I've been searching for a book like this for the past two years. It contains information on the different types of habitats, birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians, trees, lichen, wildflowers, mammals (...the list goes on) found in the New England area. It even has a collection of star maps for people who are also interested in the New England night sky. The information is well laid out and easy to read and is accompanied by detailed color diagrams and photos. What I like best about this book though is I no longer have to carry around 5 different field guides when I go out hiking now. I only need to carry this one.

I have waited all my life for a nature handbook such as this! So many questions I've had were answered in this book. (ie. what DOES poison sumac really look like? Or, is that REALLY just a milk snake -- or could it be poisonous?)Beautiful pictures, and clearly written, informative sections provide excellent information for nature lovers of every age. This book would be a welcome addition to every New Englander's home library and is small enough to be easily portable for hiking etc. I found myself wanting to give one to everyone I know, from grandchildren to grandparents!

My wife and I both really enjoy the descriptions of New England habitats, geology and other natural phenomena, and the information about parks at the end.

We take many drives to different parts of New England, and go exploring. Often we see something and wonder what it is. Now we keep this book in the car. It has greatly increased our knowledge and appreciation of our new England home.

Since reading this one, we have bought others of the series on the strength of the habitat and other "natural history" information. The authors' writing is clear and engaging and makes the material accessible to the tenderest of tenderfeet.

Having recently come across severe personal problems at home and at work, I looked high and low for something that might ease my burden somewhat, not really knowing what though. So I prayed a bit asking for something to help me through, and seemingly on impulse I stopped at the local ... and picked this book up. I began reading it immediately, and wasn't able to put it down until it was finished, myself nearly in tears.

The book reads so fluidly that it simply astounds me. The imagery and story of Christian's journey to the Celestial City was breathtaking. But what really nailed me was how unbelievably close to my life Christian's journey follows. I was staggered as I read along, thinking every other page, "I've been there!", or when he meets certain characters like Money-Love and Worldly-Wise saying, "I work with him", or "That's my friend from Chicago!".

I cannot comprehend how Bunyan managed to do this feat, or maybe it's just all of our lives mirror Christian's own as he journeys to God's city. This book helped me in such ways that I can't begin to list them all, it simply pointed me in the right direction, while at the same time letting me see I had the tools and the faith to deal with it from the very beginning. So now as I escape from Castle-Doubt and the Giant Despair, thanks God for giving me that Key of Promise. It's working out wonderfully!

I have not only recently read, but also studied, Part I of L. Edward Hazelbaker's unabridged revision of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Last summer I taught Pilgrim's Progress in my elementary Sunday School class and I wish I would have known of this book then. I have also done a college level research paper on Pilgrim's Progress. Not only does Hazelbaker make Pilgrim's Progress reader-friendly, he includes Bunyan's annotations in the text, as well as many annotations of his own. The annotations help the reader to experience more than a pilgrimage with Christian to Celestial City, but an in-depth Bible study as well. Other features the book includes are a brief description of Bunyan's life, a comparison outline of events in Parts I and II, and an index.

Access to Bunyan's scripture references gives the serious reader the opportunity to better his or her understanding of Bunyan's work while Hazelbaker's references and annotations also compliment the text. Hazelbaker, for example, elaborates on the importance of the seal that a Shining One (an angel) places upon Christian's forehead and on the Document given to him. Hazelbaker also offers his audience a clear and detailed understanding of the "Family" that resides in the palace called Beautiful. The reader will appreciate Hazelbaker's explanation of Bunyan's reference to "the goods of Rome" at Vanity Fair and why it would have been significant to the first readers of The Pilgrim's Progress. Hazelbaker also takes the time to explain to the reader why he uses the word "coat" for "bosom." These are only a few of the many helpful annotations Hazelbaker includes in his work.

In studying Hazelbaker's translation I referred to an early edition of Bunyan's several times. Each time I found Hazelbaker's translation true to Bunyan. Hazelbaker has made special effort to maintain the characteristic qualities and message of Bunyan's original work. In the translation process, he manages to preserve Bunyan's work by keeping himself removed from the text. This is his duty and obligation as a translator. His translation is, in all honesty, unabridged and non-paraphrased.

