This being one of Shakespeare's less-performed works, I purchased the tape to read with the text, before seeing a production. It's also one of the few audiobooks I've purchased. Worth every penny--like listening to a radio play! Wonderful diction, stirring readings, not what I expected from a play that--let's face it--is confusing for those not versed in English history. Having gone through it once, I can now listen to it without the text and pretty much follow the action. Glad I purchased Parts II and III at the same time.

This being one of Shakespeare's less-performed works, I purchased the tape to read with the text, before seeing a production. It's also one of the few audiobooks I've purchased. Worth every penny--like listening to a radio play! Wonderful diction, stirring readings, not what I expected from a play that--let's face it--is confusing for those not versed in English history. Having gone through it once, I can now listen to it without the text and pretty much follow the action. Glad I purchased Parts II and III at the same time.

As three television series and numerous versions on stage have demonstrated, the Henry VI trilogy plays very well on stage, even when given without cuts. None of the action and certainly none of the characters are particularly complex; although a good deal of background information about Richard II and Henry IV is requisite to appreciating what is happening here. And when "Richard III" follows, this play is made so much clearer appearing as it does as the logical consequence of all the events that came before it. Therefore I am delighted to report (1) are now available as late entries in the remarkable Arkangel Shakespeare series put out by Penguin Putnam, and (2) they make for some terrific listening.

Using some military music and representative battle cries for the many combat scenes and the opening and closing of doors to let us know about entrances and exits, this set gives us a fast-paced account of Shakespeare's dramatic shaping of so many years of tumultuous English history.

Now this play has a large cast and it is very seldom clear just who is speaking at any given moment--a problem endemic to any play on tape with several characters--and it is recommended that one have a text handy during the first hearing. Or if you have seen the magnificent BBC productions of this trilogy, you might be able to know who is speaking from your memory of that series. Suffice it to say, most of the important characters can be recognized by their voices, although (as many critics have pointed out) all the men do tend to speak alike until the very idiosyncratic voice of Richard Gloucester appears late in Part II.

Since the demise of the old legendary series on Decca/London label back in the LP days, this is the only recording we have of these three plays; and we are very fortunate they are done so well.

The "Richard III" came out at the same time and I will record my comments about that set on the appropriate webpage.

Everything that you wanted to know or needed to know about African American Literature is contained in this eight hundred page volume. This comprehensive volume covers the historical and cultural contexts of African American literature that has been too long neglected.

Oxford's Companion encompasses the traditional genres of poetry, fiction and drama but goes beyond them. It gives the same analysis to special genres such as Slave Narratives, Oratory, Folk Literature, etc. that you don't normally find in reference works of this kind. These special features and others give this book a unique spot in reference works of literature.

From the moment I got this volume in my hands, I couldn't put it down. Its numerous essays, brief biographies and analysis of the various hues of African American Literature was overwhelming and enjoyable. A referance guide such as this should be in every home. It is user friendly, informative and entertaining. Most of all it will give you a deeper appreciation of the vast types of African American literature produced throughout the years.

I purchased this anthology to assist me in my African-American literature class. This book has given me great insight about the literature of African-Americans. Not only does it give great details about the many authors, but it also explains the nature of their many works. I strongly recommend this book to anyone taking an African-American literature course - regardless of the time period.

While not exactly a guide to getting into a good school, this book is full of insight on the admissions process.

There are lots of useful tips to be gleaned from the author's true stories of five students (names changed) applying to Princeton.

For example, there's sometimes an enormous difference a good letter of recommendation can make in an applicant's file. Last summer, a student tour guide and Admissions Office volunteer at a prestigious Massachusetts college said that every letter of recommendation is basically the same, glowing text, and so these are given little consideration by the Admissions people. After reading Paul's book, I am convinced that that student was mistaken; I see now how incredibly important a very well-written letter can be. And Paul tells why, in perfect, practical detail.

