Easy book (first-second grade level) that will interest the boy sports fan. Very hard to find sport themed books at this level.

It may be best to start with a few quotes from the many letters and autographed photos from the many martial arts legends in this book;
"Is a kowlageable work on martial arts literature and can be used as a guide to all martial arts systems"/ "Master Ricardo's book stress concepts and the evolution of the martial arts" Signed Prof.Sig Kufferath 10th dan Kodenkan Danzan-Ryu Headmaster .
"To Grandmaster Frank Ricardo,you have done well with the Small Circle System, Signed Prof. Wally Jay 3/15/00
"To Master Ricardo The Ultimate Warrior "Signed from Prof.Sig Kufferath 98"
"This book is a must read for any serious martial artist whether beginner or advanced practitioner. " Signed Grandmaster Ernesto Presas
There are quotes from Special Forces soldiers, Commanders , about how Professor Ricardo directly improved battlefeild survivabilty and mission capability. There are testimonials from Police Defensive Tacticts Instuctors,Kripalu Yoga teachers,T'ai chi masters and so many more. They all speak in harmony the one truth Professor Ricardos Conceptual guide is ingenous!
The back cover says it all; " In 1953, Honorable Great Grandmaster James M.Mittose asked; What is self Defense?" The quest for a definitive answer continues in this text this is self Defense (Kenpo JuJitsu), one thing for sure it can never be answered by the amassing of all the techniques,as the are infinite. but in the study of the concepts, the science's,the levels of transformations of life,physical,mental,and spiritual may be the Key!' Professor Frank R Ricardo Oct.7th 2000 .
The bottom line is the fact this book lives up to all of it! The best of the best it ROCKS!

Prof. Ricardo's book "This is Self Defense(Kenpo Jujitsu) The Essential Guide For the Conceptual Martial Artis," Is a book that goes beyond the technique and into what makes all the techniques work for all martial arts systems. One should read carfully and then apply the concepts to a specific technique and see how it works. Anyone who thinks that this book is not good because it doesn't show techniques then you don't know what you are talking about. This book should be read for the concepts and not for the pictures and then applied if you understand.

This book is amazing! I've read lots of martial arts books, and they all are limited to "do it my way" picture sets that reveal little if anything. Professor Ricardo has broken this boundary by providing an intelligent look at "the concepts that make all techniques work". I've applied these concepts to my techniques, and now they're 300% tighter, cleaner and more efficient! Thank you Professor! ...

Martín Fierro is, in some way, a national hero for Argentinian people, even for those who haven't read the book. And it seems pretty difficult to analyse this poem knowing that, because Fierro is basically a dirty, filthy, lazy and bane gaucho. Anyway, being Fierro for Argentinian people as Cid for Spanish or Achilles for Greek, the reader should know that this book defends a savage way of life with reasonable ideas, and that is what makes it unique. Martín Fierro belongs to a special time in Argentinian history, and because of this fact the reader should take over this book in a special way and try to understand it by entering the soul of the typical gaucho poetry. This book, written 120 years ago is still very very recommendable in this age of Grishams and Sheldons.

Martin Fierro was written by Jose Hernandez in an era of gauchos and caudillos, not very different as what it its today with unjustice and segregation. Gives a plain message of values, courage and validates the ability of the people to survive under the worst conditions and succeed. A very actual approach at very current problems. The advise he gives to his kids could be the same we today give to our kids "sibbling be united , ..."
Agreat book, with a wonderfull content, some historic points of view and a nice look to lthe 1800 argentinean society from a gaucho's side .

Martin Fierro is a work of art. While describing in poetry the life of Martin Fierro (a Gaucho in the Pampas in the mid to late 1800's), this poem was also a political complaint and a message of unification against the modern world for the gauchos. Herandez's greatest achievement was to unite, in one poem, a message for all the social and cultural classes. Hernandez was a self made man, ruled by simple principles based on honesty and dignity. These principles are well reflected in his book. When Martin Fierro meets his sons, and counsels them, it is Hernandez speaking to all of us.

This edition doesn't contain the extra appendices from the second edition published after his death, including Richthofen's notes for a sequal and his brother Lothar's eyewitness account of his death and burial. Pass this one up and keep looking for a complete copy, or else how are you going to read the story of the Red Baron and the nun?

