specific Situations, VI Fibromyalgia Into The New Millennium.
Each section begins with a preview of the section including some personal advice from the doctor. Within each section there are highlighted graphic boxes which include more detailed suggestions, explanations and information from Dr. Pellegrino. These highlighted sections are what sets this book apart from the others on this topic. It makes the reader feel as if Dr. Pellegrino is giving them a personal consultation in the comfort of their own home! Each chapter ends with a summary and a box of graphics labeled "Survival Strategies" which help to tie the book together and keep the reader on a path to achieving understanding, acceptance, control, and ultimately to "surviving" fibromyalgia.
Will fibromyalgia ever go away? Will there be a cure? As Dr. Pellegrino explains in the final pages of the book, at this time there is no cure. But he states, "The prognosis is good that one can improve (or heal)." This sums up the purpose for the book and it's central theme - empowering patients. His philosophy is that providing patients with accurate knowledge and teaching them self-help strategies that they can use as "tools," will lead them to achieve the best quality of life with fibromyalgia. Dr. Pellegrino shares with you what he has learned, so that you will learn. As he states, "I've learned to become a survivor, not from reading medical journals or attending symposiums, but through experiences with patients that I have come to know and treat over the years. I consider them my colleagues!" Arming yourself with the latest information on fibromyalgia, written by a physician who has fibromyalgia and considers himself your colleague, would be a positive first step on your way to becoming a "Fibromyalgia Survivor." I highly recommend this book, INSIDE FIBROMYALGIA, and hope it will help you as much as it has helped me in my life's journey with fibromyalgia.

Mark J. Pellegrino, M.D. is truly a wonderfully wise and compassionate doctor in a world where there are all too few doctors who even know how to diagnose Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS). Dr. Pellegrino writes this extremely helpful and informative book with the understanding and insight that only a doctor with Fibromyalgia could possibly have written.

When I was first diagnosed with having Fibromyalgia there were no timely or informative books about this condition and certainly none with any up-to-date facts. It quickly became apparent that there were precious few doctors who had even heard of this weird condition. I wanted to know all I could find about this disease known as the "flue that won't go away." Since I couldn't find a doctor who could help me, obviously I had to learn to help myself. I was to learn that ultimately, the best a person with fibromyalgia could do is to learn how to survive and live with this strange disease.

I turned to my computer for help. This led to my discovery of Dr. Pellegrino's THE FIBROMYALGIA SURVIVOR. At long last, here was the information I needed to help me learn to live with FMS. I was to learn more. Soon afterward Dr. Pellegrino wrote THE FIBROMYALGIA SUPPORTER and I thought he had surely reached his peak. That book said everything I'd been trying to explain to my husband for some 37 years and what's more, he could understand it. It also validated me; there were reasons I said and did some things that people with FMS say and do. Still, I needed even more information to help me live with FMS.

Now, along comes INSIDE FIBROMYALGIA and Dr. Pellegrino has truly reached his zenith! He tells the reader how to live with this; he also explains many things about Fibromyalgia heretofore unknown by me. Woven throughout all the common sense information is a thread of a delightful sense of humour and you have one terrific book.

In my opinion, everyone who has FMS and their families should read this book. What's more, it should be required reading for every doctor!

This book really stands the test of time. With all the merger activity and stock market chaos that has ensued this year, Empowering HR still is fresh and insightful. No other book for human resource professionals reveals this much or provides such pointed guidance on making an acquisition work (as it advances your career). I can honestly say that it has helped me more recently than when I first bought it.

Having just attended the Indiana SHRM Conference and attending one of the author's workshops, I was eager to get my hands on this book. It's everything I was looking for and is an ideal primer for human resources professionals with little M&A experience. This book reinforces the message that HR needs to be involved in M&A early and often, and then shows how. We have a difficult road ahead of us to stake our seat at the strategy table. These authors lay out a road map to get us there. There is a lengthy survey and surprising results ...I won't spoil the answers... and what I appreciated was the guidance and recommendations after each finding. Some may find the results too detailed. I think that is one of the strengths of the book. Other books on this topic either talk around the subject or are purley inspirational. But this book is to the point and instructive. Someone needs to be out there fighting for HR's rightful place in an acquisition -- this book clearly does.

