If you love dogs, this is a book you will enjoy for the profusion of excellent photographs! It is also packed with good information. Each breed is described in one or two pages with bullet points about its history and character. Color-coded data in the margins tells you the size and weight, temperament, and origin of the breed. But the best part of this book is the collection of full-color, detailed, and very expressive photos.

The book is organized into chapters for "companion dogs, gundogs, herding dogs, hounds, terriers and working dogs." This is a little confusing, at least to a non-breeder. For example, Labrador Retrievers are in the 'Gundogs' chapter and Chow Chows are under 'Working Dogs'. Fortunately, there is an index to assist with locating the dog you want to learn about.

I picked up this book to help me identify the breeds that went into my two adorable mutts. I admit I didn't get very far -- best guess is that one is a Lab-Chow Chow mix and the other is at least part American Pit Bull Terrier. Now that I have this book about breeds, I think I need a "Mutts of the World" book to help me figure out my little monsters!

The book contains colorful breed pictures, as well as basic informative information about the breeds (i.e. country of origin, first use, origins, height, weight, and temperament). It also gives a tiny bit of history and additional remarks. Use the book as part of your research, maybe as the foundation.

It may seem kind of silly, but in our household we must have thumbed through the pages of this book about a thousand times! Someone seems to take the book from the bookshelf and leave it lieing on the coffee table each week. Since you never actually read this kind of book cover-to-cover (it's really a fancy picture book), you always seem to find something new.

The handbook is a wonderful guide showing almost every breed imagineable. Approximately one page is dedicated to each breed (there's the occassional 2-page dedication to popular dogs as well as 2 dogs per page for some lesser known breeds). After finding a breed which catches my eye, I enjoy jumping onto the internet to learn more from a dog club's web site. The book may be light on detail, but there's just enough to get you interested to learn more. And the pictures are great.

If you're trying to decide on which breed is right for you, this book may be appropriate as a first step in your decision - but you'll have to go elsewhere to learn more. Make no mistake, there's a lot to learn about each breed which isn't described in this book. After getting some ideas as to which dogs may be right for you, call a breeder or talk to the personnel at your local SPCA.

As a quick picture guide, we have found no better. Compact in size (8.5"x5.5"), it's a great book to carry to a dog show as well.

Kingdoms of Kalamar is a campaign setting from Kenzer & Co, the makers of the Knights of the Dinner Table. This book however, although aimed for the KoK player, is most useful for a regular D&D player. Why?
- a lot (I mean a lot) of new feats anybody can use
- several variant core classes like the Gladiator or the Infiltrator that can easily be used in other campaigns
- new prestige classes (like the Golem Master)
- canons (holy books) for Kalamarian faiths. They are written up very generically, so they can easily be used in FR/GH or wherever
- new equipment: poisons, alchemical items etc
- a lot of spells
- how to make rulers more powerful
- gaming rules for clerical hierarchy

The book suffers from some errors, mostly editing and playtesting. The art is sometimes irritating and some 'crunchy' bits have already appeared in other books. I, however have found this book to be of excellent value.

Another in the line of excellent books from Kenzer, this book has a lot to offer. It gives you more background on playing characters in Kalamar, including some more information on playing various demi-humans. For those who want still more rules, they have some new classes (we have a very effective Brigand in a current campaign) as well as some new spells, a comprehensive list of clerical domains and a whole lot more. I highly recommend this book.

This is a great book with tons of information that you can put into any D&D setting. It is geared toward Kalamar, but is written so generically that you can insert the information contained in this tome into any D&D campaign.

Classes: This book takes the Dungeon Master's Guide's advice and takes the initiative to create variant classes. These range from more specific versions of a class with cool abilities (like the Gladiator and Shaman) to classes that combine existing ones into exciting new classes that are much different than the old ones (like the infiltraitor). These classes are as flexible as the old ones and are fairly well balanced. Also are new prestige classes that cover specific jobs (Mariner, Muse) and a few of the many orginizations on Tellene (Sentinels of Providence, Alliance Merchant).