I found this book to be tremendously interesting. It gives a first person view of what the life of the most famous and infamous ace of WWI was like. In it Manfred von Richthoven describes his upbringing, his training, his exploits in the air, and a number of colourful stories in between of what he did during his time off. He comes of as a charming and honorable man, whose somewhat plain prose is made up for by his remarkable life.

Throughout the book von Richthofen is quite frank as to his actions, and takes self-deprecating jabs at himself, yet given the nature of the book as inspirational/propagandistic material given out in a country in a time of war to keep up the moral of soldiers and civilians alike, this is not always possible. Either von Richthoven is a huge optimist who brushes aside the deaths of his comrades and mentors and lives in resplendant luxury, or his inner feelings and thoughts about some of the less glamourous aspect of war and all that it entails have been repressed. This is definitely not the type of personal and intimate book written by an old soldier looking back on the war, freed from the constraints of his position and obligations to his country and government (he obviously died in 1918, so that's impossible), so this book is quite one-sided and meant to stress the dashing, courageous, honorable and exciting aspects of his life. The book does also not spend a lot of time discussing his tactics, which I thought would have been interesting to hear, coming directly from the horse's mouth.

It was also written before his near fatal shooting down when he was grazed in the head by a bullet and the ensuing recuperation period. Reportedly he was somewhat changed by this incident, and it would've been fascinating to see his description of these events, but they all took place after the writing of the book and would likely have been flavoured, too.

I realize that I've spent a lot of time on the negatives, but often find that in situations like this the things that people didn't enjoy so much about something might give one a better insight as to whether or not one will enjoy a given book/film/recording. I really liked this book a lot, given that I am fascinated with this time period and aerial warfare during it. If you enjoy reading and learning about pilots during WWI & II, I would recommend you buying this book, because it's gives an interesting (albeit biased) historical perspective of the Great War by one of it's most famous participants, and also because it's the self-penned description of the life of the most famous combat pilot of all-time. I read this whole book in one go, really liked it, and hope you will too.

WWI premier ace, Manfred von Richthofen gives an honest and respectable account of his amazing career. His straightfoward, blunt style of writing allowed the pages to flow quickly. The popular image of the Red Baron as a cold-blooded, "machine-made" German is quite inaccurate. Instead you see a portrait of a man who pokes fun at the human mistakes made early in his career as well as some humorous accounts that he graciously gives to the reader. Note: There is a preface by C.G. Grey that I believe is best read as a postscript. Most of what is written by Grey is correct as seen through the eyes of the British but it is overly clouded with war time propaganda that may cause the reader to approach Richthofen's account with a biased, defensive manner. One should approach this work with a neutral mind and allow the pieces to fall where they may. Franks, in his introduction clears the air considerably, but still the damage may be done.

This is a very good book covered the air combat history and tatics from WW1 to Gulf War. With charts and pictures, readers can find very usful information of the aircrafts, weapons, tatics plus background stories of each campaign and time period.

Since this books covers a wide range of time line, this is good for general readers who want to get comprehensive knowledge of air combat or readeds who just start reading materials in this field. For those who have more knowledge of air combat, this may not be the best for more depth of each time period.

Although with good coverage and materials, revision of typo is required if this book is going to be published again. Some of them are really obvious and may misdirected readers.

For summary, this is a good book for general readers' collection.

This is a very entertaining book for fans of aviation, air combat, and tactics to use in flight simulators. Lots of pictures and diagrams, printed on glossy paper, easy to understand and follow, this book is a good primer for those who are looking to improve their air combat skills in flight simulators. It follows the history of air combat from WW1 to today's modern jets, and for each conflict it highlights the tactics used by pilots as they match their plane against the enemy. Norman Franks selects particular dogfights in each war to serve as examples of how fighter pilots put their aircraft's strengths to good use when battling in the skies. Speed, maneuverability, guns, durability ... all of these are taken into account.

This book knows its audience - mainstream America - and seeks to entertain and educate at the same time. Its a good book to keep around and appeals to fans of aviation of all ages.

Like Mr. Franks's others books this one has a lot information about the Albatros units and the most sucesseful pilots, unfortunately that is all. There is no presonal accounts in the book and little accounts of events about the units and the men. The author has done better in other books, like Dieppe. It is a good book for modelers, the artwork is great, but who, like me, looks for more detailed information, will have to look elsewhere. Anyway this book should be a good start.