This is a very unique book that's filled with a lot of useful information. It's a combination how-to guide and research report. The research section shows the broadening role (thankfully!) of HR professionals in M&A planning and implementation. But it's not just statistics. The authors offer insightful observations on the research findings - and provide guidance in each key area of the national study. The most valuable part of the book is the section on M&A skills needed by HR professionals. Tremendously helpful. I actually bought two copies of this book. One for me, and the other for our Corporate Development Officer, who sometimes forgets how important the "people issues" really are in M&A!

Well organized and written. I'm counting on this book to get me a passing score. I have read other CCNA books but fell short of a passing score by just a few points. When I heard the CCNA 1.0 was no longer going to be offered, I rushed to study and take the test. Big mistake #1. I didn't think there was much of a difference between 1.0 and 2.0 so I rescheduled (since I do have industry experience with switches and plus I was so close). Big mistake #2 (totally different test, I felt "green" like a MCSE in a CCIE's world). Out of $200 I was like...BUMMER. I invested in Exam Prep to fill in what I was missing. Now that I have finished this book I feel confident that I am equipped with the real deal. I am eager to take the test, it will be a great way to bring in the New Year. The review questions and hands-on projects are great (providing you have access to equipment). The coverage in WAN Protocols is awsome which happend to be one of my weak points. I understand ISDN now. EXAM PREP is the tool to put me over the top. Buy it, read it, and welcome aboard the fantastic world of "real" networking.

This book has a ton of good information about Cisco devices, the IOS and the many routed and routing protocols. Most of it is covered in real detail and is not really for those (who are) new to computer networking. I'd say this is a little of the advanced course although it does start with the beginning Cisco information you do need to have some decent backround in computer networking to be able to read this and pass the exam. All the different protocols which are on the exam were covered in detail here. It covered the IOS real well, the different parts of Cisco switches and routers and troubleshooting. The chapter on Access Lists covered the exam questions real well. I felt real comfortable and passed with a 92%. Warning though: The test is not easy and if you don't understand the material in the book, you won't pass. If you know the book and do the questions and exercises you'll pass. It's all in there.

I thought after finishing my MCSE last year I knew all about computer networks. This book sure opened my eyes. It's a smooth path from that curriculum to the Cisco networking world. It starts with the OSI model and moves into network structure then has a real good chapter on the different Cisco products: switches, routers, modular devices, DSL, ATM etc. Then it explains the Cisco IOS, how to program the router copy and transfer images, NVRAM, Flash etc. This was all well explained so I could move on with confidence. Next came the protocols, IP, IPX and routing protocols which I never knew existed, but learned well. The book finishes with lots of coverage on WANs particularly Frame Relay which was heavily covered on the exam. Then came access lists which were well explained and also covered on the exam. Simply put, this book had all the coverage for the exam and only having unrelated A+ and Microsoft training I was able to pass the CCNA on the first try. Word of warning though, don't take it lightly, study hard, the test is hard but the material is all in here. The CD is great to determine if your ready too.

Several months ago, copies of this book were distributed to our executive team in anticipation of an acquisition. We've since bought several more copies. The deal has progressed smoothly and primarily due to the guidance of Messrs. Clemente and Greenspan. It's as if they've read our minds in reference to the challenges we would face. Each time that a major obstacle or uncertainty has presented itself, "Winning at Mergers and Acquisitions" clearly and articulately has delivered the solution. The chapter on their methodology "marketing due diligence" is truly out-of-the-box thinking and has helped to shed new light on even the most mundane aspects of the process. Strategy, acquisition planning, cultural issues, integration implementation, and the like are all addressed with multiple case studies and practical guidance. We have greased the skids for cross-selling and revenue generation as they've instructed and the results speak for themselves. We are clearly ahead of schedule because of this book. Whenever we have balked at one of the book's solutions, we've found ourselves quickly in trouble and have gone back and implemented the guidance to remarkable success. Our gameplan for this amalgamation as well as for future ones is now neatly laid out. I can only imagine that more deals would have succeeded if they had stuck to the guidance so brilliantly imparted on these pages. In fact, I can't quite figure out how we ever had the audacity to make an acquisition before reading this book.

