Don't waste money on multiple lesser books. Buy this one! You won't regret it. Especially if you want a natural look, such as plants to the edge of the water or easing into the water. This is my key reference for constructing my water garden. Excellent construction techniques for natural edges - no necklace of rocks - and stream flow and finishing to mimic natural creeks and streams. Very inspirational photos of water features that will surprise you that they are man-made, and sized for average gardens as well as larger acreages. Line drawings detail construction techniques showing placement of liner, underlayment and structural (concrete) support for heavy rocks, etc. Several options shown for each. Written such that homeowner could do it themselves. Only caveat is that the designs are based in Britain and may (or may not) need adjustment for severe winter regions. Although primarily a construction guide, excellent photos of completed gardens provide inspiration for plantings. There is a brief review of major species adapted to this sort of garden. I am looking forward to the new edition, due out in Fall 2002, which promises inclusion of some U.S. information. Don't accept less. Raise your expectations of what your water feature can look like. Buy this book.

Probably the best commentary I have read on Wittgenstein. Strong focus on the later Wittgenstein of the Philosophical Investigations. This book is not easy reading. Wittgenstein can be tough going and this book will not chew your food for you. Kenny can at times be almost as difficult as his subject, however this book will reward your efforts and expand your understandings.

There is a lot to like about this book. It has the usual host of colorful and varied characters that one finds in Trollope's novels. There are strong and complex women, sturdy and weak-willed men, and some wonderful set-pieces. It's a bit of a let-down after _Phineas Finn_, though, which to my mind is the greatest political novel in the English language. The previous two 'Palliser' novels having been clearly both for and about Liberals, I think that Trollope was struggling in this novel to write in a way that would both reflect and appeal to more Conservative sensibilities. So we get a lot of domestic gossip, a little mild anti-semitism, and endless lectures about the Proper way for a Gentleman to Behave to a Lady. Still, the protagonist, Lizzie Eustace, is a gem.

Lucy Morris is a bore. If you like Jane Austen you will like this novel! It has all the necessary ingredients to keep you turning the pages. It's fun and charming to read just like its heroine Lizzie Eustace. Trollope argues that she is no heroine at all but it is when she appears that your interest is held the longest and that you laugh the loudest. She is wicked and selfish and vain and yet childike spoiled and that's what makes her great. Lucy Morris in comparison bores you with her goodness and her morality and her prim and proper attitude which although greatly admired in 19th century women leaves her nonetheless dull and insipid in comparison to charmingly wicked Lizzie.

I have only read one Anthony Trollope novel, and I had the very good fortune of having chosen "The Eustace Diamonds." This superbly constructed novel begins with what is probably my favorite opening sentence of a novel--it's right up there with the opening sentence to Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice":

"It was admitted by all her friends, and also by her enemies--who were in truth the more numerous and active body of the two--that Lizzie Greystock had done very well with herself." The second sentence further clarifies Lizzie's character when it goes on with, "We will tell the story of Lizzie Greystock from the beginning, but we will not dwell over it at great length, as we might do if we loved her."

Lizzie Greystock--eventually to become Lady Eustace--is a fascinating combination of cunning and foolishness, of avarice and pitiable character, of steely backbone and whimpering fits. She reminds me so very much of both Emma Bovary and Scarlett O'Hara. Her determination to keep the Eustace family diamonds entirely for herself is what sets the novel in motion, and with this rather simple device, Trollope goes on to spin out a tale which encompasses morality, greed, Victorian social mores, the corrupting influence of money, and the blindness it can cause to everything else of value.

Lizzie is contrasted, with every shade under the sun, with the sweet and constant Lucy Morris. Picture the contrast as one very much like that of Scarlett O'Hara and Melanie Wilkes. "The Eustace Diamonds" is a deliciously satisfying book, and a classic for a very good reason: despite having been written in the 19th century, what it has to say reverberates as soundly now as when Trollope first published it. I can't recommend it highly enough.

