Bogle is brilliant on so many of the investment issues that matter most to individual investors -- investing intelligently, the fallacy of active management, how the investment-management industry screws its customers and gets away with it, etc. But as good as he is as an investment "guru," he is even better as a writer.

His writing combines a deft mastery of mathematics with the ability to lay it out on the page so carefully that you'll wonder how you didn't think of the idea. His prose is simple, concise, and often, funny. Bogle is best in speeches and essays, this book combines a very well selected combination of both.

I read other investment literature, and I frequently see the articles and speeches in this book cited. Any interested observer of financial markets, investor wanting to keep from losing his shirt, or professional in the investment management industry would benefit from reading this book. I heartily recommend it!

The first two sections of this book changed my investment outlook. I now intend for the majority of my investments to be invested passively using index funds.

His arguments that most mutual funds underperform their respective index is convincing. This coupled with the difficulty of picking the managers that will outperform the index over the long term in advance, has convinced me that only by investing in the index can you guarantee that you will be investing in one of the leading funds.

The other 3 sections while interesting are more ruminations from Bogle about life, business and the stock markets. Interesting but not world changing. In fact I suspect that most people would be better off buying "Common Sense on Mutual Funds" by Bogle.

I would heartily recommned this book to anyone who wishes to be convinced that they can maximise their return, while avoiding the risk of underperformance by investing in index funds.

In this 443-page compilation of 25 of his speeches over the last 25 years, John Bogle effectively addresses topics of interest to both investors and those in business. Fans of earlier books, including his Common Sense on Mutual Funds, and devotees of passive stock and bond index strategies, will enjoy this book.

It is especially interesting to read John Bogle's speeches delivered from 1-25 years ago and compare his predictions of the future to what has actually occurred. Comparisons to the market of today can then be made.

For example, in a speech given a year following the "great stock market crash of October 19, 1987", John Bogle on p.68 related his analysis of why the market downturn occurred, including these two reasons: (1) stock prices too high (p/e ratios hitting 23 for the S&P 500 index in 1987); (2) some deterioration in the economic outlook, with no progress being made to reduce the Federal buget defict and a whiff of inflation. Sound anything like 2000 and 2001?

A more recent speech included in the book, from January 2000, predicting that the market's heady optimism will depart and leave stock market returns of 5.2% or so over the next decade. As John Bogle readily admits, however, anything can happen in the stock market.

There are many sections which detail the evolution of, and triumph of, passive indexing over active management. Other speeches provide a historical overview of the founding of Vanguard and its rise over the last 25 years.

Business leaders will find inspiration from several speeches delivered with a more personal note, in which he provides perspectives on the need for persistence, the need for lifelong learning, and the desire to build meaning into life through devotion to commitments to others. Very moving is his speech following his receipt of a transplanted heart.

More recent speeches by John Bogle, which give you a sense of what can be found in this book (but not the added value of looking at speeches from years past and comparing predictions made to what has actually occurred), can be found at the Vanguard website. Look for the Bogle Financial Markets Research Center.

This is not the first book a reader interested in investing should tackle. That honor belongs to John Bogle's 2nd book, "Common Sense on Mutual Funds." Other books should follow, including, perhaps, those by Larry Swedroe, Burton Malkiel, and Bruce Temkin.

For those who have already read several books on investing, the speeches in this book provide added perspective and reinforcement regarding the role of passive indexing, the folly of trying to outperform the market over the long term, and the philosophical ideal of service to others through truth and fairness. For these readers I wholeheartedly recommend adding this book to your investment library.

A.C. Bradley wrote these lectures in 1904, and the book has gone through at least 26 printings. It is significant that the Folger Shakespeare Library has republished these lectures. They are hugely important and vibrantly written. I am sure my father read these in college, and I know my son did, too. I'm glad I finally got around to them! You will be, also, for all the reasons that other reviewers have noted.