This book is brilliant. It takes you behind the scenes to explore companies' cultures, management structures, marketing practices and strategic focus. It explains what companies have done wrong and what others have done right. You can really get a sense of how easy it is to take a wrong turn when acquiring or merging. The authors share so many case studies that when I applied their "critical success factors" to a recent deal that I worked on, virtually every decision led our team down the right path. These guys aren't pitching work like so many other books on the market. They freely give their methodology away and it's brilliant. After reading, you really understand corprate culture and its influences. The guidance is priceless both pre-deal and post.

I love this book. The concept of marketing due diligence is not only brilliant but works in practice. As the authors stress, "doesn't it just make sense to focus on the people, products and processes of a company before during and after the deal." This is a big book - in size and content. It gets in-depth about all the areas it discusses. Many other books on M&A offer up a paragraph or two in addressing an issue. You're left with a crumb. Probably because they've never really done it. Clemente and Greenspan have obviously taken their real-life experiences and written about them -- in detail...case study after case study. Real life corporate officers are quoted, discussing what works and what doidn't. The level of honesty is groundbreaking in itself.There's very little that's theoretical or lacking real-world application. Due diligence, strategic thinking, analyzing the business environment, culture from every angle, driving revenues...it's all here, in depth and with step by step guidance. It's a wonderful source that I keep on my shelf and use a couple of times a week. This book is truly the M&A bible.

In the mist of today's worldwide events, where prejudice and hate runs free, it is encouraging to the human spirit to read the story of the kindertransport. "Into the Arms of Strangers" is a first person narration of some of the children (now elderly adults) who were saved from the hands of Nazism and given an opportunity to start a new life. This was all possible thanks to a noble attitude from the British government who was aware(as well as many other nations) of the final destination of the Jewish population. From this act of mercy, 10,000 children (most of them from Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Germany) were transported from their native countries just before the outbreak of World War II (1938) into England where they were temporarily adopted, until circunstances would allow them to reunite with their families. Despite the suffering these children went through, the unfair treatment some of them received, the psychological trauma, they are all thankful for the opportunity of being alive. Most of them were able to restructure their lives, set roots and build a family. Today they are witnesses to a dreadful chapter in human history and are here to give their testimony. Great merit goes to all of those who were involved in this humanitarian effort (Otto Hirsch, Norbert Wollheim, amongst others).
Sad though it may be to read the account of each of these survivors, even sadder it is to realize that many, many more children could have been saved where it not for the selfish attitude taken by many nations. For those who have had an opportunity to visit the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, it is a consolation to know that the children saved by the kindertransport are not listed among the other 1,000,000 children who did not have the same opportunity. And history keeps reapeating itself... not much thinking is nedded to realize that at the present moment there are people in several parts of the world who would have their lives saved if the "kinderstransport spirit" were to prevail.
There is a film in DVD/Video version of "Into the Arms of Strangers," which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. It is highly recommended, the book and the film complement and enrich each other.

