I'm a big fan of compilations of primary source material and this is one of the best. Alexander Callander Murray has put together an outstanding collection of sources, translated into English, describing events from the 3rd through the 8th centuries.

These sources are wide-ranging in style and scope, including works from Roman historians such as Ammianus Marcellinus and Orosius, Antique and Early Medieval chronicles, a selection of Saints' Lives, excerpts from Gregory of Tours, and numerous poems, letters, and legislative and legal documents.

This is a great starting point for someone wondering what original source material is available for the period. It also provides the reader with something of a "feel" for how life was conducted in Western Europe during the 5th-7th centuries. I found it excellent for showing me which primary sources I wanted to study further, such as Sidonius, Fredegar and Ammianus. It is also a very good counter to anyone characterizing the early medieval period as a "dark age" - one devoid of any written works.

When I met Trocchi nearly on his death bed he mentioned this work to me. As he'd given time to reading my own manuscript I devoured his works but didn't find this essay until some months ago. It was his atttempt to visualise in form an alternative structure. As a leading figure in the underground movement of the 60's he established the anti university and the Invisible Inserrection of a Million Minds desribes the cirriculum of this university. It would work on the principle of being more in tune with the 'here and now' than the political structure; thus the system will collapse, not through revolution, but it will be outflanked by those whose grasp of the situation, through a new definition of time, will naturally and peacefully lead us to a more humane society. Here the disciplines of Art will become fused and creativity be non segregated and freedom elasticated .In a way this work was a manifesto of 'The Situationists', a group whose members discussed at length alternative structures at varying sites throughout london. Trocchi's experience of New York and his junkie friendship with Burrough's, Ginsberg, Heine and others made him a fulcrum of British psychedelia and his influence extends beyond the grave. It could be argued he was cleverly feeding his habit on an impressionable youth, but his writings will surely be long discussed as prejudice against the sixties movement subsides. When I left Trocchi's flat after meeting him he gave me a copy of 'Young Adam' and 'Man At Leisure'. As he opened the door he turned suddenly and took them back: "I'll just sign them. When I'm dead they'll be worth more money and you'll sell them for a fix." He winked. I said goodbye never to see him again although that invisible inserrection has never left my millionth of a mind. How about a reprint of his best work, a translation of the early life of the Dutch Beat Artist Jan Cramer and entitled: 'I, Jan Cramer!'

In Suicide In The Middle Ages: The Curse On Self-Murder, Alexander Murray (Fellow and Praelector in Modern History, University College, Oxford) explores the origin of the condemnation of suicide in medieval Europe. This historical, 620-page, exhaustive survey (the second in a planned trilogy) explores medieval theology, law, mythology, and folklore regarding suicide. During an era when brutality, hardship, widespread disease, and superstition would offer a plentitude of reasons for not wanting to go on living, the ways the culture and community utilized to block the suicidal escape from such factors provides the history student with a unique and informative perspective on medieval religion. Also highly recommended for medieval studies collections and reading lists is Alexander Murray's Suicide In The Middle Ages: The Violent Against Themselves ...).

Do take the time to peruse all reader reviews. This is a valuable book.

It is a bit enormous, though, and there is no index. This means that if the reader has to hunt for some little reference or fact, he or she is in for a long trek through these pages. Although it is designed with many short chapters, each devoted to a design element, the sheer amount of data is somewhat daunting. Alexander does write clearly, and in an informal, second or first-person manner. But there is little summarizing. Probably an excellent book to read cover-to-cover as part of a large study project. So read this book and know it well BEFORE you talk to your architect, contractor, designer... don't do as I did and start speed reading it when the architect hands over the blue prints.

Note: Whereas feng shui is a little more mystical, Alexander's suggested design tactics make practical sense. (I gently encourage any reader trying to choose between feng shui and this book to go with the latter). Very useful concepts for anyone who wants to make the most of their living space.

One can find the answers to most of life's little (and big) problems in this classic work. It does everything from helping one determine why the backyard just doesn't feel right to describing the problems with sprawl. I hesitate to label it as an architectural work because it can be so much more. Certainly, it illustrates how architecture can play a much larger role in shaping our lives than it has during the past fifty years.

The format of the book is effective in that it allows one to follow the connections between various design rules/patterns that might otherwise not be obvious. The use of these "links" within the book could have been a source of inspiration for web designers. This book will appeal just as much to the lay person as it does to the legions of architectural professionals who use it as a guide on a frequent basis.

Part 2 of 3 part series.

This book is the dictionary for A Timeless Way of Building. The Oregon Experiment is a case study of the use of these ideas to plan a college campus.

This book is about functional design for humans rather than design for design's sake. It directly refutes the real estate industry's insistence on neutral design for quick sale (which is the industry's goal - not the goal of a homeowner!) It promotes design which fits the needs and desires of the user, not the developer or architect. The philosophy involves the users heavily in the process of design, permitting integrated design without requiring comprehensive knowledge of all interacting factors on the part of the designers, it is a way of modularizing the design process into smaller, comprehensible units which can be understood and discussed in a useful way.

You will not be disappointed in reading these books.

Yes, it's dated a bit, especially in it's language approach to social issues.

Yes, it's Utopian, but not impractical.

No, all of the patterns do not apply to all people in all places, but then, they are not intended to.

What is important is the basic premise: That physical environment design can either promote community or divide people. That there exist basic patterns of interaction between people, buildings, roads and environment.

No, you cannot just change your entire community overnight into a utopia (mores the shame) however, these books can help to redefine how your community grows and develops to improve the quality of life for everyone in the community.