Of the 215 pages I have studied to date, I have found only one minor word choice in Hazelbaker's translation that I wish he would not have made. He translates Bunyan's "cartloads" with "truckloads" in the Swamp of Despondence episode. Although, by definition, "truckloads" is acceptable, it too easily causes confusion for the modern reader who thinks of pickups and tractor-trailers when he reads "truckloads." This is certainly a minor concern, but I mention it in an effort to objective.

Hazelbaker has done an exceptional job of making Bunyan's beautiful classic more appealing to the modern audience. This unabridged version is suitable for readers from middle and upper elementary ages to adults. I am glad to see that Hazelbaker has taken the time and made the effort to offer his audience a version of Pilgrim's Progress that is not watered-down and compromised. It definitely deserves a place in any library.

I'm in the middle of reading this wonderful classic and am so excited about it that I am going to host a weekly Bible Study and use the book as a powerful study tool. The revised version edited by L. Edward Hazelbaker makes the translation as simple as reading a children's novel. At the end of each chapter there is a list of specific scriptures and notes for Biblical reference throughout the entire book which I found extremely helpful.

John Bunyon's insight on going through troubles and trials is inspiring. He points out that although we may think we are taking the "easy road" off the "Path of the Way" which is uphill, it ends up taking us to a dark, dreary, dangerous place instead. If we persevere with "Faith" and "Hopeful" up the hill, we will eventually reach the top of the mountain in our Christian Journey with God by our side. I highly recommend this book to EVERYONE not just people who call themselves Christians...For it is a book filled with powerful lessons all can learn from.

This is a book length interview of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He is the Roman Church's sentinel on the frontiers of theological adventurism, there to keep watch that the Church's Deposit of Faith is preserved against impious attack. He has held this position since 1981, when Pope John Paul II called him to Rome from Munich, where he was archbishop.

He was born in Bavaria seventy-three years ago. As with Karol Wojtyla, he had a full life before going to Rome. As a young man and seminarian he was exposed to the rise of Nazism in Germany. He was a prominent theological advisor during the Second Vatican Council and taught theology at Germany's most prominent universities. He earned a reputation as one of the Church's brightest and most creative theologians.

In an age when Truth has come under unceasing brutal assault, he has become a target of attack worldwide. He is routinely caricatured in the worldwide media as the new Grand Inquisitor, unthinking and dictatorial. This book will discomfit his enemies. It shows a deeply learned man moving carefully and deliberately across all the issues of the "Canon of Criticism," forthrightly defending the Church. It shows a man with a keen understanding of our present age and the ideologies that animate it.

The Roman Church is contemptible to so many precisely because it stands in unabashed reproof of so much of what passes as wisdom today, including the central "truth" of our post-modern era: that only truth is that there is no Truth. This reminds us that the Church is now, as always, a scandal. But it is necessary, Cardinal Ratzinger reminds, us to distinguish between the "primary" scandal and the "secondary" scandal. "The secondary scandal consists in our actual mistakes, defects and over-institutionalizations . . .." (124) The Church is made up of men who are subject to all the frailties to which flesh is heir. But the Church aspires for more. That she occasionally fails should not surprise us. That she aspires for more should inspire new generations of saints. Yet the very idea that man is not naturally good and should aspire for more through self-abnegation is a deep offense to the modern mindset that man is good and is always, inexorably, getting better. This makes the Church an object of contempt and, in time, hatred.

"[T]he primary scandal consists precisely in the fact that we stand in opposition to the decline into the banal and the bourgeois and into false promises. It consists in the fact that we don't simply leave man alone in his self-made ideologies." (124) Substitution of transitory political ethics for Christian ethics leads to despotism, the exaltation of a mere man as God: Lenin, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Ho Chi Min. "We can say with a certainty backed up by empirical evidence that if the ethical power represented by Christianity were suddenly torn out of humanity, mankind would lurch to and fro like a ship rammed against an iceberg, and then the survival of humanity would be in greatest jeopardy." (227) "For this reason . . . the Catholic Church is a scandal, insofar as she sets herself in opposition to what appears to be a nascent global ideology and defends primordial values of humanity that can't be fit into this ideology . . .." (124)

