A very fun journey through the American Beer Drinking Landscape. It takes you from brewery to brewery, border to border and coast to coast. Gives a summary of regional beers, bars and brewerys at the end of each chapter. I love it. I get it out and read it every winter to chase away the winter blahs with this book and a good beer.

Highly recommedable to people interested in philosophy and theology. Its strength lies in clarity and depth, a good combination for a philosophy book. Morris' articulation of many basic philosophical issues in theology is as clear as it can get, (speaking from a theology/philosophy student's point of view). At the same time, its content exceeds way beyond simplistic explanations that fall so short of our expectations. I think that if you have some aquaintance with philosophy (ex, having taken some introductory level classes), you will, with a reasonable amount of effort, find this book immensely satisfying and rewarding. Morris' "Our Idea of God" deals with such topics as (1) compatibility between God's foreknowledge and human freedom, (2) the relationship between biblical theology and philosophy, (3) God's omnipotence and challenges posed against it, (4) Incarnation and Trinity, and many more. Written from a Christian perspective, I believe it can greatly strengthen and further one's thinking of God - which is, to say the least, very very exciting!! I wish I could have read it sooner.

Salem's Lot, the second novel by horrormaster Stephen King, is a book that you won't be able to put down until you finish it. From the first page to the climactic battle scene at the end, the book holds you gripped for over 430 pages and is destined to become a classic in the horror hall of fame. Filled with cliff-hanging suspense and unexpected thrills, Salem's Lot is a must read for all vampire, horror, and King fans.

The author's second book dares to explore the secret world of vampires, as they slowly choose their victims and take them out one by one. The novel is excellent for a second book for an author and has been my favorite King book so far (I have already read Firestarter, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon and am currently reading It). Though the beginning of Salem's is a bit slow, once the thrills start you will not be able to put the book down.

Salem's Lot tells us the story of Jerusalem's Lot, a small town in Maine that is slowly inhabited by a vampire, who with every victim expands his group to become colonies that plan to rid the world of human life. Unfortunately, as the characters find out, it is up to them to step these blood-sucking creatures. Armed with such weapons as crucifixes, crosses, and guns, a writer, a child, a doctor, and a teacher set out to destroy the leader before he strikes Jerusalem's Lot and other cities.

As I stated earlier, the beginning is not fast-going for the author is describing his characters but once the lead vampire (who I will not describe or give any facts about unlike other reviewers who want to ruin the reader's experience did) strikes, the novel goes under your skin and holds you gripped.

The best part about the book is surely the characters, who King explains so vividly and emotionally. Over 40 characters live in Jerusalem's Lot and each person has a slight impact on the story. The other part about the novel that will catch your attention is Jerusalem's Lot. King is an expert at creating a brilliant and gigantic city, littered with everything from shops to theatres.

Overall, Salem's Lot is a must for all horror fans. The excitement doesn't really start until you're well 50 pages into the novel but after that, it's a nonstop read that will crawl under your skin and hold you stuck to your chair. You won't be able to do anything else. And you will be sleeping with a cross for weeks.

Caution: Salem's Lot is not a good book for young children for it features despriptive scenes of sex and vampire violence such as a whole page about a vampire sucking the blood out of a human. I feel the book is OK for anyone older than 16 but keep it away from children.

"Salem's Lot" is a truly chilling and scary read. It seems that vampires don't just belong in Victorian castles, wearing cheesy capes and tuxedos. They manage to invade and haunt a small Maine town with its share of nosy residents. One of the biggest challenges in this book is getting the cynical townspeople to suspend their disbelief and own up to their presence of evil.
The story follows Ben, a writer who returns to his old town (Jerusalem's Lot) to write a new novel. He begins to notice strange things happening, and it starts with two young boys disappearing. A mysterious businessman opens an antique furniture shop in an old house, a house where scary things took place. Soon, nearly the whole town turns to bloodsuckers. Is the new visitor responsible? You'll see.
The only beef I have with this book is that some dialogue tends to get a little cheesy in parts. But I won't hold it against Stephen King because this was one of his first novels and he was still getting his feet wet.
This novel is a good enough read to give you nightmares and it is one of Stephen King's best. Do yourself a favor: don't read some of it and then come back two months later and read more. Read it consistently so that you don't have to go back to the beginning and repiece things together. It's a long book, but stick with it.