(Amazon should spell Macbeth's name correctly - not as "MacBeth"!) This has for almost a century been, and continues to be today, one of the most important books on Shakespeare's best and most popular tragedies. For much of the time since around 1930, it has been severely criticised: on the grounds, chiefly, that the author is too much inclined to respect or have sympathy for the heroes (which he is), and that he treats them too much like "real" people (which he does, and which they aren't).

Yet, for all that, Bradley's approach to the heroes as though they were characters we all know has revealed a great deal about what Shakespeare has made those characters, and those who see the characters as complex and psychologically worth exploring identify a more significant aspect of Shakespeare's interest in humans and his art than do many of Bradley's opponents. Moreover, the detail of his examinations of the texts makes it possible to probe much with him, even if one continues to question or quarrel with him on the way (and he is not infrequently demonstrably wrong). Thus this remains a work of criticism which is inspirational and searching even if at times quite wrongheaded; and every serious reader of Shakespeare (including actors and directors) should read this book and own it. - Joost Daalder, Professor of English, Flinders University, South Australia

I am so glad this book is still in print (it was first published in 1904, I think). My original copy was second-hand and it would be awful to think I couldn't get another! Bradley is so illuminating on Shakespeare's intentions, and on the characters of his great tragic figures. If nothing else, read his brilliant discussion of Macbeth - it will convince you that, for a perspective on human nature, for conceiving a dramatic character whole, Bradley was as great a critic as Shakespeare was a playwright. Don't miss him!

As a 3D AutoCAD instructor, I am delighted with this book and as a textbook! My students are successfully able to 3-D model most objects, independently, without emphasis on step-by-step directions. Althrough this book provides step-by-step instructions as Chapter exercises; primarily, each Chapter explains the variety of modelling usages for surfacing and creating solids. This book guides the student with alternatives to solving 3-D modelling techniques.

I find that anyone wishing to learn 3D and solid modeling should read,"3D Modeling in AutoCAD" by John E. Wilson. The book takes one from UCS positioning and rotation, to isometric projected drawings in no time. Watching your solid model drawing evolve after reading several chapters, gives one a sense of confidence. Not to mention, a better change of landing that autoCAD job.

This book by John E.Wilson provides answers for a reader at any level of expertise. It gives you clear examples of useful problems instead of dwelling on obscure ones. All options of a command are shown and explained so you really learn to use the software to full advantage. I really like the detail because I can now pick up the other areas I never understood. I especially like the chapter on rendering and applying textures. I tried some of the examples and the rendered parts look real, especially the transparent ones.

This is a comprehensive introduction to all sorts of telecommunications (mainly telephone regulation) issues. It's probably a bit much for the novice; something like Stuart Benjamin's Telecommunications Law and Policy is probably a better match there. But, if you want all the details, this is definitely the place to go.

There isn't anything else like this on the market. It contains all the FCC and court and DOJ lore on telecom from the beginning of the century through the 1996 Act up to the present. The spicy bits apparently were written by pundit Peter Huber (who isn't identified in the listing above).

This book gives the novice a very accessible route to the world of telecommunications and gives the expert a very comprehensive reference book. Very highly recommended. The FCC wants universal service? This book is universal in and of itself.

Since the founding of the Society of Jesus by Ignatius Loyola, the Jesuits have been a powerful force in the areas of missionary activity, teaching, and preaching. In THE FIFTH WEEK, Father O'Malley writes of renowned Jesuits in the past, and also describes the Jesuit training process. For anyone seeking general insight into the Society of Jesus, THE FIFTH WEEK is a very apropos introductory survey.

After my son had studied "The Fifth Week" in his high school religion class I told him to retain it at the end of the class for my reading. It was one of the best literary decisions I ever made.

"The Fifth Week" is divided into three sections: Jesuits of the Past; Jesuits of the Present; and Jesuits of the Future.

It was the first two sections which primarily attracted me to this book. Jesuits of the Past and Jesuits of the Present consist of brief biographies of Jesuit heroes. As a product of Jesuit education, I had heard many of these names, either in sketchy legends or on the nameplates of schools or buildings. This book put stories to these names.