I enjoy reading memoirs because by personalizing a part of history they bring history to life in a way that no text book can."Into the Arms of Strangers" is an example of just such a book. This book details in length the story of one of histories greatest resuces. (At least in terms of the numbers saved from an almost certain death) Before the British entered WWII thousnds of Jewish children were rescued from Germany by the British people and their goverment in an operation known as Kindertransport."Into the Arms of Strangers" tells the inspiring and ocassionaly heartbreaking story of theese children. While they were given a second chance at life in England most would never again see the parents who Heroicaly gave them to strangers in another country. If I have any criticisms of this book (and I do) It would be the way the story was put together. "Into the Arms Of Strangers " follows the stories of about a dozen kindertransport kids and thier families from the early days of the Nazis to present day. Each chapter covers a particualar time frame, for instance September 1st 1939 and tells the story of each child for that time period. then moves on to the next major event in the history of the holocaust.This format may have worked well if the story consisted of two or three kids and thier famalies but it became confusing when so many different stories were being told in the book. I Kept finding myself back tracking to previous pages and chapters just trying to keep the characters straight in my mind. The book would have been better off telling each childs story individually or having a narrower focus such as two or three kids.All in all though this is a book well worth reading and I highly reccomend it for history buffs and those who never heard the stoy of the kindertransport.

This was an illuminating and evocative book. Anyone interested in this topic should also read "Escape Via Siberia" and "The Uprooted" by Dorit Whiteman. Whiteman's books -- which expertly weave gripping personal accounts with historical context -- explore how survivors of the kindertransport and other Holocaust horrors coped with the legacy of their harrowing ordeals as adults. Whiteman is an expert in the field and some of her material was used in the movie, "Into the Arms of Strangers."

This book is commendable for its conception but is flawed in its premise and execution. The problem is there are too many fingers in the pie. I would have liked to read about one historian's perspective on all the films reviewed. Instead, each film was addressed and compared to historical recollections by a different author. There is no uniformity of thought or perspective. For instance, I am sure that if Stephen Ambrose had reviewed TORA! TORA! TORA! he may have seen that film in a much more favorable light than did Akira Iriye. One can speculate to infinitum. It is possible to find and read countless books on a given historical topic. The point I am making is that each author has the ability to bring different perspectives or interpretations of historical record that may result in different conclusions of events or more importantly ideas. If you were to ask an auditorium full of historians what was the most important factor contributing to the start of the Civil War I am sure you may get at least five good answers. Perhaps the idea that a film conveys is more important than the accuracy of each step that led to that idea. I think that SPARTACUS is an important film not as a representation of a historical record but for the idea that the inherent rights of human beings to live free is a notion worth dying for. Kirk Douglas as SPARTACUS stated something to the effect that he would never stand by and see two men battle and die just for the amusement of other men. There is something very noble about that statement and to the visuals on the screen that precipitated that assertion. To touch a chord of emotion from the audience is really the magic of the cinema. I never once ever thought that the purpose of the cinema was to teach history. For the audience the main purpose of the cinema is to be entertained and if you take it a few more steps perhaps come away with an idea or spark of imagination. That's the beauty of the cinema.

This is a very interesting and useful book but I don't exactly like the overall point of view that it takes on motion pictures. It takes many historically based films and critiques them by comparing what is on the screen to actual historical events. Each chapter is devoted to one film (in most instances) and is critiqued by a different authority. The one constant that I see running throughout this book is that history does not make for good motion pictures if you are gazing through the eyes of the historian. That disturbs me. Motion pictures are a business as well a legitimate art form. If a historically based movie gets your interest as well as entertains you then perhaps that movie has fulfilled its purpose. The movie is the catalyst. It is up to you to dig up the history book and see what was recorded. And if you dig up a second history book it is very possible that those same events may be recorded slightly different. I liked the critique by Sean Wilentz on "THE BUCCANEER: Two Films" where he states that they stand somewhere in between fact and fiction. Akira Iriye is too critical of TORA! TORA! TORA! When you recall that particular motion picture, that's the one that stands out as a film that tried to get all the facts correct. Americans and Japanese respective of their home countries directed it. Iriye's criticism is almost ludicrous trying to state that inflections in the voices of some of the actors actually distorted the true meaning of their words. In light of PEARL HARBOR (2001) Akira Iriye is way off mark. Marshall De Bruhl's words about THE ALAMO are redundant and superficial. THE ALAMO was John Wayne's screen fulfillment of the legend. THE ALAMO is a great American film and it perpetuates that legend till this day. I liked what Stephen E. Ambrose had to say about THE LONGEST DAY. Ambrose recognizes that half the duality of filmmaking is a business. His approach and comments are very insightful and well written. As seen by James H. McPerson GLORY comes off best. It deserves it. "PAST IMPERFECT" is a good book but I just wish there were more input from the filmmakers.