This text book is the most up to date and comprehensive text book available for radiology residents preparing for the ABR exam as of this date 3/12/2002. I have recommended this text for my most serious students and they have done quite well on the ABR exam. ( Most have scored in the > 90th percentile in the U.S.) For residents who want to just pass the exam, I recommend Sprawls text.
Edward J. Goldschmidt Jr., M.S., DABMP, ...

I currently own the first edition of this book, and after flipping throug this new expanded 2nd edition, I'll be upgrading soon. The first book is an excellent text to use for teaching radiology residents the principles of medical imaging. Now, this second edition with greatly expanded content and pictures looks like it would be suitable for teaching a course to medical physics students. All sections appear to be significantly expanded with the additional detail needed for medical physicists. Still excellent for residents, but might go into a little more detail than they need.

Opening the pages to this textbook is like stepping into a classroom. These authors obviously are not only experts in their respective subspecialties of medical physics, but they are also seasoned teachers of the art and science of this field of medicine. This is easily evidenced by the clarity of thought and completeness with which they treat each topic in this comprehensive, easily readable textbook. I highly recommend this textbook to all who have a need for such a clear, concise teaching of the many aspects of medical physics covered in this work.

While the pictures are, for the most part, fantastic, the author does tend to make outlandish claims about some of them...The ONLY picture of JFK holding one of his kids, or the ONLY picture of him with Dr. Max Jacobson. Simply not the case! A little more care with details like that would have been nice!

And PS RED Fay did not serve aboard PT 100, as is claimed in the book.

What a classy book that one is! The White House as it was at the time of the Kennedys... and looking at some of those never seen before pictures, we can relive the elegance, charm and grace of that unique period. Two thumbs up Mr. Sferrazza!!

This one has it all. It has the best photos ever seen of the Kennedys. Lots of them are revealing and more personal than ever seen. There is a closeness that the pictures have that the same old ones somehow miss. Also it summarizes the story of this famous family compactly. The writing has depth and understanding.

In this curious autobiiography, Anthony Trollope sketches in the outlines of his life. He relates the misery of his childhood, the heroism of his mother, the tragedy and ultimate failure of his father. If not banal, at least typical material for an autobiography, and makes for good reading. The second two-thirds of the book summarizes his writings, and relate his ideas on everything from literary criticism to suggestions for young writers. Perhaps most interesting are his assessments of his own work, praising or condemning them with little emotion. Of course there is the famous analysis of his working methods, where he counts words and disciplines himself to an astonishingly regular routine of writing. He produced 47 novels, edited and wrote for magazines, all the while working full time for the post office. One distressing feature of this work is the almost complete lack of intormation about his wife and family....It is clear that he lived with and loved his fictional characters more than his corporeal family. Also, the grammar and punctuation are often awkward but this is still a highly readable and fascinating book.

If one has read a number of Trollope's novels, one would expect that Trollope would have written precisely this sort of autobiography. In fact, it is almost impossible to imagine it having taken any other form.

Trollope writes not so much of his life (though he does touch upon the major events), as of his occupation. Although employed most of his adult life by the postal service, Trollope decided to engage in a second and parallel career as a writer. He is forthright about his motives: the satisfaction of writing, but also fame, financial reward, and social standing. Looking back on his career, Trollope is proud of a job well done. The oddity is that he seems quite as happy telling us about how much he sold each work for, and the financial dealings with his publishers, as he does about his books and characters. In fact, near the end of the book he gives a complete list of his novels and how much he managed to sell each one for (with very few exceptions, he preferred to sell the rights to a novel, rather than getting a percentage of sales). What emerges is a portrait of the novelist not as an artist so much as a dedicated, disciplined craftsman. He explicitly denigrates the value of genius and creativity in a novelist in favor of hard work and keeping to a schedule of writing.

