This book made me realize that radio is not just about playing music. It is about sending and reciving waves to make the public happy.

This book focuses on the history of radio from 1899 to 1954 and thus has nothing to do with RCA's CED VideoDisc system, but one of the key figures in the account is David Sarnoff, so a lot of the early history of RCA is covered. In addition to Sarnoff, the book focuses on the technical radio pioneers Edwin Howard Armstrong and Lee de Forest. In some respects this book is a reflection on the development of the modern computer, as parallels can be drawn between these radio pioneers and computer industry figures Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Larry Ellison.

Read some years ago & book now lost. Fascinating in that it vividly displays the genius, sometimes luck, unstinting effort, inspiration, and often the "happy" accident that is part of basic effort when one breaks ground in a new quest in pursuit of a dream. Much of this history could not be repeated in our 2000 world because those opportunities no longer exist. An example is Sarnoff's success in getting meaningful work at the tender age he did in the story! Mankind's unflagging quest goes on but in different ways. The first way of making news available at the instant it occurs certainly shrunk the world. The process continues. Recommended highly for the radio buff of any age!

This junior dictionary is ideal for 8 to 12 years old kids, ithas everything they need at that age. The dictionary is built in sucha colorfull way that is easy for them to find the words and their different meanings with examples, homographs, homophones, idioms and inflected forms. Pronunciation keys are presented at the botton of every right hand page. A new edition is required to update the new countries and world map. The price is a real bargain.

I wanted to get a more advanced dictionary for my 3rd grade son since the current Children's Dictionary he has often did not contain words we looked up. At first my Children's Dictionary search did not bring me to this book. But I read a review which recommended this dictionary. It was by a 5th Grade Teacher (Shannon Bradford), who also has her review here. I did my own comparisons of about 4 different dictionaries I found in my search. Using just the online reviews and descriptions, I decided to go with this one. When I received it, I was SO PLEASED! The book is so interesting. The beautiful color pictures and overall layout makes it interesting and fun to lookup words. Just flipping through it makes you want to stop and look at the pictures. I would have paid twice what I did for it. ...

I'm a 5th grade teacher. I've used and compared many different dicitonaries. The Thorndike-Barnhart Junior Dictionary is the best by far that I've ever seen.

Recently I decided to buy dictionaries for my class. I looked at over 20 different student dictionaries. Some of the dictionaries I looked at were Merriam-Webster Children's Dictionary, MacMillan Dictionary for Students, American Heritage Student Dictionary, and Scholastic Children's Dictionary. None of these held a candle to the Thorndike-Barnhart Junior Dictionary. I took a list of over 200 words that my students couldn't find in our current dictionaries and I looked them up in each of the dictionaries I compared. There were two things I was looking for. First, I wanted to know which dictionary had most of these words. Second I wanted to know which dictionary struck the best balance defining the words in such a way that my students could understand them without loosing meaning or using langage that was too difficult for my students to understand. The Thorndike-Barnhart Junior Dictionary was the best in both categories by far.

There is also a Thorndike-Barnhart Intermediate Dictionary. It has the same words and definitions as this dictionary but also includes a bunch of extras (maps, lists, and such) but costs almost twice as much. If yo've got the money to spend, it might be worth it, but the price seemed high to me for what additional information it offered.

Most authors of this genre of political thriller have trouble reconciling the epic heroism (good or bad) of religious fundamentalists in the former Soviet Central Asia with the image of mobs of AK-47-armed men tossing video tapes and foreign magazines into bonfires. In "The Devil's Garden", set in the region's decaying and polluted oilfields, the tables are turned and the ordered world familiar to us disintegrates under the feet of unlucky Westerners. Though author Peters has dabbled in techno-thriller before ("Red Army" and "War in the Year 2020"), he has also practically created his own subgenre of non-techno centered in and around the fringes of the foremer Soviet empire.

