Birthflowers of the Landscape, by Linton McKnight, is a refreshing contribution to the spirituality of flower gardening and landscaping. His insight and practical suggestions provide a good grounding for the creative gifts instilled in all of us by our Creator.

This book shows you how to take these beautiful flowers and create a garden that will give you beautiful color all year. It also shows you that you have a Birthflowers of the Landscape flower which will magically bloom on your birthday every year. This author has been interviewed for the A&E Open Book Show and it is gaining national recognition in major publications such as Better Homes and Gardens, BottomLine, etc. A must for all gardners and for those who love flowers.

I have read your wonderful book. Not only will it be very helpful, especially for new gardners, this will be a wonderful addition to my horticulture library. Thank you for sharing it with me.

good sons who didnot forget their up bring. could read more...

After reading this book I felt proud to be the daughter of one of the authors(Ed Morris) He has always inspired me and directed me in the right way. As you can see in this book that he and my uncles had a hard life and intended to use his life and the situations that came about to nourish his family. The book was one book of many biographies that I have read that you actually felt like you had lived this life. I loved the book and would recommend it to anyone to read. Of course being modest due to the fact that my dad and my uncles wrote it. I am very proud to be a Morris.

It was the first time I had ever been to the hollow in the narrow valley of Aaron's Fork, about 20 miles northeast of Charleston. It was way too cold for a Florida lad, accustomed to warm, sunny Februarys. The frost-painted grass under my feet made a loud crunching sound as we walked back to where the three room plank house and pole barn had sheltered the family. Everything seemed frozen in time, like a movie set from scenes shot before color graced the screens. As a guest of one of the Morris brothers, I felt like I had a front row seat in a replaying of the first part of that movie which ran some six decades ago. While "The Roads That brought Us home" is not a PBS documentary, it easily could be one in the making. Brothers Ed, David and Roger grew up among the poorest of the poor in rural West Virginia, yet each of them would climb well above the poverty line and rise to the top of their chosen professions. Their road began in Aaron's Fork with no well or even an outdoor toilet. Drinking water was provided by a spring that bubbled out of the ground and they "did their business" behind a large rock near a creek. It was years before they got a radio and in the early years received no newspapers or magazines to learn about the "outside" world. But one by one, they left Aaron's Fork and moved into mainstream America, their mixed personalities as mixed as the country growing up with them. Brother David made a career out of drinking from the government trough of Illinois, a quiet, devoted, likeable team player who worked for a time with a man who is probably most famous for being Monica Lewinsky's lover. Brother Roger is a marathon runner who has become an accomplished sophisticate, acting as Director of Public Affairs for DuPont Pharmaceuticals and a food critic (as well as a former wine columnist) for USA Today. Brother Ed became a college English teacher and long-time editor for Billboard magazine. He is probably one of the most honest observers of the follies of the human race, a truly funny vegetarian who attaches himself to common sense in its purest form. He hates everything from religion to sports, to dancing, to small talk, to pierced ears and tattoes. Far from being self-righteous, he is his own worst critic. A fourth brother, Darrell, who was the eldest, died before this book was written, but his life was clearly influenced by the others, as was their late mother, Mary Elizabeth, whose death in 1988 drew the three together again. In "The Roads That Brought Us Home" David, Roger and Ed speak to the reader as if he or she were the fourth person in the room, listening as the grown-up boys trade memories about their separate but overlapping lives. The book is their story, but it's also yours and mine.

Drafted by a committee of 19 (but sufficiently well edited to read as if it were written by a single author) this book provides a well-argued, detailed and wide-ranging analysis of the consequences of economic globalization (the term corporate globalization is also extensively used in the book) and an examination of alternatives and the action required to move towards those alternatives. It has succeeded brilliantly, and deserves very close study, whether or not you agree with the drafting committee's views.

This is no extremist anti-corporate, anti-capitalist text, although it does clearly come to the conclusion that the vector of economic globalisation that we are on is neither inevitable, desirable nor sustainable. It is notable for arguing at the level of underlying principles and their practical consequences - it makes explicit the assumptions underlying corporate globalisation and questions them. This, in itself, is a valuable service as so much of the 'debate' in the media proceeds on the basis of bald assertion of essentially fallacious economic dogma.