The first and longest biography belongs, fittingly enough, to St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society. During a forced convalescence from battlefield wounds, a reading of the Lives of the Saints transformed this servant of the King of Spain into one of the most illustrious servants of the King of Heaven.

Other biographies bring the brightest stars in the Jesuit sky to life. St. Francis Xavier, after whom my College Church is named, was the great missionary who took the Faith to the Orient. St. Edmund Campion had to me been merely the patron of a building at college. From this book I learned that he was a 16th century Jesuit who trained in Prague before returning to his native England to minister to Catholics during the height of the Reformation persecution of the Church until his martyrdom in 1581.

Another interesting English Jesuit of the Reformation era was St. Nicholas Owen. St. Nicholas was a Jesuit brother who's main ministry was the building of priestly hideouts in the great houses of English Catholics until he was captured and tortured to death in 1606.

One of the most notable exemplars of the Jesuit charism is Matteo Ricci who followed in the footsteps of St. Francis Xavier in bringing the Gospel to the Orient. In keeping with the Jesuit theme of using all things to bring people to God, Matteo followed St. Paul's entreaty to be all things to all men. Immersing himself in Chinese culture and adopting Chinese dress, he obtained acceptance into the Chinese Imperial Court. From this position started a movement which in 50 years was to include 150,000 Chinese Catholics.

Among my favorite heroes are the North American Martyr, St. John de Breboeuf, and Peter DeSmet, the St. Louis based western missionary and patron the high school at which my son studied this book.

The explanation of the suppression of the Jesuits occurring in various places from 1759-1814 was a movement of which I had heard and read but which I did not understand until reading this book..

The Jesuits of the Past section concludes with the biography of Blessed Miguel Pro, "Jesuit Clown.". My family and I had first heard of Miguel Pro during a passing reference in a homily to "Viva Christo Rey-Long Live Christ the King!", his last words while facing a firing squad. His story was, actually, similar to that of St. Edmund Campion. Driven from his native Mexico by anticlerical persecutions, Pro studied in California, Spain, Nicaragua and Belgium. Sneaking back into Mexico after ordination, his skillful use of a series of disguises permitted him to minister to the faithful for 2 years during which he avoided capture by the authorities.

Section 2 highlights contemporary Jesuits. Daniel Lord used teaching, writing, theatre and social action to bring God to his people. World War II made heroes of Carl Hausman, a prisoner of the Japanese in the Philippines and Joseph O'Callahan, a chaplain aboard the U.S.S. Franklin during a devastating Kamikaze attack. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was a paleontologist who brought the faith to the world of science.

Fr. O'Malley begins the transition from Section 2 to Section 3 by introducing the story of his own vocation.

Section 3 is the story of the Jesuits of the Future. An inquiry into the Society of today, the challenges of the world and obstacles to a religious vocation are viewed reflectively. The book concludes with the questions a man must confront in discerning whether he has a vocation to the priestly or religious life. The final pages are devoted to the practical steps one must take in order to explore the possibility of living the Jesuit life.

I began this book I with high expectations. At its conclusion my expectations were fulfilled. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the stories of Jesuit heroes as well as anyone who wants to understand what has attracted so many outstanding men of the past to the Society of Jesus and what continues to attract the Church leaders of tomorrow.

The Fifth Week is meant to be a book to inform those who are interested in becoming Jesuits. However, I feel that this book is meant for anyone at any level of spirtuality. This book provides examples of heroism that anyone can look up to and become inspired, I know that I was. The heroic Jesuits portrayed in the book were real men, with real weaknesses, with real strengths. This authenticity is further strengthened by Fr. William O'Malley's own vocational story, which entailed struggle, hardship, love, and peace. These are realities that we all face, so the book has the ability to coincide with some of our own experiences and trials. The most important thing that this book offers the reader is "the hope for man." We may have hope in the fact that The Society of Jesus will set the world on fire by living out the Good News.

