The primary focus of this book is not biography, although it is structured in alternating chapters with biographical information followed by analysis of the music of a given period. Other books (Tad Szulc's Chopin in Paris, for instance) might give a better impression of Chopin's daily life, but this book does a fine job of relating the life to the music. The musicological passages are fairly sophisticated -- a grounding in music theory is assumed -- but if you have such a grounding, there are fine insights to be found here. I was most pleased, for instance, to note that Sampson had observed the similarities between the Nocturne in F (Opus 15 #1) and the Ballade #2 in A Minor, something I had long been aware of but had not seen addressed in Chopin criticism.

Samson's examination of genre is illuminating too -- he tries to perceive Chopin's music not as an absolute frozen in amber, but rather from the perspective of its own time, an era full of contrasting and overlapping genre conventions.

It's a very good book shows a lot about creativity in animals and show a lot of generation of new behaviors in humans. I think that the model of Generativity Theory is very interesting but is necesary to review with more detail its problems and advantages.

Much of human interaction is through conversation, but effective communication is a skill that not many of us gets any formal training in. This book is written in the form of a series of abbreviated clinical scenarios that illustrate some simple principles of how to communicate more effectively with patients. It's a long way from reading this book to learning and ingraining these habits into daily use, but I feel it is an excellent place for anyone to begin work on this important skill. Like any self-help book once you know the skills it's still a lot of work to practice them and become adroit.
This book was originally given to me at a risk management seminar but it's value goes well beyond the clinical setting. I think all who are concerned about effective empathetic communication in any setting can benefit from the common scenarios presented.

Bottom line, I've had this book for 6 years and still find it useful to consult periodically.
Hey, how about a patient's version?

This book contains four short introductory works by the profound Swedish writer and thinker Emanuel Swedenborg, who lived and wrote in the 1700s. His works as a whole offer thoughtful Christians a richness of insight and spiritual development comparable to the greatest religious texts of Eastern religions, like the Bhagavad Gita, the Yogasutras, the Dhammapada. These short works on faith, spiritual life, sacred scripture and the Lord show the reader some of what Swedenborg's longer works offer - a thorough renewal and revaluation of Christianity, focusing on revelation, doctrine and charity. As with all spiritual texts, these give the reader back many times the value he or she puts into working with them.

The most challenging of Bastiat's books, _The Economic Harmonies_ should not be entered into lightly. Less polemical than most of his better known works, it is an in-depth exploration of classical economics, and as such, I would generally recommend it only to those who are already fans of Bastiat or who have a solid grounding in economics. Intended to be his magnum opus, Bastiat died before its completion; as a result, the book is really only two-thirds complete. This is the reason for my having rated it just an "8". The editor was kind enough to include Bastiat's notes, where available, for the unfinished chapters, however. With those caveats, I wholeheartedly recommend this book, it is both readable and highly informative.

The Navy life of Captain Frederic Walker has been well described. Through this book you can feel en relive his unbending and relentless approach to anti-submarine warfare during the battle of the Atlantic. Anybody interested in ASW should read this book. It is also a great narritive of a too short life of an outstanding RN officer.

L.Bruin, CDRE

Frederic Chopin has a French name, a French father, and spent almost half his life in France, but was always considered a Polish composer because his music drew on the peasant tunes and dances of his native land. Perhaps more than any other great classical composer it was Chopin who represented the ideal "poet in music," especially the ideal poet of the Romantic age. What Lord Byron, John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley were to poetry, Chopin's piano works were to music. Chopin's work was sensitive, tender, amorous, lyrical and melancholy by turn. Richard Tames provides a straightforward juvenile biography of the composer's life for the Lifetime series. Frederic Francois Chopin (or Fryderyk Franciszek Szopen as he was christened) was born in Warsaw in 1810 and his first composition, a polonaise, was published in 1817. After enjoying success in both Warsaw and Vienna, the failed Polish revolt against Russia made him an exile living in Paris in 1831.

Overall, the book is much more of a biography than a lesson in music appreciation, paying much more attention to Chopin's travels and love interests before his death at the age of 39 than in specific compositions. However, I think that when young readers are introduced to the life of a great composer they should also be steered towards specific works (in fact, I think you should always listen to the music of a composer while you read about their life; certainly there are various "greatest hits" CDs that you can pick up with that will let you hear the Minute Waltz in D-Flat Major, the Nocturne in E-Flat Major, and the Military Polonaise). There are a couple of detailed sidebars on the notorious George Sand and the pianoforte as "The King of Instruments." The book is illustrated with many drawings and paintings made during Chopin's life time, including a sketch by George Sand of Chopin concentrating while composing, as well as a daguerreotype of the composer and a photography of the romantic monument to Chopin in Paris's Parc Monceau. Young readers will get a sense of Chopin's life from this slim biography, but will have to look elsewhere for an appreciation of his music.

This volume about the great composer Frederic Chopin for the Tell Me About series is aimed for very young readers (K-3), which explains the simple approach that Jacqueline Dineen takes in telling the story of Chopin's life. The focus is clearly on the key biograpical elements in Chopin's life rather than on any sort of musical appreciation lessons. Mention is made of the types of music that Chopin wrote and how his father wanted him to write music that would tell people about Poland, which was fighting Russia at the time, but the book and its illustrations are more about where Chopin lived and the world events that affected his life. What will probably interest young readers the most is that by the time Chopin was their age he was already a published composer and that he lived with George Sand, the famous French writer who took a man's name. As an introduction to the life of Chopin this small volume is certainly adqequate to the task and the colorful illustrations give a sense of the world in which the composer lived. Other volumes in the Tell Me About biography series look at not only classical composers like Mozart and famous painters such as van Gogh and Monet, but more contemporary authors like Beatrix Potter and Roald Dahl.

This is an excellent analysis of Frederick Remington's work, with a short description about his life. It is printed in large hand print lettering that would be appealing to the young reader. A graet read for children 6-11 yrs old.

Here's a biography that will interest the artist's fans. It explores the extent to which Remington's Eastern roots and his determined and independent wife influenced his work.

Remington was a man of large appetites who, in spite of a pampered childhood, spotty academic career and a few business failures, established a solid reputation with his sketches. He then went on to worldwide acclaim for his bronzes and paintings.

The authors are the first to have access to Eva Remington's diaries, which provide new insight into the life of this great artist of the American West.