"Compelled To Appear In Print, The Vicksburg Manuscript of General John C. Pemberton" was a work-in-progress for the past 137 years. David M. Smith brings it to the light of day with the justice it deserves. His views and those of Edwin C. Bearss, Historian Emeritus, National Park Service will secure this work among the finest written on the Confederacy for years to come. Let's hear more from him!

This book is built on a newly-discovered, never published manuscript by Confederate General John Pemberton, commander at Vicksburg when it surrendered to Grant. The manuscript itself is substantial...85 pages in this book's format. To position the manuscript, Dave Smith has written an excellent summary of the Vicksburg Campaign. Further, he adds a chapter on the conflicts and issues in the relationships among Pemberton, General Joseph Johnston (Pemberton's superior), and Confederate President Jefferson Davis. After the manuscript, he adds a chapter on his conclusions from his study of the Pemberton manuscript.

Pemberton wrote the document in the late 1870's before his death in 1881, to respond to Johnston's autobiographical NARRATIVE OF MILITARY OPERATIONS. Even after 120 years, the anger and hurt comes through. Johnston had essentially placed the blame for the loss of Vicksburg on Pemberton, citing his incompetence and disobedience of orders. Pemberton takes each of Johnston's eight charges, and argues his side of the case. Smith has made this more understandable for the reader by inserting (in easily distinguishable font and italics) the specific exerpts from the Johnston book to which Pemberton was referring; many of Pemberton's points would have been lost to me without those insertions.

Another specific contribution which Smith made to the manuscript itself was his description of a visit by Davis and Johnston to Pemberton and Vicksburg in December, 1862 (before the Vicksburg Campaign would escalate in the spring and culminate on July 4th). Given the fact that Davis, Johnston, and Pemberton seemed only a few weeks later to have no agreement or common thinking on their strategy, one wonders what they talked about during their several days together. Certainly, they MUST have talked about whether Vicksburg must be held at all costs....but in the spring, Johnston seemed to think not while Davis and Pemberton certainly thought it must. Perhaps they never considered what to do in a siege....but, if not, what were they really expecting Grant to do? He certainly had given no indication of giving up easily! This lost opportunity for strategic alignment echoes through the Pemberton manuscript, as I read it.

For me, Pemberton presents his case in a compelling, convincing, and interesting manner. To my (amateur) reading, he does not often imply that he knew in 1863 everything that he would know when writing in the late 1870's. However, on one occasion, he did allow himself to refer to Johnston as "the great master of retreat", taking advantage of the reputation Johnston would get during his portion of the Atlanta Campaign in 1864.

Johnston does not come out of this book in very good shape. In fact, the picture of Johnston is very reminiscent of that in Jeffrey Lash's DESTROYER OF THE IRON HORSE. In fact, one of Lash's primary examples of Johnston's misuse of the railroads occurred during the Vicksburg Campaign, when he lost of large quantity of Confederate rolling stock and engines by waiting too long to order their movement to safer locations. Smith summarizes Johnston's failure to take any action to relieve Pemberton in Vicksburg by saying that he "either had no intention of acting or was incapable of mustering the courage and energy to face the situation". Personally, it seems to me to have been the latter. The puzzling, frustrating impact of Johnston's inertia comes through clearly in the Pemberton manuscript.

This is an excellent book, very readable and quite interesting. Smith's background chapter will assist the reader who is not familiar with the Vicksburg Campaign to understand it well enough to follow Pemberton's discussion. That understanding is aided by several simple, clear, excellent maps. One does not need to be a military history scholar to appreciate this book. However, as Ed Bearss' introduction makes clear, even the elite class of military history scholars will likely also find this book worth their while.

I am so curious to know who was the inventor of this math concept. I think this system is a brilliant method for children. I would like to commend the creator of this ingenius idea. I've stumbled on something similar to this method; it is a system which is being taught in Korea. I think this system should be advertised more because people are unaware of such a simple yet useful method in math. I teach third grade and I would love to incorporate this method in my classroom.

Perhaps you have seen young children on the "Tonight" show doing rapid calculations on their fingers with greater speed and accuracy than adults using calculators. Maybe you wondered whether or not this could possibly be "for real." "Fingermath" will show you how to teach your own child to accomplish this seeming magic trick.

Fingermath is a simple and useful method for teaching kids (and adults) to understand the basics of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division by using their fingers for counting.

Instead of only being able to count to ten on your fingers, this system (derived from the abacus) uses the right thumb to represent five and the four fingers of the right hand as ones. The left thumb represents 50, and the four remaining fingers of the left hand represent tens. Thus, if all your fingers are pressed you have 50 + 40 = 90 on your left hand and 5 + 4 = 9 on your right hand, for a total of 99. (Methods for dealing with larger numbers are also presented in the book.) I've been working with my second-grader on this "Secret Chinese Math Game." He *loves* it, and his teacher has been very impressed with the improvement in his math skills.

I have added a slight refinement of also representing the fingers with coins (a nickel and four pennies for the right hand, a fifty-cent piece and four dimes for the left hand. This seems to make the exercises more "concrete" for the youngster.