When you're both a student of history and a movie buff, as I am, it can be difficult to sit and watch a film that presumes to have an accurate historical context without fighting the urge to evaluate it and pick holes in it. And I'm not the only one. This is a collection of analytical essays, most of high quality, by experts (not all of them historians) analyzing and critiquing individual films: Stephen Jay Gould on _Jurassic Park,_ Antonia Fraser on _Anne of the Thousand Days,_ Thomas Fleming on _1776,_ Dee Brown on _Fort Apache,_ William Manchester on _Young Winston,_ and numerous others. Sticking to those films about which I have some knowledge of the historical events they claim to portray, most are right on the money. James McPherson, commenting on _Glory,_ points out that while the context and general atmosphere are very well done, and the costuming and so on are exact, there are still deliberate historical errors for the sake of drama; none of the soldiers in Col. Shaw's 54th Massachusetts were ex-slaves, for instance, all of them having been recruited from among the state's free black population. And Catherine Clinton does an excellent job taking the wind out of _Gone with the Wind_'s mythical sails. There's a great deal of good information and criticism here and it's a compliment to say that nearly any of these essays will start an argument.

I had my doubts about the book based on the title "bowie style", but the ever in-the-know Joel Stones strongly recommended it to me, so i checked it out and couldn't put it down. Chock full of pictures from way back in the beginning--the usual childhood ones, but from the beginning of his career until the present, as well as pics of various influences on Bowie and people he has in turn influenced. Well worth it for the pics alone, with interesting information and stories scattered throughout. Extremely cool for Bowie fans, and very interesting for all music fans who enjoy tracing back the times and trends...

This book was way better than I expected.

First of all, something not immediately apparent when you buy the book off of Amazon is that this book is big, about 12" by 10". All the pages are glossy and filled about half with color photographs, the other half with commentary and quotes.

The book isn't arranged in a linear timeline like a biography would be. Instead it breaks down by theme, with sections on topics like musical periods in Bowie's work, lady loves, musical influences, influential books (Bowie has apparently described himself as a "born librarian with a sex drive"), origins of Ziggy, people influenced by Bowie, etc. Each section is filled with relevant photographs, quotes, and historical info. Not only is it well-researched and great eye candy, but the author's insights are pretty interesting too. The author must be a fan or otherwise have some kind of photographic memory, since the text is peppered with obscure references to Bowie songs that are pretty fun when you notice them.

If you're looking for a straightforward biography, then this isn't it. Although Bowiestyle probably contains as much information as a biography would, it's not ordered linearly by time like your average biography is. I found it all the more interesting to read for that, though. Of all the books I've seen on Bowie, I rate this the best. One Bowie fan to another, a good buy.

This book was a clever idea indeed. Why write another Bowie biography when there have been too many of them already? Personally, I like most of them and I strongly recommend the recently published "Strange Fascination", by David Buckley, even though it is only available in Britain at the time of writing. But quite a few Bowie fans have complained that they have no patience to read a long, detailed biography. So give them what they want: a glossy, coffee-table book full of pictures that will make female fans go WOW, plus bits and pieces of information that can be read piecemeal, in no particular order. Done by the wrong people, it could have been an embarrassing exercise in teenage-like worship. But these guys are experts and the results are more than worth the price of admission. Each chapter is devoted to an aspect of Bowie's life - there's even one about his favorite cigarette brands! This is really a fan's bible if there ever was one.

Ok, maybe that is a minor overstatement, but this is one hilarous book, to be read by people who have travelled, who plan to travel, and generally, people who want to laugh. A lot.

