I purchased this book at the Singles conference in Florida. It is awesome in everyway. I love the layout and the questions are very stimulating. It is just a wonderful book. Get one, you will love it.

I found this book on the web. I have really enjoyed it and it has spoken to my heart. The content is wonderful.

Just read this book, after getting it at the National Gen-X Conference. I found it Biblical, truthful, intreaging, comical, honest, thought provoking, and truly REAL. Just what this generation needs. You will not want to put it down.

Fans of blues music and musicians will relish this autobiography of Delta bluesman Edwards, which charts his rise to fame and his survival in a critical musical world. His first-person observations of the changing blues style and field are especially meaningful given that so many blues titles are not written by participants in the field.

Honey and his astute collaborators have given us the genuine article: a poignant, detailed, uproarous chronicle of what Robert Palmer called the"Deep Blues," the Delta tradition from which all other blues styles emanate. If you've heard Honey sing either in person or on his fine recordings, you will hear the voice you read. He offers dozens of unforgettable moments, from the first sounds he ushers from a broken-necked guitar to his mother's death to the death of Robert Johnson, that are alive and chilling. My only criticism is that the photographs featured in the book are spartan, contemporary views of critical sites in this artist's life. More historical photography would have enhanced the text. The publisher of this well-designed softcover has made the text relaxingly readable. After my first 50 pages, I wanted to purchase all of Honey's recordings and read more about him. He is an articulate, funny, precise chronicler of his own life. If only I could do the same with my own life! First rate.

This autobiography succeeds memorably on several levels. Told in spare, moving words, it provides a vivid picture of life in the Mississippi Delta long before the civil rights movements of the '50s. In addition, it's a kind of African-American "On the Road," told from the perspective of one who crisscrossed the Southern United States, scuffling to make a living playing the blues. And finally, it's a terrific history of the blues, told by a man who made a significant musical contribution himself and who played with nearly all the essential artists of the '30s and on.

Edwards, born in the Delta around 1915, worked the fields as a kid before he learned to play the guitar and began hoboing around the South. He rode the rails, played in innumerable small towns, and polished his craft. Along the way, he hung out and played with the likes of Sunnyland Slim, Big Walter Horton, Little Walter Jacobs, Robert Junior Lockwood, Muddy Waters, B.B. King and yes, Robert Johnson. The book describes how these architects of the modern blues passed songs, licks, and stories back and forth, keeping a form that relies so heavily on tradition dynamic and vital.

A major strength of the book is Edwards' distinctive voice, transcribed by his collaborators to retain its distinctive rhythms and dialect. The book's title sums up his attitude. His memories include violent death, physical and emotional loss, and great material want. Still, you sense strongly that he wouldn't have had his life any other way. His narrative is devoid of self-pity, but it never glosses over the difficulty of the times he endured, which included stints in prison.

The book concludes with useful appendices that define key terms and offer capsule biographies and discographies of musicians Edwards encountered. A good bibliography is also included. Highly recommended for those interested in the blues and in American social history. Great read.

I first read this book over the summer of 1957. I got it through the Weekly Reader book club. I was interested in the classics at the time and David and the Phoenix fit right in. The author made the characters so true to life that I wished for a long time that I could stumble upon a bird like the Phoenix and make it my friend.

This was just a great story and I read it at exactly the right time of my life. When my son was smaller I looked in every used book store and library I could find for a copy. I wanted him to read it so much. Unfortunately time has marched on and he is now 16 and probably will not be interested in reading it. But, I am going to get a copy any way.

I heartily recommend this wonderful book for the preteen set.

I found this book in my Aunt's house when I was a young child, 12 - 15 years ago. "David and the Phoenix" made a lasting impression on me. I never liked to read much, until I read this book. My family lives at the base of a mountain and we did and still do a lot of hiking. Hiking and my love for all animals helped me relate to this book and I have loved to read ever since. My Aunt can't find this book anymore, probably one of her grandchildren got a hold of it, but I wrote down information about the book when I was a kid, hoping to find a copy for myself. I just happened upon that piece of paper and found that it was a 1958 Edition - Selection of the Weekly Reader, Children's Book Club - Education Center published by Follett Publishing Company, Chicago. Manufactured in the United States of America by American Book-Stratford Press, Inc., NY. Published simultaneously in Canada by Ambassador Books, Limited. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 57-8280. I recently tried to find a copy and had no luck. This is my last hope of finding the book so that the children I hope to have someday soon can enjoy it too.