I was very impressed with 'Salem's Lot. First off, the book is spectacular compared to his earlier work, Carrie. This book chills the bone, and I lost many hours of sleep with some of the pictures this book produced in my head. This ranks in my favorites of Stephen King.

The peaceful city of Jerusalem's Lot (or 'Salem's Lot) gets invaded by a vampire and his lackey. Soon the vampire makes practically the whole town vampires, and a choice few people are left to clean up the mess.

Why is it I like 'Salem's Lot? For one thing, its very scary. I like getting scared sometimes, and this book has its chills! I'll never forget some scenes, with vampires tapping on windows wanting to come in and drink their victim's blood. Another plus is the bad guy(s). The vampire and his servant were both incredibly creepy. Also, this book had a good love story to it also, as crazy as it sounds.

Basically, I would recommend this book to anyone. King is a great author, and this book chills and keeps you wanting more and more. A word of note to all parents- this book is not for kids (is any King book?). Teens and adults should be able to enjoy this book, but beware, you will be subject to some VERY scary stuff. As for me, I am taking a break and I am gonna read some Tom Clancy. For now...

As a senior undergrad majoring in math and economics, this book is everything but an easy read. To all fellow undergrads who are not math superheroes (that should about 75% of us), if you happen to come across this book in an upcoming course description, it may be a good idea to look for alternative. Currently, I'm looking for another book that I may be able to use as a supplement to get me through this course with a passing grade. Up to this point in my math career, I have never come across a text as ungraspable as this one; this is unfortunate since it appears that there is a lot of knowledge and content on the pages.

This is the book from which I was introduced to dynamical systems some twenty-odd years ago. It's a thorough introduction that presumes a basic knowledge of multivariate differential calculus but is pretty well self-contained as far as linear algebra is concerned. Rigorous but readable, it provides a foundational understanding of n-dimensional linear dynamical systems and their basic exponential solution.

But my opinions won't be as helpful to the Amazon math shopper as a simple listing of what's in the book. So here's the table of contents.

Chapter 1: First Examples

Chapter 2: Newton's Equation and Kepler's Law

Chapter 3: Linear Systems with Constant Coefficiants and Real Eigenvalues

Chapter 4: Linear Systems with Constant Coefficients and Complex Eigenvalues

Chapter 5: Linear Systems and Exponentials of Operators

Chapter 6: Linear Systems and Canonical Forms of Operators

Chapter 7: Contractions and Generic Properties of Operators

Chapter 8: Fundamental Theory

Chapter 9: Stability of Equilibria

Chapter 10: Differential Equations for Electric Circuits

Chapter 11: The Poincare-Bendixson Theorem

Chapter 12: Ecology

Chapter 13: Periodic Attractors

Chapter 14: Classical Mechanics

Chapter 15: Nonautonomous Equations and Differentiability of Flows

Chapter 16: Perturbation Theory and Structural Stability

Afterword

Appendix I: Elementary Facts

Appendix II: Polynomials

Appendix III: On Canonical Forms

Appendix IV: The Inverse Function Theorem

References

Answers to Selected Problems

This book is a classical in the subject. It will provide you with solid information even if you are an absolut beginner with proficiency only in undergraduate algebra, calculus.

After so many years of digging through the Soviet archives, Mr. Morris forgot to double and triple check his supposedly 'facts' and got carried away with believing everything he read from the basements in Moscow.

The problem with Morris analysis is that it left out the Beijing angle. The Vietnam-Cambodian war was driven more from China than from Vietnam and the Soviet. The CCP has a lot of influence and control over this war which was barely accounted for in this book.

There's also another problem with an analysis based solely on ideological ground i.e. communist regime wages war because they can, because they are evil, warlike and undemocratic. Besides being not very useful in pedagogical terms, this of course left out the more important historical analysis that Vietnam and Cambodia has a long history of many small wars. And the Vietnam-Cambodian war could be viewed as an attempt to continue Vietnam's territorial expansion that began from the 17th century.