The report starts with a critique of 'corporate globalization'. The term itself is useful, because the term 'globalization' has become something of a 'Humpty-Dumpty' word ('when I use a word, it means exactly what I want it to mean, neither more nor less'). 'Corporate globalization' describes a process driven and promoted by the large global corporations which, whatever its other consequences, gives primacy to the benefits that will flow to global business.

The critique identifies eight key features of corporate globalization:

1. 'Promotion of hypergrowth and unrestricted exploitation of environmental resources to fuel that growth
2. Privatization and commodification of public services and of remaining aspects of the global and community commons
3. Global cultural and economic homogenization and the intense promotion of consumerism
4. Integration and conversion of national economies, including some that were largely self-reliant, to environmentally and socially harmful export oriented production
5. Corporate deregulation and unrestricted movement of capital across borders
6. Dramatically increased corporate concentration
7. Dismantling of public health, social, and environmental programs already in place
8. Replacement of traditional powers of democratic nation-states and local communities by global corporate bureaucracies.'

It demonstrates each of these propositions and explores who are the beneficiaries of application of these policies. One of the complexities of trying to follow the arguments of the pro- and anti- globalisers is that both use statistics, both from apparently authoritative sources, that directly contradict each other. It is almost as if the two sides inhabit parallel universes that operate in different ways. Suffice it to say that the report puts forward convincing arguments in support of its case.

The critique proceeds to a devastating analysis of the impact of the World Bank, The IMF and the WTO, the three pillars of corporate globalisation, over the last four or five decades.

The report then argues ten principles for sustainable societies, as a basis for identifying ways of realising these principles in the subsequent chapters of the report. It argues that these principles 'seem to be the mirror opposites of the principles that drive the institutions of the corporate global economy.'.

One of the minor problems in the debate is that, whereas 'globalization' rolls easily off the tongue, 'the principle of subsidiarity' is neither easy to say nor obvious in its meaning. The report contains a chapter on the case for subsidiarity, and it is a strong one. The counter argument is almost entirely concerned with power. While there are many elements of conflict between corporate globalisation and the principle of subsidiarity - local control - they are not entirely antithetical. But the reach of the large corporates would unquestionably be reduced.

You may or may not agree with the arguments in this report, but they deserve serious attention. They are well and carefully argued, they represent (in fairly sophisticated terms) the views of a growing number of people around the world who believe that current beliefs and institutions serve them poorly, and they show those who wish to promote change a path for doing so.

This book is excellent for all those who think we can do better-that small farmers needn't be driven from the land, our water needn't be polluted, people need not go hungry while others are overfed genetically engineered chemically altered junk food, etc. It has great thinkers presenting clear, well thought out ideas about what's wrong and what we can do about it. It helps when getting in that classic argument of keynesianism/communism v. neoliberalism because it outlines the thrid alternative very well. I am a grad student and I used it for a paper i wrote recently refuting neoliberalism and it was very helpful. I highly recommend it! Also, look into Maria Mies. She is the anti-capitalist-patriarchy bomb, yo.

A friend of mine who is involved with Rabbi Michael Lerner's Tikkun Community movement recently gave me a copy of Alternatives to Economic Globalization: A Better World is Possible. I'm not an expert in this field at all, but I found the book worthwhile and very accessible. (So accessible that I read the entire thing in a week!) The writers include Jerry Mander, David Korten, Lori Wallach, and many people working around the world in the anti-globalization movement.

What makes the book really important is the positive solutions and alternatives offered. The authors offer real ways to put into practice the Tikkun Community's first and second core principles (interdependence and ecological sanity, and a new bottom line in economic and social institutions).

I think other Tikkun readers, progressive-Democrats, Green party members, and thoughtful people everywhere---who want to see the world change from how it is now to how it could be---would want to read a book outlining specifics of how to create sustainable energy, transportation and food systems. And Alternatives to Economic Globalization does just that. I can't recommend this book enough (in fact I've already bought several copies to give to some of my friends).