I too received "David & the Phoenix" from the weekly reader book club. Like a first true-love, it is a book that I will never forget. How can a 50 year old man still remember a chlidren's book so well? I have spoken to several others my age who also fell in love with this book. I have a copy and searched for many years before I found a second copy, which I gave to a friend. It has always been my secret desire to write a screenplay of the book. I glad that someone finally has. Who is making the movie?

Several years ago I tracked down Edvard Ormondroyd and spoke with him on the telephone. He is a librarian in New England. I just wanted to thank him. He told me about his other books. I read them all. They were excellent. I especially liked the series with the time travel. They too would make an excellent movie.

This is a very realistic account of a year in the lives of one shift of homicide detectives written by a newspaper reporter that reads as well as fiction. You are right there at the crime scenes with the primary detectives when they roll the body over looking for clues, when they interview the witnesses, fill out the paperwork and go out for drinks after work when the board is changed from red to black, signifying the case has been closed. You can get a real appreciation as to what it is like to be an underpaid, underappreciated and overworked homicide investigator in a major city. Interrrogation techniques are revealed in this unique book. Some trial action. Definitely worth the read. Contains real life violence. A good companion to the TV show.

Simon's Homicide reads not as a murder mystery, not as a documentary, and not as a dramatic novel, but as a life lived in the Baltimore homicide unit. The reader does not feel passive, as though he were watching the goings-on through a filter like a television or even a bystander. The reader is there, with the detectives, sharing their experiences, sharing their very thoughts. This book is a masterpiece, a book that completely enthralls you to the point where during the time you are reading, nothing means more to you than the resolution of each case, each obstacle, each crisis. Please, do yourself a favor and read this remarkable book.

... until you are finished. Incredibly well-written, fascinating, and a page-turner. I've reacted this way to very few books, and _Homicide_ is one of them. Simon makes you laugh at the warped sense of humor of the Baltimore Homicide Squad, and cry at the tragedy of a little girl's body found in the projects.

This is just flat-out an amazing book. Read it.

I have to agree that larson's calculus is a very comprehensive calculus text. It includes a lot of material and applications.

If you are going to selfstudy calculus, i have some advices:
1 Not every section is necessary. Some sections are mainly about applications in mechanical engineerings(actually, most applications). If you are not interested in ME, just skip them.

2 Don't go too fast. If you don't have time, just skip some sections of the end of each chapters. Especially at the end of the book. Chapter 14 is quite confusing. Read them slowly, understand piece by piece.

If you are a math major, particularly pure math, this is not a book for you. You need a book that talks more about theory.

After one confusing (first) semester of calculus using Thomas' Early Transcendentals, my school's math department switched to this text for second semester. Thank goodness! This text is much more clear, with examples that take you through the important steps of the problems. Sometimes the text will leave out a step in the example, but usually it's something from trig or pre-calc. The use of graphics in the examples are very helpful as well; the important theorems are boxed/highlighted, as are useful tips to solving the problems.

The exercise problems at the end of each section are never huge surprises. As for their difficulty, they tend to start out easy and end with the more challenging word problems. When I was confused or frustrated, it helped to go back and re-read the examples. The Thomas text's examples were extremely difficult (for us non-MIT level math students) and unrelated/inconsistent with the exercises.

The editing of Larson's text is fantastic, because there are relatively few errors (whereas Thomas' was full of them). And I especially liked the photographs and brief biographies of the famous mathematicians sprinkled throughout each chapter, because they humanize this mysterious and feared subject.

I'd say that this book made calculus less scary and much more manageable. I still had to study really hard to ace the class, but at least it wasn't because the book was overly confusing.

This is the only book I recommend to someone learning calc for the first time.

Larson's approach is practical, logical, thorough, and most importantly, CLEAR!!!!

The portrayal of our defense industry in this story is unfortunately accurate. We have placed so much emphasis on "smart weapons", that we have forgotten the real effectiveness of our military. The action and pace of this book will keep the reader enthralled and they will not want to put it down.

I've read almost all of Ralph Peters' novels, and this is probably my favorite to date. I passed it over in hardcover--frankly it didn't sound very interesting. I couldn't have been more wrong: it's one of the best written, engrossing novels I've read in a long time. Peters is one of the few military thriller writers that can name drop Thomas Hardy novels and actually make us believe his characters read them. I know what a cliche this sounds, but I couldn' t put it down. Peters has within him his best novel yet--some day he'll write the Once An Eagle of his generation of officers.

After 25 years in the defense industry, watching the Services buy big things they don't need while neglecting small things they do (like enough pay so the troops don't have to be on food stamps), it continues to disturb me that the American taxpayer continues to allow Congress to sell out to what Ike Eisenhower called the "military-industrial complex". TRAITOR could have been a documentary. This is a great novel, thrilling and unpredictable, but it is also based on the real world and all the more gripping because of this.