"Devil's Garden" tells the story of a young American kidnapped while working for a relief program in that troubled region. Because Peters' victim is the daughter of a US senator, consequences of the kidnapping go far beyond local problems and feed a growing maelstrom that threatens to destroy order already fragile with the collapse of the USSR. Among the unlucky Yankees caught up in the chaos are the Islamic fundamentalists who carry-out the kidnap, the local chieftains who can't be sure what their own role in the kidanpping is, the American intelligence officer sent to lead the rescue, his lover, her husband, the republic's leaders ready to tear their oil-rich state to shreds and an army willing to battle anybody to the death - if they can just learn how to shoot. As a good indicator of the managed chaos, our hero, the aforementioned intelligence officer, tries to determine who would kidnap the senator's daughter by trying to find who's responsible. Bit with the fate of the tiny asian republic's oil at stake, and the militant forces welling up in the population, it's soon clear that nobody is responsible for anything. Peters manages this chaos well. something I appreciate through all of Peters books is his resolute reluctance to point fingers and lay blame - his charachters do that, but are compensated with well nuanced faults that make their objectivity suspect. The guerrillas are fearsome, but not the murderous, callous warriors of god we've seen in other books (or on CNN for that matter). The region's warlords, despite sparking a war that threatens to explode beyond their own borders, are just greedy and - in a masterful anti-climax occurring when the factions meet - go at each other much as the corporate directors in a hostile buy-out. One wonders how the directors of Time-Warner and Disney would have settled their cable-disputes if they had to fight with guns and soldiers instead of lawyers, bloated stock prices and otherwise empty content. The biggest revelation is the hero himself, who, despite being an expert on the region, is actually more lost than any of his fellow Americans. It's all chaotic, but Peters keeps the novel from falling apart and the chaos only adds scale to a blighted country and those who live there and are set on destroying it.

Ralph Peters, whom I know professionally, is a modern-day Lawrence of Arabia who has actually walked hundreds of miles through the worst of terrains, and deeply understands--at both a Ph.D. and gutter level, the reality of real war. The Joint Chiefs don't want to face this reality because it bears no resemblance to their nice clean air-conditioned CNN version of war. Devil's Garden is the real thing, and it is also a great novel.

Ralph Peters has done it again! He has woven a seductive, intensely captivating plot into an eminently credible narrative, one as enthralling as those of his earlier 'Twilight of Heroes' and 'The War in 2020'. Unlike the plastic incarnations who stumble incredulously across the pages of Tom Clancy, Dale Brown, and Larry Bond, Peters gives us real-life heroes akin to those of Frederick Forsyth -- those ultimately believable, poignantly human men and women who emerge from a crucible of tragedy and pain to make a veridical impact upon the world. As such, many contemporary authors of America's all-too pandemic and facile techno-thrillers could learn something from Peters, an author who underscores the reality that life is a little more prosaic than the inevitable triumph of democracy as secured by some smarmy fighter pilot-fornicator. Overall, Peters' haunting imagery recalls Edmund Burke's warnings about the metaphysical pretensions of the French Revolutionaries, while his human landscapes are as stark and as those of Cormac McCarthy's 'Blood Meridian'. In the end, Peters' works may very well be to our century what Dickens' 'Tale of Two Cities' was to the nineteenth...Herein lies an absolutely ineluctable read which will not disappoint!

I finished reading this book recently and I have to say it is an excellent book. When Hunter Davies first interviewed the Beatles for this book from 1967-1968, it was before all the bickering and fighting started and before Yoko came into the picture. Davies takes an inside look in thier home and family life, the songwriting process, and recording sessions. It also gives a pretty good background on their childhoods and how they all met. Not to mention a lot of great pictures, including some I never seen before. The only reason I didn't give it five stars was because it is not a totally definative bio. Lots of things were left out because it upset thier family members. For example, it is not mentioned that Brian Epstein was homosexual because it upset his mother at the time. And some things were left out of John's childhood because it upset his aunt Mimi. Other than that, I reccomend that you read this book. It is smart and thouroughly researched. A must have for all Beatles fans!

This is an essential document for Beatles scholarship. At the time it was simply a pop bio by a competent writer, but it depicts the Beatles at a fascinating juncture in their career. It is particularly notable for its accounts of songwriting and recording sessions, for a glimpse of their home lives, and for their opinions about life in general at the time. Since this is an authorized biography, critics may complain that it is whitewashed - but one can read between the lines and gather the full meaning of everything pretty well. All in all, it is remarkably honest. This updated edition features a sterling introduction by the author about the writing of the book and offers further insight into the personalities of the Beatles.