The book is also surprising for its timeless points about the journeying of certain upper white, middle class people going on a grand tour of Europe. I frequently had to remind myself that it was written in 1869 because his observations and the behavior of his shipmates is so close to the way people I studied abroad with acted-only a few years ago.

Twain also puts those "cosmopolitan" people who claim to have traveled, but don't know anything about any place they have been but and just like to lord it over everyone else that they have "travelled" and you have not.

Reading this book is like listening to a very wise, old man tell you about his adventures. Its not like a book, more like one long conversation. Twain takes nothing seriously-not himself, his fellow travelers or the places they visit. The words are another adventure-sometimes, you know he is setting you up for something, other times he is serious for a while, then you end up in the middle of a joke.

I know this is against the rules, but the other posters who don't like this book-don't be so serious and p.c. all the time. Twain is making humorous observations, at a time when a different standard was acceptable. Not to mention, he does manage to get a few zingers in there about what people are willing to accept and what they do not.

You will laugh yourself silly and want to book a trip-not to Europe, just to anywhere, after reading this book.

This book, along with Twain's 'Roughing It,' is often considered to be some of the best travel narrative ever put to paper. Certainly it deserves its acclaim. Twain, the irreverent All-American writer, took a trip halfway around the world in a steamer and visited many of the great sites of Europe and the Middle East. This is his account of his experiences, and the experiences of the group of 'Pilgrims' which accompanied him on this 'pleasure excursion.'

One of the best things about Twain is his refusal to romanticize, even in the cases of the greatest places in the world. He does not hesitate to verbally abuse Paris, Florence, Damascus, even Jerusalem. He tells it how it is, refusing to admire the work of the great painters (Raphael, Michael Angelo, and co.) and asserting that everyone who ever wrote of the beauty of the Sea of Galilee was a downright liar. He has some good things to say, too (he seems to have approved of Athens), but mostly he spends his time dispelling the romantic images of the great places of the world. The result is hilarious, and certainly makes one realize that, despite the perfect images that Paris, Pisa, and Rome sometimes have in our minds, they are a far cry from paradise.

Twain's wit, as always, is very sharp, and this book is an excellent example of it. His antics (and descriptions of them) are very funny, and his way of putting things a joy to read. Along the way, he pokes fun of the American "Pilgrims," who deface the sacred relics they visit and call every guide they have 'Ferguson.' This is certainly a classic in American Literature. Anyone interested in travel writing will profit greatly from this book, as will anyone who enjoys Twain's humor or just a good laugh.

In Innocents Abroad, Twain joins a passenger excursion to Europe and the mideast. Along the way, he and his fellow excursionists visit the Azores, Gibraltar, Paris, Venice, Istanbul, Damascus, Cairo and a host of places in between. Twain's acerbic wit is on full display as he offers up what are occasionally laugh-out-loud critiques of the places and people he encounters. Even his fellow passengers receive a ribbing, for which they often deserve, as they "chip" their way through the mideast removing souvenir pieces of religiously historic architecture. Innocents Abroad is not for the easily offended. This is a pre-PC view of the world which, properly judged for it's age, is highly entertaining.

The second book of this volume is Roughing It. Here, Twain takes us on a sojourn to the American west in the company of his older brother. Roughing It is possibly the best contemporaneous account of life in America's 19th century western expanse and beyond. From stagecoach travel to silver mining, exploration and discovery to regional ecomonics, lifestyle, and lawlessness, Twain provides the reader a humorous look at the many facets of Manifest Destiny.

As always, Library of America is a splendid publisher with an quality product priced attractively. I recommend this volume wholeheartedly.

NOTE: Amazon occasionally has difficulty connecting the right edition with the right review. This review is for the Library of America volume containing both Innocents Abroad and Roughing It by Mark Twain.

This book offers a very modern approach on strategy, including economics foundations and numeric solving of the different strategic concepts analyzed. The book is not for everyone, you need to have basic knowledge on business management, economics and math. As an MBA manager and academic, the book gave me new vision and a strong base on the strategy concepts. I recommend this book for every MBA student and manager.

