America has been having a love affair with baseball for over 100 years. Reading this book is a way to relive the nation's collective memory of baseball through its best and worst moments.

Readers will be guided through the highlights of the game and will see over 400 stunning photographs from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum photo archives. This hall of Fame is a not-for-profit educational institution dedicated to fostering an appreciation of the historical development of baseball. Over 350,000 people travel to Cooperstown, NY each year to enjoy the museums exhibits and special events.

Nolan Ryan played for 27 seasons in the Major leagues and he was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1999. He has written a foreword filled with his memories of the game.

"I consider myself one of the lucky ones. I've spent most of my adult life making a living doing something I love." -Nolan Ryan

The text tells of little-known details and legendary records.

All I have to say is..."Do men look good in baseball uniforms or what?" Now, if my grandmother sees this book, she will steal it from me. We enjoy going to Mariner games on occasion, but if there is a game you can bet she is listening to the radio while she is cooking in the kitchen, will be found sitting in front of the TV, or is at the game.

I can't think of a better gift for a friend or relative who wants to reminisce over the classic moment in baseball. You can learn more about "The Curse of the Bambino," World Series games from 1903-1999," "The youngest Major League ballplayer," and ""The House that Ruth Built."

This is the definitive story of baseball and is told in a way no other book has told the story before. This is a chronicle of baseball's greatest conquests and defeats, its triumphs, heartaches and joys.

The strength of this book is found in the many detailed and interesting essays about the evolution of professional baseball over the last 100 years. The essays are emotionally highlighted by some of the best baseball photography you can hope to see. The book was done in cooperation with the Baseball Hall of Fame in conjunction with its 1997 photography show.

Clearly, many people will receive this book as a gift. I suggest it especially for youngsters who are developing their first interest in baseball. At that age, there is an insatiable thirst for knowledge that this wonderful volume can help to quench. Experienced fans will also enjoy receiving it, so keep it in mind for birthdays and occasions like Father's and Mother's Days.

The book is divided into five chapters:

1900-1919: A Sport . . . And A Scandal

1920-1941: The Home Run Saves the Game

1942-1960: The War and Post-War Period

1961-1974: Expansion

1975-1999: Today's Game

Each chapter begins with an essay about the entire period covered. Then the chapter highlights 20 events from that period. A brief summary begins each of the 100 events, followed by a detailed essay with numerous photographs. So you can quickly scan the book to find something that interests you (the index is good for finding your favorite players, teams, and events), and leave book marks on sections you want to return to.

The choice of subjects is varied and interesting. You get great moments in baseball (Babe Ruth "calling" his home run in the World Series, Bobbie Thompson's shot heard round the world, Roger Maris's 61st home run, and Nolan Ryan talking about his 7 no-hitters). In addition, you get historic moments like when Jackie Robinson first played for the Dodgers, the trading of Babe Ruth from the Red Sox to the Yankees, the first night game, and the first World Series. Beyond that you get the serious challenges to the game such as the Black Sox scandal, the evaporation of attendance after television coverage started, and teams moving onto new cities. You also get the oddball events like Bill Veeck's continuous promotional activities (including a midget coming to bat), the New York Giants refusing to play in the 1904 World Series because the American League was made up of "minor league teams," and games being lost because of "bonehead" plays (like a baserunner failing to touch second base on a winning hit).

I also considered the book from the perspective of someone who has been a Dodger fan for 47 years. Every moment that I most cherished from that period is highlighted somewhere in this book.

One thing that surprised me was that I had no other books about baseball as a whole before acquiring this one. I wonder how I happened to miss this way of enjoying baseball? If you are like me, you too will be glad you have a chance to enjoy your memories and acquire new and interesting information about baseball. In my case, I was fascinated to see the baseball parks in Boston that preceded Fenway Park, that were used by the Red Sox and the Braves.

The depth of this book is impressive in many ways, as well. For example, if someone did something remarkable . . . like pitch the first perfect game, that section will also list the others who have duplicated the feat, who they played for, and who won the game. Some of the great players are covered in several ways. Babe Ruth is fully displayed as a Red Sox pitcher, then as a Yankee slugger. Seeing him age and gain weight make this seem almost like a biography of him. Several Yankees get similar treatment, like Mickey Mantle.

After you have finished enjoying the book, I suggest that you find other fans who can expand your knowledge about the players and events that interest you. You can use your new-found familiarity here to probe for better information. For example, what happened to old so-and-so after he retired? What was the greatest radio sportscast of a baseball game? In that way, this book can be the beginning of more fun with baseball, not the end.