Like any other physical/mental skill, it takes time and practice to develop speed and accuracy. If you practice this technique for ten minutes a day with your child, I am very confident that you will see a dramatic improvement in their (and your own) understanding of math.

Your Humble Jester,

Philip the Foole

... I was blown away. I really, really enjoyed it, and it makes me really wish that Shiga had used his enormous talent to write more books. The premise of the book is pretty simple. We start off with a young man named Kensaku, who after his mother dies moves in with his paternal grandfather. He resents his father for this because he is the only one of the children who is forced to move in with the old man. Kensaku never learns to like his grandfather, but does like Oei, his grandfather's 20 year old mistress. Warp ahead several years, We find Kensaku still living with Oei, and making a living being a writer. He has not written anything major, but has contributed short works to several magazines. The book goes on from there. The reader experiences the agony Kensaku goes through when he finds out the circumstances of his birth, his lust for Oei. His finally marrying someone he loves only to have it marred by the death of his son. The torment he goes through when his young wife Naoko is raped by her cousin. A wonderful book. Shiga, although he wrrote much less, belongs in the same group as Mishima, Kawabata, and Tanizaki as one of the great japanese writers of the modern era.

Perhaps one of the best of Japan's interwar novels, "A Dark Night.." takes the reader directly into the mind of author Naoya Shiga who lived in similar circumstances with the main character Kensaku. It is provocative in the way the author makes Kensaku grapple with himself concerning so moral questions that prop up through the course of his adult life until his presumed death at the end. The writer-bohemian Kensaku, who can arguably be taken for the real Naoya Shiga (Edwin McClellan defines this novel as a watakushi-shosetsu in form but not in substance), is at once a critical yet sympathetic description of the modern intellectual who consciensciously takes up both sides of the dilemmas that confront him but inexorably fails to heed his better judgement. Yet for all his debauchery the reader will most likely be delighted of his almost school-boyish courting of his his future wife and in the end be relieved that it was Naoko and no other who rescued him from his eternal quandary about women (starting from his mother and questionable birth). This novel can in some ways be compared and contrasted to Milan Kundera's "Unbearable Lightness of Being" in its views about women. Much has been made about the inconclusiveness of this 400-plus paged novel but I am of the opinion that to have dragged on would just have produced redundant statements to the eventual ending. This novel also provides a very detailed picture of prewar Japan, especially in its desciptions of the old Tokyo quarter (shitamachi) and outlying areas including Yokohama and Kamakura. As Kensaku does a bit of travelling by train and boat from central Honshu to Shikoku and parts of Kyushu, this book may also make for a sort of travel diary. Of particular interest are the descriptions of Onomichi in Hiroshima prefecture and Mt. Daisen in Tottori. Lastly, all of this is brought together in clear and elaborate prose by Mr. McClellan. I have read numerous Japanese works in English and never have I been so impressed as I was with this translation. It fills up all of the gaps, in particular social and cultural references in speech inferred only in the abrupt Japanese original. In all, a convincing work that Shiga Naoya should have written another novel apart from this.

This is a superb work, chock-full of insights and intelligently organized by topic. Here's two key examples of frequently occurring dilemmas sorely neglected elsewhere: (A) Defending a suit contract as third hand, you can either cash a high card in a side suit, setting up a winner in dummy, or you can underlead your high card to give partner a ruff. Which should you do? In practice, either may be correct, depending on the context of the entire hand. Kantar gives a COMPLETE autopsy of exactly what to think about in order to make the correct choice. (B) Defending a suit contract as third hand, you hold ATxx in a side suit. Dummy hits with a small singleton in that suit. Kantar points out that you KNOW declarer is going to lead that singleton through you sooner or later, probably sooner. Do you fly in with the Ace or duck (smoothly)? The latter is more often correct, but not always. Here too, Kantar gives precise guidance on what to think about in order to choose the correct defensive play. The well over 500 tips in the book are loaded with good advice such as "When declarer doesn't dare lose the lead and is guessing which finesse to take for the fulfilling trick, cover NOTHING."

Humorous and in language that I can really understand.

Perhaps Kantar's best book yet. Basic concepts for the intermediate player by one of the best authors of books on defense. Clearly laid-out principles and summaries. Intermediate defense play has never been explained better. Awarded American Bridge Teachers' Association "1999 Best Intermediate Bridge Book of the Year."

This is a great book for intermediate players wanting to get better. Let's face it - you're going to be playing defense half of the time but few books cover this subject well. I've also read his book, Advanced Bridge Defense, and it is good but this is the place to start. Each chapter includes some practice problems to help you remember the points made. Kantar even itemizes the points to be covered in the beginning and then summarizes them at the end - a great teaching aid. Top this off with the fact that he has a great writing style that makes it fun to read and you have a real winner.

