Lovely pictures and good descriptions for use of various pieces of flatware.

The "Price Guide" is totally useless! Examples: "Dinner Forks $45-110" "Teaspoons $30-85" "Macaroni Servers $295-1250"

All pieces are priced and listed just this way. Listing such a dollar range with no patterns or manufacturers mentioned, makes the price guide of no value.

I could not be more pleased with this book. It contains page after page of beautifully photographed flatware and contains the history of numerous popular patterns and the great number of pieces available in the various patterns, including the rare and unusual pieces.

I could not be more pleased with this book. It is 204 pages of excellent photographs and descriptions of many patterns, along with a history of the unusual pieces and their original uses. The price guide is just *one* page in this book and is meant only to provide a range. Such a guide would be out of date as soon as published, and it is not realistic to expect it to be current or definitive. (It may have been better left out!) This is the finest book I have seen for a serious silver flatware collector.

This book is not unimportant, especially to those in the Reorganized / Restorationist LDS [Mormon tradition] cultures centered primarily in Independence, MO who cling to the notion that the founder of The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints was never personally a revealer, teacher or practitioner of Polygamy. Rather, that he was a 'victim' of a conspiracy within the Mormon church in IL to introduce it. This despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, documented in scholarly works during the past decade alone... The book is nicely bound and printed. Would that it's content were as praiseworthy and historically accurate. Any serious student of LDS [Mormon] History will immediately recognize that to accept the authors interpretive theories requires tremendous leaps in logic with regard to their inferential conclusions about evidence at best circumstantial and at worst completely out of context.

Was Joseph Smith polygamous? Richard and Pamela Price, despite the insistence of most "scholars" that say he was a polygamist, makes a compelling case for Joseph Smith NOT being a polygamist. They mention Joseph's repeated statements, verbal and written, against polygamy, his excommunication of persons who believed in, advocated, and/or practiced polygamy, as well as taking people to court for polygamy or for saying he was a polygamist. Personally, I find this compelling. However, in the final analysis, the reader will have to get the book, read it, and decide the issue for themselves.

My wife and I bought this tape for something to listen to while traveling cross country in the car. Though it's abridged, we felt the author's endorsement would ensure a quality presentation -- big mistake.

First of all, Ken Howard's voice offered little range and capability in offering distinctions between the various characters, and he clearly sounds nothing like a 29-year old protagonist. The novel's dialogue doesn't help on this last point, however, as I had difficulty being convinced that Paget could be both this jaded and self-assured at such a young age.

Most of the characters were two-dimensional sterotypes with limited depth -- especially the women, of which there were too few. These guys are supposed to be big corporate and government hardball players, and yet get flustered everytime Paget talks tough (Ohhh, I'm sooo scared of you). There also appears to be virtually no sensory information in the narrative beyond a visual context -- we know almost nothing about any of the character's personalities or their appearance and mannerisms throughout the book. This applies to descriptions and sensations of the locales as well. I suppose this could have been what was cut as part of the abridged version.

The plot stalls for about half of the book, but picks up quickly at the end, but Paget's failure in attempting to analyze and interpret his first big clue (a written note) is a big investigative oversight right from the start.

Very disappointing.

This is Patterson's first book, and in his introduction he offers an explanation for its inception. Christopher Paget appears in two later novels, "Degree of Guilt" and "Eyes of a Child" which are far superior novels than this one. Be warned, though---if you read "Degree of Guilt" first you'll pretty much know what happens in this book. Paget is a little overbearing and cynical in this one and not as likeable in his mature years. The pace is pretty effective, and the villains are appropriately nasty. I found the ending a tad bit too brisk; it just seemed to end.
RECOMMENDED IN ORDER TO ENJOY THE BETTER SEQUELS.

This is the first of the "Paget Trilogy" and is a pretty decent book. Let's remember Patterson was 29 when he wrote this back in 1979. I guess that could explain the dope references, which didn't bother me at all. A flawed main protagonist??? Oh my God, The HORROR!!! Easy read that will set you up for the much better "Degree of Guilt".