If you think the natural world is boring, buy this book! It can serve as either a reference or a source of countless hours of enjoyable reading. The phenomena described are eerie, fantastic, or simply weird, and all of them are interesting. The book illustrates beyond doubt how far we have to go before we completely understand what happens on this planet.. An example, ball lightning has been observed for many centuries, even photos exist, but only recently has a complete scientific explanation been forwarded. Mainstream science has indeed overlooked many of these phenomena, whether because of their rarity and the consequent lack of data, their sheer multitude, or fear that they might be associated with fringe paranormal groups (this book clearly isn't). But, that doesn't prevent you from reading and speculating about them.

When I first noticed this Handbook Of Unusual Natural Phenomena, it was laying on a book shop's discount table. And I didn't realize that it was about to become one of my most precious possessions. I refer to this book whenever I see any of nature's best sky shows. The cover of my 1977 edition, on a hardback I have carefully covered with plastic, shows a hand upraised in the dark. There are two types of lightening in the sky, and the Aurora Borealis, then a miniature rainbow emanates from each of the fingers spread out. Inside the book are hundreds of other drawings, accompanied by clearly written text, to define and discuss many kinds of unusual occurrences. At first you should just casually go through this book, getting a sense of all the things cataloged, because it will prepare you for noticing far more than what most people realize is happening over their heads. This is not a book about unidentified flying objects, unless comets with halos will do, but it can be just as exciting to identify natural mysteries. When you see rainbows, for example, you will be able to discern what's common or rare. Some rainbows are doubled, some join clouds together, some connect with objects, some only seem to connect to objects. Different categories for sunsets are also defined. I once kept a written log of the sunsets I saw, describing each day's display for a month. Although most of them were simply pleasant to watch, and not really that weird, on one occasion the round shape of the sun became a near perfect square! As I saw this from an area in San Francisco called the Sunset District, a local newspaper editor appreciated and published the sighting. In that article I credited this book, and later received a nice letter from Mr. Corliss. The square shaped sunset, which appeared on a Valentine's Day, generated so much interest that I wished I had brought along a camera. Then there was another notable natural event, one which occurred while I was visiting a friends house. I stood on his back porch after the sun had set, and noticed two peculiar lines which seemed to be dividing the sky into three parts. These stretched like telegraph lines all across the sky, just as if the Egyptian sky goddess, Nut, was responsible. I wiped my glasses and looked away, but each time the lines appeared. Finally I asked my host to come out, without any descriptive hints, to tell me what he saw up there (Just in case I was the nut). The sighting was soon confirmed, as he also saw the lines, and he ran in to alert his wife. When I got home I opened up this book and read the paragraphs which applied to this particular phenomena, where lines divide the sky. I was even more surprised that Corliss listed it as a highly rare occurrence. This may be because the lines are rather thin, and easy to miss. I kind of tingled all over, because I knew I was fortunate enough to experience something that few people even knew existed. Each person who gets this book is going to use it a bit differently; appreciating it mostly for whatever they can apply it to personally. A Japanese lady I know looked through my copy and soon joyously shouted out: "I've got a photograph of that!" She had been vacationing in Hawaii, and taking special notice of a rainbow which was doubled, managed to get a perfect photo. I received this as a gift, and it sits in my book alongside a photograph I shot of some rare clouds (This handbook has one similar to mine and defines it as a "Morning Glory"). Photos became the only place markers I use for this particular book. Although Corliss didn't mention it, a natural phenomenon is associated with Bolinas, California, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. One day a man was sitting in his car reading a sports page, he was parked on a cliff overlooking the ocean outside Bolinas (Where Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds was filmed). After a while he peered out over the ocean and realized he was looking at the illusion of an island. It was sitting just a short distance offshore. This island even had castles with turrets and walls, and a jeweled sparkle almost like an advertisement for Disneyland. The man got out of his car and shouted down to a park ranger and a tourist. They too acknowledged that they could see it. At the Bolinas Post Office the postmistress told a reporter she had seen it on a previous occasion. None of the witnesses, nor the reporter, had seen Corliss' book; so the story was published without anyone knowing that the scientific name is Marine Morgana. Good luck, and good hunting.

