If you enjoy American Oak Furniture, this brand new, year 2000 book is for you. It contains 400 pages, loaded with more than 1,500 large black and white photos. It covers the period from the late 1880s through the early 1900s. Its contents are interestingly arranged according to room. It takes you through the Entry Hall, Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen, Children's Room, Library, Bedroom and then covers Chairs and Benches, Accessories, Mission Furniture, and more. Each room is provided with sufficient interesting and useful information. There's a chapter on the Hearty Oaks and Look Alikes, as well as a complete index and glossary. Up-To-Date prices are provided. Virtually every type of furniture from this period is included. A valuable resource for American Oak Furniture enthusiasts.

This book deals with Irish neutrality during the second world war. There are many myths attached to Irish neutrallity, stories of the IRA refeulling U-boats and threats of aggression from Britian. This book goes to the source and destroys the rumours, and holds up the facts. It also goes deeply into the political undercurrents that kept Ireland out of the second world war. Ireland held (in the first half of WWII) an extremely important strategic position. The british had abandonned three navy ports (against the advice of Winston Churchill) which would have protected the atlantic convoys against the german u-boats in 1938. Had these ports not been abandonned it is probable that the Irish could not have been neutral. The british only threatened to Invade the "Irish Free state" if they were being starved out by the U boat blockade, and would only have done this to re take the strategic ports. Interestingly the IRA were hunted down on both sides of the partition and several were hung in Dubblin during WWII. The IRA in NI were pro nazi, but there is no evidence for them helping in any significant way the Nazis. For students of Irish history this would make a very good begining point, the 1940's and WWII are not too distant in history and it looks back in enough detail to give the causes for the actions in the first half of the 1940's and sets the scene for the Irish declaration of the republic in 1947, and the subsequent absorbtion of NI into the UK in 1949. Another interesting fact is how the german bombings of Dubblin and Belfast had an enormous effect on the population there. Although light in comparison to the treatment dealt out to English cities the population of belfast was terrified into sleeping outside in the countryside. The population of Dubblin, far from being incensed at the germans bombing them, held tighter to neutrallity. Also of interest is the fact the Roseavelt wanted to invade Eire to use the strategic ports. This book destroyed alot of myths for me, and let me understand the politics of the Island alot better.

An excellent resource for both prices & basic history on antique clocks of all types. Pictures provided for each item listed with price ranges taking into account the condition of the item. Although I had a solid basic knowledge regarding antique clocks, I found new information. The only reason I rated this book a 4 instead of a 5, is that Miller's needs to realize that it would be helpful to have dual listings of prices--both the pound/sterling and the dollar! As this seems to be a common complaint about their guides, you'd think they'd catch on! An excellent book otherwise--well written, informative with excellent examples and pictures!

This book is a good general overview of options pricing for those who do not have a strong mathematical background. It emphasizes the practical aspects of the subject and the author endeavors to be as concrete as possible. There is accompanying software with the book, but since I have written my own software for options pricing I did not use it and cannot attest to its utility or reliability.

The first chapter defines the call and put option, and gives a short history of the options markets. The author discusses taxation of option transactions briefly, which is not usually found in books on options.

In chapter 2, the author discusses options payoffs from using various options strategies. The important principle of arbitrage is discussed, and the assumption of no transaction costs is made throughout the chapter. The author gives a good example of how small differences in price can persist in actual markets, thus showing how transaction costs can effect option pricing. Option combinations, such as straddles, strangles, bull, bear, box, butterfly, spreads, and condors. All of these are summarized nicely in table form. The important area of portfolio insurance is treated with brief discussions on mimicking portfolios and synthetic instruments. Helpful references are given that study the cost of portfolio insurance.