Albatros Aces #32 has everything I like in a book about the pilots and airplanes of the First World War. Franks generously supplies contemporary photographs--and ones not often seen to boot. The colorplates of aircraft are very fine indeed, an excellent source for modellers. Franks also provides short but informative, absorbing biographies of the pilots of Albatros single-seaters. I cannot speak highly enough of this fine work.

The authors confirm the earlier judgement of P.J. Carisella's work "Who Shot the Red Baron." This most recent work contains numerous first hand accounts, particularly from the Allied side, of Richtofen's last flight. Particularly interesting are the actual reports submitted by those involved.

The authors combine their own practical flight experience, along with photographs (both period and today) of the famous "last flight" route, to convincingly determine and at point in the "last flight" Richtofen received his mortal wound, and who inflicted it. Addionally, they contend Richtofen made a "map reading" error that greatly contributed to the final outcome.

World War I aviation buffs will want to add this work to their collections.

When i saw this book in the bookshop i was thinking it was another historian knowing who shot down the red baron. as i pick it up and browsed through it. i started to read a chapter or two.i was amazed that how the author got right into the fact about the medical examination,the mapping and the witness of people who saw the crash. so i bought it and i was prowd of it. i have read many books about his death and i totally agree with Norman franks on how he was shot down. i recomend this book to any person who is interested in world war one aerial warfare. well writen and a book worth reading

This short collection of essays is published by the free market Institute of Economic Affairs in London. The occasion for launching this volume was the introduction of an annual lecture series, 'The Templeton Forum on Markets and Morality' based on an idea by Michael Novak.

The four essayists, Brian Griffiths, Robert Sirico, Norman Barry and Frank Field approach the issue from their own philosophical standpoints but in general are in agreement that morality and markets are compatible. Norman Barry's paper for me is the most interesting in that he postulates the development of rules from the emergence of a spontaneous order rather than having a pre-established framework of rules or ethics. While others may argue that markets require a framework of rules to operate in and cite minimal government or an established church, Barry's paper opens up the whole question of what constitutes moral and ethical behaviour to begin with.

It is this particular proposition which holds out particular interest for more lectures like this in the future. Historically there have been thoise in favour of the market who wish to circumscribe it's impact and who cite all sorts of reasons such as the possible collapse of society if free markets are allowed free rein. Ranged against that position are those who despise markets altogether and those who believe that free markets bring true freedom. As someone who believes in the latter, it seems to me that the political changes in the world over the last twenty five years or so have resulted in large gains for those who believe in the controlled markets view at the dtriment of followers of the anti-market view. Organised religion has much to lose by increasing choice for individuals, and much to lose by democracy but that is another story, and has resisted strongly.

This collection of essays seems to be the first shot in a major debate between conservatives and classical liberals which will go to the heart of the arguement about the market.

Why only four stars? Well, I would have liked to have read more papers.

I think of this book as an encyclopedia of the Jagdstaffeln of the Imperial German Air Service. There are no first-hand accounts of air combat. Instead, this book is the product of countless hours of painstaking research into the history of the German fighter units of World War I. It is, in short, a reference book, as opposed to easy reading. A half-page history of each Jasta is given. A map showing the locations of the Jasta airfields is cross-referenced to those units that operated there at any time during the war. The map is best read with the aid of a magnifying glass! A chronological listing of the commanders of each Jasta is presented, along with a summary of each pilot accredited with one or more victories. The heart of the book is an alphabetical list of the Jasta pilots, giving a brief summary of their combat records. There are a number of good black and white group photos of many of the Jastas. Of special interest to model enthusiasts, a number of black and white aircraft profile views illustrate the characteristic markings used by the Jastas at various times during the war. Comprehensive lists of casualties round out the volume. In summary, this book should prove invaluable to anyone wishing to pursue serious historical or biographical research into German fighter operations during the Great War.