When I first purchased this book, I thought it was just another pricey self help tome, written for self indulgent doctors, by a novice editor. Boy, was I wrong. This text, with CD-ROM, is a real masterpiece, written by professional CPAs, MBAs, JDs, CFPs, and even physician executives, all who have years of experience working with medical practitioners, IPAs, PPMCs, or MCOs of all types. The doctor-editor even has an MBA, is an insurance agent, securities advisor and is a board certified surgeon and finacial planner.

The book itself is divided into two parts: (1) medical practice finacial planning and (2) personal finacial planning. For, it is Dr. Marcinko's opinion, that in-efficent practices will no longer generate the free cash flow needed for personal planning endeavors. In the current managed care environment, he indeed may be right....

For example, the book augments the traditional financial plannig disciplines of budgeting, taxation, investing, insurance, retirement and estate plannig, with the new realities of managed medical care. These previously unaddressed topics include: office based managerial and cost accounting, marginal revenue and cost concepts, negotiating skills, asset protection, office computers, software and MIS, risk management and a host of legal landmines, including OSHA, Stark I and II laws, anti-trust, insurance fraud and abuse, HMOs, MCOs, PHAs, etc.

This book is so easy to read, fact filled, and stream lined for doctors, that I consider it a must read for all medical professionals. Rather than being overpriced, it is really under valued relative to the cost efficiencies it will bring to your practice and life. Without a doubt, this book will make you money, and save you even more. Don't go to the office, or through life, without it.

This book is a wonderful new addition to the libraries of those of us who are health care professionals and are trying to deal with the daily changing of medicine and economics. As all of us who practice medicine know, our practice time has increased while our economic gains have failed to keep pace. In fact, most of us are at a net loss over the past few years if you extrapolate your earnings per hour of work. But as dedicated doctors we strive to provide the best care for our patients regardless. Dr. Marcinko's book provides alternatives to traditional thinking and helps you see light at the end of the tunnel. Wonderful ideas and many practical thoughts for us to work with today so that tomorrow is a little better. Highly suggest this to all my colleagues.

A Senior Healthcare Executive, October 23, 2000

Doctors are NOT Poor Business People

It is well know that doctors and nurses are poor business people, especially in the world of managed care. Well, not this editor or his contributing authors; all from the fields of law, accountancy, medicine, insurance, securities, business, management and the investing and financial services professions.

Not only does the first section of this book review medical office practice management tips, but it also teaches physicians how to profit more from their toil. Then, the book relates best practices to invest hard earned money in the sectors of risk management, budgeting, housing, automobiles, college educaton, taxation, investing, retirement and estate planning.

URLs and information resources abound, and the CD-ROM is a fabulous guide giving 'real-life' examples for the above topics. Physician and healthcare provider specificity makes this major textbook a 'must read' for all medical professionals.

Table of Contents Preface About the Editor About the Computer Disc Disc Contents Contributing Authors Ch. 1 Setting Up a Medical Practice Ch. 2 Office Business Equipment Ch. 3 Business Decision-Making in Medical Practice Ch. 4 Practicing Medicine in the Era of Managed Care Ch. 5 The Economic Fundamentals of Financial Planning Ch. 6 Essentials of Risk Management and Insurance Planning Ch. 7 Personal Financial Accounting and Income Taxation Ch. 8 Medical Office Tax Reduction Strategies Ch. 9 Introduction to Investment Concepts Ch. 10 Portfolio Management Ch. 11 Principles of Asset Protection Planning Ch. 12 Elements of Retirement Planning Ch. 13 Techniques of Estate Planning Ch. 14 Planning for Special Situations Ch. 15 Selecting a Financial Advisory Team Glossary of Terms Additional References Web Sites of Interest National Association of Securities Administrators and Associates 1999 Member Index Representative List Index

Also recommended: 'The Business of Medical Practice' Springer Publishing Same Editor.

Thank you.

This book is a collection of essays on hunting by some excellent outdoor writers, including former President Jimmy Carter. The writers talk about why they hunt. This book examines that question and finds that there are many reasons different people give to that same question. You may agree with some or disagree, but you'll definitely think long and hard about the answers given.