In chapter 3, the author considers the factors that contribute to the pricing of an option using the principle of arbitrage. Complete financial markets are assumed, and the goal is to find how these assumptions can be used to put bounds on option prices. The chapter could be viewed as an elementary exercise in the mathematical formalism of optimization with constraints, but the arguments are mostly qualitative. The effect of interest rates on option prices is also considered in this chapter. Here, the principle of arbitrage is employed to show the price of a put must fall as interest rates rise, while call option prices increase with higher interest rates. Also, the author begins an attempt to show how stock prices influence option prices, and he shows that the riskier the underlying stock, the greater the value of an option.

Then in chapter 4, the author takes up issues of a more mathematical nature, wherein he uses the single-period and multi-period binomial models to price European options. These are used to derive the famous Black-Scholes option pricing model. The author's approach is very practical as he discusses various methods of using historical data to estimate the stock's standard deviation. He cites the Crash of 1987 as an example of why one should use current data to estimate the volatility. This motivates the development of other techniques, such as implied volatility, for estimating the standard deviation.

The 'Greeks', called option sensitivity measures by the author, are discussed in chapter 5. He does use partial differential calculus, but motivates it well, so readers without the mathematical preparation can follow the presentation. It is shown how to combine options with the underlying stock or into portfolios, one can construct positions with the desired risk exposure.

The more difficult job of pricing American options is dealt with in chapter 6, the Black pseudo-American call option pricing model being treated first. The binomial model is applied to American options with various kinds of dividends.

In chapter 7, the author considers options on stock indices, foreign currency, and futures. The Merton model leads off the discussion, and both European and American options are treated in the chapter.

Then in chapter 8, the techniques developed in the book are applied to corporate securities. It is an interesting discussion, and the author gives straightforward examples to illustrate various corporate financing strategies. It should prepare the reader for more advanced reading on the subject.

The last chapter is the most interesting of all as it deals with exotic options. The author considers nine types of exotic options, namely forward-start, compound, chooser, barrier, binary, loopback, average price, exchange, and rainbow options, all of these studied as European options. Closed-form solutions for these types of options are given and numerical examples are given. Several helpful references are given at the end of the chapter. The author gives an interesting real-world example of the use of chooser options, namely the case of hedging with a chooser option on the Mexican peso before the NAFTA agreement in 1993.

This is a biography of the actor (Jaws, From Russia with Love, etc.), playwright, novelist and sometime singer Robert Shaw. Unfortunately, I got the last copy, but I recommend hunting this volume down if you're interested in Shaw. Highly underrated for most of his life, his work was truly art and his quirky personality makes for good storytelling, at which French more often than not succeeds. Fans of his acting will be surprised to find out some of the well-researched factoids about this jack-of-all-trades. The reader will be surprised at how well French demonstrates that Shaw's short life was exciting, yet nearly wasted. (There is another bio of Shaw, "Robert Shaw: More Than a Life" by Georg Gaston.)

This book is a landmark: at long last we have a well-known and highly respected Christian theologian taking up for serious discussion the conclusions of several non-theological scholars about the non-historicity of the Jesus of the Gospels and Acts. Chief among these scholars has long been George A. Wells, whose first book on the subject was The Jesus of the Early Christians (1971). A half-dozen others have followed. In the last few years, Earl Doherty, a Canadian classical scholar, has pursued the subject with great energy on his very lively website, and this year in an impressive book, The Jesus Puzzle (2000). On the whole, the theological establishment has cold-shouldered, or more often, met such publications with silence rather than arguments. Hopefully Price's book will lead to a change of attitude. After all, theology, including the history of Christianity, is an essential ingredient in the history of civilization. Yet, unaccountably, Western historians have left the history of Christianity to their theological colleagues. It is significant that practically all Western general Encyclopedias have assigned the whole area of religion to theologians. The result is that the general public has got a rather biased picture of Christian origins. Price's book will shake them up. After a wide-ranging and always interesting argument he concludes as follows: "it seems to me that Jesus must be categorized with other legendary founder figures, including the Buddha, Krishna, and Lao-tzu. There may have been a real figure there, but there is simply no longer any way to being sure." Fair enough. But historians will not give up their search. After all, new manuscripts, providing new ways of looking at the field, may still turn up. Michael Wise's fascinating reinterpretation of the Qumran texts referring to the Teacher of Righteousness, in his recent book The First Messiah (1998), is a case in point.