Read this book. Forget UFO's, MIB's and other stuff like that. The Real mysteries are the ones that Nature produces and our own scientists have no explanation for. This book documents almost all types of natural phenomena for the past couple of hundred years! I highly recomend this book to anyone that has ever wonderd about something that they have seen, like a horizontal rainbow or a blue ring around the moon. This is a totally awesome book.

In college days, a friend gave me a copy of this book for my birthday. In it was a picture of a hog, its face painted like a clown, a ruffled clown collar and a conical clown hat. I stared at that picture off and on for quite awhile vowing, I want to train "circus pigs" for a career. Eventually I went on to train hogs for movies, television and live performances. Keep this book away from your children and young impressionable college students unless you want to condemn them to a life of loving hogs ... and people too, because after reading this holy scripture, you will realize, we too are hog.

William Hedgepeth's The Hog Book keeps you alert. Reading along, you pause and ask yourself, "Wait, was that list of animals written in verse?" It was. You read more and wonder, "Did he really interview that farmer or did he make it up?" It doesn't matter. Hedgepeth's talent is to compel the reader then punctuate his yarn with a delightfully palatable, "Gotcha!" Just when you've fallen under the Hedgepeth spell of silliness, he tugs at your heart with an in-your-face look at the slaughter of these animals he's just caused you to fall in love with. Why should you read a book about hogs? Because Hedgepeth is a gifted writer, and it's a pleasure to read his words. Because Hedgepeth's instruction about hogs goes down as if with sugar. Because Hedgepeth borrowed from Cinderella and Pygmalion to reveal beauty in creatures frequently ridiculed and dismissed. Perhaps each of us sees a little of our insecure selves in Hedgepeth's recognition of the value and beauty of the oft-maligned hog.

William Hedgepeth has written one of the most unique books imaginable on the life of hogs. This dry and witty look at porcines is no quick compendium on the subject. It is a thorough and informative account of everything you could want to know about these creatures. And it's funny.

An early Ally McBeal Show featured a case where Michael, a pig, gave up his life in order to donate his liver (or some organ) to the crass & orca fat Mrs. Goldstein. Instead of thanking the Doctor for life, she sued because she felt it beneath her to share an organ with a pig. Had Goldstein read The Hog Book, she might have requested Michael's heart as well. This animal's existential ability to accept itself and experience joy in living is a tall order that most humans cannot fill.

I see a sequel to this book - The Tao of Being a Hog, Living in the Now. In any case, I wish this author would turn his journalist's eye and writer's wit onto another subject quick. He's a pleasure to read.

I first viewed this book in-store and fell in love with the pictures and the luscious sounding food. A few weeks later I ordered a copy and immediately began using it. With a couple of exceptions, everything I've made from this cookbook has been a little off, flavor-wise. Although I still love this cookbook, I use it as more of a guide, since I know I will have to make some modifications in order for the food not to be bland. I do not recommend this book for anyone who is somewhat uncomfortable in the kitchen or just learning to cook. With the blandness that I've found in many of the recipes, an inexperienced cook may believe they've done something wrong or be afraid to experiment. But if you love having a basic recipe and then making it your own, I would recommend this, as it has definitely helped me cook more healthy foods.

The Mayo Clinic Cookbook was given to me as a gift from a friend who also loved it. The recipes have comprehensive nutrition analyses, and a color picture of every dish showing the individual portion size. This is very helpful, you can browse through and see what you're in the mood for. Their preparation times don't seem to correspond to a home kitchen, I wouldn't rely on them. The recipes are all very tasty, but I have found that the assortment of spices they use are very limited. They use black pepper to an extreme. I no longer use a recipe straight from the book without analysing the spices they suggest first. Changing the flavoring with different spices does not affect the nutritional value of the recipe, it just allows you to adapt the flavor to your individual palate. I have been able to control my blood pressure, reduce my blood cholesterol, lose weight, and save money, all by using this cookbook exclusively for three months. Try it. I'm back here to buy three more to give to friends this Christmas!