I also suggest that you take up any chance you get to play some baseball (or softball if that is more available). It's good to exercise your body as well as your eyes with baseball!

for the baseball fan this is a must.great plays captured here in there full essence&texture.when you see or read the impact of these plays you think what was i doing? the images are forever timeless you feel like they were all yesterday.so much joy&emotion from seeing them.that's why this is AMerica's Greatest Game ever.it has it all&more.the game has forever changed but it's impact is History always in the making.a great book.

This highly readable textbook is probably the only one that has successfully dealt with the explosive growth of research and discovery in the exciting field of neuroscience. The 4th edition of the classic by Kuffler and Nicholls maintains the clear, logical and coherent presentation of its predecessors while keeping up with the latest work involving a range of techniques, from molecular genetics to functional MRI. The book's emphasis on the experimental and intellectual basis of knowledge in the field makes it ideal for graduate and advanced graduate students, even those with limited scientific background. It is doubtless no accident that the relatively compact new edition has kept the breadth and depth of earlier editions without becoming unwieldy. Its only real shortcoming is its hefty price, although it is still below most of the competition. It would be nice to see a paperback edition.

I can't imagine to find a book like this... It's excellent. It has many things that anybody can need in order to know more about this system and this kind of cells.

In this extraordinarily interesting book, a catalogue that accompanied an exhibition in England in 1999 - 2000, the authors and curators present figurative painting and sculpting in a fresh and original fashion. Dipping into the engravings of Vesalius and the amazingly detailed wax recreations of anatomic dissections which populated Medical Schools for centuries, we are introduced to an art form that preceeded drawing from the model in the studio. Never meant to be "art", these dissection models were high science at the same time serving to "glorify the magnificence of God's creation of man". Whatever the initial inspiration, when placed side by side with the Renaissance paintings of the various anatomy lessons (such as the fmous Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp) from Rembrandt through the 19th century to the present day explorations by the likes of Bill Viola and Tony Oursler they serve to enhance our understanding and appreciation for our own bodies as corporal science and as vessels of art. What a fine exhibition this must have been! Fortunately the thought vested in this significant collaboration has been captured in time in the form of this beautifully illustrated and documented book. Only one complaint: Why was this luxurious volume printed only in paperback form? This is an art book worthy of any artist committed to the figure and to all of us who admire figurative painting, sculpture and the wonder of the human form.

This is one of the most fascinating art books to cross my path in some time. The subject is the artistic representation of human anatomy.

This is the occasion for a fascinating tour of curiosa. Of course, you have a sequence of Dutch and American anatomy theatre group portraits. More interesting is the sculptures in wax of dissection, surgical, and anatomical models, handmade by what were apparently a group of mostly Italian scupltors. A fellow named Clemente Susini was apparently the Michaelangelo of this field. What makes these interesting is that they are not, as in the -Gray's Anatomy- images, merely displayed. Many are dramatically posed, in the overdone, theatrical poses of baroque painting. The image of them gesticulating as they spill their guts is mildly disconcerting.

There is an extensive discussion of écorché figures, flayed figures that display skinless human musculature. Collections of skeletons and bones, often arranged dramatically rather than clinically, are also featured. There is a large selection of ethnological portraits, and photographs of the insane.

The text is largely sympathetic to these forgotten creators who sought to combine art and science. Identity politics and post-structuralist hoodoo intrudes only slightly on the text, much less than you'd fear given these subjects. A fascinating book for those who are not easily disturbed.

A Little History of Ireland is a small, charming book which contains a few pages on each major event in Irish history and accompanying illustrations. There are fourteen subsections dealing with specific events, such as "The Flight of the Earls", "The Battle of the Boyne", and "The Easter Rising". The book begins with the arrival of Saint Patrick (believed 423 AD) and ends with the end of republican resistance to the treaty forming the Irish Free State in 1923, and in between it contains a surprising amount of concisely stated information. It is quite well writen and a wonderful way to familiarise oneself with Irish history without pouring through massive volumes. 59pp.