Feats: Absolutely tons of new feats in this monster. New types of feats like the Enhanced Familiar feats (which give your familiar better abilities like a higher intellegence or the ability to speak) and regional or race-based feats which you can only take at first level help shape your character to exactly what you want and brings the game back to roleplaying.

Religion: This book details the canons of each church. Although these are specifically related to Kalamar gods, they can be adapted to fit any setting. In addition, this book gives ideas on how clerics can advance through the church and very basic game rules like time spent and how to advance to the next level and what you get at each level.

Other rule stuff: The equipment section isn't too terribly exciting but it does give a shot at pushing the edge. Included are (some) new weapons and rules for slaves. The most exciting part is the new alchemical mixtures that will get you thinking of your own and are all interesting in their own way. Their is repeat in the domain section, but not a large amount. The new spells are kinda cool, but what is really nice is the scalable spells. These are kind of like Wheel of Time spells where you choose the level it is cast at.

At the end: The white pages. If you are thinking telephone book when I say that you are on the right tracks. In these are a comprehensive list of all feats and spells (divided up by class) in all official D&D products and where they can be found. These can then be copied to use as a spell sheets. Also back here is a gigantic Place of Origin table. Only useful if you are playing Kalamar but it is non-obtrusive and only takes 7 pages.

To close, this is a great book for all D&D players and DMs alike. If you don't have it yet, I recommend you pick one up.

This book is an excellent compliation of articles written for mathematicians who want to understand quantum field theory. It is not surprising then that the articles are very formal and there is no attempt to give any physical intuition to the subject of quantum field theory. This does not mean however that aspiring physicists who want to specialize in quantum field theory should ont take a look at the contents. The two volumes are worth reading, even if every article cannot be read because of time constraints. All of the articles are written by the some of the major players in the mathematics of quantum field theory. Volume 1 starts off with a glossary of the terms used by physicists in quantum field theory and is nicely written. The next few hundred pages are devoted to supersymmetry and supermanifolds. A very abstract approach is given to these areas, with the emphasis not on computation but on the structure of supermanifolds as they would be studied mathematically. There is an article on classical field theory put in these pages, which is written by Pierre Deligne and Daniel Freed, and discussed in the framework of fiber bundles. The discussion of topological terms in the classical Lagrangian is especially well written. There is an introduction to smooth Deligne cohomology in this article, and this is nice because of the difficulty in finding understandable literature on this subject. Part Two of Volume 1 is devoted to the formal mathematical aspects of quantum field theory. After a short introduction to canonical quantization, the Wightman approach is discussed in an article by David Kazhdan. Most refreshing is that statement of Kazhdan that the Wightman approach does not work for gauge field theories. This article is packed with interesting insights, especially the section on scattering theory, wherein Kazdan explains how the constructions in scattering theory have no finite dimensional analogs. The article by Witten on the Dirac operator in finite dimensions is fascinating and a good introduction to how powerful concepts from quantum field theory can be used to prove important results in mathematics. A fairly large collection of problems (with solutions) ends Volume 1. The first part of Volume 2 is devoted entirely to the mathematics of string theory and conformal field theory. The article by D'Hoker stands out as one that is especially readable and informative. D. Gaitsgory has a well written article on vertex algebras and defines in a very rigorous manner the constructions that occur in the subject. The last part of Volume 2 discusses the dynamics of quantum field theory and uses as much mathematical rigor as possible. One gets the impression that it this is the area where it is most difficult to proceed in an entirely rigorous way. Path integrals, not yet defined mathematically and used throughout the discussion. The best article in Volume 2, indeed of the entire two volumes is the one on N = 2 Yang-Mills theory in four dimensions. It is here that the most fascinating constructions in all of mathematics find their place. These two volumes are definitely worth having on one's shelf, and the price is very reasonable considering the expertise of the authors and considering what one will take away after reading them.

These articles are great. Fills the ubiquitous need to retract the gap between then conceptual and rigorous framework of the subjects.

Physicists interested in the mathematical aspects of quantum field/string theory would do well to read these volumes as well.

Deserving, in my opinion, more than 5 stars -- many more!!