I guess it all started with the pre millennium madness. More and more biblical scholars are following the footsteps of scholars who have attempted to find the actual person behind the gospel accounts.

"Deconstructing Jesus" isn't an easy read. Unless you have been diligently studying in this field you will find many references to authors you have never heard about. The field is rife with people studying this question.

Bottom line, as I understand it, is that the Jesus that contemporary Christianity follows is a multi-layered construction that has evolved over time to fit the needs of the current culture and political climate. The roots of this construction are all over the first century Middle East and various philosophies. From Cynic, to Gnostic, through Zealot, and everything in between has been woven into the picture that we get of "The Man From Nazareth" (or, was he a Nasserite or Nasorean?).

For the serious student of Christology or church history this book is an excellent criticism of all the current thinking in this area of scholarship. I doubt that the average pew-sitting Christian will be overjoyed with this book but the scholarship will, eventually, be the stuff of many homilies.

Will you find the historical Jesus in this book? No. But you will find an early Church struggling with a polyglot of beliefs attempting to blend them into a cohesive fabric of faith. Perhaps it is that dynamic that has kept "The Church" alive for two millennia. Mysticism and Gnostic thinking are on the rise again and "The Church" on the eve of another evolutionary move -- here's the first map of the territory ahead.

Robert M. Price's set of provocative ideas on the origins of Christianity Deconstructing Jesus (1-57392-758-9, $31.95) provides a focus on the historical Jesus, examining the meaning of contrasts between the religious figure and historical facts and offering new textual insights for Christian origins and interpretations. The works of other scholars are incorporated into an absorbing survey of Jesus' life and times.

I enjoy Robert Parker's writing. Of course, that assumes that it is, in fact, Robert Parker's writing. In the Sixth Edition of his Wine Buyer's Guide, however, his assistant is responsible for much of the writing. Perhaps that accounts for the fact that the section on Burgundy fails even to mention the superstar negociant, Dominique Laurent, on whom Parker lavished almost endless praise in the Fifth Edition. I bought a copy of the recently-released Sixth Edition today, and I saw that Laurent had been dropped completely!!! Who knows how many other omissions will crop up as I read this mammoth tome? I am glad to have the book, and I expect many hours of enjoyable reading, but I certainly did not expect such an immediate disappointment.

Back some 15 years ago my wife got me started on what has become a passion -- fine wine. We had always enjoyed wine but knew very little about it. Then my wife bought me my first wine cellar -- and a copy of an early (and much thinner) edition of Robert Parker's Wine Buying Guide.

I recall reading the book from cover-to-cover -- TWICE. As I read it, a whole new world unfolded. I started making lists of wines that I felt I had almost already tasted through Parker's amazingly descriptive writing. I just HAD to try the 1985 Chateau Montelena, the Groth Reserve and the Heitz Martha's Vineyard. Could Chateauneuf du Pape really taste the way Parker described when he wrote about Chateau Beaucastel? I had to find out!

Before I knew it my cellar was full. Time for a bigger one. No, I didn't end up mortgaging the house or selling my wife and children into slavery but wine did become a deeply important part of our life (my wife is as "hooked" as I am).

So beware. If you aren't prepared to really get to know wine perhaps you shouldn't buy this wonderful book. If you are, I can't think of a better place to start!

It begins with the basics -- but from the point-of-view of the world's greatest expert: How to buy wine and how to store it. When and how to serve it.

It then moves on to Parker's own unique, always provocative and singularly honest view of the world of wine and the wine industry. Modern styles of wine making. The dishonest and mis-leading practices of producers, importers and distributors. The production techniques that make a great wine -- or destroy it.