Thank heaven for Beatle scholarship that this book was written. Competent journalist Hunter Davies spent a year observing the Beatles and interviewing them in their own homes during the heady, fascinating year of 1967. He emerged with a time piece: the Beatles as they were at that time, reflecting on what came before and unaware of what was yet to come. A chapter describing the writing and recording of "With a Little Help From My Friends," "Getting Better," and "Magical Mystery Tour" offers unique and especially valuable glimpses of the Beatles at work. Chapters depicting the home life and personal outlook of each Beatle are also very interesting. I must also say that for an authorised biography, this is remarkably honest. Perceptive readers will be able to detect the whole truth here, and a fine introduction written by the author years later helps fill in any gaps. Apart from being hugely entertaining, this book is a tremendous boon to historians interested in the Beatles.

The "saskatoonguy" description of the book dated 24 April 01 pretty much nailed it on the head. The book is more about the personal and management styles of Presidents Roosevelt through Clinton. The reference to tape recordings is more of a come-on to attract readers. The recordings are more of a sidelight in this description of the administrative styles of the referenced presidents.

In fairness, though, recordings were used minimally by Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower and the post-Nixon administrations shied away from recordings as well (although video recordings of certain events started under President Reagan). Only Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon made extensive use tape recordings and the first two still exercised control over what was recorded -- a practice that Nixon did not adopt and later regretted. The most memorable examples used were a couple of Johnson's recordings. A somewhat humorous recording, in spite of the tragic circumstances, was President Johnson's arm twisting his mentor, Senator Richard Russell of Georgia, into serving on the Warren Commission. Senator Russell despised Earl Warren. The second was a meeting to determine whether the Administration would commit 200,000 more troops to Vietnam where President Johnson finally decided to reverse his policy and start pulling back from that unpleasant and costly adventure.

As for the descriptions of the administrations themselves, the book, in my opinion, is a testimonial to how too much emphasis is put on "qualifications" to be President. Each individual who has served in the Oval Office, including the current occupant and his successors, will have certain strengths and weaknesses that may prepare them well for the challenges that confront them, or not prepare them well at all. I always felt that in terms of "qualifications", Herbert Hoover was one of the most qualified men to serve as President. Under normal circumstances, his qualifications may have been adequate. But an economy plunging into a depression is not "normal". As much as I disliked President Carter, there is no disputing his intelligence. But he was so bogged down in learning what to do that he scarcely did anything at all (I do not agree with Mr. Doyle's revisionist attempt to portray the Carter Administration as being more than what it was, a failure). As Hoover was replaced by a visionary, so too was Carter. In terms of intellect, President Reagan does not rank very high. But he was successful in ways that his more "qualified" successor, George Bush Sr., could never understand. I also do not attribute the Clinton's Administration lack of cooperation with investigators to poor management practices that resulted in evidence being lost and unavailable until, conveniently, the investigation was over. I think deliberate obstruction of justice was a bigger factor.

Although I supported George W. Bush in 2000 and would never, ever even consider voting for his opponent, I am not one of those who now claim how fortunate we are that he was president on 11 September 2001 and not Al Gore. I doubt anybody knows how a Gore Administration would have responded -- even Al Gore himself. No knock intended as it even took some time for the Bush Administration to recover and respond. If Al Gore was president, people would find certain aspects about his background and style that would be right for that crisis -- just as they did for George W. Although his response may have been different, the public would have supported his response if it was a strong response -- something considerably stronger than lobbing a few cruise missiles at an aspirin factory in a third world country.

Bottom line: A good summary of the administrative and personal styles of Presidents Franklin Roosevelt through Clinton. However, if you are looking for more substance in terms of recordings, you will be disappointed.