The promise of this book far outweighs what it delivers. While the notion of extended interviews with all the surviving Pythons as well as the various and sundry peopleinvolved in the show/movie production is wonderful, the actual facts revealed are very much what we've heard before. Very little new information is talked about. We learn that Graham Chapman's writing participation was modest at best and that Eric and John wrote a sketch together, but that's about it. Any Python fan would have asked better questions than this fellow. Such as: How did something like the Llama sketch get from concept to filming? These are the insights we'd like to know about. Instead we get lots of repetition between Terrys Jones and Gilliam over their directing styles. Eric Idle seems not to have cared much at all about this project and his entries are sparse and a little too glib. Stick with the earlier books on Python that came out around their 20th and 25th anniversaries. At least there are more pictures.

This is definitely a book for those interested in the people and the work that went into Monty Python. It is not a funny book nor does it set out to be. It charts the rise of the Python team from their early days at CAMBRIDGE to meeting up with Gilliam, and onto their early days at the BBC throught the making of the three films (not including live at the Hollywood Bowl) to their solo work. The book is set out as a series of interviews covering everything from talent to alcoholism to camera angles and court battles. There is an honesty to a lot of what is said and it gives a real flavour for what it was like to be at the cutting edge of comedy at a time when British comedy was all about safe situation comedy. The author has not only interviewed the remaining pythons but also those that worked with them. If you are interested in Python then this is for you. Incidentally my copy is a much more sensible brown cover , for the reserved British public that Python set out to reform no doubt.

I HAVE READ QUITE A FEW MONTY PYTHON BOOKS, AND THIS IS BY FAR ONE OF THE BEST AND MOST COMPLETE THAT I HAVE READ. IT HAS A LOT OF REALLY FUNNY PARTS IN IT, AND ALMOST ALL THE QUESTIONS I HAD ABOUT THE FANTASTIC PYTHON TEAM WERE ANSWERED IN THIS BOOK. IT WAS VERY ENTERTAINING, AND I REALLY DID HAVE A HARD TIME PUTTING IT DOWN! (I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE SAY THAT, BUT IN MY CASE, IT'S TRUE.) THE PYTHONS' WONDERFULLY SILLY WIT SHINES THROUGH IN THIS BOOK WHICH IS MAINLY MADE UP OF RECENT INTERVIEWS WITH THEM, AS WELL AS WITH THEIR COLLEAGUES. IF YOU MISS MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS (AS I DO), I BELIEVE YOU WILL REALLY LIKE READING MONTY PYTHON SPEAKS. THIS BOOK IS VERY DETAILED AND THOROUGH, AND I THINK IT IS WELL WORTH THE MONEY.

Kay Summersby's book is a fascinating look at the inner workings of the Supreme Allied Headquarters during World War II. She writes clearly and consicely about the organization that helped win World War II in Europe, and provides key details about the personalities and relationships between such notable historical figures such as Eisenhower, Churchill, Montgomery, Patton, Bradley, and such.

However, the nature of her relationship with General Dwight D. Eisenhower is the central theme of the book and she repeatedly alludes to their stolen moments together. To a person, all others on Eisenhower's staff deny her accusations, including Eisenhower before his death, and can refute most of her stories of their love. For example, she describes in candid detail interludes and rendevous they supposedly shared, but at the time of many of these, Eisenhower was away from his headquarters or with others, including his wife and/or son.

In her first book, "Eisenhower Was My Boss," written in 1947, she makes no mention of this romantic relationship. Why, then, 30 years later, did she expose the "truth." Perhaps it was because she was on her death bed and looking back on a life unfulfilled. She had two failed marriages, no children, and no job history. A fantasized relationship with Eisenhower, one of the most powerful men in history, could be her legacy.

Aside from the falacious story of the relationship with Eisenhower, "Past Forgetting" is a good read if you are interested in the manner in which World War II in Europe was fought and won on both the political and military fronts.

This book by a dying Kay Summersby is a poignant account of what can happen when a man and a woman are thrown into a wartime work relationship that is unrelentingly stressful and from which neither dare retreat.