I accidentally got this book through a book club. I dreaded a "healthy" cookbook. As I flipped through, every full color photo looked more delicious than the last. I have made more than 15 or 20 of the recipies in this book. I have only made one thing that I didn't throughly enjoy! The sidebars of helpful tips and informtion about foods you thought you knew are excellent! The vegetarian dishes are also loved by my hard-to-please vegetarian sister! Nothing is bland as you would fear. Everyone always wants to know "what smells SO good" when I cook using these recipies. My book is falling apart from use, and it is not even a year old, yet! Highly recommended!

This book tells why trust is important for effective management and leadership, and how to build trust, step-by-step. Even if you consider yourself a great leader, you can always improve in this area. Includes great tips about how to give and recieve feedback in ways that increase trust.

This is an excellent book for new and experienced managers who want to learn how to coach and give feedback. The checklists and vignettes guide the reader to understand how to build trust and coach for higher performance. It takes the guesswork out of giving feedback!

Truth, Trust, and the Bottom Line

Great guide for current and future enlightened leaders and coaches. A seven step process that explains how to empower yourself to empower and retain your employees while maximizing bottom line results and have fun in the process. Written in a manner that engages both your heart and head resulting in a positively motivating and revitalizing experience.

Kent Black Principal Kent Black & Associates

I am not a Linguist, but this book helped me to appreciate all of the differing theories and various fields within what is known as linguistics. If you are seeking a book that is simple to read, yet very comprehensive, I recommend this volume. If you enjoy languages, speech development, regional dialects, language acquisition, theory of language, language trends, and more - this book is for you.

Major disciplines coverd include: phonetics, morphology, syntax, and semantics. Also included in this new addition are new chapters on second language acquisition and psycholinguistics.

One of the best features of this text is how well it is laid out. It is a pleasure to peruse and even study because of it's logical and user friendly format.

If you love anything about language- whether knowing it's origins, or what part of the mouth is used to create certain sounds, or how language changes over time and for what reasons, or a host of other curiosities, you will certainly enjoy the wealth of information within Contemporary Linguistics!

"Contemporary Linguistics" (CL) is a wonderfully clear and accessible introduction to the field of linguistics. The authors begin by introducing the methodological assumptions that underlie present day Chomskyan linguistics and then reserve a chapter each for almost all major research directions within linguistics.

One thing in particular that I liked about the format of CL was the treatment of more advanced material (marked "Advanced") in each chapter. The "Advanced" sections augment the material in the rest of the chapter and are placed in logical sequence with the rest of the material instead of appearing in an appendix at the end of the chapter. For example, a section marked "advanced" on X' (read X-bar) Theory appears fairly early in the syntax chapter. Having some knowledge of X' Theory allows the reader to proceed to examine the rest of the material with the knowledge that there exists an intermediate level of structure between lexical categories (N, V, ...) and phrasal categories (NP, VP, ...).

Most chapters in CL are pretty well written and technical tools to treat linguistic phenomena are almost always introduced at the correct juncture. However, CL does not treat Innateness properly (why Innateness and arguments for and against Innateness), and has a weak chapter on semantics. The reader would do well to augment the material in CL by reading Pinker's "The Language Instinct" or Jackendoff's "Patterns in the Mind" for a non-technical introduction to some ideas in linguistics, as well as sections of De Swart's "Intro to Natural Language Semantics" to get an idea of how semantics is done. If the reader is interested in looking at language from a cognitive science perspective, she would also do well to read most of Gleitman et al's "An Invitation to Cognitive Science: Language".

All in all, CL provides a relatively painless initiation into linguistics and I highly recommend it.

Speaking as a newcomer to the subject, I found this book to be an excellent intro. Very useful.