After reading and listening to "Taking Charge," which was about LBJ's secret tapes, I was expecting the audio version of "Inside the Oval Office" to use many more actual recordings. Instead, the reader reads transcripts of conversations. The tapes contain a few actual recordings but very few, about one per president. Inexplicably, it presents no actual recordings of Reagan, Bush or Clinton. This was a disappointment since I knew from listening to "Taking Charge" that actual recordings contain great insights into the men who inhabited the White House. A reader cannot possibly capture the nuances of language used by our 20th century presidents. There is a great difference between hearing a president's actual words and having them read from transcripts. However, the content of the book and audiotapes provide a facinating glimpse inside the oval office.

This is a terrific book and rewards the reader with insight into the modern presidency. It talks about each President's strengths and how each of them got themselves into trouble and it illustrates its points using each President's own words. Because it is less than 400 pages long it is hard for Doyle to support all the claims he makes, but it is still worth reading. More than that, it is worth owning and re-reading. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is that I think the book could have gone a bit deeper into each presidency without adding too much length. It was just a bit too much this side of a tourist's guide to each presidency.

But there are so many wonderful and new insights that I feel guilty for not giving it five stars. So, if you want, just imagine that I did give it the full five with this little caveat.

A Tale of Troy is the easy way of reading Homer's Iliad. It's the same story, but under 300 pages and is more user friendly. A Tale of Troy describes the beginning and end of the Trojan War. It retells from the Iliad the stories of Achilles, Hector, Odysseus and his later adventures home, and many other fascinating stories. The only downside to this book is that since it is a simplified version of The Iliad, to fully understand some of the dialoue and references a reader mus know some backround of Greeks and Roman mythology(You can still enjoy the book without even heard of Zeus before, but the story goes better when you know about The Olympian War etc.)This book is great for any young teen between 13-15 who likes adventure and action.

In this fantastic, beautifully-crafted story, mythology expert Roger Lancelyn Green weaves the tale of the last big "Hoorah" of the Heroic age. Green's colorfully-written portrayal of the fantastic battles fought by Greece against the wicked Troy is a must-have for any avid reader! He describes in vivid detail the bravest heroes of the age, from clever and cunning Odysseus to brave and strong Achilles, who fight zealously to win back the tender Helen, told to be the most beautiful woman in the world, but stolen by the evil city of Troy. Sit back and marvel as you witness the ongoing struggle between cities, each fight sequence written to put you right in the action in this absolutely fabulous book that will keep you on the edge of your seat!

And so "education" should be, one of many great, though by no means unique, insights into the mind of mankind in W.E.B. Dubois's "Souls of Black Folk." I read this book after reading both the "Autobiography of Malcolm X" as well as Foner's "The Black Panther's Speak." Both of these books make allusion to Dubois, and in reading "Souls" I better understand the ideas and programs of Malcolm, Huey and Eldridge, their desire to be granted the same rights and privileges as all American citizens, and, where the white man continued to disallow it, their taking them "by any means necessary."

Admittedly, I have very little experience with African-American culture. "The Souls of Black Folk" I think helps bridge this gap by exploring the history - economic, social and political - and pyschology of the African-American. I came away with a much better understanding of organizations like the Freeman's Relief Association, men like Booker T. Washington, African-American Christianity and, to a small extent, the psyche of the black man in America, at least its historical antecedents, up until the early 1900s.

I have read reviews dismissing Dubois's work as outdated, especially after the '60s and the civil rights movement. Perhaps it is, though, again, I don't feel I know enough about African-American culture in our day to be able to say either way. Having said that, I am much better acquainted with other socially and economically constructed "niggers" of our world, both domestically and internationally, and in that regard I think Dubois's "Souls of Black Folk" is still very much applicable, in fact a complementary resource from which to glean insight into contemporary politics and economics. Perhaps, hopefully, there will one day be no more "niggers" on American soil. But, unfortunately, there will always be "niggers" in this world, and Dubois's lectures on removing "the great problem of the 20th century - the color line" are as important today as they were 100 years ago.

From "Of the Sons of Master and Man":
In any land, in any country under modern free competition, to lay any class of weak and despised people, be they white, black or blue, at the political mercy of their stronger, richer and more resourceful fellows, is a temptation which human nature seldom has withstood and seldom will withstand.