The real focus of the book is on the wines themselves. Over 8,000 are reviewed from all of the major wine producing regions of the world. It is true (as other reviewers have complained) that many of these can't be purchased in stores anymore. That isn't the point, at least to me. As with anything else, a real appreciation of wine can come only through study of the details. And Robert Parker IS the master of the details.

The bottom line. No one book can claim to be "a wine library in one volume". But for what you need to know to be an intelligent, self-confident wine consumer there is only one place to start -- and this is it!

Could not believe the amazing amount of information about 8,000 wines available on the shelf. At a high level, wine types from all over the world are discussed in local context, the important and less important producers are identified, and specific wines are reviewed. This book not only tells me what the wine in the bottle tastes like, it gives me the Wine Advocate's quality judgement. (The Wine Advocate is widely acknowledged to be the single best authority on wine criticism. My own experience agrees with that judgement).

The best part is that tons of the reviewed wines (same vintage even) are on the shelves at the shop for sale. So I can read about exactly what's in the bottle before spending my money. I got a coupon mailer from Total Beverage in my area and loaded up on great wines (all with 90+ scores) at big discounts! Avoided the losers; why buy losers when great stuff is on sale, too? Any way, this book is really useful to me as I'm stocking up the cellar for the holidays and beyond. BTW, saved in coupons on an order - so the book paid for itself twice over the first time I used it.

IMHO, this is a great research tool for anyone who wants current information to help them buy wine now. I don't know how they can publish this much, this timely, at such a reasonable price. Kudos to the authors for a superb buying guide. After tasting the wines I just bought, their reviews get my top marks.

If you're looking for a book about Rush the band, this is not for you. If you are looking for insights into the inspiration behind the lyrics, this book is a step in the right direction.

Carol Selby Price comes off as well-read, with a wide range of knowledge covering philosophy, religion, literature and pop culture. She definitely is a fan of the music of Rush, but especially the lyrics of Neal Peart. Don't expect a lot of coverage on the instrumental music here, this is strictly about the lyrics.

I found that the breakdown of theme categories and selection of titles worked from the standpoint that she covered from 2112 through Presto. The book works best when clearly staying with the topic of a single song, then using some comparisons from literarture, etc. If one were to merely listen to the songs, there would be a surface meaning, but this book helps dig deeper below the surface layer, peeling through the layers of allegory and metaphor to some core visions.
For example, while "Red Barchetta" appears to be a thumbing of the nose against the powers of a dystopic society, I never thought about the adventure merely being a dream by the fireside itself. Did he actually drive the care or simply remain with his uncle by the fireside?
I liked the link of Analog Kid, Digital Man and New World Man, especially the inner/outer versions of New World Man comparing both individuals as well as the regions New World, Old World and Third World.
Criticisms: There must have been a copyright issue with reprinting the lyrics, because one would need the album/disk package at hand to review the writing. While there are plenty of quotes from other sources, the Rush songs are merely paraphrased. I also would have liked to have the entire song broken down, instead of going off on a tangent to show comparisons with Kant, Plato, Nietzsche or Ayn Rand. At times the writers appeared to be showing off their knowledge and there was some definite narrative preachiness about our society. E.T. one long commercial for Reese's Pieces? What does that have to do with Rush?
Some songs are covered briefly, such as 2112, which was then recovered in The Trees. Some editorial tightening would have helped this book, but then again, at barely 150 pages, it was not that long a read.
I would recommend this book to Rush fans who are scholars and have read works by some of those in the bibliography.

The Prices have written a book that I, myself, have considered writing... namely, a book interpreting the lyrics of Neil Peart (drummer/lyricist for the band Rush). Peart's song lyrics have kept me reading and researching quite a bit over the years, in an on-going attempt to dig DEEPER into the meaning of his complex songs. Today I consider myself to be, like Peart himself, a self-educated intellectual. I owe much of my intellect to the musical group Rush.