In her book, written largely from memory, Kay has no regrets and makes no accusations. She treats her infatuation and love for her near-genius and overstressed boss, Dwight Eisenhower, with grace and sensitive restraint, focusing more on the emotional than the physical. Her book reveals how their extreme discression ensured that virtually no one on Eisenhower's staff understood their special relationship. Anyone who has read the book will understand the post-war denials of truth by those on the periphery of Eisenhower's inner circle. Both knew that when the war ended their love affair also had to end. It is a very personal story without a storybook ending.

Her book gives first-hand insight into the personalities and quirks of the major leaders of WW2. Kay treated the emotional aspects of her mutual relationship with Eisenhower with honesty and objectivity. It was a story that needed telling.

In June of 1757 Benjamin Franklin embarked for London to serve as a agent for the Pennsylvania Assembly, returning to Philadelphia in 1762. In November of 1763 he returned to England, again as Assembly agent. Over the next few years he is appointed agent for the colonies of Georgia, New Jersey and Massachusetts, returning to the colonies in 1775. This book chronicles Franklin's years in London serving as colonial agent

I have adopted this text for a class on Human Learning and have found it to be an easily read and useful text. Morgan covers the essentials of "typical" learning modalities...classical, operant and social, and also moves on to address some cognitive issues, which is nice for us teachers who don't necessarily adopt Behaviorist philosophies. The book is written to be easily readable by most college students, though like all texts on learning there is an overemphasis on animal studies which get a bit dry and also are of questionable utility. The text could also benefit from a tad more skepticism regarding the utility of some behavioral technique, particularly given some of the controversies surrounding behavioral therapies for autism (i.e. Lovaas) and other disorders. Nonetheless this book makes for a very helpful text.

This relatively small volume is like its author. It delivers a fierce line drive which splits the alley and rolls to the wall for extra bases. One regards this book in the same way that he looks at the little guy sliding into second or third base afterwards and wonders, not for the first time, how he could have hit the ball so hard!

Joe Morgan's "A Life in Baseball" is the story of an intensely driven individual who overcame the twin handicaps of race and small physical stature to become a Hall of Fame second baseman and a crucial component of one of baseball's most famous dynasties.

Morgan's dedication rings forcefully in each word of this volume, and so do the same affability and sense of humor that he displays in the broadcast booth. Yet he never forgets that baseball, like most other endeavors, is a team sport, and that sacrifice of time, effort, and personal aggrandizement is necessary for the good of the team. The Big Red Machine not only required the talent of players like Morgan but their attitude as well. This is a man willing and eager to share what he has with others.

As described by Morgan, the smallness of other baseball men such as Harry Walker and Bill Virdon - in moral, if not in physical stature - stands out in stark contrast. Walker was an original Brooklyn Dodger who harassed his teammate, Jackie Robinson, and the revelations about his stewardship of the Houston Astros shouldn't surprise anyone. It's startling to realize that the trade that sent Morgan, Jack Billingham, and Cesar Geronimo to the Cincinnati Reds and engendered the Big Red Machine was largely driven by Walker's grudge against Morgan.

Virdon's fatal flaw was ego-driven, not race-driven, but Astro fans who wonder why their team has not reached the World Series in 40 years of existence will weep over Morgan's description of Virdon's actions during the deciding game of the 1980 championship series against the Phillies.

On the West Coast, Morgan, a Bay Area native, is best known (with reverence or with acrimony) for providing San Francisco Giant fans with bittersweet vengeance by knocking the Los Angeles Dodgers out of the pennant race with that three-run homer that he hit on the last day of the 1982 season off of the Dodger's Terry Forster. This was while Morgan was playing for the Giants in the twilight of his career. The Atlanta Braves, who were playing the San Diego Padres on that final day, were the ultimate division-winning beneficiaries. Alas, this book doesn't dwell enough on that historic moment.

But following that event, Morgan (who once almost signed with the Dodgers as a free agent) has found himself denying that he is a Dodger-hater. He should know better. It's not just Giant fans but everyone who is not a Dodger fan that is a Dodger-hater. The Padres were uprightly playing "spoiler" to the Braves by beating them, but after Morgan's home run ultimately stood up as a game-winner over the Dodgers and settled the issue, the TV cameras showed the Braves and the Padres interrupting their contest to celebrate together. Come on, Joe; admit it. You enjoyed the taste of Dodger Blue blood in your mouth as much as anyone.