I rated this as a 2 only because you couldn't rate it a one and a half. I must admit the descriptions on both the covers say alot to attract you in. Unfortunately, I have to say that this book is not well liked by myself or the other 4 people, in my company, who reviewed it. The information is clearly the most basic, at best. I found that the authors severely lack in research experience and easily could have done a better job on this book. While reading through the sections covering computer security, bodyguards, private security, etc., I discovered that the authors, who have no practical job experience in these areas, painted a false picture in their descriptions.

This again shows lack of research and creative writing experience. The publisher has put out some much better law enforcement publications. Personally, I can't understand why they accepted the transcript from the these authors. I have put this book back on the shelf, where it belongs, and use it as a reminder of where "not" to go looking for this specialty career information.

If you're interested in law enforcement, but don't have the slightest idea where to start, you might get something out of this book. If you've taken any criminal justice or law enforcement classes, however, skip this one and pick up a book that isn't so elementary. The best book ever written on federal law enforcement positions is "Guide to Careers in Federal Law Enforcement," by Thomas H. Ackerman. Your chances of getting a job in federal law enforcement will increase substantially if you have the information presented in Ackerman's book. Those who want to be municipal cops should consider "Police Officer," by Hugh O'Neil. Although O'Neil's book is quite basic, there is some good information about getting into police departments.

This book is a good explanation of how to locate different law enforcement jobs. It's easy to understand and well written. Great book.

Although the book has good photos, many of the items are not represented correctly. Many items are listed in more than 1 place with different prices or descriptions. A bit more editing and homework would have been worthwhile for this book.
Prices are in many instances good, in others not realistic- either too high or too low. It seems that personal taste and preferences play a big role with the authors.
OK to look at the pictures, don't bother with the text.

Photographs and descriptions done very well. Prices not based in reality. I am an appraiser of antique and period jewelry and wish I could pay these prices.

The Price Guide to Antique Jewelry is a very well done book for the beginner, the expert and everyone in between.

The information is easy to understand, while the pricing information gives the reader a good feel for the real price levels you should expect to pay for antique jewelry, NOT "steals" at garage or estate sales.

Determining values of pieces can be very difficult for people not "in the business". This book does a great job at giving the reader solid, dependable information without listing prices that are "questionable" to either the buyer OR the seller!

As a collector, the book has helped me to feel much more confident when deciding what to purchase and how much I should be willing to pay. It's nice to see something current and thorough finally written about jewelry pricing.

Thanks for letting me add my "two cents".

A collector of over 100 pieces of antique jewelry.

Too technical. Gets trapped into unecessary details. Sometimes theoretical, sometimes practical, but the mix makes it hard to read.

I'm both a collector and a bibliophile, and this is the first time I've ever thought it necessary to this say about any collector's book: In my opinion, this book stinks. A shame, as it's clear that the author has in-depth knowledge to impart. Unfortunately, it's clouded by the author's apparent dislike of dealers, fellow collectors, and the Homer Laughlin China Company itself.

The book designer's work is exuberant and cheerful, much as is Fiestaware; however, the author's text is mean spirited. I don't think I've ever seen an odder combination. I hope for better things from the obviously knowledgeable author in the future.

The idea for a book dedicated to Post-1986 (P86) Fiestaware® is a terrific idea and I was pleased to order it.

What a poor execution! Racheter's attempt is inconsistent, sophomoric and diseased with his unceasing attacks on Homer Laughlin China Company. (Who cares why he hates Homer Laughlin? Not me!)

The (little) new information and price guide for some P86 colors - the book's innovative features - are overshadowed by the pointless commentary.

Unfortunately the book isn't worth keeping for the pictures either... Don't buy this book!...

This book is a good start, but so much has changed in post 86 Fiesta... items, colors added and discontinued, prices. An update is desperately needed. Also a bit less "filler" as far as stories and dramatic exposition and more emphasis on actual introductions and discontinuations in the new line. Also, so many competing lines are similar... a back of the book section showing other contemporary dinnerware lines that currently compete with Fiesta.