This page-turner is a great book; it clears up the mysteries, identifies the vagaries, and reveals the sheer humanity of the admissions process. Satisfying reading for the burnt-out parent who needs a break from the Peterson Guide... and a "must" for every high school guidance counsellor.

Getting your kid into a good college is a nerve-racking process for most parents. It certainly has been for us. We have found the customer reviews in Amazon very helpful. That prompts us to distill our ratings of the various guidebooks.

The best short reference on each college is the Princeton Review of The Best (311) Colleges. It gives ratings of academic quality, difficulty of admission, percentage admitted, etc. There is also a brief summary of college life and what each place might be looking for.

Peterson Guide is comprehensive, and has long write-ups for each school. There is a front section for each school, listed alphabetically within each state, and a back section with detailed profiles of selected institutions.

Fiske's guide is interesting, but he basically has something good to say for each school, so careful reading between the lines and for "damning with faint praise" is called for.

The Yale Insider's Guide is extremely subjective, with different students writing various reviews. We did not find it too reliable, except in conjunction with other books.

Likewise for Barrron's Guide to the Most Competitive Colleges. Recent alumni write of their (invariably positive) experiences. Take it with a grain of salt, or read carefully between the lines.

Choosing the Right College by ISN was extremely helpful. Some readers criticized it for being allegedly right wing. We did not find it so. Rather, knowing the point of view of the authors helped us evaluate their observations. Other books do not make their biases explicit. A feature of the book we found particularly helpful was the naming of excellent professors and departments in each college.

Antonoff's College Finder was interesting only in conjunction with other books.

Three books written from the perspective of college admissions officers were very interesting and helpful. They are The College Admissions Mystique, by Mayher, Getting In, by Bill Paul, and most of all A is for Admission by Michelle Hernandez. We strongly recommend that parents and the kids who are the applicants read at least one of these.

Another very helpful book was You're Gonna Love This College Guide, by Marty Nemko. It takes the student through the decision process of big vs. small, urban vs. country, elite vs. the level just below, geography, and so forth. That really got our daughter unstuck in her thinking process.

Loren Pope is another helpful author for those who think that not getting into Harvard is the end of the world.

Three books we did not find to be particularly helpful are Getting Into Any College, by Jim Good and Lisa Lee, The National Review College Guide, by Charles Sykes and Brad Miner (too out of date), and The Real Freshman Handbook, by Jennifer Hanson.

One book we found to be unexpectedly useful was Getting Into Medical School Today, by Scott Plantz, et. al. Even if your child is not interested in medical school, this book puts college in perspective for any post-college program.

We hope readers find our review helpful.

I read this book when it came out 3 years ago and I was directing the college placement efforts of an independent boarding school. I was impressed enough by the depth of Bill Paul's research and analysis of the admissions process at Princeton that I not only invited Bill to speak at a parents' day presentation at the school but ordered 30 copies of the book and put them up for sale after the event. Within ten minutes after Bill spoke, every copy-- including mine-- was gone.

Getting In follows a handful of accomplished high school seniors through the admissions process, offering examples of their essays, snippets of conversations and interviews, and other illuminating vignettes of senior year. At the same time, Bill shadows Fred Hargadon, the Princeton admissions dean, as he attempts to read all the applications and make what would seem to even well seasoned admissions professionals some extremely tough decisions.

The worth of this book lies in its accurate reflection of reality; it suggests that admission to one of the most selective (1 of every 11 applicants) schools is determined not only by academic excellence and extracurricular entrepreneurialism, but by the luck of the draw as well. Indeed, at one point in the book, Hargadon admits-- as I've heard him do on other occasions-- that if the admitted Princeton freshman class were somehow eliminated, he could fashion a statistically identical class from the rejected applicants.

This is not a how-to book; rather, it is a book that gives students with high admissions aspirations-- and their parents-- a context that will prepare them well for realities of the admissions game.