The early sections of the book dealing with his childhood are fascinating. By all measures, Trollope had a bad childhood. His discussions of his father are full of pathos and sadness. What is especially shocking is the lack of credit he gives to his mother, who, in early middle age, realizing that her husband was a perpetual financial failure, decided to salvage the family's fortunes by becoming a novelist. He notes that while nursing several children dying from consumption, she wrote a huge succession of books, enabling the family to live a greatly improved mode of existence. Her achievement must strike an outside observer as an incredibly heroic undertaking. Trollope seems scarcely impressed.

Some of the more interesting parts of the book are his evaluation of the work of many of his contemporaries. History has not agreed completely with all of his assessments. For instance, he rates Thackery as the greatest novelist of his generation, and HENRY ESMOND as the greatest novel in the language. HENRY ESMOND is still somewhat read, but it hardly receives the kind of regard that Trollope heaped on it, and it is certainly not as highly regarded as VANITY FAIR. Trollope's remarks on George Eliot are, however, far closer to general opinion. His remarks concerning Dickens, are, however, bizarre. It is obvious that Trollope really dislikes him, even while grudgingly offering some compliments. Quite perceptively, Trollope remarks that Dickens's famous characters are not lifelike or human (anticipating E. M. Forster's assessment that Dickens's characters are "flat" rather than "round" like those of Tolstoy or Austen) and that Dickens's famous pathos is artificial and inhuman (anticipating Oscar Wilde's wonderful witticism that "It would take a man with a heart of stone to cry at the death of Little Nell"). Even the most avid fan of Dickens would admit that his characters, while enormously vivid and well drawn, are nonetheless a bit cartoonish, and that much of the pathos is a tad over the top. But Trollope goes on to attack Dickens's prose: "Of Dickens's style it is impossible to speak in praise. It is jerky, ungrammatical, and created by himself in defiance of rules . . . . To readers who have taught themselves to regard language, it must therefore be unpleasant." If one had not read Dickens, after reading Trollope on Dickens, one would wonder why anyone bothered to read him at all. One wonders if some of Trollope's problems with Dickens was professional jealousy. For whatever reason, he clearly believes that Dickens receives far more than his due.

Favorite moment: Trollope recounts being in a club working on the novel that turned into THE LAST CHRONICLE OF BARSET, when he overheard two clergymen discussing his novels, unaware that he was sitting near them. One of them complained of the continual reappearance of several characters in the Barsetshire series, in particular Mrs. Proudie. Trollope then introduces himself, apologizes for the reappearing Mrs. Proudie, and promises, "I will go home and kill her before the week is over." Which, he says, he proceeded to do.

you should consider reading this too! Trollope writes candidly about his education (and about being a poor, mostly overlooked student), his lack of professional ambition (and how he finally got around to witing his first novel),and the ups and downs of his literary career (and his early rejections). He does all of this in the same conversational tone employed in his novels, making this autobiography feel more like a chat with an older, experienced friend than a learned, classic autobiography

"Can You Forgive Her," the first of the Palliser novels of Anthony Trollope, deals with two romantic triangles, each with a lady who has difficulty making up her mind between an honorable man and a charming rogue. Lady Glencora Palliser is married to a highly respected Member of Parliament who is obviously destined for a top position in the government. However, she is still in love with an extremely handsome ne'er-do-well whom she had earlier barely been dissuaded from eloping with. Alice Vavasor, after an entanglement with her cousin George, has become engaged to John Grey, a perfect man in every respect, perhaps too perfect for the adventuresome Miss Vavasor. The two ladies come perilously close to deserting the worthier men for the scalawags, whom the reader can see becoming worse and worse scoundrels as time passes, especially George Vavasor. Alice even breaks her engagement with the perfect Mr. Grey, whom she really loves, and becomes engaged to her self-centered cousin, to her almost instant regret. A subplot deals with yet another triangle, the rather absurd rivalry of farmer Cheeseacre and self-styled hero Captain Bellfield for the hand of a wealthy fortyish widow. This sometimes distracts from the main plot, and yet the reader is left with the idea that perhaps the flirtatious widow might be the best catch of them all; at least she knows how to have fun. The chief merit of the novel is the brilliant characterizations. No author in fiction can surpass Trollope in creating real people with motivations which can be throroughly understood, no matter how the reader might disagree with the characters' actions. The novel's length is perhaps necessary to permit Trollope to fully develop such a vivid, believable and engrossing cast.

