THE DOCTOR'S DILEMMA is one of Shaw's most biting critical commentaries...this time on doctors. Shaw hated doctors, as a result of a botched operation on his foot, so here he portrays them as a group of ignorant, bull-headed windbags. All, that is, except for one doctor, who has actually found a cure for tuberculosis. The "dilemma" in the title is whether to use the cure on a talented young painter who is a moral and ethical sleazebag, or on an upstanding middle-aged physician who is a good soul, albeit a boring and relatively mundane one. All this is complicated by the fact that the doctor is in love with the painter's wife! The biggest problem with the play is that it has lost some of its impetus in the last century. Antibiotics can now cure tuberculosis, and the medical profession is far more restricted in its use of "experimental" treatments than it was then. However, Shaw's wit and invective is still poignant even at the end of the twentieth century. A must-read for Bernard Shaw enthusiasts....

I bet more families would stay together if they read this book! The authors incorporate a unique blend of studying the four temperments and the seven spiritual gifts/roles from Romans.

An interesting, though somewhat dense, book that helped me understand my family. If you can find a copy, I bet it'll help you!

I once read that, in addition to his unfortunate condition of porphyria, the mental effects of which became the basis for this screenplay, King George also had an anal fistula. Perhaps this explains his dyspeptic attitude toward the American colonies, since we were such a pain in the a__, and he already, as a result of the fistula, had plenty of them.

I also learned once that the French King, Louis XIV, used to hold court with his advisors and other notables while receiving his daily enema, thereby making him sort of a public "enema of the people." No wonder the French monarchy had so many problems.

It's amazing how much of history seems to relate to the proctological vagaries of its rulers. In George III's case, because of his unfortunate anal fistula, one could say it perhaps ultimately came down to a problem with the bottom of the man at the top.

Community Playhouse in Long Beach did the show this August. As it played, the plot didn't come through, but the wit of Shaw did. The playhouse didn't have the costumes of the military men, nor the actors to carry-off the pomp and bravado of these would-be heroes. In a time when G.W. Bush is fighting his own phantasmic enemies this play should have lapooned the whole spectre of military madness. George Bernard Shaw gave us the theme it will take some imagination and talent to make it contemporary and equal to the madness of our times. Anon

George Bernard Shaw takes the title for this play from the opening life of Virgil's epic poem the "Aeneid," which begins "Of arms and the man I sing." Virgil glorified war and the heroic feats of Aeneas on the battlefield. However, Shaw's purpose in this play is to attack the romantic notion of war by presenting a more realistic depiction of war, devoid of the idea that such death and destruction speaks to nobility. Still, "Arms and the Man" is not an anti-war drama, but rather a satirical assault on those who would glorify the horrors or war.

Shaw develops an ironic contrast between two central characters. The play begins with accounts of the glorious exploits of Major Sergius Saranoff, a handsome young Bulgarian officer, in a daring cavalry raid, which turned the war in favor of the Bulgarians over the Serbs. In contrast, Captain Bluntschil, a professional soldier from Switzerland, acts like a coward. He climbs up to a balcony to escape capture, he threatens a woman with a gun, and he carries chocolates rather than cartridges because he claims the sweets are more useful on the battlefield.

In the eyes of Raina Petkoff, the young romantic idealist who has bought into the stories of battlefield heroism, Saranoff is her ideal hero. However, as the play proceeds, we learn more about this raid and that despite its success, it was a suicidal gesture that should have failed. Eventually Saranoff is going to end up dead if he continues to engage in such ridiculous heroics. Meanwhile, we realize that Bluntshcil has no misconceptions about the stupidity of war and that his actions have kept him alive.

"Arms and the Man" is an early play by Shaw, first performed in 1894, the same year he wrote "Mrs. Warren's Profession." The ending is rather tradition for comedies of the time, with all the confusion between the lovers finally getting cleared up and everybody paired up to live happily ever after. The choice of a young woman as the main character, who ultimately rejects her romantic ideals to live in the real world, is perhaps significant because serving in the army and going to war is not going to happen. Consequently, her views are not going to be colored by questions of courage in terms of going to war herself. I also find it interesting that this play understands the horrors of war given that it was the horrors of World War I that generally killed the romantic notion of war in Britain.

A starving, exhausted soldier running for his life bursts into a young woman's room, finds outrage, criticism, solace, chocolate creams, and unexpected love -and that's just the opening scene. This clever, witty, subtle, and surprising treat from the author of Pygmalion still holds up well more than 100 years after its writing. Shaw fashions the subjects of false ideals, heroism, romanticism, and the fake glories of war into a well-constructed farce which sustains through the very last line. Can't wait to see a new production of the play, and a great read meanwhile....