REMEMBERING JIM CROW is a colletion of first hand accounts of life in the Jim Crow south. The stories are compelling and at the same time sad.

The stories create the atmosphere that one is sitting in one of the elderly story tellers living room listening to them.

This book is especially worthwhile for non-African-Amercians readers, because virtually all African-Americans that have roots in the south, know these stories all too well.

This is an absolutely superb book, comprised of recollections of the Jim Crow years in the form of oral histories. It can be read through, or picked up at any part. There is an appropriate amount of historical introduction to each chapter.
This material needs to be read, and remembered. There was a long time in our history when, although there was no more slavery, African Americans were treated as a separate serf class, under constant pressures and reminders of their lower status. Whites used pervasive legal and social downward pressures to keep African Americans out of an equal education, and equal access to public facilities, much less the right to equal jobs and the right to vote -- and then claimed that African Americans' lack of achievement was a racial fault. If an African American violated one of the many social taboos, the sanctions ranged from a beating, to loss of job, and even being lynched.
While whites benefited from Jim Crow, the whites, also, were trapped in the system. They were also forced to abide by legal segregation, and were subject to social pressure if they were too liberal (being called "n* lover," "white n*," etc.).
What led to the mindset that the end of slavery should lead to continued legal and social oppression of African Americans? It was part of white American culture. Lincoln himself said that he was not "in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry.... [T]here must be the position of superior and inferior. I am as much as any other man in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race." In 1877, Rutherford B. Hayes traded the end of southern post-war Reconstruction for the electoral votes he needed to win the presidency. Southern states then were free to institute the Jim Crow system.
I believe we are more subject to peer pressure than we would like to believe. Although reviewer McInerney asserts that "no civilized person" would benefit from Jim Crow, I feel many otherwise-good people were trapped and/or blinded by their own interests and surroundings. When allowed, and even encouraged, their evil side showed itself. On this topic, see John Griffin's _Black Like Me_, on the different faces that whites showed to other whites, and to African Americans.
While we are certain that we wouldn't go back to that system, we shouldn't be so sure that we, also, wouldn't be trapped by it if we were born into it. Consider that Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy (to a large extent) didn't take effective action to end segregation.
This book is excellent. Those dreadful and shameful times -- and the vestiges which still continue -- must not be forgotten.

This slipcased book and 2-cd set supplements the written word with oral history, gathering the voices of men and women who were firsthand witnesses to segregation in the south. Stories by men and women from all walks of life reveal how blacks fought against the system, built communities, and ran businesses in a society which denied them basic rights. Remembering Jim Crow offers the reader a comprehensive, involving, highly recommended presentation.

I would prefer to have my questions answered concerning this book. I have read this book thoroughly many times; what I wonder is what makes this book "collectible" and worth [price] rather than [price], as no description is given other than "paperback". Thank you.

I purchased this book in order to better understand what the violin was all about to better understand why the violin was so important to my friend.

This is a wonderful book for those interested in learning about the history of the making of the violin. I myself am a violinist, and can appreciate everything there is to know about the violin. I highly recommend this book to anybody who loves the violin.

This book is, without a doubt, the greatest book on the World War II infantryman ever written. Why? Because it was written by and infantryman, for infantrymen. Sgt. Bill Mauldin claims on the first page that his business is drawing, not writing, and that his text is only there to back up the cartoons. However, the text is some of the most endearing, personal, and excellent works on WWII ever. Mauldin brings the war down from the lofty views of Generals and reporters to the personal level, to the point of giving you a basic narration of the average day in the life of an infantryman. The cartoons, naturally, are the main power behind the book, and they are, even to this day, still hilarious. Hilarious, but at the same time showing you the gripes and hardships of the average GI during the war. If you want to experience World War II from the GI's perspective, read this book!