Recent Theories of Narrative, By Wallace Martin, reviewed by Allan Maurer

Wallace Martin summarizes the entire spectrum of narrative theory up to 1986 in his Recent Theories of Narrrative. His survey of the field covers narrative theories as they apply to history and biography as well as literature. While he admits that some of his summaries of various narratology theories are far from thorough in the limited space such a work can give them, he does a fine job of outlining their essential points and noting how they relate to other theories. Martin covers the Russian formalists (Propp, et al), the French and American structuralists (Barthes, Scholes, Culler) and semioticians, providing extremely useful charts showing how each analyzes narrative. He connects modern narrative theory to traditional criticism, Northrup Frye's archetypal approach, and Joseph Campbell's monomyth outline, again showing how they all compare in a chart comprehensible at a glance. His chapters cover previous theories of the novel (James and others) and then proceeds to look at various specific areas of narrative theory, such as point of view, time, characters, and setting. The section on the peculiar grammatical forms we all unquestioningly accept while reading or listening to stories (an apparently universal feature of narrative is the unusual way storytellers use tense) is particularly interesting. Martin considers the reader/narrator questions of Wolfgang Iser, Frank Kermode, and others in his concluding chapters. Throughout, Martin shows not just what has been done in narrative studies up to 1986, he also points out areas needing further clarification, a particularly useful feature to academics who might wish to work in the field. As Martin suggests, the best way to test narrative theories is to attempt to apply them to a narrative and note the results. He does this himself within the book by referring constantly to Katheryn Mansfield's "Bliss," which is included in an appendix. The annotated Bibliography is absolutely first rate. Here you'll find an excellent guide to further research or reading in every field of narratology. Personally, I suspect readers would benefit from perusing Roland Barthes' seminal essay on "The Structural Analysis of Narrative," Wayne Booth's excellent book, The Rhetoric of Fiction, and Seymor Chatman's 1978 book, Story and Discoure in Fiction and Film, in conjunction with this work. Modern narrative study is taking a distinctly scientific turn, and this is the only aspect missing from Martin's otherwise wide-ranging survey. Jerome Bruner's essay collections deal with the cultural importance of narrative in creating individual and cultural meaning and lead the reader to the work of psychologists, philosophers and psychiatrists in narrative study. Philosopher Paul Ricoeur wrote an exhaustive three volume analysis of time in narrative. One time Yale Artificial Intelligence researcher Roger Schrank wrote in his book, Tell Me A Story, "We think in stories." More and more, this interdisciplinary realization is leading to more scientific approaches to narrative study.In 1997, Mark Turner published The Literary Mind, which takes narrative study to a new level and suggests we think in stories because narrative thought is wired right into our brain hardware. Martin's book is nevertheless probably the best place for any narratology neophyte to begin exploring this fascinating and important area of study.

Wallace Hoskins The Boy Who Grew Down by Cynthia Zarin tells of a boy who is shrinking. Good reading skills required for this complex yet involving picture book tale of the boy's shrinking powers, illustrated with whimsical drawings by Martin Matje.

Dr. Johnston and Ms. Martin provide simple, straightforward, and very practical advice on how to be a great "boss" (their term for anyone who manages people). Their "Performance Formula" would be helpful for any boss - especially new or relatively new ones - to think about and plan for the particular circumstances and challenges they face with their people. The book would also provide an excellent foundation for a supervisor training or management development program. Their metaphor of the frog is very instructive and quite memorable!

"From Neuron to brain" is a very good thorough text book, with a level that I would rate as a good MA or PhD class. Altough it is not as detailed as for example Candells book, it has two great advantages: It is concise, and quite readable. It definetely rates as a TEXT book that you can actually read, unlike some other books whose use in the end is often a REFERENCE guide, not a text to learn from.

Comprehensive introduction to the field of neurobiology. Good descriptions of molecular level experiments are provided. As well, a full chapter is devoted to an overview of the nervous systems of the leech and Aplysia.

If you think this is an above average novelization,the fact that "Jack Martin" is actually horror writer Dennis Etchison has a lot to do with it. Etchison even adds a few scenes either never in the film or that were cut out. Great movie,great book!

I read this book in about a week. It only has 228 pages. I ended up liking it. It is slightly better than the movie, but it missing some good action scenes. It goes into more details about each character. examples: Dan Challis' depressing life, and Ellie's childhood. The gory scenes are described up to the fullest. Jack Martin, the author, also wrote Halloween II. His work is similar in this one. As I said before, this book is a little better than the movie, but it missing some exciting action scenes from the movie. Other than that, it is a good read.

Dennis Etchison, once again writing under the pseudonym of "Jack Martin", does a fine job novelizing the illogical but fun, Michael Myerless Halloween III: Season of the Witch. Unlike his more pedestrian work on the Halloween II novelization, Etchison, as he did with The Fog, expands upon the narrative, digs deeper in the main character's personal problems (his drinking and failed marriage) and attempts to fix some of the film's countless story problems (i.e. with time zones, conspiracy etc). He piles on the creepy, shadow drenched atmosphere as well. The novelization also contains a few in-joke references to The Fog as well as the unrelated Halloween films. Carpenter and Etchison fans will find plenty to like in this overlooked oddity. Recommended.

When Baron Soontir Fel, the greatest pilot of the Imperial forces, is captured by the Rebels, he tells all in the confines of an interrogation cell to Wedge Antilles, the greatest pilot of the Rebellion - also his brother-in-law.