Mr. Morris assessments in the book should be read in light of his other 'hysterical' pronouncement of having found a document in Soviet archives showing that Hanoi had deceived on POWs.

T.N.

This book is undoubtedly one of the few "must have" books on Vietnam and Cambodia. The author has produced a very carefully argued and superbly researched analysis of the Vietnamese relationship with Cambodia and the Vietnamese relationships with the Soviet Union and China. It shows how our conventional thinking in terms of states only pursuing their national security or economic interests doesn't explain why the Vietnamese and the Khmers Rouges each provoked their larger neighbors (The Khmers Rouges provoked Vietnam and Vietnam provoked China). The idea that the weak can provoke the stronger goes against our "common sense" understanding of how states behave, but it obviously did happen in these cases. Morris also has a very good writing style (I even found the more abstract conceptual discussion in the introduction and conclusion quite easy to follow) and the narrative flows quite nicely. He has also introduced the concept of "hyperMaoism" to explain the outlook of the Khmers Rouges, which is something that I find quite insightful. His research in Soviet archives also brought forth some fascinating revelations, regarding how little the Vietnamese leadership knew and understood about the motives of the Khmers Rouges leaders. And the Soviet documents also bring completely new information on how Vietnam's relations with China broke down during the 1970s. I had read every book published on the Vietnamese communists and the Khmers Rouges, but this book has taught me a lot that I didn't know. The tone of the work is quite dispassionate, and its approach completely objective, as Morris tries to get inside the thinking of all of the parties to the conflict. Highly recommended.

A scholarly analysis of the history behind the 1978-89 Vietnamese invasion and occupation of Cambodia, followed by the author's brutally frank assessment of the consequences. As the author states, a final assessment is premature, but recent events do indeed cause the reader to wonder how long the Vietnamese will continue to be pleased with the tactics of its "clients". Readers will also want to review "Falling Out of Touch" by Goscha and Engelbert for another look at historical relations between the Vietnamese and Cambodian communists.

Gate of Hell is a decent study of the Union's Campaign for Charleston, SC in 1863. Stephen R. Wise's history adequately describes the many attacks the Union attempted that summer to capture the cradle of the Confederacy. It is a broad overview of the campaign, focusing on the relationships between the army and the navy of the United States as they try to cooperate in reducing one of the most important ports of the Confederacy. Wise does a good job describing the attacks on Morris Island, with special emphasis on the 54th Massachusetts assault on the works of Battery Wagner. However, he seems to spend too much time telling us what type of artillery was used on both sides in all of these assaults, instead of focusing on the soldiers who attacked and who defended. While this book is a good outline for what happened on the sun drenched beaches of South Carolina in the summer of 1863...for the Civil War student, as I am, you are left wanting more. I'm still waiting for a definitive study on the attack led by the 54th, and although Wise's book attempts to describe the action, unfortunately he falls short. Overall a good book if you are only interested in an overview of the campaign.

Reader's Catalog is a large collection of entries, divided by subject, for books on a wide variety of subjects. The goal of the book is to be a reader's advisor. If you need a recommendation for a book on Islam, or Thai Cooking, or Geographical Place-Names, you can start here and get some titles, and, likely, some descriptions. Also ISBN's and publishers are given.

It is certainly nice to have such a comprehensive set of professional book reviews and comments.

The book is large, and the paper is very thin. After normal wear, it will not stand up on a shelf unless supported by other books. If it sounds like a good addition to your collection, you might want to make sure you've got a good spot atop the bookshelf to lay this paperback tome.

ken32

Full of tough times & amazing (or appalling!) revelations. Fills in the many blanks and background assumptions about early rural Oklahoma school teaching that my grandmother somehow thought everyone would remember in the 21st century. Tone is exactly that of my grandmother, as well -- everything is tedious and hard, "but we enjoyed it." I don't believe it for a minute, but everybody must have pretended they did back then.

The book relates facts in chronological order, without much attention to telling a story or building an argument. Nevertheless useful for research into period.