Some photo-essays have a cinematic effect. You start to forget that you are leafing through the pages of a book and fall into a world that is at once unfamiliar yet somehow known. As the images pass by you keep hoping that the show will get even better and if you are lucky, sometimes it does. As with French Farmhouses And Cottages which reads like a great movie and kept me surprised with its eccentricity and charm right to the last page. Cottages and out-buildings like these are each absolutely unique and all are situated in settings that epitomise the notion of living in creative harmony with your surroundings. If for no other reason than the structures are always built of the materials that comprise the land of occupancy.

The photo captions in French Farmhouses And Cottages are superb and highlight the type of construction in evidence, the purpose of each building economically in the life of the community, and the building materials that were used and why. A lengthy section of text which is entitled 'Introduction' would better be described as a comprehensive review of rural life in France during an era when the horse provided the defining reality for all economic activity in agricultural areas of the country. Extensive discussion in this well-written and highly informative essay focuses specifically on building practises on farm steads as well as planning strategies for setting up the working farm. Materials which were readily available for building and roofing are given consideration as well since local stone, clay and wood were utilised for French farmhouse construction as represented in this volume. But the setting for the creative labours which made use of those materials, rural France a hundred years ago, produced the inspiration. The synthesis of the two frequently defies imagination.

"Friends of Animals" is an incredible account of perseverence amidst great opposition! An inspiring, awesome narrative of heroic achievements, despite ridicule and resistance, beautifully written and illstrated. This book should be mandatory reading for anyone owning a pet or involved in any animal management. Exceptional reading for people of all ages!

This text was VERY helpful. The illustrations and examples were enough to explain the topic without havung to read the entire book.. Also the problems given at the end of each section were very good. Some were tough; however, the author starts you out with easy problems and works up to the more difficult ones. This text definitely is a good learning aid.

Dr. Mays has brilliantly tackled an extremely complex subject about an often mismanaged system in a complete, easily understood work that should be read by anybody even remotely concerned with health care. Lessons learned from the painstaking research Mays completed during his tenure at University of North Carolina, offers solutions that if applied by comminities will save taxpayers millions of dollars and offer low income patients better, more humane and more efficient medical care. Dr. Mays' groundbreaking research shows how so many public health care systems provide overlapping services that carelessly waste money and ultimatly do not serve the people who so desperately need care. Read this book, and you will both be horrified at how medical services are sometimes provided and understand how the future of health care could be so much brighter.

A credible and fascinating account of Great Britain moving into the 20th century. Miller excels in portraying a critical cusp in British military history. Are the technological paradigm shifts, and calming prosperity of Great Britain in the late 19th Century, so much different than the new world milieu facing the US moving into the 21st? The immediacy of the past is why I love history. Although young at the time of publication, clarity of writing indicates touches of genius; one can easily see a "David" emaniting from this intelligent writer.

Problems of Market Liberalism first appeared as the summer 1998 issue of the journal Social Philosophy and Policy. It is good that such valuable issues are made available to the public, for the quality of this journal over its comparatively short life span has been high, and the present volume is certainly no exception.

Overall, the volume stands on the cutting edge in its combination of academically responsible yet generally down-to-earth analyses. There's plenty to make one think, and plenty to equip the aspiring libertarian with intellectual weapons of a badly needed kind. By all means, read it. It won't be a quick read--it's high-density material--but it will repay the effort.

This book is an absolute necessity if you follow UTAH/BYU football. The rivalry is vividly painted with the book. It is almost an entire history of this tense rivalry. Rosetta and Miller are particularly good at taking the UTAH or BYU view in each chapter. The book synopsis is correct on the cover of the book--each chapter makes you laugh and cry, disagree and agree, and protest and cheer (it all depends on which side you are on!). This book does not take sides, UTAH/BYU fans will love one part of the book, and hate another part of the book. READ IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! they

I checked this book out from the library, and now I have to buy it because my son keeps asking for the "hamburger book". It has lots of pictures for the little ones to understand and both simple and complex wording for kids in different language learning stages. My son is so proud that he can say "epiglotis" and tell you what it is! This book certainly answers the question "where does poop come from?" in a child-friendly way.

There are some very clever puzzles in this book, and it is a lot of fun trying to rationalise a seemingly impossible situation. However, some of the puzzles have not an ingenious answer, but an implausible one. It works, but it makes no sense. The best way to back this up is to demonstrate. This is on of the easy puzzles taken from the very start of the book, so giving the answer away is no big deal (but stop reading if you don't want to know it):

One night during the Second World War, an allied bomber was on a mission over Germany. The plane was in perfect condition and everything on it worked properly. When it had reached its target, the pilot ordered the bomb doors opened. They opened. He then ordered the bombs released. They were released. But the bombs did not fall from the plane. Why should this be so?

Some clues are given, and the eventual answer is that the plane was flying upside-down. Now, lateral thinking it might be, but it makes no sense that a plane flying a mission during a war would order its bombs to be released over a target while it was flying upside down. A good puzzle encourages thinking, but anyone who seriously tries to answer that puzzle would discard the given answer as making no sense.

There are still some very clever puzzles to be found here, and the book is worth buying if you want a collection of lateral thinking puzzles, but beware that sometimes Sloane crosses the fine line between ingenious and implausible.

I got this book, along with 3 other Sloane & MacHale lateral thinking puzzle books for Christmas one year. At first it seemed like a sorry excuse for a gift, but as I read this one first, I found that it was a challenging endeavor of the mind. Lateral thinking, it seems, is taking a situation and finding a solution that is not the most obvious, but usually the most logical. That said, this is challenging to say the least. A good book for people who enjoy mind games.

I am a trainer at a teleservices agency. I have found this book to be full of puzzles that engergize my classes and make them think. It contains some really good puzzles that are not far fetched like some of the ones found on the internet. My only complaint is that it is rather short; there are not enough puzzles. If you are looking for a book with a lot of puzzles, pass on this one.

The Corporate Coach is a good book for all would-be and new managers. The book reinforces the idea that a manager is not so much a boss as a supporter of his employees. Every company should hope that each manager understands he has employees entrusted to him and he must be able to maximize their effectiveness. To do this, the manager must be able to be a supporter, a cheerleader and a corrector of problems in an atmosphere that is positive. The Corporate Coach explains all of this from the know-how of someone who has done it and proven it's success. I give it to all my new managers to read.

An excellent case study of a company dedicated to customer service. If you want to retain and add customers, and retain high-quality service people who know the value of your customers and the true value of team-work, this book is a must-read.

This book focuses on serving customers as the customer wants to be served not as the service provider wants to serve. The "Coach's Checklists" at the end of each chapter are each worth the price of the book. This book drives home the point that the ONLY difference between a business and sports team is the field they play on.