Geisler and Turek attempt to justify Christian elitism, arguing for a paternalistic government (pgs. 35-6 and 208 mirror the government's societal role with that of a parent) that enforces a supposedly objective 'Moral Law.' The authors begin by defending the 'right' of governments to promote religion with taxpayer funds and resources, arguing that it's constitutional for government to promote religion, just not any particular denomination (of Christianity). One must wonder if this applies to Hindu or Buddhism, or whether the authors would be comfortable with school-led Muslim prayers (myself a Christian, I would not) so long as 'the schools did not compel students who objected to join in the prayer (p.88).' The authors fail to draw a key distinction: there is nothing wrong with religious activity, but there is something terribly wrong with forcing others to support that activity.

When, in ch.8, the authors finally explain how the 'Moral Law' determines right or wrong, it turns out the 'objective' Moral Law works on an 'I know it when I see it (p.121)' basis. The authors concede that there is no test to determine whether something is right or wrong, but that each of us has a 'factory-installed Baloney Meter' that conclusively tells us what is right. Not only is this standard not objective, it could not be more subjective since reality presents us with a world in which reasonable people disagree and individuals, even in Christian circles, often have widely differing interpretations of conventional morality. Armed with this 'Moral Law,' a purely subjective point of reference, government should have free reign to do whatever it feels is 'good' for society. Once this has begun, there is no stopping point: should government force people to eat healthy and exercise? Outlaw contact sports such as football and boxing because it is merely consensual assault? Censor ideas and opinions because they set off somebody's 'baloney meter?' Out the window goes our freedom, in comes the totalitarian regime of the Christian elite (or whoever else gains power) (the authors do warn against 'over legislating' morality, but just as the 'Moral Law,' such extremes are not defined by any objective standard).

Free countries govern themselves by enforcing and protecting private property rights and recognizing the fundamental principle of self-ownership: this is the objective standard by which we should determine whether the use of force is justified. If somebody is offended by the church I attend, the fast food I eat, or the excessive hours I work, tough. Nobody has a right not to be offended. Murder, rape, child abuse, and the other violent crimes mentioned in this book (including abortion), however, involve someone violating the individual rights of another, and the distinction is painfully clear. Why? Because there is a truly objective standard, a standard apart from ourselves and our opinions, by which to judge: private property rights.

The often frustrating reality of freedom is that some people may choose to do things with their freedom to which I am opposed, things that I firmly believe are immoral and even harmful to the individual. But nobody has the right to initiate force against someone else, including me. In Geisler and Turek's world, there is no room for saying 'I disagree with what you're doing, but I respect your right to do it.' Many Christians, as evidenced by this book, are unable to accept this necessary condition of freedom.

Although many today espouse a relativistic approach to moral values in society, Turek and Geisler do a marvelous job of showing how this is not only irrational but idealistic in a world in which governments have legislated some form of moralty since the dawn of civilization. When civilations strayed from such laws, they soon reached an anticlimatic ending. Objective moralty is not only rational, but a pragmatic must for society to exist. If you do not or cannot understand why, read this book.

I find it interesting that several critics chastise the authors for using discredited or uncredited "pseudo-science". It seems a consistent tactic by left wing sketptics to point fingers at such oversights, but then use even less credited sources (or plain dogma and no sources) to argue their position. I refer to the criticism of the authors to use Cameron's questionable work, these same left wing critics continue to refer to totally discredited research and researchers such as Dean Hamer and Simon LeVay. They even use a self-annointed jounalist cum-scientist named Chandler Burr as representing science when he has done nothing but espouse an unfounded opinion.

Let's focus on the work itself and not the tidbits that we find offensive. And, in that sense, this truly a great read for anyone confused by the self-defeating philosophy of relativism.

Those who have insisted that morality can not and should not be written into the laws of nations, that, "you can't legislate morality", have had their argument thoroughly debunked by Geisler and Turek. This seminal work will no doubt become the standard for all those who argue that absolute moral laws are the logical and necessary outworking of any social order which hopes to maintain justice and equity as its most cherished value.

With airtight reasoning, the authors have shredded the popular myth that says, in effect, that all laws are neutral with respect to moral content. Any arguments to the contrary invariably wind up to be circular and cannot avoid resulting in a purley subjective, relativistic position.

I strongly commend this book to anyone who is serious about trying to make sense out of contempory culture's bent toward emasculating the essence of legislative action and substituting in its place utopian schemes based on the fatal conceit of homo mensura.