Newspaper stories about the oil spill created the impression that the cause of the accident was simply that the captain was drunk. This book shows that the real situation was far more complex. The captain was definitely not drunk. He did have a few drinks, which is against regulations. Even after all the analysis it is not clear what exactly went wrong. The fact that the captain had a few drinks was not the only breach of regulations. None of the officers had a six-hour off duty time in the twelve-hour period before departure. The ship was single hulled instead of double hulled as was foreseen when the oil terminal was built. When Congress granted permission to build the pipeline and the terminal one of the conditions was that there would be a state-of-the-art contingency plan for oil spills. There was nothing of the sort. A Vessel Traffic Services station was supposed to monitor the movement of the ships through the strait. Due to cost cutting measures the station was unable to monitor the movement of the ship. A major cause of inefficiency in the clean up was the lack of clarity about who was in charge, the Coast Guard or Exxon. It is not just the captain that acted irresponsibly, so did all parties concerned. This is described in one part of the book. The second part of the book describes the impact of the oil spill and especially of the clean up on the communities affected. Each of the communities split in the middle. Half of the members took the position of trying to squeeze as much money out of Exxon as possible whilst the other half did not want to have anything to do with Exxon. Exxon did not succeed in engaging the communities in a positive way. The third part describes the nature in Alaska. These descriptions are wonderful and make you want to go there. These three parts are interwoven. The advantage is that the reader gets a three dimensional understanding of what happened: the responsibility for the disaster and the clean up, the impact on different members of the community and the impact on nature. The author places the ultimate responsibility on the consumer. He writes, " the American population prefers to live in a fog and is willing to accept almost anything in return for the opportunity to keep its gas tanks topped up" (with cheap gas). The combination of corporations maximising short-term profits and consumers closing their eyes to the consequences of their behaviour makes one worried. There must be a better way.

Out of the Channel should be required reading for anyone who thinks environmentally ... not just environmentalists, but students, political and economic theorists, and most of all, writers. I had the good fortune to learn a great deal about writing from John Keeble, and reading his book is an education all by itself. As a rigorous study of the physical and human impact of the Exxon Valdez disaster, Out of the Channel is a comprehensive anatomy, a text that does not shirk any of the heavy load its vast subject demands. Without taking the easy route of righteous anger, Keeble explores every nuance of the oil spill, and he follows that tenacious blot of Prudhoe Bay crude as it seeps out of the tangible world and into the minds and spirits of the permanent and temporary inhabitants of Prince William Sound. This tenth anniversary edition, with the expanded coverage allowed by the perspective of time, is a gift that should not be overlooked.

John Keeble, whose writing focuses on the issues facing the American Northwest, paints a memorable picture of the Exxon Valdez oilspill and its aftermath. Asked by the Greenwich Village Voice to write an article on the spill, he travels to Alaska and observes first-hand the efforts made to restore the land and the wildlife. However, the more he observes the more he is haunted by two observations: 1) that the size of the oil companies, and the entangled relationship between the companies and the government, is enormously greater than we have suspected, and 2) that the vast amounts of money poured into the clean-up effort causes many to view that money as their goal. His investigations into the clean-up follow a theme he develops in his other works: that the intrusion of a company or government upon the land inevitably causes exploitation; and those who live in that land must invariably suffer the consequences. Torn between the desires to make money, to clear the oil, and to downplay the scope of the incident, the people involved with clean-up waste a good deal of their effort. The more damage Keeble assesses, the more in tune he becomes with the suffering of the people and animals truly hurt, and ultimately, the reader, too, feels the chill that shakes the author at each new discovery.

This is a wonderful book that introduces through color photography and historical references many of the national parks in the pacific northwest and Alaska. While a little outdated to be considered a true travel guide - it is great for reference and a wonderful guide for those who only can travel to these majestic and mystical places through pictures.