Lady Glencora McCloskie is "cumbered" by great wealth, Mr. Palliser though wealthy enough can use more for his political ambitions. A marriage is arranged between these two, though Lady Glencora loves a charming ne'er do well. So far it might be a Harlequin romance, but Trollope, whose generosity of spirit is matched only by the clarity of his eye, makes these stock figures and those around them real, odd as all humans are, and yet familiar. Thus Mr. Palliser at a climactic moment, "You are wrong about one thing. I do love you. If you do not love me, that is a misfortune, but we need not therefore be disgrace. Will you try to love me?" Then he is called from the room."He did not kiss her. It was not that he was not minded to kiss her. He would have kissed her readily enough had he thought the occasion required it. "He says he loves me," she thought, "but he does not know what love is." How they learn is a process that extends thru the six "Palliser novels." worth reading for students of life, writing, or love

This is a great Victorian novel, and the first by Anthony Trollope that I've read. After reading Can You Forgive Her, I was inspired to buy the entire set of Palliser novels; I plan to read and savor each volume in the series over the years. Can You Forgive Her introduces us to Alice Vavasar, her father, cousins, and fiance. Alice struggles with the question of whom she should marry. George is brandy; John is milk and honey. I love that! What a choice! Trollope has a wonderfully amusing style, evoking with great clarity 19th Century life in Victorian England. It's a time so very different from ours in the U.S., and yet, one can learn a great deal about the roots of some American cultural obsessions with love and politics. A hint: if you don't know British parliamentary history, you may want to review a little. However, don't let this deter you from trying out this splendid, enjoyable novel.

This work of literature encompassing life among the upper-crust of society in Victorian England is by far the best fictional representation I have ever read.

Trollope creates fantastic characters from the saintly/virginal society girl who pines for a lover, to a dastardly gentleman who squanders his families small fortune on rather unsavoury habits such as gambling and less than scrupulous women.

Most of this is told through the perspective of the matriarch of one family (Lady Carbury) who's only wish is that her son (a scoundrel at best) marry well and with any luck above his station (which he tries to sabotage at every turn) and for her daughter to marry into wealth at any cost whatsoever. That with the general gossip and the "Newcomer's from Paris" (The Family Melmotte) who left Paris hurriedly it seems under a rather dark cloud of suspicion will keep you glued to this book throughout. It is a very lengthy novel (481 pages) but you will be desperately turning the pages in the Appendix hoping for just a bit more!

Picture a world in which a shadowy entreprenour rubs shoulders with the great and powerful, while hard-driving yuppies stop at nothing to be associated with his schemes. Sounds like Ron Reagan's "Morning in America," doesn't it? Except it is Victorian London. The entreprenour is Auguste Melmotte. The yuppies are the scions of great and small families hurling themselves at his daughter, his phantasmagorical railway (between Salt Lake City and Vera Cruz yet!) company, and the hem of his cloak. And the book is Anthony Trollope's THE WAY WE LIVE NOW.

Like all of Trollope's books, this one is as well crafted as any by Eliot or Thackeray; yet the theme and handling are strikingly modern. I came to this book by way of the Barsetshire novels with their depiction of rural clergy. I should have read THE WAY WE LIVE NOW first.

Especially worth noting are the surprisingly full characterizations of Marie Melmotte, daughter of the financier, who is courted by her emotional inferiors, and Roger Carbury, a rural landowner who holds aloof from the fray and helps several of the others pick up the pieces from their lives.