This is a textbook for MBA classes both on business strategy and on business economics which focuses on the economics of industry and firm. Textbook is supposed to introduce students to the vocabulary of each discipline, not to specific or uncommon theory. So it¡¯s far from singular or creative. Nevertheless, to be a good textbook, at least in social sciences, it should meet two criteria:
1.it should relate concepts to empirical cases. Social sciences are the empirical sciences. So their concepts are also empirical. But when I took economics courses, textbooks led me to think ¡®economics is no more than a math exercise.¡¯ When deriving and calculating ISLM model, for example, you could not disagree with me. And worse, such a knowledge could be neither applicable nor realistc, and could not endure against student¡¯s amnesia. In this regard, this book is worth recommending. It¡¯s full of cases from real business world and always attempts to explain concepts in the real world meaning.
2.A good textbook should have a consistent framework which integrate various concepts introduced in the book into a coherent and meaningful whole. This book, from start to end, raises the question, ¡®What is the business strategy?¡¯ the business strategy is about how to attain competitive advantage, put another way, how to strategically position one¡¯s firm in the competitive environment. Competition increase the supply of output in the market, and drive down price, therefore, profitability. The firm is the organization to earn profit. Them the strategy of firm is how to earn higher profit than competitors¡¯. When a firm earns a higher profit rate than the average rate of competitors , the firm has a competitive advantage in the market. A firm¡¯s profitability within a market depends both on market-led economics and firm¡¯s capabilities. Part I and II of this book is about what constitutes and affect firms¡¯s market and industry or firm¡¯s environment. Part III is about how to achieve and sustain competitive advantage or about firm¡¯s strategic positioning. In a nutshell, a firm has the ultimate objective to earn higher profit rate. To achieve that goal depends both on firm¡¯s environment and on firm¡¯s own capabilities. Strategy is firm¡¯s interaction with its environment.

This book has it all: a hardcore economics-based view of the activities of the firm, a thorough discussion of the major schools of strategic thought, solid case analyses and even review of organizational behavior and culture. Those Chicago students should be learning a lot from Kellogg...

When I saw the page I recognized the cover of the book, but I could not believe what people were actually writing about it.

First I want to say that I am an undergraduate biotechnology student. I have a very strong background in biochemistry, cell biology, molecular biology, tissue culture techniques, and immunology; but I have not had any classes dealing with anatomy or physiology since Bio 101 way back when. I have read and am quite comfortable with Alberts Molecular Biology of the Cell and Stryers Biochemistry, and even a handful of primary journal articles, so I do know how to read a textbook.

Now with that out of the way, let me say that this book is completely incomprehensible. It is so full of anatomy and Latin derived words (which it does a poor job at explaining BTW) that I can only assume that it was meant for medical students, and to have physiology an a prerequisite for it, but it doesn't even have an introduction describing the recommended background or whom it is supposed to be for. In fact, most of the book is devoted to the physiology of sensation and movement, not neurobiology. Now if you have the background for it and thats what you are looking for then it is a very thorough text that goes into a lot of depth.

If you are looking to understand the biochemistry or molecular aspects of neurobiology, find another book!

As an undergraduate Psychobiology student, this text served me well in my Neuroscience course. In all honesty I never went. I just read this book. I got excellent marks in the class. As a serious slacker and bibliophile, I recommend this textbook for any like-minded student.

As an undergraduate Neuroscience major I found this textbook to be highly informative and well-written. It was used to a Freshman-level course, and was easy to understand, yet thorough and interesting. The graphics are well done, and the format is better than most textbooks I'm used to. Anyone, even with minimal science experience could dive right in and learn a great deal. It may not be advanced enough, however, for grad or medical students. As a reference it does okay, but there are more-advanced texts which would probably do better. All-in-all it is an excellent book. In-fact, I liked it so much that I didn't sell it back at the end of the semester and keep it on my bookshelf for future reference (and future classes!)