This is probably the only math book I've actually read in its entirety. Moise delivers what could be very dry material with a lightness and sense of humor that kept me poking on through the book. The connections to other areas of math, especially (and not surprisingly) non-Euclidean geometries, is a big plus. I also liked the occasional historical interludes. There are a few spots where you may not see good pointers to the figures provided, but in general it is very clear what the author is referring to. The problem sets and Moise's own explanations afford excellent practice for the "proof-challenged," as well. I keep this book on my shelf as "ready reference." I wish Moise had written more math books!

Beginning by the elementary axioms the author builds all the great geometry theorems and formulas. Like a great romance, after begin to read you don't want stop until end.

I own thousands of books and use lots of reference books in my writing, especially horror, folklore, and religion. This is one of the most frequently used books in my research on superstitions. I can locate information quickly and easily. It is extensive enough to provide at least the basic information on most topics. It is my favorite book on superstitions.

I have always like to know what superstitions mean and how they came about. The old superstition to check whether it was going to be a boy or girl child was to schorch a shoulder of mutton and the first person whom enters after this cermony will represent the sex, i.e., if a woman enters the it will be a girl. The forward by Sir. John Hammerton is well written and the introduction by Edwin and Mona Radford is also a good read. At the end is a well developed bibliography; however, the index is missing and this makes the search a bit cumbersome. Overall it is an intersting little dictionary that is easy to use and a pleasure to read.

This is a fabulous book for children interested in animals. It is very detailed and has beautiful photos. Our young child refers to it as "The Great Big Book of Everything," as in the Disney Channel's "Stanley" cartoon. It really does seem to have everything inside.

At first I was hesitant to order this book, with no picture of the cover on Amazon and no review to judge the book I took a chance and I am very glad I did. I bought this book as a bargain book, price-wise and content-wise I couldn't have made a better choice. I am very impressed and for me it has turned out to be a great buy since my kids love learning about animals.
This book is HUGE and heavy ,almost ten pounds! It concentrates on the four major groups: Mammals,birds,reptiles and amphibians. In-depth and comprehensive text with superb photographs and illustrations. Very good research material.

This is the best practical guide in existence for using Complexity to transform an organization. The authors give valuable tools and techniques for concrete processes which promote Complexity transformation, along with examples of real business situations where the tools have worked. Especially valuable for those who have a background in organization development. Highly recommended.

This is an interesting book about an approach to managing and changing organizations, which is quite different from traditional change approaches: complexity theory. You might think: "Ah, here we go again.... Is this just the next new management hype, destined to be forgotten soon?" I don't think so. I think complexity theory is to be taken a bit more serious than that. What is it? It is a rapidly developing theoretical framework that describes and explains fundamental processes of complex adaptive systems, like organizations. What is a complex adaptive system? The authors of this book, Edwin Olson and Glenda Eoyang, explain that in a complex adaptive system, a multitude of different players (called agents) held together by some cohesive force (called a container) and constantly interacting with each other in all kinds of ways (these interactions are called transforming exchanges).

The self-organizing nature of human interactions in a complex organization leads to surprising effects. Small actions, events and interactions can lead to dramatic outcomes affecting the whole system. Human interactions in complex systems lead to so-called emergent properties, which are features of the system that the separate parts do not have. (For example, brain cells don't have consciousness, but the human brain does). All of this explains why it is often impossible to understand let alone predict or control events and developments. This is a rather big departure from the traditional view, which tends to see organizations as understandable, predictable and ... controllable!

Then how exactly is the complexity theory approach to change management different from the traditional approach? Ed Olson and Glenda Eoyang summarize the main features of the CAS approach to change as follows: 1) Achieve change through connections between agents (instead of trying to control the change top-down), 2) Adapt to uncertainty (instead of trying to use predictable stages of development), 3) Allow goals, plans, and structures to emerge (instead of depending on clear and detailed plans or goals), 4) Amplify and value difference (instead of always directly focusing on consensus), 5) Create self-similarity (instead of difference between levels), 6) Regard success as a matter of fit with the environment (instead of focusing on one dimensional success measures).

It's hard to accurately summarize in a few words what's in this book. So, if you're organizational development consultant, perhaps you'd better read it yourself. What you will find is that the book is a nice mix of theory, case descriptions and practical tools which (some of which are very nice and handy). I think this is the first book that makes complexity theory so practical.

The first half of the book is essentially a biographical account of the author's entry into the world of fiction writing, and his experiences in the trade. While this section of the book is not an instructive piece on writing, there are many insights to gain from the author's down to earth discussion of his own experiences. The second half of the book covers the usual topics regarding the craft of fiction, but in a very readable and direct way. Silberstang cuts through the reems of often confusing material in such craft books by concentrating on the salient points and driving them home. Overall, a very interesting and helpful book for any writer at any stage.

Fantastic book! Edwin Silberstang offers a lot of helpful and useful tips and advice, including his own personal experiences, and encourages writers not to give up, no matter how many brick walls they encounter. I, too, have returned to my dream of writing and have read tons of so-called guidebooks. This one is the best of the best. He puts out the finest work he can and doesn't let anyone, including publishers or editors, take the wind out of his sails. He has a tendency to be a bit self-righteous, but then hey, he's been published and I have yet to be.