Rotha's place in documentary history lies in the early days in Britain - as a colleague of John Grierson, a documentary film-maker and a writer about film. His influence remains strong, in spite of his books having been out of print for some years. Apart from Eric Barnouw and a couple of tthers, he is the only writer about documentaries capable of creating prose as stunning as the films themselves. Like the best film-makers, such writers make it look easy. Grierson would agree, as he wrote in his review of Rotha's 'Shipyard' in 1935: " (Rotha) is...our film historian; and he is the keeper of our conscience as much as the keeper of our records........ ". Incidentally, Grierson then goes on, in his usual blunt fashion, to criticise Rotha's films, calling them "impressionistic", a coda for "apolitical" and "superficial". (Grierson was wrong). Rotha was significant asa a film-maker in the thirty years from 1933 - his credits include 'Contact', 'Shipyard' , 'The Face of Britain', 'World of Plenty', 'Land of Promise', 'The World Is Rich' and 'The Life of Adolf Hitler'. For much of hat time he was at the centre of Britain's documentary scene and he took to upon himself to document the documentatrsts. Much of what we know about Grierson and others from that time comes directly or indirectly from Paul Rotha. Thus it is as a writer, critic and diarist that Rotha will be respected in the 21st century. From his seminal and contrarian 'The Film Till Now" (1930), through ''Documentary Film' (1935), 'Rotha On Film' (1958) and the breath-taking 'Documentary Diary: An Informal History of the British Documentary Film' , Rotha created not only a body of work but an essential part of the legend of the Grierson days. If documentary has a founding myth, Rotha was the shaman who interpreted it for lesser mortals. Petrie and Kruger's book returns Rotha's work to us after years spent searching second-hand bookshops. Most of the copies owned by film schools and libraries seem to have disappeared some time ago, lost to poor but obsessed students. It may not be the whole oevre, but this "best of Rotha" collection is a great start, with selecions from the major works, woven together chronologically within sections to form powerful linear narratives on 'The Art of Film', 'Cinema and Britain' and 'Film Practice'. The editors also give us a very decent, forty-page introduction to different aspects of Rotha work, plus excellent bibliographies and filmographies. Libraries will need this book because of its utility as a documentary film course book. A lot of industry professionals will want to to fill in the half-remembered fragments and remember why they entered the business in the first place. The next generation need to know the past to better create the future. (Docos)

Boyd's book was an interesting book. I enjoyed his insight on the life of Paul. I did find one problem with his book. Towards the end, he starts using his imagination to fill in the blanks on Paul's life. He added an extra mission trip which the Bible does not include. Other than that I enjoyed the Book. I would recommend this book to any person that is interested in a detailed book on the life of Paul.

I loved this book. I thought the photos were very beautiful and touching. However, it was Bulfinch Press who published it, not New York Graphic Society.

This collection of Foucault's essays, lectures, interviews, and editorials, offers even the casual reader of Foucault welcome insights into his methods, his intellectual biography and the development of his own methods. Most valuable perhaps are interviews collected from various magazines where he is challenged by his interviewers to respond to their criticisms and the criticisms of others. In one, for instance, Foucault tries hard to correct those who read his works as a totalizing critique of capitalism, or the current penal system, or the mental institution. He insists that his works are only intended to be seen as the history of various specific institutions and that those critics and followers who are tempted to project his findings onto current practices distort his intent. Whether or not you believe him, his defense of his method and his avowed intent are compelling. In another, he also quickly and cogently characterizes his two main intellectual influences, Hegelism and phenomenology, explains why he rejected these particular philosophical trends, but how they nevertheless challenged him to arrive at his own agenda and the course of his studies. Throughout Foucault is ruthlessly honest about his own failings -- for instance his lack of knowledge about the Frankfurt School, and thoughtful -- his appraisal of the problems that inhere in national healthcare programs, which he generally supports but with interesting qualifications. The editorials, while they address issues that may seem remote or dated, demonstrate that he was actively engaged in the politics of his time, and show how he applies his analytical methods to current events. Some selections will be of interest only to the Foucault fanatic or to his biographers, which is the reason for the four star, instead of the five-star, rating. Highly recommended.

The attached use-restriction strings notwithstanding, there is much to cheer about this CD-ROM version of "Principles of Pharmacology". Anybody that is interested in this book will benefit from its extensive coverage of all aspects of pharmacology, including cogent information on pharmacognosy, pharmacokinetics, pharmacotherapeutics, pharmacodynamics, and toxicology.
The authors did their job well: they had taken care in establishing this masterpiece into a reference top-gun. Worth pointing out is the comprehensive coverage given to Maternal/Foetal Medicine, Neuro-diseases' Therapy, as well as general pharmacology as it concerns Intensive Care.

The best thing going for this book is that it is in fact well-written not like most of the dreck in business books. The ideas here are not revolutionary and you're not likely to find anything you hadn't at least heard before. It does however organize all of these disparate thoughts and bring them together in a way to help motivate action.
Along the way I'd also recommend Tony Murphy's Achieving Business Value from IT as a book that effectively does the same thing -- organizes information well to help you move toward positive action and improving process and performance (as oppossed to strategy which is this books forte).

What is most remarkable in this collection, is the widespread respect for Pope John Paul II, his intellectualism, and basic agreements with many of his ideas. This collection, continues his effort at ecumenism by bringing together 15 Protestant and 1 Jewish writer, and each sheds new light on the Papal volume. Perhaps due to the ecumenical goal, there is less discussion of differences of faith, which also would have proved useful, such as Phyllis Tickles discussion of Catholic beliefs of purgatory. Particularly moving for me was Rabbi's Eckstein's, Jewish response, first about the history of Church-afflicted spirit, and more recently, the positive changes led by John XXIII and this Pope. Flora Wuellners commentary of prayer, proved enlightening to me in terms of the transformative power of prayer, not as a means of begging for something, but as a means of avoiding fleeing from God. Both this book and the book by John Paul II, discuss fundamental questions of faith, evil and suffering, and may help to deepen your own understanding of Christianity, whether Catholic or Protestant.

Robert and the Great Pepperoni by Barbara Seuling is a hiliarous story about a boy and his love for a dog. Robert Dorfman has been trying for years to convince his parents to buy him a dog. As luck would have it, Robert is offered the opportunity to housebreak a dog. Robert agrees from the beginning to give the dog up after he is trained. Through many funny trials and tribulations, Robert and Pepperoni grow very fond of each other.
Second to fourth grade students will appreciate this chapter book of a boy and his devotion to his dog.

It may have been the turning of a different century, but it was also the turning of the era of popular song and the fledgling Tin Pan Alley industry. There are insights to music that you may remember from your childhood (March of the Toys), and comedy from the era (Please Let Me Sleep and Nobody). But even more, there are certain social issues that have changed very little over time (She Was Happy Till She Met You, I'd Leave Ma Happy Home For You) and one number in particular from English theatre that is seething with entendre (Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow-Wow). While these are not the most memorable of the era's pieces, they are well worth looking at again, and hardly a waste of your hard-earned entertainment dollars.

If you thought they just build the Hubble Space Telescope and launched it, you're wrong. This book let you see what all such projects got to go through from the first bright idea and to the actual launch of an earth orbiting space vehicle. Sander Elvik, aerospace engineering student