Over half a century has passed since it's initial publication and it arguably remains still the greatest book ever written about the dogface infantryman. With his brilliant cartoons serving as the book's illustrations, Mauldin explains in wonderfully clear language, life as experienced by the regular frontline infantryman. This book is a must have for all World War II infantry buffs. That it hasn't ever gone out of print since it's appearance in 1945, I think says volumes for it's staying power.

One last note: Mauldin went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for his work in 1945 at the tender age of 23, not too shabby.

I also heartily recommend Mauldin's complete World War II cartoon collection, "Bill Mauldin's Army."

I first read this book 20 years ago, as a senior in high school. My uncle, a Korean war-era Ranger, gave it to me. My Dad, a Vietnam infantryman, liked it too. Sadly, I lost that old, faded copy somewhere along the years.

Imagine my joy to find a reprint! The book means much more now that I can understand it. I've got 13 years in the Army myself, in Infantry and Special Forces. I'm a Major now, and I pay close attention to what Mauldin writes about officers. I want to be the kind of officer that he respects: always putting the welfare of my men first, respecting my men, and leading from the front. His narrative and comments are a constant reminder to me of the responsibility I hold for my soldiers.

If you are from the World War II era, you already know about Willie and Joe, and there's nothing new I can tell you. If you are an old soldier and you somehow have missed this book, then you are in for a treat. If you are a young soldier, or a prospective soldier, or the family of a soldier, then you NEED to read this book. For anyone else, it's a great window into a world that, thanks to some brave men 50 years ago, you will hopefully never have to see.

I looked long and hard (and asked many a scholar) for the "perfect" Shakespeare publication that I might purchase to study "King Henry V" (for a experiential education requirement, I had undertaken the translation of Henry V into American Sign Language). The Arden Shakespeare came highly recommended by everyone, and has lived up entirely to all its rave reviews.

I will never buy Shakespeare from another publisher. While these books may be slightly more expensive than a "mass market" edition, I believe that if you are going to take the time to read and understand Shakespeare, it is well worth the extra dollar or two. The Introduction, the images, and plethora of footnotes are irreplaceable and nearly neccessary for a full understanding of the play (for those of us who are not scholars already). The photocopy of the original Quatro text in the appendix is also very interesting.

All in all, well worth it! I recommend that you buy ALL of Shakespeare's work from Arden's critical editions.

On D-Day British officers read Henry's famous words to their men as they approached the beach. When Churchill needed material for his famous "Few" speech, his thoughts turned to the pages of Henry V. From "once more into the breach" to "we happy few, we band of brothers" this play resonates with Shakespeare's paen to England's warrior king. Oh, you'll be a bit confused at the start if you haven't read Henry IV parts 1 and 2, but this is primarily the story of Henry V's victory at Agincourt. Whether the play glorifies war or just Henry you will have to decide. There is much food for thought here for the perceptive reader. But then Shakespeare is always provocative.

Required to read Henry for my AP English Language class, I came into the play with a bias. I honestly felt that it would be a boring political play. I was utterly wrong! A huge fan of Shakespeare, I found Henry V to be a formidable match for the Bard's more critically acclaimed plays, such as Hamlet and Macbeth. Henry has it all! Shakespeare's attitude toward Henry the King is certainly one of admiration. By communicating the fact that an effective monarch must have a complete understanding of the common subjects (Pistol and Bardolph and Quickly), Shakespeare sets up Henry to be the ideal Christian king. The controlled language of Henry's speeches, particularly his response to the Dauphin's idiotic insult, also glorifies Henry. I certainly recommend this play to anyone, fan of Shakespeare or not.

I thought I knew my American history reasonably well until Henry Mayer taught me how much I had missed. Garrison certainly was far more than the hot-headed crusader on the nut fringe I read about in one text after another. But this book also is more than a correction of an historial footnote; Mayer breathes life into the moral arguments about slavery before the Civil War and weaves America's history from the signing of the Constitution to the passage of the 14th Amendment into a colorful, lively tapestry. This is biography raised to its finest form.