Perhaps basic, perhaps something one has heard numerous times, but the fact that this citation and many, many others like it to be found in "The Souls of Black Folk" were written 100 years before guys like Ralph Nader and Howard Zinn were selling hundreds of thousands of books based on a slightly different spin of the same argument is at least relevant, if not impressive.

Dubois was no racist, as any of the rest of the aforementioned group weren't either. If anything (and perhaps in this time this is a politically incorrect term) he was a classist, and merely argued for the assimilation of the black man into the society that did not understand their mutual dependence. Reading the book did not produce "white guilt" or anything the David Horwitzes of the world would like to convince me is happening to me. It provided me with a greater understanding and respect for people I daily ride the metro with, work with, am an American citizen WITH.

At the end of the century, in a few months there will be much debate about the person of the century, the writer of the century, the actor of the century and so on. This book, this writing should put DuBois at the very least in the top five ranking of the most important writer and thinker of the twentieth century. He is as far as I am concerned the Black Nostradamus. He forsaw what has been happening in recent years with the increase of hate crimes and mass acts of violence and oppression against the colored masses of the United States and the world. DuBois like no other from his time captures the spirit of the America Black and he allows his reader to read and to understand what has caused the Black consciousness to be in the state of disaster that it was in and is in in some aspects. He is a great writer and this book should be required reading in every American Literature and Black Literature class in every high school and college in this country. This is an important work not only for Blacks to read but whites as well. Well written and well received is all that I can say about this book. GREAT!!!!!

The Souls of Black Folks, as other reviewers have pointed out, is a masterpiece of African-American thought. But it is even more than that when we consider the context and time in which the book was written. Most of what DuBois discusses is still relevant today, and this is a tribute to the man, not only as a scholar, but as someone who was continually adapting his views in the best image and interests of black people.

Some reviewers refer to DuBois as "the Black Emerson" and, as a university instructor, I heard similar references made: 'the Black Dewey" or "the Black Park," referring to the Chicago School scholars. Du Bois was brilliant; indeed, these white men should be being called "the white Du Bois"! Du Bois literally created the scientific method of observation and qualitative research. With the junk being put out today in the name of "dissertations," simply re-read Du Bois' work on the Suppression of the African Slave Trade and his work on the Philadelphia Negro and it is clear that he needs not be compared to any white man of his time or any other: he was a renaissance man who cared about his people and, unlike too many of the scholars of day, he didn't just talk the talk or write the trite; he walked the walk and organized the unorganizable.

White racism suffered because Du Bois raised the consciousness of the black masses. But he did more than that; by renouncing his American citizenship and moving to Ghana, he proved that Pan Africanism is not just something to preach or write about (ala Molefi Asante, Tony Martin, Jeffries and other Africanists); it is a way of life, both a means and an end. Du Bois organized the first ever Pan African Congress and, in doing so, set the stage for Afrocentricity, Black Studies and the Bandung Conference which would be held in 1954 in Bandung, Indonesia. Du Bois not only affected people in this country, he was a true internationalist.

Souls of Black Folk is an important narrative that predates critical race theory. It is an important reading, which predates formal Black Studies. The book calls for elevation of black people by empowering black communities -- today's leadership is so starved for acceptance that I believe that Karenga was correct when he says that these kind of people "often doubt their own humanity."

The book should be read by all.

The story u dont here from Brokaw. Takaki, a third generation American of Japanese heritage and Berkeley prof, teaches that no one ever made a film about the race riots that occurred during WWII, you never hear about the Mexican Americans who harvested crops to supply the troops. You never hear speeches about the Jim Crow rules, the Navajo, black, Korean, Filipino, Indian, German, Japanese, and other Americans during the great War. This book fills in the gaps, with stories about Korean Americans who fought (one fifth of Los Angeles' Korean population joined the California National Guard) in the Tiger Brigade/Manghokun, the Sikhs and Hindus duing WWII, the 550,000 Jewish Americans who joined the US Armed Forces and earned 26,000 Purple hearts (out of 4.5 Million american Jews, they were proportionately more than any other group), the African Americans who liberated Buchenwald, and the Nisei Japanese American soldiers who liberated Dachau, and more