"[I]f we give up the principle that every man as man is under God's protection, that as a man he is beyond the reach of arbitrary will, we really do forsake the foundation of human rights." (204) The sacred tradition of the Church is arrayed in defense of the dignity of mankind. Contrary to fashionable caricature, the Church is not an ossified tree, subject to being felled by the latest gale. It changes, but slowly, deliberately, organically. "[T]here are various degrees of importance in the tradition [of the Church] . . . not everything has the same weight . . . [but] there are . . . essentials, for example, the great conciliar decisions or what is stated in the Creed. These things are the Way and as such are vital to the Church's existence; they belong to her inner identity." (207-208) As to its essentials, its First Principles, or everlasting verities, the Church is powerless to change even in face of popular demand.

Bringing to mind Edmund Burke and G.K. Chesterton, Cardinal Ratzinger reminds us that "the Church lives not only synchronically but diachronically as well. This means that it is always all - even the dead - who live and are the whole Church, that it is always all who must be considered in any majority in the Church. . . . The Church lives her life precisely from the identity of all the generations, from their identity that overarches time, and her real majority is made up of the saints." (189) Our present age cannot cavalierly discard the wisdom of this great communion of the living and the dead, of one hundred human generations of the Church, confident that it has somehow achieved superceding wisdom. Instead, it must, as must all generations, submit to the essentials of the Church, to revelation and the Church's sacred tradition. "Every generation tries to join the ranks of the saints, and each makes its contribution. But it can do that only by accepting this great continuity and entering into it in a living way." (189) The Church does not need additional "reformers" of institutions. "What we really need are people who are inwardly seized by Christianity, who experience it as joy and hope, who have thus become lovers. And these we call saints." (269)

This is not easy for any generation. It places a break on volition. It posits that man's every impulse is not virtuous. Intrinsically, it asserts that man is not God, that man must prune his impulses, as he would an overgrown plant to prepare it to bear fruit. "[P]eople don't want to do without religion, but they want it only to give, not to make its own demands on man. People want to take the mysterious element in religion but spare themselves the effort of faith." (212) This is New Age faith, not the faith of the Church and her saints. "If the willingness to be bound is not there, and if, above all, submission to the truth is not there, then in the end all of this will simply remain a game." (235)

It is often heard today that if only the Church would make priestly celibacy optional, ordain women and "reform" its doctrine to accommodate other contemporary demands, that she would flourish as never before. These cavils ignore the central truth of any true church - that its communicants come to it and submit to the truth it professes, a truth beyond editing by plebiscite. It also reveals a stunning lack of critical intelligence. "These issues are resolved in Lutheran Christianity," Cardinal Ratzinger notes. "On these points, it has taken the other path, and it is quite plain that it hasn't thereby solved the problem of being a Christian in today's world and that the problem of Christianity, the effort of being a Christian, remains just as dramatic as before." (181) Why should the Roman Church make itself a clone of Lutheranism? "[B]eing a Christian does not stand or fall on these questions [and] . . . the resolution of these matters doesn't make the gospel more attractive or being Christian any easier. It does not even achieve the agreement that will better hold the Church together. I believe we should finally be clear on this point, that the Church is not suffering on account of these questions." (182)

Cardinal Ratzinger is forthright in his pessimistic assessment of the time ahead. "The danger of a dictatorship of opinion is growing, and anyone who doesn't share the prevailing opinion is excluded, so that even good people no longer dare to stand by such nonconformists [i.e. Christians]. Any future anti-Christian dictatorship would probably be much more subtle than anything we have known until now. It will appear to be friendly to religion, but on the condition that its own models of behavior and thinking not be called into question." (153) The Church must attorn to the zeitgeist in this scheme. These themes are explored in Michael D. O'Brien's "Children of the Last Day" novels.