My biggest suggestion would be a chapter showing comparison of old versus new items to show the evolution of design...1.e. the old casserole versus the new one, old cup next to new one. Many collectors of the new do not appreciate where the design evolved from

Also, the only decaled ware shown is...well.. the less said the better about what is shown... where are the artistic and popular patterns like Sunporch, Happy Pumpkin and Moon Over Miami?

I was disappointed. To begin, this book is a very difficult read. The 'Color Gallery' is beautiful but the picture captions give little or no information and refer the reader to the 'Value Guide'. Here is the problem. The 'Guide' appears to be nothing more than a collection of 400+ pages of poor b&w photocopies of old magazine ads! The copy consists of small, hard to read newsprint; tiny, type-written 'values'; hand-lettered, cartoonish descriptions and comments and some 'hand-drawn' depictions of various lures. The rest of the lure pictures range from coarse 'line-drawings', to 'blotchy', to totally black silhouettes. All told, it is difficult to judge the content due to the lack of detail, which should be the priority here. Perhaps I have been spoiled. My first book on this subject was Carl F. Luckey's "Old Fishing Lures & Tackle", a totally classy and professionally done work. It is everything the 'Collector's Bible' is not. Mr. Luckey's publication is done, and done well. Mr. Streater's publication looks like a second or third draft, not yet ready to go to the printer.

scymanski has an ok story here. price has a good one about the gorgon. that one was very enjoyable, and had some lovely details. otherwise, this was dreary read. so many of these stories were not only badly invented, but seemed so uninspired to. i almost felt sorry for the writers, for making so bad stories. i think this is chaosium's worst.

This book is written for young people, primarily adolescents. Ido not believe that any child should be exposed to this book; if thechild has suffered through a disaster and heard the term Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and wants to know if that is what s/he is going through, the disaster counselling resources available from FEMA and the Red Cross -- and mentioned on the last page of text in this book -- would be far preferable to reading this strange compendium. THIS BOOK HAS A MAJOR FLAW WHICH EXTENDS THROUGHOUT: IT FAILS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT PTSD IS A NORMAL, ALTHOUGH MINORITY, REACTION TO AN ABNORMAL OCCURRENCE. Only once do the authors state that at least 25% of disaster victims suffer from PTSD, and they completely fail to draw from this that PTSD is thus so statistically significant as to be a normal response, not some aberration. Instead, the authors broadly postulate and without citation to any autority,, on page 54, that "[t]he people most likely to develop PTSD are those who have difficulty acknowledging or expressing their emotions," thereby branding their young readers to see themselves as suffering from a mental illness, at worse, or at best from a personal flaw. More effective would have been a neutral phraseology such as "How a Disaster Makes You Feel," even if PTSD is an accurate diagnosis to an adult clinician. It is obvious, even prior to reading their biographies, that neither author is a psychologist. (But read on and discover that little of this book is even about a child's response to a natural disaster). The book also fails to recognize that different children have experienced different levels of destruction in a disaster, and that this external factor affects the severity of each child's response...Also of note is that of this book's measly 61 pages, 42 are devoted to cursory examples of different types of natural disasters (when undoubtedly the reader has only suffered from one and her/his parent has purchased this book to deal with it). The book is also primarily devoted to preparing for and surviving during the disaster, not POST disaster results. That portion of this book titled "After Disaster Strikes" does not commence until page 52! Even the reading list associated with this book is confusing. Of the 12 suggested books, all but one describe various prior disasters, and the 12th is Melodie Beattie's Codependent No More (clearly not a book for children). I cannot imagine what possessed the authors to write this peculiar book and then to call it "Everything You Need To Know About Natural Disasters and PTSD." Even more so, I am astounded and perturbed that it was ever published! IF THERE WERE SUCH A CATEGORY, I WOULD GIVE THIS NEGATIVE STARS.