Within the vast literature of World War II, one of the most interesting categories includes books about home-front life in the United States. Although this conflict has been called the "good war," Ronald Takaki, professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley and a leading authority on the history of race and culture in the U.S., asserts: "The 'Arsenal of Democracy' was not democratic: defense jobs were not open to all regardless of race." Making high-paying jobs in the defense industry available to people of color is, perhaps, the most important theme in this book. According to Takaki, Americans of all races and ethnicities "insisted that America live up to ideals and founding principles" and "stirred a rising wind of diversity's discontent, unfurling a hopeful vision of America as a multicultural democracy." Relying on reminiscences of Americans of color who lived and worked during the war, drawn from a wide variety of printed sources, as well as interviews Takaki conducted, it is quite an achievement!

The racial aspect of the war was summarized by a black draftee who declared: "Just carve on my tombstone, 'Here lies a black man killed fighting a yellow man for the protection of a white man.'" Takaki explains that the Army's policy of segregating black soldiers, "symbolized white domination in America." In addition to discrimination in housing and training programs, according to Takaki, "blacks were given "servile work assignments," and "[s]killed blacks found themselves occupationally downgraded." Takaki also writes: "At the beginning of the war, blacks were in especially dire economic straits...The war revived the American economy as an 'arsenal of democracy.' But, as it turned out, defense jobs were not democratically distributed; most of them were reserved for whites only. Seventy-five percent of the war industries refused to hire blacks." Although Takaki does not provide the source of that statistic, it is not implausible. Takaki explains: "Confined to the unskilled and the service occupations before the war, African Americans wanted the better and higher paying factory jobs generated by the war." In 1941, civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph organized a march on Washington for July 1. Meeting with President Roosevelt on June 18, Randolph told FDR that 100,000 people would participate. A week later Roosevelt signed an executive order prohibiting "discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or Government." However, Takaki writes that, "as black and white workers followed the defense jobs into the cities, they often clashed violently." For instance: "By 1943, Detroit was a racial tinderbox." On June 20, after a scuffle in a crowded park, "urban warfare" erupted between whites and blacks, and it took 6,000 federal troops to restore order. Five weeks later, according to Takaki, in New York City, where "blacks were still being excluded from many defense industry plants, "Harlem exploded," resulting in six deaths and 500 injuries. During the war, 45,000 Indians, more than 10 percent of the Indian population, served in the U.S. armed forces. Indian workers also were attracted to work in defense industries, but, according to Takaki, they "often received lower wages than that of whites." "Almost 20 percent of all reservation Native Americans in the armed services came from the Navajo Nation in the Southwest." According to Takaki, in 1941, nearly 40 percent on the Navajos' annual per capita income of $128 came from wages, mostly from temporary government employment." "Pushed by poverty, the Navajos were also pulled into the military because they possessed something uniquely valuable to the U.S. military - their tribal language." In May 1942, "the first group of Navajo code talkers was sent to San Diego for training." According to Takaki, the Navajo code talkers "hit every beach from Guadalcanal to Okinawa." Many Mexican Americans worked in agriculture, which was considered a "war industry." The had more difficulty, however, breaking into other fields. A 1942 study of the airplane industry in Southern California reported that "payrolls showed almost no Mexicans employed." Later in the war, Mexican Americans were able to get jobs in steel, armaments, and aircraft, but "they found themselves relegated to the low wage jobs." Their efforts were not always welcomed. On June 3, 1943, "after some fights between young Mexican Americans and servicemen in downtown Los Angeles, hundreds of soldiers and sailors went on a rampage... [chasing] young Mexicans dressed in zoot suits, condemning their victims as draft dodgers." Incidents such as this had great propaganda value to the enemies of the United States. According to Takaki, "the Japanese media gleefully reported the violence as another example of racism in America." According to Takaki, "only 85 Italians were detained as security threats, and a proposed evacuation of 'enemy' Italian aliens was ruled out." In contrast: "The 120,000 Japanese on the West Coast were evacuated and imprisoned in concentration camps; 40,000 of them, born in Japan, were classified as 'enemy aliens.'" A decade before he became a crusading Chief Justice of the United States, California Attorney General Earl Warren "urged federal authorities to evacuate Japanese from sensitive areas of the West Coast," warning that the Japanese 'may well be the Achilles heel of the entire civilian defense effort.'" The Japanese American evacuees were transported to internment camps in Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, California, and Wyoming, mostly in remote desert areas. During the war, nevertheless: "33,000 Japanese Americans...decided to seek equality and justice by serving in the U.S. Armed Forces."