It is time for the faithful, Cardinal Ratzinger says, to form "vital circles." [T]here are great, vibrant new beginnings and joyful forms of Christian life that don't figure much statistically but are humanly great and have the power to shape the future." (143). "Particularly when one has to resist evil it's important to not to fall into gloomy moralism that doesn't allow itself any joy but really to see how much beauty there is, too, and to draw from it the strength needed to resist what destroys joy." (69)

In his autobiography "The Sword of Imagination," the novelist and historian Russell Kirk writes, "Not by force of arms are civilizations held together, but by the threads of moral and intellectual belief. In the hands of the Fates are no thunderbolts: only threads and scissors." Throughout this book, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger demonstrates that he understands better than, perhaps, anyone e

A very readable, interresting book! Cardinal Ratzinger gives his views on a wide range of topics in the course of an extended interview with Peter Seewald, including his life and the state of the *world-wide* Church. This book offers valuable insights from a man who is uniquely positioned to "see" the workings of the Church as a whole.

In the more "liberal" circles, there's apparently a tendency to villify Cardinal Ratzinger as some kind of "right-wing", closed-minded fringe type. Having read this book, I find that claim hard to believe: whether one agrees with his views or not, it is hard to see the Cardinal as anything other than a thoughtful, intellegent and learned man.

There are so many fabulous insights in this book, and such honesty that it should be required reading for high school religion classes. Cardinal Ratzinger has really hit the nail on the head, giving all of us an inside view of the issues that are important to the Church. "In today's whirl of instant bliss, religion, too, is socially respectable only as a dream of happiness without tears, as a mystical enchantment of the soul. Perhaps the Church comes under heavier fire because she talks about sin and suffering and rectitude of life....Just one curious example - when it comes to the state, as soon as crimes begin to multiply and society feels its safety threatened, there is an immediate demand for tougher laws. In relation to the Church, whose laws are moral in nature, the exact opposite happens - there is a demand for further relaxation."

This book has greatly helped me raise my overall presentation skills in videoconferencing and make much more of an impact on the people I am communicating with. I wish such a book was available several years ago! It was also very easy to read and entertaining.

This is a wonderful book, but I think it's titled wrong. It should be Media Savvy Videoconferencing. I bought the book thinking it would be about videoconferencing exclusively, but actually it's filled with information about how to look good whenever you are in front of the media. This book should be read by all PR people and anyone who has to do television appearances. There really are tricks to the trade. Why do media savvy people generally look good on television? Because they are using the techniques described in this book.

Last month, after our company installed a new videoconferencing system, my boss asked me to assume responsibility for our first trial meeting with a midwestern customer organization. I was very excited about the promise that this new technology could afford our business. But, I must confess, that the actual videoconference event was a big disappointment. Even though the equipment worked as promised, the meeting felt like Ted Mack's "Original Amateur Hour." That's when I began browsing around for a book that might address the weaknesses I perceived in our interaction. And, I discovered that only one book - of the dozens available on videoconferencing - actually dealt with the human communication issues involved.

After my first experience, I can attest that these are, indeed, the most important.

Our next videoconference event is scheduled in a few days - and I think our company is now much better prepared, thanks to the helpful, practical tips in this book, Smart Videoconferencing This book emphasizes the significant differences that exist between a face to face meeting and a videoconference. There is a paradox involved, because the videoconference demands both greater care and professionalism, while, at the same time, there is the necessity for a sense of relaxation and authenticity. I can tell you that our first event lacked both of these qualities - and our company lost some business as a result. Now, I think I we can avoid the mistakes we made last time.

I highly recommend this book for anyone engaged in videoconferencing when the stakes are high.

GPS guide, great descriptions, totally dependable. Dont waste time with others, buy this one!

I bought this guidebook a few years ago and it is definitely one of the best. It fits easily in our seatback. He covers many trails. What has been helpful about his book, is that the mileage is given in both directions, so you can easily figure out where you are given your starting point. All the cross roads you come across are described as well, so you don't wonder, should I have gone that way. His mileage was right on with our odometer. I have a few other guide books, but his is definitely the best because of the detailed description of your road trip. Highly recommend. With his book and a Trails Illustrated map, no reason for you to get lost.

I do not own this book, but had read my friends quite a bit, when we actually took our first 4WD trip, we used a competitors book. It paled in comparison, this book is so much more informative. The directions are flawless and the photos and histories it details make it much easier to find the trail that suits your interests.