This book's thought provoking essays also force all of us to think about our own carnivorous instincts. Since almost all of us eat meat from the supermarket the book takes cows as an example and asks non hunters if the castration of bulls, the branding, the feeding of them in outdoor, closed in, excrement filled pens and the eventual slaughter of them is really somehow better than the hunter who shoots and kills a deer in the wild? It seems we all live with blood on our hands. But not to let you think this book is simply cut and pasted from the pages of American Hunter. The book also questions trophy hunting and whether hunting should even be considered a sport.

Since many hunters spend a good deal of time defending what they love to do, I would recommend that they pick up a copy of this book in order to be able to answer the question "why do I hunt?"

I could not think of a title for my review. I don't write many and find Amazon's 5 star system constraining. This book is extraordinarily good. The title will, unfortunately, be off-putting to some. If one could choose another title, I would suggest: A compendium of almost four-dozen essays written by men and women about their love and passion for wildlife and conservation. It is so much more than a book about hunting, that one cannot describe it simply. Further, what is equally astounding is the fact that the "collector," David Petersen, was able to obtain such a wonderful robust collection.

If one expects this to be a book merely about hunting, that expectation is wrong. If one expects this to be essays written only by undereducated, good old boys-"slob hunters"-who relish ambushing Bambi from a truck that is wrong. If your expectation is that all the essays will be unambiguously pro-hunting or gun sport, you are "off the mark." Fairly, Nelson, in his introduction says," In the United States, hunters are probably the largest, most diverse, and most important potential advocates for preservation of natural habitats and protection of wild animal populations." That remark comes close.

I believe that many city folk have so lost touch with wild life that they now believe that hunting is something akin to a video game using live ammunition. That a hunter would relish spending an entire day tracking game, and not succeed seems antithetical to their purpose for some. After reading these essays, one understands why the writers deem the day a success, something very special; e.g., "I began to realize that what I like best about hunting was the companionship of a few good old trusted buddies in the out-of-doors."

If hunters can feel so deeply-even those who later abandon it-one hopes for a return to earlier days when more Americans shared the pastime. Pete Dunne writes about "the Great Moment: How the universe held its breath, waiting-waiting for the sound of an echo that never came; the echo of a shot that was never fired" while sighting a deer-and not shooting-after his many years of hunting. You can feel the heart of this "ex"-hunter who still declares that "anti-hunters who believe that hunting is synonymous with killing and that anyone who hunts is unfeeling and cruel" ... "aren't dishonest. They are merely wrong."

I could go further, providing so many wonderful examples of the humanity of these writers. I suggest, however, that you make the time to read this book. Perhaps the greatest compliment I can pay to these writers is that they are knowledgeable, articulate, caring people. If their hunting experience has helped them become that way, hunting is very important to our culture and our society.

One of the things a hunter struggles with is how to describe to others what the importance of hunting is. This book is a compilation of insights written by those who ask themselves the question, "Why do you hunt?".

We picked up this book after our first board actually became a liability! It was only after the failure of original the board (which failed for exactly the reasons the book outlined as primary reasons boards fail!) that this book was recommended to us. The five founders all read it and discussed it.

Since we were in the midst of a reorg, it was exceedingly helpful in reshaping the new board into a more effective and cohesive part of the company. We did a much better job of first creating the criteria to evaluate candidates and a lot of the politics went out of the process.

I don't agree with all of the authors assertions about what a strong board can do for a company. I still think much of that is up to the people doing the actual work. However, since a board is a critical element of any modern company, read this first and do it right the first time.

This is a must read for every board director. Newly-electeds will find a treasure trove of important material; experienced directors will find data to either support or challenge their beliefs on corporate governance.

Bruce R. Ellig
Corporate Vice President HR (retired)
Pfizer, Inc.

In my role advising mid- and senior-level management of Fortune 100 companies, I found this book by Conger, Lawler and Finegold to be of immediate value.

"Corporate Boards: New Strategies for Adding Value at the Top" is positioned towards people who are perhaps on boards or who are executives dealing with boards. The authors are extremely credible, having dealt with and advised senior leadership from nearly every Fortune 100 company.

This book really brings together in one source all you need to know about building a more effective board - it is filled with real and practical guidelines and actionable how-tos. At the same time, it challenges the current governance approaches, arguing that despite all the "best practices" available, we still have a relatively simplistic understanding of how to build a great board. This book gives the reader more sophisticated insights into what it takes to have an effective board.