I think it's important to emphasize that all children in the family are special, each in his/her own way. Explaining to siblings that the autistic child is "special" is one way that a parent can help brothers and sisters understand, accept and love. But in a household where autism can be so demanding of parents' attention, and where the autistic child is frequently the recipient of multiple in-home therapies (i.e., additional attention), the typically developing sibling needs to know that s/he is very special, too. I agree with the other reviewers that this is a sensitive and well written book but wish it had imparted that message. Many parents of autistic children try to teach that we all equal (and equally special), just different. When reading this book to my 4 year old to help him understand his little brother, I improvised and found ways to add that he is special, too.

This beautifully illustrated book is the winner of the second biennial Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award sponsored by the Council for Exceptional Children's Division on Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities and Special Needs Project. This is a very touching story about a boy who comes to understand and appreciate his brother who has autism. Sammy's brother learns that in addition to having a special brother, he can be a special brother to Sammy by loving him.

Our daughter was diagnosed with Autism a couple of years ago and since then, it has hit our son the hardest. Only 16 months older than our daughter, our son has struggled with why his sister doesn't speak, why she goes to a different school and why she doesn't play the same.

'My Brother Sam' depicts a young boy who's younger brother, Sam, is afflicted with autism. I was so pleased with the way the author showed not only the full spectrum of emotions of Sam's older brother due to realistic events (which are the same kind of problems our son has had to deal with) but also spent the last half of the book telling ways the little boy was able to understand and cope with Sam's special needs and enter HIS world.

Autism affects hundreds of thousands of people and each year, it grows. If you or someone you know has a young child struggling to cope with his/her newly diagnosed sibling, this is an excellent book to start with!

A Tale Of Three Kings is a an awesome piece of Christian literature. If you are tired of all the "holy spirit, healing, prosperity, achieving wealth through biblical principles" type books, than Gene Edwards is your man. In this book, Gene lays out a refreshing perspective on brokeness that is not quite traditional in mainstream "Sunday school, pulpit preachings". Through his wonderful and simplistic story telling style, Gene goes into the depths of the hearts of three kings, namely King Saul, King David, and King Absolom. Not only will this book aid in your journey towards the deep things of the Lord and His ways, but it will cause us to look into our very hearts and ask the question, "which heart of these Kings do I have....." Indeed men fix things that break, but after we read this book we emerge w/ the understanding that God breaks men to fix them.

This story appears to be written lightly but it is full of deep thoughts and truths. I picked this up to read about Kings Saul, David and Absalom. Could not put it down. Read straight through. God had me pick this book up to read about the condition of my own heart. Am I as King Saul seeking God's power or King David a man after God's own heart. Gene Edwards truly writes to the heart of brokenness, submission and authority.

I have owned this book for years. The other night God had me to read this book at 11:30 pm. I read the first chapter and I wanted to put it down (it made me weep). Gene Edwards said I know you didn't like that chapter and you won't like the other chapter either. He was right. It showed me of myself. When I read I heard myself saying the same words that I was reading. After each chapter, God said keep reading. This book was awesome. I never looked at David the way he was protrayed in this book. I read the whole book before going to bed. I learned alot about myself, people in church and especially leadership over me. Everyone should read this book.

This work was merely the abridged version (the actual version is 3000 pages long), but Gibbon's command and use of the English language is so rich and varied that one must take the time necessary to savor and fully digest his arguments. Besides, at nearly 800 pages, this isn't light reading.

Editor David Womersley did a masterful job with the editing. In situations where chapters of the abridged version were truncated, Womersley still favored the reader with a description of Gibbon's arguments, as well as with commentary on why/how Gibbon's observations were of consequence. Additionally, Womersley's introduction is well worth one's time--he is able to give us an accurate and fascinating portrait of Gibbon, which enables us to better understand and appreciate the nature of Gibbon's arguments.

Of course, the best part about the book is Gibbon's own observations regarding the history of Rome. Gibbon was a masterful and witty commentator--oftentimes issuing backhanded insults and wryly discussing certain historical personages. Even the footnotes are filled with such commentary. Consider one footnote where Gibbon said "The Dissertation of M. Biet seems to have been justly preferred to the discourse of his more celebrated competitor, the Abbé le Boeuf, an antiquarian, whose name was happily expressive of his talents." Of the emperor Gordian, Gibbon remarked that both his gigantic collection of books, and his impressive collection of concubines were "for use rather than ostentation." Who could help but be charmed by this cheeky and mildly scandalous commentary?