I read a great number of biographies that deal with American history, and this is simply one of the finest works I have ever read. In terms of scope and ambition and writing style, I compare ALL ON FIRE with Robert Caro's THE POWER BROKER. Henry Mayer should come to be known as one of America's finest living biographers. In addition to being the definitive biography of William Lloyd Garrison, this is also a brilliant retelling of nineteenth-century American history as seen through the eyes of its greatest Abolitionist leader. This is social and intellectual history at its finest, for Mayer uses Garrison as a focal point to tell the story of the political leaders, writers, agitators, and early women's rights advocates whose lives were affected by the fight to abolish slavery. I realize that this book will take you a good chunk of time, but it is worth every minute. ALL ON FIRE becomes an absorbing, tragic tale, yes, an epic, with all events leading to the carnage of the Civil War and the emancipation of the slaves. Once you have finished this book, you will put Garrison before Lincoln as the one person most responsible for setting free the slaves. It's hard to imagine a time in American history when people were so socially and politically responsible (read the section where 10,000 people encircle a Boston prison to protest the removal of an escaped slave back to South Carolina, for example). There is a great tradition in America of social protest. This book is really a colossal achievement that harkens back to an age when people and ideas still mattered.

I cannot recommend it highly enough. A rich read about a great American hero for all times. Mayer obviously loves and admires Garrison, but this did not keep him from portraying this hero with his blemishes as well as strengths. The most startling thing about this great read is just how important Garrison was to America's most tumultuous time --- the abolitionist of all abolitionists, a leader who appreciated how deep religious beliefs and moral politics go together, who believed in the power of the written and spoken word, who helped perhaps as much as anyone in our history to move our nation and free it of slavery. Truly a companion biography to go with the best biographies of Lincoln --- no understanding of the Civil War can be complete without knowing about Garrison, and this is definitely the way to know about Garrison. To say it simply: no one can claim to be a Civil War buff without knowing about Garrison, and no one can know about Garrison any better way than by reading this book. Highest kudoes to Mayer!

A book you can still dream on.

This was written and rewritten when Victorian erudition was in the making. Some authors in the long series of its well parsed institutional writing would still like to see it continuing in THAT well established tradition.

Alas, the times have changed. Recent anatomy texts are dwarfs not even climbing on the shoulders of the likes of Gray, Braus and Testut. Those authors professed ideals of "seeing through the skin structures", "synmorphy" and "mentally reconstructing the living". Today we do all this with machines...

I stopped reading the huge text linearly at the complicated review of angiogenesis, but still browse dedicated chapters for standard, if somewhat elaborate descriptions. Comprehensive knowledge parsing seems to have lived a fruitful life and then exit the scene to enrich scientific obituaries. But if Gibbon were still an example of style, the fifth star would be added when that clarity, in my view mandatory for monuments, will be eventually reached.

This book is absolutely amazing. It was the required reference text for a gross anatomy class I took in graduate school and it made studying so easy! I used to go through and take notes out of it in order to have a solid base of what I should see when I would dissect. This book also described a lot of the abnormalities and variations that we would regularly see in the human body. A MUST HAVE FOR ANYONE WHO WILL BE STUDYING ANATOMY!!!!!!

This book is truly a masterpiece. The writing and layout is good. Descriptions and illustrations are clear and well done. I am not a medical professional and yet I find this book fascinating in its breadth and scope. To better comprehend some of the anatomical structures I first read relevant portions of this book and then go to Netter's Atlas Of Human Anatomy. One point of caution though - get the 38th British Edition. This is by far superior to the American Edition which costs half as much. The extra money spent will be well worth it. After all there is a lifetime of adventure embedded in this volume.

A good book about orthodontics, but Graber's is more complete.

It's the bible of Orthodontics written by the man himself.

An Excellent Book for General Practioners contemplating orthodontics in their practice who want to understand more deeply the treatment they deliver.

Not recommended for undergraduates as is too detailed.