The authors also raise a number of issues that are critical given today's environment. For example, are boards solely responsible to shareholders or are there other, equally critical groups to which boards need to be accountable? Finally, the authors discuss the implications of the Internet for the boardroom.

In short, I strongly recommend this book, particularly for those who deal with senior leadership, corporate boards and governance issues.

This would be a very good book for those who begin to study Kabbalah. It offers many details on how the written Torah can be translated and it also gives useful insights on some of the Kabbalistic techniques of interpretation of Hebrew text. Although very concise, clear and engaging, the book covers only a few aspects of Kabbalah and leaves many important things out. I would also recommend books by Aryeh Kaplan (in the case if you're really into studying Kabbalah) and for beginners I'd recommend Perle Epstein's Kabbalah - The Way of the Jewish Mystic (this book gives a lot of information on historical background and theory) and rabbi David A. Cooper's God Is a Verb (this book is brilliant and I think women would especially like it). Gershom Scholem's books are also good, though his works tend to be dry and scholarly. If one wants to study Kabbalah seriously I would recommend such authors as rabbi Moshe Luzzatto, rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, rabbi Laibl Wolf and of course, rabbi Aryeh Kaplan.

There are a lot of books out there purporting to be able to explain the ancient Jewish mystical teachings called the "Kabbalah" (which means "what has been receievd" in Hebrew). This is a MUST READ for both beginners and advanaced students alike. He describes the concepts of the Kabbalah using basic Jewish "building blocks" of understanding of Hebrew language, theology, Biblical teachings, and Gemmatria. I have not seen any other book which has described Kabbalah in such fine, short, and direct detail as this one does. There is a practical level to this teaching, as well, which David Sheinken provides in developing basic meditations based on these teachings. The source for Sheinken's material is well founded on accepted ancient Jewish teachings from the Midrash, Torah, Oral Tradition (Talmud) and various Jewish commentators. His own teacher was the late Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, who is well regarded in the Orthodox Jewish community, and has himself written extensively on this subject before his untimely death. I highly recommend this book...read it before reading any other..or listening to any other lecture on the subject. It will clarify the entire subject regarding Kabbalah to the reader in a short, concise, and direct "to the point" format.

If you're tired of "you just have to believe it" or "you can't ask those question" while you ponder the questions of God and the Universe you'll find comfort in this book. While it deals with God and science, it feels neither religious or scientific, yet also is both. For someone who comes to it knowling nothing, the presentation communicated with beauty and ease of understanding. While you are given an amazing number of previously elusive answers, you are left inspired to know more. WHile I have delved into the books he suggested as well as others, this remains the most affecting core read. I immediately gave 4 copies away and look forward to discussing the subject with those friends when they are done with the book. Having spent the last 6 years in the Bible Belt it is especially refreshing.

In the early 1960s, Yoko Ono established herself as a challenging and often puzzling artist. She worked across the boundaries of media, making impossible to categorize her work in any field. A pioneer in conceptual art, video, and installation, Ono also crossed the boundaries into design with projects that took the form of advertising and designed artifacts. Alexandra Munroe and Jon Hendricks have surveyed the forty years of Ono's career in a richly illustrated book with essays and contributions by many scholars, including Kevin Concannon, Joan Rothfuss, and Kristine Stiles. The superb documentation includes an anthology of Ono's own writings compiled by Jon Hendricks, together with an excellent chronology and bibliography. Ken Friedman. "Alexandra Munroe with Jon Hendricks: Yes Yoko Ono." Book review published in Design Research News, Volume 6, Number 5, May 2001 ISSN 1473-3862.

I was at the SFMOMA to see her YES exhibition, and exactly what I expected, I was overwhelmed with delight... Her art is whimsically amazing. Her music touches your heart and soul. Seeing all the people there that day, I was glad that Yoko is finally getting all the respect she deserves, after all these years... Also caught her live performance at the Los Angeles's Roxy almost 6 years ago just took my breath away. I truly think she's one of the true visionaries of our time.