All of the research is fairly old, but it is research into basic human actions and reactions to their surroundings - not something which is subject to a great deal of change - examples cover several thousand years.

If you're tired of strip malls, rampant development for development's sake, neighborhoods without character or community, irritating traffic patterns, multiple hour commutes, buildings which are uncomfortable to live and work in or just interested in improving your corner of the world, read these books and apply some of the principles wherever you feel they will fit your life.

I own multiple copies and recommend it highly.

Scott deftly presents the vagabond Scottish Beat, exposing both his extraordinary gifts and appalling idiosyncrasies. Trocchi's lifestyle likely killed his creativity well before his wife, career, friendships and existence succumbed to his often monstrous excesses.

Andrew Murray Scott digs up a lot of great history on Alexander Trocchi's family history and his young formative years. Scott deftly captures the bizzare brilliance that was Alexander Trocchi's literary ability and also paints a sharp picture of Trocchi's personal shortcomings and strange lifestyle. I'd recommend this book for someone who wants to get to known a talented, yet little-known author.

Here is ftp site for the missing files from the CD.

ftp://ftp.sybex.com/2561/

The Author

I pretty much learn every feature of software that I set out to learn. I chose this book because it seemed like it would get me closest to learning it all for a first book, knowing that it wouldn't take me all the way. It's a great book by all means. Sure there are some missing files on the CD but things like that are easy to fix with the internet at our disposal. I've read almost the whole thing now and it hasn't disappointed me at all. I'll probably be a bit more disappointed with other books that I buy because I'll be trying to find out things that this book didn't cover. I'd have to say that this is a great first book for someone who plans to peg the whole program down to a professional level within a few years. I can't understand why it would ever get bad reviews because it seems like the authors really cared to bring the most info across in the most straight foreward way possible. You don't even have to read this baby from front to back. You can open it up and start doing something advanced using step by step instructions right away. Very simple and concise. Good reference tool also.

As the author of this book, I understand and share the frustration of missing files. Those that purchase the book can contact me directly and I will immeadiately forward a CD with any missing files to them, at no extra charge. (My contact info is in the book.)

But the great thing about the book is that the wealth of information in the book not reliant on the files on the CD. As an experienced 3D Studio Max Trainer for Discreet, I am exposed to hundreds of new users a year. They all have common threads of knowledge they are seeking. I have tried to summarize all those bits of knowledge in this book.

Of course no book is perfect, and experience on this program is never found in a book. But I believe this book serves its purpose of raising the level of knowledge about 3D Studio in a different way from other Max books. And those that read it are looking to learn something new, not be told how to do something different. Those people will benefit and be better Max artists because of it. Of course, I am biased because its my book. If you do purchase my book, I encourage constructive comments and feed back. - Good Reading.. CM

This book consists of a restatement of the Helen Palmer version of the Enneagram (which is probably the worst one in print to start with), with a bunch of meaningless NLP jargon fired aimlessly at the reader to spice it up a little. You can do much better on either of these two subjects. I'm sorry I bought this thing.

The intent of this book is to provide a "powerful" methodology for therapy and personal evolution. It does this by combining the Enneagram personality typing system and the understandings of how people work derived from the field of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). The book identifies how the functioning of people 'fits' into the Enneagram, which seems to be accurate. As I am not a big fan of the Enneagram to begin with, I perhaps did not draw as much insight from this work as I would have otherwise. While interesting, I believe the NLP model, in and of itself, is a powerful methodology for therapy and personal evolution. Adding the Enneagram seemed to me to apply more constraints than were necessary.

Without over-elaborating on either NLP or Enneagram, the authors set a useful framework from which innumerable questions and experiments may arise. For those who doubt the efficacy of NLP, I say try it, and to those who believe the Enneagram is too rigid a tool to enhance NLP, you might try thinking of the latter as a directionalizing tool, a short-hand personality typing system, rather than something that wills a personality into stone. Each brings leverage to the other and engenders intelligent interpersonal living... An added bonus is that this book includes very useful NLP models that you won't find anywhere else, ie., most happily Anne Linden's Boundaries Model and Process.

I'll make this short: I'm Icelandic and I know both the Poetic and Prose Edda's by heart (the primary sources for the Norse mythology). I am also a historian, specialized in Icelandic medieval history. I began reading this book's chapter about Norse mythology and didn't have to read futher to see how unbelievably badly Alexander Murray has done his job. The Prose Edda is written in the wrong century, one of Iceland's top medieval scholar is named wrongly, and so on. He even states that the Edda poetry was composed by this scholar (he couldn't even name right), which they were not! An Icelandic bishop in the 17th century believed that it was true but we have known for hundreds of years that it's not true. I don't know how old (and wrong) Murray's sources are! The errors are countless. I was on the edge of throwing this book in the garbage when I suddenly decided to keep it. The reason: In the shelf it reminds me of working carefully when researching and writing. It's a clear example of how NOT to do things.

This is a contemporary reprinting of a classic text called "Manual of Mythology" dating from 1874 (which the previous reviewer would have known if he would have done HIS research). Scholarship has of course advanced in 130 years, as have the presumptions of moderns in regards to the beliefs of the ancients. In other words, I wouldn't use this as a definitive resource for a term paper, but it has other value. Consider this more a view of how the 19th century saw these myths, complete with an authentic typesetting and wonderful 19th cent. engravings mainly based on classical sculpture. Enjoy the feel of the classic myths evoked through Victorian writing and images, and put it on your shelf next to Frazer's Golden Bough.