Stackpole brilliantly shows the past carrer of Fel in the Imperial Navy, how he met Syal Antilles, Wedge's sister, and how it comes to be that Fel defects to the Rebels.

The story falls short in the cofusing final third, however. Not much happens and what does happen is very jumbled and not thought through. Then again, Stackpole isn't exactly the Master of the Hidden Plot. But it is well worth its cost in dollars in the first two-thirds; after all, I bought it.

'Blood & Honor' is basically two stories in one, including dramatically different art teams, so I'll do my best.

The first part, 'The Making of Baron Fel', is definitely one of the most unique pieces of SW ever assembled. Picking up right where 'In the Empire's Service' ended, Baron Fel is in Rebel hands and through the interrogation chair reveals his life in service to the Empire in a mix of narration and flashbacks that could only be achieved in comic book format. Fel's story is indeed a compelling one and does the rare feat of presenting a clear philosophical case against the Empire.

It has also been both praised and criticized for its extensive use of cameos. I, for one, will do some praising, as it does help to tie the SW galaxy together. Appearances by people such as Tarkin, Thrawn, Derricote, Isard, and so forth are key to the story, while people like Post ('Family Ties')and Turr Phennir ('In the Empire's Service') serve to tie together pieces of Fel's life and the over all XWRS story.

The art by Steve Crespo is good, with well-done people and a good amount of realism. The spacecraft, while reasonably detailed, are nowhere near those of John Nadeau and his wizardry with technology. The whole thing, for better or for worse, has a rather crisp look to it, as opposed to the very dirty style of Gary Erksine.

The slightly longer second part, 'Family Ties' is a little of a letdown. The art has little detail and the movement isn't very fluid either. The story itself is alright, a bit of a nice breakaway after 'In the Empire's Service'. It opens in the aftermath of the Brentaal Campaign, where General Salm gives a little eulogy for the dead Aggressors and Rogues. Following is Fel's introduction to the rogues and greeting that is not too kind. Then Wedge send Plourr, Hobbie, and Janson to Corellia on a mission that takes up the rest of the story. The appearance by Kirtan Loor was a nice touch, enhanced even more so when Corran Horn and Iella Wessiri from Stackpole's novels take on roles as co-stars.

'Family Ties' was colored by Perry McNamee instead of the usual David Nestelle, and, call me spoiled, but it shows. One particular scene, if you read the dialogue, takes place at night, but you couldn't tell that by simply looking at it.

Overall, its is a key link to the rest of the series and is recommended for that and because of the very interesting look into the Empire provided by 'The Making of Baron Fel.'

Blood and Honor, the follow-up story to "In the Empire's Service," is comprised actually of two stories, not just one. The first, "The Making of Baron Fel," is quite possibly the best X-wing comic ever. It was released on the stands as a special 48-page issue, and is quite outstanding. The second story is the 2-issue "Family Ties," which often vies for a position as the worst of the Rogue Squadron stories. Although these stories conclude some of the plots from the previous comic, they incidentally also pretty much completely drop the "Rise of Isard" story, leaving that to continue in the next Rogue Squadron story.

The Making of Baron Fel is simply an outstanding comic. Basically it is, as the cover implies, the life story of the Empire's greatest pilot. It is told by Fel as he sits in a Rebel interrogation room, and really takes the guy from "Imperial pilot extraordinaire" to one of the most sympathetic characters to show up in the Star Wars mythos. The art suits the story perfectly, and we get to see a ton of familiar faces. There are cameos by Isard, Derricote, Thrawn, and Hal Horn, as well as a bunch of Rebels before they defected from the Empire. This comic also gives us a good look at how truly corrupted the Empire was, and why so many people were so willing to serve under it. There are also several surprises, including the identity of Fel's wife, as well as Fel's offer to the Rebels. This comic alone is worth the cover price of Blood and Honor.

Unfortunately, Family Ties does not fare so well. Janson, Hobbie and Plourr (shouldn't she be back on Eiattu by now?) go on a mission to Corellia to ensure the safety of Baron Fel's family. Along the way they bump into a few familiar faces (including Corran Horn and Iella Wessiri in their CorSec days, as well as their Imperial liaison and nemesis, Kirtan Loor), as well as a few old enemies of Fel's. I didn't mind the art style, except that the characters were changed. Plourr was never before a buxom, spandex-wearing type, and Horn's X-wing as well as Horn himself and several other characters were also somewhat butchered. There were a couple funny running jokes, but no particularly wonderful dialogue, and there was only one space battle, thrown in at the end almost obligatorily, and then only to show off Corran's skills in a fighter so that the Rogue could make some jokes about how he'd never be a Rogue.

The Making of Baron Fel was exceedingly good and definitely worth reading. Family Ties was not. I definitely recommend this comic for the one, if not the other.