The price of fame can be extremely high; Yoko Ono came to prominence because of her relationship to super-celebrity John Lennon. Without this association to Lennon, she'd probably be relegated to the rarified world of conceptual art and never be a household name. But the fame came at a high price; she was villified for her influence on the pop-cult Beatles and blamed for their demise. This is unfair; the Beatles would have evolved and changed without any help from Yoko Ono or Linda Eastman McCartney. And then she suffered the cruelest blow of all, to have her husband murdered by a crazed fan.

I became a fan of her art in the 60's when I read about some of her "performance" art; one favorite; she dressed herself in her best dress,gave scissors to members of an audience, sat down in a chair and encouraged them to take snips out of her dress. At first, people were shy to do so, then as one or another became bolder and snipped bits from the dress, the group became practically frenzied and she felt even worried they would go farther than just snipping a dress with the shears. A wonderful elucidation of human behavior and original; it gave new insight into ourselves and thus was truly a work of art. Other works that impressed me were photos of the bottoms of bare feet, from under a glass surface, and of course the film of buttocks, which I personally never did have a chance to see, but loved the idea of.

This book is a tremendous resource of information into Yoko Ono's varied art including her music. (No reason why a CD can't be part of a book, great idea.) This book is a fine retrospective, and I only regret that Yoko Ono will never fully take her place in modern art because of the diluting influence of pop culture on her history, and because conceptual art still has not been given the same validity as other media. (Christo perhaps is the only one to have transcended this barrier, because he sells prints of his monumentally engineered and staged concepts.)

This was a play first published in 1593, with the theme of King Edward's struggle against the Welsh prince Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, otherwise known as Llewelyn the Last. Llewelyn was a prince of Gwynedd who adopted the style Prince of Wales in 1258 and was formally recognised in this role by King Henry III at the Treaty of Montgomery in 1267. Edward I became King of England in 1272 but it was only on his return from the Crusades in 1274 that he had to confront the problem of Wales. In 1277 he invaded Wales and Llewelyn was forced to pay homage. Several years of comparative peace followed but hatred of English laws and settlers caused the Welsh to rise again in 1282. The king crushed the revolt and Llewelyn was killed. These events prompted a Welsh bard to ask "Is this the end of the world?" and another to yearn "Ah God, that the sea would drown the land!".

Llewelyn is rarely mentioned in English literature so I read the play with interest. This edition is edited by the late G. K Dreher who wrote an interesting introduction and modernized the spelling and punctuation. I did not expect to find new historical insights into Llewelyn but was interested to see how he was portrayed to an Elizabethan audience. In fact, George Peele is surprisingly sympathetic in his presentation of the man who posed such a threat to the English crown. As Dreher points out, the play was written for an audience of people who "under Elizabeth were enjoying health, expansion, new knowledge, relish and hope". They were citizens of a country in the midst of becoming a great power and enjoying a cultural renaissance. Peele knew that they would sympathize with King Edward's desire to unite Britain under one monarch but would also respect the motives of the Welshman who fought for the rights and dignity of his own people.

Although practically unknown today, George Peele was highly respected by his literary contemporaries. He was an Oxford "Maister of Artes" and the play contains a sprinkling of the Latin tags and classical allusions that we expect from an educated writer of his time but my own favourite passage is a homely one:

(The Friar's novice responds to his master's command to visit town in order to buy food and wine)
"Now, master as I am true wag,
I will be neither late nor lag,
But go and come with gossip's cheer
Ere Gib our cat can lick her ear ."

This new edition of the play published by the Iron Horse Free Press in Texas.

George Peele's King Edward the First Modernized & Illustrated

Peele, George. King Edward the First. Ed. G. K. Dreher. Midland, TX: Iron Horse Free Press, 1999;
ISBN: 0-9601000-7-5 (hardcover, 224 pages with illustrations).

The publication history of George Peele's chronicle play, Edward I, begins in 1593, as the Stationers' Company register tells us:

Die Octobris./. [1593] Entred for his Copie vnder thandes of bothe the wardens an enterlude entituled the Chronicle of Kinge Edward the firste surnamed Longeshank with his Retourne out of the Holye Lande, with the lyfe of Leublen Rebell in Wales with the sinkinge of Quene Elinour [.]