As a music fan, there are two things you want to add to your experience, a songlist compilation and a biography. Anything more is really too much, but in the case of groundbreaking album cover art, and knowing Pink Floyd's history of employing visual effects in their shows, a book like this is necessary, especially since albums are gone now, and the tiny graphics you get on a CD jewel case don't compare with the stuff promoters used to jam into album jackets. This book is a trip into Storm Thurgeson's head, not necessarily Floyd's. The difference is not much since Storm was a boyhood chum, and listened so well to his employer's ideas, instead of pushing his own. That's one reason the band was so successful musically as well, was Hypnosis' reliance on the members' themes. This book is not a graphic artist's design book, though I wish it were, but it would be tons bigger. It covers 30 years (and not even all the Floyd's covers (for instance, The Wall)). But you will appreciate the fact that Storm operated more under impluse as a designer than by today's modern design houses which try to render graphics in a production line style...can't be done. The author's bylines give us insight if not in technical process, then in the intellect process, and it's good fun knowing this guy was a friend to the Floyd for a LONG time, even having to uncomfortably stand in the middle of relationships for the 'Is There Anybody Out There?' live Wall issue. All in all, I'd give 5 stars for the artwork and presentation, but lose half of one for lack of technical explanation. Enjoy!

Few people have been more closely associated with Pink Floyd over the band's 30-year career than graphic designer Storm Thorgerson. And virtually no one (outside the band members themselves) has been more responsible for the mystique that shrouds the band and its music.

In "Mind Over Matter", Thorgerson explains in some detail the concepts and techniques behind the creation of some of the most evocative and memorable images in the history of Rock and Roll. With stories and recollections dating back to the band's foundations in the mid-sixties, Thorgerson goes piece-by-piece through most of the band's catalogue, recounting not only how he and his team created the images, but also detailing what they are meant to represent and how they relate to the music.

The book features beautiful color reproductions of the band's album covers, lyrics layouts, and CD booklets. (All but two Floyd albums-- "The Wall" and "The Final Cut"-- are included ; these are omitted because Thorgerson was, in his own words, "temporarily relieved of [his] duties" for these albums.) But the biggest treat to the serious fan are the reproductions and discussionsof lesser-known images, such as a tour promo and program from 1975, and artwork specially conceived for the 'deluxe' boxed set "Shine On". Also included are the designs for the remastered and repackaged CD releases of the Floyd's albums, as well as some art which was apparently created just for this book.

As a full-sized coffee table book, "Mind Over Matter" is gorgeous to look at. Thorgerson's text, which is witty and insightful, makes for a good read. All in all, no Pink Floyd fan should be disappointed.

What do you get when you cross art and the greatest rock band in history? A materpiece! If I had the chance, I would give this book a million stars!

Storm Thorgerson, mastermind behind most of Pink Floyd's album artwork, has compiled almost all of the rare, unusual, interesting, and familiar pieces. It also includes stories on how they (the art) came to be (which, by the way, sheds a light on the innovative genius of the band). It goes from the early years of Syd Barrett to the post-Waters era. This book is a must for any Floyd fan, especially one who is interested in the history and progress of the band.

This book takes strategic planning off the shelf and into the realm of implementation. It makes strategic planning an inclusive, usable, adjustable tool to manage the growth of an organization. Too often, we hear the complaint that organizations have spent considerable time and money on creating a sophisticated strategic plan only to have it sit on the shelf for years without any action taken. Simplified Strategic Planning is just that, a process that retains the complexity inherent in creating a comprehensive plan for an organization while breaking it down into small, clear, actionable steps. Perhaps the best part of this book is that in addition to creating a strategic plan, underlying the process is a deep understanding of how to involve people in the work of gathering data, analyzing the data and then creating a customized strategic plan.

This book, the product of extensive work by its authors with small and medium-sized businesses, presents straightforward, concise guidance (right down to hardcopy/softcopy templates) and a rational sequence for developing a strategic plan without a large staff. It draws heavily on the academic work of leading researchers James Brian Quinn (Dartmouth/Tuck) and Michael Porter (Harvard). Its hallmark, though, is its firm grounding in the environment of businesses that cannot ignore daily operational requirements for the sake of planning.