Morgan is able to describe baseball's racial problems forcefully but without rancor. This book was published in 1993, and is partly outdated. He remarks that black managers are under more pressure to win than white managers. Perhaps this was true at the time, but the current ubiquitousness of black non-winners such as Dusty Baker and Don Baylor suggests that, slowly but surely, blacks are being given the same opportunity that Gene Mauch always had to fulfill the Peter Principle by rising to their level of mediocrity.

Morgan refers to the infamous Al Campanis remarks as evidence of a larger problem without acknowledging that Campanis's remarks were not so dissimilar from those that Morgan and other black ballplayers made in a magazine article. The context of Campanis's remarks was somewhat different but hardly enough to justify banishing him from the game like a pariah after a half century of Morgan-like dedication to it. Morgan would have done better to reflect on the injustice, and he should realize that dialogue can't take place if one party is going to be penalized for frankness and knows that at the outset.

And Morgan's complaints about the corrupting effect of money on the game are accurate but not so prescient, having been made on the eve of the 1994 work stoppage that cost America the World Series. And they have to be regarded in light of his own actions. Morgan and Tim McCarver are two of the best baseball minds around today. Are either of them willing to step down from their broadcast positions and accept a lower six-figure income as baseball managers or as intermediaries/roving ambassadors of the type that Morgan suggests in his book?

However, it appears as though Morgan's suggestion has since been adopted since that is essentially the role that Tom Lasorda and others have been playing.

Finally, I can only give Morgan a mediocre grade for his discussion of the "Pete Rose" issue. Yes, Pete was probably guilty of betting on baseball, Morgan says. Yes, he lied about it. Yes, Pete has failed to address his actions with the requisite humility and penitence, wrongly regarding his banishment from baseball as another tough fastball to be hit; another catcher to be ploughed through. But Morgan weakens and says that Rose should STILL be allowed entry into the Hall of Fame because of what he has meant to the game, blah, blah, blah.

That's only a "C plus" response. By comparison, another of Rose's Cincinnati teammates, Johnny Bench, once gave an "A" response. "When should Rose be admitted to the Hall of Fame?" Bench was asked. "When he's innocent," Bench retorted.

Write it down in Big Red letters, Little Joe.

Yep after months and months of ranting and criticizing that the red book publishers (Wrox) have lost their magic touch, just when we were about to give up on them, they return with an outstanding book, probably one of the best in their Beginning series ever, and coming back in form in such style, this is simply unbelievable - Beginning C# is all I needed.
Working as a developer in ASP for over 3 years now, but never actually having tried my hands in a real hardcore programming language, I bought EACH AND EVERY book on C# being published since the past one year, but couldn't get past the 40th page of any of the books, they were designed for hardcore programmers and for a moment I wondered if Microsoft and other authors were leaving pure ASP programmers down the drain.
Beginning C# is the answer to all the prayers if you've faced the same delima as I have.
First the drawbacks.
Someone at wrox has decided that publishing a book less than 1000pages is a crime.so I guess I can let go of that. This book has 1031 pages.
Having multiple authors at times irritatingly breaks the smooth flow of explanations from chapter to chapter. GDI+ may be understanding enough as a chapter but the manner of explanations and approach to "try it out" examples is suffocating, irritating and makes you want to tear the entire chapter out of the book.
Also some examples are NOT WORKING and THIS CAN GET YOU FRUSTRATED, so be WARNED.
The plus points.
25 chapters, precise to the point, length of each chapter kept under 25 to 30 pages. Basic aim of each chapter is to explain the topic and right away get your hands dirty with examples.Each example explained step by step.
OOP being an integral part of C# comes only on Ch#8 after you have grown sufficiently confident enough to open Visual Studio and write basic programs for Windows/Web.
This according to me is a very intelligent planning of chapters and hence non of the chapters come across as speaking to you in a foriegn language or in a manner of saying that "sorry if you don't understand us , you are an idiot"....
This book can be held at the same high teaching standards set by Beginning ASPDatabases/Beginning ASP/Beginning JavaScript.