But beyond dry wit and well-placed insults, Gibbon's work stands out because it is so relevant to our world today. The collapse of empire is a subject of much debate in the United States--what with various commentators and pundits assuring us that we will go the way of the Romans quite soon. Gibbon tells us what the crumbling of an empire really is and what it means--in sumptuous detail. In discussing the empire of the Romans, Gibbon lends perspective to geopolitical arguments of today. We can use his analysis as a starting point--the definitive discussion on how a world power may reach its nadir, and may ultimately see its power dissipate.

At times, Gibbon's attention to historical detail is eerie in its ability to pick out important and consequential subjects for discussion. In analyzing the rise of Islam, Gibbon remarks upon the rewards that await the faithful Muslim: "Seventy-two Houris, or black-eyed girls, of resplendent beauty, blooming youth, virgin purity, and exquisite sensibility, will be created for the use of the meanest believer; a moment of pleasure will be prolonged to a thousand years, and his faculties will be encreased a hundred fold, to render him worthy of his felicity." Tell me that you don't read that passage without a shiver running down your spine. Over two hundred years before the attacks of September 11th, Gibbon identified and remarked on the mythology that would drive madmen to plot and execute that mad deed.

Equally impressive was Gibbon's complete and absolute mastery of allegory and analogy. His use of the story of the "Seven Sleepers" to describe the human advancement "from youth to age, without observing the gradual, but incessant, change of human affairs," is a shining example, as Womersley points out, of "human insight, historical vision and philosophical reach" that confirm Gibbon's "range and power as a historian." A relation of the history of the Paulician sect would have struck other lesser historians as tedious and unnecessary, but Gibbon--who was no lesser historian--undertook an analysis of the history with excellent results--making clearer to the reader the nature of religious culture in Gibbon's own time.

Like any work devised by the human hand, the book does have characteristics that receive criticism. Throughout The Decline and Fall Gibbon takes shots at the Persians--a sore spot with me, personally. One bit appears to occur when Gibbon discusses Sultan Mahomet [Mohammad] II of the Ottoman Empire. Remarking on the fact that Mohammad II "spoke or understood five languages, the Arabic, the Persian, the Chalaean or Hebrew, the Latin and the Greek," Gibbon goes on to say that "The Persian might indeed contribute to [Mohammad's] amusement, and the Arabic to his edification." Needless to say, this is a slam against the Persian language--one of the most beautiful and lyrical tongues in existence, and a language that is perfectly suited to poetry--as Hafez, Rum'i, Sa'adi and Omar Khayyam would attest to, and do attest to by their eternally magnificent poetry. Gibbon also has his favorite figures. He openly roots for the Romans, under Emperor Julian, to vanquish the Persian Empire by force of arms, and laments the fact that the Romans lost their holdings in Persia thanks to the death of Julian, and the incompetence of the Emperor Jovian--Julian's successor. Indeed, Gibbon goes so far as to say that "Julian, on this occasion, shewed himself ignorant, or careless, of the laws of civility, which the prudence and refinement of polished ages have established between hostile princes. Yet these wanton ravages need not excite in our [heart] any vehement emotions of pity or resentment. A simple, naked, statute, finished by the hands of a Grecian artist, is of more genuine value than all these rude and costly monuments of Barbaric labor: and if we are more deeply affected by the ruin of a palace, than by the conflagration of a cottage, our humanity must have formed a very erroneous estimate of the miseries of human life." Additionally, Gibbon tells us that "The native race of Persians is small and ugly: but it has been improved by the perpetual mix of Circassian blood." Maybe it's just because my ethnicity is Persian, but I found these remarks wholly unnecessary.

Additionally, Gibbon lionizes Mohammad II, Julian, the Byzantine general Belisarius, and others--lending such favoritism at times that one cannot help but wonder whether his analysis is sufficiently dispassionate. And despite the fact that Gibbon was a believing Christian, Gibbon does show a hostility to religion that is characteristic of a man of the Enlightenment, but one that stands out nonetheless, and could very well have colored his analysis. I suppose that "The Decline and Fall" wouldn't be the same if this opinionated commentary was omitted, and overall, I did rather enjoy having the opportunity to gain an insight into Gibbon's own feelings and beliefs, but the reader should be warned that Gibbon's history is not exactly objective in nature.