Alternately called Longshank, Longshanks, and Prince Longshank, Peele's Edward I was performed fourteen times by the Lord Admiral's Men between August 29, 1595, and July 14, 1596. The play's successful stage history occasioned the printing of a second edition, which appeared in 1599.

At least eleven modern editions have been published since R. Dodsley's 1827 text, the most recent of which is: King Edward the First, a retroform edited by G. K. Dreher, published by Iron Horse Free Press. Publisher George R. Dreher, son of G. K. Dreher, notes that the "aim of this edition is to provide . . . a few unriddles in the text, modern spelling and punctuation, and an introduction for readers who are not familiar with the play." Partly a celebration of Peele's life and works and partly a tribute to Dreher's father's scholarship, the volume brings together G. K. Dreher's previous editions of Peele's Edward I (Adams Press, 1974) and David and Bethsabe (Adams Press, 1980). The new edition also includes an introduction, a commentary, and 23 images: 8 medieval illustrations from the British Library, plus 1 each from the Public Records Office, Eton College, and the Beinecke Rare Book Collection (featured in Edward I); 12 illustrations from museums around the world by the artists Raphael, Michelangelo, Salviati, Rembrandt, Chapron, Berton, Beckmann, Picasso, and Chagall (featured in David and Bethsabe). Together these components fashion a useful volume for a general reading audience; indeed, this text does more than any previous edition to popularize Peele's work. Although not a critical edition, the book will perhaps be most valuable as a teaching text for undergraduate studies.

George Peele (1556-96), born in London, was one of the principal writers of chronicle history plays in the Elizabethan literary movement, which culminated in Shakespeare's Henry IV plays and Henry V. Peele was educated at Christ's Hospital, Broadgates Hall (Pembroke College), and Christ Church, Oxford where he won praise as a translator of one of the Iphigenias of Euripides. In 1580 Peele married Anne Cooke, daughter of an Oxford merchant. With Ann he returned to the environs of London in 1581 where he pursued an active literary career in association with the "University Wits", a group of playwrights that included John Lyly, Robert Greene, Thomas Lodge, Thomas Nashe, Christopher Marlowe, and Thomas Watson. Peele's works concern courtly and patriotic themes and can be classified according to three main categories: plays, pageants, and miscellaneous verse. In 1589, in a vitriolic preface to Greene's Menaphon, Nashe suspends his condemnation of most late-sixteenth-century English writers to praise Peele as the "chiefe supporter of pleasance now living, the Atlas of Poetrie, and primus verborum Artifex" who "goeth a steppe beyond all that write." In 1592 Greene considered him "no lesse deserving" than Marlowe and Nashe; "in some things rarer, in nothing inferiour." Peele's surviving plays are: The Araygnement of Paris (1584); Edward I (1593); The Battle of Alcazar (1594); The Old Wives' Tale (1595); and David and Fair Bethsabe (1599). His miscellaneous verse includes The Tale of Troy (1589), Polyhymnia (1590) and The Honour of the Garter (1593), an epideictic poem to the Earl of Northumberland. Excerpts from Peele's writings were first anthologized in 1600 in Englands Helicon and Englands Parnassus.

Peele's Edward I combines three narratives, each announced by the original text's full title: the Chronicle of Kinge Edward the firste surnamed Longeshank with his Retourne out of the Holye Lande, with the lyfe of Leublen Rebell in Wales with the sinkinge of Quene Elinour. Peele derives the first story, the return from the Holy Land of King Edward I (1272-1307), from at least four different chronicles, but chiefly those of Grafton and Holinshed. Peele shapes his account of the life of Llywelyn (?-1282) from popular tales of Robin Hood. The third story is an unhistorical account of Queen Elinor portrayed as a divinely judged murderess. Peele subordinates the second and third narratives under the first in order to frame the play's central plot of Edward's glorious military victories over the Scots and Welsh, especially his devastating campaigns of 1277 and 1282-83 in which he conquered the Welsh principality of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd.