World War II had many dimensions. For every book such as James Bradley's marvelous Flags of Our Fathers, which depicts Americans in war at their very best, there needs to be another such as Ronald Takaki's Double Victory telling a different part of the story. While millions Americans fought against Nazism, Fascism, and Japanese imperialism around the world, millions of others were struggling at home to make the United States fully live up to the ideals and founding of American democracy. Appreciating World War II as a multicultural event is essential to a complete understanding of the American experience in the war.

I've liked previous Takaki books such as From A Different Shore, A Different Mirror and Iron Cages. Double Victory continues in that tradition. Takaki focuses on different ethnic groups and how they reacted to American involvement in WWII. It deals with the desire of minorities to be treated as equals with them seeing WWII as a chance to prove their loyality to America through war. Takaki deals with African-Americans, Native Americans, Chicanos, Asian Americans and Jewish Americans. Takaki deals with what these groups hoped to deal with their invovlement in WWII. Takaki also deals with the the treatment of Japanese Americans from being labeled as enemies and being interned. Takaki focuses on racial discrimination in the war effort from military factories to military service showing how their racial barriers were overocome. Takaki ends by showing how the gains made during WWII by minorities continued in the post WWII years helping to launch the civil right movement.

Being in the professional negotiation game, I thoroughly enjoy reading books which describe and tutor the subject. Although the current market is lousy with negotiating treatises, there are a few that stand out. Fisher and Ury's GETTING TO YES seems to be my favorite, one I return to time and again. However, I believe it healthly to step outside conventional wisdom and somewhat static norms to expand one's knowledge base. Although I had no idea of the content, quality or readability of GUERRILLA NEGOTIATING, I took a flyer on it as it "looked" like it might be of some interest.

Authors Levinson, Smith and Wilson have been working together for some time now promoting the "Guerrilla" books, seminars, tapes, etc. and have been quite successful, commercially. Although this is my first "Guerilla" book, I know of their successes and common acceptance within many business circles. However, I don't judge a book or theory based on the opinions of others so, of course, I had to buy this book to determine if it had the content described in the hype.

The easy answer is that yes, indeed, this book contains the basics of negotiation theory and time-tested schemes and strategies. The problem I had with GUERRILLA NEGOTIATING was its complete lack of fluidity and cogence. Its almost as though the authors "bulleted" the book and a ghost writer took their words verbatim without the benefit of explanatory offsets. This book does very little to describe complex situations with offered solutions and options. Remember, when reading a non-fiction book AND if one is a serious reader of non-fiction, the reader will be looking for that ONE gem within the book to add to his/her repretoire. This book is basic in nature and lacked the ability to truly explain the negotiating process. Without an explanation of the framework and processes, a new negotiatior will be totally lost. And, if one is attempting to put to work the Guerrilla tactics, they will most likely present their case in a staggered, illogical, and perhaps, unprofessional manner as the authors failed to bring together the process of "beginning-to-end." This is my main gripe about the book.

To say that the book is not "Guerrilla" in nature would be a dramatic misstatement. The authors present a variety of tactics to move negotiations along including, well, a water gun. Yep, a water gun. The authors posit that if negotiations are bogged down or if you are having a difficult time moving a decisionmaker, bring a water gun to the table and threaten (or begin) to shoot him. Now, in a sales setting and depending on the sophistication of the other party, this "might" work. In a professional setting, this is tantamount to death. Lack of common sense given the facts and circumstances of a particular situation can be the death knell of a pending transaction.