In the end, however, these are trifling concerns. I haven't created anything like a Top Ten List of Favorite Books, but when I do, Gibbon's magnum opus will surely be included, and will have a place of honor. In remarking on the success of "The Decline and Fall," Gibbon stated that "my book was on every table, and almost on every toilette." I would not be in the least bit surprised if this were so, and few works in history would deserve similar popularity and acclaim. Given Gibbon's masterful historical relation, given his erudition and expert use of the English language and the contribution he made to the language through his work, and given the relevance of "The Decline and Fall" to our present day and age, let us hope for the sake of contemporary intelligence and society, that more tables and toilettes are graced with a copy of this magisterial work. More importantly, let us hope that Gibbon is read faithfully and constantly--like a Bible of the Enlightenment whose discussion of the past could very well serve to illuminate the present and the future, and offer guidance to meeting the challenges posed to us by modern day events.

This book would be worth every penny if purchased solely for David Womersley's introduction. The introduction is written so beautifully that it effortlessly carries the reader through every facet of the life of Edward Gibbon. I intended but to scan only a few pages of the introduction. Candidly, I expected it to be at best irrelevant and at worst tiresome. I was struck at once by how thoroughly Gibbon's life was recounted. My imagination was launched into flights of fancy at the sharp contrasts between Gibbon's classic European education and my decidedly less useful American public indoctrination. Gibbon spent time with major philosophers and these interactions helped to shape an intellect that was uniquely able to see 'truth', especially through religious dogma. The introduction provides the reader with invaluable insight and, dare I say, a device that may grant the reader a greater understanding and likely a greater appreciation of this classic work. Womersley has wisely chosen to abridge only the number of chapters while not 'blending' chapters. Womersley explains that the beauty of Gibbon's writing is best viewed in the arc of a complete chapter and therefore 'blending chapters' would be a horrible injustice. I liken Gibbon's writing to that of a non-fictional Shakespeare. Shakespeare helped us see truth in fictional stories as Gibbon does so in a non-fictional format. This is THE book to buy about the Roman Empire. Bravo - Sir Womersley!

How can you not love Edward Gibbon? Master of the one-liner, the backhanded compliment, the passing zinger, who else could have remarked famously of Gordian, a relatively obscure 3rd century emperor, that his enormous library and twenty-two acknowledged concubines were both "for use rather than ostentation." Gibbon is known to be no fan of Christianity's influence on Rome, nor is he a friend of Byzantium. Yet these prejudices are more than just pet hates: they reflect the fact that he, more than any other historian of the Englightenment, was prepared to cast aside the received wisdom of recent generations and delve back to the source to give an authentic view of history. Not only does he rank as a writer of Shakespearean proportions, he is one of historiography's most successful revisionists.

It is hard not to like Ahmad as you read these interviews. First, he is a thoughtful critic of international politics and economic systems. He is as tough on the Soviet left as he is on the capitalist right. And in the process he is engaged by such thinkers as Edward Said, Albert Camus and Antonia Gramsci. Like many leftists, however, Ahmad offers more criticism than solutions. He is not as rabidly anti-American as Chomsky, but he does embrace some of the third-world cliches about the West and the US that grow tiresome after a while. I, for one, am not convinced that the rest of the world is trapped in an American economic construct from which there is no possibility of liberation or advancement. The tough work of building a civil society, of opening the doors of debate and freedom, of embracing a reasonable economic policy that allows for some human ingenuity, none of this is prevented by a US power structure. On the contrary, the US generally has only blocked -- on a few occasions -- forays into Stalinist systems hostile to both local and international interests. On the other hand, some of his observations are keen -- his conclusion, for example, that non-violent resistance can only be effective against oppression that is morally founded, such as British colonialism (bringing enlightenment to the rest of the world). It would not work against Stalin or Hitler (or Saddam). He is also a valuable guide through some of the India/Pakistan issues that are confusing to many of us. Like William Appleman Williams, another US critic, Ahmad has some interesting things to say, but they must be weighed against the total evidence of history.

I read this book in 3 hours on a long haul flight and then talked my neighbouring passenger into following suit. It's that good.

A stirring page turner with simple unawashed straight-talk about politics, religion, world order, even the vagaries of corporatization. Really, I hesitate to make this into a long intellectual review but you will find themes ranging from the opportunism of Gandhi, to the seeds of discord that US itself sowed in the middle east and south east asia (and what the future holds), to the after-effects of blatant commercialization on our social lives, to.... Wait, what am I doing. There is no way you will regret the 11 dollars that go into this incredibly eye-opening insight, so stop wasting your time reading these reviews and just buy it!

Quite simply as close to an intelligent thriller as a work of non-fiction can come. Required reading.

Eqbal Ahmad is a rare example of a man who struggled to live by his principles and has shown others the way by the sheer humanity and clarity of his thought. He was a true and worthy inheritor of the sufi tradition.