Look at the other criticisms of this book - "Rush fans can interpret the songs on their own! They don't need a book to do it for them!" Well.... yes and no. If you want to continue believing that "The Body Electric" is merely a futuristic song/story about a robot, or that "Limelight" is only about being famous... this book isn't for you. But if you want to go DEEPER into the songs' meanings, perhaps you should check out "Mystic Rhythms: The Philosophical Vision of Rush." If fans can 'interpret the songs on their own,' then why have other fans often asked me, "What is that song ABOUT??" Not ALL fans are able to grasp the 'underlying themes' of the lyrics, and only scratch the surface in their interpretations. Nothing wrong with that; there's a lot of meaning there, too. But for those who want to look still further into the water...

Check out this book. The Prices' focus is on Philosophy and Human Psychology as it relates to the vision Peart has given us, the fans of his songs. Sometimes in the text, one gets the impression that the authors have "gone too far" - perhaps they've dug deeper than even Peart himself intended! But new insights into the songs will surely be gained from reading the book, even if only as a suplement to the reader's OWN lyrical intrepretation.

I enjoyed this book, and will hang onto it as a reference source.

Weather of not you like the music of Rush, the lyrics of Neil Peart stand on their own merit as works of genius which resonate with deep meaning and vivid pertinence. Neil's lyrics give voice to more serious and truly important issues and questions than are found in any other lyrics in the music industry in general. Neil Peart is a very meticulous person. There is very little he does or says that is without purpose. Meaningful structure is as equally prevalent in his lyrics as it is in his famously well-crafted drum parts. These structures as well as the content are categorized and examined in this wonderful book.

Carol Selby Price and Robert Price are obviously very knowledgeable about each of Neil's lyrics as well as the literature and philosophical concepts that have fed Neil's writing. Their vast knowledge of literature, ancient through modern, is used throughout this book to help explain in colorful detail the issues and images depicted in the lyrics.

The authors have put in a great deal of analysis and thought leading to an extremely poignant, interesting and insightful analysis of Neil's lyrics and the philosophies behind them. This book will help greatly deepen the reader's appreciation and understanding of the deep, thought provoking, and powerfully inspirational messages of Neil's works.

Who never heard Ludlum's name? He has big name among thriller authors. This fact was intriguing me to read his books too. "The Matlock Paper" was Ludlum's second book I've ever read beside "The Gemini Contender". And I still can't make Ludlum's books as my cup of tea.

I bought this book with great expectation that Ludlum would write "bettter" then Frederick Forsyth (which I've read all of his books) and Tom Clancy. However, I was very disappointed to find that the topic and plot were too simple, especially compared with Ludlum's big name. The story was predictable and not thrilling at all.

I am not sure whether I will give another try for another Ludlum's books. I'm simply too disappointed with this one.

The book is well written and the action keeps you reading. But the plot is rather tired, having been used so often, in so many variations, before. Maybe a good book for the beach.

I have read all of Robert Ludlums books, they are all great reading. It's a shame we will have no more of his writings.

I've always (up to now) been a fan of Parkers books. In my opinion, he's always managed to give a thorough description of all areas he has visited - since last book issue.. This is not the case for 'Wine buyers guide, 5th edition' ! First of all, 500 pages (of 1700 in total) on Burgundy alone is waaay over the top (unless you are a burgundy devote, of course !) On the other hand, it seems like mr. Parker still hasn't recognised the potential in many new areas of the world (ie NZ, here look for James Hallidays EXCELLENT wine companion instead) And what about the emerging South Africa ? As stated by other reviewers, other parts of France don't get their fair share and - you can certainly do better that that on Germany, Bob ! Even though I've bought the book - and in some way, feel it covers the newer vintages, I cannot help feeling let down, considering earlier editions. So...I only give it an 86 out of 100 ! (eat that, Bob)