This text bases the designing of curriculum on knowledge derived by a brainstorming event by the designer of a proposed course. The results of the brainstorming are then polished and refined until they become intended learning outcomes for students. Posner,et al. should realize brain storming can also lead to pooled stupidity- not what students need in the classroom. Instead of this book get "Understanding by Design" (Grant Wiggens and Jay McTighe- more recent and much more in sync with the world

Always seems a bit arrogant when one claims to know "the real world of kid's minds." Also worth mentioning that "Understanding by Design" is really a modest variation of the behavioral approach to educational planning. That is: figure out what you can and will test for and then design instruction. "Course Design" proceeds from considerations of content and learners. Assessment is not the first consideration in the planning process. "Course Design" does incorporate brainstorming but the brainstorming is based on substantial content knowledge and grapples with what it means to understand content. Thus it is a book best used in planning to teach content area courses and units rather than skills. The real world of human minds is a world of ideas. Teachers need to grapple with issues that center on what ideas have power for their students, how do students learn and what does this suggest for how they might best be engaged in the teaching learning process. No book on how to "do" educational planning is perfect. I'd like teachers to have a book that engages them with substantial issues of content and what it means to understand rather than working backwards from "how am I going to test this stuff."

Graphics and story were weak relative to other George books. It seems as though this (and a few others) were just screen shots of the George movies, with no real story.

This book was the first Curious George book I bought for my sons (aged 4 & 2)and they really enjoyed it. They liked the fact that George does lots of exploring and gets into trouble. I like the book because it shows them how to turn something negative into something positive. I would recommend this book to anyone with young children. Curious George is a classic and fun character!

Story and graphics were poor. This is just a bunch of screen shots from the curious george movies, and has no real story line. Any of the books that are derived from the movies seem to have similar problems.

MY CHILD WAS ASK TO READ THIS BOOK FOR HER CLASS AND TELL HOW SHE ENJOYED THE BOOK AS WELL AS THE ILLUSTRATIONS. THE CLASS WAS DELIGHTED AND SO WAS HER TEACHER. NOW HER TEACHER HAS ASKED ALL THE STUDENTS TO PICK A CURIOUS GEORGE BOOK TO PRESENT TO THE CLASS BECUASE IT WAS EASY TO READ, FULL OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND IT KEEP THEIR ATTENTION.

This book provides basic information for learnig Esperanto, except for the attempted exclusion of the 'hx' symbol. Some extra readings add interest to the conversational-style lessons, and the glossaries are good, if limited. Articles on Esperanto clubs, etc., are, unfortunately, at least a generation out of date.

This is a fascinating book. It is useful as a history of Esperanto, because it was first written in the '40's. There is a great deal of information about the then-current groups of that era, as well as discussion about government and other organizations using Esperanto, and the growth of the language at that time.

This book seems to have been written for the Esperanto "traveler" - the excercises revolve around conversations involving restaurants, hotels, and train stations. Not very useful, I think, in this day and age when the average hotel clerk has almost no chance of knowing the language. But the excercises are well laid out - not too much vocabulary all at once, and good dialogue in each chapter.

What I most appreciate about this textbook are the notes on grammar. I have found these to be just wonderful help, very needed!

I have really enjoyed this book and would recommend any Esperantist to get it if he or she can find it!

This collection of articles represents a political point of view about the politics of modern Irish history, not always to my personal taste, but carefully done, all the same.

What I found most valuable was the 13 page introductory essay by the editors. It was worth the price of the entire book to me, as I can now follow much more readily discussions I encounter at home and on-line - who's revisionist, who's counter-revisionist, or why so-and-so is anti-revisionist.

There are 10 essays by authors from several countries (including Wales and Australia). Each explores a topic; 18th century Ireland, the Act of Union between Britain & Ireland, The Famine, Irish Nationalism, Irish Unionism, Home Rule and others. The editors' expressed intention is for a "common thread" of "revisionism" to link them all not only to the debate within Ireland, but to the international debate on methods of historical interpretation.

As a 3rd generation Irish American, I was particularly interested in "Revising the Diaspora", by co-editor Alan O'Day, which I found quite fascinating, as my ancestors arrived both pre- and post- Famine, having very different experiences here in the US. It also flourishes extensive footnotes (as do they all) for further exploration.

If you're interested in modern Irish history, or in the methods and practice of history globally, this scholarly yet emminently readable book is well worth a read.

Not The best George Harrison book out there. Very tough read due to a lot of meaningless detail.

All i can say is that this author is some bitter hack, who tries to reduce George Harrison to the level of mediocrity. Very boring with no real insight or focus. Also it just left me with a bad taste in my mouth, brain, & heart.

I'm surprised at the negativity and hatred this book spawns. ... I enjoyed this book. So much of Beatles literature is paved with the same regurgitated facts. This book in no way adds a tremendous amount of knowledge, but at least it paints a fairly unique portrait of George, unlike the Guiliano book. The book is often cumbersome in its Britishness, but I appreciate the author's take on a guy who might as well be St. George ... This book isn't the bible, but a perspective.