The only negative is the book's anti-semitism, though it makes several attempts to lift itself from this charge.

I consider it to be a tragedy that Anthony Trollope's works are largely forgotten and overlooked by the reading public. So many well-educated people have never even heard ot him, although his novels are some of the best representatives of what a good novel should be! His beautiful storytelling in "The Way We Live Now" is just another example of Trollope at his best. A master raconteur, his vivid descriptions and cutting satire make this work one of his most controversial (at least at the time) and indeed one of his most respected. Though his longest work, it certainly does not seem long because he keeps the reader on his toes, so much so, that he is dying to know what will happen next. The best thing about the book, in my opinion, is the fact that it is difficult to find a character whom you can like. Each one, and there are many, has one or more particular faults, and we, as the readers, quickly realize that no one is perfect. Even the sympathetic characters are prejudiced at times. This, I believe, is a marked contrast to Dickensian personnages who much of the time are almost too angelic or cruel to be believable. Trollope give us a lesson in true human nature, one that will be very hard for me to forget.

When NPR's audio adaptation of the first Star Wars film hit the airwaves two decades ago, it was as big a landmark in the history of the Star Wars "universe" as any of the subsequent movies. By stripping the story down to the essentials of character, it proved that the appeal of Star Wars is not merely visual flash, but something more enduring, characters you care about, villains you love to hate and (that oldest of rivalries) good against evil. The writing was excellent and the cast equally good, including as it did Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels as Luke and C3P0 respectively. When NPR produced a radio version of The Empire Strikes Back a few years later, Billy Dee Williams came on board to recreate the role of Lando Calrissian and the producers' winning streak continued.

It would be over a decade before the production team got the chance to complete the trilogy with Return of the Jedi. Sadly, just as Return of the Jedi was the weakest of the original movie trilogy, it is also the weakest of the three radio versions. That is not to say it isn't enjoyable, because it is. Rather it can't quite match the exceptional standards set by the previous two series.

Part of the problem is the casting. Although Anthony Daniels returned to play C3PO, Mark Hamill does not reprise the role of Luke Skywalker. Unfortunately the actor who took the role, Joshua Fardon, does not convey the increased maturity of the character in this part of the story. Fardon's performance has a quality of over-eagerness that seems more suited to the naive farmboy that Luke was when we first encountered him rather than the fully trained Jedi-to-be he is here. Good as the other performances are, especially Brock Peters as Darth Vader and Ann Sachs as Leia, this misguided interpretation of Luke leaves a large hole in the story.

Part of that hole can also be attributed to the writing. Like the previous adapatations, Return of the Jedi was scripted by the late Brian Daley. Daley did a good job of translating what was perhaps the most visual of the three original Star Wars films into the audio medium, but he doesn't open up the story the way the previous two series did. Whereas the radio versions of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back took the time to show us more about the characters, Return of the Jedi is, for the most part, just what we saw on the movie screen with a handful of extra scenes thrown into the mix.

Those criticisms aside, anyone who is a fan of radio drama in general or Star Wars specifically will enjoy these programs. In the final analysis the producers understood the ways in which sound alone can fire the imagination. Using that knowledge, they have crafted yet another fine way to enjoy the magical world that George Lucas has given us.

Thanks to the many requests of Star Wars fans and radio enthusiasts alike, the team that brought us the radio adaptations of A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, reunited to conclude the original saga. Made exclusively by Highbridge, Return Of The Jedi, once again uses the film's score by John Williams and sound effects by Ben Burtt, to make for a top notch production. By using the actual soundtrack from the film, it gives the audio production crediability, as opposed to being made without it.