There are no more beautifully written or pictured guides to the national parks than this series put out by the Sierra Club. For a historical, geological, and biological snapshot of a park, no book does it better. If you need very specific information, contacting the park is your best bet. There is some information about trails, camping, contact info, etc. The main purpose of the book, however, is to give you an understanding about all aspects of the park. These books are truly treasured in our home.

For the busy orthopaedic surgery and ER residents, this pocket "text" provides pertinent information regarding common fractures with focus on surgical options and relevant anatomy. Though not as detailed as other texts (i.e. Skeletal Trauma by Browner et al., and Hoppenfeld's Surgical Exposures...), the handbook comes close to providing the necessary information for appropriate evaluation and treatment of the patient with an orthopaedic injury. The second edition is a significant improvement over the first and would highly recommend this even for non-surgical physicians in private practice.

This is a good book for everyday use. The format is brief yet helpful. It is a good book for residents,physician assistants and students in the early stages. I use it also to refresh my memory when I encounter something I have not seen in awhile.

Excellent text! I reviewed a friends copy and had to have one for myself. The text is well organized into the various musculoskeletal regions with thorough explinations of common and not so common injuries, including the recommended treatment. The illustrations are easily understood and add a great deal to the effectivness of this book. It is designed to fit into a lab coat pocket, and will make a handy reference.

Like many of you, I am fascinated by the story of the fall of the Russian dynasty. I read everything I can find, from coffee-table books to serious scholarship, and have found no other book that so clearly explains the many threads of politics, world events, and family dramas that surrounded and contributed to the demise of the Romanovs. This narrative is clear and explanatory, and the information about the entire Romanov family was enlightening. After years of listening to me go on an on about the latest "Romanov book" I was reading, my historian father also picked up "The Flight of the Romanovs" and became hooked. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in this topic.

I am a relative newcomer concerning the history of the Romanov family, but this has changed now. This book is just incredibly fascinating, there are so many facts as well as samll anecdotes that it is just pure delight to read this well written and extremely well researched book. The book demonstrates the lavish lifestyle of the last Romanovs, describes all the relationships between the European royal families in the late 19th and early 20th century, and goes into every single detail of the relationships within the Romanov family. The second half of the book describes the hardships hte Romanovs had to endure under the Bolshevik regime and how all their lives changed so drastically after Tsar Nicholas II abdicated and the Bolsheviks came to power.

The only slightly negative thing which came to my mind while reading this book was the vast number of names in some parts of the book. It sometimes hapens that there are eight different names in one sentence, referring to three different generations from three different parts of the Romanov family.

But this still does not cloud the impression from reading this extremely informative book which is absolutely readable for non-historians who are just interested in this topic.

While most people consider the story of the Romanov's ended in the basement of the Ipateiv house on July 17, 1918, this wonderful description of the flight and plight of other members of the Romanov family held my attention continously. Unfortantely, because of my lack of familiarity of the uncles, aunts, cousins, children, grandparents, etc., etc., I kept returning to the concise family tree. The authors show a wide variety of activities of these relatives before and after the revolution and convey how some were "hanger-ons" and lived the life of royalty, while others kept the dream alive of returning to a czarist Russia. But all in all, I thoroughly enjoyed learning of the after affects of being driven out of Russia.

It's still version 3, but it doesn't matter. Mastering Maya 3 is one of the best beginner/intermediate books you can buy. I used Maya 4 and now Maya 4.5 and have had only benefits using this book. It has helped me along from being a beginner to being very familiar and capable with the software. I've used and seen a lot of the other books out thee, but I haven't seen a better book that covers things in the depth and range that Mastering Maya does. It's not for people new to 3D, but if you have experience in another 3D package and are moving over to Maya, it is excellent.

This book is great for beginners. I can't really say anything about it's worth for professional artists and advanced Maya users, as I am but a mere beginner. Anyway, I downloaded the free trial version of Maya 4 and bought this book and I am now cranking away! I didn't know anything about 3D modeling before, although I have a CAD background.

The book is very well organized and each chapter (that I've worked through so far) has lots of examples of how to apply the techniques described in the book.