This book is almost 2,000 pages and I am taking the liberty of writing a few comments based on a quick overview. The text on the bottom of the front cover states "...Ratings for more than 8000 Wines from All the Major Wine Regions". Some important wine areas are completely excluded, such as South Africa, the USA apart from the West Coast, Canada, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East (where there are a few very prestigious growers, such as Chateau Musar). Burgundy and Beaujolais together receive about 500 pages of commentary whereas Bordeaux gets only about 200. Germany gets 11 pages only, of which 5 are maps and general information about how its labelling system works, and no tasting notes at all. Austria is appended to Germany, and receives 5 and a half pages with tasting notes. All of the notes are devoted to one Austrian producer's Trockenbeerenauslese wines. I was quite astounded to find the exclusion in the German chapter of Robert Weil among recommended producers. His Rheingau Riesling wines are getting some of the highest prices in the country and comparable recognition. The section on Spain includes no evaluations of its white wines, as they were not considered by the author to be worthy. There are no comments on the country's wonderful sherries. The section on Portugal is devoted almost entirely to Port, with about half a page on table wine. There are no evaluations of any madeiras. I fail to understand why the author chose to include detailed commentaries on vintage Ports and Sauternes chateaux but practically nothing on sherry, madeira, Hungarian Tokaji Aszu Essencia, or German dessert wine. To me this seems very arbitrary.
It should also be noted that Mr. Parker's assistant Pierre-Antoine Rovani wrote the tasting notes and/or scoring (using the 100 point system of course) for red and white Burgundy, Alsace, the Loire, Germany, Washington and Oregon, and New Zealand. This comes to somewhere between a third and half the total text. His very significant contribution is noted in one paragraph in the introduction.
Having said all of this, for the most part I like what is contained here. It was decided - correctly in my view - to present the major French wine regions in alphabetical order rather than starting with either Bordeaux or Burgundy. Therefore the first 75 pages or so are devoted to Alsace. I have been a huge fan of this area's wines for the last 12 years and Mr. Rovani's comments are excellent. I concur wholeheartedly with his assertions that the very best vintages from the estates of Domaines Weinbach and Zind-Humbrecht (among others) offer quality equal to anything from Burgundy. You are not likely to go wrong with any of the recommendations here. The Burgundy section may seem a bit excessive at 500 pages, but again Messrs. Rovani and Parker emphasize there are sizeable variations in quality and it is easy to pay top dollar for mediocre wine here. It was noted that in the elite Le Montrachet, some 20 acres, there are 15 producers, of which only 5 or 6 can be relied upon for producing consistently excellent wine - yet all of them charge anywhere from $150 to $300+ a bottle. I cannot fault the authors for providing some extra guidance and information here, and if it saves the reader from spending money on one mediocre bottle the book has more than paid for itself. The Bordeaux section is well written but with over 2,000 chateaux to choose from, it could have been longer. To be fair, this area (and Burgundy) can take a book by itself, which Parker has done on 3 occasions already.
The rest of the book has some interesting things too, but I have to disagree with the author's assertion that there is a lot of bad wine made in Washington. I've enjoyed it for many years and cannot honestly recall ever paying too much for a bottle. Oddly enough, Washington's best offerings get higher scoring than those from Oregon. New Zealand's offerings are confined to only one page.
So far I like this book but cannot in all fairness give it an unqualified recommendation.

If you'll accept Robert Parker's bias towards French wines, you'll appreciate the 5th edition of Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide. (As a holder of France's Legion of Honour, you'd hardly expect him to lean towards German plonk!) That said, Parker's Guide is an almost complete reference on wine vintages and prices with ratings for more than 7,500 wines from all major wine regions. It is by far the most comprehensive and respected wine rating book in the market.

There are critics who say that Parker is too influential, that his weakness for strong, tannin rich reds makes him biased in their favour, but there is still no other rating book that comes close. Until his critics come up with something better, they should hold their peace.

What impressed me was the way the Parker's Guide picks up even on some of the smaller chateaux. Clos de Gamot, for example is a tiny producer and I wouldn't have expected to find their wine given a mention. On the other hand, South Africa and Canada (both somewhat larger 'chateaux') seem to have been missed altogether! Like I said, you need to accept Parker's bias to all things French. I guess at 2,000 pages, the book weighs enough already!