"Simplified Strategic Planning" presents particularly clear, explicit guidance on selecting a corporate focus amid operational chaos and the temptation to serve all comers.

I highly recommend this book for managers at businesses of any size. It will inspire a discipline and sequence--and therefore a useful result--in planning.

Finally, a book on strategic planning that makes sense! Bradford's process for helping organizations think about, plan for and implement strategic planning is straightforward and completely accessible. Whatever size your oganization, and whatever your background in strategy, this one is a must-read. Bradford offers an action-oriented approach that allows you to customize the process to meet your needs. In these days of leaner budgets, take advantage of this gem--it's almost like having Bradford in your company as you work through the process. His focus is on results, and his success with all kinds of organizations is very impressive.

While this book was written for a primarily American audience, it still made alot of good sense for me as a New Zealand mother-to-be. What she proposes is really very simple - moving away from the overparenting trap, including our children as part of our lives as women rather than our whole reason for being, allowing the parenting to extend beyond just the nuclear family and most importantly of all, elevating the role of the father as parent. Made sense to me.

No mother returns to work without some feeling of ambivalence. This book does a solid job of dispelling the myths of the benefits of the always available mother which society seems to call for and gives so many reasons why Mother's work outside the home is good for the whole family. I have read it over and over and find new jewels of wisdom each time. Ms. Peters speaks of the value of work with confidence and conviction while never losing her tenderness when voicing so beautifully the absolute joy which children bring to our lives.

This book is about raising healthy children. This is not meant to be a political or controversial book. It deals with the real issues all parents face when confronted with wanting to raise your children and having to support your family. The author's theory is that fulfilled parents raise independant, self-reliant children. There are examples of families that use many different strategies to raise their children successfully, without guilt for the time they spend at work. The author talks about the satisfaction that BOTH parents get from caregiving. Unlike the family dynamic of the 1950's, if the mother is sufficiently supported in child rearing by the father, she can parent effectively herself without becoming burnt out. In addition, the children benefit from having 2 involved parents, rather than just 1 or 1 1/2, and the father gains from having a closer relationship with the children. At the same time the parents have the satisfaction of working and supporting their family together (or however it works best for that family). This book helped me quite a bit. I don't know how I will feel after my child is born and my maternity leave is over. My husband has always promised we would share all work in raising our family but I just couldn't give up the power of running the house. I didn't believe he could do the job as well as I would. This book explains that dads don't do things the same way as moms. They do them differently, and the kids benefit from both parenting styles. This book gave me the courage to trust him to do his very best, just as I know I will.

This is a very complete and good book on NT 4.0 device drivers. The book takes you through lots of architectual issues in the first 400 pages or so, then walks you through details of drivers. The authors have a readable style and know what they are talking about. The biggest short coming in the book is a lack of real information on NT 5.0 drivers. Paul Lever, BlueWater Systems, Inc.

I began developing NT drivers during the NT 3.1 beta days and saw an immediate need for a book like this. I have been begging people to write this book for over 3 years. In those days the only place to get help was on Compuserve and guess who always responded to questions and provided valuable information for people delving into this new operating system. (The two authors) I am thrilled that the two best NT kernel developers I know found time and dedicated themselves to the task of writing this great book.

This book is probably more important than any other technical programming book written to date. The reason is drivers can crash the computer and poorly written drivers do it on a regular basis. With Windows NT becoming the worldwide server operating system of choice it is very important that drivers work and work well. This book not only discusses all phases of driver development, but teaches the audience correct methods of developing robust drivers. In a matter of weeks you will learn techniques and kernel programming practices that normally take years to develop.

The granularity of the book is well thought out and will serve the kernel programmer well. If you have been given the task of developing a bus master DMA driver simply turn to chapter 17 and you will learn more than you ever wanted to know about DMA with examples! If you just want to learn about how NT manages memory turn to Chapter 3.

This book will become the de-facto standard for NT device driver development and must have on any serious developer's bookshelf.

Technical Reviewer
Mike Barry
Sr. Vice President-Development/Engineering
T/R Systems