It is excellent with respect to teaching you how to do things in Maya, but it lacks in general 3D design principals, which is to be expected from a book with the word Mastering in its title.

Now, if I could just find some good books on basic techniques (ie. when to use NURBS over polygons), etc. I'd be set!

After reading the various reviews already posted here, I have come to the realization that there are two distinctly different kinds of beginners. One is people with no background in 3D modeling and animation. The other has experience with the digital arts, but none with Maya itself. If you are in the first category, then this book is probably not for you. Then again, Maya itself probably isn't, either. It is a very complicated program, with tremendous power, and this book is not meant to teach the basics of 3D Modeling, Texturing, or Lighting. It IS meant to teach the basics of translating your skills into Maya know-how, and it does that admirably through the use of a series of hands-on projects that allow you to experiment with your burgeoning skills.

If you're looking for an easy read on issues like personal identity, the soul, etc., then Perry's Dialogue is a fantastic survey of a number of views. However, I can't help but wonder if this wouldn't have been better as a simple, short text on the topic as opposed to a dialogue. Perry isn't exactly Shakespeare when it comes to writing dialogue for his characters; the talk is wooden and stilted, and his attempt at a semi-dramatic ending is...well, sad.

But chances are you don't want this book for its literary merit, in which case, this is a great buy.

This work offers penetrating insight into a topic that has been central to philosophy since Plato. What is the self? What does it mean for a self to persist over time? Perry addresses this topic with a clean and clear writing style--and with excellent arguments. Anyone who wishes to dive into the difficult topic of the metaphysics of personal identity is advised to start here.

Out of the two reviews I've read of Perry's dialogue here on Amazon, one speaks very highly and the other thinks it's worthless. I'm puzzled about the variation, for I think this dialogue is as good as they get, which leads me to believe that the negative reviewer perhaps didn't understand the subtleties of the dialogue. I recently used Perry's dialogue along with five others in my intro to philosophy classes. Perry's far outranks all the others in depth and sophistication, which is also to say that it is more difficult than the others (the others included free will, personhood in animals and machines, phil religion, relativism, abortion). Keep in mind that popular philosophy dialogues always have one big drawback: the authors usually attempt to present the participants in a real-life setting, which often results in some dead ends or useless material. Such is the case with light and colloquial conversations. Perry's is not immune. Weinrob (the skeptic) often blusters and sometimes comes off a bit too arrogant. But at the end of the day she wins (well actually, she dies!) by taking apart the arguments of Miller (the soul, then Lockean, then causal theorist). There's no room here to go over the specifics of the argument but suffice it to say that all the major positions are covered in good detail. Highly recommended.

This book claims to be a spiritual, self help book. However, I found it to be an autobiography, beginning after she won the Mrs. United States title. She says that that the title gave her the platform to spead God's word, but she never speaks of any good works that she performs other than preaching to others. An average chapter would be... First let me tell you that I was Mrs. United States. I met two boys in the foster care program. I was afraid of them, they smelled awful and didn't have the talent to be in my production, but I let them work back stage and I preached to them and now they are Christians. By the way, did I tell you that I was Mrs. United States.
Too many times she belittled the people that she was preaching to. The only message that I got from the book was; Do as I say and not as I do...and never forget that I was Mrs. United States.

I have owned this book for less than a year and in that time I have read it almost three times. Sheri Rose Shepherd illustrated Gods path in the comical truths of her life before, during and after finding the Lord. I would recomend this book to anyone who enjoys laughter.

What a great book! Thanks Sheri Rose Shepherd! I found this book inspiring, touching and down to earth. The real life experiences are refreshing to read and several times I said, "that's me!" she's talking about! As a Christian myself, I enjoyed the "lesson to be learned" at the end of each chapter, and how it related to the Bible. I laughed, I cried, and I shared it with others. Thanks again!