Nevertheless, I cannot say this is a bad book. The book presents the materials necessary for the new negotiatior and, even some level of information for the seasoned negotiator. It is interesting that once a negotiator establishes a style, he/she just looks for ways to enhance that style. This book could fill that role.

Bottom line....if you're new to negotiating, this book will provide "glimpse-level" insight into the process. Don't look for the proverbial outline, its not there. The book doesn't present the reader with a process toward successful negotiations or even negotiation theory for that matter. On the other hand, the book does present the reader with a trove of summarized negotiating nuggets that will most likely be beneficial to many initiates. Further, the book provides summary resource materials.

CONTENT = great; READABILITY = poor.

Guerrilla Negotiating provides a quality insight into effective negotiating tactics. The author teaches and advocates the following quality virtues: empathy, listening, fairness, and compassion. The virtues build upon these core belief system as a foundation for guerilla negotiation. This philosophy of doing business is based upon time, energy, and imagation. It is called philosophy because the guerrilla seeks truth and speaks the truth. Setting truth as the highest aspiration allowing the guerrilla access to information before the masses which can be used for gain.

The guerrilla improves proficiency in the areas of word association, using an active voice,qualifiers, amplifiers, softeners, minimizers, directors, authority builders, trace words and phrases, imagination triggers, option degenerators, spotlight phrases, emotive directors, responsibility directors, presuppositions, comparitives, and linkages. The author emphasize the importance of good communication skills and how power words can change mental understanding of concept and context. The author differs communication into two styles: One for the internal listener and one for the external listener.

Probably the best part of the book was a chapter titled, "How to win on price". Guerrillas know how their customer feels about their prices. Guerrillas know happy customers know what value they receive for a price. For instance, buyers don't stay up all night worrying how much they paid, instead, they worry what they bought won't do the job. Buyers want performance and Sellers want profit. Guerrillas know that this cycle must be maintained for their business to survive. Guerrilas try to avoid negotiating on price. I think price negotiating is a lossing game because often times the seller does know when to walk away and often they get caught in continual price battles and in some cases forced to accept lower prices.

So back to communication, the author suggest 10 ways to improve your presentation: 1. Discuss specific benefits your counterpart gains 2. Show exclusive superior features and don't waste your time on the basics. 3. Project that you are reliability and dependable. 4. Position what you have to offer as the right price 5. Demostrate the time is right to decide no you now. 6. Use proof statements to support your position 7. Support your case with visual aid (visuals and discussion increase memory retention) 8. Present and emotional appeal. 9. Dramatize your stories 10. Include a demostration.

The overall theme of the book is excellent. Negotiations are not a zero sum, winner take all exercise. A truly successful negotiation is one in which both (or all ) parties leave satisfied and in better shape as a result of the agreement than they would be without it. Too many people in the business world take the old track and think that they need to win, and that everyone else must lose, a mindset that is distructive for themselves, customers, suppliers and anyone else they do business with. That is why this book is a must read. It also supplies examples for increasing the size of the pie before dividing it, ways to recognize predatory negotiators, how to defend against their strategy, and most importantly what YOU need to do to prepare for and conduct a successful negotiation.

Students must read this before they study American history....

I read this for pleasure, not for home schooling. It was outstanding! A fast and easy read, easily relating together the events over the past 700 years. Cofing clearly illustrates the slow struggle of the human race towards freedom ... tieing events together in a literary time-line. With such a clear conception of the tyrrants of the past, one can't help but draw parallels with contemporary tyrrants. I wish I had read this when I was in school. I am recommending it to all of my friends.

Despite what others may have said about this book's qualities regarding homeschooling it remains one of THE best books on the foundation of American culture. The author attempted and succeeded to remain unbiased when writing upon matters of religion (i.e. Roman Catholic Church vs. Protestant Church). However, the obvious wrong done by the Roman Catholic Church during the Roman Inquisition (not just the Spanish) is made quite clear. Yet the author does not leave the Protestant church without some blame, for they did promote violence, wars, and some measure of persecution. The book does accomplish its goal by making the reader understand what liberty is and what it has cost. No homeschooling Christian (or otherwise) child should be without this book.