The only other book which even comes close to this is C# By Herb Schildt. Which is another exceptionally good book for beginners, though it does not touch the wide range of topics as Beg.C#
With this book Wrox is back in form.
Simply put... An Amazing Achievement....

Wanting to move up to a more sophisticated WEB language (from ASP,VB) I've bought quite a few books on .Net and C#. However, all of them left me with a lot of questions on how to just get started with the language.

This book solves all those problems. Anyone new to C# or just object oriented programming, can learn from this book.

The way that Karli eases you into the concepts and describes what each line of code does is extremely helpful.

This book is probably NOT for the Intermediate to Advanced programmer as Karli covers a lot of basic programming concepts. However, It also is a great primer for anyone wanting exposure to the language.

I wanted to learn C# (and learn more about .Net), and I'm coming from a mostly VB and ASP background. I was happy with Wrox's "C# Programming with the Public Beta" book (co-written by Watson), but wanted something that was more complete. At close to 1000 pages, this book certainly FEELS complete. It is also smartly outlined with excellent examples and exercises at the end of each chapter (but where are the answers??). Best of all once you step through the chapters on Windows and the web, there are TWO complete Case Studies (something I love about the Wrox books), and an article about building an Online Shopping Cart Using C#.
This book is similar in quality to Ivor Horton's "Beginning Java 2" books. (Only with better examples, in my opinion).

I came across this book at the local library and was intrigued by it's Walden like premise. The first half of the book, which dealt more with the building and moving to the cabin and talked about his earlier experiences in the woods, was fairly entertaining. The rest of the book was a chore to complete. It grew difficult to listen to this grown man whine and complain about his life: how he lost touch with his wife (it always seemed to be her fault), how work was interfering with his spirit, and how he shares his feelings (constantly) with his circle of friends. The chapters describing his experiences in nature in the second half of the book tended to be pedantic ("I did this. I saw that."). ."). Overall, I agree with the first reviewer. There are much better books to be read that cover these topics.

This book proved to be a major disappointment to me. There are far better modern day books on building a cabin in the woods and surviving (see Coming out of the Woods-Kaufman). There is Bryson's Walk in the Woods for humour and environmental insight. And as far as coming to terms with the ending of marriage grief ,stick to Heat-Moon's Blue Highways. What Brill accomplishes here is very little new ground and I don't think he has a very good way of saying it. The first 90% of this book is about how awful his wife is- reducing her to someone who dislikes him because he didn't provide her with a large home, big car and country club membership- hard to believe she would be that shallow. He wishes only to be with his kids during the good times and gets his best revelations at drunken Halloween parties. He selfishly builds a cabin in the woods and doesn't unserstand her aloofness. Maybe he should have asked her. Than after forty years he finds religion- just when its convient because he needs forgiveness. If Brill spent as much time talking and communicating with his wife and kids as much as he sits on the Rock Of Contemplation he might not have had to written this mess. This tale is too little naturalist story("We saw Foam flowers"): too one sided divorce tale( she stopped this, she did that) and too little on cabin life (I had to split the logs for the fire) to be helpful to anyone. The only thing keeping this from one star or less review is he does come to some realization of his transgressions in the end(while repairing a riding tractor no less a condescending sexist swipe at his wife again). Take my advice... read the books mentioned in the beginning of review first. If you've done that go outside and enjoy what you have learned from the masters and leave Brill to himself, I think he likes it that way.

Like many people, the idea of settling in the wooded mountains has always held a fascination to me. For that reason, I breezed through the book soon after it arrived and found it to be a fairly thorough summary of the author's experience. He recounts in some detail how he arrived at the decision to build, settling on a location, finding a builder and his excitement at seeing this hope realized. Many of us toy with the idea; he made it happen which I find immensely admirable. And I couldn't get enough of Brill's description of rural, East Tennessee!

That said, his frequent departures relaying the pain of his failed marriage gave the book a dismal tone that was, to me, a little tedious. To be fair, his divorce was obviously a monumental event, marking this season in his life and shaping his decision to retreat to the woods; it warrants more than just a fleeting reference, I suppose.

All in all, a very well-written and engaging book. Certainly worth reading. Four stars.