Once again, directed by John Madden, Jedi reunites most of the actors from the previous adaptions, with a couple of notable exceptions. Mark Hamill, who reprised his role as Luke Skywalker, for the first 2 productions, is replaced by Joshua Fardon. While, Billy Dee Williams, as rogue Lando Calrissian, is replaced by Arye Gross. As hard as these gentlemen try, because of the original actors previous involvment with the other two radio dramas, its difficult to imagine anyone else in those parts. Fardon's portrayal lacks the maturity of Hamill's character in the film version, Gross comes off, not quite as smooth, in playing Lando. The rest of the main radio cast, from the other two adaptations is thankfully intact. Actors Anthony Daniels, once again as C-3PO, (who has appeard in all 3 radio dramas as well as all of the films in the series) Brock Peters as Vader, Perry King, as Han Solo, Anne Sachs as Princess Leia, all complete their character arcs in the seies with style. Actor Edward Asner as the gangster Jabba The Hutt and John Lithgow as Master Yoda, (as he did in the Empire radio drama) use vocal talent, like no others, to bring these 2 unique characters to life.

Sci-fi author, Brian Daley, once again. wrote the radioplay for Jedi. As before, there are a few additional "scenes" presented, not in the film version. The end result is very good, but thanks to its shorter length, and the casting changes, I mentioned, Jedi doesn't seem quite as epic, as the other radio dramas in the series. Sadly, Daley passed away soon after the dialogue was recorded, and the production is dedicated to his memory. His script is very faithful to the film and the added scenes remain true to the characters and story.

If you own the other two radio dramas in the series, Jedi is a must have, minor problems and all. The story has six episodes, presented on three compact discs with a total running time of nearly 3 hours. Recommended

You'll never see me cite one Star Wars movie being better than all the others (at least until Episode III comes out, which I'm convinced has the potential to be the best movie of all time), but as far as the novelizations go, Return of the Jedi is by far my favorite.

If you didn't already know it, there are a handful of important details included within this book that didn't make it into the movie. These details alone are reason enough for all Star Wars fans to read this book. When Episode III finally comes around, you will be able to appreciate it much more having read this book.

However, the true strength of this book is the wonderful portrayal of the characters. So much depth was given to them that it just strengthened all of the reasons why I love Star Wars. And the reason I do love Star Wars is because of the characters. While all the sci-fi stuff is really great, it is the story of these characters that has drawn me into this universe. Reading about Luke flaunting with the Dark Side as he faces against Vader and the Emperor is gut wrenchingly incredible.

This is the third part of a three part story. I recommend reading the first two parts first respectively - the third part is a treat you won't regret.

This book is basically based on the story of President Kennedy who lived and died so tragically. Why did he die? He was murdered by people. Summers clearly explains with words and many pictures that many people are wondering who did it? Or will we know. In our lifetime? The average lifetime for me is 80 years. Longer for Asians who are sadly killed in wars. Its part of this book that people wanted to kill Kennedy over Vietnam War which was started by Kennedy. Perhaps overlooked is Kennedy himself. Maybe he wasnt sure. Mr. Bojangles. A song written about KEnnedy cant come up with my answer. Lets just forget about what Summers said anyway. Why does he know how Kennedy did anything. Come off it Casper.

A good book for passing the time in a vacation with your best girl. Like it could happen Frank. Kennedy, my lifetime is all about The true story. I suppose this really could happen to anybody/

This work is certainly one of the best investigations into the murder of President Kennedy.
It is a new version of his former book 'Conspiracy'.

Although the author admits that he could not find the ultimate truth, he believes that Lee Harvey Oswald was framed by an alliance of anti-Castro militants, the Mafia and members of the CIA. He could not find out if or not Oswald was a low level CIA agent himself. The author believes however that Oswald was used by U.S. intelligence without his knowledge.

The author also proves convincingly that the version of the killing proclaimed by the Warren Commission is untenable.

This book is a real thriller about a diabolic masterstroke. The real protagonists behind the curtain could load all the suspicions on one person, whom they then ordered to be killed. The whole plot was buried by the Warren Commission.

A masterly investigation.