Exile On Main Street is arguably the Rolling Stones greatest work. A double album consisting of down and dirty, bluesy songs about the decadence the band was spiraling down into. They were drinking heavily and doing alot of the drugs and the music mirrored their state of mind. John Perry does alot of writing about the band, but seemingly glosses over the album itself. Normally the books in this series are superb, but unfortunately this one does not live up to the other volumes or the album it covers.

So much has been written about the Rolling Stones and their music and so much has been rubbish. Most writers have not had access to the band members and fall back on well-worn second or third-hand stories. John Perry doesn't recycle anything, he writes about what he knows, beginning with the historical background of Exile and following with a song-by-song examination of the album itself. Although he clearly has a deep love for this music, he is no star-struck fan, he sees the Stones' human flaws, but he isn't distracted by them, this is no parade of scandals as are so many books about this band. And in contrast to most rock writers, Perry actually knows and plays music, and his detailed breakdown of this great album literally note-by-note is superb. The combination of rich historical background and detailed musical analysis makes this a rare gem in the Rolling Stones library. I recommend this book highly, especially for musicians or those interested in the flesh-and-blood of what many consider one of rock's most important albums. My only complaint is that it isn't a hundred pages longer.

Like Perry's previous biog on the making of The Who's masterpiece 'Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy', he returns here with an interesting, witty and inciteful look at the both the state of the Stones circa the making of Exile and the wonderfully dirty rhythm and blues double album that emerged at the end of the debauched sessions in France.

Clearly previous reviewers have missed the rather large fifty page chapter entitled 'The Songs', that goes into extremely well argued and meticulously researched detail from a professional guitarists point of view of just what the album is made of.

Highly recommended.

This book covers the very basic of philosophy and does its job well. It also provide some sample parodoxes though not extensive. Heavy reading in some area for philosophy is not my strong point. This books resonate with many philosophical discussion to be had. I enjoy most of the readings.

I used this book in an intro philosophy course in college and have been looking for it ever since. It presents original texts, plus thoughtful commentary and overviews that did not condense or simplify difficult topics. It is also incredibly thorough - if a work is part of the philosophical canon, it is in here, no matter how obscure. Now that I've found it again, its definitely going into my library as a standard reference text.

Berserker is actually one of the better and more captivating books in the Aliens series. While the concept isn't exactly original -- Aliens: Tribes was also about a berserker team -- this book was certainly a lot better written than tribes. The characters were well developed, and most of them were understandable people the reader is able to sympathize with. You could easily feel sorry for Teape when he's doing his job, or understand how Ellis feels around other members of the crew.

In addition, unlike most of the books preceding this one, there is actually quite a bit of action. We get a lot of bug hunting, and, more importantly, cool bug killing.

Others have complained about the lack of something so basic as a plot, but there is a rudimentary plot, and that's all that's needed. The team is sent to wipe out a bug infestation and uncovers a Company coverup. Let's face it, in this series, you don't need a great, subtle plot, you just need an excuse to kill some XTs.

The MAX (Mobile Assault ExoWarrior or somesuch) was really cool, although I seem to recall that in Tribes it was colled a MOX (offensive instead of assault). Oh well. Overall this was a fun, fast-paced, very readable bit of fiction. The only real downside is the cover. That must be one of the worst cover illustrations I've ever seen. UGGHH!

Aliens: Berserker was a well-paced story that lacked the story. It was witty, and action-packed, but it left you wondering what the whole thing was about. The author focused too much on the characters and less on the plot. S.D. Perry is an excellent novelist, and has a born instinct on building characters, yet this novel keeps you asking questions beyond the end. I am impressed by the writing, and highly recommend her other works. As for this book, ask her what it's about.

This book was better than most of the other novelizations in this series. I loved the movies and try to collect as much aliens stuff as I can. The way that the author(S.D Perry) describes the characters thoughts and feelings as they lead the MAX(large robot dedicated to destroying bugs)into battle is astounding. While the story is simple, the character development is outstanding. I just wish she would write more Aliens novelizations instead of Resident Evil ones.