Edward I resounds with nationalistic pride at a time when England's victory, in 1588, over the Spanish Armada continued to fuel public celebrations. Edward's first speech in the play, for example, invokes a providential design for England's history:

O God my God, the brightnes of my daye,

How oft haft thou preferu'd thy feruant fafe, By fea and land, yea in the gates of death, O God to thee how highly am I bound, For fetting me with thefe on Englifh ground?

G. K. Dreher's modern edition standardizes the text's spelling, punctuation, and stage directions, thus achieving a very readable version:

O God, my God, the brightness of my day, How oft hast thou preserved thy servant safe, By sea and land, yea in the gates of death. O God, to thee how highly am I bound For setting me with these on English ground.

This latest return of Longeshank will certainly contribute to George Peele's popular reputation as one of the most important chronicle playwrights in Elizabethan England. In addition to Peele's Edward I, Iron Horse Free Press currently offers three other books by G. K. Dreher: Samuel Huntington, Longer Than Expected (an illustrated essay on the Presidency of Samuel Huntington, first president of The United States in Congress Assembled); Now the Dog is Quiet (a novella written in opposition to world hunger); and Ourselves & One Other (a collection of Christian devotional meditations).

Author George Peele was in a group of London playwrights, precursory to Shakespeare, known as the "university wits" as were Marlowe, Lyly, Nashe, and Greene. In 1587 Thomas Nashe called Peele "The chief supporter of pleasance now living, the Atlas of poetry, and primum verborum artifex (most excellent artist of words)," and "one who goeth a step beyond all that write." Editor George Kelsey, through extensive research of primary sources at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University, has provided a retroform of KING EDWARD I, solving several riddles in the text that he discusses in the 43 page introduction covering Chronicle History Plays, Sources, Structure, Theme, Characterization, and Diction. In the special insert of DAVID AND BETHSABE (SAMPLES) Dreher juxtaposes Peele's verse with parallel Bible passages from the 1525 translation by Miles Coverdale and demonstrates that Peele worked directly from the Latin and used as sources the Psalms as well as Samuel II. Dreher offers a 35 page discussion of Peele's viewpoint, emotional involvement, and style. The book is 6 x 9, 224 pp., with color printed case, 20 illustrations from the finest museums around the world, a Foreword, Introduction, Comments, and Bibliography.

This book is a long overdue explanation of the "Logical Effort" approach to MOS circuit design invented by two of the authors, Sutherland and Sproull, in the late 80's. The technique presented is complete and powerful, and this book should be required reading for all persons involved in high-performance or low-power MOS digital design. Nevertheless, I would not recommend it for beginners without some of what the authors call "instruction from veteran designers." The main shortcoming of the book is a lack of organization---important points are sometimes made in seemingly unrelated sections, and the sections themselves do not always appear to follow the most logical arrangement---and it could stand a more thorough editing job to clean up some of the presentation. Sometimes, I felt that information that was presented in charts would have been much more powerful in graph form. A few of the graphs in the book are misleading (arbitrary scales and unmarked breaks in scales), and some of the mathematical terminology is imprecise. The fact that the authors picked, somewhat arbitrarily, a new definition of the technology delay parameter tau (instead of sticking to the definition established by Mead & Conway in their 1980 book) is annoying. Aspiring asynchronous designers should be cautioned that the two designs for an n-input Muller C-element contrasted in Section 11.2 are logically different. A section contrasting the uses of the logical effort method in synchronous and asynchronous designs would also be welcome. All in all, however, the book is very readable, and it is easy to follow. It would be effective as a textbook, and it is a most welcome addition to my library because it treats a difficult and important topic better and in more detail than any other published work.

This is without a doubt a must-have for CMOS logic and circuit designers. No doubt this will be on my desk for the forseeable future. The first two chapters present a basic introduction to the approach that is sufficient to gain a working knowledge. The remaining chapters delve into details such as applying the method to domino circuits, passgate logic, cells with unequal rise/fall times, and a complete derivation of the method. The authors are well known experts in the field of high speed circuit design, and David Harris' presentation of the material is far from bland and boring. This is one of the few technical books I had a hard time putting down. Highly recommended!

A welcome addition to the field of VLSI with pratical and not ridiculous constraints to establish fast and efficient logic designs. The book could use some introduction topics in VLSI to make the book more broad and probably more appealing as a textbook.